I love sweet potatoes

I had a nice workout at the gym.  I did the usual 50 minutes of cardio split up between running on the treadmill, ET, and stairmaster plus abs and arms and stretching.  I tried making some almond butter in my food processor before I went, but I don’t think it’s how it’s supposed to be.  oh well, I’ll still eat it!  It’s fluffier than creamy/buttery sort of.  I had an apple with 2 Tbsp of my AB before going to the gym.  After the gym I made a quick dinner because the Pen’s game would be on soon!  I heated up a sweet potato in the microwave and popped it into the toaster oven to make sweet potato dollar fries with S&P.  I also made 1/2 cup dry of whole wheat macaroni and mixed in a 1.5 cup crushed tomatoes (I like sauce!!), 1/2 cup navy beans, broccoli, mushrooms, and some oregano, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic powder for a quick pasta dish.  I ate it much quicker than I would have liked, and I’m still kind of full four hours later.  I think I had too much sodium today, and that may be the cause.  My pre-workout snack and dinner totaled:  739 calories, 11 g fat, 30 g fiber, and 26 g protein.  

Yay for the Pen’s win!!  I’m off to bed and am looking forward to sort of sleeping in tomorrow.  Good night all!  

 

New day

I had pumpkin oatmeal for breakfast.  It was delicious.  

1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup soy milk, 1/2 cup pumpkin, 1 banana sliced, 1 tbsp flaxseed, 1 tbsp walnuts, 2 tsp brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  

Breakfast was 445 calories, 13 g fat, 15 g fiber, and 14 g protein.

Today was better.  I had one class this morning, and then I took the bus back home.  I transferred in the city successfully this time!    When I got home my dad was outside trying to get rid of a black snake that was hiding in a tree of ours, so he got this big stick with some contraption on the end of it, pulled it out and carried it down the street!  Snakes are so scary, but I’m glad he didn’t hurt it.  They might be even scarier than millipedes, but I would probably change my mind if snakes got into my house…

So, after that encounter, I made myself some lunch.  I wanted PB&J because I always do, but I wanted something different.  (Okay, I don’t think that made much sense).  I made a dish inspired by V’con’s Pineapple cashew quinoa stir fry.  I used 1/4 cup dry inca red quinoa, 1.5 tbsp low sodium soy sauce, 1 tbsp lemon juice, and 1/2 cup water.  I cooked that until the liquid was absorbed and proceeded to add a diced plum tomato, diced cucumber, mushrooms, 1 tbsp pine nuts, and 1/6 cup dried cranberries.  This turned out pretty well for just coming throwing things together!  On the side I had more red cabbage salad and a bunch of strawberries.  I also had some baby carrots while I was cooking my lunch!  All together my lunch was 558 calories, 8 g fat, 30 g fiber, and 14 g protein.  

Brian informed me of a new restaurant called Pizza Fusion that just opened about 20 minutes away from my house!  It is the only one located outside of Florida, and they have all natural and organic ingredients!  They have vegan options too.  http://www.pizzafusion.com/ I can’t wait to try it!  

I’m going to the gym now, and I have a ton of reading to do this week, so hopefully I will get started on that.  I am really looking forward to Pen’s game #3!!!!  GO PENS!!!!!  

 

 

Everyone has bad days

Today was not so good.  It was cold, but that’s not why it was bad.  The warm sun could have helped though, I’m sure.  I had to miss classes today to attend an orientation for my new job from 8:00-4:30.  I did not want to miss class, but I had no choice if I wanted this job.  The schedule they had for us there said we have it tomorrow and Wednesday as well from 8-4:30.  I wasn’t aware of this, nor was anyone else I talked to.  Basically, I can’t go because school is more important, and I can’t afford to miss three days of class.  I’m waiting for someone to call me to let me know if I will be able to come in at another time.  I feel like I wasted my time.  It was so long and boring, but i got paid at least!  I am thinking that I will probably need to find a different job.  Although I’m a bit disappointed, I think I will be relieved if I find out I won’t be able to work there.  I don’t feel ready to take on a stressful job like that along with taking classes right now.  I feel like there is no time for anything, and when there is I’m just too exhausted to move.  I already knew pretty much everything they told us today, but one thing I have confirmed is that I will never have a desk job.  EVER!  I couldn’t wait to get out of there!!!  Sitting still in a chair for more than an hour kills me!  haha.  Sorry for such a negative beginning to this post.  

