Tri to get excited

In New York, I was a NYRR member.  I ran almost every 10K during the two month period of decent weather (if I wasn’t working), and a few half marathons too.  Truthfully, I think I could run Central Park with my eyes closed. 

Moving to California was a breath of fresh air in the running department.  The weather is rarely an obstacle and (as I’ve already shared) the scenery is exceptional.  However, I do miss the excitement of races.  I’ve been keeping my eye out for local running events, but my schedule is friggin’ packed for the next few months.  No joke, every single weekend has weddings, showers, or something else preventing me from participating in a race.  Ordinarily, this would please me to no end (hooray, I have a social life!), but can’t a girl get a weekend off!?!  Sheesh. 

So cut to today…

On a semi-calculated but mostly crazy whim, I decided to sign up for a sprint triathlon with my dad.  He forwarded me the email for half off registration this morning, and it just seemed like the perfect event to get me excited about exercise again.  It’s not that I’ve been bored with my routine, I just miss having something to train for and look forward to…

Because it’s a Sprint Triathlon, I don’t have to worry about getting in shape to swim, bike, and run the full distances.  And because it’s in late July, I have a while to get my body ready.  It’s a 1/2 mile swim, then a 15 mile bike ride, and finally a 3.1 mile run.  In Pleasanton, CA.  And I have my dad as a partner.  FUN!

Work food!

I got this package last week and since my weekend was full of living, I didn’t have time to do my usual prepping.

I have seen Sukhi’s products at Whole Foods, but never tried them.  Until now!

The company was founded in 1992 in the Bay Area (hometown pride!) when Chef/Teacher Sukhi Singh realized there was an increasing demand for authentic Indian food prepared with premium, natural ingredients.  You can read more about Sukhi’s story here.

 

I love Indian food, so I was pretty stoked to discover they ingredients are totally wholesome. 

I decided to try the Spinach & Tofu NaanWich first.  I wish I had a photo of it not in the packaging, but what can you do?

When my lunch break arrived, I was really excited (and who doesn’t like looking forward to good food?).  My only problem was that it took me half my break time just removing all the outer saran wrap packaging.  Finally I got to the naanwich and popped it in the microwave.  After a few minutes of nuking, it smelled great and I couldn’t wait to dig in. 

The verdict?  It was great!  I really really liked it.  It wasn’t quite what I was expecting, but I guess I’m not entirely sure what I was expecting.  The spinach wasn’t too strong, it was almost sweet (?) and the tofu was not so much of a contributor in it’s flavor, but it’s texture was perfection with the spinach.  I’m not doing a very good job of describing it, but I would definitely buy it again.  It was very flavorful, and my tummy was even pleased with it.  The naan was super soft and doughy.  I love naan so so much, but it’s only good when it’s soft and doughy, so this was mega-yum.  I can’t wait to try the rest of the flavors!  For the record, they have non-vegetarian options as well.  Check out their website for where you can find them in stores.

The rest of my day’s eats can be seen here. 

 

My breakfast oats were on the milky side because I was feeling decadent (usually I make my oats with water).  This tupp had rolled oats, buckwheat, dried blueberries with vanilla soy milk and Galaxy Granola on top. 

In case you were wondering about the brown bag in the photo above, I took the treat out to show you all…it’s a lavender infused coconut macaroon (that I completely forgot about from this dinner). 

It’s weird to me that lavender would be good in something aside from a candle or lotion, but I just went with it.

It was actually really good.  Kinda a little too burnt on the outside for my taste, but that’s probably because I’m so used to raw macaroons (like those from One Lucky Duck) that I don’t even know what the baked version is supposed to taste like!  I think I actually prefer my hippie-roons.

Anyway.  Work was so so so intense.  I felt crazed throughout the entire shift, and hardly had a second to breathe.  I didn’t even eat the Yogi granola crisps seen above or one of the apples.  Truth be told, it’s a miracle I had time to eat the other parts of my packed up food.  That’s life though.  Some days are just super busy.  That’s the reason I need to have fun things like weddings, weekend getaways, and trips to Europe to look forward to…oh and triathlons.  🙂

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Crash and burn

My second night shift came and went without incident.  It was pretty much a dream 12 hours.  I staggered my way to the parking garage and arrived home just before 8 am to pass the car off to my better half (as in, the half that doesn’t crash the car).  Oh, did I not mention my little accident?  Twitter followers may have read the news, but for those who aren’t in the loop, I suck at driving. 

