Thank the sweet heavens it’s Friday! And thank the sweet heavens it’s a rest day! My body needed a rest day after the brutality I put it though yesterday. No surprise it involved three circuits for a full body workout.

I completed a three mile run before going through this workout and then I about died. Woah! What a tough combination of moves. Adding in a plyometric move here and a tough bodyweight move there really amped things up for me. That workout perfectly rounded out my workout week and getting back on my A-game. And speaking of plyometrics – stay tuned for this afternoon’s post. ;) 

Besides the luxury of allowing my muscles a reprieve before tomorrow’s planned nine mile run, rest days also give me the chance to have a more leisurely morning without having to rush out the door. This allows me the perfect chance to whip up a fun breakfast. When I don’t workout, my appetite feels rather tame. I want a lighter meal. For today, I namely want yogurt and granola…but that doesn’t sound very filling.

Ah, I know! I’ll combine two of my favorite snacks – yogurt + granola / mock apple crumble – into one meal. I will turn these three things…

….into a light, yet filling, and healthy, yet tastes like dessert, breakfast recipe!

Apple Pie a la Mode Yogurt Bowl

• 1 container frozen vanilla Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup granola – Love Grown, but of course!
• 1 apple
• 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
• 1/2 tsp all spice seasoning

Chop the apple into one inch even pieces and place in a microwave safe dish. Sprinkle with the all spice seasoning. Microwave on high for 2 – 3 minutes. Or however else you like to get warm “baked” apples if you’re fancy and don’t believe in microwaves.

Spoon the frozen Greek yogurt into a blender or food processor and add the 1/2 tsp xanthan gum. Blend until it becomes a thick, almost ice-cream like consistency.

Serve both in a dish with the granola. That’s it!

Thank the sweet heavens for delectable (and easy!) breakfasts like this! Excuse me while I eat my dessert breakfast. Have a great Friday!

• What do you like to do on your rest days that you don’t typically?
• What did you have for breakfast today?

Another week. Another Wednesday. Another chance to share meal ideas, food inspiration, and delicious creations through a What I Ate Wednesday post. That was the plan at least.

INSTEAD…no notable food worth blogging crossed my lips yesterday.

Yesterday morning I told my “I Feel Fat” thoughts to be damned and move out of the way so I could get on with life. INSTEAD…I battled the migraine of the century and still felt “off” all day long. I didn’t practice negative self-talk like the day before, but I certainly didn’t have the positive, healthy day I hoped for either.

I had no appetite, but finally decided I needed to eat so had my standard bowl of oats at a late 10 am in hopes of feeling better.

Instead…those oats made a reappearance less than an hour later. In the shower. Ick.

I knew then I needed to take it easy and even set out to nap for a couple of hours when the kids laid down for their naps.

Instead…neither child thought naps sounded like a good idea yesterday. Of course!

In the afternoon, I had a Skype chat with Love Grown Foods planned.

Instead…I spent my afternoon curled up in a ball on the couch waiting for the migraine to subside, which it finally did around dinner time.

Last Friday night I had the genius idea to go ahead and meal plan out an entire month of dinners. I took our staple meals that we have at least every few weeks – such as enchiladas or stir-fry - and scattered them across four weeks. I penciled in an easy night each week with things like breakfast for dinner or sandwiches. I accounted for one “entertainment night” a week for date nights, dinners out for social gatherings, or grabbing a pizza. I then dubbed one night each week as a night to try a new recipe. I adored this plan because it meant the inevitable Friday night anguish of meal planning and grocery list making wouldn’t have to drive me so crazy anymore.

For this week’s plan, Tuesday night equaled Mama Pea’s noodle bowl because we have already dubbed it a “staple meal”. 

Instead…the last thing I wanted to do was cook. The last thing I wanted Peter to do was cook and leave me with bedtime duty. 

Yet once I had my appetite back, I wanted FOOD. I wanted food like 10 minutes ago after only eating a bowl of oatmeal that didn’t stick and a couple handfuls of Kashi cereal the entire day. I wanted comfort. Instead of my planned bowl of vegetables, healthy fats, and whole grains, I ended up with…

chicken salad sandwich and chips from Atlanta Bread Company

So much for the meal plan this week. So much for getting back to “feeling like myself” yesterday. So much for a What I Ate Wednesday post that shares meal ideas, food inspiration, and delicious creations. But life doesn’t always turn out so nicely. Instead…it may hand you lemons disinfectant for your shower.

• Ever suffered a migraine?
• Give me an “instead” moment you’ve had recently. 🙂