Manic Monday, Strawberry Fields, and Santa Letter

Strawberry Fields in Cream of Wheat for breaky this morning:

There were probably 8 strawberries in it, and a packet of Truvia. The strawberries were frozen so I heated them up in the microwave for 3 minutes Resulting in soft, sweet berries. Now I am guzzling lots of coffee, trying to wake up.

Dear Santa, I have one wish this Christmas.   Can I eat it my breakfast hot? Just once? Without having to reheat it 15 times because the kids and the puppy? Oh, and maybe sleep in one morning. Thank you!

Yesterday I was starving. This is sometimes where the clean eating gets me…I don’t eat when I should or get all of my meals in. Result = a cranky, starving Jessica.  SO, the resulting lunch was something I can throw together quick and is very satisfying:

Yes, yet another lovely salad

lettuce, mushrooms, Farmer Cheese, (new!) chicken and Goddess dressing. Oh so good! It was so good I even attempted to take a close up:

And the Farmer Cheese, which is totally clean (lowfat milk and salt)!

Then there was the previously mentioned cookie making, and a protein smoothie.

Yes, the smoothie is Purple:

This is a blackberry chocolate smoothie. Chocolate protein powder, LOTS of blackberries, maca root. Next time I would add agave nectar, and some Hershey’s unsweetened chocolate powder. One drawback of blackberries is the amount of seeds in the bottom of the glass TONS of seeds!

Can you see the seeds??

Yesterday’s dinner was good also. Salmon with maple flakes, peas and carrots, brown and wild rice Minute Rice, and more salad. Yum!

Then there was my nightly dessert! I was starving again. Honestly, it’s got to be something to do with my calories…meaning not enough.

And I have this thing for chocolate. AND peanut butter. I can’t help it. Oh, and did I mention that I have a severe sensitivity to cane sugar? Uuugghhh! So I made another banana hammock, thanks to Chocolate Covered Katie. 2 Tb. natural peanut butter warmed in the microwave, 2 Tb of unsweetend cocoa powder, 1 Tb agave nectar, a splash of non-fat milk, mixed all together and drizzled with a bit more agave. Sublime!!! I’m not sure what to call it…any suggestions? Then I can put the recipe up for it!

Well, that’s about it for now. More cookie pictures to come (round 2!). The hubby and I are going Christmas shopping for my present

It’s Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal Thursday :D

Ohhhh yeah! Peanut Butter Cup Oatmeal with plain yogurt for breakfast: So fantastic! As you can see, it’s oats, maca, unsweetened chocolate, agave nectar, peanut butter, and I put some plain yogurt in for more protein. YUMMY! That’s all I can say. I could eat this every morning!!!

Yesterday’s lunch was fantastically boring, and I almost missed that meal! I made another lovely salad, my feta had thawed, so it made my day! Salad greens, carrots, baked chicken breast, feta and Goddess dressing. I REALLY want to try to make the Goddess dressing homemade. I will let you know if it turns out (or not )

Another lovely salad...

OK, thinking I need to switch things up, because how many pictures of my lovely salad can you actually want to see? Booooring. I will change things up, I promise!

I drank some Smart Water…obviously a “clean” water, as there isn’t anything in it besides water and electrolytes.

And it was special, my Mom brought it from the plane

Then there was another LUNA Bar: Tastes like a rice-crispy treat with chocolate:

I also picturized my dinner from the night before, which I ate again last night:

Rotisserie chicken breast (NO skin!) brown rice with some parmesan cheese, and steamed veggies. Whoo-hoo! Just as good as the first time, LOL!

THEN, I had some coffee in a special cup:

(Yes, I’m like a little kid at Christmas time)   And yet another Banana Hammock:

On a special holiday plate! This one was a delicious as the one last night. Peanut butter, natural coconut, raisins, honey. YUMMY!!! Next time I would love to toast the coconut first. I think it would really add to the flavor!

Plan for today: head to the gym for BodyStep, bring puppy to PetSmart for a bath. Have a fantastic day my friends!

Tuesday Ramblings and Clean Food

Hello my friends Today is another busy day for me so I will make the rambling quick: I want you all to know that I CHOOSE to eat clean and to avoid preservatives in my diet. I CHOSE to have the food sensitivity test done, not because it’s a “diet”, but because my body, for ONE YEAR, has had issues with losing weight and retaining water, and my doctor thought I might have food sensitivities. I can gain up to 10 pounds of water weight after eating certain meals. 10 pounds! I think most of you will agree that anything beyond a pound or two (or even three) is not normal.  After a year of dealing with this, I am ready to try just about anything. It’s been a very frustrating year for me in this regard.  And I repeat, this is not a diet. I am not cutting or watching calories, or restricting foods (except for the ones I showed sensitivities to – and those will be added back into my diet in the future).  I am doing these things so that I can live a long, strong, life. Which is what I believe clean eating and working out will achieve.

I just wanted to make that absolutely clear, because I think there were some questions about why I eat the way I do.

Now, onto more fun topics such as food

This mornings breaky was different for me, because I strayed away from my normal oatmeal routine and ate yogurt instead, and some fruit. I LOVE Fage 2% yogurt with honey. It ROCKS!!!

And some peaches. I need to go to the store today and stock up on good-eats, I’m running low.

Lunch yesterday was boooring. Sorry! And I had wanted feta, but my feta was frozen so it was really boring. But I was stuffed full when I was done Salad, carrots, baked chicken, raisins and Cafe Geneva all natural dressing…(sugar and carb free, if you were wondering, and you can get it in the refrigerated section in the produce section in Publix). Plus, it ROCKS! YUMMY

“Boring” Salad

For a snack I had an Oatmeal Protein shake out of Tosca Reno’s Eat Clean Diet Cookbook: oatmeal, vanilla protein powder, peanut butter, skim milk, ground flax. I drank this right before I went to the gym and got my stress out in the 6:30pm Cardio Core class.  This class is taught by a kick-butt instructor who is the most motivating person I’ve met in a looong time In 52:56 I burned 426 calories at 26% fat. Not bad at all!

I was starving when I got home but I had to take care of the kids and the puppy. By the time I sat down to eat, it was around 8:30. Being that it was so late, I seared a piece of salmon in 100% maple syrup (1 Tb) and heated up my steamed veggies. My carb was Mary’s Gone Crackers.

It doesn’t look like a lot, but I had already started chowing down when I remembered to take the pic. Starving, I tell you! LOL! I also had some Kombucha Tea:

Now, for dessert, I made a “Banana Hammock”.   These are the creation of a fellow blogger, Chocolate-Covered Katie. I LOVE Katie’s creations!  My creation included a banana, unsweetened cocoa powder, raisins, natural peanut butter, and honey. Foodgasmic! I am definitely going to try to be creative with these for the next couple of days. Healthy and Yummy!

Sorry about the blurries!

I will leave you all with a picture of my NEW peanuts cup. My boys had one, and I found one at my local Publix I LOVE the Peanuts at Christmas time! Happy Tuesday!

Tuesday Tip of the Day: Bring your snacks with you! Some versatile snacks include almonds and raisins, celery and peanut butter, or clean eating granola bars. Easy and versatile, your snacks that you have throughout the day will stop you from bingeing later when you are super-hungry, as well as keep your blood sugar levels steady, reducing “junk food” cravings.