Tag Archives: cookie butter

Vegetarianism in the Midwest

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My friend just showed me this New York Times article on the difficulty of being a vegetarian in the Midwest. I thought it was really interesting and wanted to share it with you.

Personally, I haven’t found it so difficult, but I am a pescatarian and since I nixed meat I have lived in a big city,Chicago, or an ultra earthy, relaxed college town, Ann Arbor. Plus, I eat fish (pescatarian) and am not vegan.

What do you guys think, have you ever found it difficult to maintain your dietary preferences? If so, have you found a solution?

I was up late doing homework and watching Friday Night Lights with Ian so waking up this morning was tough. I need to get better about going to bed early!

I wasn’t hungry this morning but knew I should eat something before heading out to run, so I had a small date, some sunflower seed butter, and a few sips of coconut water.

I had a 10 miler on my schedule but my body just felt off today. My head hurt, my legs felt stiff, and even my stomach felt queasy. It wasn’t my fastest run but it wasn’t too far off marathon pace either and I ended up finishing in 1:18.

For breakfast this morning, I wanted something warm and comforting but also high in protein. I decided it was time to try Tina’s ‘Oatmeal’ Minus the Oats.

I omitted walnuts, halved the flaxseed, only used half a banana, and added raisins and more cinnamon to my oatless oats and I LOVED this breakfast. It is definitely going to find a place in my rotation. The texture was creamier and fluffier than oats and overall the oatless oatmeal were lighter than normal oats. Yum!

I topped mine with the remaining banana (sliced), a sprinkle of cereal, and some cookie butter.

Served with iced coffee and soy creamer and an adora disc.

I don’t work or have class today but I have a very busy day of homework and meeting with my advisor ahead of me.

Enjoy your Wednesday!

Breakfast Rice Pudding Flop

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I present to you my super-runny breakfast. It was supposed to be rice pudding but it seems much more like a rice smoothie than anything else.

I swear there’s rice in there somewhere!

Last night I tried to make a pumpkinless version of my breakfast rice pudding. I mixed greek yogurt, milk, raisins, leftover brown rice, cinnamon, and a touch of maple syrup and put it in the fridge to set. However, this morning it was even runnier than last night! At first I couldn’t figure out why but then it hit me, I forgot the chia seeds. Doh!

It still tasted delicious, it just wasn’t the texture I was expecting.

This morning I added some almonds and a dab of Cookie Butter to the pudding.

This is my trick for transporting any kind of nut butter. I just plop a dollop on some saran wrap, form a small pocket around the nut butter, and twist up the top. The nut butter usually slides right off the wrap. Works like a charm :)

Workout
This morning I woke up early for hopefully (fingers crossed!) my last treadmill workout of the week. I ran an easy 5 miles at a pace of 7:53 min/mile. I almost chewed my arm off in boredom, I can’t wait to run outside tomorrow!

First Breakfast
My hunger caught up to me as I was getting ready and I knew I wouldn’t make it to work without a snack so I had a little bit of cereal with a few slices of banana while I blow-dryed my hair.

Multi-tasking at its finest :P

Have a great day!

Boston Marathon: 14 miler

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After passing out gracefully on the couch last night at 10:30, I was more than ready to get up and run at 7:00 am this morning.

I ate half a piece of bread with sunflower butter and chia seeds as I was getting ready.

I’m hoping to keep increasing the size of the bread, but so far this is all my stomach can handle before running and I don’t have the patience to wait for my food to digest.

Someone didn’t want me to leave but after some cuddles and a few treats, he calmed down :)

My legs felt the best they have on any Boston Marathon training run so far but I was extremely thirsty the entire second half of my run. It was weird because I don’t usually need water on long runs in the winter.

Splits (min/mile)
1- 8:05
2- 7:52
3- 7:42
4- 7:43
5- 7:25
6- 7:49
7- 8:01
8- 8:13
9- 8:00
10- 8:11
11- 7:48
12- 7:46
13- 7:52
14- 7:47

I finished in 1:50 with an average min/mile of 7:53.

I was happy with this time considering I ran through downtown (straight down Michigan Ave) and its hard to keep a steady pace when you’re constantly stopping and weaving through people.

Breakfast
I wasn’t super hungry when I first got home so after drinking some water, I sipped on a protein shake.

I found these last summer at TJ’s and they’re pretty great (for protein shakes). They’re 100 calories, have 21 g of protein, and only 1 g of sugar… AND they don’t taste chalky!

When I started to feel hungry, I made another baked oatmeal but this time added chia seeds and raisins.

I topped it with cookie butter and banana slices like last time but also threw on a drizzle of maple syrup.

Perfect!

