“School”

It is a late, late night.  I was at school for more than 12hours today – eeek!  I will try to keep this brief, I am long long overdue for cuddling with A.

For train breakfast I went with pb cookie bar version 2.0 -

Luna Bars are good, but this flavor is better in Lara Bars.

“School” (lets add some “”"”"”"”"”s) was ridiculous today.  There was not 1 single teaching period.  1-3 were used for predictive testing.  4-5 were graduation practice.  6 was lunch.  7-8 were for handing out yearbooks/caps & gowns.  The super fun part was that 4-8 I was in the library with all the kids who will NOT be graduating – good times.

Lunch went the museli route again.

Nonfat Plain Fage, 1/4C oats, 1/4C unsweetened dried blueberries, 1t triple berry preserves.  I love using leftover salsa jars as my to-go containers.

I also packed an apple to munch.

After “school” there was an awards ceremony from 6-8 so I stayed there.  I walked 8 blocks (through the serious ghetto) with 2 kids to pick up the balloons for decorations.  Picture the whitest girl you know walking through the yard of a housing project carring 25 shiny balloons.  Oh yeah.

While I decorated I snacked on a serving of Doctor Kracker Cherry Seminola Crips with 4 figs.

And around 5 Mr. B and Ms. M and I knew we needed to have a quick escape so we headed to a nearby diner for dinner.  The options were typical diner food and therefore dinner was lame.

I ate about 3/4 each of the chicken fingers and the fries.

I had a good time at the awards ceremony, it was fun to see some of the kids all dressed up.  I presented a set of awards but mostly I sat in the audience clapping loudly.  I shared these Sour Patch Kids with a coworker.

I didn’t get home until after 9 and then A and I had a loooong conversation - I have very interesting news that I will hopefully be sharing by the end of the week.  While I typed this blog post I ate three (a serving) strawberry chocolates.

And it’s bedtime.  Sweet dreams!

Newman’s Own Organics Rocks My Socks

There are so many things to be excited about in this post I don’t even know where to begin!  My train breakfast was a favorite,

Peanut Butter Cookie is my favorite Lara flavor by far.

School was easy today – I taught 2 periods, had 2 periods of graduation rehearsal, and then had a half day.  We had a quick labeling assignment to do and then I had the afternoon to start cleaning my classroom.  I gave Mr. H 99% of my stuff so I’m glad all the chart paper I slaved over will not be going to waste.

For lunch I went the trail mix route.

I call this Peanut Better Trail Mix.  1/4C each peanuts, dried blueberries, and pb m&m’s for a filling 570 serving.

This was bigger calorie-wise and smaller volume-wise than what I usually pack but I ended up feeling in good full-ness and enjoyment.  I also had a baggie of green grapes.

 The school provided lunch, which I obviously skipped, but I did eat a slice of unphotographed cheese cake.

I left for home promptly at 3o’clock and got slammed with a migraine before I even made it in the front door.  I almost missed my fun activity but thank goodness medicine and a nap kicked in on time.  This didn’t hurt to perk me up either.

When I saw fellow Brooklyn bloggers getting Newman’s Own Organics boxes (complete with fancy mints I’d never seen before) a while back I was quite jealous.  Several people recommended that I ask for my own and I decided to plead wildlynicely request my own sample.  Sally more than generously agreed and I expected a small sampling.  Holy frick.

Re-dic-u-lous amount of food.  A and I were deeply struck by the generousity.  Expect to be seeing a ton of Newman’s Organic Own products in my posts for the next 10 years

I floated on a cloud of thankfulness and happy thoughts to my next activity – another fitness first, this time with Vani.  We did a 45 minute spin class at Crunch.  This was my 1stish try at spinning and I sucked but I also loved it.  My history?  My mommy loves to spin but I’ve always been a bit scared of it.  

The one time I did go to a class with her I was the youngest person in the room by at least 20years and the worst by at least 50 gasps per minute!  I did my best to keep up but about 5 minutes in my foot slid out of the strap and my knee slammed into the handle.  What’s worse than getting your butt kicked by the last generation?  Having to leave early, bloody! 

