Yesterday I woke up knowing I was going to be eating quite a bit of soft serve in a few hours, so I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast.   (Oatmeal holds [...]]]> Good morning! I’m glad you enjoyed the virtual tour of The Lite Choice… you can read it here if you missed it!

Yesterday I woke up knowing I was going to be eating quite a bit of soft serve in a few hours, so I had a bowl of cereal for breakfast.   (Oatmeal holds me over much longer than cereal does.) My bowl had Kashi Autumn Harvest, muesli from the Food Co-Op, banana and skim milk.

Over breakfast, I read the March issue of Bon Appetit, and stumbled across this:

What do you think about taking photos in restaurants? Do you do it, or get annoyed with people who do? Does it make a difference if you don’t use the flash?

While touring The Lite Choice, I sampled everything without gorging.   I wanted to try all of the goodies but knew I would feel really sick if I’d eaten all of it (which probably wouldn’t have even been possible!) so I kept my tastes small.  After the tour, I went to Whole Foods to pick up a few things, including lunch from the salad bar.

In the mix:

• spinach
• vegan chicken salad
• edamame
• edamame arame salad
• curried cauliflower
• 1 piece each: bbq tempeh, lemon tempeh, lemon-baked tofu
• corn
• macaroni & cheese- I always have to take a tiny scoop!

When I got home I added some rice wine vinegar to the spinach, and had a Granny Smith apple on the side while I did some reading.

My reading sent me to dreamland for an hour or so, and when I woke up I was feeling pretty hungry!  Even after all of that soft serve, I was craving a slice of whole wheat toast with Maranatha Cashew Butter and mango butter.

I went out to run a few errands and come back carrying five bags!  Show me a New Yorker who doesn’t know the meaning of “schlep” and I’ll be a stunned girl.  More than happy to take a load off, I didn’t feel like going back out to get groceries for the week.  Instead, I looked in the fridge, freezer and pantry for any components that could possibly come together to make something resembling a meal, and ta da! I ended up using up old items in the fridge and things that had been in the freezer and pantry for months.

I almost feel guilty even calling this a “recipe,” but it was so delicious and so nourishing that I’m going to add it to the page!

Ten Minute Vegetable Soup

• 4 cups vegetable broth (I make mine from Better Than Bouillon)
• 1.5 cups carrots, sliced
• 2 boxes/bags of whatever frozen veggies you have around; I used collard greens and an “Oriental” veggie blend with broccoli and mushrooms
• 1 leek
• 1 can of beans, whatever you have (I used red beans)
• Salt + pepper to taste
• Chili (optional)

Heat vegetable broth over medium heat until warm.  Add carrots and leeks and cook until carrots are slightly tender.  Add frozen vegetables and cook until fully thawed and warmed through.  Add beans, salt and pepper, and chili flakes.  Enjoy!

Serves 2-3 as a main, 4-6 as a side.

I ate my soup with the last of the pesto; it was the perfect cozy meal!

For dessert, I had a slice of cake from The Lite Choice! Each piece of cake has both chocolate and vanilla soft serve with a layer of cookie crumbs in the middle.  This slice was covered with chocolate sauce and peanuts… it was so good, I wish I’d gotten more!

And now, some more Ask Me Anything answers!

If you could eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

This one always gets me! I probably would have said “chocolate” or “bread” a few years ago, but now I just don’t know… there are so many things I like! But right now, I’m going to go with sushi.  I could eat it every night and not get bored!

Are you vegan or vegetarian?

Technically I’m a “pescatarian,” which I’ve been for about 9 years.  There was a year during that time when I cut out fish, but I really hate to use any kind of label when it comes to my food habits.  I try to eat things that I feel ethically comfortable with, things that make me feel good, and things that I just like! Read more here.

That’s all there’s time for now! I’m off to go meet Danielle for a long run in the park.  Enjoy your Sunday!

Last night, after we got back from the wedding, I hunkered down to do some reading and prepare for my interviews.  All of that brain stimulation must have shot my metabolism into [...]]]> Good evening, Upper East Siders!  How are you? I’m taking a little work break to blog and catch up on my Gossip.

Last night, after we got back from the wedding, I hunkered down to do some reading and prepare for my interviews.  All of that brain stimulation must have shot my metabolism into overdrive, because only a couples hours after dinner,  my tum was a-grumblin’ something fierce! I thought I might just be thirsty, but that didn’t seem to be it.  Finally, I put down my book and headed into the kitchen to make a bowl of Kashi GoLean and Smart Start. Problem solved!

