Lunch

Surprise Early Lunch

As a result of getting out of class about an hour an a half early I came home and made an equally early lunch! For all you meat eaters—you must make this sandwich!!!!!! I used 2 ounces of applegate farms organic, nitrate free ham, 1 ounce of gruyere cheese and tsp honey mustard. I sandwiched all that between two slices of rudi’s organic honey sweet bread and toasted it on the stove, panini-style. IT WAS SO GOOD!!!! I LOVE gruyere cheese! And the honey mustard was the perfect thing! I had it with the rest of my cashew carrot ginger soup that I opened last week (Pacific brand organic soups) as well as one of the last clementines.  I also had a piece of black licorice for dessert.

P.s-black licorice is my absolute favorite “candy”. I keep a baggie of the small black licorice scottie dogs in the back of my pantry and eat one of them when the sweet urge hits! This lunch was perfect and I feel full and satisfied but not weighted down.

On my way to school this morning I had an apple and 6 almonds….thought I was going to have to wait til 1:30 to eat lunch but I lucked out and ate at 11:30! I probably would have been fine with no snack at all, seeing as my oats this morning really held me over.

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About 533 calories.

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On my way to school with new hair! It doesn’t even fit under my chef hat!

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  • Lisa
    January 28, 2008 at 4:58 pm

    aww the hair is so cute! I got married last June and a couple months after I just wanted to chop my hair off for something fun and different! At first I didn’t like b/c it was really short and all one length ( I need layers in my hair!) but after about a month or so it grew out a little and now I really like the short do! It takes less time to fix in the morn!!

  • Katie
    January 28, 2008 at 5:12 pm

    It’s adorable, Jenna!

    I wanted to thank you again for turning me on to steel cut oats. Ever since I made my first bowl the other morning, there is no turning back for me. Honestly, it only takes 10 additional minutes (unattended) on the stove top, w/ no presoaking necessary. (I guess I’ll have to make a big batch of that granola now, to use up all of my rolled oats that I used to make for breakfast.)

    Thanks a million!

  • jenna
    January 28, 2008 at 5:13 pm

    Your welcome!! i like to make several batches of steel cut at night then I have them ready to eat all week long! Its SO easy!

    Thanks for the hair comments!!

  • Amy
    January 28, 2008 at 5:38 pm

    Why fage?

    Is there a reason everyone loves fage so much? I feel like I am missing something. To me its lower in calcium, which was a major benefit of eating yogurt.

  • Annie
    January 28, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    This question is for anyone who might know the answer. I have always heard that your metabolism doesnt “start” working untill youve eaten some sort of protein, so for the past probly 2 years, I have been eating eggs, or fage, or cottage cheese for breakfast, avoiding oatmeal and things like that because they dont have much protein. But now that its cold out, and everyone seems to be loving the oatmeal for breakfast thing, I am really starting to wonder if any of this is true.
    Do you need to have a lot of protein at breakfast to start your metabolism, or do you just need to eat? Thanks to anyone who might be able to help!

  • aimee
    January 28, 2008 at 5:44 pm

    Fage isn’t an all-the-time yogurt purchase for me because of the cost, so I usually alternate between Dannon natural and Stoneyfield brands.. Fage just tastes a little more decadent than regular yogurt and I love the texture and weight of it. I add a little trail mix and honey and it’s perfect for breakfast or with lunch. Plus there are still active cultures in it even if it is lower in calcium, and the protein content is still high.. there are many other ways besides yogurt to get calcium in one’s diet.

    And Jenna, that haircut is so cute. I think it might be time for a bob when I go to the hairdresser in a couple months!

  • Mandy
    January 28, 2008 at 6:14 pm

    Jenna –

    I am fairly new to your blog – I LOVE IT, btw! 🙂 But had to chime in and say your hair is adorable!!!!!!

