Fish = Brain Food

I’m not even going to talk about the work situation, just yuck.  But the food situation?  Fabulous!

Remember when I discussed how lovely today’s breakfast and lunch were?  Well dinner could hold her own.  (IRL at least, geez my photo lighting is el terrible!)

Gorgeous!

Roasted asparagus with lemon and evoo,

roasted edamame,

and my newest salmon patty recipe; Shallotta Salmon Burgers.

My parents bought us canned salmon at TJ’s last week and I think we put it to very good use.

We didn’t finish dinner until after 10:30 but somehow I talked myself into getting down on my yoga mat when I was done.  20minutes of stretching and strength training moves and I’d gotten in a workout for the day.  Something is better than nothing, and for how out of shape I am it wasn’t even a small something!

Tomorrow needs to be an early morning; think smart thoughts for me!

What is your favorite type of burgers?  Mine are turkey burgers, followed closely by salmon burgers.

Red, White, and Late

I hope everyone and their families had an incredible Independence Day.  No July 4th post for me, mostly because I was so ashamed by my lack of red, white, and blue foods; I always stick to theme!  We did dress festively though,

some of us more than others 😉

We did eat in an, ahem, celebratory fashion though, so I woke up today feeling pretty bloated and gross.  No better cure than testing out the new running shoes (an early birthday gift from my parents).

Since it was 10am already but we didn’t want breakfast before our run the husband and I split this pack of energy gels.

They were a free sample but I would probably buy them again, they tasted more like candy than gels and didn’t sit heavy in our stomachs.

I decided the safest route for new shoes was short intervals –

  • 5minute walking warm up
  • 5minute run
  • 3minute walk
  • 5minute walk
  • 3minute walk
  • 5minute run
  • 3minute walk
  • 5minute run
  • 5minute walking cool down

All total we covered 3miles in 39minutes.  I’m unsure about my new shoes still, they were far more supportive but I ended up having to stop and mess with my right foot halfway through because of a big blister forming on my right pinky, I’m hoping from my new socks.

After a quick shower we headed out to meet our friend Danielle for brunch.  I had a ton of work to do today (and did NOT get enough of it done!) but I didn’t want to miss the opportunity since the husband had the day off from the lab.  We headed to Panos.

I was feeling stressed about my work, but that’s nothing an extra spicy bloody mary can’t fix.

All the breakfast options were pretty big, but thankfully I talked the waitress into letting me order off of the kid’s menu.

I ended up with the 1-1-1.  One egg, sunny side up,

one piece of french toast,

and I subbed in hash browns for my one piece of meat.

I smothered everything in maple syrup and devoured, delicious!

While I was home not working I did random snacking.  Blue and I had some Rainbow Nerds.

A serving of Jammie Dodgers biscuit cookies.

An onion roll with Smart Balance, x2 actually, this was quick and tasty.

And I finally got in my red, white, and blue!

Siggi’s vanilla yogurt with strawberry sauce and blueberries.

O-M-G, so fabulous!  Doesn’t the yogurt just look like a scoop of ice-cream?!  The texture is practically like cream cheese!  The strawberry sauce I actually whipped up yesterday, the recipe comes from Healthy Food for Living.  I had to add ~1/4t of xanthan gum to keep it from being too liquidy, but other than that I highly recommend trying it yourself.

The husband came home this evening (he went to a water park with some friends) and insisted on getting me some veggies; my knight in shining arm took me on his steed to the Co-op hot bar.

I got a little bit of turkey Tetrazzini,

a piece of eggplant parmesan,

2 stuffed grape leaves,

and some side salad.

Now I’ve got to get to bed on the double, I panic a little bit whenever I think about how much work I have to do tomorrow!

Did you do anything fun to celebrate the Fourth?

Achoo BooHoo

So it turns out that I scored a 100% on yesterday’s exam (yippie!).  Sadly, that news was pretty much the last high point of the day.  Today was just bad.  I woke up with bad allergies and a bad mood.  A terrible mood actually.  I have no explanation for it, but kittens and sunshine were just not in the cards.

I went out to get breakfast so I could take a cheer up walk, and I ended up with an egg and cheese biscuit.

