Where Do I Go from Here?

I am a tad stressed today. I have been contemplating my future as a nutritionist, figuring out when and where I'll take which courses...transferring credits makes things so much more difficult. Why didn't I just go to a school that offers a nutrition major in the first place?! On top of my long term education woes, I have two quizzes and a project due this week. Fortunately, I finished my project (for nutrition) about a month ago--yes, I am one of those people--, and my quizzes are classified as "minor."

OK, enough Debbie Downer talk. I have some awesome eats to share.

Friday

Apparently, I was a hungry beast on Friday evening because I ate two hefty snacks. First I had a pair of Vans whole grain waffles with Cinnamon Raisin PB.
Later, I had my usual smoothie/shake. Don't be alarmed by the unappetizing green color of this concoction--it was really tasty! I am guessing that the green color comes from the pea protein in the Alive! mix. I would buy this again, especially since I don't have to order it online--I found this at my local Whole Foods. Saturday

Before heading out the farmers' market (finally!), I made a quick tofu scramble with the usual components, plus salsa, all stuffed into an Ezekial pita. This dish was relatively tasty, but I don't think I would recommend the combination of tahini+salsa--not a good example of fusion cuisine.

We made a quick day trip to the lake house on Saturday, and I didn't bring my camera, so no lunch pics. It wasn't anything innovative: PB&J on whole wheat with steamed veggies and natural applesauce. Everything came straight out of the pantry or freezer. Upon our return (at about 8:00), I needed something fast and veggie-full. Thus, I whipped up a batch of "E-Z Artichoke Dip" from the Chicago Diner Cookbook. I dipped carrots and crackers in it, and I had a dish of organic vanilla yogurt with farmers' market blackberries for dessert. BTW, the dip is vegan, in case you're curious. I tried yet another new protein powder (what is this? #3?). This time I sampled Living Harvest's Vanilla Spice Hemp Protein. The end result was mind-bogglingly delicious. I didn't taste the mango at all, but I enjoyed this shake, just the same. It reminded me of cake batter, with that distinctive hempy kick. Sunday

More waffles! Another pair of the Vans variety with sliced banana and a dollop of vanilla soy yogurt. So good.

We had several errands to run yesterday, so I prepared (and consumed) my lunch in record time. I ended up with a green lunch: a quick sandwich with sliced tofu and fresh guacamole (leftover from Chipotle); I also had a sliced kiwi. Quite possibly the most delicious sandwich I've ever had, although it would have been even better if I had had the time to grill the tofu... Four months after purchasing Veganomicon, I had yet to try the much beloved Chickpea Cutlets. So I made some last night, and they were delicious! I just made two, but now I wish I had made more. I served it with some fresh salsa for dipping, farmers' market tomatoes with roasted yellow peppers, and steamed squash. For a sweet ending, I had some peaches with Nutty Topping from Ellie Krieger. Technically, the topping is supposed to accompany pancakes, but I figured it would taste just fine with fruit too.
The shake last night was a bit of a mess. In the middle of assembling my creation, I realized that the blender was leaking! I tried to blend it all together before it seeped out, but I ended up with a half blended mess. I transferred the mixture to the Bullet to complete the process. Let's just say I ended up with a messy kitchen and a not-so-tasty shake. Bummer.
Monday

Despite having a dysfunctional air conditioner, I decided to have a hot bowl of oat bran this morning. Stovetop oat bran is fast becoming one of my favorite breakfasts! Today's version had whipped banana and Sunbutter.

Yet another green lunch today: tomato slices with more guacamole, green grapes, and Tofuna salad (chickpeas with Nayonaise, lemon, paprika) on Ak-Maks. So fresh (and clean).
OK, now I am off to obsess a bit more about my future. Ciao for now.

Long-Awaited Reprieve

Whew! My tests and quizzes are complete (for the time being), just in time for the holiday weekend. My nutrition test went smashingly, but the anatomy test...not so much. The professor posts grades on Friday evening, so we'll see. I probably won't check until Monday though, just so I can enjoy my weekend at the lake! I've been studying non-stop for the wast two weeks, so I am ready for a few days of down-time and maybe a smidgen of aquatic sports:)

I picked out a few recipes to try this week, and most have been a success thus far. Read on to find out the deets.

