Vitamin D Overload

Thank you to everyone who has entered the blogiversary giveaway so far! I really appreciate all of your sweet comments and best wishes πŸ™‚ Every little ping! in my inbox makes me smile.

After a morning of margarita oats – not really, but the bowl was pretty awesome – I headed to the pool to catch some Vitamin D. Trust me, with the Chicago winter we went through, I had a major deficiency πŸ˜‰ When I got back inside, I made myself some “ice cream” in the Vita-Mix.

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It looked and tasted just like sorbet! I combined 1 cup of frozen “festival blend” fruit – pineapple, papaya and mango – with 1 cup of unsweetened vanilla almond milk, 1/2 a banana and 6-8 ice cubes. The ice bues really kept it frozen and gave it the sorbet consistency. Yum!

Eventually, I got hungry for a little something more, so I made a breakfast repeat from yesterday.

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It was the same combination of 1 cup Trader Joe’s Greek yogurt and 1 cup Kashi Go Lean, with just blackberries this time. Still deliciously creamy.

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[Lunch Net Sugar: 6g]

After lunch, I chatted on the phone with Miss Sarah, which is always great πŸ™‚ She has been baking up a storm today, and as soon as I got off of the phone with her, I was inspired to whip up something in the kitchen myself!

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I have been meaning to try out Maggie’s Oat Bran Mini Scones for a while. I didn’t have any brown rice syrup this time, so I substituted in 1/8 cup brown sugar in her recipe. I kept everything else the same, with one minor addition…

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Instead of raisins, I smashed up 2 servings of TRADER JOE’S PEANUT BUTTER FILLED PRETZELS! Oh yes. I got the idea from VeggieGirl, who uses the pretzels in own her delicious goodies. I put the pretzels in a bag and smashed them by hand, then added them to the batter.

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I then shaped the batter into a ball and spread it out flat on a cookie sheet until it was roughly level and formed a circle.

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I then baked the scones at 350*F for 25 minutes and cut them into 16 even triangles.

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Nutrition Information (per slice):

  • 82 calories
  • 3g fat
  • 12g carbohydrates
  • 2g fiber
  • 1g sugar
  • 3g protein

These make a great snack with hardly any added sugar πŸ˜‰ I had one with Coffee Cocoa after my afternoon run. I went roughly 3.5 miles up and down the mountain. It was a challenge in the hot sun!!

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[Snack Net Sugar: 7g]

Dinner tonight was a fantastic Papa Bender creation!

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He’s goooood. The bright sauce was his take on curry, which consisted of equal parts chopped green onions, apples, and light butter heated on the stove for 4 or 5 minutes. Once the ingredients are heated and softened, you add in equal parts light whipping cream and chicken broth with roughly 2 tbsp. flour, 2 tsp. curry powder and a dash of lemon juice. Continue heating the ingredients until they thicken and voila! The man is a genius. I put a little on everything, which included a small piece of sockeye salmon:

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A small piece of chicken cordon bleu (ham + swiss cheese) and steamed broccoli:

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And last but certainly not least, steamed bok choy!!

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It was so so good! Great combination of flavors, as always πŸ™‚ I had a glass of vino alongside the meal.

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[Dinner Net Sugar: ~2g? Although really, there wasn’t anything added to this meal]

After dinner, we immersed ourselves in 24 (amazing!!) and CSI: Miami (my brother loves it). I went back for another oat scone and topped it with some PB + grape jelly for dessert.

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[Dessert Net Sugar: 7g]

Combined with breakfast, I was right at about 25g of added sugar today. As the days go on, I’m finding that it’s pretty easy to avoid added sugar in my diet. I was really eating it out of habit, even though I enjoy foods without added sugar just as much. I haven’t felt like I’m giving anything up at all, which is key to sustaining this habit for the future.

Around-the-Blogosphere

Thanks again to everyone who has made this day so special for me. I have blog love for you all!

Blugs + Blisses,

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39 Comments

  1. csi miami is one of my fav shows πŸ™‚ love the sorbet and the scones!!! healthy comfort foods = amazing

  2. Please catch some rays for me Jenn! Glad you’re enjoying your time at home! Great baking project- love the addition of the PB pretzels. Hope today is just as good as yesterday

  3. I must try that scone recipe, they look amazing ..cool idea to add the pretzels into batch! And papa bender sure knows how to cook, looks fantastic!!

  4. Those scones look AWESOME!!!! I love that Papa Bender made such a balanced and delicious meal, even though I could not tell for the life of me that the bok choy was bok choy.
    Glad you got some sun!!!!

  5. wow those scones look so good! I’m glad that I inspired you to bake a little bit. I am hopelessly addicted to those pb pretzels-honestly the bag doesn’t even last a day around me!

    i definitely need to come out to arizona to visit for papa benders meals AND for the sun. Guess what? It’s another cloudy day in pittsburgh! soak up the sun for me girl : )

  6. omg! I am copying down this “sorbet” recipe!!!It sounds so perfect for vaca!btw Chi-Town was AWESOME. Even though it was quick-we did everything and went everywhere we could-plus the weather was gorgeous while we were there. Happy st patty’s day!

  7. I totes feel ya on the Vitamin D deficiency! That faux-bet looks delish πŸ™‚

    Oh my goodness – I may have to make those oat scones!! YUM!

  8. i’m a little late, but happy, happy blogiversary to you!!!
    the sorbet looks amazing and so do those mini scones πŸ˜€
    PAPA BENDER STRIKES AGAIN! everything looks amazing… haha next time you come to az, you might just find me on your doorstep begging papa bender to cook for me
    hope you have a happy st patty’s day <3

  9. Jenn, your scones look and sound delicious. I loved your dessert serving with PB & jelly. Glad the no added sugar thing is going okay, and that you’re feeling good about it.

    Oh my gosh, I need some Papa Bender curry sauce in my life. The man is a genius!

    Soak up some Vitamin D for me. πŸ™‚

  10. Nice scones. I bet they are awesome with the pb pretzels in them πŸ™‚

    And I was totally wondering what that white food item on your dinner plate was. I kept looking at it, and couldn’t figure it out. I’m like, it’s not white asparagus, and it kinda looks like it could be a whole squid, but I don’t think it is. Then when you said bok choy, I could finally see it.

  11. Ahh, the Vitamix ice cream looks so good. I really want a Vitamix!

    Love the fresh blackberries, too. Delicious and beautiful.

    Thanks for the contest shout-out!

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