Back to Basics

After all of the indulging over the week (and the last week/month/year!) I was more than ready to get back to the basics today.  I’m often torn – I know I’m probably leaving nyc in July and I want to experience as much as possible, but at the same time this is my life and I’m getting tired of feeling out of shape and out of sorts.  Two of my best friends are coming to visit in 10days and I know we’ll be doing lots of eating and drinking so this is a good time to get myself resettled.

A and I could not get out of bed this “Monday” morning – we stayed in bed past 7!  I woke up at 6 and then proceeded to have a terrible nightmare while I snoozed.  My dream was so upsetting I actually felt out of it my whole way to school.  My Boomi Bar did snap me out of it a little though 🙂

I tried the Macademia Paradise today, even though this is my least favorite flavor of the three I tried so far it is still good!

For lunch I prepped a museli last night,

Nonfat plain Oikos Greek yogurt, 1/4C oatmeal, 1small banana, and some Nuts Online dried blackberries.  My parents bought me these berries as a gift so I’ve been trying to enjoy them but I’ve decided that they are inedible; they were so sour I had to eat around the parts of the mix that they touched.  It was still delish though.

I also packed a blood orange but I was so busy helping kids that I never got a chance to eat it, it is on my desk for tomorrow.

I stayed after school for about an hour helping kids and when I got downstairs I got the fun news that final grades are now due on Thursday.  Yes, that is Thursday as in all of my final grades are due 2 days from now.  Yes, that is Thursday as in we will be having a month of school in which the students will not be graded.  Fun stuff.

I was super hungry when I got home so I made the mother of all “snacks,” this thing had courses!  1st course – the last scrapings of the Smuckers Natural Honey Peanut Butter jar, about 1.5T total.

2nd course – sliced pear with walnuts and blue cheese crumbles.

This was very tasty – the only improvement could have been a little drizzle of fresh honey but unfortunately I’ve been out of that for months.

3rd/dessert course – strawberry chocolates and my vitamens.  The candies kind of look like carrots, which makes me smile.  But the picture will not load, which makes me not smile.

I did some stuff for school applications (I am hitting all sorts of walls!) and then A and I headed to the gym.  I went to a 60minute Pilates Mat Class that kicked my patootie.  No matter how busy life is the last 5weeks of school I am making a commitment to fitness, I never want to be this out of shape again.

We took a long walk home to pick up Emily crack, a.k.a. diet soda, and then got started on dinner.  I based my meal around this More Than Tofu Spicy Thai Tofu.

I baked my tofu for 30minutes at 475*.  A chopped yam joined tofu in the sauna, along with some purple asparagus.  Meanwhile, we heated some frozen collard greens in a pan uptop.  I seasoned my greens with maple syrup and red pepper flakes, then topped them with yam and tofu.

My bowl had half the tofu package and half of the medium yam – so tasty! 

I ate the roasted purple asparagus as my side.

And a tall glass of skim milk.

All together.

It was a pretty great dinner if I do say so myself!

I can’t really start grades until tomorrow because kids still are handing things in and I know tomorrow night is going to suck so tonight I’m going to shower and watch Adult Swim!  I hope everyone else had a pleasant start back to the work week.

How do you balance fun foods with real life?

Rock Star

The day is done and I am a Rock Star!  I am 100% + done with school for this week.

This morning I worked straight through breakfast but around 1 I prepared lunch for A and I.  We bought this Arnold Everything Rye bread on Thursday so we knew we wanted sandwiches.

Tuna salad!  We use a little bit of mayo and a LOT of pickle relish in our tuna salad.

I sprinkled hot paprika on my portion, I had about 1/2 a can (since A ate 1.5cans!)

{More his/hers} I added salt and pepper and cheddar cheese to the bowl after I took my portion out.

I ate my sandwich along with a sliced plum and some Dirty Salt and Vinegar chips.

All together.

I did morework and a little later I made this split-tastic bowl.

