Yesterday I woke up early, despite having gotten up early and gone to bed late the night before.  I made myself a colorful egg scramble with one whole egg + egg whites, basil, spinach, tomatoes, and feta, with a slice of whole wheat toast on the side.

Although my long runs are scheduled for Sundays,  one look at the weather forecast told me it was supposed to rain.  So I took advantage of the beautiful weather and ran 4.5 miles in the sunshine at a brisk- but pleasant- pace.  I find that I almost always run faster outdoors than on the treadmill. I think it has to do with visual stimulation!

When I got back, I drank half a container of peach-and-mango coconut water.  I’d never tried this flavor before, but it was great! Very tropical.

My parents and I met for lunch at Picnic.  Despite having already had my morning coffee, I was feeling a little groggy and had a mug of green tea.

I ordered an enormous mozzarella, grilled vegetable and pesto sandwich on baguette.  It came with a light, crisp salad; I ate about 3/4 of the bread and all of the cheesy vegetables.

After lunch, we went downtown to the Broadway Panhandler for a cooking demonstration and booksigning by Dynise Balcavage, vegan chef and fellow blogger at Urban Vegan .   The Broadway Panhandler is an amazing cooking supply store in and of itself… I could have spent hours in there, and  my wallet was a little lighter on the way out.

Dynise made crêpes with vegan nutella and chocolate mousse.  The mousse was another version of tofu pudding!  My dad treated me to her cookbook cookbook, which has a lot of great-looking recipes.

On the way home, I stopped at One Lucky Duck where my mom treated me to a take-out dinner.  While waiting for my falafel salad, I bumped into Erica! It was almost one year to the day that I saw her last.  Time flies!

This salad was so good.  Obviously I can’t spend $17 on a salad all of the time, but it’s inspired me to make my own this coming week.  Stay tuned!

For dessert, I did a little fridge and freezer cleaning… I present you with sundae in a jar!  That’s what happens when you run low on both ice cream and hot fudge.

This morning, although I’d planned on running with Kath and Matt, I decided my body really just needed the sleep.  For the first time in a long time, I slept past 10:00!  It was glorious, let me tell ya! My mom and I enjoyed a nice breakfast together; it’s not every day we can read lounge around and read the newspaper with each other.   I made us each bowls of 5 grain cereal.

• 1/3 cup 5 grain cereal cooked in 2/3 cup water
• 2 dried peach halves
• warmed frozen strawberries
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1.5 tsp almond butter
• cinnamon
• brown sugar

The rest of the morning was spent doing my favorite thing: reading in bed!   When hunger finally came a-callin’ again, we assembled a nice little smorgasbord of foods.

We had split-pea soup, bites of couscous and spaghetti with pesto, baguette, and artichokes (with a scrumptious lemon butter sauce)…

… and one of the most delicious pieces of cake I’ve ever had that my parents brought back from a dinner party they went to last night. The cake itself was hazelnut, with chocolate ganache filling, marzipan mascarpone frosting, homemade candied almonds and homemade chocolate.  Out.of.this.world!  This piece was huge; we split it three ways.

Dinner was equally decadent and delicious.  My dad made swordfish and steamed green beans…

Avocado with balsamic vinaigrette…

… and fennel salad with orange and onion. This really doesn’t need any dressing, just a squirt of lemon juice!

I didn’t have any room left for dessert, but I had a baby spoonful of La Loo‘s Strawberry Darling goat milk ice cream. We’ve tried almost all the flavors by now… this one was pretty darn good!

The lovely Miss K also sent me some eye candy that reminded her of the Russian FOR MEN chocolate! Looks like we need to do a little retaliation, ladies…

I’m off to do a little reading and get some shut-eye… there’s a lot to be done tomorrow!  If you have MLK day off, how will you spend it?

Giveaway alerts! Melissa is giving away nutrition bars and Jungwha is giving away chocolate and Greek yogurt!

Here’s a quick re-cap of the weekend chez with Mom & Pop LVP, Do/Don’t style!

DO make Eggs In A Basket out of an open-face grilled cheese sandwich.  Thanks for the idea, Kaytee!

DO enjoy pumpkin whole wheat pancakes on a frosty fall morning.  The secret to their fluffiness? A little bit of vinegar.

