This morning I got to thinking: what’s appropriate for me in my day-to-day may be very different than what it is for others! Eating dinner five minutes before bed may break a cardinal rule somewhere, but for me, it’s a once-a-week normality. But you be the judge!
Appropriate or Inappropriate?
Breakfast at the diner? Always.
Egg white omelet with spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and feta; sliced tomatoes; whole grain toast with butter; coffee, orange juice
Breakfast for dinner, Lauren-style, at 12 AM after work?
Greek yogurt with banana, Quaker Oatmeal Squares, Ambrosial Granola, sunflower butter
Carrot cake “snack” during work? Sure! As someone pointed out on Twitter, it totally counts for a serving of vegetables 
“I Love You” carrot cake from Whole Foods, bought by our most loyal customer at the restaurant for her 33rd wedding anniversary with her husband. Gifted the leftovers to the staff. Sweetness.
Chocolate as study fuel? Not even a question. Especially when it is hair-rippingly frustrating algebra.
Homemade Mediterranean food? Delightful.
LVP-Style Mediterranean Salad
Greek feast out? I’m always up for a fun dinner with my squeeze.
Pita & hummus, spinach pie, salad with grilled salmon, grilled mushrooms & olives, Greek white wine
Stuffed French toast? You know it! But perhaps not the best idea when you have to leave for work in twenty minutes and are still in your pajamas. But yes, always a good idea.
PEANUT BUTTER BANANA-BERRY FRENCH TOAST SANDWICH
Serves 1
Ingredients
- 2 slices whole wheat bread
- 1/2 banana
- 1/4 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen
- 1-2 T chunky peanut butter
- 1 egg white (or 1 T ground flax + 3 T water, stirred and set aside 5 minutes)
- 1/4 t vanilla extract
- 1/4 c. milk of choice
- 1/8 t ground cinnamon
- butter or cooking spray
- salt to taste
Lightly whisk egg white (or flax “egg,” if using), vanilla, milk and cinnamon. Heat pan over medium-high heat and coat with butter or cooking spray. Spread peanut butter on one piece of bread, and top with sliced banana and blueberries. Coat both sides of second slice of bread with egg mixture and place on hot pan; carefully add first piece of bread, making a sandwich. Pour remaining egg mixture over bread. Cook until golden brown, flipping once. Remove from heat, transfer sandwich to plate, close eyes, and enjoy with a strong cup of coffee.
Have you met Tony? (Totally inappropriate gym attire, but it’s just fine for working out at home, in a Bruce Banner kind of way.) He’s the instructor of the P90X workout videos, a 90-day plan that’s supposed to whip home exercisers into shape.
Ari started a few days ago, and while I’m not following the plan, I have tried a couple videos with him. My first try was the 90+ minute YogaX video. I hadn’t been able to practice yoga in more than three weeks due to stitches (I finally got them out last week), and while I didn’t lose any of my flexibility, it was a rough hour and a half! I was pretty sore the next day. I also tried KenpoX, a martial-arts based cardio routine. This one was only 90 minutes, and while I didn’t find the level of exercise to be too challenging, I did struggle with the coordination! Lots of hook-uppercut-kick!s that were hard to keep straight.
We worked out side by side, in the band room, trying not to kick each other in the face. It was fun having a buddy, and I hope our schedules line up a couple times a week so we can keep it up!
And the inappropriate? The MTA completely derailed my plans for ladies-night pizza last night.
Major bummer. The least-used trains were the only ones running! GRR. I tried to compensate at my local pizza joint…
… but it really wasn’t the same.
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Goal for 2011 update: Cook One New Recipe A Week
Week 1: Lemony Spaghetti with Bitter Greens & Chickpeas
Week 2: Lentil Chili
Week 3: Chickpeas in Star Anise & Date Masala
Week 4: Thai-Style Black Beans w/ Mango & Cilantro
Week 5: Ten Minute Tasty Asparagus & Brown Rice, Brussels Sprouts Salad with Cheddar and Toasted Almonds, Warm Red Lentil Salad, Garlicky Sesame-Cured Broccoli Salad.
Week 6: Beets, Spiced Quinoa & Yogurt, Sesame-Cooked Eggs Over Rice
Week 7: Curried Parsnip Fries
Week 8: Curried Lentils & Sweet Potatoes
Week 9: Rutabagas with Buckwheat, Black Beans & Kale, Garlicky Mushroom Greens
Week 10: Tamarind Lentils, The Double-Shift Scramble
Week 11: Spicy Chickpea Salad, Butternut Squash Mac ‘n Cheeze, Spicy Red Lentil, Peanut & Pumpkin Soup
Week 12: Sunday Night Supper Salad, Peanut Butter Banana-Berry French Toast Sandwich
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The winner of the Dove VisibleCare body wash is…
Kylie! Congratulations! Please e-mail me your mailing address so I can get it out to you. Everyone else, you have until the end of the day to enter to win a pre-order copy of Mama Pea‘s new cookbook! Don’t miss out!
Have you ever tried P90X? Did you make it through 90 days?
