Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Saga of the Cherry Rain Boots

If you step onto a college campus on even a moderately rainy day, you're likely to encounter hundreds of female undergraduates sporting rain boots--in every color of the rainbow, in any pattern you can imagine. I had refrained from partaking in this trend for a while, given my distaste for "being one of the crowd," but I finally surrendered to the rain gear trend when I realized the inclination of Duke's campus toward sludginess. Plus, we all know how much I like shopping for footwear:) After having my pair of cherry-printed rain boots for about a year, I have worn them maybe twice. After looking at the weather report for today (RAIN ALL DAY), I decided today would be a good opportunity to get some use out of them. Lo and behold, the weather gods decided to make a mockery of me today--it has barely drizzled a drop all day. As a result, I felt like a may-juh dork walking around campus in my rain boots, without a raindrop in sight. Sigh.

Maybe my "cool" eats will make up for my dorkiness...

Monday
I indulged myself at Whole Foods last week and bought some tempeh Lightlife Fakin' Bacon, my favorite variety of veggie bacon (I am NOT a fan of Lightlife's "SmartBacon."). I forgot to snap a picture of the package, but I'm sure you all can figure out what it looks like if you're interested in trying it for yourself. Anyway, I used it to make a BLT: tempeh bacon, lettuce, tomato, vegan mayo, and whole grain mustard on whole wheat. I also had some celery with PB and an orange.
Before heading out to my weekly dining meeting, I had some baked blue corn chips with guac and salsa.
For dinner, I whipped up a strange concoction inspired by this recipe. I didn't have any flax oil...so I used ground flax. It was actually a pretty tasty dressing. I also had a big salad, grapes, and crackers.
The shake of the evening featured strawberries, soymilk, chocolate rice protein, and more hot chocolate mix.
Tuesday
In contrast to my usual sweet breakfasts (aside from scrambled tofu, of course), I had a savory meal yesterday morning. I made a breakfast sandwich out of tempeh bacon, tomato, and guacamole. DELISH. I also had a sliced apple.
Continuing with my homemade hummus fixation, I made another batch yesterday; this time the flavor was tomato-basil. Quite delicious, and such a lovely hue of pink! I enjoyed it with some whole wheat mini pitas, celery, and cucumber, along with some grapes.
I tried another variety of Chobani yesterday, the vanilla flavor. I combined it with some wheat germ and roasted almonds--gotta love that crunch factor. (PS Yes, that article was painfully boring to read).
By the time I got around to making dinner, I was famished. I made a quick veggie panini with mushrooms, spinach, red onion, and mozzarella, along with some zucchini fries (seasoned with garlic salt and pepper). I also had some peaches with cashews and cinnamon.
My shake last night included an unprecedented combination for me: banana + raspberry. I also added chocolate rice protein and soymilk, along with coconut and Choco-Cherry granola on top. Sorry my shakes are so repetitive lately--I have only one form of protein powder these days. Chocolate is so much more limiting than vanilla or plain!
Wednesday
My breakfast innovation continued this morning with a "Banana Energy Sundae." The idea for this meal came from here. Obviously, I changed it up according to my tastes: TJ's High Fiber Cereal, cinnamon-spiked plain yogurt, banana, Sunbutter, wheat germ, and chopped dates. I *think* I might have found a new favorite breakfast...
Today's reminders:
-Katie from CCV is giving away...herself in a box. Enter to win some of Katie's favorite products by April 12th--there are LOTS of ways to enter, so check it out!
-Sarah from Tales of Expansion is giving away a Bob's Red Mill product. I feel like Bob is my good buddy, considering how many of his products I regularly purchase (oat bran, flaxseeds, TVP...), so I am pumped about this contest! Enter by April 5th at noon.
-The Girl in the Little Black Dress is giving away more of those fabulous Quaker goodies. Organic cotton robe? Yes, please! Enter by April 3rd.

TTFN, my friends.

23 comments:

Nicole said...

