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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Fair weather fan

Saturday started with the ordinary: coffee, blog, tv, yadda yadda.

Eventually I made a brunch platter (of the not so ordinary nature).

Maybe carrots and apples seem weird for breakfast the first meal of the day, but it’s what I was craving.  And if you think I had these without hummus, then you clearly don’t know me at all.

I finished off the rest of the (just opened) tub with a 7 grain roll, followed by grapes.  Nothing like 8 servings of chickpea heaven to get the day started right.

After a hearty mug of tea I headed to midtown to pick up my race day packet.  For all those who were wondering, yes, I was entered in the More/Fitness half marathon.  But I’ll get to that non-event later…

Since I walked 40 blocks to get there, and another 40 blocks to get back home, I didn’t feel that a gym sesh was truly necessary…it was about a 5 mile walk so I think that’s a workout in and of itself.

 

Back at the apartment, I made a big a$$ green monster…which was accompanied by a bowl of almond joy (aka almonds and carob chips).

At this point Kyle and I settled into the couch with HBO on Demand…which turned into a very bizarre viewing afternoon viewing of Basic Instinct.  Talk about an odd movie.  Neither of us had seen it, and, well, yeah.  Uh.  Interesting.  Not exactly your typical mindless weekend flick. 

I don’t like testing new things on my stomach the dinner before races, so I went with the tried and true, savory oats.

If I recall, it had 2 cups of dry oats, edamame, red bell peppers, hummus, and more nutritional yeast than most people use in their lifetime.

 

It was a big one.  And I polished off the entire thing (duh).

For dessert, I had popcorn in the name of carbo-loading (the rest of the year, I just call it normal eating, but the day before races you can eat anything and suddenly there’s a specific reason).  This isn’t the reason I run, but it’s a nice perk 😉

Before bed, I laid out all my clothes for the next day…

Well. 

Sunday didn’t go quite as planned.  In fact, it didn’t go AT ALL as planned.

Issue #1 was the weather.  Issues #2 – 7 were the times I woke up in the middle of the night. 

It doesn’t take a brain surgeon to put two and two together.  I skipped the race.  I was up at 6 am anyways though, listening to the pitter patter and wondering if maybe just maybe the rain would come to an end in time for the 8 am start.  Not so much.  Instead, I seized the opportunity that my early wake up call allowed and headed to the gym to log some productive miles on the treadmill.  Not quite the same, but what can I say, I’m a fair weather runner.  I’m clearly meant to be in California.  If this isn’t a sign, then I don’t know what is.  April showers bring May flowers flights home.  That’s what I thought…

Suck it Mr. Weatherman.  After one(ish) cup of java, I hit up the gym…I really wasn’t excited about it, but guess what, I still pushed myself through an entire 13.2 miles (aka a half marathon).  In case you were previously unaware about just how stubborn I am, now you know.  Damn it, I was determined to complete a half marathon rain or shine, even if it meant crawling the last few miles on the treadmill.  So in a way, I DID finish a half marathon (it just wasn’t THE half marathon that I entered – and paid for).

The funny thing about Sunday was that while I skipped the NYRR race, I did enter (and participate in) another race…The Amazing New York Race that is…

It is like a scavenger hunt all over Manhattan, which was sooooo fun.  Here are a few highlights:

Playing on the FAO Schwarz piano.

The Daily News Building (aka Daily Planet headquarters from Superman).

Hanging out with Morgan Freeman.

Treats at Economy Candy.

I had packed goodies (an apple and a Super Protein Odwalla bar) for along the way because we were so hard core we didn’t even stop for Starbucks (now THAT is serious business).  We went everywhere from the South Street Seaport to the Upper East Side between 2 pm and 6 pm and out of 31 teams we came in 4th!!! 

Celebratory beers at Dave & Buster’s 🙂

By 7 pm I was a bit buzzed and ready for dinner, so Kyle and I hit up WF on the way home.

Guess who finally got her hands on some seitan chimichurri!!!  I guess all you have to do is blog about something being MIA and (reverse) Murphy’s Law brings it back!

I bought a pound of it thinking I would save the leftovers for lunch the next day…but we all know how this story ends (of COURSE I finished the whole thing).

