Sample Size Me

To say I scored in the swag department would be a gross understatement…

This weekend I hit the natural foods jackpot!

If you take a peak in one of the FIVE bags above, you’d see a little something like this…

Sample size me!

The fact that I was fairly picky in which products I opted to take samples of should be an indication of the quality of the entire event. 

Shocking as it may be, I did eat actual meals in between the massive amounts of samples. 

I already shared with you Friday’s lunch event, which was so gourmet and fabulous, it made that night’s dinner look fairly ghetto.

Amy’s soup, La Brea Bakery loaf, and Pita Pal hummus.

I always make it a point to try new brands of hummus when I see them, and since I was staying with my G-ma in Newport Beach, I had to take advantage of this kind. 

Upon googling, I discovered Pita Pal also offers frozen falafel, salsas, and other dips. 

I opted for the original flavor.  Consistency-wise it was perfect.  Creamy like Sabra but still really really thick.  Flavor-wise it didn’t have very strong tahini tones, but the spices on top were nice.  I’d buy it again. 

I alternated dipping the bread in the hummus and the soup. 

Amy’s soups are almost always winners in my book, but this low sodium lentil was on the bland side.  The absence of salt apparently translated to the absence of flavor. 

After polishing off the soup and bread, I turned to dessert…my G-ma had a bag of cuties and although citrus usually isn’t my thing, they were so good I couldn’t stop.  Plus, peeling them is kinda therapeutic.  I had a baker’s dozen – it was a peel-athon. 

My G-ma had other plans for dessert…

Caught red handed with a full mouth!  She may kill me for posting this photo.

My family members won’t be surprised to find out that it was actually my G-ma who beat me to taste testing my Expo West goodies.  She shows surprising self-control when it comes to portions, but when sweets (namely chocolate) or Charles Shaw are in her sight – watch out.  So after I brought my swag out to show her the latest natural foods products, my G-ma was instantly drawn to the new PROBAR flavor, Nutty Marshmallow. 

She thoughtfully examined the bar…then went in for the kill.

I know she enjoyed it.  ;) 

After savoring the last bite, she made me review the photos with her and begged me to delete the bad ones (which I didn’t do).

While Kyle studied for finals upstairs, G-ma and I spent the rest of the night stretching our backs and exchanging exercise ball moves (that’s actually not a joke).  And of course reciting lines from Pride & Prejudice.  Just a typical Friday night.

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Synch the schedule

Sunday’s commute back down the I-5 was, well, whatever.  It’s done, so there’s not much to say about it.  I had packed many food options for the road since I was convinced it was going to take us 8 hours.  In the end, we arrived by 2 pm.

I’m pretty sure I was meant to be a Brit because in my book, 2 pm is – without fail – afternoon tea time (not to be confused with high tea, which in fact is dinner-time tea).  In any event, I had an almond milky Tazo chai tea with a pair of hippie-roons. 

Prince William clearly has no idea what he’s missing out on 😉

I only have two hippie-roons left.  One for me, one for the future King of England.  [Read: two for me]

I pretty much did nothingness for the rest of the afternoon because my head was still throbbing, but by 4 pm, I managed to get my butt off the couch for a 20 minute jog in the chilly fall air. 

As I prepped dinner I snacked.

Sugary fingers?  Whatever could this mean?  

Yup.  Candied ginger.  Obsessed. 

40 minutes on 375 allowed time for salad making.

Salad: Spinach, carrots, bell peppers

Dressing: Artisana raw organic cashini butter, Bragg’s liquid aminos, agave

This is such a unique and flavorful nut butter blend.  It tastes like it should be sinful, but it’s raw, 100% organic, and full of fantastically nutritious and pure ingredients.  I am savoring each and every lick because it’s that good. 

Finally my sweet potato fries were done.

And dinner was served. 

Dessert almost escaped the camera.  Remember these treats?  I still have a few vegan cranberry coconut fudge cups left. 

