I am out of my Nature Valley protein bars, so when I woke up yesterday morning I knew I had time to knock out a batch of granola as a pre/post workout snack.  I was going to follow my lemon poppy seed granola recipe, but turns out I was out of poppy seeds, I didn’t have applesauce or agave nectar. 

But the great thing about granola is that you can just throw in whatever you have.  I loved, loved how this one turned out.  It’s sweeter than any other granola I’ve made, but not overly sweet.  And I baked the granola with the craisins and it worked out just fine.  I always hated adding them in after the fact because they never felt incorporated, just kind of loose.

I will say that once I decided to just bake the granola like a sheet, and cool completely, I’ve finally got the granola clusters I was looking for – don’t stir your granola is my motto if you want clusters.  I haven’t figured out the calories for this just yet, but for tracking purposes yesterday, just went with the calories for 1/2 a cup of homemade granola. 

Almond Granola

  • 3 cups oats (I use quick but either is fine)
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1/2 cup of brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons melted butter
  • 1/2 cup of honey
  • 1/2 cup of unsweetened soy milk
  • 1/2 cup craisins
  • 1/2 cup of sunflower seeds
  • 3/4 cup of whole almonds

Heat oven to 325.  In a bowl, mix all the ingredients together, making sure that all of the oats and stuff are wet – this is a wet granola to start out with – no worries!  Press down on a baking sheet in one layer.  Bake for 30-35 minutes.  The trick is to let the granola cool COMPLETELY before trying to get your clusters.  If you want chewy granola, only let it cool 30 minutes.  I prefer crunchy granola, so after it was almost cool at home, I didn’t think it was cool enough, so I put it in the back seat of my car for the 30 minute ride to work. Open-mouthed smile

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So good.  I ended up having a half a cup on the way to work (see the corner missing!) and it was delicious.

My actual breakfast was delicious too though – I made an egg white/egg beater spinach and cheese omelet – it was so filling!  In a small skillet I put 1 cup of baby spinach.   I let that cook over medium low heat for about 3-4 minutes, just until it started to wilt, then added 1/2 cup egg beaters, 1/2 cup of egg whites and 1/2 an ounce of cheese, put a lid on it and let it cook until almost cooked through.  Then folded it over, added the other 1/2 ounce of cheese and at work I reheated it and added a touch of hot sauce.

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If someone would have told me that I’d eat a spinach omelet 10 years ago I would have thought they were crazy – now I kind of freak out when I run out! Open-mouthed smile

So I talked about going down the slide at the pool in yesterdays post.  The weather was hot, but beautiful!

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I was afraid to take my flip flops off the ground was so hot! (hello mismatched feet!)

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I did my 30 minute swim – the kids were very cooperative of the lap lane which I appreciated.  At the end I just asked a life guard “can adults go down the slide?”  Up to that point I had never seen anyone other than kids go down the slide.

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And . . . I did it!  It was so much fun.  I just laid back and let the water take me to the bottom – I truly did feel like a kid again and think I’ll end every swim with a slide. Open-mouthed smile

When I got back to work I was really hungry.  I ended up making a boboli crust pizza – I was only going to make half of one because half of the crust alone was 190 calories, but I decided I could afford the calories knowing that I was doing an extra hard Insanity last night.

My pizza:  boboli crust, 1/2 cup of my homemade sauce, an ounce of leftover grilled chicken, 1 roasted red pepper chopped, baby spinach and mozzarella cheese – the whole thing comes in at 532 calories.

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Our gas grill sits off of our deck off our living room that gets all the sun around dinner time.  I would have sweated my balls off if I tried to light the grill, so I let my indoor cast iron grill step in.  Simple sirloin steak – I roasted a bunch of red potatoes over the weekend, so sliced them, added a bit of cheese and put them under the broiler in the toaster oven, and for me I diced up a zucchini and sautéed it for a few minutes.

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So last night was not only Max Cardio Conditioning, but also Cardio Abs – 60 minutes in total.  I have to say that while I have to modify 10% of the moves, I was able to kick ass on the other 90% – I just kept telling myself stopping was not an option.  And I like when I am able to continue on and some of the people on the screen have to stop and catch their breath. Open-mouthed smile

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That was my Instagram picture last night (find me!  biz319).  Day 47 is in the books!  I recovered with a grape Gatorade G2 low calorie drink and some farmers market string cheese. Open-mouthed smile

Stats for the Day:

  • 1428 calories, 41 fat, 150 carbs, 10 fiber, 107 protein
  • 42% of calories from carbs, 26% from fat and 32% from protein
  • 30 minute swim at lunch – and a trip down the slide!
  • 60 minute Insanity Max Cardio Conditioning and Cardio Abs

When I got home from work yesterday, Lyle the Squirrel stopped by to say hi!  I knew he was just stopping by to hit me up for some of my fantastic granola.  He was sitting on our table and I just threw the granola on the table and he ran right after it.  He knows a good thing!

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And here are a few more pictures from my Lake vacation in Virginia.  This one was a dragon fly caught in a spiders web by the dock.

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This one a fly was drinking the rain drops off of the flower.

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My brother – I like to call this WARRIOR POSE!

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And the women at the Lake (except my SIL Laura and Rachel who came the next day).  I always like to be front and center – ha! Open-mouthed smile

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And everyone (except my cousins wife Lori, who had already left)!

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Alright, its time to get this show on the road.  Turns out I actually have a day job to get to! Open-mouthed smile  I still have time though to put together Jacky’s Oatmeal Lemon Ricotta pancakes for breakfast.  Although I am subbing in cottage cheese for the ricotta and I am adding blueberries.  Hers look delicious so I have no doubt these will be great!

Make it a great day – and if you have an opportunity to go down a slide – go for it!!