On a positive note-YAY PENS for the second win of the series last night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Can’t wait for tomorrow! 

Onto food.  I didn’t take any pictures again, but I didn’t have anything exciting.  No pizza, chips, and fries!  haha  I will be making that again.  Loved that dinner!  Last night for dinner, I just had a salad with tomato, cucumber, and salsa; grapes; an apple; and some leftover Mac Daddy with added salt.  The mac daddy was better, but I’m on the lookout for another vegan mac and cheese recipe to try!  For breakfast this morning, I ate somewhat of a smoothie that I prepared last night since I needed something very quick this morning.  I didn’t want to have to use a microwave or anything, so I decided on a smoothie!  I made this with 1.5 oz lite silken tofu, 1/2 cup unsweetened soymilk, 1 tbsp flaxseed meal, 1 tbsp walnuts, 1/2 cup Ezekiel 4:9 Golden flax cereal, 1 banana, and 1 tbsp agave nectar.  I kept it in the refrigerator over night, and in the morning I was pleasantly surprised to eat this as it had taken on the consistency to pudding!!!!!  PUDDING FOR BREAKFAST!  It was so cool, because I did not expect that to happen!  Lunch was packed also (a pb and strawberry preserves sandwich on sprouted wheat, red cabbage salad, and lots of strawberries).  I ate an apple when I got home after my very long day in a chair before taking a very long trip with Brian to get a hockey stick.  We got home around 8 and I made ourselves dinner–stir fry with whole wheat couscous, tempeh, vegetables, soy sauce, garlic, and 1/2 tsp evoo drizzled on top (not cooked).  He liked it (the tempeh)!!!!  Hooray!  He will never be vegan, which I respect, but it’s awesome that he is interested to try my food.  I had a banana bread muffin for snack.  Oh yeah, I ate a few carrots with the rest of my black bean hummus (1/4 cup black beans, 1 Tbsp tahini, lemon juice) while cooking dinner.  I’m going to bed early tonight.  Expect pictures tomorrow, and have a good night’s sleep tonight everyone!  

 

 

Pizza, fries, and chips!!

First, a Happy Mother’s Day to any mothers that may be reading!  

I haven’t gotten the time to sit down at my computer and post.  I haven’t taken many pictures either yesterday or today.  Yesterday morning I had pumpkin oatmeal.  I made it with 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup soymilk, 1/2 cup water, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp flaxseed, 1 banana, 1/2 cup pumpkin, 1 tbsp walnuts, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  I’ve been craving pumpkin oatmeal, and this was just what I needed!  Here is a bad picture of it (about 470 calories for this breakfast).  

In the afternoon I went to the women’s event at my church with my mom, sister, and grandmother.  They served a catered lunch of salad, fruit, pasta primavera, and a variety of homemade desserts.  I had a plain side salad that had chickpeas, olives, cucumber, and tomatoes in it, and I also had a bowl of fruit (grapes, watermelon, pineapple, honeydew…but mostly just grapes)!  I brought a PB and strawberry preserves sandwich with me because I knew what was on the menu.  I ate that as well, and an apple I brought with me on the way home.  It was a fun time, but we didn’t win any of the beautiful baskets  I was a number off from winning one too!  haha.  After the banquet, I was planning on going home and heading straight to the gym.  Brian called and said he would run with me outside, so I did that instead!  We did 50 minutes around my neighborhood.  Very refreshing!  Oh, yeah.  I would like to thank everyone for helping me reach a decision on which cookbook to buy next!  I ending up ordering ED&BV on amazon yesterday right before my run!  I am so excited for it to be delivered!  

