Tag Archives: eggplant

A New York Kind of Day

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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.

Lots of New Things to Try

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I got the second day of Vegan Month off to a good start by trying out some new finds for breakfast.

1cup of Barbara’s Vanilla Almond Shredded Oats with 1cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk and 2 chopped nectarines.

I knew to expect a lot from So Delicious, but I was pleasantly surprised by the cereal.  The squares were nice and crunchy and just sweet enough.  I would definitely keep eating them once this month is ever.

I was in Sociology from 10:30 – 12:40, apparently we are going to have a pop quiz pretty much every day.  Also – quick rant – the class is 2hours + 10minutes so we can take a 10minute break, not so he can blather the entire time; grrrrr!

I had to go to the bookstore afterwards so I brought along a Primal Strip to try to hold off my hunger.

Tasty, tasty!  The texture wasn’t as hard as normal jerky (a good thing) but had the trademark chew, and the flavor was a good balance of sweet and salty, even though it was a bit sticky.  I bought a peanut version as well that I’m excited to try now.

When I got home I ate some yellow tortilla chips (less than 1 serving),

to keep from starving while I cooked up lunch.

I’m glad I didn’t eat too many chips, I would have hated to have been full for that bowl!

A small neon eggplant + ~3/4cup chopped okra + (too much)marinara.  It is definitely the end of okra season up here, I had to pick through the bin just to find that much.  I had never tried okra before this year and now it is one of my favorite veggies.

I was feeling unsatisfied after lunch still – I hate having to get so hungry because my schedule is thrown off – but I found the perfect thing in the depths of my freezer –

These Yoo-hoo popsicles are thankfully (disturbingly?) dairy-free, and two of them perfectly satisfied me.

On the agenda for today?  Some blog e-mails, picking up the husband, National Running Day, school reading, dinner…..

Attitude Adjustment

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Baseball is 90 percent mental and the other half is physical.  ~ Yogi Berra

Baseball, running, swimming, whatever your physical activity of choice, I’m convinced that Yogi had it right.  Proper fueling aside, the success of any given workout really comes down to your attitude.  Today’s swim, for example, had all the makings of a bad workout.  I had to share my lane for a while and I felt really slow and cumbersome.  But today was the very last time I’ll have access to the UB pool and I wanted to make the best of it.

55minutes later I had swam 60lengths and I felt great.  Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.

It’s a little less exciting when you realize that 60lengths is still only 4500feet.  I swam for almost an hour and I still didn’t finish a mile?!?  Once I see the pool at Buffalo State if I decide to keep up my pool work outs I think some swimming lessons are in order 😉

I told myself I could get an iced coffee if I stayed in the pool for an hour (sometimes bribing works too!) so I stopped into Dunkin Donuts on the way home.

They were less than pleased with my modified order, which ended up being basically a mash-up of three different drinks.  A medium dark roast iced latte with skim milk, no sweetener, and coconut flavoring.

In the end, the lunch I made once I got home was far more exciting than the coffee.

I swear on a stack of cases of diet coke that there is nothing more tasty than a veggie bowl!  It seems like if it has veggies and is cooked in a skillet it’s going to taste delicious.  Today’s mix was something random from the top of my head and I am a genius, just putting it out there! 

  1. I put 2/3cup frozen peas in a skillet over medium-high heat.
  2. Once they de-iced I removed the peas from the pan and added 2t of evoo.
  3. Then I added 1 small neon eggplant, chopped and a sprinkle of salt.
  4. I let the eggplant cook, cook, cook; 5-7minutes until it the edges were getting nice and burnt.
  5. Meanwhile I whisked together a mixture of ketchup, honey, and oj in a small bowl.  (approx. 3T ketchup, 2T orange juice, and 1T honey)
  6. Finally I reduced the heat to medium-low and poured my sauce over the eggplant.  I gave them a minute to get acquainted before I put the peas back into the mix and gave a few stirs.

Man, oh man, oh man!

The rest of the afternoon looks like a mix of the binder project and my continued swooning over lunch.  Peace!

What helps you to have a really good workout?  Do you have a personal mantra?

