Today was simply awesome. There’s a lot to talk about, so I’ll get right to it!
BREAKFAST
I tried out a new hot cereal this morning. I found it at Whole Foods yesterday and thought I’d use it to mix up my breakfasts a bit. It’s called Bob’s Red Mill Mighty Tasty Gluten Free Hot Cereal. Whew – that’s a mouthful;)
I combined 1/4 cup of the hot cereal with 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup unsweetened chocolate almond milk and 1/2 sliced banana. I cooked it on the stove over medium heat until it started bubbling. I stirred and stirred and stirred – it took a while for it to get a thicker consistency! Finally, I added in about 1 tbsp. of ground flax to absorb a little more of the liquid.
The result? I really enjoyed the taste of this hot cereal! It actually tasted a lot like mushy oatmeal – I know that might sound gross, but honestly there wasn’t much of a difference between this and oatmeal other than the actual texture. I added some white chocolate chips on top to make it sweeter. I will definitely make this again, and can’t wait to vary up the toppings, just as I do with my oats. I also have to point out my new bowl – courtesy of a gift card to Urban Outfitters🙂
I sipped a mug of Coffee Cocoa to round out the morning. I found the 365 Brand Organic Hot Chocolate and while it is slightly more expensive, it doesn’t have the sucralose and other crazy ingredients, so it was worth it. But I have to ask…
What’s your favorite brand of hot chocolate?
The rest of the morning was spent lazying around watching television and doing laundry. Oh how I love Sunday mornings with nothing to do!
LUNCH
I told you the sweet potato would become a staple in my diet:) I had another one for lunch today with some sliced turkey.
And for an extra treat, I had fresh & frozen blueberries + whipped cream!
But my sweet tooth just wouldn’t quit, so I ended up having a square of Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate – the one that’s 60% cacao. Delicious!
After lunch, I headed to the gym with Bobby. I did 30 minutes on the Stairmaster, 10 minutes on the stationary bike and my leg workout. Great sweat session😉 I came back and made myself a shake…
Which you will see in another post – coming soon! Can’t wait to show ya…
EXCITEMENT + DINNER
And now for the best part of today! Originally I was planning on eating an omelette for dinner (a Sunday night trend), but Bobby and I got out and walked for a bit instead. All of the sudden, we ran into this:
Um, woah! I did NOT realize there was a bike race going on! Craziness. It was insane to see how fast this huge peloton (group of bikers, Bobby says) were going. There was a car out in front that would clear the way and then ZOOM! they came racing through. They must have done close to 100 laps, because they had 57 to go by the time we got there!
While we were walking around, wouldn’t you know we came across a Whole Foods booth! Turns out, they were one of the sponsors for the event. And I came home with…
FREE LARABARS! In flavors I have never tried before, too – I’m going to give them another chance:)
So in seeing the Whole Foods, we decided to scrap the idea of omelette night in favor of going to the actual Whole Foods location for…the hot bar!
I got myself some Greek salad with red and green peppers and tomato, corn salad with zucchini, bean salad with red beans and garbanzos, red potatoes, roasted garlic, artichokes and tofu!
+
It was so fun to get out and see something that really only happens during the summertime. I felt like it was really one of the first nights I enjoyed being in Chicago for the summer and taking advantage of one of the many things there are to do in this great city. Cheesy, I know – but it was fun:)
And now the week begins again with an early meeting with the alarm clock tomorrow.
Snooze button, anyone?
I had a piece of Ghirardelli chocolate today, too (mint flavor). It tasted sooo good!
Oh my goodness! I am SO jealous of those mini Larabars! Plus, your WF salad looks too good for words.
Snooze buttons make everything better 😉
I’m jealous of that mini larabar stash because even though I’m not the biggest fan of the few I’ve tried, I enjoy them enough to want to try more of the flavours. But I’ve never seen teeny ones around here. And they would make much more sense for my larabar taste test desires than buying full size (and fairly expensive) bars. Sigh.
Do you eat your sweet potato with the skin on? I have never tried the skin before.
Are Larabars like Clif Bars? Granola bars? Cereal bars? I am curious.
I like how you decorated your lunch XD And mmm whipped cream and blueberries! Love that stuff–it’s like ice cream!
Haven’t tried that many brands of hot chocolate…but there’s this one brand of cocoa mix…which I can’t remember the name of…that I really like! It’s got great flavors like hazelnut…raspberry…french vanilla…if I ever remember the name I’ll tell you! 😛
Foodie ~ They have a Ghirardelli shop in downtown Chicago – YUM!
Caroline ~ I can’t wait to try out the new flavors…I wasn’t a huge fan the first time around but hopefully this round will be better!
Kristie ~ I will let you know what I think – we seem to be in agreement on taste, so if I like any of them, I’ll be sure to tell you!
Katie ~ I do eat my sweet potato with the skin on when I cut it into circles like that. If I eat it like a baked potato, I usually don’t eat the skin. I’m pretty sure that the skin has extra fiber or something, and if I wash it I think it tastes good! As for the Larabars, I don’t think they’re much like Clif, granola or cereal bars. I actually didn’t like them when I first tried them – they’re all raw (I think) and made up mostly of dates and other fruits like that. The texture was a bit off for me, but I will be sure to show you what they look like when I eat them and let you know what I think!
