Two Breakfasts

Being on time for my 8am office job really means I have to be there between 7am and 8am. I tend to arrive around 7:30am and I like to eat something for breakfast before I leave the apartment, so that means I eat a meal around 6:30am. Yesterday’s breakfast #1 was egg whites and nutritional yeast and half of a banana with some sunbutter.

After arriving at the office and working for an hour or two my stomach starts to feel empty – so I like to eat one of these luna bar minis.

They are the perfect size for a mid-morning snack to hold me over till lunch. Thanks to my lovely friend who found them online, I was able to purchase these babies off of the internet, but some grocery stores and sporting goods stores do sell them now.

Do you eat two meals in the morning?

Because it’s Friday it means it’s the last day of the week for two breakfasts :)

Wishing everyone a happy Friday!

There are 31 this month

Yes, today is May 31st and it is the last day of the month. Where does the time go? The first week of this month I was still in the non-profit world, spending my days taking a bus downtown to bring home the bacon. Now I work in the toy industry and start my days early at an office across the city. Change is exciting and I can’t wait to see my new career unfold.

But the constants are good too: loving my family and friends, running, eating some sort of nut butter everyday and receiving a Foodie Pen Pal package every month!

The Lean Green Bean

This month I received my package from Brittany and all of the contents were thoroughly enjoyed.

These babies were ripped into first upon Dave’s request and they were a crowd pleaser:

She also sent along this spicy chocolate

On a less sweet note – I had never tried these pop chips but I would recommend them to anyone looking for a punch of crispy flavor.

And when I don’t have the time to dehydrate mango, this bag will do just fine :)

The last treat was the best! I love these pre-made picnics – I get them to take on the plane when I travel and this one comes with sunbutter!

Thanks Brittany for the wonderful treats!

If you want to join in the fun every month read below:

And now it’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  In case you’re a new reader, here’s a reminder of what the program is all about:

-On the 5th of every month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.
-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal! 
-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!
-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)
-Foodie Penpals is open to blog readers as well as bloggers. If you’re a reader and you get paired with a blogger, you are to write a short guest post for your penpal to post on their blog about what you received. If two readers are paired together, neither needs to worry about writing a post for that month. 
-Foodie Penplas is open to US & Canadian residents.  Please note, Canadian Residents will be paired with other Canadians only. We’ve determined things might get too slow and backed up if we’re trying to send foods through customs across the border from US to Canada and vice versa. 

If you’re interested in participating for June, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by June 4th as pairings will be emailed on June 5th!

*If you’re from somewhere besides the US, Canada or Europe and want to participate, send me an email and I’ll see if we get enough interest this month!

WIAW – blast from the past

Based on the blog title and catch phrase it is clear that I love almond milk. While this obsession is based on taste, it is not purely voluntary, as dairy does not agree with my intestines. Even avoiding said foe does not always keep my stomach at bay and yesterday I felt the wrath of my colitis that I have not experienced in quite some time.

Due to all my doctor’s visits, first hand experience and years of practice I am able to call myself an expert on the issue and as a professional I acted accordingly. I first got frustrated at the initial signs of a flare up, then accepted the fact that it was going to be a bumpy morning and took care of myself. I went to the bathroom as often as needed, I walked around to avoid the discomfort of sitting and I thought happy thoughts. Gradually the pain subsided and my visits to the loo became less frequent and I was able to enjoy the rest of the day.

These painful, and often embarrassing flare ups, are distracting and annoying, but they always pass at some point. In the moment it feels like the world is ending, but once I make it through to the other side I experience a feeling of relief that I cannot even put into words.

Even though I was busy attending to my health needs, I still worked up an appetite. I managed to satiate my hunger, keeping in mind my bothersome colitis, with the following mini meals throughout the day.

Breakfast (before I knew what was coming) was a microwaved protein bowl and sunbutter.

It was an early morning at work (computer was turned on at 7:30am), so I had a mid-morning bar to hold me over till lunchtime.

Lunch was some steamed carrots and a turkey sandwich on a sandwich thin with hummus  (sorry no pic but I am confident you can all use your imaginations here)

and this edamame snack was delicious! I am totally buying this brand again.

By 5:30, as I was leaving work, I felt soooo much better compared to the morning and I was ready for a nice run by the time I got home. Hills have been on the back burner since recovering from injury number 2, so I decided it was about time I worked a hill run in to my training. My hill runs are normally much shorter mileage-wise but I still try to run for at least 30 minutes. Yesterday’s run involved these lovely stairs (there are four more sets of these past this set) and after running up big hills to get these stairs (and after them) I’d say I got a good hill work out in.

Definitely a workout that deserves some quinoa patties from Roam Burger :)

Memories from Memorial Day

The day started out with with some fresh veggies and eggs.

This was perfect fuel for our next adventure of the weekend – a hike. Like many other bay area natives, we headed out of the city across the Golden Gate Bridge for the holiday, but instead of heading to the nearest picnic ground we found our own peaceful trail and explored.

After walking on the trails for an hour or two we made it down to the beach to nibble on some snacks and enjoyed the sun, giggling children and the therapeutic sound of the waves crashing next to us.

We beat the traffic back into the city and had a lovely dinner with Dave’s family at a Mission neighborhood favorite, Delfinas.

I had a delicious grilled octopus salad

and a VEGAN artichoke soup that was to die for

After  busy weekend I am ready to face the four day work week that lays before me, holding on to the taste of adventure until the next weekend comes.

It’s beginning to look a lot like springtime

Yesterday I did something I have been wanting to do for a long time…eat peanut butter GU on a long run!

I heard about peanut butter GU earlier in the year and unfortunately my injuries left me unable to run a block, let alone the hour plus when a GU is recommended. Yesterday, at the 5.5 mile mark in my 8 mile run I ripped open my GU and was so pleased with the taste! My favorite flavors are espresso, mint chocolate and vanilla, but now my go-to will definitely be peanut butter.

Has anyone else tried peanut butter flavored GU?

Because it was a Sunday we had to make our weekly trip down to the local farmers market to pick up fresh veggies and fruit.

Cherries are in season at the moment, so we picked a bunch and stuck them in the dehydrator for later.

This weekend is not only Memorial Day weekend but also the 75th birthday of the Golden Gate Bridge. The parks department put on a festival of food, history and art on the water front, so we took advantage of the beautiful afternoon to enjoy the festivities.

On this 5 mile walk we found hints of spring throughout the natural world, spotting a baby gofer and a mommy duck leading her band of babies.

The long walk worked up an appetite and soon as we got home we got to cooking.

Dinner was a combination of some leftover, homemade tomato sauce, ground turkey, farmer’s market fava beans and grape tomatoes, and a really old spaghetti squash. It was delicious.

And now it’s the best kind of Monday — a no work Monday —enjoy!

The Holiday Spirit

It’s not every day that your co-worker comes in waving her finger with an engagement ring on it! After the announcement of a new fiance in the office everyone was on a high – especially because it was a Friday before a 3 day weekend.

Friday was definitely a day of treating one’s self to start the holiday early. For lunch I dined out with a coworker and enjoyed this simple but delicious quinoa dish at a local cafe.

After loading up on a lengthy to do list for when I get back next week, I ran out of the office to meet dave for dinner at Grub.

To celebrate the end of the week wine was in order

Grub is known for their mac and cheese so I left that to dave

and I had a veggie burger

Once full on restaurant food we made our way back home to unwind from the day and rest up for today’s big adventure…

which involves traveling over this baby (Happy 75th Birthday Golden Gate Bridge!)