A New York Kind of Day

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.

I’m Easily Excited

It’s Friday!  Today has been sort of thrilling, in the most mundane sort of way.  I think I get excited about things that normal people do not?  For example, when Nikki told me there was froyo near her apartment last weekend the husband had to tell me to calm down so I wouldn’t hyperventilate and pass out 😀

I waited too long to eat breakfast at home this morning (so no cereal), but wanted something super filling to get me through to the afternoon (so not a bar).  What to do?  Brinner – only this time it means dinner for breakfast, not breakfast for dinner.

I ate a serving of leftover lemony zucchini seitan pasta on the ride too school.  It’s not less healthy to have pasta for breakfast and pancakes for dinner than it is to eat the reverse, and it can be a lot of fun.

The husband dropped me off early enough that I had some time to work before class.  The food court was open so I took the opportunity to buy some fresh fruit to munch while I read.

Whenever I buy grapes to eat at home they invariably go bad, but when they are in mixed fruit bowls I always gobble them up.

After class was finished I slapped on my sunglasses (polarized, bug-eyed) and spritzed on some sunblock (70spf).  The husband dropped me off this morning (instead of me dropping him off) so that I could walk home!  The BSC campus is only 2.5miles from our current apartment and since I love to walk it seemed like the perfect plan.  I wouldn’t walk everyday (I’m trying to be a little gentle on my leg) but with my heavy bags it felt like a work out and it was a lot of fun!

I stopped midway at the Co-op to pick up a couple fun items but other than that I tried to keep up a pretty fast clip.  I did slow for a couple of blocks to eat my snack though.  1 serving of s.s. sea salt Somersaults.

Holy yum!  Can you picture the sesame pieces that come in a lot of the crappier trail mixes?  I have a minor obsession with them.  They are the only item with trans fat that I still knowingly eat and often if there’s a day I don’t blog my hand has found it’s way into a bag of them.  Well this variety of Somersaults tastes just like those little devils.  And with no trans fat.  I think I’m in .  Note – only two of the Somersault flavors are vegan, but the ingredients are clearly marked so if you are doing the challenge with us just be sure to check the label.

I still haven’t actually managed to eat lunch.  When I got home I got totally distracted doing some school business and looking over the info for my online class next month.  We are going to a BBQ this evening, a most likely non-vegan-friendly event, so I’ll be eating an early dinner.

What are some of the silly things that you get excited about?  My (very, very long) list includes bubbles, diet coke, ruffles, and straws.

Sex in the City, PeeYoo

Adam texted me just in time today to let me know he had to stay at the lab late so I did a quick turn-around and headed to the gym.  I did the elliptical for 20minutes, on random, level 6, then had a quick stretch before hopping in the shower and heading to pick him up.

Our fun activity was a movie date to see “Sex in the City 2,” so even though I was in a rush you know I took the opportunity to throw on a big necklace and headband!

If you’re wondering why that smile is more of a grimace, it might have something to do with this –

Dinner was consumed via movie snacks.

Baby carrots,

an entire cucumber, sliced, with salt,

2 servings of spice drops,

and I also split a small popcorn with the husband.

Perhaps not chock-full of nutrients but it was a lot of fun to eat.  I didn’t think the movie was quite as enjoyable though 😦  The fashion wasn’t as fun (harem pants, really?!?) and the Muslim traditions “humor” was forced and awkward.  I enjoyed the specific storylines about each couple but on a whole it left a bad taste in my mouth.

Did you see S&TC2 yet?  What’d you think?

Boston to Buffalo

We’re back in Buffalo!  I can’t help but be sad that vacation is over, but it always feels nice to get back home.

Our last day in Boston was our best yet!  I love ending vacation on a high note.  How could it not be though, when you start the day off with froyo?

This time I got chocolate malt, gingersnap, blackberry.  I only ate about 1/3 of it and the boys finished off the rest.

Then we hopped on the T and headed down to Grafton Street Cafe for brunch.

When we walked by on Friday we spotted Conan O’Brian eating there, so we were all pretty psyched about it.  Sadly, it ended up being one of our worst meals in Boston.  Still, it was fun to see Conan the other day!

We ordered Bloody Marys,

extra spicy.

And I had a piece of bread with butter.

Nikki and I also split a plate of fresh fruit.

For my meal I ordered the Veggie Benedict with roasted avocado, hollandaise on the side.

I can’t even tell you how excited I was about poached eggs when we sat down but mine ended up being so poorly done that they were more like hard-boiled!  I ate as much as I could manage because I was hungry, but I ended up leaving a lot of food on my plate.

Our next activity was 1.5mile walk (over a bridge and through the sun!) away so we grabbed some skim iced lattes for the road.

And pretty soon we were on the river!

We rented a 4-person canoe and spent an hour zig-zagging around.

It was so much fun and such a good arm workout!  I was in the front of the boat so my steering duties left my shoulder muscles burning!

After we walked back to the city we picked up our car and helped Nikki and Ian run a few errands before packing up and heading home.  We got on the highway at 8pm so we planned on stopping for dinner asap but we had basically no luck.  I ate a small serving of pretzel m&m’s to tide me over.

But by 10:30 we finally accepted that the best we were gonna do was McDonald’s.  I tried to go as healthy as I could (480calories and no trans fat, btw) with a 6piece chicken nuggets,

and a fruit and yogurt pack.

