So I know it’s only been 2 days, but so far operation try to get more sleep has been pretty successful. I’ve still been waking up at the crack of dawn (read: 5 AM), but I’ve been doing my best to resist the siren song of my iPhone and roll over and try to get back to sleep instead. It’s been going well… Even though I’m still getting out of bed at 6 or 6:30, the extra hour feels kind of fabulous. It’s strange to be waking up with the sun peeking through my windows though…
I’m so used to waking up in the dark and trying to navigate my way through a pitch black condo without walking into any pieces of furniture or hitting my shoulder on any door frames… which has actually happened more times than I care to admit. So yeah… the hidden perks of sleeping in! And the best part of all? I still get to enjoy my leisurely mornings, complete with my favorite breakfast…
Plain Greek yogurt with a sliced banana, blueberries, Kashi Cinnamon Harvest, Puffins, and almond butter.
… and a side of blog reading. I could get used to this! But I do wish that breakfast lasted a little bit longer…
Confession: I may have cried a little when I finished the last bite – it’s never easy saying goodbye to a delicious meal. But hey! Since today is Wednesday and we’re already on the topic of food and confessions, I figured that I’d use today’s WIAW post to get a few food related confessions off my chest. Aaaaaaand go!
Confession #1: I may or may not have topped a rice cake with a hefty amount of leftover honey cream cheese frosting and eaten it as a morning snack…
Seems like a complete paradox doesn’t it? On the one hand we have a rice cake – the epitome of diet food. On the other, frosting – as far away from diet food as it gets. But in my defense, this frosting only has cream cheese, honey, and orange zest, which I figure is healthy enough to eat before 10 AM.
Confession #2: I’ve been eating almond butter and [blueberry] jam sandwiches for lunch almost every day for the past week…
… and pairing it with various other kid-friendly, fun snack foods like Barefruit apple chips, coconut Oikos, and [unpictured] baby carrots…
After enjoying this type of lunch setup so much last week, I decided that it needs to become a regular thing around these parts since it makes the ever-hated midday meal so much more bearable. Dare I say I actually look forward to eating lunch these days?
Confession #3: I always feel a little guilty when I have to ask the baristas at Bux to remake my cappuccinos so I’ve started ordering them dry (less milk, more foam), and I think I’ve finally found a way to ensure I get a cappuccino rather than a latte.
It’s not 100% fool-proof, as there’ve still been one or two occasions where even my dry capp was way too wet (seriously?!), but it’s getting better.
Confession #4: I couldn’t figure out what I wanted for dinner, so I had a banana…
… beeeeefore heading over to my mom’s because I didn’t feel like cooking anything. Did I scare you? Don’t worry. Long gone are the days where I can replace a meal with a piece of fruit.
Confession #5: I really love my mom…
Toasted sesame chicken stir fry.
Confession #6: While making my snack last night, I realized I have a bad habit…
… but that’ll be a whoooole other post in itself. Today’ll be a busy one for me with work and volunteering and what not, but I’m planning on participating in a Twitter chat tonight hosted by Lindsay over at The Lean Green Bean. It starts at 8 PM EST and will cover various tips and tricks related to blogging, so use the hashtag #BlogSmarter if you’d like to join, and I hope to see you there!
Happy Wednesday, loves!
. – . – . – .
What’s your favorite jam/jelly to have with an AB/PB sandwich?
What’s one thing on your agenda today?
If you had to confess something, it would be: _______
I am obsessed with Puffins and your mixture of almond butter and greek yogurt with it just made my mouth water..YUM! Blueberry almond butter sandwiches just made me have the slightest craving for that in my protein shake later on today! Thinking of doing Vanilla Chai + Blueberries + Almond Butter…YUM in the tum! Thank you for sharing! Sending you lots of zzz’s and sweet dreams! Love + Shine CourtStar
Seriously, is there anything better than a simple nut butter and jelly sandwich? I don’t think so. When I was in elementary/middle school, I actually had one every. single. day. My mom would try to switch up my lunch, but all I wanted was a pb&j. Haha! Glad you got some more sleep! I’ve been trying to do the same, but thankfully I wake up around 6:45 instead of 5;)
That cream cheese sounds amazing! My fave jam has to be black cherry, especially with almond butter. Those two go together so well 🙂
I don’t think I’ve ever come across black cherry, but it sounds incredibly! Black currant is another one of my favorites.
