ashleyd /

Fall Breakfast Ideas: Office Edition

Each day, I’m bound to read about a delicious and beautiful breakfast creation that another blogger enjoyed. Cooked carefully over the stove top with care or warmed in the oven, many of these are not feasible on a daily basis if you eat breakfast at the office.

Some people think I’m crazy to eat both breakfast and lunch at work each day but for me it, it is really the only option. If I want to have time to enjoy a solid hour workout, shower, get dressed, and make the commute to work than I can’t spend even fifteen minutes enjoying breakfast at my kitchen table. Waking up at 5:15 is plenty early for me, thank you very much.

Instead, I’ve challenged myself to give my regular breakfasts a Fall face lift since I’ve grown tired of my normal breakfasts. The past few months have been one long repeated track of banana oats or Greek yogurt “messes.”

IMG_4195Last week’s refreshing Fall weather left me craving warm and flavorful goodness. So far I’ve only come up with two twists on the classic but would love to hear your suggestions for office breakfast upgrades as well! IMG_4641 (640x478)

Crunchy Cinnamon Oats

1/2 cup Quaker or Irish Oats

1/8 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1 sliced banana

1/2 cup to 1 cup water or milk to reach desired thickness

1 Tsp cinnamon

1 Tsp nutmeg

1 drizzle agave or sugar free syrup

Combine first six ingredients and mix thoroughly, ensuring that all oats are moist. Drizzle agave or syrup over the oat mixture. Heat in microwave for 2 minutes, keeping a close eye to ensure the oats don’t bubble over.  Enjoy!

IMG_4500 Cinnamon Pumpkin Oats

1/2 cup Quaker or Irish Oats

1/8 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/4 to 1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1/4 to 1/2 cup water or milk to reach desired thickness

1 Tsp cinnamon

1 Tsp nutmeg

1 drizzle agave or sugar free syrup

Combine first six ingredients and mix thoroughly, ensuring that all oats are moist. Drizzle agave or syrup over the oat mixture. Heat in microwave for 2 minutes, keeping a close eye to ensure the oats don’t bubble over.  While these aren’t very photogenic they are very tasty!

Question: Do your breakfast choices change with the season? If so, what is your favorite Fall breakfast creation that can be prepared at the office?

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ashleyd /

Sunday Round 2

Good morning from our cozy home!

our comfy home (640x478)

It is such a treat to enjoy a holiday with Bo as it’s a rare day that we both have a holiday off together. He only has the NYSE Holidays off whereas I get a lot of other random holidays off during the year.

Wikipedia describes the origins of this great day below:

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday observed on the first Monday in September (September 5 in 2011) that celebrates the economic and social contributions of workers.

The first big Labor Day in the United States was observed on September 5, 1882, by the Central Labor Union of New York.[1] It was first proposed by Peter J. McGuire of the American Federation of Labor in May 1882 [2]

Today feels like a second Sunday and we’re definitely taking advantage of every second!

We slept until 9:30 this morning, leisurely lounging in bed with yesterday’s Meet the Press.

When we finally rose we knew that another home cooked breakfast was requisite for a great day. After yesterday’s pancake fail, we were both craving something a bit easier, eggs!

This morning’s breakfast creation was an 2 egg white omelet including heirloom tomatoes and red onions leftover from last night’s dinner.

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A toasted Arnold Thin was the perfect base for the egg white omelet, Kraft 2% cheese, and one slice of Turkey Bacon! Organic ketchup and some hot sauce made the perfect spread on both sides of the sandwich, giving it a flavor kick!

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This is the perfect fuel for the rest of our day’s to do list!

  • 1/2 mile swim at Equinox
  • 6 mile run including 8 speed pickups
  • Finally purchasing the watch I’ve been dreaming about for six months!
  • Cooking another homemade dinner.

We’re off to Equinox for our swim! Have a great day and enjoy the holiday if you’re off today!

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Efficient and Effective

This morning I enjoyed an amazing 40 minutes on the treadmill. Normally known as the dreadmill by many, on which time crawls, today was unlike any sweat session I’ve experienced before.

It was efficient, effective, and time flew!  IMG_4181 (640x478)

At first I was intimidated by today’s workout plan calling for a 2 mile warm-up, 6 1 minute “up beats” followed by a 2 min jog in between and a cool down.

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I should have done this workout last week but I missed it. Therefore, I’m a week behind on speed training and new it was now or never to jump on the band wagon. I was short on time so chose to focus on the warm up versus the cool down since I don’t want to risk injury. The final numbers weren’t too shabby and I was still able to leave feeling accomplished.

The the great thing about having a plan and sticking to it is that each day there is a prescribed workout and a box I can check.

Time/Distance Pace
1 mile warm-up 6.0 on treadmill
Pickup 7.5 on treadmill
2 min recover 6.2 on treadmill
Pickup 7.5 on treadmill
2 min recover 6.2 on treadmill
Pickup 7.5 on treadmill
2 min recover 6.2 on treadmill
Pickup 7.5 on treadmill
2 min recover 6.2 on treadmill
Pickup 7.5 on treadmill
2 min recover 6.2 on treadmill
Pickup 7.5 on treadmill
2 min recover 6.2 on treadmill
   
37 minute 9:11 avg pace

This great workout also left me craving healthy and delicious foods all day!

IMG_4183 (640x478)This morning’s breakfast was a baked protein infused bowl of oats made with 1/2 cup oats, 3/4 cup water, 1/2 scoop vanilla protein, and a banana.

Lunch was a delicious bowl of soup and salad from Pret! I forgot how much I liked their soup and salads!

IMG_4185 (640x478) Doesn’t this look amazing?

IMG_4184 (640x478) But, the best part of my office food was my afternoon snack!  This was the first truly juicy, delicious peach I’ve bought all summer after 7 fruit stand attempts! Each peach I’ve purchased previously was only half worthy; the rest dry or over ripe.

IMG_4188 (640x478) Last, but not least, I wore my favorite summer dress today! I’ve only worn it a few times this summer but each time I wear it I get more compliments than I can imagine! Even better is the fact that my mom and I found it at the Polo Ralph Lauren outlet on the clearance rack when I was home in April!

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