A sliced banana, a sugar free banana fudge pudding, 1 crunched double stuff oreo, and a few cinnamon brown sugar almonds.

.more work.

When I was 80% of the way done I went to the gym.  I did 35minutes on the treadmill – 1minutes walking/2minutes jogging for 3.4miles.  Then I did 5minutes of abs and stretching on the mat and 5minutes of arms on the machines.  In spite of being a total fat ass for the last 6months we discovered I can now do 40lbs on some of the arm machines – more rock starness!

After the gym I walked to Staples to do work and to Union Market to buy fruit and a surprise for A, I also bought this Naked Gold Machine Juice for the walk.

Then home, and then to Starbucks to do my final piece of work.

I ordered a tall nonfat iced latte so I wouldn’t feel bad sitting at a bench but A came down a bit later and drank 90% of it.  I made grade reports for all of my students that show every assignment so far this semester and the grades they earned on them.  I have high hopes that kids do make-up in the next 2weeks but it looks like I will be failing a lot students my FINAL QUARTER of teaching.

Once done I came home and made a late lame/awesome dinner.

This was Tofu -Deveganized!  I drained and pressed a block of extra-firm tofu then cut it in half.  Then I cut a hole in the side of the block, careful not to cut through to the other side.  In the hole I stuffed turkey pepperoni and reduced fat mozzarella cheese.  I covered the hole with a small slice of tofu, rolled the block in egg and breadcrumbs, and fried in .5t evoo.

Awesome.

On the side sauteed A and I some frozen broccoli rabe with wasabi sesame seeds and then added in the leftover dipping egg for the last few minutes of cooking.

It was inedible – the frozen rabe was cheap and it was all bitter bitter stems.  This dish was more bitter than a fat wife whose ex-husband just married an 18year old.  My other failure was the Stonewall Kitchen Wasabi Mustard I tried to use as a dipping sauce, also terrible.  But the tofu?

Fabulous.  I would, however, recommend baking at 450* for 30minutes instead of frying, I was pressed for time.

I tried a few sips of A’s beer but ended up going with a diet Dr Pepper cherry.

I totally had to have dessert. Turkey Hill Mint Choco Chip ice-cream with 2 double stuffs crunched over the top.

Mint chip is a favorite of mine but this might be the best kind I’ve ever had, go Turkey Hill!

A and I have super fun plans to celebrate a work free day tomorrow, I can’t wait!  Sweet dreams all.  I will end with some bonus questions –

1. What are you excited for on Sunday?
2. What do you put in your tuna saldd?
3. What is your favorite ice-cream flavor?

Brown Paper Packages Tied Up with String

…these are few of my favorite things!  None of them have been tied with string, but I have received quite a few exciting packages lately.  Oikos coupons, Dr. Kracker samples (the review is long coming, I want to try all of the flavors first), pasta samples from FoodBuzz, POM samples, and the wheatberries I won in Sarah’s contest.  I can not even tell you how grateful I am to be able to try all of these things!

For accountabilities sake, I should mention that I ate 8 (1.5servings) of A’s mini pb eggs last night.

I started this morning with my Oikos.  Stoneyfield Farms sent me tons of coupons along with information about their products.

Did you know that Oikos is the only organic Greek yogurt on the market in the US?  According to the literature,

Organic refers to they way agricultural products – food and fiber – are grown and processed.  It is an ecological system that at its core relies on healthy rich soil to produce strong plants that resist pests and diseases.  Organic farming prohibits the use of toxic and persistent chemicals in favor of more “earth-friendly” practices that work in harmony with nature.  In the case of livestock, antibiotics are prohibited, opting instead for preventative measures for keeping animals healthy and productive.  Organic production also prohibits the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s).

I tried a nonfat plain one this morning with a small banana and some Stonewall Kitchen Carmel Apple Butter.

