FOR SALE…finally

A “For Sale” sits in our front yard–hooray!

And, as promised, here are the “after” pictures:

Click here to see our listing on Coldwell Banker!

KERF Oatmeal

I FINALLY made a bowl of Kath’s oatmeal!

I’ve been following her blog for a couple weeks now (thanks Susy!) and I absolutely LOVE it. She blogs multiple times per day, and photos what she eats, primarily, but also about what she and her husband are up to. They are very outdoorsy, bike all over the place and are about to open a Great Harvest Bread Co. store in Charlottesville, Va. She has really inspired me to “eat real food,” like more fruits, veggies and whole grains. I mean, I’ve been eating pretty healthily for awhile now, but she has what I call an extreme yet back-to-basics approach to food. Extreme because EVERYTHING she eats is REALLY healthy (think mostly produce with some fats, grains and protein thrown in) and back-t0-basics because most of it is plain, uncooked and right off the food pyramid (does anyone remember that?).

Anyway, I’ve been reading the blog and realizing I can throw together my OWN “real” food meals. I’ve started eating things like hummus, veggies and whole grain crackers for lunch, plain yogurt with granola for breakfast (OK, I was already doing that) and adding peanut butter to bananas for a snack. I cannot tell you how surprised I’ve been at how these smaller meals really fill me up!

However, her main meal is oatmeal. She makes it every morning for breakfast for herself and her husband–she has her “basic” recipe online, and then she adds “mix-ins” like dried fruits, coconut, nuts, nut butters or jam, etc… It’s incredible, really. It never occurred to me to branch out of the typical brown sugar and raisins variation.

OK, getting to the point. I love oatmeal as much as the next person, but since I’ve been counting my calories, I’ve shied away from it since (especially with all the toppings!) can really add up, and it’s never kept me full anyway. (I have enough on that subject alone for a post–EVERYONE swears up and down that oatmeal is SOOO filling, yet I’m ravenous again in like 30 minutes–what’s with that? Well, I’ve learned it’s the lack of PROTEIN–that’s what!)

ANYWAY…yesterday was my long run day (hello torching 900 cals!), so I figured what better day to whip up my own version of Kath’s oatmeal for lunch!

I made rolled oats on the stove, then stirred in milk and topped with what I had on-hand: chopped, dried apricots and plums, toasted hazelnuts, shredded coconut, flax seeds, Trader Joe’s Sunflower Seed butter and a tiny bit of the Honeyville Pumpkin Spice whipped honey I picked up at Great Harvest in Carmel, Indiana.

SO yummy! It was just a bit sweet (I probably could have done without the honey) and so filling. It kept me full until we had dinner around 7 p.m. The dried fruit was my favorite part.

I served it with some Lemon Ginger tea with a dash of honey.

After I tracked it all in my calorie counter, it only came to about 450 calories or so, which really isn’t that bad. I think the key is using less oats (1/4 C), adding protein (nut butters, milk) and going easy on sweeteners. I used about 1/2 tbsp honey and 1 tbsp sunflower seed butter. Kath uses half a banana in hers to sweeten it up, but I didn’t have one.

Here’s to long-run days in which I get to try new things and go out to eat (had City BBQ last night, with a kid-size scoop from Graeter’s)!

A Sundae on a Sunday

This is what I had for breakfast this morning.

It’s called a “fruity waffle sundae” and it’s from January 2011’s Shape magazine. It’s part of a 20-meal, 30-day weight-loss plan. Basically, the plan provides five mix-and-match breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks, and promises that if you follow its few simple rules (1. eat within one hour of waking, 2. space your three meals and one snack 3-5 hours apart, and 3. allow yourself 50-100 calories of dark chocolate a day), you will lose weight in one month. Without counting calories. Without changing your workout.

This intrigued me. Not to the point of following the plan 100%, but enough that I thought I’d try a couple recipes and see how they were. The verdict: everything I’ve made has been pretty good or very good, and surprisingly filling. I am, in fact, counting my calories (www.livestrong.com), and have lost seven pounds in the last 3.5 weeks (yay!), but I also have a picky husband, so not all the means were going to work for me.

Anyway, back to breakfast. I’d been eyeing the waffle sundae (it’s the cover recipe of the article), but was a little skeptical about some of the ingredients. I also haven’t had a chance to make waffles in awhile (did I mention we’re trying to get our house on the market?), but this morning I did. On a side note, I’ve been getting up early every morning on my own to do my Bible study and have my 90-calorie coffee that I refuse to give up (I have a creamer habit), which I highly recommend. (The waking up early, not the creamer habit.)

ANYWAY…the waffle was great! I didn’t have the same fruit the recipe specified, so I improvised and loved it. Instead of pomegranate seeds and kiwi, I used cut-up peaches–which I think goes so well with ginger. It also kept me full through church, which is sometimes a challenge! Get the recipe here.