  • Lisa
    January 28, 2008 at 6:14 pm

    Aimee (and anyone else who has input), I saw you like to buy Dannon natural yougurt. I love that stuff but just saw that it had 33g of sugar/cup for the vanilla flavor!! Do you buy the plain flavor? I normally buy the vanilla and was wondering if the plain yogurt would have less sugar. I was upset when I saw that…and I happend to buy two of big containers b/c they were on sale and I love making smoothies with it. Is the 33g of sugar normal? I’ve never noticed it before! I’m tempted to give the other container to my mom b/c she loves the stuff and isn’t that caught up on the sugar contents. When buying yougurt is buying the plain kind key to keeping the sugar contents down?

  • hk
    January 28, 2008 at 6:19 pm

    definitely stick with plain yogurt….it’s a little bit of getting used to, but it’s delicious!! there’s usually about 5-8g of sugar, but it’s all natural and nothing to worry about (especially in comparison to the 33g in the vanilla flavors). I love the dannon fat free plain yogurt for everyday use…and even though it’s not organic, the ingredient list passes well in my book. I also like the Horizon’s brand plain yogurt, both are fantastic for breakfast, and I often find myself dishing up yogurt for lunch, too 🙂 enjoy the plain, hope you like it!!

    hk

  • Trina
    January 28, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    Lisa,
    The same thing actually JUST happened to me a couple weeks ago and I came on here and asked that same question! Jenna answered me and said that basically you shouldn’t be having the flavored yogurts unless it is a treat once in a while. She said that the best thing to do is to wean yourself off of it by having plain yogurt mixed with jam or honey and eventually just eating plain. I was totally bummed b/c I lOVED making the smoothies as well..BUT I must say, I have been doing the plain yogurt with a little bit of jam and frozen fruit and the more I have it, the more I like it!! Good luck!

  • Arika
    January 28, 2008 at 6:20 pm

    To the “Why Fage?” Question:

    To me it has nothing to do with “Fage” as a brand, but rather I just love the taste and texture of Greek yogurt over other brands. I don’t buy Fage because its kind of expensive, but rather I get the Trader Joe’s brand Greek yogurt, which tastes the same, at a fraction of the cost. I thinks its just all about personal preference. To me the greek yogurt tastes better and sticks with me longer, as the consitancy is so thick and creamy. It also just feels like more of a treat then regular yogurts.

    Jenna~ The hair looks great! Its always fun to have a change.

  • Amy
    January 28, 2008 at 6:33 pm

    HK do you put anything in your plain yogurt? Like honey, etc?

    Thanks for all the great responses!

  • AW
    January 28, 2008 at 6:39 pm

    i eat a dannon lite and fit every day, various flavors, but usually vanilla. at only 60 calories a piece, i don’t mind a little bit of Splenda!

    never tried any plain, greek yogurt.

  • Katie
    January 28, 2008 at 6:40 pm

    I agree that Fage (or greek yogurt in general) is in a completely different food category for me. I still eat plain stoneyfield to meet my calcium needs. In the winter I usually defrost a cup of frozen berries to top plain yogurt vs. the sweetened type. Fage is more of a dollap-will-do type item. Because it tastes so rich, it’s plenty satisfying in small amounts. Lately I have been eating a snack of Fage with sliced almonds and dried cranberries. Jenna’s granola recipe would be good with Fage too!

  • Ryane
    January 28, 2008 at 7:01 pm

    Hi Jenna – I think this is my first comment on your blog which I started reading after getting hooked on cristin’s and kath’s blogs.

    Anyways, how do you reheat your oats in the morning? I just just recently started cooking them on the stove rather than nuke them and loved the result. I could see how making a big batch will be more efficient in the future, or just saving some time in the morning, so do you reheat in a pot or in the microwave oven?
    Thanks much!

  • Patricia
    January 28, 2008 at 7:13 pm

    Hey everyone!
    I found blueberries on sale today! $0.98 a package! I want to put them in my oatmeal tomorrow morning. When do I have to put them in? After I’ve cooked the oatmeal or while its still being cooked???

    Have a great week!