My sweet tooth wasn’t satisfied so I had another dessert.  Dried cranberries, almonds, and carob chips.  Salty and sweet – check and check. 

In other words: OMGsoDeliciousThankyouVerymuch.

I tried to stay up a little later on Sunday and sleep in a little extra on Monday because I’m gearing my body up for a night shift on Tuesday.  Synching my schedule is harder than I thought, though. 

It didn’t work very well as I was up and attacking the coffee maker by 8 am.  I fancied my java up with some cocoa-infused froth.  Fabulous.

Apple and oats?  Nope.  Look closer.

Quinoa with peanut butter.  No more.  No less.

Kinda held me over longer than usual.  It was 2 pm before my stomach requested more comida.  At which point I obliged with a twist on breakfast’s meal.

First, I chopped up both a D’ Anjou pear and a Golden Delicious apple.  Next, I heaped on 1 cup of quinoa.  Finally I drizzled peanut butter on top. 

Yeah boi.

Afternoon fizzies were all I needed to get me geared up for a jug on the beach.

30 minutes got me to Ocean Ave with two trips up and down “the stairs” and back home again.  Schweaty.  

After showering, I holed up in the kitchen, prepping food for the next week.  I was baking, roasting, and cooking up a storm.  Only pausing for sips of tea and hand washing. 

Recipes are coming your way…

Given how much time I spent with my head in the oven, you’d think I would’ve at least made something for dinner.  But no.

Amy’s to the rescue.

I chopped up some carrots to add in the organic vegan chili because I don’t really like have such veg-less meals. 

Sim-sim-simmah.

Chili will never be photogenic.  Plain and simple, it’s deliciousness is the reason I crave it, because visually it’s not remotely appetizing. 

Cornbread on the other hand, is both tasty AND purty.

After seeing a few posts featuring cornbread and chili around in the blog-world, I had them both on my mind all day. 

So dinner was a no brainer.

Don’t let this photo deceive you.  I had 12 cornbread muffins in total, plus a second bowl of chili. 

One can has two servings.  So ridiculous.  If I ever have half a can of soup, somebody slap me. 

 

This dinner produced a mega fiber baby.

I still wanted dessert though.  After just a few hours my metabolism was ready for more…hello sweet and salty…cashews, carob chips, and dried cranberries.

Alrighty.  Time to get some caffeine in my system.  I definitely need it if I’m going to try and synch my sleep schedule for Tuesday’s night shift.  Wish me luck! 

If anyone else has done night shifts before, feel free to chime in with some tips.  I’m starting a 3 day stretch of them…

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Jamie Oliver’s nightmare

As Kyle and I attempt to empty our fridge and freezer before moving, I have discovered both the pros & cons of pre-packaged meals. 

Pro:  Mindless, easy prep (box –> plate? even a caveman Kyle can do that)

Con: Stipation (where the greens at, yo?)

Ok, we aren’t eating ONLY thawed sh!t…

I still had some odds and ends that I pulled together for a salad, which included the raw One Lucky Duck Rosemary quackers I bought last week.

I sampled a few with hummus and they were pretty tasty.  My only issue was that they are a bit dense and tend to get stuck in your teeth.  I hate to say this (given my O.L.D love affair), but the Livin’ Spoonful raw crackers are way better.  The quackers are better suited as appetizers for dips and the like, whereas the Livin’ Spoonful ones are more versatile (ie salad crumble-able).

The few that I managed to crumble in the salad were great, but I ate the rest on the side.

Here’s another winner of a meal.

Talk about ghetto.

 

I mixed the LightLife BBQ SmartWings with edamame and corn, letting the excess sauce coat it all.  And as embarrassing as it is to admit, it was kinda good. 

This meal looks rather hideous, but at least it featured some greens (praise the lord).  I used the stir fry veggies with teriyaki seasoned tofu and scrambled eggs.  Yup, eggs.  Being broke and desperate sometimes trumps being vegan.  At least when you have 2 more days until moving across the country…

And in case you didn’t already think I was the most pathetically cheap creative person on the planet, here’s dessert.

