Raw Blah

I didn’t realize (raw) Wednesday had arrived (already?!) until I was making my lunch last night.  I guess that’s what happens when your schedule is completely random. 

So this is what I packed to eat…but I wasn’t really feeling it.

…so THIS is what I actually ate!

 

I heart this place.  There’s one in Union Square (easy walking distance from where I work). 

My ravenous appetite was STILL in full force today, so I polished off the apple and odwalla bar by 9 am…meaning by the time I got off the unit for my lunch break, I was ready to get my grub on.

Even though the weather was looking gloomy and rain was only a drip drop away, I had falafel on the brain.  You know how it is when you become OBSESSED with the idea of having a certain thing for lunch and suddenly there is no obstacle too great to prevent you from getting it!? That’s how I felt about Maoz. 

I got hummus and falafel with pita.  Mmmmm…

Not one to waste food – I had my RAW salad, too. 

I got off work on time and bolted home, where I had a nice (mostly) pre-made dinner all ready and waiting for me :)

If I don’t pre-assemble things before I work, I’ll come home ravenous and end up pounding half a loaf of bread, rather than put together a real meal.

I had loaded the tuperware up with was veggies (mushrooms, bell peppers, tomatoes, and spinach) and BBQ tempeh, drizzled in Country Bob’s All Purpose sauce…

So all I had to do when I got home was throw in HALF an avocado…and some hummus (you didn’t think I could go a meal without it, did you)!?

I finished off my home-made hummus, but never fear, I had a fresh new tub of Sabra ready and waiting for me :)

Sabra love with an English muffin (yes, K, they are Thomas’) and the weirdest shaped carrot.  Mmmm!

This meal was SoOoOo good!

I have given up on the no-snacking after dinner part of the Whole Life Challenge.  So here come the dessert pics!

Wouldn’t be dessert without carob chips and dried fruit!

Back to packing up for tomorrow.  Anything you guys do to prepare for the day (food-wise) that helps you save time – or reduces the likelihood that you’ll opt for “less healthy” options)?

ICU…and I raise you!

Welllll…this weekend was pretty intense. 

I worked. 

I saved lives. 

Literally.

I try not to go into too much detail about my job (a) because of the whole patient privacy thing and (b) because I have a feeling it’s not very thrilling to read about.  But sometimes I wish I could share all the crazy things I see and do on a daily basis because, well, it’s a big part of my life.  Or at least a part.

Anyways, as I’ve mentioned before, I work in the cardiopulmonary critical care unit (CPCU), which is the step down unit for the surgical intensive care unit (SICU).  Basically I get patients after any open heart surgery (bypass, valve replacement, pericardial windows, etc.) and occasionally lung surgery, too.

Since the CPCU and the SICU work together, occasionally I’ll get sent to work in the SICU, which is what happened on Saturday.

My patient was on the verge of flat lining the entire shift…you can’t IMAGINE the kind of stress that can have on a person. 

It can be a little scary.  A whole lotta crap went down…but the only part that matters is that my patient is doing well now (and knowing it’s because of me isn’t too shabby either). 

Bring it on ICU!  (just kidding, please don’t, the stress of Saturday cost me 4 years of my life)

On Sunday I transferred my patient upstairs to the CPCU since she was a bit more stable.  I was glad to be getting back in my comfort zone.  Home base – yessss! 

Oh, and did I mention I got an additional patient on Sunday, too.  Heaven forbid my stress level enter a manageable range…

I left work each day in such an exhausted state…all I wanted to do was a swan dive into a pile of pillows pass the eff out. 

ANYWAYS, sorry about the rambling…I’ll get back to the real reason you read…let’s start with Saturday’s eats

Coffee & coconut date rolls – the breakfast of champions?  For sure.

Pre-packed lunch. 

Ensalada grande:  spinach, carrots, snow peas, cherry tomatoes, clover sprouts, dried cranberries, and more seaweed/sesame salad.

Courtney, I promise I’ll post more on the seaweed/sesame salad later!

More snacks: Newman’s Own dried organic apples, Berries GoMega odwalla bar, apple, and Ocean Spring Mixed Fruit crisps

Check out the cute starfruit!  By the way, anyone know what a jackfruit is?  Because I had some for lunch.

The best part of the day was when Kyle surprised me after work!!!  And guess where we went for dinner?

Whole Foods!!!! 

