Crazy for... cocoa?

Good evening! What a day, a typical Wednesday hump day. Oh well, at least I started my day well:

Egg over easy (Look dad, I actually cooked this one through!), my fave wheaty toast with almond butter and an orange.

I followed it up with homemade hot cocoa. How could I resist?

My mid-morning snack. I was actually in a really bad mood when I ate these. They were good, but I definitely gave in to emotional cues, and it didn't really make me feel better. I actually stepped away from my desk for a few minutes, which worked much better at adjusting my mood.

Lunch rolled around a little while later. I must have been on autopilot, because I completely forgot to snap a pick of my first lunch. It was about a cup of Jambalaya, which I also had for dinner.

Late lunch:

A little salad of spinach, cucumber and carrots with vinegar and a bit of sugar. It was kind of like what one would use to 'pickle' chopped cucumbers. This was surprisingly tasty, so I will most likely try this trick again.

Best creation of the afternoon day week:

Very Cherry Banana soft serve with an oh so ripe banana (frozen), a little bit of almond milk, 4 cherries and ~tsp cocoa powder. SO GOOD (and so messy, but whatever, it was worth it). The bananas and cherries provided more than enough sweetness to cancel out the bitterness of the cocoa while highlighting the awesome flavor behind chocolate. I will be making this again and I recommend trying it if you can!

Later in the evening, I went for a jog/run. It was maybe 2 miles, and I cut it short from what I intended to run because one muscle near my knee was not feeling happy. I headed back home and before deciding not to go to the gym, I ran into my neighbor. We ended up talking for a long while, long enough for me to get hungry, so I ditched the other gym plans and ate dinner:

Jambalaya! I ate about 1.5X this, since there was just a little bit left. This was a really fun recipe, one that I'd like to make again, but I think I would cut back even more on the meat and throw in more veggies and beans (and watch the rice more carefully. It burned a little, oops!)

And made some tea to warm up and enjoy while typing up my post, yay!

Decaf Vanilla Hazelnut tea with a little milk

Question: What's your favorite messy food to make/eat?

Also, continuing my thoughts from yesterday, I'm a total preserve snob. That is to say that I like my jam to have lots of berries/some portion of the original fruit- no jellies for me! I'm especially into blueberry or red raspberry preserves.

What's your preference? Jelly, jam, preserves, marmalade? Store-bought or homemade? Favorite flavor?

I look forward to surprising you (and myself) with new eats tomorrow! Goodnight!