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The insanity that is week 8 of the quarter

I purchased the following on yesterday's Kroger excursion:

WOO! ALMOND BUTTER!! I justified my purchase of this pricy "little" guy with 1)it was on sale and 2)I didn't buy Ezekiel bread (again). I'm not financially stable enough to buy a $5 loaf of nutritional bliss, unfortunately, so I bought a $4 jar of nut butter instead. Makes sense, right? (Considering it was either Ezekiel bread and peanut butter/hummus or just almond butter, well, yes.)

Not pictured is a box of shredded wheat. I'm really into the giant shredded wheats that you only need like one of to feel satisfied. Breakfast the last few days has been a mango followed by one shredded wheat + Tbsp of nut butter (before was peanut, today was almond!!).

Last night I also set up a week of eats by roasting, boiling, and marinating:

original product

sliced, boiling to mild flavor

setting up the marinade

goin' into the fridge

I also bought tofu which I drained, cut into chunks, and marinated in a delicious mixture of miso/water + Bragg's.

Mmmmm cauliflower, eggplant, baby carrots, and sweet potato roastin' away. I splashed them with olive oil (I really need to get some high-heat oil like coconut one of these days)and dusted with salt and pepper before popping them in at 350 for about 40 minutes. I like 'em a little crunchy!

I'm juggling four projects, one for each of my classes, these last few weeks and it's been rough. Interviewing, article-writing, exam-taking, language-creating, data-set-making...but all I've wanted to do is watch Shutter Island!!! Luckily I got to see it last night and I must say, I was impressed. The cinematography, acting, and story line all kept my attention. I'm a bit of a horror movie snob and although Shutter Island was marketed as a psychological thriller, it matches classic-style horror. Go see it, if you can handle a little mental rough housing.

Last week

I have been reading your blogs religiously, as always, but have sparse time with which to post pictures of my recent eats. I hope you enjoy low-quality photos snapped mid-meal:

 

super filling breakfast of choice:

oats+water+cinnamon+ Justin's organic almond butter

 

ghetto asian night:

miso soup (Tofu Shirataki noodles, carrot, kale, leeks, okra, garlic, onion, miso, water) + sushi burrito (sauteed kale, garlic, onion, olive oil wrapped in a sheet of nori)

Vegan Dad's tarka dhal (plus mung sprouts because I had them and minus tomatoes because rarely buy them out-of-season)

tarka dhal plated (topped with green onions, mung sprouts, and unfortunately-not-fresh cilantro)

I made a big grocery trip yesterday for lots of produce. I started roasting veggies on the regular and I love, love them!! I ate an entire eggplant over the course of 24 hours, along with a head of cauliflower and a bag of baby carrots in 48. My room mates joke that I should give up vegetables for lent next year. I honestly don't know what I'd do.

Lent and an epiphany

This year for Lent - oh, wait, this is my first year ever observing Lent - My room mates and I decided to keep each other accountable in the way we speak about people. When we speak negatively about someone, we have to do ten push-ups.

So far I love this. Not only do I feel incentive to hold my tongue instead of saying something mean (which causes me to re-think what I was going to say and to give the person greater consideration), but I feel like less negative energy goes into the world on my behalf.

Matthew 12:34b-37 "For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. ³⁵The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. ³⁶But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. ³⁷For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." Shazam.

Today I finally went back to work!! Yay!! (I work at an after school program for disadvantaged elementary school kids in an Appalachian county.)I loved seeing my little love bugs.

Today I had an epiphany.....I want to be a teacher. I don't know how it will ever happen or when I'll go to school to do it legally, but I want to teach. I love the structure of the school day, knowing you're prepping these kids for success, and keeping them safe. Most of their home lives are terrible but for a couple of hours during the day I get to make them smile and feel loved. Funny, the one occupation I said I'd never dream of doing is the one that has my heart.

Journalism is great - it's exciting and makes my pulse quicken - but I've known for a while that I'll never work as a journalist. I'm far too laid back and empathetic to barrage a grieving family for quotes about their murdered loved one. I can't do that "shoe leather reporting", as my professors call it.

Anyway, as for food:

Breakfast: an orange + vanilla almond Luna bar (my new fav flavor!! tasted like Rice Crispy Treats....drool.) + coffee (a rare treat that seemed to rev my hunger like nuts)

Lunch: super hungry from the coffee, I first had a carrot, then some curry-cayenne chickpeas, then some cantaloupe, then a packet of pb. Plus a few glasses of water. Once that beast of hunger was tamed, I set to work transcribing an interview from last Friday and throwing together a study guide for my Communication Law exam on Monday.

