Starting the Week

Welcome, October! I'm so glad you're here and can't wait to fully embrace the cool, crisp evenings you will undoubtedly present us with. I'm anticipating the trees releasing their glory and the sound of fallen leaves crunching beneath cute riding boots. And, just the thought of watching majestic sunsets painted in bright shades of orange, pink and yellow disappear beyond the tree tops while sipping some hot spiced tea makes me smile. Ahh, yes - I'm glad it's October. :)

I got up early this morning - a great way to start off one of my most favorite months! I hopped on the treadmill just after 6am (after devotions and prayer) running for 30 minutes and covering 3.4 miles.



I had class this morning after a delicious strawberry/spinach smoothie for breakfast {sorry, no photo!}, and then onto the day's work. :)

I threw together some "overnight" oats on my way out the door this morning because for some reason or another (even though I was up before 5:30) I was feeling the crunch for time. :P It make a delicious lunch alongside an apple and PB. :)

To make the oats, it's just 2 parts oats to 1 part water. From there you can add whatever you want! Maple syrup for sweetener, chopped bananas and spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, etc)



For supper, I made a simple salad. Harris Teeter has a fantastic deal on mushrooms right now. Just $1 for a huge pack!

This picture is from last Friday night's supper. Homemade granola served on the side w/ wild salmon and a green salad. I have to do a recipe post on this granola for you guys soon. Amazing!!! It's my sister's recipe - simply out of this world and I think you would really like it.

I hope your week is off to a fantastic start!!! Please comment and let me know how you spent this first day of October and what was special about it. :) 

Fresh Fruit & Yogurt

I've been trying out Chobani yogurt of late. It's delicious and so yummy with granola and fresh fruit! 

Sunday lunch was at a friend's house - organic granola, yogurt, fresh fruit and nitrate free bacon. We hung out the afternoon, sang around the piano and just talked. Friends are like gold! When you find a true one, it's a treasure.

I guess I've been eating lots of breakfast foods of late for meals other than just breakfast :) Last night we had fresh apple waffles (whole wheat) with lots of maple syrup. Bananas & PB make a great waffle topping :D The syrup was from friends - so sweet!

Whole wheat pita pockets stuffed with veggies was a recent lunch :)

Tomatoes are a great meat substitute for a summer sandwich and I love how refreshing and hydrating they are!

I was up and at it early this morning. For some reason, the weekend seemed to brew some unusual excitement and perspective into my daily routine. 

I did a quick 20 min workout + a stretch session this morning before heading out the door for work. I got home around 5:30 and by quarter of six I was in my gym clothes. This was the first time I'd gone for a "real" run {meaning more than just around the block :) } since my cold. Ahh - a cold will zap physical performance faaster than most anything, except maybe sugar :/ Glad to be back at it! 

Today's run was a test run more than anything else, to see how much endurance I'd lost and need to regain before Saturday as I'm running a 5K race this weekend! I went 2.5 miles this evening which felt great. Yahoo! I'm very excited about the weekend, especially since I'm doing the 5K with 2 of my sisters and a few friends :-) Anyone else training for a race?

Bubbies sauerkraut makes a great salad topping. I had some for supper tonight :) It adds great flavor & replenishes your GI tract with healthy "bugs" :) 

I'd had great of hope of going for an evening ride with my horse after supper, but I had music practice that was calling my name, plus overdue housework and it starting raining. Oh, well - maybe tomorrow!

It's been a while since I've done a recipe share . . . Any requests or suggestions?