Sweet T and a Honey B
Food, Fitness, and the Adventures That Make Life Sweet

Iced Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Bread

The other day I read an article about the disadvantages of eating lunch at your office desk on a regular basis. Sure, many of them deal with the long term physical repercussions for those who do not try and get up to move every now and then (Even a periodic two minute break can minimize those disadvantages), but the article also addressed how easy it is to get bored with healthy lunches if you are eating the same mundane ‘#saddesksalad’ every day. I feel like that hashtag accurately describes how I feel sometimes when I am trying to shove my meal down so I can quickly get back to work – I am sure many of you can relate. While my job makes it nearly impossible to beat the constant sitting (I do take frequent water/stretch breaks and have an exercise ball chair – anything helps right?), it’s in my power to pack meals that force me to take the time to enjoy my food, leave me feeling energized, and are overall just good tasting. My ability to get creative with lunches amidst a busy schedule and workday is one of the reasons I started Sweet T and a Honey B. 

The reason I mention all of this is because my team at work recently moved to a different floor within our building and among quite a few things I love about our new space, at the top of my list is a weekly ‘Treat Day’. It’s exactly what it sounds like – a day filled with treats. You might be wondering why I am mentioning something like this when I have often referenced that practicing self control with office food is key to keeping yourself on track with eating. While I still believe this is true, Treat Day is something worth mentioning because it was developed as a surefire way to beat that #saddesksalad once a week. Every week, those who have chosen to participate take turns bringing in morning AND afternoon treats for the team to share. I can confidently say that everyone has done a good job of bringing in a mix of healthy and not-so healthy snacks for people to share. I obviously try and fill up on the things like hummus and veggies first, and then treat myself to a sweet snack or two in the afternoon. Colleagues of mine have brought in so many delicious items and my favorites have included a Crockpot Baked Oatmeal, yogurts with various toppings, a Trader Joe’s tomato basil hummus (life changing) with pita chips, and Irish Soda Bread with Vanilla Almond Butter!  Since there is a large group that takes part, your turn only comes up every three months or so. Yesterday was my first assignment and I was ready with my list of snacks. The morning menu consisted of a Biscuit Bar with various jellies, honey, Justin’s vanilla almond butter, and slices of ham and swiss for those who were feeling a savory sandwich (aka, me!), fruit, and my favorite-  an iced blueberry lemon yogurt bread. I definitely had springtime in mind when looking for some easy breakfast options and this recipe fit that requirement perfectly. This was the ideal combination of tart and sweet, and left you feeling full because of the greek yogurt base and fresh fruit used to make it. I found this recipe from Melanie at Gather for Bread and I am already planning on making this again this weekend. Except this time, I won’t have to share it with 12+ other people 😉 

Ingredients

  • 1¾ cup flour
  • ¾ cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 cup milk
  • ¼ cup melted (salted) butter
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon zest
  • 1 Tablespoon lemon juice
  • 4 oz plain Greek yogurt (I use Siggis as I think it has best consistency)
  • 1 cup fresh blueberries (I MAY have dumped in an extra 1/2 cup. What the heck, go wild.)
Lemon Glaze:
  • ½ cup confectioners sugar
  • 1 teaspoon lemon juice
  • 1 teaspoon milk
  • 1 teaspoon lemon zest

Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottom and sides of 9 x 5 inch loaf pan.
  2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center. Set aside
  3. Mix together egg, milk, melted butter, lemon zest and lemon juice. Pour into well. Mix just until combined. Stir in yogurt. Gently fold in blueberries.
  4. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from pan.
For Lemon Glaze:
  1. Combine confectioners sugar with lemon juice, milk and lemon zest. Stir until smooth consistency (Note, I love lemon. So I added a 1/2 tsp extra lemon juice to the glaze) Drizzle over warm bread.
  2. Let cool before slicing.

Treat Day has become a pretty cool way to not only beat that #saddesksalad one day a week, but has motivated everyone to get creative when bringing something to share.  I find myself taking a couple of welcomed breaks to chat with colleagues and now have couple new ideas for appetizers and meals for entertaining (I had the BEST egg and pepper casserole a few weeks ago). I highly recommend gathering a group of foodies at your workplace and arranging something like this too!

I guarantee it is difficult to resist a second piece of this refreshing breakfast bread. Guessing by the amount that was left at the end of the morning, it was a huge hit. Hint-There was one slice and hubs cheerfully stuffed his face with it when I got home 😉

Happy Thursday!

