Art on the Rocks

I just returned from an evening at the art museum...but I didn't see any exhibits. The Birmingham Museum of Art hosts events for young adults throughout the summer, (Art on the Rocks) and I made my first venture there tonight. It was a good way to spend the evening, although I think I was by far the youngest person there. I think the definition of "young adult" spans age 22-35ish, so I still have a few more years until I fit into that category. Nonetheless, there was good music, a few snacks and beverages, and even a fun craft!

Tomorrow, the fam heads to Atlanta for some fun shopping at Ikea and H&M, plus a visit to the Georgia Aquarium. One of the things that I am most looking forward to is our visit to the Cafe Sunflower--an all vegetarian restaurant! My dad surprised me last night by announcing that he had made reservations there. Here is the menu....what would you order?

We leave early tomorrow morning, so I'll get to the food already.

Wednesday

I haven't been posting my snacks as often lately, so I thought I would post a few today. Here is one from two days ago: plain Oikos yogurt with Craisins and whole grain graham crackers. Not a bad study snack.

My shake was fabulous--again. I am on a roll lately. However, this shake wasn't perfect; I used chocolate PB Soy Delicious, but I could barely taste any peanut flavor in the shake. Next time I think I'll add a scoop of PB to the mix.
Thursday

On Wednesday evening, I made a batch of muffins from raisin bran cereal, whole wheat flour, and agave as the sweetener. I had two of these for breakfast yesterday with a tall glass of soymilk and some sliced peaches with cinnamon.

My packed lunch consisted of a taco chili sandwich (using a spread by Cool Beans), fresh berries, and carrots with natural PB. I purchased this spread at Fresh Market last weekend--I had never tried it before. It lived up to its label--quite spicy!--but the fresh tomato cut the spiciness so that the sandwich was enjoyable. Contrary to my usual sweet tooth, I had a considerable salt craving yesterday after lab--I reached for some of those BBQ soy crisps, and green bell pepper strips with Goddess dressing.
Last night's dinner was inspired by the Eggplant Fans recipe from the Chicago Diner Cookbook. I didn't end up making the fancy schmancy "fans" that the recipe called for, but I used most of the same ingredients: olives, artichoke hearts, and oregano. I added a Quorn cutlet for some protein, plus my usual side salad.
My shake last night was the best I have had in a while. The addition of a frozen banana and dark chocolate cocoa powder made all the difference. I was seriously a little heart broken when I reached the bottom of the glass:(Friday

Another tofu scramble this morning--note that the salsa is absent from this rendition. Rather than Mexican, I went for an Asian theme this morning: orange zest, grated ginger, and green onions went into this morning's mix. I also had a small kiwi and a slice of whole wheat toast.

For lunch, I picked out a recipe from Clean Eating Magazine (No. 1). This was not just a random recipe; I chose the cover recipe: Quinoa Black Bean Salad. This recipe gave me the excuse to use fresh cilantro from my garden AND my beloved Recaito that I mentioned a few weeks ago. Not a bad look-alike to the original, no? Anyway, I also had a salad with local tomatoes and fresh avocado, plus a big orange. Totally satisfying.

As I mentioned above, I went to a party this evening, so I didn't eat a real dinner. I was told that there would be "great food" at the event. There were platters full of mini ham sandwiches and buckets of queso, but I ultimately feasted on a dinner of chips and salsa with a glass of white wine. Oh, well--can't eat well all the time!

Alright, I will try to check in later this weekend, but if not...be back Monday!