This time I still sucked, but I made it through the entire class, all limbs intact.  Sadly, we have no more gym membership as of July 1st but I am going to try to attend a few gym classes over the next two weeks.

After class Vani and I walked down to 7th Avenue for some fresh juice.  I got carrot-papaya-apple.

This was the perfect pick me up.  Plus it filled me up and basically became dinner.  I did have about 1/4 of A’s tuna salad sub when I got home.

And A spent the rest of our evening doing some serious discussing.  There is a LOT going on right now with plans for next year and I got some very interesting news today.  Hopefully by the end of the week I should be able to give you guys some updates.

Now it’s much too late and I’ve got to hurry to bed, night!

Have you ever tried spinning?  What’d you think?

Sunday, Sunny Sunday

Well, things have certainly gone much more smoothly since my last post!  It’s been a fabulous weekend and I still have a block of Sunday night left

After my post yesterday A and I headed to the movies.  I packed some good snacks,

 

the rest of my TJ’s unsweetened dried pineapple and a baggie of green grapes, but also supplemented with movie candy,

Shockers.  The movie was good but not great – Ryan Reynold and Sandra Bullock were amazing as usual but the storyline was pretty flat.

After the movie A and I knew we were a little hungry but couldn’t decide on what.  We had to pick up Father’s Day cards so we stopped at Barnes and Nobel and got small pb cookie dough ices along the way.

I gave half of mine to A and then we ended up wandering more than 2miles to Flatbrush!  By the time we made it to dinner at Mangowe were mega hungry!  I ordered steamed veggie dumplings as my appetizer.

 

These were wonderful, very chewy.  The veggies had a nice meaty taste and the sauce had a little kick to it.  I only at half because I was super excited about my meal – See U Noodles!  Broad rice noodles are my absolute favorite, which means you’ve seen them before which is good because I randomly have no picture.

We headed home after dinner and I’d like to say it was time for bed but for some reason it seemed appropriateto me to spend more than an hour watching Royal Pains on Hulu.

Late bedtime aside, I was more than ready to get up for my adventure this morning!  I packed up a bag and headed into Manhattan.  On the train I tried one of these Raw-Revolution bars for breakfast.

I did the chocolate coconut flavor – delish!  This was chewy and chocolatly and pretty much perfect.  I was full of energy when I reached my final destination.

Physique 57.  Months ago Melissagave a bunch of bloggers a free pass and I think I’m the last person to use it.  I did a 60minute beginner’s class, it was strength moves for the whole body using weights, a ballet bar, a beach ball, and a mat.  I was terrible, the instructor corrected my back like 8 times and I still don’t know how I was supposed to be.  And I loved it.  I booked a class for next Saturday before I even left.

After the class I stopped at Jamba before the subway to refuel.

This was a 16oz Peach Pleasure with a whey protein boost.  I wanted the protein boost but this flavor was not happening, I brought the 2nd half of it home for A.  I can’t wait ’till we move so I can buy a blender!

I had a busy but fun afternoon – painted my nails, ran some errands.  I had a $9 credit at Staples (from my teacher rewards card) that I obviously don’t need so I bought some nuts and candy there and then I headed to the grocery store to buy some goods for dinner tonight.  I was dying for a snack by the time I got home so I ate the other half of my veggie dumplings from last night.

Then I had a romantic snack with A <3.  We went to Union Market for fun the other day and got foccacia,

and this beauty -

Guinness Cheddar Cheese.  Yums!  A made me thin slices so it looked like more.

So good, you could really taste the beer!

We have a fun dinner planned tonight but first we are going on a walk to run some errands I forgot earlier, see ya later alligators!

What new fitness routes have you tried lately?  Did you enjoy them?  I am a new convert to Physique 57 and I’m actually trying something new tomorrow too!

Can’t Hold a Candle

Un-Frickin-Believable Day!  Every single minute of this day has rocked my socks (and some of my best friends will be here in mere minutes!)!

I had plans of getting up for a run this morning but I’ve had a really hard time falling asleep this week and I ended up sleeping way in (the lack of exercise was the only un-awsome thing today).  When I did finally get up it was time to do so I scurried out the door and ate another train breakfast.

