Obsessed

If yesterday was successful, today was lazy and sleepy. And it was perfect. Seriously perfect.

Tomorrow is the first day I’ll be teaching at my evening job. (Last week was training.) I’m a little nervous, so I decided to spend the day having fun to take my mind off of work.

There will be more than enough time to think about work tomorrow, I decided.

You guys already know I’m obsessed with oatmeal for breakfast.

Tried out a “new” breakfast this morning. PB & J oatmeal. I just cooked up my 1/2 cup of oatmeal with 1 1/2 cups water and added in a tablespoon of peanut butter and about 2 tablespoons of grape jelly.

It was so tasty. The flavor wasn’t really strong, but the jelly gave the oatmeal the perfect amount of sweetness.

Ate the bowl while watching Glee, of course. I’m afraid I may be addicted. I finished episode 4 this morning. The girl who plays Rachel has the most amazing voice, seriously!

New obsession, for sure. Too bad it’s still season 1, so there’s not a ton of episodes out yet.

I tried to go back to bed, but after laying there for half an hour and never falling asleep I gave up. That’s my second nap-fail this week! I used to be an expert napper… I’m down on my game!

I fit in 15 minutes of upper body strength training after I got up.

My ST routine today included two sets of the following:

• close-arm wall pushups
• tricep dips with straight legs
• reverse plank
• two-part pushups
• one arm side pushups

I got in a good workout without the gym… I’m a fan. Do any of you use wall pushups? I’ve always kind of looked down on that exercise as a “wimpy” version of the real thing, but man my arms were burning when I finished those today.

I finally peeled my p.j.’s off around 12:30. Real clothes and lunch time were in order.

Yog-mess for lunch and man was it delicious.

I used some of the sample I received from Kashi of their Oat Bran and Wild Blueberry Clusters cereal.

In my bowl:

• a little over a cup of plain low-fat yogurt
• 1/3 cup of granola
• 1/2 sample package of Kashi
• 1 tablespoon of Hodgson Mill Wheat Germ with Cinnamon and Flax
• 1/2 cup of pomegranate arils

Can you tell I’m obsessed with my new find? I love the taste and texture of the pomegranate. And it doesn’t hurt that each 1/2 cup is 5 grams of fiber!

The Kashi cereal tasted really good in this mixture. I tried a blueberry cluster before stirring it all together and I liked the taste. I don’t know that I would buy these on a regular basis, though, because I like my Go Lean Crunch.

But now it’s time to get to work on today’s bit project: Christmas cards

  Ideally, I would like to have these ready to mail tomorrow, but that may not happen. I do know we have to go back to the store and buy another set of cards because these aren’t enough for our family and friends.

(P.S. Isn’t the Santa card adorable?)

How to make Saturday a Success

Here are the ingredients for Saturday Success:

1. Sleep in as late as you want. No alarm clocks are allowed.
(My internal alarm clock went off at 8 this morning.)

2. Make yourself an epic breakfast.

  My husband’s empty jar of chunky Skippy made breakfast a no-brainer.

Add some cinnamon and wheat germ oatmeal to your jar and then top with chopped almonds.

Oats in a jar=my favorite breakfast.

3. Get outside and get moving.

I ran 2.3 miles to the grocery store this morning and then walked the 1.3 mile trek back home (I had food in both hands, so no running).

It felt amazing to be wearing capri pants three days before December and be comfortable. So weird!

4. Try something new.

What’s that, you ask? Oh, just a lovely pomegranate I found while perusing the grocery store. I’ve been wanting to try one since a few lucky food bloggers toured the POM orchard, but I have never spotted these in Japan before today.

I used the underwater method for opening pomegranate to remove the juicy arils. I nibbled on a few of them while pulling them out of the fruit.

SUCCESS!

4. Eat a lunch fit for a queen.

I combined my morning snack with lunch because by the time I made it back from the store and figured out how to open my purchase, my stomach was yelling, “Feed me, woman!”

Heated up the leftover couscous from yesterday, toasted the last whole wheat tortilla from Thursday’s batch, and made a yogurt, granola, and pomegranate parfait on the side.

