Lilveggiepatch » chips

NaCl + YOU: Salt & the Athlete's Body

lilveggiepatch — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 03:02:28 +0000

Over the past few weeks, I have been craving salt. I’m careful about the amount of sodium I take in from packaged foods, but I’ve never been too concerned with table salt, one way or the other. (In fact, only 10% of sodium found in packaged food occurs naturally; it’s okay to use real salt!) Recently, however, it’s been going on everything from my salad bar meals at Whole Foods to a scoop of peanut butter on my oatmeal. Sunday night, I caught myself doing the unthinkable: salting the butter on my bread! My dad and I have poked endless fun at my mother for requesting salt for her butter when we are out to eat. Well, looks like they’ll have to bring some for me, too. I brought this up to my dad, who immediately thought it was because I’ve been running almost every day, and for longer distances that I’ve been used to in the past.

I’ve been investigating salt intake and the athlete’s body, and found a very helpful response to a runner’s concern about sodium on the Runner’s World website.

The National Academy of Sciences, the government organization responsible for setting nutrient-intake guidelines, recently lowered the daily recommended intake of sodium from 2,400 milligrams (mg) to 1,500 mg-or about 2/3 of a teaspoon of salt per day. The reason: Diets high in sodium have been linked to high blood pressure.

But the Academy’s new recommendation was designed with sedentary folks in mind and may not be sufficient to replace the sodium losses of many runners. During an hour of running, most of us lose about 1,200 mg of sodium. Combine this with the rest of your daily sodium losses (through sweat and urine) and the new recommendation could fall short. Low sodium levels can cause dizziness, low blood pressure, and an abnormal heartbeat.

How much salt is safe for runners? Up to 3,000 mg of sodium per day should adequately replace the sodium lost through an active lifestyle. Keep in mind that most of us easily take in this amount simply by eating processed foods (salt is almost always added during processing), drinking sports drinks, and salting foods while cooking. So there’s no need to go out of your way to add salt to your diet. And if you have high blood pressure or other health concerns, your doctor may still advise you to limit your salt intake even if you are a runner.

I’ve often found myself feeling faint after long runs, even after I’ve more than adequately re-hydrated with water. Could a little salt be the solution? In their July 2009 issue, Runner’s World has a list of various pre- and post-run beverage options. They list vegetable juice as an option for runners who crave salt after runs… remember when I was on my carrot juice kick and deemed it my recovery drink of choice? I guess my body enjoyed its benefits as much as my taste buds!

I did not have a hydration or sodium problem yesterday, as I was more or less sedentary for the entire day. At 10 in the morning, I walked to the mailbox, and at 10 at night, I took out the trash and went across the street to the diner. With half a heart, I did 8-minute abs, but even my tummy seemed a little zoznked. Oh, to be unemployed!

When I woke up, I quickly came to the sad realization that all of my homemade almond milk had gone bad. I’m out of almonds at the moment, so it’ll be a while before I make a fresh batch. I rooted around my stash(es) of goodies. (Yes, I admit it: I hoard food in the closet. I’ve already taken over more than an entire shelf in the pantry and the refrigerator is filled with my things, so rather than be that obnoxious roommate, the closet it is!) Out came a sample of Kashi Honey Sunshine cereal, which I’ve had back there for several months.

I ended up pulling together a pretty random breakfast… Greek yogurt, (salted) peanut butter, Honey Sunshine, a peach, and cinnamon.

I wasn’t a huge fan of this cereal. It was very sweet, and reminded me a lot of Cap’n Crunch. Not that there’s anything wrong with sugary cereal, but I prefer to eat those as snacks or dessert and enjoy something a little heartier in the morning.

In between housework, chores, and applying for jobs, I grabbed some chunks of energy to keep me awake.

Lunch was an “everything but the kitchen sink” type of salad so I could use up some ingredients that are on the cusp of going bad.

I topped the last of the sprout salad with an egg over medium (microwaved for 30 seconds), corn, edamame, feta, hummus, and beets.