Toast + carob chips + raw cashews = a make-shift nutty sammie

No joke, all I did was toast the bread then melt the carob chips to hold the nuts in place.

Now, on to a serious matter.

We are peacing out of NYC and heading to CA this weekend, but we are only going to be there for a few days and then we are off to Cabo San Lucas for vacay.  So, the serious part.

Question: How do I bring a pound of white powder into Mexico without ending up on Locked Up Abroad?

The thought of going without my NuNaturals Stevia for the next few months is frightening…but then, I really don’t want to go to jail over some non-sugar (as amazing as it is).

Please.  All suggestions are welcomed.

And now, back to packing, the most miserable task ever. 

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T minus twelve

What a day.  Full of a bizarre mix of emotions.  I’m not sure I can totally put it into words, so for now I’ll just stick to the photos.

Well, what do we have here? 

My last work lunch for a while included a big salad with a side of carrots and Livin’ Spoonful raw crackers, along with 2 apples, a vegan oatmeal raisin cookie from Candle, and a tupp ‘o zuppa. 

This was the other half of Amy’s Southwestern Veg soup bulked up with extra frozen veggies (corn and broccoli). 

As for the cookie, well, it wasn’t exactly love at first bite.  It was good, I mean it IS a cookie after all!  But not sweet enough for my taste buds.  I only ended up consuming half at lunch (but I had the rest later that night). 

Salad of champions: spinach, carrots, cherry tomatoes, dried cranz, pepitas, chickpeas, and raw crackers.  Holler.

Work was bittersweet.  Saying goodbye to people was such a weird feeling.  I mean obviously I will still be in touch with my close friends, but the truth of the matter is, more likely than not, I will never see a majority of these people again.  Ever.  That is so weird, and it still hasn’t totally hit me yet.  I mean, I have a few coworkers that I will definitely still keep in contact with (and hopefully see again in the future), but the rest of the staff – the people I saw on a day to day basis, the people who shaped me as a nurse, the people who witnessed a major transitional part of my life (moving to a new/foreign city, getting engaged, etc.) – will be over 3,000 miles away from me.  Odd. 

I think the reason it’s so hard for me to put my feelings into words, though, is because I wasn’t particularly close with my coworkers (in fact I did a fairly decent job of keeping my work life separate from the rest of my life).  And yet, in terms of the influence they had on me professionally…it’s indescribable.  Without a doubt, they will forever be a part of me.  But because I was leaving them (after they invested years of training to mold me into the perfect ICU nurse), I was nervous that they would see it as me abandoning them and moving on to bigger and better things the West Coast.  In the end though, I felt nothing but genuine support and happiness.  It was a really nice feeling when people were giving me heartfelt goodbyes and wishing me well.  All in all, the perfect way to bid the unit adieu. 

Don’t get me wrong though, the day wasn’t all teary hugs and kisses…I definitely worked my a$$ off all shift long (still saving lives here people!), but for the most part, it was a good last day. 

After work I met a few nurse-y friends (Kyle’s term) who weren’t working that day, plus Kyle and Ethel for drinks at SideBar (a few block from the hospital).

“What’s on tap?  I’ll take it!” – Elise (girl on a mission)

In addition to the double order of beers I guzzled down, we also ordered a few apps, including two three orders of hummus (with a side order of crispy chips) plus an order of guacamole (again with a MEGA order of chippies).

Ethel has all the photos…so once she’s back in CA she may get a post up.

Q: What’s worse than absent-minded wandering through Union Square WF? 

A: Wandering through WF when you’re a bit tippppsy. 

Talk about a difficult task!  I combined the above seaweed salad with a spiralized zucch/squash mix, baked ‘fu, and sweet potatoes.

Multiply times dos.

Followed by the aforementioned 1/2 of my vegan cookie from Candle.