Every time I hear it is going to rain, I throw on my rain boots so I find that I'm walking around in them like a big dork all the time! It's okay though, I love them!

Lauren said...

Ok, I must buy tempeh bacon - you make it look so yummy.

LizNoVeggieGirl said...

NO WORRIES!! Those boots are super cute :-)

annie said...

Rain boots are cute!! i know what you mean by joining the bandwagon I actually bought fake uggs because i was soo influenced by others haha.

your sandwiches are lookin good!

Anna said...

it was supposed to rain in DC today too but nothing so far... hmmm..

Jen said...

Those are the tiniest mini wheat pitas I've ever seen!!! Soo cute! Where did you buy them from?

Erica said...

I think your rain boots are super cute! I bet people were jealous ;) I need to make some homemade hummus! love the pink ;)

Anonymous said...

I still haven't bought those rain boots, but I know they are pretty practical.

At least you looked stylish!

Tempeh bacon is the best!

Anonymous said...

I think those boots are super cute!!!

Now I'm going to have to try that tempeh bacon!!! You make it look delicious =)

Anonymous said...

haha gotta love the dorkiness!! ;)

Mmm.. homemade tomato basil hummus?! Looks FAB, especially how it’s pink!

Lovely presentation with your “banana energy sundae”. It’s so pretty and artistic! I’d still eat it because it looks so DELICIOUS!

Hope you had a great Wednesday<3

Anonymous said...

All your meals look ABSOLUTELY PERFECT & WELL ROUNDED!! Once again! :)

That Banana Sundae breakfast?!?! oh my gosh Caroline, I want to try that now!!

curlytop said...

Caroline,

OMG! Zuchini fries...brilliant. I would have never thought of that. And to think there are two gigantic zuchinis sitting in my fridge right now. I'm getting hungry!

With Love,

Emily

Marianne said...

Fun breakfast sundae there :) And tempeh bacon eh? Sounds interesting. I know regular bacon + guacamole is an excellent combo in sammies, so I would think that if the fake bacon is similar, it would also be good. Can't say I've ever seen tempeh bacon here though. Hard enough to find tempeh!

Anonymous said...

Aw but you rock those cherry rain boots! They're so cute :)

I definitely dig the breakfast "sundae". No better way to have a sundae than for breakfast. Yours looks much better than the real thing!

sarah said...

I LOVE your boots! I definitely think they are a necessity on college campuses. I always forget to wear mine (and bring and umbrella) when it actually rains though! haha

Sharon said...

Those boots are soooo adorable!!!! And mmmm yummm eats.

Diana said...

Haha, I totally gave into the boot trend years ago (in college!) but I embrace it now because I walk through puddles with RECKLESS abandon! :)

I really need to try the tempeh bacon - that has got to be good, because you're right, the smartlife version is not as awesome, but I'm trying to wean off the morningstar version because it's made of funny things.

Anonymous said...

LOVE THEM!! haha i ALWAYS resist trends like that for a while, then i give in and realize why they are so genius :D It was supposed to rain in L.A. today too, i feel like every region got a tease of spring, now it's gone! And Deeelish meals as usual- i would honestly never eat out if i had your gift, such a kitchen diva!

Danielle said...

I love those boots!

Anonymous said...

i ALWAYS end up wearing my rain boots when its not raining. at least yours are cute. mine are from farm and fleet and smell like tires. :/

and that wednesday breakfast: WOW!

and i definitely saw your gnu review. it gave me hope that the other flavors would be much better. keep the reviews coming prettygal.

Anonymous said...

Cute wellies :)

Love the pink hummus (and the pink links)! Chobani!!

"gotta love that crunch factor" I hear ya girl!

Recipe man said...

all the food you presented looks so healthy and tasty and so colorfull!
thanks

Kris | iheartwellness.com said...

Oh my...your boots are super cute!

Plus your sammies don't look to shabby either ;)

Great posts!!