I love that bowl of cereal and stir fry looks amazing 🙂 and of course moms are the best. My agenda today is to go for a run/walk and possibly join that twitter chat
you have me craving a AB/J sammich now lady 😉 I am totally with you that it is the best nut butter out there haha I’m totally gonna check out the chat! Sounds fun 🙂
Thanks for the heads up about the chat…sounds like a good time! I’m guilty of heading to my mom’s when I don’t feel like cooking/don’t know what to make. We live in an apartment in their house, so it’s not exactly difficult to get there…
Love all of your confessions. The first picture is beautiful Waking up to sunshine can make such a difference to the day.
I would’ve never thought to put all those together for that delicious looking breakfast! My guilty pleasure is always a bagel. It’s so bready and dense and good… gadhfs. Stop me.
i never read a post from you and walk away (virtually walk away that is) without craving puffins. they were on sale at my grocery store yesterday but i held back because i have 4 unopened boxes of cereal in my pantry. i am glad the sleep experiment has gone well – i’m getting more too but that has a lot to do with nyquil and not a lot to do with healthy choices.
I loveee toasted PB&J sandwiches [er, almond butter] – drippy and creamy and oh so delicious! And I’m so glad someone else eats rice cakes – they’re the perfect base for a whole slew of toppings 😀 I’m thankful that the Sbucks by my house makes perfect cappuccinos so I don’t worry about the foam but sometimes I’ll order a dry one at other locations… But it’s just as bad when I get a cup full of foam!
I’ve gotten some that have been pure foam as well, but dare I say that I almost prefer them that way than when they’re just too milky?
A homecooked dinner from your mom looks absolutely delicious!! Moms are the best. And that twitter chat sounds like fun! I’m hoping I’ll remember to join…although my twitter skills/activity are definitely still sub-par haha
cinnamon puffins are the bomB!! We are supposed to have stir fry for dinner tonight, if we do I hope it looks like that because I want it right now!
Oh cream cheese on a rice cake sounds good! On my agenda today is a grocery shop. I might just have to pick up some rice cakes. They are so versatile!
Just recently found your blog and I love it!
I want to wake up with your view. Stunning.
That greek yogurt breakfast looks amaze. I might have to make that for my afternoon snack.
Thanks, Laura! And thanks for stopping by to say hi! 😀
Confession: I haven’t had a peanut butter and jelly sandwhich in God only knows how long. Seriously, I can’t remember when I whipped out bread and made a sandwhich… Err, or bought bread.
And I have never thought to try different jams with peanut butter/almond butter. Maybe I need to start a little game with myself in order to step out of disordered eating mindset by trying various combinations. Cashew butter + Blueberry Jam sounds fantastic right now. Hmm.
No bread? Awwr… that breaks my poor, carb-loving heart! Cashew and blueberry does sound fantastic, and some other great ones are AB and honey or coconut butter with blueberry jam or honey. Oh man. Now I’m hungry again…
You are like a whole other world for me with your knowledge of coffee. there is dry coffee? What? that spread looks delicious, honey cream cheese. gosh just making my salty sweet craving go over the roof.
Strawberry jelly peanut butter is one of my favorite snacks. I confess that I eat it straight out of the jar ALL the time.
Mom’s are amazing! It looks like she made a fantastic dinner! Your breakfast also looks quite amazing, I have really been missing puffins recently.
Why is it that I have yet to put almond butter on my cereal? Please tell me!! 😉
Haha! I ask myself those kind of questions too. And then I try something new, fall in love with it, and kick myself for not doing it sooner.
Your breakfast looks seriously amazing – I think I’m going to have to give that a try! I always go to my mom’s house too when I don’t feel like cooking, she makes such great meals!
I eat the crappy store bought frosting… plain.. with my finger out of the jar.