The baked tofu is one of my fave hot bar items, and you can’t go wrong with chickpeas…the wild rice/edamame/carrot mix was a new one for me and I LOVED it.  As usual, WF delivered.  My dinner was perfectly fulfilling and satiating.  Mmmm…

Later on I had some dessert, which wasn’t my best creation.

It was almost worthy of a “Heat the Salmon Butt” title.  But I did finish it, so I guess that says something.  I thought this was the vanilla flavor, so imagine my surprise after I mixed it all up and took a bite. Plain greek yogurt with PB and carob covered raisins? 

Fortunately, peanut butter masks anything and everything enough to delight my taste buds (and carob raisins clearly didn’t hurt either).

So I licked the cup clean :)

As for Sunday’s eats…I packed a similar lunch the night before.

The only difference between this salad and Saturday’s was the addition of baked tofu (the 3 leftover chunks from WF).

Estrogen?  Check!

The 2 remaining dried apple rings in the bag, an apricot Clif bar, an apple, and some ridiculously overpriced grapes.

Here’s an action shot of my salad half way through…

I love mixing my salads up in tuperware. 

Shake, shake.  Shake, shake, a shake it!

If you are looking at my lunch and thinking…that’s not very much food.  Well, you’re right.  I was starvin’ marvin by 4 pm – scavenging the unit for random eats.  The search was somewhat fruitless, as you would expect of a Jewish Kosher hospital (under construction on a Sunday no less).  Ugh.  I had 23 glasses of apple juice instead.  Awesome.

I nearly passed out on the subway ride home…which is why I was SO thrilled when I got home to this!

Look what greeted me when I walked in the door!  Kyle gets MVP for the weekend.  Meeting me downtown for a Whole Foods surprise dinner on Sat and BBQing vegan eats for me on Sun…I hit the jackpot with this one!

Look at him all proud of his skillz.  Cue master K! 

I love BBQ corn!  He also made mushroom/bell pepper skewers and LightLife smart tenders (plus 2 un-pictured chicken breasts for himself). 

I think I tried this brand of smart tenders long ago and wasn’t a huge fan, but this was a new flavor (Lemon Pepper) and wasn’t too bad. 

As I mentioned whined about earlier, I was hangry by the time I got home, so I immediately made up a plate.

I added 3 tender strips and a kebob to a handful of spinach and corn.

Hit. The. Spot.

Here’s plate numero dos, with a multi-v vitaminwater on the side.

Anyone tried these new lower calorie vitamin waters?  This was the first time I tried one and I’m still a little unsure how I feel (I’ve never tried any of the original vitamin water flavors either).  I noticed rebiana (the stevia extract) on the ingredient list, but I think it’s in the form of Truvia (the one with “natural sweeteners”).  Hmm…

 

Dessert was huge fruity melon mix and a pair of hermits.

So chewy and delicious!

After watching three horrendous hours of Celeb Apprentice killing my last few functioning brain cells, it was bed time.  Thank goodness I have Monday off!  I have so much catching up to do!

sunny weekend

I LOVE warm weather.  And being that this was the first nice weekend we New Yorkers have had this season, I decided to take advantage.  Obviously, I wasn’t the only one with this brilliant idea…apparently the rest of New York was on the same wavelength.

I wish I had a photo of Central Park…the great lawn was PACKED like nothing I’ve ever seen.  Not an INCH to spare!

“Not an square to spare.” – anyone?

AM Montage: frothy java, chobz, & coconut date rolls

I went on a supah long run in the Park before lunch time, and it was grrrreat.  Sun shining, endorphins flowing = love!

According to www.mapmyrun.com I ran just over 8 miles in 53 minutes (wha!?!?).  Ummmm, not to toot my own horn but isn’t that like a 6 min/mile pace!!!  I had no idea I was THAT pumped up!

When I got home I made a monster salad (aka a HUGH JASS bowl ‘o greens).

Included in this challenger: spinach, broccoli, cauliflower, sprouts, tomato, shredded carrots, and CHICKPEAS

…and my latest purchase…

Sweet white miso paste (and some balsamic) on top.

For the record, I’m not a fan of this miso paste.  It was SO salty (and I freakin’ love salt!!), so I can hardly imagine how I’m going to use it up.  It was $12 so I don’t want to just throw it away, but at the same time, our fridge space is SO coveted, I’m torn…any suggestions?

Lunch dessert/PM snacks: apple, carob raisins, dried papaya

After some afternoon errands, I arrived home to a fun package…thanks Foodbuzz!

Buitoni’s new flavor FLAAAAAVE.

