Food prep, menu, update

When the little guy went down for a nap on Sunday afternoon, I got to work in the kitchen. And boy, did I work! At more than one point--with the stove burners full, oven on, two small appliances working, and a sink and dishwasher full of dishes--I thought I might've gotten a little carried away, but it all worked out. And at the end of the day, here's what we had waiting for us:

Two pans of blueberry-walnut baked oatmeal (one 13x9, one 8x8)
Three gluten free pizza crusts (one family sized, two individual)
Six freezer bags of black beans (equal to one+ can each)
Seven 7-oz jars homemade yogurt (so cute!)
One leftover-roundup quiche (mushrooms, zucchini, onion, two kinds of cheese, chicken sausage)
Quinoa for a quick side dish or to be combined with black beans for a lunch salad
Rice for the dog, who suddenly decided he hates his food

After prepping all that, we went out for pizza. Ha! I shared a salad with The H and breadsticks with the little guy. I love feeling productive and prepared for the week! Stay tuned for more pics of my homemade yogurt process... it's not perfect yet, but I look forward to trying again once we get more milk from the co-op on Wednesday. Here's a short list of what we're eating this week:

S - Grilled chicken sausage, corn on the cob, grilled broccoli, peaches (75% from the farmers' market!)
M - Chicken breast with olive-tomato relish, wild rice, homegrown sauteed zucchini
T - Pizza with mushrooms, kalamatas, tomato, co-op pepperoni
W - Quiche with... ? I don't know yet!
Th - Out with my youngest sister who's coming to visit (leftovers for my men)
F - Visiting family and going to my high school friend's (and maid of honor) wedding!

I'm happy to report that since my last post, I've been making a more conscious effort to move more and eat less while my running miles are still on the lower end. This means more yoga, walking the dog on my non-running days, and not vegging out in front of the TV after dinner. It may not have made a difference on the scale yet, but I do feel better for it. Just a few more weeks 'til my next race! It's good to have something on the calendar again.

Oh hey

Remember when I cut my running in half (61 miles in July) but forgot to adjust my caloric intake? Yeah, whoops. Thank goodness for stretchy running shorts and pants. My knee has been more cooperative lately, which is a big relief, and I'm making a conscious effort to rein in my sweet tooth, but I still have a few extra pounds to work with these days. Today I made a batch of Babycakes gluten free, vegan banana bread and muffins, which are, in the little guy's words, "So, so delicious." What a great way to use up the brown bananas cluttering up my freezer!

Thanks to colorful wonderful summer produce, I haven't put a ton of effort into meal planning lately. We've been starting with something like cucumber-onion salad, corn on the cob, and fresh fruit, and filling in the gaps with whatever protein I have handy: grilled chicken, chicken burgers, kale-quinoa-chickpeas, and so on. "So, so delicious" for sure, but not really blog-worthy! Sorry for the lack of interesting material.

I've also been slowly working on a business idea that's been rattling around in my brain, but has yet to amount to anything more than a brief blog post on another host. If it grows further, you bet I'll be hollering about it here! For now... wish me luck and awesome networking skills, ok? :)

Happy AUGUST!