Spache Counts Calories: Steel-cut oats, possibly the best thing since sliced bread (plus some awesome veggie burgers)

On Fridays I only have one class this quarter, yay! It's a pretty early class too (9:30am). When I got back from school this morning (around 11am), I was in the mood for a big ol' bowl of oats- steel cut oats to be precise. Ever since I ordered a bowl of steel cut oats at TASTE last week (it had toasted hazelnuts, tart cherries, brown sugar, and warm milk, mmm!) I have been non-stop craving more. The problem was that I only had old-fashioned rolled oats at home, but last night I went out and got some at the grocery store to satisfy my hankering.

The mix included:

1/4 cup steel-cut oats (I used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free variety) (170cal)
1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk (10cal)
1/2 cup water
pinch sea salt
1 tsp chia seeds (39cal)

All brought to a boil and then reduced to low for 10 minutes covered and 10 minutes uncovered. Then come the toppings!

Topped with:

1 tbsp Crofter's Superfruit Spread in Europe (30cal)
1 tbsp Adam's crunchy peanut butter (105cal)
tiny splash of skim milk

OMG, steel-cut oats are 10000X better than regular oatmeal (which is already really awesome), and totally worth the extra time. They have so much texture- super chewy, a little crunchy, all-around perfect. This was one of the best bowls of oats I've had in a while.

=354 calories

Around 5:30 I was feeling hungry again (those oats really keep me full!), so I decided to make some veggie burgers I have had on my recipe list for quite some time: Oh She Glows In a Jiffy Spelt Veggie Burgers!

They were super easy to make (despite the fact that when I took them out of the oven to flip them I dropped the baking sheet and had to throw two away :( ) and turned out sooo good! The rival these veggie burgers that I made a while ago, plus these particular ones are vegan while my recipe includes egg.

While I baked the I munched on two Dr. Kracker's in Sunflower Cheddar (30cal); these crackers are so crunchy!

I had 1 of the burgers on 2 slices of toasted Orowheat Master's Best Winter Wheat (180cal) with some GORGEOUS sliced heirloom tomatoes, sliced pickles, spinach, and sriracha- AMAZING.

=335 calories

Mikey and I went to the *gym* tonight and I had a nice workout on the elliptical:

-average heart rate: 179 bpm (I'm happy to at least keep it under 180!)

-duration: 60 minutes

-calories burned: 666 (how unlucky!)

I didn't get the mileage because my machine decided to reset about 45 minutes in- quite annoying.

I was fairly hungry upon arriving home and quickly gobbled up 4 Dr. Kracker's (60cal) and then decided I really wanted one of the veggie burgers I made earlier- yes they are that good that I needed them twice in one day. I also had a delicious bowl of soup topped with sharp cheddar.

Arnold whole wheat sandwich thin, toasted to a crisp (100cal)
spelt veggie burger (125cal)
2 tbsp hummus (50cal)
sriracha (negligible)
heirloom tomato slices (negligible)
baby spinach (negligible)
1 cup Pacific Natural Foods Creamy Tomato Soup (100cal)
1 oz Tillamook extra sharp white cheddar (110cal)

=545 calories

My midnight snack (actually more like 2am snack- night owl here) was a bowl of cereal:
1 cup Total Blueberry Pomegranate (170cal)

3/4 cup fat free milk (68cal)

100g strawberries (32cal)

=270 calories