Whole Foods, A 10K & A Recipe

Wow! I had the most fantastic, productive day today! I'm just thrilled! I started my morning off by sleeping in until almost 7:30. Then I ate a bowl of pumpkin oat bran...so good!

-1 cup water-1/3 cup oat bran
-1 Tbsp pumpkin butter
-cinnamon
-cinnamon sprinkles



Once I had the kids dropped off at school, I picked my sister up and we drove to Oakville (about 45 mins) to Whole Foods. I haven't been there since Mother's Day! I was really hoping that they carried some Honest Foods products like the country squares or granola planks, but no such luck. I spoke to a manager and he told me that they have issues bringing food over the border because of government restrictions. Bummer. On the bright side, the Lara Bars were on sale and even though they didn't have any different flavors from what I can get here, I couldn't pass up 2 for $3.00. Normally, one is between $1.59 - $1.89. I got an apple pie, which I haven't tried yet, and my fave...cinnamon roll. I also bought a carton of unsweetened Almond Breeze, a box of Chris & Tal's Mushroom & Swiss burgers (they're 70% soy, 30% beef), a box of Mighty leaf tea in assorted flavors, 2 packs of Shiritaki noodles and a pouch of Bob's Red Mill 10 grain cereal.



While there I sampled 4 different types of cheese, a bite of raspberry filled brownie and some homemade applesauce. On our way home we picked up some Starbucks. I had a grande non fat cafe latte with a shot of sugar free cinnamon dulce syrup. I forgot my camera at home so no picture, but it was really good! Our last stop was my work to pick up an order of baking from one of the local high schools. It's a trade school and the bakery pumps out the most amazing seasonal treats ever for dirt cheap! My hubby always buys something and today's order was 2 pumpkin pies, 2 dozen pecan tarts and 1 dozen pumpkin tarts. Yes, he is a freak, but I love him anyways! The irritating thing is that he can eat all this stuff and not gain a pound! Not Fair.



All this was only $22.00. Unreal! I planned a 10K treadmill run as well and ate a Honey Crisp apple and 2 Ryvita crackers a half hour before I hopped on.



It took me 66 min 03 sec to hit the 10K mark, but I DID IT!!!! I am just tickled pink. Now, my treadmill doesn't have weight/gender settings, just time/distance/calories. I assume it's set up to calculate the stats for a 150lb person. This is what it told me - 6.00 miles, time of 66:03 and 1009 calories. I know I did the distance because my pedometer tracked that the same (11109 steps) but I'm sure the calorie burn wasn't quite that high. I'm just glad I toughed it out. YIPEE!

My post workout meal was a toasted Ezekiel 4:9 sprouted English muffin topped with half a mashed banana mixed with 1 tsp of almond butter.



Delicious! My tummy seems to be back on track so I thought that 1 tsp of almond butter couldn't hurt. About an hour later I felt hungry again so I ate another apple.

It's a gorgeous day outside so I decided to leave the van in the driveway and walk down to the school to get the kids. By myself, it's about 30 minutes round trip. With the kids it's more like 45 minutes. They were excited to walk home to our house because they've never done that before. They're used to walking to the sitter's house.

For dinner tonight I made a recipe featuring the Blogger Secret Ingredient---POLENTA! Sabrina over at RodeyGirl Tests picked the ingredient and I was up to the challenge. Considering that I was raised in a traditional Italian family, I have had polenta many, many times and I have always loved it. The trick for me was to make a recipe that strayed from the way that I'm accustomed to eating it. I think I got it!

Polenta Shepard's Pie

BASE

*1 lb lean ground turkey
*1 onion, chopped
*3 cups diced mushrooms
*1 cup frozen mixed vegetables
*1 can mushroom gravy
*cumin, salt & pepper

TOPPING

*1 1/2 cup water
*1/2 cup unsweetened Almond Breeze
*1/2 cup polenta
*1 Tbsp butter
*2 Tbsp fresh herbs (I used basil, parsley, oregano)
*2 oz jalapeno havarti cheese, cubed
*2 Tbsp grated asiago

DIRECTIONS

1) Saute onion until translucent, then add turkey. Cook over medium heat until turkey is no longer pink. Add mushrooms and cook 5 more minutes. Add frozen veggies and cook until thawed. Add cumin, S & P and can of gravy. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low.

2) Meanwhile, bring Almond Breeze, water, butter and herbs to a boil. Slowly whisk in the polenta and continue to stir until thick (this should only take a few minutes). When thickened, add cubed Havarti and stir until melted. Remove from heat.

3) Spray a casserole dish and pour meat mixture in. Top with polenta and smooth over the top of the meat. Sprinkle 2 Tbsp of grated Asiago cheese on top.

4) Bake for 30 minutes in a 350 deg oven. When done, let sit for 5 minutes before cutting into 6 portions.

5) ENJOY!



And my portion...



This is the brand of polenta that my Mom has always used and so I use it too!



I ran this recipe through the Spark People recipe builder and came up with this (approximates as some of the ingredients I used weren't available and I had to select another brand)

308 calories, 14.8g fat, 2.4g fiber, 22.7g protein

And that, my friends, is my Blogger Secret Ingredient recipe! Regardless of how I do in this contest, it was a definite winner in this house! My DS ate his whole piece which is a miracle in itself because he apparently doesn't like veggies. He changed his mind to say that he liked the peas/carrots & corn in this dish. Haha! My hubby ate 2 pieces and then went back for more. I know it's good when he gets up for seconds! My DD loved it and even I went back for another small scoop. For dessert, I sampled a pumpkin tart.



Scrumptious!

I plan on relaxing this evening with the 4 (yes, that's right, 4) magazines that I received in the mail this week.

Bye for now!!