DO support your local farmers and buy apples at the orchard…

…and while there, DO pick up an apple cider donut for your mama.

It will make her happy.

DO top your salads with Red Ants On A Log (celery with Sunbutter and dried cherries).

DON’T feel silly when you squeal with delight after finding holiday teas at your local food co-op, after searching every chain grocery store with no luck.

DON’T gloat about winning some fancy protein powder from your neighborhood Everythingtarian.

DO share Holly‘s pumpkin molasses cookies with those who gave you life… albeit grudgingly.

DO cozy up to a mug of Spiced POM Cider…

DO have a nice dinner at Church and Main, a sustainable restaurant that supports local farmers and uses only the freshest ingredients (and DO go home and watch Food, Inc. afterward).

DO drink local Riesling…

…eat wedges of bread…

DO share two appetizers with Daddy-O to maximize tastings, like these bay scallops with parsley pesto over cappelllini...

… and this spinach and arugula salad with candied almonds, parmesan and goat cheese.

DO have the pan-roasted Atlantic monk fish with creamy white beans, celery root, warm baby winter greens & roasted beets for yourslef.

DO share three desserts (warm chocolate cake with caramel sauce, gingerbread crème brulée, semolina cake with roasted apples).

And, in case you were wondering, this is a salsify root:

…this is a celery root:

… and this is a turnip.  DON’T worry, these aren’t sea creatures!

Do warm up for your first 6 mile run since your injury with Yoga For Runners.

DO give your knees a break and run on a track.

DO utilize the Lap function on your heart rate monitor; DON’T feel bad for taking a year to notice it.

Total distance: 6 miles
Total time: 59:54

Mile 1: 9:49
Mile 2: 9:57
Mile 3: 10:07
Mile 4: 10:14
Mile 5: 10:03
Mile 6: 9:41

Average Pace: 9:58

DO refuel with a bowl of apple cinnamon raisin oatmeal.  Microwave a diced apple, sprinkled with cinnamon, for 90 seconds. Insta-baked apple.

DO enjoy an end-of weekend bowl of Marcella Hazan’s Spinach and Rice Soup.

DO buy packaged falafel based on the brand name alone.

And most importantly, DO take advantage of your boyfriend’s absence to load up on things like Garlic Lovers Hummus and raw onion.

For an added bonus for body and soul, DO a free Lunar Flow practice before bed, with your eyes closed and the lights off.  You’ll thank yourself.

What are your most recent DOs and DON’Ts?

Last night, once again, hunger pangs dragged me from bed.  I grabbed an apple and snuggled back under the covers.

I think it’s because I’ve been eating dinner earlier than I’m used to… growing up, we ate dinner between 8 and 9, but now when I cook for myself, I eat around 7. Interesting!

This morning I got up early to finish some work for my internship, and by the time I was ready for breakfast I’d worked up quite the appetite.  I made my first batch of oatmeal in a couple weeks, and it did not disappoint.

I microwaved 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup oats, pumpkin and frozen berries all together at the same time. Saves time, and I didn’t have to wash an extra dish.  I topped the dish with brown sugar and a scoop of flaxy peanut butter.

Things were a little busier at the office today, and before I knew it it was time to meet my mom for lunch.  We went to AOC, a cute French bistro in the West Village.

We had some buttered bread while we waited for our orders to arrive.

I ordered the Salade Nordique, which was not only beautifully presented…

…but it was fully loaded with delicious ingredients!  Poached salmon, smoked salmon, jumbo lump crab meat, a poached egg with grainy mustard, grapefruit, mixed greens, and tomatoes.

It was delicious.  My favorite bites were forkfuls of smoked salmon-wrapped grapefruit… I really have to try this at home.   I didn’t come close to finishing the salad, and took a lot of the salmon home.  It’ll make a delicious lunch tomorrow!

We each drank a cup of coffee, then went to The Lite Choice for dessert.   I got a small cup of frozen yogurt with half Fluffernutter, half Dark Chocolate Truffle.

My mom went back to work, and I went home to get some things done.  I went for a 2 miles run as my training schedule directed, then did some ab work and played around on the foam roller.  Sweet pain.

I wanted to make something fast, easy, delicious, and comforting for dinner, and came up with a new twist on an old favorite.  It’s low in fat, high in flavor and smells like heaven.

Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potato Leek Soup

Serves 1-2

Ingredients

• 1 medium-sized sweet potato, peeled & chopped
• 1 leek, finely sliced
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 inch ginger, minced
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 cups vegetable broth (I made my own using Better Than Bouillon)
• 3 cloves
• 1 tsp curry
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• parsley (optional)

Heat oil over medium heat.  Add onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are near-transparent,  about 5 minutes.  Add ginger and cook 1 minute more, being careful not to let the ingredients burn.

Add leeks, potato, stock & bay leaf.  Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce to a simmer until vegetables are tender, about 20 minutes. Remove bay leaf.

Transfer to a food processor or blender and pulse until soup reaches desired texture.  I prefer mine smooth, but you can easily leave a few chunks of potato.

Add spices and pulse until cloves are ground and incorporated.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Garnish with parsley and additional spices, if desired.

Serve and enjoy!

I enjoyed a bowl of soup with a toasted Ezekiel English muffin.  One half had almond butter and raspberry jam, the other had melted cheddar and Bragg’s.

It was a perfect dinner for one, followed by the perfect dessert: dried fruit stuffed with roasted almonds and dark chocolate chips. Natural candy, if you will.   I have a little trouble with portion control when I eat these… they’re so good that I can’t help going back into the kitchen to make more!

I’m hoping to get to bed early so I’m nice and fresh for tomorrow.  What was the best part of your day?

My new peanut butter was calling my name from the pantry.

How could I incorporate it into my breakfast?

I decided to make eggs-in-a-basket (or “toad-in-the-hole”, as my grandmother calls it) which I’ve seen all over the blogs recently.  I used Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin bread and cut a hole in the middle with my water bottle.  The “hole” was the perfect size to to test the peanut butter out on.

I melted a slice of Jarlsberg cheese on another piece of bread, and put a little pumpkin butter on top of the flax hole.

I love getting as many tastes as possible out of a meal!

After waiting a couple hours to digest, I laced up my sneakers, stretched, loaded my ipod with a new playlist (thanks to Maya for turning me on to this site) and hit the pavement.  This was my third run in a month, and I wanted to make it count.  I ran slowly but easily, and before I knew it I was bake at home with 4.5 miles under my belt.  I wasn’t even out of breath!  To be honest, I was worried I would have lost my stamina and wouldn’t even be able to make it half that far.  This is a good sign

I went into the city to meet my mom at Macy’s to go coat shopping.  It was exhausting.  Although I’d brought kale chips and an apple, we didn’t end up eating until 3:30.

If there’s one thing I know about my mother’s side of the family, it’s that we get c-r-a-n-k-y when we get hungry.  Au Bon Pain was the only option for us at Macy’s (the rest of the fast food joints didn’t have any vegetarian options), and I quickly made a salad with spinach, artichoke hearts, green beans, roasted red peppers, tuna and Thai peanut dressing.

The only memorable aspect of this salad was how quickly I ate it.  My mom got us a bag of mini chocolate chip cookies, and I had one somewhere in the lingerie department while searching for Hollywood Tape.

Three stores and one successful purchase later, we fond ourselves sitting at the old wood bar in DiFiore Marquet.  This was only my second time coming here, but it’s one of my favorite spots in the city.  It’s charming and quirky, quiet, inexpensive, and the staff is so knowledgeable about their wine list.

Last time we went, I tried my first glass of Vouvray.  This time, I went for the Alsatian Pinot Gris (I get this whenever I see it on a menu), and my mom got the Torrontes, which is a fruity white similar to a Pinot Grigio.

The Pinot Gris is on the left, the Torrontes on the right.

On our way home, we made a pit stop at The Donut Pub.

My mom and George both think these are the best donuts in the city.

My mom and I did a taste-test with a glazed and a sugar ring (I had tiny bites of each); glazed won.  I got a marble cake donut hole for myself.

I don’t even remember the last time I had a donut!  Oh wait… it was almost exactly a year ago!

We finally did get home, where we met my dad for a takeout pasta dinner from La Parmigiana in Southampton.  We started with salad… I thought all “Italian” dressings would taste like this when I was younger, and was sadly disappointed when I learned this was not the case.

Their pasta is hard to beat.  I had a plate with half linguine with clams, half linguine with broccoli rabe and sundried tomatoes.   I gobbled up all of the former, but had had my fill and didn’t quite finish the broccoli rabe pasta.

