Although I packed lunch today, I really needed to get out of the library so I decided to save my salad for dinner and have my “big meal” in the cafeteria.

I had some kind of eggplant/chickpea/potato curry [...]]]> Good evening! I hope your Monday was just lovely. Mine was good… long, but not too bad.

Although I packed lunch today, I really needed to get out of the library so I decided to save my salad for dinner and have my “big meal” in the cafeteria.

I had some kind of eggplant/chickpea/potato curry with some cinnamon-scented bulgur. I topped both with coconut, cilantro, and chili sauce.

I also had a small bowl of vegetarian bean chili (which was good, but tasted like they’d mixed the above curry into a big pot of beans… not unlikely) topped with yogurt.

Took K‘s advice and got back on the java…

I couldn’t decide what I wanted for dessert, so I had half of a magic/7-layer/hello dolly bar and half of a chocolate chip peanut butter bar. They didn’t break very well, but they were worth the indulgence!

I’d planned on going to the gym and had all my stuff with me, but I wasn’t feeling too great so I went home instead, ate some dried fruit, and passed out for a couple hours.

Dinner was the salad I’d brought to school: romaine, tofu, apple, mushrooms, tomatoes, hummus, and feta, with Annie’s Lite Honey Mustard vinaigrette.

I also had a Morningstar Farms Ginger Teriyaki Veggie Cake.

I spotted Heather eating these; when I asked her about them, she said they reminded her of a rice ball. Pretty apt description: kind of like a Dr. Praeger’s burger with rice mixed in.

I just got home from my night class and had plain nonfat yogurt with pumpkin, 1/2 banana, cinnamon and honey. I’m still feeling a little snacky, but I’m going to shower and then see. I’m pretty tired, so sleep might take precedence.

Em tagged me to share 25 “random things” about myself, so here we go, in no particular order…

1. I went to my first cooking class before I was 10. I made a carrot-layer cake with cream cheese frosting and candied lavender.

2. I used to have six piercings but now I only have two.

3. I have two tattoos.

4. My mom promised to get the same tattoo in the same place if I get another one. Don’t worry, Mom, I won’t call your bluff.

5. Leonardo DiCaprio was my first love. It’s true. I got the special edition 16 Magazine after The Man In The Iron Mask came out and put up over 20 posters of him in my room. If that’s not devotion, I don’t know what is.

6. Heath Ledger was my second love. I wrote him letters in 8th grade about field hockey.

7. In 10th grade I became obsessed with all things grunge and wanted to move to Seattle. I still kind of do, although I’ve never been.

8. After my freshman year of college I went to the Bonnaroo music festival in Tennessee. I didn’t shower for three days.

9. When I studied abroad in Paris, I infrequently showered. It’s very French! I’m back to my must-shower-within-24-hours routine now.

10. I’ve been Lolita (twice), a bumblebee, and Raggedy Ann for Halloween over the last four years.

11. I failed my road test three times before I got my license. I’m a good driver now, I swear!

12. My poodle, Charley, is named after a John Steinbeck book. Neither I nor my parents actually finished this book.

13. I’ve seen Modest Mouse and Art Brut four times, The Hold Steady and Wilco three, Radiohead, the Beastie Boys and Liz Phair twice in concert… these numbers used to be a lot more important to me than they are now.

14. I have a cap on my front tooth that I chipped on my bed. It’s not going to be a pretty sight when it falls out.

15. In 9th grade, I decided after seeing chimps at the Bronx Zoo that I wanted to be a primatologist, like Jane Goodall. That dream has faded.

16. I’m a comic book geek.

17. Up until I went to college, I’d seen every single episode of 7th Heaven.

18. I’ve worn a size 10 shoe since 5th grade, when Hush Puppies were the shiznit

19. Movie nights at home are my favorite kind of date.

20. I am blind as a BAT. I can’t read a book without glasses, and used to have nightmares about being trapped in an amusement park without my contacts on.

21. I could eat sushi for dinner every night and be happy.

22. I have four names; my “middle” name is Alexandra.

23. I went more than five years without crying and now I tear up almost every time I watch Grey’s Anatomy.

24. The first “concert” I ever went to was seeing Britney Spears play on The View when she was 16 and wore gel body glitter. Barbara Walters asked if she’d ever been in love and Brit said no, but she hoped she would one day. I still love you BS.

