Trust My Intuition

Yesterday, for dinner I had to pack something to eat it in the car while Brian drove to practice hitting for baseball.  I didn’t have much time, but I managed to throw something together!  I had my VERY FIRST EZEKIEL ENGLISH MUFFIN!   These are soo much better than Thomas English muffins that I used to eat!  I stopped eating Thomas’s because of the HFCS, but they’ve omitted them added milk and eggs, so I still couldn’t eat them!  I’m not sad though because Ezekiel’s are a million times better!  I had one with a Boca burger, dijon mustard, cucumber, and tomato.  It was delicious!  I wish I had a black bean burger on hand or something because Boca’s aren’t the tastiest, and I dislike eating anything processed.  Along with my “burger” I had an ear of corn, the rest of my roasted red pepper and almond hummus with a raw yellow bell pepper for dipping, and a salad of romaine, tomato, onion, cucumber, and raspberry vinaigrette.  I was able to snap a picture of it all together on my countertop before leaving.  

Brian and I went to Costco after he practiced hitting.  I belong to Sam’s club, not Costco, but his family belongs to Costco!  They’re pretty much the same thing, but I wanted to check out their products.  They carry LARABARS for $20, so I had to buy a pack!!  The pack contains 18 bars and six of each Apple Pie, Cherry Pie, and Cashew Cookie.  I’ve never had Cashew cookie, so I was pretty excited about that!  haha.  They also have old fashioned oats (Sam’s only carries instant, so I buy rolled at WF, which is more expensive than they would be at Sam’s), and Nature’s Path Flax Plus granola.  I wanted to buy some, but I didn’t need to spend any more money and have enough food already in the house for me to eat!  

I also packed my breakfast last night.  I had some plain soy yogurt with hemp plus granola, slivered almonds, and cinnamon, and fresh blueberries!  Yum!  

I had to baby sit today from 10-3.  I wasn’t expecting to be there until 3 though, so I didn’t pack a lunch.  I’m glad I bought those Larabars!  I had cashew cookie.  It was great!  The kids wanted some of it, and I felt bad but it was all that I had to eat!  I was also pretty sure they wouldn’t like it.  They thought it was a granola bar anyways.  haha.  I ended up eating a banana there, a salad (some lettuce with banana peppers, pickles, and salsa…not too good, but I was starving!), and some carrots.  I was still hungry, so I ate a bunch of pretzels, and that seemed to do it!  When I got home I had 2 Tbsp of peanut butter and some watermelon before heading out for a run.  I decided to go to the park for a run today for a change and since I’d been wanting to run there.  It is five miles around the lake, and I did one lap in forty one minutes.  I am very happy with that and had a great time!  I was going to run another lap, and I totally could have, but it was six thirty, and I wanted to get home to make dinner.  I plan on running two laps next week sometime.  I want to run a marathon eventually, and thinking that a marathon is a little more than 5 laps around the lake doesn’t make it seem too difficult!  I can do it!    

For dinner I had a quesadilla using a whole wheat Garden of Eatin tortilla and FYH vegan cheddar.  I topped it with some salsa!  I also made kale chips, which I burnt a bit but they were still excellent!; an ear of corn; a sliced portabello (my last one), white onion, and endive sauteed in a skillet with some vegan worcestershire, lemon juice, salt, and pepper; and a salad of romaine, tomato, cucumber, a flower made of endive, which came about completely by accident!, and raspberry vinaigrette.  I filled the “flower” with dressing to make it a pinkish color!!  I was pretty excited about my little discovery!  Everything was delicious.  

Tonight is the first time in a long while that I don’t feel like I have something to do or somewhere to be, and I can just relax for the rest of the night.  It is a great feeling not having too much to think about for once.  I plan on using the rest of my night to cook some things to freeze (snobby joes, black bean burgers, chickpea cutlets, muffins) and make a new batch of hummus!  I am also going to finish watching a movie that Brian watched last night while I fell asleep halfway through!  I did wake up at 5 am yesterday, so I have a good reason.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

*I’m not sure why my pictures have been smaller the past few days than they usually are since I didn’t change a thing on here or on my camera.  I know I can manually change the size, but it distorts my pictures.  If anyone could help, I would be grateful!  Thanks!

