I know, I know, my blogging consistency is terrible. But my bad mood continued and I just couldn’t bear the thought of another whiney blog post! I don’t know why I’m in such a funk this week. Anyway, I told myself I had two days to wallow and then by Thursday I must be chipper. So I’ll be back tomorrow.
The plan for dinner tonight comes from an old (like, September old) issue of Health magazine: Miso-Marinated Tofu and Eggplant Over Soba Noodles. You can click here to see the original recipe. However, make the original recipe we did not. Apparently the husband and I are both stupid. Like, seriously. And cheap. So to recap; click above for the original recipe and read below for our changes.
Here’s what we ended up with –
It was actually quite tasty, although I can see how the sesame oil would take it over the top. I loved the stickiness of the buckwheat noodles!
For dessert I stuck a spoon into the last serving of Biscoff spread.
Just, yum!
Do you own sesame oil? What sort of dishes do you use it in?
It’s been a strange couple of days around these parts. My hunger has been really weird and I was in a random bad mood all day yesterday. I’m sorry for not posting yesterday. One thing’s for sure, I did NOT spend all of last night finishing the final season of “Buffy” with the husband instead of studying for my sociology exam. Definitely did not.
We went to see “Killers” (ugh, waste of $) Sunday afternoon so I ate lunch via movie snacks – a big baggie of baby carrots and 2servings of spice drops.
I also ate this Himalayan mint – raw honey, unsweetened chocolate, peppermint oil – en route to the theatre.
When we were home, watching not watching Buffy, the craving for popcorn finally hit so we hiked over to Walgreeens to get a bag.
We also split a sherbet melon.
I was really excited about this new fruit but I think we let it get too ripe because it ended up basically being a mushy cantelope.
Dinner was another frozen meal from the Tandoor Chef line, Channa Masala –
While not as delicious as the veggie pad thai it was still ridiculously tasty, and the nutritional stats were a bit better.
I ate the whole box, or 2 servings.
This morning my move did improve drastically when the husband cracked open a young Thai coconut for me.
I drank some straight from the source but the rest of the water and flesh I blended with ice cubes and cinnamon-sugar for a fabulous smoothie.
Did you know young Thai coconuts only have ~200calories? I finally looked it up, but I’d been assuming that the number was much higher.
I also ate a Thai Peanut Primal Strip in the car.
It was ok, but I prefered the flavor of the bbq.
The husband dropped me off at school today and took the car to the lab. The benefit of that is twofold; 1. I had more time to cram study for my sociology exam, and 2. I got the incidental exercise of the 2.5mile walk home.
I was all set up to study in the food court when my stomach starting growling howling. My smoothie and Primal Strip added up to ~300calories which isn’t a huge breakfast but is definitely able to hold me over on many a day. Well not this day. I seriously got panicked when it looked like I wouldn’t find a snack and I almost ate my packed lunch! Thankfully I spotted a humus/pretzel pack at the coffee shop.
After scarfing the snack pack (and drinking an entire Sigg’s worth of water) I finally felt full enough to tackle my book.
I ended up being really confident about the information but the test only went alright because the questions were worded really poorly. I feel like as a teacher for two years I’m qualified to comment on that and seriously, the test sucked. Still, I got the best grade in the class, by a lot. For reals kids? I could also school you in how Buffy ended!
I stopped midway during my 2.5mile walk home to sit at a coffee shop and study for a few hours. Since I knew the vegan pickings would be slim I packed my own lunch, a Kona Moka Pro Bar.
The flavor (a little touch of sweet) and texture (a lot like a Lara/Kind bar hybrid) were definitely impressive and it was pretty filling. At 360calories this was more of a meal replacement than snack bar.
When I got home (after finishing my walk) I snacked on 2servings of yellow tortilla chips with 4T of chunky salsa.
Now I’m doing some organizing and waiting for the husband to get home and help me chop dinner.
Wow. That was an insanely whiney post! Any Monday complaints you’d like to whine about?
Today was perfectly fantastic! I ate all sorts of great food and we ended up walking more than 5 miles; basically it was my favorite kind of day. It just felt like a Saturday in the city. Perhaps because I dressed like I was in New York?
I’ve been trying to drink less (less, not no!) diet soda this month. If vegan month means I’ll be eating no dairy – bone building – then it needs to also mean I’m eating no less chemicals – bone leaching. I think iced tea is the answer, especially because it well help me to drink more water too. Last night I mixed 5 cups of water and 7 bags of Eggnog’n in my new pitcher,
and this morning I made myself a big gulp.
