Cooking Light and Eating Well

Cooking Light and Eating Well –those are two of my favorite magazines.  And together they just happen to describe my preferred way of eating and cooking.  Today started out with a bowl of Classic Custard Oats  (think I’ll make this into a recipe on my sidebar since it is my favorite way to have oatmeal in the morning.)  I tried cooking the oats in half almond milk and half water, because I liked the oatmeal at Jamba Juice so much, which they claimed to have simmered in soy milk.  I didn’t think the almond milk made much of a difference in my oatmeal.

I had read Miz’s guest post this morning  before my oatmeal was cooked, so I tried to eat it mindfully.  I thought Gina’s post was  really inspirational, and her blog has a lot of interesting and well-written posts about mindful eating.  Mr. Monk was not impressed with my need to eat mindfully.

Really? This is the only chair in the house that you can eat mindfully in?

Then I spied the newest issue of Eating Clean, and a recipe that I had found interesting was bookmarked.  I did a few chores, and  finally got out for a nice walk with Noah.  Then it was lunchtime, and I made a frittata!

It was a ‘spaghetti frittata.’  Here’s the original recipe.  Of course I mucked with it just a little bit.  Added the tomatoes to the mix (instead of on top,) and added a bunch of chopped spinach and a little garlic.  Oh, and I used asiago cheese instead of parmesan, because that’s what I had.  It was very tasty.  I have to say that the spaghetti did not add much to it.  I think I would like a lot more veggies, and a little more cheese.  I might muck with the concept, and see if I can’t come up with something I like better.  Still, it was fun to learn a new cooking technique (flipping a frittata.)  I actually halved the recipe, and it provided a very large piece for about 230 calories.

I cut up a pineapple that was perfectly ripe, and had a wedge of that with my lunch.  Did a few more chores, and then  it was off to the gym!   First time in almost a month.  Yikes!  It really felt so good to do a weights workout,  and then head down to the treadmills to do a walk /run.  Of course I had timed my visit perfectly so that I could watch Oprah while I walked on the treadmill.  Stupid news people.  There was a fire at a local large mall, and they deemed it necessary to delete Oprah and show non-stop coverage of a smoldering fire.  Honestly.  Most of the time I am so glad I decided to give up having a television in my house.  But wait!  On one of the other televisions by the treadmills, the food network was on, and I got to watch Alton Brown for the first time!  I’ve heard his name forever, but I didn’t realize that he talked a lot about healthy cooking and eating!  He did a whole segment on smoothies (guess what I’m having for breakfast tomorrow) and then did a very interesting segment on brislings, which evidently are a superior type of sardines.  I think I might try them again.

I picked up some of my favorite lo-bars at the gym, and had a couple of them for an after-workout snack.  Yum Yum Yumm.  (Every time I say that I think of that stupid statue in ‘Night at the Museum’ saying Yum Yum Dum Dum.)

Back home again, and I prepped some brussel sprouts for another recipe I spied in the Eating Well magazine.  Then I took all three doggies for a walk.  This is becoming a habit I enjoy very much.  And of course, the dogs are thrilled with my new habit.

Here’s the original brussel sprouts recipe. This time I substituted walnuts and rosemary for the dill and almonds.  Again, tasty.  But actually, I think the most flavorful way to prepare brussel sprouts is to just roast them.   I paired the brussel sprouts with a bowl of the cottage cheese/crushed pineapple/walnuts.  Weird combo, but its what I felt like eating.

All in all, it was a very satisfying day of cooking, exercising, and eating MINDFULLY.

Oh, I have to share one more thing before I sign off.  My good blog buddy, Shelley, went to a ‘Wienerfest‘ in her home town, and was so sweet to get me a souvenir.   Only, she said, in her post-9 mile run  haze, she didn’t even think about the ‘double entendre’ of the caption on the shirt.  I laughed so hard when I opened the package, because, honestly, I would not have thought of that when I saw it either.  It is such a classy looking shirt, and I am so very fond of Texas and Texans (lived there for 8 years) and of course, I am a big fan of the wiener doggies.  Thanks again Shelley!