So this year I attempted my own:

• 1.5 cup vanilla soy milk
• ~ 2 Tbs of pumpkin pie mix
• 1/2 cup double strength brewed coffee (I like mine strong, but you can adjust to your liking)

Blend together heated milk and pumpkin until frothy, then add coffee.

Very easy and great on a cool Fall morning.

Farmer's Market Beauty

Starbucks Bistro pack = easy quick lunch.

Coffee Light Frappuccino, one of my favorite drinks.

Fresh blueberries from the farmers market.

Made from 100% fresh veggies from the farmers market.

Exercise: Swimming with the kids for over an hour for an estimated burn of about 200 Calories. 

Great day, we spent most of the day at the farmers market / city celebration. Lots of walking and chasing kids around

Picnic at Portland’s Rose Garden Children’s Park

Yes, it’s the same as my morning snack and as my post workout snack.

Today’s work out was a 3 mile run pushing my DD at a 9:53 /mile pace.

DP’s makes the popcorn and it was family movie night.

Calories were a little high but I burned about 350 from my run. Overall not a bad day.

split for morning and morning snack

Love this place, but crazy sodium.

Kale chips again, I was craving them

Dinner at Izzy's Pizza Buffet

Not a bad day, Chipotle surprised me on the Sodium level, and I think I did ok for dinner seeing that we ate at a Pizza and Salad Buffet. DP’s choice, he thought it was a place he liked from Corvallis, OR but turns out it wasn’t. The place Izzy’s Pizza wasn’t very good either, oh well guess you know know unless you try.

For exercise, I ran around with the kids. Nothing too heavy though.

Today I ate normally except for choosing a better afternoon snack (it’s been pretzels or simular) and giving up my evening snack to see where I’m at and how much I’m really eating. I will be keeping track of my calorie, protein, and fiber intake.

Breakfast was a yogurt parfait and 6oz of Trader Joe’s Very Green juice: (and since I eat a lot of Trader Joe’s food, I will be using TJ’s as an abbreviation from now on)

Yogurt Parfait:

• 1/2 cup of Greek Yogurt, 100 Calories, 9g of Protein, 0g Fiber
• 1/4 cup of TJ’s dried Blueberries, 160 Calories, .5g  of Protein, 5g of Fiber
• 1 Tbsp Tj’s Roasted Flax Seeds, 45 Calories, 1g of Protein, 2 g of Fiber
• 12 Almonds, 80 Calories, 3 g of Protein, 1.5 g of Fiber

TJ’s Very Green Juice, 78 Calories, 1.5 g of Protein, <g of Fiber

Nutrition Totals:  463 Calories, 15g of Protein, 10g of Fiber:

Mid Morning snack was 1/2 orange (85 Calories, 2g of Protein, 4g of Fiber), and 7 Muligrain crackers (75 Calories, 1g of Protein, 1.5g of Fiber)

Nutition Totals: 160 Calories, 3g of Protein, 5.5g of Fiber

Lunch was a homemade spinach salad:

• 3 cups fresh spinach, 21 Calories, 3g of Protein, 3g of Fiber
• 7 baby carrots, 2 Calories, < 1g of Protein, < 1g of Fiber
• 2 Tbsp of cilantro, <1 of Calories, 0g of Protein, 0g of Fiber
• 1 Stalk of celery, 6 Calories, 0g of Protein, 1g of Fiber
• 1 slice of chopped red onion,
• 1/2 avocado, 115 Calories, 1.5g of Protein, 4.5g of Fiber
• 3 cherry tomatoes,  15 Calories, .5g of Protein, 1g of Fiber
• 2 Tbsp Newman’s Own Light Honey Mustard Dressing, 70 Calories, 0g of Protein, 0g of Fiber

• 1/2 bunch of Kale, 60 Calories, 4.5g of Protein, 3g of Fiber
• Sprinkles of Olive Oil, 40 Calories, 0g of Protein, 0g of Fiber
• Dash of Garlic
• Dash of Sea Salt

Almonds: 12 Almonds, 80 Calories, 3 g of Protein, 1.5 g of Fiber

Nutriton Totals: 180 Calories, 7.5g of Protein, 4.5g of Fiber

• 1 serving of TJ”s Eggplant Parm, 170 Calories, 3g of Protein, 2 g of Fiber
• Sprinkles of Olive Oil, 40 Calories, 0g of Protein, 0g of Fiber
• 1/4 cup TJ’s Shredded Mozzarella cheese, 90 Calories, 7g of Protein, 0g of Fiber
• 1/4 cup of TJ’s Marinera Sauce, 25 Calories, 1g of Protein, og of Fiber