And then, some late night cravings kicked in HARD core…

Which could only be satiated by a super milky tea and a choco-walla bar. 

Sadly, Ethel was West Coast bound in the AM, so I had to say goodbye to my girl.  Talk about a jam packed visit though.  We had SO much fun. 

Fortunately, parting wasn’t too tearful because in weeks (!!) we will be neighbors once again in the City of Angels. 

Oh, college.   🙂

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Kale-face

Wow…you guys sure like the EasyLunchBoxes!  Honestly, I wish I could give them to all of you…your comments were SO amazing.  I love that there are so many of us out there who pack lunches to tote to work/school/wherever every day!  We are a special breed.  And it makes me super happy to know that I’m not alone in my food packing addiction.  🙂

Here are my compartments full of yummies for work.  This salad was no ordinary salad…

• spinach
• corn
• edamame
• carrots
• pepitas
• dried cranz
• raw crackers (Livin’ Spoonful coconut curry flavor)

On the side, United Colors of Benetton bell peppers and more raw crackers.  I may as well get this out in the open now…I’m OBSESSED with these raw crackers.  They are just sooo dang good.  Everyone must try them asap. 

And in the same vein as the salad, this soup was no ordinary soup…

First I steamed a couple branches of kale and a handful of carrots in veg broth.  Then, I added half a can of Amy’s Spanish Rice & Red Bean soup. 

Holy hearty heaven.

I probably say this about every Amy’s soup, but this is my new favorite.  It was extremely tasty.  The ratio of rice to veggies to red beans (which I don’t think I had ever tried before) was perfect.  Red beans are legit, yo!

Now that’s what I call lunch gorgeousness.

Work was smooth(ish) sailing.  The day wasn’t ideal, but I worked with one of my fave coworkers, and even the crappy days are tolerable when you have a good companion through it all.  True?  True.

I bought a whole wheat roll on my way home from work to round out my dinnah.  Pronounced like Kailey’s theatahhh class.

I opened that hummus and polished it off in one fell swoop.  SHUT. It. DOWN. 

I also had the second half of the Amy’s Spanish Rice & Red Bean soup over steamed kale and carrots.

YUMMMMMM.

For dessert I had a HUGE green monster with vanilla silk soymilk, kale, spinach, froxen bananas, and frozen strawberries.  While blending this baby, the unthinkable happened…

My magic bullet broke!!!!  The frequency of my kale/frozen fruit combo must have finally just did the poor baby blender in all-together.  I lifted it up and it wouldn’t stop spinning!  :(  It was really scary.  There I was, holding my bullet in one hand while the base was buzzzzzzzing and whirling away in place.  Eeek.

No bueno.  Should I email the Magic Bullet people?  I have a warranty that I’m pretty sure is still current. 

I also had an apple.  And tea.  Shock.

And now, for the randomly chosen winner of the EasyLunchBoxes…

Congrats Samantha!  I’m so happy for you!  Your comment was amazing, too.  :)  Nothing like the threat of heart palpitations to hit a nerve with a cardiac nurse…well played, my friend, well played…

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More freckles and Vitamin D

There won’t be many pictures in this post because I was in the sun ALL. DAY. LONG.  I can’t get over it.  I took 4,601,546 pictures of cherry blossoms and dogwoods today.  Literally.  My computer nearly exploded with all the megabytes I tried to upload from my camera.  Did I just use a techie term?  Why yes I did.  There’s hope yet. 

Anyways, here’s how I started the day – whole wheat sando thin with Justin’s maple almond butter and banana slices (along with unpictured javahhhh).

I had a bushel of apples while taking the city by storm on foot.  I came back in the late afternoon for a cool refreshment.

Berry delicious. 

• 1/4 block silken tofu
• 1/2 cup frozen mixed berries
• frozen 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup water
• ice ice ice baby

It’s pretty much the only way I will drink water, so nowadays I have been trying to make my green monsters and smoothies with all water and ice (in case you cared).