This morning, I woke up bright and early to see Ari off.  As I mentioned, he’s going Vigilante through December, and had to leave at 7:30 this morning.  I tried to go back to sleep, but my mind was already up and ready to go.  I had to be at physical therapy at 10 anyway, so I just got up and made breakfast.

Taking Jess‘s advice, I heated up half of a Trader Joe’s Berry Mango Bran Muffin, crumbled it up, and tossed in on top of 0% Fage with some warmed frozen berries and a scoop of flaxy PB.  I really like this peanut butter, by the way.   It’s both crackly and crunchy and adds great texture!

Quite the mess!

My therapy session went well… I still have a lot of tightness in pretty much each muscle in my legs, so I have to keep working on that.  Repeat after me: yoga, rolling and stretching, okay!  When I got back, I briefly chatted with the guest who is staying with us, made myself an apple-cinnamon snack, and retreated to my room to be interviewed (via phone) with the HR department for the company I’m interviewing with.

It shaped up to be one of those days where I was constantly hungry, so I made something as soon as the clock showed that it was even remotely close to lunchtime.  Ellie reminded me yesterday about the beauty of the crack wrap, so I made one with a whole wheat wrap, three-layer hummus, and a slice of Jarlsberg cheese.

I ate it with half a can of Progresso’s Fat Free Lentil soup.   This isn’t the tastiest of the canned variety, but I had a hankering for soup.  I’ll definitely be making my own in the near future!

Finished up the meal with a piece of salt water taffy for a sweet end.

I’ve been searching in vain for the seasonal Celestial Seasonings teas (like Sugar Cookie and Gingerbread)… any New Yorkers know where I can track it down?  I settled on a cup of Sweet Coconut Thai Chai, which was a good substitute…

…but it knocked me right out!  Ari caught me snoozing at 5PM when he woke me up with a phone call.  Whoops! I snacked on some carrots to perk me back up…

… then did Yoga Download‘s Hip Opening Flow #2.  I have trouble practicing yoga for more than 20 minutes when I’m not in class… does anyone have tips for staying in the moment? Turning off my phone would probably be a good start!

I heated up some leftover Coconut Barley Pilaf and made a quick salad with kale, broccoli slaw, grape tomatoes, sesame oil and rice wine vinegar.

Honestly, as much as I love my fancy salad dressings, I could probably make a sesame vinaigrette every night and be happy.  It’s simple, but so delicious.  I don’t even use measurements or mix anything together… the vinegar and oil just get drizzled on.

I made another quick dessert, starting with a tri-flavored chocolate sauce using Pure Dark cardamom chocolate, semisweet and bittersweet chocolate chips.

I added a few drops of water, microwaved the bowl for 35 seconds, then mixed in some Brown Sugar ice cream.

And thus concludes another day’s passing without having spent a single extra dollar on food.  I’m going to have to buy some fresh produce soon, as we’re running low on fruit and vegetables, but otherwise the kitchen is pretty stocked.  It’s a satisfying feeling.

Back to work… it’s going to be a late night.  Bonne nuit

[D]on’t stir…take your spoon straight down through the yogurt and pull some fruit up with the yogurt.  I at first was reluctant…but then I said “oh what the heck…”  I won’t stir my yogurt [...]]]> Shari wanted me to let you know about the correct way to eat what I’ve referred to as “fruit-on-the-bottom” Chobani:

[D]on’t stir…take your spoon straight down through the yogurt and pull some fruit up with the yogurt.  I at first was reluctant…but then I said “oh what the heck…”  I won’t stir my yogurt ever again….  It completely changes the dynamics of the yogurt.

I tried it out, plunging my spoon directly into a Blueberry Chobani.

Very smooth and very creamy!

What do you do when you can’t decide what to have for breakfast? Have it all! I threw quite a few ingredients into my bowl.

I warmed some frozen strawberries, sliced up half a banana, grabbed a handful (or two!) of Puffins, and scooped a generous spoonful of almond butter.

It mixed wonderfully with the yogurt.

The rest of the morning was spent reading in bed in total coziness, taken in the aroma of scented candles.  In the past few days I’ve taken quite a few baths and burned through a lot of candles.  It’s not so great for the environment, but I figure I’m just making up for the baths I didn’t take in the dorm bathrooms in college.  Mid-morning, I snacked on a crisp Macoun apple.