Grocery List Tips + Snack Ideas

Bryan and I get asked a lot about our typical grocery list and what kinds of healthy snacks we keep around the house or tuck in our lunches. Planning our weekly meals and snacks definitely takes some dedicated time and thinking ahead, but in the end that is what keeps us in check when it comes to fueling our bodies and not spending extra $$ on eating out during the week. I thought it might be fun to share tips on creating a grocery list, a list of pantry essentials, and the most popular healthy snacks around our house. 

Grocery List Tips

I have found it is close to impossible to fill my fridge and pantry with healthful foods without a little extra time and thinking. If I walk into my local Jewel or Mariano’s and I do not have a list, I am doomed from the start. I will undoubtedly forget something or come home with an especially large container from the trail mix bar (I am a sucker for M&Ms and banana chips).

  • MAKE the list
    • It’s a little intuitive, but in order to have a successful trip, you actually have to MAKE the list, the FULL list- not just the ingredients for one meal you’re going to make that week. Bryan and I have found we are most successful when we dedicate thirty minutes to an hour on Saturday nights or Sunday mornings to figuring out what we want for the following week and looking up delicious things to make for dinner. I usually plan for three dinner type meals that make for good lunch leftovers. Two of those meals I try and keep a little simpler (like a whole wheat pasta with chicken sausage or caesar salad wraps) and for another I like to try a little more involved recipe (one of our favorites is a Weight Watcher recipe for Cheeseburger Soup and we pair it with warm pretzel rolls). 
  • Be Realistic
    • When making your list, be realistic about what your week looks like. Hubs and I always compare schedules and if we find that we are both only going to be home together one night that week or are just generally going to be on-the-go that week, maybe you plan to make one of your meals a large Sunday Crockpot soup so that you have leftovers for a few days or make couple pounds of shredded chicken to quickly throw on salads. Don’t plan on trying a new pot roast and roasted veggie recipe if you won’t be home more than an hour at a time. 
  • Take Notes
    • If you see or hear of a recipe on Wednesday, but don’t have time to gather the groceries or make it until the following Sunday or Monday, write it down! We all have phones we can keep reminders in and websites like Pinterest have made this aspect incredibly easy. I often hear colleagues talk about recipes they have made and thought “that sounds good!” but forget simply forget to ask for it or I just let it sit in my e-mail inbox. 
  • Use a Fun Paper!
    • This may sound incredibly silly, but I have recently enjoyed setting aside some small colorful cardstock to make my lists on. I might be a little old fashioned in that I like writing things down whenever possible and avoiding my phone (Hubs hates that I still use a physical planner I can write in as opposed to using a Google calendar and that I write my lists down instead of creating a note in my phone), but it’s worked for me. I’m a little more motivated to sit down and make my list if there’s a little pop of color involved. I also enjoy Papersource’s endless supply of cute note pads. Here is a ‘market list’ pad by Rifle Paper Co. that I have used in the past.

Pantry Essentials

Just last week I actually found myself telling my husband “I’m out of literally everything and have no idea what to make for dinner”. By Thursday night, we had made everything I planned for and actually used all the leftovers (we’re training for races and recently we are hungry ALL the time). I am not lying when I said our fridge was literally EMPTY besides a defrosted package of chicken, carrots, an egg, and some grapes. I told him to go on his run and I would figure something out. I dug through my REALLY messy pantry and figured I could find something to do with that chicken. Lo and behold, I found an unopened tin of whole wheat bread crumbs I didn’t know I had. Between the few veggies I had and the chicken with breadcrumbs, I decided to make some Chipotle Chili Chicken Tenders with a small caesar salad on the side. It was probably the least planned meal ever but ended up being one of my favorites last week. 

With all of this said, it’s important to have a few essentials in your pantry for those nights when you want to avoid going out to eat but may have run out of ideas. Here is a list of what I always make sure to keep on hand!

 

Easy and Healthy Snacking

I am definitely a snacker. In fact, I would much rather snack consistently throughout the day than eat a few full meals. I find that having smaller portions when it comes to meals and a few good snacks throughout the day keeps me more energized and feeling full. In addition to planning what we will need for meals throughout the week, Bryan and I always make sure to add plenty of snacks to the list. We usually have a lengthy list of them because Bryan is more of a sweet snacker and I am a salty snacker. Since I began Weight Watchers almost seven years ago, I have developed a lengthy list of go-to’s when it comes to snacking that don’t pack extra points/calories. 

 

By setting aside a little time each week, your pantry, refrigerator, and tummy will be full and you will have far less stress when it comes to choosing what to eat. I hope that you can use some of these suggestions but I also reccomend making your own list of favorite snacks or essentials to keep in the house.

What do you do to prepare for a weekly shopping trip? What are your favorite lunchtime snacks?