Rush, Rush, Rush

Today has been all about rushing--I awoke at 4AM to catch my flight to Raleigh-Durham, ran through baggage claim, bolted into a taxi, then scrambled to get back to my apartment and change before I headed to "recruitment" activities for my sorority (a.k.a. rush). After several hours of chatting with the rushees and catching up with my friends, I am starting to slow down. What better way to wind down the day than with a blog post?

Here's a glance at how I spent my last weekend of winter break:

Friday
As I mentioned in my last post, strawberries, PB, and chocolate make an excellent combination--so I made a repeat shake on Friday, except I used chocolate hemp rather than chocolate Spirutein. Just as delicious:)
Saturday
By the time breakfast rolled around on Saturday, I was far too famished for anything labor-intensive. Thus, Van's freezer waffles came to the rescue! I topped mine with some Friendship cottage cheese (not whipped, sadly), blackberries, almonds, and cinnamon.
Afterward, I headed to the mall with my Mom...where I found another bargain that I couldn't refuse: black-leopard pumps for 75% off! Oh, sexy pumps, how I love thee! I also hit up White House Black Market, where I scored this dressy top and silky pencil skirt for a mere $60. I think it's a good thing that I am back at school--this way I won't shop away my entire savings!
Anyway, I refueled with a simple tofu-guacamole sandwich with salsa, plus a salad and the last of the clementines. The peppers and citrus provide a major vitamin C boost--no winter sniffles for me.
For dinner, I headed out to a local Mexican joint with my sister and a few friends. This made for an exciting outing because I got carded for the first time since my 21st birthday. Margs all around! I ordered the vegetarian fajitas--I cleared my plate save for the rice, beans, and sour cream.
Afterward, we headed out to see The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. Excellent flick--it's lengthy, but well worth the runtime. Extra bonus: Brad Pitt gets better looking with each scene. While there I snacked on some Twizzlers. When I came back, I made a luscious banana-cappuccino shake with chocolate syrup.
Sunday
I made a speedy breakfast before heading out for church: GoLean with almond milk, wheat germ, blackberries, walnuts, and dried cranberries. Quite the deluxe breakfast bowl.
I wasn't much in the mood for cooking yesterday (gasp!), so I just heated up a frozen vegan chik'n patty. I sandwiched it between whole grain bread with an agave mustard sauce I made, plus plenty of crunchy lettuce. I also had a salad and apple with almond butter.
For my dinner, I made another hummus wrap, this time with my fave superstar veggie (broccoli!), and a Laughing Cow wedge. I used to have a minor obsession with LC cheese a few years ago--now I remember why I like them so much! Creamy, portable, tasty. I also had a salad and peaches with cashews and cinnamon.
Monday
Before heading to bed last night I packed a snacky breakfast for the airport: Kashi Heart to Heart (from Sarah), almonds, and an apple.
I also packed a lunch to eat while at recruitment activities: cinnamon-raisin PB sammie, soynuts with dried cherries, and a couple clementines.
My friends and I hit up the salad bar for dinner tonight. I didn't take a picture, but it was similar to the one featured in this post.

I am pretty pooped, but I want to ask you a question before I go: what's your "power song?" What do you listen to when you're lagging in your workout or just having a bad day? Although I am digging The Killers' "Human" lately, I am always in search of fresh tunes for Nestor the Nano.

Nighty-night.

PS Sorry for not posting my weekly Sunday feature yesterday. I opted to spend my last few hours at home with my family instead:)

A Year in Review...

If you've been lurking in the food blogosphere lately, I am sure you have noticed that some of my fellow bloggers have published "Year in Review" posts. It seems like a good idea...so I am totally mooching off of their brilliance.

Here are a few of my favorite posts from the past year:

March
Introduction
Exciting News

April
Farmers' Market on the Quad!
Getting to Know Caroline
Becoming Vegan: to Be or not to Be?

May
Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity-Jig
Cookbook Burnout
Getting to Know Caroline, Part II

June
Weekend Wrap Up
Matrimonial Frenzy
Major Spill

July
Wal-Mart Gourmet
Chop, Chop!
Back from Hot-lanta

August
Chicago, My Kind of Town
Chicago, the Foodie Perspective

September
Healthy Habits: Smoothie Makin'
An Unexpected Houseguest
Boys on the Brain

October
Lucky Day
The Comforts of Home
Return of Blue Devils Basketball

November
Pomegranate Crime Scene
Boxers and Brazil Nuts
Another Food-fest Complete

December
Healthy Habits: Taste the Rainbow!
All Wrapped Up
A Very Merry Caroline

OK, onto the more recent eats:

Wednesday
I had to eat quickly before heading out to a New Year's celebration. I kept it simple with a Sunshine patty with salsa, salad, broccoli, and Greek yogurt with wheat germ and blackberries.
No shake on Wednesday...several glasses of wine and a White Russian took its place. Almost as healthy, right?

Thursday
Breakfast yesterday was another banana blender concoction. I used GoLean again (my fave cereal) along with almonds this time. Perfect consistency!