After this, I was back outside.  I multi-tasked and made some phone calls while covering the UWS from park to park (Riverside to Central).  I really meant to go on a run later, but instead, I laced up and did more speed walking in the Park’s unchartered territory (well, unchartered for me…I certainly wasn’t off-roading it).  And by speed walking, I mean dancing/skipping to The Shins.  If you saw me, I’m sorry. 

I got home after 6 pm and it was STILL light outside – love it! 

I had no desire to cook so I heated Amy’s Tom Kha Phar Thai Coconut soup.  Since I knew there was no way it would fill me up, I fiber-ed it up.  How you ask?  I steamed kale, broccoli, and peas to pour the soup over.

Ok kids, this is what you MUST do to your next soup.  The kale and extra veggies with the coconut milk took the (already amazing) soup over the edge.  Period.  End of discush.

Another random thing I’ve been meaning to point out (that the kale and sweet potatoes in the soup reminded me of) is how green and orange pretty much always go together.  Is there an exception?  Hmmm…none I can think of.

I had six (!!) huge mugs of non-milk milky tea after dinner.  Dehydrated?  Not any more.

And to close the night out, I had a dessert bowl with almonds, carob chips, raisins, and (way under there) spelt pretzels. 

Full day ahead of me tomorrow.  Ciao!

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Curry cravings

***Holy crap you guys like oats!  I’m loving all the entries to my giveaway, so keep ‘em coming!!***

Well, if yesterday I forgot what the gym was, today I forgot what work was…

Apparently, several days off in a row –> Reality check!  [Ouch]

At least I remembered how to pack a lunch…look at all the colors!  I literally think my work eats managed to rep’ every color (can we count the dried cranz as purple?).  It may be a stretch but I’m calling it poetic license.  Deal.

Apple. Apple. Bar. Bar. Bar. Salad. Carrots. Pretz. Coffee. Tea. Tea.

Salad with spinach, corn, edamame, red bell pepps, and dried cranz.  Both the corn and edamame were still frozen when I put this bossy ensalada together, but it had plenty ‘o time to thaw by the next day.  Trust.  Imma pro.

As for the new bar…this was the third 18 Rabbits bar I’ve tried and sad to say, it didn’t stand up to the others.  Previously I tried the Belle Bananas Foster and the Funky Figs and Cherries, which were both excellent, but the Nibble A Sultana flavor wasn’t quite there.  I’m not even sure what flavor it was supposed to resemble because the name doesn’t reference any food whatsoever (more importantly – am I missing the clever pun/reference here?).  The most notable issue I had with this bar was the way-too-obvious (read: not well enough hidden) presence of walnuts.  I’m really working on expanding my palette to include more nuts, but I am not up to speed with walnuts in any way shape or form.  Aside from the walnut flavor, there wasn’t much else I could taste.  I detected some apricots and maybe a hint of pumpkin, but if you asked me what the bar should be named based on the flavor…well, I’d draw a blank (I guess that’s why it’s called Nibble A Sultana…).  Anyways, I still finished it 😉

Foggy treats: pretz, carob chips, pistachios, raisins, pepitas.

Beyond my slowness in getting back into the nursing swing of things, the day was actually pretty nice.  The only downside of the day occurred at 1500 hours when I bite into my second apple and after the first delectable bite DROPPED IT ON THE GROUND.  The 5 second rule does not apply when you are at all near the nursing station sink.  It’s nas-tay with a capital NAS and I don’t even think I would honor a 0.000005 second rule.  C’est la vie.

I got home and my sweet curry tooth was calling to me.  While “prepping” dinner I munched on Mary’s Crackers to keep my stomach happy, as well as get it in an Indian state of mind.

To be honest, this was the second mediocre product of the day.  They were too hard, which made them taste kind of stale almost.  Also they just weren’t very flavorful.  Not impressed.  I’m not sure the exact problem with them either, I just didn’t really like them…which is a shame since I’ve heard such great things about Mary’s Crackers.  Maybe I need to try another flavor? 

