smoothie | healthy laps

smaller meals & snacks

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Jen

I have been so hungry when I wake up over the past few weeks. I try to get up and drink some water right away because I also feel very thirsty, but that doesn’t keep me out of the kitchen for long! It’s usually around the time I am brushing my teeth that my stomach really starts grumbling. 🙂

I head to the kitchen for some cereal to hold me over.

Pomegranate Blueberry Crisp from Trader Joe’s.

It is delicious, but a little too sweet for me in the mornings.

I also usually whip up a smoothie to drink mid-morning at work, when I knew I will be hungry again.

Strawberry Banana Smoothie

1 frozen banana
8 frozen strawberries
1 scoop vanilla protein powder
1 tbsp pepitas
1 cup water

I love smoothies as a morning snack! They are filling and refreshing.

For lunch today, I made an old favorite, which was pieced together after scouring through our empty cabinets and fridge for lunch.

Almond Butter, Banana and Jelly Sandwich on Millet Bread.

(this is a recycled photo, but you get the point! :))

I seem to get hungrier for snacks than I did before and I think it is because my meals have been smaller. I don’t have as much room for food in my stomach anymore (!!), so smaller meals and snacks sit much better with me.

Snacktime – Hummus & Spelt Pretzels

And, for dinner, I stopped at Panera Bread on my way to our Newborn Essentials class!

Thai Chicken Salad, which was packed with romaine lettuce, chicken, peppers, carrots, edamame, wonton crisps and a light thai dressing.

This salad was great!

And, during class I snacked on a Blueberry Muffin Larabar, which is a new flavor that was sent to me from Larabar as a sample.

This flavor is delicious! It smells just like fresh baked muffins and tastes just as good.

Filed under: Eating Laps, Product Reviews | Tagged: cereal, larabar, salad, smoothie | Leave a comment »

adventures in breadmaking

Posted on January 15, 2011 by Jen

This past Wednesday, Boston was hit with a big snowstorm, which meant a snow day! It was a perfect day to stay inside and bake. 🙂

I started the chilly, snowy day off with a bowl of warm oatbran.

I cooked the oatbran with milk, a mashed banana, a dash of vanilla and a shake of cinnamon. It came out great!

I stirred in some dried blueberries towards the end and topped it with chocolate peanut butter, cranberry almond butter and a sprinkle of coconut.

A great breakfast on such a chilly morning.

Next on my list for the day was to try out my new breadmaker that we got for Christmas!

I had been dying to try it out. So, I looked up some recipes and got started with some Cranberry Almond Apricot bread.

It is extremely important that you put the ingredients into the breadmaker in the order shown. Wet ingredients must be first, then dry on top.

Then, place the pan into the breadmaker.

Close the lid and make your selections. For this bread, I used the White Bread setting for a 1lb. loaf on light (next time, I would do medium).

Three hours and 21 minutes later, out came the perfect loaf of bread. 🙂

A crust formed on the outside, and when you sliced into the bread it was soft and doughy. Just the way I like it.

A little while later, I sliced up a piece of the warm bread spread on a little butter and served it with a smoothie for my afternoon snack. 🙂

A chocolate cherry bomb smoothie!

Yum!

Now, I know not everyone has a breadmaker…and you could definitely make this bread without one and bake it in the oven. It just takes a little more work because you are waiting for the dough to rise, etc. But, I’m sure the bread would come out just as good!

Filed under: Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: breadmaker, oatmeal, smoothie | 2 Comments »

a grumbling tummy

Posted on December 7, 2010 by Jen

The day started off like most days do these days…I woke up starving!!! In fact, my grumbling tummy sometimes actually wakes me up! So, I headed straight to the kitchen for breakfast.

Oat bran cooked in milk with a crumbled slice of banana bread and a scoop of caramel peanut butter.

With my favorite Ginger Peach tea (that I found in decaf!!).

Happy Holidays 🙂

I also made up a smoothie to bring with me to work because it seemed like today was going to be one of those days when I needed a second breakfast.

Cherry Almond Smoothie

1 frozen banana
1 cup frozen cherries
1 tbsp almond butter
1 tsp honey
2 tbsp hemp protein powder
1 tbsp flax seeds
1 cup coconut water

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and mix well. Serve chilled.

I was right…around 10:30 it was time for my smoothie!

Which made lunch a little last today, but still just as good. Leftover Mac & Cheese from last night, a yogurt and a green apple.

Due to my late lunch, I didn’t get hungry for too much mid-afternoon. But, I did feel like something, so I snacked on some dried fruit and hot tea.

I’m off to dinner…have a great night!

Filed under: Eating Laps | Tagged: dried fruit, leftovers, oatmeal, smoothie, yogurt | Leave a comment »

broccoli crunch

Posted on December 1, 2010 by Jen

Yesterday morning, I made up my new favorite smoothie again – Butterfinger! It’s funny, I definitely go through phases. A few months ago, I couldn’t get enough of the Chocolate Cherry Bomb Smoothie, but now all I want is Butterfinger!

If you like butterfingers or toffee or butterscotch…and smoothies, you’ll love this one. 🙂

Mid-morning, I snacked on some dried fruit that I picked up at the Farmer’s Market this past weekend.

Dried kiwi, pineapple, strawberries, cherries, papaya and golden delicious apples.

Lunch had 2 parts:

Salad

Romaine lettuce with dried cranberries, almonds, apple and honey balsamic dressing. This is my favorite salad!

Yogurt

Plain greek yogurt with granola and honey.

Mid-afternoon, I was craving some chocolate milk!

After a 30 minute walk around the neighborhood, Brant and I got started on dinner. It has been awhile since we’ve made a dish from 101cookbooks.com, so we tried one out tonight.

Broccoli Crunch

We followed the recipe exactly, except we subbed onions for shallots and added sugar snap peas for 1/2 of the broccoli. We caramelized the onions until sweet.

Mix all of the veggies/nuts/fruits in a bowl.

Then, add the delicious almond butter sauce!

The sauce is by far the best part of the dish…next time, I would make extra!

Served over a bed of millet (cooked in our rice cooker with salt, pepper and olive oil – about 40 minutes).

This recipe was simple, quick and delicious. Can’t get much better than that for a weeknight meal!

There were plenty of leftovers for lunch today, we well!

Filed under: Eating Laps, Recipes | Tagged: 101cookbooks.com, dried fruit, greek yogurt, salad, smoothie | 3 Comments »

welcome to sunny florida!

Posted on November 27, 2010 by Jen

We started off our trip to Florida with breakfast at the airport…

A giant Strawberry Banana Smoothie from Fresh City an Almond Butter and Cranberry Jelly sandwich on Millet toast that I brought from home.

Airport food options are always a bit limited, so I try to pack something from home if I can. It makes it easier than searching out a healthy option.

It was an uneventful plane ride down to Orlando, and we landed in sunny and warm Florida that afternoon!

We sat by the pool and enjoyed our view. 🙂

And, enjoyed a chocolate smoothie that I whipped up once we arrived – 8 oz oz of chocolate milk, 1 banana, 1 packet of Amazing Grass Superfoods, handful of ice – all blended up and brought to the pool.