Fall is here

It's 48 degrees, clear, and windy at noon right now, but at least it's not snowing like it is in Grand Forks. I'm glad I lived there when I was younger, because the older I get, the more I hate cold weather. People who live in Omaha complain about the cold, but they have NO IDEA!!

The leaves here have started to turn and it looks so pretty when I turn into the neighborhood. I am waiting for the one glorious day we have each fall with a bright blue sky and our Red Sunset Maple in all its glory. It will be another week at least; only the edges of the leaves are showing any change.

You know what else says fall? The taste treats at Starbucks. I may have tasted both the pumpkin spice latte and the salted caramel mocha latte already. I had them made as skinny as possible - skim milk and no whip - and for a tall, they were still 200 calories. Worth it once in awhile. I did find these, though:

60 calories. Mix it with 8 ounces of warm milk and you have a mug of happiness

I got my workout in early yesterday as I had a dental check-up in the morning. I got up and out early, instead of waiting till after breakfast. I knew that I needed something to eat before I ran, and as we were out of bananas, I raided my workout stash and found I had one Honey Stinger Waffle left. It was the perfect fuel for four miles.

Breakfast, part 1

160 calories packed into this little waffle

Breakfast part 2: green monster and coffee

I took the easy way out for lunch: Jimmy John's. My favorite it the #2, and I discovered that if I swapped the mayo for mustard, I save 100 calories. So I did.

Dinner was a recipe that I made the other week but didn't photograph then, Key West Grilled Chicken with cauliflower rice from Iowa Girl Eats. The chicken is grilled after marinating for a few hours in lime juice, soy sauce, honey, jalapenos, garlic, and canola oil. It tastes great, so great that I had Dwight cook four chicken breasts so we have some on hand for lunches. The unusual part is the cilantro-lime cauliflower rice. I grated an entire head of cauliflower (food processor fitted with the grating disc) and froze half since it ends up to be about 7 cups, which would be a lot for just the two of us.

Check out that Cuisinart - it's about 25 years old

After it is shredded, heat some canola oil in a skillet and saute the cauliflower for about ten minutes until it is lightly browned.

I don't know if it's the lime and cilantro or the shape of the cauliflower, or a combination of both, but you can barely tell that it's cauliflower.

I heart cilantro

Along with some grilled zucchini, yellow squash, and red onions, it was a perfect meal. Oh, and mango salsa!

Breakfast today was oatmeal again. Lunch was some leftovers from Wednesday night - Superfood Salad from Iowa Girl Eats. I've told you about it before, but on Wednesday I added some shrimp and served it with some garlic bread. (We had leftover hamburger buns from the weekend; Village Hearth Light Italian Hamburger Buns are only 60 calories for the whole thing).

It doesn't look nearly as pretty for lunch today, but it tasted pretty wonderful.

Guess what I'm having for dinner? Fazoli's! Yes, you heard that right. Cheap, plentiful pasta. I have decided to do my 13-mile walk / run tomorrow morning, and thought I'd keep as close to race conditions as possible. Emily learned the hard way not to go to a real Italian restaurant the night before a big race, but to either go to Fazoli's or Spaghetti Works. Since Dwight will be at a golf event for dinner, and I don't want to actually go into a restaurant, it's the Fazoli's drive-thru for me. Erin suggested spaghetti with marinara (and breadsticks!), so that's what I'm going with.

Please send some thoughts of endurance my way tomorrow morning!