Tag Archives: banana

Three Courses Worth Waiting For

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Thursdays are when I have my earliest class, which means they are also my latest wake-up school days.  Makes no sense?  I’ve decided on MWF (class starts at 11) that I’ll have Adam drop me off at the gym on his way to school so I can work out/come home and shower/walk back to school for classes.  But Thursday class starts at 9:25 (and there’s no time for all that) so I can wake up on my own and walk straight to class. 

Except today all my plans went out the window because the snow was basically up to my waist.  Whoops!  I had to hurry-scurry to get in the car with Adam, which meant all of my breakfast and lunch bubbles were quickly burst.

The positive side is that I got to squeeze in my workout before my lab.  I did another quick (too quick) treadmill session – warm up + 1.5mile running (14:13) + cool down – 21minutes and 1.85miles.

The negative side is that breakfast ended up being of the not-of-champions variety.

I grabbed the Cliff Builder’s Bar because it was vegan, full of protein, and most importantly sold in the only kiosk without a line.

I gave up on eating the Cliff Builder’s Bar after two bites because it was tasteless and way to tough for my aching teeth.

Better luck next time?  I brought the rest of the bar home for Adam and I’m sure he’ll love it because he’s silly.

Unfortunately I had a club meeting on campus at 12:15, so I couldn’t get home to a proper meal until that was over.  Then I had to finish/e-mail an assignment before I could let myself eat.  I wasn’t about to add ‘shower off the gym grime’ to my wait-time, so you better believe I ate lunch like this –

Before anyone asks – Why yes, I did think the appropriate response to sweaty gym hair was a pair of pony tails.

They’re a pair of ponies, not pig tails.  Pig tails come out the sides, the end.

I made up for lost time by rocking my own world with a three-course lunch.

Course 1 – Salad.

I topped a bed of spring mix lettuce with chopped pear, green pepper, radish sprouts, and poppy-seed dressing.

Course 2 – Pasta.

Amy’s Rice Macaroni and Dairy-free Cheeze.

For some reason the gluten free version is the only vegan macaroni Amy’s makes (the soy cheese version has milk proteins in it).

This wasn’t ridiculous good like the dairy one, but it was still pretty darn good.

Course 3 – Dessert.

Banana soft serve (1.5 frozen bananas, food processed with a splash of Vanilla Silk Soy Milk until delicious) topped with crushed pretzels and these adorable vegan marshmallows.

Soooo good.  BSS is where it’s at!

It took forever to eat my epic lunch, so I should probably get down to work!

Do you or anyone you know eat a gluten free diet?

Snow Day

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In the most exciting turn of events ever, school was canceled today!

Adam says I shouldn’t be that excited about not having to go to a place that we pay money to allow me to go to (got all that?), but today was my extra long day (11-8:40), and it ended in my awful music class.  So “yippie” I say!

I’m also pretty jazzed about the bowl of Snow Day Oats I whipped up.

I started with a batch of stove top oats – 1/3 cup oats, 1 cup water, 1 small banana, and a pinch of salt.  Then I added some snow (coconut) and 3 Tbsp of fresh granola (more on that in a bit).

The oat base was good, but not as good as when I use half skim milk and half water.  I think I’m going to experiment a bit with soy/almond milk and if all else fails I’ll make my base a little lighter and my toppings a little heavier this month.

Now about that granola.  The other day I was intrigued when Brandi made stove top granola.  So today I did something wonderful.

Simply Sweet Granola

  • 2/3 cup raw oats
  • 4 Tbsp sugar
  • 1 Tbsp water
  • 2 Tbsp vanilla soy milk
  1. Toast the oats in a skillet over medium heat.  2-4minutes, but use your nose and eyes to guide you.
  2. Remove oats to another container and lightly wipe any oat dust out of your pan.
  3. Add sugar and water to pan and allow to caramelize.  Do NOT stir, just lightly swirl the pan with the handle.  Cook just until a light brown color develops.
  4. Carefully pour soy milk into caramelized sugar.  Turn off the heat, and return toasted oats to pan.
  5. Using a wooden spatula, fold mixture together until well-combined.
  6. Spread onto a flat surface and allow to dry.