Green Beans:

• Sprinkles of Olive Oil, 40 Calories, 0g of Protein, 0g of Fiber
• 1 cup fresh green beans, 34 Calories, 2g of Protein, 4g of Fiber
• Dash of Garlic

Garlic Bread:

• 1 Slice Tj’s Wheat bread, 120 Calories, 3g of Protein, .5g of Fiber
• 1/3 Tbsp of Butter, 33 Calories, 0g of Protein, 0g of Fiber

Nutriton Totals: 552 Calories, 16g of Protein, 6.5g of Fiber

Daily Total 1585 Calories, 47.5g of Protein, 36.5g of Fiber

For the morning we took the train to the kids museum. We needed something that would entertain the kids and let us relax a little. While there, I had a Trader Joe’s granola bar for my morning snack.

love these, nice blend of crunchy, nuts, fruit, and chocolate

We made it home for a simple lunch of soup with multigrain crackers. One of DP’s favorites. I also made biscuits with strawberries for dessert.

I didn't even have to add sugar since these fresh strawberries were already sweet enough.

For dinner, we met up with a family that a friend in NC hooked us up with. They have 3 girls and picked Papa’s Pizza to meet. This place actually had really good pizza and a play area for the kids. We were able to eat and converse in peace while the kids played and had a great time.

Today I didn’t take any pictures and not too sure why. But here’s the breakdown of what I ate.

• Breakfast: Smoothing made from fresh strawberries, mangos, spinach, and greek yogurt
• Snack: More Fresh Strawberries
• Lunch: Leftover veggie pizza from last night (We will probably be having leftover pizza at least once more this week)
• Snack: Fresh Radishes and snap peas
• Dinner: Spinach salad with an avocado, tomato, sprinkles of shredded cheese, and light honey mustard dressing
• Snack: split a bag of microwave popcorn with DP

Today was mostly a rough day. I tried to have the kids pick things they wanted to do but it was a big failure. Neither wanted to do the same thing at the same time. I saved the day by having everyone go to the park for a picnic dinner.

Spinach, mixed berries, and lots of mangos with a scoop of amazing meal.

Smoothie for two, I made an extra big one. DD still drank about half.

After I enjoyed my smoothie, my DS and I took the train to the farmers market. We had a great time even in the rain. I am proud of his excitement and interest in the farmers market. He has always been a picky eater, but today he tried a new cheese (smoked Gouda, my favorite), wanted radishes, and snap peas.

I made fresh coffee for the train ride.

Distant picture of the market.

Our market treasures.

While returning from the market, DP called to say he ordered pizza for lunch, I got excited that it was from one of the many new pizza places in the area we’ve been wanting to try. But no, he stuck with good ole Papa Johns. I have to give him credit for thinking of me with some veggie toppings. I stuck to 1 1/2 pieces and cut away the crust.

Cut in pieces for the protection of my loose crown, which is getting better.

I rebounded with a healthier snack. I can’t get enough of those fresh strawberries, they taste amazing.

Smoked Gouda, multigrain crackers, and fresh strawberries.

And finally in honor of Fathers Day, DP picked Buffalo Wild Wings takeout for dinner. I was hoping the celery would balance out the effect of the wings, but not so much even though the wings were delicious when I ate them. I made sure to get a run in before dinner as well. 3 miles in 29.22 minutes.

It’s been a while since I had made one, so I pulled out the magic bullet and made one for breakfast the last two mornings. I also had to use up some Kale and throw that in instead of my normal spinach. Unlike the spinach, Kale has a stronger flavor and is harder to hide in a smoothie. But I like Kale and it didn’t bother me or my DD either. I now have to make her a separate smoothie (we used to share), since she tries to drink it all. This smoothie was made with frozen mango, mixed berries, Kale, milk and a scoop of Amazing meal.

I spent the morning at Portland Children’s museum, lost track of time, and forgot to eat a morning snack. I was starving by lunch time. I made pizza on a tortilla for the kids and a salad for myself. I ended up eating a couple slices of the pizza as well. The pizza’s were made from a whole wheat tortilla, Trader joe’s marinera sauce, and Trader Joe’s shredded cheese.