Lara bars are just so good, Coconut Cream Pie is one of my favorite flavors.

I don’t know whether the universe decided to finally cut me a break or what but today was my best day all year.  Every single class was quiet for 2 straight periods and 95% of my students read the entire story, answered every question, and volunteered to share out.  If I had been grading today I would have legitimatly given almost every single student a 95-100%.  I was seriously so happy all day.  I have no idea what worked so well, my lesson was on folktales (we just finished a few weeks on fairy tales).  We took notes on key elements, I did a short read aloud, and then the kids read a (longish!) folk tale on their own and analyzed it.  I think part of what helped is that most people stop teaching in June so they were taken off gaurd by the fact that I am still full-force doing lessons.

For lunch I did another museli, this one was much more pleasing than the last.

Nonfat plain Fage, chopped nectarine, 1/4C oats.

I also added a dollop of Stonewall Kitchen Triple Berry Preserves.  I had a bunch of kids in my room at lunch and they were very curious about what I was eating – museli is beyond strange to them!

I stayed after school a little bit to work with students and then headed to the train with some coworker friends.  Somehow I ended up talking two of them into getting a drink with me even though we all had to hurry to other plans.  We stopped at a place in the Slope and I got the best strawberry mojito I’ve ever tasted.  I also ate some communal chips and salsa.  Sorry for no photos – my camera stays home some school days.

I didn’t have much time to relax by the time I got home but I did send some e-mails and eat a few of these Chocorooms.

Then A and I freshened up and headed into the city.  We’ve been planning this date for weeks and I was very excited.  I love going to the Upper East Side, even the subways are fancy!

Our final destination?

 

Candle Cafe.  An organic, vegan, spot that serves mostly local food.  I don’t know how I managed to drag my husband here but he ended up loving it!  A got the potato cauliflower soup as an appetizer.

I had a few bites and it was great.  At this point they dimmed the lights and my pictures go steadily downhill.  I was excited most about this:

I took a flash picture so you could catch the true oranginess.

Sweet Potato Pie Smoothie.  Holey frick; sweet potato, vanilla help milk, cinnamon, and maple syrup.  This was too delicious, I couldn’t stop raving about it.

For dinner I ordered the Indian Plate.

It was basically a sampler – potato cauliflower curry, black-eye pea marsala, yellow basmati rice, date raisin chutney, cabbage sald and parata bread.

It was fabulous!  This was my first major foray into Indian and I am hooked (Brooklyn blogger gals, I am so excited for next week!).  The bread was out of this world, my favorite thing was the curry.  I left all of the rice untouched but I basically licked the rest of the plate clean

A and I were pretty stuffed at this point but we were on a roll so we got dessert.  I ordered the cherry chocolate cheesecake.

I thought it was pretty good but A fell in loooove and made me switch after a few bites.  I ended up with his chocolate mousse.

Which I actually liked better, love how that works out!  All total I ate about 1/3 of each desserts.  We brought the rest home for my friends who are coming in tonight.

Stuffed to the gills, but in a healthy feeling way, we headed back home.  Now we are waiting for my girlfriends to get in, their flights were delayed so we decided a cab was a better idea than meeting them at the airport.  I’m not sure what my blogging will look like over this weekend, but I will try to at least do a big recap.  I am so excited!

Freaks!

Are you a freak?  This post is going to be freakishly big because I didn’t post yesterday.  A and I’ve been up to lots of stuff, trying to stretch out the long weekend as loooooong as possible.  We did lots of eating, which we slightly countered with lots of walking, but I feel like this is a good week to get back to healthy habits!

On Sunday we slept in (I stayed up past 3 with my Scrubs marathon!) and then A and I finally made it to this historic spot.

On the way there we split a ww bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

The cream cheese had real strawberries in it!

I at all of mine and a few bites of A’s half too.

A 45minute later we were in the land of dreams – Coney Island!  The had a fabulous day, seeing the sites, eating the food, boozing it up, and riding the rides!  We spent some time exploring the streetside first.