I had my delicious bowl of carob oatmeal this morning for breakfast and snapped a photo of it this time!!  I used 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1 cup soy milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 sliced banana, a tbsp carob powder, 1 tbsp maple syrup, 1 tbsp flaxseed meal, 2 tbsp slivered almonds, cinnamon, and a PB spoon!  Sooo good!  (The dark spots in are from the carob)  

For lunch I packed a PB&J, carrots, and fruit (papaya, blueberries, and kiwi).  The day has been going very well.  My week of exams is over, and everything they all went pretty well, I believe.  It helps that the Penguins won last night too!  I am sooo happy!  No exercise today for me.  I’m taking a rest day!  

For dinner I made lemony-cashew pesto on pasta from ED&BV.  It was great!  I think I should have added some more pasta water at the end because it was a tad thick, but it was excellent nevertheless!  With it I sauteed some a fennel bulb in a nonstick skillet with lemon juice, salt, and pepper.  Delicious!  

Breakfast was on the go this morning.  I ate in my car while parked in the parking lot waiting for the bus to arrive.  I packed some plain soy yogurt with hemp plus granola, slivered almonds, flaxseed meal, and cinnamon (packed in a separate container, so it wouldn’t get soggy); and blueberries and kiwi.  

I got to school early this morning so I could study for a few hours before my exam.  Right before the exam I had a banana with some PB to hold me over because lunch wouldn’t be until around 1:30-2:00 ish.  I’m pretty sure my test went very well though!  It was a two hour long test, but I finished it in an hour and twenty minutes even though I was the last one to finish!  I always take a long time.  

For lunch I packed a salad of romaine with sunflower kernels, tomato, cucumber, and Annie’s raspberry vinaigrette; papaya and watermelon; and a roasted red pepper hummus sandwich with lettuce and tomato on Whole Foods whole wheat tuscany.  

I finished up my lunch and headed to the bus stop.  I’m getting used to this bus in the city thing!  I went for another 5.68 mile run/walk when I got home, although this time I ran all but I’d say half a mile!  When I loop around once and pass my house, I stop for a drink.  It was so hot out today, and I really needed it.  On my way out of the driveway I saw another snake that was about three feet long!  My dad got my dog’s “pooper scooper”, picked it up, and took it down the street to the storm drain.  I was scared!  haha.  

It is now dinner time, so I’m off!  Then later, game three of the Stanley Cup Finals.  I hope the Penguins are able to do something effective tonight and bring home a win!  

Yesterday’s lunch consisted of a roasted red pepper and almond hummus sandwich on whole wheat with tomato, lettuce, and cucumber, and an apple on the side.  I didn’t want to eat a lot because I was getting ready to go to a picnic.  At the picnic I ate about a cup of plain whole wheat penne and a salad with red bull italian dressing.  I also snacked on some raw veggies.  Everything else was meat or cheese.  

For dinner I came home and cooked some flax tempeh in a skillet with soy sauce and lemon juice.  Then I sauteed some kale in the skillet in lemon juice.  With this I ate some more coconut lime basmati rice and a salad of arugula and basil with dried cranberries and Annie’s raspberry vinaigrette.  Then, sadly, I watched the Pens lose again  

I woke up at 5 am this morning to study more for my pharmacology exam.  I was not ready for breakfast, but my stomach was growling, so I ate two kiwis and some fresh blueberries.  That held me over well for a couple of hours until breakfast.   For breakfast I made some yummy oatmeal that I didn’t get to take a picture of  I used 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup soy milk, 1 cup water, a sliced banana, 1 Tbsp carob powder, 2 Tbsp slivered almonds, a Tbsp flaxseed meal, a Tbsp pure maple syrup, and some cinnamon.  I finished it off with a PB spoon.  It was delicious!  I will make this again and post a picture!  

For lunch I made a roasted red pepper and almond hummus quesadilla.  I sort of followed ED&BV breakfast quesadilla, but I didn’t use tempeh.  Who needs cheese to make a quesadilla?  Hummus is better anyway IMO!  I slathered some hummus on two small ezekiel tortillas and put chopped tomato, fresh basil, salt and peper in between.  I heated it up in a skillet until the tortillas were crispy.  I only ended up cutting it in half instead of fours because the filling was oozing out (as you can see I put some of the oozed out stuff on top!).  I served it with a cup of soy yogurt with slivered almonds, some fresh papaya that wasn’t quite ripe (oops!), salsa, lime wedges, and a water with lime!  Yummy lunch today!  

