I think I can honestly say that food is probably in my top 5 things that I like to talk about. I think it is a great way to spice up your life, create relationships, and it really helps you realize that you have things in common with other people! So today, besides telling you about my run this morning I am going to give you a little run down of what I ate and discuss some of my own preferences.

Run first though. So the run this morning was HOT. Let me just say now, for those of you that live in warmer clients and exercise outside I just don’t know how you do it. I assume if you have lived there a while you are just more used to the heat than we are here in Ohio but oh my gosh was it hot out. Luckily I was mentally prepared for the heat because everyone at work has been talking about this 100+ heat wave we would be having so I was like okay I can deal with this. So after having my Bagel Thin with the almightly tasty MaraNatha chocolate almond butter I was ready for a delicious day. Tim and I headed out (yes he came again) into the heat to complete another 6 min on 1:50 min off interval.

I was feeling pretty rough today and I think I know why. So last night Tim and I went to his mom’s house for dinner and we decided to order Chinese. Well I decided on the chicken lo mein on the condition that Tim should share his szechuan chicken with me. He was kind enough to agree so we got those two items to share. Oh my goodness did that weight me down. I don’t know how but I must have gotten how much sodium is in Chinese food and while it tasted great going down the day it didn’t feel so great moving all around as I ran. Note to self: Chinese food and learning to love to run is NOT a good mix. So I think I can honestly say that every single interval this morning was tough. It was definitely a reminder to me that you are what you eat and that is effects everything you do. I could tell a huge difference in the amount of strength I had to keep moving based on my meal the night before. It’s too bad you can’t just like start over in the morning. I mean mentally I can do that physically I can’t just tell my body to forget what I ate the night before… trust me… it remembers! So run was really rough today and at one point I even contemplated quitting (although I did not say this aloud to Tim). I thought well maybe if I just cut 1 or 2 minutes off the end that would be OK and I wouldn’t have to tell anyone and then I remembered. DUH the whole purposes of having other people read about this journey is so they can go on it with you and therefore I would have to tell you. So whether you know it or not you kept me running this morning! Thanks J

After the run all I could do is sit on the couch. This is not like me at all. The last few days I have been stretching while watching the news or heading up to shower right away. I was so tired I couldn’t do much more than sit there so Tim showered first instead. By 6:40 he reminder me that I still have to be at work at my normal time so it would probably be a good idea to shower. Somehow, someway I got ready in about 35 min and made my way downstairs to one of my most useful appliances… the smoothie master! Okay it is actually just a blender, food processor combination thing but it sounds much better to call it a smoothie master.

Today I decided on the following, 1 frozen banana (yep, figured out how to peel it), Chocolate PB2: Powdered Peanut Butter, Almond Breeze almond milk, protein powder my mom had given me, strawberries, and spinach. It was just delightful!

Look at all that good stuff

You can see that I put about a handful of spinach in there and I promise you that you can’t taste it.

It does give it this funny texture though and if you don’t drink it right away the green color seems to take over and discolors the entire masterpiece a bit. You can see that for now the strawberries own the color in this smoothie so it really depends on what you put in it. If you use blueberries it will be always be blue because the colors of those things are always the winner against the other fruits. Insert mental picture of fruit fighting with some swords here.

Our traveling smoothies

What I love most about this, other than its delicious taste, is how easy it is to travel with and how full it keeps me throughout the day. I usually have some sort of snack, an apple or something, before lunch if I have time but this thing will take me all the way till noon if it has to.

Since Tim and I had our allergist appointment this afternoon I was able to eat lunch at home, which drastically opened up the possibility to something delicious. I met with the guy who should have fixed my roof already but hasn’t who will be fixing my roof sometime in the future first to show him the nasty spot on the ceiling. So after he left I made myself some lunch.

My lunch!

Today I put a Morning Star veggie burger on a bed of romaine lettuce that I had added some roma tomato (which is always much better priced than other tomatoes) and cilantro too. I topped off the burger with a smashed up avocado so that I didn’t miss out on the idea of having “condiments” on your burger. I set all of that alongside some Stacey’s pita chips (my favs!). I will tell you what, this thing was AMAZING. I was so full by the end of it and the avocado was just the tough this burger salad needed. It helped everything sort of stick together which made it a pretty big and cohesive meal. The pita chips fulfilled the extra crunch and salt cravings that I usually have at lunch. I would HIGHLY recommend this to anyone and I think next time I’ll add some spice to it with some hot peppers or something similar. And by the way these burgers are very well prices at one of our club stores nearby, BJ’s, so if you have a BJ’s near you… check it out!

Best condiment there is

After lunch Tim and I headed off to the allergist where I found out that I don’t have asthma but that both Tim and I are allergic to every single thing found in nature. The doctor even suggested that Tim never mow the grass and oh let me tell you how devastated he was NOT. Good thing allergy shots are an option! So after we both got over 50 allergy scratches on our backs we headed home to prepare a romantic anniversary dinner for my parents. Sunday is their 29^th anniversary but they are heading off to beautiful Mexico that day so we had to celebrate a little early. I wanted to do something special for my parents because now that I am engaged I feel like I look at marriage differently. I mean in reality I committed myself to Tim a long time ago but somehow the whole ring and down on one knee thing makes it more real so we planned on showing my parents that we love them and that we admire their love for one another.

Step 1 for this dinner was simple… attempt to create a somewhat romantic atmosphere while not making it weird for Tim and I to eat with them as well. I think we succeeded when we decided on 3 candles to put in the middle of the table and a little less than bright lighting. Simple enough to appreciate.

Step 2 was make the menu. I decided to do a stuffed pepper recipe that I found here. I ended up making some small changes because I wanted to use reduced fat cheese and wanted to spice it up a little bit. The peppers were amazing and even though my dad said his lips were tingling a bit he seemed to like them! Next to the peppers I made 1 roll for each person (because who needs more than 1), fruit salad that had kiwi, banana, strawberry, watermelon, blueberries, and blackberries, and then steamed up some edamame because my parents originally wanted sushi. I can’t make sushi so I just thought a familiar side dish would be a nice touch. I will say that these peppers were extremely easy for me to make and this recipe was simple enough to follow. I would say to go ahead and start preparing about an hour and a half before you want to eat because the cutting, simmering, and baking takes about that long.

Mom and Dad's anniversary dinner

Dinner was scrumptious and everyone seemed to enjoy all of the flavors. While my dad enjoyed a beer the rest of us enjoyed a glass of white wine. The meeting ended with some good conversation and then some goodbyes since we won’t be seeing them until they get back from their trip.

Happy 29th Anniversary Mom and Dad

My mom made a video last year to celebrate their 28th Anniversary. Check it out on her blog here.

Went to bed around 9 and I believe Tim joined me around 11. How he gets up after only 6.5 hours of sleep is beyond me but I wish I could do it. I’m a pretty cranky girl if I don’t get at least 7 hours.

Hope you enjoyed this day of food!

What’s your favorite meal to make?