  • Mandy
    January 28, 2008 at 7:24 pm

    Does anyone here eat granola on a regular basis? The peanut butter granola looked amazing… I am such a PB freak… I want to go get some! But at the same time, I have avoided granola because of the high calorie count for a small amount and also the sugar… so is this okay to have? I don’t know why I have always thought of it as a “fake” healthy food… but just curious what everyone else thinks 🙂

  • Brianne
    January 28, 2008 at 7:40 pm

    On the topic of calcium… there are many *natural* foods besides dairy that will help meet your needs. Humans do not *need* cows milk. We were never meant to drink it, it is meant for baby cows. I do eat plain yogurt because I really enjoy it but I have stopped drinking cows milk.. and may eventually stop with yogurt. I always, always buy organic dairy for health reasons and ethical reasons. Ever since I started breastfeeding dairy kind of weirds me out! Breast milk is for humans, cows milk is for baby cows. Just some food for thought.

  • Ana
    January 28, 2008 at 7:51 pm

    about fage- it tastes very much like plain yogurt flavor-wise, but texture it is a whole different realm! the technique used is to strain the yogurt (that’s what that piece of transparent paper is when you open fage) with a light film that gets rid of most of the water. what is left is a creamier yogurt that is very heavy in weight and texture (i kinda compare it to cream cheese in it’s consistency except a little wetter, but definitely more sour flavor). what i love is the thickness that-it’s weird!-is both heavy and light at the same time (kinda whipped texture??). you really should try some at least once! the individual fage 0% are only 80 calories, though less calcium than regular yogurt they do have some!, and they pack a powerful punch of protein (13g!)! so they have health benefits and are just fun to eat (i think they’re decadent and love treating myself to one-best of all they are a “good for me” treat! ^_^) hope that helps! as for protein in the am-your body doesn’t need protein to start (any type of food is good-food is food is fuel) that said, some are definitely better than others! protein has great staying power (keeps full longer b/c protein takes longer to breakdown) and is an awesome choice for breakfast! but you shouldn’t have to feel restricted to one food group. fage (as mentioned above) is great w/protein if you really want to stick w/that in the am, as well as several other non-meat foods (such as beans-maybe a bean burrito? i know it sounds weird but some do eat that in the morning! and oatmeal actually has a little protein in it and if you make it w/milk that will add both protein and calcium!) so there’s lots of options (wether you choose to stick w/protein or incoorporate new foods) i LOVE breakfast-my favorite meal of the day!-

  • aimee
    January 28, 2008 at 7:59 pm

    33 g of sugar seems to be pretty common for flavored yogurt, and the same as many people, I’ve been trying to ween myself off flavored and stick to plain (it HAS been tough for me though!). I guess the Dannon natural is good every now and then because even though it’s high in sugar, at least it’s “natural” (whatever that means today). Again, I try to stick with organic and will traditionally just buy a big container of Stoneyfield plain (lowfat or fatfree) because I know it’s better for me. And of course my occasional splurge on Fage or Oikos. But I generally can’t eat it totally plain yet! Honey and fruit are my favorite add-ins.

  • aimee
    January 28, 2008 at 8:03 pm

    Oops, and what i actually buy for Dannon is the “All Natural Blended” strawberry or blueberry or peach.. which is about 110 calories per container and only 19 g of sugar. Still a lot but better than 33 and I don’t eat this everyday.

  • Kelly
    January 28, 2008 at 8:07 pm

    For all of you that eat the yogurt plain (unflavored) this is for you… I hate hate HATE sour cream, plain yogurt, mayo, basically any of those sour flavored white condiments and items. I love flavored yogurt though. Is it possible to make the plain yogurt taste like flavored? I don’t ever see myself eating it plain. I bought the Fage vanilla one time and even that was sour!

