Spinning = Popcorn?

Is it wrong that I’m still drooling over last night’s Mexi pasta?  Man that stuff is good.  I’ve made a few different versions now and this one hit-the-spot!  There are leftovers that I am restraining from.  GAH!

Today was the usual Trader Joes Costa Rican coffee (love TJs!!!) with cinnamon in the coffee grounds and 1 packet naturally flavored apple cinnamon oatmeal with 1 tbsp raisins.  I can never get enough oatmeal or oats.  So freakin’ delicious, and filling.  Yesterday when I had my fruity cottage cheese for breakfast, I was hungry 2 hours later.  What’s up with that?

Ahhh, sweet nectar of life

Raisin and oatmeal marriage

Lunch was more carbs, which is so not the norm for me, but I’ve been dying to try out Justin’s Maple Almond Butter that Courtney has on her blog (Thanks Courtney!).  I was actually giddy when I found these cute single serving packets at Whole Foods and snagged a couple maple and also a couple cinnamon PB packets.  I wanted to use the last of the Orowheat thins too, so I see a perfect sandwich in the makin’

Maple + Nut Butter = Happy

Is this a balanced meal?  Nope, sure isn’t, but I do have more fruit and cottage cheese for my afternoon snack.  I like to space out all my food into mini snacks throughout the day, because no matter how much or how well I eat at any given meal, I need to eat again 2 hours later.  Yes, I am like an infant!

Midday I also did a quick run to TJ’s to pick up goodies for Girls’ Night on Friday.  Going to this store makes me very, very happy and I feel sad for those that don’t have the luxury of their own TJs (like my Mom in FL!).  I didn’t know about this wonderous little store until I moved to Cali and for the first 2 years of grad school, I did not once step food (ha..typo…I meant foot!) inside.  I thought it was too ‘granola-y’.  Then while I lived in LA (Redondo Beach) for the next 2 years, I couldn’t get enough of the place.  What had I been missing?  They have such interesting food, nuts/seeds galore, tons of veggies, Smart Tofu dogs (yum!), Tofuttis, etc etc.  AND they’re cheap!  Winning

So yup, midday run to TJs, then a quick walk for Naava (she still is wearing a cone from her surgery and does not appreciate the snickering from other neighborhood doggies).   Back to work until it was time to go Spinning!

But, first I must tell you what HORRIBLE thing my boss did.  He brought me a bag of Jelly Belly candy corns, pumpkin ‘corns,’ and cinnamon ‘corns.’   Darn him for trying to sabotage my healthy eating because lemme tell ya, I love this kind of candy.  I bought at least 5 bags pre-Halloween and portioned myself out 150 calories worth per day for the months of October and November.  Guess I have a sweet tooth, huh?  Well anyway, this bag of candy was on my chair when I arrived at 7a and stared me in the face ALL DAY!  I was good and only had a small handful — I rationalized that the sugar would help me spin faster

Never thought I’d be a ‘spinner’ mostly because I am not in love with bike riding (hurts my bootay!).  But a couple of years ago, I got a really nice roadbike and admittedly really enjoyed biking in the SF Bay Area amongst Redwoods and canopy covered streets.  Anywho, I tried spinning a few months back and found myeslf enjoying it, particularly when the music set gets me pumpin’.

Today’s class was fantastic!  It went by much faster than normal and I attribute it to a great music set that started with “Good Girls Gone Bad” (still singing it in my head)

What does spinning have to do with popcorn?  Well on certain workout nights, I really like to have popcorn as my dinner.  It sounds unhealthy and weird, I’m sure, but I love the idea of noshing on something for nearly 45 minutes, but not consuming hundreds and hundreds of calories.  It brings me joy   I’ll eat some veggies too, so no worries.  Oh and that glass of vino has antioxidants, so I’m covered!

What do you eat that’s no so good for you?

My vices are (in no particular order): holiday candies, Reeses PB cups, plain PB, VINO, Starbucks, SmartPop popcorn, all Mexi food, pizza… and the list could go on!

Shrink the stomach time

After a long holiday weekend, my stomach is due for some major shrinking so I can go back to my normal caloric intake for the day (~1400 cals).

For breakfast I did fruity cottage cheese with cantaloupe and green grapes.  Growing up, my Grandma (Mom’s Mom) would scoop the innards out of the cantaloupe and put the cottage cheese directly in, and then top it with additional fruit.  So yummy and refreshing!

A fruity breakfast

Lunch was the small portion of coleslaw I had left and 2 funfetti cake cookies (shhh, don’t tell).  For my snack later, I had a Nugo Dark — my vegan protein bar delight

After work and after takin’ the dog for a walk, I whipped up a green…err, brown…monster.  In it went, 1/2 cup frozen spinach, 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 medium banana, and 1 tbsp dark chocolate whey protein powder.  It was a little runny, but quite tasty!

Brown 'Green' Monster

Hunger had been getting the best of me all day and I knew that my orowheat thin veggie sandwich wouldn’t cut it for din-din.  So I snooped around to see what I could create and Mexi pasta it is!  My ingredients are less ‘fresh’ than I’d like them, but in a pinch, they’ll do   Oh and everything is sort of eyeballed since it’s a no fuss recipe.

Whole Wheat Rotini Pasta (2-3 cups (ish))
1 can diced tomatoes Shoot, no diced tomatoes…did peas instead
1 can sweet corn (no salt added)
1 lighlty sautéed red onion
1/4 cup cilantro
1/3 cup fat free cottage cheese
Packet taco seasoning (if available)
Mexi shredded cheese
Milk
Tapatio sauce
1 can black beans (optional)
Cook the pasta al dente and while you  sauté the onion. Drain your corn and your beans (keep the tomato juices). Simple tip: always wash your canned beans. This prevents undesirable bean effects later Throw everything (minus cheese, milk, and sauce) into a 9×9 casserole dish (or you can do a 9×13 and just have a shallow pasta). Stir everything up. Then drizzle about 1/2 cup skim milk over the mixture for some moisture. Douse that puppy with Tapatio (unless you’re a wuss and then go easy) and top it with some ground black pepper and whatever else you desire! Throw it in the oven at 375 for about 20-25 minutes (covered). Remove from oven, top it with as much mexi cheese as you like and bake uncovered for another 10-15 minutes. Wa-la! Mexi pasta.

Love me some onions!

Rinse those beans!

All mixed up, pre-baking

Other options for add-ins are sautéed veggies (bell peppers, zucchini, squash, etc), chicken sausage, and jalapenos. You can top it with crumbled tortilla chips for some texture.

Holy tasty goodness! Yay for Mexi Pasta!

Enjoy

Another tip: pack your lunch the night before.  Saves soooo much time and headache.  I even pack my breakfast since I tend to eat that at 9a.  A cute lunchbag always helps!

Houndstooth lunchbag (and Naava appearance)