Hi friends! Happy Friday!!
I hope everyone is having a great day. I think just knowing that is Friday is sometimes enough no matter what happens at work (or school). Work today was rather disastrous…..NOTHING turned out right and I stayed late cleaning and cranking out pitas. Bread is so weird…we do all the same things every single day and sometimes it works and sometimes it flops!
This morning I had 2 egg white fluffies
And a delicious new bar!
I have to admit, I was a little hesitant trying this (I even brought a back-up in case it was gross), but I’m so glad I did because it was very delightful indeed! The chocolate flavor did not have that “fake chocolate” taste at all to it, and rather, it tasted like really good dark chocolate! Inside the bar was coconut and crispies and it made me think of a Mounds bar. The stats aren’t too bad either…190 calories and 8 grams of protein. I definitely will be on the hunt for more of these bars in the future—they seem rather difficult to find! Since it was Friday, I also treated myself to a delicious grape Kombucha! I enjoyed every expensive sip. That’s why I only buy it once a week…..but oh, it is SO worth it!!! 🙂
Breakfast was a huge breakfast cookie made with 3/4 cup oats, 1/2 banana, 1/2 scoop protein, 1 tbsp almond butter (before I scraped the jar clean last night!) and 3 tbsp reduced fat milk….oh, and chocolate chips ’cause its Friday!
On Fridays a really nice breakfast spread is always set up for all of us associates in the break room. Mostly it is the usual continental fare—-mini muffins (probably made by me, actually), bagels, fruit, juice and coffee. I always steer clear of the muffins and bagels because they wouldn’t fill me up like oats, but they always have a really great fruit selection! I was very pleased to see delicious berries today and they made a very yummy breakfast cookie topper!
Despite our flop day, we decided to still do something fun…..make pizza!!! We used some of the leftover french bread dough and topped it with rosemary olive oil, pizza sauce, caramelized onions, six cheese blend, feta cheese and black olives—
It was DIVINE!!!
I had two brick style slices but may have gone back for a tiny third 😉 It was a truly delicious treat! However, it really didn’t get me that full!
After work, I raced to my appointment with the sports medicine doctor. I was very impressed…I liked this guy much better than the doctor I previously saw in Orlando regarding my shin splints when they were at their worst (um his advice was to just run through the pain). This guy seemed a lot more knowledgeable and after talking a bit with me about my history with the injury, he did some x-rays on the spot (they all came back perfect!) and requested that I do another bone scan early next week to actually see the shin splints on my legs. Then he thinks I should work a little bit with a physical therapist to strengthen my shins.
He said he has worked with athletes for years and has never seen someone have to quit a sport they love because of shin splints. He was very confident that I got in the habit about two years ago running improperly (bad shoes really messed me up) and then since I really never stopped running, the injury just kept coming back. After my bone scan on Tuesday and a follow-up appointment, what I really need to work on is strengthening the muscles again. I left the appointment feeling really good….it was interested to hear the root cause of the problem and see on different models the actual joint that was weak and how that effects the whole lower leg and bone.
On the way home, I stopped at my local health food store to pick up some goodies for next week and got a smoothie at the smoothie and juice bar, because at this point I was starving again!!! I chose the Banana Smoothie that was on sale for $1.99—
This smoothie is my absolute FAVORITE and is sooo creamy and delicious. Its a mix of frozen banana, coconut milk and pineapple juice. Except I asked for half juice and half water to cut down on the sugar a little bit. It was still creamy and delicious!
Here’s my loot:
I went to the boy’s house to see him before he heads out to the great outdoors for the weekend. He is going on a hunting trip with a couple of his old fraternity brothers. One of the guys has a lake house up in the middle of nowhere (they don’t even get cell phone service) and he is doing lots of fun guy bonding all weekend. I happened to look into one of his bags and it was filled with slim jims, cigars, rum and a big thing of coke. Yep, that’s a guy trip all right!!!!! =)
And then I picked up my long awaited Indian dinner—
(sketchy drive by shot)
I decided to branch out tonight and order the dahl curry instead of my usual channa masala. I LOVE this place and the owner is the awesome. Its so cute and clean inside with a little bookshelf and comfy couches to sit on. I asked for my dahl to be “kicked up a notch” on the spiciness and got it accompanied with their delicious garlic naan bread
All the stress of my week just went out the window….
