Tag Archives: beans

In Need of a Green Beer

by

Happy Festivus!  No wait, that was yesterday’s post, Happy St. Patrick’s Day!  If you don’t know what Festivus is your life has been empty and you should check out this wikipedia post.

My late night/early morning combo didn’t leave me feeling that chipper but I knew I had to get my green on –

my nails are rocking a shamrock hue as well –

And breakfast, consumed on the way to 8am lab, was a Green Monster.

We were out of bananas so this guy had 1cup frozen spinach, 1cup oj, and 1/2cup frozen peaches.

Lab went well, I am all done with my post-calculations which always makes me happy.

Adam picked me up from campus around noon so we could finally replenish our stores at the grocery.  It was a quick trip, nothing too exciting, because frankly I’m too busy to do much cooking until after my two exams are over.  We did get an exciting lunch though.

Random roasted veggies,

Chan Marsala and Tandori chicken,

and a piece of Nann for sauce scooping.

Now I’ve got some random business to take care off before I meet Caroline at the Spot for an evening study date.

Curious about my half marathon?

Check out my personalized results page, click here.

To my lucky NYC readers –

SELF Work-out in the Park is coming soon, Saturday, May 8th.  I had a great time last year and I’m super sad to not be able to go again.  If you are interested tickets are $20 in advance, available here.

Sandwiches, Smoothies, and Schedules

by

Hello again, happy Monday!  This will definitely be the longest recap post I’ve done in a while – Friday through Monday.  Physically things have been low-key but mentally there’s been lots of drama – my flight was canceled!  And since I’m in St. Thomas it could have meant getting into Buffalo on Tuesday and not having a ride and missing class.  I was freaking out a bit.  Thankfully 45minutes on the phone + my firm but calm voice got me on a different flight that leaves/gets in on pretty much the same schedule.  And now my layover is shorter and in Philly and not Charlotte.  🙂

I’m a big proponent of the firm but calm voice.  I was polite, and said multiple please and thank yous, but unwavering.  I didn’t ask whether or not I could get on another flight, I simply said “I will be leaving St. Thomas tomorrow, what can you do to help me make that happen?”  And it worked.

Anyway, back to Friday.  My mom served me a slice of cake,

which promptly got stripped of it’s icing because I don’t eat cake.

Then I moved on to greens, a small container I put together at the salad bar we stopped by.

Lettuce, beans, corn, cheese, 1 hard-boiled egg and a drizzle of light Cesar.

I also made myself some frozen coffee – coffee, ice, skim milk, and 2T sugar.

Soo much better than Starbucks could ever do.

Dinner was all about the leftovers.

Oven baked okra is kind of my favorite.

And I served up some leftover baked tofu on toasted rye with hot pepper raspberry preserves and sharp cheddar.

Friday night I did end up going out to meet some friends.  We had a good time and I had a few drinks but photo-taking was abandoned in favor of trying to keep my balance on one leg!  I don’t know how on earth I managed to stand on one leg past 2am but a fun time was had by all.

For Saturday morning breakfast my mom and I hit up one of my favorite places on earth – Barefoot Buddha.  I had fresh-made lemonade,

and a Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich.

Frittata, smoked turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, spicy sauce…

I love these sandwiches so much I ate them on my wedding day!  I know most brides say they are too nervous to eat but I was just nervous my friends would devour them before I got any 😀

We hung out and studied for a bit and I had a passionfruit, banana, coconut smoothie.

We laid low the rest of the day before going out to a fabulous dinner at The Cellar.  We did a lot of sharing and the lighting was low so let me apologize for the picture quality in advance.

There were way too many things I wanted off the drink menu but I finally settled on the Caribbean Champagne.

Champagne with coconut rum and key lime juice.  GREAT combination.

We split a cheese plate that was kind of out of this world.  The goat cheese was my favorite but the stewed plums were pretty fantastic as well.

My plate –

And at The Cellar the chef always sends out an amuse bouche.

Ahi wontons.

Plus homemade bread and butter.

For my meal I got the Vegetable Cutlet – panfried, potatoes, peas, carrots, eggplant and pickled papaya, and tiki masala sauce.

The cutlets were delicious but my favorite part of the entire meal was the eggplant wrapped papaya.  I ate one cutlet and took the other home, and I had a few bites of my dad’s tamarind mahi as well.

We were stuffed, but couldn’t not order a dessert plate to share.  It came with little forks,

because we got four little desserts!

NY cheesecake with fruit sauce and bananas foster,

cinnamon creme brulee and chocolate mousse.

Yum, yum, yum; I wished I could have had a BIG serving of the bananas foster.

Sunday morning I made a nice green monster for breakfast.

My mom and I got our nails done (green again, I’ll show you later!) and then I picked up nachos for lunch from the bar I used to work at.

Yum, but I think it’s time to be fully done with any sort of nachos for a while.

We saw a matinée of “Our Family Wedding,” during which I munched on a box of Nerds.

