Are You Afraid of the Dark?

**Thanks to everyone for your kind comments in response to my post entitled "Another First." I really enjoyed the experience, and I appreciate your support!**

Aside from being a super-awesome Nickelodeon television show from my childhood, today's post refers to how I felt this morning. I hopped out of bed at 7AM this morning, as per usual, to walk across campus to the gym. When I open up the door, however, it appears to be the middle of the night. Oh, yeah. Daylight Savings Time. While it's great to have the prolonged sunlight in the evening, I had forgotten that there is a trade-off--it's much darker in the AM. Central campus (where I reside) has a reputation as being more crime-ridden than one might prefer, so this unexpected darkness made me a little nervous. Yes, I admit it--I was afraid of the dark. Fortunately, the sun came along soon enough, so my trek over to the gym was minimally frightening. How about you? Are you afraid of the dark?

Anyway, since my last meal re-cap, I have returned to school for the final portion of the semester. Here's what I ate in my last few days of freedom.

Friday
I have another rare snack to share: Rachel's cottage cheese with pear and mangosteen. To be honest, I'm pretty sure I have never even seen a mangosteen, but I still thought this flavor sounded intriguing. I enjoyed mine with some raw cashews. I think the reason I like these flavored cottage cheese cups so much is that they remind me of Breakstone's Cottage Doubles. They have the same portability and tastiness--without all the icky ingredients.
For dinner, I decided on the Thai Chick-Un Pizza from ED&BV (quite possibly my very fave cookbook). I have made it before (see here and here), and it never disappoints. I wish I had had the pineapple that the recipe requires, but no such luck. Nonetheless, it was quite delicious. I also had a salad and some clementines.
My shake of the evening was of the choco-nana variety: unsweetened chocolate Spirutein, frozen banana, vanilla non-dairy ice cream, and soymilk. Sorry for the crap-tastic picture--at least you have a nice few of my current cookbook obsessions in the background.
Saturday
Following my race on Saturday, I knew exactly what I wanted for breakfast. I had mentioned it in my last post when I showed you my GoLean Muffin creations...yep, I made a muffin parfait. This one featured said muffins, Greek yogurt, blueberries, and Mighty Maple PB. I love how the muffins soak up all the flavors of the other layers. See yesterday's post for details.
I had a quick lunch so that I could devote my full attention to the ACC tournament on TV. (FYI: DUKE WON THE TOURNAMENT). Anyway, I made a ginormous wrap with chickpeas, steamed cauliflower, red bell pepper, mixed greens, and Woodstock dressing. This wrap ended up being quite messy and falling apart after my picture. Nonetheless, it was quite tasty. On the side, I had more greens and a big bowl of watermelon.

As a last hurrah before my departure, the whole fam came over for dinner. I needed to use up some leftover beans, so I made some hummus inspired by Caitlin's purple hummus...except mine was pink! With my hand blender, I combined red beans, liquid smoke, tahini, paprika, cumin, garlic, and S + P. The end result was quite smoky and garlicky, which doesn't make for the best breath, but it tastes good goin' down. I put a hefty amount in an oat bran pita with some spinach. I also had some salad, clementines, and grabbed the last few green beans from the serving bowl. You gotta be quick in my house if you want some green beans, apparently.
After a night out at a piano bar (which was another first for me), I came home to make a quick shake: S'mores Spirutein, dark cocoa, soymilk, banana, and non-dairy vanilla ice cream. Yum.
Sunday
I re-fueled before church with a simple breakfast: Toast with PB and fig jam, a clementine, and some good ol' Fage.
I packed my lunch for the airport, which I'm afraid featured more simple fare: leftover pink hummus, Ak-Maks, assorted veggies, and grapes. Garlic breath and small enclosed spaces (i.e. airplanes) are not a good combination. Oops.
I tried a new bar for my snack: a PURE bar in the Chocolate Chip Trail Mix flavor. Look for a review in the future...
Once home, unpacked, and re-stocked with some produce, I settled into dinner. I made a salad with chopped up soy nuggets, spinach, and a homemade agave-mustard dressing. On the side, I had some corn, broccoli, and applesauce with almonds. I promise my culinary creativity will return eventually...
For my smoothie, I amped up the raspberry: raspberries, raspberry Spirutein, soymilk, and Peak Protein granola. I found this in the cabinet from way back when the kind folks at Bear Naked sent me samples.
Monday
Back to the grind this morning. I just heated up some rice milk and poured it over Autumn Wheat cereal and served it with a sliced apple & Cinnamon Swirl PB.
Heads up on an upcoming giveaway:
Em of the Health Nut is giving away an Eat Right bag from the American Dietetic Association. Enter by March 20th at midnight, EST.