I think I must have overdone it on beets; I’ve eaten them so often since summer started that the last few times I’ve had them they’ve made me gag. Mr. Beet, we need to spend some time apart. It’s you.

My Edible Arrangement provided a festive lunch dessert; we’ve eaten everything except some chocolate-covered strawberries, which will probably make an appearance at breakfast soon.

I spent the rest of the afternoon trying to stay awake finishing my book, during which I snacked on an apple with cinnamon.

I got dinner almost entirely ready, but at the last minute Josh and I decided to go to the diner. I knew Tuesday was going to be a late-ish night, so at least dinner would be all prepped and I’d be able to eat as soon as I got home. Josh and I both ordered the Seared Ahi Tuna Wrap w/ Whole Wheat Chips, wasabi aioli on the side. The chips were deep-fried and a little greasy, so I only ate a couple.

The sandwich came with a mixed-green salad, which I enjoyed… I haven’t been very good about eating dark green veggies lately.

When we got home, I tore into the last cupcake.

Do you even have to guess the flavor? My oh my, do I love pumpkin.

Well kiddos, Ari is almost home and I have to get Green Lantern all queued up for his arrival. Yep, we’re big dorks Before I say goodnight, I have an important question for you: what do you think about the F.T.C.’s ruling that blog writers must disclose their connection with companies whose products they review? I’m still mulling that one over, but it was a hot topic in the office at my internship today.

Bonne nuit!

22

lilveggiepatch — Sat, 03 Oct 2009 14:28:08 +0000

Good morning, good morning! How are you this morning? Is it raining where you are? It’s a little damp here, but who cares! Ari and I are going to go pumpkin picking anyway. Last year on my birthday, Ari visited me at school in Minnesota and we went to not one, not two, but THREE movies! We also went to the Mall of America, where I got him to go on a storybook-themed rollercoaster. I’m going to make this snappy so that we can get a move on!

Yesterday for breakfast I made a piping hot bowl of oats with pumpkin pie mix, frozen cherries, and peanut butter. I don’t think Ari was so impressed with it… I dream of the day when he lets me pimp his oatmeal!

I was so slow getting out of the house yesterday. I piddled, I paddled, and before I knew it it was 2 o’clock! I grabbed some chunks of energy…

Packed my lunch…

This was a sprout salad with beets, tomatoes, carrots, black bean burger, and hummus.

Kay’s Naturals White Cheddar Cheese crisps to snack on…

These were good! They still left me really garlicky, though…

I didn’t end up eating lunch until 4:30, after my gym session (30 minutes on the bike, arms, legs & lazy abs), and I was worried that I wouldn’t be too hungry for dinner. However, Ilana organized a really nice dinner with lots of family and love, at Uncle George’s Greek restaurant, and by the time we sat down, I was starved! We ordered carafes (or “buckets”, as Abe called them) of red and white wine…

Appetizer platters of assorted dips for the table… eggplant and tzatziki seemed to be the favorites, and we scooped them up with grilled pita (unpictured).

My dad and I shared grilled octopus…

… and I ordered the baked fish special for my entrée. We were all very excited about the lemon potatoes!

It was massive… I probably only ate about 1/3!

After dinner, a familiar song began… I’m not a huge fan of having my picture taken, if you hadn’t already noticed!

The cake was chocolate mousse, layered with strawberries. I ate every last bite!

We were also celebrating an upcoming wedding… it was a great time.

When we got home, I unwrapped a present…

My very own food processor!!! Thank you SO MUCH, guys

I can’t wait to get started with this, but I don’t know what to make first! Nut butter, bread, soup, sauce, faux Larabars… what are your favorite food processor recipes?

Well, I’m off to wake the boy and get our corn maze on. I may be a little slow with reading and commenting, but I love you all! To make up for it, check out Junghwa’s 18 Rabbits granola bar giveaway.

Have a great day!!!

The Big 6

lilveggiepatch — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 12:53:40 +0000

I’ve always thought that the day I ran 6 miles would be the day I finally became a “real” runner.