My salad bar creation had a little bit of everything: spinach, carrots, bell peppers, green beans, peas, and an avocado massaged kale salad.  YUM!

I had a dessert plate of cinnamon-y apple slices and then called it a night.  What a weekend, right?  I feel like I ran 4 marathons – I went to bed soooo exhausted.

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Work lunches and champagne

Sorry to go AWOL on you all this weekend…I was livin’ it up in the hospital (or a less fun sounding version of that story).  Either way, I was packing lunches, eating on the fly, and here’s the quick and dirty…

Saturday

Salad, fruit, veg, bacteria coated baggy, super protein Odwalla bar. 

First at bat, a salad with spinach, red bell pepps, edamame, raw cauliflower, and dried cranz (with a heavy handed pour of Bragg’s liquid aminos on top).

On deck, a bag of carrots, and a bag of pretzels (and by the way, I never mention this but I buy 365 spelt pretz), pepitas, sunflower seeds, carob chips, more carob chips, and raisins.

Delicious AND nutritious.

Sunday

More bars (super protein Odwalla, apple cinnamon Luna sunrise), more apples, Chai tea, carrots, and two different tupperwares of yum.

On zee left, spinach, carrots, edamame, dried cranz.

On zee right, hash browns Idaho potatoes (steamed with salt, pepper, and paprika), red bell pepps, and corn.

After I packed this, I thought I might want a little somethin’ somethin’ more (since Saturday had me turning to $$$ Kombucha and copious amounts of coffee to completely satisfy me)…so at the last minute I threw in another pretz/carob/nut/seed mix.

More to come tomorrow…but since I’ve been teasing you for a few days now…

I figure…

Maybe an explanation is in order…

Maybe in the next post.  ;)  Such a tease!

In the mean time, a few reminders:

• Today is the LAST day to get a 15% discount at my OpenSky shop on the Measure-Up bowls using the code HUNGRY15 at checkout.
• Tomorrow I will announce the winner of my Nature Made giveaway, so if you missed it, enter now (or forever hold your peace).

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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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Marching on…

I would just like to say how awesome it is entering the subway at 5:45 am in darkness and reemerging to a glorious sunrise.  Light in the morning!  Can I get a hell yeah?

Anyways, here are my eats, pre-packed and ready for the trek to the hospital…

Apples, salad, carrots, hummus, and bars (PB&J Dipped MoJo bar, Super Protein Odwalla bar, and the latest PranaBar flavor to rock my world). 

In zee salad: spinach, steamed brocc, zucch, sesame/seaweed salad, and dried cranz.

My feelings about the Cranberry Goji Supercharger PranaBar cannot be masked.  Effing fantastico.  Every bar is better than the last.  This company has me hooked.  No others can compare.  My stomach is so happy with the wholesome un-processed ingreds, and it keeps my app at bay for way longer than any other bar.  Truly.

Luff.  Let’s talk about all the yummy stats shall we?  Organic, soy free, no sugar added, gluten free, vegan…I could go on and on…and MIGHTY tasty to boot.  Apparently my thoughts on Goji berries were in accordance with the rest of the blogging community…well, kids, try this bar, stat, because it’s the best use of Goji I have found thus far. 

After work I schlepped my way back uptown on the most obnoxiously packed subway ride.  It was kinda steamy, but NOT in a good way.

Hello lover. 

What goes best with carbs?  More carbs.  Duh.  Naturally, I turned to hummus to supplement my meal.  Some Italians like garlic bread with their pasta.  Well, (a) I’m not Italian AND (b) I detest garlic, so hummus-y bread is my version of the side dish.  Unlike the other day, today I managed to practice some self restraint and stop after one serving (like a normal human would). 

But don’t start giving me props for operation moderation just yet…

I rounded out my meal by eating half my weight in carob covered raisins…

And then so many pistachios that I completely fried my taste buds.  Apparently too much salt can be a bad thing?  Who knew?!?  I hope I can taste things again tomorrow. 

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The Sky’s the Limit

I have big news! 

I know I was a bit of a tease with my previous posts (alluding to a surprise and then holding out on you is not my style, so I apologize), but you don’t have to wait a second longer for the big reveal…DRUMROLL PLEASE…

I am now a shopkeeper with OpenSky, a site devoted to helping passionate people share their favorite products with the rest of the internet using world. 

