Breakfast: About once a month or so I just crave a bowl of oatmeal or sooji. I usually jazz it up with some added protein, a few nuts or some powdered peanut butter.
Shelly's Strawberry Shortcake Protein Oatmeal1/4 cup Quick Oats (I used McCann's Quick Irish Oats)
2 Tablespoons Ground Oats*
3 Tablespoons Protein Powder (any flavor, I used Celebrate ENS Vanilla Cake Batter)
4 oz. Milk
4 oz. Hot Water
Optional toppings: Sugar Free Strawberry Jam, Toasted Sliced Almonds
In a 4 cup measure mix oats, ground oats and hot water. In a blender bottle shaker mix milk and protein till completely combined. Add contents of shaker to oats & water mixture. Mix.
Nuke 2 minutes stirring once at the 1 minute mark. Pour into a bowl. I topped mine with a dollop of Sugar Free Strawberry Jam, Toasted Sliced Almonds and some more Milk.*To make the ground oats. I grind (in a coffee grinder) a cup or so of oatmeal into "ground oats" that I keep in a Tupperware container for this use, it's also great for adding to meatloaf or meatballs instead of bread crumbs.
Lunch: Spent the morning doing laundry, cleaning, boring stuff like that. I serve on an Obesity Action Coalition committee and we had a conference call so once that was done I packed up my super cool bento box and took off to my outdoor office, a park with free wifi near my house. My work was portable and I hear we are in for a rainy weekend so I wanted to take advantage and soak in the sun and Vitamin D while I could. The walk is nice too about 3 miles total (to the park, around it, and back.)
Pink Box (top left): Shelly's Mini Cheese Stuffed PeppersGreen Box (top right): Shelly's Pina Colada Pudding
Blue Box (bottom left): Shrimp and Cocktail Sauce (in the mini blue container)
Orange Box (bottom right): Salami and Provolone Cheese
The peppers were leftovers from the other night's dinner. So good. I've made a slightly different version of these before. They are great party appetizers and taste GREAT hot, warm or even cold.
Shelly's Mini Cheese Stuffed Peppers12-14 (approx. 1/2 lb) Baby Bell Peppers, halved (Costco sells 2 lb bags of these)
sprinkle of Kosher Salt
1 Yellow Onion, diced
1/2 cup cooked Sausage, crumbled
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/2 teaspoon Oregano
1 Tablespoon Fresh Basil, chopped
1/4 cup Italian Blend Cheese, shredded (Mozzarella, Parmesan, Fontina Blend)
1 Tablespoon Parmesan, grated
Half baby peppers and remove seeds. Wash & dry thoroughly. Place on a baking sheet or casserole dish that has been sprayed with a non-stick spray. Sprinkle with Kosher salt. Bake at 350 for 10 minutes.
Saute onion till golden. Add sausage. Cook 1 minute more. Set aside to cool. Mix cooled mixture with remaining ingredients (except Parmesan) till well combined. Spoon mixture into a quart sized Ziploc bag. Seal baggie and snip off one corner to form a piping bag.
Pipe cheese mixture into par-cooked mini peppers. Sprinkle with Parmesan. Return to 350 oven for 30-35 minutes more or until cheese is slightly golden.the pudding is super easy...
Shelly's Pina Colada Pudding
1 Sugar Free Vanilla Pudding Cup
1 Tablespoon Pineapple, crushed
1 Tablespoon Sugar Free Coconut Torani Syrup
1 Tablespoon Unsweetened Coconut, toasted
a few Macadamia Nuts, crushed for top
Mix together till well combined.
More Eggface Bento Lunches
Dinner: I'm on a shrimp kick right now. I grilled some shrimp on the BBQ. Swipe of olive oil, sprinkle of Greek seasonings. Served them on simple salad of romaine lettuce, tomato, feta, a sprinkle of oregano and a dollop of Greek yogurt "dressing" (plain 2% Greek Yogurt, Greek seasoning, salt & pepper to taste)
Ate it while watching American Idol. My early favorites are Phillip-thinks he's Dave Matthews-Phillips and you can't deny that Joshua kid can bring it. Was the whole fly-on-the-wall sent to the Principal's office dealio with the DQ'd contestant necessary. He's gone, that's all we needed to know. Lame.Are you watching?
Snacks: Too much coffee, my Pina Colada pudding leftover from my Bento from earlier, a Cutie Mandarin, and a sample of Irish cheese and corned beef and cabbage from Trader Joe's when I stopped in to pick up more of my favorite little bento box lunch items.
A tasty day.