Wacky Weather, Wacky Eats

Yesterday was an abnormal eating day for me. First, I went out to lunch with my sister, my mom, and a few friends after my nutrition class. We went to Brio, where their idea of vegetarian is pasta primavera...or pasta primavera. I'll fill you in on the deets below, but let's just say I ended up having two lunches. Then, around 5 PM, serious thunderstorms rolled into town. The power went out, I was left without internet, entertainment, and means of cooking. Even if I had wanted to be a good student and work on my nutrition project, I couldn't.

Translation: boring evening.

However, once my dad returned from teaching his class, we headed to Jason's Deli, which is home to a pretty impressive salad bar. To kill some time afterward, we visited a nearby Banana Republic, where I scored a pencil skirt on sale. Fits me like a glove! The power was back when we returned home, thank goodness--is it sad that I was worried about my Soy Delicious melting?

So, long story short, I didn't do a lot of cooking yesterday, but I still managed to do a lot of eating...as per usual.

Monday
Sorry to be so boring. I just can't get enough of the vanilla hemp-mango combination!

Tuesday
I opened up a fresh box of Clifford Crunch yesterday morning. I topped it off with some plain Silk, and I also sliced up an apple to dip in Sunbutter. This cereal reminds me Alpha Bits from my childhood, except moderately good for me.

As I mentioned above, I went to Brio for lunch. Along with the bread basket, they serve these awesome rosemary-flax crackers--yum! I also ordered the Zuppa di Gigiorno, minestrone. I was hoping for copious legumes but basically got vegetable soup + 2 chickpeas. Boo! More olives would have been nice. Yes, I know I am a fuss-budget. When I returned home, I made a quick wrap out of a whole wheat tortilla, guacamole, firm tofu. I also had a lovely plum. Then I was full.
Upon our return, I also noticed a box waiting for me. It was a box full of samples from Snacktrition. Yay! This company bakes their almonds with calcium to increase their modest existing calcium content. They also have some fiber-rich cashews and trail mix. I can't wait to try them!
Dinner at Jason's consisted of a ginormous salad and lots of their tasty little crackers. Do not be fooled by this picture--that plate is big. Here's what went into my scrumptious mountain: spinach, yellow bell peppers, artichoke hearts, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms, pumpkin seeds, dried cranberries, and...roasted red pepper hummus! I put some of the hummus on the crackers, which were slightly sweet--the combination was phenomenal! I stashed a few more crackers in my mom's purse before we left--yeah, I'm that classy.
I am trying to increase my kcalories a bit these days, so I made an extra large shake last night. Let me just say that the almond pistachio Soy Delicious was not affected in the least by the power outage. This must be what they eat in heaven.
Wednesday
Remember my chocolate PB? Well I found it lurking in the shadows of the cabinet this morning, so I made a breakfast panini with it. Sliced banana and said PB on whole wheat, plus a Chobani with cinnamon and the banana remnants.
A note on the lady bug cup: this one doesn't belong with the rest. All the other cups say "Baa" or "Woof," but a lady bug doesn't make a sound, so they put "Lady Bug." Couldn't they think of just one other animal that makes a sound?! OK sorry for the rant.
Random lunch today. I combined tahini with chickpeas, lemon juice, oregano, garlic, and roasted red pepper, then stuffed it in a pita. Pretty tasty, if I do say so myself. Broccoli slaw and mixed berries rounded it out. I swear organic berries taste better than conventional.
Dinner was pretty simple: Corn Edamame Salad from V-con, local tomatoes, and an apple with my new hazelnut butter.

Last day of class tomorrow! Wahoo! Happy Humpday!

Just Another Manic Monday...

Sorry my Monday post is later than usual, everyone! I've had a full day. I went for a run, tutored on the other side of campus, made a Whole Foods run, had a conference call at 3, plus did some laundry...so I am pooped. And it doesn't end there. The dining committee is headed out for its end of the year celebratory dinner tonight at 7. Guess where we're going? Angus Barn. Doesn't sound like it's exactly vegetarian-friendly, does it? Our group has a fixed menu tonight, so I've already selected the vegetarian option, the vegetable plate, which can be viewed here: http://www.angusbarn.com/menu.html#vegetarian. Doesn't look too bad, except for the fact that it's a little low on protein.