My thoughts.  I love the fact that Oikos is organic, because that fits into my goal to eat more (all) organic dairy products.  The plain nonfat Oikos cups have 80calories and 15grams of protein.  The flavor was the same as every other nonfat plain Greek yogurt, with the tanginess we have all come to love.  My only complaint was that the consistency was slightly less thick than that of Fage (my favorite Greek).  Overall, the organic products outweighs the slight difference in consistency for me – I will be purchasing Oikos whenever my store has it.  I also have some nonfat flavored ones I am excited to try.

After breakfast I put my nose to the grindstone.  Thank God this is an easy week (the kids have a field trip and I have some pds), I managed to complete all of my school to dos.

In between planning and grading A and I walked to Staples to get my copies done.  We are seriously enjoying this gorgeous weather!

When I got home from my walk I snacked on a Dark Chocolate Cherry Chewy Kashi bar.

And later on I used a teensy sweet potato to make myself some oven baked fries (preheat oven to 450*, wash and slice ‘tater, spray a foiled baking sheet with cooking spray, sprinkle slices with salt, cook 20minutes).

Served with ketchup.  Yumtastic!  I always love to roast veggies but sweet potatoes in “fry” form are to die for!  If you don’t make them, start!

I managed to finish all of my school work by 4:30, in time to make it to a 5o’clock yoga class!  I took Virgin Yoga at Crunch, a 60minute beginners class.  I am 100% to get back into the gym swing!

When we got home from the gym, A and I split a pear and I ate a few Cheddar Pumpkin Seed Doctor Krackers.

I did some organizing, lunch packing, showering, etc before it was time to make dinner.  I wanted to make sure I wouldn’t have to cook my first few days back at school so I made something with lots of leftovers, stir fried rice.

 

I didn’t follow a recipe, just kind of thought about a few recipes I had in my head.  The proportions really don’t matter at all.  Basically here are the “directions”

Very Veggie Stir Fried Rice, 5 servings

• 4C cooked brown rice (prepared a day in advance)
• large onion, chopped
• carrots, chopped
• defrosted frozen broccoli rabe
• red pepper, chopped
• fresh basil
• evoo
• 3eggs
• fish sauce
• 2limes, quartered
• egg tomatoes, chopped
• bunch of scallions, chopped
• **A cooks chicken and adds it to his at the end

1. (A day before you plan on making the dish) prepare 4C cooked brown rice.
2. In a wok or large skillet, heat a little evoo.  Cook the first set of veggies until soft.  I wait to add the basil until the last few minutes of cooking.
3. Remove veggies from the pan, replace with rice.  Heat the rice for a minute or so, stirring to distribute heat evenly.  Add a little bit more evoo at this point.
4. Mound the rice so that there is a hole in the middle.  Crack the eggs into the hole.  When the eggs are mostly firm, scramble and stir them into the rice.  The timing of when you stir in the eggs will determine how dry your final dish is, so follow your own tastes.
5. Add the cooked veggies back into the pan and stir.  Squeeze in the juice of 1lime, along with 4-6 shakes of fish sauce.
6. Add the second set of veggies, stir once, and remove from the pan.
7. Additional lime juice can be squeezed on at the table.

Yum!  I love stir fried rice.

I ate my portion along with a juice cocktail; 1part POM and 2parts club soda.

When I received my package from POM the other day I was pretty psyched; A goes through these things like nobody’s business!  A drinks them straight, but I like them best mixed with club soda or incorporated into a recipe.

We don’t drink a lot of juice because I think you are better getting the fiber from a piece of fruit instead, but POM is a “worth it” situation to me.  Here is some of the information the company provided me with that I found interesting –

•  
  • Pomegranates are one of mankind’s earliest cultured fruits.
  • Many scholars now suggest that it was the pomegranate, not an apple, depicted in the biblical Garden of Eden.
  • POM Juice is the only juice guaranteed to be made exclusively from “Wonderful” variety pomegranates.
  • [Their] pomegranate orchards are looked in California’s sunny San Joaquin Valley.  [They] never use imported juice.
  • POM Wonderful is the only juice whose health benefits are backed by $25million in medical research.
  • [In a study in which participants drank 8oz daily] after only three weeks, blood flow to the heart improved approximately 17% in a a group that drank POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice, but worsened approximately 18% in the placebo group.
  • Drinking 8oz of 100% pomegranate juice per day for two weeks lowered the incidence of LDL oxidation, believed to be a key factor in arterial plaque formation.
  • Hundreds of scientific tests also show POM to be a superior source of antioxidants, with more and better antioxidants than red wine, grape juice, blueberry juice, cranberry juice, green tea, vitamin C and vitamin E.