Last night, for dinner, I made pizza, fries, and chips for myself!  How unhealthy does this seem?  VERY!!!!!!  But it wasn’t, at all.  In fact it was quite the opposite.  I made a pizza on an Ezekiel sprouted grain tortilla.  I topped it with 1/2 cup crushed tomatoes plus spices, fresh garlic, broccoli, spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and vegan gourmet cheese alternative!  I popped that into the oven at 400 for 12-15 minutes, and it was perfect!  For the fries, I had a sweet potato cut into circles.  I put it into the microwave whole for 10 minutes and then into the oven with some S&P for 10 minutes ish.  The chips…Kale chips!!  I have been wanting to try these, and I finally got to it!  I used about a cup and put 1/2 tsp EVOO on them plus S&P, then into the oven for about 12 minutes at 375.  My family tried some of mine and liked them too!  yay for that!  This was a fun dinner for me  My grandma was over, and she was so intrigued by what I was making!  We were discussing all kinds of vegetables that most people have never heard of!  I was impressed!  After this amazing dinner, Brian and I went to the movies to see What Happens in Vegas!  GREAT movie!  I love Cameron Diaz.  She’s one of my favorites!  After the movie, we got dessert!  We bought a pint of Good Karma Organic Rice Divine-Mud Pie.  I ate about half, and it was delicious!  

This morning I had another bowl of pumpkin oatmeal except with 1 tbsp agave nectar instead of the maple syrup.  I went to the gym after church and did 50 minutes of cardio (the usual) and pushups, sit-ups, and stretching.  I had a pb and strawberry preserves sandwich after with and orange and a kiwi to hold me over until our 3:00 lunch/dinner out for Mother’s Day.  We went to Ichiban, A Japanese Steakhouse.  I got an avocado roll and edamame.  Both were excellent, and since my lunch/dinner was rather light, I am going to have somewhat of a second dinner!  I loved this place!!  I’ve been to other Japanese steakhouses in my area, and I like this one the best!  Their menu has more vegan options on it than any other place.  Others usually just have vegetable roll and then salad and soup.  Here, they offered a tofu appetizer, avocado salad, tofu soup, and other vegetarian sushi.  I can’t wait to go back there!  Have a great day everyone, and enjoy the rest of your weekend!  I am going to watch the Pen’s game (my sister is there-jealous!)!  GO PENS!!!  

 

A little Disappointed

This afternoon I went out to run some errands, and ended up at Borders checking out Vegan cookbooks.  I wanted to buy one, but I could not decide.  So, I am asking all of my blog readers to help me out!  I went in to the store looking for ED&BV, but they did not have it.  Here’s what was there that I am interested in:  Garden of Vegan, How it All Vegan, Dolce La Vegan, VWAV, Vive Le Vegan, The Everyday Vegan, and Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World.  Vote for one of those, or ED&BV because I can always order it  I would love everyone’s opinions!  After browsing I made my way to the gym for a somewhat short workout (30 minutes running, 5 minutes stairmaster).  I cut it short today because it was 2:30 and my stomach was growling.  I just couldn’t continue, so I left and I fixed the problem by eating lunch!  I needed something quick, and what’s easier than PB&J?!  I had my sandwich with strawberry preserves on sprouted wheat with sides of an orange, kiwi, and 4 oz plain soy yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup pumpkin, cinnamon, and a tsp agave.  Yummy!  The pumpkin yogurt looks like a bowl of peanut butter!  I wish that much peanut butter could be healthy!!  Lunch was 582 calories, 22 g fat, 19 g fiber, and 23 g protein.  

