Friday, February 13, 2009

Foodie Friends

I just spent a fabulous evening with Alanna, my foodie friend and future roommate. At last, I have found someone who shares my passion for grocery shopping and healthful eating! Our outing began with a trip to Target for a few items related to our sorority...although I also grabbed a few items for myself, of course--Target is like the danger zone in terms of impulse buying. Afterward, we headed to Trader Joe's and scoured the aisles for foodie finds. Highlight purchases of this trip included agave-maple syrup, veggie dogs, and low-sodium butternut squash soup. Keep an eye out for those in my future posts! For those of you fortunate enough to have a Trader Joe's nearby, what is your favorite item? I'll keep a list for our upcoming TJ's excursions:)

We wound up the foodie frenzy with a stop at Evo's...stay tuned to see what I ordered.

Rewinding to earlier in the week, I managed to fill myself up with some pretty tasty eats:

Wednesday
With some green beans and pinto beans in dire need of being eaten, I whipped up an Asian bean salad with Annie's Shiitake Sesame dressing. I had some rice crackers and an orange on the side.
Many months ago, I made a recipe from Ellie Krieger, an Herbed Toasted Pita Salad. I made my own version with black beans, TJ's Mini Pitas, green bell pepper, tomato, and avocado. I love the crunch of the pita! On the side, I had pineapple and broccoli.
The smoothie of the evening included cherries, peaches, and Nutribody protein. A unique but nonetheless tasty combination.
Thursday
With my box of Fiber One finally gone, I decided to open up another cereal from my stockpile, Cascadian Farm's Honey Nut Os. I enjoyed a big bowl with rice milk and dates, as well as a sliced banana with PB.
Ever since I became a vegetarian 5 years ago, I have always loved making tofu salads, especially ones that mimic the flavors of egg salad. While I usually just wing it when preparing tofu salads, yesterday I opted to use this recipe for inspiration. It turned out completely delicious, especially atop that pillowy whole grain roll. I also had some greens with Goddess dressing and a Pacific Rose apple. As my Granddaddy would say, "This hit the spot!"
For dinner, I put George Foreman to work and made a black bean and cheddar quesadilla. I dipped the melty mess in some salsa and served it with a salad (with pepitas), peppers, and peaches.
It's been so long since I've had access to frozen cherries (they don't sell them at Whole Foods)--I had nearly forgotten how much I love them! Since I was able to pick some up at Target last weekend, I made a cherry-licious smoothie last night with cherry Spirutein, cherries, strawberries, and soymilk. Absolutely fabulous. I can't wait until fresh cherries are in season again!
Friday
Continuing with my Girl Scout Cookie-themed oats, this mornings bowl was inspired by Tagalongs. I combined my oats with hot cocoa mix (not to be confused with cocoa powder) and topped them with a blob of regular ol' PB. The end result was quite authentically Tagalong-ish. On the side, I had some strawberries with sliced banana.
Here's a look at my weekly Whole Foods haul:
Check out the special edition yogurt flavors! I am also pretty pumped about trying those Odwalla bars.

I worked up quite an appetite cleaning up the apartment and doing laundry. Lunch consisted of baked beans (pintos, garlic, tomato sauce, dijon mustard, and agave nectar), corn, salad with Woodstock dressing, and an apple. Yum.
After our evening of foodie activities, Alanna and I returned to my apartment to dig into our Evo's grub. I ordered the veggie chili with a side of "Airfries," which have considerably less fat and kcalories than standard fast food fries. I also snagged some of their house-made ketchup in the mesquite and cayenne varieties. You all know that I can't have a meal without some fresh produce, so I also had a small salad and a pluot. Now, I am totally stuffed and content:)
Today's random question: Have you ever noticed that workout wear is friggin' expensive? Alanna and I stopped by the activewear section of Target this evening, and everything was way out of my budget. Where do you shop for affordable workout gear? Or am I destined to a lifetime of college t-shirts and Soffe shorts?

Alright, I am off to chillax. Ciao for now.

14 comments:

Anonymous said...

What school do you go to? Is it in Geogia? I didn't know they had and EVOS!!!

Anon said...

ok i love those mini pitas in the salad, that is so clever! i will look for those at TJs this week!! my favorite place to shop for workout clothes is tjmaxx lol. sometimes i will get nice yoga pants and tanks on sale at Victoria's Secret. i love the Super protein odwalla bar - it tastes almost like an oatmeal raisin cookie! the other flavors are a bit too sweet for me. i do like the chocolate one though, of course ;)

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

**Favorite items at TJ's = the Spanish Lentils with Vegetables meal (in the ethnic food section), and the BIG-ASS boxes of PB Puffins :-D

Anonymous said...

TJs: I like the sprouted grain pasta, tomato chutney, sunflower seed butter, fat free basalmic viniagrette, dried fruits, pumpkin spice granola!

I get a lot of my workout clothes from the Nike/Adidas outlet stores by me.