Don’t worry, I’m being slightly dramatic (I’m fine).  The passenger side door, on the other hand, wasn’t so lucky.  I got into an accident with a wall.  Big picture – it’s not that big of a deal.  But I’m still annoyed with myself.  For being such an aggressive driver, it’s actually kinda a miracle I’ve never been pulled over, gotten a speeding ticket, or had any accidents before…so to taint my pristine record with such a ridiculous thing is frustrating to say the least.  I’m not saying I’d rather have been in an accident with another vehicle.  When it comes to auto accidents, the phrase “go big or go home” definitely doesn’t apply.  It’s just so stupid to hit a stationary object!

Have you ever been in a car accident?  Have you ever hit a wall/pole/non-moving object? 

So back to yesterday’s night shift.

Before leaving for work, I enjoyed a slice of vegan coconut “cheesecake”.

This is pear and coconut perfection.  And it just keeps getting better and better.  Who says you can’t have dessert for dinner? 

There was fruit too. 

I’m out of spinach so the non-green appearance was a change up.  I doubled up the frozen strawberries which required extra almond milk (so that it would blend), and in the end, it tasted like a strawberry milk shake.  No complaints on my end. 

For work I packed the following eats:

 

Two apples and a couple of slices of Alvarado Street sprouted bread to soak up my black eyed pea masala leftovers. 

I steamed kale to bulk it up in the greens department, which was totally yummy with the masala flavors. 

If you want to know the truth, yes, bringing leftover Indian food to work was a daring move.  I’ll admit, I was nervous about how my body would deal, but I’m happy to report everything was A-ok.  And combined with the hearty bread, this meal kept my hunger at bay for the entire night. 

As per usual, I was peeing every 30 minutes on account of all the tea I was consuming.  And I’m proud to say, I had NO coffee last night and all but 2 mugs of tea were caffeine free.  Progress people. 

Consequently, my body was ready to crash when I got home.  So after I passed the car off to Kyle, I showered, PJed, put on my night vision goggles blackout mask and went to zzzzz.

I woke back up around 11, but still wasn’t ready to start the day.  With my fabulous sweatpants and sweatshirt, I looked like a home-less gray monster.  Isn’t it great that I could capture the essence of my morning in one photo?  Sweats.  Coffee.  Remote.  Are you there, Bravo?  It’s me, lazy.

Almost four seconds after the coffee was gone, I made some breakfast. 

Cooked (and then chilled) oats, apple cinnamon granola, blueberries, and almond milk.  I need to start remembering to prep overnight oats because waiting for them to cook and then chill is torture.  I’m not nearly patient enough.  Obviously I enjoy warm oats, but lately I’ve been craving my grains cold. 

I’m now gearing up for my first ever yoga class, for which I’m a big ball of nervousanxiousexcited.  Can you believe I’ve still not used my YogaWorks gift certificate from my birthday?!  Such a pansy.  I just wish I hadn’t done 50 minutes of Jillian’s Banish Fat Boost Metabolism yesterday because my muscles are already burnin’.  Maybe yoga is the perfect remedy, though. 

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Lucky peas

Isn’t there some good luck thing with black eyed peas and the new year?  I swear I recall some tradition of the sort.  It’s still January, so I think this recipe counts.

[Edited to add: I just looked this up to confirm that eating black eyed peas on New Year’s Day is in fact a good luck tradition, as they are supposed to bring prosperity]

Better late than never right?

I’ve always had a weird fascination with black eyed peas.  The black and white thing is creepy to me.  Don’t they look evil? 

There’s a resemblance, no?  Ok, maybe not. 

Whatever.  I’ve been wanting to use them in a recipe ever since I saw Angela’s recent masala creation (the whole New Year’s thing is just an added bonus).  So at the beginning of the week I put some black eyed peas in a jar to get soaking.

Soaking isn’t necessary, but it does help decrease the cooking time (how eco-friendly!).  Plus – as with all other foods that are soaked – it makes the nutrients more readily available for your body. 