Anyways, the Indian cravings didn’t stop there…

Amy’s Indian Dal Curried Lentil soup!  Amy never lets me down.

I actually bulked the soup up with extra chickpeas.  The rest I poured over a steamed sweet potato.  I dipped some of the curry Sticks ‘n Twigs into the soup, but again, I just didn’t like them that much.  Not sure if they are salvageable…maybe crumbled atop a spicy salad?  Hmmm…I’m open to ideas, so feel free to leave your input.

I also had a big bowl of couscous with peas, cranz, and pepitas.

2 cups worth to be exact.

Which reminds me…have you taken advantage of the discount I’m offering on these Measure-Up bowls?  It ends 3/29, so keep that in mind. 

While skyping with Kyle in Brazil I felt the need to indulge.  Which means medjools.

And then my eyes started drooping…tomorrow I have a hot date with my monthly dinnah gals after work. 

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Don’t call it a comeback

Top of the morning!  I finally woke up today feeling like my normal self.  Stomach woes be gone.  Thanks for all your well-wishes throughout my sick days week. 

Even though I woke up at 8, I decided to go back to bed because extra zzzzz’s are invaluable when I’m in recovery mode.  Plus, the apartment was cold, our internet connection was down, and the warm down comforter was calling my name.  Excuses, excuses. 

Needless to say, I was ready to get my brunch on when I finally did get up.  Enter Justin’s maple almond butter. 

After spreading this on my two pieces of toast, I sucked the life out of the squeeze pack…just to make sure I got every last drop of nutty goodness. Do you lick the top of containers?  Hummus lids?  Spoons?  Yogurt tops?  Coffee stirrers?  I lick all of the above.  Never leave a man behind, right?  Kyle totally makes fun of me, but he actually finds it endearing how much I love food.  I think he would actually be worried if I stirred my Starbucks, and then threw away the stir stick without licking off the foam. 

Lunchie time.

Amy’s lentil soup and a side of veg.  In a new bowl, too.

Measure-up bowls. 

I got the 2 bowl set which includes a classic (large) bowl and small bowl.  These are SOOOO cool!  They are sleek and pretty, and on the inside there are engraved measurements to let you know exactly how much you are eating.  I’m not even a measure-my-food kind of person, but I can already see how instrumental these bowls can be in portion control.  Next time you are pouring oats into a measuring cup and then into a bowl, remember this product.  It cuts out the middle man and looks cute, too.  You can purchase them in my shop.

The large bowl has markings at the 1/2 cup, 1 cup, 1 1/2 cup, and 2 cup amounts. 

The small bowl has markings at the 1/4 cup, 1/2 cup, and 3/4 cup amounts.

So when you want to know exactly how much is in your heaping bowls of cereal, you can no longer claim ignorance…this bowl helps you stay accountable for actual portions.  Whether it’s a large bowl of popcorn or a small bowl of nuts, the Measure-Up bowls can hold whatever. 

1 1/2 delicious cups of lentil soup. 

I dipped the carrots and red bell peppers in the soup, but also busted out some hummus just for good measure. 

 

NOT. A. FAN. 

I never thought I would come across a hummus I didn’t like, but Abraham’s roasted red pepper was just was not tolerable.  It tasted like a sour salsa was mixed with hummus.  It was not roasted red pepper flavored at all, and it was blech.  A la garbage it went :( 

Taste the rainbow!  After getting so many great tea suggestions, I decided to get a Tazo variety pack in addition to a few other newbies.  Tazo has never disappointed me, so I am really excited to try all these new flavors.  And it looks really pretty 🙂

Passion tea was first at bat.  Such a beautiful color, and wonderful flavor. 