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

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It is soooooo windy here today!  I’m a little afraid that if I take a nap I’ll wake up exclaiming “we’re not in Kansas anymore Toto!”  Or maybe that’s just on my mind because the latest episode of “Bones” had a witch in red slippers 🙂

However,  as always, hunger > bad weather so we braved the gales and headed to the grocery store.  Our weekly salad bar trip is kind of my favorite date!

I didn’t eat breakfast so I really made lunch count!  A little bit of general tso chicken,

a big scoop of ginger eggplant (the same pretty healthy, super tasty stuff from last week),

a bit of broccoli,

and some delicious fresh fruit, i.e. mango, watermelon, and pineapple.

Yums!  It made perfect fuel for sale scouring.  I also had a few undocumented samples.

Now we are going to follow the yellow brick road on down to the movie theater.  Hope everyone else is having a great Saturday!

Fruit eaten so far today: ~1.5cups

*****Updated to add –

Everything I didn this weekend seemed to be very picture unfriendly – dark movie theatres, bars, etc – so I decided to spare you the bad pictures and start fresh on Monday.  Hope everyone had a great weekend!

Sunday Night Dinners

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I hope everyone has had a great weekend!  It’s been an interesting Sunday around here; both Adam and I barely got any sleep last night so the whole day has felt like a dream.  As thrilled as I am about the warming weather, we are in that strange time where a blanket is too heavy but a sheet is too light and we don’t know whether we want to turn on the heat or the ac.  Hopefully we’ll get things figured out by tonight!

We slept in and lounged around so I didn’t eat until close to noon and I ended up having breakfast and lunch in reverse.  Lunch first –

Eggplant, and yam, and brussels sprouts, oh my!  I tried to mix up my seasoning with balsamic vinegar and sadly this wasn’t as tasty as my usual veggie skillets so I’ll spare you the recipe.  It sure looked pretty though.

Probably because it wasn’t the taste I was expecting, lunch didn’t satisfy me at all.  I ended up eating ‘breakfast’ a little later.

1cup Kashi H2H with 2T dried cranberries and 1T cinnamon chips.  And skim milk of course.

The cereal did the trick.

My parents, who don’t do a whole lot of cooking, always make fish on Sunday nights and have a fancy dinner.  Sadly this tradition began after I moved out, which is probably why it hasn’t caught on in my house.  We have things like Dairy Queen for Sunday night dinner.

We had to repark the car for the weekday morning so Adam suggested taking a drive and we ended up at DQ.  I’d be lying if I said that my turtle blizzard didn’t feel like the perfect dinner!

I’m glad I got in some veggies at lunch, but I didn’t eat a single piece of fruit today.  Healthy living fail!   And an issue I’m actually going to address in another post later today.  Be on the lookout for it this evening.

Does your family have any special traditions for Sunday night dinners?

You’re Too Kind

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I’m back!  I spent the last three days letting Chemistry make me her b***h, do I look any worse for the wear?

My final this morning actually didn’t go all that well, but at this point I’m glad to be done.  Plus, it’s hard to feel anything but grateful when I read over all the nice comments you guys left on my last post!  I loved all the sweet things you had to say, but do feel free to voice anything negative if you’re ever so inclined.  I always miss blogging when I’m away but I’ve especially been itching to get back today.  I also appreciated your support on my moderation plan, I’m pretty excited about it.

This morning before the slaughter final I ate a Hazelnut Bumble Bar for breakfast.

Then THREE HOURS LATER I was freeeeeeeee!  I actually have an Anthropology final next week but it’s pretty low-key so I’m letting the whimsy overtake me.

Adam and I had errands to run this afternoon so lunch was the soul-soother that is Wegman’s salad bar.

I had a little bit of broccoli,

some amazingly delicious roasted eggplant and squash (I almost went back to purchase more of this!),

Channa Masala,

and a half piece of Naan.

Lunch was fantastic, and our grocery shopping went pretty well too.  We purchased a bunch of fun things this week that I’m excited to blog about.  For example, Simply Lemonade Raspberry.

I generally try not to drink a lot of juice (although I’ve actually been trying to up my intake of calcium+vitamin d oj) but the Simply line is so perfect that I make an exception.  The lack of sugar overload is so refreshing.  I enjoyed a glass (8oz) during this post.

