Weekend of Relaxation

Hi all! I ended up going down to our lake house this weekend with my dad and Ryan (my brother-in-law whom you've seen in earlier posts). We loaded FOUR dogs into the car and headed out for a short stay by the water. It was a great time! Ryan demonstrated the proper wakeboarding technique, and I fiddled around in the kayak. Plus, I even got some studying done--I finished my nutrition project and got around to memorizing some of those muscle attachments. I couldn't have asked for a better study environment. Here are a few pics from the weekend.

Friday
The evening smoothie was comprised of raspberry Spirutein, mixed frozen berries, and plain soy milk. Tasty, but I think I'm getting burnt out on smoothies and shakes. I think I have come to rely on the Spirutein too much for my protein, which isn't really ideal. Got any other evening snack ideas? I would have a vegan cookie or something, but I prefer more voluminous snacks...maybe a big bowl of oatmeal?
Saturday
Another breakfast parfait--this one was truly exceptional though. I combined puffed rice and Grape Nut flakes with layers of fresh blueberries and soy vanilla yogurt. The puffed rice absorbed the vanilla flavor and got nice and soggy--just the way I like it:)
For lunch I relied on pantry staples at the lake house: two refried bean tacos, a spinach salad with mushrooms, and peanuts with dried cherries.
Dinner was kind of pathetic, to be honest. After much dithering, I just decided to make a peanut butter-banana pita and grilled it on the ol' George Foreman. I dug out some frozen veggies and made a salad with honey roasted soy nuts for crunch (and protein!).
As I mentioned above, I am smoothied-out at the moment, so I made some snack mix as my evening snack. This one had stale pretzels, old Fiber One, and some delicious dark chocolate pieces. I washed it down with soymilk.
Sunday
OK, so maybe I'm not completely tired of smoothies. I had a strawberry-soymilk smoothie for breakfast, and I nibbled on some GoLean throughout the morning as well.
Lunch was a tad weird again, owing to the limited ingredients in the house. I found some old Morningstar Farms Chik strips, and I made a stir-fry with them. Normally I don't use such processed meat analogs, but these were really tasty! A tad salty but tasty, nonetheless. I also had a salad, sliced peaches, and some almonds. Check out my cute bowl:)
Dinner was also somewhat Asian-themed. We ordered Chinese takeout, and I just got some steamed veggies to which I added edamame and cashews.
Last night's snack was a mixture of puffed rice, Life cereal (it's whole grain!), Craisins, and pumpkin granola, plus a tall glass of soymilk.

Monday
Quick brekkie this morning: vegan cheddar muffin top from the freezer and a banana with almond butter.
Just before class I threw together a taco salad: spinach, pinto beans, mashed avocado, roasted red peppers, salsa, and corn cut off the cob. I think that covers everything in that mound. I also had some perfect grapes.
A few of you have requested more snack ideas from yours truly. Here is today's: organic vanilla yogurt with dried papaya and a handful of peanut butter Puffins.
Dinner came out of the Imus Ranch cookbook. This dip included silken tofu, garlic, fresh cilantro, and a few other things, but salt was noticeably absent. I didn't really care for this dish...at all. The natural applesauce with walnuts made up for it though.
FYI, I added a list of my favorite cookbooks today...enjoy!

You Mean I Actually Have to Study?

Even though I've been in summer classes for a few weeks now, I am just now realizing that I actually have to buckle down and study for a bit. I have a quiz in anatomy lecture AND lab this week, plus a nutrition project due next week, so I might have to sacrifice a few minutes of Jon and Kate Plus Eight and What Not to Wear in order to study. Boo! I don't really mind studying for the lecture quiz or doing the nutrition project, but the lab quiz seems so silly. I'm not certain, but I'm guessing that as a nutrition I will NOT have to know the origin, insertion, nerve supply, and arterial supply of every single muscle in the human body. Just a guess though.

Anyway, I made flashcards (a process that I oddly enjoy), plus lots of diagrams, so I have a few study aids to get me through these quizzes. The project will be fun--it's on the USDA Food Pyramid. I'll have lots of time to perfect it this weekend at the lake, where there are very few distractions.

Alright, enough jibber-jabber about my boring, academics-engulfed life. Onto the victuals.

Friday
This is yet another mystery smoothie. I don't recall what's in it...Due to the granola topping, I am guessing it was fruity.
Saturday
After a long ride on the stationary bike, I set out to make some pancakes for breakfast. Thanks to the success I had the last time I made them, I whipped up a batch of vegan banana pancakes, based on the recipe from Sweet Eats. They were delicious...again! I enjoyed them with some fresh cut cantaloupe.
Lunch was kinda random, and rather salty in retrospect. I opened up a can of Progresso's Hearty Tomato Soup and dipped one of my vegan cheddar biscuits in it--sorta like the classic tomato soup/grilled cheese combo. I also had a salad with shredded Tofurky and a tiny apple. After a trip to the health food store, I returned with an amazing purchase--39 cent yogurts! They were one of my favorite brands too--Cascade Fresh:) I wish they were organic, but they're rBGH-free, so it's better than conventional yogurts. Anyway, this was a new flavor for me, and I loved it--I seem to be into cinnamon-ish yogurts lately. For dinner, I just threw some items together for a fantastic dish (if I do say so myself). I tossed some leftover spinach, diced olives, a Quorn cutlet, garlic, and organic mozzarella with some pasta--delish. I also had a my usual side salad. Sunday
My parents and I kicked off Father's Day on Saturday morning by taking my dad out to breakfast (even though he technically paid the bill...). We went to Original Pancake House (not to be confused with IHOP). I ordered some oatmeal and fresh fruit. I was hoping they would add some pizazz to the oats, (almonds? blueberries?) but they were pretty plain-Jane. I ended up putting some of my fruit into my oats to jazz them up a bit.
On our way out, I just had to take a picture of the fountain for which Five Points South is famous (well relatively). It kinda makes you feel like you're in a Beatrix Potter tale... Lunch was a conglomeration of freezer goodies and a salad from the Whole Foods salad bar. I made a sandwich out of a Helen's Kitchen tofu cutlet, salsa, and whole wheat bread. The salad had radishes, water chestnuts, sliced almonds, plus all the usual suspects. I also had some more of that delicious melon. I was in charge of dessert for Father's Day dinner, and my dad requested banana pudding. I don't think my dad would appreciate a tofu-laden vegan version, so I just used the Joy of Cooking recipe. It had egg yolks in it, so I didn't have any, but my family seemed to like it. For my dinner, I made a citrus tempeh stir fry with OJ marinated tempeh, broccoli, mushrooms, garlic, and zest from lemons and limes. Yum. Corn on the cob and salad added some more veggies to the meal. Oh, and the plate is the china pattern I picked out when I was 14--I still plan on registering for it when I get married. The smoothie for the evening was decidedly tropical, with tropical Spirutein, frozen mango, and plain Silk. I topped it with Nature's Path Pomegranate granola.
Monday
I kept it simple this morning: Kashi GoLean with Silk and walnuts, plus some cantaloupe.
Lunch was equally unimaginative: Tofurky/vegan cheddar on whole wheat with Nayonaise, leftover tossed salad from last night, almonds, and an orange. I finally tried Sunshine burgers! This was the Garden Herb flavor, and I really liked it. I enjoyed it with a salad (mushrooms, Craisins, Romaine, and red wine vinegar) and a baked potato with salsa.
OK, I'm pooped from all this typing...I'm off to study some muscles.