What was appropriate or inappropriate about your weekend?
we missed you last night! next time we will make a date that is more centrally located, though $14 per person can’t be beat. gotta love brooklyn.
i did P90X with BT – it was intense! they make you hold the poses for sooo long. but yeah, no serious workout regimen like that for me. not my style.
appropriate: being drunk on a sunday.
inappropriate: being drunk on a sunday and not finishing my eight-pager due at 5PM. oops!
P90x scares me– it seems so hardcore!!!
Carrot cake is always appropriate. Period.
I don’t get what P90x is at alll! I want someone to give me a rundown :/
Chocolate as study fuel = 100% right; it gets me through 5 late night sessions of study a week!!
I still maintain a strike is a fabulous idea. :p
<3 <3
Breakfast for dinner when working late is totally appropriate! I’ll be rocking my green smoothies after work this week! Appropriate for my weekend: not moving from my bed on Sunday after 2pm snooze!
inappropriate….fried pickles, fried articoke, pecan pie, beer, hurricaine, meat pie but by New Orleans standards…that is appropriate….better go right back to DC
I want to come to your diner in Queens – the omelets always look so crispy and perfectly cooked (I hate runny eggs!). We missed you last night, but I totally understand the MTA frustration. It’s no bueno on the weekends :/
I love breakfast for dinner! Every time I suggest it, my boyfriend looks at me like I have 3 heads…he thinks dinner can only be a meat, a starch, and a veg.
We did P90X consistently for about 3 weeks, but found that we were getting bored with doing the exact same workouts over and over. Also, doing them 6 days a week didn’t feel like I was giving my body enough time to recover between all the lifting and plyo work. Now, I’ll occasionally incorporate one of the videos into my workout routine every few weeks just to mix it up, but doing it every day wasn’t for me.
glad you at least got some pizza last night! the mta is eternally frustrating.
hmm. appropriate: being a total foodie on saturday night and tasting all sorts of new things (read: oxtail, beef tongue, momofuku compost cookies and crack pie, aka butter-sugar pie). also, treating myself to an extra large green juice the day after, even if it cost me $12. inappropriate: leaving lucali in a state of drunkenness when the sun had not yet gone down last night. i am always a classy lady.
P90X kicks my butt! I don’t do it religiously, but my friend has seen major results. And YES to carrot cake!
we missed you last night! I hate when the MTA screws up plans, grrr.
I concur with the ladies above – inappropriate (however, awesome and fun): wine-induced drunkeness on Sunday before the sun set.
Never tried p90x – it scared me just a little!
Breakfast for dinner? ALWAYS appropriate (and delicious). And chocolate is great fuel
That Stuffed French toast? Looks ridiculous good. Josh did P90 for a while- I tried a couple of the sessions and enjoyed them. What was appropriate? Finally getting a normal amount of sleep!!
I totally agree that chocolate is the perfect study snack [I mean, it gives you endorphins, right?]! I haven’t done p90x… I just can’t imagine trying to fit anything big like that into my already crazy sched.
The frosting to cake ratio on that slice of carrot cake is seriously perfection. Frosting is my favorite
Never tried p90x! Sounds interesting, though!
totally inappropriate: I had 14 hours of class this weekend. I had to be on campus at 9 am every day. I was able to get some much needed credits but I would have really preferred the much more weekend-appropriate activities of sleeping in, eating brunch, and going to get drinks with me friends.
Haha YAY for BFD!!!!
A girl after my own heart. 
I haven’t tried P90x yet but have been wanting to for a long time…that and Insanity. The shirtless Tony and Shaun are reasons enough to try it!
I’ve considered P90x but it’s much too expensive for me and I honestly don’t think I’d have the motivation to workout that intensely in my own home. In the gym, no problem..but there’s so many distractions here!
Holy moly – look at that slice of cake! yum!!
awwww i LOVE how you’re playing p90x with ari! that’s so cute of you guys. you and your squeeze pumpin the iron together hahaha btw i totally love the phrase ‘squeeze’ for a sig other.
anyways! um i definitely know where i’m heading for my next treat and that would be the big WF carrot cake. i LOVE LOVE LOVE carrot cake! mmm
chocolate is the only study fuel btw
love you mama!
Appropriate: dark chocolate any time, any place.
Inappropriate: white chocolate any time, any place.
All your food pics look so delish! I really like the icing to cake ratio of that carrot cake:) I’ve been wanting to try P90X, not for the actual 90 days but just to see if I like the workout since my boyfriend had the DVDs.
If you’re gonna put algebra in front of me, there better be dark chocolate involved. haha
AHH that french toast is AMAZING!! oh bfast for dinner is TOTALLy appropriate- ive done that like every night for the past week!
Yay! Thank you for the sweet win
Haven’t tried P90x yet–I heard about the workout lengths and I can only squeeze 45 – 50 minutes in before work each morning!
My mom used to make us breakfast for dinner when I was younger and when I told the kids at school they just said I couldn’t afford a real dinner. Hahahhaa. Man how times have changed!
hi buddy, I found your website from yahoo answers and read many of your other pages. They are astonishing. Please keep it up!!! Regards, Wesley.