What I Ate Wednesday #8

It’s fun to be spontaneous.  But I will be the first to admit, I am not always willing to drop everything and change my plans.  But for some reason today I was open trying something new.  As Harper and I were getting ready for music class, she walked over to her stroller and asked to go for a ride.  I was surprised at her request since Harper has never really been a fan of her stroller and wanted to give her some positive reinforcement.  We didn’t really have time for a leisurely stroll since we were on our way out the door for music.  But after looking at the clock and mapping the walking directions to our class, I realized we could kill two birds with one stone and walk to class.  So I loaded Harper up in her seat, gave her a handful of snacks (cheese, apples and peas), stuffed my instruments into the cargo space, threw my guitar on my back and started out on our 1.4 mile trek.  It was a beautiful day for a walk.  And the best part?  Harper road in her stroller the whole way!  This is a huge feat considering most of the time you can find me carrying her while pushing the stroller up and down the street.  And she even sat in her stroller on the way back too!  Made mommy (and my back) very happy.  I hope this will become a new habit for us to “fall” into because it felt really good to work up a sweat and breathe in the fresh air.

And after a nice little work out, I was glad to have packed my body with some good fuel.  Here is a look at today’s eats…

Breakfast:1 Wheat Alternative Bagel with Nuttzo

1 plum

Thanks to Jenn’s WIAW link up, I have come across some great new products that are quickly becoming some of my favorite foods.  Take this meal for example.  These Alternative Bagel’s are awesome!  They are small, made with whole grains and are the perfect blank canvas for this Nuttzo spread (another WIAW find!).  I love to top them with sliced banana but the bananas I bought at the store the other day are still a bit too green for me.  So I paired it with a delicious plum from my box which added just the right amount of sweetness to help kick-start my day :)

Snack #1:Nonfat Pumpkin Greek Yogurt topped with Homemade Granola

Nothing says fall like pumpkin and Trader Joe’s Nonfat Pumpkin Greek Yogurt is a delicious new way to celebrate the season.  Throwing a handful of my homemade granola to the mix gave this snack the crunch I was looking for.  (PS: I went to Trader Joe’s last night to pick up a few cartons of this stuff and they were sold out!  Good thing I stocked up…)

Lunch:Homemade Pizza (Trader Joe’s whole wheat dough, pesto, goat cheese, parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, marinated artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, pine nuts)

Salad from Gelson’s Salad Bar (kale, spinach, baby greens, celery, steamed broccoli, roasted beets, hard-boiled egg, shredded carrots, jicama, peas, kidney beans, garbanzo beans)

After reading my sister-in-law’s post about her homemade pizza, I couldn’t resist whipping one up for myself.  I would normally settle for a Whole Wheat Boboli Crust but decided to pick up a package of Trader Joe’s Whole Wheat Dough after hearing such rave reviews.  The result was delicious!  I paired it with a salad I made at Gelson’s salad bar.  I can’t walk into that store without walking out with a container stuffed full of veggies.

Dinner:

Pho Tai Nam (Rare steak with rice noodle soup, bean sprouts, onion, green onion and cilantro)

Tonight we celebrated a good friend’s birthday at a local Vietnamese restaurant.  We ordered tons of delicious dishes but I forgot to take any pictures.  Luckily, I had a bowl of leftover pho I snagged for lunch tomorrow so I snapped a pic before throwing it in the fridge.  Yum!

Late Night Snack:

Veggies with Trader Joe’s Tomato Basil Hummus

In the midst of writing this post I got the munchies for something crunchy.  These Trader Joe’s veggies and dip hit the spot.  Now my tummy is full and happy :)

So how am I doing with “falling into good habits?”.  I was pretty proud of myself today for laying off the sweets.  I have been struggling with that lately.  And I suspect it is only going to get worse with my birthday coming up this weekend.  I had a bit more processed grains than I would normally eat, but they were all whole grain so I guess it’s not that bad.  I just find that I feel my best when I limit my bread intake.  But that pizza was worth every bite :)

I am excited for the rest of the week.  My 30th birthday is in a few days and I am looking forward to celebrating with my family.  Harper has the Happy Birthday song down pat and she can’t wait to help me blow out my candles.

Happy WIAW!