FYI – Eggnog’n totally works just as well better cold! The husband loved it too, and he usually drinks his iced tea with tons of sugar.
Other things the husband is currently loving?
S.S. Sea Salt Somersaults. He made himself a big baggie to carry around all day.
Our first stop of the day was the farmers’ market. It was pretty picked over by the time we got there, but Adam got some great homemade maple candy and shared a piece with me.
Wegmans – our next stop – was apparently where all the local goods were at –
We also got some hibiscus iced tea lemonade.
Once we got home and had all the groceries safely shelved we headed back out, this time on foot. Our original destination was the Greek Festival,
but there was an admission fee and the food tent was mostly meat. We trekked on (and on) until we came to Mezza, a brand new Mediterranean place that just opened yesterday.
At that point it had been more than 16hours since I’d eaten any solid food so pretty much anything would have sounded good! Thankfully Mezza was just good, period!
I got Baba Ghanouj,
and stuffed grape leaves.
Picture lots of pita with that too. Everything was ridiculously fresh tasting. Usually Baba Ghanouj tends to be kind of greasy and heavy but this was totally light. The husband thought he only liked falafel, but he loved everything he tasted today. He inhaled more than half of my orders!
I probably shouldn’t have been quite so generous, because we’d barely made it down the block before I realized that I was actually still pretty hungry! When we walked past the co-op we made a hot bar stop.
Vegan cheesy noodles and Pad Thai, Hunan tofu with broccoli, and 2 pieces of Southern-style tofu. I ate while I walked which was messy but fun. By the time we reached our apartment we’d covered more than 5miles, love that incidental exercise!
Later in the afternoon I found it totally necessary to inhale this coconut milk tapioca pudding.
It gave me a tummy ache but was soooo worth it!
I have to get up early because we have fun plans tomorrow and lots of studying to do (my first soc exam is on Monday). In the interest of time and laziness we are going to eat popcorn for dinner and cuddle on the couch before bed. Peace out!
What is your favorite Mediterranean offering? Mine is stuffed grape leaves, the texture and taste of the leaves is just so interesting.
Beware: Quick, uninspired post approaching. Also, high probability of drogging.
Dinner came courtesy of a blog sample, in a cute little pouch. [FYI, whenever I talk about a product that I was sent for free (rather than one I’ve purchased on my own) I always include a link to my full review page]
Allergaroo Chili Mac.
Seriously, seriously good. It’s been years since I’ve had chili but I was kind of blown away by the sauce. I feel like you could get a meat eater to enjoy this. Additionally, the pouches can literally be thrown into your purse, then microwaved (in the pouch) for 45seconds, then eaten. I highly recommend anyone who plans on traveling whilst doing Vegan Month with us to purchase some.
For my veggie I made an acorn squash using my mommy’s recipe.
It’s not actually supposed to look burnt like that. This was the tiniest acorn squash I’ve ever seen and even after I reduced the cooking times I think I still overdid it. Sadly it was pretty stringy and it had kind of a gross aftertaste. I ate about 1/3 of it before moving on to dessert.
Vegan chocolate mousse from the co-op? Yes please!
This was better than any “regular” mousse I’ve ever had!
I didn’t feel like bringing my purse to the party, so no photographs, but a good time was had by all. I drank two beers (Red Stripe and something blueberry) and was inexplicably drunk. Also – soooooo hungry. They bbq’ed and I’ve literally never wanted a bite of hamburger more. Which led to me insisting on buying and inhaling a large thing of fries. Except, somehow halfway in I realized I’d be happier if I didn’t eat them. So I had a cucumber instead.
Look at me with the healthy choices! Bedtime? Bedtime!
It’s Friday! Today has been sort of thrilling, in the most mundane sort of way. I think I get excited about things that normal people do not? For example, when Nikki told me there was froyo near her apartment last weekend the husband had to tell me to calm down so I wouldn’t hyperventilate and pass out 😀
I waited too long to eat breakfast at home this morning (so no cereal), but wanted something super filling to get me through to the afternoon (so not a bar). What to do? Brinner – only this time it means dinner for breakfast, not breakfast for dinner.
I ate a serving of leftover lemony zucchini seitan pasta on the ride too school. It’s not less healthy to have pasta for breakfast and pancakes for dinner than it is to eat the reverse, and it can be a lot of fun.
