This morning I woke up, naturally, at 8, and instead of rolling over and going back to sleep, took advantage of being awake in the early hours.  I finished watching Jackie Brown while enjoying a nice bowl of oatmeal.

In the bowl:

• 1/2 cup oats cooked in 1/2 cup water
• 1 TJ’s flattened banana
• frozen pineapple, warmed
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1 scoop flaxy PB
• cinnamon
• 1/3 packet stevia (this is growing on me!)

And because it was Sunday and I didn’t have to function quite as highly as usual, I had a mug of green tea in place of coffee.

I lounged around, practiced some light yoga, and went into the city to meet Liz at One Lucky Duck for lunch.

We both had S+M salads: greens with avocado, hemp seeds, dulse, rosemary crackers and argon-lemon dressing.

Although I recently made a similar version, it makes such a difference to have the real ingredients, like Rosemary Quackers!  I splurged and bought some for home… as well as a treat for later in the evening.

Liz and I chatted for a while, then went on our merry ways.  I had some important grocery shopping to do (3 buck chuck, anyone?), and she had to fly home.  I spent the rest of the afternoon doing some work in bed, napping, and snacking on this yogurt.  I’d never tried Trader Joe’s “French Village” variety before, but I liked it! Fruit-on-the bottom yogurt always feels comforting to me; I ate it all the time growing up.

For dinner, I had a bowl of Porcini Mushroom Soup (made last night), toasted bread with Asiago cheese, and steamed carrots.

Washed it down with carrot water and TBRM…

… and for dessert: a raw “oh-reo” from One Lucky Duck.  The cream was dead-on! Nabisco should be worried

It was quite a productive day.  To keep this up throughout the week, I made myself a meal plan so I wouldn’t have to scramble at night after a long day at work.

It’s already been adjusted a little bit as my dinner tonight was slightly different, but it’s nice to have everything all laid out.

Speaking of which… as I tweeted Friday morning, I got into the NYC Half Marathon!  It’s on March 21.  Training starts TOMORROW.  I haven’t been able to run as much lately (and haven’t run seriously since the 15K) but this is the incentive I needed to get back in the game.  It’s still going to be a struggle for me to figure out what time works best for me in terms of training, but I’ll do it.  Here’s my training schedule, customized by Smart Coach:

On days when cross-training (XT) is scheduled and I can’t make it to the gym, I’m going to practice yoga at home.  I’m confident I can make this work!

On that note, I’m off to shower, finish my reading, and go to sleep.  Have a great night!

Is The Upwelling coming to a venue near you?

I had a quick breakfast of granola with a banana and skim milk.

Mid-morning I snacked on an apple; I saved my pumpkin yogurt (Stonyfield fat free plain yogurt + pumpkin puree + cinnamon) for after lunch.

I packed a stellar salad for lunch: mixed greens with 1/4 avocado, 1 orange, grape tomatoes, sesame tofu, almonds, and toasted seaweed.

Second try using a spice jar to carry my citrus salad dressing (leftover from the sushi bowl)… this time I just packed it right into my salad container.  No spillage!

After work, I met my friend Lisa for dinner at Blockheads, a Mexican(ish) restaurant that has several locations around the city.   Sorry about the dim lighting!

We started with festive drinks: she ordered their special, a frozen margarita with a tipped Corono.  It was surprisingly tasty!  I stuck to Negro Modelo, one of my favorite beers.

Blockheads steams their burritos (as opposed to frying the tortilla) and can make anything vegetarian.  They are also very accommodating about substitutions. I ordered a vegetable burrito in a whole wheat tortilla with brown rice, sautéed veggies, and plenty of hot sauce! I asked for tofu sour cream because I’d never tried it… I really liked it! I actually couldn’t tell whether it was real sour cream or not… I guess I eat a lot of ‘fu.  Lisa confirmed it was definitely not dairy.

Can you believe this was a mini burrito?! I was quite full when I finished!  It was delicious… I always forget how easy these types of dinners are to make at home.

When I got home, I had a Godiva chocolate-caramel-peanut cluster leftover from Christmas.  (A chocolate caramel sneaked out of the camera’s eye.)

