Happy Friday!
I got almost 9 hours of sleep last night which was so nice. I woke up naturally around 7:20 and invited Sullie up for some cuddles. It’s a cold, rainy day so I’m now camped out at my desk with a space heater and french pressed coffee. Perfect Friday morning.
While I don’t mind getting up and at ’em and training clients and teaching in the pre-dawn hours, I much prefer 7 a.m. natural wake ups and coffee/computer time. This is my most focused and productive time of the the day.
My recent eats are usually mostly about dinner (and y’all gave me great feedback on last week’s 7 nights of homemade dinners post!) so I thought today I would focus on all the things I’ve been eating lately for breakfast, lunch and snacks.
You know I have to kick it off with a smoothie but this isn’t just any smoothie…it’s a seasonal treat! I created this Pumpkin Pie Protein Smoothie last week and it’s so yummy!
Pumpkin Pie Protein Smoothie
1 frozen banana
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or more if you want to kick it up)
1/2-3/4 cup almond/cashew/soy/skim milk (adjust for desired consistency)
1 tablespoon almond butter
1/2 scoop Premier Protein Vanilla Milkshake Protein Powder
I topped it with some peanut butter pumpkin pie granola I whipped up…and need to share the recipe for soon! Let me get through this move.
Acai bowl topped with banana and granola and french press.
Pumpkin banana egg white oatmeal topped with Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Butter and creamy peanut butter. Here is my recipe for Banana Egg White Oatmeal and I added 1/4 cup pumpkin puree to it.
Moving on to lunches…kale salad with tahini dressing. I’ve been whipping up this simple tahini dressing for the last couple of weeks and I’m totally addicted. I will measure out proportions and share.
Soudough + mashed avocado + sliced honecrisp apples + deli chicken + melted muenster = HEAVEN!
Also spot on with an egg.
Spinach salad topped with chick peas, avocado, pine nuts, hardboiled egg, carrots, tomatoes, feta and cottage cheese. I have been on a major cottage cheese kick lately.
Tuna salad made with mashed avocado, plain greek yogurt, a little lite mayo, dried cranberries, sliced grapes and sliced almonds.
A burger topped with pimento cheese, avocado and crispy onions with bleu cheese bacon cole slaw.
I couldn’t visit Isle of Palms without a stop at Poe’s Tavern on neighboring Sullivan’s Island. Poe’s has been a longtime favorite and I have eaten countless meals here and drank countless beers in the 10+ years I’ve been going to Poe’s! 🙂
It had been 3-4 years since I last ate at Poe’s so I was excited to return…and to find the menu hasn’t changed at all!
Must try combination of Trader Joe’s pumpkin butter swirled into peanut butter with honeycrisp apples.
Brownie bites topped with peanut butter. (We’ve got a lot of peanut butter going on in this post!)
Cupcakes from Polka Dot. Blackberry Lemon (my fave), Salted Caramel and Butterfinger.
And we’ll end with something a little healthier! Last week I received a surprise delivery from Yoplait with Yoplait Original, the cutest little spoon and fresh flowers. Yoplait recently reformulated their original recipe to feature 25% less sugar in all 25 of the flavors available. One of the reasons I avoid flavored yogurt is the sugar content so I was happy to hear that they had made a significant cut to the recipe. It was definitely a throwback to my teen years when I would always open our fridge at home and find that red foil cap!
Tell me how your Friday morning started.
What’s been your favorite salad dressing lately?
Favorite recent snack?
Yes, getting at least 8-9 hours of sleep feels incredible! I have to try your egg toast and pumpkin pie smoothie!
Such good breakfast options! Let me know what you think!
Omg, yum! Thank you for sharing. You have such a great balance and variety in your diet. It’s really nice to see that! I have been on a total tahini dressing kick as well! I love it with garlic and lemon juice :).
Thank you! It’s one of my favorites!
Yummy! You’re food always looks so good! I eat well, but my plates don’t always look so pretty. Very inspiring! 🙂
Thanks!!
Oh, that smoothie looks good! Too funny, I’ve been into cottage cheese lately. Love it on ezikeal or rice squares with avocado!
I don’t know about the Yoplait…they only went from 26 grams to 18 grams. It’s still a ridiculous amount for such a small portion.
Yum! Yoplait still has added sugar but nowhere near as much as a lot of other popular brands, especially when you consider how much of those 18 grams is natural sugar.
I never use salad dressing, but straight up vinegars! I have type you could possibly imagine 😛 My top 3 (right now) are balsamic, red wine and Pompian’s Roasted garlic infused red wine! (Obviously that one’s the best!)
Those sound amazing!
So. Much. Good. Food!
My morning started with a 4:15 am wakeup call. And because I wasn’t sleepy after that, I just started working. Luckily, my boss is cool and told me to take off a little early today 🙂
And my favorite snack recently has to be dates + PB. So good!
That’s one of my favorite snacks!
Woke up at 7:00 am, had coffee while surfing the net. Took the dog to doggie day care (he LOVES it there), went to the gym and had a good workout. Now I’m home eating a late breakfast, doing laundry and cleaning the kitchen. Happy Friday, Jen!
Thanks! Sounds like a good Friday to me!
PLEASE cut up your Yoplait cups before you discard them. They are the cause of many wildlife deaths. Due to the shape, animals get their heads stuck and cannot get them off. It’s great they cut the sugar but equally important is the need to redesign the container.
Thank you so much for the tip. I certainly will.
The morning is definitely my most productive time of day work wise, thinking wise, running wise and anything wise!
I completely agree!
Hi Jen! I’ve been reading your blog for awhile but this is my first comment. Trader joes pumpkin butter is the best. This week I’ve been eating it with trader joes country pumpkin spice granola cereal with a little coconut milk…so good. Definitely need to try your pumpkin pie smoothie recipe!
Yum!! Let me know what you think of the smoothie!
I must try that PB + pumpkin butter combo! My Friday morning started with a dog walk, a bowl of pumpkin overnight oats, and a 730 work start time! My favorite snack lately has been rice cakes topped with either lemon hummus or avocado. Have a great weekend!
You can’t beat that combo! Thanks!
I accidentally invented an awesome pumpkin spice smoothie very similar to yours: frozen banana, frozen mango, frozen cherries, pumpkin puree, cashew milk, protein powder, cinnamon, ginger, and a hint of cayenne (no joke). Totally delicious.
Haha! Sounds delicious!
Lately I’ve been doing a lemon-dijon type of dressing. I bought a jar of tahini and tried it the other day but didn’t love it. Probably need to add stuff to it! Favorite snack right now: ants on a log. Random!
It’s much better in something like a dressing! Love ants on a log. A childhood favorite that I’ll never grow out of!
I have been wanting to try a pumpkin pie smoothie! I think I’m going to whip some up for breakfast this week.
I’ve been loving it for a fall breakfast! Let me know if you try the recipe!
Omg … yummm! First time commenting, but your pumpkin smoothie had me at hello. So excited to try it! Thanks for sharing! Happy Fall!
Everything looks so good! And your pictures make the food all look so good. Do you use your iphone or do you take all your food pictures with your dslr?
Thanks Mattie! For the most part any food pics I take at home are DSLR and out is iPhone…as I quit lugging my DSLR around with me! 😛