I’ve also heard that soaking beans prior to cooking them allows them to slowly absorb the liquid they need to cook evenly and completely so they don’t split open, lose their skins, or cook only the outer surface while the middle remains hard.  Because who likes unevenly cooked beans?  Not I. 

After just one night of soaking, they absorbed all the liquid and practically doubled in size! 

I rinsed them and added more water…and continued to do this for the next few days.

Then it was masala time!  I followed Angela’s recipe pretty precisely, but used coconut water in place of regular water, fresh tomatoes instead of canned and added in corn for extra fiber and color.

Onions simmering. 

Spices assembled.

Beans cooking.

Tomatoes added.

Beans added.

Corn added.

Spices added.

Kyle’s was served over white rice, while mine was piled on steamed kale.

Both of us agreed this was a perfectly harmonious blend of spices.  Not too strong, but definitely present. 

Clearly I need to make more Indian food because we were both huge fans. 

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Sunny November

The weatherman doesn’t know it’s November, but I’m certainly not going to be the one to break the news…

I went to the beach this weekend – take that New York. 

So after coffee x3, I had a pear & dried cranberry breakfast with my agave nectar & cinnamon on top. 

Not too complex of a dressing, but pretty good if I do say so myself.  I had an apple too.  Honeycrisps are all the rage right now, but Galas are still my favorite.

 

For lunch I used more quinoa and leftover BBQ tofu to create this dish.

Since others have been asking, here’s the recipe for the BBQ tofu.  And by recipe, I mean 4 minute/4 step process.

1. Press tofu (extra firm)
2. Coat in whole wheat flour (really cake it on)
3. Dip in BBQ sauce* (again, don’t be shy with the amount)
4. Bake on sprayed cooking sheet for 35-45 minutes at 375 degrees.

*Annie’s Original BBQ sauce is my sauce of choice, but runner up is Annie’s Smokey Maple flavor.  So good!

And there you have it. 

Now back to lunch.

To start I piled the BBQ ‘fu on a bed of quinoa.

Then I added raisins and tossed the whole thing so BBQ sauce coated each and every bite.  

This took me nearly 30 minutes to eat.  It was delicious and I savored every morsel. 

Having the sweetness of the raisins to bring out the sweet tones in the BBQ sauce was perfect.   

Worth repeating. 

After lunch I went for a 30 minute run on the beach.  The weather was gorgeous and I could have kept going forever just to stay in the sun.

Throughout the afternoon and early evening I snacked on my newest obsession, candied ginger.

For dinner Kyle and I had a date night planned. 

Dinner and a movie – such a classic combo can’t be beat. 

Interim Cafe is a hole-in-the-wall kind of place on Wilshire & 5th. 

Nearly half the menu is vegan and there are tons of gluten free and dairy free eats as well.  However, the rest of the menu is just your typical cafe fare – salads, sammies, soups, and the likes. 

Did I mention they have quite the baked goods selection?

The ambiance has a funky kind of feel, with a mix of retro rocker (check out that shiny red bikelite espresso machine), hippie zen (there was a mural of a black Buddha meditating with vegan fro-yo in his hand), and a bizarre Los Angeles chicness to boot.  And yet, all the while there was Spanish music playing in the background, competing with Anderson Cooper 360 on the tv.  Oh, and did I mention how diverse the menu is? 

It took us both a really long time to decide what to get because there were soooo many options.  I wanted about 20 different items on the menu and Kyle wanted a different 20. 

He ended up ordering the chicken burger with gruyere cheese and a fried egg.

He literally couldn’t stop raving about it.  It was gone in about 30 seconds too. 

I finally decided to go with the most famous of all the vegan options (I figure there’s a reason places are known for certain dishes). 

This was the vegan Seitan Bombay Bowl, a savory Indian stew of seitan, mushrooms, peas, carrots, spinach, squash and a bazillion tasty spices.  The dish is typically served over your choice of vegan whippers or organic brown basmati rice – but I couldn’t decide between the two and requested both.  Yes, BOTH.  What are vegan whippers you ask?  They are a vegan version of cheesy mashed potatoes (with no dairy obviously). 