Hello delicious!

5. Check out that show everyone has been raving about.

I watched the pilot of Glee this afternoon. I might just be hooked. Oh no!

6. Make a dinner that feels like a real indulgence.

Sloppy joes and cheddar cheese crackers. Probably could have used some veggies somewhere other than my plate.

7. Wash your sheets so you’re crawling into a fresh, clean bed tonight. 

It was a great day, and definitely successful!

Recipe for whole wheat tortillas and salsa

As promised, my dear readers, here are my whole wheat tortilla and homemade salsa recipes. Both are super easy, so why not give them a shot tonight?

Whole Wheat Tortillas

2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1.5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup WARM water

Combine your flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl. Add the olive oil and cut it into the dry ingredients until well combined. Dump your warm water into the mixture and start stirring. Dough should be able to gather into a ball… if your dough is too dry keeping adding warm water 1 tablespoon at a time until this occurs. Knead on a floured surface 15 times. Break your dough apart into 8-10 smaller balls. Let dough rest for 20 minutes.

On a floured surface roll out ball from center into a circle, approximately 6 inches in circumference. Heat ungreased skillet over medium-high heat and cook each tortilla about 30 seconds per side, or until they begin to “puff” with air bubbles on each side.

***These can be toasted up longer in your skillet to make tortilla chips.

Maria’s Homemade Salsa

1 large tomato
1 small onion
1/2 green pepper
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon olive oil
dash of salt
dash of pepper
dash of red pepper flakes

Chop tomato, onion, and pepper into small pieces. Place in medium-sized bowl. Add the seasonings. Heat in microwave on high for five minutes or until onion and green pepper is cooked through. If you like your salsa more liquid-y, add more tomato. If you like your salsa chunky, heat longer and the tomato juice will evaporate.

Very easy recipe, but my husband and I love it.

First time trying couscous

Happy, happy Friday everyone!

I’ve not felt the “TGIF” sigh of relief in a while. Working two days a week didn’t allow me to fully appreciate the amazing-ness that is Friday night and knowing the weekend has arrived.

I’ve been basking in the glow of it finally being Friday since this morning. This girl has gotten out of the habit of working five days a week.

I knew as soon as I woke up that it was definitely a “real” oatmeal morning. The instant stuff wouldn’t do the trick. I cooked up a batch using the stove, since I figured out yesterday how quick oatmeal cooks.

My peanut butter and banana oatmeal looked chocolate-y from all the cinnamon I added. Oops! What can I say? I love cinnamon!

I Skyped my parents after work this morning and we talked for over an hour! It was so nice to just relax and have a long conversation with my family. I wish I could have been home for Thanksgiving, but seeing them on the webcam was better than nothing.

My tummy was growling during the long chat, but I was having so much fun I didn’t want to stop to eat. I waited until around 11 to have a cheese sandwich as a snack.

New product review: Hodgson Mill Whole Wheat Couscous

I bought this couscous from Amazon.com. Seeing other bloggers cook couscous left me intrigued and I wanted to try it myself. Finding the whole wheat variety from Hodgson Mill just sealed the deal for me.

I didn’t know what to expect, so I just followed the instructions on the box.

1/2 cup of water (Ignore my measuring cup of water… it’s a Japanese measuring cup and what’s considered a cup for them is different.) and 1/3 cup of the couscous. I also added 1/2 teaspoon of olive oil.

Boil water and olive oil and then add couscous. Stir couscous into water, take off heat and let sit for 5 minutes. When time is up, fluff with a fork.

By the way, I was totally amazed at how well the couscous absorbs the water… it really doesn’t take much to amuse me, does it?

I added a drained can of tuna and the leftover salsa from last night’s tacos to my couscous and heated it all together on the stove.

Side by side bowl. Leftover mashed potatoes and half the couscous mixture.

I only made one serving of couscous, but after mixing in the tuna and salsa, I knew I couldn’t eat all of it plus my potatoes in one meal. The other half is in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.

