Fresh flowers from our garden! I picked them right after my workout and within 20 minutes they had opened up beautifully. We’re getting some sun today but this has been the Gloomiest April EVER. I hope I haven’t been too grumpy on you guys!
Workout was fun (elliptical and abs, as predicted) – I feel so drained of energy from this chest cold, but the two times I have felt energetic today were during my workout and walking with Christy. Guess it’s a positive feedback cycle: energy breeds energy. Oh, and food helps too 🙂
Veg
Lunch was a plate of veggies with homemade navy bean dip (pureed navy beans with a touch of yogurt and spices to taste). I used to hate ALL raw veggies, so this was quite a big moment for me to eat so many at once! But I wanted to have our bean dip for lunch, and this seemed like the easiest application. Kashi crackers on the side 🙂
Plus fresh mango (the other half of the other day’s diced mango)
And Fage with almonds.
This lunch kept me full for a while – guess it was all the veg fiber! It totaled about 500 kcal, 18 grams fiber and 27 grams protein.
Banana Snack
Boy do I LOVE bananas. I haven’t always loved them so much – it’s a 2007 onward thing – but I don’t know if I will ever get sick of them!
Banana Muffin Top (that’s what I’m calling these) plus a small banana with cinnamon
With hot tea and flowers to improve my mood:
Off to do some work, make my lunch, make dinner, eat dinner and hopefully relax with In Defense of Food this evening!
Nick says
Looks like a perfect spring snack, possibly because those flowers are so nearby. I’ve been making homemade refried beans (similar to your navy bean dip) but you should try them. I’ll be posting a recipe soon, but they’re real simple. Cook 1-2 cups of dried beans, remove from pot, cook 1/2 chopped onion in 1T olive oil & add the beans back, mash with some kind of mashing device and add water as necessary to achieve consistency. Add plenty of salt too, they turn out incredible!
– The Peanut Butter Boy
hk says
love the flowers, so pretty!
JENNA says
KATH,
im sort of confused on why your lunch had so many calories?? it doesn’t look like the food you ate was high in calories? I guess i’m just confused on how you can eat this meal and it be 500cal. vs. a meal with a big sub sandwich(yesterdays lunch) and consume the same? what made for so many cals. in your lunch today?
JENNA says
also, do you put an icepack in your lunch bag to keep your yogurt cold? 🙂
Kath says
Nick,
You haven’t been reading KERF long enough to know that onions are a FORBIDDEN ingredient to mention here 😉
Jenna,
The bean dip contributed 100 kcal – it’s much more calorie-dense than most people think. The Kashi crackers were another 130, Fage and Mango 80 kcal each, almonds about 40, and the rest filled it up to 500.
No icepack – I hate cold yogurt. I have sensitive teeth and don’t really eat/drink anything cold but maybe ice cream, which I take a long time to eat.
Kath
rhodeygirl says
yummmmmm and prettttttyyyy
i wish i had such a green thumb (and a garden!)
your flowers are SO beautiful!
and the food looks amazing, as always.
JENNA says
grr..calories add up way too fast!! 🙂
Kiala says
I have a cold, too! But if you can work out, so can I.
If I get pneumonia, though, I’m suing this blog.
Hahahaha.
No.
Kristie says
The flowers are gorgeous. I can’t wait to see flowers growing outside around here. We are still stuck with little snow patches so no greenery just yet…
The food looks delicious. I feel like I could just pick that fresh mango right off the screen and eat it.
Heather says
Those muffin tops look amazing!
Your blog makes me want to buy new plates and placemats, by the way… super cute 🙂
Anne P says
ha, i was reading nick’s entry thinking “oh no kath hates onions!!”
HokieShelley says
from the gals who brought you Veganomicon…
free recipes!
http://www.theppk.com/recipes/dbrecipes/index.php?list=byCourse
Sonia says
Am really sorry but I lost the link Kath once posted about calculating upper and lower limits for HR for my polar F4. Does anyone remember that link? Thanks.
Romina says
My goodness! You already have flowers? They’re gorgeous!
Ally says
What beautiful flowers!
I haven’t liked bananas that long either! I read somewhere that they were ‘high in sugar’ so I stayed away from them for awhile. I can’t believe I did because they are simply one of the best foods!
VeggieGirl says
Fresh flowers? Check. Crisp, raw vegetables? Check. Fresh mango? Check. MORE delicious foods? Check. Looks like SOMEONE is having a wonderful Tuesday, for sure!! :0D
Caroline says
Kath–If you like muffin tops, I actually recently bought a muffin top pan from Amazon. That way, you get nothin’ but the top! It’s a great alternative to buying Vitatops online, if you’re into those.
n/a says
Hi Kath,
i just wanted to say that i read your blog every day and it has been soo helpful. I will not lie, i used to have an eating disorder, seeing how well and healthy you eat daily has helped me considerably. Thank you so much it helps more than you can possibly know.
Mom says
This is Kath’s mom. Her dad and I LOVE onions. And her grandfather grew wonderful onions in his garden. We tried and tried over the years to get her to like them. I even tried to bribe her once. Not sure how much $ but a certain amount if she would start eating them (a modest amount but enough for a middle school trip to the mall to get a cute top or new pair of shoes.) No luck. She refused.
Betsy says
pretty flowers!!!
Nick will learn….
Jessie says
Ha, its pretty cute that your mom comments on here 😀
Cute story Mom!
BethT says
Haha, that is a funny story about the onions. It’s so sad, because I cannot think of anything more delish than a lovely caramelized onion, and/or the smell of onion and garlic cooking!
Anyway, Kath, with all the mango you eat, do you ever think about making fruit salsa (with mango or pineapple, cilantro, etc)? I bought a prepared version at Whole Foods and it made me think of all of your mangoness lately. It is so good on fish and mexican dishes.
Tina says
Pretty flowers! We’re not even close to blooming flowers in Boston yet, but we might hit the 60s this week!
Kath says
n/a,
So glad you find the blog helpful 🙂
Mom,
If I hadn’t inherited your sense of SMELL then I might like them! Unfortunately nothing overpowers the nose worst than onion breath, taste and smell!
BethT,
I like mango salsa, but I don’t it’s worth the effort to make!! Be we have made it before – perhaps it will make an appearance 🙂
K
Lisa says
hey everyone….KATH
could I use steel cut oats for your baked oatmeal recipe? i don’t have any rolled oats on hand!
Kath says
Lisa,
Since steel cut take so much longer to make, I would partially cook them first and finish them in the oven. Or they might just need to bake a really long time…. I’m not quite sure how much longer though because when I make them on the stove-top I always add liquid after they are 2/3 done. You could certainly prepare the oats and then assemble a casserole and bake for 10-15 minutes to let the flavors blend.
Kath