I’m so glad to be home!!! 
There’s nothing like coming home after being away for a few days. It’s such a great feeling– all warm and fuzzy– especially since my family was so happy to see me. Murphy licked me to death in the car on the way home from the airport! I’m also glad to be home so I can eat “normally” again– oatmeal, salads, and beer for me! 
Dinner
Last night, Mal and I enjoyed dinner at American Craft with my friend, Jim, and his girlfriend, Kristen. (Jim is the nice guy who hooked Mal and me up with some New Balance gear.) I hadn’t seen Jim in years, so it was nice to finally catch up and meet the special lady in his life.
After my culinary adventures in Orlando, I wanted something light for dinner. I chose the The Market Salad with mixed baby greens, seasonal vegetables, feta, a boiled egg, and sweet onion vinaigrette.
So fresh, so delicious! 
I’m glad that I asked for the sweet onion vinaigrette on the side because it didn’t have much flavor. 
I also drank a couple of beers with dinner. I mean, I couldn’t visit American Craft without having some beer!
With dinner, I enjoyed an Ommegang Witte and Jolly PumpkinWeizen Bam Bière. The Ommegang Witte was an awesome Belgian white– light, smooth, and citrus-y. The Jolly PumpkinWeizen Bam Bière was good, but not at all what I expected. I thought it would be a pumpkin-flavored beer, but the name of the brewery is Jolly Pumpkin, not the variety. Bummer. It had a fruity (apricot), spicy, and refreshing flavor.
Ok, enough beer talk for 9:00 in the morning!
Breakfast
While I was away, my husband finished off the Teddie peanut butter and saved the jar for me. Hooray! He used to just throw them away, but he’s since learned about the specialness of an empty nut butter jar!
In the mix:
- 1/4 cup oats
- 1/4 cup oat bran
- 3/4 cup vanilla soy milk
- Chia seeds
- Teddie peanut butter
Make Oatmeal in a Coffee Pot
A reader sent me a link to this video about how to make oatmeal in a coffee pot. I thought it was really cool!
Question of the Day
What do you consider your “normal” eating?
P.S. Attention bloggers: I have a great TNT fundraiser coming up this afternoon!
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My ‘normal’ eating is homemade foods, consisting of copious amounts fresh veggies, whole grains, etc. For lunch it’s usually a PB&J sandwich.
If I have a week approaching with a lot of lunch meetings scheduled or when I know I will have to eat out frequently, I try and plan healthy snacks that I bring from home. I try and review the restaurant menus in advance so I’m not pressed to decide quickly on what would be the healthier options. When in doubt, I will order a side salad for starters- hold the cheese, hold the croutons, dressing on the side – so that no matter what the main entree is like, I will have gotten my veggies in at the start of the meal.
I love trying out new restaurants and foods while I’m traveling, but I’ll agree with you that there’s no place like home to get back to “normal”. I define normal eating as when I can cook it and choose the ingredients and I’m not at the mercy of a restaurant chef.
I love the oatmeal in a coffee pot trick. I constantly forget that I can do it though. Your salad looks amazing, and I can believe how that beer made my mouth water. Regardless of the time of day.
Haha I like how you’ve trained Mal to save the jars for you!
Normal eating for me is oatmeal or yogurt messes in the morning, salad or sandwich for lunch, and various meals for dinner. It always feel so good to get back to normal eats after an indulgent vacation.
My normal eating pattern is 3 solid meals a day, an occasional snack, and ALWAYS dessert!
That’s really cool!!
Normal eating to me is a simple breakfast of oats or a smoothie, fruit for a snack, salad for lunch and a veggie filled dinner. If I eat out more than twice a week, I feel so “off”, no matter how good the food is.
Normal eating…three solid meals no matter what. Meaning if I had a big lunch I still work in something small in the evening so I’m not skipping meals. I throw in a snack or two and I always eat one small piece of dark chocolate a day. Can’s miss my antioxidents!
I wake up thinking about breakfast. Sometimes I go to sleep thinking about breakfast, too!!!
OMG, I totally did the oatmeal in the coffee pot thing one time when I was in a hotel room w/ no other resources.
Normal eating – lots of fresh fruit and vegetables.
That oatmeal looks sooo good! My normal eating is lots of vegetables, fruits, proteins, and grains! Mmmm!
oatmeal in a coffee pot, i put that up there with grilled cheese from a clothes iron and steamed fish from the dishwasher. very cool. i swear, all these amazing ideas must come from dorm residing college students. i can’t even own up to all the ‘creative’ ways we found to make our favorite foods at 4am that first year of dorm life lol.
