The Guilty Nods

Have you ever been so tired that you catch yourself nodding off in unexpected and slightly inappropriate places? I have found myself snoozing everywhere from the hair stylist's chair to the theater. Today, I also found myself nodding off in one of my classes. My busy week is at last taking its toll on my energy levels. Anyway, I experience a great amount of guilt when these unfortunate naps occur--it's not that I am bored, I'm just sleep-deprived! Fortunately, I don't think my professor noticed, but I still wonder if she noticed my "lack of engagement" in class discussion...

Well, I better get started on this post so that I can sneak in a little nap before my next class...

Saturday
I woke up to a chilly morning, but I had no time for oatmeal. Hence, I heated up some rice milk and poured over some regular cold cereal (Autumn Wheat). I also had a banana with almond butter on one of my new (and pretty fabulous) red plates.
I had to eat lunch quickly before heading off to more sorority activities. I heated up half a can of Amy's Light in Sodium Lentil Vegetable Soup (on sale at WF for $2). I also had some crackers, a salad with Woodstock dressing, and an apple.
Dinner was another odd conglomeration of portable foodstuffs. I made a snack mix out of GoLean, pumpkin seeds, and soynuts, and I also packed a few clementines plus a chocolate mint Jocolat bar. That's my fancy frock for the evening--amazingly, I still into this dress from high school.
I had enough time for a smoothie on Saturday. You may have noticed that I skipped a few evenings of smoothie time--I figured my neighbors would not appreciate the whir of my blender at 3AM! Anyway, this one featured pineapple, soymilk, Nutribody protein, and ginger zing granola. Oh smoothies, how I missed you.
Sunday
Before heading off to the last bit of sisterly bonding, I made a quick parfait out of plain yogurt (mixed with nutmeg and cinnamon), applesauce, Fiber One, and honey-roasted peanuts.
Lunch was another last-minute affair in which I was too hungry to think of anything creative...so I just heated up the rest of my soup and ate it with pita, salad with Goddess dressing, and a clementine.
I spent the evening doing all the reading I had neglected for the past week (great way to start off the semester, no?). I finally got hungry though, so I heated up an Amy's Texas Burger, plopped it on some bread with salsa, and dug in. On the side, I had some squash with onions as well as some Greek yogurt with peaches.
The shake of the night was another chocolate-covered strawberry concoction with chocolate rice protein, strawberries, soymilk, special dark cocoa powder, and dairy-free chocolate chips. Mmm.
Monday
Now with a more fully stocked fridge and pantry, I was able to make something besides cereal or oatmeal this morning. I busted out my new Rudi's English muffins with glee. After smearing them with PB, I sliced some bananas for the top and placed it under the broiler for crispiness. I also had some Greek yogurt with cinnamon.
Even though it's rather chilly outside, I am in the mood for a big, creative salad. What's your favorite salad combination? What components do you favor the most when creating entree salads? Looking forward to your responses!

Ciao for now.

Back to Routine

At last, some sense of normalcy has returned in the Yoder household. All the family has headed home (excepting the newlyweds, who are still on their honeymoon), and a routine has been established. To illustrate the remarkable change, consider this scene:

Mom: "Caroline, let's see what's on the Style Network."

Me: "Oh, it looks like it's another episode of 'Whose Wedding Is It Anyway?'"

Mom: "Ugh. Turn it off. I don't want to even think about weddings for a looong time."

Bear in mind, this statement emerged from the lips of a woman who has lived and breathed wedding plans for the past 11 months. I must say that I am glad to have my normal mother back:)

My meals should be more typical these days too...

Monday

My love of chocolate has returned again. My smoothies were so healthful for a while there--just fruit, yogurt, and spirulina. Alas, my virtue was short-lived. I had a chocolate-banana shake on Monday, using banana, banana Spirutein, and chocolate non-dairy ice cream (So Delicious, fruit-sweetened). I love the texture of the So Delicious when it's whipped in the blender--very fluffy and "cloud-like." I used the "Awesome Chocolate" flavor, and the carton does not lie--my shake was awesome.

Tuesday

Once again, I needed a quick breakfast after my run (and before my nutrition class) yesterday. I combined plain soy yogurt with cinnamon and pure maple syrup, for a cheater's maple cream topping. I put it on a toasted Rudi's Flax English Muffin, and I had some leftover, so I put a blob on mound of fresh berries. Pretty good for an improv breakfast.

After class, I made a curried pseudo-chicken salad using tofu, Nayonaise, Grey Poupon, curry, raisins, and sliced almonds. I stuffed it all in an Ezekiel pita and served it along side some organic greens and a sliced kiwi. This was SO good. The sweetness of the raisins and the acidity of the mustard created a great flavor combination. For dinner I made an "everything but the kitchen sink" salad. Here's what went into this mess: canned kidney beans, mashed avocado, roasted red peppers, fresh cucumber, yellow peppers, and cherry tomatoes. I also had some whole wheat toast and brussels sprouts. I had another decadent shake last night, using chocolate So Delicious, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Spirutein (!), and a splash of vanilla almond milk. I topped it with a few dark chocolate chips. I was drooling over this one as I poured it into my cup. Wednesday

I kept it simple today for breakfast. My class today was cancelled, so I was able to sleep in and fit in an extra-long workout. As a result, I was hungry by the time I got to the kitchen, so I settled on a "bowl meal" breakfast. Today's mixture included Kashi GoLean, puffed rice, Plain Light Silk, sliced almonds, and fresh blueberries.

