Volumetrics Lunch

This morning I went to get an employee physical at the hospital I will be working at.  I had to fast so, I ate breakfast when I got back at 10.  My LDL cholesterol was 150!  Yikes!  This is the first time I’ve ever had my cholesterol checked, and the nurse said that just means I need to exercise more.  I told my dad this, and he thought that was hilarious because compared to anyone we know I exercise plenty and am very health conscious.  So yeah…I’m hoping that number will go down for next time.  I came back home and made a bowl of oatmeal like yesterday except I used oat bran instead of cracked wheat.  It was 1/4 cup rolled oats, 1/6 cup oat bran, 1/2 cup soy milk, 1/2 cup water, 1 frozen banana sliced, cinnamon, 1 Tbsp wheat germ, 1 Tbsp flaxseed meal, 1 Tbsp walnuts, and 1 Tbsp honey.  It wasn’t overly sweet today, but I’m going to pick up some Agave Nectar when I go to Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s on Friday!!!!!!!!! FINALLY!!  I’m so excited.  My boyfriend thinks it’s funny because I’m like a little kid going to the amusement park or something.  Breakfast was 460 calories, 13 g fat, 13 g fiber, and 14 g protein.  

I went to the gym around noon (With my sister!) and did a 45 minute cardio workout…35 minutes treadmill and 10 minutes on the stairmaster.  Then I did some arms, abs, and stretching again.  I made lunch as soon as I got home.  I threw it together very fast, and it turned out to be a super lunch!!!  I was so proud of myself haha.  I used one tortilla factory garlic and herb tortilla, heated it in the microwave and then sliced up 1/2 an avocado and some orange bell pepper for the inside.  I also added some salsa and black pepper.  YUM!  I had the rest of the orange pepper on the side with about 6 oz (the remains) of my plain nonfat yogurt, an orange, and 1.5 cups spaghetti squash with some tomato sauce/paste with spices (oregano, thyme, garlic powder, and pepper) and 2 Tbsp sunflower seeds (you can’t see them in the picture really because they’re mixed in ).  My sister was like..”that’s a lot of food!”  and yes, it is, but it’s only 530 calories, 22 g fat, 23 g fiber, and 25 g protein!  

I had to baby-sit for a couple of hours.  It was fun like always because little kids are always a joy!    I’m off to go make dinner!  

 

Snobby Joe

I went to the gym this afternoon and had a great workout.  I did 30 minutes on the treadmill running, 10 minutes stairmaster, pushups, abs, stretching, and finished up with 10 minutes on ET.  I had lunch right after.  I defrosted some of my dill tahini veggies from Thursday’s dinner and put it in two La Tortilla FactoryGarlic and Herb Tortillas with spinach and capers!  I had some more plain nonfat yogurt (a cup) on the side…bleh, carrots and celery, and a mango!!  I only have about a cup of yogurt left though!  My lunch was 550 calories, 14 g fat, 26 g fiber, and 30 g protein.  

 

I decided to make something new for dinner because I don’t have much leftovers thanks to finishing many of them over the weekend!  YAY!  I decided on Snobby Joes from Veganomicon!  I LOVED this recipe!  It turned out great.  I omitted the oil and salt though and served my 1 cup portion (1/5 of the recipe) on a slice of Ezekiel bread.  I froze the rest and had sweet potato dollar fries (with some S&P baked in oven and microwave to speed up the process) and half of an avocado topped with some snobby joe mix on the side.  This was a fun meal  and came in at 450 calories, 7 g fat, 21 g fiber, and 17 g protein.  

I finished dinner just in time to watch Penguin’s game three in the second series of the playoffs!  We won again and are now 7-0 in the playoffs (best record in the NHL so far!!)!     I had a snack during the second intermission.  I popped a banana bread muffin in the microwave for 35 seconds and had that with a blob (2 Tbsp) of Peanut butter!  Yum!  My snack was 363 calories, 17 g fat, 6 g fiber, and 11 g protein.  

My goodness I love peanut butter!  

I’m off to read In Defense of Food or maybe watch a movie.  Good night!  

