Brrr – what a difference 4 days makes!

Goodbye sunshine and 60s, hello snowflakes and 20s.

I nearly shed a tear when I felt an icy-cold flake land on my cheek as I made my way into the second of three grocery stores I visited this morning. "Muwahaha!" It seemed to taunt, as it trickled down my face. "Winter’s not over YET!" Boo!

This is always the time of year when I start planning my move to sunny So-Cal…

So, yeeaaaah, I shopped at three different stores for groceries today … Semi-ridiculous, but so necessary. My first stop was the new Great Harvest Bread Co. that recently opened up super close to my house. I’ve gone, cough, THREE times, cough, in the past week. I love it so much!

Squishy blackberry scones, pressed sandwiches made on freshly-baked bread and some stellar samples (like this blueberry muffin I munched on this morning!) keep me coming back again and again. Plus, the people are SO nice!

The reason for today’s visit was to snag a loaf of White Bread.

Yeah – plain ol’ white bread! Great Harvest has a wonderful variety of whole-wheat breads that are a bit more nutritionally sound than this here loaf, but Ben ordered it by special request, and I had plans to use it for dinner.

Plus, it’s the best white bread you will ever taste, and it had literally just come out of the oven when I picked it up. As in, they advised me not to close the bag for a couple hours because it would steam itself silly in there. LOVE!

The other two stops were at Trader Joe’s and Hy-Vee, blah, blah, blah. Let’s get back to this bread…

I didn’t even put the groceries away before I broke out the butter and slathered it on the warm heels.

Squishy, warm, melty, UNREAL. Truly, the best thing thing since sliced bread is WARM sliced bread!

Girl, unfortunately, cannot live on bread and butter alone, so I poured a bowl of Honey Nut O’s for breakfast after I polished off my bread.

Topped with a splash of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Breeze – the best only milk for cereal.

WOW. These are insanely delish. It’s no wonder, with 3 of the first 5 ingredients being sugar, but still. WOW. So good!

They reminded me of this hilarious picture I saw on the Internet yesterday. "Donut Seeds" – bahaha!

(source)

They also provided a good burst of energy for the run I headed out for next!

I did the exact same routine yesterday morning, but accidently hit the "panic" button on the treadmill TWICE when I was in the middle of it, causing the treadmill to immediately stop and all my data to be erased. ANNOYING! Attempt #2, sans the stopping, resulted in the following:

Time	Speed	Incline
0-2	4.0	1%
3-5	6.0	1%
5-8	6.5	1%
8-10	7.0	1%
10-11	7.5	1%
11-35	repeat minutes 5-11 four more times	1%
35-38	6.0	1%
38-40	4.0	1%
subtotal:	4.27 miles
40-45	4.0	5%
Total:	4.6 miles

I love the 3/2/1 minute intervals in this routine. The speed is totally adjustable to your skill/comfort level and it makes the time fly. Give it a whirl!

Ok – BTTB (back to the bread!) I used my fresh loaf to make crunchy, yummy, savory Ruebens for dinner!

Normally Ruebens are made with rye bread, but I just can’t stand the stuff, so I usually make them with wheat bread or whatever else I have on hand.

I knew this bread would be stellar!

I lightly buttered two slices, and slapped on a slice of swiss cheese.

On goes peppery, thinly-shaved corned beef, 

and duh-duh-duuuuhhhhh sauerkraut! You either love it, or you hate it. I love it. You? 

The final ingredient for a Rueben is Thousand Island Dressing. Now I don’t use TI dressing for anything else in the world other than Rueben’s so I hate buying a whole bottle of it just for one dinner, because inevitably it will sit in the fridge until the next time I make Ruebens, which is usually past its expiration date.

Therefore, I asked the kind folks at Hy-Vee’s Salad Bar if I could have just one teeny-tiny little cup of their Thousand Island dressing for free, and they agreed. Sweet!

Next I broke out the big guns. The Griddler. 

Panini setting set to high, and we’re off.

Sizzled for about 4 minutes and…

Bingo!

Rueben’s! 

I’m telling you – warm cheese, savory corned beef and sour ‘kraut – MMM. This is hands down my favorite hot deli sandwich.

Plus, the combo of fresh bread, butter and Griddler gave this sandwich an audible crunch and unmistakable chew. It was Heaven!

Normally I like some thick and crunchy potato chips with my deli sandwiches, but the classic sundae cone, baked doughnuts and blueberry muffin I’ve recently indulged in politely suggested that I choose otherwise.

 

Luckily snow peas and baby carrots brought the crunch I was craving.

Good bread totally makes the meal. It’s always hard going back to store-bought once you’ve had the best. Luckily it doesn’t seem like I’ll have to with Great Harvest being so close!

And with that, I am full – and out. It’s back to the grind tomorrow, so I’m off to relax for the evening. Have a great night!