I can’t WAIT to use my empty Barney Butter jar for my first OIAJ! (And that salad looks delicious!)
Normal for me includes lots of veggies and fruits but varies day to day.
My husband saves the peanut butter jars for me too, so sweet of them!
Normal eats are oatmeal, yogurt, berries, cereal, hummus, bean salad, spinach, eggs, fish – yum
I know you love pugs and I was watching a show on animal planet called Dogs 101. The show talked about pugs and featured this one dog and his owner who used to live in NY but now in live in Hawai’i. They went surfing together and the pug even went sky diving. Not sure if the dog wanted to go sky diving, but it was cute :]. Normal eating is eating fruits and veggies and consuming peanut butter. I don’t go a day without peanut butter, I even got Nuttzo for my 18th birthday this past sunday.
My “normal eating” is pretty carb-centric. (I attribute this, rightly or wrongly, to the fact I’m a runner, hehe). I eat A LOT of whole wheat English muffins with nut butter, a lot of oatmeal, a lot of fruit and veggies, a lot of cereal, a lot of hummus (I’m addicted), a fair amount of cheese, a few eggs, and a little bit of chocolate. I try to keep my diet well-rounded, by I’m a carb girl at heart.
I’m sad you didn’t end up drinking a pumpkin-flavored beer. It’s my favorite flavor.
My “normal” eating consists of me cooking my own food so I know everything that goes in it. I make my meals balanced and nutritious, so it’s a good thing to come back to after indulging on a vacation
Great Video! Happy Home! Normal eating means oatmeal for breakfast and a veggie packed lunch. It makes me miss it when I do go away. It is great to get a new appreciation.
Welcome back to hot hot hot Boston! Probably feels a bit like Orlando actually.
“Normal eating” has not been defined in my world until very recently. Coming from a very yo-yo and binge filled past I didn’t know anything else other than that.
Now, after nearly 2 years of intuitive eating…normal to me means eating with a conscious mind, eating with awareness, not depriving but enjoying in moderation. Eating normal means respecting my body and forgiving it at the same time.
That was SUCH a cool video! I will have to keep that in mind next time I am on vacation, that way I can eat some-what normally. Speaking of “normal” eats my normal eats are: lots of fruits and veggies, grilled protein, protein/fiber bars, whole grains, huge salads, etc. (BTW- I just got back from vacation and I COULDN’T wait to get back to my normal eating – at times I felt gross because of all the indulgent foods!)
I love vacations but I miss being “normal” too. Normal for us is eating healthy food and not eating in restaurants for every meal!
Too funny – I hostess at American Craft a few nights a week! Unfortunately last night wasn’t one of them. I must say, working them has definitely turned me into somewhat of a beer snob in the best way possible
Did you stop in Publick House Provisions next door? I know they just got several kinds of pumpkin beer in, including Dogfish Head’s and Smuttynose’s (my personal favorite)!
My normal eating is so different from the rest of my family! When i’m on my own in an apartment or only incharge of food for myself, I eat fruit, tons of peanut butter, raw veggies, cooked veggies, soy milk, hummus etc.
I recently thought about this though. I tend to eat vegetarian (mostly because I dont want to spend the money to buy meat). I wonder if my health differs when I go through times of not much meat.
Hmmm….
I’ve got to remember that coffee pot idea…perfect for breakfast while traveling!
Welcome back to normal eating and a normal life.
I love that you enjoyed Ommegang beer! I went to college right by the brewery and am so happy to see it being consumed all over the country now!
Btw- I’m not usually a huge salad lover, but that one looks awesome to me.
That salad looks so refreshing! I know this is terrible, but for me “normal” eating is several lots of chocolate every day, a huge bowl of steamed vegetables in the afternoon, and then lots of snacks throughout the day, like grilled cheese on english muffins, yogurt and granola, and lots of spoons of peanut butter…
It’s weird, normal eating for me is preparing things at home, the meal i enjoy.
That Market Salad look so good! I love eggs in a salad
Normal eating? lots of salad, soups, BREAD and less cheese, meat and ice cream
Hey Tina!
Where is it from?
I rarely comment but your wood table is beautiful! I love interior decorating and it jumped out at me
I love your blog too! I’m a regular reader and always look forward to hearing what you are up to. Keep up the great work!
@Macrae: I’m not sure! We grab it out of my in-law’s barn: http://carrotsncake.com/2010/02/our-new-table.html!
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