Valentine’s day = chocolate overload

So, I’m not a huge Valentine’s Day person.  In fact, I pretty much refuse to “celebrate” on the actual day.  It’s not that I’m anti-romance, it’s just…I don’t need a designated day of the year to display my affection, I love Kyle all year long (and I make sure he knows it all year long)!!!

That said.  HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!!!!!!!

I worked today.  What can I say, work was work. 

Lunch:  sammie with every color bell pepper

 

Other treats: carob raisins, dried fruit mix, dried pineapple, dried figs, apple, odwalla bar, and lots of silk-ified coffee

Let the record state – carob covered raisins and dried fruit together are my idea of HEAVEN 

I also picked up a little treat from the ‘bucks while I was there.

FYI, I’ve literally been to 8 different stores this week looking for SF vanilla syrup, too bad the thought to ask starbucks where I can get some didn’t occur to me a bit sooner…anyways, when I went in to ask them, they said, you can buy it here directly from us.  Heyo!  If only I’d know that before hitting up every store on the upper west side!  I can’t WAIT to add this to my morning coffee.

Like I said, V day is bad for a chocoholic…(even though I now consider myself a reformed caroboholic) – haha, I actually typed carboholic just then (which is equally accurate in describing me)

Half a bar my co-worker shared with me…(I managed to avoid all the bombitters (aka almonds)

My commute home was INFURIATING, but in honor of Valentine’s Day, I’ll keep the venting to myself and channel loving thought (just know that the weekend subway sched BLOWS)

Dinner: texturized vegetable protein (vegan) sushi rolls

Plus, vegan soy-tein with spinach

(which I combined with the last of the Fage greek yogurt – nom nom)

Dessert was none other than chocolate! 

Chocolate Tofu cup ingredients: tofu, maple syrup, cocoa powder, rice, orange zest, pure vanilla extract, sea salt

Vanilla Tofu cup ingredients: organic tofu, maple syrup, lemon zest, sea salt, cinnamon

**no oil, no sugar, no gluten – pure vegan deliciousness :)

The vanilla one was SO SO good, but the chocolate one was just so-so…the best part is the pure ingredients, so I didn’t feel remotely guilty.  I hope this dessert wasn’t just a V day special because I could definitely see myself getting this 7 nights a week :)

(clearly)

This cute card pretty much wraps up my day…

tv or hour nap?

I woke up to Kyle getting ready for work (he’s normally so quiet, but lately, not so much)…so (again) I embraced it and got the day under way.  Unlike Kelly, I chose tv over napping :)

I went craaaazy with my coffee this morning, frothed vanilla silk and a stevia/cinnamon combo sprinkled on top.  Um, this is my heaven.

 

Brekkie: Fench toast with “egg” beaters and Alvarado street bread…with a lot of Earth Balance melted on top.

Lunch: Sammie on Alvarado street bread with sabra hummus, greek yogurt, tofu AND smart deli “turkey” plus some romaine

I love tofu and hummus together.  Actually, I sabra hummus is pretty much heavenly on anything and everything…

PM snack: dried fruit and tea + apple

 

I was going to go for a run in the park since it was super sunny earlier in the day, but the wind factor made it pretty much impossible to enjoy the sunny (but still cold) weather.  So gym it was.  GYM stats:  elliptical 60 min, spinning 20 min, tread mill walking cool down 10 min

FYI – my cute/hilarious BF signed off a mid-day email to me today “vegan love, K”    haha, he cracks me up  :)

Dinner:  BBQ seitan with salad

Salad contained romaine, brocc slaw, and tomatoes, with Fay-yeh and the seitan on top

 

All mixed up, don’t know what to do…

And here’s plate full numero dos

Dessert: dried figs and carob covered raisins (I mean waht did you expect…)

At what point does this go from ordinary addiction to serious obsession (slash problem).