I worked, then ate another Luna bar (caramel nut brownie) on the way to the gym.

I just started lifting so that I can build some muscle (side note: growing up involved in sports I had such great muscle mass. When I stopped eating a couple of years ago, it all disappeared FAST. Now I want it back!). I'm still easing into it. Today I did 4 sets of 10 leg presses with about 100lbs (don't laugh), inner thighs, outer thighs, and arms.

Unfortunately, I have a shin splint so I'm not running. Today was a little baby cardio workout. I miss my cardio fests :( Today I did 30 mins on an elliptical-ish machine that's legs-only with a cross ramp of 10 so that it worked my glutes and quads and so that my shin wasn't strained. Then I did 20 minutes of the strength setting on the reclining bike thing. (I'm embarassing myself here, aren't I? Not knowing the names of anything I use. Wimpy workouts. Oh well, I'm just glad I'm motivated.) I've kept my New Years goal to work out 3 times a week! :)

Dinner: Vegan Dad's Tarka Dal (or my college rendition of it)
Desert: a few spoonfuls of crunchy pb and a handful of raw pumpkin seeds

Tomorrow I hunt for chia seeds!! Wish me luck!

"Lookin, feelin like a million bucks"

(Written 6pm Feb 11th - waited to publish with pix!)

Just got home from the gym so my workout jams are stuck in my head. Hence the title.

I wanted to time myself running a mile and it wasn't pretty. Not only did I have the cardio overseer staring in my direction by the end, watching for me to pass out, but everyone who saw my scarlet face seemed to look at me as if I had seven eyes.

It took me about twelve minutes to run a mile. Ouch. I need to push myself more.

I stayed on the treadmill jogging and walking at an incline for the rest of 30 minutes, elipticalled for 20, and took my first ever step class. It was carazay! I was already sort of beat from my run and I don't think all of that up-down action is right for me. I still want to do a zumba class, but the gym only schedules them at weirdo times like 8am or 9pm. Alas, I had a good time today!

Now my knee is objecting to the run so I slapped an ice pack on it. I try to stay on the eliptical and bike so I don't strain my already objecting joints, but today I really wanted to see the progress I'd made over the past couple of months by timing my mile.

 

The view through my screen door - as close to the elements as I was willing to get. Note the KFC across the street...the neighbor that makes my house smell like vomit in the summer.

No work AGAIN because elementary schools are still closed. I'm annoyed at this point because I need money. At least I got paid today for the last two weeks so I can pay my bills and do a bit of grocery shopping.

 

We didn't get near as much snow as Columbus.

I'm looking forward to a Valentines weekend sans a valentine - I've conveniently never had a boyfriend over Valentines Day, anyway. I believe a dance party is in order at some point this weekend (complete with rap music and a strobe light. Jealous?) and my cousin Ashley is coming to visit on Sunday.

Home made sushi: a photo essay

Last Friday night I stayed in with some girls to make sushi and watch Say Anything (that John Cusak movie with the boom box):

Ingredients included carrots, shallots, avocado, spinach, sprouts, and miso brown rice

Kaiti, birthday girl, is the pro at slicing sushi rolls.

Notice the two legitimate pieces (Kaiti) followed by mush (me). That's why I just wrap things in strips of nori and shove them in my mouth 'Indian food' style when I'm eating by myself.

 

Ridiculously small cupcakes! (And a shot of my kitchen ....)

Kathleen shows off the Clementine v navel orange

The finished product! We didn't use all of the avocado in the sushi so we made some guacamole too. We didn't really watch the movie, it was pretty much background noise. Love these girls!!

Baking noms for squirrels

I'm not going to act like it's not routine for me to be at home on the computer at 11:30 on a Friday night in the winter! Don't get me wrong, I love to get all dressed up and go out, but I love a balance between that and staying in. When it's below 60 degrees outside I just seem to spend more time in than out on weekends.

Today was pretty vanilla. Class 9-10am, grocery store (see exciting food pix to follow!), interview, and helped my roommate move her furniture around. The interview went really well. I do love journalism, I'm just not sure what I want to do with it....or where I can get an internship for the summer.