I was totally impressed by how easy it was to make and my concoction tasted really good. I ate all of the couscous before I ever really dug into the potatoes, which is rare for me. And surprisingly, the tuna taste wasn’t strong at all. Winner all around: couscous is high in protein, I can mix it with tuna (I’m always looking for new ways to eat tuna since I hate mayonnaise), and it is SUPER filling.

What’s your favorite couscous recipe?

Check back tonight for my whole wheat tortillas and salsa recipes.

Dinner plans are currently up in the air. Yesterday, a few of my coworkers mentioned meeting for dinner at Big Boy after work. Normally, back in the U.S., I would pass on this idea, but in Japan I rarely get to dine out with others… so I am excited and hoping meeting for dinner is still the plan.

Giving stove-top oats a chance

I opened up my Google Reader this morning and spotted Whit’s post featuring this adorable song at the top of my unread list.

I couldn’t resist… I listened to this song for the first time a few weeks ago. I let the song play while the husband and I were getting dressed for work this morning. We were giggling at the song like a bunch of five year olds and I heard J humming it to himself a little later.

It was a fun way to get Thanksgiving Day started, that’s for sure!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of my American readers and friends!

I’m so jealous that you’re all sitting down to hot, delicious meals with your families today. J and I had an excellent first Thanksgiving together in Japan, though, so I really can’t complain.

Click here if you missed the post on my first Thanksgiving as a married lady in Japan.

I haven’t posted an entire day’s eats in a while. So here we go:

I opted for a really quick breakfast this morning, but it ended up taking me forever to eat it. And I realized halfway through breakfast that I’d actually left my coffee sitting on the counter. Doh!

Really, really good snack this morning. A half serving of raw almonds with one cheese wedge. It didn’t quite fill me up as much as I would have hoped, but that was okay.

Because I ate this about two hours later.

I’m calling these Happy Thanksgiving Oats because they tasted just like ‘fall’ to me. Unlike my usual method of just dumping everything in the rice cooker and letting it go for about half an hour, this afternoon I used a pot and my stove to cook up my oatmeal. Tina’s video inspired me to give it a shot on the stovetop and see how long it actually took for my oats to cook.

I used:

• 1 1/2 cups water
• 1/2 cup Quaker rolled oatmeal
• 1 tbsp Hodgson Mill Wheat Bran with Cinnamon and Flax
• A LOT of ground cinnamon
• about 1 tsp nutmeg
• a few glugs of vanilla extract
• 1 small banana
• about half a cup of granola/kashi go lean crunch

It was so much quicker than using my rice cooker. I bet including the time my water took to reach a rolling boil, my oatmeal only required about ten minutes. Wahoo! I’ve not been eating my usual bowl of oats in the morning because I thought it would take too much time to make.

I am so happy to be wrong on this one, but I will probably still use the rice cooker when I’m not in a rush. It’s a good way to get things done while breakfast cooks away.

Quick afternoon snack of green bell peppers and peanut butter. I cut up the peppers while I worked on the homemade salsa for tonight’s tacos.

Be on the lookout tomorrow for salsa and whole wheat tortilla recipes.

I made a batch of tortillas yesterday and my wonderful husband cooked up some taco meat while I rode the train home from my evening job.

Add a little cheese and salsa and I’m in Mexican food heaven.

I love tacos and we were eating them very often for a few weeks there, but we’ve cut down on our taco eating. I like that, actually. It makes it feel really special when we do eat tacos.

Work it, Girl!

I’m still a little behind in the workout department, but I was feeling super motivated today. I set off on my scheduled 2-miler as soon as I got home from the morning job.

That first mile was so rough today. I had to keep pushing myself to run because at times I wanted to walk. Where did all the endurance I built up disappear to? I will get back there in time.

The second half of the run went much smoother and I even felt like I could have kept running when I hit the 2-mile mark, but I didn’t. If there’s one thing I have learned it’s this: Just because you feel like you can do something, does not mean you should. My body and foot needs time to build back up and that’s not something I should rush.

I walked an extra mile to cool down (because it is GORGEOUS outside today) before arriving home for a 20 minute self-guided yoga practice. I should do more self-guided practices. I think I enjoy them a lot more than listening to the instructor’s voices.

