A New Grain, a Fairy and Free Coffee

OMG…the weather today was freaking FANTASTIC!!! We hit 29*C. That’s my kind of weather and it puts me in a great mood.

I mentioned the other day that I bought a new grain to try out and today was the day. I’ve seen this grain mentioned in its “floured” form many times so when I saw it in “flake” form, I could not pass it up. What is it? SPELT flakes! Here’s what I did with it;
-1 cup water
-1/3 cup spelt flakes
-banana
-blackberries
-cinnamon
-almond slivers
I quite enjoyed the spelt. Although the flakes look just like kamut when dry, they cooked up much differently. Whereas kamut retains its shape, the spelt became soft and creamy. It had a pleasant nuttiness to it, too. Another great whole grain to add to my repertoire.

I did eat my dates this morning but decided to spare you all another picture of them today! By the time lunch rolled around I had lost ALL motivation to go to the gym. This doesn’t happen very often to me! I just couldn’t conjure the image of me using any of the equipment today. I’m sure the weather had something to do with it! I opted to go home instead and spent the hour out on my deck reading and soaking up some vitamin D. Glorious! And best of all? This was waiting for me on my front porch…
That’s right, boys and girls! The rhubarb fairy (AKA my MIL) dropped me off a BIG box of freshly picked rhubarb! I love this stuff! When my hubby and I moved into our first house we had a rhubarb plant. I had no idea what to do with it so we tried (in vain) to kill it but it always grew back. When one of my elderly neighbours realized what we had been doing, she was aghast! She promptly told me the many wonderful ways I could prepare it and I’ve been a fan ever since. You can be sure to see lots of rhubarb in the near future!

For lunch today I brought a serving of my chickpea curry and fresh broccoli to work. Here it is all warmed up and ready to be devoured!
This is such a great, healthy, filling meal! I noticed last night that my freezer is running low on prepared lunches, so I need to get cracking on making some big batch dinners to replenish my stock.

At 3 o’clock break I walked over to Tim Horton’s with a co-worker to snag one of the free iced coffees they’re promoting today.
This is a pre-blended mixture of coffee, cream and sugar. I'm not a huge fan of coffee so this was just meh to me. I looked it up online and a small one rings in at 110 calories, 6g of fat and 0 fibre. Not so great nutritionally, but I can make the exception when it’s free!! :-) Would I run out to buy one? Not anytime soon. Sorry, Timmy's...this just didn't do it for me! I wonder how many freebies people grabbed between the hours of 12-5 at different locations???

Between lunch and the coffee, I was too stuffed to eat any of my usual afternoon snacks. They’ll just have to wait until tomorrow! When I left work I stopped by the house to pick up my hubby then we went to get the kids and then, finally, the van. The brakes are so good now that I have to be careful not to put myself through the windshield! :)

I thawed out a pork tenderloin for dinner tonight and my hubby BBQ’d it for me. I just seasoned it with some steak spice this time around. As sides we also grilled up orange, red and yellow bell peppers. For myself, cooked up a sweet potato in the microwave and sprinkled it with some cinnamon..
As a sweet end I split this Fannie Mae Mint Meltaway with DD...
Checkout the cross section of it;
Drool worthy, I tell ya!!! Right after dinner I went to pick up my orthotics. They feel a bit weird but nothing I can't live with. I hit the pavement with them as soon as I got home! My parents do a 3 mile walk each night that takes them by my place. I hooked up with them for the first 2 miles and once they turned up their street I ran the rest of the way home. So I did manage to get a bit of a sweat sesh in today! I didn't bother with my HRM because they were waiting for me and I didn't want to hold them up. I was back in just under 40 minutes, though.

I'm about to grab a cool drink and my book and head out to the front porch to enjoy the rest of the daylight. Oh, how I live for these summer days and nights!!! Later on I plan on stewing some rhubarb so that I have it for tomorrow. Mmmm....

Bye for now!!