Today was a yummy healthy day!!

You know, I really do miss my daughter like crazy. But there's something to be said for mornings without kids to get ready. I even had time for breakfast! I started my day with my favourite breakfast - Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal with raspberry yogurt. One might think it's going to get boring eating the pretty much the same thing every morning for breakfast but hey...why mess with what works?

After I ate, I packed up my lunch, got myself ready and drove my husband to the skytrain station. Off to work I went. Don't tell anyone, but I was really excited to try my lunch today. I'm a dork like that.
An hour or two into my shift, I decided to have a snack 'cause it was still to early to eat my lunch. So I had a banana.

Most of my morning consisted of sitting in front of a computer. I MUCH prefer being in the classroom teaching stuff, but my job involves other stuff too! Finally, I looked up and it was noon - yay! Lunch time! I looked out the window and decided that outside was a better option to my desk, so I grabbed my lunch bag and headed to the seawall. This is what my view looked like while I ate.

 

I parked my butt on a bench and people watched while I ate. Mostly I saw cyclists, joggers, moms with their babies and people walking their dogs. Nothing too noteworthy today. However it's possible I missed something because I was SO focused on my amazing lunch.

This was an avocado-lime black bean salad and it was seriously to die for! I could've ate three bowls. I will definitely be making this again. If you try it (no seriously, try it - it's delicious) and want to make it like me, here are the substitutions I made: One can of black beans instead of two (I would've made my own, but forgot to soak them the night before), 1 tbs of lime juice (fresh - about 1/2 a lime), 1/2 cup red onion instead of shallots, 1 tbs olive oil, and 1 squirt of pure honey to the dressing to sweeten a bit. I brought roughly half the salad to work, so only brought half an avocado to chop up and add. I made the salad the night before, mixed in the dressing and let it sit overnight. The flavours melded perfectly. I added the avocado right before eating. This was so good, I think I might have the rest of it for dinner tomorrow night!!

Once I had finished my fantastic lunch, I went back to the office to work some more. An interview and file review later and it was time for a snack. Today I brought hummous and Mary's Crackers. These gluten free organic crackers are yummy!

A little while later and work was done. Yay! I drove home, fed my guinea pig a carrot, and grabbed my workout gear. I dropped into the grocery store quickly to get some of the things I needed for dinner tonight and lunch tomorrow. Next stop - Burnaby Hit.

Sarah was in today. One of the many things I love about Burnaby Hit is how the trainers all know you and make you feel welcome. She asked me how my eating was going, which made me feel good! She also helped me out with my technique at some of the stations. It's amazing how a tiny little adjustment makes you FEEL those muscles that much more! I got my Bob beat-on and left feeling great! As a side note, I saw Sarah taking a picture today...if it ends up on facebook I'll share so you can all see me at work!

With my workout done, I headed to Richmond to pick up my hubby from work. On our way home, we stopped at Famous Foods in Burnaby to look for some harder to find ingredients I needed. I REALLY like that little market. Lots of healthy foods that you don't see in places like Safeway. The girl there was super helpful especially because I had never even seen some of the ingredients I needed before! What's a goji berry? Which type of  wheat berry do you recommend for salad? Where do I find cacao nibs? With her help, I found what I was looking for and we were on our way. I know I'll be back to that grocery store!

Once I got home, I ate my well-deserved, post workout protein bar.

While I munched on my protein bar, I also worked on dinner. On the menu tonight - Pasta Pomodoro.

This pasta dish is probably my husband's favourite one. It is so good. So much so, that it was pretty darn hard for me to stick to my salad sized plate. But I did. When I make this pasta, the adjustments I make are as follows: I use linguini instead of angel hair pasta. I use one can diced tomatoes and one can fire-roasted diced tomatoes instead of plum tomatoes. And I use vegetable broth instead of chicken (obviously). This is a fast, easy and simple pasta dish that tastes great. You should try this too!

When dinner was done, my hubby and I watched big brother and I made a trail mix for tomorrow. Afterwards, I decided to make my lunch for tomorrow, but realized I needed another thing or two from  the grocery store first. So...I walked up to Safeway. I figured I'd walk instead of drive because it was a nice night and any little bit of extra exercise I get in is great! I came home, cooked until midnight and worked on my blog. If you come back tomorrow you'll get to see what I made! But for now...that's all folks! It's bedtime!