Settling In

For the past few days, I have been busy setting up my apartment and preparing for another semester of classes. I'm sure it won't surprise you that my roommate and I fixed up the kitchen, first thing. We both love our food (and cute dishes)! I love my postage-stamp sized kitchen--I just wish it had better lighting! As a result of the poor window placement, my food pictures might be a little blah until I can figure something else out...

Anyway, I have quite a few pics to share today, so I better get started if I want to finish before Jon and Kate Plus Eight comes on!

Saturday
On our first morning in our new abode, my roommate's mother was nice enough to offer to take us to the Durham Farmers' Market. As you might expect, I jumped at the chance! Before we left, I made a quick bowl of Corn Bran cereal with TJ's AntiOXidant trail mix, sliced banana, and soymilk. Remember when the farmers' market came to campus? Well, the actual farmers' market was even better! I loved seeing all the Durham locals selling their vegetables and crafts, plus I met a few cute pooches as well:) I left the market with a sack full of Pink Lady tomatoes and some green and purple bell peppers. Look for them in later meals...
I came back from the market and snacked on this before my run:
After a workout and a trip to Whole Foods, I returned to the apartment famished. I heated up my leftover veggie burger from Ruby Tuesday and dipped it in some organic Heinz. I also had a spinach salad and an apple with cashew butter.
I figured I should use my food points at least once per day, so my roommate and I headed to campus for dinner. It's the return of the Crunchy Broccoli Salad. Unfortunately, this was a rather pathetic example of this favorite salad of mine--not nearly enough walnuts or crunch. Boo. I added my own kidney beans though.
I made my first apartment smoothie! After a few minutes of fiddling with the MB, I finally got it to work in the new location. This one had frozen blueberries, soymilk, and my usual Nutiva HempShake with a granola on top.
Sunday
I had a leisurely bowl of oats before Chapel: banana oats with Brazilnut butter and pumpkin flax granola. Perfection.
I kept it simple for lunch--hummus sammie with tomato, spinach salad, and almonds.
My sweet tooth beckoned mid-afternoon. A Clif Z bar seemed to do the trick. No wonder people love these things!
I was in an experimental mood for dinner, so I made a new version of tofu salad. Shockingly enough, I didn't use any Grey Poupon in this one. Instead, I combine the tofu with cashew butter, ginger, garlic, and chopped purple bell pepper. I stuffed it into a pita and served it alongside broccoli and plain yogurt with wheat germ.
Apartment smoothie, round 2: strawberries, soymilk, HempShake, and granola.
Monday
I was a little anxious this morning due to the start of classes--I always have the feeling that I am going to be late, or I won't be able to find the classroom or something; you'd think I would be over that by now. Anyway, I wanted something comforting as a result of my unease--PB&J! Technically, this was cashew butter and blackberry jam on toast, along with plain yogurt (sprinkled with cinnamon). Note the return of the animal cups!
After my morning classes, I wanted to head straight to the gym (since it's all on the same campus). I didn't want to eat lunch beforehand, however, so I munched on an apple and a baggie of Corn Bran as a pre-workout snack. Once at the gym, I ran about 4 miles on the track and cooled down on the stationary bike for 20 minutes.
For lunch, I hit up the salad bar--lots of veggies with chickpeas and sunflower seeds.
Dinner was another tofu salad concoction: tofu with Annie's Goddess dressing, Bragg's, and a little basil. Spinach, sliced tomato, fresh blueberries, and a baked sweet potato finished it off. No shortage of phytochemicals in this meal!
Whew! Congratualations if you're still reading. FYI, you might have noticed that I featured a lot of new products in this post. I'll be reviewing them in the near future for one of my "feature" posts. Ciao for now.