Wednesday, April 23, 2008

Last Day of Classes!!

I just returned from a day of partying on the quad. Ever since I got out of my cognitive psychology exam at 1:00 this afternoon, I have just been chillin' with friends and listening to bands play. The evening ended with a stellar performance by Third Eye Blind. How cool is that?!


Anyway, as a result of this day of festivities, I had really weird (non-photographed) meals, plus I didn't get a change to post until now. Despite my day of craziness, I do have some pics from trip to Whole Foods on Monday and my meals over the past few days.

In my last post, I promised a picture of my Whole Foods goodies, and I shall deliver on that promise. This trip happened to include several products I have never tried before--I suppose I was in an adventurous/impulsive mood. This week's loot includes (from left to right): Nasoya organic tofu, banana soy pudding (my treat for this week), plain Silk yogurt, Ezekiel sprouted tortillas, refried black beans with fire-roasted peppers, canned lentils, roasted salted soy nuts, acorn squash & mango soup (it's vegan!), organic Gala apples, bananas, organic and local squash, organic red pears, organic baby carrots, and frozen strawberries.
In addition to those groceries, I thought I would mention a snack that I ordered a few months ago--vegan jerky. I ordered several varieties of Primal Strips from Cosmo's Vegan Shoppe. Although they're not the most natural snack in the world, I really like the hit of protein they provide, plus the sauces are finger lickin' good (my favorite is the teriyaki flavor!).
Now onto the real food. Prior to this week, I had never tried soy yogurt. Now I am hooked! I think I almost like it better than regular yogurt. Even though I purchased the plain variety, this soy yogurt retains more sweetness than regular yogurt does. Score! Anyway, I enjoyed it the other day with some sliced strawberries.

Monday
For my treat Monday night, I had decided to dig into that soy pudding that I bought. I added some dark chocolate chunks to the mix for a chocolate banana delight. Because I enjoyed my pudding so much, I decided to do a little research on ZenSoy, the makers of the product. I like this company due to their devotion to saving wildlife--check it out on their website.

Tuesday
For breakfast yesterday, I had some more of that Weetabix, along with some sliced peaches and wheat germ. What would I do without my wheat germ? I should think of some alternative ways to use it.



Lunch yesterday was great! I prepared a recipe that I have been making ever since my first days of vegetarianism--absent egg salad. I simply mashed up tofu, mustard, and a tad of plain soy yogurt; I topped it off with a sprinkle of paprika. I served it along with Ak-maks, strawberries, and a salad topped with raw cashews.

For snackage yesterday evening, I dug out an old Clif Nectar bar that had been hiding in my snack drawer for way too long. This was so tasty! It reminded me of the inside of a Fig Newton cookie--odd, considering this was supposed to be lemon, vanilla, and cashew-flavored.

Wednesday

Finally, for breakfast this morning, I made a pumpkin shake, as recommended by Erika (RunRoamRecycle). I used pumpkin, cinnamon, plain Silk yogurt, and a frozen banana. I wanted to add some vanilla flavor, but, alas, I had none. Nonetheless, it was relatively enjoyable. I think I need to tweak the flavors a bit though before I have a perfect recipe. Some Corn Bran cereal completed my morning meal.These next few days will be devoted to studying. I have exams on Monday, Thursday, and Friday of next week. Perhaps I should look into brain foods? Drop me a line if you know of any good nibbles for studying:)

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yay - you tried the shake! I always put pumpkin pie spice and a little vanilla and a little sweetener in mine.. I can't imagine it without.

Haha is it just me, or does everyone add banana to all of their oats/shake combos? Like pumpkin oatmeal.. but it's made with banana cooked in. Or pumpkin custard, but it has mashed banana too. There's nothing wrong with it, but wouldn't it give it a banana-ey flavor?

Glad you had fun at your spring fest thing! Ours is this week too, and I've been getting lots of free goodies out in front of the student union :)

Jill said...

1) Love your bedsheets, I love bright colors!

2) Way too much great food from your trip! I've had tofu jerky and I actually really liked it. Also, that nectar bar was odd for me, too.

3) I love 'egg' salad! In a wrap, mostly, with salsa, lots of salsa!

Anon said...

do u cook the tofu first?

spring fest sounds awesome, i wish my college had that ;p

Anonymous said...

wow sounds like a fun day at school for you :) i really love your banana yogurt / chocolate chip combo - its genius! good luck w/ the studying!

Meredith said...

Congrats on being done with classes! Your groceries look wonderful! One thing you can do with wheat germ is use it instead of or along with breadcrumbs as a coating on tofu to make crispy tofu.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

last day of classes + Whole Foods groceries + delicious shake from a fellow blogger + MORE amazing meals/snacks = excellent Wednesday for you!! :0)

Hope your Thursday goes just as well!!

Anonymous said...

Oohhh look at all those goodies!!

Third Eye Blind?? That's so freaking cool!! I'm jealous! =)

J said...

Congrats on being out of class for the summer!

I love seeing what people get at the store, especially when they get all that produce, that's my kind of store trip!

Your food always looks so good and makes me jealous that I can't have EVERY SINGLE ONE of your salads.

ChickPea said...

Runroamrecycle: Yes, I tried the shake, but I did not do it justice. I will just have to try it again with vanilla extract--it's too expensive at WF, and I should probably wait 'til I get home to buy some.
I added the banana just to thicken up the shake--I didn't have that much pumpkin left, so I had to add some bulk with the frozen banana. It doesn't really affect the taste--it just adds sweetness, really. Have fun this week!
Jill: Yes, I like bright colors in food AND decorating. I especially love polka dots, so that bedspread was perfect:)
Yeah, jerky is tasty, but it can be high in sodium, so I try to eat it only occasionally.
I will def have to try salsa with my egg salad--I used to always eat salsa with my scrambled eggs!
Andrea: No, I don't cook the tofu first. Since it's meant to be a cold salad, I just take it straight out of the fridge and start mashin'.
Loveofoats: the banana pudding/chocolate combo is great--I highly recommend it for an evening sweet snack.
Meredith: genius! I love your idea of using wheat germ as a "breading." I will have to try that the next time I make "tofu fingers."
VeggieGirl: Yep, Wednesday was pretty awesome. Hope you have a great Thursday too!
Romina: Not only was it cool to hav 3EB, but it was so weird to have them performing on the quad amidst the Gothic architecture--unreal!
Jennifer: I know that I love seeing other people's grocery booty, so I figured I would return the favor. I am glad you appreciate my salads-I am afraid that they are a tad repetitive!

Alicia said...

absent egg salad! clever! it sounds amazing! oh, and you made me crave weetabix! I haven't had the stuff in ages!
I have always heard that raisins are good for the memory, but it could be wrong, no idea where it comes from...

Kristin said...

Chocolate banana soy pudding?? YUM! I'll def. be on the lookout for that one on my next Whole Foods trip!

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Oh you are so lucky that your summer vacation has started. I am counting down the days left of school!

ChickPea said...

Alice: I didn't come up with that title actually; I think I snagged it from a similar recipe on VegWeb.
Weetabix is SO GOOD. You should have a Weetabix reunion sometime soon.
Kristin: I got it at Whole Foods in the dairy section next to the yogurts. It comes in chocolate, and vanilla too.
CCV: I'm not quite on summer vacay yet--I still have exams to deal with!

Anonymous said...

Hey there I have amenorrhea too and have just been diagnosed with osteoporosis, I am absolutely devestated. I was just wondering how long have you had amenorrhea?

ChickPea said...

Anonymous: If you want to talk about personal health issues, etc. my e-mail is cwy@duke.edu.