Stuffy – Shake – Salmon

Did you miss me?  I hope not; no one should be sorry I took a blog break this weekend!  I did not have funny stories to tell.  I did not have great workouts to recap.  I did not create new inventive recipes.  I did not eat anything resembling healthy.  I did however, throw up, and cough, and continue to be sick.  Ugh!

I’m still sick today, but I’m definitely (finally!) on the upswing.  My cold’s moved to my head which means I’m driving everyone crazy honking like a goose, but I can sort of talk again.  And I made it to all three of my classes today.

When I got to campus this morning I stopped by the yogurt place for a chocolate milkshake, made with skim milk.

It was a strange breakfast, but the flavor/texture was exactly what I was craving and felt great on my throat!

Lunch was leftover roasted green beans, which are still delicious even when served cold,

and a nice crisp Fuji apple.

I ate so slowly that I ended up finishing my apple to class and it was pretty darn thrilling not to have to deal with retainers for the time being.

I know I’m getting better because while walking home at 4:30 I realized I was starving.  I haven’t been hungry in two weeks!  I swung by the pizza place near our apartment for a buffalo chicken slice with blue cheese.

I had them cut it in half (the picture shows both halves) and my mini slice was perfect to tide me over until dinner.

Dinner was an old favorite, Shallotta Salmon Burgers.

Eaten on a bed of salad.

Greens lightly dressed with Newman’s Own Light Raspberry Walnut Dressing, buttermilk blue cheese crumbles, and some roasted golden beets.

I didn’t actually manage to eat very much of that, but it was fun to sit down to a nice plate of food!  Now if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to go blow my nose!

What’s your go to milkshake order?  There’s a place back home that mixes booze into their milkshakes and they can’t be beat!  I always always request skim milk in my shake though, wherever I am.

Flurry

It feels like I’ve lost my blogging mojo lately; I’ve just been so wiped out with tiredness that I’ve got a case of writer’s block.  I get my worst sleep when I’m tired (thus compounding the problem) and so the last week has been a little blurry.  Last night was supposed to be my salvation but the downstairs neighbor’s dog barked long into the night.  <– I hate them.

Part of my blogger’s block is related to the fact that we are over Vegan Month.  O-V-E-R.  It’s not a “I want nachos and pizza” kind of thing, more a “I would feel healthier eating a turkey sandwich and scrambled eggs right now.”  It feels like lately we’ve been eating junk, or nothing.  I’m going to do a full recap at the month’s end but we consider the challenge both a success and a fail.

Today’s vegan eats, even though I didn’t actually have the energy to eat until after 3pm, were a success.

From the Co-op hot bar I had sweet tofu and grape leaves,

sesame rice with raisins and corn and kidney bean salad,

and red curry tofu and seitan hash.

I also had a Lemon Steaz,

and some potato chips.

Dinner came amid a flurry of cooking.

Tempeh Hashbrown Casserole from Eat, Drink, and Be, Vegan; subbed red onions for green onions and added tons of extra paprika –

Vegetarian Country Captain from “Cooking Light;” subbed raisins for currants, skipped the almonds, skip the rice, hold the cream –

The two dishes came together nicely, yin and yang of sorts.

I loved the sweet and savory mix, and pairing the veggies with potatoes instead of rice was great, because I hate rice.

Final note – I love the word flurry, don’t you?  Similarly, whenever my BioChem teacher uses the word slurry – a thick suspension solids in a liquid – it makes me hungry.

What are some random words that you like just because?  Mine are whimsical, twitter (before it was Twitter), bubble, and temperance.

Lunch At The ‘Bucks

Please note – I don’t actually call Starbucks that, that would be lame.  It would be a good nickname though; it’s both a shortening of the name and a nod to the fact that their drinks cost so much you’d think they were selling cups of Adamantium.

I did have lunch at the local Starbucks today though.  I went straight there from campus and got some solid studying done.  I started with a grande steamed apple juice (the caramel apple spice minus the caramel),

and a bag of salt and pepper popcorn.

I know that the ‘Bucks has gotten some flack for its iffy nutritionals in the past, but this was both tasty and healthy.

After two hours I was dying to leave but not yet done with my notecards.  My flamingo rubber band friend convinced me to get another drink and finish my work for the class.

Tall, soy, toffee latte.  Good to know – all of the flavored syrups used at Starbucks are vegan.

When I actually completed one class (fyi – that’s one class, 3 hours later I’m HALF done with the notecards I need to make for the week) I headed out to stroll around Elmwood doing Valentine’s shopping.  Another important note – Adam and I actually don’t do gifts for any holiday.  So sometimes I like to celebrate by buying things to make him feel bad.  Did you catch the latest Modern Family episode – “I win Valentine’s!” – yeah, sort of like that.

Now I’m off to the grocery store, a necessary step before dinner can occur.

If you’re in a realationship – did you buy gifts for Valentine’s this year?

L-O-O-O-N-G Long Day

Welp, my long day was exactly that – loooong!  Even though I’m not in class the whole time, being on campus from 11-8:40 is definitely rough.  I think having a snow day last Wednesday made it seem even harder, so hopefully next week will be a little easier!

I was running late this morning so lunch was simple, but it got the job done.

A big serving of unsweetened applesauce with red hots,

topped with (3/4 serving of) Maple Brown Sugar Mini Wheats and (1/3 serving of) Multi-grain Cheerios.

It actually ended up being a pretty great lunch.  FYI – Mini Wheats aren’t actually vegan (they contain gelatin, I’m an idiot), but we are going to finish what we bought.

I also packed a 2nd snack for my 2hour break before my final class.

This Blueberry Muffin Lara Bar actually wasn’t as good as the first one I tried.  It was almost grassy tasting?!  I was hungry though so I still ate it all.

