A Full Year as a Bloggerina

Hello, everyone! I have returned from a fabulous weekend in DC, just in time to celebrate my one-year blogiversary. It all started as a fun way to spend the afternoon during spring break of last year...little did I know that I would find a new hobby, a side career, and, most importantly, a warm community of health-minded foodies. I've learned a lot about myself in the past year, largely due to your thoughtful comments--thanks for reading, commenting, and providing much needed support.
Now, what should I do to celebrate this milestone?!

I have much to share from the second half of my weekend adventure. Check it out:

Saturday
We awoke to a beautiful morning on Saturday--as well as rumbling tummies. As a result of our beckoning appetites, we decided to dine in the hotel restaurant for breakfast. I satisfied my never-ending craving for mango and ordered the Mango Oatmeal, which consisted of Irish-cut oats cooked with mango pieces and topped with fresh berries. Much to my surprise, this dining room offered soymilk as an accompaniment, so I enjoyed a glass of that on the side, along with a mug of Lemon Lift tea. I also got my dad to snag a few spoonfuls of sliced almonds from the breakfast buffet. Delish, but totally overpriced.
Then we headed to the National Gallery of Art for the morning. Points to anyone who can identify the artist of the painting with which I am posing:
For lunch, we headed to an eatery called Teaism. Given my infatuation with tea, I was quite excited to discover this place. I ordered the Veggie Bento with roasted vegetables, sweet potato, tofu, edamame, and brown rice. To drink, I opted for the Jasmine Pearl tea (just for you, Rosalie!). Everything was superbly delicious--I wanted to lick my plate!
We met my cousin and her husband as well as a family friend for dinner. The family friend (Judy) actually owns the restaurant at which we dined, Rock Creek, an establishment devoted to "mindful eating." (Check out the link for details!). Anyway, for my salad I ordered the Butterhead Lettuces with Exotic Mushrooms (sans cheese). Then the bread basket arrived, with a subtly sweet focaccia spread with a garlicky eggplant dip. For my entree, I ordered the only vegan entree on the menu, Hawaiian Hearts of Palm with Red Quinoa and Squash Puree. I've never had hearts of palm aside from those that come from the can, and this fresher preparation was clearly superior. The palm had a texture that was oddly similar to meat! Once again, I cleaned my plate entirely, gobbling up every last kernel of quinoa and smear of squash. The dessert menu arrived, and I found that I still had room for a little sweet something, so I ordered the pomegranate sorbet. A perfect ending to a perfect meal.
My bottomless pit of a stomach called to me again later that evening, so I satisfied it with a cherry pie Larabar...good, but not as tasty as my usual smoothie:)
Sunday
Before heading out to church services, my dad made a run to Cosi, after I had suggested that we try it--I've seen so many of my fellow food bloggers enjoy their relatively healthful offerings. He returned with a sack full of parfaits, egg croissants, and...oatmeal! Can you guess which one I chose? The oatmeal was slightly sweetened with maple syrup and topped with raisins and brown sugar. It was fabulous--it reminded me of the Cream of Wheat my mom used to make me when I was a child. I supplemented the superstar oats with fruit, tea...and a packet of airline peanuts. What? I was still hungry, and I knew fats would do just the trick.
For lunch, we headed to the Cheesecake Factory. Not exactly as unique and sustainably-minded as our other dining locales, but they always have something for everybody. After pigging out on their fluffy brown bread (is anyone else as obsessed with this stuff as I am?!), I ordered the Luau Salad, sans chicken and dressing on the side. The crispy wontons make the salad a bit of challenge to eat, but I really like the chopped macadamias and sweet citrus glaze with which they are covered. Plus, this salad also features more of my recently preferred fruit--mango!
After an afternoon of shopping in Georgetown, we headed to the airport, where I snacked on some carrots with almond butter, one of my all-time fave combos.
When we finally returned home to Birmingham, I looked to the freezer for dinner. I heated up a vegan chik patty and stuffed it in a pita with whole grain mustard and vegan mayo. On the side, I had a salad with Woodstock dressing, Brussels sprouts, and a dish of peaches.
I was blissfully reunited with my nightly smoothie last night: blueberries, chocolate soy protein (Whole Foods brand), soymilk, chocolate syrup, plus a few animal crackers for fun. One word: heavenly.
Monday
Following my refreshing run (in 70* weather!), I whipped up a quick breakfast of a smoothie and an English muffin. The smoothie included mango, cherries, and soymilk, and I spread the English muffin with White Chocolate Wonderful PB. I topped both with a dusting of coconut. I thoroughly enjoyed this while browsing the latest Crate & Barrel catalog--check out those cute plates!
I ran a few errands with my mom, then returned home to make homemade hummus for the very first time. I opted to use the Pumpkin Hummus recipe from Everyday Dish TV (my most recent podcast obsession). I got some strange looks from my mom as I was preparing this tasty mess with my hand blender, but I promise it's a delicious combination! I served it with whole grain flatbread, a spinach salad, and an apple. I can't wait to whip up another batch of homemade hummus...what are your favorite variations?
Afterward, I went to Whole Foods with my dad for a big shop--I didn't get a chance to photograph the haul due to the warm weather--it needed refrigeration ASAP! Anyway, some highlights include two new flavors of PURE bars, Graham Bumpers, Rachel's flavored cottage cheese, Earth Balance (I've never tried it), radicchio, and a baby watermelon. Keep an eye out for those in the coming week!

