Carb-o loading for fun

Froth-a-licious!

It was a VERY berry morning.  Strawberry chobz + even more strawberries.

These were the Arnold Schwarzenegger of strawberries.  They were SO huge, I think I only needed 4 to fill the bowl to the brim!

See!!  Massive! 

For lunch, I made a Philly NY cheese steak seitan wrap…yeahhhhh, my version has nada to do with the greasy, cheesy, meaty dish made famous by the city of brotherly love.  Oddly enough though, seitan with veggie slices kinda reminds me of the artery clogging sammie (as gross as that is to admit).  Fortunately, my wrap is a bit more healthy, and pretty simple to make.

1.  Warm tortilla

2.  Add way too much seitan (so there’s no way it will close)

3.  Melt cheddar flavored veggie slices (or any other vegan “cheese”)

4.  Be generous with the avocado

5.  Try to make it healthier by tossing in something green

6.  Stop, drop, and roll (like you're on fayah!)

7.  Gobble gobble

Lunch was delish, have I convinced any of you to make your own seitan yet?

I had an apple and kiwi before heading off to the gym.  This was the first time I ate a kiwi WITH the fuzz…surprisingly, it was not even noticeable.  So maybe Erin isn’t crazy after all…

I had a mayj BLAH of a gym sesh.  I could hardly force my way through effort level 0 on the elliptical.  Rather than force myself through an additional 30 minutes, I ditched.  Lounging on the couch reading blogs was way more relaxing. 

I had a WF tofu ball to hold me over until dinner.

And an apple…

All day I couldn’t seem to find anything that was satiating.  For dinner I was really really really craving carbs, so I made some hummus and threw everything I could find on a plate to dip into it.  What DOESN’T dip in hummus?  (answer: nothing)

English muffin, mushrooms, steamed broccoli, and carrots…with the best home-made hummus EVAH!

Of course, I needed another plate full of goodies and more hummus, so for the second helping I had more broccoli and another English muffin, and 2 falafel balls.

I was full after this, but still not satisfied.  Hard to explain.  Some days are just like that – what my body wants, my body wants, why try to figure it out…might as well just give in.

All day long I’ve been rockin’ a Kirstie Alley sized appetite, even moments after eating, my tummy was ready for more food.  As if nothing could hold my appetite – so frustrating!  I felt like I was eating to fill up a post-marathon calorie void (only I hadn’t run a marathon).  Grrr…

So I did what any good foodie would do…turned to chocolate…

…and cereal  :)

Nothing like snacking the day away while expending next to no calories.  I am back to work tomorrow, so I packed my lunch, laid out my scrubs, and got to bed watched Chelsea Lately.

OK, in the interest of full disclosure, I also had this bowl of (way way way too many) carob chips and raisins, despite the fact that I already polished off an entire chocolate bar less than an hour ago. 

Ummm, am I carbo loading or carob loading?

Travel Thursday and Treats

Wahoooo!  Going home today :)

That’s right, I’m headed back to Nor Cal for another wedding.  I’m so excited to see my friends and my family, but MOST of all, to go look at wedding sites. 

The last few weeks Kyle and I have been doing research AROUND THE CLOCK.  I think we have seen every single wedding site in Northern California…and still haven’t found THE ONE, although we have narrowed it down to about 10 or so.  Wine country, Lake Tahoe, East Bay, San Francisco…(??) God only knows at this point.

 

I did the morning crossword, had some coffee, and then got my ass to the gym before I could talk myself out of it.

I got home and there was a wonderful PACKAGE waiting for me :)

Ocean Spring’s Harvest of Heaven!!!!  Mixed Fruits and Mixed Veggies.  How exciting AND perfect timing.  PERFECT for me to take on the flight, healthy AND portable.  Thanks SO much Ocean Spring.

Check out the great stats.  If you can’t make out those labels with your superman x-ray vision, check out their website here.

By the time I was out of the shower I was starving.

Big ‘ol bowl of Cheerios and (the last of the) almond milk.

Will I buy the almond milk again?  Meh.  TBD.  I think I still want to try out rice milk and hemp milk and the others you all recommended.  We will see…

I also had the rest of my watermelon and an apple.

I LOVE this season’s fruit.  Mmmm.

After packing and doing a mill last minute things, I “made” some lunch for myself.

Sliced cukes and a new container of chunky Sabra (I’m on, like, #4 for the week).

Heavenly.  But, then, does Sabra ever disappoint?

Below is just some of the food I packed for the LONG flight.  Thank goodness we are traveling jetting with JetBlue, the time will fly by (pun!) with shows like The Office and 30 Rock on tonight.

Sammie on Alvarado street bread with Smart Deli “turkey,” spinach, sprouts, hummus, and mustard.

Plus, a dangerously large bag of carob raisins AND carob almonds…yes, I’m branching out!  Nutty, I know.

I also got my Barney Butter samples in the mail – score!  I took an apple and a packet along for the plane ride…looks like I’m going to have quite a few reviews later, so stay tuned.

On a side note:  I’m a little freaked about flying today.  Normally I kinda dismiss things like the Swine flu, but since I will be in a confined place with a bunch of randoms for HOURS (subway and plane), I’m actually pretty nervous.  Should I pull a Michael Jackson and rock a face mask? 

