a nutty day

Sunday already? Wow, the weekend flew by, considering I did nothing all day Saturday. Again I slept in, and again I started the am with coffee topped off with ff foamy milk (gotta love the caffe froth)!

I really like foam.

For brunch I made an egg (beater) scramble with more tofu from the whole foods hot food bar. Quite a success if I say so myself. I actually think tofu and eggs are one of the greatest food combos (like pb+j). It was a really good protein-y start to the day.

A few hours later, I had the last bit of tofu. Grazing, much?

Then I tried this yogurt, which I bought by accident! It has extra calcium, I guess? It was ok. Nothing extraordinary. The flavor sounded so good (apricot mango), but it was fruit at the BOTTOM (which I hate)! Yuck. Whoever decided stirring jam into yogurt was the same as flavoring yogurt? No thank you.

This photo sums up the rest of the day (more or less). I finished the bag of A street bread with layer upon layer of peanut butter. My relationship with peanut butter is amazing. Seriously. WTF.

Good god.

And as if the peanut butter wasn't enough for the day (month), I then dove into the soy nuts head first.

Going with the day's theme of nuts, I had a king sized bag of peanut m&m's...

trouble is a friend, trouble is a foe

My patients are trying to make me FAT!!! Look at all the shit below. I have been collecting all the presents from my patients and their families in my locker for a while now, and I finally just brought it all home (since my locker was overflowing with candy). I still left mentos and lollipops behind though. Talk about an unhealthy work environment! How can I possibly resist all this delish crap? So, I will most likely cave now that I brought it home...

So, I finally got to sleep in today. Hooray for weekends off!

Coffee me!

I lazed around all morning since it was pouring rain outside. No way am I going to the gym in this weather (ignore that horrible non-logic).

So for my brunch I had Nature's Path oatmeal. I made a big bowl to which I added silk vanilla soy milk and cinnamon. Ok, let me preface this by saying I LOVE oatmeal. It is one of my favorite food items of all times, and I could probably eat it for every meal. That said, I don't really like this brand of oatmeal! I've tried making it a few different ways (with water, milk, and soy milk) and it is always so bland. The only way I have successfully made it taste good is by adding in a LOT of peanut butter (which is generally a good rule to improve any dish).

Strawberry soy yogurt for a snack later on :)

Look at me being lazy all afternoon long...tv, internet, drawing, nothingness (love it)!

I had these braided wheat pretzel twists (some with the rest of the hummus I had left over from the other day). Then I had 4 slices of bread and 2 apples with hummus.

I like yellow apples SO much. The red apple was just kinda bleh.

For dinner I took another stab at the tofu spreads from whole foods' hot bar. I didn't quite finish it tonight either!! It's SO good, I just wanna savor it for days and days and days.

But I wasn't full yet, and I needed some carbs (nevermind the entire bag of pretzels I had earlier). So I toasted bread with smart balance butter. I am really just abandoning all self control at this point. Clearly thanksgiving was just the beginning of my downfall. What happened to moderation? No clue.

Then I broke into my goodies that I brought home yesterday. Reese's white chocolate covered peanut butter cups. Orgasmic. I'll pay for it tomorrow, I'm sure!

still stuffed to the brim

Ughhhh.

Too much food. I don't know how I managed to feast and feast and feast - like it was my last meal or something!

Anyways, working the day after t-day was neither pleasant nor comfortable as a result of my out of control eating. I managed to make a sando for myself before work (the same old smart deli turkey).

I had 2 cups of Bruno's coffee (one before work and one on my lunch break) and 2 cups of applesauce that my patient's family brought me (no pic).

Super protein!! Delish odwalla goodness = PM snack.

I was way too tired to go to the gym after work (I can't even remember the last time I had a decent work out). I definitely wanted to sit on my ass and grub without putting in any prep work or cooking. For my first course, I settled on Stacy's pita chips with hummus. There are a few different flavors of Stacy's pita chips, but I always come back to the original (simply baked = simply perfect). I definitely finished the entire bag (yes, the big 10 oz bag), but there was still some hummus left over -- as well as room in my stomach ;)

I treated myself to a whole foods feast (after 3 days in a row at work I figured I deserved some sort of treat). I filled one of the hot bar big boxes with my top 3 favorite kinds of tofu. This was a $$$ treat (I kinda went overboard).

The top portion is my ultimate favorite whole foods hot bar item: "chik'n" salad. It is to DIE for good, but the reason I rarely get it, is that it's kinda fatty, which would be fine if I ate it in moderation. But, we all know I'm not good with that, so this above portion is actually 6 servings. The bottom left tofu is just plain baked tofu. It's another one of my faves, and is simple, but wonderful. Finally, the bottom right corner of the box contains sweet and sour tofu. There was a light sweet sauce drizzled over it that collected in the bottom of the carton. I had about half of the container...it was weird, it didn't look like that much, but I kept eating and eating, and it didn't even appear to make a dent! (Then I remembered how much it cost, which was a LOT, so I guess there was way more there than I thought...it makes sense)

But I couldn't go to bed without dessert!

