Good to be Home

Last night was, in fact, the first of the year in which a fan was utilized. This morning? The first of the year where I didn’t need to turn on my space heater while getting ready in the bathroom. The forecast for the week? Rain. Ugh. I guess it’s a good thing – it’s my last week of classes before exams and I should probably buckle down 😉

If I put as much effort into my school work as I did into my meals, I’d be golden. Unfortunately, world regions just doesn’t do it for me like mocha peach & sweet cherry oats do. Ah, well – someday.

I broke into a new Naturally Nutty this morning, too! Remember eons ago when I ordered their 3-pack of 1 AB and 2 PBs? Okay, you probably don’t. But it was a while ago and I’d opened them all but the Mocha PB.

The Base:

• 2 T. Bob’s Grains & Nuts Hot Cereal, 3 T. Bob’s Creamy Rye Flakes, 1 T. Wheat Bran
• 1/2 c. + brewed coffee, 1/2 c. almond milk
• trail power
• 1/2 peach, diced
• drizzle of maple syrup, sprinkle of ground cinn
• 1 T. chia seeds

Topped with:

• flax-chia-acai icing
• crystallized ginger
• honey roasted peanuts
• Naturally Nutty Mocha PB
• and a compote of the rest of the diced peach and some frozen chopped sweet cherries, simmered in some almond milk

Okay, so maybe this bowl had a little bit of a personality crisis going on. I just threw in whatever today. And my mom’s sugary honey roasted peanuts? So wrong, yet so, so right.  How is it that I would always complain when she would buy these over the normal salted ones when I was younger? I remember always giving her a hard time because her favorite was honey roasted, and I hated them. What a horrible child I was. Anyone ever look back at their younger selves and think “oh, my poor parents…”?

The Mocha PB is really amazing, too – but I wouldn’t expect any less from the amazing folks over at Naturally Nutty. They always impress! I was worried it would be too chocolatey for me when I first tasted it – but it is juusssst right. I think a little more coffee-flavor thrown in there would do it well, too, though 🙂

Enjoyed with some almost iced Green Mountain Rain Forest Nut. I brewed it before making the oats and popped it in the freezer, but it was just kinda warm rather than mostly cold. I think I’ll start brewing a cup before bed a throwing it in the fridge overnight.

Working with my fridge contents, I still had means for a great morning snack of a banana and quinoa-bulghur muffin. If anyone makes these muffins, heat them in the microwave for a couple seconds. So good!!

Last night I roasted some red pepper on the grill, and still had some roasted balsamic eggplant from the other night to make a sandwich with today. In between two slices of harvest grain loaf was some hummus, roasted reds, and roasted eggplant. And that was it because that’s all I have in my fridge. Oh yeah, and some feta. Other than that, life’s tough.

I do still happen to have some caramel Oikos, however – and that tagged along for some protein. I was fruitless today. No more fresh fruit. Buttt, I did kill my bag of Snyder’s Butter Snaps with this lunch, as well.

…and snagged this Bossa Nova acai + mango juice that has been hiding in my fridge! It was quite good – I would definitely buy it again! It’s packed with antioxidants from the acai juice, and is naturally sweetened with some organic agave – but not too much! I’m not typically much of a juice person due to that reason – but this one is a winner.

And am I the only one who thinks Luna Bars would be wayyy better if they didn’t have so much icing stuff? Because they would be. But – this oatmeal raisin was still pretty good. Besides that factor. Guess I shouldn’t complain since I won’t be buying many more anyhow.

Not gonna lie….today turned out to be sort of a downer day. It started off rather overcast, and rain took over, too. Work was crawling…and my mind kept wandering to how much I miss the barn and how frustrated I’m getting with pretty much no body answering my e-mails about horses. And then I’d realize that I sound so spoiled and selfish, and get upset at myself for being that way.

Case in point: I am lucky to have a roof over my head and a mother who buys me food without me even saying anything. I came home and found the fridge packed with fruits and veggies. And a fresh loaf of dakota bread! And then she goes “I totally forgot to look at the Larabars though – sorry!” Uhmmm, why are you apologizing?! I think everyone should have the experience of moving out and then moving back home. Makes you so much more appreciative of every little thing. I’ll still run into Hannafords and the co-op tomorrow for tempeh and snacks and such, but I was beyond grateful: especially since produce consumes the majority of time and expenses while grocery shopping. It’s kind of like everything is better at home…the sun popped out, and the rain from earlier cooled it off considerably, too. It was good to be home tonight…

I still kept dinner simple, though, since it’s what I’d settled on all day. An old favorite: honey curry…this time with butter beans! Sooo yum.

Kale, red pepper, carrot, and butter beans – sauteed in just some water (a drizzle), honey, and curry powder. And a side of naan 🙂

Night lovelies – see ya tomorrow 😉