Spring Break Friday

Feeling significantly better, but still coping with a dull ache in my head - especially when moving.  Darn these allergies! I didn't do too much other than spend a little time with a friend, I'm anticipating the return of productivity tomorrow.

Strawberry-banana-date-kale smoothie (also included about a cup of water):

I broke the seal - it's the return of iced coffee (nearly 80 degrees calls for cold coffee):

 Lunchtime leftovers (and I bought some sriracha - I added a lot, even though it doesn't look like it)

Afternoon snack: yesterday I also purchased tofu spring rolls, but sadly these were not the freshly-made large rolls they serve in the restaurant.  Nonetheless, they do serve the best peanut sauce (with more sriracha!).

A little later I had a small ramekin of pistachios.

Uninspired dinner (a repeat from earlier in the week): onion bagel with Follow Your Heart "cream cheese", cucumbers

I haven't eaten it yet, but I do plan on slowly savoring this dessert:

Hooray for the weekend, boo for the end of spring break. 

Spring Break Thursday

As mentioned yesterday, the air quality isn't the best here - and despite my best efforts to limit time outside, I awoke this morning at 6am with a throbbing sinus headache.  It hasn't left me yet, and I've been resting or steaming my face all day.  What? Steaming my face? Yup - I put water to a light simmer on the stove and add a few drops of these in:

I'm a believer in using aromatherapy to assist with healing, and peppermint and eucalyptus help open the sinuses.  The others didn't get used today, but I do have a soapstone diffuser (like these) which I use more often.  In addition to my "face steaming", I've taken a hot shower, used my neti pot, . . .and taken a decongestant (which I don't like doing, but desperate times. . . )

Here's what I ate: blueberry muffin smoothie, but with strawberries and spinach too.

Lunch included the other half of Monday's hummus and veggie wrap (with greens added), and brussel sprouts au gratin.  Steamed the brussel sprouts, tossed in a tablespoon of melted Earth Balance then tossed in the leftover panko-nooch mix originally prepared for the tofu,  I added a little more spice to the mixture, and it made for a tasty combo!

 Dinner: I wanted to do something different, and wanted something hot for my sinuses.  I ordered my favorite tofu pho for dinner - to go, which I've never done.  Let me be clear - I ordered a SMALL.  Does this look small to you? That's veggie broth with a green onion in it.  In the box: basil, cilantro, jalapenos, lime, bean sprouts, white onion, green onion, fried onion pieces (sauces in the ramekin - sriracha and sadly, fish sauce), glass noodles underneath the tofu.

 I dumped most of it into one of my mixing bowls that has a lid, and went at it.  There's still a lot left.

Note to self: buy your own bottle of sriracha so you can not worry about it mixing with nasty sauce.

Now, I'm going to will myself well - I don't like having an all day sinus headache!

Spring Break Wednesday

25 minutes of interval work on the treadmill to start the day, even though I wanted to run outside.  We (allergy sufferers) have been advised to limit outdoor time due to fires in the mountains.

Breakfast: orange-banana-spinach smoothie (with cinnamon, nutmeg and a little agave) based on this recipe.

 It was really good! I'm sad I found this recipe at the end of the citrus season.

Late morning snack:

Lunch: I know you'll be very disappointed, but I was with friends I've known since college - who I absolutely love and adore - but I can't bring myself to talk about my food photography / blog.  Really awesome ladies, we just don't share the same ideology anymore.  Example: when mentioning the above smoothie recipe, and how citrus is now out of season (for the U.S.) - a few scoffed at my wanting to follow seasons and eat locally / nationally.  Ironically, we had lunch at Linger, a restaurant that tries to use local ingredients! Ha!  I sampled a few of the sweet potato waffle fries, and ordered the Meze Plate.  When I told the waitress to make it vegan, she brought out gluten-free bread instead of naan.  (Sarah, the homemade pickles were divine!)

Late afternoon snack:

 Dinner: trying to figure out how to make the Crispy Baked Tofu from Monday better, I decided to pick up a bottle of Sweet & Sour sauce (this was the healthiest I could find).  I did a bias cut on carrot, green cabbage, and red onion.  Afterwards, I steamed the veggies while my brown rice was cooking.  Once the rice was finished, the tofu almost finished reheating in the oven, I tossed the steamed veggies in the sauce.

How is the week already half over? NOOOO!!

Spring Break Tuesday

Also known as the "busy day": two appointments, one dog play-date, and one book club meeting with co-workers.

Started with Angela's Blueberry Banana Kale Smoothie (she wasn't kidding - it's fantastic!):

 Late morning snack:

 Lunch courtesy of Whole Foods: Vietnamese Tofu Noodle-Salad, with vegan rolls.

 Dinner: "taco" salad with mixed greens, red onion, avocado, corn, salsa, a few of my favorite tortilla chips

And now I'm tired! Will there be exercise tomorrow? You betcha!

Spring Break Monday

Today is also known as "Lazy Monday" because despite the plethora of time of my hands - I had zero desire to workout.  I'm feeling more energetic as I write this, so perhaps the lazy-bug has passed through my system.

Anyway, here's what went down today:

 Cup of coffee while I waited for my favorite baked oatmeal with blueberries (based on Chocolate Covered Katie's recipe).  Late morning snack: (that's Remy's blurry tail in the upper right).

 I ran a couple of errands, and waited too long to eat lunch. Thus, when I walked in the door - I ate too many of these:

 And only had room for half of my WF's veggie and hummus wrap (I shoved in some greens out of my chip and salsa guilt).

