“Green” Eggs + “Ham”

Happy St. Patrick’s Day everyone!

Did you remember to wear green? I did – a lil green for each outfit change. You’ll see…

And before I forget, sorry for not responding to comments the last couple days. I’ve been staying up late just trying to get other things (like taxes…ugh) done, so I’ll get back to them asap. 🙂 I read them all I just haven’t had the chance to respond!

I’ve decided that I need to start earlier on Project Hydrate. I usually don’t drink anything but coffee (which I only have 1 mug of in the AM) before about 10 or 10:30am. That’s roughly 2-3 hours of time I could be hydrating but am not!

This morning, I started with water first thing. Ok, first, I got my coffee brewing (priorities people!) but while my coffee brewed, I downed half a cup of water. I think the water helped wake me up better than the coffee!

I was down to the last of my Barney Butter. Most people get excited about Oatmeal in a Jar.

Here’s how I like to clean out my nut butter containers. heehee 😆 Get it Bailey!

I’ve been running late all week, so Power Toast is my quick go-to when I’m short on time.

AB+J Power Toast!

(almond butter + jelly)

Toppings:

• Barney Butter
• Earthfare Organic Pomegranate jelly
• flaxseeds
• chia seeds

Such a great way to start the day! I think I need to re-create this for lunch some time.

I wonder if drinking lots of water makes you want to drink more water?

Normally, for Project Hydrate, I finish my first 4 cup water bottle around 2pm with a cup or two of hot tea. Today, I finished my pink bottle, a yerba mate latte, AND that cup from this morning by 1pm! I was an hour earlier with the pink bottle, plus I had an extra cup of water to tack on to my total.

I went out for lunch again. 🙁 I’ve been eating out way too much lately! Too much for my liking at least. I think b/c this week has been so busy and I missed my prep day this past Sunday.

Today for lunch I had a hummus sammie…

…and some Vibrance tea and fresh fruit. My lunch was very healthful, but pretty pricey, too.

Note the 2 extra cups liquids…yay!

Around 3pm, I realized I’d only consumed roughly 800 calories for the day. I’m not counting, but I like to keep a rough guess-timate. Typically, I’m concerned with not getting enough food. I’ve had issues with restrictive eating before (more on that in a future post/page).

Anywho, factoring in that I’d be burning roughly 500-600 calories in zumba class later with a net total of 200-300, I realized I needed to eat more food to fuel up for zumba.

Kashi crackers were my answer.

Plus an organic apple.

As for my green – here’s my half-a$$ attempt – a pale green scarf. I was already dressed when I realized I needed to wear green and didn’t feel like changing. The scarf was my greenest accessory.

More zumba fuel on the way to class – a GREEN Amazing Grass Chocolate food bar.

Oh and do you see my green pants in the background?

Yup, when I packed for class, I remembered to bring green – my bright green zumba pants that is!

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I had some really great ideas for dinner tonight. I wanted to make a tofu or tempeh Shepherd’s Pie…alas, I didn’t leave zumba till about 8pm, so a slow-baking dinner was not in my cards.

So, instead of Irish-y eats, I went with green eats. I thought…what about Green Eggs & Ham with pesto and spinach and a non-meat “ham”? I didn’t feel like buying all the ingredients to make pesto mostly because it’s kind of expensive, so I had hubby pick up some pesto. I’m not sure how much it cost but he said the ready made pesto was expensive, so I may have been better off making it from scratch.

This pesto was not very green. 🙁 But it tasted pretty good at least 🙂

So we went “green” for the eggs festive in color and with “potatoes” to be festive in flavor. I saw a sign at Trader Joe’s saying something about getting potatoes for St Patricks Day. It seemed like a good idea.

Dinner cooked up quickly, which I was thankful for since I didn’t get home till closer to 9pm.

For my “ham”, I used Morningstar “bacon strips” (since hubby and I gave up meat for Lent).

So, my eggs didn’t turn out green, even though I stirred in some fresh spinach. But like I said, it tasted good. 🙂 I even liked the bacon broken into the eggs. I was surprised at how crispy the “bacon” got.

Yummers.

OJ to drink.

Hubby got us cupcakes to celebrate St Patricks day. He got the vanilla and I got the chocolate.

Not only were the cupcakes delicious, they were festive, too! Perfect with some skim organic milk.

Speaking of cupcake eating…do you have a style or pattern you follow when you eat your cupcakes?

Here’s how I eat mine.

If the cupcake has a lot of icing, I like to level it off (by licking off the icing of course…no sense in putting it to waste).

Then, you peel off the wrapper (not all the way) and bite into it, making sure to get some of the cupcake and some of the icing in each bite.

When you get to the last couple bites, you can discard the wrapper.

The last bite is quite possibly the best! (the only competition is the first bite…yum).

Done-zo! 🙂

How do you eat your cupcakes?

Project Hydrate Day #10

Tidbits: I’ve received comments that it’s hard to stay hydrated when you’re cold. This is a problem for me, too, because I’m ALWAYS cold at work! So, I totally feel your pain. Truly.

My solution if coldness keeps you from hydrating:

• Drink hot tea (try to use as little sweetener and milk/creamer as possible – I like a little but it can really add up if you’re drinking many cups of tea) – added bonus – the hot tea will help keep you warm and many teas have good nutritional benefits.
• Stay warm – I keep a blanket and extra jacket at work to help stay warm. I even have leg warmers for emergency situations and yes, I have used them at the office – click for proof.
• Drink hot water with a squeeze of lemon – I’ve heard a lot of people drink this in the morning instead of coffee. I’ve only done this a couple times just because I prefer tea which has more flavor.
• Suck it up – hydration is important.
• Maybe try room temp water? That way it won’t make you colder?

I think starting first thing this morning with water was a big key to my success today!

Consumed:

• 1 cup water first thing this morning
• 1 pink bottle ~4 cups finished by 1pm
• 1 yerba mate latte finished
• 2 cups worth iced, unsweetened Vibrance tea
• 1 turquoise bottle ~3 cups

How are you doing with Project Hydrate? Do you need any tips? Leave me a comment and I’ll see what I can do. Plus, I’d like to hear how you guys are doing. Updates please! 🙂

Remember my random reader question – how do you eat your cupcakes?