Can you taste the flavors through the computer screen?  Because this was maybe one of the most complex dishes I’ve ever had, with taste layered on taste layered on more taste. 

The seitan stew came with whole wheat chapati on the side, which was new to me.  It was like a perfectly crisped wheat tortilla with a much heartier grainy texture.  The inside was warm and the outside was flaky with golden browned char from the oven. 

I inhaled it all folded up – sometimes dipping it in the stew to soak up the juice, but mostly I just ate it plain like a quesadilla.  The inside had some melty non-dairy butter substitute in it, so it was delicious all on it’s own. 

Given the generous portion with rice and mashed potatoes and whole wheat chapati, I never thought I’d finish it all. 

Of course that was not the case. 

The mashed potatoes and rice in the stew may seem odd, and I admit I was hesitant to give it a go, but I promise it was delicious.  In fact, the entire dish was such a smorgasbord of ingredients, I was a bit nervous about how my stomach would react.  I should have trusted the vegan-ness though, because I left feeling happily full and totally content.  Never mind how good the food tasted, for a small cafe, I was beyond impressed with the extensive menu options and the big portions.  Hole-in-the-wall places can be hit or miss and this was a HIT.

Kyle even said his meal was better than RFD.  What!?!  Better than Real Food Daily?  That’s a bold statement Kyle. 

It probably has to do with this.  🙂

Seriously.

After dinner we made our way to the Promenade to (finally) see The Social Network.  Two thumbs up. 

I love how Santa Monica is attempting to make us feel like it’s the holiday season with the trees wrapped in Christmas lights.  But I was in flip flops and a tank top.  Seasons be damned, this is the kind of November I can get on board with.  Clearly I don’t miss the East Coast weather, huh?

I had tea and way more candied ginger when we got back home 🙂

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Santa Barbara

After spending time relaxing in Monterey, we packed back up and headed down south…off to Santa Barbara!

I was driving so my personal hand model Kyle snapped this picture for me.

I thought we could forge ahead without any detours, but we hit some serious traffic so a stop in San Luis Obispo for lunch was very necessary.  As good as it is, Strawberry Serenity Kombucha does not a meal make.

What is Mondeo?  I’m still not quite sure…

As far as I could tell the restaurant had meal concepts (for lack of a better word) that could be made into either salads or wraps.  While none of the options were vegan, any of the meats could be substituted with sautéed tofu. 

I went with the Southwestern Ranch, with a few changes.

On a bed of romaine, there were black beans, grilled corn, tortilla chip confetti strips, and a scoop of guacamole…plus a few slabs of tofu and a side of balsamic vinaigrette dressing.  Not sure the dressing went with the southwestern theme, but I certainly wasn’t down with the ranch dressing! 

After refueling, we were back on the road…

We arrived in SB early in the evening – just in time to hit up my sister’s grad parties (that sounds way more creeper than it was).  Since the hosts were  parents not broke-ass college kids, there was a significant amount of quality booze.  I was wined and dined without any photo evidence 😦

On Saturday, my baby sis graduated, and the whole family gathered to celebrate her success. 

And very quickly after, we made sure we found the nearest bar to watch as much of the US vs. England game.  Peabody’s had a bar and it was within walking distance of our lunch reservation, so it ended up being the perfect location.

I ordered a mimosa (and then another), since I’m a born again lush (and loving every minute of it).

Afterwards we all continued our partying ways over lunch at Cava, a Latin influenced restaurant in Montecito (with Spanish, Mexican, and South American flavors).

As you can see, we were rolling pretty deep. 

We got pitchers of margarita and sangria for the table.  Don’t mind if I do.

Chips and guac

Tortilla espanola (I miss you Barcelona!)

For those unfamiliar with the gloriousness that Spain has to offer, get yourself a este pais inmediatamente!  I gladly abandoned my eggless-eating-ways for a slice of tortilla espanola.  It’s kinda like a quiche (for lack of a better description) made with potato and egg (but way better).  I don’t my GI tract doesn’t really hate on eggs, so I have no prob being veganish every once in a while, as opposed to strictly and completely animal free.