For dinner, I planned to make Mac Daddy from Veganomicon.  Frankly, I was a little disappointed.  I wasn’t expecting it to taste exactly like the real deal, but it tasted a little funky to me.  I cut back on the oil by half and the salt.  i just sprinkled some salt on top.  I also used water instead of vegetable broth because it was more convenient.  For those of you who have made this before, do you think these alterations could be the cause of my not so good result?  I was very sad to experience my first disappointment with V’con.    With my 1.5 cup portion (about 1/5 of the recipe) I had some red cabbage salad.  I ate an apple soon after during the Penguins game!  THEY WON!!!!  Hooray!!!  I’m getting so nervous.    My dinner plus apple was 807 calories, 13 g fat, 29 g fiber, and 46 g protein.  

PS-sorry for the bad camera phone pics  

 

long day, tired blogger

As you all know, I had a long day yesterday.  I wasn’t tired waking up because I was excited, you know?  It was 4:50 am and I was making my breakfast.  Banana oatmeal with soymilk, walnuts, flaxseed, wheat germ, cinnamon, agave nectar, and spoonful of PB.  I was hardly hungry at this hour of the morning, but this breakfast would sure keep me fueled through my long morning–or at least most of it.  Breakfast was 483 calories, 16 g fat, 13 g fiber, and 16 g protein.  

Clinical went well!  Of course it wasn’t very exciting the first day because we basically got a tour of the hospital and our unit.  We were introduced to the computers, which we will be using to enter pt’s info, etc.  That’s what we did for five hours from 7-12…well, 11:40 (we finished a bit early).  Lab is at 11, but since we finished clinical early, we met up again in the skills lab at 12:40, leaving me an hour to eat my lunch.  I went about six hours without eating anything!!  I started to get hungry at 10:00, but my growling stomach didn’t last long.  I don’t think there is any way to get a snack in midmorning at the hospital, so this is how it’s going to be I suppose.  So, my lunch consisted of a black bean hummus sandwich on sprouted wheat.  (I made the hummus by mashing 1/4 cup black beans with 1 Tbsp tahini and about 1 Tbsp lemon juice–I was too lazy to use the blender, but this method worked quite well, and the result was tasty).  I had my sandwich with some spinach as well.  On the side, I had carrots, fruit (kiwi and frozen raspberries and blueberries), and plain soy yogurt with 1 Tbsp wheat germ and some more frozen blueberries and raspberries (because they wouldn’t all fit into my fruit container).  My lunch was good except for the fact that everything got mixed up and my kiwi turned purple from the berries, so it wasn’t too pretty (good thing I took a picture the night before!)  This filled me up with 606 calories, 14 g fat, 20 g protein, and 27 g protein.  

haha! Sorry about the plastic wrap.  It’s not very picture friendly.    Don’t know what I was doing..

After lunch, I still had three hours to go until I could head home.  Skills lab was fun.  We demonstrated proper hand washing, preparation of a sterile field, and use of PPE (personal protective equipment).  We also began vital signs.  I have been practicing taking blood pressure on my family and Brian.  haha!  They’re going to be running away from me soon.  Once it was all over and I went home, I wasn’t tired yet, but knew it would hit me at some point.  I ate a perfectly delicious apple, and then by the time I took everyone’s blood pressure it was 6:00, and I was ready for dinner, so there wasn’t really time to make anything nor did I feel like it.  I heated up the last of my snobby joes, and had that on the side with a caesar wrap (an Ezekiel tortilla with romaine lettuce and the rest of the caesar dressing from the night before).  I also had some more carrots on the side.  It hit the spot.  Dinner + apple = 493 calories, 12 g fat, 24 g fiber, and 24 g protein!  

Sorry for the poor quality-phone camera pics..

 

I had a snack shortly after dinner because I felt the need for peanut butter!  I had 2 Tbsp PB and some strawberry preserves on sprouted grain bread (1 slice).  This satisfied my craving.  I just can’t get over how good the Trader Joe’s peanut butter is!!! It almost tastes like a reese’s peanut butter cup to me!  My snack was 283 calories, 18 g fat, 6 g fiber, and 12 g protein.  

