I Love Green Monsters So Much I Want to Marry Them

by Emily

I’ll get back to the title in a moment. First, did you read my last post? It explains all about the situation with my half marathon. Please do read it, I would love some input from my wise readers.

This morning I stretched breakfast and lunch out and together across 3 small snack-meals. First things first, a lemon poppyseed cookie.

Then a small bowl of Kashi Go Lean Crunch with plain skim soy milk.

Finally, my new love – I made my first green monster!

I blended 1 frozen banana with a squeeze of honey, 1cup frozen spinach, and 1cup oj. Holy yum! This was tangy and healthy and awesome.

I’ve got to run now to go pick up Adam on my way to school. He needs the car but he is going to sit in on Anthro with me this afternoon first and I am so excited! I’m probably going to be late at school waiting for Adam and we have some may-jor cleaning planned for this evening so don’t get to anxious for an evening post 🙂

Have you tried gms yet? What do you think?

15Feb2010

Mini Explosions

by Emily

I did not have another mimosa last night, but did make a decidedly Northern dessert.

Mmmn. However, today was NOT feeling as romantic. It seemed like everything I touched today exploded! I was cleaning up messes and putting out (metaphorical) fires all over the place.

For starters I was running late for volunteering so I made my breakfast smoothie a bit smaller than usual.

1cup frozen mixed berries + 1cup plain fat free soy milk + 1T fat free sugar free jello powder.

It was super tasty, but I spilled 1/3 of it all over the counter 😦

I managed to clean up the mess and get to the hospital on time though. And they actually had a lot for me to do at volunteering which was nice. Not nice, was 30minutes after my shift when I was still there and I started panicking about getting home in time to make my important phone calls. No worries though, it’s President’s Day, no one was open. Boo 😦

And I was supposed to submit my college application today but since there was no one to help me override the system I have to wait until tomorrow to imput my Caribbean high school into the online form. I did some major damage on this bag of chips during the whole 2hours of failure.

At least they were vegan! Next I tried to recreate last night’s dessert, only to have it explode all over my microwave.

On the plus side, now my microwave is sparkling, and I put it to good use on a late lunch.

Tandoor Chef Vegetarian Pad Thai is seriously my favorite frozen meal of all time and it’s super awesome that it’s vegan too. If you see it at your grocery store, buy it!

I had hoped to go to the gym today finally but I’m feeling just under the weather enough still that it seemed like a bad idea. I would kill for a diet soda so maybe I’ll at least get in another walk (I walk to/from volunteering). Other than that the plan is dinner and bed. See you then.

Anything explode on you today? I’m all ears if you want to gripe about it?

14Feb2010

Vegan Grocery Tips

by Emily

My grocery trip this morning as a success. Even with a lot of household items (toilet paper, shampoo, etc) on the list I managed to keep the bill reasonable. Here are some my tips for successful vegan shopping

You don’t have to buy pricey fake meats. I know those products can be a lot of fun, but it can be cheaper and healthier to stick to traditional non-meat protein sources such as tofu and beans.
Go in with a list, and stick to it! Knowing what produce you need for the meals you’ll be preparing in the upcoming week can keep you from overbuying and throwing out items later.
It’s ok to rely on the freezer section. In winter months it’s hard to find a lot of fresh produce variety. As long as you stick to items that have no added salt or sugar frozen can be the way to go for fruits and veggies.
Pick one or two new items that look fun. Especially if you are a new or part-time vegan who misses some animal products a new try to get excited about can be a good distraction.

When I got home I used some of that frozen fruit to make an amazing smoothie.

1cup frozen peach slices + 6 ice cubes + 1cup oj + 2T fat free sugar free Jello pudding mix. I ended up with a little extra which I served to the husband.

This mix was so creamy and delicious. I got the pudding mix idea from Mama Pea. Her post was actually about how she has stopped using the artificial sugar stuff but I can’t find gums around here and damn it I want thick smoothies too!

As soon as our smoothies were finished (too soon, I was freezing!) we headed to The Spot to do some studying. I am officially 80% done with my reading for this week! I got a China Breakfast Tea to sip while I studied.