I have been working a long time on getting my shop perfect for it’s grand opening, and although I still have lots of work to do, I am really excited to do a mini-debut now. 

It has several items that I use on a daily basis, and I’m sure you will recognize most (if not all) of them.  As you can see, I also now have a new tab at the top of my blog which will link you to my shop…so feel free to browse.  I will be highlighting the items here so you will know exactly what they are.  Most importantly, I want to emphasize that my blog is NOT a business venture for me, and I can give you my 100% promise that I will not be adding a single item that I don’t love and feel is fabulous.  Hungry Hungry Hippie is a hobby for me, and nothing more…so, dear readers, don’t think I’m going corporate or changing my blog in any way. 

This is only a tool to help you (since I often get questions about how I make something or what I use for another thing) and now I can show you exactly where you can get them!

Ok, enough on that…time for the food.

After a nice long weekend+ getaway, I was less than thrilled to be heading back to reality.  Starting a three day stretch on a hump-day wasn’t the most enticing schedule, but that’s why they call it work, right?  Right.  Naturally, I brought all the finest goodies to help get me through it.  If only food had that power…

This beastly tupperware had fists ‘o spinach, steamed brocc, carrots, chickpeas, and pepitas.  Simple and divine. 

This more modest salad had frozen corn, frozen edamame and dried cranz (the frozen eats thaw by my lunch time, so it’s not like I’m eating veggie popsicles for lunch).

This lover was the star of the day.  The only thing not vegan about Boomi bars is the honey, which is a pass in my book.  Now.  As we all know, I don’t like nuts, but, because I know how good they are for me, I am constantly working on it.  Cashew Almond sounds pretty nutty PLUS there were visible whole nuts.  Those are two things that generally deter me from giving such flavors a shot, but with the past PranaBar success, I was feeling ballsy, so I bit the bullet nut-packed bar and…turns out…it was DREAMY.  It reminded me of peanut brittle, but in a more chewy (bar) form.  Ok, maybe that’s not the best comparison.  It was lightly sweetened, but not sickeningly sweet (like I’d imagine brittle to be), and it wasn’t hard like brittle.  However, the flavor was a combo of nutty with crispy rice.  Like all it’s sibling bars, it held me over quite well.

Dinner was ready when I got home thanks to my food prepping.  Seitan with BBQ sauce, raisins, and pepitas.

On the side I had a few sando thins with a greek yog/nooch mixture.

It was like cheesy sauce on toasted bread.  🙂

It looks weird, but don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it.

 

Yummy dessert-ables!!  Yogi-pretz, raisins, pepitas, and a meg-zoomed apple. 

Back to saving lives manana, so it’s time to get some shut-eye!!

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PranaBars taste good

PranaBar hooked it up!!

I was soooo excited to try these bars.  My work eats were long overdue for a newbie 🙂

Pairs of everything (salad, apples, bars).

Salad #1 (spinach, asparagus, green beans, carrots, adzuki beans)

Salad #2 (quinoa, peas, corn, dried cranz)

Bar#1 (Coconut Acai PranaBar)

Bar #2 (Mocha-walla Odwalla bar)

Apple #1 (red gala)

Apple #2 (yellow wahsington)

I think it’s fairly obvious which part of my lunch I was most excited to try…

(Aside from Larabars) I have never found a bar with such great stats.  Seriously, this company has a good thing going on.  PranaBars are organic, unprocessed, soy free, gluten free, dairy free, vegan, and 75% raw.  But beyond the stellar ingredients, they are TASTY buggers. 

They have a chewy consistency without being sticky (as in messy fingers), and they held me over a loooong time.  I had one at 9 am and my stomach was completely satisfied until my lunch break at 1:30 pm.  As much as I hate to throw around the favorite word, this bar really ranks high (top 3, easily).  More proof that it’s worth trying?  As a person who doesn’t exactly love nuts, this bar contains both almond butter and organic almonds, and I was loving every bite of it.  I am soooo thankful to Jessica from Divine Foods for sending me these bars to try…I will definitely be sharing my reviews with all the rest of the flavors soon. 

