the monday blues

Yep, I’ve got them…the blues. It’s because I am in the real world and I can’t handle it!!!

I decided to make the most of it though, and tackle my 30 item long to-do list. So, today ended up being quite a productive day!

Naturally, I couldn’t start the day off ANY other way…oh sweet coffee, how I’ve missed you so.

After a vacation filled with Euro cafes (which are super strong and black), it was so nice to get a nice American frothy mug. I never realized what fatties we are in the US…I even take my coffee with minimal extravagant additives, but the shear quantity that I consume on a daily basis is quite excessive. I have at least 2 massive mugs every morning, usually more, and until this trip I didn’t really think that was too weird (remember my August – September venti soy latte kick when I was spending over $20/day at starbucks on 4 or 5 each day)! YIKES!!
So, since I was up at 7:45 am (still adjusting to the time change, I guess?) I was at the gym by 11. The View made my work out fly by. I ran 35 minutes on the tread mill first (alternating speed and incline), then switched over to the elliptical for another 35 minutes (alternating pedaling directions). I cooled down with a brisk 3 minute walk on the tread mill, followed by an ab workout with the big bouncy ball and the medicine ball and massive stretching.

Lazy lunch…

The apartment was still devoid of groceries, so soup was on the menu by default. I added a big ‘ol dollop of ff Fage greek yogurt to the lentil soup because I love the bit of creaminess it adds. I learned this from my mom. She taught me this trick with sour cream in a corn and potato soup she used to make, but she made it pretty.* Mine was not so pretty.

* To make it look nice, warm it up first (so it’s runny rather than a heavy hunk that sinks like the titanic in your soup). Then make little drops and run a toothpick through them so they go from circular drops to cute heart shaped garnishes!

More errands to do…I required more caffeine fuel. I had back to back cups of iced coffee that I made from the left over morning brew (plus ff skim plus).

For dinner I wanted to tackle some of the new recipes I’d been brainstorming, so I got some groceries while I was out. I scored these 2 big chunks of butternut squash for only $1!

I chopped them up into cubes, added salt, cinnamon, and a teeny bit of EVOO and into the oven they went.

Here they are half way (approx 15 minutes) into baking…time to flip em over.

The final product = DE-lish!

Only half of them made it to the bowl because the rest were eaten straight off the pan. Cinnamon is a bomb ingred for squash, espec when combined with salt (yes, it does seem to be an unlikely duo, but it works, I swear).

I also decided to try out quinoa. I see it in every veg magazine I read and all the menus in vegan restaurants. It is a great source of fiber and protein (it has mega amino acids).

Description curtesy of wikipedia: Quinoa (pronounced /ˈkinwɑ/ KEEN-wah or /ˈkinoʊə/ KEE-no-uh, Spanish quinua, from Quechua kinwa) is a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium) grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal as it is not a grass. Its leaves are also eaten as a leaf vegetable, much like amaranth, but the commercial availability of quinoa greens is currently limited.

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.[5] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

The ratio is the same 2:1 (water:grains) as rice, but how the quinoa differs from cooking rice is that it needs to be drained a few times first due to the saponins. Saponins are soap-like substances that occur on the outside of the grains (believed to possibly be there to deter insects and birds in nature).