Lunch was a quick one too. I just crumbled some tempeh on top of organic greens. There are also some walnuts on there, in case you can't tell--they kind of blend in with the tempeh! I added some raisins too. A piece of Ezekiel toast rounded out the meal. Dinner was inspired by Self Magazine. I save most of the nutrition articles from my magazines, including the ones for the diet "challenges." They often include daily sample menus. Please understand that I am NOT trying to lose weight--I just like to use the menus for new meal ideas. Anyway, one was as follows: "breaded pork chops with steamed spinach and a sweet potato." I thought that sounded pretty balanced, so I made my own version by breading some tofu with wheat germ and baking it at 350*. I used Grey Poupon as the "glue." Two of my addictions in one dish--Grey Poupon and wheat germ! I also had a side salad and some cashews to add some necessary fat. I will leave you with a picture I took today, when "the subject" wasn't aware. He's pretty much deaf these days, so it's easy to sneak up behind him...Now I'm off to study for an anatomy quiz.

Cookbook Burnout

I do this quite often: I get really excited about something (an author, a new gadget, a favorite food, etc.), and I become so involved in the novelty that I soon grow tired of it. That is exactly what has happened in the past week or so. Initially upon my return from school, I was so excited to have access to a kitchen and to use my new cookbooks, but I now am a bit "burned-out" on them. While I still plan to use ED&BV, V-con, and The Chicago Diner Cookbook, I think I will give them some shelf time. As a result of my intense recipe endeavors, I haven't gotten a chance beckon my culinary creativity lately, which is something I enjoy immensely. Sooo, starting tonight, my cooking will be more free-style; often cooking without borders yields the best results:)

Rewind to earlier in the week: recipe madness was still gripping my soul, so many of the pictures below are from the aforementioned cookbooks. This will be a long post, so brace yourselves...

Monday
Remember how I mentioned that I was going to give Dreena's Blackened Tofu a try? Well, I did just that, and I really enjoyed it! One minor drawback is that I didn't mix the seasoning well enough, so I had one bite with a lot of cayenne pepper in it. Yikes! I enjoyed my tofu with some steamed brussels sprouts (with garlic) and whole wheat couscous.

For snackage on Monday, I made a good ol' peanut butter sandwich and washed it down with a tall glass of almond milk. I used my PB & Co. Cinnamon Raisin peanut butter on some of my parents' weirdo bread. The package says that it's whole grain, but it's also labeled "sugar-free." I didn't know bread was a big source of sugar, although many brands do seem to include high fructose corn syrup in their recipes. Anyway, this would have been much better on "my" kind of bread. That evening's shake was of the cookies 'n cream variety. Nonfat plain yogurt, vanilla Spirutein, and O'Coco's Chocolate Crisps made this magical treat. I just now realized that all the ingredients are organic too!

Tuesday

My Magic Bullet has been getting some good exercise lately, because the next morning I had another smoothie. This time I used frozen blueberries, almond milk, and a touch of agave nectar. I also had half of a whole grain English muffin.

When deciding what to make for lunch yesterday, I knew two things: 1) I had a bunch of leftover navy beans and 2) my mushrooms were about to go bad. I pored over V-con for some recipe combining the two and finally came across Tuscan White Beans with Mushrooms--works for me! I really used this recipe more as inspiration than as a set of instructions because I didn't have the time or all the ingredients required; plus I don't like tarragon, which is called for in the recipe. I also had some Kavli crispbreads, a perfectly ripe red pear, and organic greens with walnuts.
Last night's dinner was from The Chicago Diner Cookbook (I told you I went insane!). I made the Thai Broccoli Stir Fry. This dish was one of the more labor intensive dinner recipes I have tried in recent history; it required marinating tofu, baking it, preparing a peanut sauce, plus cooking the vegetables. Sheesh. I was pooped by the time I sat down to dinner. Fortunately, the resultant flavors made all that hard work worthwhile. I am officially addicted to any and all peanut sauce. Simple as that. I had a big grapefruit on the side.
My evening shake last night was banana flavored: Spirutein, frozen banana, soy milk, and a few Ghirardelli dark chocolate chips for garnish. This was yummy, but I might add a few chocolate chips into the mix next time--I love my chocolate!

Wednesday

This morning I found some unopened whole wheat pancake mix in the pantry. I didn't really follow the directions (which called for oil, eggs, and milk) and instead used almond milk and some ground flax + water. They still turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. I enjoyed them with some homemade pumpkin butter, sliced organic strawberries, and just a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

Lunch today was something that I have been craving for a while: a bologna sandwich! For practically my entire childhood, I packed myself a (low-fat) bologna sandwich on white bread (eek!) with pickles, mayo, and mustard. I made myself a more healthful version today with Smart Deli meatless bologna, Nayonaise, mustard, lettuce, and whole grain bread. YUM! It took me right back to my brown-baggin' days. I also had a juicy red pear and some raw almonds.
After a long day of wedding-related activities, I returned home famished! I grabbed the first things that came into my field of vision: a banana and a jar of peanut butter! I washed it down with a glass of almond milk.
Tonight was breakfast for dinner in our household. My mom was making waffles, but since I had pancakes for breakfast I opted to make a tofu scramble again. Adding turmeric to the mix really does make it look like eggs! I toasted up a Rudi's whole grain & flax English muffin, and I had some low-sodium V8 since I realized I am low on veggies today!
Whew! That was a lot of ground to cover. I have a quick question for you all: I realized today that I have subconsciously collected quite a few packages of tortillas, flatbreads, and wraps, so I need ways to use them before they go bad. What are your favorite ways to use tortillas and wraps? Thanks in advance! Ciao for now.