Gosh, that picture is making me SO hungry! I just got home from our late night swim and I could seriously inhale the kitchen right now. ;) I’m thinking a nice juicy orange will have to suffice until the morning.
Onto lunch…
This Health Valley lentil soup is good and bad.
The Good:
- High in protein and fibre (10 grams per cup!)
- Very low in sodium (20 mg per cup)
- Organic
The bad:
- It. is. so. bland.
I always add a pinch of sea salt when I heat up this soup- makes it taste less bland, although it is still a bit ‘blah’. Add some spices too. Why do I buy it you ask? Well, I love how much protein and fibre is in a can, so I figure I can doctor it up with spices and make it a decent bowl of soup!
I sprinkled on some 3 minute vegan parmesan cheese:
and had a piece of sesame seed toast with T-paste and pepper.
Random little known fact about me: I am obsessed with wood grains.
I especially like when they have scratches in them. Is that weird? I love pieces of furniture with character in them too!
And I seriously would kill for Tina’s wood floors!
For dinner I wanted one thing and one thing only…
Nut butter parsnip fries!
Tonight I used a mixture of cashew butter and chunky peanut butter.
However, this mixture wasn’t as good as the almond butter + peanut butter combo! Shucks. I also used too many parsnips so there wasn’t enough coating to go around. The fries were a bit naked!
Somehow I managed to choke them down though. ;) They were not up to par, but they were ok in ketchup!
For dessert I gave my body some pre-swim fluids!
I was a sticky mess after eating this. I think I get more juice on me than in me.
It was hot outside today (and hot inside baking!)
After dinner I went on a quick bike ride.
The ride:
- Distance: 4.77 miles
- Time: 27:17 mins.
- Ascent: 429 feet
- Avg speed: 10.5 mph
I am getting faster at the trail, slowly but surely!
Doing trails makes me grin. My thoughts are along the lines of, ‘whoa I’m doing it…I’m doing it…haven’t wiped out yet…whoa…watch out for that rock…that was close…this is fun!!’ :mrgreen:
Then I helped Eric with yard work. Boo, WEEDS!!!!!!
That little contraption is fantastic. Don’t ask me what it is, but it pulls the weed out.
After doing some work, we got ready to hit the pool! I was not feeling motivated to swim tonight (the swim doesn’t start until 9pm!). I have realized when you workout with a partner and you both commit to going, you just kind of GO. You don’t really second guess it because you assume the other person wants to go and if you bailed you would be a downer. ;) If I was doing this alone, I would probably not get to the pool half as much (the pool is also a 15 min drive to get to in another town too).
The swim was a decent one though! Tonight, our goal was to not stop and pause at the end of each length as much. We did a ton of laps! I have no idea how many because I have a really hard time keeping track because I am so focused on my technique. We swam straight for 40 minutes and then I had time to shower and hit the sauna = bliss.
I’m going to get that orange now and hit the sack.
By the way, great discussion on jealousy this morning!
“Right now, make a list of what you admire about yourself- don’t stop until you’ve filled a page. Sit and relish each quality and accomplishment. When you remember how much you have to be proud of, you don’t need to envy others. Instead of wallowing in your jealousy, use your friends’ accomplishments as inspiration to pursue the life you want.” ~Phil McGraw
Great quote and awesome advice!
Yum, my dad would LOVE that soup!
Ange!! You’ve got to try Amy’s Lentil Soup and then replicate it!! I’ve been trying and trying and I can’t do it…but I’m not as talented as you!! :p
I was the same way with swimming when I started a few months ago. I was very concentrated on my breathing + technique and didn’t count laps at all. Now the technique is habit, except for telling myself “high elbows” and I can count how far I go. Although I alwaaaays seem to lose track at one point during the workout. So every workout I either go 50m further or shorter than I really did ;) I’ve been really pushing with the bilateral breathing the past 2 workouts and it’s going great! Loving it!! One veggie I just don’t like are parsnips…they have waaaay to strong of a flavor for me. They look delicious though!
I asked a vendor today at the farmer’s market when he would have parsnips and he looked at me like I was crazy. He didn’t know what parsnips were! The hunt continues…
thats awesome that you guys swam for 40 minutes, that impressive. And glad you are braving the trail rides, you can see how much fun it is. Seriously if the weather was better here i would be doing the same, but we just had snow, at least it melted, should be a decent week and weekend in Sask tho (hopefully *fingers crossed*)
Mmmm, yummy looking soup! And as always, great quote! Keep ’em coming!
I really don’t like weeding. My parents made us do it on the weekends growing up and to this day, I still can’t stand it! You are a little workout wonder woman! All of your food looks like good workout fuel too! Do you think that sweet potatoes would substitute for turnips in your fries because I have some s.p. to use up? Take care and get a good nights rest!