.

Caitlin came over for lunch, and I heated up some leftover Smoky Greens & Beans.  This time, I added in pieces of seitan.  The physical therapist told me that since I’m going to be trying to build up muscle and heal myself, I’m going to need eat a LOT of protein. Each serving of seitan packs a whopping 18g! This was Caitlin’s first time eating it, and I think it was a hit! We ate the stew with warmed up pieces of lavash.

After lunch, we headed to Starbucks to get coffee and read. I couldn’t remember exactly what went into a dirty hippie… where was Luke when I needed him?!  I ended up just getting a Double Grande Skim Chai.  There’s always next time!

We ended up doing more talking than studying, but it was needed! I hadn’t seen this girl in three weeks.  When I got home, I started dinner by peeling and cubing a sweet potato.  I covered the cubes in a little olive oil, salt & pepper, an baked it at 400.  About 20 minutes into the baking time, I added pressed and cubed tofu to the mix, making sure to coat the pieces in the extra oil mixture that covered the bottom of the baking dish.  10 minutes later I removed the sweet potato, and baked the tofu for 15 minutes longer.

I added the sweet potato and tofu to a bed of spinach with a white heirloom tomato, pomegranate seeds, and a little gorgonzola cheese.  Aren’t the colors lovely?

Using pear-infused vinegar, pomegranate molasses, olive oil, sea salt & pepper, I whipped up a light dressing.

This was one of the best salads I’ve had in a long time, and felt perfect for a chilly Fall night.

After dinner, I went downtown to meet Lauryn for frozen yogurt at Red Mango.   She moved to Manhattan over a month ago, but we seem to be operating under completely opposite schedules and this is the first day it worked out.   I’m so glad it did!

We both ended up ordering the pumpkin frozen yogurt (tart and creamy, and perfect for Fall!) even though it was fuh-REEZING out and were were sitting right in front of the door.  It came with free graham cracker topping, too! I’ve never been one to turn down a freebie…

We ended up talking non-stop for three hours, and literally closed the Red Mango down.  Couldn’t have asked for a better Saturday night!  I ended up getting home after 1, by which point I was already hungry again and ate a giant apple.  I didn’t go to bed until after 2… I need to find a job ASAP because this rando schedule just ain’t doing it for me.

Well, I’m off to go meet my little red-headed friend for dinner.  Hope you’re having a great night!

Good afternoon!  I hope your day is off to a great start… I woke up thinking it was Saturday!  I slept in this morning, which was glorious.  Not too much on the agenda for today, which [...]]]> I asked Ari what this post should be titled, and this is what he deemed to be appropriate.

Good afternoon!  I hope your day is off to a great start… I woke up thinking it was Saturday!  I slept in this morning, which was glorious.  Not too much on the agenda for today, which is A-OK with me

Yesterday was slated to be a long run day, so I woke up, guzzled some coffee, and fueled up with half a Dulce de Leche Luna Bar.

I stuffed some gummies into the little pocket of my shorts (which left me a tad sticky)…

I finally made a new playlist… the No Doubt song has been in my head for the better part of this week.

The run was fine… again, I just felt sleepy.  I think, for me, running distances is going to end up being more of a psychological challenge.  Obviously the physical aspects are also great, and every time I go out for a run I hope so hard that it won’t be the day that something goes wrong again.   The only thing that went “wrong” today was that my heart rate monitor didn’t register my actual heart rate…

Total distance: 6.4 miles

Total time: 1:07:55

I’m not sure if I should be concerned that I haven’t been increasing my speed for these long runs… and it’ll probably be time for me to increase my distance again soon, too.   I just signed up for my first 10K a couple minutes ago- it’s next WEEK- so I’m going to have to start working on this!

My “training schedule” is a little weak, since I only have 8 days, but here’s what it looks like, which I made on the Runner’s World website:

When I got back from my run, I made another excellent fall smoothie: Cherry Pumpkin Pie.

I made this using frozen cherries, canned pumpkin pie mix, homemade almond milk, cinnamon and nutmeg, and topped it with a little GoLean & granola.  After breakfast and a bunch of puttering around, I packed up my portable lunch.  I wanted to use up all the leftovers, which, combined, made for an… interesting salad:

The bottom layer was covered with sprouts, topped with corn & edamame salad and beets; the small compartment had leftover fish and a few noodles.  Some things, shall we say, do not taste great the morning after.