I’m SO ready to jump on board the cream cheese frosting-on-rice cake train! If a “diet” food topped with a dessert topping is a paradox, then I suppose a the same holds true for said diet food topped with a mound of cheese. One of my favorite snacks is a rice cake pizza–basically tomato or pesto sauce, topped with mozzarella. It’s super easy, and so so delicious. 🙂
As far as peanut butter sandwiches go, I actually prefer to add a drizzle of honey in place of jam. Don’t get me wrong, strawberry or raspberry jam is delicious, but nothing beats the smooth, velvety texture of honey. Add banana, and it’s pretty blissful.
Aww, Mama Spoons looks like an incredible cook! You’re lucky to live close enough to share impromptu meals with her!
Happy Wednesday, Amanda! <3
Nooo, rice cake with your cream cheese frosting didn’t sound like a paradox to me at all. As you said the frosting really just is cream cheese, honey and orange zest – all healthy ingredients to me. Now if we were talking rice cakes with “real” buttercream frosting, that would be a whole different topic 😉 … Actually, I’d pondered trying just the frosting as a dip/spread back when you posted the cupcake recipe and there’s not much holding me back anymore now :).
Comgrats on getting more sleep – a single hour more can really make a difference.
One thing on my agenda today is a whole lot of work for classes – and my confession would be that I haven’t even started yet. Yikes, I better get going.
Happy Wednesday, Amanda!
Happy Wednesday to you too, Miss! I actually tried having the frosting on toast and it tastes great. It’s seriously just like a sweet cream cheese, and the orange flavor really puts it over the top.
Wow! That yogurt bowl looks AMAZING! And I’m sure it tastes even better after enough rest 🙂
Haha that rice cake cracks me up. It’s balance! 😉
I have a confession…I actually don’t like PB&J sandwiches. I feel like the jelly makes the bread soggy, so I grew up eating plain peanut butter on bread AKA pretty darn boring! Something on the agenda today is a dentist appointment…lovely! That’s the un-fun task at hand…but I’m gonna go for a run after so that’ll make things a lot better!
Eep! I’ve got a dentist appointment coming up next week so I definitely feel you on that one!
Mm grape jelly or pumpkin/fig butter (which taste and act like jelly to me so I’m including them here haha). I’ve been getting back to my roots this week with big sandwiches, pop chips and pretzels, yogurt, and carrots for lunch and loving every minute of it 🙂 one thing on the agenda today is the park after lunch with the boys if it doesn’t rain and confession? I want to eat my lunch now and it’s not even 11…might be time for a snack 😛
Umm, that rice cake/frosting combo sounds like the best thing ever. Would it be acceptable if I did the same with chocolate buttercream? :-p
And yay more sleep! I swear, I started feeling so much happier in the morning when the sun was up by the time I got out of bed. I’ve absolutely done the running into things stumble in the dark too many times :-p
I’ll have to find that twitterchat tonight…I could always use tips!
Berry jam all the way 🙂 ! Mighty good lookin’ eats there. I always end up tearing after reading your WIAW posts for the fact that there’s so many things I can never find on my side of the world that I’m dying to try. . . almond butter, puffins, Oikos 🙁 . Love the fact that you popped over to your Mum when you couldn’t decide what to have for dinner. I know my Mum is a darn good cook but I need to overcome some stupid ‘fears’. Soon hopefully. .
Have you ever tried ordering some things online? From a place like iHerb for example?
Not getting enough sleep is definitely not fun! I suffer from mild insomnia from time to time where I can’t get to sleep for virtually a whole week..its awful! Hopefully you’ll gradually be able to increase the time you’re able to lie in until 🙂 :).
Would you believe I’ve never really had a proper PB&J sandwich before?! :O Terrible I know..something I need to rectify ASAP haha!
I always feel really guilty when I have to ask for Starbucks to remake my drink as well :/..what is it with cappuccinos haha?!
I think they’re just tricky drinks to make, and everyone seems to have a different opinion about what constitutes a proper one. Some people like the traditional 1/3 milk, 1/3 foam, and 1/3 espresso, whereas others prefer a different ratio. And it doesn’t help if you have to deal with a different barista all the time either!