Which reminds me, I don't think I've mentioned what I hope to do this summer. One of the professors in the j-school is starting a study abroad program to Uganda and this summer will be the maiden voyage. Those who go will receive class credit, internship credit, spend time doing pilates (I know, strange, but apparently he has an affinity for it) and learning the culture through visiting slums, playing musical instruments, and dancing. Basically this trip was designed for me. Now if only my checking account (from which I over drafted last week) agreed. Maybe that guy with the giant checks will appear at my doorstep with $6 grand tomorrow.

Anyway, I got some new things at the grocery store today. Here are a few:

 

Justin's Organic PB packets were at Kroger!! I got almond butter, honey pb, maple almond butter, and cinnamon pb

Cinnamon pb was my first victim, squeezed directly from packet to mouth like a child :) It was delicious. I think I'm looking forward to the maple almond butter the most, though.

Have you tried Justin's pb packets? Which flavor is your favorite??

Found a new flavor of Luna bar - I feel as if I've had four new flavors in the last month and I like that. Dulce de Leche, Blueberry Bliss, Chai Spice, Raspberries and Chocolate, and now Vanilla Almond?! They're on a roll. Get away from that Lemon zest shizz. Oh yeah, I also bought a baby ginger claw because I'm obsessed with ginger. Dude was like 35 cents.

 

I've wanted to try these since I heard about them like three years ago. Before even my vegetarian days I frequented the Hungry Girl site and she lurrrves her some shiritaki noodles.

I honestly don't see what the big deal is. First of all, I was not impressed that each serving contained <1g protein. Second, they're rubbery and smell icky. Granted, the package admits to the funky smell and tells you how to get rid of it (microwave for 1 min), but it put me off nonetheless. 

I added the noodles to a miso soup I based off of The Voracious Vegan's Miso Soup for the Vegan Soul, but to which I added a ton of veggies that have been chillin in my fridge (i.e. red and white cabbage). I omitted the chickpeas and farfalle because I wanted to use the Tofu Shirataki noodles instead. Unfortunately, the noodles remained rubbery and tasteless in the soup. Next time I will make the soup per the instructions fo sho.

Oh yeah, I found roasted nori sheets at Kroger last week and I've been really into wrapping everything in them since. Take for example what I ate basically all of last week: lentils + sauteed kale and caramelized onion + peanut butter + splash of Bragg's. It's an unlikely combination, I know, but it was so delicious. I have no photo evidence, but I'll make it again soon and document it. 

I've been much better about snapping photos over the past few days, probably because I haven't had to work. I've spent a lot more time at the gym because of my open schedule. My room mate made vegan date bread with some (not Medjool) dates I bought on sale at K-Roger's and didn't like. The bread was good, though, especially the gooey middle pieces.

Someone must have thrown out that end piece on the left because this morning I saw this!

 Note the Amy's pizza box - roasted vegetable is the best pizza I've ever had in my life. But you should have seen that crazed little guy scarf that bread! He didn't even care that me and two of my room mates were gawking at him from a few feet away. Poor guy!

Oh man...

So much to say. I ended things with that guy S today and he blew up on me. Might I add that we'd been on three dates and I wanted to break things off in a civil and respectful way? He spewed a bunch of hate back my way, but I suppose you'll meet people like that. I'm sad for him, really, because he'd made our relationship into something much larger than it was and I wasn't ready for that. (Also he thinks interracial dating is wrong and he enjoys hunting...)

 My lovely roommate Anna bought me (and herself!) some Purely Decadent Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl ice cream so that my tart day would have a sweet ending. She's great. I added some pb to it haha I'm a pb fiend.

SUPER EXCITING NEWS is two of my roommates taking the Vegan 30-day Challenge! After I provided Anna with some reading material she immediately said she wanted to make some changes. It rocked her world to know that cows don't consistently produce milk naturally, without being sperminated. (Her parents still don't believe her on that fact, either!) Now instead of living with three omnis and one vegetarian, I live with two omnis and two veg*ns!

I've kept up my 3x a week workout New Years Resolution and I feel and look so much better for it. School has been pretty stressful, but I think I'm in the groove now that I know what my professors are looking for. Next week it's time to schedule for Spring Quarter - this Winter Quarter is flying and I'm so glad!

 

One of our dining room windows, festively decorated by Jane.

All of the local schools have been closed since Monday because of all of the snow and the slush-turned-ice. I slipped walking down my back steps on the way to the bus this morning, but luckily I caught myself on the railing. You could say I glided down the stairs, really. Maybe it was even intentional, I can't really remember...

I'm sure there's a ton of other relevant details (like an idea for a new blog) to add - and I have lots of food pix, but they'll have to wait for tomorrow! Goodnight.