25. On May 16, if all goes well, I’ll graduate with a BA in English! Have a job for me?

Whew… that felt more than a little narcissistic! I hate choosing people, so please fill this out on your blog if you want!

On the giveaway lookout? Check out Gina’s contest for a cool vegan cookbook AND her famous macaroons!

Get a good night’s sleep and have a great day tomorrow! Night

Lunch today was in the cafeteria.  The had my favorite… cornmeal/cumin fried tofu! I also had a spinach/carrot/cabbage salad and some cottage cheese with a mustard/balsamic/oil vinaigrette.

A little bowl [...]]]> Ooga chaga, ooga chaga! Oh, to be a dancing baby right now.  And in the 90s. Watching Beavis & Butthead and drinking Tang. You know?

Lunch today was in the cafeteria.  The had my favorite… cornmeal/cumin fried tofu! I also had a spinach/carrot/cabbage salad and some cottage cheese with a mustard/balsamic/oil vinaigrette.

A little bowl of eggplant/lentil soup with coconut & cilantro:

And an orange.  And yes, I still subscribe. Problem?

My afternoon snacks included an iced latte (my school no longer “has the ability” to make regular iced coffee):

And half of a PB&J.

Despite the gorgeous weather, I went to the gym after class.  I’m burned out from running.  I did 20 minutes on the stairmaster, 30 minutes on the bike (level 14) and some arms.

Total time: 1 hour 4 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 149 (75%)

Average heart rate: 129 (65%)

Calories burned: 440

Dinner was rushed (night class at 7) and a hodgepodge: leftover Whole Foods hot bar, the last of my Springtime risotto, and steamed carrots & broccoli.

Carrot-broc water:

I had a Hint ‘O Mint Newman-O during class.  I’ve never had one of these before, but it was like a Thin Mint Oreo. Yum! Good thing I didn’t try it until the end of class, or I would have had a lot more.

When I came home, I had a Stonyfield Farms Probiotic strawberry yogurt with strawberries and 1 tsp almond butter.

Sorry this (and the previous and future) posts are (and will be) so rushed.  Hopefully I’ll be able to breathe a little more over the weekend.  Have a great night!

Before class this afternoon, I had a banana.

As usual on Tuesdays, I can only stay [...]]]> My day, that is! How is it already 10:15? Pfew!  I want to get to bed soon; I’m going to do my work in the morning instead so I can stay on the lovely schedule I followed over break.

Before class this afternoon, I had a banana.

As usual on Tuesdays, I can only stay for half of my Step class. Let me tell you, it was tough after not going for a week and a half! I was nice and sweaty after only 10 minutes.

Total time: 30:26 minutes

Maximum heart rate: 184 (92%)

Average heart rate: 150 (75%)

Calories burned: 270

After class, I ate a grapefruit in the car (don’t worry, I peeled it before I left the parking lot)… the steering wheel got a little sticky.

After a much-needed grocery shop, I made something for dinner that I’ve been eying for a couple months…

… SELF‘s Polenta and Roasted Vegetables With Red Pepper Sauce.

Once everything got going, it was a really quick meal.  The recipe uses the broiler in place of the oven, which really speeds things up.

Mixed media:

This was GREAT, and I’m excited to eat my leftovers tomorrow. It was just the right amount of food, and you know how crazy I am about texture… my tongue was in heaven.

Dessert was a Skinny Cow Vanilla Truffle bar, which I tried for the first time.  I was impressed!

Still working on catching up on all your yums… who knew taking off would be such hard work?!

Have a great night!

While it was heating up, I prepared a bowl of [...]]]> Get ready for the motherload of a post! It hasn’t even been a full 24 hours, but, if you hadn’t already noticed, I come from a family of big eaters! It’s pretty great. Anywho, yesterday for lunch I tried out this Amy’s Samosa Wrap.

While it was heating up, I prepared a bowl of the last half of this Pacific Foods roasted red pepper soup. I added tons of fresh lemon juice (my new love), half of a Laughing Cow light, and chili flakes. It was superb.

The samosa was really good! It tasted like a samosa from an actual Indian restaurant, which is always a good sign. I could have used a little more spice, but I made up for it by squirting lots of lemon on it.

For “dessert,” I had a fun size box of Mike & Ike from Hope.

The driving yesterday could have been worse; it took me twice as long to get to my grandparents’ house than it usually does but no one was driving maniacally (for the most part). I was listening to my book on CD and there was a part where they were describing a horrible accident that took place on a highway during a blizzard… my knuckles were pretty white from that point on!