After work I subway surfed my way home (a phrase I may or may not have just invented).  What I mean is, the subway car was so crowded that I didn’t have access to a pole, forcing me to use my (nonexistent) surfing skillz and attempt to stay centered without toppling over as we jerked, twisted, and turned our way uptown.  As a germ-a-phobe, I’m actually quite good at subway surfing (I do it all summer since the warmer weather doesn’t exactly call for gloves).  Anyone else as skeeved out as I am to touch things in public places? 

Dinner was tossed together in 5 seconds flat, thanks to my OCD food prepping. 

• romaine
• green bizzles
• adzuki beans
• chickpeas
• carrots
• Gardenburger black bean chipotle veg burger

Food Should Taste Good

Along with my salad, I sampled The Works! flavor of FoodShouldTasteGood chips, thanks to a coupon I received a decade and a half ago.  They were good with hummus, but I think there were too many flavors for my taste buds to process.  It was very overwhelming.  Kyle was also only so-so on them, I think this was because they had caraway seeds which too closely resemble dill (which he detests).  I’m excited to get the lime flavor next time though, because those are my favorite kinds of tortilla chips.

I finished the day off with Tazo chai tea and fruit. 

Since I had to work, it wasn’t a super amazing Valentine’s Day – but then I’m not real big on the holiday to begin with.  I could go on and ON about the insane patients I had, but you wouldn’t even believe it if I tried.  If I had to summarize my day in three words they would be: cocaine, explosive diarrhea, schizophrenic (and those were describing three DIFFERENT patients).  Happy V-Day?  Yes, indeed. 

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Red Flags

The storm warnings on every media outlet…

The closing of all NYC public schools…

Yes, there were several red flags that should have clued me into the fact that this Wednesday would be far worse than the average hump day.  But I’m never one to heed warning signs (that or I’m too dense optimistic to let them get to me…).

Exhibit A: Favorite stila eye shadow smashed to pieces

This photo was not taken at the time of the crime (4:45 am) but rather at 8 pm, after I returned home from an insane 14 hour work day.

So sad 😦  The ONLY reason I didn’t cry when this happened was because it was before 5 am and my brain couldn’t process how devastating it actually was at the time.  It didn’t hurt that it was too dark to see what had fallen, either.

Since I knew there was mayj blizzard action heading for the Big Apple, I packed lots of food…prepared for the worst (i.e. EVERY nurse calling in sick), but hoped for the best (i.e. a semi-normal patient load and subway commute) – I guess 1 out of 2 isn’t too bad though.  The subway commute is partially my own fault.  I mean, who leaves 10 minutes later than normal during the biggest snow storm of the season?  Again, red flags galore.

Above is my fave Larabar (I say that about every single flavor though) and a corn/edamame salad with Bragg’s up the ying yang…which leads to another tragic situation that I should have seen as a warning sign.

Empty!!  No, no, no.  This is all wrong.

Regardless of all the aforementioned issues, I made it to work on time (ok, I was still early), and before 8 inches of snow hit the pavement, too.

Work started off rocky.  I was pleased to find that only one other nurse called in sick, so I wasn’t too far behind in my work, but then a patient coded and the day really took a turn for the worse.  For the first time in my entire employment, I did not leave the hospital once during my entire shift.  Even on days I don’t get real lunch breaks, I ALWAYS make it a point to get outside at least once, even if it’s just to run across the street to Starbucks.  Today, not so much.

I took this from a patient’s window with my bberry.  It was completely white due to all the snow whirling around at crazy speeds (wind like whoa!).  The pic doesn’t do it justice.  It was way more gorgeous in real life.  I know it may seem contradictory, but I actually LOVE snow.  As much as I b!tch about the weather on the East Coast, I really like it when it snows.  Somehow it makes the brrrrr worth it.  And it’s pretty.

So yeah.  Negative on the lunch break.

Instead, I sat across from a lady in the hospital’s excuse for a lobby and watched her chomp her way to the bone marrow of 5 chicken thighs…it was horrible.  I nearly gagged a few times.