I would like to show you dinner but it was so dark at our table I never could get a picture.  I shared green bean fries with my parents and ate half of a tamarind turkey burger.

When I got home I had 2 maple pecan sticky blondies for dessert.

Dreena would be sad to know I deveganized these, but at least I made the recipe for my parents!

This morning (Monday) I’m hanging out at school for a bit before I head home to pack.  I brought a pineapple Chiobani for breakfast,

but that didn’t begin to cut it.

I ended up also having an egg and cheese biscuit from Wendy’s.

It is 100% time to stop eating like I’m on vacation!  Especially because I’m not sure what the workout situation with my leg is going to be like.

I had fabulous spring break but I am more than ready to get back with the husband and back on a schedule.  I get in late tonight so I won’t be posting today’s eats but hopefully Tuesday my sleeping, eating, and blogging will all be back on track!  I can tell you now though, that I have a Greek Gods honey yogurt in the freezer for a pre-packing treat!

When you get to the end of a vacation are you sad it’s over or ready to get back to business?

No-So-Small Smalls Will Make Me Not So Small

by

We are the proud owners of new (safer, eco-safe) pans!  Nothing else today has gone according to plan though, mostly in a good way 🙂

I ended up only taking a few sips of my Naked juice because the husband picked me up much earlier than expected.  It was good because I got to blow that joint, but I had hoped to be forced to do a few more hours of studying.  When I offered Adam a sip of my juice he randomly fell in love with it and I let him have it.

After our Target trip we randomly decided to go on a date ❤  We had to stop at Wegmans to pick something up so we hit up the salad bar.

Chan Marsala with Naan (YUM!),

roasted veggies and a little bit of tofu.

So good.  Whenever we do the salad bar the husband and I always share a diet soda, awwwwww!

Can you guess what we did next?

Bowling!  I am so terrible at it but I enjoy it so much.  My first game was beyond embarrassing.

But I started to get the hang of it.

And by the 3rd game I beat the husband!

He had a pretty serious thumb injury at that point but I’ll take what I can get 🙂  While we were bowling I munched on this entire “small” (4serving!) bag of buffalo wing pretzels.

I need to basically never pick up a bag that has more servings than I plan on eating at that moment.  In general I only eat things that aren’t healthy when I choose to, but I have no control with those “small” bags.  I did the same thing with a bag of trail mix yesterday 😦

I planned on eating dessert this evening, Maple Pecan Blondies (another E,D&BV recipe), but a mid-way run down the block for flour meant they aren’t done yet.  I’ll probably nibble one before bed and I’ll give you a review in the morning.

What foods do you lose control with?  What have you done to combat the problem?

I’m a Chickpea Kind of Chick

by

I did go to the Spot as planned, but first I had a few other things on the agenda.  Like eat a lemon poppyseed cookie –

And do the quickest gym trip ever: 11minutes (1.14miles) on the treadmill followed by 10minutes of strength training.  I was on a tight schedule and I didn’t want to do much anyways because I’ve got the strangest interval session ever planned for tomorrow morning.

My study session went very well, and while I was there I ended up accidentally ordering a FEAST.

The diet coke was obvious, but the roasted red pepper hummus sounded tasty so I ordered that as well.  I had no idea it was going to be so big!

I ate 3 breadsticks and ~2-3T of hummus, thankfully Adam showed up later to finish off the rest.

I enjoyed a cara cara orange when I got home,

and then I made a delicious dinner, officially checking off all my to-do’s for today, yay!  We had the 2nd half of this box of falafel mix to use up,

but this time we fried the falafels.  Which was hella fun because it meant we got to use our tongs for the first time.

Frying produced such better results than when we baked them.  Our side dish was delicious too, against all odds.  I made Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas, and Olives from Cooking Light, but I realized to late that my olives were not pitted.  I went ahead with the dish, sans olives, but I cooked it for about twice as long as the recipe recommended.

All total dinner was a raging success!

Pretty good for a Monday 🙂

What is your favorite way to eat chick peas? I like falafel the best, then hummus, but I want to experiment more with roasted.  That method is taking blogworld by storm and I think if I slow-roast it could become a favorite.

Be the Change You Wish to See in the World

by

Good evening everyone!  I feel exhausted and gross (still?!?!) so I’m keeping this quick in the hopes that I get to bed soon.  I always say that, it never happens, and still I keep on hoping.  It’d be like not clapping for fairies to admit I’m an “early to bed early to rise” loser.

Our grocery trip went well.  The communal coin jar was full and Coin-Starring it paid for our groceries 🙂

This afternoon Adam and did all sorts of healthy stuff like take a long nap and split this Jokerz bar (i.e. a vegan Snickers).

It was good but not great, I’m not sure why they went with mockolate instead of just dark chocolate, I had about 1/3.

For dinner I made Tomato, Dill, Lentil Soup from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan.  It had a 60minute simmer time though so I had a small bowl of cereal while I waited.