Great workout today. I’m determined to keep this ball going! J actually introduced the idea of waking up early next week to start working out. I’ll admit, I felt a little proud when he said he was interested in getting back to working out (he used to have a doozy of a 6-pack!) because he currently does no extra activities outside of the usual dailies.

Wow. This turned into a long post. Sorry, guys!

Those nasty three letters

The PMS Monster is back!

I don’t know who invited him because you can bet that THIS GIRL does not send out these monthly invites.

(Like my rendition of the nasty beast?)

All day I have wanted carbs, carbs, carbs.

I mean, check out what I had for lunch:

Homemade pizza on a homemade whole wheat tortilla, plus a serving of Arnott’s cheddar cheese crackers. (Oh my gosh, so good!)

And then dinner:

Plus two more servings of Arnott’s crackers. (I wasn’t full after eating the spaghetti, but I probably didn’t really need two servings of the crackers.)

Dinner actually just worked out in my favor tonight. When the husband and I planned out our meals for the week on Sunday, we chose tonight for spaghetti. Good job husband.

My afternoon snack was a whole Einstein Bros. Cinnamon Swirl and Raisin bagel.

Even breakfast was pretty loaded with carbohydrates.

I finally gave overnight oats the chance it deserved.

I’ve been cringing at the thought of cold oatmeal for weeks now, It occurred to me yesterday that I’m already eating cold oatmeal via The Breakfast Cookie, so why not take the plunge and try the real deal?

I mixed 1/2 cup rolled oats and about a half cup of milk together and stuck the bowl in the fridge overnight. This morning I added a small banana, 1 tbsp of peanut butter, and some cinnamon. I would have loved to add some plain yogurt like Jenna suggests, but mine is still frozen.

Overnight oats were a hit for me. Definitely not the miss that savory oatmeal turned out to be. I would like to try it with yogurt added in the morning whenever I can store yogurt again without it freezing. No idea when that might be.

If anyone knows how to make my Japanese refrigerator stop freezing everything please shoot me an e-mail. You will take the spot of my favorite reader for sure!

And now, because it has been far too long:

Here’s your next challenge: Try eating oatmeal a new way this week. There are tons of ideas floating around Blogworld. Savory oats, Oats in a Jar, The Breakfast Cookie, and Overnight Oats are just the beginning. If you are up for the challenge leave me a comment and I’ll link back to you!

Taking on another job

Enjoyable. That would be my word choice to describe my day.

Which is surprising because I started my second job today, along with taking on teaching another class for the first job.

Stressful. That’s the word I expected to be using to sum up my day. Glad I didn’t have to choose that word.

Rested. I woke up before my alarm this morning. Despite going to bed later than I should have, apparently my body was ready for the day.

Toasty and easy. I made breakfast last night (hello, breakfast cookie… one of the best inventions ever) and just had to get my coffee going to round out the meal.

I also discovered that a bite of breakfast cookie (made with chocolate protein powder)+hot coffee=mouth love. The cold cookie and hot coffee melt together to create an awesome flavor.

Productive. My biggest worries with taking on another class and another job has been “How will I get everything done" and “Will I still have time for me?” Today proved I can work both jobs, do the necessaries around the apartment (cleaning, laundry, you know… the usual), workout, and still have some time for myself. But those are only possible if I practice good time management skills.

Must work on that.

I had a bowl of raisin bran with cow’s milk as a morning snack. I was really wanting yogurt, but when I pulled it out of the refrigerator I discovered it was frozen solid. Total disappointment there.

We can’t figure out our Japanese refrigerator. We turned it onto the “winter” setting and all the liquids froze. We turned down the temperature and everything is still frozen. I’m thinking maybe it’s just too cold downstairs?

Tough! I only ran 2 miles this morning, but the last half a mile really required me to reach deep and give it my all. I felt a bit ridiculous. I mean, is this the same girl who set an 8 mile personal distance record only a month and a half ago?