It was kind of gross, like dirty murky water, but I drank most of it just to keep warm.

I’m glad we did a date night yesterday, clearly our Valentine’s was sort of a bust. I did throw on some purple mascara this morning to be festive!

Now I’ve got a fun dinner to make and a little bit of lab homework that I want the husband’s help with. I’ve talked about earlier bedtimes all year but Adam’s been saying how tired he is lately and the thought of my Valentine feeling run-down will hopefully be enough to motivate my butt into bed!

What are some of your no-fail grocery tips?

13Feb2010

Valentine’s Day

by Emily

I know it’s not actually Valentine’s yet, but the husband has a big test coming up and we can’t celebrate tomorrow. Plus we saw the namesake movie today! I’m not 100% yet but I am feeling better. I skipped Friday’s post because the day pretty much consisted of clear sodas and my Chemistry test.

Adam was at his preceptor’s office all morning and I was curled up on the couch in all my unshowered glory so imagine my surprise when he walked in the door with this –

Seriously, how handsome is my husband??

I will NOT be posting a picture to explain why loving me makes him a saint but let’s just say it’s a good thing I showered finally before we left the house!

We are not big Valentine’s people but the husband did bring me home flowers and Sour Patch Kids.

After giving the husband plenty of air kisses (my germs and his upcoming test cannot mix!) I managed to do a bit of cleaning and make a grocery list AND take that shower. I powered through my chores with a protein-packed smoothie for breakfast/lunch.

2 frozen bananas + 1.5T pb +1/2cup skim milk.

Then around 2:30 we were off to the mall for our date! I’m pretty sick but I did the best with what I had.

The amazing necklace my mommy made me at least got me on theme.

Sadly, the movie theatre was beyond packed and things kept getting pushed back. We ended up going to Jack Astor’s for a bit. I had a Blue Lemonade.

And we split a plate of buffalo chicken fingers.

Then we played some arcade games!

In the movie I ate my Sour Patch Kids and we split a large Coke Zero and some pretzel bites.

Mmmn. Our movie was less cheesy than our snack, Valentine’s Day was actually really funny and awesome. It’s like an American Love Actually but a whole lot funnier.

Now I’ve got an easy dinner planned (homemade for a change!) and I’m planning on heading to bed earlyish. See you in a bit!

What you do think about Valentine’s Day? Love it or hate it? I’ve never minded <3’s day, even when single, because I find all the theme candy pretty exciting. However, Adam and I never make too big of a deal of it. We just aren’t that gushy, we often don’t even do Christmas or birthday gifts.

11Feb2010

Couch Frog

by Emily

My tummy was deflated today but apparently I am quite sick. I woke up this morning 1. on the couch, 2. fully dressed, and 3. feeling like I was hit by a truck. My glands are all puffed up like a bull frog!

I tried to distract from my couch frog look by finally rocking my snow boots.

Oh yes, those are children’s boots.

And I tried to soothe my throat with a yogurt, Yoplait Fat Free Thick and Creamy Blueberry Pie.

That was delicious.

I got to school a bit early to study and bought the lunch of sick champions.

Lemon Lime G2 (which was actually awesome, not “diet’ tasting at all but way less syrupy and only 50calories in a bottle),

and an onion bagel with cheddar cream cheese.

The test did not go well. By the time I went to sit for it I could barely keep my head. My delirium paired with my poor study habits will certainly not be leading to an A. How am I going to be Temperance Brennan if I don’t do well in this survey class?!?

I actually went out to the parking lot and took an hour nap in the car! Then I dragged myself up and did my printing at the library and hit up Jamba Juice.

I got a small Cold-Buster smoothie, because I like my denial.

And somehow I managed to sit through Chemistry + extended review for tomorrow’s test. The plan was supposed to be gym/dinner making tonight but at this point I’m not even sure I’m going to shower. I think the husband ordered Chinese food so I’ll recap dinner later on. Could you send *healthy* thoughts my way now? 🙂

What is your favorite thing to eat when you are sick? All I what is smoothies. (And I might have tried to con the husband into jalopeno nachos but he wasn’t buying it!)

