Grilled Cashew Butter and Blueberry Sandwich

I’m baaaaaaaaaaaack.

My fingers had such a nice break yesterday! :) I hadn’t done a Wordless Wednesday since last September.

I think it is a nice change every once and a while.  I also loved seeing how your comments changed when I just posted pictures as opposed to pictures and words. Many of you commented how you enjoyed putting together a story in your mind…I thought that was kind of fun!

I am playing around with the idea of doing a daily wordless afternoon post. Right now I generally post in the morning and then again at night, but it would be fun to have a wordless lunch post just to break up the day.

By the way, inside my wrap yesterday was my Golden Sweet Potato Soup from the other night!  I really do love that soup! So simple and comforting.

Swim #3 last night!

Apparently, I was so excited my left cheek started to glow uncontrollably…? ;)

Swim #3:

• 15 minute warm-up (freestyle, breaststroke, flutter board)
• 30 minute medium pace (freestyle, breaststroke)
• 10 minute fast pace (freestyle, no stopping after each length)
• 5 minute treading water to finish (I found treading water really easy! Wonder why?)

I didn’t keep track of laps because I was focusing more on technique rather than speed, but I would guess that I swam about 25 laps/1250 metres in about 55 minutes.

My goal was to start doing bilateral breathing which is when you breathe on both the left and right side, as opposed to just one side. I had only been breathing on my strong side (the right side) the last two sessions. It was tricky at first as my left side is not as strong, but after a few laps I picked it up and I am happy to say that I can now confidently breathe on both sides while doing freestyle. Eric is doing great with it too!

What I learned Day 3:

• Good swimmers are efficient and effortless swimmers (I learned this while watching swimmers in the fast lane.) They are smooth and graceful like swans.
• Seeing myself improve and Eric improve is so exciting. We were so pumped on the drive home because we were feeling proud of ourselves. It feels awesome to learn a new skill again!
• Don’t panic when the pool fills up with people and the waves start getting choppy. This is good practice for the tri! It was REALLY busy last night.
• When you go to the late night swim, kiss the sauna goodbye because the entire place shuts down and you get kicked out. Can I hear an Awwww hellll nooo?

I checked our pool for adult lessons and there is currently one going on but it is full and we can’t get in. The next one isn’t until July. The wait list for private lessons is also 17 people long. So, my next step is looking for an instructor who is not affiliated with the pool and just teaches on the side. I find I am really craving some lessons because I really want my form to be the best it can be. At first, my thoughts were along the lines of just swimming so I can finish the race, but now Eric and I are starting to enjoy it so we want to improve!

We didn’t get home from the pool until about 10:45pm. Party animals, eh?

I woke up ravenous this morning. I wanted carbs…and fast.

I made this for Eric yesterday and it was so amazingly good I decided to make it for breakfast.

Grilled Cashew Butter and Blueberry Sandwich:

Ingredients:

• 3 pieces whole wheat bread
• 2 tbsp Organic Blueberry Jam
• 1 tbsp cashew butter
• 2 tsp Earth Balance Margarine

Directions: Take 1st piece of bread and spread a layer of blueberry jam on top. Take 2nd piece of bread and place on top. Spread piece #2 with cashew butter and then add another layer of jam. Add third piece of bread and spread lightly with margarine. Place sandwich onto pre-heated frying pan (on medium heat), margarine side down. Now spread the top side of the bread with margarine. Grill on each side until golden brown and serve immediately.

This was inspired by Caitlin’s Grilled Banana Sandwich.

Blueberry jam is fun!

Intense, isn’t it? You could also use any kind of nut butter or jam too.

Onto the pan it goes…

The smell was quite amazing while cooking. Mmm.

Oh my gooooosh this was so good.

Sometimes a gal just needs bread, no?

The saltiness from the margarine played off the sweetness of the cashew butter and jam so well. 

Magnifique! 

Today’s question- What forms of exercise challenge you like no other, no matter how good of shape you are in?

I said to Eric last night, ‘No matter how many miles I run or how many intense cardio workouts I do, swimming is one heck of a challenging workout!’ I thought my lungs were in great shape until I started swimming. I am anxious to see if swimming improves my running endurance. Any runner/swimmers out there want to comment on this?

For me:

• Stair walking/running (I used to do 28 floors of stairs in my condo everyday)
• Swimming
• Yoga
• Running, esp. hill or trail running

See you later alligator!