Anonymous said...

Ah, another decadent looking bowl of oats. Spectacular as usual. The cherry/peach smoothie sounds like a good combo as well.

ChocolateCoveredVegan said...

Ugh I know, why is workout gear so expensivo?

I found an awesome jacket at the Nike outlet near my house, but usually that stuff is all XXL (hmmm wonder why the XXL workout gear doesn't sell...)

Anonymous said...

I totally have to find those mini pitas!!! SO CUTE!

Can't go wrong with Honey Nut O's, I used to eat them ALL the time. As a kid, I hated sugary cereal...I would pick the marshmellows OUT of the Lucky Charms and just eat the crunchy parts =)

I need to try that tofu salad!

Fantastic Tagalog Oats and the Evos meal looks wonderful!!!

TJs: I love the Better n' PB, the PB Puffins, and all the dried fruits.

Anonymous said...

happy vday :)

btw i saw your comment on my blog and figured id just answer it here :) i find the 2% is creamier and thicker than the 0%... the reason i bought the 2% was b/c they were all out of 0% :) have a great day!

Anonymous said...

Hooray for foodie friends :)

Love the tagalong oats! For whatever reason I've been jonesin' (like that word?! Haha) for an egg salad sammy and your tofu one just about set me over the edge! Mesquite and cayenne ketchup?! As if ketchup couldn't get any better!!

TJs: PB Crunchy Granola bars = Oh my you'll die and go to PB heaven! Sesame sticks, PB filled pretzels, sliced asiago cheese, TJs Masala burgers, Madras Lentils (you have to eat this WITH something or the sodium might cause you to have a heart attack on the spot - just a warning!). I think that's it ;)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!!

Anonymous said...

It's so nice to have a friend who understands the obsession, right? :)
Those airfries sound like a dream! Real fries make me feel like a million lbs!
I haven't bought workout clothes in so long for that reason! But all the pants I have have lasted for years, so I guess it's worth it. But still!

Little Miss Sunshine said...

Air fries?!!! Woahhhhh you get everything in America, don't cha!!! I sooo agree with ya about workout gears ... good ones cost SO much!!! In fact, I'm keeping my eyes peeled for ones on sale at the moment ... I'm FRUGAL!!!

Hungry Hungry Dancer said...

I love how your doing girl scout themed oatmeal!!!

i used to LOVE the samoa girl scout cookie ice cream... gosh its good


have you done a samoa theme yet?

Mel said...

oh oh oh, i cannot say enough about Trader Joe's... i LOVE their berry mango bran muffins, their new naan bread, their 9 grain cereal, and any of the trail mixes. and their white stilton cheese with apricots. hahaha, hope that gives you some good ideas! and i agree about the ridiculous cost of workout gear-- i too wear college t-shirts to the gym alll the time! have a good rest of your weekend :-)

ChickPea said...

Whitney: I go to Duke in North Carolina. The Evos is located in Chapel Hill.
Andrea: I swear, I will buy anything miniature--pitas are no exception! I LOVE TJ Maxx--I go there for dishes/cooking stuff too. I got a great Puma workout jacket there last December:)
The Choco-walla is on the list for next week!
VegggieGirl: Ooh Spanish lentils sound pretty tasty--I'll keep an eye our for them!
Sarah: Everything you mentioned sounds fantastic! What do you use the chutney for?
Marianne: I thought the cherry-peach combo might be kinda weird, but it ended up being delicious.
CCV: Haha, so true. It's a mystery how that XXL stuff ends up at the outlets...
Shelby: I was never allowed to have sugary cereal as a kid so now I think I am drawn to them more now that I buy my own groceries.
It seems that TJ's is the place to go for dried fruit!
LoveofOats: What a happy accident!
Wish I could find Chobani!
K: Let me know if you try the tofu salad--I promise it will rock your socks.
I am an ex-ketchup addict. I used to put it on everything, including scrambled eggs and mac & cheese. Then I discovered salsa. The rest is history.
I am totally writing down all your TJ's recs--I trust your judgment when it comes to taste:) That asiago cheese sounds especially enticing!
Erin: Exactly! I love that I can talk about foodie dilemmas with her, like how long it takes me to pick among the Larabar flavors!
I wish there were a store devoted to discount workout wear...
Cecilia: The airfries are pretty cool, but they're not all that different from oven baked potato wedges.
I hear ya on being frugal!
VeganonStage: Samoas are my fave Girl Scout cookie, so that was the first flavor I experimented with. Here is the link:http://broccolihut.blogspot.com/2009/01/five-oclock-countdown.html
I just saw the Samoas ice cream at Target yesterday...tempting but its ingredients list is just too long!
Mel: I was so ready to get some of their pomegranate bran muffins on Friday, but I decided against it and vowed to make my own. We'll see how that goes. Their trail mix section is friggin' amazing! I could spend $50 in trail mixes alone, I bet. Which variety of the naan bread have you tried? I noticed they had several flavors.