My nephew agrees…

First of all, how adorable is he?!?  And secondly, how insane is it that he is already 14 months old and this is only the FIRST time I am meeting him?  Damn it’s good to be back in Cali.  He is following suit in his Auntie E’s footsteps – check out that plate of hippie eats!

Minus the ranch dressing, the kid has good taste!  Chickpeas, cukes, kidney beans, and peas, what’s not to like?!?  And he’s frickin’ adorable too.  Clearly he needs to become a regular on HHH (and he will if I have any say in the matter).

As for my lunch…

Salad beast much? 

The online menu (which I scoped out beforehand like a true foodie does) was different than the one they had.  No matter, I found a salad perfectly fit for my drunk face – the grilled vegetables in a tostada bowl.

 

I requested that they hold the queso por favor, but the dairy-free request was only half carried out since there was an unknown creamy substance (ew) drizzled atop my cheese-less salad.  Crafty girl that I am, I managed to dodge the suspect white sauce.  Also, you can’t see in the photos, but there was a warm corn tortilla and refried beans buried underneath all the veggies…tres yum.

The rest of the day was spent by the pool and regaining my sobriety.  Rough life.

For dinner we went to an Indian restaurant called Flavor of India.

Flavor of India has been voted best Indian restaurant in Santa Barbara for the last 13 years…and has been recognized time and time again for their outstanding cuisine.  The walls were covered with awards.  Can’t argue with those stats.

We started with a double order of vegetable samosas and two different types of naan (one plain, and one Peshwari). 

The Peshwari naan was stuffed with raisins and nuts and baked in the tandoori oven…it basically tasted like a PB&J naan (read: it was heavenly).

I really like naan, but I managed to practice a little self control and only had one piece of each because I was holding out for the main courses. 

Our entrees included:

Chana masala

Aloo Gobhi

Tandoori Chicken (not for moi)

Chicken Saag (also not for moi)

Garlic naan

And rice rice baby (this platter times 3)

This was my first helping…and let me just say, OMG, this was officially THE best chana masala I have ever tasted. 

I polished off the rest of it on my second plate.  The aloo gobhi was also delightful, and if I hadn’t been stuffed to the bone already, I would have finished that dish as well.  So good. 

Talk about a jam packed weekend.  To be continued…

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Pradeep’s on Montana

There are several areas on the Westside that I adore, one of which is Montana Ave.  Since our friends live nearby, they took us to Pradeep’s.

I love Indian food!  (Side note: I just discovered that this place has nutritional information available online if you’re into that…for some reason that seems a bit bizarre for an Indian restaurant in my opinion…not sure why, but whatever).

We started with the “famous samosas” which were filled with vegetables, mint and tamarind chutney, and then fried to crispy perfection. 

Yum.  Not heavy or greasy at all.  Simply delicious.

When dinner was ready, they brought out rice and salad to accompany the dishes we ordered…as well as our (double order of) naan. 

My dining companion was willing to do veg, so we got two dishes to share, while the boys got their meat on. 

First up was Aloo Mattar (on the left), which is potato and green peas cooked with onion, tomatoes, ginger, garlic and curry spices in case you’ve got a V-card in the Indian food department.  We also got Saag Tofu (on the right), which is slowly cooked spinach with aromatic curry spices and fresh herbs. 

Both dishes were fantastic – flavorful and complex – and I don’t think I could pick a favorite.  The only thing I would change was the level of spice.  In terms of tongue searing/eye watering/pore sweating, we ordered fairly benign dishes…and usually I like my food with a little more heat.  Next time…

The boys got Chicken Masala Curry (on the left), and Lamb Saag (on the right).

They were equally satisfied.

This was my first plate :)  Man can’t live on bread alone?  Hmmm…that’s debatable.  I could certainly live on naan alone. 

Anyways, after dinner Kyle and I went back to Westwood (we are staying with a friend) and took an evening stroll to Le ‘Bucks for a night cap. 

PS  Thanks for all the kind comments about our car issues.  It has since been resolved and we are now the proud owners of this beaut.  His name is Rolf (yes, I’m the obnoxious type that names my property).

PPS  We leave for Cabo today, so next time we “chat” I will be in Mexico.  Adios!

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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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Zucchini pasta weekend

If I had to design a perfect birthday weekend, I definitely wouldn’t include two days of work.  Unfortunately, my boss didn’t agree. 