My gym bag is packed, and I’m sleeping in my clothes to make sure I go to the gym tomorrow. My alarm is set for 6, and if I hustle, I’ll have enough time to get a decent workout in, shower, get to work on time, and not have to worry about it for the rest of the day.   To make that happen, my plan is to do a quick Lunar Flow and be in bed by 10:30.  It can be done!

This morning I was all set to make a yogurt mess for breakfast, but alas… the yogurt had gone funk!  So I used the closest white and creamy substitute: silken tofu.

I loaded up a batch of Sarah‘s pumpkin cakes…

This belly-bursting bad boy had:

• pumpkin puree
• eggwhites
• 1/2 banana
• Trader Joe’s flaxy PB
• Stonewall Kitchen lemon curd
• mashed silken tofu
• pumpkin butter
• nutmeg
• cinnamon

It was delicious, but almost a little too filling.  It did hold me over until 11, though, when I snacked on an apple.

Work was busybusy, but I had time to eat lunch with a friend.   I packed an S&M-inspired salad made with mixed greens, 1/2 avocado, grape tomatoes, European-style bread, dulse, sesame seeds, and homemade lemon juice/rice vinegar/mustard/oil vinaigrette.

I also had a plain Chobani.

I snacked on an orange later in the afternoon… it made my office smell really nice for the rest of the day!

Although I’d brought my gym bag, I almost convinced myself to just carry it on home again without working out.  I was exhausted, it was cold, I wanted to get home and see Ari before he leaves for tour tomorrow… I thought of pretty much every excuse, but finally decided that I would do something nice for myself and give myself a little release.  I have so much more energy when I’m training for a race (and supposedly I’m training for a 1/2 marathon in March and the NYC marathon in November); it helps me sleep; it gives me endorphines… the positives obviously outweighed the negatives.

After I made my decision, I didn’t even think about it: I went to the gym, got on the treadmill and ran 3.0 miles between 5.8- 8.0 mph.  (I really don’t like running on the treadmill, and interval courses make the time go by a little faster).I did compromise, however, and put my work clothes back on after my run without showering!  Naughty, I know, but I just wanted to go home and be in my own shower.

It was almost 8 when I got home, so i made a quick dinner: leftover Tomatoey Spiced Chickpeas and Harvest Grains…

… topped with a poached egg and Emeril’s Original Essence.

I loved this one-bowl meal!  It was quick, comforting, and perfect for a chilly night.  Desert was also low-maintenance, since I made it last night!

Yep, that would be Averie’s Raw Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup.

I made mine a little differently; for the filling, I used equal proportions of peanut butter and almond butter, nooch, a drop of agave and a sprinkle of sea salt.

Ari bit his first, but I wanted to try out my fancy new knife.

DELICIOUS! We both thought they tasted just like Reese’s.  Well done, Averie!  Ari’s not a huge dark chocolate fan so next time I’ll make his with milk; for my own, I used Pure Dark‘s 57% chocolate and it was absolutely heavenly.  This could be dangerous now that I know how easy they are to make!

Which recipe are you fawning over? Do share!

Thanks to Miss Blue for giving me the Happy 101 award!

10 things that make me happy:

1. My family

2. My friends

3. My pup’dog

4. Racing!

5. Date nights

6. Fancy dinners

7. Ice cream in bed

8. Fun times in the kitchen

9.  And now that the photographic evidence has been, congratulate Joe & Carlye!   I’m so excited!!! These two are some of my favorite people in the whole world, and I couldn’t be happier for them.

Thanks for the award!  What’s been making you happy lately?

I’m off to make lunch for tomorrow and then hit the sack.  I’m beat! Have a great night

Our house guest left this as a parting gift when he left.  I’m sure it’s delicious, but I really didn’t pause to smell or taste it before throwing it back.  I’ll let you know about that tomorrow

I replenished my supply of POMx to dissolve my Ester-C into.  I’m still so proud of myself for discovering this works!  (For new readers: I drink a little bit every day with breakfast to dissolve Ester-C, which aids the absorption of an iron supplement I take for low energy, but don’t photograph it every morning.)