I spent the afternoon cleaning and washing and cutting fruits and vegetables.  I also did some other cleaning around the house.  I didn’t have the time to get a run in today, and am off to Brian’s shortly.  For dinner I had another portabello mushroom with Vegan Worcestershire and lemon juice, the rest of my coconut lime brown basmati rice, a salad of romaine with tomato and Annie’s raspberry vinaigrette, and an ear of corn!  

I have my breakfast and lunch all set for tomorrow and will be brining my camera with me!  Have a good day.  Tomorrow is hump day!  

Yesterday for lunch in the park, I packed a tortilla with roasted red pepper and almond hummus and romaine lettuce.  I also had blueberries, kiwi, and an orange bell pepper.  It was very nice out, but we didn’t stay for long because there were lots of people and Brian didn’t have much luck catching fish, although he did catch one…

I was hungry when I got home and had a slice of whole wheat tuscany from Whole Foods cut in half with PB and blueberry preserves!  

Last night I was having a difficult time deciding what to make for dinner.  I wanted to make ED&BV coconut lime basmati rice, but I didn’t feel like heating up the oven to make tofu or making anything too complicated.  Even though the parts of my meal didn’t really go together, I decided on a portabello mushroom, coconut lime basmati rice, and a salad.  All were delicious on their own!  I cooked the mushroom in a skillet for a little bit, just enough to heat it up basically, with vegan Worcestershire, lime, sea salt, and black pepper.  It was delicious!!!!  My salad was a mixture of organic arugula, fresh basil, tomato, cucumber, dried apricots, slivered almonds, and Annie’s raspberry vinaigrette.  Yum!!  

I felt the need to eat more to procrastinate from studying my Pharmacology notes.  I made ice cream!!!  I got the idea from ED&BV Cashew banana ice cream.  I used what was left of a frozen banana, peanut butter, carob powder, pure maple syrup, and a bit of salt.  What a cool treat!  Literally!  I also ate too much peanut butter out of the jar along with some cashew clusters.  Yikes!  haha.  

This morning I made oatmeal!  I used 1/2 cup of rolled oats, 1/2 cup soy milk, 1 cup water, a banana, and cinnamon.  I added a tbsp of flaxseed meal at the end, and once poured into my bowl, I topped it with vegan semi sweet chocolate chips, slivered almonds, and a drizzle of agave.  Talk about an amazing bowl of oats!!  This is going to be a new favorite!    

I just got back from a fabulous run!  I ran 4.31 miles around my neighborhood, according to mapmyrun.com, until I met up with my parents!  I walked with them for 1.37 miles for a total of 5.68 miles in an hour and five minutes!!  I feel great!  I’ll “see” you later hopefully for lunch and dinner.  Wish the Penguins some luck, okay?  

GO PENS!  

I was tagged three times by Cassie from Fast, Fresh, and Fit; Kristin from Kristin’s Nibbles; and Evey from Vegan Nurse to participate in a survey about myself.  

1. Link to your tagger and post these rules.
2. Share 5 facts about yourself.
3. Tag 5 people at the end of your post and list their names, linking to them.
4. Let them know they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment at their blogs.

Here are my 5:

1. I am a neat/clean freak and make my bed every morning.  (Dork)
2. I am a homebody, so I would rather live at home than at school therefore I now commute.  (Dork x 2)
3. I was a dancer for fifteen years (age three to eighteen).  I did tap, jazz, acrobatics, and ballet.  
4. I used to be able to touch my butt to my head, but since I haven’t danced in a few years this talent has gone away, though I am still very flexible!  I’m sure it would come back in a couple of weeks.  
5. I used to play the violin from elementary through high school, but it wasn’t exactly my calling in life…   

You now know five relatively new things about me, and it’s my turn to pass this on to more bloggers!  I tag Lindsay from Happy Herbivore, Chickpea from Beyond Tofurky, Emily from Gliding Calm, Betsy from Betsy Cooks Healthy Food, and Alice from Alice in Veganland.  