POM juice is also shown to improve prostate health and erectile function, but I don’t think those figures are of much use to most of my readers! (You seem to be young and female, but if any grandpas are reading please give me a shout out!)

Tomorrow is my first day back to school after Spring Break, tear!  On the agenda for tonight?  Relaxation.  I have a new episode of Scrubs to watch online and a serving of Jelly Bellys calling my name, zzzzzzZ.

Don’t forget about my first giveaway ever, ending Weds!

Blogger Meet-ups and Morning Bowls (and free stuff)

Sorry I didn’t post last night, I ended up getting home late and I’m trying to really honor bedtime so I’m ready to go back to school.  Yesterday evening I went up to Manhattan to attend the Always Infinity Blogger Meet-Up.  It was sponsored by Always (to promote their new product line, Infinity) and Doctor Rebbecca Booth (to promote her new book, The Venus Week).

The event involved cocktails, hors d’ouevres , and complimentary spa treatments.  Plus we heard from Dr. Booth and members of the Always team, and even got a swag bag!

The food was pretty good, Plate 1,

Plate 2.

Plus I had a glass of champagne.  And a mini chair massage that knocked my socks off!  I got to see Dori and Missy again, which was fun, and my coworker had a great time.  She got a fabulous looking French manicure.

Dr. Booth’s talk basically came down to discussing the ways women can look and feel their best.  You can get more info here, so I’ll just list some of the take-away points.

• avoid “white” food
• eat plenty of fruits and vegetables
• eat plenty of nuts
• if you are going to eat chocolate, make it dark chocolate
• supplements are our friends
• exercise, exercise, exercise

The swag bag was loaded with products that tied in with Dr. Booth’s suggestions.

I am going to start taking the fish oil supplements with dinner (and you know I’ll eat that candy!), but there is now a giveway at the bottom of this post!

After the event A met up with me (he took the train into the city with me and walked around) and we walked around Columbus Circle for a bit.  Then we hurried home to make it to a 10:10 showing of “Observe and Report.”  I was pretty excited to crack into my Easter candy,

my mommy got me Soda Pop Jelly Bellys, holy yum!  I packed 1serving of beans along with a Strawberry Rice Krispies treat.

And A and I split a large diet coke at the movie.  The movie, by the way, was awful.  I am really a huge Seth Rogan fan, and the individual actors technically acted well, but the movie was choppy and not very funny.  Plus the flasher scenes gave A nightmares!  I usually reward a movie for gratuitous nudity but this was just not cool!

I didn’t actually eat very much yesterday, so this morning’s breakfast was healthy and scrumptious – Carmel Apple Oats!

This was 1/3C oats cooked with a small banana.  I topped the oats with a splash of skim milk, a crumbled caramel apple bar and a heaping spoonful of Stonewall Kitchen Caramel Apple Butter.

Yum, yum, yum!

I have another busy day, so I’m going to tell you about the contest and be on my way.

EatingChalk’s first contest!

As you guys know, I got some exciting swag from the Always Infinity event.  I had a great time and I appreciated the way the freebies tied into Dr. Booth’s advice, but the books are just not for me.  [My friends and I don’t ever plan on sitting and discussing our cycles and though the cookbook has some yummy looking recipes many involve fake sugar which I just won’t do – diet coke doesn’t count :)]

So the contest, which runs until 8pm Wednesday, is for two books – The Venus Week and The No Sugar Cookbook.  To enter

1. leave a comment on this post telling me why you use (or why you don’t use) fake sugars – Splenda, Equal, etc.
2. link back to this contest from your blog OR cc me in an e-mail in which you tell three friends about EatingChalk

Good luck!