As a part-time barista at Starbucks (and a cappuccino enthusiast — my primary incentive for balancing this job and school is the perk of free caffeine, haha), I feel compelled to chime in and say that cappuccinos aren’t terribly difficult to make, but that, even so, they seem to be made incorrectly more often than any other drink. Basically the 1/3 milk, 1/3 foam ratio is the default, but at my store, the baristas are trained to make them a bit on the dry side, just to be safe. Also, we’re not generally offended or annoyed when people (politely) ask for them to be re-made. If someone’s paying $3.65+ for a drink, they should be happy with it.
P.S. I love your blog! It’s so refreshing.
Thanks for chiming in, Avery! It’s really great to get an inside perspective.
Okay I just snacked on some PB & J (strawberry-flavored) on rice cakes but totally craving it in sandwich form now….guess that’s tomorrow’s lunch sorted ;)! Loved reading your confessions and frosting on rice cakes is totally balanced….as is Nutella on wholegrain toast right! Oh wait a sec, in terms of the latter…adding some banana slices would make it even more nutritious ;)! I gotta say that’s one heck of a good-looking banana…the blacker, spottier, and uglier the banana is, the better!
I’m going to be long immersed in Zzzzz land by the time the Twitter chat is on but I will definitely be reading about it tomorrow morning- sounds like it’s going to be quite interesting!
Spotty bananas are definitely the way to go. But lately I’ve been kind of reaching a point where they start to get a little TOO spotty. Eep! Who am I?! And I really think the chat is going to be a good one! I always love learning new blogging tricks and can seriously use all the help I can get!
my mom lives with us so she cooks every day which is totally awesome because i kinda suck at cooking. i always wake at 445am which totally sucks but i can never sleep past 6am anyway. at least you can lie in bed for an extra hour and rest 🙂
Once I trained my body to go to bed early and wake up at 5, it didn’t seem so bad. It’s almost as if my body is on a different time zone. I know I’ve said before, but your food photography is on such a different level. I’m pretty sure you could make just about any type of food look awesome. Heck you could a piece of cardboard and probably make it look like a 5 star restaurant piece of cake.
Haha I loled at the frosting on the rice cakes. Love it girl! I wish I could eat right out of a box but I think it’s too soon for me right now. Puffins are my guilty pleasure so I’m pretty sure that box would not last the night if it was left out in front of me. Your food pictures always look so so so good even with things that I don’t really like. That pb&j for example. I hate peanut butter but you have my mouth watering. That means it must look really really amazing!
I hate PB too 😛 I’m allergic to it, so that’s almond butter oozing out of my sandwich.
I love it when my mom cooks dinner for me! 🙂 I usually make dinner for the family since I’m the only vegetarian but she cooks a lot more veg recipes now and sometimes it’s so nice not to have to worry about cooking dinner!
Ohmyheavens that frosting sounds to die for. My confession is that I start daydreaming about it RIGHT NOW and for the rest of the day 🙂 So glad you enjoy a longer sleep! And you bet I crash doorframes almost every single night when using the bathroom. Mean thing, I have 2 appartements and if I don’t realize in the first moment where the heck I am, I run into the wall cause I took the wrong direction. Oy.
I need to try the almond butter/blueberry jam combo…it looks so good! I’m glad you’re learning to trick the baristas, too. I’ve gotten to know my baristas so well that I base my order on who’s there. That way, I can ensure I get the best drink 🙂 P.S. I think it’s safe to say you and the rest of the blog world have gotten me completely hooked on Puffins…
Haha I base my order on who’s working too, but lately they’ve been throwing curve balls at me and hiring new folk. I see someone who’s in the process of learning and die a little inside….
Great eats! Of course, now I’m craving a pb n’ j.
Your day of eats look so good! I can always count on my mom too for a super yummy meal 🙂 it’s a nice break from being a “grown up” huh? Strawberry jelly or apple jelly are my go to spreads with PB on a sandwich- Happy Wednesday!
Yay to more sleep already! That’s really good! I admit, I slept pretty good last night! Still under 7 hours but not my much!
Totally agree, last bite of breakfast is by far the saddest time of day.
Frosting is always a win anytime of day…in my opinion. .Love that stuff!
And I need to copy that cappuccino order! I loooove foam, not so much the milk!
Happy Wednesday love!
Frosting is always appropriate before 10am. Always. And breakfast should never ever ever end. It should just continue forever! (At least the yummy ones should.)
Or be eaten for every meal 😉