Tag Archives: berries

Dinner at the Dollhouse

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I think I actually did pretty well on my test 🙂  But the amount of work to be done in the next three days is frankly a bit scary.  I’m decompressing before my nose hits the grindstone by watching Dollhouse with the husband.

Did you catch my vegan challenge recap?  This breakfast is so tasty that even though it’s vegan it’s the only thing I wanted.

A serving of Van’s Buckwheat with Berries waffles with my Berry Breakfast Topping.

I used Silk Almond Milk, a peach and some blueberries in my topping.  It is just so good!  Like at how juicy and big the berries get –

The rest of my day was decidedly UNvegan.

While we were out getting his new phone the husband bought me Coldstone.  I went with a kid’s size Oreo filling ice-cream with a Reeces Peanut Butter Cup mashed in.

It was the perfect amount, I’m so glad they let me get a kids instead of the “small.”

We still haven’t gone to the grocery store since our roadtrip, so dinner came courtesy of the bar downstairs.

My turkey grill had turkey, tomatoes, jack cheese, and 1000island dressing on sourdough; no butter on the bread.  With fries.

If I’m getting fat it’ll be on french fries please, not soggy fried bread; don’t be afraid to request modifications when ordering in a restaurant.  I was a bitter waitress for years but I never minded when people championed for their health.

What modifications do you make to restaurant orders?  I usually just throw away the bread, but when I plan on eating it I ask for no butter.  I also ask for things like Hollandaise sauce on the side.

Hunger Monster

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I have a test tomorrow morning (and you know I haven’t studied!) so I’ve got to keep this quick.  I didn’t eat anything that exciting today anyways.  Mostly I just at a LOT.  I was a hunger monster today.

For breakfast I made the husband and myself smoothies with silken tofu, frozen strawberries, honey, and So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk.

How awesome is that color?

During my 2.5mile incidental exercise walk home I snacked on a vegan chocolate chip cookie.

And when I got home I tried something new to me – Rutabaga Fries!

The husband peeled and sliced a big rutabega up for me yesterday and today I baked it for 30minutes at 400*.

I’ve seen this all over blogworld recently but I wasn’t sure I’d like it so I only used part of the rutebega.  Well one bite in I hopped up and put the rest of it into the oven!

It was amazing.  The flavor and texture are a lot like oven baked potato fries but they had this awesome nutty aftertaste.  I highly recommend that you go out and get a rutabega and try this for yourself.

I’d been wanting popcorn all day long so I finally caved and bought a bag.

I tossed the lame bag popcorn in some melted Smart Balance Light and 2T sugar to make some homemade vegan kettle corn.  Mmmmmmn!

I was still hungry so I made some homemade pizza dippers.

I sliced up a mini pizza crust and sprinkled it with garlic salt before baking.  Dipped in marinara.

And for the second half of “dinner” I ate a serving of Van’s Homestyle Pancakes with maple syrup.

Not my healthiest day by far, but a very very tasty one.

And I’m out.  See you after my test tomorrow.  Don’t forget to enter my yogurt maker giveway!

Ecstasy and Irony

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I haven’t been all that impressed with my Sociology class.  I like the content a lot because it’s so similar to Anthropology, but my classmates aren’t exactly honor students.  Therefore, I’m always kind of torn about what to wear to class because I don’t like “wasting” a cute outfit.  Sometimes I just go with it though –

Looking spiffy just for me (and the husband during our carpool time) is worth it because it puts a smile on my face.  Today’s awesomeness went far beyond the outfit though ….. Note – this post is filled with bragging and over-excitement; you’ve been warned.

Perhaps today was extra awesome because breakfast was so tasty.  This combo rocks my socks off –

I topped my bowl of Kashi Strawberry Fields and Silk Pure Almond milk with a big handful of blueberries.

Gaaah!  This is the best almond milk on earth.  It is thick and creamy and has none of the nasty aftertaste I’ve found with other brands.  This is also the best Kashi variety in the solar system.  The crispy flakes have achieved a level of perfection in the sweetness and the freeze-dried berries get the best consistency when they start to get soggy.

After I dropped the husband off (and he told me how cute I looked) I headed to school early to get my study on.  I like the subject matter, but apparently not enough to study for my test the night before.  And I really wanted to study in the hour before class, but mostly I just daydreamed about what I’m making for breakfast this weekend.  (It is important to my bragging that you note here that I didn’t exactly break a sweat studying for this test)

I also snacked on a serving of Apple Cinnamon Kathy’s Krackers.

Class went well.  We talked about deviancy and, oh yeah, I scored a 47/50 on my test.  Highest score in the class (most of the other grades were below a 30/50), go me!