Mmmn, pink!

In spite of all our good finds, we had to make another stop on the way home to purchase our poultry.

I’d been having some misgivings about our Wegman’s chicken – skinless, boneless, breasts – for a while and after Adam watched the entire Earthlings movie last week he was easily convinced that we needed to step up our ethical purchasing power.  While I have no moral qualms consuming poultry (I’ll never eat pork or beef, i.e. mammals), I do take issue with not treating the chickens, whose lives we take, with respect.  From now on we’ll be purchasing our meat from the local co-op.  It costs a bit more, but I’m more concerned with the cost to my karma right now.

Free Bird.  Vegetarian fed, humanely raised, no growth hormones used.  Check, check, check.

To my omnivore readers – what kind of meat do you purchase?  What guides your choice money, morals, apathy, or a mix of all three?

And another thing – After reading some negative blog posts about product reviews (a whole ‘nother story) I got to thinking.  I occasionally review a sample or two that a company sends, but I’ve pretty much stopped reviewing the products I’ve purchased.  But I’m excited about food, and I feel like I have good great taste.  So for now on I will at least try to link to the website of products that I’ve purchased that I think are exceptional.

A Day That Wasn’t

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I accomplished less than nothing today.  Seriously.  And I seriously don’t want to talk about it.  😦 Boo, let’s just get to the food.

This morning I used the amazingness that is Thai young coconut,

to make this amazingness.

The world’s simplest, simply amazing smoothie contained the flesh and juice of one coconut, a big shake of cinnamon-sugar, and 1/2t xanthan gum (which still was a bit too much gum).  So simple and too tasty.

Dinner was courtesy of Wegman’s salad bar.  My one and only accomplishment today was getting the grocery shopping done.

Wok cooked veggies and blanched broccoli,

and amazingly delicious eggplant.

This is quickly becoming my favorite veggie!  I normally would stick to a smaller serving of something that looked fried, but Wegmans is becoming very nyc-ish and they had the nutritional info posted next to the dish – 140calories for 1cup.

Sorry to be in such an anti-stellar mood.  Hopefully a good night of sleep will set me right.

Do you ever have any days that aren’t?

P.S. I used the word “amazing” 4 times in that short post.  Who was an English major?!?

Simple but Stunning

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We obviously didn’t eat dinner at 2pm so I guess this will be a two-post-day, yippie!  Most of the day so far has been spent at the hospital getting my bone scan done.  I had an initial appointment at 9:30 so that they could inject the tracer, and then a second appointment at 1:30 so they could image my legs.  I could tell just by looking at the monitor that there is bone regrowth in the area that hurts, but I’ll know more after I speak with the doctor next week.

My head hit the pillow after 2am last night but even then my mind didn’t want to stop working!  Does anyone else have to mentally review their to-do list before falling asleep?  Sometimes I think out our weekly meal plan just to calm myself down!  Obviously I stayed in bed as late as possible today and made breakfast an on-the-go affair.

I pretty much love all Cliff Bar flavors but Peanut Toffee Buzz holds a big piece of my heart.  It’s sweet without being too much and incredibly filling for 250calories.  Plus, as much as I know I should be getting my gotta-have-’ems from fruits and veggies, I always appreciate products with added nutrients.

I had a ton of phone calls to make in between doctor’s appointments – I have some issues to work out with summer school, financial aid, etc – but I did find time to make a stunning lunch.  I love this combination –

Kale + eggplant + okra = awesome goodness.

I cooked my veggies in evoo and worchestire sauce for ~10minutes, then poured some marinara into the saucepan for the last few minutes.

YUM!  This is pretty much my favorite dish of all time, the combination is just too fantastic.  Plus it’s so gorgeous!

The plan for the rest of the day includes Anthropology reading, a grocery trip, and dinner.  On my like-to-do list is also a light strength/stretch session and watching the latest episode of Bones.  I’ll see you for dinner!

What food discoveries have you made through the healthy blog world?  I don’t think without Meghann and Kath I ever would have tried okra and now it’s pretty much my favorite thing.  I love the fact that blogs allow us to expose each other to myriad of amazing options.