Pep in My Step

Whew!  I am sad to see Camile go, but it’s nice to have a day with a little downtime.  Before I drove her to the airport this morning I whipped up a Green Monster so she could have a taste.

1cup frozen spinach + 1frozen banana + 1cup oj = a new convert; she thought it tasted great!  Here’s what our mouths saw –

I made the world’s quickest grocery trip (we are out of town with family again this weekend) then came home for some serious cleaning.  I might have been working but at least I was home 🙂

Mid-morning I snacked on a 100-calorie Cheez-It pack Camile left behind.

As well as some Canada Candy!  This Cadbery Pep was basically just a foreign York Peppermint Patty.

Truth be told, I wasn’t even hungry, I just ate it because I was hot.  We try not to run our A.C. all that often and cool minty refreshingness straight from my fridge was hard to pass up.  Not the best reason to consume 200calories though…

When I did finally get hungry late in the afternoon I set out for a neighborhood wander.  We had food at home but I was in the mood for a walk so I let myself celebrate our $15 grocery bill (God coupons rock my socks so hard!).  I ended up at Saigon Cafe for Pad See Eiw with tofu.

I have zero control around broad rice noodles so I plated half of the serving and put the rest away before I even took a taste.

Sidenote – how cute are the plates I got for my birthday?

They almost match my favorite chopsticks.

Back to the food; Pad See Eiw is my favorite Thai dish but I was shocked to see how many veggies this version boasted.  You never see yellow squash in this dish but the addition was fabulous.

Tonight is something along the lines of dinner, tv, mini workout, more cleaning.

What tricks to you use to keep yourself from eating all of too big portions?

Baking and Buddies

I did not work out today (I told you I can’t take a day off, 1 has turned into 4, eek!) but I did manage to do a ton of creating.  I feel like I’ve spent the whole day mixing and stirring, and that’s a fabulous feeling!

First I whipped up a batch of natural spider repellant.

It’s h2o and lemon essential oil combined in an old spray bottle.  I went spritz-crazy all over the house.  I’ll let you know if it actually does any repelling.

Next I cooked up a batch of Maple Coconut Granola.

I used Kath’s recipe but substituted unsweetened shredded coconut for pecans.

Then I tried my first smoothie in a bowl!

First I put a Siggi’s Vanilla in the bottom of my bowl.

Next came my smoothie.

I mixed 1cup frozen strawberries, a packet of Chocolate Infusion Amazing Meal, and water.

This was my first smoothie using water as the liquid and I still adored the Chocolate Amazing Meal!  It wasn’t too grassy or too sweet but it totally helped to fill me up.  No weird graininess either.

Finally I topped my SIAB with 1/4 cup of my new granola.

Delectable!

I think smoothies via spoon instead of straw will definitely be the new thing in this house.

I may not have done any exercise, but my blender sure got a workout!  Next it had to tackle hummus.

I don’t have exact measurements, but I blended up chick peas, evoo, balsamic vinegar, salt, and water.

I wanted fresh hummus for lunch, but I also wanted … purple?

I ended up creating a pretty plate.

Purple bell peppers,

purple cherry tomatoes,

a dollop of hummus,

and some pita pieces; a take-home from dinner with my parents the other day.

Lunch was good, but nothing could top my afternoon snack.  I’ll give you a hint…

I cobbled together a couple recipes and my memories of Oko in Brooklyn to create Honey Greek Frozen Yogurt.

I didn’t have any fresh fruit (the horror) but enjoyed this bowl sans toppings just fine!

Make.This.  The texture is a tad bit softer than regular ice cream and the flavor is unlike anything I’ve ever tasted.  There is a bit of tang and a bit of sweet, but the olive oil totally comes through at the same time.  Click here for the link to my recipe.

Dinner was also a winner, and I’d say that even if it didn’t rhyme.

Chicken with figs and blue cheese (follow the link to the recipe, you can click to enlarge).