I ate my snack at 5pm and then five hours later I ate dinner.

Holy god was I ever hungry for dinner!  I couldn’t eat right away when I got home because I had to complete a lab assignment for tomorrow, pack my bag, make Adam dinner (he’s obsessed with peanut sauce and not so obsessed with the soup so I made him a fresh batch of sauce to eat on tofu for dinner)…..

By the time I got around to eating dinner – on my feet, over the stove, cooking Adam’s lunches for the rest of the week – my Kale and Roasted Vegetable Soup was more of a mash, but it was still delicious.

Hands down, best soup I’ve ever had.

Just to give everyone a head’s up, I won’t be able to post until dinner time tomorrow.  You know, because people will be crying their eyes out if they can’t read my morning post 😉

How many meals a week would you say you eat standing up?

Instant Playback

Since last night was the Super Bowl, I thought I’d give you the play-by-play of my evening.  Here are some of the things – other than scarfing single-serve pb cookie dough – I did while I was home alone –

  • found the articles (hopefully) for my big nutrition presentation
  • watched the new Super Bowl commercials online
  • organized three years worth of study note cards
  • sat in a 62* apartment for two hours before I realized the heat was off

Overall I’m not sure whether or not I’d call the evening a win or a fail 😀

I’ve gotten stuff done this morning too.  Like a kill-two-birds-with-one-workout trip to the gym where I studied notecards on the elliptical.  30minutes, elliptical level 6 and random.  I did several minutes of sprints intervals and got all my studying done.

And I made a tasty breakfast.

Before I got into the shower I made a batch of quick stewed apples – 1 chopped apple, 1 Tbsp agave syrup, 1 Tbsp h20, dash cinnamon; microwaved for 150 seconds.

Then after I got out of the shower, and my apples had cooled down a bit, I put them atop a bowl of Stonyfield Vanilla Soy Yogurt,

with a drizzle of maple syrup and 2 Tbsp of my simply sweet granola.

It was like a healthy, vegan apple crisp!

For reals though, this tasted exactly like – if not better than – apple crisp.  Make it!

What was your favorite Super Bowl commercial?  I didn’t see them all – and I wasn’t that impressed – but I think the “angry wife” Pepsi Max one was my fav.

Friday Night Frozen Yuuuums

I did the Friday shuffle!  In fact I shuffled right on through to bedtime!

After class I walked down Elmwood to meet up for lunch with Katie at Wasabi.

I’d like to tell you I ordered a hot water to drink because I’m so mature and healthy, but really it was more of a Japanese waitresses cannot understand me when I’ve got retainers in my mouth thing.

I ordered the lunch special which came with a miso soup (not always vegetarian, fyi, though this one was),

and two sushi rolls.

I got a cucumber and asparagus roll,

and a tempura sweet potato roll.

We had a great lunch and spent a long time catching up.

Then I headed to the Spot to get my study on.  I ordered a grande soy latte with two shots of amaretto syrup.

But then I discovered that drinking hot coffee with retainers in is disgusting and threw it out.

Caffeinated or not, I managed to get all of my notecards for the week done, phew!

Adam and I didn’t both didn’t get home until after 7, so all plans of a fancy dinner flew out the window.  Thank goodness I had the best frozen meal on earth on standby.

The Tandoor Chef Veggie Pad Thai is ridiculous tasty and vegan to boot.

Yuuuuuuum!  It’s nothing like nyc, but this is literally the best Thai food I can get in Buffalo.

I also had some unsweetened applesauce topped with red hots and simply sweet granola.

Can I say “yuuuuuuuuum” again?

Any exciting plans for the weekend?

Delightful Dippables

As I mentioned early, today was a snow day, and a glorious snow day it was!  Not a lot of work got done, but you know how it is.

I did make a very successful (vegan) lunch.

With a nice roll up (a play on a dish I love that my mom makes with cream cheese for parties).  Spread a tortilla with humus – Tribe Roasted Garlic, – chopped green peppers, and radish sprouts.

Tightly roll up and chop using a big scary knife.

Lay out like a fancy sushi roll.

Eat the unsightly ends.

I also ate half of a piece of vegan jerky I split with the husband.

I paired my roll up with some roasted kale.

And dipped everything in some Stubbs bbq sauce.

It was a tasty, tasty lunch.

Later in the afternoon I snacked on 1.5 servings of Newman’s Own Spelt Pretzels.

With a chocolate soy pudding and a diet pop.

Of course, I dipped the pretzels into both the pudding and the soda.  Sooo good.  Honey wheat pretzel sticks dipped into diet cherry coke is my favorite snack on Earth.

Dinner was a repeat plate.

Leftover baked beans,

leftover caramelized onion mashed potatoes with a dab of Smart Balance Light,

and some sugar-free applesauce topped with a few Maple Mini Wheats and red hots.

Again, delicious, delicious.

What do you like to dip pretzels in?  Before you hate – have you ever tried pretzels dipped in diet pop?

Back to School, Back to School

Today is a big day – the first day of my second semester at BSC!

Normally I like to bound out of bed on mornings of big occasions, but today’s -7* weather left me clinging to my pillow!  Fun fact – in just a bit, I’m going to have to go outside for my 30minute walk to school in those negative temperatures. Yikes!  I’ve already had to build extra time into this morning’s schedule for bundling.

I also made time for (warm!) breakfast.

Even though I’m not a teacher any more, I still like to start off new semesters with an apple.  This morning it was a stewed apple – a la IGE – atop a Van’s Berry Boost Waffle.

With a side of ‘smores hot cocoa.

Now if I can just find a parka and a dog with a barrel around its neck I’ll be ready for school!

Help me.  This is my first foray into degrees below 10, does anyone have any advice about my walk to school?