beet smoothie

Yes, you heard that right–a BEET smoothie.

It was good! Almost too sweet…probably because it should really be called an applesauce smoothie with a little bit of beet puree. But man, does a little go a LONG way in terms of color!

I loved the chewy bits of dried cranberries. I chose this smoothie because I had all the ingredients on-hand, namely the beet puree. I brought about 3/4 C of it with me with all the stuff from our freezer. I still have some beet puree left, so I’ll be trying at least two other beet smoothie “recipes” in the coming days. I’m trying, in earnest, to use up anything I can that we brought with us. Our meals this week (I’m finally going to go all-out and cook a bunch here in the apt; free hotel food be damned!) center around the last bits of random frozen meats and pantry staples.

We’re having:

-sliders with chips and fruit

-herbed salmon with orzo and tomatoes

-wheat berry salad with orange and mustard chicken

-quinoa with spinach, parsley and spring onions

The highlight of my day? GROCERY SHOPPING!

date night and how i’m going to make up for it today…

Andrew and I went on a date last night. An actual date. I don’t even remember the last time we had a “true” date. Sure, we go out to dinners and movies all the time, but they never feel like a “date.” It’s just not-eating-at-home, or grabbing something convenient, or going to see the new summer blockbuster with Andrew’s family. I think because we can go out often, we DO go out often, which takes away some of the “special-ness” of it all.

So, we decided mini-golf would be our date. It was a typical New York summer night; the temps have dropped again (thank goodness!) and I was in a t-shirt, pants and a jean jacket–can you believe it! As always, I lost to Andrew, but perhaps played my best 18 holes EVER, so that was fun. After golf we stopped into Target to explore the new “Fresh” section they just put in. We shared a cherry ICEE and a bag of popcorn and walked up and down the aisles, which was probably more fun for me than for Andrew, but it was nice to see what they had.

We left with some odds and ends and then made ANOTHER stop…this time to get DESSERT. (Not that I needed it, but I’d had a crazy craving for chocolate and we’d discussed going to Taffy’s; I needed no more persuasion than that!)

Taffy’s is a 60-year-old hot dog and milkshake stand that is now on the corner of a busy intersection in Orchard Park. Strip malls filled with Tim Horton’s, McDonald’s, Lowe’s and the like have sprouted up around it, yet it remains a local favorite. It’s a tiny building surrounded by four-person gliders with canopies–perfect for a summer day or night.

They’re known for their milkshakes; they have a menu with about a hundred (or more!) options, all divided by main ingredient, like fruit or chocolate. Thank goodness! I’m indecisive enough!

I got a Raspberry Truffle milkshake (raspberry and chocolate) and Andrew got a vanilla ice cream cone. We split an order of cajun curly fries. YUM. We’ll definitely go back, and I’ll be bringing the camera because Taffy’s deserves a post of its own!

I’m still four pounds away from my goal (grrr), so in order to make up for last night’s overindulgence, I’m going LIGHT today. Very light.

Breakfast was a banana (I love eating bananas plain when they are yellow with just the tiniest hint of green; once they have the brown dots all over them I tend to mix them into things or slice them on toast with peanut butter) and coffee. After my workout, I fixed myself a fantastic, Kath-approved snack:

I mixed up plain lowfat yogurt, flaxseed meal, 1 tbsp chocolate chips and the last of my frozen cherries in the blender, then topped with the last of my Great Harvest Groovy Granola. YUM. The granola makes it pretty high in calories (220 for 1/2 cup) but it also keeps me full for awhile.

I’m planning on finishing up the last of my hummus and veggies for lunch, with some fruit. I’m cooking here tonight, finally, and we’re having Trader Joe’s Mango Chicken Sausages (they’ve been living in the freezer since Ohio!) with barbeque chips and fruit for dinner.

I bought Birthday Cake-flavored Kefir at Wegmans yesterday (I know, it sounds weird) in hopes that if I poured it over fruit it would KINDA taste like ice cream. We’ll see.

chocolate-covered cherries

I felt like having oatmeal this morning.

I should have photographed it BEFORE I mixed it all up, but I hadn’t been planning on blogging about it until Andrew urged me to. So, instead of being pretty, it looks like brown mush. But it was good!

I used instant oats (I know, I know, not my favorite, but I have a bag of them here in the hotel and I want to use them up!), half a banana, a few frozen cherries, 1 tbsp chocolate chips, 1/2 tbsp flaxseed meal, slivered almonds and a splash of milk.

I knew I was going to swim today, so I wanted something that would fill me up, and I just wasn’t in the mood for a smoothie and toast.

For my first time back in the pool, I did a simple “build” workout: a 100, 200, 300, 400 and then a 500-yd swim. That adds up to 1,500 yds, which is just shy of a 1-mile swim. I took it nice and slowly; it took about a half-hour. It was nice to be back in the pool; there is just something about putting on goggles and blocking out the rest of the world for awhile. I feel good and am looking forward to future pool workouts.

Happy Monday everyone!