This granola was so quick and easy to make and the end results were soooo good!  Super crunchy and sweet but each 1/3 cup serving has only ~200calories (and as a topping you only need a few tablespoons or so).

We even made fancy coffee.

I usually hate the taste of creamers, but the nutritional stats on the Silk Hazelnut Soy Creamer we bought for Adam compelled me to try some.

Pretty darn good.

I’ve got a warm, full belly, cuddling weather, and somebody to cuddle with – life is good!

Have you gotten any snow days yet this season?

A Double Serving of Entendre

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I liked the cock.

Adam thought the cock was ok, but found it a little salty.

I’m speaking, of course, of this soup package we had for dinner this evening.

We spotted it at Wegman’s a few months ago and had to buy it, because we’re six.  Sorry, Mom and Nana, you know I can’t resist a good (dirty) pun!

We decided to finally use the package tonight, incorporating it into a nice Caribbean dinner.

Cock soup.

No, I have no idea why it’s called that, and yes, it was a little too salty.

Rice and beans.

Minute brown rice mixed with a can of reduced sodium black beans.

And fried plantains.

We bought some frozen from Goya, and revived them with a quick saute.

Adam and I also split a cheddar cheese bialey.

Sooooooooo doughy and chewy!  We picked up the bialey while we were at Wegman’s buying cookie dough.  Cookies are in the oven (Adam’s request) and all is right with the world.  You can assume I’ll eat two, but since we are moving from the blogging portion of the evening to the watching X-Files portion, no pictures are occurring.

Does it seem like we are eating down the fridge slash searching for all the dairy we can get our mouths on?  Well we are!  You’ll see why tomorrow 😀

Blojo, It’s Not What You’re Thinking

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I don’t know what my deal is lately, I have lost all my blojo (that’s blog mojo, fyi).  Sometimes I run out of time to blog, or sometimes I’m just too lazy, but the other day I actually forgot to blog before bed.  That’s crazy!  As I spend my last days before the semester begins relishing my time as a slug, I guess my eats have been pretty forgettable though.  Sort of like the pizza we ordered for dinner tonight 😉

While we wait for that delivery, I might as well fill you in on my day.  Like breakfast.

A slice of cinnamon sugar toast with Smart Balance Light, on a rye/pumpernickel swirl.

Plus a tasty yogurt bowl; 0% Plain Oikos, honey, pb, and a chopped banana.

This was the high point of my day nutritionally, – which shouldn’t be hard because Greek yogurt is pretty nutritionally impressive – mostly because lunch came in the form of corn, popped and kettled.

And several handfuls of cheezits.

Hello, carbs.

It’s time for another trip to the store but with 10* weather I’m having a hard time finding the motivation (hence the pizza dinner delivery).  However, I realize that the lack of fruits and veggies is effecting the rest of my motivation; the motivation that gets me off the couch or prompts me to write a decent blog post.  Dare I say school on Monday might be the best thing to happen to me all month?

How do you keep up your blojo?

Sleep Deprived Sandwich Delight

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Ugh; last night was not pretty!  I don’t know what my problem was, but I just could not go to sleep.  And by ‘I don’t know what my problem was’ I mean there were so many problems – the dishwasher was running extra loudly, I didn’t leave the house all day, I was riled up from fighting with the husband, the husband sometimes snores like a water buffalo – that I’m not sure which one to blame.  It wasn’t pretty.

You know what was pretty?  Breakfast.

Gorgeous in fact.  Ok, so it’s more of an inner beauty situation.

I toasted a Van’s Berry Waffle, topped it with a banana mashed with cinnamon sugar, followed by some reduced fat sharp cheddar, sandwiched, and gave it a quick spin in the oven.

If you are still scared of the banana + cheese combo, don’t be!