Soon I’ve got to head to the airport to pick up my friend Camile!  She’s flying in today and then tomorrow we are driving to NYC for BlogHer.  So excited!  The only sad this is that our friend Kristen was supposed to be meeting us in Buffalo on Sunday but due to some personal issues her trip got canceled.  I’m feeling a bit down about the breakdown of our trio visit, so indulge me in a little reminiscing?

Our senior year in college –

My 2007 visit to Miami –

Their 2007 visit to NYC –

My 2008 visit to Miami –

Their 2008 visit to NYC –

Their visit to STT –

My most recent visit to Orlando –

Do you keep in touch with any of your college friends?

A Grass Powered Day

It’s been one of those run-around errands days and I’m not gonna lie – it was nice to have a busy day that didn’t involve carrying things!

I drove the husband to work this morning and then drove to Barnes and Nobel and perused the “For Dummies” selection.  Sadly I didn’t find quite what I was looking for; I’m updating the blog this summer and I’m feeling very overwhelmed.  Does anyone with technical know-how feel like taking on a charity case???

Mid-errands I snacked on a Green SuperFood Chocolate Whole Food Energy Bar.

During vegan month Brandi kindly got us some samples from Amazing Grass.  Disclaimer – any AG products you see on the blog for the next bit will have been free samples.

This was my first time trying the AG bars and I actually quite liked it –

There was a good mix of “green” and sweet that balanced perfectly and I loved all the nuts.  Plus it had 5grams of protein and was loaded with micronutrients.

Next I headed to an out of the way mall to see if this rumor was true –

It was!  It was! It was!

I have been lamenting the lack of froyo in Buffalo for months (ever since I got self-serve froyo in Orlando) so this rocked my socks.  It was no Menchies, but still pretty fantastic.  I got a small serving of tart (plain) with strawberries, mango, kiwi, and oreo.

Smile indeed!

My errands took me to the bank, the drugstore, the co-op and finally to my kitchen table where I laid out the plethora of clippings for the magazine binder.

My goal is to get all of that in before school starts in September.

I pulled out another AG sample for the rest of lunch.

Pomegranate Mango Infusion Amazing Meal.  I smoothied it up with 1/2cup frozen strawberries, 1cup Silk Almond Milk, and 1/2cup water.

I thought I was going to hate it but I totally didn’t!  Be warned though, it was a bit chalky, you definitely needed some extra liquid.

I also spent some time at the stove, whipping up a batch of fruit topping for waffles and yogurt throughout this week.

This batch included a mix of plums, blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries; I can’t wait to dig in tomorrow.

I came back to Adam’s school to pick him up and stopped in the computer lab to register for my final course (there was a waiting list that just opened up).  Now that my schedule is complete I’m a bit nervous: 16credits including Organic Chemistry and Anatomy, yikes!

Our final errand of the day was grocery shopping, so you know dinner came a la Wegman’s hot bar.

I was hungry, my plate ended up beyond loaded!

An assortment of Chinese chicken (aka fried and unhealthy),

roasted veggies,

chili garlic eggplant (not fried, I don’t know why it looks like that),

and raw kale salad.

All de-Lish!

I’m actually blogging on Wegman’s wifi, I’ve gotta go get my groceries!

Do you prefer ice cream or frozen yogurt?  I’m a froyo girl all the way.

Greens, Beans, and Time Machines

I am officially caught up with school and ready to take my final exam tomorrow 🙂 I’ve definitely disliked being blog-neglectful, I can’t wait to get back into a schedule after the move is over.  For now, even though I love you it’s got to be another quickie (TWSS!).

 Breakfast/lunch were sort of spread out in three courses throughout the morning and afternoon.  I managed to get enough to eat, but consume in shifts that allowed me to study.  #1 A big bowl of fresh watermelon chunks.

#2 A serving of Barbara’s Shredded Oats topped with Silk Almond Milk and blueberries.

By the by, I hear a lot of people talking about binging on cereal and if you are one of those folks I highly recommend this stuff.  It is not very tasty dry from the box but fantasmic with some Silk Almond Milk.

