Tuesday’s run was shortened when I got a kink in my left glute and unfortunately this pulled muscle plagued me all of yesterday too. When I woke up for the gym, hoping to run, I had shooting pains down my leg and up my lower back, so I listened to my body and did some abs, push-ups, dips and 25 minutes on the elliptical and called it a morning.

Unlike yesterday’s unthoughtful hand to mouth eating I decided to bring actual snacks to work. I enjoyed some mixed cereal and apple sauce! I can’t remember the last time I sat down as an adult and enjoyed a single serving of apple sauce. I heated it up in the microwave and it hit the spot.

While munching on these snacks I started to think about dinner and I got creative. I knew we had a can of pumpkin in the cabinet and I had some chicken that needed to be eaten so I came up with the following.

Pumpkin Butter Chicken

Take 2 large scoops of canned pumpkin and mix with 1 large scoop of peanut butter. Add nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon and mix together until smooth. Put chicken breasts in a  pan and coat the tops of the chicken with the pumpkin butter. Cook through and serve with steamed vegetables of your choosing.

For a first attempt I was impressed and quite pleased with the nutty flavor. Next time I might add some hot pepper flakes or some other source of heat to pump up the flavor.

These guys were my best friends for the rest of the evening – please glute, please start feeling better.