Fortunately, I had this foggy tupp full of yummy spinach, steamed asparagus, carrots, sweet taters, and raisins.  Fabulous!  Things were looking up again, and I headed back to work with a happy tummy, feeling totally recharged.

Things got hairy again around 4 pm when a crazy craaaaaaaaaaaazy patient was transferred to our unit.  He was CLEARLY still on drugs, and took over two hours in the bano to produce a “urine” specimen (I used quotations because I am 100% sure it was not his urine).  Five minutes after getting on the floor I found a urine sample in his pants pocket AND three loose unlabeled pills.  Who bring a urine sample INTO the hospital you ask?  People who are doped up and trying to get a negative tox screening (and thus be cleared for surgery).  The the pills mysteriously disappeared…and his story as to where they went was changing by the second.  Needless to say, he will NOT be going for surgery tomorrow morning.

So yeah.  My day was a doozy.  But then I got home to this:

Greens.  Balls.  Sweet tots.  BBQ.  Jealous?

Bow down.

I carbed up din-din with bread lathered in hummus and sprinkled with nooch.

Given the day I had, dessert was a given.

Currently I am decompressing with a fatty mug of Tazo chai tea and a crossword.

Look closely, because clearly the world is trying to tell me something…

Since my birthday is Oct. 23rd, I am going to take this to heart and be happy that I made it hope from work in one piece with all my patients alive.  Red flags be damned.  Ya dig?

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Atrophy

My goodness! 

I feel like I’m losing muscle and my body is turning into blah by the day…I don’t know what happened to my motivation, but somehow I have managed to avoid physical activity for nearly two weeks.  Unfortunately, I can feel it in my tone and general fitness.  Even MORE unfortunate is how little I seem to care.  Ok, that’s inaccurate, I definitely care.  I just am too tired and unmotivated on my days off to take action.  No worries, I have a plan. 

But first, my past few days of work eats.

Clif bar, Odwalla bar, apple, salad x 2

MUST.GO.GROCERY.SHOPPING.NOW.  How does the fridge get empty so quickly?!  Where does it all go? [insert obvious answer here]  Since I was operating with minimal options, I got a bit creative, and filled in the gaps in my lunch at a local health foods store on my lunch break.  (So add in a bag of Happy Herbert’s honey wheat pretzel sticks and hummus)

The veg ensemble had layers upon layers, including spinach, steamed kale, raw green bell peppers (my least fave bell pepper, but Kyle’s fave…sacrifices people, sacrifices), steamed carrots, shrooms, cherry toms, and dried cranz.

The other tupperware had edamame/corn with Bragg’s liquid aminos.  It’s climbing the charts into the favorites zone. 

Work was so nice.  I only had two patients, and even though one of them made 4 visits to the bedside commode before 10 am, I wasn’t too busy and the day was pretty relaxed. 

For my dinner appetizer, I munched my way through more of the honey wheat pretzels that I bought at lunch…

Then, inspired by Gigi, I decided some Health is Wealth meatless “chik’n” nuggets would be the perfect accompaniment to my already gourmet dinner. 

Everything is better when coated with hummus. 

Chocolate pudding (‘fu, cocoa powder, xanthan gum, agave nectar)

After packing up the next day’s work eats, I snuggled up to finish my latest book (Push by Sapphire) and hit the sack.

Two apples, a whisper of pretzels, chocolate hazelnut Larabar, PB&J Larabar, and two salads.

These salads are getting…interesting.  And by interesting, I mean desperate.

In the mix we’ve got spinach and romaine lettuce, cherry tomatoes, green bell peppers, cukes, and dried cranz.

Well, I was in such a choppy mood, I just kept right on going…and made a whole second salad!  I mean, why not?  I figured this way I wouldn’t have to think about dinner after getting home after work.

Which I did!  But I spruced it up with some hummus, BN squash, and BBQ sauce.

By the way, there was no BN squash to be found at the store last time I went grocery shopping, so (the above) was made from frozen cubed squash.  Wow.  Having previously only eaten fresh squash, let me just state for the record, there is NO comparison!  This went straight from frozen to mush, with no in between.  I guess this could be good for making soup or mashed UNpotatoes (or any time you need to puree the squash), but that’s about all.  Also they were way more yellow than I’m used to, which makes me think they weren’t at the height of their ripeness when they were frozen.  I’m brainstorming what to do with the rest of them…and I think I have a great recipe in mind.