My mom and I split a Criterion apple that my parents picked last weekend…

… and, later, I had three chocolate snowballs.  They were even better the second day!

I’ve been having a lot of trouble sleeping recently… rather I normally have a hard time falling asleep, but have been enjoying a nice respite from that and have been nodding off quite easily.  No sleep aids required!  The last few nights, however, it’s been hard for me to fall and stay asleep, so that by the time morning comes around it just seems like a mean joke.  Needless to say, my breakfasts have had to be pretty darn good to make up for it.

These Berry Mango bran muffins from Trader Joe’s came recommended by both Lauryn and Caroline, and I knew I had to try them.  I’m not a huge muffin lover, but bran is a whole ‘nother story.  Love it!

I popped half a muffin in the oven to warm it up, and while it was toasting got out the container of almond butter my parents had picked up for me at the Co-Op.

Beat that, Maranatha!

I slathered some on my muffin, and used the nut-buttery-spoon to scoop my banana/cinnamon/honey-filled Oikos.  How’s that for a complete breakfast?

My physical therapy appointment was scheduled for 11, and although I left with plenty of time to spare, my subway line is all messed up and is skipping my stop due to track work.  So I had to ride all the way to the end of the line and back down again, and by the time I got off at the appropriate stop only had five minutes to spare.  I ran all the way there with a shoddy umbrella, dodging raindrops and praying my waterlogged Chucks wouldn’t trip me up.  I didn’t fall, but was still five minutes late.  Not a problem… I still got quite the workout in.

My left thigh was been really sore for the past few days… I don’t know if it’s because of the exercises I’ve been doing or just freak tightness, but my therapist worked it out for a good ten minutes.  I also did some calf, core and quad work on the Proform (which I am really feeling today!), then got iced down and strapped with electrodes.  Who knew therapy could be so fun?

I packed my lunch to take with me to eat in transit:

In the mix:

• mixed greens
• grape tomatoes
• frozen pineapple
• broccoli slaw
• Dr. Praeger’s California veggie burger (like other Dr. P. burgers, this is very mushy and doesn’t have a real “burger” texture. I really like the taste and chunks of veggies, though)
• kale chip “dressing”/hummus

Because it was cold and rainy out, there wasn’t really anywhere to sit and enjoy a leisurely lunch.  So I ate LVP-style: standing up and shoveling food into my mouth in the middle of the sidewalk.

Also had a Pink Lady apple… wonder if there is a T-Bird variety apple as well?

After I finished my dignified lunch, I walked across town and went up to meet Greg at Starbucks.  I got the coupon in the mail for my free birthday drink (if you have a Starbucks card, register it!), which I used for a Grande Skim Dirty Hippie (Chai with two shots of espresso).

Two sample trays came by while we were chatting: Peppermint Mocha and Crème Brulée.

I remember when I used to get so excited for Peppermint Mocha-season… now I found this – and the crème brulée- way too sweet.  The only sweet coffee drinks I like are Chai lattes and the occasional Mocha or Frappuccino; I tend to stick to lightly sweetened cappuccinos and black coffee.

The rest of the afternoon was spent running errands (found the perfect pair of jeans on sale).  I was in four different areas of the city in under four hours, and let me tell you: it gives you an appetite! It was the kind of day where I felt hungry all the time.   I dug into my bag and found this Tropical Fruit Grain-Ola bar that Bear Naked sent me as a sample and ate it on the subway.

Review: This was way too sweet for me, and the ingredients list (and 18g of sugars) explains it.  Why does the fruit need to be dried with sugar on top of the additional tapioca syrup, honey and maple syrup that gets thrown into the mix? It was also very, very greasy.

Would I buy this? Thanks, but no thanks.

When I got home, I started making this recipe for Coconut Barley Pilaf.

My dad had made it a few weeks ago and recommended it to me, so I decided to give it a go.  I substituted shrimp for chicken, light coconut milk for regular, and chili flakes for jalepeño.

I didn’t know how many people would be around for dinner so I made the full recipe… we’ll just have a lot of leftovers!

I really liked this. The sweet barley, salty cashews, chewy shrimp and fresh mint were in such harmony!  I would definitely make this again (although I think I can get another 3 meals out of this batch).  Ari didn’t like it as much… he prefers chickpeas and mushrooms.

