…the the return of spicy oats!  

Oats, Eggs, Morning Star Sausage and boat load of Frank’s Hot - I can’t think of a better way to start off a Monday!

Over the weekend – I picked up 3 bags of edamame at TJ’s since I now know I LOVE IT….

…which I was SO excited to eat for my snack on Monday, that I actually chowed down this many:

Before I remembering to take a pic! 

At lunch, I ran some quick errands and then over to my friend’s house to eat – and had a Smart Ones Mac & Cheese…

with a Pacific Rose apple (suggestion of Veggie Girl!  so glad I took it!), and a tomato.

Afternoon snack:  cottage cheese with Frankie’s – and an orange

Dinner – Gliding Calm tofu – YUM!  I seriuosly can’t get enough of this stuff!

I convinced Mike to try some last night – and his direct quote regarding the texture of tofu:  “It tastes like I just bit into a gym mat” – hey – at least he tried!  More for me!!!

While waiting for the tofu to cook – I think I may have munched on just about everything in the kitchen!  Carrots with a little ranch, more edamame, pretzels with some BnPB – you name it!

For “dessert” while watching House (god – I LOVE THAT SHOW) – I had some Chocolate PB and pretzels – TASTY TASTY!

This morning – we were out of eggs (I was in desperate need of a “staple” grocery store run) – so I had breakfast at home – some PB Puffins!

Here’s the Soy Milk I use – I’ve been talking about it alot lately to a few friends and family members – so I thought I’d post what it looks like so they can find it!

Lunch today – I made a quick trip to Aldi to buy those “staples” we needed: bread, eggs, lettuce, cheese – etc…which meant I only had time for another “Smart Ones”.  While they are so super easy – I really do prefer eating a nice huge, natural salad – but oh well – what can ya do!  Here’s my “Pasta Primavera”:

and I polished off the rest of my CC:

and polished of my 1st bag of edamame for my snack!

I have to give a really quick shout out to my baby brother (who I know doesn’t even read…but hey – I can pretend).  He’s training to be a fire fighter, and just had his final phsyical test this weekend to see if he “passes” and makes it into the academy.   Not only did he pass – BUT HE GOT THE FASTEST TIME IN THE CLASS!!!!  2 minutes and 32 seconds.  There are multiple portions to the test (you may have seen something similar on TV – they televise the Fire Fighter Combat challenges) – but here’s a few shots of him during the test – running with a charged hose (can’t remember the distance he had to run):

On the Kieser machine (the part of the test that can string you up for the longest!):

YOU ROCK TIM!  I’m super proud of you, and I know you’ll be an amazing Fire Fighter!!

Happy Monday lovelies!

Sorry for not posting yesterday – I ended up being quite the busy gal!

Saturday night – Mike and I were just going to hang and relax…but we we both sat down to do so – we realized we wanted to go to McGinty’s (a bar about .5 mile from our house) and have some $2 Strongbow drafts:

I’m telling you – (I know Caitlin knows!) – Strongbow is addicting it’s so delicious!  Especially the draft – like delicious alcoholic juice!! 

Since hitting up TJ’s and WF’s Saturday – we were pretty well stocked for a good breakfast Sunday morning.  I whipped up my favorite breakfast sandwich – with one fun new addition:

WF’s Caramelized Onion Hummus!  This stuff is phenomenal (although very potent with the onions – Mike didn’t want to come near me all day!)  I bought this container Saturday – and it was gone by Sunday afternoon!!! 

Here’s the breakfast sammich…

…with an egg, Morning Star sausage, slice of low cal cheese, and caramelized onion hummus – A.M.A.Z.I.N.G!  I washed breakfast down with this tea that my friend Steph turned me on to:

It’s really nice and “refreshing” – the peppermint flavor it just fabulous!

After hanging out Sunday morning, and having a quick walk with Princess Lander – Mike and I went up to one of the specialty grocery stores in the area to take advantage of their kick ass salad bar!   Here’s what I ended up with:

This sucker was so good! I had a salad with banana peppers, regular peppers, cucumbers, chick peas and celery, as well as some crab meat (I know it’s fake but I LOVE the stuff), broccoli salad (which I could live off of for the rest of my life if necessary), and some pasta salad!