I was excited to try out a new product with breakfast: Stonewall Kitchen’s Lemon Curd.  I’ve been curious about this for years, and my mom was nice enough to buy it for me this weekend.

Breakfast was a double portion of Sarah‘s pumpkin “cakes”, topped with a heaping cloud of 0% Fage, cinnamon, walnuts, and a scoop of lemon curd.  Lemon Meringue Pumpkin Pie before 7 AM? Yes, please!

I had two back-to-back interviews starting at 9 (which I think went well); afterward I needed to unwind a little with some teasing retail therapy (AKA touch everything, buy nothing) at J.Crew and Anthropologie.  How is it that a store (or two) can be filled with only perfect things?  But my bank balance remained stable, and I left satisfied with the clothes on my back.

The tree is going up in Rockefeller Center…

I sat in the plaza and ate my Criterion apple.  Sometimes it’s okay to be a tourist in your own city.

After making sure there were no more stores I needed to browse through, I came home to get some done and eat lunch.  I heated up a bowl of Spinach & Rice soup and added lots of fresh parsley, and served it alongside a small sweet potato with brown sugar and cinnamon.  Perfect mid-Monday comfort food, if you ask me.

I thought I deserved a treat, so I had some 55% Dark Chocolate Peppermint Chococolove.

The rest of the afternoon was spent writing. Welcome to my “office”!  You may recognize it as the kitchen table, but during the day I spread out and use it for reading, writing, researching, and tea-drinking.  I tried the Sugar Plum Spice holiday tea… so good.  I think this might have been the first flavor they came up with, because I remember having it a long, long time ago before they changed their packaging.

After successfully moving to decaffeinated tea, I didn’t want to go back to drinking coffee so late in the day.  Instead, I moved on to a cup of Sugar Cookie Sleigh Ride.  I don’t know how they do it, but this smells so much like a cookie! It’s very vanilla-y, but it has a very soft taste without a hint of bitterness.

I finished up my work, then went into the city to meet my friend Ilena at 5:30 for an early dinner at FreeFoods NYC.

Tonight was another example of how many secrets this city has to offer, both food-wise and other.  I never would have suspected that a restaurant like this could exist (and thrive!) in Midtown Manhattan, in the heart of corporate offices and tourist attractions.  Was I wrong!  It goes to show that people do want to eat locally and sustainably, the options just have to be made available.

FreeFoods serves fresh soups, sandwiches and salads; they have raw, vegan and gluten-free options.

I built my own salad with arugula, avocado, spiced mango, shittake mushrooms, spicy shrimp and Manchego cheese with Thai basil dressing.

One of the staff members had made an extra Vitality Berry smoothie (sweet cherry, açai, blueberry- pomegranate juice, ginger-agave), so Ilena and I split it with our dinners.  It was really good, and helped ease the heat in my mouth leftover from my spicy salad dressing!

Ilena and I sat for a while catching up…

…and were treated to another smoothie sample! This time we tried the “orange creamsicle” (it’s new, and the ingredients aren’t listed).  As Ilena said, it really did taste like a creamsicle, “but not in the bad way”!

Since we dined early, I was back home by 7:30 to get some things done before Gossip Girl.  Sadly, it seems like most TV shows have already had their holiday finales, so I did some more work instead.  I did, however, make a fabulous dessert to fill my Chuck Bass-sized void…

My dad found a great deal on takeout containers of Tasti D-Lite, so he picked me up some peanut butter frozen yogurt.  I added frozen berries and Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.

Another sweet end to a good day.

What was the best part of your Monday? What are you looking forward to about Tuesday?

P.S.  Please vote for Lyle!  She is a talented, beautiful actress who deserves to realize her dreams.  Register, vote, and help here get there!

Yesterday I woke up and stumbled to the kitchen to make breakfast, only to discover that I’d completely decimated my supply of rolled oats! Good gracious, what’s a girl to do?  Make a big batch of steel-cut oatmeal instead!

I used four cups of water, 1 cup of steel cut oats, 1 sliced banana and 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract. While the oats cooked, I drank some coffee and mailed my Netflix to distract my grumbling tum.  When the oats were ready, I portioned out a serving for myself and put the remaining three servings in the fridge.  Three breakfasts I won’t have to worry about later!

