the monday blues

Yep, I've got them...the blues. It's because I am in the real world and I can't handle it!!!

I decided to make the most of it though, and tackle my 30 item long to-do list. So, today ended up being quite a productive day!

Naturally, I couldn't start the day off ANY other way...oh sweet coffee, how I've missed you so.

After a vacation filled with Euro cafes (which are super strong and black), it was so nice to get a nice American frothy mug. I never realized what fatties we are in the US...I even take my coffee with minimal extravagant additives, but the shear quantity that I consume on a daily basis is quite excessive. I have at least 2 massive mugs every morning, usually more, and until this trip I didn't really think that was too weird (remember my August - September venti soy latte kick when I was spending over $20/day at starbucks on 4 or 5 each day)! YIKES!!
So, since I was up at 7:45 am (still adjusting to the time change, I guess?) I was at the gym by 11. The View made my work out fly by. I ran 35 minutes on the tread mill first (alternating speed and incline), then switched over to the elliptical for another 35 minutes (alternating pedaling directions). I cooled down with a brisk 3 minute walk on the tread mill, followed by an ab workout with the big bouncy ball and the medicine ball and massive stretching.

Lazy lunch...

The apartment was still devoid of groceries, so soup was on the menu by default. I added a big 'ol dollop of ff Fage greek yogurt to the lentil soup because I love the bit of creaminess it adds. I learned this from my mom. She taught me this trick with sour cream in a corn and potato soup she used to make, but she made it pretty.* Mine was not so pretty.

* To make it look nice, warm it up first (so it's runny rather than a heavy hunk that sinks like the titanic in your soup). Then make little drops and run a toothpick through them so they go from circular drops to cute heart shaped garnishes!

More errands to do...I required more caffeine fuel. I had back to back cups of iced coffee that I made from the left over morning brew (plus ff skim plus).


For dinner I wanted to tackle some of the new recipes I'd been brainstorming, so I got some groceries while I was out. I scored these 2 big chunks of butternut squash for only $1!

I chopped them up into cubes, added salt, cinnamon, and a teeny bit of EVOO and into the oven they went.

Here they are half way (approx 15 minutes) into baking...time to flip em over.

The final product = DE-lish!

Only half of them made it to the bowl because the rest were eaten straight off the pan. Cinnamon is a bomb ingred for squash, espec when combined with salt (yes, it does seem to be an unlikely duo, but it works, I swear).

I also decided to try out quinoa. I see it in every veg magazine I read and all the menus in vegan restaurants. It is a great source of fiber and protein (it has mega amino acids).

Description curtesy of wikipedia: Quinoa (pronounced /ˈkinwɑ/ KEEN-wah or /ˈkinoʊə/ KEE-no-uh, Spanish quinua, from Quechua kinwa) is a species of goosefoot (Chenopodium) grown as a crop primarily for its edible seeds. It is a pseudocereal rather than a true cereal as it is not a grass. Its leaves are also eaten as a leaf vegetable, much like amaranth, but the commercial availability of quinoa greens is currently limited.

Quinoa was of great nutritional importance in pre-Columbian Andean civilizations, being secondary only to the potato, and was followed in importance by maize. In contemporary times, this crop has become highly appreciated for its nutritional value, as its protein content is very high (12%–18%), making it a healthy choice for vegetarians and vegans. Unlike wheat or rice (which are low in lysine), quinoa contains a balanced set of essential amino acids for humans, making it an unusually complete protein source.[5] It is a good source of dietary fiber and phosphorus and is high in magnesium and iron. Quinoa is gluten-free and considered easy to digest.

The ratio is the same 2:1 (water:grains) as rice, but how the quinoa differs from cooking rice is that it needs to be drained a few times first due to the saponins. Saponins are soap-like substances that occur on the outside of the grains (believed to possibly be there to deter insects and birds in nature).

I cooked a crap load...but here's the portion I had tonight.
Plus I steamed brocc, cauliflower, and carrots...

I added ff Fage greek yogurt and salt to the quinoa and then topped it on the veggies.

WOW! This was a huge success! It's gonna be hard to not make this every single night now...

No dessert necessary. Yes, it was that good.

"mind the gap"

I have been trying to delay the arrival of this day for a while now...but there's no point in denying it, I'm back in the real world after 10 days of bliss. Vacation was amazing. I saw a lot, ate a lot, enjoyed a lot, worked out none - and it was fabulous! Exactly the way vacation is supposed to be. I didn't take photos of my food, because frankly, that would have been obnoxious, and I just wanted to enjoy it all, guilt free.
While dining out on this trip, I was definitely inspired to create new meals at home. I can't wait to try to vegan-ize so many of the dishes we enjoyed.

