I would love to eat one of my HUGE Saturday morning omelets with heaps of hot cherry peppers, topped with Tabasco sauce. 

That would have followed my 8 – 10 mile run with Shane but no.  No because I am running my first half marathon tomorrow and I am being extremely careful with the foods I put in my body. This obsession began on Monday but has reached painful proportions as of yesterday when I couldn’t have all the wine I wanted (I can only drink 2 glasses at the most, to be honest)

and I felt guilty about having coffee (but I drank it anyway).

I made my self feel better, on the wine front anyway, by writing about it’s healthy benefits on EXAMINER. 

Friday eats in review (2 days before the race – nutrition monitoring):

Breakfast was posted yesterday:  Steel cut oats with 1/2 a banana, 1 TBS raisins, 1 TBS peanut butter. Half an orange.  A whey protein shake made with water and ice (1 scoop of protein).

Morning snack of 1/3 cup cottage cheese and 2 TBS raisins and nuts.

Lunch:  My usual green salad mix with 1/2 a sweet potato and 1 grilled Quorn naked cutlet (it was grilled with soy sauce for flavor).  I added 2 to 3 TBS of Wishbone light balsamic and basil dressing.

The Quorn looks like chicken pieces, doesn’t it?

Love those sweet potatoes

The usual afternoon snack of AdvantEDGE premixed protein shake was also enjoyed. 

As for dinner, well this is what happened…

We went to a benefit honoring our friend Bob at Herkimer County Community College. It was a wonderful presentation and we are so proud of our friend.  What a life of achievement he has on his resume. I have a feeling Bob is not done yet.

The benefit was at 7pm and lasted just under an hour.  By that time, I was unbelievably hungry (the last time I ate was at 5:30 pm and that was 10 small pretzel sticks).   It’s a terrible thing when I get hungry.  My stomach begins to feel like a huge void then I start to feel nauseous, then I get REALLY, REALLY grumpy.  I told Ted we had to think about asking everyone about dinner and making tracks.  We did (I snagged 3 crackers on my way out) and ended up at Chesterfields on Bleeker Street. 

There were 12 of us without reservations.  The owner, Sal and his host, set up a table in the back room in a little over 5 minutes. PERFECT! What service!  AND….we had our favorite waiter, Chris, serve us. 

It was an enjoyable dinner.  I ordered my usual garden salad with oil and vinegar and crumbly bleu cheese.  Plain grilled salmon was my main course topped with 3 pieces of broccolini and a side of pasta served dry, plain (no sauce, no oil).  I did sprinkle some Parmesan on top of the pasta.   It was a tastefully rewarding meal.

We were home at just after 11 pm and ready for bed.

Saturday:   I would have liked to sleep at least until 7 am but that didn’t happen. Shane said “No Way!”   We went for a 5 mile walk and frisbee toss at 6:30.

The park was quiet except one fellow walker.  It was cold and very windy. 

As soon as we got home, I ate an apple and put some Gluten Free Old Fashioned oats on the stove.

I don’t always eat gluten free but like to minimize it pre-race because I think it’s a little easier for my digestive system than regular oats.

Shane and I went upstairs and he had a nice warm shower.  He smells like baby powder now.  I wonder if he would wear a cute little blue bow on his head?  Hmmm… that might be something to try.  I wonder whether it would be Shane or TED that would remove it first?

The oat mix was:

• 1/2 cup Gifts of Nature Gluten Free Old Fashioned Rolled Oats
• 1 TBS raisins
• 1/2 banana
• cinnamon
• water

I had a protein shake made simple.   It contained 12 oz water with 2/3 cup ice, 1 rounded scoop of whey vanilla protein powder (zero carb) PLUS the other 1/2 of that banana.

I haven’t had coffee this morning.  I shouldn’t have it at all today, but I ‘m going to indulge myself with one cup at some point.  Probably as soon as I’m done posting this.

The sun finally came out. We are going to leave soon to pick up our bikes.  Get some shopping done.  It’s going to be a glorious day.

What are your plans for this weekend?  Is the weather going to allow you some outside time?

Yesterday afternoon, one of my favorite guys in the whole world showed up at work and said … (I LOVE these words)…”One for you”.    It was the UPS man!  AHHHHH!   I got a package!

I knew immediately who it was from.  My friends at Bob’s Red Mill.  They sent me some Gluten Free Steel Cut Oats, my absolute weekday breakfast favorite.

That wasn’t all. In the box was a Spurtle.   I had never heard of such a thing!

A Spurtle is a traditional Scottish porridge stirring stick used to stir the oats as they softened in the pot.

Since I KNEW you’d want to know more, here it is:  THE SPURTLE.

Another plus in the box was the recipe for Oregon Orchard Oats Brulee.  That will be on my to-do list.  For now, here is my standard recipe for weekday oats.

Most people enjoy their oats a lot creamier than I do.  If you’re one of them, add some fat free milk to oats just before simmering.  You can also add a TBS of yogurt after the oats are cooked.

If you like sweeter oats:  A sprinkle of brown sugar on top.  Agave syrup, maple syrup, or honey (1 tsp).  Personally, if I’m feeling a need for sweeter oats, I add 1 TBS natural peanut butter.

The morning routine which made me SO deserving of that wonderful bowl of healthy oats was:
60 minute treadmill run. I couldn’t bring myself to run outside in the cold that early.

23 minutes shoulder workout with cable machine and weights. Abs in between sets.

3.55 mile jog with Shane. 

I hope to make the CEimB recipe tonight for posting tomorrow but we are still moving furniture and packing away dishes and ornaments for the carpet installation tomorrow.  It’s a lot more work than we bargained for.  The floor is installed and Shane doesn’t like it.  He wants his carpet back .  Poor Shane.  Out of spite, he has already left paw prints on the nice wood floor.  But the humans like it and we’re the ones paying so Shane will have to make do.
Steel Cut Oatmeal