The endurance I had built up has definitely crumbled while I’ve taken time off for my foot to heal. But it was worth it. I’m happy to report the foot is continuing to feel good. The only thing that has changed is the insole of my shoes, so I have to assume it was a problem with my shoe.

Fun. My husband has the day off work, so we sat down and had lunch together—a rarity. It was nice to goof off and make our sandwiches together. We always have such a good time.

I created a toasted ham sandwich with tomato, green peppers, onion and mustard. A small banana, half an apple, and a mikan were tossed together on the side as a fruit salad.

I also did a little pre-Christmas shopping for myself today. I love shopping for myself. Our parents decided to give us cash this year, rather than attempt the shopping and then having to ship it, too—which is pricey. Forever21 and EyesLipsFace will be showing up on my credit card soon!

Blah, blah, blah. A good portion of the afternoon went to train riding and second-job training. I’ll get back to you on my feelings about this other job when I make a decision. Unfortunately it’s going to cut down on my husband time by quite a bit.

Surprise! The husband, my wonderful husband, had supper ready when I got home. Which was good since I was hangry. He baked some Italian dressing-marinated chicken and made mashed potatoes, too. I added some corn and a piece of cornbread to make a full meal.

J went above and beyond the dinner cooking, though, and had candles lit and our Christmas tree plugged in when I got home. What a great guy, right?

A-okay. That’s how I feel about my first day of getting back to eating and living more health-consciously. Three meals. Two snacks. A run. And brushing my teeth after dinner equals success if you ask me.

The First Thanksgiving

Happy Labor Thanksgiving Day!

No, I’m not early in my Thanksgiving wishes. Japan combined the holidays of Labor Day and Thanksgiving into Labor Thanksgiving Day. According to my smarty-pants husband, the holiday was originally a Shinto celebration, but was renamed after World War 2 in 1948. It used to be called Festival of the First Fruits.

We’re celebrating Thanksgiving today instead of Thursday, when all of our family and friends back home will be gathering to chow down on turkey and yummy homemade dishes, because we’re both off work. Really relaxing and enjoying Thanksgiving the way it should be on Thursday would be super difficult since we’ll both be busy.

Turkey day started with a bang. We both slept in very late, until 9:30, which we never do. It felt so good to wake up naturally and just let my body tell me when I’d had enough rest. I was totally refreshed.

A special breakfast followed. Last night I made biscuits, bacon, and eggs for dinner. J loves making biscuit sandwiches and he said they “tasted like home.” I reheated the leftovers for him and made myself a big bowl of oatmeal. It was pretty much the perfect start to a day full of thanks.

Our meals together have been taking place on the floor. Not because we don’t have a table—we do have a table—but because we can huddle around the heater while we eat. Our downstairs is quite chilly!

Besides, I doubt the Pilgrims had nice tables.

We hung out and enjoyed spending time together before biking to Mos Burger for our “Thanksgiving Dinner.”

We snapped a few shots of us on our first Thanksgiving as man and wife before we were out the door:

Our apartment only has a 2-range stovetop and a small microwave oven. It would have taken a miracle to prepare an American-style Thanksgiving meal and still have hot food by the time we were ready to eat. We talked it over a few weeks ago and decided to go out to eat.

At Mos Burger we played switcheroo.

Turkey and mashed potatoes=fried chicken and french fries

Pumpkin pie=frozen tiramisu

Dinner=lunch because we’re eating ramen with our adoptive Japanese family tonight.

We followed up our holiday meal with a trip to the local ice cream shop. I ride by this shop almost everyday and it’s super close to J’s school.

Campanaccio’s claim to fame is their ice cream is completely handmade from fresh milk.

J had the chocolate cone and I chose the chocolate/nut cone.

I thought it tasted so delicious and will definitely go back for more in the future. The shop has a decent variety of flavors, including some fruit ice creams. J, however, will probably not go back. He’s not much of an ice cream person to begin with, and he said the ice cream had a weird “twang” to it. Maybe from the fresh milk? I didn’t notice a strange taste.

