Coconut lime basmati rice

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!  

 

Tagged times three!

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!  

 

Heather meets Acai

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  

 

 

 

The list goes on and on

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!  

 

 

HOT Wings and fries

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!  

 

 

So little time

I wish the days were longer.  Maybe like five hours longer or something, so I could get more accomplished, or at least feel like it.  I never feel like I get anything done!  I’m always running around like a crazy person!  So, I need to make this post a quick one because I have lots of preparing to do for tomorrow’s clinical!  We are doing baths tomorrow, and I am nervous  I made it around very well on the buses today!  It was very crazy, but I am quite impressed with myself and now know what I am doing!  Today started with a bowl of oat bran.  I made a serving (1/3 cup) with water, 1/2 cup unsweetened soy milk, a sliced banana, 1 tbsp flaxseed meal, 1 tbsp walnuts, 1 tbsp agave nectar, cinnamon, and a spoonful (about a tbsp) of PB.  Yummy!  510 calories, 19 g fat, 15 g fiber, and 18 g protein. 

I made it home early enough to have lunch (I am going to try to avoid packing my lunch because it’s more fun and relaxing to eat at home).  I finished off the rest of my red cabbage salad and had a PB and strawberry preserves on sprouted wheat, a kiwi, and some fresh blueberries.  This lunch was 564 calories, 21 g fat, 18 g fiber, and 20 g protein.  

Sorry for the bad phone pic

I went to the gym at 5:00 for a 45 minute cardio workout (30 minutes running, 15 minutes ET) plus stretching and some pushups.  For dinner I thought of something quick, and it turned out amazing!  While I was cooking I had some baby carrots.  For the meal I heated up 1/4 cup navy beans, 1/2 yellow bell pepper diced, 1 plum tomato diced, some FYH mozzarella, and diced red onion in a skillet with hot sauce and lemon juice.  I put the in a sprouted grain Ezekiel tortilla with 1/2 an avocado and had a salad on the side with romaine, the other half of the bell pepper, and salsa.  I loved this meal.  The burrito? was excellent and hit the spot for sure!  It was very messy because I overstuffed it as usual, but that makes it fun!  haha.  Dinner was 539 calories, 23 g fat, 18 g fiber, and 18 g protein.  My total calories for the day are a bit low, but I am not hungry and it’s almost nine o’clock.  I am waking up at 5 am (YIKES!) and want to be hungry for a meal as well!  Have a good humpnight!  

P.S. ED&BV should be here any day.. I’m so excited!!  Also, I applied at my local grocery store to work in the floral department.  The hospital offered me another job in ER registration, but I would be working until midnight, and that’s not such a great idea if I have to get up at 5 am on Thursdays!  I will be able to pick my hours working in the store (I’ve worked there before for 2.5 years as a cashier!)!  

 

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!!!