I decided to not go to the gym because I was on my feet all day and would thank myself for giving myself a break later.  I am glad I did because I fell asleep at 9:30 while watching For Love of the Game with Brian.  I fell asleep within the first 15 minutes of it!  I felt refreshed this morning and started my day off with another bowl of banana oatmeal.  I wanted to make some french toast but didn’t feel like figuring it out since I was pretty hungry already.  This time I used half rolled oats (1/4 cup) and half cracked wheat cereal (1/8 cup) though and upped the agave to a Tbsp instead of a half b/c I was feeling extra sweet this morning! haha.  Everything else was the same.  (cinnamon, flax, wheat germ, walnuts, soymilk, and PB)  Together it was 483 calories, 15 g fat, 15 g fiber, and 14 g protein.  

I’m headed to the gym now and then back here for some studying and the Pen’s game later!!!!! (Game 1 in the third series for the conference finals!!)  YESSS!  Enjoy your Friday everyone

 

Short and sweet

I gotta make this post a quick one because I have to get to bed asap since I am getting up at 5 am!!!!  YIKES!  Clinical starts at 7 am, and I won’t be done until 4pm (I have an hour break at 12)!  It’s gonna be a long one!  I decided against the gym today and stuck with the outdoors theme by going for a run outside in my neighborhood!  It was 50 minutes of just what I needed (I walked some/more than usual…I was feeling sluggish today, and listened to my body)!  So, for dinner I quickly decided to make Veganomicon’s caesar dressing (sort of–I didn’t use any oil that it called for).  I halved the recipe, and had half of it on a huge bed of romaine with some spinach and cucumber and topped it with fresh ground black pepper.  It was pretty tasty!  I love caesar salads!  With my salad I had 1 cup dry whole wheat penne with .75 cups canned crushed tomatoes with oregano, thyme, basil, and garlic powder.  I also cooked in about an ounce of vegan gourmet to make the sauce a bit creamy.  This was a very filling dinner at 587 calories, 18 g fat, 18 g fiber, and 29 g protein. 

Even though I wasn’t hungry I still thought I needed a snack and would probably be hungry soon due to the fact that I was most likely full from such volume!  So, I had a banana bread muffin and an apple.  Yummy snack!  My snack was 231 calories, 1 g fat, 9 g fiber, and 3 g protein.  

Now, I must shower, pack my lunch, watch a CD-ROM to learn some things for tomorrow, and most importantly, go to bed!!!  Tomorrow’s post will be all in one most likely.  Have a good evening!  

 

Stuck in the city

This morning I had a bit more time to spare.  I didn’t have to get the bus until 10:13 for my noon class.  With this in mind I planned a somewhat different breakfast than the past few days.  The only difference was I used steel cut oats instead of rolled.  haha.  I enjoyed my chewy oatmeal with the same mixins and toppings though.  1/2 cup soymilk, 3/4 cup water, banana, cinnamon, flax, wheat germ, walnuts, PB spoonful, and agave nectar, which I mixed in this time instead of drizzling it on top.  Perfect for 471 calories, 16 g fat, 16 g fiber, and 18 g protein.  

Usually I take the express bus to school because it takes me straight there, but the last one is at 8:00 am, and I wanted to sleep as long as I could especially since I didn’t have class until noon.  After today, I’m thinking I would rather go to bed earlier (once I get into a routine again) than deal with the craziness of the city while transferring to another bus.  I was supposed to get off of the first bus and walk to catch the transfer, but as I was walking, I saw that bus go by!  It was EARLY by about 3 minutes!!!  I don’t know my way around the city very well, and it kind of intimidates me!  I was freaking out not only because I felt unsafe, but I was going to be late for class.  My mom looked up info online for me and helped me over the phone.  I finally got onto a bus that was going where I needed to go, a half an hour later.  I was ten minutes late for class, which wasn’t too bad.  Whew!  So, from now on I think I may just take the express bus to save myself from all that.  I will go to the library and study for three hours before class I guess!  After an hour and fifty minutes of class (well an hour and forty for me), I went to the park to eat my lunch since it is a beautiful day.  It was nice but ended up being a little too windy that my napkins couldn’t handle it!  I surely enjoyed the fresh air and scenery though!  For my lunch I packed a PB (first time using TJ’s creamy-soooo good!!!!) and TJ’s strawberry preserves (also excellent) sandwich on TJ’s sprouted wheat, kiwi, grapes, and red cabbage salad that I made last night!  this was 562 calories, 21 g fat, 15 g fiber, and 20 g protein. 

