WIAW

It’s that time of the week! What I ate (wore and did) Wednesday 🙂

This morning I woke up ready for a run… I checked the weather and it was only 55 degrees! I threw on a long sleeve shirt to keep me warm. Redskins represent!

I look way to excited for 6am! (Please excuse the mess, I’m packing)

Today wasn’t just any normal run though… Today I did something I’ve NEVER done. I hit the pavement sans iPod. My iPod was charged but I wanted to clear my mind so I tried running without entertainment. It worked! I  knocked out my 4 miles in 32 minutes. Go me 🙂 I also came home and did a 10 minute ab video On Demand. I forget what it was called but the trainer sure was handsome!

The reason I wanted to clear my mind this morning was because today marks 3 years of my Uncle Chuck passing away and I knew my morning could get rough. He was diagnosed with Stage 4 colon cancer and passed away about a year later. It’s definitely been one of the hardest things my family has EVER had to deal with.

So this mornings run was for you ❤ Missing you everyday.

After my workout I had breakfast… and it wasn’t cereal for once!

I headed into work around 10:30 so the girls and I headed straight over to my Aunt’s house. My grandma wanted to plant flowers in memory of my Uncle and I didn’t want to miss it – Plus, the girls love these types of activities! My brothers, cousins, aunts and grandma all attended and ordered pizza for lunch. I however had already packed my lunch and am not one to waste food.

Definitely not as fun as pizza…But still delicious 🙂

When lunch was finished we all went out back to get our gardening on.

 

Putting the soil down and breaking it up

 

 Smile

Dig the hole

Plant the flower

Add more soil to the top

Water the plant

Voila. In between planting the girls also took some breaks to do some trampoline jumping. Someone may have jumped on someones face… But it was nothing a little ice cream couldn’t fix!

Naps were taken by the girls. I enjoyed a snack or two while catching up on blogs.

I got home around 615 and immediately ate dinner. I like to eat early!

Meh. Just so-so. You know what comes after dinner right? My favorite time of the day.

By the way – Thanks for all of your recommendations on the cookie name… I think I’ll go with Shanna’s – Breakfast Cookies!

I may have had one more after taking a picture of those two above…

But shhh…let’s keep that our secret 😉

Last but not least here are the details for my outfit today

Outfit:

• Dress – H&M (new purchase)
• Belt – H&M (new purchase) – close-up below
• Necklaces – Black circle – White House Black Market – Gold Feather – Forever 21 (close-up below)
• Bracelet – H&M (new purchase) – close-up below
• Gold Flip Flops – Old Navy
• Starfish Earrings – J.Crew (close-up below)
• Watch – Michael Kors

  

 

QUESTIONS: Do you run with an ipod or listen to your feet hit the pavement?

Strawberry Pickin

Happy Thursday friends! I finally told my employers that I was moving…It only took me 3 days Oh well, it’s done – They are excited for me but the 5-year-old gave me a couple of dirty looks…Let’s hope she doesn’t start acting up!

To change the mood I suggested we head to the U-Pick Strawberry Farm. I used to go with my Grandma when I was younger and it was always so much fun. Who would’ve thunk the strawberries would be so cheap!? A pound was $1.35… That’s what I’m talking about!

Since the strawberry patch just opened there were a lot that still needed some growing time.

Umm Lysi, is this all there is?

Nevermind, we found lots!!

All of our strawberries only cost $3! Hmm now what should we make?? Went through a couple of phases… Wanted to make strawberry mousse, then strawberries & cream scones and of course strawberry cheesecake ice cream. We honestly could’ve probably made them all with the amount of strawberries we had – but when cooking with kids (or me) some of your ingredients get “lost” aka eaten.

We ended up with none of the above recipes. I have a lot of bookmarked recipes so I decided to go through those. That’s when I came across Angela’s Healthy Strawberry Oat Squares. Winner Winner Chicken Strawberry Oat Square Dinner!

These are Vegan, healthy, sweet and addictive.

Vegan Strawberry Oat Squares

adapted slightly from Oh She Glows

Ingredients

Ingredients:

For Oat Base:

• 1.5 cups quick oats
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 cup Sucanat
• 1 chia egg (1 tbsp chia seeds+ 4 tbsp warm water, mixed)
• 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp Earth Balance, melted
• 1/4 cup agave
• 2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tbsp sesame seeds (for topping only)

For Strawberry Jam:

• 2 & 1/4 cups chopped strawberries, chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1 tbsp Nunaturals Stevia
• 1 tbsp chia seeds

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Line a square pan (I used a 8×8) with parchment paper.
• In a medium sized pot, add the chopped strawberries and sugar.
• Heat over low until the strawberries begin to sweat and it gets a bit watery. Once it heats down a bit, add in the chia seeds, and stir well.

• Bring to a boil and then simmer over low to medium heat for at least 10 minutes. Once it has thickened a bit, remove from heat and cool for 5-10 mins.
• In a small bowl, mix the chia or flax egg and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix the oat base dry ingredients: oats, flour, Sucanat/brown sugar, baking soda, salt.
• In a small bowl, mix the melted earth balance, maple syrup, almond milk, and chia egg. Stir well.
• Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix well.

• Reserve 1/2 cup off mixture to side.
• Pour the remaining oat mixture onto the square pan and press down with fingers.

• Pour on strawberry mixture and smooth out. Now sprinkle on the reserved 1/2 cup oat mixture and sprinkle on.

• Now sprinkle on 1 tbsp of sesame seeds.
• Bake at 350F for approximately 30 minutes.
• Allow to fully cool for at least 30-40 minutes before gently removing from pan. Slice and then store in a container in the fridge to keep firm.

Thank goodness for bookmarked recipes. I semi-burnt dinner tonight so I enjoyed 3 squares of these. Nothing beats homemade jam… Especially warm with oatmeal squares…and maybe a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream 😉

QUESTIONS: Have you ever burnt dinner and not had energy to re-create it so just kind of “snacked” instead?? Have you ever picked your own strawberries?