I guess I can’t really complain about it though, since I just got back from a week vacay in CA.  I was totally prepared with a buncha pre-packed food.

Fruit, of the dried persuasion, included mango and pear slices, as well as a strawberry chewy-thingy (Nike race freebie), while fresh fruit was limited to a smallish apple.  I also bar-ed it up with the Blueberry Crisp flavored Clif, and a Cashew Cookie Larabar.  Other “side dishes” included Newman’s Own protein pretzels and ray-rees, but it was this simple and yet delish salad, that was the lunch time star.

Spinach (and I mean a LOT of spinach), Tokyo seaweed salad, arame, and raisins filled this tuperware and my tummy right up. 

The day was actually surprisingly relaxed.  Weekends can be that way…until the cold weather hits.  Then we get all the homeless crazies looking for shelter and a meal their methadone. 

I knew EXACTLY what I was going to make for dinner when I got home.

Spiralized zucchini!

How beautiful is this bowl…and how interesting disturbing is this leftover piece.

 

I still ate it though :)  And to top the “pasta”, I heated up some vegan meatless meatballs and organic tomato puree.

 

(Left photo) + (right photo) = (below photo) aka heaven

Yes, there was nooch involved.  AH-MAZE-ING.

I made some fake ice cream for dessert using frozen nanners, chocolate AND vanilla protein powder, Xagave nectar, water and ice.

Yeah boi.  If you enter my giveaway, you can try it, too. 

Sunday brought more of the same.  Work.  Packed food.  Patients. 

I used this Baked Tofu salad to create a lunch salad in 5 seconds (just add spinach).  To be honest, I was a bit nervous about how good it would be, because it had some kinda random ingredients (parsley, seaweed AND hot peppers together?).  BUT.  I’m happy to report…

It was really good!  I’m glad I got to try this product for free because I have seen it before at my local health foods store, but never given it a chance because of the (seemingly) odd flavor combinations.  But now that I know it’s a winner, I will definitely buy it again.

The rest of my lunch included bars (honey graham Z bar, apple pie Larabar and a mini s’mores Luna bar), fruit (apple, dried papaya, dried pears, and dried mango), and a pretzel/raisin mix.

The entire subway ride home I contemplated what to make for dinner.  I was so sad because I knew I wanted spiralized pasta, but had no zucchini at home (tear).  Taking an extra 10 minutes to grocery shop on the way home was not an option – I was too tired, lazy and just plain hangry – so I figured I’d just wing it.  As I walked in the door, I was greeted by my K-love and two beautiful zucchini :)  He knows me so well.

This picture just makes me giggle.  I swear I’m not 5 years old! 

To top the raw zucch noodles, I made a “meat”y sauce with LightLife’s Smart Ground veggie crumbles, chickpeas, and Chobani plain greek yog.

Ignore the nasty color/appearance of the sauce (it’s never a good sign when I can draw comparisons between my dinner and something I’ve seen come out of a patient earlier that day).

It was good, but not great.  At first I was going for a meat sauce, but then, when I discovered we were out of BOTH marinara sauce AND tomato puree, I switched to a faux cheese sauce (using greek yogurt).  Unfortunately, the sauce lacked in the flavor development, so next time I would pump up the seasonings (I’m thinking parsley, onion, oregano, basil, etc.). 

About half way through my own meal, I was tempted with Kyle’s neighboring dish…365 tandoori naan and hummus – ummm, yes please!

Never mind the completely random (and admittedly contrasting) flavor profiles of eating Italian and Indian meals simultaneously.  He was nice enough to share, so I was happy to indulge in the cross-culture yum yums.

He even remembered to get some fruit for dessert!  Since we split it, I needed a little something extra to fill up my tummy (hence the additional apple with cinn sprinkled on top).

Don’t forget to enter my giveaway!

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Oot and aboot

No need to send out the search dogs, I’m alive and well.  In the last few days I’ve been hanging out with with my sis and working.  I worked the past two days, and Laura left to return to CA today (tear). 

