Wednesday, October 15, 2008

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!

11 comments:

Anon said...

i finally bought sunbutter after seeing it on your blog. it's soooo good!!

i love how a dark chocolate kiss crept into the post. mmmmm

Olga said...

Ah, sorry about your smoothies trials and tribulations!

I totally have a hard time getting back in the groove after a vacation...Sometimes, it's a mini vacation...I go home for the weekend and it's over. I come back and I'm totally lazied out!

I like your home breakfast =]

Anonymous said...

Why must your meals always look so amazing?! =)

Emma said...

mmm I love the look of the mock tuna in the sarnie- I think I will have to have a go at making something similar, I never do anything creative with chickpeas,!

Anonymous said...

Delicious eats as usual! Any chance you could post your scrambled tofu recipe? I want to make it myself but I'm not sure what proportions I should use. Thanks! Good luck getting back into the groove!

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

"Do you ever have trouble getting back into the groove after a vacation?"


Ooooooh yes. Hang in there, girl!!

A sunbutter & blueberry jam sandwich?? HOLY YUM!

LOVE the photo of the smoothie looking at itself in the mirror - so cute!! :0)

You have an on-campus grocery store??? How neat!!! Wow, did I just say "neat"?? I haven't used that word in YEARS, haha ;0)

Anonymous said...

LOL! You sliced your apples the same way as I do!!! Great minds think alike eh?!! ;)

L.O.V.E the 'artistic' shot! Looks very 'mysterious' :D

And oh! Once, I was eating some raw carrot sticks in the library (trying to be as quiet as possible since eating in library a big no no)... but, I swear everyone around me can hear the munching sound, haha!

Agnesss =) said...

HEY CHICKPEA!!!!

All the meals look so adorable..:) Well..I just LOVE to read your blog!! Really it's one of my VERY FAVOURITES :DDD it is so inspiring and nice in design :D
Youu're great :D

You'll go through that addaptation process and you'll be back in shedule.. :D I know how it is.. ehh SCHOOL!! ://

Well...I'd be SOOOOOOOO HAPPY to see a comment from you on my new post,,,I appreciate it VERY MUCH,Girl :D!!

Pls visit me !! :)

www.agnesworldofveganpleasuresblogspot.com

Hope for your visit :))

Have a nice dayyy and HUGS from Poland :)!!
(it's POURING HERE -rain rain RAIN!!)

Tina said...

Sunbutter, huh? I need to check this out!

Anonymous said...

Do you boil your own beans in college or at home. Or for both places do you buy canned?

Your presentations always look so good!

ChickPea said...

Andrea: I am SO glad you liked it!
Olga: Yeah, it's amazing how short of a period the vacation can be, and I'll still have trouble getting back into routine...
Shelby: Haha, thanks--yours always look delicious as well!
Emma: I recommend the mock tuna salad--chickpeas lend themselves to anything "creamy."
Megan Ludwig: I will post my scrambled tofu recipe in a future post...thanks for the suggestion!
VeggieGirl: Yeah that version of a PB&J was pretty awesome. Sometimes the simple stuff is the best.
The on-campus grocery store isn't THAT cool. It's more like a pimped out convenience store. It has a small produce section (I pretty much bought a little of everything they had!), but a lot of room is devoted to chips, cereals, and sodas. There's a good international aisle for all the overseas students which I take full advantage of.
HealthyCelia: I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who has experienced the "munching" dilemma!
Agnes: Thanks for all your kind words. Your blog is fast becoming one of my favorites!
Tina: For sure! I found it at Target.
Lauren: No, I am a lazy bum wherever I go. I buy canned beans and rinse them very well before using. I also buy reduced-sodium varieties when I can.