 

And then we wandered down to the ocean and the boardwalk.

Next it was time for Beer Island.

 

The bartender was super nice and let A and I sample all of the Coney Island brews.

 

A got the Blockhead Ale and I ended up with the Albino Python.

It was good, but I got about 1/3 through before I gave mine to A.

Then we split a fresh-squeeze lemonade.

And I had my share of this FOOT of strawberry daquari.

 

We had a great time on the boardwalk – I love old food signs.

Then it was time for the attractions! 

We played some games, rode the Wonder Wheel,

 

saw a freak show,

and rode the Cyclone.

 

We did the Cyclone last and good thing, I was all shook up!  I love rollercoasters but this wooden guy beat you up, my neck still hurts!

We left the park around 4 and I’d waited too long to eat so I had one of A’s chicken fingers.

On the subway home I ate a pecan roll I bougth at the famous candy store.

Once we got back to our ‘hood it seemed like time for more sweets so we split a small peanut butter cookie dough ice.

I had never heard of “ice” before I moved to NYC but basically they have less cream than ice-cream.  Plus check out the nutritional stats -

This was soooo good, I’d been craving frozen yogurt and this more than hit the spot.

After we freshened up at home we went out for a long walk.  Midway I stopped at a small Jamaican spot and bought a fresh soursop juice.

Yum!  Soursop is my favorite, this made me miss home so much.

We walked up to the Arch to see the fountain on for the first time this spring.

We got a late dinner from a local Chinesse place – I had Kung Pow Tofu.

Not good at all.  Help me!  Does anyone know of a good Chinesse place in Brooklyn?

Sunday morning we slept in again – gotta stretch out that weekend! – then finally got up and did a little school work.  We decided to honor our Burrito Bar obsession with an early lunch – how can you not love a spot with complimentary homemade salsa and chips?

A and I split a smoothie – Cher’s Forever Young, orange juice, orange sherbet, soymilk.

 

Yum, I’ve been craving smoothies since our blender died, we would usually be making so many right now.  I went simple for A but I will be going back to get one with actual berries.

For lunch I ordered the turkey mini burgers.

They were 6 burgers with different toppings (lowfat sour cream, guac, and cheese) that came with french fries.

Everything was good, but for some reason my appetite hadn’t kicked in yet – I ate 4 mini burgers and only a few fries.

Then A and I headed up to the city for another doctors appointment for my foot.  I limped out sadly so A took me to Wendy’s for a frosty (small, with cookie dough).

I realize I basically ate this yesterday, but it’s the weekend damnit!

When we came home I had to finally crack down and do some school work.  My plans are done for the week, all my materials have been copied, and I’ve done 85% of my posters.  While I worked I ate some SmartFood.

I treked to Staples for my copies and then A and I went to Starbucks to knock out our grading.  I had a snack while we worked – fresh fruit, cookies, ice h2o.

The fruit cup tasted as if it was on its last legs but I knew I needed the fruit so I ate it.

And I had a package of (130calories) toffee caramel shortbread cookies for a much needed (scoff!) dessert.

We were finally finished at 9:30 so I could devote my attention to more important things, like food blogging!  Dinner’s plan was sandwiches so I broke out some Quorn Chick’n Nuggets.

I cooked 5nuggets, let them cool, and sliced them up.  Then I tossed them in a sauce made from 1.5T SmartBalance Light and 6 healthy dashes of Tabasco Chipolte.  Then I placed them on a bun with mayo – which meant I got to use my new mayo from Blue Apron.

Finally, I topped the whole thing with some blue cheese crumbles.

And what better side for a Buffalo Chick’n Sandwich then fries (Five Guys) drenched in balsamic vinegar.

 

I more than made up for skipping my fries at lunch.  All together.

And my computer is slower than molasses so this post took long as heck and it’s time for bed!  Sleep tight kiddies!

SELF Workout in the Park

What a great spring day!  We had good weather, good work-outs, good eats.  I woke up around 7:30 and even though I wasn’t hungry yet I knew I wanted to eat before I left for the park.  I used this nonfat plain Greek Gods Greek Yogurt as my base.