After class I had some errands to run so I decided to combine grocery shopping and studying into one.  I picked up some Wegman’s hot bar and sat and read.

I tried to keep my portions pretty small to save $.  Asian bbq tofu and wok seared veggies.

The tofu was not awesome.  More like inedible; here’s what I ended up leaving on my plate –

Thank goodness I had a pack of Banan-a-peel Peeled Snacks in my purse.

They were super chewy and took me awhile to eat so I had time to feel full before I started shopping.

On the way home I developed a new workout plan: 1. Move to a neighborhood with terrible parking.  2. Purchase a humongous watermelon because it’s on sale for $3.99.  3. Trek from your parking space to your apartment carrying said watermelon.  Repeat as necessary 🙂

When I finally got myself home I discovered the other awesome excitement –

I think this wins for most ironic moment of vegan month!  A few months ago I submitted a recipe in a Foodbuzz contest and I won a year’s worth of free eggs!  I think that qualifies for a 2nd go me!!!!!  Our budget has been severely restricted for next year and this will definitely help our grocery bills.

Go ahead and brag, tell me why YOU are awesome!

Fake It ‘Till You Make It

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This morning wasn’t a particularly good morning.  My alarm didn’t go off and I stubbed my toe.  But it felt like a good morning, because I said it had to be.  If you tell yourself you’re in a good mood and put a smile on your face, pretty soon you’ll actually feel like smiling.

I wanted to get my incidental exercise on today (2.5mile walk home) so I had the husband drop me off at school this morning.  When he gives me a ride it also means I’m at school 1.5hours early so I brought breakfast to eat on campus.  I think I redefined the word breakfast today though 🙂

Blueberries with a drizzle of honey and unsweetened shredded coconut.

A sliced red bell pepper with a serving of beet humus.

And some apricots from Peeled Snacks.

The apricots were supposed to be a snack for later but I was sooooo hungry.  I don’t know why my morning hunger has been so substantial recently.

Class went well today; fyi – I’ve scored a 90-100% on every one of the daily quizes thus far!  Not so exciting was the fact that our Monday test was moved up to tomorrow.  I only got a B+ on the last exam and I was looking forward to having the weekend to study.

I stopped at the Spot on Elmwood during the walk home and squeezed in some studying then.  I also managed to find some tasty vegan options for lunch.  Carrot and ginger soup,

and a (dry) sundried tomato bagel.

Lunch ended up being really, really good.  The soup was spicy and sweet and had huge tasty chunks of carrot.

Once I finished the walk home I got dinner in the crock-pot (we can’t eat until almost 8!) and now I’ve got to get started on some cleaning.  And find time to study for tomorrow.  But I’m doing it with a smile.

Does the ‘fake it ’till you make it’ philosophy work for you?

Top it Off

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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!

Great Greek

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Welcome to Hump Day.  I woke up bright and early (7 is early for me!) because I wanted to work on my binder project before I have to get started errands.  I have barely even made a dent in my huge stack of papers yet!

Upon first step out of bed I realized that my right shin is really hurting.  Such a bummer!  I upped my time more quickly than planned now I’m terrified I did something to hurt myself again.  If you remember, before I broke my left leg I took a mini running hiatus when I had tendonitis in my right leg, eeek!  I am planning on swimming today, strength training tomorrow, and taking the weekend in Boston completely off of exercise (except for lots of walking).  Hopefully that will do the trick.

I’d be lying if I said I’m not freaking out, but breakfast did a pretty good job of distracting me.

On the left: I microwaved a mushy banana for 30seconds and then mashed it with a big shake of cinnamon sugar.  Topped with raspberries.

On the right: Greek Gods Honey Greek Yogurt.

Swoon!  This stuff is soooo thick and the flavor is a perfect balance of sweet and tangy.  Unfortunately Greek Gods doesn’t make low-fat honey flavor or I’d eat it every day!

Gotta go hit the books, binders!

What is your favorite type of yogurt?

Hitting the Desert

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Rub your eyes and grab some coffee, it’s Monday!  I can’t believe that in a week I’ll start 5x per week summer school and Mondays will actually mean something to me again.  We are making the most of the end of freedom and heading to Boston to visit our best friends later this week.

Breakfast this morning was a simple yogurt bowl; Stonyfield Fat Free Plain with raspberries and a little bit of clover creme honey.

The spoon went all Moses and parted the Raspberry Sea to lead the honey across.

Berry tasty, I love summer produce.

I’ve got to get dressed and head to the hospital for my last session of volunteering.  Now that I have a real person schedule (and we’re moving across town) it doesn’t fit any more.  I might be back to do some work with a dietician though, we’ll see.

Be on the lookout later for a post discussing the pants issue.