Monday
After my recent discovery of the wonder that is Annie's Goddess Dressing, I decided to try out Dreena's Goddess Garbanzos recipe. All I have to say is wow. I can't wait to try it again! I enjoyed mine atop a whole grain hot dog bun (Arnold brand), along with my usual salad, some steamed veggies, and a chocolate soy yogurt. I had never tried Stonyfield's soy yogurt before, and I noticed a few unique characteristics. The texture is more liquidy than that of other brands, and this variety (chocolate) was quite sweet. It was a nice treat, but I'm not sure it will go into regular rotation. The smoothie of the evening consisted of raspberry Spirutein, frozen berries, soy milk, and a bit of a broken up Honest Foods granola plank. De-lish. Tuesday
Return of the breakfast parfait! This particular combination was one of the best I have made in a while: vanilla soy yogurt, frozen cherries, and Fiber One cereal. The vanilla soy yogurt totally made this dish. Yum.
After class yesterday, I was so hungry that I just put together the fastest lunch I could think of...taking the test must have gobbled up all my energy. I made a pita sammie with cranberry and stuffing flavor Tofurky, Nayonaise, and spinach. A spinach salad (with dried cranberries!), a juicy peach, and some almonds finished it off.
For dinner, I picked out a recipe from Clean Eating Magazine (the premiere issue): Lentil Salad with Cranberries and Pecans. (I guess I just couldn't get enough cranberries yesterday...). I didn't have any pecans, so I subbed walnuts, and I used cranberries that I had in the freezer. That's a good tip actually: at Thanksgiving and Christmas, I stock up on bags of cranberries and freeze them so that I can enjoy their nutritious goodness all year round. Anyway, this recipe was bad. There was no flavor except for the extremely tart berries and acidic white wine vinegar; it needed a balancing ingredient of some kind. At least it looked pretty.
The smoothie of the evening consisted of tropical Spirutein, frozen pineapple (way cheaper than fresh!), almond milk, and broken up granola plank. In retrospect, this would have been perfect with coconut.
Wednesday
Today for breakfast I treated myself to a peach-soymilk smoothie and a banana-walnut Gnu bar. I went scavenging for cool cups and glasses, and I all I came up with was this hefty beer mug. I need to make a trip to Home Goods...
In the midst of my studying, I found the time to put together a quick (albeit random) lunch. I used up the rest of my tempeh by cooking it up in a Vidalia onion salad dressing I found in the fridge. Onto the greens it went, and along side it I had some crackers with almond butter and some blueberries.
Dinner tonight was phenomenal. I tried Dreena's recipe for Cashew Ginger Tofu. I could slurp this sauce with a straw--it was that good. Accompanying the superstar meal component were some vegetables, whole grain couscous, and a fresh pear.

I have a quick question for all of you: after a discussion with my nutrition professor, I think I might be borderline OD-ing on soy protein. Sooo, do you all have any recommendations for vegan protein powders not made from soy? As you all have seen, I just can't live without my evening protein shakes!

Well I am off to relax...at last!

Merry Half Christmas!

Yep, we're exactly 6 months away from my absolute favorite holiday of the year. Aside from my yuletide obsession, my birthday also happens to be December 24, so I am officially 20.5 years old. Eeek! FYI, my annual Christmas/birthday countdown doesn't start until September.

I am posting earlier in the day today due to that persistent nuisance otherwise known as anatomy class. I have a 160-question midterm tomorrow at 1:00, so I will be spending much of my evening after class studying rather than blogging. Trust me, I'd rather be blogging. Anyway, here are a few pics of my eats over the past few days.

Monday
For my evening snack, I opted for a big bowl of organic popcorn with a few dark chocolate chunks thrown in. For those of you who don't know I am taking a temporary hiatus from my nighttime smoothies and shakes. I'm just trying to switch things up a little. By the way, I love this popcorn! The only ingredients on the label were organic popcorn, organic vegetable oil, and salt. Short and and sweet, er, salty.
Tuesday
Squeezing in a run before a 10 AM class necessitate speedy breakfasts on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I was feeling tropical yesterday-- I threw some oats in a bowl with pinenapple chunks and cashews.
Lunch consisted of a Tofurky-avocado-spinach wrap in a whole wheat tortilla. I used salsa as a dressing on that spinach salad, and I balanced it all out with an apple. No shortage of fiber in this lunch!
Snacktime! This is another typical snack for me: lemon soy yogurt and red bell pepper strips with hummus. It really bugs me how some soy yogurts aren't fortified with vitamin B12...So Delicious is the only company I've encountered who does this service for vegans/vegetarians. Oh, and let me know if you'd rather I not post snacks. I'm looking for some feedback because I know they're a tad boring.
Red beans and rice for dinner last night. Well sort of. I stole some brown rice from my parents' dinner and mixed it with no salt added canned tomatoes, garlic, cumin, chili powder, and leftover pinto beans. Not traditional by any means, but it was tasty nonetheless. I was still a little hungry afterward, so I whizzed some almond milk with cocoa powder and enjoyed it with some fresh blueberries. Amazing.
Owing to the surplus of bananas around here, I made some vegan banana pudding last night. I got the recipe from VegWeb. Can't wait to try it:)
For snack last night I ended up making another bowl of hot cereal. This time I used that Quaker multigrain cereal I've been enjoying so much lately. I mixed in some pumpkin flax granola and topped it off with a Medjool date.
Wednesday
This morning I tried a few new products. I made a smoothie using Fruitein this morning (as opposed to Spirutein). One of these packets provides 600 mg calcium; I think these are vegan, if you're interested. I blended it with frozen blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries and slurped it out of my nifty new smoothie receptacle (for lack of a better word). Along with it, I tried a new Kashi cereal, Honey Sunshine. This was pretty good, but I think I like Puffins and Corn Bran better, mostly because the "pillows" of those cereals are much bigger. The squares in these were about the size of corn kernels. Now I'm off to review muscles + bones for the thousandth time. Soon I'll be dreaming (or having nightmares) about condyles, processes, and the rectus femoris. Ugh.