1, 2, 3

I made it to break!  Today was actually the sickest I felt, but knowing that it was “Friday” I was able to push through.  My lack of post yesterday was due to the fact that I was in bed before 9.  Thank God too, I can’t even imagine how I would have felt today without a healthy dose of shut-eye.

Yesterday morning I packed this on the train, a small banana and a Balance Honey Yogurt Peanut Bar.

I don’t a lot of Balance bars because they have 3.5grams of saturated fat.  However, they are hands down the best tasting bars on earth.  This flavor knocks my socks off.

Lunch’s flavor kept my socks firmly on unfortunately.  I tried a new yogurt brand and was muy unimpressed.

I like that fact that it was dairy and soy free, but the flavor was just off.  My two clementines were juicy as usual though.

A ate a lot more food than we were expecting this week so we actually ran out of meals early!  We ended up going for sushi last night while we were out on a drugstore run.  We went to Sinju, a place close to our house.

Here is my plate.

From left to right: California handroll, spicy crunchy salmon roll, broccoli tempura roll.  Delish.

I did manage to sneak in some snacks before my early bedtime though.  Easter candy,

and some paper bag popcorn.

This morning I packed an Iced Oatmeal Cookie Luna bar for my train breakfast.

I also cracked open this stash bright and early.

In spite of slightly reduced taste (I have no smell because I’m so stuffy) my lunch was a mega success!  You guys know I love pina colada flavored things, and today I went for double trouble.

Pineapple Coconut Light and Fit yogurt, 1/4C oats, 1T unsweetened coconut, TJ unsweetened dried pineapple, and a small banana.  So frickin’ good!

Try this mix at home!  Of course I had two clementines with it.

After lunch I had to give a presentation at our teacher meeting so I didn’t get a much needed chance to rest my voice.  This chocolate flower a student brought me made up for it though!

I didn’t eat it, but I did have two of these guys.

I got home as quickly as possible today, I am on vacation for a week and a half, woot!  At home I snacked on the few bites of leftover couscous A ate earlier this week.

We are out of food so I know I won’t have to cook dinner tonight 🙂  I do have an agenda though, I need to put some laundry away before I pack.  I like to be organized, but I am the worst procrastinator packer ever!  In college I would start packing for trips home literally 5minutes before my SuperShuttle pick up time!  I’m planning on being a grown up today and getting it done tonight though.  I also am hoping to get a pedicure!  Other than splurges on food, we haven’t bought much fun stuff this year.  I know how much happier I will be on the beach if my feet are pretty.

I’ve got to scadaddle, I’ll be back with a quick post later.

What are you celebrating this year: a. Passover, b. Easter, c. both, d. neither?

Oh Baby!

Hello, hello.  I’ve been absent for a while, but it’s been a learning experience.  Life lessons?  1. I am not just tired, apparently I am pretty sick – yuck.  2. I pack in a lot of food for a sick person.  And in better news, SCCD was featured on Yourself in Five Years‘ amazing Perez Hilton style line-up!

After I left you Saturday night we had to throw together a quick dinner before we headed up to Soho.  I used the following things in my 15minute meal (take that Ray!)

4servings of ww pasta, a can of turnip greens, and Stonewall Kitchen Pumpkin Pesto.  Came together to make this.

I topped my serving with 1T toasted pine nuts and 1T sharp cheddar.  Very tasty.

Apparently 15minutes was too long though, so I snacked on a Key Lime Light and Fit yogurt while I cooked.

Then we headed up to my favorite area in Soho!  A is the sweetest husband in the world and he gave me a foodie-filled evening that rocked my socks.  Our first stop?

Babycakes!  A all vegan bakery I’ve been dying to try.  Look at how cute it is!

I got a chocolate chip sandwich cookie.