Especially when served with this:
I love me some organic (and $8.99) syrah!
I sat and ate in front of Entertainment Tonight. I kid you not, it was the FIRST TIME I have turned on the tv in three months. No joke. It actually felt weird. I felt like I should be doing something else like blogging or reading. Actually I much prefer blogging or reading to watching tv!
Looking back on my meals today, it looks like I am carbo-loading for a marathon tomorrow!!!!!!! All this pizza, oatmeal and naan bread. Nope, no marathon. Probably only 4 miles! I do love some serious carbs though….today I was just very bread-happy I suppose!
I’m off to take a bath and hit the sack!!! Plan for the morning is to wake up and crank out a wonderful 4 miles before the sun rises……I can’t wait!
***Thank you, thank you, thank you to all those that sent me their delicious sounding dessert recipes today!!!!! I got a thrill every time at work when my blackberry vibrated to alert me of an email. I can’t wait to put together the cookbook! Remember, you have only four days left to send me yours. I have got some great ones but still need some more to make the cookbook awesome! Thank you for your participation!
Meg
March 27, 2009 at 6:42 pmSounds like a wonderful day! Check out that awesome loot!
Shannon @ TheDailyBalance
March 27, 2009 at 6:43 pmJenna,
That pizza looks delish!!! Droolworthy.
I am also so jealous to see all your Zoe’s products — I’ve been looking for them EVERYWHERE. So glad to see you had a relaxing evening, you deserve it 😉
VeggieGirl
March 27, 2009 at 6:59 pmLovin’ the breakfast cookie, pizza, smoothie, and…
INDIAN FOOD!!!!!!! Holy freaking yum like WHOA.
Run Sarah
March 27, 2009 at 7:16 pmThat naan…soooo good! Awesome loot too 😀 TGIF!
Sharon
March 27, 2009 at 7:33 pmLove your loot! So awesome!!!
And mmm scrumptious eats!!
Jen
March 27, 2009 at 7:38 pmHi Jenna, I’ve been reading your blog for a while and saw that you were drinking coconut water as a sports drink. I tried it, and — I thought it was really, really awful. I was wondering whether you like the taste, or if you think it’s just really good for you and choke it down for the benefits. I did notice that I felt good pretty quickly after drinking it to recover from my longish run, but I had to add a big squeeze of lime to be able to stand it enough to drink the whole little juice box full. I’d be curious to know more about the reasons you drink it.
Good luck with the shin splints.
jenna
March 28, 2009 at 3:23 amJen,
I guess I am a strange phenomenon, because I actually LOVE the weird taste!!!! I really, really love it! I would drink it all day it it weren’t draining my bank account so now I just save it and drink it only after a long run or race. It really is amazing for you, too, with all those electrolytes. I like weird things though…like Kombucha, black licorice and buttered popcorn jelly bellies.
Genesis,
It really does not taste like a granola bar and doesn’t get as hard as people might think. I still eat it with a spoon! You should definitely try it to see for yourself!
Genesis
March 27, 2009 at 7:46 pmHey Jenna!
That pizza looks a whole lot yummier (and possibly healthier) than the one we had last night. I’ve been meaning to ask you how you make your breakfast cookie. Does it kind of taste like a big granola bar? Oh and I tried steel cut oats for the first time this morning, I love the difference in texture, compared to rolled oats. I absolutely love your blog and have been following it for weeks just to give me an idea how healthy person eats! thanks for all the great posts.
brandi
March 27, 2009 at 7:52 pmlooks like a great day! i need to make one of those breakfast cookies soon.