I figured my textbook wouldn’t like the wind too much either, so I moved inside to the library for that.  I saw the computers though and decided to  blog instead, so that’s where I am right now!  It’s time for me to head to the bus stop though, and then to the gym directly after getting off the bus, so I will see you later for dinner!  

(Note: I just posted this (two and a half hours later than I wrote it) because I just got the pics uploaded)

 

Two firsts

I think I may have to start posting once a day due to my busy schedule.  Most of my posts may be shorter as well, but I want to keep blogging.  

First, I would like to send a big thanks to Jumping Jill and Kristin’s Nibbles for awarding me the Excellent Blog Award!!!  They are both inspirational bloggers to me, and I am going to pass this award onto others (most who have probably already received it).  

Betsy Cooks Healthy Food-She is so inspirational from her healthy food to her passion for running.  I enjoy reading her blog, and hope for the best for her with her knee!  

VeggieGirl-I admire her enthusiasm towards cooking, health, nutrition, and life!  Her blog is always a joy to read!  

Eat, Live, Run-Jenna’s blog is one that I first discovered that introduced me into the blogging world.  She is such an inspiration, and I love her food philosophy!

Vegan Eating for One-I love her food philosophy as well!  She sure does a great job cooking for one, shown by all of her delicious meals!  

ChocolateCoveredVegan-She also always has such a positive attitude!  It’s catchy, and I love to see all of her yummy food (esp baking!)! 

 

To lotuslove10-I just went through my spam, which I haven’t checked for a while.  It caught your comments!  I’m sorry  I am glad you liked the banana bread muffins!  I like the changes you made.  They sound good, and I would like to try it next time.  Also, I’m glad you like my blog!  The fiber and flax bread is by Arnold.  It’s the original Brownberry bread.  The newer Brownberry started to have HFCS in it, and so the original recipe was brought back by popular request the bag said!  haha.  It was good, but the ingredients list is a little longer than I like.  It’s still healthy, I love reading simple ingredients lists!  The bread is 80 calories per slice.  

Onto my day.  I didn’t photograph my breakfast because it was the same as yesterday and the day before, so I thought I’d spare you another practically identical picture of my 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup soymilk, 3/4 cup water, a banana, 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal, 1 Tbsp wheat germ, 1 Tbsp walnuts, agave nectar, cinnamon, and a spoonful of PB.  It was the same amount of calories and all…obviously.  about 480, etc.  

I left for school for one class (Pharmacology and therapeutics) at 8 and got home at 12:30!  Not bad at all!  I was lucky to be able to make my lunch at home.  I took some frozen dill tahini vegetables I’d made a few weeks ago using V’con’s dill tahini sauce if you recall.  I heated those up in the microwave and cut up a kiwi and peeled an orange.  I had a sandwich as well with Ezekiel sprouted whole grain bread.  On the sandwich I had 1/4 cup black beans, spinach, and salsa.  Yummy lunch.  After I ate this I found grapes in the fridge so I had about 15 of those.  (I didn’t count, I’m just estimating).  Lunch was 539 calories, 11 g fat, 20 g fiber, and 23 g protein.  

I felt like I needed a snack before going to baby sit at 3:00 in order to hold me over until dinner, so I had a whole orange bell pepper, a cup of unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon and a banana bread muffin.  Yum!!  300 calories, 1 g fat, 10 g fiber, and 5 g protein.  