Meh.

Even more meh was lunch.

I usually love Allergaroo, but this Spaghetti was bad.

The serving (or two!) of Lindt truffles I had for dessert did perk me up a bit though.

And once the husband got home things started to get better, love how that works!

Grocery shopping was obviously a necessity so we threw in a salad bar date.

Grilled veggies,

a little bit of sweet and sour chicken and curried chicken salad,

cabbage salad,

a lot of Asian green beans.

Realistically Friday night was not the time to hit up a hot bar, usually I lick my plate clean but I couldn’t quite swing it tonight.

I was still hungry post-dinner and when I was feeling empty a full hour later I decided that it was real hunger and made myself some mashed potatoes.

I mashed 7oz of baby potatoes with 1T skim milk, 1.5T butter, salt, and rosemary.

I’ll never understand people who peel there potato salad potatoes, the skins are the best part!

Do you have any allergies?  I am allergic to cats, dust, and tons of seasonal plants, but I’m so happy not to have any food allergies that it’s really all good.

8hours in the Car Later

We started off this morning with another bike ride!

Actually, my mom and I biked around and my dad and Adam walked behind.  It was a short ride because our main destination was coffee.

Piqua gas stations aren’t exactly floating in soy milk so I ended up having to use Irish crème non-dairy creamer, yetch!

For breakfast I pulled a Coconut Acai Prana Bar out of my snacks bag.

This was not enough food and I was starving the minute we hit the road.  I ate a bag of honey mustard and onion pretzel thins,

and I opened some honey roasted cashews.

Miracle of miracles, we managed to find another healthy road trip food option!

I have major adoration for Einstein Bagels anyways, but this was by far the healthiest car lunch one could eat.

I got the veggie sandwich – red onion, cucumber, tomato, lettuce on a sesame bagel thin – and subbed in hummus for cream cheese.

Filling, healthy and delicious.  It even came with an apple as a side.

A mealy and disgusting apple that I ended up throwing out the window, but at least it came with one! 😀

Things were going well until we realized we missed an exit and added 2.5hours to our trip.  Arrgh!  At least, when I was starving and things were looking grim, we found a Sheetz, with fresh fruit.

Watermelon,

and grapes.

And pretty road sign flower sculptures across the street.

When we did finally get back to Buffalo we quickly unpacked before grabbing dinner from the Co-op.

Baked veggie rolls,

and baked tofu with cilantro ginger sauce.

I hope everyone else had a great weekend!

Put Another Veggie on the Barbie

Our day just got better and better 😀

After my bike ride I grabbed a small bowl of fresh fruit for breakfast.

Melon, blueberry, raspberry, grape.

Then the family set off toward the 2nd Street Market –

It ended up reminding me of a mash-up between a farmers’ market and Quincy Market in Boston.  We didn’t end up buying a whole lot, but we did see all sorts of neat things.

I did “lunch” in bites.  My dad and I bought a pint of cherries to split.

Adam gave me one of his grape leaves.

And I ate a pack of Bananamon Funky Monkey.

After the market we did shopping that was even more my style.  We went to Trader Joe’s to stock up on Sun Butter and then to Dick’s where I got my birthday gift early – new running shoes!!!  I can’t wait to start breaking those bad boys in!

On the way home we stopped at George’s (like Dairy Queen, but owned by a family friend, and better) so the husband could demolish a double cheeseburger and chocolate malt.  I went with a much more reasonable extra small grape/strawberry slushie.

This was one of the times I appreciated the vegan challenge; George’s has a long blizzards list and besides the fact that I really don’t need a huge ice-cream choosing a flavor gives me anxiety 😉

I did finish up dessert with a small serving of gummi cola bottles at home though.

Dinner was the first time this month that the vegan challenge was actually a challenge.  My grandparents adore Outback so that’s where we went, but my options were beyond limited.  I ended up ordering three sides.

Side salad (no cheese, no croutons) with balsamic vinegar.

Side of steamed veggies.

Side of french fries.

Not the healthiest meal by any stretch.  I rounded it out with some fresh watermelon when we got home.