I got crafty again and started stuffing carob raisins in things :)

I also had a couple glasses of delicious chocolate soymilk.  It’s like liquid love…

Are there certain foods that you eat that your fam/friends/S.O. think are totally weird or gross?  As you all know, I love love love dried fruit, but Kyle’s not a fan, which I just don’t understand.  Other than that, he’s pretty good about being open to trying new vegan dishes and/or non-meat alternatives.  He does think it’s weird that I put greek yogurt on just about everything…and he definitely poo-poos my vegan “cheese” (I don’t think he could live without queso)!  I’m still working on getting him to try carob…

Happy Friday the 13th – I was pretty cautious all day (because I’m crazy superstitious)

Ok, gotta get to bed, I’m working all weekend AND monday.  BOO!!

heart your heart

Kyle was doing God-knows-what in the kitch this morning, so I was up at 8 even though I didn’t work today.  Still, I went to bed before 1 am last night, so I almost got 8 hours of zzzz, good enough!  I really enjoyed all the feedback on everyone’s sleep patterns.  It definitely inspired me to hit the sack earlier confirmed that I am a freak and I should truly be getting more REM cycles in each night, fo’ sho!  So, as usual, thanks bloggies :)

Since I was already up, I figured I may as well get the day started.  So I made some tea to sip while reading. 

I was not planning on finishing it!!  I was only half way through when I got up this morning, and before I knew it, it was 10 and I was done with the book!!  It was so good, with such a surprising twist at the end, I really recommend reading this one.

Then I made some frothy coffee and brekkie just in time to sit down and watch the View with my yummy eats.

Berries GoMega odwalla bar (from my secret cupid) crumbled into a vanilla o’soy yogurt with some nanner slices.

I really like yogurt with granola/cereal/oats…so I figured why not crumble up my bar and put it in the yog?  So tasty :)  Plus bananas just about go with everything.

For lunch I made a sammie with hummus and smart deli “turkey.”  It was pretty good, but def missed greenery (I used up all the lettuce last night in my salad).

I also had an apple (one of the bushel given to me by my patient).

 

And my lunch dessert was dried fruit.

Papaya and dates :)  L.O.V.E.

 

Gym time!  There is something about dried fruit that gets me pumped up and keeps my energy level high throughout mega cardio sessions.  Today I was feeling aggressive so I did elliptical for 60 mins on a really high resistance.  I was focusing on contracting my abs and keeping my core tight the entire time (look ma, no hands).  Then I did some 5 minute intervals of walking and running on the tread mill, followed by a lot of stretching and a bit of abs/arms on the mats.  All in all, I left the gym feeling like I worked my butt off, which is the idea, after all.

On the way home I did some very necessary grocery shopping.

Can you tell what I was craving?  I was at the market that sells local produce and I went a little veggie crazy.  It looked SO good though, plus, I like supporting local growers, even though the prices are kinda insane some times. 

Brussels, brocc, cauli, bell pepps in every color, and BN squash.  Mmmmmm…

I also got some other goodies.

Massive bags of carob covered raisins and dried figs :)  Dangerous to buy in bulk, but hey, I’m livin’ on the edge!

Dinner was an obvious choice.

 

Ummm…how CUTE is this heart shaped bowl!  (Thanks Molly!!!!!)

Course 1 = veggies with hummus

 

Course 2 = BN squash baked to perfection

Course 3 = Brussels (+ evoo drizz & salt)

Yeah, after this I was ridic full.  I had a food baby fo sho’ (like 6 months along, too, none of this preggers Eva Longoria business).

A few hours later I was “hungry” for dessert though.  I use “ ” only because I don’t know if I was actually hungry, so much as craving my secret cupid goodies.  They were just mocking me from across the room, crying eat me, eat me!!!  And in Alice in Wonderland fashion, I caved…

Coconut date rolls, carob raisins, and dried fruit assortment.  This was only the photographed portion (eek).  Sadly, the chocolate bar had to be pried from my hands at this point…

Mmmmm.

Anyways, on to real matters.  No, my post’s title isn’t a Valentine’s Day reference, it’s to help raise public awareness about heart disease.  February is heart month…and being a cardiac ICU nurse, I feel it is my job to spread the word.  After all, I do patient teaching on a daily basis, explaining what a heart healthy diet is and the lifestyle changes that post cardiac surgery patients need to start, so it’s only natural for it to seep it’s way into my blog, right? 