On the subway, I snacked on some TJ’s dried fruit. Balls to the wall, as my lady would say.

My dad had told me about a DMV that expedites all of their services, so luckily I was in and out (with a new picture!) in 20 minutes.  Must be some kind of record.  It was starting to rain, so I went into Starbucks and bought a Tall Skim Chai so that I could eat my lunch without getting drenched.

After taking a few minutes to read and decompress, I skedaddled along to an informational interview, then picked up a few books.  The first was a beautiful collection of poems by my friend and former professor, Kristin Naca.

The second was A Race Like No Other, to motivate and inspire.

Then, in the spirit of racing, I rushed home to see my traveling musician, who has spent the last three weeks on his own kind of race, driving back and forth across the country with Blink 182 and the All American Rejects.

We grabbed some friends and went for dinner at a nearby Thai restaurant.  I was still pretty full from lunch, so I only ate a little of my Massaman Curry with shrimp (with unpictured rice) and took the rest home.

A little while after we got home, however, I was hungry again, and dug right back into the take-out container   Ari and I went separate ways for dessert; I had a Double Chocolate Dream Vitamuffin with frozen cherries, Greek yogurt, and homemade almond milk.

Ari had Saltines with Nutella & peanut butter.

Nutella is made with skim milk, hazelnuts (healthy fat), and chocolate (antioxidants), so it’s practically a health food!

We had a little Domaine Lalande Pinot Noir (a gift from Howard on my last day of work), and watched Grey Gardens, which Caitlin had recommended.

It was a great night… I’m so happy he’s back!

I’m off to go cross-train, as my training schedule recommends.  What are your plans for the weekend? Enjoy it!

Yesterday I felt like something different so I made a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  I had Puffins, GoLean, and a banana with [...]]]> Good morning and happy Tuesday! How are you today? Did you sleep well?  I got home around 12:30 last night and collapsed into bed, snuggled up against the (clean) laundry. Whoops!

Yesterday I felt like something different so I made a bowl of cereal for breakfast.  I had Puffins, GoLean, and a banana with skim.

I worked all morning, and snacked on frozen berries and bee pollen.

By the time I finished my reading it was, as I’d suspected, to late to go to yoga.  I decided to go for  a run instead, which was a big mistake. From Step 1, my body felt heavy, my legs clunky.  My stomach started to growl, and new stitches kept popping up all over my  front.  My shoulders hurt.  My body just did not want to run. I should have listened to it and turned back immediately, but I didn’t want to “fail” so I kept pushing through.  I stopped a couple times: first for traffic, then to fix my headband, then to fix a stitch.  You get the picture.  It was not a good run. Finally, I got so frustrated and annoyed that I just turned off my watch and walked the rest of the way home… I was already only two blocks away from home (on the way back), so I ended up running 4 out of the 4.4 miles I’d set out to do.  Oh well.  Moral of the story?  Just as not all meals can be great, neither can all runs.  It doesn’t mean I’m a failure, or not a “real” runner, or anything else that sounds completely catastrophic. It just worries me because it’s about time to start increasing my mileage; I’m still planning to do that on Thursday.  We’ll see.

I came home famished.  I rooted around in the fridge, and found half a jalepeño.

I chopped it up and added it to my Sunday leftovers, and topped it all with asiago cheese.  It was a huge meal, but I wanted something big to get me through my wait shift.

On my way out the door, I grabbed some grapes and ate them on the subway.

I snacked on Organic Wheat Grass (Amazing Grass) and a Chery Cashew PURE bar at work (I didn’t eat the apple).

I really like this PURE flavor… I reviewed it once before and I think I liked it even better this time.  Nom.

Work was fine… we got a little busy and we were two instead of three on the floor, so we made a little more money.  Dinner, however, is what made the night worth it.  There was a mistake in the kitchen, so there was a piece of lightly grilled salmon under my salad!  The rest of the salad was mixed greens, beets, tomato, a sliver of avocado, and walnuts. It was so good.  I really don’t think I could have made a better meal at home… this was just what I wanted.

I’d planned on having dessert when I got home, but I was too tired.  Instead, I slathered up my legs with Bengay and got into bed.  Um, not the best idea.  I love how Bengay feels, but that icy hot goodness kept me awake! Whoops.

Off to my internship.  Have a great day!