Adam and I just got our butts kicked at Euker and now it’s bedtime.  We’ve got an early morning tomorrow before we head back to Buffalo, see you at home!

We Like To Ride

Almost magically, we spotted a Chipotle around 7:30 yesterday.

Real food on a road trip?!?  Count me in!  I got a vegetarian burrito bowl.

Underneath all that lettuce was rice, black beans, guacamole, roasted corn salsa, and fresh tomato salsa.

It was the perfect fuel to get me to Ohio.  Perhaps a bit too much fuel, because we ended up keeping my parents awake chatting until almost 2am!

My mom was able to lure me out of bed at 8am with the thrill of a bike ride.  My grandparents live right next to a fabulous running/bike path; I’m so jealous!  My mom and I started our day off right with a good workout – biked 7.6miles.

Now I’m off to find breakfast before we start the rest of the day’s activities.  Hope everyone else is having a good weekend!

The Daze: Part 2

Note 1 – I’ve gotten Adam obsessed with Dollhouse too and he told me to make this snappy so we could get back to watching!  Note 2 – It’s been a day!  My nap yesterday made sleeping last night off which in turn made today strange

Like just odd.  Yesterday’s daze had nothing on today’s.  And my appetite was totally out of whack.  Nothing sounded good to me for breakfast.  I tried to eat a spoon of peanut butter but it just made me sad.  I decided just to let my appetite play out as it wished.

But perhaps the lack of breakfast turned me into a basket case because even the simple things felt like an accomplishment.  Like I somehow gouged a chunk out of my knee pulling my pants on –

That’s my sad face 😦 Cute shirt though, right?

I ended up eating about a serving of Spree during class.

But when I got home for lunch I still wasn’t hungry.  At 5:30 the husband was home and I still hadn’t eaten.  I needed fuel though so I poured myself a class of coconut water.

Which got me through our run.  I didn’t wear a watch because it was raining, but we did 2.25miles in ~25minutes.

Usually running kills my hunger but thankfully today dinner sounded good.  Double take.

Its leftover status made this meal no less tasty, just quicker!  Veggie bowl (corn, okra, black beans, salsa),

and a huge hunka beer bread with Smart Balance Light.

I also did some serious mouse nibbles while I cut the bread, about a serving’s worth.

I was a bit hungry still after dinner, not starving but since I didn’t eat much today I welcomed another meal, so I got my roast on.

Yucca was not yuck-a!  This was my first cassava try and I quite enjoyed it.  My belly isn’t enjoying the fiber overdose though, I practically look pregnant!

Times up!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Peel Snacks giveaway!

Rainy Daze

Today’s weather was a strange mix of torrential downpour and beautiful blue skies; on the whole it left me throughly confused.  I felt like I muddled about in a bit of a daze all day.  The only thing I didn’t muddle through was my sociology test – 24/25 😀

Breakfast, on the go, was delicious.

Applemon Funky Monkey.  It was like a grown up version of those caramel apple chips that used to be around when I was a kid.

After class I did ~1mile of my walk home, stopping at the Spot to study.  While I was there I ate a vegan peanut butter chocolate chip muffin for lunch.

It was during that time that the skies really opened up.  Fantastically, Adam randomly got off work early and came to pick me up in the car.  When we got home we had to plan a couple of things for the rest of the week and I begged him to lay on the bed and cuddle with me while we talked.  —> enter 2 and 1/2 hour nap!  It was way too long to be asleep in the middle of the afternoon and left me totally disoriented; still worth it though.

Dinner was one of those meals that was so simple and so tasty.

I went ahead and made leftover for tomorrow as well so the amounts listed are for 2servings – 2cups frozen okra, 1.5cups frozen corn, 1cup black beans, paprika, s&p.  Perfect.  I topped today’s bowl with green salsa pinched from Moe’s.

On the side I had one of my favorites, beer bread.

My mom always makes this (and save the ends for me!) when I’m home but this was my first time making the recipe on my own.  Also definitely the first time it was made with a vegan butter substitute 😉  It was so fantastic I ended up going back for a second hunk, spread with a bit of Smart Balance Light.

This bread seriously takes less than 5minutes to put together, make it!

What is your favorite food recipe that involves booze?