You probably could use SP- I can’t see why not. :)
I hear ya on the blandness of Health Valley soups! No matter how many different spices I add, I can never get it to taste good. For some reason, I still buy it though!
I’ve had that soup before & I agree…blandddd
I’m glad the swim went well! I think I’d like to get into swimming this summer :D
I would be hopeless at a 9pm swim! That’s almost my bed time ;)
Lol don’t you hate it when something looks SOOO good but tastes so blah! I still have your parsnip fries bookmarked to try ASAP! Mmmmm
Those nut butter fries always make me starved :)
I love that last quote, it’s so inspiring. I agree it’s easier to workout with a partner, makes it a lot more fun and challenging!
Oh, yum. I always like to salt my own food, because I find that pre-packaged/canned foods are always too salty. But I guess bland-ness is proof of it’s low-sodium-ness? :D
Happy Hump day! :)
Wei-Wei
That’s so disappointing that the cashew butter wasn’t better! Are you going to try it with other nut butters?
Possibly! Maybe a more savoury nut butter would be good like walnut?
I like that about that brand of no-salt soups–the blandness. That way I can use it as a base for a bajillion different dishes!
Haha, am laughing because I tried that same soup last week…and i just could not choke it down – sooooo bland! I have the Minestrone and the Vegetable varieties still in the cupboard – will try your spice ideas to see if they work!
Also: just wanted to thank you for the update earlier this week on Eric and the Coke…I have been Diet Coke free for 2.5 weeks now and my husband is at 5 days with no Coke…Eric’s example was just further inspiration for us. So please keep going, Eric, and please let us know from time to time how it’s going, Angela! All the best!
Wow congrats!!!! That is so awesome. I just read Eric your comment and he is happy. :) Goodluck!
I can’t believe how late the swim is! I go to bed at that time…lol.
I know and the swim was PACKED too!
wow, what a beautiful day to be outside!
I would never make it to a swim that started at 9pm – good for you for sticking with it!
I put a pile of pennies on the edge of the pool. Each time I swim 4 lengths of the pool, I move a penny from one pile to the other. Then at the end I know how far I have gone when I count the pennies. Although my pennies are getting rusty and gross, so I need to find something else more waterproof that I can use for counting.
Wow, 9 pm is so late to swim. I would zonk out in the middle of my laps! I guess the sauna makes it worth it though. ;)
What a beautiful ride!
And oh, my… I need to make those parsnip fries next week for sure!!!
xo
K
I can’t believe you can make training for a TRIATHALON seem accessible. Amazing!
I think that’s the reason I keep hoping my hubby will want to do a try- not only will having a training partner keep me motivated, so will the motivation to beat him!! haha
Wow, I give you both major credit for working out at 9. There is no way on Earth I’d head back out that late to swim. That’s major dedication.
Hi Angela! Ever thought of doing a “Quotes” page. I love every quote you include on your posts and always tell myself to copy and paste them into a document, but often I’m on my phone looking at your posts or just completely forget. You really find the most amazing ones. I’d love to see them all in one place!
yes! I actually have plans to have a quote page in the future :)
I find a lot of those canned soups ridiculously bland, and I get so confused when everyone raves about how awesome they are. :-(
when i swam in college i would come home and inhale BOWLS of cereal. swimming makes you so hungry!
I agree with you about that soup I have had it before.
It WAS hot yesterday, wasn’t it? I came home last night and my boyfriend had the A/C on!!! I turned it off and told him to open a window! Ha ha ha
Great idea to doctor up canned soups! I agree, some of the soups of that brand can be a little bland.
Nice job on the double workouts! That’s awesome Eric can go swim with you so late when he has to be up early for work – I’d be wiped! I totally get what you mean about assuming the other partner wants to go and not letting them down, too :)
I love wood with character, too! It just makes it so much more than just a wood floor or a wood hutch.
I am going to have to try those parsnip fries. I got the hubby hooked on spicey sweet potato fries, I think I could get him hooked on these. BTW, have a great recipe for spicey sweet potato fries. OMG, we must have ESP. I made a huge pot of brown veggie lentils night before last to freeze and had a bowl for dinner last night. I have a simple and vegetarian recipe for lentils too!
I love the scenery where you ride, it’s awesome. Hubby and I pulled weeds on Monday right before a storm blew in…yuck and we hand pulled them. LOL!!!
I like how bland those soups are! They’re kind of like a blank canvas. I’m always doctoring them up with different spices and add-ins. Much more fun than soup that already has a flavour decided for me ;)
Ohgosh, I’m moving to TO in three weeks and I’m already dreading the heat.