When my alarm went off at 8, my mind was filled with that excited dread that often comes with the first day of school and first dates. Since my day is already jam-packed today, I’d written out a list of everything I would do, from waking up to going to work, with corresponding times. This type of thing doesn’t usually work for me, but I really wasn’t even able to include a margin of error.

Still, I puttered around, wasting time… I checked on the laundry (three times), I did the dishes, I checked the weather (chance of rain)… I was nervous, and I wanted to prolong the run for as long as possible. But, I was also excited, and had a good feeling. I knew I could do it!

I quickly put together a no-fail playlist. These are all songs I’ve run to over and over again, and I know they keep my legs running.

Before I left, I had half a cup of coffee, half a Luna Bar, and a lot of water.

I debated whether or not to run with a water bottle, but I didn’t want the extra awkward weight to sabotage my run. Instead I kept running back to the kitchen for more water, just to be safe. I should probably invest in a CamelBak sometime soon…

This was my first time running with snacks.I stuffed my baggie of gummies (who needs Shot Bloks?) into the waistband of my running pants. I’m sure there was a better option… I tried to put it in the side of my sports bra, as I’ve heard other runners do, but it was really uncomfortable. Where do you stash your mid-exercise snacks?

Finally I set off, with a not-so-brave face.

I’d promised myself I was going to run at a slow, easy pace… it was more important for me to log miles than go for speed. I’m not racing against anyone! To achieve the 6 mile run, I’d planned on fusing together my go to 4.5 mile and 2.0 mile runs. It started to rain as I passed the 2-mile point, but I powered through it. At almost the same time as the first raindrop hit my face, I got a stitch in my right side… the same spot I’ve been getting them for the past week or so. I tried some breathing techniques, but mostly just told myself to ignore it… and it worked!

After I finished my 4.5 mile loop, I stopped and ate half of my gummies. Then I picked the pace right back up again. I felt as though my legs were carrying me through, and the only thing I had to do was stay awake for it. I expected to be sore, but I didn’t think that I’d be so mentally tired! But I powered on. I stopped and ate the last of the gummies during the final mile.

I got home, stretched and calculated my total distance: 6.4 miles!!!

Total distance: 6.4 miles

Total time: 1:10:27

Maximum heart rate: 177 (89%)

Average heart rate: 166 (83%)

Calories burned: 739

For a few minutes, I felt a little nauseous and not very hungry. I couldn’t decide what I wanted for breakfast, and puttered around for a little. Then all of a sudden… WHAMO! I made the quickest bowl of oatmeal you’ve ever seen, just so I wouldn’t eat my own arm.

This was made with:

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup water
splash of skim milk
cinnamon
1 banana
brown sugar
scoop of peanut butter

After showering, I slathered on a generous helping of Bengay and promptly burned the bejeezus out of my glutes. I also got so cold that I had to pile on Ari’s sweats (shh!) and climb under the covers. I guess “everything in moderation” doesn’t only apply to food…

I took a bottle of POMx Pomegrante Wildberry Light White Tea to keep me hydrated on my subway ride across the boroughs.

FYI: I will be posting a POMx review once I’ve tasted all of the flavors.

I needed to pick some things up chez maman et papa, so I stopped at Whole Foods to pick up lunch to eat at home. It was, sadly, my quickest in-and-out trip to the store.

When I got home, there were two exciting packages waiting for me! First… my RoadID came! I wish I could show it to you, but my Photoshop program isn’t working and I can’t edit out my personal information. It’s very cool, though!

I also received the Kay’s Naturals package I won from Jenny‘s giveaway.

With lunch, I snacked on some Crispy Parmesan Protein Chips.

They look like baby Sun Chips!

And, unlike other brands, this one was filled with chips! Don’t you hate when you buy something and realize you’ve paid for mostly air? They were pretty good… they had the consistency of Soy Crisps.

My Whole Foods lunch was filled with greens, Israeli salad, grape leaves, vegan chicken salad (LOVE THIS), lemon tempeh, glazed tofu, crunch sprout salad, and a farro/wheatberry pilaf.

While I was home, Charley and I played dress-up…

He’s joined the ranks and is now an Upwelling Dog.

