Category Archives: Breakfast

The Hollow Chicken

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Happy Friday! :)

I for one have been suffering from exhaustion all week and can’t wait for a nice, looooong 3-day weekend! (After the nice looong run I have planned for this afternoon. I’ll have a weekly workout round-up up tomorrow). We have big plans of birthday celebrating tonight, Pilates teacher training tomorrow, and then heading down the coast for the night on Saturday. Should be a great little weekend.

You all I know I live for breakfast. Not only is it the most important meal of the day, but more importantly, its delicious. I love all of the flavors – sweet or savory. I try to always be mindful of getting enough calories, protein, fiber, etc in at breakfast so that it sets the right tone for the rest of the day.

That’s why, when I recently discovered Anne’s blog (I’m not sure what rock I’ve been living under either) and saw all of her DELICIOUS recipes (I’ve printed out about 11 already), I knew I had to try her Simple Baked Oatmeal for on-the-go breakfasts.

And simple it was.

She’s currently getting her Master’s in Public Health/Nutrition, so you know these recipes are going to be good (and healthy!)

You can find her recipe here, and if you need further prodding to check it out, it looks like this:

And tastes amazing. Imagine it topped with Greek Yogurt, or fresh fruit. I made a batch last night, split it into ~8 servings, and then refrigerated it so that I can take it with me as breakfast at work, before Pilates, etc. This morning I microwaved it at the office, and added a spoonful of Peanut Butter to the top and it was so good I wished I had the foresight to pack all 8 servings with me. (Especially once the Peanut Butter met the warm oatmeal and got all melty and delicious.)

The only changes I made to her recipe?

  • Used 3T liquid egg whites (we were out of eggs)
  • Used dried cranberries (I despise raisins)
  • Used sliced raw almonds (no walnuts on hand)

Speaking of amazing. I don’t think I need to sell you on the most amazing creation we had for dinner last night. This meal was all boyfriend’s dreaming up, and I’ve already requested it as my birthday dinner (in November) this year. ;-)

The Hollow Chicken Sandwich


  • 2 Acme Bread sourdough rolls, hollowed out
  • Homemade sundried tomato pesto
  • Cowgirl Creamery Mt Tam Cheese
  • Thinly sliced apples (we used a mandolin)
  • TJ’s Pulled BBQ Chicken (any chicken will do)

We baked the entire sandwich at around 350* for 10 minutes and ohmygod it was amazing.

Especially when washed down with our last Sam Adams Octoberfest beer. Crisp, refreshing, delicious.

It goes from this (extra apple slices were made into apple chips, and the extra bread was converted into breadsticks for dipping into a balsamic/olive oil/lemon pepper combo):

To this:

And is so satisfying and tasty without being heavy at all. A must-make! (Or try your own combination… just bake the entire sandwich.)

What’s your favorite sandwich?

Any weekend plans?

 

 

 

Breaking the Fast

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If you’re like me, you eat dessert after dinner, don’t get nearly enough sleep during the week, and even after all of that you still wake up ready for breakfast.

I’m a huge, huge fan of breakfast foods. If it was up to me, we’d have breakfast for dinner at least once a week. Eggs, bagels, cereal, oatmeal, french toast, my beloved waffles with macadamia nuts and coconut syrup in Hawaii….I love it all.

My only requirement is that it be healthy, easy, and that I’m able to prep it in the morning, and take it with me to eat when I arrive at work. I drink a mug of black coffee while I get ready every morning, but in order to maximize sleep, breakfast gets eaten at work.

Typically I start the day with (surprise, surprise) a protein smoothie. It’s filling, I get both fruits and veggies, and it tastes delicious.You can add whatever you want, and experiment with different combinations until you get something delicious!

Like today’s Protein Smoothie Concoction – Strawberry Banana!

It’s virtually impossible to make that look appealing. Trust me, it tastes fantastic.

1c unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, 3 handfuls organic baby spinach, frozen strawberries, banana, 1.5 scoop Chocolate SunWarrior Protein Powder, 1T Chia Seeds

Some other (easy and healthy) week-day breakfast favorites?

Fruit, Cereal and Greek Yogurt

Full disclosure: I use 0% Greek Yogurt. The flavored kinds, while really tasty add a lot of sugar, which I don’t particularly want first thing in the morning. The fruit adds plenty of sweet flavor to offset the bitterness of the yogurt for me. If it’s still not sweet enough, a little agave or honey should do the trick!

(In a Chobani 6oz container the amount of sugar more than doubles from 7g in a 6oz 0% Plain to 19g in a 6oz 0% Apple Cinnamon.)

Whole Wheat English Muffin with Almond Butter, Banana, Honey, Cinnamon, Pumpkin Pie Spice

It’s completely important and necessary to use all components.

Starbucks Perfect Oatmeal

Tastes best when washed down with a non-fat latte.

Healthy Egg McMuffin

Scramble 2 eggs in a bowl, sprinkle Parmesan cheese, microwave covered with wax paper for 2 minutes (or until you hear the “pop!”), pile onto toasted Whole Wheat English Muffin, and top with whatever you have on hand (leftover chicken sausages, bacon, veggie bacon, etc)

With that, I’m starving, so it’s time to heat up my lunch!

What am I missing? Any favorite breakfast staples?

 

 

 

 

 

The Tuesday That Felt Like a Monday

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Hello hello!

Hope your day went well!

SF started off rainy/gloomy/cloudy, then the sun came out around 10:30am, and now we’re back to cloudy/gloomy/rainy.