Since there is dairy in the Wild Mushroom Agnolotti, Kyle was the official taste-tester.  Look at him, chopping garlic like Chef Boyardi Emeril.

We already had marinara sauce and pesto (also Buitoni), so the prep was minimal…

Review: Well, does the fact that there are no pictures of the finished product speak for itself?

He loved it, and he doesn’t even like mushrooms, so that should speak volumes.  Also, the quantity was perfect, since it didn’t feel heavy like some pasta dishes do, while still filling him up.  Well done, Buitoni, this will definitely be a repeat-er.

As for my (vegan) dinner, I went with simple.  I was lazy, and after my PM mega-nosh-fest, I wasn’t even that hungry.

LightLife veggie burger with steamed brocc and hummus.

The hummus love didn’t stop there though…I polished that container RIGHT off (obvi) – this time with a toasted english muffin.

OK, I really should have stopped after this, I was full…but I had a race Sunday morning, so clearly I had to carbo load the night before, right? 

(and by carbo load, I mean, nut butter load)

Ummmm…sure?

Soynut butter on a ww/flax tortilla. 

But the bomb weekend eats didn’t stop there.  Sunday was even more fun – including a 4M race and a rooftop BBQ!

I woke up bright and early (7:45), threw on my running gear, and headed off to central park.  I jogged to the starting line (East 68th area)…which was a nice 2 mile warm up, and found that I was somehow placed in the 9:30 min/mile pacing group.  WTF?!? 

Saturday I did 8 miles at a 6+ minute/mile pace, so this was bad news bears.

I tried to inch up a bit, but we all know what a type A rule abiding girl I am, so I basically stayed in my group.  BIG MISTAKE.  HUGE.  I was dyyyyyying as the race started…even after we finally made our way to the starting line, I still couldn’t move for the first mile.  I actually considered just ditching the race it was so bad.  By the second mile I could finally swing my arms, so I slowly began passing people, which is what I continued for the rest of the race…I think my first mile took 14 minutes, and the rest were 6ers.  It was kinda annoying.

Next time (?) I will make sure I’m not in that pace group. 

Kyle met me at the finish line and stole my bagel (just kidding, I got it for him).  And look what I saw on the way home!!!  ANOTHER sabra truck.  Ummmm, are they stalking me?!?  I made Kyle take a picture of me with the truck :)

Shower.  Coffee.  Coffee.  Coffee.

I spent the rest of the day trying to fight off the zzzz’s.  SO tired.

Smart Balance light on ww bread. 

Honestly, I think the main reason I like races is because they make me feel like I can re-fuel, guilt free.  Anyone else with me on this one?

Oranges x2 and dried pineapples x2

For lunch I went with another massive salad creation.  This is the kind of challenge I like!

For the main protein, I heated up some Boca “chik’n” nuggets.

 

Boca “chik’n” tenders, 1/2 avocado, sprouts, shredded carrots, broccoli slaw, and 1/2 tomato on a (hidden) bed of spinach.

 

I really really really loved this one.  Avo and chopped chik’n nuggets are SO good together.  I am LOVING all my salad creations, and I owe it all to Leng for this wonderful challenge, which inspired me to be more creative with my salads.  I’m so excited I have another whole week left!!!

Laundry.  TV.  Snack.  TV.  Snack.

BBQ!!!

Looks like everyone else wanted in on the action.  Our apartment has a rooftop with several communal BBQs, and it was THE happenin’ spot, without a doubt.

The sunset view from our rooftop (and the Jerz/Hudson river).

I haven’t had the most successful cooking experiments with tempeh…but I’m not one to give up so quickly (especially when the rest of the food blog world is so darn obsessed).  So I went with LightLife’s three grain flavor instead of the one I tried last time (soy), and marinated it with some good ‘ol Country Bob’s all purpose sauce.

After the two BIG chunks soaked up the marinade…

…we popped this baby open…and brought it up to enjoy while Kyle the ‘cue master did his thang on the grill.  The breasts were for the boys and my tempeh was in the tin foil.

The finished products:

Chicken.

Tempeh.

Corn.

My portion (corn on the cob x2, tempeh steaks x2, & squared slices of Alvarado street bread x2 with hummus)…NOM!!

This meal hit the spot…I LOVE BBQing, and I hope this is the first of one million summer bbqs to come.

Kyle and I enjoyed made sarcastic comments throughout the Miss USA pageant while sipping on wine. 

After dessert, which was 2 apples sliced up (1 McIntosh and 1 Gala), we hit the sack. 

Sorry this post was so insanely long!!