 One of my errands included using a gift card to Barnes &Noble, where I continued my fiction-set-in- England streak (recently finished Wuthering Heights - not sure I'd recommend it).  Since I will not be able to watch "Downton Abbey" for many more months, The American Heiress should help tide me over.  It is the story of Cora, a.k.a. Lady Grantham.

Remy and I also did our usual walk, and I attempted to photograph it - but the winds were so bad (up to 50mph apparently). I held down my dinner plate to get the shot:

Steamed asparagus with freshly cracked pepper, and Crispy Baked Tofu.  I can't seem to find a baked tofu recipe that I love, and this one was okay - very light but bland.  I ended up dipping the pieces in a little bbq sauce.

Tomorrow will be quite busy, but I'll do my best to document it!  Have a great night. . .

Al Fresco

Today was spent outdoors, and thus I made sure to take pictures of my meals. . .outdoors.

Sarah's pina colada smoothie (frozen banana, frozen pineapple, coconut chips, spinach, and water - as I was out of almond milk this morning):

 A trip to the store ended with one of these:

 Weed pulling, hedge trimming, and sweeping in the backyard.  Followed by lunch: onion bagel, Follow Your Heart cream cheese, cucumber slices.

 Parents, brother, and their canine paid Remy and I visit.  We did 2.5 miles around the neighborhood, and ended at Menchie's - where I had a little dairy-free sorbet.

I can't believe it's still light outside at 7:00pm! That allowed me to take a picture of my southwest-inspired salad: mixed greens, avocado, corn, red pepper, salsa.

I'm still not believing that I don't have to work in the morning.  I heart spring break.

It's Processed

I'm not proud of today, and I haven't had a day like this in a long while.  At least it tasted good!

Banana and my current favorite Larabar:

 As mentioned in Tuesday's post, I need to use my winter produce.  Thus, the head of cabbage joined onion, homemade "cream" of mushroom, Boca crumbles, and pre-made dough to form a veganized Bierock casserole.  I had a chunk for lunch - it may look gross, but I was impressed with myself on the flavor.

 Afternoon snack was a little Pirate's Booty and an orange (more winter produce!).

Dinner: brown rice quesadilla (crisis averted, Sarah!) with Chick'n, sauteed onions, salsa, mashed avocado, and a very light smear of Tofutti sour cream.  I was worried about it being a cheese-less quesadilla, but holy guacamole - it was so good!

With spring break on the horizon (20 more hours, and we're there!), I promise to a) post more frequently, b) eat no processed faux meat, c) aim for two raw meals a day.

Happy Spring Equinox!

Time to finish off my citrus stock and cabbage - looking forward to ripe spring produce!

Started with chocolate rice protein powder, unsweetened almond milk, banana, ice, and spinach:

 Lunch: kale salad (avocado, onion, cantina-style salsa) **the best kale salad to date**, and dry roasted cauliflower.

Early afternoon:

There were also a couple of apple cinnamon rice cakes.

Dinner: BBQ Chick and Slaw sandwich, inspired by Skinny Bitch.  Shen was curious about the preparation, so here you go -

The original recipe calls for these to be pressed like a panini in a skillet with coconut oil.  Instead, I left the halves out (open-face sandwich style) under a low broiler for about 4-5 minutes, or until the bbq sauce bubbles slightly.

It looks sassy prior to me slicing it in half (the squishing required makes this a messy sandwich).

No pickle tonight, folks.  Stop being gross, I mean an actual pickle that used to be a cucumber.  ;)

Double Take

The end of last week was over-scheduled and stressful.  I did take pictures of most my meals on Friday, but then. . .I went to Happy Hour.  And had three glasses of very strong Sangria.  Needless to say, I didn't get to post.  Saturday meant busy with a headache.

Saturday (a.k.a. The Day of Tofu)
Breakfast tofu scramble (salsa, nooch, spinach, garlic powder) with a brown rice tortilla, coffee.

 Volunteered all morning at my new school (recruitment meeting, etc) - six hours after breakfast, I really wanted a veggie wrap from WF, but they were all out.  Thus, the return of the Tofu Spring Roll.

 My Swedish grandfather married an English-Irish Canadian, so we needed to observe the holiday.  The only part of the Corned Beef and Cabbage meal I ingested was some Irish Soda Bread.  Yum!

 And my brother really wanted Tokyo Joe's, so I had the Boulder Bowl.  (These are my leftovers, will probably reappear on Monday).

Sunday (a.k.a. Trying New Things)

Earl Grey inside of the tea ball:

 Irish Banana Split Smoothie (I cut the recipe in half):

Lunch: Skinny Bitch BBQ Chick'n Slaw Sandwich (I prepared the recipe for cole slaw, Chick'n griller, barbeque sauce - toasted open face style under the broiler.  This sandwich is small, but the pickle really isn't huge - just the angle!)

Snack:

 Dinner: mixed greens, carrot matchsticks, red onion, artichoke hearts, avocado, pumpkin seeds.  This is before mixing in the spoonful of sun-dried tomato hummus.  Served in the mixing bowl, really classy-like!

I have only one super busy day this week, and it's tomorrow.  Hopefully, it won't deplete me for the entire week!

March 14th = π

Today's post is brought to you by the color beige and the number 3.14159265...

Toasted onion bagel with Tofutti:

 Tofu Spring Roll with Peanut Sauce:

 And an orange. . .

I wish I had been better prepared to participate in Pi Day (and make my own pie of some kind), but I wimped out and had a not-so-great Amy's Dairy Free Vegetable Pot Pie

The filling was good, but the bottom crust stuck to the container and the top crust was a rock (I may/ may not have overcooked it, as I forgot to set the timer on my oven!).  

Looks like I've set myself up for another Liquid Thursday.