Well I gave my legs a rest today, but my mouth – not so much. I had good food all day long and didn’t hold back on anything. I don’t know why, but some days I’ll be really good about practicing self control when it comes to food and other days I’ll just eat whatever the heck I want. My meals weren’t so bad – it was the in-between snacking that was just out of control. Like 3 bowls of cereal after work out of control. Did I need that? No. Did I eat it anyway? Yes. I’m starting to see a pattern with a certain time of the month. Figures. Oh, and it most often happens on days when I don’t workout, which is sort of weird too. It’s almost like all I think about is what I’m going to eat next and it makes me incredibly inefficient. For example, I’ll be trying to get something done at work and then all of the sudden I’ll get distracted by the snacks I have in my desk. Or I’ll walk into my house with the intention of just grabbing shoes, but stop to toast a piece of homemade bread before I leave…like I’m never going to get a chance to eat again. So dumb.
All jokes aside, I seriously get the urge to snack for about 3 days before that dreaded time of the month. I’ve been justifying my snacking today by the fact that it’s all been “healthy” (until the ice cream). I didn’t document the snacking since it was sort of impulsive but I did document my meals, which were all really good!
Breakfast
I made a Mint Chocolate Banana Smoothie for the car ride to work.
Ingredients
- 5-10 ice cubes
- 2 handfuls of baby spinach
- 1 banana
- 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
- a few swirls of agave nectar (to taste – if it’s too bitter, the sweet agave will balance it out)
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder (I probably would have used chocolate, but I was all out)
- 1/2 a cup vanilla soy milk (add more if it’s not blending well)
- TINY bit of peppermint extract (watch out, a little goes a LONG way)
- pinch of xanthan gum
This was my first try with this smoothie and I really really liked it. Def will be making again.
Lunch
I decided to make a salad with some of the tofu I bought on Monday that I’ve been avoiding because I don’t really know how to cook it. All I did was “fry” 1/4 of a block of extra firm tofu in EVOO and seasoned both sides with fresh cracked pepper and cumin. It didn’t take long at all. I’m not sure exactly how long, but I had time to put together the rest of the salad while it cooked – maybe 5 minutes on each side.
I added 1/2 avocado (cubed), a few grape tomatoes, manchego cheese shreds and fresh basil before I topped with the tofu and drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar. The flavors were amazing and the salad was totally satisfying. The fresh basil really added the extra kick.
When I got home from work, I found out that there were some funky things goin’ on with my phone – like texts from my number that I wasn’t writing. Spending time at Verizon on a Friday afternoon is not cool. SO, the stress of that might or might not have contributed to the multiple bowls of cereal I consumed. I don’t usually take up eating when I’m stressed, but today I think I did. Oh well, everything is all worked out now! What can ya do?
Dinner
My mom cooked an AMAZING dinner tonight that my dad and I requested she remember so she can make it again. See, she has this natural ability to just whip up anything without a recipe. She’s also really good at putting meals together where every dish compliments the next.
She asked me to pick up “any type of meat”, so I went to the Fresh Market and picked up a couple of yellowfin tuna steaks and some arugula…that was it. And this is what ended up on our plates:
Grilled sweet and spicy yellowfin tuna on top of arugula with tomato mozzarella stacks and spicy sweet potato matchsticks. Wow. It seriously was amazing. The spicy arugula paired SO well with the tuna, which she marinated in a sweet sauce that she just threw in a ziploc bag and made by taste.
In the bag went: soy sauce, orange juice, canned pineapple, red pepper flakes, sugar and maybe a couple more spices? She let the tuna sit in the bag for around 30 minutes before throwing them on the grill.
Perfection. I have no idea how long it took to grill, but it seriously was perfectly cooked and the fish absorbed every bit of flavor from the marinade. She boiled the leftover marinade in a small pot and added some jelly to make a glaze – which she added when she put the pieces on our plates.
The tomato mozzarella stacks were amazing because of the tomatoes. They were from a farm in Western NC and were absolutely perfect.
She seasoned the spicy sweet potato matchsticks with Hungarian paprika, fresh cracked pepper, EVOO and baked in the oven on 400 for around 10 minutes.
You know a meal goes well together when the best bite is everything stacked:
Please note Jack begging for a bite of my mom’s food in the background…
Anyway, this meal beat anything we could have gotten at a restaurant tonight. I did make dessert, but it deserves it’s own post because it was that good. Plus I’m exhausted and going to bed now. I love not having anything to do on a Friday night…sleeping in tomorrow…ahhhhh. Toots!
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