Lunch At Panera's

I had a lot planned for today, but when I woke up the skies were gray and it looked so dreary. I wasn't really feeling the enthusiasm, I'd felt when I was making my plans. I'd fixed myself a bowl of cereal with yogurt. I used some Kellogg's fiber plus yogurt berry crunch, Cheerios, cornflakes & Dannon strawberry yogurt.

It would have been better with some real strawberries or even some apple chunks, but I'd eat my last apple with girls the other day and I need to restock my fruit supply. It was still pretty good.

After breakfast I got a call from Lynda & Mom inviting me for another GDO and of course, since I wasn't feeling too enthused with house cleaning, I said yes without giving it a thought. I probably should have stayed at home and not neglected my plans, but which would you have picked, cleaning or shopping?

I grabbed a pack of Lance crackers for a snack to tide me over until lunch. I had the sharp cheddar cheese on Lance's whole grain crackers. These were so much better than the store brand, we'd gotten at Food Lion before. Well, duh, right? The FL brand has a bit of a sweet taste to their crackers. They are fine in a pinch. It's not like they're bad, but they don't have the saltiness that the Lance brand has. That may be a good thing nutritionally. I haven't compared the labels, but either way, I prefer the Lance.

The first place we went was too Panera's to pick up bagels, then on to Starbucks which was right there in the same shopping center. I had a White Chocolate Mocha frappuccino. It was pretty sweet for me, but it was very good. I probably should have went with decaf, but I didn't. I did have half caf. however. We asked for light (no whip topping), but it was on there. Oh, well. 

We also went to Ollies and then back to Panera for lunch. I had half of a Mediterranean Veggie sandwich with zesty peppadew peppers and a bowl of their creamy tomato soup. I got an apple on the side instead of chips and a bottled water for my drink.

I love the sweet spiciness of the sandwich, which also has cilantro hummus and feta cheese on it. Stacked with lots of veggies, it's very much like a sandwich I would fix for myself. I saved my apple for later. The soup and sandwich were plenty. It was a super yummy lunch. I do wish they had a few more vegetarian options, but love that they tell you which soups are vegetarian.

Well headed to Walmart and picked up a few things, then home so that I could get to Zumba class. I had a Lean Cuisine dinner before going. It was small, quick to fix, and I wasn't all that hungry. I'd had this a long time ago. I'd nearly forgotten. I had sort of rated it. It was not bad, but not great. It just didn't have the flavor I had hoped for. I would give it 3 stars. 

It doesn't look nearly as good as it does on the package, but we all know that's not unusual for food products.

It would be kind of hard to sell with a picture like this on the package, huh? Actually it doesn't look that bad. I've seen worse. I just wish it tasted better.

I had a pretty good Zumba class as usual. I wasn't feeling terribly energetic, so I skipped the weights tonight. We barely made it home before the rain poured down. We had just gotten in the door when the bottom fell out. Since it was dark, we never even realized the rain was coming. 

I had the last piece of leftover carrot cake for my after Zumba snack. It wasn't the best thing to have, but since I hadn't frozen it and I didn't want it to go to waste, I ate it.

As badly as I hate it, I suppose I'm off to bed without reading. The end of my book(The Girl Who Kicked The Hornets Nest) is getting very close. I hate that I'm so tired. You can see my Goodreads Updates on the right. I also post updates on Twitter. Feel free to follow or subscribe to the blog. Your comments are also welcome. I suppose that all for now. Have a great night/day!!!

Millville GetBalance Chewy Granola Bar Review

Starting to look a little overcast this morning thanks to Irene, I suppose, of course we're far enough off shore that it's not forecast that we will be effected, thank goodness. We do have friends and family on the coast though and we hope that the storm leaves them safe, with at the most, minimal damage. Prayers are with everyone who will be effected by Irene.

Now about yesterday, breakfast was not a Banana Pudding smoothie. It was a smoothie and there was a little banana in it, but it was more or less a Tropical smoothie with pineapple and shredded coconut which I threw in the grinder along with my oats and ground flax. I don't mind a little texture, but I do like my smoothies as smooth as possible.

 

 

For lunch I had the last of my tomato soup. I also fished an Asiago cheese bagel out of the freezer which I defrosted spread with butter, garlic and Parmesan cheese, then I stuck it under the broiler for a few minutes.

