A Morning in the Life of Erin

Hello! 

Ever since I retired from my '08 Capital University Flip Cup team and traded in nati light cans for 8 cups of water a day, I've always wanted to be a full time food blogger and get a bunch of free t-shirts and gear from companies like Larabar and Oikos. But since that desire of mine belongs in the same category as my desire to marry Ryan Lochte, I decided to play pretend and try out the whole full-time food blogger gig part time for a day. 

So here we go... my Friday morning...

After watching Ryan Seacrest takeover the Today Show, I filled up my belly with a wholesome breakfast of peanut butter banana oatmeal and a cup two cups of coffee:

Yes, that coffee mug does say Mrs. Jacob Black. 

I made my oatmeal with half a banana and topped my oatmeal with some Uncle Sam cereal for a little added bonus crunch. I've seen this cereal on blogs everywhere, but finally found it at my Kroger (and on sale!)

 I love it because it has good flavor and an easy and short ingredient list:

I followed up breakfast with some water and my current supplements of the day:

Ligaplex for the ankle and Catalyn for my multivitamin.

I later headed out for my Day 1 of the Walk to Run program. Technically, since I just started it today, I should be only be walking for 30 minutes.... but I think I'm past that, actually, I know I'm past that, so I started my Day 1 with the Day 1 of Week 2. Confused yet?!
On schedule this morning was a 5.5. minute walk followed by a 30 second run, repeated 5 times.
This turned out to be exactly 30 minutes of activity and 2 miles covered.

It was hard to stop running only after 30 seconds. Very hard.

Since my 2 mile "workout" just wasn't quite doing it for me, I decided to take the bike for a spin - if I'm going to be serious about this whole triathlon business, I better get into the habit of handling a bike NOT bolted to the ground. My mode of transportation was this bad boy:

My mom's Murray All-Terrain Street Cycle. Oh yeah. Big Leagues.  

I'm pretty confident this bike used to have a baby seat on the back....which makes it..... old.

I got home and threw together a smoothie in a bowl for lunch. (Again, topped with some crunch that I apparently need in all my meals). This smoothie had spinach, greek yogurt, SP Complete powder, blubes, other half of my banana from breakfast and a few rogue strawberries.

There were also some behind the scene carrots and hummus. Whoops. Full-time food blogger fail already.

Stay tuned for my dinner post! It should be interesting.... 

Stay Healthy, 

Happy Belated St. Patrick's Day!

Good morning all! Hope everyone had a fantastic weekend and was able to get outside and enjoy the nice weather! I'd love to say that winter is over, but I'm still afraid of jinxing myself and waking up to 5 inches of snow tomorrow morning... you can never be so sure about central Ohio weather!

I would have loved to get this post up sometime over the weekend... Saturday in particular, but you know how life goes.... so that's why here at Everyday Eating, we're celebrating St. Patrick's day a few days late! 

I had all intentions of getting in a good 10 mile run to start off my weekend, but my physical therapist crushed those dreams early Friday morning. So instead of enjoying a post-run smoothie this past Saturday morning, I enjoyed a post-spinning class smoothie instead:

This smoothie contained:

• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• banana
• strawberries
• ice cubes
• almond milk
• lots of spinach for the green!
• and a sprinkle of pumpkin granola for some added crunch 

Ever tried eating a smoothie with a spoon? It's great, if you have the time of course... I strongly suggest you don't try this method while speeding to get to work on time in the morning. 

Here's another shot of my St. Patty's day breakfast: (check out those clovers. pretty skilled with the 10 year old point and shoot if you ask me......)

And because I'm a firm believer in everything in moderation.... here is the obligatory "green beer" picture of the weekend:

Yep. I have absolutely no desire to know how much green dye was used in the making of this St. Patrick's day beverage, hence the reason why I only chose to splurge on one.

I ended my Green weekend with a nice little Sunday afternoon lunch that included this bad guy below:

Looks gross, right? I read about the original recipe here: TwoPeasandTheirPod.

Basically all you do is smash up some avocado along with some chickpeas and some cilantro and spread it between two pieces of bread for a sandwich, or roll it up in a wrap with some spinach, as I did. 

Avocado and Chickpea Salad

the below measurements will yield about 3 or 4 sandwiches. if making for one, you can easily use enough ingredients for one serving

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas or garbanzo beans
• 1 large ripe avocado
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons chopped green onion
• Juice from 1 lime
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Bread of your choice 
• Fresh spinach leaves or other sandwich toppings: lettuce, tomato slices, sprouts, etc. 

How did you guys spend your St. Patrick's Day? Did anyone celebrate?

Stay Healthy,

p.s. how about 4 teams from Ohio making it to the sweet 16?!

The Anything and Everything Smoothie

I typically do my grocery shopping on Sundays, and although I curse my habit every time I walk in to the overcrowded store, I like knowing that I have everything I need for the work week ahead. So while this habit allows me to be prepared for the weekdays, it usually leaves me scrounging around for anything that still resembles food on Saturdays. 

This is where I found myself yesterday morning. 

I had just gotten back from a bitter cold 9 mile run and really wanted some warm oatmeal, only, just my luck, I had none...figures, right? 

Anyway, after taking some quick action I discovered a yogurt, some really old kale, half a banana and some leftover frozen blubes from my cleansing days. Perfect ingredients for a smoothie. Along with some SP Complete from the Standard Process line, I had the second best thing after oatmeal:

The Anything and Everything Smoothie:

I'd like to think everyone gets the idea of this smoothie, but for those who might have just gotten up and have yet to get their morning coffee... here are the directions:

*Find what you have in your kitchen, throw in your blender and blend! 

Stay Healthy,

Pumpkin Pie

Happy Friday everyone!

Today is my last day of the 21-day purification program which means, well... it means a couple different things:

    one: I drank over 42 shakes over the past few weeks            and...

    two: I finally get to enjoy my pre-run staple of peanut butter banana oatmeal

             

Okay, so I realize that the second statement has no value whatsoever to you guys, so lets get focused and concentrate on me drinking the 42 shakes - because not only is that a lot of shakes, but its also a lot of opportunities to play in the kitchen and play with my food...which led me to discover this little gem:

Pumpkin Pie Shake

- 2 scoops SP Complete

- half cup plain greek yogurt (1/2 cup water if on the purification program)

- half cup pumpkin

-1 banana

-pumpkin pie spice to taste

-splash of vanilla extract

Throw in a blender and enjoy!

have a happy and healthy weekend!