Hello, there!  I think I got a little bit too much sleep last night because I was definitely feeling a bit off today (two beers does not equal a hangover).  Things got a bit dicey this afternoon but now I’m feeling good and ready to tackle some studying for tomorrow’s scary exam.

Getting up my blog post this morning meant I ran out of time to pack food, not a good thing since I drank my dinner.  I grabbed this Pro Bar on my way out the door since I figured it sort of had enough calories to count for lunch and breakfast.

It did not, but more on that in a minute.  I am done with Pro Bars either way though.  For one, holy saturated fat!  I know most of it comes from the healthy nut source but still.  For two, every single flavor I’ve tried has tasted exactly the same.  And they all have chocolate chips in them regardless of if that fits the flavor or not.

We spent our four-hour class working on case studies dealing with pediatric nutrition.  Case studies are always fun, but a little scary too because soon we will have to be doing this stuff with real patients.  My group’s dealt with obesity-related sleep apnea.  The 24 hour recall portion was sooo frustrating; think 10-year-old girl eating 2 breakfast burritos, 2 bologna cheese sandwiches, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, 42 ounces of pop and sweet tea, a coffee (?!) with a 1/4 cup of half and half, and more in the span of a day.

After class I spent two hours volunteering at the campus food bank.  I didn’t know about it until I signed up, but apparently my school has a food bank set up for low-income students who run out of food/money at the end of the semester.  A group of us went to sort donations by food group and expiration date and then make bags with 2-days worth of food for students to come pick up.  The selection was a little frustrating – we made 60 bags but only had 6 cans of fruit – but I am glad to know that BSC does offer a service like that.  Plus it was a lot of fun; I love organizing!

What was not so fun was my lack of planning coming back to bite me mid-afternoon.  We were at the food bank until a little after 2pm.  By 1pm all I had eaten for the past 24 hours was 2 beers and a Pro Bar.  I had a killer migraine and several people mentioned that I was starting to slur my words.  Not fun!

No Take-out ‘Tober was painful today.  On the walk home I swear I was thinking about Pad Thai so hard I could taste it.  But I stuck to my guns, and I ended up eating exactly what I was craving.

I’m Starving And Cranky, Flavor and Protein Packed Pasta Toss, serves 1, all measurements approximate

• 1 cup cooked pasta
• 1 cup chopped carrots
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 3 splashes chicken broth
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 2 Tbsp chunky peanut butter
• 1 Tbsp tamari
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1 dash Sriracha
• 1 large egg

1. In a large skillet, cook veggies in broth until liquid is gone and veggies are adequately softened.
2. Meanwhile, whisk together peanut butter through Sriracha (microwave to soften if need be).
3. Add pasta and sesame oil to pan, toss, and cook until crispy and browned.
4. Pour peanut sauce over veggies and pasta.  Cook 2-3 minutes.
5. Scramble in egg.

So. Flipping. Good.

Rice noodles would have been an itsy bit better but I used what I had on hand which was this pasta sample from the Healthy Living Summit.

I tried a bite plain and give it two thumbs up.

Two questions –

1. Does/did your school have a food bank?
2. Did anyone end up deciding to do No Take-out ‘Tober along with us?!