A good clean day

I feel good about what I ate today. I wonder if that's because I planned my eating/exercise last night? I'm not very good about that. Sometimes when it's time for a meal or snack, I don't know what to go for and having a written "menu plan" to refer to is a big help. Today was easy, though! Sorry I don't have any pictures up; I will have to get used to snapping a pic before we dig in.

Breakfast (my son slept in enough for me to enjoy this, start to finish, before he started chirping):

1 serving quick-cooking steel-cut oats

1/4 cup fresh blueberries

2 tsp ground flax meal

1/8 cup sliced almonds

1 Tbsp organic grade B maple syrup

Along with this I had a cup of half-caff coffee (it's all we make anymore) with a splash of low-fat milk. I know cow's milk is technically processed, but I'm ok with having that in my diet.

Snack 1:

1/2 cup Daisy brand 2% cottage cheese (Daisy has the shortest ingredients list of any cottage cheese I've ever seen at our grocery stores!)

1/4 cup peach salsa with 2 Tbsp black beans (rinsed)

8 soy-flax tortilla chips

The black beans got added to the salsa on a whim; I was trying to up my fiber, iron, and protein intakes. Wow, was it good! I seriously wanted to eat it with a spoon. I already love that peach salsa more than any person *should* love a condiment, but the beans just put me over the edge. Delicious.

Lunch:

1 small (half, I guess?) grilled chicken breast

1 Tbsp of my favorite (probably non-clean) barbeque sauce

1/2 of the largest sweet potato I've ever met in my life; I think it started life as a football

2 tsp brown sugar

1/2 cup brown rice

This was leftovers from dinner last night; we had to order from Logan's Roadhouse (Road House?) on the way home from visiting my parents. It was nearly 8pm and none of us had eaten dinner yet. I asked for the chicken plain grilled, and requested no toppings on the potato. I'm not the world's biggest sweet tater fan, but I'm trying--really, really trying--to get used to them. Half was all I could handle in any given sitting, so it worked out great. Oh, and then I had 1/4 of a small 72% dark chocolate bar. Could've lived without that, but oh well.

Snack 2:

Less than half of a green monster smoothie (milk, spinach, natural peanut butter, frozen banana, ice). I was still so full from the rest of the day that I didn't need this, but didn't want to bonk on my run tonight. I let my husband drink most of it; mine was probably closer to 1/4 serving.

Dinner:

1 grilled chicken breast, marinated in balsamic vinegar and olive oil

Grilled zucchini and summer squash, drizzled with a little olive oil and sprinkled with dried tarragon and fresh black pepper

Grape tomato-feta salad with white balsamic vinegar

Quinoa tabbouleh salad (cold)

What a gorgeous summery spread! I adore the colors of fresh food on the table in the summer. We had the green and yellow from the squashes, green onion and red pepper in the quinoa, and the brilliant ruby red of the tomatoes next to the golden chicken breasts, which were amazingly tender and juicy. Looking forward to leftovers for lunch tomorrow!

We ran two miles between the green monster and dinner. Not my easiest run (I'm blaming the humidity) but I'm glad to have done it. I'm very happy with my eating today and hoping for another like it tomorrow. The beets I'm roasting now (smelling up my house in the most tantalizing manner) are sure to play a part!