April (in Cliff’s Notes)

I don’t even know where to begin…this past week has been one of the most incredible times of my life.  Between getting engaged, visiting friends and family in Nor Cal and So Cal, my cousin getting married and my other cousin giving birth, it has been a fantastically memorable week. 

Yes.  My only two cousins managed to coordinate the biggest events in their lives to overlap!!!!!!!!!

My older cousin went into labor 5 weeks early, and ended up in the hospital on the night of the rehearsal dinner and gave birth to a healthy baby boy the day of my cousin’s wedding (her younger sister).  Not only did she miss the ceremony and the reception, but she was the maid of honor and her husband was one of the groomsmen.  Needless to say, it was ONE EXCITING DAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I rarely remembered to snap pics of my food because I was a bit preoccupied (it was one of the LAST things on my mind…) and to be honest, a lot of it wasn’t very photogenic.  An unfortunate reality of traveling and going out to eat with friends/family is the inability to control the types of food that are available for vegans. 

In Nor Cal I ended up eating a lot of cereal messes…

(raisin bran, life, and nanners)

(grape nuts, bran flakes, nanners and fresh blackberries!!!)

SO MUCH wonderful fruit (!!) and yes, that bowl has my name on it…only in Paris can you find “Elise” on a dish.

Normally I don’t like citrus, but these oranges were SO juicy and perfect (AND they were from our backyard)

Who am I?  Gliding Calm?

No worries, we have massive trees with about 800 pounds of oranges, so I was going to town guilt free :)

They look fake, they are so pretty.  Mmmmm…

We also had a BBQ the day after the engagement.  Sorta an impromptu celebration (which is pretty easy when the weather is permanently 80 degrees).

Apps: Sabra hummus with veggies and ALL-BRAN crackers (review to follow)

Snackety snacking…

The All-Bran crackers were SO good.  They kinda reminded me of graham crackers because they had a sweet honey taste to them, even though I got the “multi-grain” flavor.  Plus, who doesn’t like fiber?  Can’t beat those stats…I’ll prolly never find them again back in NYC.

My dad threw some meat on the grill while I prepped veggie skewers.

Red and yellow bell peppers, zucchs, squash, and ‘shrooms.

And after some time on the barby…

There is nothing like grilling fresh produce to make me miss California.  This west coast livin’ just can’t be beat…

Other featured eats: salad, rice, VINO, and champagne (in bulk)

Plus, some tea on the late night to soothe my tummy.

…and FAR too much of this.  My dad is going to be pissed when he sees the cherry picking that went on while I noshed this tub down to nothingness.  I heart dried fruit like nobody’s business.

In So Cal I ended up frequenting the Whole Foods hot bar quite a bit (always a great option).  Hummus and falafel are definitely the flavor of the month so far.  Prepare yourself for a MAJOR falafel montage…

(and remember these are all different trips – and I only captured 1/3 of my meals on film)

The above meal had TWO kinds of hummus (parsley and plain) and in the corner is BBQ tofu.

The below meal was dominated by hummus.  I went overboard, to put it mildly.

I even tracked down a falafel, hummus, and pita chip platter at the AIRPORT, on one of our many flights, there’s no stopping me!!!

I told you I went through a MAJOR falafel phase.

We also spent some time at my g-ma’s in Newport Beach, so obviously I managed to get my hands on hummus :)

This was my first time trying this brand, and I gotta say, it gave Sabra a run for it’s money.  I would DEF buy it again.  Creamy and thick, and packed with flavor.

But enough about food…back to the fun times! 

 

The proposal was such a surprise.  :)

Kyle told me his parents were in San Francisco for business, so we decided to meet them in the city for lunch…I found out later no such business trip existed.

We stopped by my sister’s apartment on the way…

Here’s the view from her rooftop.

Then Kyle took me to Crissy field to “meet up with his parents.”

In actuality, he asked me to marry him!!!!!!

As if the day could get ANY more amazing, his parents AND mine then showed up (they knew the plan the entire time!!!!!!) and we all celebrated together!

As you can see, the weather was perfect, the scenery was gorgeous, and I was the happiest girl in the world!!!!!!!

I was basically doing the above all day long (staring at my finger  and gushing on the phone).

How could I not, right?

For lunch, we went to a vegetarian restaurant called Greens, which was great!  I got a skewer with veggies and tofu and a side salad.  But I was hardly even aware of my food on SUCH a high :)

The champagne was flowing…

 

After lunch we took more photos, walked around the city, and eventually made our way to the financial district (near our old SF apartment before we moved to NYC).  Kyle had booked a hotel room for the night, so we check in and then headed out to do some shopping.  I desperately needed a nicer outfit than what I brought (jeans and a t-shirt) for dinner.  Clearly the ring upped the ante for the attire!  Off to BCBG, Aldo, and Victoria’s Secret…stat!

For dinner we went to Kokkari, an amazing Greek restaurant in the financial district. 

The food was great and they were so thoughtful, catering the menu to make sure there were vegan options for me.  I hardly even remember what we had because there was so much good food…fried eggplant and zucchini cakes, mushrooms, babaganoush, hummus, greek yogurt, etc…just to name a few things.

L to R: my parents, Kyle, me, Kyle’s parents.

Our table faced a massive fireplace, with live rotisserie action going on. 

Baklava dessert with a sweet message.

It was amazing, for lack of a better word.  The entire day couldn’t have been more perfect.