Banana Bread Quaker Oatmeal with Peanut Butter

I usually blog about a certain restaurant or lunches to fix at home, but today I just want to blog about what I am eating today.  Maybe it will inspire you.  I started the day with a delicious breakfast at 6:20 a.m.  I had one packet of the Weight Control Quaker Banana Bread Oatmeal (160 calories).  I added just a teaspoon of Skippy Natural Peanut Butter (32 calories).  I only added enough hot water to make it the consistency of cookie batter.  It was off the charts delicious!  Elvis was really onto something with those banana and peanut butter sandwiches.  My hat's off to the King.  There is just something magical about that paring.  However, fried banana and peanut butter sandwiches are no good for the waistline.  I will stick with my oatmeal concoction.

After my breakfast I took a long, power walk with a client.  All I had with breakfast was water so at 7:40 a.m. I was ready for my coffee.  I had cut the caffeine for quite awhile, but now I am back on the sauce.  I stick to just one a day.  I'm currently hooked on Starbucks Mocha Frappuccino (180 calories).  I know they make the light kind, but it isn't available at my local downtown Cosentino's (Boo!).  I would like to point out that I had just worked out beforehand so I was ready for a recovery drink.  A recent study determined that chocolate milk was the perfect post workout recovery drink, because it is a perfect ratio of 4:1 carbs to protein.  My mocha was an alarming 31g of sugar (scream!), 33g carbs, and 7g of protein.  It's pretty close to a 5:1 ratio if you are rounding up.  Feel free to check my math.  I guess I will have to work out every morning to justify my recovery mocha.  By the way if you look closely at the pic above you can see me in the reflection of the window taking the picture with my Ipad.  I like to think the mocha is admiring the view of downtown, but it's not.  Mocha's don't have eyes.

So 10:00 a.m. rolls around, a client cancelled, and I'm already hungry for lunch.  I was planning to wait for my husband to eat lunch with me at noon.  So I go through the regular questions.  Am I just bored?  Am I looking for stress relief or comfort?  Nope.  I'm hungry!  There was a leftover piece of roasted chicken breast in the fridge.  Score!  I weighed it on my food scale, and it was a mere 2 ounces (93 calories).  How can I make this more satisfying?  Cheese!  The answer is always cheese.  I melted half a slice of sharp cheddar (40 calories) on top of the chicken in the microwave. It was delicious.  The chicken was perfectly seasoned.  I was careful just to heat it up rather than actually cook it.  It was still juicy.  Half a slice of cheese was just enough to get the taste.  I had about four baby carrots just to fill my stomach a little more.  I'm doing the Made to Crave study at church, and the author says she has never craved a carrot stick.  I haven't either.  It was just a filler, and carrots are full of Vitamin A. 

Now you are caught up to speed.  I have consumed a little over 505 calories.  I'm going to eat a light lunch with Carl, and spend the afternoon making some jewelry.  I already have a few items of jewelry online on Etsy under my maiden name.  I have had that going for awhile, off and on.  However, I am most excited about the new line of jewelry that I am working on.  It's called Blessed Youth.  A portion of the proceeds will go towards a local Kansas City Christian charity that helps troubled teens who are going through issues with sex as a substitute for love, substance abuse, depression, and suicidal tendencies.  The line is going to consist of earrings and necklaces, all around $20 and under.  The style of the jewelry will be edgy, punk, Rock N' Roll, and Christian.  There will be lots of crosses, skulls, serpents, etc.  I realize it sounds like these things do not go together.  That's part of the art of it.  It won't be for everyone.  Just like you won't catch me wearing a WWJD armband anytime soon, but I'll wear a cross necklace and a black leather jacket with dress pants.  I wouldn't suggest any of the Blessed Youth jewelry as a gift for your grandmother unless grandma has a tattoo sleeve that she doesn't regret.

I will eventually have some items available online.  It is a work in progress.  Here is a sneak peek:

 The charms on the necklace are an apple, a snake, and a cross.  It represents the fall of man, the death, and the resurrection.


Now, I'm off to lunch.  I have at least 1,000 more calories to spend today.  Happy eats!