P.S. Hop over to Anne’s to see how awesome Chiobani is.

P.P.S. or to IGE‘s to check out a shoppping spree.

6Feb2010

Better than Bonobo’s

by Emily

Today has been another mish-mash day. I feel like this whole week is going to be crazy until I take my tests next Thursday and Friday. It doesn’t help that my insomnia is back in full-force: going to bed at 10:30 meant falling asleep past 2am and waking up after 10. Unfortunately, I actually haven’t even really started studying yet because the whole day has been swamped with errands.

Thankfully we did have time for a bit of fun during those errands. Like getting a Valentine’s gift from my parents when we went to the post office.

And enjoying lunch from Wegman’s salad bar.

Veggies = steamed broccoli, squash, and mushroom.

Protein = a tiny bit each tofu, tandori chicken, and general tso’s chicken.

We enjoyed a treat post shopping, Green and Black Milk Chocolate Peanut Bar.

My parents have been raving about this ever since we gave my dad one for Christmas, it has carmelized peanuts and sea salt! My portion-

My lunch was pretty small, especially since I didn’t have breakfast so I knew I needed a snack as well. We turned this,

into this.

The world’s best smoothie contained the flesh and water from 1 young coconut, with 6oz of lowfat plain yogurt, half a tray of ice, a drizzle of honey, and a huge shake of cinnamon.

Mmmmn. Seriously, people who want to try the coconut chai from Bonobo’s, make this!

The rest of the day is going to be some sort of mix of studying, cleaning, dinner and gym. See ya later.

Coconut, love it or hate it? I LOVE it! I can’t think of a single application I don’t adore it in.

3Feb2010

Stressed is Just Desserts Spelled Backwards

by Emily

We’ll get to my stress eating in a minute, first let’s back it up to this morning. I had my first ChemII lab and quiz this morning and I was pretty nervous. I might have gotten in bed at 10pm last night (go me!) but I didn’t fall asleep for at least another 1.5hours. I wanted to do a bit of review in the car this morning so I made a nice portable smoothie –

1 frozen banana + frozen blackberries + Yoplait low fat Blackberry Yogurt + half scoop chocolate Amazing Grass + big pour light Chocolate Almond Breeze + small squeeze honey. Plus, it matched my outfit!

The quiz went pretty well and I finished my lab procedure quickly enough that I had time to finish up my lab report before noon. And I cracked away at some of my reading while I waited for Adam. An awesome morning. Until I drove home.

I HATE parking at our apartment! It’s not a matter of getting a close spot (I really don’t care, I’ll happily walk) it’s that we live on the business section so 95% of the parking is $$$. The areas that aren’t 1hour metered are filled with fire hydrants, drive ways, and other cars. Arrrrrrgh!!!!! I made 3 loops around the ‘hood to no avail. I parked at Walgreens for a bit and walked around to kill time, not once, but twice. Finally, 2loops after that, I found a spot that’s about a mile away from our apartment. And I’m not even all that comfortable with it, I’m pretty nervous about getting a ticket.

And I tell you that fun story to explain why lunch looked a bit like this –

You can go ahead and assume I finished off most of that GIANT bag of chips. Plus this –

Oh yes I am in training for a half marathon. Ha!

After my crapfest (and a looong phone call with one of my best friends, who I’ll be staying with in Orlando in a month actually) I feel a little better. I’d feel a lot better if I’d soothed my soul with some carrots but somethings just don’t work out.

When was the last time you ate your feelings? What’d you have and did you regret it

P.S. Not surprisingly I have a bit of a tummy ache! I’ll be back tomorrow.

16Jan2010

Coffee and Coconut

by Emily

Today has been the perfect kind of Saturday! Cuddling up with Adam in front of the tv with funny shows and plates of food? Count me in!

My parents gave us a purple french press for Christmas and we finally got to try it out.

Besides the fact that it makes me feel cool and European, the coffee (Kona, by the way) was much tastier and less bitter; win. Per usual, I had mine with skim milk.