Meh.  As much as I am a fan of the occasional fast-food meal I hate McDonald’s.  It was good to have sustenance though, since we pulled into Buffalo after 3am.

Today is so full of errands – unpacking, laundry, grocery shopping, school organizing – that I’m actually going to skip blogging.  I’ll be back tomorrow with the start of summer school and vegan month!

P.S.  Allison and I are doing Vegan Month in June.  Join us?

Attitude Adjustment

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 greatWhether 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?

I Blame UPS

My food choices today were craptastic.  Not in the undelicious, unenjoyable kind of way; more in an absolutely no nutritional value kind of way.  It was just one of those days.

A serving of yellow tortilla chips (er, x2).

A serving of Guylian chocolate shells (um, also x2).

Pizza eggs.

Which are so gloriously delicious as to have earned their own recipe page.

A big messy serving of leftover salsa verde chicken bake.

Amid lots of frustrating errands (I HATE UPS!) I also went for a run.  I did the same route as Sunday but shaved two minutes off my time.

  • 5minutes walking
  • 11minutes running
  • 2minutes walking
  • 2minutes running
  • 2minutes walking
  • 2minutes running

In the end it was 2.6miles and 24minutes.  It wasn’t the best run though, my calves are feeling really tight.  Plus I felt thirsty and sluggish.  I wonder if my eats today had anything to do with it?  It is becoming more and more clear to me that I feel better when I fuel myself properly; duh! 

Not to say that the realization stopped me from “letting” the husband buy me a strawberry banana split milkshake later on.

But it had fruit on top, so it was more like a smoothie, right? 😉

Any companies you’d like to flame?  UPS gets the full passion of my hate.  They deliver during business hours only (retarded) and the man who does our route didn’t even ring the doorbell, just stuck a “sorry we missed you” sticker on the door (should be illegal), I was home, he shouldn’t have “missed” me!!!

Hitting the Dessert

Thanks for all the support on my weight gain post, you guys are the best!  However, not one of you commented on the Cartman tie-in, apparently your senses of humor are a little more mature than mine?

Since today was my last day of volunteering I made full use of my lunch voucher and got a slice of the awesome cafeteria pizza.

I rounded it out with veggies at home.

Kale chips,

and part of a red bell pepper and baby carrots,

dipped into some homemade 1000island dressing (1T miracle whip, 1T ketchup, 2T pickle relish).

It ended up being quite the good lunch.

And a serving of Theo Bread and Chocolate bar for dessert.

I also had a bag of Pretzel M&Ms while I worked on my recipe binder.

Once the husband got home at 7 I got dinner in the oven before heading to the gym.  Note – I did some snacking while I cooked (1handful of chips, 1/2handful of cheese, and 2spoonfuls of filling).

If I’ve said it once I’ll say it a million times (sorry!) being able to move again feels great!  I will never take fitness for granted again.  I had a few twinges in my leg today so I did keep it easy though.  25minutes on the elliptical at level 5.  Followed by 10minutes of arms/abs/stretching when I got home.

By the time I got out of the shower dinner was looking pretty darn tasty.

The recipe comes from Everyday with Rachael Ray, Chicken Salsa Verde Bake.  It is definitely NOT terribly healthy, but it’s the last thing I’ll cook before Vegan Month so I went all out for the husband.  You can click the link (recipe name) for the recipe but here were my changes –

  • I boiled the chicken instead of pan cooking it
  • I used 1.5lbs of meat and subbed in a 15oz can of black beans to fill in the rest of the protein
  • I used low-sodium beans
  • I subbed in shalots for the onion
  • I used low-fat sour cream

It’s calorie-dense, but very filling and delicious.  A good mix of creamy yet crunchy and tangy and spicy yet creamy.

I ate half a red pear alongside my portion.

Dinner = done.

Hope everyone else is having a *sweet* start to their week!

What is your favorite South Park episode?

Successful Sunday

Finally, some productivity!  Actually doing something today was a nice change from Saturday’s pace.  Although I did sleep in still 🙂

Lunch was very, very orange.  An everything Bagel Thin with extra sharp cheddar and a honey tangerine.

With a serving of Guylian chocolate shells for dessert.

Followed by a run.  In today’s workout one bad turn deserved another; I ended up running further than planned once I realized how stupid it was to have gone without sunblock.  I really do have to stick to my pace plan and up my time gradually, but it did feel great.

  • 5minutes walking
  • 10minutes jogging
  • 5minutes walking
  • 3minutes jogging
  • 3minutes jogging

2.6miles in 26minutes.

Afterwards a trip to the mall with Katie was in order.  I wish I could tell you I was excited about my purchases, but basically I had to buy clothes for summer school because my pants don’t fit.  Woot.  More on that in tomorrow’s post.

The mall trip took longer than anticipated (why the frick are all the pants at BR/J.Crew/Gap so cheap and thin looking right now?!) and it was easy for Adam to talk me into hot bar for dinner.

Grilled broccoli,

wok seared veggies,

vegetarian meatballs = yums,

curried tofu salad,

and chick pea salad.

It turns out I went a little too vegetarian because this wasn’t all that filling.  I ate a cookie dough Balance Bar when I got home to finish filling up.

And I’ve been working on my binder project ever since.  I’m going back to immerse myself in blissful filing, hope everyone else had a great weekend!