Today’s agenda includes errands at school, a long overdue trip to the gym, and the baking and cooking from yesterday.

Have you tried the banana + cheese combo yet?  Where’s the strangest place you put banana?

Coconut Combats Crazy

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2011 is going to be my year, but so far it has not been my January.  Something about having nothing pressing to do means I’ve done absolutely nothing.  Days on the couch would be exciting, if I hadn’t just come off a year of unemployment.  Plus, even though nothing is urgent, I have tons of crafts I was exciting about pursuing.

I’ve decided the remedy is to make today a day of nothing …. nothing but fun activities.  I’ve got tomorrow to run my upcoming school errands and finally go to the gym.  Today’s agenda includes

  • reading a new cookbook
  • a big pile of magazines
  • working on my magazine binder project
  • baking
  • our first real dinner since we got back from the city

When I rolled over and saw that I was still in bed at 10:40, I knew that breakfast brunch would have to be something special to ensure I didn’t get into a slump.

Done and done.  A creamy, perfect bowl of stove top oats topped with excitement.

The oats included 1/2cup each skim milk and water, 1tsp vanilla, a pinch of salt, 1/3cup oats, and 1 extra ripe banana.  Then came the toppings.

A smidge of coconut oil.

Found, finally, way on sale in the “ethnic” aisle of the grocery store.

Candied walnuts.

I know I can’t resist these so I made a single serving batch – 15grams chopped walnuts, 1tsp real maple syrup, and a pinch of salt; in the 400* oven for 5minutes.

The finished bowl ended up being so satisfying.

Every time I eat stove top oats I’m reminded of how I should make them more often.  I’m not 100% on the coconut oil, it’s very reminiscent of candle wax, but I’m excited to try it again.

Off to tackle my day of nothing!

Have you tried coconut oil before?  What is your favorite use for it?

It Was Terminated

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Sorry for the late post, the husband and I got caught up in tv. Did anyone watch “Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles” when it was on tv in 2007? We discovered it on Netflix Instant Watch last week and got totally hooked – I have a Summer Glau girl crush. Anyway, we watched all the way through two seasons only to discover that the last episode was a cliff hanger and the third season was canceled. WTF, I need to know how it ends?!?!

Series disappointments aside, it was a strange day in general. I got up at 9 and was busy, busy, busy. I wrote my nyc recap, unpacked, cleaned the house, helped Adam with some work, made a meal plan….. Suddenly I was at the grocery, it was after 4 pm, and I hadn’t eaten all day.

I thought I could push through the hunger and get my groceries, but when I started feeling light-headed I bought myself a cherry coke to get some sugar in my blood.

I also picked up dinner at the hot bar.

Veggies,

and protein (chicken salads).

Most of my meals were pretty lame, but dessert was a work of art.

I took banana soft serve and kicked it up a notch. Into the food processor went one frozen banana, 1ounce cocktail peanuts, 2T coconut, and 1T maple syrup.

Out came perfection. This was salty, sweet, and delicious.

Which of your tv obsessions have been canceled too soon? I have especially bad luck because I adore Joss Whedon, whose shows are both fabulous and notorious for being cancelled ahead of their time.

NYC: Day 2 and 3

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I wish I had been able to blog more in the city because squashing the recaps of these two days together just can’t do them justice.  To say the weekend was fabulous is an understatement; although every trip to the New York is fabulous. 

Saturday and Sunday were spent pretty much exclusively eating and walking.  My two favorite things.  And the walking was through our favorite areas and the eating included some of the best meals I’ve ever tasted.  Fabulous.

Saturday started with a trip to Soho to our favorite brunch spot.

We discovered Freemans on a whim one weekend and it has never disappointed us.  The boys (and my friend Lana who lives in the city and joined us for the day) were duly impressed.

I ordered the Fall Vegetable Hash, which came with two pan-fried eggs and herbed creme fraiche.

This was savory breakfast perfection, I didn’t know that brussels sprouts in the morning could taste so good. 

