Englewood - Balance & Spice

Daily Jab:

Happy Sunday!

On tap for today is a 4 mile run in about an hour, and I’m really looking forward to it. Of course, I say that from the comfort of my nightgown, sipping a large mug of chai tea, so we’ll see how I feel in an hour and forty-five minutes.

My pre-run breakfast was my favorite happy meal:

I will name him Brekky and he will be my Breakfast.

I am six years old. Today’s rice cakes were hummus and guacamole delicacies (yay, good fats!) as well as a baby carrot nose. In case you thought it was a cheese doodle, or something. (I wish.) After the Pacman disaster of two days ago, it was nice to have a breakfast that smiled me.

Yesterday, we did something really special: A Dolphin Watching tour of Englewood!

Lemon Bay Tours Catamaran

Captain Bruce, a mom and daughter, and my family took the voyage into the Lemon Bay and out to the Gulf of Mexico for some prime dolphin and bird Spotting.

Mom and Dad

Mom and Ant are both big photographers, so they had a blast taking snaps of the Egrets, Pelicans, and of course, beautiful dolphins on the way.

Me and Mom. The sun was absolutely blinding.

Ant and me.

While my photography skills are no where near as wonderful as these two, I did manage to get a few snaps of Stumpy, a 1,000 lb dolphin who had an altercation with a shark and lived to tell the tale – go Stumpy!

Stumpy the Dolphin (sung to "Frosty, the Snowman")

Stumpy Sails Away

It was truly a beautiful day – 75 degrees, sunny, and clear, with just a few beautiful clouds making paintings in the sky.

The Gulf of Mexico

Captain Bruce was wonderful – incredibly knowledgeable about the marine and aviary life of the area, and ready to answer any question with details and a sense of humor.

Captain Bruce and our fellow passangers

It was a perfect way to spend a Saturday.

After our cruise, we headed back home to chill and have dinner.

As our appetizer, we had crab claws that were so fresh and salty, it felt like they had just been caught (in fact, they probably had been!

Crab claws and cocktail sauce

And for dinner, dad made duck with apples and baked acorn squash.

Roasted duck with apples

Baked acorn squash

Have a great rest of your day, friends – any fun runs planned, or Sunday festivities?

Crunchy, creamy and chewy.

Thursday’s where it’s at, ya’ll!

We started the day in a ~~hideously painful~~ fun way – racing ourselves for a 5k!

Our goal was to complete our 5k in under 30 minutes, which is just what we did. Booyah. It hurt – I’m honestly not used to running faster than a conversational pace, and this was definitely faster than that for me.

Woohoo!

That’s a 9:11 average pace. I also just joined The Daily Mile (feel free to friend me!) to track our mileage and pace, which is a nice tool.

After our run, I was famished! I forgot how hungry running makes you. I have to be careful about that (I can turn into a wolverine in two seconds flat), but for the first few runs, I’m letting it go as my body adjusts.

Breakfast was unusual for me – steel cut oatmeal.

Steel cut oats with a bunch of goodies.

Into the mix went:

Steel cut oats (not sure of the amount as my mom made a batch – probably 1/2 cup cooked?)
unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 scoop plain yogurt
1 tsp peanut butter
1 strawberry so it didn’t look so ugly.
Plus, 5 small slices of chicken apple sausage on the side.

I gotta say, oatmeal doesn’t do all that much for me. I like a combination of textures in every meal – crunchy, smooth, fresh, cooked, and more. Oatmeal is so soupy that the monotone texture makes me feel unsatisfied, even though it physically fills me up. I’d much rather have my egg-whites, ricecakes and vegetables, thank you!

After breakfast, we headed off the the Englewood Farmer’s Market.

Englewood Farmer's Market

I was so surprised by how great this farmer’s market was. Amazing fresh fruits and veggies, sure, but also amazing homemade protein bars, salsas, dips, my new favorite gluten-free baker, and so much more!

EJ's Nuts

Brick Village Gourmet Dressings

To celebrate our 5k (and to support local industries, of course) I bought Ant a big, fresh, homemade chocolate chip cookie. I, on the other hand, delighted in free samples, including three delicious smokehouse almonds, soynuts, a few bites of chips and salsa, and a scoop of the freshest guac I’ve ever had. Oh yeah, and a small cup of vegetable white bean soup from the gluten-free baker. Because, once again, I like to support local industry.

After our shopping and a few other miscellaneous errands, we headed home for lunch.

Amy's cheese enchiladas

Lunch:

Was frozen Amy’s cheese enchiladas, with lettuce. Once again, for the texture – I put the black beans and salsa in the lettuce and made wraps. Crunchy, delicious, and satisfying. I love Amy’s meals – they are always delicious, satisfying, and don’t feel frozen

Question: What foods make you feel satisfied? What makes you feel like you need more?