Fueling Foods

I have mentioned before that my work schedule has gotten really busy over the past few weeks. On those days where I am really busy, food choices are even more important because my foods need to fuel me for a long day.

When you are working late, it can be easy to mindlessly snack all day. Sometimes I do feel like I get even hungrier on those days. So I like to bring foods that will keep me full for a while. This is what I ate yesterday to keep me full and energized.

I started the day with a peanut butter waffle (recipe coming soon!) topped with hot apples, cinnamon, and a little maple syrup.

The apple on the waffle added some extra fiber that kept me full for several hours.

On the way to work, I picked up my new favorite drink from Starbucks, a skinny White Chocolate Mocha. I also added some cinnamon and nutmeg to it to give it a little something special.

Granted, this was decaf so I didn’t exactly get a caffeine boost. But it still gave me a surge in energy.

Breakfast kept me full for a while so I had a late lunch. I had some chili that my husband and I prepared last week (leftover chili is the best). I added some brown rice and some kidney beans for a little added bulk.

Not a pretty picture, but it was delicious! And it kept me full for a while as well.

I had an afternoon/early evening snack of a couple of hard boiled eggs.

I think that eggs get a bad rap. They are a great source of protein!

A little while later, I was feeling a little snackish again. I brought out my little homemade snack mix that I made that morning.

In the tupperware container were some Barbara’s Peanut Butter Puffins, some Trader Joe’s peanut butter filled pretzels, and some honey roasted peanuts. Can you tell that I love peanut butter? 🙂 Because the eggs had done their job, I didn’t feel hungry enough to eat all of it. I just had the pretzels and about half of the cereal. Great munching material!

I did not get home until after 8:00 pm. I didn’t take a picture of my food, but my wonderful husband had prepared me a dinner of sweet potato fries and a lean hamburger patty. Yummy!

I will be honest and say that after dinner I was in the mood for something sweet, so I had a few of my husband’s Famous Amos vanilla sandwich cookies. They were so good!

The best thing about my busy schedule is that I stay very active at work. There are a couple of sets of stairs that I have to climb. The busier we are, the more times I have to climb the stairs. So I may not have had time for a workout, but it’s hard to feel guilty when my quads are feeling this sore! 🙂

What is your favorite snack or meal that keeps you full for a long period of time?

Fall is here!

Judging by the 40 degree temperature last night and the coolness in the air this morning, Fall has finally arrived in Georgia. Woo-hoo! This really is my favorite time of year and my favorite type of weather. And in Georgia, this weather can last a while. We may not experience winter type weather until January. 😉

Due to the fact that it was cool this morning (and we are too cheap thrifty to turn our heat on as of yet, I had a hard time getting out of bed. It was so warm there! But eventually I did and I had to rush around to get ready for work. Because of my early mornings on Tuesday, I don’t always eat breakfast at the house. I pack it up and take it with me to work. I’m not usually hungry until a couple of hours after I get up anyway.

Today’s breakfast was leftover blueberry pancakes from the other day, with some I can’t believe it’s not butter spray and I drizzled a little honey on top. For those pancakes, I had just used my Basic Pancake recipe with an added 1 cup of blueberries to the batter.

Is anyone else in love with the I can’t believe it’s not butter spray?

I love this stuff. Seriously, I will even spray some directly into my mouth sometimes. This does weird my husband out, but since I’m pretty much the only one who eats it, what does he care? I even discovered that I like the taste of I can’t believe it’s not butter over real butter. Isn’t that weird? Now, don’t get me wrong . . . I do think there are cases where real butter is appreciated (such as baked goods. I did not use the fake stuff in my Apple Scones. 🙂 But when it comes to putting butter on baked potatoes or pancakes, I just prefer the taste of the fake stuff. Just one of my many quirks, I guess. 🙂

Those pancakes managed to hold me over until lunchtime, at which point I had some leftover Spaghetti and Meatballs from last week. Mmm . . . still just as tasty and filling!

I think I put a lot of red pepper in these things because somehow they were even spicier on the second day! I didn’t mind though. I love spicy foods. Just made them that much better.

An afternoon snack consisted of a leftover Apple Scone. Yummy!

I may or may not have sprayed a little I can’t believe it’s not butter spray on top of it. 🙂

For dinner, I wanted the perfect Fall meal: chili! I love chili so much. It is comforting and warms me up when the weather has a chill. And I love that you can make it as spicy as you like it. 😉

If you will remember, last time I tried to make chili I attempted a chili cornbread casserole that did not turn out well at all. I think I realized my mistake with the dough. Apparently, I used cornmeal mix instead of regular cornmeal and that just messed it all up. How crazy is that? I will probably try that recipe again in the future now that I know. But for now, I wanted a recipe that was guaranteed not to fail. Call me crazy.

I paired the chili with some brown rice and roasted asparagus, which may be my favorite veggie ever. Have to get those veggies in!

This recipe for the chili is one that I initially got from Hungry Girl and Corey and I have since changed and modified it to make it our own.

Hungry Girl Chili (makes 8 1-cup servings) – as adapted from Hungry Girl

1 pound ground beef or ground sirloin
4 1/2 cups tomato sauce
2 jalapeno peppers, seeded and chopped
1 cup sweet corn, no salt added (drained)
1 cup of canned diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 yellow or green bell pepper, chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
2 tsp. garlic
2 tsp. onion powder

In small skillet brown ground beef or sirloin; drain. Mix beef with the rest of the ingredients. Let simmer about 20 minutes. If you have more time on a weekend, you may want to let it simmer for longer. It really allows all the flavors to fully develop. It still tastes great doing it the “short” way, but the longer you simmer, the better. How easy is this recipe?? 🙂

***Side note about this recipe: the original version does not have meat and has beans in it, along with other veggies. I added meat in it to give it more substance and the only reason it doesn’t have beans is because my husband doesn’t like them. I’m sure it would be good though!