oil…from the gland of an otter

Apparently I have to choose between saving for a wedding, and keeping up with the food blog fads.  So, in the interest of staying engaged, I’m unable to juice for breakfast. 

No, not that kind of juice.  This kind.

So I settled for the poor man’s version (aka a smoothie). 

Into the blender went: 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup OJ, 3 oz POM, applesauce cup, frozen plain tofu cubes…

and the juice of 1 orange (hand squeezed).  Nice before and after, no?

The predominant color is the almond milk and plain tofu.  Good thing the POM brightened it up a bit, otherwise it may have looked a bit like Livy’s diaper.

I had to use the most massive thing I could find to put it in (there was just too much)!  My phone is there to show you just how big it actually was.  That’s what she said x2.

BTW, how appropriate is it that the hugest thing I could find was a beer stein from my UCLA days…gotta rep the alma mater (sorry Caroline).

This held me over for a LONG time.  Like, hours.

Eventually, I did need a little java to get me going.  Topped with froth and a dash of cinnamon.

I had a few treats to try out for lunch. 

Anyone ever heard of Za’atar before?  I hadn’t, but if you’re interested you can find out more here.  Basically, it’s a staple spice used in Arabic cuisine, and is believed to make the body and mind strong.  Plus, Sabra can do no wrong in my eyes, so it was a pretty safe “gamble.” 

 

I sliced up some (3!!) apples, popped open my can of Ocean Spring’s Harvest of Heaven Mixed Veggies snacks and dug in…

I practically inhaled this flavor of hummus!  Is it just me, or did Sabra just come out with a bunch of NEW flavors?  The other day at the store there were so many types I’d never seen before, and I had a seriously hard time not buying 5 tubs at once.  The size of our fridge was the only thing that held me back. 

That’s not even the normal 7 oz container, it’s a 14 oz tub!  Practically a VAT    …told you I inhaled it!

As for the Harvest of Heaven Veggie chips, they were decent. 

Pros: They weren’t as salty as I was expecting (47 mg per serving, 2% daily value), and didn’t taste greasy or leave my fingers all oily.  Plus, the nutritionals are pretty good (NO artificial preservatives, artificial flavors, MSG, wheat, gluten, nuts, corn, or added sugar).  There are a wide variety of vegetables, too, including sweet potato, taro, okra, yam, pumpkin, carrot, and green bean – all of which actually tasted like the actual vegetable, but in a chip form.  Not too shabby.  Plus they were thick enough to hold a LOT of hummus, and that’s the only thing that really matters, right?

Cons:  Some of these vegetables weren’t exactly meant to be chips, so the flavors weren’t amazing (ie taro).  Luckily I’m quick on my toes.  Easy solution – add a pound of hummus, and voila!  Any vehicle to get hummus to my mouth faster and easier works for me. 

In the end, I liked Ocean Spring’s Harvest of Heaven Mixed Fruit chips better, but these were still good, healthy alternatives to normal chips.

A bit later I had a Strawberry Chobz and a couple of dried pineapple rings.  Then, after my multi-course lunch, I headed to the gym (finally).

Stats: 60 min on the elliptical, 15 min on the bike, 15 min arms/abs on the mat

It felt great to finally be exercising again.  Woohoo!  Unfortunately, I’m working all weekend, so it’ll be a while ‘til I can get my cardio on again, which is why I made sure I had a solid sweat sesh.

I have no idea what I was doing the rest of the day, but next thing I knew my tummy was growling…dinner time!

I had to repeat my recent “cheesy” garlic bread because it was oh-so-tasty!  2 slices of toast + vegan buttah + vegan parm + garlic salt = Mmmm…

 

In order to even out the butter to substance ratio in my food, I enjoyed the toast alongside a veggie packed salad.  In this salad was half an avocado, cherry tomatoes, shredded carrots, broccoli slaw, cukes, and clover sprouts on a bed of spinach.  The other half of the avocado I ate on the side (plain with a dash heaping mountain of salt). 

I could live off of avocado alone.  Seriously. 

Anyone wanna move to Mexico with me and grow an avocado tree?  We wouldn’t need much with the nice weather and a life time supply of guacamole…

After Kyle got home and ate, I was getting a little stir crazy so we decided to go for a walk.  Perfect night for a PM stroll…

 

I had a bowl of berries (above) before we headed out…and carob covered raisins with medjool dates (below) after we got back.

Who missed my mega dried fruit desserts?  I did!  I did!!

Work tomorrow, so I’m off to hit the hay.  Happy weekend to the rest of you :)

i've got the golden ticket

This post will be quick and to the point because I am SO tired.

Big coffee + blueberry bran VitaTop muffin.

These are good, but not too filling. They'd probably be better as snacks because there is certainly not enough caloric oomph to get the day started.

So I had a cereal mess (a la Andrea)...I think I will eat all cereal out of this bowl forever-more. It's so fun!