1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch with plain, reduced fat soymilk.  Two notes here – 1. I know Kashi has honey in it; honey and gelatine are still on the menu here, even during the vegan challenge.  2. Always measure your cereal.  You guys know I am not any sort of dieter, but I always measure my cereal.  Many (healthy) varieties are still calorie dense and it is such an easy item to overeat.

Followed by a small serving (1/2cup) of the aforementioned soup.

I’m not gonna lie, I was saving myself for dessert.

Thank You Angela!  To Die For Cocoa, from Oh She Glows

·         Ingredients:

  •  
    • 3/4 cup coconut milk (full strength, not light!)
    • 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any milk)  I used plain, fat free soy
    • 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
    • Pinch of sea salt to bring out the sweetness
    • 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
    • marshmallows and cacao nibs/chocolate chips to garnish (optional)

Directions: Throw all ingredients into a pot and whisk like crazy. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for several minutes while whisking to remove clumps.

I poured it in one big mug but I’ll probably drink 1/2 – 3/4 and then put it in the fridge for the husband.  A perfect (super) sweet note to end the day! 

What do you do with your lose change?

Walking Dead

by

Ugh, it’s a good thing I made two home-cooked meals today because that is about all I did!  I felt like a zombie all afternoon!  This post will be a quickie because frankly I don’t even want to think about it.

Afternoon snacks: Stoneyfield Pumpkin Pie yogurt.

I searched high and low for this item all fall and then it randomly showed up at the grocery store the other day before disappearing again.  I finally got to try it and all I really have to say is meh; real pumpkin stirred into Greek yogurt is much better.

A heaping t Sun Butter.

And some Cedar’s pita chips with feta spread (YUM!).

Like lunch, however, dinner was a delicious homecooked creation.

Cocoa-Coconut Chilli from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan.  In the year I’ve owned this cookbook this is the only recipe I’ve made and I still consider it a good buy!  The husband will not eat this (hence his pasta leftovers) so I only made a half batch this time.

Topped with a dollop of 0% Fage, some shredded 2% colby, and Siracha.  Delicious!

Dinner’s success didn’t distract me from the fact that my sweet tooth is annoyed with me and I am disappointed in myself, boo.  I’m going to go sulk, and hopefully get in bed before 10.

FEST Check-in, Day 3

  • Food- excellent!  Everything I ate today was homemade and healthy.
  • Exercise – zilch, although I feel like my body did need a day off.
  • Sleep – poor, per usual we stayed up, and slept in, too late.
  • Time management – terrible!  Who has a quiz in two days?  How much did I study this weekend?  Urk!

We’re All Winners

by

I’ve had such an exciting assortment of eats this afternoon!  And the husband came home earlier than usual and watched the newest Bones episode with me!  It’s been a good day all around 🙂

And I have some good news for some lucky giveaway winners –

Holly, Emily, Ashley, and Brandi; send me your info please and congrats.

This morning I finished off the rest of my coffee, chilled with skim.

I’d like to think it was the extra caffeine that gave me the energy to power through the business calls I had to make.  Or maybe it was the thought of my thrilling lunch.

Nom, nom, nom, nom 😀

If I had breakfast with Tina I did lunch with Janetha!  1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese, 1/4 cup Cedar’s Chick Pea Salad, and a few shakes Kernel Seasons Ranch.

This was a super tasty combo, thanks for the idea Janetha!

Next I had one of my favorite combos.

2/3 of a Crispin apple with sun butter.

And if that was one of the favorites this next combo is my absolute all time favorite.

Cedar’s pita chips with Garlic and Chive Feta Spread.  Words cannot describe how much I love this!

Post lunch my sweet tooth hit me hard.  I was dying to run across the street and get a cookie but somehow I resisted.  At 150 calories this Dannon Caramel yogurt was a much more sensible choice.

And topped with 1.5t each toasted walnuts and cinnamon chips it was pretty darn delicious.

The plan this evening is gym, reading (magazines for sure but hopefully some homework too), and a homemade dinner.  See you later!

What has been the most exciting part of your Friday?

Late Lunch, Very Veggied

by

The lateness of my lunch post is well worth it; more than half my to-do’s are complete!  My new laptop is already starting to feel like “home” –

Volunteering went well and on my way out I used my lunch voucher to grab a large coffee.

I made a tasty mix of amaretto coffee, toffee cappuccino, and 2% milk.

If I got my fruits at breakfast, I got my veggies at lunch!  I made a tasty, Southwestern stir fry of sorts.  3oz of okra were chopped and cooked with some evoo, and s&p (charred),

and then I added 1/2cup of black beans to the skillet,

and finally 1/2cup of Cedar’s Edamame Salad.

The end result was so delicious!

The mix of textures and flavors was so pleasing and the warmth felt comforting after my treck through the blustering winds to do my errands.  Is there anything better than okra???

Since I’m soooooo out of shape I need a bit more fuel for my gym trip this evening but luckily I’ve got an afternoon snack (and a giveaway!) already planned.  See you then.

Are you an okra fan?  What do you love/hate about it?