I was still snacky, so I ate a raisin walnut roll on the subway on the way to work.

Business at the restaurant was non-existent, so I went home at 7. Wahoo! I took a salad to go, but decided to save that for lunch the next day and stopped instead at the Japanese mart on my walk to the subway. I’ve always been curious about these seasoned “wildweeds”:

Unfortunately, I really didn’t care for them at all. Something about the taste, and the brown weeds (which reminded me of Distric 9… sorry for that gross tidbit!) really turned my stomach and I only ate half. This looks deceptively small… but as the above photo shows, it weighed 18 ounces!

The brown rice tuna and avocado sushi, however, was just right. I should have just gotten more sushi!

The weeds left a taste in my mouth that wouldn’t go away, so I had a glass of Pinot Grigio to usher it out.

I hadn’t had a dessert plate in a while, so I helped myself to dried fruit, Israeli pop-rocks chocolate, and almond butter. MMM!

Hop Back On That East Coast Plane

lilveggiepatch — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:28:41 +0000

Yesterday I woke up to a mildly distressing and garbled voice mail from the airline. After a few attempts talking to a computer, we finally got through to a human and found out my plane had been canceled because of “mechanical problems.” Luckily I was able to get on an earlier flight, but that meant I had to haul some serious booty.

I did, however, have time for a delicious (if speedy) bowl of oatmeal.

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup skim milk
1 TJ’s flattened banana
cinnamon
1.5 tsp peanut butter (which my mom had already thrown out… you’re darn right I dug that out of the trash!)

There’s a bus that goes right to the O’Hare airport in Chicago, so I took that, caught up on sleep, and munched on dates.

There weren’t a whole lot of vegetarian options at the airport, but I happened upon a salad stand at the very end of the terminal. This one had mixed greens, hearts of palm, chick peas, Provolone cheese, sundried tomatoes, olives, and some kind of cheesy dressing (which I used for dipping).

I wasn’t quite ready to end vacation-mode, so I got a bag of Flat Earth Farmland Cheddar chips. They were pretty good, and tasted like a cross between regular potato chips and Soy Crisps.

Ari picked me up from the airport, and after dropping off my massive load of stuff, we headed into the city to go to dinner and a birthday party. The party was on the Lower East Side, so we just went to a sushi restaurant in the neighborhood.

I started with a small house salad:

I ordered the chirashi entrée (fish over rice); sadly it wasn’t very good and some of the fish tasted a little funk, so I only ate about half.

The party was at Bob Bar on Eldridge. It’s a nice place… they have comfy couch seating and a big enough floor to dance on. I was a little weary of alcoholic beverages, so I stuck to water.

When we got home, I had an almond butter-smeared banana… I’ve missed these.

It’s a little strange to be back home again after a week of lying on the beach and pretty late nights, but it’ll be good to get back on schedule. I hope you’ve had an excellent few days, and I look forward to catching up with you all!

Hope you’re having a lovely end of the weekend

79 Lobsters

lilveggiepatch — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:43:24 +0000

Good evening and happy Saturday night! The last two days have been a constant go, go, go! , so please excuse the posting delay.

Last night, Ari and I had the pleasure of joining fellow bloggers (out of order, sorry!) Heather, Caroline, Liz, Olga, Danielle, Katharine, Amelia, Dierdre, Diana and Marina, for dinner at Candle 79.

While we were chatting about food and foodies, the restaurant staff brought out an amuse bouche: curried lentil dip with onions on a homemade tortilla. Great start to a great night!

Ari and I split the Moroccan Spiced Chickpea Cake made with seasonal vegetables, red pepper-coconut curry, apricot-date chutney, and toasted almonds.

We also ordered the Wild Mushroom-saffron Ravioli with cashew ricotta, roasted tomato-truffle sauce, sautéed broccoli raab, and crispy capers.

The Chickpea Cake was my favorite, while Ari preferred the ravioli. Worked out perfectly!

I also stole one of Liz‘s quinoa-flax crisps, which reminded me a lot of Dr. Kracker’s.

