re-defining the big salad

Woke up at 5 am to a tummy ache :(

Not an ideal start to the day, but off to work I went...I didn't really want coffee (that's never a good sign). I got a big smartwater on my subway commute and felt a bit better after I pounded that. It was quite a back and forth work day, but it ultimately ended well. The meals started in a similar pattern, but then took a turn for the worse. For some unknown reason, whenever I work on Fridays, I seem to think I deserve to eat whatever I want (demonstrated brilliantly by tonight's dinner).

Anyways, I'm getting ahead of myself. Back to the AM. I got a coffee, because I knew I would want it eventually (do I know myself, or do I know myself). AMAZINGLY, I waited until 10 to drink it...followed by my odwalla superfood bar. YUM! - a much needed boost, since I had a patient load like no other today. Suck-o.

I didn't get away for my lunch break until the afternoon, grrrr.

I had my pre-packed lunch, with the above sando. I was out of lettuce, so the brocc slaw had to fill in. I also had ff chobani, honey mustard, and raisins(!?) with the smart deli "turkey." I was not expecting this to be as good as it was. Honestly, when I made it last night, I was thinking how good the ingreds would be if they were mixed together, but was too lazy to make it the right way, so I made the poor-man's-version (and it looked weird).

I finally got a photo of my Bruno's soup. Ginger carrot (vegan). Soooo good. I also had a fresh slice of french bread on the side.

After work I went to Whole Foods, totally lazy. I may be in a rut with dinner. I made the HUGEST salad. Plain tofu AND bbq tofu in BULK on a bed of spinach leaves, carrots, peas, edamame, onions, and dried cranberries. This salad borders on colossal (1000+ kcals without a doubt). I know this because it weighed (and thus cost) a pretty penny. Don't underestimate the size of this box(the pic doesn't do it justice).

I KNOW I shouldn't have finished it because it took me upward of an hour to polish off. Seinfeld's "big salad" has nothing on this baby. I can't move I'm so full.

And yet, I needed my dessert for no reason other than to satisfy the craving in name. Passion fruit sorbet...sugar load, check!

Guess I'll just finish off the wine and call it a night.

(don't) stand under my umbrella, ella, ella

I HATE rain!!! Ugh. Today's weather makes me want to curl up in a ball under a blanket and never come out again until April/May. This is why I am not meant to be a East Coast-er/New Yorker. My umbrella was inside out 90% of the time, so I arrived to work with scrubs that weighed an extra 5 lbs and an afro (fabulous). There is very little else in the world that is more frustrating than dealing with a non-functional umbrella in a torrential downpour. Okay, enough complaining...on to the food.


I was super excited to try out my brand new purchase (below). Could this be the end of buying AM coffees? Hopefully a green purchase (in both an earth friendly AND wallet friendly way).

Unfortunately, I really f-ed up the coffee this morning. Sure, the thermos was bomb, but I made the coffee unbearably STRONG. Maybe tomorrow...

So, I was inspired by all the bloggies yesterday and I decided to make a SERIOUS effort today to drink water in mass quantities. I had a baby water bottle (240 mL) and I filled it up 8 times! Go me :)

Per usual, I packed my lunch the day before. I had my Berries GoMega odwalla bar around 10:30, which held me over until lunch in the late afternoon.

My sando was smart deli "turkey" with the works.

Also (as usual) I got the vegan soup option from Bruno's, which was a White Bean Tuscan Soup. In the words of VeggieGirl "holy yum!" Vegetarian and dairy free, loaded with white cannellini beans, onions, garlic, celery, leeks, and MUCH more - it was sooooo good. God Bruno's soups are ammmmazing. I'm not sure if it was healthy, and I know it wasn't cheap, but it was beyond worth it.

By the time I got home, I was cold, wet, and not in the best of moods. Let's just say, cooking dinner was the last thing I felt like doing. So I compromised. Half lazy, half chef-y.

Good thing I had fresh zuch and squash on stand by. I steamed one of each, threw in some cherry tomatoes and drizzled on some balsamic vinegar...easy shmeazy!

For the lazy part, I opted for a GN veggie burger on a sesame bun with MAYOOOO (and sprouts, lettuce, and tomato)!

