In today’s “What I Ate Wednesday” WIAW post, I will attempt to do something I rarely do here on the SHLB: keep it short and simple!
Tonight, I’ll be getting on a train to NYC to stay with my brother and his wife, and tomorrow morning, I’ll be getting on a plane to “Home-aha,” where I’ll be until next Wednesday. I couldn’t be more excited, but of course, being gone for a week means there are many things today before I leave!
So, let’s start with breakfast. Yesterday, me and the BF woke up at the ridiculously early time of 4:30. He had a 6:00 plane to catch to Dallas for work, and I stupidly volunteered to drive him to the airport. He’ll be flying straight from Dallas to Omaha, so I’m looking forward to seeing him on Thursday.
After dropping him off at 5:15, I had one thing on my mind: coffee. Thankfully I have discovered that everywhere I go on the east coast, somehow, a Dunkin Donuts will just pop up out of nowhere. It’s like a coffee miracle.
You never let me down…
I parked my butt on the couch to watch some old Food Network shows and wake up while drinking my cinnamon iced coffee and nibbling on an old favorite, the DD reduced fat blueberry muffin.
“What Am I drinking??” Lots of coffee today. That’s for sure.
Yeah, I forgot to take a picture before I started eating the muffin top. Ooops.
Breakfast Times Two
Since I was up so early, I took advantage of the slightly cooler weather (75 degrees) and leashed up the pup for a 3 mile run. By the end, he was still hot and practically begging me to jump into the neighborhood pool.
“Mom, can I PLEASE go for a swim?!”
Sadly, they don’t allow dogs in the pool. Poor pup! We need to get him a doggy pool!
After our run, it was only 7:00, so I did some work and a few things around the house. Then, I headed to my new regular Tuesday kickboxing class, which is quickly becoming one of my favorites. I was a bit tired, so I didn’t “feel the burn” like I usually do. After my workout, I sat in the gym cafe (free internet) for a bit and worked on a few things. While I worked, I sipped on a strawberry banana smoothie, breakfast #2!
Who says you can’t have 2 breakfasts?
When you wake up at 4:30, you’re definitely entitled to 2 breakfasts. The smoothie wasn’t anything to write home about, but it did the job.
Around 1:00, the “wall” started to hit me, so I threw together some lunch, a filling leftover combo from Monday’s dinner of sweet potato and mixed cooked greens. My meal was topped with generous portions of feta cheese, salsa, and greek yogurt (my sour cream).
Messy and delicious.
I can’t get enough of leftovers! Some people cook a huge meal, throw the leftovers in their fridge and never see them again. I actually look forward to eating my leftovers the next day! I find the flavors have usually set in a bit more.
Smart Snacking
As is customary when I’m extremely tired, the day consisted of many snacks to keep me going. I tried to keep them as nutritional as possible!
First, I ate this new Chobani Flip, Peachy Pistachio at around 2:30.
Where do they come up with these flavors? #WTFlavor
Definitely my new favorite Flip! The creamy peach yogurt complements the dark chocolate and pistachio mix-ins perfectly. None of the flavors are overpowering. This will most certainly be making a regular appearance in my grocery list.
Then, I noshed on some mixed fresh veggies around 4:00.
Fresh. crisp. delish.
Finally, I finished off my day of nutritional snacks with these babies: Blue Diamond Strawberry Almonds.
Can’t go wrong.
I actually saw these in my Instagram feed and just HAD to have them. I like almonds plain, so if they are topped with sugary strawberry goodness, all the better. Go.buy.these.now.
Cookies for Dinner?
Around 6:00, it was time to do some baking. Our very kind friends will be watching the pup until Russ returns on Sunday, so I baked some cookies to show our appreciation.
Like the BF, these friends prefer nice and plain cookies, without too many Sometimes Healthy twists. One specifically requested that I bake a cookie with dark chocolate and toffee next time, so I obliged. I used my Firecracker Cookie recipe, substituting in the mixers.
Bring it on, toffee!
Somehow, sprinkles also found their way into this cookie. Oops.
Everything’s better with sprinkles!
I was very happy with the final product!
A whole lotta cookies!
(And so was Cole, sneaky little dog. Ever since he ate my quinoa pancakes, I’ve had my eye on him. I had to scold him a bit when he tried to eat my precious cookies!)
Who, me? I didn’t try to eat your cookies. I’m an ANGEL!
I nibbled on one cookie, but tried not to go crazy, as I still hadn’t eaten dinner!
Dinner = Messy Taco Salad
By the time dinner rolled around at 7:30, I was officially exhausted. There was no way I was doing any cooking. Enter messy monster taco salad.
No frills salad here folks!
Leftover Mediterranean chicken from Sunday, fresh corn and bean salsa from the store, cornbread croutons, avocado, cheese and greek yogurt.
It was huge, crunchy and satisfying. Perfect for a night on my own watching my favorite show: Extreme Makeover Weight Loss Edition. As I mentioned last week, I can’t get enough of this show. This week, I only cried two times, which is a new record low for me.
And, what goes better with a weight loss show than ice cream? This was my dessert.
Goldfish swimming in ice cream? Yes please
Am I the only person that watches weight loss shows, while eating ice cream? I’m not sure why this always happens…
Now, it’s time to get packin’! I’m already thinking about the snacks I’ll be buying at the airport. For some reason, I always look forward to the ritual of buying sugary snacks and trashy magazine at the airport (I usually enjoy them with a cocktail…I hate to fly, more on that later.)
When the BF went to China last month, I made him a flying care package.
All the essentials for a long plane ride!
Rice Krispie treats, Pop Tarts, Goldfish, Dark Chocolate Kisses and Swedish Fish. Now, that’s what I call a quality care package!
Off to get ready for my journey. Country Roads…take me home!
(P.S.: I’ll check in on Friday…the last post before the big 3-0!)
(P.P.S: So much for being a short post…I tried!)
YOUR TURN:
What your favorite flying snack? I gotta’ go with Swedish Fish, followed by pretzels.
Thoughts on Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition? Chris Powell is my cheesy celeb crush. I’ll admit it.
Lookin’ good, friend!
-Ashley @Chobani
Thanks for reading. Love love the new flavors!
I make my teddy grams swim in ice cream all the time! 🙂
ohhh great idea! I need to get back into Teddy Grahams. They’re almost as good as goldfish 🙂
Yay for the Omaha shoutout!! 😉
And I REALLY want to try those almonds. They sound super tasty.
They are sugary and delicious – you must try! There is NO place like Nebraska – we both know that!
Have a great trip!!!!! 🙂
Thanks so much!
I love a lot of things about this. First is that Chobani commented. That DD coffee and then the smoothie sounds delicious. I hadn’t heard of that new flip flavor. But just when I think I’ve tried them all or have heard of them all, new flavors pop up. And yes, everything is better with sprinkles. 🙂 Taco salad is my favorite and now my mouth is watering. Andddddddd I love that you watch extreme weight loss while eating ice cream. The best. I keep meaning to watch that in hopes of inspiring me in my fitness journey (wait i hate myself for that sentence, so cheesy) but I keep missing it. have a great trip!
Love that we have so much in common 🙂 I can’t get enough about the Chobani flavors and am just so impressed with their social media team. If everything is better with sprinkles, maybe Chobani will come up with a flip flavor that has sprinkles??? Definitely watch the show – you can’t walk away without a little inspiration.