Double Chocolate!

I did not drink enough water today at work so I have a little bit of a headache and am going to be headed to bed early…



BUT, not before sharing my double chocolate Wednesday with you.



The day started with the perfected Cherry-Chocolate Smoothie.

Cherry Chocolate Smoothie:

1 cup frozen cherries
¼ cup plain coconut yogurt
1 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 ½ tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder


For a mid-morning snack I had some carrot sticks with avocado and salsa. Looks gross but tasted GREAT : )




Lunch was a wheat wrap with chopped figs, pears and almond butter. Very yummy but I had lunch duty today and did not get a chance to snap a pic : (


For dinner I cooked up some TJ’s Harvest Grain (LOVE it) with spaghetti squash. Another colorful dinner.

Added some Kale to the dish to get my daily greens in...

After dinner chocolate round #2 was in full swing. Perfect way to frame the day = CHOCOLATE!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Balls:

1 cup almond flour (fine ground almonds)
10 dates
2 heaping tablespoons chocolate peanut butter dreams

1. Grind together ingredients in food processor (do almonds first).

2. Roll together into small cookie dough balls.

3. Refigerate for at least one hour

BLISS

I'm off to cure my headache with some chocolate medicine if you know what I mean ; )

The Mystery Mushroom

Although the name of this post might have brought back memories of a psychedelic college experience, I am not referring to THAT type of mystery. Keep reading for details...




For breakfast this morning I decided to go back to some smoothie action. I figured a light breakfast would be best to counteract the effects of bagelfest 2010. It was the perfect way to start a Monday morning (Ugh. Who am I kidding? Is there really any good way to start a Monday morning?). Today's smoothie flavor = strawberry, mango, pineapple with vanilla brown rice protein powder.




When lunch time rolled around I whipped out some leftover Indian food. Unfortunately I do not have a picture, but I do have a good excuse...

Today at lunch I held my first session of "girl's group." I will be meeting once a week with a small group of amazing young middle school ladies to discuss the issues that affect their lives and try to empower them to become leaders in our community. Whenever I have a chance to hang out with my students in this type of setting, I am reminded of how strong they truly are. Today, we talked about our likes and dislikes (reality tv may have been mentioned), as well as some more serious topics. I was saddened by their feelings about their bodies and their appearances. Having once struggled with many of the same issues myself, it is difficult to watch these girls talk about how "they wish they were thinner" or they sometimes "hate the way the look." They are all so beautiful! What are we doing to them?? I hope that through this group we can explore topics such as healthy living and positive body image. Maybe something will slowly begin to change...


Anyway, no lunch pics but a very wonderful lunch experience with some really good company : )





When I got home from work I tried out a Jackie Werner On Demand workout (I have had ENOUGH of that Jillian Michaels). After my workout I decided to get creative with dinner and use up some of the produce in my fridge (including the aforementioned Mystery Mushroom).

Bok Choy


Debbie (my mother-in-law) and I bought these interesting looking mushrooms when I was in Virginia a few weeks ago. I have been trying to figure out a cool way to try them out. I thought Thai Spring Rolls would be the perfect solution...

Chopped veggies pre-wrapping

Bok Choy, Enoki, Zucchini, Carrots and Avocado

The Wraps

SPRING ROLLS!

Thai spring rolls with peanut dipping sauce

Coconut brown rice with curried tempeh

Yummm....

I was loving the grilled tempeh!

Ok, well now that Mystery Mushroom Monday is officially over, I am ready for some serious sleeping -but not before a small cup of vegan chocolate chips... they may have only been Enoki mushrooms but I still have the munchies : )