In college, usually on a Sunday, I’d make big batches of things like oatmeal and rice to enjoy later in the week. Sure, it takes a little longer than microwaving your breakfast one morning, but saves time in the long run and tastes a lot better.

For my bowl, I diced up a not-quite-ripe pear and microwaved it for 90 seconds.  This softened the pear right up, and released some of its natural fruit syrups.  Sometimes fruit is enough of a sweetener on its own, but yesterday I needed a bit more.  I added a little brown sugar, cinnamon, and walnuts to make my breakfast a little more interesting.

The rest of the morning was spent applying for jobs.  Unfortunately the entire city seems desperate for an “assistant” position, but I must press on! I think I need a really tall, straight-back chair.  It’s so easy to just hunch over the desk, and sometimes I catch myself and notice my posture and I am literally almost lying on the table. Terrible! Erin helped me with this about six months ago, but I really need to be better about it.

Finally I broke for lunch to bring the feeling back to my legs and back.  I’d read Diana’s (then) most recent post, which looked fabulous, and decided to give Gena’s Maple Cinnamon Vinaigrette a try.

I quartered the recipe to make just enough for my lunch.  I didn’t have any maple syrup, so I substituted raw agave nectar instead.  I added a little fresh lemon juice as well.

Each recipe of Gena‘s that I’ve tried has been mighty fine, and this was no different.  It was really good, and turned what would have been an ordinary salad into something unique and special.  The salad itself was almost worthy of Raw Wednesday… while tempeh was traditionally prepared raw, I’m not sure that’s still the case in all commercially prepared varieties.

In the mix:

• collard greens (local)
• red chard (local)
• 1/3 block TJ’s 3 Grain Tempeh
• 1/2 avocado
• 1 kiwi— a reader asked if I eat the skin of kiwis.  I do! I didn’t used to, but tried on a whim this summer.  The skin is thin, and really doesn’t change the taste of the fruit.  However, when possible I buy organic kiwis. I try to go organic whenever I’m going to eat the outside of a fruit or vegetable.  Obviously, this isn’t always possible for financial reasons.
• 2 carrots
• Agave Cinnamon Dressing

I decided to make my carrots a little less “rebellious”, and peeled them with the asparagus (or spargel) peeler I received free in Berlin at the Spargelfest.  Spargelfest!

This salad was perfect.  Good ingredients and quality dressing really do make all the difference.

I had a glass of red with lunch.

Juuuuust kidding… although I wouldn’t be opposed! No, this was POM‘s new Pomegranate Kiwi juice, that the company sent me a few weeks ago to try out.

This was a lot sweeter than the straight pomegranate variety.  It tastes a bit like fruit cocktail, but I really liked it! This is also 100% juice, which I like.  Don’t you hate when you buy “juice” only to get home and see that there’s actually very little fruit in there at all?

After finishing up my job search for the day, I laced up my sneaks and headed to the gym.  These are the new shoes I got… they’re the same model as my old pair (Asics Gel Kayanos), but I asked for pink instead of read this time. I’m not really a “pink” girl, but I don’t even remember the last time I wore pink sneakers!  Probably my pair of butterfly light-up L.A. Gears. Remember those?

I biked for 30 minutes at the gym while reading my book.  The stationary bike is not the most exciting thing, but I just need to get myself through 30 minutes.  I didn’t like the treadmill, either! There’s nothing wrong with making the most of things, from time to time.

After showering, I headed over to Curly’s Vegetarian to meet Lauryn for an early dinner.   I can’t believe I’d never been here before! It’s right near where I used to work, and has so many options.  Lauryn and I sat and stared at the menu for a good long while before finally deciding on what we wanted… everything looked delicious, from their Mexican fare to their “Public School Lunch” (mac & cheese with panko).  We both ordered the Dragon Bowl Q, a special salad with mixed greens, quinoa, fake chicken, black beans, mango, tomatoes, avocado, jalepeño, corn chips, vegan parmesan… with each dive of our forks, we discovered a new ingredient.  I asked for the carrot ginger and mango poppy dressings on the side, but it was such a loaded salad that I really didn’t need any extra.