Apple. (I know, it's a good thing I put a title for the pic, as you may not have been able to figure out what the above red, round thing was)

Lunch: SB&J (none other than soynut butter and home-made plum preserves)

I *heart* loaf end pieces!

Plus a blended treat made with 12 oz. silk soymilk, 2+ tbsp chocolate soynut butter, 1 banana, and enough ice to get the right consistency.

I sipped it with a straw (I'm proper and shiz).

The people at SoyJoy sent me a coupon for a free bar. So (against my better judgement) I bought one to try out. We all know how much I hate nuts, but every bar is made with almonds or walnuts (ick), so I reluctantly got the Raisin Almond, since I figured it was the closest to something I would maybe eat. Talk about a John Dorian style angel vs devil inner monologue!!

It went something like this:

Angel: Elise, you HATE nuts. This will make you sick.

Devil: But you like oatmeal raisins cookies? It's close! C'mon, try it.

Angel: You are going to regret it.

Devil: Just one taste, do it, do it.
Angel: Ok, just one taste...

Sorry SoyJoy, NOT a fan!!! (not even a little bit). This tasted like old biscotti made from uneaten christmas fruit loaf, with stale nuts. It was super gross. I definitely spit out the first bite and threw away the rest.

Another little secret they don't advertise is that the product contains dairy. What!? Sure there is soy in the ingreds, too, but mostly the name is just a gimmick. Don't be fooled, guys, this shiz, is NO good.

The last of the coconut date rolls. Note to self: buy more.

More snacky snacky: puttin' on the ritz (if you know the reference, I feel a little sad)

Chocolate soynut butter goes with everything

I kinda almost ruined my appetite for dinner with all the PM snacks. Fortunately, I'm a big growing girl :)

I'm way into these tortillas - verrrry GOOD! I especially like how you can see the grains. They don't taste all doughy like white flour tortillas, and they don't taste weird like those nasty lo carb ones. They are just perfectly wheat-y.

At the store today, I randomly found this massive sized Sabra, and couldn't pass...You can actually see HUNKS of glorious chickpeas in this tub! Chunky indeed-y!

In the wrap (that was packed too tight to close): hummus, baby spinach, matchstick carrots, some leftover seitan salad (and one lonely tofu cube)

A little blurry, sorry! I had to hold it closed with one hand, while doing some serious photog acrobatics in the other hand.

I had 2 of these wraps, and still my tummy was beggin' for more (not really, but I wanted more)

So, for dessert #1, I chopped up a Vita Brownie

...and mixed it up into a vanilla o'soy yogurt.

Hmmm...I'm not sure what to make of this. I think the yogurt combined with the brownie was just way to sweet. Don't get me wrong, I finished it (obv)...but I don't think it's a combo I will repeat. I guess if you're gonna make a dessert sundae with the Vitas, you may as well just do the damn thang right with frozen (not reg) ice cream (or soy fro yo, or whatevs).

Needless to say I wasn't satisfied, and even though I tried to watch tv, read, and draw to keep my mind pre-occupied (where is my BF when I need him!!)...I ended up having a huge dairy-loaded chocolate bar. EFF!! Tomorrow is gonna be rough. Good thing Kyle is in China (that should be a safe enough distance from the bathroom...). TMI? Sorry...

I felt like Charlie finding the golden ticket as I was opening it...

Oh dairy, how I missed you! This will bite me in the ass tomorrow (pun intended)!

Night kiddos!

moo goo gai pan

No I didn’t eat Chinese chicken and mushrooms for breakfast, that was just an answer to my daily crossword….and now it’s stuck in my head.  Admit it, it IS fun to say!

 

Along with the java, I had 2 pieces of toast with PB (the safe kind).  YUM!

Alvarado Street bread, kids.  Love it!

The weather wasn’t even in the double digits, and yet I was in the mood for a cold smoothie for lunch.  It could be because I spent the morning reading Twilight (wrapped in 35 blankets)…no shame in it!

For those who don’t know, I’m kinda a smoothie extraordinaire.  Yep, it’s true, when I turned 16, I got my first job at none other than Jamba Juice.  I feel so old because “back then” it was a small shop (barely a chain) with only a handful of locations in California…and now it’s corporate America status (Baby Mama reference anyone?). 

Anyways, in the smoothie was 15 ounces of vanilla silk soy milk, 1 chocolate o’soy yogurt, 3 strawberries, and 2 ice cubes.

All blended together.

It actually made 2 of these glasses and kept me full through noon, so I didn’t have lunch until the afternoon.

I went with the usual smart deli “turkey” sando, but made a few changes – just to keep things interesting. 

I lathered hummus on toasted ww bread – on one half was my home-made hummus and on the other half was Sabra’s hummus. 

Plus romaine lettuce, smart deli “turkey” meat, red and orange pepps…

Girlfriend was grubbin’ – hollerrrr!

Time to get my butt to the gym.  I’m thinking it’s going to be a cycling kind of day :)