Then I added 1/4C Kashi Blueberry and 1/2C fresh blackberries.

Mmmm.  The berries were a little sour so I added a small drizzle of maple syrup over the top.

Then I headed up to Central Park for SELF Workout in the Park.  The event started at 11 but registration opened at 9 so I aimed to get there a little before 10.  Standing in line was pretty brutal, there was no registration, you signed up for classes when the event opened.  I did, however, meet another girl who was there alone so we decided to spend the day together – we had a really great time and it was fun to meet a new friend.  I also worked out with Amelia and Melissa during the event!

They had the area split into three parts – the quiet zone, the rebounding zone, and the main stage.

You had to sign up for rebound and quiet classes (limit 1per person) but could wander to the main stage as you wished.  I ended up taking 4 20minute classes.

1. Rock Bottom – I have always heard friends who went to other colleges rave about this class so I was really looking forward to it.  I did not, however, realize it was not a mat class – at least I gave the people behind me a good laugh!  My legs were on fire, there is no way I could have done a full 60minutes of this!
2. Ballet Pilates – I loved this.  Pilates is my favorite workout and this was basically a regular class with more toe raises and squats mixed in.
3. Beach Body – this was another cardio class but I managed to make it all the way through!  Lots and lots of squats.  The instructor had us do the motions of tricep/bicep reps without weights and by the end I was dying!
4. Urban Rebounding – this class took place on mini trampolines!  The instructor had great energy which made it even more fun.  I appreciated that this was easy on my joints, however, the boobies and the bladder?  Not so much.  I felt like I was going to pee my pants halfway through, I should Not have chugged my water before this class.

All in all I had a really great time in all of the classes.  Even though I am super out of shape, I got in a great work out.  Seeing little snippets of things exposed me to some classes that I wouldn’t have thought I would be interested in.  I realized that I’m missing out on something not attending group cardio classes.

Throughout the day in between classes my new friend and I hit up the sample tables.  We hit them hard!  During the event I ate 1mini EAS sample,

and two of these truevia dipped strawberries.

In addition to hitting up the tables during the event, as we were walking around at closing people were giving us handfuls of products!  Check out my final haul -

 

 

I am pretty psyched about all of this!

At 3 when the event ended I walked 10blocks to meet A who had come up to the city to hang out.  Due to some train issues we took a long time to get home – we ended up having to walk from Atlantic Center!  By the time we got home I was pretty beat.  I was replenished in a hurry by this bad boy though.

I bought this young Thai coconut at Whole Foods and I’ve been excited about it all week.  I drank the water with a crazy straw,

and scraped out most of the flesh with a spoon.

Yum!

I spent the late afternoon organizing somethings around the house and hanging out with A.  It was getting later and later and before it was time to shower I realized I had to have a snack.  I adore jalapeno poppers but you can never find them without cheddar cheese so when I spotted this the other day I knew I had to buy it.

I ate 4 poppers as my snack.

By the time I got out of the shower A said we had to order dinner, he was too hungry to wait for me to cook.  I took the opportunity to try out Dao Palate, a new all-vegan spot in Park Slope.  I ordered the General Tso’s Soy Protein.

 

I know this wasn’t the healthiest of choices but I didn’t get much to eat today so it’s ok.  The meal came with miso soup,

and brown rice.

I ate all of the broccoli, 3/4 of the “meat,” and just a few bites of the soup and the rice.

Tomorrow is a busy day, next week is an actual full week of school!  I’m hoping to get up early, but we’ll see.  Sleep tight!

Do you enjoy group cardio classes?

Ice-Cream Man

After my last post I realized I wasn’t starving, but that I should probably eat before I was.  I had 1.5T of this fabulousness.

A little later I ate the champagne mango I found at Whole Foods the other day.

I was so impressed at A’s mad slicing skills – usually we get 1bite of flesh per mango!

This was delish, but tasted just like a regular mango to me.  Has anyone else tried this? Thoughts?

Then A and I skilled more than 20minutes wrestling (no, I’m not being cute trying not to be dirty, I actually mean wrestle – A and I have a long history of beating the crap out of each other).  He totally won, our longstanding date-breaking with the gym means that he’s fatter and I’m weaker!