It was massive.  I didn’t really eat the corn chips because I got so full!   While we ate, we made art.  Lauryn’s clearly the more talented one (on the left)… see how coy her chick looks?

All of their drinks and desserts sounded amazing (Mexican hot chocolate, peanut butter bomb), but we decided to save our money and have a treat at home.  We did, however, go to Trader Joe’s to get some essentials.  I left the store having spent the lowest amount I’ve ever spent there ($19.79!), and won’t be needing any yogurt or pumpkin anytime soon!  I need to go shopping with this girl all the time.

When I got home, I caught up on Gossip Girl while munching on a slice of banana-pumpkin-date tea loaf with almond butter and dark chocolate.

Well, back to the grind.  I’ve got to send a few more applications out, then clean up a little because Ari is coming home tonight!

See ya later, alligators.

Yesterday I got up on the very early side to finish some reading and writing for my internship.  I caffeinated myself and prepared this lovely (if not very random) breakfast.

In the mix:

• Stonyfield Farms organic fat free plain yogurt
• Trader Joe’s Mangolicious mango/berry blend, warmed
• 1 kiwi
• 1/2 Silver Moon pumpkin muffin, smeared with peanut butter

On Tuesdays when I intern at the office, there’s usually only an hour or two of work for me to do.  When there, I file, run errands, and read manuscripts; when I’m at home, I read and write in the comfort of my bed.  Yesterday there were a few outdoor things to do; I always enjoy a trip outside to stretch my legs and a chance to re-start my energy with a snack.  On one such occasion, I snacked on a Great Date w/ Chocolate YouBar.

I really liked this bar! I will write up a full product review once I have tried all of the samples I was given, but should you decide to make a purchase at YouBar in the meantime, enter the code “Lilveggiepatch” at checkout for a 5% discount.

At noon, right as I was leaving the office, I got a call from an orthopedist’s office letting me know I had gotten a last-minute appointment with the doctor to figure out just what’s going on with my knee.  I had just enough time to pick up a salad at Ready To Eat, an upscale takeaway deli near work.  I picked up a curried shrimp salad, which came with mixed greens, avocado, orange, tomato, and lemon. It was on the pricey side ($9.95) considering I hadn’t planned on buying a meal (had to cancel a lunch date with my mom for the appointment), but the salad was really big and very filling.

In what’s becoming true LVP-style, I inhaled my lunch on a bench in the subway in less than ten minutes.  Sadly, in my frenzy to eat and make my appointment on time, my poor tomato flipped out of the container and onto the ground. The 5-second rule does not apply in NYC public transit, sorry.  It was a good thing I took the time to sit and eat, however, because I bumped into a good friend I hadn’t seen in an embarrassingly long time, and who now lives in California!  It was a very nice surprise, but we were both in a hurry and had to rush off.

I got to the hospital an hour before my appointment to take X-Rays.

The X-Ray technician was great. Each time she moved me or took a photo, she explained exactly what she was doing and why.  Here is the X-Ray of my right knee:

Unfortunately, the appointment with the doctor himself left me frustrated, confused, and really irritated.  He did not go over the X-Rays at all, explain what he was doing as he manipulated my leg, and only gave me information when I asked him directly.  Do I have a sprained mensicus? No. I was told that I did… is it possible that it healed itself already? No.  My knee-cap clicked a bit just now… is that normal? You have a little arthritis.   He did say that it was caused my overdoing it, and that low calcium + vitamin D is probably part of the culprit.  I should take Citrical supplements, and get a bone density scan. (I used to take a massive quantity of vitamins every morning, but didn’t want to spend the money re-stocking when I ran out.)