Time to make dinner!  I’m having such a difficult time trying to decide on what to make next from ED&BV!  

It’s hard to believe it’s almost been a week since my last post.  Time flies!  I’m going to be posting sporadically for a while until things slow down.  I will just post about any cool recipes I’ve tried or good food I’ve made that is different from what my usual intake, or you may see more if time permits.  On another note:  about calorie counting…I don’t count calories on thedailyplate.com for weight loss even though I am trying to lose weight.  That kind of seems backwards right?  I log my foods to make sure I am eating enough and to balance everything out, although everything usually balances out on its own.  The following explanation may make things simpler (or complicate things further I suppose).  In the past I have always eaten healthy meals, but I tended to overeat on weekends and during the week in times of stress.  I ate lots of unhealthy foods like chocolate and other things, but chocolate is what comes to mind first!  Knowing this, I believe that I was not at a weight I should be.  I was not overweight (5′7 140 lbs), but I knew that if I ate healthy (not binge on junk food) I would not be at that weight.  I always exercised at least 5 times a week, so that’s nothing new.  I just stopped pigging out and have been losing weight at a good pace.  My main focus is on being healthy and fit, and nourishing my body.  If I did that and was still 140 pounds, it wouldn’t make a difference to me.  I believe my body knows best, so the whole calorie counting thing is just to assure myself that I’m eating enough, and once my weight loss ceases at a point where I am maintaining (unless I get to a point where I don’t weigh enough) I will completely stop counting calories because I feel it is unnecessary especially when eating a well balanced diet, eating until comfortable (not stuffed), and being active.  Note:  Becoming vegan had nothing to do with any of this.  Having said all of this, I’m not going to include calorie counts, etc. in my posts anymore.  I hope this is okay with everyone.  

Onto the food…

Starting with Wednesday’s lunch.  

I had a PB and J and a bowl of plain soy yogurt with a sliced banana, fresh blueberries, cinnamon, and flaxseed meal.  I ate carrots while preparing this meal.  

Wednesday-dinner:

I made spaghetti…sort of.  I used whole wheat linguine for my pasta, and cooked some seitan in a skillet (I chopped the seitan while cooking to resemble ground meat) with a touch of hot sauce, tomato sauce, tomato paste, a chopped plum tomato, oregano, thyme, and pepper.  I served it with lightly steamed broccoli and 1/2 an avocado on top!  YUMM!!! This was my first time eating seitan, and I loved it!  

Later for a snack, I had some Nature’s Path peanut butter granola with a splash of plain soy milk.  

Thursday was another PB and J for lunch with carrots, a kiwi, and grapes.  I used the heel of the bread to finish off my TJ’s sprouted wheat.

For the rest of my meals I basically had oatmeal for breakfasts, more PB&Js, and finished all of my leftovers (chili and other odds and ends) in preparation to go to Whole Foods!  I went to Whole Foods yesterday with my mom and bought soooo many good foods!  Again, I’m very excited!  Just to mention a few things, I bought frozen Acai, 4 loaves of bread (froze 3), tortillas, PB, AB, carob powder, dry beans, oatmeal, slivered almonds, blue corn chips, hemp granola, sugar in the raw, Annie’s goddess, Annie’s raspberry vinaigrette, fennel, belgian endive, fresh basil, a seedless watermelon, sweet potatoes, kale, jalapenos, sun dried tomatoes, onions, tofu, soy milk, rice milk, frozen waffles, vegan carob chips, cornmeal, spelt flour, nutritional yeast, arugula, ezekiel english muffins, vegan Worcestershire, tamari, split peas, coconut milk, dijon mustard, fresh corn, portabello mushrooms, and roasted red peppers.  Okay, so that was pretty much everything!  I got a red papaya, blueberries, bananas, bell peppers, and carrots at Sam’s club the other day.  I can’t wait to have some papaya.  I need to do some reading about it first though!  

Yesterday, for breakfast I had my usual oatmeal, but slightly different.  I put the rest of my Nature’s Path PB granola on top and a drizzle of agave.  No walnuts this time.  I’m sorry to say, but I don’t think oatmeal and granola go together.  The granola takes away from the creamy goodness of the oatmeal.  