The husband dropped me off early enough that I had some time to work before class. The food court was open so I took the opportunity to buy some fresh fruit to munch while I read.
Whenever I buy grapes to eat at home they invariably go bad, but when they are in mixed fruit bowls I always gobble them up.
After class was finished I slapped on my sunglasses (polarized, bug-eyed) and spritzed on some sunblock (70spf). The husband dropped me off this morning (instead of me dropping him off) so that I could walk home! The BSC campus is only 2.5miles from our current apartment and since I love to walk it seemed like the perfect plan. I wouldn’t walk everyday (I’m trying to be a little gentle on my leg) but with my heavy bags it felt like a work out and it was a lot of fun!
I stopped midway at the Co-op to pick up a couple fun items but other than that I tried to keep up a pretty fast clip. I did slow for a couple of blocks to eat my snack though. 1 serving of s.s. sea salt Somersaults.
Holy yum! Can you picture the sesame pieces that come in a lot of the crappier trail mixes? I have a minor obsession with them. They are the only item with trans fat that I still knowingly eat and often if there’s a day I don’t blog my hand has found it’s way into a bag of them. Well this variety of Somersaults tastes just like those little devils. And with no trans fat. I think I’m in ❤. Note – only two of the Somersault flavors are vegan, but the ingredients are clearly marked so if you are doing the challenge with us just be sure to check the label.
I still haven’t actually managed to eat lunch. When I got home I got totally distracted doing some school business and looking over the info for my online class next month. We are going to a BBQ this evening, a most likely non-vegan-friendly event, so I’ll be eating an early dinner.
What are some of the silly things that you get excited about? My (very, very long) list includes bubbles, diet coke, ruffles, and straws.
Adam texted me just in time today to let me know he had to stay at the lab late so I did a quick turn-around and headed to the gym. I did the elliptical for 20minutes, on random, level 6, then had a quick stretch before hopping in the shower and heading to pick him up.
Our fun activity was a movie date to see “Sex in the City 2,” so even though I was in a rush you know I took the opportunity to throw on a big necklace and headband!
If you’re wondering why that smile is more of a grimace, it might have something to do with this –
Dinner was consumed via movie snacks.
Baby carrots,
an entire cucumber, sliced, with salt,
2 servings of spice drops,
and I also split a small popcorn with the husband.
Perhaps not chock-full of nutrients but it was a lot of fun to eat. I didn’t think the movie was quite as enjoyable though 😦 The fashion wasn’t as fun (harem pants, really?!?) and the Muslim traditions “humor” was forced and awkward. I enjoyed the specific storylines about each couple but on a whole it left a bad taste in my mouth.
Did you see S&TC2 yet? What’d you think?
I am leaving to pick up the husband in exactly 29minutes so I’ll try to do this Speedy Gonzalez style.
This morning had all the components to make me cranky – I overslept and I didn’t get a chance to read and I was dropping everything I picked up. Does that ever happen to you? I think the main reason I don’t really wear make-up is because I’m always irritating myself by dropping the brushes! Nothing a big smoothie can’t fix though.
1 banana + 1cup frozen blackberries + 2T unsweetened shredded coconut + 1cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk + 1t xanthan gum + 6ice cubes = filled to the brim.
The coconutty flavor in this was awesome, I don’t think there’s anything that isn’t better with coconut.
We actually got our 1ominute break in soc today (hallelujah!) so I took the opportunity to snack on a bag of Peeled Snacks dried pineapple.
Best dried pineapple ever! I don’t think I’ve ever seen dried pineapple sans added sugar before (maybe at Trader Joe’s?) but this bag was just fruit, and since it’s available at Starbucks I don’t need to make a trek to NYC to get more!
After class I stopped in at Cafe59 – the coffee shop on my street – to get caught up on my reading. While I worked I ate a delicious salad for a late lunch.
For a set price, they offer a build-your-own salad in which you get to pick lettuce, dressing, and 5 toppings. I adore BYO in general, but this might be one of my best combinations yet. I choose romaine lettuce and balsamic dressing with sundried tomato, green olives, Portobello mushrooms, marinated zucchini, and roasted garlic.
The flavor combination was kind of fantastic. The big pieces of roasted garlic really made it.
The husband and I have some fun plans for the evening, I’ve just got to go get him!
What are your favorite salad toppers? I’m partial to carmelized nuts and goat cheese, mmmmn!
Eating Chalk 