Hello! I think for a little bit I’m going to go back to blogging full days of eating. I’m trying to change up how I eat a little bit, and get more creative with what I’m making! As a result, let’s take it back to Monday and go through the day in that format.
I decided my body needed a break from exercise so I had a leisurely morning. I’ve been in a major breakfast rut lately (all I want is flapjacked muffins), so I was happy to find myself going for a yogurt bowl! Plain yogurt, maple KIND granola, sunbutter, and mango on the side.
I’m actually planning a mini-blog series to work on my breakfast rut. I’m going to take a little trip down yogurt memory lane (….yes, just go with it) and remake my different variations on yogurt bowls over the years.
At lunchtime, I gave a lecture on nutrition to my dad’s company. I did a basic overview on different food categories and what they did in the body, as well as discussed practical applications of nutrition (eating out, for instance). I do want to talk about trans fat a little bit here (otherwise appearing as partially hydrogenated oil, fractionated oil, hydrogenated oil). Trans fat is not “generally regarded as safe” by the FDA, which is saying something because there’s a lot of crap that is. It’s also the ONE thing in nutrition that everyone actually agrees on. Everyone agrees it’s incredibly harmful to health. While preparing for this talk, I did a little research on fast food. Several years ago, trans fat was a big issue. It was a big enough issue to the public, that the government began requiring the grams of trans fat to appear on food labels (note that trans fat still appears as “0g” if the serving of food has <0.5g). A lot of food companies made a big deal out of removing trans fat from their foods. McDonalds made a big deal about it. Jack in the Box was always one of the worst trans fat offenders, and they never did this. Well, imagine my surprise, when I found out that now, several years later, companies have been quietly adding trans fat back into their foods. McDonald’s used an oil blend containing trans fat to fry their foods, so any item at McDonald’s that has been fried has trans fat. Girl Scout cookies are another example. For a few years, they took it out, and now it’s back. Basically, when people stopped paying attention to trans fat, companies added it back in. Stay vigilant, my friends!
I also made a loaf of my healthy banana bread to demonstrate that you can have low-sugar baked goods that are still delicious!
Lunch was catered, so I had a turkey sandwich.
After lunch, I immediately changed into shorts and a tank top and took Chloe for a walk, since the weather was absolutely beautiful! We went on a route with fabulous views of the whole bay.
When I got back, I grabbed some sliced mango and embarked on another spring activity, baking!
Lemon baked goods just taste like spring to me. I used this recipe for blueberry lemon muffins. For a year, I’ve been searching for the perfect lemon bread/muffin recipe, and I was excited about this one!
That being said, I think there’s some reaction with gluten free flour and lemon, because in the lemon products I’ve made with GF flour, the texture is always a little off, and I’ve never had that issue with other GF baked goods. These had great flavor, and ended up being pretty dense when they eventually cooled. They were jam packed with blueberries! And surprisingly, I think they actually had plenty of lemon flavor, something a lot of lemon recipes are lacking.
That evening, I went to a Core Yoga class at the gym. I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned this already, but I’m trying to go to all the fitness classes at my gym. That’s well and good for all the spin classes, but the Zumba? Yeah, that’s going to take me out of my comfort zone.
I really enjoyed this class. I normally go to the Vinyasa Yoga classes, and this was definitely different. There was a lot of deep stretching, which was so much needed after 17.3′s squat snatches. The focus of this particular class was the feet and ankles, which was actually a really interesting and effective way to cue different poses. I think I’m going to try and go back to this class next week, although that will be my last chance for a while since I’ll soon be teaching spin Mondays!
For dinner, we had Chicken Stew with Kale and Dijon, with a side of cornbread pulled from the freezer.
One modification we did make was to use chicken breast in place of chicken thighs. My family prefers white meat, especially in soup, and when we made the recipe with thighs in the past, we decided we would prefer this modification.
For dessert, I had a See’s Peppermint Scotchmallow, See’s St. Patrick’s Day candy with mint marshmallow and caramel. It was SO good. It tasted like a thin mint! I also had some chocolate Halo Top.
For an evening snack, I had a handful of blackberries.
What are your thoughts on trans fat?
Any amazing lemon recipes for me to try?