To gym or not to gym – that is the question.  I decided to suck it up and give it a whirl on the hamster wheel elliptical…I brought Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang because I wasn’t feeling super into it.  That helped a lot, so at least I made it through 30 minutes.  Better than nothing. 

So freakin’ huge.  I bought it because I was in awe of the sheer size of the thing, so I knew I had to show it on the blog.  But once I got home, I realized it was going to pose a bit of a problem to eat.  Uhhhh…

 

It didn’t even fit on the plate!  I ended up eating the two ends, and saving the mid section for later.  

I steamed some broccoli and then covered it all in hummus (Cedar’s OG tahini hummus) and raisins.  Sweet taters and hummus are my new obsession (how often do I say that about foods? every other day?).

Amore. 

I snacked on a few bowls of these (carob covered raisins and cashew pieces) while Kyle and I played Scrabble.  For the record, I won. 

While Kyle and I did registry stuff (OMG – so fun!), I had a mug of Tazo Decaf Chai tea and two apples with cinnamon (one yellow, one gala). 

Off to bed.  Is warm weather in the cards soon? 

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Still out of whack

Right after I posted the other night I realized my optimism about returning to a 100% healthy state was premature.  Details aren’t necessary, but I was up til 3 am – in and out of the bathroom (pretty sure you can fill in the blanks).

Fortunately, a big shipment of Vita Coco arrived earlier that day…

100% pure coconut water.  Hydrate naturally. 

Exactly what I needed to do.

I am not in love with them…and I think Kailey described the flavor best when she said it’s like the leftover juice from those snack-pack fruit cups, but I still downed it like a champ because my bod needed the electrolytes in a mayj way. 

I’m not gonna sugar coat it, it was a rough night.  I cried a bit (as if that would help) because I was (am) frustrated by the lack of cooperation of my GI tract.  Lately my stomach has been so much more sensitive and I can’t figure out why.  I’ve been trying to ignore it for a while, but I think I need to get back to my more strict vegan ways because that’s usually when I feel best.  I don’t know…

Thanks to hulu and facebook, my late night wasn’t too boring, but my sleep schedule is completely out of whack!

I got up at 9 am and felt drunk or something.  Then I fell back asleep and woke up to my phone ringing at noon.  Crap.  Another day wasted. 

I had plain tofu straight out of the tub for lunch.  This is kinda one of my dirty little secrets.  I looooooove plain ‘fu.  I could easily eat an entire block it all by itself.  But not with my current stomach sitch.  I had a few servings and called it quits. 

Rather than spend another day in front of the tv, today I was a bit more productive in my sickly state.  No, I still didn’t leave the apartment.  But I did accomplish quite a bit from the comforts of my couch.

Later on I made sweet potato/hummus snack, which was not only perfect for Sarah’s sweet potato challenge, but also was very easy on the tum.  This SP was different from the ones I usually buy (it was almost white on the inside), but it was still sweet and yummy.

I steamed it in the micro, cut it into 3rds, halved each portion, and smeared hummus onto the open faced parts.  Deee-lightful.

I used both roasted red pepper AND spinach artichoke because I couldn’t pick just one. 

For dinner, we were supposed to go to HanGawi – a vegetarian shrine in midtown, specializing in Korean vegetarian food.  I’ve been wanting to go here FOREVER, so I was pretty excited.  Too bad I felt like a$$ and we just couldn’t make it.  I was truly devastated, which only further angered me, and thus my stomach.  I swear, stress just aggravates any symptoms I already have and exacerbates them eight-fold.  I hate my GI tract.  Get it together man. 

So, instead of fine dining, I went with a safer (read: more GI friendly) consolation prize of a meal…which may as well be a second entry to the aforementioned sweet potato challenge. 

This meal was made possible thanks to Valerie’s brilliant contest that I was lucky enough to win.  I love love love Amy’s products, so it was a big win in my book.  In addition to the soups, I scored coupons, a cute bag, and a magnet. 

I tried the Tuscan Bean and Rice over my second sweet potato of the day (not even close to a record for me, but still worth noting).  So yum. 

