Let the Countdown Begin!

Yes, it's that time of year again. Once September 16 rolls around, my anticipation begins. What event is it that I so eagerly await, you ask? Christmas, of course.

As I explained many months ago here, I have always been a fan of Christmas; it's a time of double celebration for me, since my birthday is December 24th. For as long as I could wield a crayon (or maneuver a computer cursor), I have been making Christmas countdowns. The trend in the past 10 years has been to begin this extended advent season on September 16th, precisely 100 days until Christmas Day. Yes, you may call it premature, and yes, you may say that I am wishing my life away. However, I still appreciate the present--I am just especially conscientious about preparing for the season of utmost joy and peace. Even for those of you who do not celebrate Christmas, I am sure there is some season or holiday for which you can identify with this feeling; I think everyone can relate to a sensation that combines eagerness, excitement, and contentment all into one sublime emotion.

Long story short: 99 days until the big day, 98 until my birthday. I expect presents ;)

Onto the grub:

Monday
There was free food again at the dining meeting. This time it was from Chai's, a local noodle bar that wants Duke Dining to allow students to use food points at their restaurants. I'm not sure what the dish was called, but I tried the only vegetarian dish there: crispy tofu with bell peppers and egg noodles. I avoid eggs in my diet, so I just picked took a portion and ate the tofu/vegetables with some steamed rice. I was still a little hungry (and desperately in need of vegetables!), so I made a pit stop at the salad bar, where I loaded up on my usual fave veggies (mushrooms, snow peas, tomatoes, etc.), plus a container of cantaloupe. I chomped this down in record time before heading to Bible study.
My smoothie of the evening consisted of frozen pineapple with vanilla hemp and soymilk. Wow! This was quite tasty--almost as good as mango and vanilla hemp. Almost.
Tuesday
I don't have class until 10 on Tuesdays, so I took advantage of the extra time yesterday to construct a parfait. This one featured a past favorite flavor combination of mine: strawberry-banana. I went through this phase in high school where I ate everything strawberry-banana: yogurt, smoothies, even lip balm (gross, I know). Anyway, I got a little burnt out on it--until now. The parfait included strawberry yogurt, sliced banana, Fiber One, and raw cashews.
The pre-run snack was a TJ's fig bar and an apple. I was draggin' a little yesterday, despite an almost all-carb snack.
I picked up lunch at a campus eatery--it was free because I was evaluating it for the dining committee:) I opted for a vegan summer roll (cilantro, basil, carrot, cucumber, and tofu) and a hot tea to warm me up on my walk through the rain. When I came home I whipped up a quick peanut sauce using PB, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce. Delish.
Dinner was pretty simple last night: just frozen corn, black beans, canned tomatoes (no salt added), and sliced avocado. On the side I had a big salad and some fresh fruit that I had picked up on campus earlier in the day.
I had heaven in a glass for my smoothie last night. (Mango + Vanilla Hemp, in case you don't know what that tastes like).
Wednesday
I had a rather fallish breakfast today: whole wheat toast with almond butter, unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon, and plain yogurt with pumpkin and wheat germ. That last item was a staple in my diet last spring--I had it every day for a good two months. YUM!
The pre-run snack today was a big banana and a PB Mini Clif. This fueled me very well, although I had PB breath throughout the entire workout. Could be worse, right?
Afterward, I returned home to prepare a simple Goddess Garbanzos wrap and a spinach-mushroom salad. Simple, but oh-so-satisfying.
Finally, for dinner tonight I made a tofu salad pita using cubed tofu, vegan mayo, Grey Poupon, dried cranberries, walnuts, and basil. On the side I had green beans cooked with tomatoes and basil, plus a mound of mixed greens. Oh, and a furry little kiwi on the left.

After that, I jetted off to a Sex and the City party, where we didn't pay the slightest bit of attention to the TV, and simply chatted instead. Fun stuff.

One more day of classes until the weekend! Be back soon.

Free Lunch and a Formal Dinner

Hello all! It's Friday again, and I'm pretty psyched about that. My sorority's formal event is tonight, which will be fun, but for the rest of the weekend I will be spending some quality time with my friend Bill Shakespeare. My loathing for research papers has yet to be matched.

Wednesday
First of all I want to share my most recent snack obsession--homemade snack mix with dark chocolate. I have sampled my fair share of store bought snack mixes, but I am never really quite satisfied with all the components. So, I have resorted to making my own of late. Wednesday evening, while writing my film paper about food no less, I decided I needed a snack. I just combined some plain Cheerios, some dried fruit (dates, raisins, apples, cranberries), and 2 tiny squares of Lindt 70% dark chocolate. I shook it all up in a Tupperware container--voila! I had a great snack to nibble on while I typed. Very basic but oh-so-tasty.

Thursday

Soon after assembling that evening snack, I prepared my breakfast for the following morning: overnight oatmeal. I have been making this for a while, as it is perfect for my early mornings when I have almost no time for breakfast (somehow I managed to snap a picture though...). I combined oats, almond milk, Stevia, chopped banana, and a little cinnamon this time. The next morning I added a generous portion of wheat germ. I love the texture that wheat germ provides. My roommate thinks I'm such a crazy hippie when I whip out my wheat germ:)

For lunch yesterday, I was just itching to use some of my fresh veggies that I got at the farmers' market the other day. Here's what I came up with: a spicy tofu pita with mixed greens and salsa, steamed squash, and blueberries with ground flax for dessert. I felt like this meal was very clean. Of course later in the afternoon I grazed on some dark chocolate M&Ms, but we won't discuss that.

Last night's dinner was pretty boring. It was cold and rainy outside, so I didn't really feel like venturing out very far for food. I settled on Annie's Mac & Cheese, inspired by Matt from Matt Runs and Eats, but I needed something more nutritious to balance it out, so I grabbed a salad from the salad bar (note the artichoke hearts-YUM). I added some soy nuts to the salad for protein.

Friday

Breakfast today was simple too--just a bowl of Fiber One with almond milk and some almonds and dried fruit on the side. Kept me very full though!

Now for the free lunch part. I am on my university's student dining committee, and one of my duties as a board member is to evaluate eateries on campus for customer service, food quality, etc. Considering how much of a foodie I am, I love this job! Plus, we get the meals for free!

Today I evaluated a cafe that is located next to the library. I stop there every day to get my Cinnamon & Spice tea, but today I also picked up a vegan summer roll and some fresh fruit. I supplemented the meal with a salad from the salad bar and some raw cashews. The summer roll consists of tofu, carrots, and basil, all in a rice paper wrapper. Two thumbs up!

Tonight for dinner my friends and I are headed to dinner at a fancy restaurant on campus (they accept food points!) before heading out to our formal event. Here's the menu: http://www.washingtondukeinn.com/_files/_pdf/DINNER_324.pdf

What would you order? The risotto and the spinach strawberry salad look pretty good to me, but who knows what I'll end up getting!

Now I plan on relaxing for the remainder of the afternoon, maybe watch this week's assigned movie (Chicago) for my film class. Enjoy your Friday!