Baby-sitting was a fun time as always.  I was not in the mood to make dinner again because, well, I just felt tired.  I wanted something new though, so I made some tempeh.  This is the first time I have ever had tempeh, and I liked it!  It was Lightlife Three Grain tempeh that I bought at Whole Foods.  I had half of the package (4 oz) and cooked it (burned it slightly) in a skillet with some Low sodium soy sauce.  I’m trying not to add oils to food, especially not to cook with because of the free radicals it can create.  I would rather eat olives or nuts anways.  So, with the tempeh I decided to have quinoa and broccoli.  I felt like jazzing up the quinoa a bit, so in the spirit of trying new things, I decided to toss in some curry powder, and I must say I am not a fan.  I don’t know if I need to actually try a recipe first or something, but bleh.  I also added soy sauce and rice vinegar to it.  I should have left it plain and simple.  I ruined my lovely quinoa!  How sad!  It wasn’t the worst thing I have ever eaten and actually not terrible.  I just would never make it like that again.  I think I will give curry another chance though because I feel bad to judge a food after only one, especially since I just tossed it in without really knowing what I was doing.  I had a salad on the side that looked like more of an entree, but don’t my salads always seem that way?  I put tomato, cucumber, salsa, and 2 Tbsp sunflower kernels on it for some healthy fat.  Indian and Mexican?  haha.  This meal was obviously not well thought out, but I enjoyed it.  It was 595 calories, 20 g fat, 25 g fiber, and 36 g protein.  

I had too much protein today, a little too many carbs, and too little healthy fat.  I’m almost always too high in protein.  Most non-foodies and non-vegetarians/vegans would be amazed to see these numbers since I don’t eat meat.  haha!  It amuses me.  Even though I was high and low for nutrients I suppose it all evens out in the end.  67 grams of fiber total!!! WOW.  

I got absolutely no school work done today.  I’m going to buckle down tomorrow.  Along with that on my agenda I need to buy some shoes for Thursday for my clinical in the hospital, go to the gym or run outside, cook as always, and blog.  I feel so busy these days.  It was nice when I was an omni in terms of not having to cook for myself every meal every day.  I love to cook, and wish the days were longer.  If only…

Have a good night everyone, and the clock is dinging at midnight as I type here in my house, so Have a good humpday!!  

 

A weekend full of excitement

Happy Cinco de Mayo!!!  

First, I would like to apologize for not posting at all yesterday, but what an exciting day I had!!  I felt like a dog yesterday (sore throat, headache, etc.), but today I am feeling much better!  On Saturday, Brian told me had tickets.  Tickets to what?  Well, the Pen’s game, of course!  They were winning the series 3-1, and only had to win one more game to move on to the next series.  He won them on Ebay!  How amazing is that?!  I didn’t believe him at first.  We went to one last year, and they lost against the Ottawa Senators in the first series  I didn’t want them to lose again!  So, we left Sunday at 10 am, and did not get back home until 6:30.  For those of you who do not know, then Penguins won!   It was the most exciting game I’ve ever been to.  I was so nervous, and it was neat because our seats were on the end, first row in the balcony, which are almost right on top of the net, and every goal of the game was scored at our end!!!  Here we come Philadelphia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We ate dinner and then watched a movie (Rendition-it was very good!), and before I knew, it was time for bed.  I had to get everything ready and my lunch packed for school today, take a shower, and get to bed asap since today was an early start for me.  I woke up at 6 am after getting only six and a half hours of sleep.  I’m feeling fine though!  The first day of the semester was good!  I’m looking forward to my classes.  My work load won’t be terrible because I’m only taking two courses, but they are both pretty challenging.  I went to the gym afterwards, right when I got off of the bus and did the usual 60 minute workout.  35 treadmill, 5 Stairmaster, stretching, abs, pushups, 10 ET.  It felt great and really worked up my appetite!  So, here is what I had for my past seven meals while I was on a blogging hiatus!!  

Saturday night I made a salad (the same salad as Friday) with a pasta dish of about a cup cooked whole wheat penne, 3/4 cup sliced mushrooms, the rest of the V’con broiled tofu I made a while ago, kale, and low sodium soy sauce.  Very quick and delish.  My dinner was 595 calories, 25 g fat, 19 g fiber, and 29 g protein.  