I had the second half of the soup in a bowl, mixed with left-over steamed BN squash.  That Amy knows her stuff.  This company is freakin’ money.  My stomach was both full and happy, thus, I was happy.

Kyle got home and we snuggled up to Slumdog Millionaire. 

I made a bomb berry smoothie with the following ingreds:

• POM pomegranate juice
• Vita Coco coconut water
• frozen mixed berries
• xanthan gum
• ice

Holler!  Although I was far from warm, the coolness of this drank was really refreshing. 

Still, I ended up having tea right after to warm myself back up.  I so silly.  Fingers crossed that tomorrow I will be able to return to the land of milk & honey soymilk & stevia solid foods.

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Date night, sorta

Don’t mistake the ornament mug for my embrace or acceptance of winter…

Even though it was “sunny” over the weekend, it was still below freezing, and as much as I love running in races, 4 miles in Central Park just didn’t seem worth the misery of losing feeling in my fingers, toes, nose, ears, etc.  Instead I slept in and spent time with Kyle…sorta.  He actually had to work all weekend, which sucked since it was my weekend OFF of work.  At least he was working from home? (that is definitely the only positive I can wring out of the situation).  Ah well.  Such is life.  Moving on. 

I’m pretty obsessed with this caramel apple combo I have going on…

This picture = wow.  I’m not sure which is more pathetic:

1. I couldn’t even be bothered to assemble a home-made meal on the weekend (thank goodness for Amy’s burritos, but still, Elise fail)
2. Michael Pollan’s “Food Rules” (a commentary on the treacherous landscape of modern food and the often-confusing science of nutrition) is literally within a foot of a diet coke [this is probably the most contradictory thing I have ever seen]
3. I drank a diet coke (wft?!? who am I??)
4. There are heaps of bills and tax documents surrounding my lunch (sad)
5. I ate the burrito with a fork (not necessarily pathetic, per se, but worth noting nonetheless)

In case you were wondering, the (above) side dish heap of beans/salsa was my first taste of azuki beans. 

These beans are favorites of Terry Walters (Clean Food), as she uses them in many of her fall/winter recipes.  Since I am a big fan of shopping seasonally, this book is a great guide.  I found them in the bulk bins at Whole Foods a while ago and only recently cooked them up.

Dried VS. Cooked.

As you can see, they look similar to black beans after they have been cooked.  They taste similar to black beans, but also a bit like kidney beans, too.  They are popular in Asian dishes (second only to the soybean in Japan) and are often eaten in sweeter dishes (with sugar, made into paste, and even as a flavor of ice cream!).  Anyways, I liked them and will continue to use them in other recipes now.

As I mentioned, this has been a recent fave.  Most of his “rules” are very simple (and seem like they should be common sense), but sometimes it’s nice to be hit over the head with the obvious. 

A few examples:

#19 If it came from a plant, eat it; if it was made in a plant, don’t.

#36 Don’t eat breakfast cereals that change the color of the milk.

Clever, no?

So yeah, I was perfectly content reading, knitting, and doing errands around the house…and I really had no desire to leave the apartment all day.  Unfortunately, the empty fridge situation forced me to quit my whining and man up.

This is what dreams are made of :)  It also helped me face the outside temps.  Thanks to Annabel (and the delivery services of our local Whole Foods)…We STOCKED up! 

I had a little afternoon snack, which involved the Forty Spices Tribe hummus and then Kyle and I headed to a bar to watch the Superbowl.  I brought this guy along just in cases…

My bar food options were a veggie burger or a veggie burger…so I went with the veggie burger 😉

Good thing I had my Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar stashed away.  It made the Saint’s victory THAT much sweeter.  Yes, I was rooting for New Orleans.  For some reason I feel like their win was a win for America…cheesy, I know, but I still got butterflies of excitement when they showed Bourbon Street and the French Quarter as the final seconds ticked away. 

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