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.