#3 A long overdue green monster; 1frozen banana, 1cup frozen spinach, 1cup calcium + vitamin d oj.

When Adam got home this evening we played hookey from moving and instead took a long walk.  Our long walk was supposed to be an hour or so, to the ice cream store and back.  Instead we fell into a pointless fight and spent hours huffing and crying (who me?  I’m not stressed about moving!).  Don’t pointless fights just feel like you accidentally fell into some sort of time machine?  It’s like you can’t even believe how late it is when it’s over.  We did make it to the ice cream store eventually, but they were closed.  So instead we split a slice of melty pizza to hold us over for late dinner.

The husband had chicken to use up and I made myself a Mexican bowl of sorts.

Into the skillet went 2tsp evoo, chopped shallot, a small chopped potato, half of a chopped green pepper, black beans, 1egg and 2egg whites, 2T shredded cheddar, salt and tons of paprika.

I also had some green bean fries on the side.

It is late late late, Futurama–> bed –> goodnight!

Do you ever have pointless fights with your SO or do you bottle up your emotions and save them for times that actually count?

P.S. I also enjoyed a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Lara Bar, yum!

Watermelon in a Smoothie and Beans in Some Soup

I hate doing all these drive-by posts but things have just been so busy.  A little rush is worth it though, it was wonderful getting to meet our new niece.

We got in the car around 10 this morning and I was thrilled to see a Sheetz where we could buy fresh food in time for lunch.

I got a chicken burrito with fire roasted tomatoes, rice and beans, colby cheese, diced tomatoes, lettuce, green peppers, diced onion, and salsa.

And ate an apple packed from home on the side.

We pulled back into Buffalo around 5:30 and I immediately got to work unpacking and heading to the grocery store.  Once I was home for good, the husband helped me whip up some delicious soup.  More specifically, White Bean Consomme with Almond Milk, from SELF magazine.

I ate a serving of Salt and Pepper Sommersalts on the side.

It ended up being the perfect quick meal.

I also made a huge smoothie to drink.

Tons of frozen watermelon chunks blended with a Simply Raspberry Lemonade.

Pink!

We didn’t finished dinner until 9:30 but I knew I’d be happiest if I got in some sort of a workout.  10minutes of stretching and strength moves later, my day is complete and I’m on my way to shower and sleep.

What is the most unusual application of watermelon you’ve tried this summer?

Liquid Libations

Hello, hello, hello!  Lots of excitement ’round these parts today; some ends and some beginnings.  And lots of liquid calories, apparently, as my eats for today have been exclusively in the fluid form of matter.

What a way to start the morning!

I introduce smoothie genius – 3cups of frozen watermelon blended with a Simply Lemonade.

It was just so fricking good.  The perfect way to start the day that is the end of Sociology.  By the way; I got a 48/50 on my oral presentation and a 44/50 on the final exam – with the curve, highest grade in the class by 10points, that’s an A.

Since July’s class is online, I had Adam drop me off at campus in the morning so I could do my final walk home.  To celebrate, I even stopped at Starbucks mid-walk.

Grande, soy, iced, cinnamon dolche latte.  A drink must have at least 4 adjectives to be exciting 🙂

I literally walked from my 2.5miles of incidental exercise to some real exercise.  I had to be quick because I’m running late but I managed a pretty good work out.  22minutes, level 6, random, on the elliptical followed by 10minutes of arms, abs, stretching.

After the gym I stuck a straw in the 2nd half of the coconut water.

As soon as the husband gets home we are hitting the road to Ohio.  My parents are visiting my grandparents and since my grandparents are pretty much the coolest people on the planet Adam and I decided to drive up too.  I’m not sure what the posting situation will be, but I’ll be sure to recap eventually.

P.S. Random Integer Generator says congrats to #6 for winning my Peeled Snacks giveaway –

Cori, e-mail me (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) so I can get you your prize.

Hunger Monster

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!