 

The bagel toasted up nicely. I love that Panera's Asiago cheese bagels don't have the hole in the middle. I sort of wish they all came that way.

 

My honey and cinnamon came in a cup of peach mango green tea yesterday. I needed a little pick me up as well. I love that the green tea only has 15mg of caffeine per serving. I've also cut back to 1 tea bag per large cup of tea. It's just a good and my tea goes farther.

Yesterday afternoon we went to Aldi's. One of the things I got was Millville GetBalance Chewy Granola Bars. There were several choices of granola and cereal bars, but I preferred the nutrition and ingredients of this one. I bought the Trail Mix bars, having as you can see, almonds, cranberries, & raisins. With only 130 calories per bar, they make a great snack. They have only 3g of fat and 5g of sugar. To make it even better this little bar also has 4g of fiber and 6g of protein. It's low in sodium and if you're worried about it, no high fructose corn syrup. These are very similar to the Kashi TLC trail mix bars with slightly less calories and sodium and at about 1/2 the price($1.99 for Millville's).

 

 

They are small, but if I remember correctly so were the Kashi bars. Here it is next to a stick of gum. This was my "tied me over 'til dinner" snack. I haven't tried them all, but this one was yummy.

Dinner, I cooked. I know it's hard to believe, but I did. I do cooked, just not as often, now that I'm older and it's just me(eating veggies that is). I made my Sweet & Sour veggies and the veggies looked so good going into the pan I just had to get a shot. Lovely, huh?

 

Not too bad after being cooked either.

The sweet & sour veggies over brown rice. This was an excellent dinner. I really should cook more often. I forget how much better it is.

Well, that was my day in food. I think it went rather well. We didn't get to go for our walk though. Lucas had homework and I'm not brave enough to walk by myself. I did a little Zumba around the house though, but I didn't really sweat like I normally do, a sign that I didn't do enough. How about some comments today? Just say hello, whatever. Happy Friday!!

Homemade Veggie Burger Experience

 

I was awake this morning before the alarm went off. At first I thought I'd overslept. Lately if I just wake up alert, lol, it's because I've overslept. I went to bed early again last night, but only about 30 minutes, which gave me 8 hours instead of the usual 7.5. I also slept better than usual having turned the a/c down again. It helps to be cool.

I had another banana pudding smoothie yesterday, this time with the wafers and no peanut butter although I did give it some thought.

 

Lunch was a bagel. The other half of my Panera sweet onion & poppyseed. You can see the little poppy seeds throughout the bagel and there's onion too. I believe they should do the everything bagels, the same way.

 

I spread my bagel with cream cheese and had a few of the marinated cucumbers & onions on the side.

 

A little later I had a cup of my Chobani lemon. It always has a little liquid or juice as I call it, on top and I always pour it off. I do all yogurt that way if there is liquid on top. It thins it out to stir it in and I like my yogurt thick.

 

For dinner I experimented with a black bean burger recipe. I'm not posting it yet, because I'm not completely happy with the results. It wasn't bad, but I do believe it could be better. It has chopped pepper, onion & sun dried tomato, along with corn, oatmeal, egg, chili powder & cumin. The seasoning weren't too spicy, but they did overpower the other ingredients. I wanted to be able to tell what was in it. They needed more that just the chili/cumin flavor.  

 

I had mine on a bun with spinach & spicy ranch dressing, along with a couple of chopped up carrots. The carrots were great with it. They added a little sweetness and crunch.

 

I got 5 bun sized burgers out of the recipe, which I will post as soon as I tweak it a little.

After dinner we had company. My brother in law, and his family came by for a little while. After they left I uploaded my photos and went to bed. It seemed very hot in the house last night, which is the reason I turned down the air. It had rained earlier and it's always warmer inside when it rains. Today the sun is out for now and the birds are chirping. They are forecasting isolated thunderstorm and the sky looks if-y, but I'm hoping it will be a great day whatever the weather.

Today is dinner at Mom's. I'm not sure what we're having. What are you having for dinner?

 

Making Better Food Choices

I'm chilly this morning. I turned the a/c down last night, so that I could sleep better. I did, but I still didn't want to get up. I'm just not a morning person, no matter what I try. I also went to bed an hour earlier.

I finally had my banana pudding smoothie yesterday, well almost. I forgot the vanilla wafers and I added a spoonful of peanut butter. I didn't miss the wafers until I was thinking about it later. Even without them it's still my favorite smoothie.

