Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Back to Be Babied

I have returned to Birmingham for Thanksgiving, and I am so glad. My weekend presented some unexpected emotional escapades, so I was ready for a big hug from Mommy. Hopefully, a week of family and food (two of my most favorite things!) will prove to be just the remedy for my wounded heart.

The past few days have been filled with last-minute meetings before the break, basketball games, and delayed flights. As a result, my meals continue to consist of simple standards. Let the week of culinary creativity begin!

Friday
A peaches 'n cream shake! I combined frozen peaches, cinnamon, vanilla So Delicious, Nutribody protein, and soymilk. What a perfect way to celebrate Duke's win over Michigan!
Saturday
One of my favorite winter-time breakfasts last year was heated shredded wheat; I stole the idea from a Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats commercial. to indulge this cold-weather craving, I treated myself to a box of Autumn Wheat at Whole Foods on Friday. For this breakfast, I heated the tasty little squares with rice milk, and I served it alongside an apple with almond butter.
For lunch, I tried out a new variety of Amy's burgers, the Texas burger. I enjoyed this one on a whole wheat sandwich thin with salsa and hot sauce. On the side, I had a salad with Annie's Goddess dressing, plus a banana.
Dinner was spent out at a place called Piazza Italia, where I had spaghetti with puttanesca sauce and vegetables. I apologize for the lack of picture, but I assure you that it was delicious!

Sunday
This was my attempt at green oats, but I am not happy with the results--the color is not nearly vibrant enough! I made applesauce oats and topped it with a broken up pistachio Larabar. Tasty, but not quite the taste of the rainbow I had intended.
After another basketball game (and another victory!), I prepared a simple hummus sandwich with a salad and a banana with almond butter. Yawn.
I had several sorority-related events to attend in the evening, but I managed to make the evening meal a tad more interesting than lunch. I cooked red onion and zucchini with ginger and peanut sauce, then added some frozen shelled edamame for protein. I also had some plain yogurt with the rest of my pom seeds--gotta use up those leftovers!The smoothie of the evening was a classic: strawberries, banana, Nutribody protein, and soymilk. Can't go wrong with that.
Monday
My cereal this morning ended up being an alternative form of raisin bran: I combined spelt flakes with currants, rice milk, and wheat germ. On the side I had a banana with almond butter.
I had to work quickly for lunch; my cab was coming at any minute. A sliced apple, Sunbutter, pita, carrots, and a blob of hummus made for the perfect mix-and-match meal. I tried the hummus on the apple, Sunbutter on the carrots, lots of tasty combinations here!
When I finally returned home, I made a quick dinner out of a lonely Sunshine burger in the freezer on a wheat bun, plus steamed veggies, a salad, and a vanilla Greek yogurt. Random, but delicious.
Now, I am off the attack the depths of the freezer for my evening shake. Keep your fingers crossed that I'll find some frozen fruit!

13 comments:

Anon said...

hahaha love the title of this post. i go home tomorrow and look forward to being babied too ;)

RICE MILK = yummy!!!! yay for thinly sliced apples, broccoli hut-style :)

Maggie M. said...

Hugs from mommies make everything better :) Hope you're okay!

Anonymous said...

mom's always make everything better.

Did you enjoy your formal?

Anonymous said...

sorry one other question but sunshine burgers are higher in cals than most veggie burgers are they more filling? or is it just they have more fat cals?

how do you make your cranberry sauce? it looks great!

Erica said...

A peaches and cream shake? Sounds soooo good! I'm glad you're home and relaxing :)

Anonymous said...

i hope you enjoy your time w/ your fam and have a wonderful thanksgiving

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

I need to send you some pistachio-butter from Futters!!! Although of COURSE I love that you used a LARABAR (!!!!) in the oats ;-)

ENJOY EVERY MOMENT AT HOME, GIRL!!! You deserve it immensely.

Anonymous said...

I loove when you put different combinations in your oatmeal! Crunchy with Creamy sounds heavenly right now.


Your sandwiches are making me soo hungry!!

Anonymous said...

Sometimes all you need is a big hug from mom no matter how old you are! Hope everything is getting better!!

I'll ignore the Duke win over MI ;)

Heated cereal sounds amazing - I need to give it a try! Really though, love your meals as ALWAYS!

Enjoy your time at home!!

Olga said...

yay for being home! I agree: fam & food=thheeee best

I <3 your cereal creation!

Anonymous said...

Hey,

Enjoy your time at home! I have to admit I go home almost every weekend (a 3-hour trip) because, well, it's home! Also your magnificent creations sparked some questions-
question one: how do you make that heated cereal? I agree with ksgoodeats that is sounds amazing, but do you heat the entire thing or just the milk?
and question two: I am currently struggling with an eating disorder (anorexia) and because of the abundance of healthy, balanced meals on your blog I was wondering whether you watch your calories of if you're aiming at a specific amount for a meal? I tend to skip meals or eat unbalanced ones so I marvel at your consistently amazing looking food! But I completely understand if you don't want to answer this. But please answer on te cereal question;)

I'll stop taking up so much space now!

-x- DameNoire

jess said...

Yay for moms, haha! I cannot WAIT for hugs tomorrow- thanks so incredibly much for your comment on my post about missing my family, by the way. It was really touching.

What'd you think of the new amy's burger variety?

ChickPea said...

Andrea: I'm so glad you appreciate my slicing skills:)
Magpie: Thanks, magpie! I am much better now--I appreciate your concern!
Anonymous: Formal was a blast, but it had an unexpected ending...more details when I am feeling up to it.
I think Sunshine burgers are totally worth the calories. I don't know if they're necessarily more filling, but definitely "satisfying" in terms of their deliciousness. If you're worried about calories, you could pair them with lots of veggies and eschew the bun.
I will be making cranberry sauce tomorrow, so I will share the recipe in the future.
Erica: Thanks!! I hope you're enjoying yourself for the holiday as well.
LoveofOats: Same to you!
VeggieGirl: Mmm pistachio butter sounds pretty awesome. I need to check out some of Futter's other offerings as well. I hope all is well with you!
Shelby: I am all about texture!!
ksgoodeats: Haha, I didn't know that you were a MI fan... you all gave us a tough game!
The heated cereal is awesome--let me know if you try it!
Olga: Totally agree--I hope you're enjoying the holiday!
DameNoire: I actually heated the entire bowl for this version of heated cereal, although you could just heat the milk if you wanted. I happen to like the extra sogginess, so I choose to cook the whole deal.
I, too, suffered from anorexia in the past so I completely understand where you're coming from. I do keep track of calories as a bad habit. I aim for about the same amount of calories at each meal, and I try to get at least 3 food groups into each meal as well.
Jess: I hope you are now enjoying time with your family! I loved the Texas burgers--not nearly as "floppy" as the Bistro variety, and it had a nice kick to it.