Yesterday, for dinner I made a salad with arugula, basil, tomatoes, avocado, and endive with raspberry vinaigrette!  I also had a whole wheat Garden of Eatin Tortilla with ED&BV’s amazing Roasted Red pepper and almond hummus and romaine lettuce!  Did I mention this hummus is amazing?!  My dad, who doesn’t like hummus (or didn’t think he did), thought it was great!  I followed the recipe on everything except I used no oil.  Instead I used a tbsp of Tahini.  Perfect hummus!  Very satisfying dinner.  I had a banana bread muffing for a snack afterwards while watching the Pens lose to the Detroit Red Wings.  The Pens need to step it up!  (No picture, sorry)

This morning, for breakfast I made ED&BV acai antioxidant smoothie.  This was amazing as well!  Dreena is a genius!  It’s confirmed.  I used carob powder, not cocoa powder and topped it with a few fresh blueberries that quickly sunk to the bottom!  haha.  With my smoothie I had a bowl of plain soy yogurt with hemp granola and cinnamon.  Perfect breakfast, and I can say that I don’t even miss my regular oatmeal.  Now, that’s saying something!!  OH, NO!  My picture is blurry I’m just as upset as you probably are.  Haha!  

I’m off to the park with Brian to study while he does some fishing…I’m going to pack my lunch!  I cannot wait to enjoy this beautiful weather  

I know I always say I’m going to make it a quick post because I have so much to do, but it always ends up being long because I have lots of catching up to do!  I’m going to try to make this quick!  I apologize for my absence the past couple of days.  (I had a test this morning that went very well.  I think I only missed two!)  My to do list keeps getting longer, and I must put a dent in it!!  

So, Saturday’s lunch is where I left off.  I wanted PB and J, but I told myself to let myself have it, I had to do something a little different.  I put a twist on an old favorite!  I had a PB and strawberry preserves quesadilla using an Ezekiel tortilla!  I heated the frozen tortilla in the microwave for about 20 seconds and then put it in a nonstick skillet with 2 Tbsp peanut butter and a Tbsp preserves spread on one half.  I folded it in half quesadilla style, and once it was crispy, I cut it into triangles.  On the side I had about a cup of plain soy yogurt with a Tbsp wheat germ, cinnamon, a kiwi, and fresh blueberries.  Lunch was served, and it was delicious.  I prefer PB and J on sandwich bread, but this was good, and the fruit and yogurt part was awesome!  So awesome that I decided to have this yesterday and today!  That lunch was 645 calories, 27 g fat, 16 g fiber, and 22 g protein.  

I went to the gym sometime after lunch for “the usual” workout.  Dinner wasn’t going to be until 8:30 (takeout from Pizza Fusion), so I decided to eat something at 5:30 ish and order light for dinner.  I had a whole red bell pepper sliced (only about half is pictured because I munched on it while deciding what to eat), an AB and blueberry preserves SANDWICH, and an apple.  So, it ended up being more like a meal than a snack!  I used the homemade AB from the other day.  It tasted good, but I like PB way better.  I may buy some AB from the store if I can ever justify spending $10 on a jar of nut butter!  My snack was 344 calories, 10 g fat, 15 g fiber, and 14 g protein.  

For dinner I ordered the Pacific Rim salad with Raspberry Vinaigrette dressing from Pizza Fusion.  I didn’t take a picture, but the salad consisted of organic spring mix, fresh mandarin oranges, red cabbage, cucumbers, snow peas, baby corn, and water chestnuts.  Much to my disappointment, after I’d already put the dressing on my salad and shook up the container, I read the ingredients.  I learned from my mistake.  Usually, I always check the ingredients first, but never did I think that this dressing would contain EGG YOLKS!  AHH!    At least the eggs were organic I guess, so maybe the chickens weren’t treated badly, but I still ate part of what could have been a chicken.  UGH!  Brian ordered the New York Strip sandwich and an order of Healthy Bread Sticks.  The bread sticks looked sooo good!  If only they didn’t use butter in them!  My estimation on my salad was 160 calories, 8 g fat, 8 g fiber, and 3 g protein.  