After my “workout” I headed out to do some grocery shopping.  We needed almost nothing for next week but A was going to the movies and I was going alone so I made an event of it.  I stopped in all the “hippie” stores to peruse before I went to Key Foods for $17 in staples!

On the way home I spotted an ice-cream truck!

This was so Park Slope!  Van Leeuwen is all-natural and stocks grown-up flavors.

I got a small espresso and giandujia (chocolate hazelnut) – yum!

Just as I paid A swooped in from out of nowhere to steal a few bites!  Kicking my butt made him so late his movie was sold out so he walked home with me while he waited for the next show.  After I said goodbye to A and put away my groceries I got started on dinner.

First I sliced up these guys, put them on a sprayed, foiled baking sheet, sprinkled with a little salt, and put in the oven at 450* for 25minutes.

I ended up eating all of the green and yellow squash and 1/2 of the tempeh.  While I was baking I cracked open our new beer – Abita Strawberry Beer.

Tasty, tasty!  I didn’t necessarily get strawberry, but it tasted like summer and went down easy.  I’m someone who usually only drinks half a beer but this I finished and almost went back for a 2nd of!

When the roasting was done I put my veggies on a plate and got started on my open faced sandwich (inspired by this kerf’wich).  I toasted 1 slice of rye bread, spread it with pumpkin butter, laid down 1/2 a package of the sliced baked tempeh, topped with 1oz sharp cheddar, and baked for 5minutes.

Yum!  All together now.

Roasted squash is one of my favorite veggies and this sandwich was frickin amazing – I could never go raw!  If you are a fan of the salty/sweet combo you must try this!

I am all packed and excited for tomorrow (SELF Workout in the Park) so once I get a shower it is time to laze in bed with my book.  Don’t let the bedbugs bite!

Have you tried tempeh yet?

The Best Kind of School Day…

…one where I’m not actually at school!  Whenever I used to dream of living in NY I pictured prowling Manhattan and drinking Starbucks on the way to work, so any pd that takes me out of East New York is good in my book!  The pd was a Read180 training and it took place at the Scholastic center, so that was fun.

This morning I got to head to work on the same train as A for the first time in two years   I was so excited I was dancing around like a little kid for the first half of the ride.  I had to ride a few stops further than A and when I got off the logical breakfast spot was…..Starbucks!

I got a fruit and cheese plate for breakfast.

And coffee.

My favorite Starbucks order is grande iced Americano with room + skim milk I add on my own.  I am one of the few who enjoys the taste of Starbucks but today I thought it tasted burnt.  I ended up adding two packets of raw sugar before I left.  I ate all of my fruits and cheese (brie!) but left the crackers because they seemed odd that early in the morning.

The pd was pretty boring - I don’t actually run a Read180 program! – but I did have fun talking to my coworker who came with me.  We were the bad kids, when we were supposed to be doing silent reading we chatted instead!  We both agreed that it is sad how exciting it was to have a work day where no one cursed at us!

For lunch I hit up the cafeteria inside the Scholastic building.

I did the salad bar, with a cookie bar and a cherry coke zero.  My salad was a spring lettuce base with some raw veggies and a dab of oil and vinegar.  I also plopped in a small blob of chicken salad.

I saved the cookie to eat during the second half of the pd.

The other amazing thing about pds is that they often let out early – I was home by three o’clock!  I took advantage of the “found time” by catching up on all the food blogs.   I also made a snack because my lunch was pretty light.

 

The last small serving (this is a mini plate) of fried rice, spiffed up with some Chipolte Tabasco.

On the agenda for this evening?

• tons, tons, tons of school work
• making dinner
• new episode of Scrubs!

My aunt and one of my cousins are coming to visit me this weekend so I have to do a lot of my “weekend work” in advance.  I realized during a freak out yesterday that I shouldn’t even attempt to go to the gym until next week.  On the note of being busy, I should go!  Be back this evening.

What is your standard order at coffee shops?

Don’t forget to enter my first giveaway before 8pm today!

