Return to Reality

Fall Break has officially ended, and I now write to you from my apartment in North Carolina. My trip home was relatively uneventful, aside from a late departure. Upon arriving at the apartment, I unloaded all my Target loot (e.g., socks, spatulas, and other such exciting items), but I just could not motivate myself to study. Try as I might to summon my inner conscientiousness, that linguistics textbook stayed closed for several hours. Waking up for my 8:30 stats class this morning wasn't much fun either. Do you ever have trouble getting back into the groove after a vacation?

On the plus side, the internet connection is approximately a bajillion times faster here on campus than at home, so uploading pics is a breeze...

Monday
For the second time ever, I had to throw out a smoothie on Monday evening. The first time I did was due to a lack-luster protein powder; this time, it was the choice of "milk." I didn't have any of my trusty plain soymilk handy, so I substituted unsweetened almond milk. Big mistake. The creaminess just wasn't there. Anyway, I had to throw away a cherry-almond milk concoction. The second go wasn't much better, but I decided to drink it anyway: blueberries, original Living Harvest hemp, and almond milk.
Tuesday
For a final hurrah in my kitchen at home, I prepared some scrambled tofu. This one had soy sauce, tahini, ginger, turmeric, and baby bella mushrooms. On the side, I had a juicy orange, and some plain yogurt with pumpkin and cinnamon. Despite the monochromatic nature of this meal, it was super-tasty. (PS The lighting was rather odd yesterday morning in the breakfast room--let's call it "artistic.")
My flight was in the early afternoon, so I packed a lunch to enjoy during my layover. I brought a Sunbutter and blueberry jam sandwich on whole wheat, bell pepper strips and carrots with hummus, and an apple. This lunch really hit the spot, but it was rather noisy. I felt a little awkward munch, munch, munching away next to my fellow passengers at the gate.
By the time I returned to the apartment and unpacked everything, I was hungry but not exactly in the mood to cook. Plus, when I looked in the fridge, *gasp* I had no produce other than some old lettuce and an onion. Annie's mac and cheese to the rescue! I enjoyed one of the white cheddar microwaveable pouches with some bell pepper strips stirred in (from a bag in the freezer). I rounded it out with a salad topped with the last of my cashews, green beans with dill and garlic, and a dark chocolate Kiss for dessert.
My smoothie last night was, again, not quite satisfactory. I combined strawberries, blueberries, soymilk, and vanilla hemp. I got a little creative with the camera last night, in case you can't tell:)
Wednesday
I was not much in the mood for thinking this morning, much less cooking an exciting breakfast. Cheerios it was. I topped them with wheat germ and rice milk, and I had a sliced apple with Sunbutter on the side.
As mentioned above, I was quite produce-poor until this afternoon. I decided to hit up the on-campus grocery store after my run today. Here's a look at the loot:
I felt a little guilty buying the asparagus (it is so not asparagus season), but I am super psyched about the kelp granules and the whole wheat wagon wheel pasta!

For lunch, I made a big salad from mixed greens, white beans, dried cranberries, carrots, tomatoes, and chopped almonds. On the side, I had some more of those Milton's crackers and an orange.
I was just itching to use those kelp granules, so I decided to make a "fishy" dinner. I made a mock tuna salad out of chickpeas, vegan mayo, mustard, sweet relish, and kelp granules. Spread between toasted bread, it made for quite the tasty sandwich. Along with it, I had broccoli, greens with Goddess dressing, and a sliced banana. Yum.
Recently I received an email from OpposingViews.com, alerting me to their discussion of vegetarianism. I'm not advocating one position over the other, but I just thought some of you might find the debate interesting. I had fun poking around the website this morning--lots of hot topics to explore!

Enjoy the rest of your evening!