Lunch consisted of the Tangy BBQ sandwich from Lindsay's cookbook. It was yummy, but I think I should have used more of Annie's BBQ sauce. I served it with mixed greens and a dish of blackberries with walnuts.
The end of a very boring day was made a little better with some black eyed peas to which I added mushrooms and onion, as well as Tabasco and BBQ seasoning. I also had some kale, a salad, and a baked potato with cinnamon and cashews.
The shake last night was slightly unusual in that I combined strawberries, chocolate, and peanut butter: all wonderful ingredients that I had never thought to enjoy simultaneously. It was fabulous, despite the crappy picture.
Friday
My mom and I had some errands to run today, so I made a quickie breakfast: pumpkin-banana smoothie and a Rudi's bagel with Maple PB
After scoring some new clothes on discount at the mall, we returned home for lunch. I finished off my divine shiitake-tomato hummus in a wrap with sun-dried tomatoes and field greens. I also had a salad with Woodstock dressing and an apple.
Check out what I got in the mail today:
Anyone tried these? What do you think of them?

Dinner tonight was inspired by this recipe. I didn't have any plum jam, so I improvised with blueberry jam (which I reviewed here). I think any jam would work in this recipe--its primary purpose is to add sweetness to the tofu. The cashews are also my contribution to the recipe.
As I've mentioned before, I am a self-proclaimed shoe addict. With some Christmas $$in my pocket just itching to be spent, I am contemplating a Zappos order. What's your current favorite in footwear?

Happy weekend!

The Comforts of Home

I arrived safely in Birmingham Thursday evening, and I have been soaking up the comforts of home ever since. Yes, it's nice to sleep in my own bed, spend time with my family, and catch up on sleep. However, I never thought I would be so happy to see a dishwasher in my life. Seriously. Suddenly having access to a dishwasher has made me realize just how much time I spend washing my dishes by hand while I am at school. I will for sure enjoy this simple luxury for the weekend:)

As a result of my traveling and off schedule, my meals are a little atypical for this round, but I think they're still moderately healthful. Enjoy!

Wednesday
Thanks my recent discovery that peaches may act as an acceptable mango stand-in for my vanilla hemp smoothies, I have been using the ingredient more often. After all, sliced peaches are a heck of a lot cheaper than frozen mango chunks. Anyway, this concoction included soymilk, sliced peaches, vanilla hemp, and pumpkin flax granola.

Thursday
Before heading off to a meeting, I fueled up for a busy day with yet another smoothie. This Bullet creation included pumpkin, frozen banana, rice milk, and cinnamon. Hello, liquid nirvana. I savored this beverage for several minutes, in contrast to my usual frenzied pace for the consumption of breakfast. On the side, I had another one of my never-ending whole wheat mini-bagels with freshly ground almond butter.

I had to leave for the airport at 12:30, so I packed a quick lunch to eat while during my layover. Remember that sweet mustard dill dressing I have been obsessed with lately? Well I had the genius idea to use it in my tofu salad. I packed a container of that deliciousness with an Ezekiel pita, sliced squash, grapes, and cashew-cranberry trail mix. Pardon the lame pictures--I haven't quite mastered the art of discreet food photography.
Upon returning to Birmingham, my sister picked me up and took me out to dinner with her husband. We decided that we were all in a Chipotle kind of mood (aka I was craving fresh guac!). I ordered the vegetarian taco salad with black beans, peppers and onions, fresh salsa, and a big ol' blob of guacamole. I never thought I would be so enamored of green goop. I also snagged a few of Ryan's tortilla chips. They were still warm!
After much digging around in the kitchen, I finally found one last hemp protein packet for my evening shake. Phew! This one was of the Nutiva chocolate variety, so I combined it with soymilk, cocoa powder, frozen strawberries, and a touch of chocolate syrup. Incredibly delicious.
Friday
I woke up this morning still full from an evening of good eats, so my mom and I headed to Publix so that I could load up on "my food." I'm pretty pumped about my selections (pears! tofu! pecans!). Anyway, I came home to make a big bowl of apple pie oats. I heated up oatmeal, unsweetened applesauce, water, and apple pie spice and let it thicken for several minutes. Once cooked, I added cinnamon and a big blob of almond butter. I also had a plain yogurt with apple pie spice mixed in.
I spent the day running errands; my hair is now freshly trimmed and I have loaded up on Target essentials (mini Clifs on sale!!). Lunch was extremely late but delicious nonetheless. I made a wrap out of sun dried tomato hummus, organic greens, and baby bella mushrooms. On the side, I had a salad and a banana with cashew butter.

I had a quick snack before heading out to the lake house: cottage cheese with walnuts and dried cherries. It made for an unusually tasty combination.

I just now arrived at the lake...only to realize that I forgot my camera. Fortunately, my sister is headed down later tonight after her shift at the hospital, so she agreed to bring my camera for me. Yes, I am officially an obsessive food blogger. Anyway, in the meantime, I prepared a simple sloppy Joe supper out of Heinz sloppy Joe sauce (which is surprisingly HFCS-free) and Boca crumbles. I also had a salad and some berries with lots of ground flax. This is a camera phone pic, in case you can't tell...
I will leave you with a few pictures from the weekend thus far. Happy Saturday!