 

I had an Amy's Bean & Rice Non-Dairy Burrito with marinated cucumbers and onions for lunch. These are my white cucumbers, out of the garden. I put them in a little vinegar/water mixture with a dab of salt, sugar & celery seed. I also have bush pickling cucumbers that I waiting to pick, but they aren't looking like a regular picking cucumber. They are longer. I plan to go down today an have a look.

The Amy's burrito hit the spot. Amy's makes the best frozen burritos. I love the whole wheat tortillas.

 

I was craving something cool & creamy, ice cream actually, which I didn't have, but I did have some Chobani lemon in the fridge, which subbed quite nicely.

 

I do love my lemon Chobani.

 

Dinner was soup & cheese sticks a sandwich. I had the rest of my Panera Tomato bisque and a grilled cheese, I made using shredded mozzarella, garlic, & oregano. I used my pizza cutter to cut the sandwich into strips for dipping. It a great way to eat a grilled cheese sandwich with soup. 

 

 

Ahhh, dessert, a Fuji apple.

After dinner we watched a movie, True Grit, with Jeff Bridges, Hailee Steinfeld, & Matt Damon. It was pretty good, but I still prefer the original.

You just can't beat John Wayne & Glen Campbell. If you haven't seen the original you should.

Well that was my day. I think I did better yesterday, at least it didn't feel like I ate junk food all day. How did you do? Hope you have a good one!

Junk Food Junkie

I'm still stuck on post titles. I hope I get better at it. I'm up, but that's it. I pretty much feel the same as yesterday. By the time I finished yesterday's post, I was so hungry, I couldn't wait on a smoothie. The junk food junkie in me had kicked in. I was on a mission alright, to eat as much junk as possible. I had a piece of pineapple jello poke cake with cool whip topping and fresh pineapples. My excuse -  I was starving and the cake & pineapples would be throw out otherwise.

 

 

This is my new to me swing that DH got me at an auction. Not bad for $25. I paid $40 for a nice used wooden swing. I've looked everywhere for a metal one. I've seen them everywhere, but not for sale and the ones that are, are usually more like $200-$300. This one is a little smaller, but still sits 2 people comfortably. It painted black in good condition. I plan to paint it green to match the frame and put on new chains. It's actually a little fancier than the one I wanted, which is great. It has ivy leaves at the top. It doesn't hold water and doesn't need cushions. Now if I only had a covered porch to put it on.

 

 

For lunch I hat the rest of my California salad from O' Charley's. Good, but now a good as fresh. the pecans and sort of lost their toasty crunch. I will have to make my Strawberry Mandarin Spinach Salad w/ pecans instead of almonds or cashews. That would make it even more awesome. This was the healthiest thing I ate all day.

 

Even as a leftover it was way better than it looks.

 

The salad didn't make me miserably full satisfy me, so I had half a sweet onion and poppy seed bagel with cream cheese. The SO&P may be better than the everything. The onion & poppyseed  is baked throughout the bagel and the everythings are just plain with bagel with everything topping.

 

Later I had a peanut butter pretzel snack. Makin' sure I get plenty of carbs. I was very sleepy all day. I'm not sure if I was eating carbs because I was sleepy or sleepy because I was eating carbs.

 

Obviously I was still missing my banana pudding smoothie, so I had the rest of my banana pudding blizzard instead. I probably could have had a whole smoothie for around the same or less calories.

 

Dinner was Amy's Cheese Pizza sprinkled with basil and garlic along with a bowl of Panera's tomato soup. This one said tomato bisque and was in a smaller container. I'm not sure the soup is different though, maybe they just changed the name or something. It did seem to have more little piece of tomato and was lighter red, but it mostly tasted the same.

The pizza was very good. I ate half and Lucas ate the other half. It went great with the soup. I had thought about having grilled cheese, but figured this would be even better.

 

I had a late dinner, which threw off the rest of the evening. I was later getting to bed and didn't want to get up. I've started hitting the snooze button. I'm either going to have to set my alarm earlier or stop hitting the snooze button. I'm also going to have to figure out a way to get to bed earlier. Seven hours is not enough when you don't sleep well. How many hours sleep do you get? Is it enough?

Now, I'm going to get my smoothie on, ha, ha!!

Comments welcome especially blogging tips.