WIAW: The Uber-Caffienated Rosh Hashanah Edition

Time for another round of What I Ate Wednesday (WIAW)!  WIAW, the ballerest potluck on the interwebz, is hosted by the lovely Jenn of Peas & Crayons.

I woke up this morning with only one cogent thought: COFFEE.  I slept terribly last night; for whatever reason, my brain likes to save all the nightmares it can come up with and then wallop me over the course of one night.  When I go to bed, I'm all cozy and happy...until a few hours later, when I wake up freaking terrified, clinging to the comforter for dear life, and wondering if my heart is going to beat itself right out of my chest.  Since last night was one of those nights (it's super fun, let me tell you!), I slept in fits and starts until about  5 -- which, conveniently, was 90 minutes before the alarm when off.

Bah.

So, once it was clear that there was no time left for rest, I had to get my butt to the coffee maker, stat.  

Dear coffee: You complete me.  Lurve, Lillian

I started off with my beloved almond mocha latte:

Lite chocolate soymilk + espresso + almond extract
= a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

I knew that since I was sleep deprived like woah, protein would be key to me surviving the day -- so I added some eggs to my life.  (For the record, I looooove eggs.)
I also packed up a lunch that I hoped would keep me from dragging my butt too much: Amy's GF bean burrito, romaine lettuce, Greek yogurt, blueberries, and an apple.

Ah-ah-ah-ah, stayin' alive, stayin' alive...

I wound up making it through the day just fine -- it was actually the sort of day where I came home feeling all accomplished and like I might actually have my ish together.  I answered a ton of emails and got everything organized and prepared for a trip I'm taking for work next week, which makes me inordinately happy.  I feel a gazillion times better about life when I can get on the plane feeling calm and collected, not all OMGI'MTOTALLYFORGETTINGIMPORTANTSTUFFWHEREISMYPASSPORTHOLYCRAPWHEREDOIGOWHENILEAVETHEAIRPORTHOWMUCHDOESACABCOSTDIDIPACKMYPHONECHARGER?!
No good can come of travel panic, my friends, so I try to avoid it at all costs.
Once I came home, though, I was a tired cowgirl.  I really just wanted to watch TV, but I forced myself to put in some time on the elliptical (this endeavor was aided significantly by the fact that Untold Stories of the ER was on...that show is like crack for Lillians).  Once hubs was home, I cooked up his favorite Mediterranean chicken dish while making pasta for myself.  Hoping to amp up the protein count in this dish just a bit, I added lentils to the noodles while they cooked.
I also made caramelized onions and garlic croutons -- the latter are basically happy, crispy, and totally GF slices of sauteed garlic, and they're delish.
To make the garlic and onion mix, thinly slice as much garlic as your heart desires:

My little heart, it seems, desires a ludicrous amount of garlic.

Add it to a hot pan with 3 TBS olive oil and sliced onion:

Did you know that onions, while sauteeing, release moisture?  This is apparently
referred to as onions sweating, which sounds about as appealing as
dirty gym socks that belong to a 13-year-old boy.  Unlike the socks, however,
after the onions schvitz, they get all golden brown and sweet.

Cook until they're browned and caramelized:

See?  Nothing like adolescent dirty gym socks!

Drain the pasta and lentil mix, steam some spinach, add marinara sauce to taste (I highly recommend the recipes presented by Karla at Karla's Veggie Noms), and top with the onions and garlic.
Et...voila!  A pasta dish that packs plenty of protein, healthy fats, vitamins A and C, and all the health-promoting benefits of garlic!

For dessert, in honor of tonight being Rosh Hashanah, we had the traditional apples and honey to symbolize a sweet an happy new year.  L'shana tova v'metukah!