RunToFinish
March 27, 2009 at 7:59 pmlet’s hear it for great doctors!!! hope you are back at it quickly and easily…I”m getting there thanks to 2 good docs
Kailey (SnackFace)
March 27, 2009 at 8:02 pmWow, that dinner looks phenomenal! And red wine, organic at that, always makes things better. I find that sometimes I carbo load like that, for no real reason other than that’s what I was craving. It all balances eventually. At least that’s what I tell myself, lol. I’m so glad you had a great appointment today! Have a great night!
emily
March 27, 2009 at 8:03 pmI’m glad your trip to the doctor went well! That smoothie sounds so good, I seriously started salivating!
Becca A
March 27, 2009 at 8:15 pmThats great you found a doctor you like!
Adi (oatonomy.com - repaired!)
March 27, 2009 at 8:17 pmGREAT news about the shin splits. You must be so encouraged – what a blessing to find a doctor you like!
Your bar selection never ceases to amaze me… in Ottawa, bar selections are pretty sad. Do you know how excited I was to see a peanut butter cookie lara bar? That’s as wild as it gets here, none of this “Zoe” stuff, or PURE bars… at least, I haven’t seen them.
Anyway, have a great run tomorrow!
Michelle Hisae
March 27, 2009 at 8:45 pmI looove Indian food! The hole-in-the-wall places are usually the best. Authentic! Great picks at the grocery store – I’m going tomorrow, and I’m excited! Oh food bloggers, how we love grocery shopping. 🙂
Mara @ What's For Dinner?
March 27, 2009 at 8:57 pmGreat day! I’m so glad the appt. with the sports medicine doc went well!
Erin
March 27, 2009 at 9:17 pmDin looks great, esp paired with that red wine. What a fun Friday treat!
Fit Mommy
March 27, 2009 at 10:12 pmLove all you food bloggers! Everything all looks great and you are so upbeat and positive.
Megan
March 27, 2009 at 10:14 pmUm..
1. I LOVE PIZZA.
2. I LOVE SMOOTHIES.
3. I LOVE INDIAN FOOD.
Your blog post just made my night!
Sarah (lovINmytummy)
March 27, 2009 at 10:55 pmMarathon…4 mile run…what’s the difference?
(Okay, its 22.2 miles. I used a calculator.)
Caroline
March 27, 2009 at 11:37 pmThat’s some great loot! Lots of fun products there.
I am jealous of your proximity to such an awesome Indian restaurant!
Moran
March 28, 2009 at 12:24 amYour dinner looks divine!
Good luck on the run!
Beadie @ What I Ate Yesterday
March 28, 2009 at 5:35 amJenna,
I emailed you yesterday with a question about the dessert cookbooka nd never heard back from you. My question was are you looking for actual recipes, for say, brownies, or are you looking for more snacky dessert combos?
jenna
March 28, 2009 at 5:46 amHi beadie,
No I got it, sorry I’m a little late in getting back to you. I fell asleep last night at 8:00 and didn’t have time to return any emails. I am looking for more actual dessert recipes though!
Colleen
March 28, 2009 at 5:51 amYummy food for the day!
I went to Whole Foods the other day and tried the Kombucha – it was really gross! 🙁 Oh well.
Leah @ Simply Fabulous
March 28, 2009 at 6:17 amJenna,
I love how you are so in tune with what your bod is craving and just go with the flow! You aren’t afraid to eat pizza early in the day and then a curry at night.. it’s so awesome to see. A lot of women these days feel that they can’t give themselves such great tasting food. It’s weird actually when you think about it because we often deny ourselves the great things in life to try to make our bodies better, yet in reality are we happier? Probably not!
This happened to me a couple of weeks ago when I cut out coffee, dairy, sugar and alcohol (all at once!). I felt that I needed to cut these things out to do well for my body. But, I soon realized that I was actually UNHAPPIER denying all the things that I thought made me unhealthy. Does this make sense?
Have a great 4 mile run! I’m about to go on one myself!
Kristin
March 28, 2009 at 7:19 amJenna, that is so funny that you like all those “weird” things too… because I thought I was the only weird one… I love coconut water, Kombucha, black licorcice too… and popcorn jelly bellies are the best!! hehe
Jen
March 28, 2009 at 11:35 amJenna, thanks for the reply. I was sort of glad I didn’t like it because my little juice box full cost me almost $2. I might try it again in the summer when it’s hot here and I need an extra boost.