Ian and I are doing some shopping today and then have dinner reservations tonight. No big party for us this year, somehow we just couldn’t justify spending $100 to drink with a bunch of strangers at a bar :P

What are your NYE plans?

I hope to be back later with resolutions!

Ice Ice Baby

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Boy was it icy this morning! I went out for an easy 5 mile run only to find out that the sidewalks were basically ice rinks. Talk about frustrating. I tried to run in the streets when possible but sometimes they weren’t much better than the sidewalks, plus I had to avoid buses and other cars. I finished the run, which I guess is the important part, but I never really got any momentum, I felt like I was going half-speed the entire time :/.

Breakfast sure did make up for the sub-par run though :-D .

I’ve been wanting to try one of Katie‘s baked oatmeals for awhile now but never had individual ramekins or small baking dishes. However, when I was in Michigan last week, I found a couple in my mom’s cupboards that she said I could have. Score!

I got to work after my run mixing the ingredients for the Banana Baked Oatmeal. I followed the recipe pretty closely and used the suggested coconut oil and a bit of truvia (do not omit the oil, so good!). I also added a touch of vanilla extract and some cinnamon.

I popped the mix into the oven, jumped in the shower, and by the time I was done my oatmeal was ready! I let it cool for a minute or two and then removed it from the baking pan and topped it with some cookie butter and banana slices (the remaining banana from the recipe). I ate it with some super strong Kahlua coffee that I got in my Christmas stocking.

Please make this recipe now, it is so yummy, and I savored every bite ;)

Last night
After walking to and from Trader Joe’s, Ian and I were ready for some dinner. We still have leftovers from Christmas so I reheated some chili (veggie for her and turkey for him) and shredded some cheese for topping.

I didn’t have a whole lot of chili leftover, so I also made some poor man’s carrot fries.

I just chopped up two carrots, microwaved them for a little over a minute and served them with some ketchup. Very easy but maybe not so classy :P .

Dessert was the true star of the show, leftover pumpkin roll from Christmas.

This is definitely one of the better desserts I have made and everyone loved it. The recipe can be found here and I highly recommend you try it! I’m so sad to see it go.

I spent the rest of the night finishing my book and then watching No Strings Attached on my Nook Tablet. I actually enjoyed the movie, although the end was super cheesy (image souce). But what else could I expect, its a romantic comedy starring Ashton Kutcher :P

Has anyone else seen No Strings Attached? What did you think?

Maple Apple Cinnamon Oats

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Doesn’t that oatmeal look sooo good?

Because we have yet to go grocery shopping, I had to be a little creative in the kitchen this morning in order to make breakfast. But it totally worked out, this oatmeal was delicous, filling, and easy to make!

Maple Apple Cinnamon Oats
1 small apple, I used gala
1.5 T cinnamon
1/2 cup of oats
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
1/2 cup water
1 tsp chia seeds
1 tsp raisins
1 T maple syrup, or more to taste

Cut apple into small pieces and place in microwave safe bowl. Sprinkle 1/2 T of cinnamon on top (you want to cover all of the apple pieces) and microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Remove from microwave and set aside.

Mix oats, almond milk, water, raisins, and chia seeds in a small saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Once oats start to boil, stir in remaining cinnamon, apple pieces, and maple syrup. Cook until mixture reaches desired consistency, remove from heat, and go crazy with toppings :)

I topped mine with some pumpkin spice granola and a tiny bit of cookie butter. I also had some iced coffee with soy creamer for caffeination.

Workout
It was bitter cold when I woke up this morning, 22 degrees feels like 14 degrees, hello Chicago winter! I really did not want to push out 10 miles on a treadmill so I got dressed in my under armor and headed out the door!

My run was ok, it was very chilly out, especially near the lake, and my legs just didn’t want to move! I kept a decent pace though and averaged a little under an 8 min/mile. When I got back to my apartment, all I wanted was a warm shower and a comforting breakfast (see above :P )

Dinner last night
Last night Ian surprised me and took me to avec, a wine-bar and wonderful restaurant that specializes in shared plates. I honestly didn’t take any pictures because we were sitting in front of the chefs and I got stage-fright, whoops, but you’ll get to see some repeats for lunch :)

We shared an antipasta, the burrata, and a warm mushroom salad before our mains. Ian ordered the pork shoulder and I had the special of the day, whitefish. Unfortunately, I got a huge stomachache about halfway through the meal and ended up only picking at my whitefish. It was seriously one of the worst ever, I felt like knives were poking at my stomach.

Oh well, leftovers today :)

Just for some background, avec is probably most well-known for their chorizo-stuffed medjool dates with smoked bacon. I don’t eat meat but I’ve heard they’re pretty fabulous (image source).

I’m hoping to have a somewhat more productive day today and at least be a little less lazy.

Have a great day!