Food, Fitness, Family

FOOD

I’ve extended my love of sprouted grain breads to bagels. Wegmans carries a tasty sprouted wheat bagel (10 grams of protein per serving!) made by Alvarado St. Bakery. Some have asked what the big deal is with sprouted grain breads, etc. Here’s a little information on why it’s the healthiest bread you can eat (and why you should stop buying standard sliced bread in general).

Anyway, here’s my favorite bagel sandwich of the moment, The Mexican Bagel!


Yes, this sprouted habit is getting to be expensive, so I definitely have my sights set on learning to make my own sprouted grain breads. And speaking of savings, my friend told me if you go to the Food For Life website and fill out a short form, you can get coupons for Ezekiel Bread in the mail! Some grocers will even double these coupons.

FITNESS

My last two weeks of exercise haven’t been tremendous. The first, I was in the midst of virus #2 (bronchitis). The next, we had temperatures in the single digits with frigid wind chills. I haven’t been tracking my paces in the cold, but I assume they’re around 9 minutes per mile. My way of coping with winter running is to just get in the miles and not worry about the pace.

I’ve never come back in a spring season and been slower using this method.


Week 1 = 10 miles total

M: Off (sick)
T: 15-Minute Body Weight Workout
W: Off (sick)
R: 2 miles
F: 3 miles + 1 mile walk
S: 4 miles
S: Off

Week 2 = 22 miles total

M: 4 miles
T: 4 miles
W: 3.6 miles
R: 15-Minute Body Weight Workout
F: 3.4 miles
S: 4 miles
S: 3 miles

I still like running through the winter versus hopping on a treadmill because it gets me out in the fresh air. I’ve found a reliable 3 and 4 mile path from my house that’s well lit even in the dark, which is why you see so many runs of those two distances. There are certainly days when I wish I could head to the gym and swim, but it’s just not in the budget right now. No biggie.

FAMILY

I was too embarrassed to share one of my resolutions with you until now. Ada is 3-years-old and we haven’t gotten into a regular habit of eating dinner together. It’s not because I don’t cook, right? Instead, Stephen gets home from work around 4 or 4:30, I take a break from working (and life) and then go running . . . and stuff (dinner) just wasn’t coming together in time. Or, and this is much more likely, Ada wasn’t content at the dinner table and we (too many times) just gave in and decided to enjoy our meal alone after she would go to bed.

Yup.


Well, I made a huge effort to make our meals in advance the last couple weeks. And now? We’re eating dinner together most nights of the week. We even went out to dinner as a family this weekend, which is something we haven’t done in ages. We also extended the fun to morning meals on the weekends. I think -- at least for us -- that age three has been much better for eating together. Far less frustrating.

I’m also cooking way more interesting stuff as a result! Ada’s eating it, too. If we want to do our own thing (we are planning to eat just the two of us one or two nights a week), we still sit together for at least 10-15 minutes while Ada eats to make it a habit. I think the stars are aligning or something because it’s working out far better than in any of our previous attempts.

Typing that all out feels kind of silly, but it’s a huge stride in the right direction. It’s something we’ve been meaning and trying to do for what seems like ages. I can’t wait to share more of the dinners I’ve been making because they’re all really easy, inexpensive, and kid-friendly.

PS: Don’t miss the Pumpkin Fudge Microwave Muffin recipe!

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