What a gorgeous day we had!!
I came home and couldn’t decide what to have for a snack. I wasn’t craving my normal yogurt or fruit blends, so I settled for a random mix of crunchy things:
- A 100 calorie bag of kettle corn
- GoLean
- Crackers
- Trail mix
- Meringues (hiding in the popcorn!)
It was fun to eat
To celebrate the weather, the husband and I went for a stroll around our neighborhood. We ended up at the ATM to make a deposit, and then decided to stop into Blockbuster and picked up The Painted Veil to watch tomorrow night as we relax before Race For The Cure. We ducked into Harris Teeter to see if they were doing a wine tasting, and sure enough, there were TWO!! We tried 9 different wines, although the pours were teeny tiny. We came home with a bottle of this Reisling that was on sale for $4.99!
Dinner was an Oatmeal Chili!!
Well, the original recipe is Tex-Mex Chicken and Oat Soup, but I prefer Oatmeal Chili 🙂 I got the recipe from Running with Food almost a month ago. It just hit a spot in my craving zone!
We (of course) made some modifications based on what we had on hand. Here’s our version:
- 2 super spicy jalapenos
- Can of diced tomatoes + 2 fresh tomatoes
- 1 cup organic canned “salad beans” (a mix of pinto/kidney/navy)
- About 3 cups water
- 1/2 cup steel cut oats
- 2/3 cup frozen okra
- 1 carrot
- 1 sweet potato (about 12 oz)
- 2 tbsp jarred jalapenos
- 5 oz cooked cornish hen meat (a little chicken-like bird we had in the freezer)
- Cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, dash cinnamon, oregano, salt + pepper
- Greek yogurt, swiss cheese (all we had on hand) and avocado for garnish
Cook veggies, add canned goods, add liquids, add oats, add spices, simmer for 30-45 minutes on medium-low.
The whole pot was about 1200 kcal and made 10 ladles. I had 2 ladles in my bowl, which was a pretty big portion.
On the side – the fantastic homemade bread broiled with olive oil, S+P!
It was SUPER spicy!! I had to eat it in small bites. I thought it was good, but not fantastic. The flavor was off somehow and I’m not sure how. Something was missing.
I ended with a bite of chocolate chip cookie the husband brought home from Great Harvest!!
I was TOTALLY looking forward to watching The Office tonight – but I guess the debates bumped it out 🙁 Since we have our 5K race on Saturday, I guess I’m going to skip cycle class tomorrow in favor of something lighter on the legs. I’m actually thinking of doing a slow, easy 3 mile run in the morning. Nothing to tire me, but something to keep my joints lubricated. Sometimes I feel like I am slower after a rest day, so I don’t want to skip moving altogether. But a short run will buy me 30 minutes more sleep! Sweet!!
Off to relax a little before bedtime.
Biz319 says
I am bummed about The Office too! I thought my husband was joking when he said it wasn’t on. Guess I’ll watch it though.
Dinner looks great – I am still wary of chunky things, but I might give this one a go.
Enjoy your night!
p.s. I love when you can find good cheap wine!
Alison says
Oh man, count me in for being majorly bummed that there was no Office tonight! And 30 Rock, for some reason I thought the premiere was tonight.
Totally intrigued by the oatmeal chili recipe! Will be adding that one to the roster for sure! Very cool.
VeggieGirl says
Thank goodness for having ‘The Office’ on DVD – I love watching the re-runs when it’s not airing on television at the moment 🙂
caitlin (seebriderun) says
i want to say GOOD LUCK on your 5k!! you will do great and its a fabulous cause! i cant wait to see a recap.
Megan says
I love oatmeal soup, but I have never had oatmeal chili! I will have to try it!
emmy says
now THAT is my kind of snack 🙂
Erin says
That bowl looks yummy. I’ll have to try that!
Maureen says
How do you manage to keep it to one bite?? I’d kill for your restraint. p.s. the husband is cute 🙂
Oh, and good luck on your race!
Kelsey says
I have never heard of oats in soup. It soups weird to me, but I’d try it.
I’m sad The Office isn’t on either, but the debate was good!
madison (follow my weigh) says
i know i was looking forward to the office too! i was confused when i didn’t see it ANYWHERE on the tv guide channel thing. so i resorted to the debate haha.
i love snacks like that – a jumble of stuff!
magpie says
Love the cinnamon addition 😉
magpie says
Heya, just wanted to let you know I made a blogroll and put you on it 🙂 I’m actually on yours but I’ve changed my site to www.thesaladgirl.com
Tahlia says
OMG i lovereading your blog and was estatic to see u had purchased a wine from my home town! (Riverland South Australia) You have excellent taste!
B_Hlthy says
Congrats on fundraising for such a great cause!
Good luck during your race, I know its only 3.2 miles but still a chance to run your best!
If you are feeling slower after a rest day, that would make me think your “running” muscles might not have enough recovery time to rebuild. I know it sounds like awful advice, but if it this slug feeling is usual, I would try ( just as a test ) resting TWO days ( i know I hate resting even one day)… to see how your muscles rebound.
The third day- you should notice a considerable bump in energy.
When I ran track in college I used to run so often that my muscles didn’t have a chance to recover. I would notice the same “slow” feeling after a day of rest, hence another reason why i started dislike rest days. Even though I knew I would cut back on intesity, I would still exercise because I had the “mental” energy to do it and felt up to it. I would notice a huge difference in my times/ energy after I had a chance to fully rest my muscles.
coco says
that looks amazing! i’ll have to try it soon.
But did you put some fettuccine ? what’s the white things on the top?
Kath says
Maureen ,
There was only one bite left!! He ate the rest this afternoon.
Tahlia
Wow, what a coincidence!!
B_Hlthy ,
Thanks for the advice 🙂 I think if I ever start doing bigger races I will focus more on technique and tapering. When I say sluggish, it’s really not a huge difference. I think I just get out of the groove.
coco ,
White things are strips of swiss cheese.
Kath
runjess says
I would so rather watch The Office than the VP debate