My weekend was pretty standard; following the advice of my 8th grade algebra teacher, I "partied once, studied twice." My fancy dinner and formal went well; it won't surprise you that the dinner was probably my favorite part of the evening. What can I say? I am a hopeless foodie:) I ended up ordering the Spinach Strawberry Salad, the Spring Risotto, and a blackberry sorbet for dessert. The risotto was like eating snobby macaroni and cheese; I swear, the chef must have dumped the whole block of parmagiano reggiano (sp?) in my dish alone. Not a vegan/vegetarian restaurant by any stretch of the imagination. My favorite part was the dessert--I love blackberries, and the sorbet tasted exactly like the fruit. It came with an assortment of raspberries, blackberries, and strawberries.

Saturday

For lunch on Saturday, I reviewed another place on campus (read: free meal!). I ordered a Mediterranean veggie sandwich with some hot tea. The sandwich was pre-made, and its expiration date was April 6th; the combination of these two facts made for a soggy sandwich :( I ended up picking the veggies off the bread and eating them by themselves. I accompanied them with a baked sweet potato (remember the farmers' market??), a salad with seasoned tofu, and some Fage with ground flax. It ended up being quite an eye-catching meal. And, of course, I accidentally deleted the pictures when I was uploading my formal pictures to Facebook. I was really disappointed about it actually--the only one that survived my absent-minded clicking was the salad with tofu.

Sunday

Yesterday's lunch was an organic Boca burger on the two end pieces of my loaf of bread. I dipped the sammie in some of that agave ketchup I showed you a few weeks ago. On the side I had some mixed greens with sliced tomato and raw almonds, plus an orange. Sorry for the dim photo--my roomie was taking a nap.

I realized that I never show you all my snacks, which is pretty significant considering how much I snack throughout the day. Here is an example of my afternoon snack. Cascade Fresh is my favorite brand of flavored yogurt. It's juice sweetened with 8 active cultures, and it's rBGH-free. I reviewed it at Iateapie.net last summer, if you're interested. Yesterday afternoon I enjoyed the lemon variety with some Nature's Path granola and raw cashews.

Last night's dinner was not that enjoyable, but I thought I would show you anyway. I didn't feel like cooking anything (shocking, I know!), so I just grabbed a soup and salad from a place on campus. The soup of the day was minestrone, but it was majorly lacking in the bean department; thus, I added some soy nuts to my salad for protein. My beloved Ak-Maks made another appearance.

Monday

Breakfast today was Weetabix again (I told you that I'd be having it again!). This time I remembered to take a picture before I started eating. I added sliced banana today, but it was a little mealy-tasting. Not the best breakfast ever. Oh, and I also ate some more of those omnipresent cashews.

As I mentioned before, I went to Whole Foods today. Here is the inventory: roasted soy nuts, organic carrots, nonfat kefir, Italian herb tofu, plain and flavored yogurts, organic apples, oranges, bananas, whole wheat couscous, Ak-Maks, Ezekiel pitas, frozen sliced peaches, Bragg's Liquid Aminos, some more Bionaturae organic jam (in blackberry flavor this time), a free copy of Better Nutrition, and 2 packets of chocolate soy protein powder. Not as much fun food this trip, because I ran out of a few expensive staple items this week (Bragg's, organic jam).

Finally for today's lunch I hit up the salad bar for some veggies, along with--my favorite--chickpeas. I ended up stuffing the chickpeas in an Ezekiel pita with spinach and salsa. A huge apple accompanies the vegetable bounty.

Well, I should probably go prepare for my dinner at the steakhouse. If only we were headed to Panera or Moe's Southwest, I would be such a happy camper. What are your favorite restaurants to visit? At least it's another free meal! Enjoy your evening!