A few highlights: tortilla espanola, especially the "Pans" truita sando with tortilla, itty bitty cafes (sugarless and milkless), crepes with nutella and bananas, lots of great seafood dishes, lots of baguettes (hello freshly baked bread...mmm), Ping Pong's dim sum, borough market place...

I could go on and on and on...good thing we did a lot of walking, otherwise I would have come back 10 pounds heavier!

Pans & Company - I can't get enough of this place, I wish they would open up stores in the US
Maoz Vegetarian - Veggie/vegan heaven, plus they are even in nyc!
Pret A Manger - Such a great company, healthy AND environmentally responsible (oh, and did I mention tasty!)
Ping Pong - we went to the location on the south bank, great dim sum with lots of veggie options, the vegetable puffs were SO good, we got so many plates of them that they ran out! The baked dishes are great, but they are known for their steamed dishes. I liked the baked ones the best, though. Mouth watering.

Ok, the rest is history! Back to reality :(

up up and away (to europe)

FINALLY the day is here! We leave for Europe today!! Woohoo.

Java load! Much needed since Kyle got back from Brazil at 6 in the morning, so I was up by 7.

I have been basically clearing out the fridge, but this morning I had to suck it up and go out and get some food. I got a bag of grapes because they looked so good - plus, I figured if I didn't finish them I could always freeze them (but, of course it didn't come to that, since I clearly ate them all).

I had two peach O'soy yogurts with the grapes. Now I am gym bound! I don't really want to work out, but I should since I am going to have 10 days off from the gym starting tomorrow. So I sucked it up and ran for 60 minutes on the elliptical.

I went out for some last minute shopping in the afternoon and then got my last salad!

As usual, I added the tofu edamame to the salad. Okay, off to the airport....Barca, here we COME!

48 hours (more or less)

I am beyond words excited for this vacation. Only one more day!

Coffee!!

I went to the gym for an elliptical sesh. It was raining so I was kinda in a yuck mood. Basically, I just wanted to get my work out over with asap.

I made some lunch after: soy noodles, edamame, teriyake flavored tofu **and JUST for some extra crunch I added Garden of Eatin' tortilla chips on top

Look at the multitasking going on here - crosswording while grubbing. Could life BE any better?

Then I spent forever trying to catch up on tivo-ed shows...I have like 500 eps of grey's, desperate housewives, and real housewives of atlanta. I'm not even going to pretend like I'm ashamed of the crappy lineup I just mentioned. Trashy tv. Love it.
Later in the day I had an apple. It was crunch-o delish!

The theme of dinner was take everything left in the fridge in throw it in a bowl...which may have inadvertently led to a new fave salad! Check it out, I'm a culinary Alexander Fleming (for the non-science geeks, he's the man who discovered penicillin by accident).

I chopped up the last of the smart deli "turkey" slices and the soy bacon to put on top of the salad...yum!

So here's the final product. If nothing else, those colors make the dish! Pretty AND tasty!

After dinner I started packing and cooking. I made a massive lasagna to freeze for my K love, which only took an hour or so, but the packing took forever. I was up so late, I needed sustenance (see dates below).

Great motto (a la Quincy Jones):

Once a task has just begun,

never leave it 'til it's done.

Be the labor great or small,

Do it well or not at all.

cleaning out the fridge

Peace out real world! I only have this last week of work and then we are off to Europe!! I am so excited, I will hardly be able to focus at work...
I packed my lunch the night before: apple, odwalla bar (superfood flavor), raisins, and a big 'ol sandwich.

I'm trying to use up the last of things in the fridge before we go, which means I'm getting creative in my sandwich choices. Broccoli slaw (in lieu of lettuce), ff greek yogurt and mustard with smart deli "turkey" ...and then more mustard (in an attempt to bind the brocc slaw together). It tasted ok. Honestly, by the time I got my lunch break my sandwich could have tasted like cardboard and I still would have been excited. But, let me back up a bit and talk about how the day began. I got up bright and early (actually it was still dark out) so I could get to work early...you know how I love starting the day off reading the paper over a hot cup of coffee. What could be better? But, this morning in particular I was on a reading mission because I have to finish my book to bring for Marie in Spain. So, while enjoying my Bruno's coffee, I finished Philippa Gregory's "The Constant Princess."

