Good morning! How’s your week going? If you celebrate Valentine’s Day, I hope it was splendid. Mine was pretty low-key, just the way I like it.
Unfortunately I slept terribly… I had a hard time falling asleep, and woke up five minutes before my alarm to incredibly vivid nightmares that were, no doubt, inspired by some recent grisly events. Better luck tonight!
I made a few things on Sunday afternoon to help me through the week. Most were vegetable based, but I also made a batch of Angela’s Healthy Carrot Cake Power Scuffins to mix up breakfasts and snacks a little bit. I made these last summer and was eager to recreate them; I stuck to the recipe, only substituting prunes for raisins.
Just as laying out your outfit the night before, packing food in advance is such a timesaver.
For the day:
- coffee with almond milk
- Breakfast: Greek yogurt, almond butter, 1/2 banana, carrot cake scuffin
- Snack: apple
- Lunch: Salad, grapefruit, instant coffee
We’ve been so fortunate with the weather lately! The sun’s been out, and the temperatures have been nice and warm. Today it was in the 50s! (I didn’t know, and still wore my heavy parka.) The snow’s even starting to melt… dare I hope for Spring’s early arrival?
Every morning that I have 9 AM class, I get to school 30- 45 minutes early to eat breakfast, read the paper, and give myself some time to wake up and enjoy the day before I turn on the calculator and wield textbooks.
I ate both breakfast and lunch in my usual spots… still on the lookout for a good study/munching place! Once the weather gets (and stays) warm, I think that place will be outdoors.
Salad
- baby spinach w/ rice wine vinegar
- coconut curry tempeh
- roasted broccoli
- shredded carrots
- Curried Parsnip Fries
Chased lunch with a grapefruit and coffee to keep the Zzzz’s away!
After class, I popped into Alice’s Tea Cup for a special treat for dessert later. I had a craving, and when it comes to cake, it’s best not to ignore these things.
Especially when it comes all wrapped up in a pretty pink (!) plastic bag.
Snack first: rice cakes and aged white cheddar cheese. Strange combo, but even stranger I’ve never had it before.
I’ve never really been a huge Valentine’s Day person, and since I was on my own last night, I decided to just be really, really nice to myself. So what exactly does that mean? I read a little in bed, took a nap, and made a quick, tasty dinner.
- Basic Roasted Brussels Sprouts <— On a HUGE Brussels kick. I’ve eaten three containers myself this past week!
- Gliding Calm Tofu
- sweet potato with butter and cinnamon
I ate while watching The Romantics, which I liked. I can’t help it, though: even though it’s been more than 10 years, I still think of Katie Holmes as Joey Potter.
For dessert, the pièce de la résistance! I Tweeted earlier hoping that Alice’s Tea Cup would be stocking either carrot cake or something with lemon and/or coconut, and I was in luck! I came home with some of the richest, most delicious carrot cake I’ve ever had. Worth every bite! I managed to save a bit for tomorrow’s breakfast, to stretch out the yumminess a little longer.
I also received an adorable pug tote bag from two of my favorite ladies. It’ll be perfect for my laptop! Look at that little pug face.
How do you like to spend Valentine’s Day?
Valentine’s Day 2010 <— spent with my two favorite men!
It really was carrot cake sandwich of a day eh? haha! I have never had my rice cakes anywhere near a piece of cheese — and now I totally want to try it! haha sooo curious!
That carrot cake looks amazing, and love that tote bag – so cute! Sorry about the nightmares though!
When carrot cake is done right…I think it might be my favorite dessert in the world. SO good!
I didn’t sleep well either
Hope you can catch up on rest soon!!
OOOOH carrot cake.
That carrot cake looks delicious and I now have a biggest craving for brussel sprouts ever!
You have inspired me to get my own reusable sandwich/snack bags. My sister-in-law is going to make me some, and I’m super excited!
I would have nightmares too, how scary!
Carrot cake looks like heaven on your plate, I’m a sucker for carrot cake!
Has it been 10 years already??? Good golly. I, too, still think of her as Joey Potter, and I think of Pacey as Pacey … it’s funny though because I can’t for the life of me remember Michelle Williams character’s name on the show! And well, Dawson was just forgettable all together
That’s a good idea to get to class a little early to enjoy breakfast and a little peace and quite beforehand. I should start doing that for my 8AMs. I’m never hungry at 6:30 when I have to wake up for it.
Glad you treated yourself last night!
That carrot cake looks awesome!
I love Alice’s Tea Cup but I’ve never had their carrot cake (sin, I know!). Perfect V-day treat for yourself
That’s so funny—I totally had breakfast there yesterday morning! I can’t wait to go back and try their cake…or con the boy into bringing some home for me after class sometime. Glad you had a nice V-Day despite a rough night of sleep : )
Oh my gahhhh. Carrot cake. My most favorite cake ever. I’m actually about to make one for my roommates’s birthday tomorrow. However I think it’s one of those things that tastes better when someone else makes it, for some reason.
carrot cake is definitely my favorite variety. yum!
those look awesome! i wish i had time to set aside for baking. it is a love of mine!
xo.
I have to say that even though she’s now Mrs. Tom Cruise, I will forever think of her as Joey Potter too. Or Mrs. Pacey Witter.
oh EM geeee. promise me next time we have a date that we’ll order carrot cake haha i LOVE love love love lovveee carrot cake and hope someday when i get married that i’ll have my entire cake made of carrot cake haha
lovely valentines day! i spent it by myself (well with deej on the couch) and it was glorious! after a long day at work it just felt good to relaax
Ah, carrot cake sounds amazing right now.
Glad you spent a wonderful Valentines Day together.
I love that spring is slowly creeping up! We were geeking out over 40 degree weather this week, but tomorrow is going to hit 50 and I am SO EXCITED!
I need to try more carrot cake. It’s been years since I had it and I didn’t like it back then, but I should definitely give it another chance!
Carrot Cake is the best cake in my opinion. When I want a treat that I know will be awesome, I go for it!
I actually babysat on V-day. My man lives out of town, so obvi, no “couples night” for us. The little guys I hung out with are 3 and 5 and they presented me with treats and some beautiful artwork as well as hugs and smooches on the cheeks. A couple of Prince Charmings, if you ask me!
oh your dinner looks awesome! and i loveeeee carrot cake!
and the scuffins, thanks for the reminder on those…i need to try those too…soon!
ow- those Scuffins look really tasty! I want to make a batch! Sounds like you had a pretty nice day. Parsnip fries are awesome. I haven’t made a batch in a while. And the carrot cake was the perfect ending to the day.
I love leisurely breakfasts, too, and will take 20 minutes to sit and blog read or whatever. No work while I eat! I don’t want eating to be stressful or to distract me fromt he task at hand.
I’ll have to try those scuffins! I tried Angela’s apple muffin tops recently and they were phenom.