  • jenna
    January 28, 2008 at 8:10 pm

    here’s my “food for thought” on granola and fage:

    Granola CAN be a healthy breakfast option! I buy the nature’s path brand which only has 140 calories per half cup. The other morning I had a cup of it along with a cup of milk and banana and it was no more calories than my usual oatmeal breakfast. It was very tasty too! When I have time I like to make my own because I control the sugar….granola hails from a healthy idea: fruit, nuts and whole grains. Too bad so many brands out there have destroyed that by adding too much white sugar and weird stuff I can’t pronounce. If you don’t want to make your own, I suggest buying Nature’s path or another organic brand that doesn’t pack in a million calories and sugar grams. Granola deserves a revival because I would hate to think of it as the “fake healthy food”!!!! haha!

    On yogurt…I LOVE fage because of its thick creamy texture. I LOVE it paired with honey and raspberry preserves but I have started to eat it plain and love that now too because you really get to “taste” the yogurt…so many people don’t even know what yogurt really tastes like anymore because most commercial brands are so loaded with sugar and other sweeteners! Fage is expensive and other plain yogurts are fine too..its really whatever floats your boat. My rent is due in like 2 days so I’m on a very tight budget right now and could only afford to buy Dannon All natural plain lowfat yogurt last night at the store. I like that too but I like the texture of fage much better. If fage is too “sour creamy” for you though, dont worry about it—buy a different brand! You save $$ that way! It seems I have an addiction to expensive food items so I’m at a loss there. I do sometimes eat sweetened yogurt…although I never eat yogurt with hfcs in it. When i buy sweetened yogurt its an all natural brand (like horizon or stoneyfield farms) but I never feel as good as when i eat plain yogurt because I just know how much extra sugar I’m putting in my body…its so unnecessary! My advice to those that dont really like the taste of plain yogurt is to slowly start eating it…try some raspberry jam or honey on top…then later on, slowly wean yourself off that. I have found that with plain yogurt, the reduced fat kind tastes better than the nonfat kind…maybe its just me but i think it has a better texture. I like the fage 2% rather than the 0% (read the ingredients and you will see cream listed under the 2%…thats probably why!!!). The whole point is to reduce your sugar intake and its sad that people have taken healthy foods like yogurt and granola and added so much sugar in them so that they really should be more of a dessert! lets get back to our roots and enjoy foods for how they were MEANT to be!!!!!

    and Ryane,

    In the morning I take out the portion I want, mix in some milk and nuke it for 45 seconds. Easy!!!

  • Amy
    January 28, 2008 at 8:22 pm

    O mi gosh at first I thought ryane’s comment was your bf ryan! I thought he was joking. LOL!

  • sasha24
    January 28, 2008 at 8:28 pm

    Another way to transition to plain yogurt, or at least to decrease the sugar intake, is to mix plain with flavored yogurt. You could gradually adjust the proportions as you get used to a less sweet flavor. I love plain yogurt, greek or not, but sometimes like to mix flavored yogurt with plain for a treat.

  • Elizabeth
    January 28, 2008 at 8:53 pm

    Mollie Katzen has a great recipe for granola. I especially love that it has protein powder added, to make it stick to your ribs even better!

    http://www.molliekatzen.com/recipes/recipe.php?recipe=crunchy_granola

  • Elizabeth
    January 28, 2008 at 8:54 pm

    By the way, you can cut down on the oil and the sweetener in a lot of granola recipes by subbing some apple sauce.

  • Jenn
    January 28, 2008 at 9:10 pm

    Patricia,

    I love love love putting blueberries in my oatmeal. My tip is to put them in from the beginning because as they heat up some of them start to burst and then it turns the oatmeal a funky blue color which is so cool :o)It adds extra to the overall oatmeal and then there are probably still going to be some warm whole berries in there too – yum!

  • mags
    January 28, 2008 at 9:41 pm

    Jenna
    Do you have any healthy granola recipes. I LOVE granola but am also weary of the high cal count

  • Patricia
    January 28, 2008 at 9:55 pm

    Thank you Jenn! I’ll try the blueberry oatmeal tomorrow morning!