I knew our next stop required a hungry belly though, so I managed to leave one egg on the plate.

I’ve you’ve ever previously read my blog when I had visitors in the city then you know where we headed next.

Sugar Sweet Sunshine has the best (and cheapest) cupcakes in the city.  They are sweet without being too sweet, spongy and light, gorgeous, and innovative.  Plus the cake is so good that this former frosting-licking-then-tosser devours the entire cupcake, cake and all!

I went with pistachio.

Be still my heart.

Then we hopped on the train and headed to DUMBO.

The neighborhood Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass is one of our favorite areas in the city.

In addition to being gorgeous, you can walk straight from the park to the Brooklyn Bridge for a walk into the city.

Fabulous.

A subway trip later, and we were back in Park Slope.  I know hitting up the same area during a three-day trip to the city is a little silly, but we just love it there so much!  Plus, it was the first time Gordy and Ian got to visit our old ‘hood.

Those photos are from Bierkraft, an exciting little craft beer spot on 5th avenue.

Bierkraft has an area with benches, a tap selection, and then walls and walls of beer coolers for you to peruse.  So I of course ordered an apple cider.

This was the only underwhelming thing I put in my mouth all day (TWSS).  I usually drink Woodchuck ciders and this guy from Harpoon had a slightly lower alcohol content and a much lower flavor punch.  I passed him off halfway through.

We continued the carbo-loading by splitting this bag of chips.

It had been a long time since brunch but I wanted to be hungry for dinner and these spuds fit the bill perfectly.

For dinner we took everyone to Sotto Voce, the best Italian food in Brooklyn.  The wait staff was totally accommodating about seating six without a reservation, nice as hell, and they brought us great bread.

The lighting was a little dim, so these pictures – with lighting engineered by Lana with an i-phone flashlight app – don’t even begin to do the food justice.

I ordered the special and it quickly found its way onto my “Top Five Best Meals Ever” list.

Sacatini pasta stuffed with spinach and gorgonzola in four cheese sauce with walnuts and poached pears.

Holy god.  I am not a good enough writer to adequately describe how amazing this was.  The fresh pasta had a totally unique texture.  The sauce was pure cheese ecstasy.  The poached pears would have been exciting all on their own and then they were perched atop this masterpiece.  I ate about 2/3 and shared the rest and everyone agreed that it was divine.

The rest of the night took us bar-hopping in Williamsburg, but frankly I was just plain too tired for booze so I have no pictures of that.

Sunday morning we slept in late, Ian set off to his train, and Adam, Gordy, and I wandered down to Lexington Avenue in search of brunch.  We had been very excited to try one particular location but I’m glad that it fell through because that disappointment led us to Rare.

Rare is the restaurant attached to the Affinia Shellburne Hotel but don’t let that fool you; it is so not a hotel restaurant.

For starters, they took pride in their complimentary Bloody Marys.

I ordered mine extra spicy and was in horseradish heaven.

Did I say that Saturday’s dinner was a best meal ever?  Because Sunday’s brunch was the best breakfast of all time.  Seriously.

This is how Rare does french toast.  Thick slices of challah, real Vermont maple syrup, and sautéed bananas.

They were ridiculous good.  I ate exactly half, pretty much only stopping because I couldn’t shut up about how good they were and I was starting to annoy the other patrons.

I also took a few bites of Adam’s parmesan and truffle fries.

I wasn’t the only one moaning at the table.

A quick walk to drop Gordy at his train, a stop at Barnes and Nobel for a coffee with skim milk, and we were back on the road.

As you might have divined from yesterday’s post, dinner on the road sort of sucked, but every minute in the city was perfection.

I’ve lived a lot of (neat) places – St. Thomas to Miami to Brooklyn to Buffalo – but the city has felt like home since before I even moved there.  When we vacation my homesickness is always for our studio in Park Slope, even though we now live somewhere new.  After two years away it still feels like home, my true home.

Where is your home, your true home?