Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day!!  Did everyone do something nice and green today? 

I contacted my hospital’s big-wigs to beg ask about an initiative promoting biking to work (and requesting to get a small protected room to store the staff hippies’ bikes).  C’mon Beth Israel, get green!!  This is something I have been trying to get going for a while, so now that the weather is getting nice, and in honor of Earth Day, I figured an extra push may be well received.  We’ll see…

You know how I rocked it out this morning…with a cuppa joe :)

And later on some grub…

Step 1: place cubed tofu in pan           Step 2: toss in spinach

Step 3: sit on your a$%                   Step 4: add in “egg”

Step 5: stir and try not to burn your tongue when you do the inevitable taste “test”

Step 6: plate whatever is leftover after you’ve scorched the roof of your mouth because of your lack of patience…and ENJOY!

 

Needed the crunch factor, too.  An apple a day, right?

Later in the afternoon, my tummy started growling, so I decided on some toast with plain greek yogurt.  I know this sounds weird, but I think I’m onto something here!!  Chobani can do no wrong.

Has anyone tried Tofutti’s “better than cream cheese”?  I kinda wanna try it, but it’s one of those products I always end up passing on while at the grocery store (in the interest of preserving my wallet/bank account).  I’d imagine it could be good on toast like my above invention.  Opinions?

(insert gym here)

I really wasn’t feeling the exercising today, so I opted for lots of mat work (arms, abs, stretching, etc.)…I’m supposed to be tapering for the half marathon this weekend anyways, so I don’t feel too guilty.

Post-gym I refueled gobbled down some perfectly crunchy carrots with my one-and-only lover SABRA.  Chunky!!  I don’t know how or why, but chunky is WAY better than smooth…plus the containers are double the size.  How can I resist?!?

We now interrupt this post with a super important topic…

Non-milk discussion

I need help.  I am getting nervous about my soymilk consumption and looking to switch things up a bit.  Gotta keep that estrogen intake in check.  Plus I know other bloggers out there are fans of a wide variety of non-milk milks.  So what are my alternatives?

• hemp milk
• almond milk
• rice milk
• cashew milk

Who has tried these and what are your opinions? Also, if you don’t like nuts, do the almond/cashew choices taste anything like nuts?  I think they are from a non-nut part of the plant, but I’ll admit, I haven’t done my research…hey, that’s what you guys are for!

Any others I’m missing?  Also, unsweetened vs. sweetened?  Any tips would be greatly appreciated!!!

Ok, back to the good stuff.  DINNER.

 

Salad challenge.  Hummbecue – because 25 servings of hummus a day just ISN’T enough for the growing girl   :)

I practically DUMPED my tofu in BBQ sauce and SABRA hummus, plus onions, and red bell peppers…although the BBQ sauce seems to be the dominant ingred by the looks of the photo.  There’s also half an avocado in there somewhere…

Dessert was quite a treat. 

This my friends, is chocolate/strawberry tofu “cheesecake” aka an “o” in my mouth…

HEAVEN!!

tuesday

Finally, a day off of work…time to get the apartment set up!

After I got back from errands, I made a big lunch.  A pseudo BLT (soy bacon, spinach, and hummus)…ok, so it was a BLH.  I used Lightlife soy bacon and Sabra hummus (obvi) on my fave, Alvarado street bread.

Looks delish, huh!!!

I cleaned the apartment while snacking chowing down some dried fruit.

I was a bit of a slacker, and really wasn’t feeling the gym, but I dragged myself there (my goal is to not come in last in April’s half marathon).  It ended up not being a total waste, and I got in some decent cardio and arm stuff.

I snacked on frozen green grapes while prepping (aka chopping).

It doesn’t get any better than the “big salad.”  In this massive bowl was: stupid romaine lettuce (nutritional value = blah), soy-tein with spinach, and some de-thawed frozen veggies (I was in a rush), and brocc slaw.

Not too shabby, but I needed more carbs, so I had 2 slices of Alvarado street bread with Sabra hummus on the side.