 

Heart disease is the LEADING cause of death among women.  Crazy right?  I mean something that we can actually take major steps to prevent and/or decrease should NOT be such a prevalent issue in our society.  And yet, we are still struggling despite the fact that this national campaign has been around since 1963.   You can visit the American Heart Association’s Go Red For Women site for tons of info ranging from how to get involved to simple steps you can take to get healthier.  As a food blogging community, I think we are generally more knowledgeable about cholesterol and fat, and their sources (animal products), but here are some tips just because:

• Limit your intake of fat
• Choose heart-healthy fats over saturated fats and trans fats
• Limit your intake of sugars
• Limit your intake of sodium/salt
• Choose more whole grains, legumes, fresh produce and low fat dairy products
• Choose lean meat and poultry
• Include fish in your diet
• Exercise portion control
• Become physically active for 30 to 60 minutes a day
• Stop smoking
• Limit your intake of alcohol

***Don’t forget to spread the word, let’s get Americans off our fat arses and start eating and exercising to live better, healthier and longer lives!!!

I bought this pin last week and have been rocking it ever since to support the cause.

T.G.I.W.ednesday

Today was a slowwwwww day, but it was a good one.  Work was nice, some funny stories (maybe I’ll share one later), but altogether a mellow day.  No complaints.  I woke up at 4 am (a la Erin) completely on my own, alert and awake, so I embraced it!  I’m sayin’

I obviously arrived at Starbeezies way early (like 6ish) so I enjoyed the AM crossword and my book (Me & Emma) – which is soooo good btw.  Totally hooked.

So, funny story:  Sometimes we get ER patients in the middle of the night since we are a critical care floor and can handle the acutely ill people who don’t have doctors at 2 am.  Now, bear in mind, people who are admitted to the hospital at that hour, are clearly doing weird ass shit at that hour.  That said, I was going into one of my patient’s rooms, when I glanced into another patient’s room (not mine)…and let me paint you a little picture…86 year old scrawny man, 5 feet small, hunched over in his chair, wispy long white hair in a messy afro-halo (resembling pigpen), white bandage stained with blood wrapped around his forehead (although it looked like it was applied by a 4 year old), massively swollen black eye with one sided facial puffiness/redness, AND….drum roll please, a framed life sized oil canvas portrait propped up against his telemetry monitor.  WHAT!!?!!!?!!!??  Seriously, wtf.  I burst into laughter and had to run away so the patient wouldn’t see me cracking up.  Apparently, he had a little accident toppled over backwards while trying to hang his 30 pound painting after midnight.   You can’t make this stuff up!!  Then, rather than leave the painting at his house, he decided to bring his dear possession with him to the hospital.  I just don’t have any more words.

Ok, lunch, baked tofu sammie with greek yog.  Mmmm.

 

The rest of lunch was the same old, same old.

I got off work right on time, always a plus.

I was starving when I got home, so I made a little plate of goodies to hold me over while I made my dinner.

The I put together a big ass salad, including fancy lettuce, celery, edamame, greek yogurt, and the (below) seitan salad.

I was craving greens BIG TIME, so I actually had 2 of these massive bowls.  Don’t be surprised, I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have seconds…

Kyle came home a little late tonight, and look what he brought me :)

Dessert was out of control deslish…dates and carob raisins!!!

I took the pits out and stuffed them with the carob raisins, and basically HOLY effing YUM!!!!

And since it’s Feb (the month of sweets and indulgence) I had a few more of these coconut date rolls.

AND THEN (as if I wasn’t full enough already), I toasted some Alvarado Street bread and lathered on the soynut butter.

  

As if the day wasn’t already perfect, I also got a wonderful treat today in the mail.  Yup, a package was waiting for me when I got home today – from my blogger secret cupid.  Yeah!!!!  My secret cupid was the adorable Molly from OatsCoffeeLove, and did she hook me up or WHAT!?!  Oh my goodness, it’s like she knows me!  Such a sweetie, you all must check out her blog. 

Look at my box full of goodies!!  I can’t even decide what to try first!  Sensory overload…dried fruit mix (without nuts!!!), odwalla bar, choc/raspberry coffee, and THE cutest heart shaped bowl, like, ever.  Prepare to see a LOT of meals in this cute little baby :)  Plus, she enclosed a note on pink stationary.  Now, my mission is going to be keeping Kyle away from the goods.  I already see him eyeing the coffee and the chocolate.  But, the best part is that now I’ve discovered her blog, which I adore.  Lee, thanks for putting this together, it was so fun :)

Naturally, I sampled the dried fruit mix and 2 pieces of chocolate (even though my stomach was already about to BURST at the seams).  Did I mention how much I love food?