Lazy and Productive Sunday = Snacks, Lunch and Breakfast

Today the husband and I woke up late (9:30 is the equivalent of 11:00 to my husband) and we headed out for a lazy breakfast before hitting up the the grocery store. While at breakfast, I checked my schedule to find it ridiculously light. Mind you, I do have FINAL edits of a manuscript I have been working on for months as long as the task of finishing up a lecture on opiates (yay!). For the past few weeks I have been SWAMPED- doing all of these things amongst running a study for 10-15 hours/day. For whatever reason I am never prepared for the busy weeks, so as a consolation, I decided to be overly prepared for the coming week by preparing breakfast, lunch and snacks! HOLY CRAP!

Too bad I won't be busy - but perhaps I can spend a ton of time at the gym to create the illusion of business. I am in a weight gain/loss competition with my husband to see who can gain/lose the most amount of weight before Xmas. He is trying to gain (tough life) and I am trying to lose. The most amount of poundage gain/lost entitles the winner to a free dinner. I am all over this.

Breakfast:
Chocolate-Covered Katie has been whipping up some mini baked oatmeals ("boatmeals") this week - and I figured I had to be able to make these minis into a full pan (I also wanted to use my new cute little Le Cruset pan.) This will be 6 servings for me because of our friendly competition (I may resort to using Ex-Lax in his meals as we get down to the wire).

Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal:
1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
2 Tbsp Maple syrup
1 Tbsp splenda
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup chopped pecans
3/4 cup coconut milk creamer

Mix it all together and bake 15 minutes at 375. I dusted the top with cinnamon to be fancy. I tasted a spoonful already and it was GREAT. I am excited about breakfast this week. Add a light smoothie and I am good to go (and not gain).



Lunch:
My mom calls this "garbage soup" because you are essentially cleaning out all the veggies in your fridge.

Garbage soup: There is nothing to this: chop up all of your veggies, add it to some veggie stock (I had just made some) or broth, 1 can tomato sauce, 1 Tbsp chiles in adobo (is you like spicy things like me) and some seasonings. Simmer and that's it. Divide into little lunch-sized containers.

This batch contained: broccoli, summer squash, beet greens ( I was roasting beets for salads), onion, bell pepper, garlic, thai chile peppers, basil, herbs de provence, salt, pepper.... and I guess that's it. I will be eating this with salad all this week (I want to WIN)!!!




Snacks:

I recently happened upon Oh She Glows which is a cute little blog with gorgeous food/great pictures/a story of abandoning academia and opening a bakery (sigh). I was reading some past posts and saw these cookie bites - which were described as not sugary at all- PERFECT for me and my weight loss glory title. They came together in 5 minutes flat, baked for 14 and tasted great right out of the oven. A few of these after lunch will help my sweet tooth a TON.



I also bought a ton of summer squash for hummus dipping, some apples to slather with peanut butter for my 5PM pre-yoga/spinning/swimmming/pilates/metabolic effect sustenance, and those cheater bags of 94% fat free popcorn that we all learned in weight watchers is only 1 point for the entire 3 cups! Sign me up.

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Tonight's dinner is not vegan nor is it particularly healthy (well, maybe the soup was). A little while back my sister-in law posted a recipe on her blog for roasted tomato soup. Apparently it was a meal that my brother had made one evening. It's funny that him and I enjoy cooking, since my mother hates it so much. But regardless- we both cook and I am now borrowing a recipe.

I woke up feeling like death today - the weather has changed here FINALLY, which I love! However, every year when the temperature drops drastically I get sick. It's a trade-off. Today seemed like the perfect day to make grilled cheese and tomato soup.

Roasted Tomato soup (Dr. B-S's changes in Italics)
4 large Tomatoes, cut into wedges
1 Red Bell Pepper, cut into 1 inch pieces
2 large Garlic Cloves, chopped finely
3 tsp Olive Oil
1 quart Vegetable Stock
Handful of Fresh Basil
2 Tbsp cream cheese
Pinch curry powder Herbs de Provence

Roast veggies 45 minutes on 425. Add stock and cream cheeseto pan, use immersion blender to blend and make into soup. Add spices and you're done. Yum.

Now, when it comes to grilled cheese- I like to embellish. I love brie, caramelized onions and granny smith apples. However, I did not have any of those things on hand - as I don't really keep much dairy in the house. Husband Dave did have some sliced cheddar, so I used that. I like fruit, so I used some jam. Jam is by far my favorite thing in my fridge, and I have many, many varieties to suit my every fancy. The jam of the day? Candy apple. Oh yeah.

Grilled cheese:
4 slices sourdough bread
2 tsp candy-apple jam
2 slices cheddar
2 Tbsp goat cheese
1 Tbsp smart balance

Melt smart balance on griddle. Assemble the sandwiches, bread + jam + slice cheddar + goat cheese + bread. I served it with some of my Uncle's pickles. I still feel like poop, but at least I am full.