For the salad, I used some fresh spinach, tomatoes, red onion, sprinkles of shredded mexican cheese, and light honey mustard dressing.

My afternoon snack was a nice bowl of popcorn.

Dinner was a cup of Blueberry Banana Oatmeal from McDonalds. I can’t find much nutrition info but I figured it was one of the best choices for McDonalds. Unfortunately, McDonalds has been an easy choice for the kids when we are in a hurray or just need a break while they play. All they eat there is the not so healthy chicken nuggets, with apples, and either milk or apple juice. We already have reduced how often we go and hopefully someday will eliminate it. The only thing I get there normally is just coffee and now the oatmeal. it’s been months since I have had anything else.

On the exercise side of things, I finished my 2nd run since my injuries, 3 miles at a pace of 9:56/mile. Not bad for not being allowed to exercise for almost 2 months. I promised DP I’d take it easy, so I will be sticking to only 3 miles/run for the next couple of weeks.

One of the first places we ate at was a Mexican place named Chevy’s. I had seen it a few times making jokes about how mexican food could never be good from a place with such a non-mexican name. And I was wrong, there menu was all about how fresh their food is and they claim they don’t use anything from a can. I have never seen such green flavorful guacamole and that’s true for any guacamole I have encountered since moving here. The rest of the food was amazing as well and I learned you can’t judge a restaurant by it’s name.

Even my own guacamole taste better here. The picture dosen’t do it justice. I paired it with some cheese quesadilla I made for lunch one day.

A couple other places we tried while exploring downtown Portland were Bijou Cafe  for breakfast and The Morning Star Cafe for lunch. Both had excellent food and the atmosphere’s fit the whole Portland feel I imaged. At Bijou I enjoyed some fruit and oatmeal. I was expecting a bowl of oatmeal with some fruit on the side, but to my surprise out came this large bowl of perfectly cooked oats with local, fresh seasonal fruit sliced on top. On a separate tray came an assortment of raisins, nuts, brown sugar, and milk. Very satisfying and held me over until lunch. Then at The Morning Star cafe, I had a mimosa with a pita and hummus plate. Might as well take full advantage of my time with out the kids. The mimosa was quite strong and very much enjoyed. The warm pita chips with veggies and roasted red pepper hummus were a perfect way to leave down town Portland. The whole morning was refreshing and a nice break from the unpacking.

Another place we have now visited twice and enjoyed is Burgerville. Burgerville also can’t be judged by it’s name. I would have normally avoided it but someone recommended it as having smoothies and milkshakes made from whatever fresh fruit was currently in season. And who could pass that up as someone who is a huge fan of smoothies. They also serve veggie burgers (and burgers) made fresh to order. On our second trip I decided to try fried asparagus, which was actually a little too greasy for my liking but the veggie burgers and smoothies were great. definitly a place we’ll enjoy again when in need of “healthier” fastfood.

On the not so healthy side of things, we tested out another recommendation for Voodoo Donuts with the kids and Grandma. You could order a donut with almost any kind of topping you could think of. The place was a bright pink building in the middle of a shady spot in east Portland, but worth it. I enjoyed one with butterfingers on top.

Our Wedding anniversary was on June 5th and since we had the kids we tried out another “kid friendly”recommendation: McMenamins Roadhouse. We sat out side on picnic tables and enjoyed a steak dinner while the kids ran around and played with other kids. It was awesome. DP and I were able to enjoy a nice meal with few interruptions. The kids loved it. We even met another couple with the exact same date and year anniversary as ours. They also had 2 kids and their oldest helped keep out 2 entertained.

Some local blackberry brew recommended by our waitress. It tasted great and fit well with the whole atmosphere of the place.

My half of our split steak meal. I only ate the asparagus and steak, potatoes are too heavy for me these days.

And you can't forget dessert: a warm brownie sunday eaten mostly by our DD.

And finally (if you’ve made it this far) our visit to one of the local farmers markets: (fresh food at great prices)

It was amazing and when we were leaving my DS says” Mommy I really like the farmers marked, can we come back?” It’s only been a few days and our fresh veggies are almost gone. The strawberries, radishes and snap peas were enjoyed raw as snacks.

Kale Chips made from fresh kale

Asparagus cooked in light olive oil and garlic, also fresh.

I am looking forward to all the fresh veggies and new restaurants that await us here as we explore.