Although living in an on-campus apartment is quite convenient, it does have one major drawback: I must purchase a dining plan. As you may have noticed, I haven't been patronizing the university's eateries with quite the same regularity as last year, when I lived in a dormitory setting. The combination of having access to a full kitchen and simply becoming bored with the eateries' offerings, I prefer to prepare meals at home most of the time (with the occasional purchase at the mediocre salad bar). While I am able to use my dining plan at the on-campus grocery store for canned beans,
Amy's burritos, and $6 boxes of cereal, it never seems to diminish my never-ending supply of dining funds. The result of this lack of on-campus spending translates into a major food points surplus--due to last semester's excess points and my moderate spending habits this semester, I have to spend $1300 before April 28th. Yikes! If only I were able to use food points at Whole Foods...
Anyone else have experience with this?Alright, now that I have my dining dilemma off my chest, we can proceed to the eats:
MondayAfter class, I was surprised to find myself with extra time--now that my tutoring appointments have ended (for now), I don't have to rush around so much. I took advantage of the extra time by preparing some
homemade bean stew: pinto beans, cauliflower, carrots, broccoli, garlic, tomato sauce, and curry powder made for a tasty dish. (I made a similar soup
here).
Toast and applesauce with cashews rounded it all out.



As per usual, I had my dining committee meeting on Monday night. Afterward, I was pretty
hangry so, I grabbed a
salad from the salad bar, then came home to prepare some killer accompaniments. I heated up some of
TJ's chickenless nuggets and baked up a quick batch of
sweet potato fries. Served up with plenty of organic
ketchup, this meal was pretty awesome. That's
Woodstock dressing on the salad.





I decided that I have been neglecting my beloved
Nutribody protein for far too long, so I made a simple
strawberry-blueberry smoothie with it. Yum.
TuesdayDue to the rapid rise in temperatures, I decided that I could start having smoothies for breakfast again. Yes, I know--it's an addiction. Anyway, this one included
peaches, banana, and rice milk; that's a
mini bagel with cashew butter on the side.



Lunch was an old standard:
scrambled tofu with broccoli. Seriously, what did I eat before I had scrambled tofu?! If you care to reminisce,
here is a link to the very first time I made it. This batch tasted especially fabulous--somehow it turns out better when I use a fresh jar of
tahini. I stuffed the mixture (well, as much as would fit) into an
Ezekiel pita and had some
greens and a
blood orange on the side.



As I mentioned above, there is an on-campus grocery store where I may use some of my plenteous food points. I often browse the aisles and find some surprising products, such as this one:
concentrated pesto. To be honest, I don't think I've ever had normal pesto. Nonetheless, this introduction to the food proved to be relatively pleasant. I squirted a couple tablespoons of the green goo with some
whole grain angel hair pasta and squash. I had more
greens (trying to use up the bag before it gets slimy!) topped with
chopped apricots and a dish of fresh
blackberries from TJ's.





For the smoothie last night, I used another
Spirutein packet, this time in the
Tropical Fruit flavor.
Strawberries, pineapple, and coconut made this concoction pretty awesome.

WednesdayI took the time to make a breakfast parfait this morning, and the end result was decidely
berry-tastic.
TJ's blueberry Greek yogurt, frozen blueberries, fiber cereal, and almonds made for a delicious breakfast treat. Oh Trader Joe, how I love thee. PS Lately, I've been sampling different brands of Greek yogurt (*gasp* venturing away from my beloved Fage?!).
For all you Greek yogurt fans, what's your favorite brand/flavor?




It doesn't look like I'll be able to get into the Duke-UNC game tonight, which is a major bummer. I'll likely end up watching it on TV with some buds.
What are your plans for this evening?