Worth the wait

This morning I couldn't decide what I wanted for breakfast, but I knew I didn't want it to be the Chex and Rice Krispies that my men were enjoying. While I sipped my first cup of coffee (half caff with half-and-half, same as always), I had a piece of locally-made wheat toast spread with Earth Balance to stop my belly from grumbling and to buy me some time until I figured out what I really wanted. Not oatmeal. Not pancakes. No pumpkin to make a protein cake with... it took awhile, but I finally came up with a scrambled egg + egg white, spinach, and Sriracha wrap in a sprouted wheat tortilla. YUM. Warm and filling with just a hint of spice (should've increased the hot sauce), and perfect with my second cup of coffee. It wasn't that appealing looking, so no pic, but I'm pretty pleased with it--oh, and the fact that I successfully avoided putting fresh homemade whipped cream into my coffee. ;) Happy Friday!

Spiced hot cocoa

This post is brought to you by my sweet tooth, craving something rich and desserty... at 4pm on Friday afternoon. Too early for "dessert" (even if I'd had any made) and too late for a froofy coffee drink (yeah, I'm old enough that caffeine after 3pm keeps me awake). My yen for chocolatey goodness led me to allrecipes.com, where I found--and modified--a recipe for spiced hot chocolate.

It made plenty for the two of us, plus a slosh for the little guy, and even some leftover that I refrigerated for not-so-distant future use. It would make a fun coffee "creamer" if you're hoping for something more flavorful than milk or half-and-half. Adjust the spices to suit your taste; this one kicked me in the tonsils on the way down!

Spiced Hot Chocolate

modified from this recipe

serves 4

3 cups low-fat milk

1.5 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

1 Tbsp turbinado sugar (oops, should've used some stevia!)

1/2 Tbsp sucanat

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp chili powder

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Frothed milk, optional

1. Heat milk in a medium saucepan over low heat.

2. Whisk in cocoa, sugar, and sucanat until dissolved.

3. Add vanilla, cinnamon, chili powder, nutmeg, and cayenne*. 

4. Heat and stir 5 minutes or until well combined. Serve topped with frothed milk (or whipped cream if you're not feeling the cleaner option).

*I poured some for the little guy before I added the cayenne pepper; it would have been too spicy for a toddler otherwise. Use your best judgment regarding your own family.

Breakfast for dinner

Tonight the three of us went for a run after The H got home from work, so dinner needed to be something quick and easy that we could make afterwards and still get the little guy in bed at a decent time. I made a gluten-free coffeecake this afternoon, so we decided on eggs to round it out.

It ended up being a kind of fridge cleanout meal, since I got to use up the garlic scapes, golden zucchini, beet greens, and a few eggs, in addition to some cherries and a few near-wrinkly peaches that I served on the side.

The H requested poached over scrambled, so I nestled the eggs in the greens/zucchini and let them cook through a bit before putting them in the oven to set completely (make sure your skillet is oven-safe if you try this). I meant to put some goat cheese in there, but I forgot.

Breakfast for dinner = coffee, so The H made a fresh pot, and we were good to go.

Yep, I was right!

My carb-load from last night helped me power through my long run, over 7 miles, this morning. It was a very pleasant run (non-runners, there really IS such a thing!) with no aches or pains, mostly dry roads, and not too much wind. Meeting a friend just after mile 3 provided a nice boost, too. When we got back, our host was making oatmeal-blueberry pancakes and omelets. I was pleasantly surprised to see that they had real maple syrup, which I enjoyed on my first pancake, but it was gone by the time I had my second (ok, ok, and my third--they were small!) so I used a little Mrs. Butterworth's. What a difference in taste! I'd forgotten how sweet the artificial stuff is. The H and I shared an omelet stuffed with cheese, sausage, and black bean salsa. And of course, I did my part to keep Folgers in business and put away a good 2-3 cups, lightened with low-fat milk. Dinner tonight will be ground turkey nachos topped with tomatoes, black beans, cheddar, peach salsa, and guacamole. I'm not sure what I'll eat in between now and then, but a green monster smoothie is a good possibility--I need to bump up my fruit/veggie intake.

A regression confession

Not even sure if "regression" is the right word choice. It's my short way of saying "I tried having low-fat milk in my morning coffee for a few months, and it was all right, but I've come to the decision that I enjoy it a lot more when I use half-and-half, and since it hasn't negatively affected my weight loss at all, I'm going to revert back to half-and-half because it makes me happy and if something so simple keeps me from eating dessert and sugary crap all day, then I'm going to be ok with that."

This is not really a true confession in that I feel exactly ZERO guilt for choosing half-and-half over skinny milk. It's something that I realize is such a trivial thing in the long run (for as little as I drink daily) but suffering through murky-instead-of-creamy coffee was just not worth it to me. Don't worry, though, I haven't jumped off the clean-eating ship altogether. :)