He left the room about two minutes later, and still didn’t know what I could and could not do.  When can I run? Can I strength train? What, if anything, should I do at the gym? Arthritis?! I got dressed and found him outside in the hallway, and, desperate for one more minute of his time, asked if I had arthritis.  He then examined me in the middle of the hallway, lifting the back of my shirt up all the way and having me bend completely over, as he stood very close to me and ran his fingers along my spine. I don’t think I need to elaborate on what that looked like from the side.  I’m sure the doctor wasn’t trying to do anything inappropriate and didn’t think that I might be a little uncomfortable in front of other patients with my shirt up, but I was really uncomfortable.  Uncomfortable, and angry that the doctor hadn’t made sure that I understood what was wrong with me, and how I could fix it without hurting myself again.  Not knowing how to improve is so frustrating.  I think I’m overly sensitive about it because running was a reliable way for me to structure my day now that I don’t have a job, and now I just feel like I’m floating in limbo.

On the way out of the office, I scheduled a bone density test for Thursday at 8:30 AM.  I also received a prescription for physical therapy, although the prescription is for work on my left knee, and not my right. (Mistakes can happen, and luckily this isn’t a serious one… I have a friend who had the wrong side of his body operated on a few years ago.) I talked to my dad, near tears, right after I left the doctor’s office.  He said this is usually how “network doctors” (doctors who are covered by insurance) work, because they have so many patients to see each day.  I understand that, but I also wanted some answers.  He called the office and asked them to call me back… the doctor’s assistant actually just called (a day later) as I was typing this post.  She didn’t know much else, except that I have a “knee sprain.”  I asked about the arthritis, and she said that, from the X-Ray, I don’t have it. I should only use the recumbent bike at the gym, and no strength training.   So now, I really don’t know what to think.  The doctor basically told me the exact opposite things that the physical therapist did last week.  I need to start seeing the physical therapist so I can gradually start running again, but I haven’t been able to get their office on the phone.

It isn’t news that doctors are overstretched and, unless they’re privately hired, don’t have time to work closely with patients.  I’m lucky to not have really needed hospital or serious doctor care until recently, and I need to learn to be patient with “the system.”  That patience needs to be transferred to my job search as well…. Om.

When I got home from the hospital yesterday, I was pretty hungry and made a yogurt bowl with a microwaved apple, cinnamon and granola.

After spending a couple hours decompressing, I set to work on a new baking project.  Since high school, cooking and baking has always been a way for me to relax and take a break from more stressful things like school work and job searching.  Even though the finished product might not be “perfect”, it’s finished, and I can feel good about that.  So, without further ado, I give you…

The Virtually Fat-Free* & Vegan Banana-Pumpkin-Date Tea Loaf! (And don’t let the name scare you off… it tastes pretty darn good.)

*Bananas have a very small amount of fat.

Adapted from Veganomicon‘s Lower-Fat Banana Bread.

Ingredients:

• 3 small ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup applesauce
• 1/2 cup canned pumpkin pie mix
• 1 tablespoon molasses
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 crushed cloves, or 1/8 teaspoon ground
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup chopped dates (about 7 medjools)

Preheat the oven to 350˚ and lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a medium-sized mixing bowl, mash the bananas with a fork until no large chunks remain.  Add molasses, applesauce, and pumpkin pie mix and stir.  Mix in half of the flour, spices, and salt. Stir in the remaining flour until no clumps remain.  Fold in chopped dates.

Pour batter into pan.

It will be very thick.

Bake on middle rack for 30 minutes or until a knife inserted through the center comes out clean.  Cool. It will be dense, but adorable.

While the bread cooled, I made a quick and easy dinner that was a tribute to my college days of yore.

I mixed a cooked sweet potato and a can of tuna into a packet of Annie’s Mac & Cheese. I always enjoy Annie’s with a little more cheeze than the packet comes with, so I added a scoop of nooch as well.  A sprinkle of chili flakes made it the perfect meal, taking me right back to long days procrastinating writing papers.

For dessert, I had two small slices of fresh low fat vegan banana-pumpkin-date tea cake, one plain and one with almond butter and raspberry jam.  It’s moist, soft, and perfectly sweet.  Possibly not the best idea to bake a whole loaf of bread when most of your roommates are on vacation, but…

I tried to hold out for as long as possible, but eventually went back for another plain slice.  What can I say? Blame Lexi Gray.

Alright, time to get a-movin’.  If the recumbent bike is all I can use, I’m off to bike-a-way.