In the interest of just getting up to date, I’ll limit Tues through Thurs to the very upmost blog-worthy parts.  Not that everything I write isn’t thrilling…

Me + Laura + WF lunch + central park = happy day

The sun was BLAZING, so the photos were all soopah bright.  In case your vampire eyes can’t cope, box #1 contained: kale, sprouts, artichoke hearts, a buncha PITA wedges, and a fatty dollop of hummus.

In the SECOND box ‘o goodies: chimichurri seitan skewers

Ummmm…LOVES IT!!  I saw these babies in the displayed/cased section and knew I HAD to have them.  The WF employee kept choosing the wussy skewers and I was like “yo homes, gimme that fatties!” 

Now.  The REAL pregunta: Does anyone know what chimichurri actually is??

I had no idea when I bought it, but it was tasty.  I rubbed the extra sauce all over my kale salad, it was ALMOST as good a topping as hummus!  Anyways, thanks to the Google gods, I now know that chimichurri is in fact made from finely chopped parsley, minced garlic, vegetable or olive oil, white or red vinegar, and red pepper flakes.  Additional flavorings such as paprika, oregano, cumin, thyme, cilantro, lemon, and bay leaf can also be added in case you wanna make some (and then send it my way).

For dinner?  MAOZ!!!  (I’m lucky enough to have a foodie sister who adores Mediterranean cuisine as much as I…well, ALMOST as much as I – let’s not get carried away now).

When you order the salad box, you get 5 falafel balls and all the toppings you can pack into your bowl in a single pass through…talk about a challenge!!

BRANG IT.

There were so many layers up in this salad, I couldn’t even BEGIN to list them all, but underneath all the CHICKPEAS, tabouli, tomato/cucumber salad, carrot salad, roasted broccoli/cauliflower, beets, and falafel was a bed of lettuce.

The lettuce was weak sauce in comparison to the several marinated salads that I heaped on top. 

Oooo…saucyyyy 🙂

We saw Julie & Julia, too.  I liked it (even though I had heard several negative reviews of Julie’s whiny, emotional, Debbie Downer role in the film).  Meryl Streep and Amy Adams are QUITE the winning combo.

Recognizable anywhere.  Work lunch.  L to R: Apple, Sabra mini-tub of hummus (free from Sabra Sunday), Pop Chips, salad, dried fruit/nut mix, PB cookie Luna bar, Cookies ‘N Cream Clif Builder bar, and dried papaya spears.

How many times have I re-used these baggies?  I think I’m in the 50’s with the nutty one…the papaya spears is brand spankin new since the old one practically had Kombucha sh!t growing in it.  Not cool man.

I’ll admit, this had super creepy ingredients.  And yet, I was trapped downstairs in the dungeon ICU all day, so it kinda hit the spot.  0% of it resembled “cookies ‘n cream,” which in NO way was the worst part about the bar (the odd Charleston-Chew-meets-cookie-dough-texture wins that award).  I feel like the bar couldn’t make up it’s mind on what it was trying to do…come on Clif…puh-leeze give me something I can scarf down in guilt-less delight.

It may seem boring because it’s repetitive, but why mess with perfection?

I had a CRAPPY shift (to put it nicely), and as soon as I got off I called Laura and announced that the ONLY solution was a WF dinner.  So we met at the new UWS location and went to town at the hot bar.

Remember the QUINOA veggie patty that I found at the SoHo Whole Foods last week?  Found it again!

I got a basic (read: uninspired) salad and pita wedges to accompany the quinoa cake.  The salad wasn’t too entertaining, so I turned to my favorite life meal saver – hummus.  (DUH).

After the pitas were gone, I realized I still wanted more carbs.  And not just ANY carbs.  I wanted big, fat, thick, doughy, seedy, delicious carbs.

Enter Dave’s Killer Bread.  I still have a few regular slices left, but I skipped ahead to the heel piece because it was just too damn good looking!!!  I mean have you ever seen anything so gorgeous?

Work day lunch.  Again.

Bars, hummus, dried/fresh fruit, nuts, & salad.

World of Grains Garlic Herb flavored crackers review: not salty enough, but great as a salad topping (or hummus dipper).  PLUS for being garlicy, I don’t think my patients were too offended by my breath.  Then again, that may be a rather brilliant way to reduce call bell use. I keed, I keed.

