Warm Butternut and Chickpea Salad with Tahini

I took a break from blogging yesterday and sort of disconnected from my lap top for a bit last night. Hope you all didn’t miss me too much.

So let’s do a quick recap of what I’ve been doing. Interestingly enough I made another version of overnight oats. Pretty normal for me, no? Well, here’s what happened: I was sipping a cup of Vanilla Orchid Tea while relaxing one night. I got distracted and didn’t end up drinking it all. So there it sat, cold on the counter when I was making my overnight nights. I thought hmm.. why not just use some in the oats. And there you have it: tea infused overnight chia oats.

• 1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk
• 1/2 cup brewed Vanilla Orchid Gypsy Tea
• 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
• 1 tablespoon of chia seeds
• 1 teaspoon maca powder
• stevia, cinnamon, and vanilla
• 1/2 banana (sliced for topping)

Packed up in a TJ’s cottage cheese container with another Gypsy Tea for sipping because that’s how I roll.

I came home from the gym, grabbed my goodies to take to work with me, and enjoyed them both while sitting at my desk. The tea worked well in the overnight oats- really, it just added just a bit more vanilla flavor to the already vanilla flavored oats. I’ll have to try it with some other teas as well – perhaps a green tea would be nice.

There was a working lunch scheduled for the marketing team, which meant we hopped over to Subway to grab sandwiches and then reviewed online lessons for the next 3 hours.

I ordered a veggie max on 9 grain honey oat bread with almost every vegetable topping that they offer except olives. I also got a little of the sweet onion sauce and a little of the honey mustard. I like them both and I can’t ever decide which one to get so I usually get both.

To go with the whole green theme. I decided to have a green smoothie for breakfast this morning. It’s been way too long since I had made one of these. I just haven’t been waiting smoothie with it being so cold out. However, I warmed myself up with a yogadownload video this morning (45 minute yoga for weight loss) so the cold factor wasn’t problematic.

Into the vitamix went:

• 1 clementine
• 1/2 fresh mango
• 1/2 frozen banana
• 1 large handful of fresh spinach
• a little over a 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tablespoon chia seeds

After blending on high for 30-45 seconds I poured myself a nice tall glass of greeness.

It turned out to be delicious- all the fruit really sweetened it right up. I wasn’t sure how the clementine and mango would mix, but I loved this combination. No one would ever know there was spinach in this unless you told them.

I also had a slice of toast with coconut butter and jam. Breakfast was super tasty, but after being hungry all morning and watching the clock like a hawk until 12:00PM- I realized I didn’t give myself enough fat or protein. I sipped tea, sucked on two cough drops, and chugged water- these helped but I was still starving come noon. Next time I’ll know.

I thought about buying lunch out but ended up eating a Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake frozen meal I had stuck in the work freezer.

The meal has plantains with roasted sweet potato, black beans and kale- topped with a spicy ancho sauce, pumpkin seed garnish and served over Kashi seven whole grain polenta, plus amaranth. It ended up being a great choice. Warm, tasty, and filling – exactly what I needed! If you ever need a quick frozen meal this happens to be one of my favorites. I simply love the roasted plantains and sweet potatoes in it.
Work ended without a single flake of snow. It looks as though the vast majority of the accumulation is now going to dump tomorrow afternoon. We shall see. After checking out a wine tasting Isaac and came home and I made warm butternut and chickpea salad with tahini for dinner.

Served along side plain quinoa cooked in veggie broth, this salad was just as delicious as the first time I tried the recipe back in November.

After dinner I conviced Isaac that we should go get frozen yogurt. He was game so we bundled up and headed there. The chill of the outside air made me quickly change my mind and we decided to make a Starbucks visit instead. 27° weather calls for hot beverages not cold treats.

So here I am on a Friday night sipping my non-fat, no sugar green tea latte, in my most comfy pants, waiting for the first sprinkle of snow to fall.

Starting and ending the day with something green is definitely not a bad thing! No Dookie

- Brittany

And, I almost forgot, the winner of the giveaway!!

After using random.org, the winner of the iherb giveaway is Ashlei!! Please send me your info and I will get you all set up for your $50.00 shopping spree. So sorry if you didn’t win, but don’t forget that you can still use the coupon code MUL327 for $5.00 your first iherb purchase.

{ 13 comments }