Confucius say: wise man keep Ezekiel products in the freezer at all times (or something along those lines)

How pretty is this little platter.

Add a little wine to the mix...and...perfection!

I'm so tired...work again tomorrow. Time for the zzzz

my nose is froze!

Yep, I have gone through 3 boxes of tissue in the last week...and my nose has paid the price. It's red and raw and hurts! I'm still blowing my nose around the clock, too...when is this cold going to go away??? When I go outside it's, like, 800 times worse, too! Frozen and chafed = bad bad combo. So I woke up this morning because I was unable to breathe out of my nose (again) so I immediately opted for some tea. I even held it right under my nose to let the steam's vapor-like action unclog me a bit (that may sound gross, but it worked)!!

A bit later, while answering emails and watching the today show, I made myself some bfast. Lately, I have been so hungry in the mornings, which is just not normal for me. I must be consuming extra kcals to fight off this cold (I can't believe I'm STILL not over this freakin' sickness).

I tried to satisfy my hunger with a coffee, but the growling continued, so I made myself 2 pieces of toast (that turned into a PB and J sando). By the way, I was pretty lazy, as you may have noticed, and added plain soymilk to my black coffee (no frothy/foamy goodness).

A little later I had a blueberry soy yogurt (new flavor)! I'm really not a blueberry person, in fact, I only bought this flavor because Stonyfield's O'soy yogurts have been sooo hard to find, I finally just got the only flavor they had on the shelves.

It was surprisingly good. Stonyfield's soy yog has exceeded all my expectations. It's the only soy yogurt that I eat (and I've tried them ALL). It is SOOO good; even flavors I normally feel yuck about are really really yummy. It has now made the foodie fave list!

Other brands I couldn't live without: odwalla and lightlife (and of course pretty much anything from whole foods)

A bit later I snacked on a perfect organic gala apple. I bought 6 of these beauties yesterday, and it took all self control to not buy 15 of them. Mmmm...
Later on I decided to get my butt in gear and hit up the gym. I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped outside and didn't immediately turn into an ice block. In fact it was so tolerable out (30ish degrees), I decided to do some of my work out outside (gasp)! I warmed up on the elliptical per usual (15 mins, levels 8-10), and then bundled up and jogged to central park where I did one lap around the Jackie O lake, and then headed back to the gym. It took about 30 minutes (I went really really slow). Back at NYSC I did a cool down on the elliptical for 15 minutes (level 7) and finished off my work out with stretching and some ab work.

When I got back home, I wasn't really hungry, but these soy nuts were just calling to me from across the apartment. Salty. So addictive!

Before (above), after (below)

Yeah, I polished off half the container...eek!

I had big plans for dinner, but when I went to the store to buy the ingreds, broccoli slaw was nowhere to be found :(

So that plan went to the pooper.
Instead I made a big salad topped off with a tofu edamame salad.
Romaine lettuce, carrots, cherry tomatoes, raisins, corn, edamame, and tofu, with oil and vinegar drizzled over it.

I still had a little bit of room so I filled up on a mini bowl (the rest) of tofu, edamame, and corn.

Vino :)

Dates for deezer! I heart dates!!!

skinny bitch in the kitch

Even after working 3 days in a row, I still couldn't even sleep in! I woke up at 8 (but really just rolled over and turned the tv on). I actually got up an hour or so later, and got my coffee on.

SO frothy :)

A little later I decided to finish my dessert from last night. Yeah, vegan chocolate mousse is not exactly a typical breakfast food, but who's to say I'm typical. Me? Normal? Not so much.

More AM snacking continues...vanilla soy yogurt (these babies are HARD to find in the store lately, so I have kinda been saving this one). Why does it seem like every time I discover a new healthy vegan treat, it suddenly disappears from the store? I can't find soy "holly" nog for the life of me, and my fave hummus flavor has been out of stock for weeks! I'm really starting to get frustrated. If odwalla bars are the next to go, I'm going to cry, because those are now a MEGA staple in my diet.

Moving on. For lunch I had a breakfast-y type sandwich with whole wheat bread, ff Fage, egg beaters, and soy bacon (8 strips!!).