For breakfast on Sunday I made another “smoothie” the night before.  I used lite silken tofu, a drop of soy milk, 1/2 cup Ezekiel golden flax cereal, a banana, flaxseed meal, wheat germ, and agave nectar.  I put it all in a food processor, and after being refrigerated over night, it turns into something like pudding!  The last time I made this I thought it tasted good, but this time, it was actually quite awful!  I don’t know what happened, but it was gross!  I ate about two thirds of it along with an orange to add up to 408 calories, 8 g fat, 12 g fiber, and 18 g protein.  

Then I went out and bought a Penguin’s jersey!  I got Crosby in black.    For lunch, I had PB and strawberry preserves on sprouted wheat bread :), baby carrots, and soy yogurt with flaxseed meal, cinnamon, kiwi, and blueberries!!  650 calories, 26 g fat, 20 g fiber, and 27 g protein.  

For dinner I made “hot wings” again using 4 oz tempeh, a ton of hot sauce, soy sauce, lemon juice, and garlic.  On the side I had a serving of quinoa, a whole yellow bell pepper, and a salad with 1/2 an avocado and Annie’s roasted red pepper dressing.  641 calories, 29 g fat, 21 g fiber, and 29 g protein.  

For a snack, I had some dried fruit (1/4 cup dried prunes, and 1/4 cup dried apricots).  200 calories, 0 g fat, 6 g fiber, and 1 g protein.  

Finally, onto today!  For breakfast I had a bowl of oat bran with soy milk, banana, flaxseed, cinnamon, walnuts, a spoonful of PB, and agave nectar drizzled on for 468 calories, 15 g fat, 15 g fiber, and 15 g protein!  I find it amusing when numbers are the same like that!  haha

For lunch I packed plain soy yogurt, 1/2 cup ezekiel golden flax cereal, kiwi, blueberries, cinnamon, and a Tbsp wheat germ.  I layered all of the ingredients when it was time to eat my lunch today, so it wouldn’t be all soggy and gross.  It was delicious!  I didn’t have PB and J because I always do, and I’m pretty much out of bread, which means I’m going to Whole Foods tomorrow…or Wednesday!!!  I also had some carrots and 1/4 cup raw almonds.  This was a filling lunch at 645 calories, 24 g fat, 20 g fiber, and 24 g protein.  

I went to the gym right after class and did the usual workout again.  I felt very energized, which always makes for a great session!  Last, but not least, I had dinner!  I snacked on about a cup of grapes while I cooked.  I made chili!  I cut up half an onion and sauteed it in a skillet until caramelized.  Then I added about 1/2 cup of tomato sauce, 2 Tbsp tomato paste, 2 plum tomatoes diced, 1/2 cup water, and some garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and tons of chili powder!  After that was nice and bubbly, I added 1.25 cups of frozen corn, and a can of dark red kidney beans (1.75 cups).  This made two servings.  I cooked some brown basmati rice to go along with my chili, and had about a cup of that.  I topped it all with 1/2 an avocado.  MMMM mmm!  Interesting fact:  some tomato paste has partially hydrogenated oils, so be sure to check your labels!!  One of the cans at my house did.  I was checking to see the sodium content, and I’m glad I did!!  That boy stayed on the shelf!  My dinner plus grapes came in at 740 calories, 18 g fat, 21 g fiber, and 25 g protein.  

Phew!  So much for a quick post!  Sorry for the lack of photos (I know that’s the fun part!!!) Time to do some reading!  Have a good one!  

Thursday was my long day, as you know, and I really didn’t feel like posting nor did I take any pictures.  Trust me when I say you didn’t miss anything.  For breakfast I had a bowl of pumpkin banana oats with a spoonful of PB (the way I usually make it).  In my lunch I packed a sandwich with bean spread (1/4 cup navy beans, 1 Tbsp tahini, lemon juice), 1/4 an avocado, lettuce, and tomato on Ezekiel bread.  It was great!  On the side I ate two kiwis that were on their last legs, and some carrots.  I was definitely hungry when I got home at five and made the same dinner as Wednesday night!  An ezekiel tortilla with sauteed red pepper (half) and red onion, 1/4 an avocado, 1/4 cup navy beans, a plum tomato, FYH mozzarella, hot sauce, and lemon juice.  On the side I had some salad with salsa and the other half of the bell pepper plus some steamed broccoli from my parents’ dinner.  My total calories for the day were only about 1500!  That’s low for me, but I didn’t exercise.  I didn’t consciously do this though.  I wasn’t even hungry when I went to sleep that night, so I pretty much ate intuitively on Thursday!  Thursday was also a sad day to see the Pen’s lose against the Flyers  I’m hoping they win on Sunday to finish the series and move to the Stanley Cup!!!  