My lunch didn’t hold me over as well as I’d hoped and I was pretty ravenous, so I pulled over to unwrap this Nature Valley granola bar. (It was one of the snacks I got on the airplane so there was only 1 bar instead of the usual 2.)

Dinner was so much fun. I mixed up my dates and we’re actually going to Heidi’s tonight (whoopee!). Last night, we went to Istanbul, a really good local Turkish restaurant that we go to pretty much whenever my dad visits.

My grandpa and I each started with a glass of Makulu, a half-sweet Pino Noir blend. It was really good, but we were the only drinkers at the table! I had two glasses throughout the course of dinner (which lasted more than two hours, so I paced myself pretty well).

We ordered an appetizer platter for the table: stuffed grape leaves, baba ghanoush, hummus, and eggplant salad.

And of course some fresh pita!

My entrée came with a simple house salad dressed in a surprisingly good red wine vinaigrette.

I ordered the Seafood Claypot, which features a seasonal catch. Last night’s was fresh cod, which was then baked in a lemon herb sauce and covered with feta and kasar cheeses. This was pretty big! I shared a little of it with my family, but about 75% of it was gone by the end of the night. I could have eaten more, but I was thinking about dessert! I know where my priorities are.

It came with Basmati rice, which looks more like mush here, sorry.

Oh, dessert. My dad always asks for rice pudding when we go to a Turkish restaurant, but they rarely have it. So, baklava it was! This was a MASSIVE square but I ate it all anyway. So flaky and good!

I also had some Turkish tea which I took to go. Fate intervened and some of it sloshed out in the car, which was lucky for me anyway because this tea has SO MUCH CAFFEINE. I didn’t have much of a problem falling asleep, though.

There’s no way to downplay this: we are a big breakfast family. For as long as I can remember, we’ve lingered over our baguettes (my grandpa and uncle used to make huge batches twice a year) and confitures (jam, silly!), absentmindedly flipping through the paper and discussing grand ole things. The bread is a big part of this equation… there’s a running joke, based on a true story, that we could happily live on bread alone. Once, when my grandparents were somewhere in France, they’d asked for “more bread” so many times that the waiter finally screamed that “this [was] not a bakery!”

So, I strayed from the beaten path a bit this morning by making oatmeal.

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 cup skim milk + 1/3 cup after cooking
• 1/2 banana
• blueberries
• strawberries
• 1/4 cup Go Lean! Crunch
• honey
• 1 T peanut butter

This was the first time in a while that the oatmeal exploded in the microwave, and it hadn’t even been in there for two minutes! The power must have been on super-duper high or something… I’ll be more careful tomorrow!

I added some more milk, because it was a little dry.

My grandparents had never heard of putting peanut butter in oatmeal before, so I’m hoping they try it soon! No way not to love that.

I eventually gave in to genetics and had a small piece of baguette with marjarine, black currant and raspberry jams.

I’m not sure what the plan for the rest of the day is… my granny has Pilates (how cool is that?) and I’m going to try to go for a run on the treadmill as soon as breakfast is more of a memory.

Have a lovely weekend! Are you on spring break? Do you have plans for it?

Edited to add: Get yourself on over to Chocolate-Covered Katie for a chance to win an ENTIRE box of Jocalat Larabars! Holy moly!

As promised, I had an almond 99% chocolate truffle. Holy yum.

I went to the cafeteria for dinner tonight and it was [...]]]> Heyo (listen what I say-o… anyone?)! This is going to be quick because I still have GREAT THINGS to accomplish. Well, I can’t guarantee they’ll be great, but they need to get done.

As promised, I had an almond 99% chocolate truffle. Holy yum.

I went to the cafeteria for dinner tonight and it was exceptionally tasty.  They had my favorite, chili-crusted tofu, although I got totally cheated and only got five little pieces. Boo. But I filled up with some roasted tomato and eggplant, brown rice and corn, and steamed cauliflower.

I also had a small salad of spinach, carrots, cabbage and pea pods tossed with lemon juice and olive oil.

My professor brought mini black forest cupcakes to class tonight… these were so good! They had dabs of jam on top of the frosting, and little dark chocolate shavings.  One day I will get into the kitchen and make these babies…

I had two.

I had this juicy mess of a grapefruit when I got home…

… and now I have to go shower, watch Giant, write a paper… so off I go! Have a great night.