Happy wish it was Friday Tuesday, everyone 
I woke up extra early and made it to the gym for a whopping 1/2 hour this morning. I wish it could be longer, but unfortunately my gym has ridiculous summer hours so I could get there at the crack of dawn and the doors would still be closed! Oh well, any sort of exercise is always welcome. I just did the elliptical for 20 minutes and then some work on the pull up machine before heading home to get ready for work.
BREAKFAST
My attempt at a new breakfast this morning ended with an explosion in the kitchen! It all started when I decided I wanted to try a new twist on oatmeal:
I found this multi-grain hot cereal mix at Trader Joe’s on a shopping trip a few weeks ago. It has oats, barley, rye, wheat – all sorts of good stuff! Because I was short on time, I decided to try to microwave it on full power…
Bad idea.
Not only did the it never completely cook, it also exploded in the microwave – so my “short on time” breakfast was cut even shorter due to clean-up 🙁 Here’s what it ended up looking like:
Soupy, with a bunch of random oat pieces – I picked those out to eat and left the unappealing water/almond milk liquid at the bottom. I didn’t have enough time to get creative with toppings, so I ate this with a spoonful of Cinnamon Raisin Swirl PB.
Oy – sorry it’s not a very pleasant sight, everyone! I’m going to give this one another try tomorrow on the STOVE – I hope to have something more appetizing to share! Oh well, I’m learning through trial and error.
With Coffee Cocoa on the side:
MORNING SNACK
I knew I’d be hungry pretty soon after that because it never really felt like I had a real breakfast. Sure enough, I was ready for my Clif Chocolate Brownie ZBaR much earlier than usual – at about 9:30 am.
The rest of the morning was spent in a meeting, so that kept me and my mind busy!
LUNCH
Linds from For the Love of Oats inspired me with her lunch yesterday to have a hummus sandwich for my lunch today!
I made mine with two slices of Arnold Flax and Fiber Bread, spinach, and 2 tbsp. of sun dried tomato hummus – YUM!
I also had some David pumpkin seeds…
And some fruit salad from a meeting that I didn’t picture because well, I ate it during a meeting! It included grapes, melon, strawberries, and pineapple!
AFTERNOON SNACK
I decided to get some fresh air around 3:30 this afternoon. I stopped by Starbucks on my walk to get something cold since it’s still humid out there.
I went with the Shaken Passion Iced Tea Lemonade. I don’t like tea unless there’s something sweet mixed in there, so it was the perfect choice!
Why yes, I did take this picture out on the busy Chicago sidewalk! I got some weird looks, but I didn’t care – I’m getting a little braver!
DINNER
Tonight’s dinner was that timeless favorite – COSI!! My mom is really digging the seasonal Pasilla Lime Shrimp sandwich I told you about here, so we went with Bobby to satisfy that craving!!
Here’s my mom’s sandwich – I wanted to show you how cute they packaged it!
Aw, so sweet 🙂 Haha – I’m not sure why I thought it was so cute – maybe it’s those baby carrots!
I ended up getting my usual Bombay Chicken Salad with the reduced fat ginger soy dressing on the side.
And of course, the Etruscan whole grain bread – can’t forget about that!!
Gosh, that bread is the best darn thing! I really wish they sold it in bulk – or at least posted the recipe somewhere!! I guess I don’t have a wood-fired oven though 😉 That might complicate things!
Only a few hours until hump day – I’m off to get me some sleep!
Sweet dreams 🙂
aww sorry to hear about the “explosion”!!! but that hummus sandwich sure looks yummy! now i want to go to cosi’s! maybe tomorrow w/ my dad i’ll go hehe…
I’ve had explosions too with that hot cereal before…but I’m telling ya, you gotta go STOVE TOP!!! It takes just as long, and then you will NEVER GO BACK! It’s wayyy better!!
First off, I have had one of those oatmeal explosions in the microwave before. I hate it when that happens…. and secondly I love Cosi. There isn’t one close to where I live now, but I went a couple times in college and did a report on it in one of my classes. I love that you can make smores at your table. Such a cute idea.
“Happy (wish it was Friday) Tuesday” too funny, Jenn, haha :0D
Ahh, so sorry about the explosion in the microwave for breakfast :0( But hey, your lunch and dinner seemed to make up for that, so that’s good :0)
Hang in there until Friday – it’ll be here soon enough!!
I honestly think if Cosi sold there bread in bulk that I would need to buy my own personal gym to offset the side effects of eating 12349845 pieces of yummy, amazing, warm, soft, flavorful cosi bread a day.
Okay, done with the food porn.
Thought I would chime in with a tip. I love the multi grain cereal but I find that it doesn’t absorb as much liguid while cooking (thus the soupy explosion). I learned a trick through experimintation and trial/error. Mix half regular old fashioned oats (1/4 cup) with half of the multi grain (1/4 cup). You can still cook it in the microwave and it shouldn’t explode. Of course stove top gives it a nicer consitancty but when in a hurry I find this works the best so there are no soupy explosive messes : ) Good luck.
Lindz ~ You two should definitely hit up Cosi. Or Panera. Panera is good 🙂
Em ~ Too true! I love my stove top oats – when I’ve got the time to make them, that is!
eatingbirdfood ~ I saw that you can make s’mores! I’ve never done it, but thanks for reminding me!! I will have to next time!
VeggieGirl ~ Yes, they definitely made up for it. Can’t wait for Friday still, haha 🙂
sweetsandsweats ~ Agreed. Although it would probably be more like 12340846 pieces for me 😉
A ~ Thank you so much for the tip! It definitely seems like the better way to go – I’ll give it a try next time I use them! 🙂
That’s really weird about the gym – most open really, really early, especially during the week. That sucks though!
Mmmm – I love that oatmeal! It’s my favorite but I’m out 🙁 Definitely give it another chance tomorrow 🙂
I wish we had a Cosi 🙁
Melissa ~ I know, I suppose it’s because the college students are gone – a lot less traffic and staff!
Booo. I hate it when my oatmeal explodes. What a bummer. Your fabulous sandwich makes up for it though.
sorry about your oatmeal. At least you had some PB with it (I tried the cin-raisin pb per your recommendation) HOLY COW it is like a little bite of heaven, which more often than not turns into a big bite of heaven because I have absolutely no self-control around PB in general, so when you add in cinnamon and raisins, all hopes for portion control just go straight out the window.
Also, if it’s ok, I want to add you to my blog roll because I LOVE reading your blog. We have pretty much the same exact taste in food and I wish we were real-life friends because you actually understand what it’s like to be obsessed with food (and healthy living!). My friends all think I’m CRAZY. I guess it’s ok in the end because I think they’re crazy too—who in their right mind would want to go to the mall when we could go to Whole Foods instead?!
Anna ~ I know! This is the second time it’s happened to me – not the right way to start off a morning!
Sarah ~ SO GLAD you liked the Cinnamon Raisin PB! I totally know what you mean about portion control – I often sneak back for a few extra bites!! And it’s more than ok if you add me to your blogroll – I just added you to mine too!! It would be soo much fun to be real-life friends to talk about food and health tips all the time — and yes, take those WHOLE FOODS shopping trips!! My friends all think I’m nuts too 🙂
I’m always looking for good alternatives to oatmeal… maybe not alternatives that explode, though ;o).
But the hummus sammich looks yummmmmy, and I love Passion tea (especially the red hue).
[…] unlike some of my other breakfast endeavors in the kitchen, I tried something new for Thursday morning’s breakfast – and got it right on the first try! […]