Post work, I went on a run outside. It was crisp, perfect weather for running outside, so I just ran down to 72nd street and back. It takes me about 25 minutes, which is just enough exercise after a long day of work to make me feel like I did something active, while not completely exhausting me. I had a bunch of frozen grapes after I got back home. These are the perfect snack! Frozen grapes taste like little balls of fresh fruit sorbet.

Then for dinner I made a huge curry tuna salad - I mean HUGE. I used 4 cans of tuna, 2 apples, heaping spoonfuls of veganaise and honey mustard, tons of raisins, curry powder, salt and pepper. Voila!

I ate about half of it plain, and the rest I added to a bed of arugula lettuce and the last of the broccoli slaw. I really want to get in my veggies before I leave for vacation, since English, French, and Spanish cuisine isn't really known for their greens. Here's what I get to look forward to: fish and chips, wine and cheese, and tortilla and paella. Now you see why I am being a gym rat and salad whore before I leave...vacation is a time to relax and enjoy fine dining (meaning no workouts and no guilt).

Naturally, I ended the day with a bunch of dates :)

T minus 2 days!!

the perfect day

I woke up before my alarm went off at 9 am, but then once I turned on the light and the tv, I nodded back off right away. I kept waking up for brief seconds but just couldn't seem to keep my eyes open. Finally, by 11 I dragged myself to the kitchen to start the coffee.

I kinda overflowed my mug! (no design today)

I did some housework while munching on strawberry o'soy yogurt and an apple for brunch. I still have a bunch of I's to dot and T's to cross before leaving this Friday. So it was nice to relax while doing errands around the house. I even got to do a bit of cooking, after which I left for the gym...elliptical 60 mins, stretching 10 mins. Weak. Too tired.

Here's the pre-cut packaged butternut squash. I have totally been craving roasted butternut squash lately...there's something about the fall season that makes me want comfort foods (like pumpkin and squash).

All I did was add EVOO and salt, pop it in the oven, and wait for it to start smelling good.

Soooo good. They didn't even make it to a plate! I had 3/4 of them as my post-gym snack. Then I headed out on a mission for jeans. After trying on 3 million pairs, I finally found the perfect pair. I took them to get altered, so they will be delivered here Thursday night, just in time for vacation!!

I also stopped by Blossom, the new vegan restaurant in the neighborhood to grab a menu. I can guarantee that will be a new fave - can't wait to try it out (stay tuned)!

For dinner I made some tofu. I pressed the tofu forEVER to try to get all the liquid out.

Then I cut the pieces into 1/2 inch thick slices and placed them on foil sprayed with pam. All I did was add salt and drizzle EVOO over them.

I let each side bake for 30 minutes for 4 rotations until they turned brown on the corners.

Mmmm...beautiful golden baked tofu

I had 3 slabs plain for dinner and the rest I chopped into little pieces to add to salad.

I also chopped up carrots and celery, but only added half to the salad (I'll use the rest later).

And here's the salad with broc slaw, raisins, carrots, celery and tofu.

Dessert is still in the works...I'm thinking passion fruit sorbet?

out on the town

Time for a new starbucks coffee blend - flavor flave!!! Today was my first taste of the serena organic blend. Quite good.

Swirly froth that I enjoyed while watching an old episode of the view (yeah tivo). After 2 cups Uncle Matt called and we decided to meet up at Battery Park for the boat cruise to Liberty Island. I took the subway downtown to Chambers and walked the rest of the way along the water. I thought it was a good idea, but when I got west enough, I quickly realized the wind had a mind of it's own. Suddenly I was shivering and wishing I had on 7 more layers! Ah well...

I brought along this odwalla bar (superfood=my fave) for a snack, which I ended up eating while admiring lady liberty up close.

I'm not sure where the time went, but it seemed like next thing I knew it was 5 pm. We went to Wall Street and then took the subway back uptown. Naturally we stopped at starbucks on the way to my apartment for some warmth in liquid form (soy misto)...and then brought it back to my apartment so we could further heat up while watching MSNBC and CNN. Uncle Matt and Bart then left and I headed to the gym for a so-so work out. I was honestly pretty tired, so it was kinda half ass, but it was something, so can't be too upset.

For dinner I had a salad (in a rut much?) which consisted of everything seen below.

And the end product was a nice big bowl of green.

Dessert was A LOT of dates...about 20+ in total. I tried to eat them over the course of the night, they were just so tasty it was hard to not polish them off in 4 minutes flat.

So tired!