Yesterday was filled with fun food and relaxation-just what the doctor ordered.  I had pumpkin oats for breakfast again to finish off the pumpkin.  (My clinical teacher said “OMG look at your hand!  Your skin is yellow!” when my blood pressure was being taken by my classmate for practice.  He asked if I eat a lot of carrots!  I said yeah, and I had a couple sweet potatoes this week.  At the time, I didn’t remember the pumpkin!  I have been eating a lot of orange foods!  haha.  My skin does have a yellowish coloring though.  It’s olive toned.  I thought that was funny though!)  Back to the food… I used 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup soy milk, 3/4 cup pumpkin, a sliced banana, 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal, 2 tsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp walnuts, cinnamon, and a spoonful of PB.  Breakfast was 523 calories, 18 g fat, 18 g fiber, and 18 g protein!  Look at all the 18’s!  

After breakfast I had to baby sit for a few hours.  For lunch I made a PB and strawberry preserves sandwich on sprouted wheat.  I LOVE PB&J soooo much!    On the side I finished up the strawberries in my house and had some blueberries as well!  And what else did I have than some carrots?!  I washed it all down with a cup of unsweetened soy milk with cinnamon sprinkled on top.  (The soy milk is facing its last days and I didn’t want it to go to waste!)  Lunch was 558 calories, 24 g fat, 22 g fiber, and 29 g protein.  

I hit the gym a bit after lunch for a 50 minute cardio workout.  I did the usual.  30 minutes running, 10 stairmaster, and 10 ET.  Felt good even though I was feeling sort of drained from a lack of sleep Wednesday night (I only got 4 hours!!!!!)  I had an apple post-workout.  

I forgot to tell you…my copy of ED&BV arrived on Thursday!!  I was ecstatic!  What a great way to brighten up my long day!  I wanted to make something new from it last night, but I have been wanting to make tempeh hot wings and did just that.  I didn’t follow a recipe, but looked at the ingredients of Veganomicon’s hot sauce glazed tempeh.  I used half a package of three grain tempeh (4 oz) and put that in a skillet with a ton of hot sauce (can you tell I like hot sauce?), about a tbsp low sodium soy sauce, lemon juice, and minced garlic.  I let it cook and had a potato made fry style on the side as well as a salad.  For the fries, I cooked the potato in the microwave for about five minutes, then cut it into fries and spread a tsp of EVOO on it with sea salt and paprika.  I put these in the toaster oven at 400 for about 10-15 minutes.  I didn’t time anything and just went with it b/c that’s how I like to cook, unless following a recipe of course!  My salad consisted of romaine lettuce, 1/2 an avocado, a plum tomato, cucumber, and 2 Tbsp Annie’s roasted red pepper vinaigrette!  Such a yummy meal, but my mouth was on fire!!!!  My dinner plus post-workout apple was 731 calories, 31 g fat, 26 g fiber, and 27 g protein.  

My fat intake was a little higher yesterday than what it should be, but it’s usually lower, so it all evens out!  

This morning I had a bowl of banana oatmeal using 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup water, 1 cup soy milk in attempts to finish it off, cinnamon, a sliced banana, 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal, 1 Tbsp walnuts, 2 tsp brown sugar, and a spoonful of PB for a total of 478 calories, 18 g fat, 13 g fiber, and 19 g protein.  I also made a cup of green tea that I decaffeinated naturally myself by pouring off the first steep of 40 second and then putting in fresh boiling water after.  It removes about 90% of the caffeine!    I read about this before, but Dreena reminded me of it!  I would much rather do this because I don’t feel comfortable drinking something that isn’t naturally decaffeinated.  Chemical processes…..

Off to the gym now and to read and study all afternoon!  Dinner plans consist of making a trip to Pizza Fusion with Brian, so I won’t be cooking anything new from ED&BV.  I’m not complaining though because I’m excited!!  Have a super weekend!