It was such a pleasure to meet some of the ladies I’ve come to “know” so well. Hope to see you again soon! Thanks again to Heather for organizing a fabulous evening.

After dinner, Ari and I headed down to The Living Room to see Ari’s friend John‘s band play. On the way there, we noticed a lot of people stopping in the middle of the street, staring at the sky and taking photos. We were afraid there was some kind of apocalyptic happening going on, but instead we just saw these crazy clouds.

After the show, we went to a really cool bar for the after-party that was, back in the day, an authentic speak-easy. Pretty cool!

Then we headed to Brooklyn for the Swine Flu party. Unfortunately, a lot of people ended up not being able to make it, so it was a pretty small gathering. It was still fun, though, and the decor was awesome!

Cheese and raspberries were gobbled…

Notice the N1H1 cookies! Genius, right? So genius that I had to eat two

While Ari was in a deli picking up beer, I ended up finding some good bargains. Cheap Chobani, 1 lb of fruit salad for $1.99, and the best: about 20 medjool dates for $2.99! I’m such a dork, but I was really excited about that.

This morning I had a strawberry Chobani yogurt, fruit salad, and a slice of whole wheat toast with peanut butter and cinnamon.

I don’t remember ever having flavored Chobani before. I was a little skeptical about a fruit-on-the-bottom-style Greek yogurt, but I ended up really digging it! If I can ever afford it again, I’ll be picking up the other flavors.

After breakfast, we drove to Connecticut for a surprise birthday/graduation party. We stopped to pick up Ari’s parents at their friends’ house, and were greeted by a variety of Food Should Taste Good crackers and Sabra hummus. I was very happy.

The lady of the house whipped us up a delicious mushroom pizza.

I had a small slice.

After our “snack,” we got back in the car to to go the party. After arriving and saying our hellos, we made our way to the bar tent. There were coolers of red and white sangria:

Ari tapped the keg.

Over the course of the day, I had a cup of white sangria:

And a cup of red sangria.

I’m not usually a sangria person, but I wasn’t in the mood for beer. It was actually pretty refreshing!

They were serving hot dogs, hamburgers, and lobster. Guess what I got?!

Each mesh baggie was filled with steamed lobster, corn-on-the-cob, mussels, clams, and potatoes.

I made a huge mess, but it was amazing.

The birthday boy just graduated from dental school, so there was a red velvet “braces” cake:

There were also cute little graduation and birthday cupcakes.

The hat was too cute to pass up, so I had a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting. (Ari was pretty enamored with the newborn baby.)

Ilana was also taken with Baby.

Beth & Abe had a blast.

The party was really fun, and it was so nice to get out of the city for the day. Don’t get me wrong: I love New York and I can’t imagine living anywhere else, but I need a mental health break from it from time to time.

We ate around 4, so my stomach felt a little off all day. I didn’t know if I should eat dinner, snack, or what! The perfect solution seemed to be fat free peanut butter frozen yogurt. Funny how that logic works, hmm?

All in all, it’s been a pretty great weekend. (Bonus question: how many times do I use “pretty” in this post? ) I have to be at work in less than 9 hours so I’m going to say goodnight and good luck!

Catch up with ya later, gators.

Who needs sleep? Well, you're never gonna get it

lilveggiepatch — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 12:19:37 +0000

Morning and happy Thursday! I love Thursdays, because even though I don’t have a “traditional” schedule anymore, Fridays are always exciting. This weekend has a few surprises in store, so I’m excited! Now, to just get through today…

Yesterday I got up bright and early to do some work. I had a big bowl of fruit: 1/2 banana, 1 plum, and cherries.

I met my lovelies, Lyle and Lindsay, for lunch at Alice’s Tea Cup. There was a little wait, so in true NYC-fashion we got some iced coffees (skim milk & Sugar In The Raw) and plopped down on a stoop for some quality chit.

When we were finally seated, we ordered a plate of scones to share: it’s unfortunate the photo is so bad, because these were SO GOOD. We split carmelized banana and chocolate almond. Why have I never been a scone person before?! I love scones! (And I know the answer to that question, and it needs to change!)