I swear I’m not just sayingthis because the icing is pink – this was hands down the best cookie I’ve ever had!  We will definitely be headed back to Babycakes, soon!

From there A and I went to Teany (another supercool spot)

and split a blood orange herbal iced tea.

And then A let me peruse the Whole Foods nearby.  Ohmygoodness, I need  to live near a Whole Foods.  I had to restrain myself because we are leaving for St. Thomas this Thursday, but I was literally gasping as I walked down the asiles.  I did buy a few fun things I’ll show you throughout this week.  On of which was –

a Truffle Pig milk chocolate truffle bar.  How cute is this?!

A often calls me truffle pig as a nickname which made us even more excited.  Even the bar itself is adorable.

We split it on the way home.

Somehow when we got home A convinced me it was time for a second dinner.  I don’t know what to say about this except that we were both still hungry.  We went to Mango, my favorite Thai place in the Slope.

I got a thai iced coffee to drink.

And ordered chicken pad thai.

So good!  Pad Thai was my standard order before I discovered broad rice noodles.  A and I both ate about 1/3 of our meals and then had them packed up to go.  To our annoyance, when we got home we realized they gave us little to go containers, and had thrown away about 1/3 of our meals!  Probably a good thing, considering that I ate the rest of mine as soon as I got home!

I was feeling substantially sicker by the time Saturday morning rolled around, but A convinced me to try his new Whole Foods buy.

Oh yes, that is pancakes in a squirt can!  I am not a huge pancake fan but I had to try some of these.

 

A made me three small pancakes which I topped with a small banana and a drizzle of maple syrup.

And then I went back to bed all day.  I slept and slept and slept and after my Rip Van Winkle-ing I felt well enough around 4:30 for A to drag me to a movie.  We were going to see Fast and Furious, but even though they sold us tickets there were literally not two seats left in the theatre!  We thought about seeing a later show but A had already ordered our movie snacks so we traded in our tickets for Monsters Vs. Aliens instead.  I ate (unphotographed) 1/2 a medium popcorn, a diet coke, and some Jr. Mints during the movie. [My throat is killing me, but yes, I do know that my food choices probably had something to do with why my stomach hurt!]

I crawled home from the movie to do some more sleeping, zzzzzzz.  A woke me up later when he ordered sushi, he got me an order of pineapple fried rice and it was delicious.

I devoured it, along with the side of (raw) pineapple that it came with.

And then went back to sleep.

This morning I am feeling pretty sick still but I have to go to school tomorrow so there is work to be done.  I will be back later, hope everyone else is feeling well!

Do you lose your appetite when you are sick?

(nonvegan readers) would you go to a vegan bakery?

You Ugli

The title is what our students say to each other (god forbid they use a verb).  The other day a (horrendous!) boy was apparently quite pissed that I asked him not to scream outside my door during my class so he told me “you ugly!”  My response?  Deadpan voice “I know.  And I cry about it every night, but right now I’m trying to suck up the pain so I can teach this class.”  Hehe, that is generally my response to any sort of random criticism thrown my way “I’ll cry about it later, but let’s get on with class now.”

Anyhoo, I started my morning off with an Ugli fruit today.  Actually, I started my morning off with a small handful of this stuff.

Then I attacked the ugli fruit.

Here it is naked.  It was still big, but the peel definitely added some of the heft.

A and I split it, we both thought it tasted like an orange.  I ate my half with a medium sliced banana.

I also ate 2 Brazil nuts.

Did you know that 1 Brazil nut contains more than 100% of your daily selenium needs?  I was reminded of this fact by a “House” episode a few months ago, so when I saw unsalted ones at the grocery store I had to buy them.

After doing some school work it was time for lunch.  A and I decided on meatloaf sandwiches.

I put a small serving of meatloaf on a slice of ww bread, spread the other slice with maple pumpkin butter, topped it with sharp cheddar and broiled the whole thing.

I got a coupon for Kraft Naturals the other day so that is what I used, this stuff has Great flavor!