Luckily it’s supposed to clear up by Thursday… the Blue Angels have some serious flying to do for Fleet Week this weekend!

By far one of the best weekends of the year in SF.

After our whirlwind double wedding weekend (If you’re at all interested in checking out the beautiful, beautiful weddings of our very good friends that we attended you can do so here and here) to say I’m exhausted is an understatement.

Friday = run 13.1 miles, work all day, errands, pre-wedding BBQ + bars = out until 3am

Saturday = sleep until 11, wedding at 4, out until 1am

Sunday = sleep until 11, leave for wedding at 1, wedding at 3, out until 1am

Monday = Smoothie King (the best smoothie place in the entire world) for breakfast, Plant Veggie Burger for lunch for me, sashimi for boyfriend, breakfast for dinner, do not leave couch all day long (60 minutes on the elliptical for cross-training for moi (weights for boyfriend) and Trader Joe’s for groceries as the only exception)

After drinking my body weight in champagne, prosecco, wine, beer, and liquor this weekend, I’m sure I smelled like a mixture of a brewery/distillary/vineyard as I sweated out 75% of my water supply on the elliptical last night.

I digress. It was so, so worth it. :)

I woke up this morning ready feeling completely not-rested, but ready for some nutrients.

Obviously a smoothie was in the works for breakfast.

1.5 c Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk (I’ve been using this in lieu of regular milk because I think it tastes delicious in smoothies, really no other reason)

1 Scoop Chocolate Sun Warrior Protein Powder

Frozen Blueberries

Handful of Spinach

Packet of Starbucks Via Italian Roast

It was exactly what I needed to start the day after a weekend of indulging!

Post work, I sucker-punched my to-do list:

  • completed 4 miles on the treadmill (it was raining and I had a new Us Weekly to read… my priorities are in check)
  • went to a Pilates Reformer class and got my booty kicked (literally)
  • 4th load of laundry is currently in our extremely overpriced washing machine (goodbye $20 in quarters) :(
I’m watching Glee and I’m a bit underwhelmed. Mr. Schuster singing makes me cringe and just feel generally uncomfortable. Can we all agree that he doesn’t get to sing with the high school kids anymore? It’s just creepy.
Britney however, was fantastic, as usual.

Time for New Girl! It just got picked up for the full season and I could not be more excited. This show is GOLDEN. 9pm Fox.

I promise you will not be disappointed. (If you are, I take zero responsibility.)

Have a great night!

6am Should Be Illegal

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This morning, I got up at 6am.

6am.

 

 

That would be <7 hours of sleep last night. And I mention that because  I have the sleep needs of a 5-year old and need at least 8 hours/night. (An afternoon nap would make me even happier.)

Getting up when it’s still dark out  (running I will make an exception for) should be illegal.

I work East Coast accounts at work, had an early call this morning, and knowing the state of SF’s bus system (seriously Muni, it’s time to pull it together), I allowed extra time to get to work, grab a coffee and prepare for my call.

Fun Fact – pre-7am the bus runs every 25 minutes instead of every 5 minutes. I walked up to the corner and what do you know, missed the bus by about 2.7 seconds as it drove, empty, by me.

After silently thinking about 11 curse words and then thinking for a moment how much I despise the bus system, I hailed a cab and was driven to work in the worst smelling vehicle (it was like B.O. and onions in there) of all time.

And had to pay $12 for it.

Happy Wednesday to me! ;-)

Since I left for work in the dark and wanted to avoid turning on the jet motor (aka our blender) to make a smoothie  and wake boyfriend up at the same ungodly hour that I was up at (misery doesn’t love company at 6am, even misery wants him to be able to sleep in later), I decided it was a Starbucks kind of morning.

 

 

It’s amazing how a Skinny Vanilla Latte and Oatmeal can turn a morning around.

Busy day at work today… time to get to it! Hope you have a lovely Wednesday! (Half-way there!)

5 Down, Infinity To Go

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Happy Wednesday! We’re officially halfway through the work week!

My morning started off in a particularly energizing way…

Per the training plan…. a 5 mile run.

It was a beautifully foggy San Francisco morning out, the air was damp, there was a light breeze, and several runners out with their dogs (I need one). I ran by the Golden Gate Bridge and the fog was so thick you literally couldn’t even see it.

Source

My legs felt heavy at first (thank you lunges and squats last night!) but loosened up after a mile or so and overall (especially mentally!) I felt great… enough to push it hard the last mile (7:57!) and finish strong. Something I want to be able to do in the marathon.

I keep reminding myself that I’m training to race, not racing to train. I’m hoping it sticks soon.

Productive morning? Check.

I came home in need of both protein (hello smoothie you old dog!) and coffee.

Why not kill 2 birds with 1 stone?

Enter legit Blueberry Mocha Smoothie! (Apparently I think I have enough cred to use words like legit on this blog.)

  • 1 C 1% Milk
  • 1 (heaping) scoop Vanilla Elite Whey Protein Powder
  • 2 t Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
  • Frozen Blueberries
  • 1 packet Starbucks Via Extra Bold Instant Coffee

Yesplease.

It was chocolatey, coffee, blueberry heaven. I will be making this every day for the rest of 2011 (or until I find something else to mix instant coffee with.) I got the packet at Starbucks the other day as a sample, figuring I was never going to just pour it into a cup and stir it into water… so as I was prepping my smoothie, I eyed it in the cabinet and just went with it.

So worth it! :-)

It was pretty too.

Obviously not high on my priority lists since my smoothies look like sludge every morning… but I’ll take it!

Off to get some work done… have a great day! :)