I had a stack of oatmeal raisin cookies (I won't say how many I actually ate) with a mug of silk vanilla soy milk.

And now I'm just as full as I was yesterday! Eeek!

gobble gobble

I woke up starving...never a good way to start off thanksgiving!
So I made sure to leave for work extra early so I could enjoy a steamy cup of coffee and a heaping bowl of oatmeal. And by heaping, I mean HEAPING! I used 2 packets of Nature's Path (one original with flax and one cinnamon raisin) and added in soy milk (vanilla silk) and a tablespoon (or 3 or 4) of peanut butter!! Hello piglet :)

Basically, thanksgiving is going to be a FULL day, since it is already 6 am and I am starting the grubbing.

Then lunch rolled around and I had my sando that I packed the night before. Some people may consider it a little sad/pathetic that I made a sandwich (boring?) for thanksgiving lunch, but I had to work - whatevs. I tried to make it sorta thanksgiving-y with the jam and "turkey" meat...it was good, so who cares.

After lunch I decided to treat myself to a soy latte (from sbucks).

My PM snack was this odwalla bar (strawberry pom). I love these!

After work I was exhausted with a capital E. I was planning on gong to a friend's house to celebrate turkey day, but first I had a glass of silk vanilla soy milk, then sat down to go online to buy my flight home for xmas (the clock was really ticking on that one)...and the next thing I know it is 945 pm and I am starving! Since I have to work tomorrow, the last thing I felt like doing was heading to the lower east side from the upper west at 10 pm.

Still...I had to some cooking so my thanksgiving wouldn't be totally pathetic!

First, I made some potatoes on the grill that I seasoned with salt, rosemary, thyme, and lemon pepper. They were great and a lot faster to make than mashed potatoes (and dairy free).

Next, I tackled the stuffing. I wanted to incorporate both my mom's recipe while making it vegan and organic. So I used the Arrowhead Mills organic vegan stuffing, organic veggie broth, organic yellow onions, and organic cranberries. The big changes I made were no celery or mushrooms (since Kyle isn't a fan).

Here it is in all it's glory.

After it was done cooking, I separated it into 2 portions and added in walnuts to Kyle's portion. To me walnuts are EW...but I didn't wanna deprive him (I'm such a good girlfriend).

Naturally it wouldn't be thanksgiving without unnecessary post dinner eating. Yes, I was full, but I still decided to have a slice of toast with peanut butter (actually I had 2) along with another glass of soy milk.

At this point I was about to pop! SOOOOO full...but this holiday is a once a year experience, right? So I did a bad thing. I had a chocolate fudge peanut butter brownie. Oh sweet lord.

I had to roll myself to bed I was so f-ing full. Ugh! How am I even going to fall asleep, I can't even get comfortable in this rotund state!!

smorgasbord

Today was not a day I was looking forward to...but all good things must come to an end, so back to work I went...

It wasn't as bad as I anticipated (most likely because I went in with the lowest of low expectations) - how sad that I approach my job this way?! Whatever. The unit was slow-ish, but I still had 3 patients. It was nice to work with Miranda and Jaja at least...
Here's the lunch I packed the day before.

Smart deli turkey sammie with greek yog, mustard, and lettuce on A street bread.

And then the rest of the snack items with the sando...I had the raisins with my AM coffee, and about a gallon of apple juice throughout the morning. Then at lunch (after I had my healthy sando), I ruined the good streak and I got 2 MASSIVE oatmeal raisins cookies from Bruno's. What can I say, I don't do very well with such delicious looking holiday treats in front of my face around the clock.
Sooo...back to work I went for the rest of the shift I was on a mega sugar high. On the way home from work I had a new flavor of Odwalla bar. (Drumroll please) I have new fave ladies and gents...

Super protein = super good. It tastes like a oatmeal raisin cookie but not as sugary. I felt energized enough to go to the gym, but once I got there, I was struggling BIG time. I ran for 15 minutes and then left because I just felt SOOO exhausted. My body isn't ready for this schedule yet!

After my shower I was far too lazy to be creative with my meal...all I wanted was dinner and sleep! So, I made a chicken salad kinda thing with smart "chik'n" tenders and veganaise.

Then I put that on A street bread with lettuce, mustard, and greek yog...

Talk about a lazy dinner sando!

I was still hungry so FIRST I had something salty (soy nuts from whole foods)...

...and THEN I had something sweet (dates from whole foods)...

...and THEN I had something really sweet :)

A big glass of silk vanilla soy milk with 5 vegan cookies from whole foods. Only 2 made the photo (the others were already in my tummy). I had 3 of the oatmeal raisin cookies and 2 of the gingersnap ones. The oatmeal raisin ones were mmmmm, and the gingersnap ones were good, but probably would have been better if they were fresh from the oven. They were a little too hard, so I had to submerge them in soymilk before each bite (not a bad thing). Talk about an assortment of dinner items!

