Down on the Farm and (Gluten-Free) Mac and Cheese, Please!

The day started with coffee. Two cups of strong coffee.

Breakfast

I had planned to go to the gym with my husband, but between a 3-month-old and a dog who is afraid of storms on a night that was full of thunder and rain, let’s just say sleep was elusive at best. So instead of getting up to make the 8:30 a.m. class, we slept in a bit, noshed on a protein bar and then hit a local park for our very own 45-minute workout a little later that morning. A lap around Loose Park is about 1.4 miles, so we set out to run two laps, stopping four times each lap to do a series of 10 burpees, 10 lunges, 10 push-ups, 10 squats and 1 minute of plank. Ryan pushed the stroller; I pushed myself to keep up with him. (He’s FAST.)

There’s nothing better than napping while your parents huff and puff, I hear. Hehe.

Lunch

Afterwards, as you might imagine, we were sweaty — and hungry. Van’s had sent me a few boxes of its new gluten-free pastas, which we decided was kind of the perfect thing to eat post-workout. The last time I had boxed mac and cheese was, like, in grad school. So I was pretty darn excited.

Besides being gluten-free, the nutritionals weren’t bad for mac and cheese and the ingredients made me smile.

And it was wicked easy to make — just like the stuff in the blue box, pretty much.

To make it more of a meal, we added pre-cooked chicken (one of my fave TJ’s buys!) and some broccoli. It was quite filling — and so darn cheesy. For gluten-free pasta, the noodles had a fantastic al dente texture. I’d definitely make this one again when a mac-and-cheese craving struck.

After lunch, we hit up one of my favorite places: the bison farm! It was Gwen’s first trip to KC Buffalo Co, and we were in serious need of bison meat.

We picked up a ton of ground bison, roasts, breakfast sausage and liver. Enough for summer barbecues … and dinner that night.

Snack Time

But first, an afternoon snack! Once we got home, I was hungry again, so I made a bowl of my newest oatmeal-flavor obsession: PB&J. You just mix that peanut butter and jelly right in …

Dinner

A few nights ago, our friend Becky brought over some goodies from her garden, including this beauty.

Swiss chard is the most beautiful green, right?! And I knew just what to do with it. Sautee it with some of that delicious bison breakfast sausage!

And pair it with some protein pancakes. And a couple of runny eggs. Have I mentioned brinner is my favorite type of dinner?

That was followed up with a glass of Tuella Doura 2013 (a really decent wine for $6 at TJ’s!), a few chocolate-covered banana bites (another TJ’s find), sweatpants and a couple OITNB episodes.

Sleep deprivation never tasted so good.
When you’re tired, what foods do you reach for? Besides coffee, I always seem to crave more carbs, but I try to balance that out with lots of veggies and protein! —Jenn