Side view...mmm

After lunch I started getting myself pumped up for some exercising. Yep, it was a big day - I FINALLY went to the gym after about a month off. It's amazing how out of shape you can get in such a short amount of time. I warmed up on the elliptical for 15 minutes, starting at level 7 and escalating the intensity up to 12. Then I ran for 30 minutes on the tread mill going SO slow (4.5) on incline 1 (I hate flat running, but I'm not ready to really push myself yet). After that, I switched back to the elliptical for a 20 minute cool down, starting at level 10 and making my way down to 7, with both forward and backwards pedalling. Then I stretched for an eternity, although I think being sore tomorrow is unavoidable after such a long hiatus from the gym.

After I showered I had a glass of soy milk, an apple, and some dried edamame to tide me over until dinner.

Errands done.

Guess what I'm making for dinner....

Thanks to my amazing sister's birthday present (Skinny Bitch in the Kitch), I am learning all sorts of creative ways to cook vegan-friendly meals. So, now that I have the time and energy, I am ready to take on a pasta dish from the "Italian Bitch" chapter.

I'll be cooking with seitan for the first time (although I've eaten it several times before, I've never made anything myself with it).

Here's the recipe for Green Goddess Pasta:

4 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons refined coconut oil (I used EVOO instead)
6 tablespoons vegan butter (I used earth balance)
3 quarts water
About 5 teaspoons fine sea salt (I think I used WAY more)
1 1⁄2 pounds seitan

8 ounces whole wheat or brown rice elbow macaroni (I opted for Ezekiel penne instead)
2 zucchini, halved lengthwise and cut into 1⁄4-inch slices
1 broccoli crown, cut into bite-sized florets (about 2-1⁄2 cups)
1⁄2 bunch (about 4 ounces) kale, cut into 1⁄2-inch strips
1⁄2 teaspoon pepper
1⁄4 cup pine nuts (I hate pine nuts, so clearly I omitted these)

And Voila!

It was a fairly simple recipe (I figured starting with pasta was best, though) and since it tasted excellent, I will consider it a success. So now that I graduated from the pasta realm, I can't wait tackle more of the recipes in this book! Thanks Laura!!!!

Did I mention I boozed on the TJ reserve while I chef-ed it up? I'm not even hungry for dessert!!

fat and lazy

Gym? What's that? So I've been reallllly milking the sick excuse. I can't even remember my last work out. After this next stretch of 3 shifts in a row (Fri, Sat, Sun) I am SO getting back on the horse.

I slept in again today and I woke up feeling so much better. I think I found the way to get over a cold - tea, rest, repeat (yeah, I'm a nurse).

Froth. Caffeine. SoY latte goodness.

Keeping with the extra-calories-to-cure-me theme...I had a rather large breakfast again this morning (for a non-bfast person). Above is toast with plum/strawberry jam (homemade by K's mom) and below is strawberry soy yogurt. Clearly I was in a strawberry mood.

For lunch I had the last of the "turkey" spread - ingreds can be seen below if you have good vision.

On one half of the bread I used the last of the vegan turkey spread, and on the other half is honey mustard, lettuce, and a few slices of smart deli's "turkey" meat.

A view from the inside...

PM snack was a big juicy apple. It was perfect. Crunch crunch.

I tried to go for a walk today (to ease myself back into working out?)...but it was freezing outside and then it started raining, so I turned right back around.

While doing crap around the house (ok, watching tv) I snacked on some chips...lime flavored and very salty :)

Yep, I finished the bag! Surprised? Not so much.


Even though I polished off half a bag of tortilla chips, I still had room for vegan dumplings (obvi). I have been so lazy lately. Buying prepared vegan food is $$$, so when I have finally recovered from this cold, I really have to suck it up on my days off and get back to the cooking.

That said, vegan dumplings = mmmmm. Not sure what was in it - I'm guessing tofu, cabbage, carrots, etc.

Did I mention I boozed up with dinner? Tobin James' latest delivery came last month, so we are stocked! I popped open a 2006 Reserve with 50% Cab and 50% Syrah. Delish (and) I'm drunk.