For dinner, I prepared Mock Maryland Crabcakes from Toni Fiore's Totally Vegetarian. I've never had a real crabcake, so I can't tell you whether these tasted "authentic," but I can say with certainty that they were delicious! I dipped them in some tsasiki sauce and served them alongside a salad, and Greek yogurt with cashews and dates.
Now, I am off to do a bit of reading--some for school, some for pleasure (hello, Clean Eating).

Be back soon!

Getting Creative

You all will be happy to know that I have been trying some new dishes these past few days. I tried out a few of your suggestions from my last post, but I also did a little experimentation of my own the kitchen. Did you know that cooking is an excellent mode of procrastination? Food is much more of a priority than homework, in my opinion...

Wednesday
A few of you mentioned that you like to combine broken up Clif Z bars into Greek yogurt as a quick and tasty snack/breakfast. Well, I improvised a similar snack on Wednesday evening with the items I had on hand: cottage cheese, sliced apple, and (a very old) Nature's Path Optimum Energy bar crumbled on top. I like this bar+yogurt/cottage cheese idea, because you can change it up so many different ways.
Thursday
Again, taking cues from your comments, I tried a new breakfast: toast with tahini and agave. Thanks, for the inspiration, Kimberly--it was fabulous! I also had some more blueberries with wheat germ.
My snack before my run consisted of a Cinnamon Raisin Gnu bar and a small apple. Something about this combination totally worked--my average pace was 45 seconds faster than the day before!
I needed a quick lunch afterward, because I had a meeting to attend. I stopped by a campus eatery and grabbed a House Salad: Romaine, carrots, tomatoes, red onion, cranberries, and walnuts. I added my own tofu and dressed it with Bragg's.
After the meeting was out, I was starving--so I needed something quick that wouldn't ruin my dinner: banana with Futter's Almond Butter.
Dinner was entirely spontaneous. First, I sauteed some farmers' market bell peppers in a pan with garlic and chili powder. I also mashed some leftover kidney beans and plopped them onto a halved pita (I don't have any tortillas at the moment). Add some salsa, and you've got a makeshift taco! Plain yogurt with cashew butter made a great sweet ending to the meal.
Friday
Every semester I schedule my classes such that I have one weekday off; this way I can actually get laundry and grocery shopping done with some regularity. Anyway, this semester, I have Fridays free. I seized the opportunity to sleep in, squeeze in a morning workout, and enjoy a leisurely breakfast. I just can't get enough scrambled tofu. This one had tahini, Bragg's, and ground ginger. I also had some (slightly overdone) toast and a sliced Granny Smith apple. Top it off with a perusal of The Chronicle, and I'd call it a perfect morning meal.
After multiple trips to Whole Foods (read: forgotten bag of dried cranberries at the cash register...), I was ready for some fuel. When my stomach calls, my creativity goes out the window. So, I just mashed some chickpeas with Nayonaise and Grey Poupon and plopped them onto Ak Maks. Broccoli, almonds, and local white peach finished it off.
I had plans to dine out last night, but we wouldn't be leaving until later in the evening, so I made a quick snack beforehand: plain yogurt with dried cranberries (yes, the forgotten ones) and pistachios.
For dinner, we went to The Cheesecake Factory. Honestly, the best part about CF is its wonderful brown bread. I wish I could buy this stuff in bulk and eat it all the time--it's slightly sweet, and I love the oat topping. I probably ate half the basket...For my entree I ordered a Vegetable Chopped Salad with Romaine, radicchio, edamame, beets, asparagus, and crisp apples. It was on the "small salad" menu, so I asked if they could make it full size, but they couldn't. I don't really understand that--they obviously have the ingredients on hand; can't they just bulk up the portion and charge me more? Sheesh. I was left hungry, so we all ordered dessert. My smoothie obsession took charge because I ordered the Tropical Smoothie, which included pineapple, passionfruit, and coconut. Delish.
After dinner and a movie, I returned to the apartment in need of a bedtime snack. It's probably more habit than anything else, but I must have something in stomach just before sleeping. Last night I chose whole grain graham crackers with cashew butter and a glass of soymilk. Put me right to sleep:)
Well, I am off to run errands and maybe do some homework. Be back tomorrow with a feature post.