Sunday morning I ate a late (10:30 am) breakfast out of containers at Brian’s house.  I packed food with me!  I had PB and blueberry preserves on TJ’s sprouted wheat, about 3/4 cup plain silk soy yogurt with a Tbsp wheat germ and a Tbsp flaxseed meal, and a banana.  (No pic, sorry).  This meal was rather calorically dense because I knew I’d need the fuel for the game!  It was 645 calories, 24 g fat, 15 g fiber, and 28 g protein.  

Brian and I planned to cookout at the game, so he packed his burgers, some Pepperidge farm whole wheat hamburger buns, and mustard, whereas I brought a Boca burger, 1/4 of an avocado, fresh spinach, and an orange from home for myself.  So, at 12:30 (I know, so close to breakfast, but lunch was small and I was comfortably full!) I put my Boca burger on a bun with the avocado, spinach, and some mustard and my orange on the side.  It was not a good orange  How disappointing, but if that was the worst thing that happened to me all day, that’s not bad at all!!  Lunch was about 350 calories, 9 g fat, 11 g fiber, and 26 g protein.  No picture again, sorry!

And onto dinner…I heated up a frozen portion of snobby joes in the microwave.  I put about half of it in my last La tortilla factory garlic and herb tortilla and had the rest on the side (because it wouldn’t fit) along with an orange bell pepper (I LOVE these!), a kiwi, a salad (spinach, iceberg salad blend, 1/4 avocado, tomato, cucumber, onion, some of the orange pepper, and 2 Tbsp Annie’s Roasted red pepper vinaigrette), and a glass (almost a cup) of plain soymilk.  It was exactly what I was looking for as I was in no mood at all to cook at the time after a long day.  Brian also had some sloppy joe and liked it!    510 calories, 19 g fat, 28 g fiber, and 25 g protein.  

I missed my oatmeal yesterday, and had a nice creamy bowl for breakfast this morning.  I made it the same way I did on Saturday with 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup soymilk, 3/4 cup water, a sliced banana, 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal, 1 Tbsp wheat germ, 1 Tbsp walnuts, cinnamon, a spoonful of PB, and agave nectar.  Perfect.  480 calories, 16 g fat, 15 g fiber, and 17 g protein.  

My packed lunch at school consisted of a pb and blueberry preserves sandwich on TJ’s sprouted wheat, 1/2 cup plain silk soy yogurt, baby carrots, a kiwi, and a orange (this one was nice and juicy!).  I ate with a friend outside.  It was beautiful outside, and added to my enjoyable lunch!  (Another pictureless meal )  587 calories, 21 g fat, 17 g fiber, and 24 g protein.  

After the gym I made myself a mexican style dinner in the spirit of Cinco de Mayo!  This made my decision on what to make for dinner very simple!  I had a burrito and a salad.  I used one of my new Ezekiel sprouted grain tortillas (loved it!) and added sauteed 1/2 cup black beans, white onions, and red bell pepper.  Then I added some chili powder and hot sauce and topped it with tomato, 1/4 an avocado, salsa, and some vegan gourmet cheese.  I decided to add the cheese at the last minute and didn’t feel like messing around to melt it, so it wasn’t melted.  Still good though.  This burrito was difficult to wrap up, and a lot of the filling fell out while I was eating it!  I’m not too good at making wraps, burritos, etc. work.  haha.  It was still great!  My salad consisted of iceberg salad blend, the rest of the red bell pepper, 1/4 an avocado, tomato, onion, and some more salsa!  Great dinner at 571 calories, 23 g fat, 22 g fiber, and 23 g protein.  

I had a banana bread muffin and a cup of unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon for my evening snack.  Yum!  253 calories, 1 g fat, 8 g fiber, and 3 g protein.  

Time to do some reading and get to bed somewhat early tonight!