I got my usual: the “Light Fare” with a bowl of tomato basil soup and their amazing bread:

And the warm endive, carmelized pear & onion, and stilton cheese salad. Best tea party ever.

After saying our goodbyes (sniff), I had some time to kill before work While I was moseying around, I happened upon a cart giving away free Popchips!

You can find the nutrition information for Popchips here. These are snack-sized bags (50 calorie servings), and I gobbled up a package of the original flavor as I dodged raindrops on the way to work. They reminded me a lot of soy crisps; they’re very light and not greasy at all, but still flavorful. Cons? Try to eat these holding an umbrella and two bags in a torrential downpour! Would I buy these? Yes, but I think they’d be pretty addicting and potentially dangerous to have around

At work, I had a small (2-inch slice) of pizza with olives. I drew a gallery-worthy picture of it, but left it in my apron at work. Use your imaginations!

For dinner I got off the healthy chip train and had freshly-made tortilla chips! The man who makes the pizza saw me eating my salad and thought I needed some deep-fried taco and plopped them right into the fryer. I guess I’ll be getting my fry on a lot!

Now, this looks like a regular salad, right? Not so! Hidden under a thin layer of parmesan are little shrimpies! I love you, chef Ramon.

This was made with a lot of garlic. Delicious, but sometimes you need to freshen yourself up, you know? So I pulled out my handy-dandy Eat Whatever mints. Have you guys heard of these?

After eating something gnarly (like said garlicky salad), swallow the two jelly capsules with a glass of water. Then, suck on the white mint until it’s dissolved. Results? “Kissible breath”! It worked for me, which is a blessing to know considering I work in an Italian restaurant. Even better? They’re 100% vegan and gluten-free. I’ll have to keep my eye out for these!

Work thankfully ended without drama, and I grabbed a fruit cup on the way to the subway.

Well, time to go get my pretty on and head to my internship. I have to go to the restaurant after I’m through with that, so it’s going to be a long, long day, and I didn’t get to sleep until after 3 last night. Bah. No more complaints… have a happy Thursday! And please wish Heather a belated Happy Birthday!!!

Hitting the streets with Operation Beautiful

lilveggiepatch — Sat, 20 Jun 2009 15:15:31 +0000

Good morning, lovelies! I love Saturday mornings before the day starts… the weekend seems endless! There’s a lot planned for the day, though, so here we go!

Yesterday I had the last of my Spicy Thai Coconut Corn Soup for lunch.

I ate it cold and added 1/2 avocado, tofu, tomatoes, cayenne pepper and LOTS of salt and pepper. It was mighty fine, if I do say so myself.

I also had an Axelrod vanilla yogurt…

… and some coffee. We’ve been making it at home more to save some dough…

As planned, we went to Hot Power Fusion (“It’s called HPF now, people,” my instructor said) yesterday afternoon. I figured the bathroom at the yoga studio was the perfect location for my first Operation Beautiful posting:

A few months ago, Caitlin posted a link to a video about the negativity that women have learned to feel for their bodies, about ending Fat Talk. Caitlin started her own project called Operation Beautiful, which incites women to leave positive affirmations for other women in public places like restrooms, locker rooms, even supermarkets.

Caitlin says: If my little blog only does one productive thing, I hope it helps readers realize how truly toxic fat talk is — it hurts you emotionally, spiritually, and physically. I want to reach as many people as possible with my End the Fat Talk message.

Here’s a video Caitlin made that articulates her mission far better than I ever could.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqOEP40Pmdg]

I went back after yoga to see if my note was still there, and it was!

As you can tell from my sweaty self, class was hard. HPF, while only 60 minutes (as opposed to normal Bikram’s 90) was a lot more challenging for me. I still found myself to be a lot more flexible than usual, but for some reason my balance really off for the first half of the class. It felt great to bend and sweat, though, and I think it made my cold a little weaker.

This guy was on fire yesterday! You should have seen him in Padangustasana… I was so proud.