 

Spaghetti…squash dinner

I had a pretty good workout at the gym.  I did the usual 50 minute workout of 10 minutes stairmaster, 30 minutes treadmill, and 10 minutes ET.  Then, I came home and made dinner!  I heated up leftover spaghetti squash in the microwave and heated some tomato sauce on the stove that I had frozen.  I added some spices to the sauce plus some broccoli.  I poured it onto the spaghetti and topped it all with a Tbsp of sunflower seeds and 1/2 an avocado.  It was very tasty!  I loved it!  I had two slices of Ezekiel bread on the side with a bit of smart balance light.  This meal was 535 calories, 20 grams of fat, 21 g fiber, 25 g protein.  

I had a banana bread muffin for snack.  This was delicious!!!!!  I liked it better than my Veganomicon ones!  I think it was because of the increased number of bananas.  It was so doughy almost like it wasn’t cooked long enough.  I love that about them.  They taste very similar.  

I just got home from baby-sitting.  It was fun.  I put the kids to bed and then watched some of the Pen’s game!  They won  What a great game!  GO PENS!  

Have a great night everyone! 

 

It’s about dinner time

Last night I had leftovers of Pumpkin baked Ziti for dinner again.  Now, that is all gone.  I’m going to make something new tonight!!  I snacked a lot last night on nut clusters, pretzels, more mango and a muffin.  I don’t know why because I wasn’t even hungry.  I went to the gym after meeting the family I’m baby-sitting for and did the usual 50 minute workout of 35 treadmill, 5 stairs, and 10 ET.  The three kids are soo cute!  I’m looking forward to watching them.  

So, it’s almost dinner time, and I’m just posting breakfast and lunch!  This morning I was not even hungry because I ate so much last night, but I had a bowl of oatmeal anyways.  1/2 cup Rolled oats, a ton of strawberries, sliced banana, 2 Tbsp flaxseed meal, 1 Tbsp honey, 1/2 cup soy milk, 3/4 cup water, and cinnamon.  

 

Perfect start to my day.  I went back to their house at nine for more “training”.  Afterwards I went to the store to pick up some things for my dad, plus I got some rice vinegar, 2 boxes of red quinoa (they didn’t have any regular and it seems it takes a while for them to restock this, so I got two!), peanut butter (it’s amazing how quickly I go through this stuff), frozen blueberries, and La Tortilla Factory garlic and herb tortillas (they’re low-carb…even though I’m opposed to low-carb I bought these because they were the best nutritionally over all the others..the rest were different not so healthy brands, and I didn’t really like those gluten free ones I bought about a week ago because they’re tough).  I used the tortillas to make lunch when I got home!  I used two of them (they’re 50 calories each and rather small), topped them with more V’con hummus, 1/4 avocado total, cucumber, sliced red bell pepper, 1 plum tomato, and spinach!  I always stuff my tortillas way to much, so I ended up eating these like tacos instead.  After I ate the first one I decided I wanted something else in them, so I put a tablespoon of sunflower seeds in the second one, which I liked better.  I also had a whole mango and the rest of the vegetables that wouldn’t fit in my tortillas/tacos on the side!  

I rearranged my bedroom furniture (how fun) just now and took everything out of my drawers to reorganize everything and get rid of some things.  I moved my furniture because I did not want my bed against the wall anymore due to the fact that I am terrified of thousand leggers (millipedes) crawling into my bed  There was one last night in my room that I spotted in my curtains.  It was huge!  These things seriously freak me out like nothing else!  I get scared just thinking about them sometimes it’s hard for me to even relax to fall asleep!  haha.  Ok, so I’m off to put all of my clothes back into my drawers and work on my take home test for public speaking plus make an awesome (hopefully) dinner!!  

 

Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa Fresca

WOW!  Dinner was soooo good!  I made Veganomicon’s Spaghetti Squash Mexicana with Tropical Avocado Salsa.  It was perfect, and the flavors were great.  In it was spaghetti squash, corn, black beans, onions, jalapenos, vegetable oil, chili powder, cinnamon, and some other spices.  The salsa topping was served chilled (mango, tomatoes, avocado). I’m going to have to eat this for the next few days though so it doesn’t go to waste I don’t really mind though because I loved it soo much.  I made the mango version salsa.  Yumm!  I am going to need a snack though later because even though this was very high in volume (a definite plus in my book), it was only about 300 calories for the whole bowl I ate!!!  It was extremely satisfying.  I cannot say enough about this book.  So happy I bought it!  At the gym at 4 I did 40 minutes ET and 10 treadmill both moderate and a little intense on the treadmill running.  I did some stretching afterwards, pushups, and sit ups.  Yay for me!  Unfortunately, my e-mail started acting goofy, and 