After 5minutes, my sandwich was ready to go.

Super tasty!  I love the savory/sweet so pumpkin butter was the perfect addition to this.

A went out to do the laundry so I went with me and ran some errands around noon; we have some Easter surprises for our parents when we go home in two weeks!  I worked at a leisurely pace all morning which means I had to pick up the tempo by the afternoon.  I got all of my plans and materials finished (I am saving my posters for tomorrow) and hurried to Staples to make my copies.

After Staples I came home and ate a small salad.

This was romaine and shredded red cabbage topped with a little bit of unsweetened dried blueberries, pine nuts, and fat free poppy seed dressing.

Then I headed to the gym – I am getting back into the swing of running and I love it!  Sadly my bunion feels a little bit funny, but I am hoping it’s my shoes.  I’m going to do other forms of exercise for a few days then run again in a different pair.  The gym was near closing time when I got there so I had to cut my treadmill intervals (2minute jog/1minute walk) to 25minutes.  I still managed to do 2.75miles so I left feeling pretty happy.

I had to go to the drug store to buy something to bring my mom after the gym.  I knew I had to eat more meatloaf leftovers for dinner so I did some brainstorming during my run, and came home with these.

I’ll explain them in a minute.  On the way home from the drugstore it started to hail on me!  I was wearing just a hoodie because the weather had been so nice all day and I was not happy!  I sprinted a few blocks and then thankfully A saved me with an umbrella because my foot was really starting to hurt.

I have to take a quick minute to mention what a hero A was today.  I truely don’t know how I got so lucky with my husband.  He is always sweet but today was above and beyond.  Not only did he wash my laundry, he folded and put them all away!  Then he walked with me to Staples, saved me with an umbrella, and sat in our teeny bathroom to chat with me during my shower because I was cold and frustrated.  He is truely the best guy for me on Earth.

Then I got down and dirty with my other great love, in the kitchen, popcorn!

No one guessed buttered popcorn as my Jelly Belly pudding flavor but that’s what I bought.  It was good, but I almost wish it was saltier.

Mushy stuff over.  Want to know what I made with Doritos and meatloaf?

Nachos!  I topped them with corn, sharp cheddar, and a dollop of medium salsa.

So tasty, I love homemade nachos!

I actually have the chance to be in bed before 10:30pm, a miracle for me.  I’m going to grab my book and hit the sack!

Do you do homemade nachos?  What “bar foods” do you make at home?

Holy Soybean, Batman!

So so so so so much more relaxed feeling than when I last posted! I want to deeply thank my readers for putting up with my foul moods, as others have said – Teaching in NYC sucks the soul. But, I’ve had good eats, my classes went well, and I’ve been productive, so I’m feeling fine!

To back it up, I actually did NOT go straight to bed last night, but actually stayed up to finish some stuff for school. While I worked I drank a glass of chocolate soymilk.

I woke up this morning feeling tired but accomplished. From there I ate a Pistachio Larabar on the train.

We had the 2nd day of the math state exams today, which means I spent my morning proctoring in silence. The tests should have eliminated most of my schedule today, but due to coverages I ended up teaching all of my classes. Thankfully the kids were pretty calm. In general they seem to expect to do nothing the rest of the day after a test, because they are “tired,” but my students are just coming to expect that I’m going to do a lesson no matter what.

For lunch I knew I had to eat black bean burger leftovers (since I didn’t eat dinner last night), so I decided to make this the star of the show –

I broke 2 patties into dipable pieces and paired them with some tasty hot pepper peach preserves.

Yum! I also packed a yummy fruit salad.

Backstage {1Fuji apple, 1minneola, 1small banana, 1/2C blackberries}. I mixed the chopped fruit (only half the minneola though – it was a slippy little devil and it bounded across the floor when I attempted to peel it) with 1T maple syrup and 1t sesame seeds for a yummy salad.