I had half a Chocolate Chip Clif bar after class, but when I got home I was still starving, so I had a banana. I haven’t been so good about getting my fruits and veggies recently…

I met my friend Lisa for dinner last night at Citrus. As I’ve said, I’m really not a fruity drink person, but this Prickly Pear Martini (on the left) sounded so good! It’s made with Absolut Pears, Triple Sec, and Prickly Pear purée. Nom. Lisa got a Pineapple Margarita on the rocks… it was bomdiddlyicious as well.

I wasn’t really in the mood for chips, but I had two and dipped them in the warm, spicy bean dip that came with them.

I ordered the shrimp, corn & Poblano cheese quesadilla (topped with avocado and salsa) and added spinach to it. Again, I haven’t been good about getting my greens in…

I usually wouldn’t order this kind of a thing at a restaurant, but I’ve been pretty healthy most of the week (cocktails excluded) so I got what I really wanted. Lisa and I haven’t seen each other for six months, so we had a lot to catch up on… and ate veeeeery slowly. I savored every bite!

When I got home a few hours later, I was feeling snacky and had some Reduced Fat Triscuits (I never buy these myself… they’re too addicting!) and had them with Roasted Red Pepper Sabra. Mm-mm good.

Around the blogs: Remember my beautiful friend Sarah?

She’s started her own blog! Check her out at Sarah’s Balancing Act.

I need a vacation from my vacation

lilveggiepatch — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:38:55 +0000

It’s only been a day, but with last night and this weekend I need a break from Senior Week! I love getting to see my friends in a social setting instead of just in the cafeteria or the library, but it feels as if all this “socializing” is undoing all of the healthy habits I’ve had this semester. I know it’s important to just relax and not obsess about everything I eat, but the cocktails and party platters and late-night cereal fests are really stressing me out. I knew this week was going to be like that, and I’ll be eating out a lot when my family gets here, so I think I just have to accept that and know that things will get back on track when I’m home. ANyway, enough whining!

Last night my college rented out a floor for our senior class at Stella’s Fish Café. They laid out grilled vegetables, hummus, fruit, and fried walleye. Sorry for the horrible photo… the lighting was not ideal for picture-taking.

There was also sushi (not pictured); and I had chips and salsa around 1:30 when I went to O’Gara’s with some friends.

Again, two bowls of cereal seemed like a great idea at 2:30… at least I finished up the boxes!

This morning I had overnight oats made with 1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup water, plain Oikos, a Braeburn apple, cinnamon and honey.

I went back to bed for a couple hours, woke up and had an orange.

I have a lot to do today… I want to get to the gym and start packing, among other things. Hope you’re having a great day!

Is there anything I'm going to miss?

lilveggiepatch — Sat, 09 May 2009 03:20:52 +0000

I couldn’t find this on YouTube, but it’s worth watching for a trip down memory lane.

It’s one of the first songs I remember seeing on Pop-Up Video. Whatever happened to that show? It was so good! I also remember seeing Marcy Playground and Meredith Brooks on there… oh, I hate getting old.

Anyway, happy Friday night! A week from today my family will be here (!) so this is pretty much my last “real” Friday in college. Appropriately, this will be a doozy of a photo post… I’m going to have to get a space upgrade for my Wordpess account soon!

I went to Whole Foods today and pretty much stuck to my list, which is something to be celebrated. There were tons of samples:

Trout spread:

Spicy guacamole (I really wanted an avocado but these were all really hard, so a really nice WF man went “to the back” and found one for me. Thanks, WF man!):

Spanish cheese:

Food Should Taste Good chips:

More cheese:

I went to the cafeteria for lunch today. The had big soft pretzels; even though these are on every street corner in New York, I never really crave or eat them! Ever since Meghann, Jenna, and Caitlin have been raving about their Greenwise pretzels, though, I’ve been craving them.

I made a salad with spinach, carrots, cukes, cauliflower, celery, and a jalepeño. They had dijon (my favorite mustard) for the pretzels, so I made a delicious mustard/lemon juice/olive oil vinaigrette.

Tofu cutlet with “salsa verde” :

I ate about 2/3 of the pretzel; half with mustard and half with peanut butter and jelly.

… and finally, a grapefruit.