 

 

Persea americana and Mangifera indica

Straight from getting off the bus, I drove to the gym and got in a nice refreshing workout of light ET for 35 minutes, and treadmill for 15 run and walk.  I was having trouble deciding what to eat/make for dinner.  I wanted a mango, and I knew I had to use an avocado because they are on their last legs, and I still have 3 left!  (So, if anyone has any suggestions on what I can do with these I would love to hear!)    So, I had a box of Near East garlic and olive oil couscous in the pantry…I cooked that, and for on the side I stewed some fresh tomatoes, added spices, broccoli, and spinach (the same veggies I’ve been eating for the past week or so! haha!..they’re new though, and haven’t been sitting in my fridge for that long).  The couscous was very good!  I haven’t had it in so long either.  There was no real protein source in my meal (well 8 grams in the serving of couscous and a tiny bit elsewhere) because I have already gotten enough protein today anyways.  I sliced up an avocado and topped it with some salsa!  Mango sliced up on the side!  This was a very tasty meal, and so simple.  I am very pleased  A muffin is waiting for me in the freezer Oh yeah, I’m sure you may be wondering what the title of this post is supposed to mean…I’m terrible at coming up with titles, so I used the binomial names of avocado and mango!  I know, I’m lame…    

 

Taco salad?

I came home from school today because I have a doctor’s appointment early tomorrow morning, so I got to make my own dinner again!  (I ate a Cherry Pie Larabar about an hour after lunch because I felt like it and knew I wouldn’t make it until 6:30 for dinner!)  Dinner–I had hummus and avocado that needed to get used up, so I kind of made a taco salad, but not really.  I tossed some bagged lettuce into a bowl, added spinach, some baby carrots, cut up plum tomato, cucumber, 1/2 an avocado sliced, all of what remained of my hummus (I’d say about 1/2 cup!), hot sauce!, and salsa!  Very yummy.  I love salsa on my salads  On the side, I had a kiwi and some strawberries.  The strawberries are so nice!  I waited for my food to settle a bit and then set off for the gym to do 30 minutes ET and 20 minutes treadmill.  I ran for about 15 minutes at 6.5 mph, then 8.0 for about 2 minutes?, and then 6.3 at a 4.0 incline, walked 4.0 at 12.0 incline, ran again 6.3 until I reached 2 miles!  Then I cooled down!  (totaled 22 minutes).  I like to watch the distance better than the time though while I run (well more like check it not watch haha).  It seems to be more fun to me.  I injured my ankle a couple months ago, and it is always sore the day after I run but it doesn’t hurt…it’s just stiff.  I have been running a lot more lately in my workouts.  I can’t help it!  I like to run :-/  Came home to another gooey pumpkin muffin with PB and honey.  mmmmm ….Off to write a paper that is due tomorrow.  Only 4 pages and not difficult topic…(what cultures do I subscribe to?)  Okay, cya! …The spinach leaf looks like it’s waving!

 

  

 

  

 

Class Cancelled

My first class was cancelled today, and I figured I would just stay home and skip the second one since all my professor does is read word for word off of the notes that I already have.  It has been a very relaxing day so far, but I really need to study the rest of it :-(  booo.  Breakfast was pumpkin oatmeal (pumpkin, steel cut oats, whipped banana, walnuts, spoonful of PB, flaxseed, cinnamon, vanilla, soymilk)-yumm!  Lunch I cut up some celery, had baby carrots, a red grapefruit, and a sandwich of Ezekiel bread, hummus, tomato, avocado, and hot sauce!  It was very tasty.  My mouth still wanted something else though and I was really craving PB and honey for lunch, but I have so much hummus that needs to get used up!  So, two hours later I ate a pumpkin muffin topped with honey and PB!  It was delicious!  I had 2 squares of my Supreme Dark Endangered Species Chocolate bar too!  Dark chocolate has definitely been an acquired taste for me because I used to hate it, but now I love it and think milk chocolate is too sweet!  I made chickpea cutlets this afternoon this well, and will be having one with my dinner!  As for the exercise…today is a rest day.   (the first pic is of my sandwich…tomatoes, hummus, and avocado)  I need to work on my photography…