  • Sarah
    January 28, 2008 at 10:08 pm

    I was hooked on artificially sweetend flavored yogurts too…they are so appealing bc of the variety of flavors and low calorie content. But one of my new years resolutions was to give up artificial sweeteners, so I decided to jump on the Fage/Plain Yogurt bandwagon, and I will NEVER go back! It does take some getting used to, but give it a few chances and I promise your tastes will change. I sweeten it up with a tsp of honey, no sugar added jam, pumpkin or apple butter, crunched up cherios, mashed banana, ….the options are endless! And I find it to be more satisfying than the flavored stuff.

  • Becky
    January 28, 2008 at 10:32 pm

    For those who like fage because of the texture:

    I saw a Paula Dean episode where she strained plain yogurt over cheesecloth to remove most of the water. It came out looking almost like a smooth cottage cheese. She then proceeded to add peach nectar and all kinds of stuff to it, and then it looked like regular yogurt again, but you could probably just strain regular plain yogurt and acheive a similar texture to Fage w/ a fraction of the price! Personally, I’m in the “plain yogurt tastes like sour cream” camp, so I’m not going to try it, but you guys should!

  • Katie
    January 28, 2008 at 10:50 pm

    Hi Mags – Jenna posted a yummy looking granola recipe this morning. I prefer a less sweetend granola, so will probably substitute a smaller amount of agave nectar for the quantity of honey and maple syrup she has listed. You’d save some empty calories that way. In fact, the recipe looks so versatile, you could make several substitutions to suit your nutritional prefences. I’ll be trying it soon.

    Elizabeth – Thank you for the Mollie Katzen link…she is one of my all-time favorites!

    BTW, for those of you who don’t like plain yogurt: if you use frozen berries, defrost in the micro, and mix it all up, it tastes like a smoothie. I always eat my yogurt with frozen or fresh blueberries/strawberries/rasberries, the “plainness” is transformed! I’ve been eating my yogurt like this for forever, so maybe my palate has adjusted, but…give it a try!

  • kara
    January 28, 2008 at 11:20 pm

    I love your down-to-earth blog. I think that you have the “right” attitude towards food in that you eat healthy, nutritious meals but you aren’t “afraid” of food like so many people (typically women) are. Weight and food are such a complex and sensitive issues, yet you address health and wellness with balance and humor. Thanks for being such a REAL inspiration!

    And your hair looks great!

  • Eliza
    January 28, 2008 at 11:44 pm

    oat meal does have protein! 🙂

  • jenna
    January 28, 2008 at 11:51 pm

    Annie,

    I have worked out with numerous personal trainers in the past and am certified as a nutritional consultant and I have NEVER heard that in my entire life. I was always told to eat carbs in the morning to start your metabolism. You should eat a small amount of protein (like the protein in whole grains or milk) but your breakfast should be mainly carbs in order to start your body and fuel it for the rest of the day. What you heard sounds like a rumor not based on facts!

  • Bev
    January 29, 2008 at 1:12 am

    I have my own yogurt machine but some times I do buy fage…love it. When I make my own I put some ( after it has been in the fride overnight ) in a coffee filter in a cup and strain it. It get very creamy. The yogurt macine is great and you can use any milk . You have to have a starter ( like fage ) to make it. It makes 7 6oz. jars of yogurt.

  • Bev
    January 29, 2008 at 1:14 am

    Oh I forgot…..Great haircut 🙂 You would look good with any cut. Your sooooo pretty

  • Alicia
    January 29, 2008 at 2:45 am

    I adore plain yoghurt and agree that greek yoghurt is to die for. I used to buy an australian brand from the deli but have stopped since I don’t go to that deli anymore.

    I actually love the tangy plain yoghurt taste and find regular yoghurt too sweet and artificially sweetened yoghurts taste nasty. Everyone should go back to the natural ones as it tastes soooo much better.

    But then again, I happen to like sour foods and can eat tangy cheesecakes, citron tartes etc.

    When I first started out, I had plain yoghurt with honey but now I can just eat it on its own.

  • Ryane
    January 29, 2008 at 3:39 am

    Oh geez, (Amy) People have been confusing me with a boy my whole life, albeit not in an online kind of way… haha, but it amuses me, no worries! I love my name!