Well, it's my first day back, and I am already running late for class again. Sheesh. Enjoy your Monday!

Berry Tripping

Hello, all! I apologize for the delay--my normal midday posting schedule was side-tracked due to a dining committee event. We're hosting a "berry tripping" event on Thursday night for which I was selling tickets. What is berry tripping, you ask? It all centers around the "miracle fruit," a berry grown in West Africa that alters your taste sensations. A glycoprotein present in the berry makes sour things taste sweet: just imagine sucking on a lemon that tastes like lemonade, or guzzling Guinness that tastes like a milkshake.

Check out this video from the NYT for an inside look at this food trend.

What do you think? Would you be brave enough to go on a berry trip?

Anyway, here's what I've been chomping on since my last post:

Monday
Inspired by my recent purchase of frozen artichoke hearts (from TJ's), I decided to whip up a vegan spinach artichoke dip. I based my version on the recipe from the Chicago Diner Cookbook, which includes vegan mayo, artichokes, garlic, and spinach. To make a completely dippable meal, I also served up some hummus with sliced olives on top. I used some more of those fab baked blue corn chips to shovel in the tastiness. Oh yeah, some salad a few grapes added a little more nutrition to the meal.
Following my dining committee meeting, I made another mock tuna melt, using my standard chickpea mixture as the "tuna" and melted provolone for the "melt." The end result was much better than last time--sliced cheese is much more melty than a chopped up cheddar stick. I also had a big salad from the salad bar with Annie's Balsamic Vinaigrette, plus a dish of melon.
For my smoothie that evening, I whipped up a frothy peach-banana combo with Nutribody. Sadly, I am nearing the end of my Nutribody AND my Cascadian Farm granola...looks like I'll need to go shopping for smoothie supplies soon:)
Tuesday
I've had this "People's Choice" yogurt by Stonyfield sitting in my fridge for a while--since it was so "special," I felt like I should use it creatively. In the end, it formed one of the components of my blueberry-pom parfait. I layered TJ's High Fiber cereal, said yogurt, blueberries, and almonds to make it. The yogurt tasted mostly like blueberry to me, but it was tasty, nonetheless. I really like this cereal though--it's like a gloriously aspartame-free Fiber One. I am also mildly obsessed with its cereal cousin, TJ's High Fiber Fruit and Nut Medley. Hmm...perhaps these will appear in future product reviews?
After my test, I came back to the apartment for a little comfort food...which has come to mean Goddess Garbanzos. I put the delicious mess in an Italian herb wrap with mixed greens and served it alongside a salad with 'shrooms and chopped apricots, plus grapes and steamed sugar snap peas.
I was stuck at home doing homework last night (rather than attending the basketball game against FSU), so I treated myself to an old fave while watching it on TV: scrambled tofu. I included zucchini in the mix for this one and served it with a whole wheat mini bagel, Brussels sprouts, greens, and an orange.
My nightly blog-reading was accompanied by a fab shake: strawberries, banana, soymilk, dark cocoa powder, and chocolate rice protein. A few more of those Annie's Bunnies decided to take a swim.
Wednesday
I am trying to whittle down my cereal selection (what? 8 boxes is too many?), so I opted for a hot bowl of Autumn Wheat today. I also had a banana with some Cinnamon Swirl PB.
Today's lunch was a double-salad: Waldorf salad, plus herb/greens mix with chickpeas. How can you go wrong with almonds, raisins, and apples? I also had a few crackers on the side.
There are a few giveaways in blogland that I wanted to let you all know about.

Olga from Healthing It is giving away a gift certificate for Me & Goji cereal. I've never tried it, but I love the idea of fully customizable cereal! Enter by March 9th!

Katie from Chocolate-Covered Katie is giving away Jocolat bars. I love me some Jocolat bars! I reviewed the chocolate mint variety here. Contest ends March 19th.

That concludes this installment of the Broccoli Hut adventures. Next post will be from DC!