Tropical Fruit Tart Larabar review: meh.  I’ve had better.  No harm, no foul.

The rest of the packed up food posse filled my tummy and before I knew it I was off work and headed home.

Surprise flowers from my boo.  Yea  🙂

Laziness leads to the freezer…which meant bombay curry veggie burgers.  I had heard good things about Dr. Praeger’s, but I was NOT a fan of these.

Here’s why:

I heated two patties which (upon heating) just about disintegrated before my very eyes.  WTF!?!

One patty went into a wrap, and the second patty was consumed separately on the side.  Neither way was that great.  I won’t be buying these again, but I do still have two more left in the freezer. 

They had the consistency of baby food, and didn’t hold together AT ALL.  They were SO mushy, I don’t think they even deserved to be in the burger category. 

Clearly I needed dessert course 2.

Can you believe this is only HALF of a Whole Foods granola fruit & nut bar?  I really am in love with these.  I cut it in half, fully planning on eating a sensible and controlled portion.  But it was just TOO good…I ended up slicing up the second half and downing it like a starvin’ marvin. 

Worth it.  DEFINITELY worth it.

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Tandoori Friday & some firsts

Shocker of all shockers…I actually had work today, I know, I know, you all forgot I even HAD a job because I’ve had so many consecutive days off…

Naturally I packed all my goodies the night before in my re-re-recycled containers (once a hippie, always a hippie).

But wait, let’s rewind to the day before (aka prepping).

Since we have been in our brand new apartment with it’s brand new kitchen appliances for over a week, I felt the time had come to pop our oven’s cherry.  Long overdue.

Plus, I was feeling creative…and we all know what that leads to…

experimentation!

The Tandoori mix was the star of the show (the rest of the ingredients were just there as supporting cast members).  Still, I was excited because I have been craving Indian food forEVER!!

Even MORE exciting (as if that were possible) this was my first time cooking with kale.  Now, let me just say, I’ve been eyeing this weird, overly crisp lettuce stuff for some time – and the rest of you bloggies out there do some pretty badass stuff with it, so to say I was nervous would be a complete and utter understatement. 

Other veggies included in this trial meal were carrots, shrooms, zucchs, squash, brocc, cauliflower, snow peas, bell pepps, tomatoes, and only god knows what else.

My basic plan of attack was throw everything in a pot.  Yeah, super complex, I know. 

As it began to cook, the most amazing aroma began to fill the apartment…OMG, I could hardly hold back my excitement. 

Once the veggies were limp, I added in some cubed TOFU. 

After I let in slow cook for a while, I turned the stove off and let it cool, then ladled it into the tupperware I brought to work for today’s lunch.

Doesn’t it look dreamy?  Well, it WAS!!!

What a success!  The kale was great – it was the perfect consistency, not to crisp, but not too limp.  And the Tandoori flavor was spicy with a little kick, but not too much.  The veggies were a bit mushy, but at least it absorbed all the flavor nicely, as did the tofu.  Extra firm tofu is the way to go. 

I have a few more servings still, too  :)  My only regret was that I didn’t have some rice or bread (or naan) to soak up the extra juice.  I think I’ll make some quinoa next time. 

The rest of the days eats were the same old, same old: Odwalla bar, apple, orange, dried fruit mix (carob raisins, dates, dried pineapple), and lots and lots of coffee. 

Even though my lunch technically satisfied the salad challenge requirements, I decided to go old school (raw lettuce) with my dinner salad.  But I still wanted to be creative with the toppings…

…which is where yesterday’s oven de-virgin-izing came in use.  Beloved BN squash, sliced and salted and left to do it’s thing.  Most of the squash went straight from the pan to my mouth, but the few slices that managed to survive went into the salad…along with chickpeas, cherry tomatoes, sprouts, HALF an avocado, chopped carrots and celery, all on a bed of spinach.

WOW.  The combo of avocado and chickpeas will never get old.  It’s just that good.

A little tossety toss and the above turned into the below.

Holy YUM!

Dessert time.

Like my cute new bowl?  The berries tasted even better in it. 

I’m pretty proud of myself for conquering all my firsts today.  The oven, the kale, the Indian food…and the new bowl, too.

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