As soon as I got the room back to normal (non-testing) conditions I left school in a hurry. One my way home I stopped in at a hippie-dippy store in my neighborhood and got very very excited purchasing vegan goods. I am majorly looking forward to unveiling some of these products! Starting with,

 

barbeque tofu! I ate this as an afterschool snack and it was Ah-maze-ing!

 

<I attempted to put a photo here 6times, and it’s making me cry, which is silly>

This had the great bbq tofu texture everyone always raves about, but I’m pretty sure it wasn’t fried because the whole thing had 370calories and it was a generous serving. Does anyone have an idea how places are acheiving the great chewy tofu texture????

Now I’ve got to hurry off to do some laundry. I know I said I was a stress-free zone this week (i.e. nixing the gym until Saturday), but I find not having clean bras for work to be more stressful than doing the laundry! I have to admit though, I usually don’t do the laundry, A does mine for me! And he does the dishes!!! Who else thinks it’s lucky I’m such a good cook?!  See you later for dinner!

What ridiculously sweet thing(s) does your honey do for you?

Who thinks I need to win this granola?

Mrs. Van Winkle

Thank you all for the support on being a lazypants, because I will not be going to the gym until Saturday.  I don’t know what my problem is, I am so TIRED.  I stayed at school until 4 to meet with a parent and then I came home and slept through dinner, and the gym, and work time.  I woke up finally because one of my best friends called and needed to talk.  Ultimately, I am making the executive decision to make this week as stressfree as possible because it seems like I am getting the flu/mono/SoMeThInG!

This morning on the train I ate a Cliff Bar for breakfast.

Cool Mint Chocolate – yum!  All Cliff Bars are vegan which is super exciting.

I’ve been unproductive all week and I packed a pretty lame lunch;

a banana, a minneola, and a soy pudding.

When I got home I made a TJ’s based snack before my nap.

I can see why people are such big fans of Ezequiel bread, it is fantastic.  Also, if you have yet to try sunflower seed butter, do so!

It’s 11:30 and I am still tired so I’m heading back to bed.  Crossing my fingers that tomorrow runs smoothly (and that I win this contest – holy yum!), hope everyone had a great day!

I Blame the Time Change

It was another lazy hazy day, complete with sleeping in, catching a movie, and cuddling!  In the spirit of not being an all or nothing party pooper, I did complete some important tasks – 1. try out some awesome vegan buys; 2. complete my key work for this week; 3. do my 30 arm reps.

I used the following new items in my yummy breakfast:

 

I made a PB & J Deconstructed Bowl.

1/3C of oats cooked with a small banana, topped with blackberries, dried blueberries, a splash of soymilk, and 1.5t natural chunky pb.

Yum, yum.  I really liked the way the soymilk tasted in these oats.  However, my banana was pretty green which made me sad.

A talked me into going to see “Watchmen” so lunch ended up being craptastic.  A is modeling our healthy choices here;

we split a large popcorn and diet coke.  By split I mean I consumed 90% and glared at A whenever he tried to get a bite/sip.  Whenever I do fountain soda I get a splash of cherry coke for funsies, anyone else do this?

My stomach felt funny all day so we decided to push back a “cooked” dinner until tomorrow night.  I snacked on a handful of these nuts while I decided what I wanted.

After doing work for a long stretch I finally decided to try another new buy for dinner.

I ate a serving of veggie wontons with 2stalks of celery.

These were SUPER(caloricchalkdust)!  Just as tasty as restaurant wontons and I could control the oil content.

For dessert, another new find: Zensoy Soy Pudding.

I adore these pudding cups and actually bought them in college (not vegan) just because they were so awesome.

I’ve got to shower and get to bed, but here is what’s on the agenda for tomorrow –

1. I have a faculty meeting after school, and then
2. I am going to rush home to make it to a 5:45 abs and stretching class at Crunch.  I am also hoping to
3. complete another 35minute interval set on the treadmill.  After that
4. I am making a yummy tofu dinner for A and I, and hopefully
5. vegan cookies too.  Also, I hope I
6. win this contest!