Tomorrow is thanksgiving!!

just chillin

I woke up at 7 am and then went back to sleep...next thing I know it's nearly noon! Eek. I don't know why I should feel guilty, but I do. No matter - today is my last day of chillin' before returning to work tomorrow.

So here's the first morning coffee...sitting on the window ledge while I blog and watch t.v. And then below (after I woke up a little bit more) is my whole AM spread. Self, Shape, and Vegetarian Times magazines with a steamy mug full of caffeine love. Nothing better!

Gym time. Elliptical for an hour while watching Beyonce on ellen. I'm kinda obsessed with the dance to single ladies.

Lunch was tofu with teriyake flavor. It was way good, but probably too much sodium (because it was so good). I had 4 big slabs total and was quite full after.

Dinner was kinda small since I ate my lunch so late. Since I made a mother load of quinoa last night, I figured why not add it into the corn, edamame, and tofu mix.

Above is the mix before the quinoa. Below is with the quinoa and a scoop of Fage greek yogurt. Stir. Heat. Eat.

Enjoy :)

I relaxed the rest of the night away with this tub of salted soy nuts. Maybe I should really watch my sodium consumption, today was a very salty day! (I ate 1/3 of the tub)

the monday blues

Yep, I've got them...the blues. It's because I am in the real world and I can't handle it!!!

I decided to make the most of it though, and tackle my 30 item long to-do list. So, today ended up being quite a productive day!

Naturally, I couldn't start the day off ANY other way...oh sweet coffee, how I've missed you so.

After a vacation filled with Euro cafes (which are super strong and black), it was so nice to get a nice American frothy mug. I never realized what fatties we are in the US...I even take my coffee with minimal extravagant additives, but the shear quantity that I consume on a daily basis is quite excessive. I have at least 2 massive mugs every morning, usually more, and until this trip I didn't really think that was too weird (remember my August - September venti soy latte kick when I was spending over $20/day at starbucks on 4 or 5 each day)! YIKES!!
So, since I was up at 7:45 am (still adjusting to the time change, I guess?) I was at the gym by 11. The View made my work out fly by. I ran 35 minutes on the tread mill first (alternating speed and incline), then switched over to the elliptical for another 35 minutes (alternating pedaling directions). I cooled down with a brisk 3 minute walk on the tread mill, followed by an ab workout with the big bouncy ball and the medicine ball and massive stretching.

Lazy lunch...

The apartment was still devoid of groceries, so soup was on the menu by default. I added a big 'ol dollop of ff Fage greek yogurt to the lentil soup because I love the bit of creaminess it adds. I learned this from my mom. She taught me this trick with sour cream in a corn and potato soup she used to make, but she made it pretty.* Mine was not so pretty.

* To make it look nice, warm it up first (so it's runny rather than a heavy hunk that sinks like the titanic in your soup). Then make little drops and run a toothpick through them so they go from circular drops to cute heart shaped garnishes!

More errands to do...I required more caffeine fuel. I had back to back cups of iced coffee that I made from the left over morning brew (plus ff skim plus).


For dinner I wanted to tackle some of the new recipes I'd been brainstorming, so I got some groceries while I was out. I scored these 2 big chunks of butternut squash for only $1!

I chopped them up into cubes, added salt, cinnamon, and a teeny bit of EVOO and into the oven they went.

Here they are half way (approx 15 minutes) into baking...time to flip em over.

The final product = DE-lish!

Only half of them made it to the bowl because the rest were eaten straight off the pan. Cinnamon is a bomb ingred for squash, espec when combined with salt (yes, it does seem to be an unlikely duo, but it works, I swear).

I also decided to try out quinoa. I see it in every veg magazine I read and all the menus in vegan restaurants. It is a great source of fiber and protein (it has mega amino acids).

Description curtesy of wikipedia: Quinoa (pronounced /ˈkinwɑ/ KEEN-wah or /ˈkinoʊə/ KEE-no-uh, Spanish quinua, from Quechua kinwa) is a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium) grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal as it is not a grass. Its leaves are also eaten as a leaf vegetable, much like amaranth, but the commercial availability of quinoa greens is currently limited.

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.[5] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

The ratio is the same 2:1 (water:grains) as rice, but how the quinoa differs from cooking rice is that it needs to be drained a few times first due to the saponins. Saponins are soap-like substances that occur on the outside of the grains (believed to possibly be there to deter insects and birds in nature).

I cooked a crap load...but here's the portion I had tonight.
Plus I steamed brocc, cauliflower, and carrots...

I added ff Fage greek yogurt and salt to the quinoa and then topped it on the veggies.

WOW! This was a huge success! It's gonna be hard to not make this every single night now...

No dessert necessary. Yes, it was that good.