Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Why I Love the UPS Man

These past few days have been filled with all sorts of goodies! Yesterday, I received my order from Amazon, which included: The Vegan Microwave Cookbook, Marion Nestle's What to Eat, and some mini prep bowls. I have been wanting to order the Marion Nestle book since high school, when I stumbled upon it during my independent study in nutrition. I use these mini-bowls all the time at home--they're the perfect receptacle for a dips (hummus, PB) or a small serving of nuts.

Today I received an unexpected package from Turtle Island, makers of the legendary Tofurky products. The folks at Turtle Island sent me a sample of their tempeh selections in organic five grain, spicy veggie, and organic soy. My guess is that they found my address through VegFamily--I'll be sure to give these products a try in the next few days. Once school is over, I might actually have time to sit down and write some reviews again...


Tuesday
Now, onto the vittles. My breakfast yesterday was oh-so-tasty. I had two more of the Kashi GoLean waffles, but this time I topped them with sliced peaches and cinnamon, with some raw almonds on the side. Despite the yum factor, I was hungry again by 10:30. I am not impressed with the level of satiety these waffles provide. Maybe if I paired them with something more fibrous or protein-ish...


Yesterday's lunch was another freebie, but I was really not impressed with the offerings at this eatery. They had several vegetarian options, but they all included a plethora of cheese. So many places think that vegetarian cuisine consists of dumping gobs of cheese on vegetables. There were no vegan options other than the rather old-looking hummus and pita in the refrigerated section of the restaurant. Boo! So I ended up getting a salad with cucumbers, red onions, tomato, and goat cheese. When I returned to my room, I added Italian herb tofu for a protein kick. One of the apple titans joined the party, along with a cherry vanilla yogurt.


Last night's dinner ended up being a bit of a failure. Inspired by a lonesome-looking jar of tomato sauce in my closet, I decided to try my hand at pita pizzas. Problem was, I didn't have any shredded cheese on hand. I improvised with some string cheese, but it wasn't quite enough to cover the pitas. It still tasted good, but it's not very eye-catching :( On the side I had mixed greens with beans and Bragg's, along with some blueberries.


As a study break last night, I decided to have another random bowl concoction. Last night's combination featured nonfat kefir, Fiber One, wheat germ, and cinnamon. It didn't really strike my fancy; I think kefir is best reserved for smoothie-makin'.

Wednesday
Speaking of smoothies, I had another one this morning. Actually, today's breakfast is an exact repeat of last Wednesday's breakfast: chocolate soy protein powder, frozen banana, almond milk, and cashews on the side. In order to get out of my rut, I am looking for suggestions: What do you like to put in your smoothies?


I really enjoyed today's lunch though; it reminded me of the Southern cuisine I encounter so much back home in 'Bama. The theme of this lunch was beans 'n greens. I had a mashed sweet potato with cinnamon and a touch of sugar, spinach cooked in Bragg's, and some chili beans. Yum! I had to run to discussion section, so I grabbed an orange and some almonds for the road.


Well, I need to finish up some Abnormal Psychology reading and work on my Shakespeare paper. Sounds like an exciting evening, no? Maybe I'll break it up with some cooking...Ciao for now!

14 comments:

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

Haha, love the title of your post - so fun to receive packages!! Especially when the contents are delicious!!

Oooh, your waffle-breakfast and pizzas look particularly scrumptious; and hey, the pizzas look great to me!

do you have an email address I could reach you at (ahh, poor grammar, sorry, haha)? I'd love to share with you my smoothie favorites :0)

Simple and Divine said...

That sweet potato totally did me in...I. LOVE. THEM. SO. MUCH. And I second Liz...those waffles look so good! Can you send me some? You know, "Pay it forward". Lol, you can be my UPS man!

Anonymous said...

I love getting packages!!! Can't wait to see what you make from that Vegan Microwave cookbook. =)

Your pita pizzas look sooo cute.

Anonymous said...

Yay for mail :)

I usually put pb on the Kashi Waffles and it seems to fill me up... honestly, I never had them without pb before, so I'm curious if I'd feel the way you did w/o it!

Anonymous said...

I have the book "What to eat"! It's really interesting! Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

ChickPea said...

VeggieGirl: Yes, the UPS man is always welcome at my dorm! As for my email, it's cwy4@duke.edu. (Oh, and the poor grammar is excused ;))
S&D: Sweet potatoes are AMAZING. I think they're one of those underappreciated foods. People think they're only good for casseroles on Thanksgiving, when in reality they're so versatile--fries, stews, hash...I could go on forever!
Romina: I can't wait to try my cookbook either--I plan on using it this weekend for fun study breaks!
loveofoats: I tried them with PB last week, and I was hungry then, too. If only I had some cottage cheese to put on top--wouldn't that be good?!
GlidingCalm: I haven't started reading it yet, but it's in my backpack so that I can read it in between classes tomorrow:)

J said...

What to Eat is an EXCELLENT book! I've also read Food Politics and Safe Food by Marion Nestle as well, she's a really good author.

Free stuff!

That fruit on top of those waffles, what a breakfast!

Pita pizzas and a salad with beans?! Mmmm, that sounds yummy!

That bean 'n greens meal, can you send me the leftovers. Those are three of my favorite things, beans, spinach and sweet potatoes! Bring some to me!

J said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I sent you an email :0)

ChickPea said...

Jennifer: I like What to Eat so far; I started reading it in my abnormal psych class today...oops. The beans 'n greens meal was one of my faves this week, mostly because it was colorful!
VeggieGirl: I got your email--thanks so much for your suggestions! I will have to check out the hempmilk at Whole Foods on Monday...

Ruby Red said...

Hummus would be so much fun in those mini prep bowls! And I hope you have fun with the vegan microwave cookbook - it's so awesome that some author recognized the value of such a thing for college students!

Too bad those waffles didn't fill you up - I feel like waffles in general aren't very satiating, even if they are home-made with mostly whole wheat pastry flour and paired with nuts. They look so yummy with the peaches and cinnamon on top!

Here's a yummy smoothie suggestion for you: blend a cup of vanilla soymilk, 1/2 cup frozen bananas, frozen or fresh strawberries, and 1 tablespoon nut butter. Then lightly pulse in some uncooked oatmeal, maybe a 1/4 cup or less (but don't chop all the way, just a wee bit). Then drink it with a straw! You'll get some chomping chewy action with your smoothie, too, because of the oats!

ChickPea said...

Ruby: You can expect to see me use these bowls for lots of things...I have a very dip-based diet sometimes: hummus, baba ghanoush, PB, guacamole...the list goes on.
Waffles are definitely one of those foods that I can enjoy only when I know I'll be eating not too long afterwards. Their satiety may be fleeting, but they taste good goin' down!
Thanks for the smoothie recipe...I am out of oats right now (gasp!), so once I replenish my supply, I will give that a recipe a try.

Lindsay (Happy Herbivore) said...

peaches! YUM and your beans look lovely! such color!

ChickPea said...

HH: I know, don't you just love a colorful plate?!