 

I also had gotten myself a treat for dessert.  A slice of vegan vanilla/coconut (tofu) “cheesecake.”

Get ready for a montage…

Half way through…I added some berries, too.

 

Oops!  Where did this one come from?  I guess I had more figs, too…although I don’t remember this, so I don’t think it counts.

How often are you surprised by things you forgot you ate when you are loading your pics onto your computer?

empty containers

I couldn’t decide on a title for this post.

The real title should have been “how much chocolate and dessert food can you consume in 48 hours”…but that doesn’t really roll off the tongue.

So, instead I decided to post photos of all the containers I’ve managed to polish off (as if wasting food in our move is my biggest concern).

More death by chocolate (vegan) cake…aka the BEST slice of heaven on Earth.  Yuuuummmmmy!! 

And this was only half way through (the original slice was about the size of a brick).

And for those East Coast-ers who know a good thing when they see the box, here’s Kyle’s birthday cheesecake from Junior’s.

Try not to drool on your keyboards.  I doubt your warranty covers saliva induced malfunctioning.  Mine didn’t.

WF’s vegan pudding…my weakness (well, one of them)!

I had to!!  Dried fruit and chocolate are meant to be together.

Scraped clean (obviously we all saw this picture coming).

And the trend continued…at the WF hot bar.

Included in this packed-to-the-brim container: roasted sweet potatoes, baked tofu, “chik’n” salad, TONS of grains (quinoa, millet, bulgar, and barley), steamed brocc, and a fresh slaw salad.

I pounded it like a champ (reference point: freshman year beer bong).

 

More dessert vanishing acts.  This time with (vegan) blueberry vanilla “cheesecake.”

 

English muffin + pounds of Earth Balance (it’s healthy, right Andrea?)

Maybe I go through these too fast…any thoughts?

This is no joke.  Cleaning out the fridge is such a fun job.

 

More dessert: cookies with soymilk.

Oats with soynut butter…going, going…

Gone!

Empty PB jar :(

Ok, you get the point…I’ve been a fat ass chocoholic finishing everything I managed to get my hands on. 

Good for the mouth.  Bad for the tummy.  Somehow the fact that I have to fit into a little dress for my cousin’s wedding this weekend has escaped me.

I think I should get my butt to the gym, stat!

PS  Wanna win some yummies?  I DO!  Head over to Erinbee's site

Oh, it hit the fan alright!

I apologize for being away (I missed you all, even if you didn’t notice I was gone, haha).  These past few days have been insane. 

I can’t even begin to try to condense it into a blog-worthy Cliff's notes version.  So…

(a) I was working a LOT – gotta get the cash flow to pay those billz, yo!

(b) A patient stroked out RIGHT before I was supposed to head out on my lunch break (the blogger meet up, no less) – ahhhhhh!  I hate to say which part of that last sentence disappointed me more.  SHOOT!  I’m a good nurse, so even though it wasn’t my patient, I obviously had to take over that nurse’s other patients while they called a code and went through all the shenanigans that go down when a patient has a stroke.  Not. Fun. Period. 

(c) We are moving!!!  After a loooooong time discussing all the pros/cons of this decision, Kyle and I are SO thrilled to make this upgrade.  We are still staying in NYC, and we are still staying in our same Upper West Side neighborhood, but we are going to be upping the square footage BIG time.  EXCITING!  The closet space alone, y’all…

(d) We had our friends from CA staying with us.  Party time?

(e) Kyle’s birthday.  A lot of chocolate.  Not a lot of exercise.

(f) My computer and the Geek Squad were having a sleep over (for a week), and I just got it back today.

Since I was pre-occupied with the above, the food stuff came to play second fiddle this past week. Here’s a few highlights.

 

 

 

Hope that holds you over for a bit.  I’ve got a google reader with hundreds of posts to catch up on…alas, I head back to CA for my cousin’s wedding in a few days. 

When the hell am I gonna have the time to MOVE by April 1st?