I first read about black bean brownies in Hungry-Girl a few years ago. After seeing Angela’s batches a few weeks ago and Lindsay’s yesterday, I decided to try them myself.

I used the Happy Herbivore recipe, and followed her directions with the exception of swapping brown rice syrup for agave nectar.

I also, once again, didn’t read the directions properly and forgot to mix in the oats until the batter was already in the pan.

The batter was really good, but when baked the brownies themselves didn’t have a whole lot of taste and were kind of dry. Sad, but I’m not giving up yet!

I snacked on an orange while I was eating batter baking and cooking.

My friends Becky and Sarah had a lovely potluck tonight. I brought the “brownies” and some cheesy green (read on).

There was red vino:

Spinach salad with strawberries, cucumbers and gorgonzola:

I made a plate with a Barefoot Contessa pasta salad Becky made, salad, oranges and quiche.

Gina has been raving about quiche recently, so I decided to whip one up. I used the same original recipe that she did, but also made my own substitutions. For the cheese and dairy, I used 1/2 cup manchego, 3/4 cup nonfat cottage cheese, 1 cup nonfat yogurt, and 2 tbsp 4-cheese blend; for the spices, pinches each of nutmeg, cumin and cayenne. The color was a little too light, so I added 1/2-1 cup broccoli florets to the mix.

It was really good! It ended up tasting more like a soufflé; whipped and very light and an excellent side.

I also had a bowl of black bean soup with cheese that Sarah made:

More oranges, salad, and chips (potato + yellow corn) and salsa.

For dessert, I had a frosted pumpkin square my friend Krista made:

She’s writing a cookbook called “The Book of Nom.” Genius. Nomnomnom.

Finally, even though I was insanely full, I had a dark chocolate truffle that Carlye brought.

I definitely ate a lot tonight and didn’t make it to the gym as I’d planned, but I had a really nice night with my friends. There is so much love in sharing a home-cooked meal! Anyway, I’m going to hit the hay and get up early to work, work it out, pack, etc. Hope you had a faaabulous night.

Trot Along

lilveggiepatch — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 22:13:12 +0000

This day is good! I got to see my family, it’s sunshiney outside (albeit 32 degrees, but whatever), and I’m high on endorphines. Keep it coming!

For some reason my meals haven’t been holding me as well as they normally do, and despite my hearty bowl of oatmeal I was hungry about an hour and a half later. Knowing I was going out to eat, I had an orange so I wouldn’t be ravenous at the restaurant.

Lunch at Trotter’s was, as usual, very nice. We all ordered the same thing: soup & half sandwich combo. The soup (spinach lentil) came with a honey wheat bread stick topped with cheese; I ate about 1/3 and brought the rest home for dinner.

For my sandwich, I ordered the Grilled Avocado with Hot Pepperjack, Sprouts, Red Peppers, Onions, and Mushrooms. Very yummy! I just love sprouts. It came with chips, but I only ate a couple and donated them to my uncle.

I got a skim cappuccino and an Okee Dokee Cookie (no refined sugar, chocolate chip oatmeal, flax, etc) to go. “To go” ended up meaning as soon as I got to my apartment, but I needed the fuel!

My Step Aerobics teacher added an extra Friday class because the demand for Tuesday/Thursday was so high that not everyone was able to fit. I was just sitting around the house reading magazines (er) and decided to go today; exercise classes are so nice because all you have to do is GO and after that don’t have to worry about motivating yourself. There were only six of us, but it was just as strenuous as regular class. Erica and Gina, I don’t know how you do it! Step three times a week is HARD.

Total time: 59:27 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 190 (95%)

Average heart rate: 153 (77%)

Calories burned: 555

Not sure yet what the evening plans are… there are some parties both today and tomorrow so I’m going to try to just pick ONE night to go out so I can get started on my work and not end up being completely stressed out next week. Hope you have a nice night!

P.S. If, like me, you are a poor college student and have a $10 blender that won’t grind ice, or even if you just want to try this bad boy out, head over to Jumbo Empanadas for a chance to win a VITA MIX!!!