So Fresh and So Clean Clean

My final flights went well yesterday and we made it home by 1am.  In spite of the late bedtime I hopped out of bed at 8:30 this morning for Spring Cleaning!!!  Here are the to-do’s I have accomplished so far today:

• dealing with the mail that came while we were away (reviews to come – POM, Doctor Kracker)
• putting away the groceries delivered from Fresh Direct
• unpacking our trip stuff
• cleaning the bathrooms, mirrors, floors, kitchen
• reorganizing my entire closet
• swapping out winter items for spring items
• creating a huge pile of things we no longer want
• taking one gigantic load of clothing to the dry cleaners
• taking another gigantic load of clothing to the Salvation Army
• getting the rest of the groceries and using some coupons (review to come – Oikos)
• taking care of random businessish e-mails

Whew!  I have a ton more to do tomorrow but I’ve definitely gotten a very good start.  For eats I packed this snack while A and I were carting our stuff all over the Slope.

1serving of Doctor Kracker Apple Crisps and a large pear I split with A.  The dry cleaner is the opposite direction of Salvation Army (which is the opposite direction of the grocery store) so we ended up doing some trekking.

When I got home I opened my fresh, cut papaya from Fresh Direct.

I ate about half of the container.  I love tropical fruits (starfruit, passionfruit, mango, guava, aloe) but I think papaya isn’t a favorite of mine.

Tonight I have more fun in store, I was invited to a blogger event in Manhattan at 6.  I’m not quite sure what the deal is but it sounds like fun (it’s at a Spa!) and I’m taking a co-worker from school.  A and I are also hoping to catch a late movie.

There are hors d’ouevres served at the event so I’m not sure what my food situation will be before the movie, but I’m sure I’ll do some snacking!  See you later!

What is your favorite *tropical* fruit?

Have you done your spring cleaning yet?

A Story in Three Parts

First off, major love to whomever can tell me what book the title today comes from.  Because I have three major points today, and I’m too short on time to do a full recap, I’ve decided to divide this post into three parts.

Workin’ It Out

Today’s workout was abso-frickin-lutly fabulous!  I am so glad I tookthe time for myself to go to the gym.  I know this week will be gym light (I am going back to the doctor’s yet again tomorrow to deal with the stupid wart on my foot) but my goal for the rest of the year is to make it as much as possible.  I am such a happier (healthier!!) person when I am in shape.

Today I started with a 30minute Abs and Stretching Class at Crunch.  When class was over I hit up the treadmill for a 35minute interval session – I do 2minutes jogging/1minute walking.  For 35minutes I did 3.5miles and burned est. 300calories. I’m trying to build back into running while being cognisantof my bad joints, so you will be seeing a lot of intervals.  The 35minutes flew by with my fabulous gym mix:

1. “I Will Follow You into the Dark” – Death Cab for Cutie
2. “Rock Lobster” – The B52’s
3. “O… Saya” – AR Rahman and MIA (Slumdog soundtrack)
4. “Vitamen S” – Cham
5. “Loose Lips” – Kimya Dawson
6. “Crank That” – Soulja Boy Tell ‘Em
7. “Get Loose” – The Salads
8. “Heartless” – Kanye West
9. “Stolen” – Dashboard Confessional
10. “Paper Planes” – MIA

Eats

Today started normal but ended with Insane hunger.  I’m not sure why my hunger has been so wonky this year (starving or nauseous and hardly ever just normal) but in honor of upcoming bikini season (19days until vacation!) I think I will just be ignoring any craziness for a bit.

Breakfast

For train breakfast I ate a new bar that Melissa brought to brunch yesterday.

It was good.  I liked the taste and the chia seeds gave it a great chew texture.  My only complaint is that it was pretty sticky and I like to read while I eat on the train.

Lunch

Lunch was a plethora of fruitiness.

Dannon Light & Fit Pineapple Coconut Yogurt.

I hate this brand of yogurt usually (I don’t tolerate fake sugar outside of my diet cokes) but the seasonal flavor looked intriguing.  It actually wasn’t bad, the chunks were downright delicious.

A minneola.