Looking Ahead

My eating has been all over the place lately, but sadly none of those places have been good. Even without throwing in the weight issue, I haven’t been feeling good about the foods I’ve been choosing or the way my body feels. My decision has been to choose indulgent over nutritious for most of this week and I can feel it.

I’m beginning down a path that isn’t very health or fitness focused and I don’t like it. It’s beginning to create “out of control” feelings, which sucks. It also makes me feel like a total hypocrite to be a food and health blogger who isn’t even eating that healthy.

Thanksgiving is now over, so it’s time for a game plan to get back on track and feeling my best.

1. 3 meals and two snacks a day. Each meal should have carbohydrates, healthy fat, and protein.

2. I’m starting my training for the Tokyo 10K next week, but for this week I’m planning four short runs, two days of strength training, and two yoga practices.

3. Once dinner is over, eating is over. I’ve developed a TERRIBLE habit of snacking and binging a few hours after dinner. Instead, I’m closing the kitchen and brushing my teeth as soon as I eat dinner.

4. Treats once a week. If I eat healthy and don’t binge, I can visit the ice cream once a week for a treat. Ice cream is the ultimate treat/motivator for me!

5. If I’m not hungry, then I don’t need to eat. Boredom, emotions, and the sheer fact that food tastes good is not reason enough for eating.

I’ve lost track of why healthy eating and the positive lifestyle that goes along with it is so important to me, and it’s time to reevaluate.

Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree

Today has been such a fun time of decorating for the upcoming Christmas holiday and bonding with my husband over our first Christmas.

We bought our first Christmas tree at E-Spot today. The box said 120 cm, but I don’t think either of us really knew how tall that is since we aren’t as familiar with centimeters as we are inches.

Hit up two other stores for decorations before heading back home to set up our tree and decorate.

Opening the box.

A little smaller than we were expecting.

J made us hot chocolate while I tied the strings to our ornaments.

Time to start decorating the tree. The top is missing some tinsel because we didn’t buy enough. Going to remedy the situation tomorrow!

Some of my favorite ornaments:

 

 

When J saw that ice cream ornament he said, “You have to get it!” He knows me, what can I say?

Topping the tree with a silver star. We each took a side of the star and pushed it onto the tree together.

And then our little tree was complete. Well, it will be once we add the last bit of tinsel tomorrow.

How cute is J writing his name on his stocking in katakana?

First holiday family photo.

My life is so much more than I deserve.

Run, Run Maria, will the foot make it today?

Wake up.
Roll off the futon mattress.
Slip my shoes on.
And I’m out the door.

1.5 miles and a cool down walk later I’m untie-ing my running shoes to survey the damage and try to make a decision about next weekend’s race.

The verdict? No pain in my foot after running today (I used the new insole), but I’m going to do another short run in the morning before making a decision.

I’m super excited to be hitting the road again, but I obviously don’t want to hurt myself. Racing next weekend would be nice, but running Tokyo is my goal!

Breakfast

Knowing I was doing a really short run, I exercised on an empty stomach which I never do. I was so hungry when I got back from running this morning.

A really big bowl of oatmeal sounded so good. I threw the oats and water in the rice cooker and let it do its thing while I showered.

Of course it had to be served up with a mug of coffee. Only appropriate.

Oh you guys, this bowl of oats was epic. It took forever to eat, which was fantastic.

• 1/2 cup Quaker rolled oatmeal
• 1 3/4 cups water (a little too much)
• 1/4 apple, chopped
• 1 tbsp peanut butter
• 1 tbsp Hodgson Mills Wheat Germ with Cinnamon and Ground Flax’
• ground cinnamon
• vanilla extract
• a few chopped almonds

Majority of the morning has been spent dancing around my apartment like a total nerd to Christmas music. I never got this excited about Christmas music back in the U.S. As a matter of fact, I was self-proclaimed hater of Christmas music (you can thank the department stores that begin playing it the day after Halloween!). But today it has been glorious to hear the familiar tunes and get jiggy with my bad self. (Emphasis on the bad.)

Time to go pick out a Christmas tree and buy decorations. We’re getting our apartment all decked out for the holidays today!

What’s your favorite Holiday song?