I was in a fruity mood for dessert, so I decided on two apples and banana ice cream/smoothie-in-a-bowl (frozen banana, ice, coconut milk, xanthan gum, arrowroot, agave nectar).

Tomorrow I have a pretty hectic agenda, but I’m going to start brainstorming a game plan for February (think exercise schedule).  I need diversity and something I can stick to. 

Oh, and in case you were wondering whatever happened to the rest of my FAQs, I’ve been slowly but surely answering them, and adding them to my Q&A tab.  Feel free to check them out.

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Gardein eats

Packed eats…

 

You know the drill:  Strawberry Pomegranate Odwalla bar, Apricot Clif bar, Stretch Island Fruit Co. strawberry fruit leather, gala apple x2, the most massive salad I have ever made, random wheat roll (stolen from el hospital) and a steamed brocc/cauli side salad.

After I photographed the above pic, I decided to add some raisins to the salad. 

The ingredients read longer than Heidi’s latest plastic surgery bill:

• spinach
• steamed kale
• steamed coleslaw mix
• steamed broccoli
• steamed cauliflower
• steamed carrots
• steamed asparagus
• raw red bell peppers
• raisins

I was definitely feeling the less more is more approach.  Since I had leftover brocc and cauli that didn’t fit in that tupperware, I threw it into another container.  Both salads were hosed down with Bragg’s liquid aminos, too.

The fruit leather wasn’t anything special, but I had it leftover from some random race (love me some swag) and just found it as I was reorganizing our pantry coat closet that has groceries shoved in it’s nooks and crannies. 

[Insert 12 hours of work here]

When I got home I knew exactly what I wanted.

I saw this product on Ellen a few weeks ago, and since then I have been very intrigued by their products.  Gardein was kind enough to send me some coupons, so I chose the Tuscan Breasts to try out first.

The package comes with two breasts in a tomato and basil sauce.  Here’s the nutritional info (along with some super complicated instructions):

As you can see, they are pretty much ready to go. 

Since I was starving when I got home, I put mine on a plate covered with a glass top (call me crazy, call me paranoid, but I’m not so keen on microwaving things in plastic).  I also steamed some broccoli on the stove.

Odd packaging aside, the final product came out pretty fab.  The extra sauce was decent; so, naturally it made it’s way on top of my steamed broccoli.

Yum.  So here’s the deal:

PROS:  It was the easiest thing EVER to prepare and took all of 5 minutes from package to plate.  The flavor was good.  A bit salty, but overall, it was nice to be able to have a completely no-brainer-of-a-meal.  The ingredients are REALLY great…no shady crap, whatsoever.  In fact, not only do I recognize all components in the product, but I know exactly what each and every item on the label is.  That makes me happy. 

CONS:  The texture of both the “meat” and the sauce was a bit weird.  Actually, the non-meat’s consistency was the less bizarre part.  Despite how chicken-like it looks, it wasn’t tough like meat is.  It was chewy and try as I might to figure out something to compare it to, I’m drawing a total blank.  I guess it was sorta similar to Quorn’s meatless meatballs, but that’s only texture-wise.  For some reason, the sauce had a far more odd consistency.  I don’t understand how something as basic as sauce could be the black sheep, but it was way more gel-like than I expected.  Maybe I didn’t heat it up enough?  Or maybe I will try cooking it on the stove or in the oven next time.  I have a feeling that will change the texture for the better.

Would I buy it again:  It’s definitely a simple dish to whip up after a long day of work, but the price is a bit steep.  Still, I think I would buy them again to have on stand by because sometimes you do need a quick and easy mindless option.  Typically I’m not a huge fan of the processed vegan substitutes, since I prefer to feed my body whole foods, but I know not everyone (myself included) has the time to put together well thought out meals with fresh ingredients. 

I had FOUR of these.  FOUR.  Vermont’s organic soft wheat bread is so deliciously fluffy.  And the roasted red pepper hummus is just as pleasing to the taste buds.  Furreals, is there such a thing as serving size intolerance?  Because I think I have it. 

Dessert?  Apples, duh.

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