I brought and extra and gave it to kids working in my room at lunch, upon which I learned that about 1/2 of them did not know how to peel an orange!

And finally 1/4C unsweetened dried pineapple from TJ’s.

Snacks

{Unphotographed = 1fun sized chocolate from a student + a disgustingly large handful of nuts}

A caramelapple bar spread with a bit of pb.

Dinner

I did a dinner in three parts to0.  We did three salads, three courses.

Course 1 -

A small salad of lettuce and shredded red cabbage topped with 15spritzs of Balsalmic Breeze dressing and a few banana chips.

Course 2 -

A serving of pasta salad.

A made this from a kit from Target.  It was only ok, we have two more varieties of kits in our pantry and we are not sure what to expect.

Course 3 –

 

Juicy Chicken Salad, serves 4

Places the following ingredients in a bowl and stir together gently.  You can eat right away or make a day in advance to allow flavors to combine.

*4 cooked chicken breasts, shredded
*6oz plain nonfat Greek yogurt
*1/2C pickle relish
*3/4C halved green grapes
*1t paprika

Vegan Challenge Reflections

(Sorry this is a day late)  I hope you all enjoyed the 2week vegan challenge.  I know that I did!  While I have decided NOT to be vegan for life I enjoyed the two weeks and definitely learned a few things.  I outlined a few off my final ideas below.

What I’m Keeping

1. Variety!  During the challenge I really pushed myself to shake up my lunch rut and I’m glad I did.  Our dinners were fun too.  Even though there were a few flops (tofu scramble), some recipes have become new favorites (strawberry tofu club).
2. Fake meat.  I knew I was a tofu fan, but I had no idea how enjoyable some of the other forms of vegan protein could be.  Fakin’ bacon rocked my socks, and the soy chorizo dish I made was one of the best things I’ve ever eaten.

What I’m Losing

1. No ovo.  I like eggs, they are a healthy source of protein.  Plus they are in all of my favorite Thai dishes, life without authentic Pad Thai just isn’t worth it!
2. The dairy to soy conversions.  There are many soy products (tofu, soy pudding, edamame) that I greatly enjoy and plan on consuming for life.  However, withthe research still at a stall about the point at which soy becomes a cancer risk rather than help I don’t want to over-indulge.  I have a high risk of cancer anyway, my genes and I grew up in an intense sun area, which is part of why I am concerned with a healthy diet.  Since I enjoy regular dairy I do not want to consume an excess of soy simply to keep animal product off my cereal.
3. …..more specifically, soy yogurt.  Besides the fact that it lacks the tangy flavor and high protein of Greek yogurt, soy yogurts were impossible for me to find without added sugar.  Consuming extra sugar to get a taste I find second rate seems silly.

What I’m Changing

As you guys know I am mostly vegetarian.  I don’t consume a ton of fish/foul and I haven’t eaten mammals since the summer before 8th grade.  Part of the reason for this (in addition to tastes and health) is that I am unable to make peacewith the idea of eating a mammal.  Pigs are officially smarter than human babies.  While I don’t judge what anyone else eats, I am just not cool with that.  Besides a long long conversation about the treatment of animals breed for food.  I realize you could question why chickens/turkeys/fish are not worthy, honestly I’m not sure.  I feel ok about eating them though and it adds convenience to my life.

As far as animal products go, I do not have a moral issue with consuming them.  My issue lies in the treatment of the source of these foods – cows and chickens raised for eggs and milk.  On a related note, I do not usually consume organic products (my budget will not allow it), although I try to when I can.  A and I discussed this during our challenge, and I realized I see a pretty big difference between pesticides on the outside of a peach and antibiotics that are fed to a cow before she produces milk.  Therefore, A and I have decided to consume dairy/meat less often so that we will be able to afford organic in these products.  We are also going to make a more conserted effort to buy only from companies that provide humane conditions for their farm animals.  I realize that many of my points of view are rationalizations that work only for me.  I am not here to tell anyone what to do, I just wanted to share my own reflections from the 2week challenge.

What are your thoughts on consuming animals/animal products?

What are your thoughts on organic products?