Pumpkin bread and a surprising X-ray

As usual, my loving mom sent me back home with a bag full of goodies this past weekend. Homemade applesauce, apricot jam, dried fruit, carrots and a mini loaf of pumpkin plum walnut bread. Now, I must admit to you all that I do not like pumpkin. It tastes like butt and I can't say I've ever appreciated any type of pumpkin pie, cheesecake or baked good. Pumpkin beer, I can do! However, I took a leap of faith and sliced two pieces of my mom's pumpkin plum walnut bread for my breakfast yesterday. I spread some Sunbutter on them & ate it with a couple scrambled eggs w/Cholula. The verdict? Um, I loved this! It's got a subtle pumpkin taste with chopped dried plums and crunchy walnuts. The texture just melted in my mouth. I even called my mom because I couldn't believe I liked it and needed wanted to find out what was different. As it turns out, she made the pumpkin puree herself. Not from a can! Makes a world of difference. Mom's always know best, don't they??

Mid-morning snack: Naner and some cinnamon Kashi Heart to Heart
Lunch: Veggies, hummus and a giant honeycrisp.I've said it before but I LOVE how full I am after a meal like this! I could barely finish it.

After work I had a dentist appointment. Just the regular cleaning/checkup deal plus I had to get new X-rays. When the dental hygienist brought them up on the computer she asked me if anyone had ever told me about my fifth wisdom tooth. HUH? I think the look on my face answered her question because she laughed and then pointed out this little white nodule on my X-ray, right behind my top left molar. I guess it's nothing major and might never come in but it sure shocked me to see it!

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My favorite thing about the dentist? A new toothbrush!! Ahhh, germ free. :)

I also ran to the chiropractor's office yesterday. I have a standing appointment every other week but went in early because I've been having some tightness in my upper back and neck. Typical Jessie. You can read about my first visit to the chiropractor and his evaluation of my issues here. Anyway, I guess I slept funny or something this past weekend because he was floored at how tight my shoulder/neck was. It was kind of funny, he kept asking, "Did you fall off a cliff this weekend? Get into a car accident? Go skydiving?!!" Lol.

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Afternoon snacks: Another apple w/ABLooks like someone got into my apple first though....ick.

The AB I used was Maranatha crunchy no stir. This was my first time trying the no stir version and I LOVED it. It reminded me of Barney Butter actually. Since they don't sell Barney around here, I'm happy I found a substitute. :)

I also snacked on a couple more pieces of pumpkin plum walnut bread. (The loaf is now 2/3 gone!) Warmed up w/some more AB.

I was craving some protein for dinner and realized that I had thawed out a 4 oz salmon fillet a couple days ago which needed to be used. I baked it on a piece of tin foil sprayed w/olive oil at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes. Sprinkled with some sea salt and ground pepper.Then I managed to put together a simple, protein packed dinner with half of my baked salmon fillet and half a cup of lowfat cottage cheese.Such a great combination! I saved the other half of the salmon for lunch today so you'll see this combo again in tomorrow's post.
After a couple hours of watching The Biggest Loser (and crying about their success! I'm such a girl), I realized that instead of sitting on my ass I should go exercise. Good call.

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Workout: 1.3 mile warm-up on treadmill and two circuits from Jillian's No More Trouble Zones DVD. (For those of you familiar with it, I did the Chest & Abs one and the Core & Lower Body.)

Question: Have you had your wisdom teeth out yet? I had mine out when I was 16 or 17. I had just gotten my braces off (had them for 6 years!). Luckily they hadn't grown roots yet so they just knocked me out and sliced my gums open. TMI? Unfortunately, I have a very small mouth so I was in a lot of pain from all the pressure on my jaw. I also had a dry socket, gah! Worst. Pain. Ever. How about you all? Any good surgery stories?? Remind me someday to tell you about the steel tack I now have implanted in my thumb, that's a good one...

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