Carmen ~ Haha, yes do let me know if you ever remember the name! 🙂
im jealous of the mini Laras too! that is so cool they had a booth!! did you have to buy them?
and yay for lunch meat and sweet potatoes! haha!
happy Monday Jenn!
It looks like you had a fun Sunday. It looks like one of those mini larabars is a peanut butter cookie, I have been wanting to try that one but haven’t found it yet, so I can’t wait to hear what you think about it.
Happy Monday!!
Oh and I think I commented back on my blog, but in case you didn’t see it…of course you can include me on your blogroll. I haven’t had the chance to get one on my blog yet, but you will be on it once I do: )
Obviously my Tour De France obsessed self is VERY jealous of you stumbling upon a peleton. I would have been in heaven. And free Lara Bars. That really may have been heaven.
I really love how you decorate your food. I always just plop mine down on a plate–yours always looks so fabulously ‘decorated’.
Oh how tough Monday’s are!
sweatsandsweets.wordpress.com
I totally purchased the Bob’s Red Mill brand of gluten-free baking flour at Whole Foods the other day – here’s to gluten-free!! :0D
MINI LARABARS?!?!?!?! **turns dark green with envy**
bah! i’ve been on the lookout for peanut butter larabars but no luck so far…review! review! review! (that’s me chanting…)
that salad looks incredible!!!
what a great idea to put white chocolate chips in the oatmeal 🙂
let us know what you think of the larabars!
That salad bar looks awesome! I love Whole Foods so much! Don’t you love Bob’s Red Mill? That company is located right outside Portland, where Andrea lives and where I’m from, and they have a full-on restaurant. It is so good and I love his cute face on all the packages. 🙂 Have a great day!
I love that Bob’s Red Mill named it “Might Tasty.” That’s hilarious. No mixed messages there!
And yes, the snooze button is my friend. It gets action at least once or twice a day…that came out wrong. Whoops.
Em ~ I did not have to buy them – the glory of Whole Foods free samples!!!!
Aimee ~ I will be sure to let you know what I think of the peanut butter cookie when I try it!
sweetsandsweats ~ Haha, thanks. Food blogging has certainly caused me to think about presentation more than I ever have before!
VeggieGirl ~ Oooh can’t wait to see what you’ll be baking with that flour!
Leigh ~ I will get on that review as fast as possible! 🙂
Fitnessista ~ Full review for each flavor, I promise!
Erin ~ I do love Bob’s Red Mill! I use their ground flax, too. That’s awesome that they have a restaurant in Portland – I bet it’s great!
Fit Bottomed Girl ~ Definitely no mixed messages! And I loved your comment about the snooze button – too true 😉
looooooooooove the gluten free cereal.
I don’t even know where to start with my comment on this post!!!! Breakfast looks delicious, (I love the new bowl, I’m actually starting a job working in the home dept at Urban Outfitters!!! I get a discount and I just know I’m going to buy waaayy too many dishes) and your mini Larabars and whole foods hot bar choices look awesome too!
MINI LARA BARS!! ahh I want some of those so badly! I’ve only tried a few flavors (chocolate mole was really good!) so I can’t wait to hear your reviews.
ps. I sent you an email : )
Keep it coming! Minus the chocolate for me 🙂
i would love it! i’m going to add you to mine right now 🙂
Mushy oatmeal actually sounds reeeaally good!
Try the Jocalat larabars. I don’t like all the regular ones either, but the jocalats have CHOCOLATE! :o)
Is that ketchup on the sweet potato?
Love what you did with your lunch plate – I too would eat a sweet potato with ketchup 🙂
my mouth is watering! I loved the presentation for the sweet potatoes, definitely a step up from mcdonalds fries and ketchup!
I love melting chocolate chips into the hot cereals! I have yet to try the Bob’s Mill one though.
I thought I was the only one who wasn’t on the Larabar bandwagon. I didn’t even like the chocolate ones! Maybe the new ones will hit the spot for ya!
I’m jealous! I want some mini Lara bars. Thanks for reviewing the cereal. I have been tempted to buy it! I have tried Bob’s Mill Rice Cereal and it took a long time to cook and get as thick as I wanted. Is that ketchup on your Sweet Potato? I love ketchup on everything, but have never tried it on a sweet potato.
http://megansmunchies.blogspot.com/
MizFit ~ That Bob knows what he’s doing 🙂
linds ~ Uh oh, a discount at Urban Outfitters? You’re in trouble 🙂
Sarah ~ I emailed you back!
Mark ~ Not a chocolate fan? That’s too bad!
Fitnessista ~ Great! I will add you now, too!
CCV ~ Oooh, I will definitely be on the lookout for the Jocalat bars!
totaltransformation ~ Yep, that would be ketchup.
Rose ~ It’s like healthy French fries 😉
Runner Girl ~ A step up for sure! Although McD’s fries are good…hehe.
Sharon ~ I highly recommend it – anything by Bob is good with me 🙂
Andrea ~ I’m glad somebody is off the bandwagon with me. I’ll let you know how these new ones go!
Megan ~ Definitely give this hot cereal a try. Yep, that’s ketchup on the sweet potato – definitely give that a try too!!