For the second week in a row, I had big exciting plans on Sunday – this time – it was out to dinner and the Cavs game with my parents and youngest brother!   We tried out a new restaurant in the area:

56 West – the place was really cool (very small inside) – but the menu had a lot of really neat options, and everything they serve is local grown or made, and fresh or organic – so there was really no way to go wrong with this place! 

We started off with an appetizers:

I can’t remember the name of it – but there were 3 different spreads – herbed goat cheese, olive tapenade, and tomato relish – all three were fantastic!

For my meal, I got the “Walk on the Beach“:

Ahi tuna with asian slaw and wasabi mayonnaise:

The sandwich itself was fantastic – although the bun was way too large for my liking (even though it was whole wheat which made me happy).  You could also special order sweet potato fries, which we did – here’s the order my mom and I split:

Everything at this place was just perfect – and it wasn’t “expensive” either!  A lot of the places that offer more unique menu items seem to be outrageously priced anymore – but this place wasn’t – I’m totally taking Mike there the next chance we get!

Then it was off to the Cavs game, where we had really sweet seats!

That’s not even zoomed in!  The game was a total blow out – the Cavs were up by 31 points at one point in the game!  But it was still super fun to watch.

I also wanted to show you guys something that freaks me out terribly at all the games:

These flames shoot out (I snapped the pic right as it started – it gets MUCH bigger) – and no matter where you are sitting, you feel the searing heat on your face – I’m just TOTALLY not okay with large, huge flames INSIDE OF DOORS!  

Anyhow – that’s about it!  

I can’t believe it’s already the last week of February – this month has just FLOWN by!   St. Patty’s Day and then Spring will be here before you know!   Have a great week!

I can’t even believe I just said that!

But it’s true!  I ran my “long run” today – 7 miles, the farthest I have ever run in my life!  And it felt great! Next Saturday is 8 miles, and I’m sooo ready to take it on! 

Last night, when I got home, I took Landy on a walk – and then decided dinner “in” was the best option – so I took a look at what I had and came up with a “meal”…

I thawed some frozen shrimp, and roasted some veggies:

(I ate A LOT of the broccoli as I was waiting for the noodles to finish!) 

Then combined the shrimp, beans, and broccoli with some pasta!  Here’s the finished dish!

We topped it with TJ’s Organic Vodka sauce – one of the best sauces you could ever get out of a jar!

Then we watched Zack and Miri - which was funny – but not one of the better movies that Seth Rogan has been in lately.  We started to watch Religulous with Bill Maher, but only one of us made it through to the end! 

This morning – I made my 2nd batch of stove-top oats ever.  I went with the “Heart Healthy” serving again – and I have to be honest – it’s TOO much food for me in the morning – next time I’m just making 1/2 cup.

I didn’t just make “oats” – I made Spicy oats! 

I didn’t have any Morning Star sausage, so I went with 2 eggs, a scoop of cottage cheese, dried chives, and some hot sauce.  Still totally hit the spot, although it would have been better with the sausage.

I found between last week’s long run, and my run today – that eating a big bowl of oats, and having a huge cup of coffee, about an hour and 1/2 before I run – works wonders for my stamina and energy!

For lunch, Mike and I ran some errands, and then stopped at Applebee’s.  (I know – again!) 

They had this great “2 for 2o” deal where you get an appetizer and 2 entrees for 20 bucks – so that’s what we chose!

We started with boneless buffalo wings:

I had about 4, and then ate all the celery! 

My entree was the Fiesta Lime Chicken:

I could NOT get over how HUGE the plate was!  I ate about 2/3rds of the chicken (didn’t touch the rice – it was gross!) – and then gave the rest to Miguel who had been eye-ing it up the whole time I was eating it!

After a quick TJ’s trip – it was off to meet my friend, and quite possibly the nicest, kindest, most generous, fabulous food blogger there is out there – VEGGIE GIRL!

We had a great time visiting, and catching up – and she was even so generous as to bring me a few pieces of the PB pretzel blondies (you know you are jealous!) she just posted about this week!  I honestly began drooling when I saw them!

If you can see – there are 3 big pieces, and 1 teeny tiny one.  That “teeny tiny” piece was originally big – but I just COULDN’T wait to get home to try them – I broke int the deliciousness while I was driving!!!!  

It was SOOOOOO WORTH IT! TDF!  Thanks again Miss VG! 

That’s all she wrote – now I’m off to enjoy some rest and relaxation with Miguel and Landrew (lol – Mike’s new nickname for Lando)!  Have a great Saturday!