We also had some Sauvignon Blanc…

… and I finished off the snowballs.  Nom.

We’re off to Connecticut for a wedding this weekend.  What are your plans?

We slept in yesterday morning as well.  I got up first, talked scary movies with this girl, then woke the boy up.  We went to the diner for the first time in a long time; I was finally ready for an omelet again! I ordered an omelet with 1/2 egg whites and 1/2 egg, spinach, tomato, feta and mushrooms. After my order, Ari gave me the you’re-being-a-pain-in-the-bum look… I know it was kind of an obnoxious order, but I wanted it to be just right.  It was pretty big, and I only had room for one bite of home fries.

Toast was enjoyed as well… diner meals are pretty much the only time I like my toast buttered.  It must be something about it mixing with HFCS-filled grape jelly, but it’s just delicious! Unfortunately the toast came dry, and by the time I added my own butter the bread was cold so it didn’t melt.  It was still good, though!

After brunch, Ari carved our pumpkin…

… while I toasted the pumpkin seeds.

Salty-Sweet Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

• seeds from 1 pumpkin
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 6 cups of water
• 3-1/2 teaspoons salt

Preheat oven to 400.  Thoroughly remove stringy insides from seeds.  Rinse well; the seeds should be completely free of orange pulp.   Put seeds in pot with water and salt over medium-high heat until water boils.  Lower heat and simmer 10 minutes.  Drain seeds.

Mix oil, sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg together in a bowl.  Add pumpkin seeds and hand-toss to coat.  Spread seeds evenly in a glass baking dish or cookie sheet.  Put dish in oven and toast until crispy, 30-40 minutes.  Enjoy!

We ate almost all of those while we worked around the house… I definitely ate the lion’s portion, but they’re so good!  Soon, we heard a knock.  Fitting that our first trick-or-treaters should be part of the veggie and fruit patch!

This tomato was sassy.

Would you let us operate on you?

Dr. Ari started to look a little sick by the time dinner rolled around…

… but he treated me to sushi.  What a nice zombie!

Bentos two nights in a row?! Lucky me! It came with sashimi, shrimp shumai, a California roll, rice (which I didn’t eat), and salad.

It also came with honeydew.

Ari and I brainstormed about what would make the perfect Halloween dessert cocktail.  If you’re an old-school reader, you may remember the hot cocoa/marshmallow debacle of Halloween 2008.  Not pretty.   Well, I based this year’s Halloween Scream on the same Martha Stewart recipe, but added some personal touches.

Ari requested butterscotch chips (I’m not a huge fan, but that’s love!), and we added Kahlua. The colors are a little Halloween-ie, yes?

We topped the finished product with cinnamon and marshmallows.  (I’d thought marshmallows went on Ari’s “white and creamy veto list” –he’s going to have to do his own post on this someday soon– but it turns out he likes them! What a breakthrough.) This photo doesn’t show it, but the cocoa was red!

I drank about a third, but it was too rich for me.  It reminded me a lot of the drinking chocolate we had in Paris! I switched to an apple instead… I wasn’t really hungry for it, but I needed something to munch while watching Halloween H2O!

It was a low-key Halloween, but it was a really nice day.  Hope you had a good one, too!

Congratulations to Melissa and all of the other NYC Marathoners!!!

Yesterday when I woke up I was craving cereal.   Cold and filling, I made a big bowl with Kashi GoLean, Smart Start, granola, a banana, and skim milk.

I didn’t have too much time to waste in the morning because I had physical therapy at 1:30, but I got some things done.   I broke for a quick and easy lunch: leftover Roasted Corn Pudding in Kabocha Squash, a grapefruit, and Trader Joe’s Nonfat Vanilla Greek Yogurt. It was a little random, but it hit the spot.

My appointment went well! Allison gave me a few exercises that I can do on my own while I’m in bed, and as a result, my side glutes have been so sore the past two days!  The foam roller feels unbelievable.   She wants me to wait until next week to try running; in the meantime I can use the elliptical (which I am brainwashing myself into “liking”).  My next appointment isn’t until Tuesday, so I have some time to work on the moves.

I snacked on a Honey Cashew YouBar on the way to the gym from PT.  There will be a formal review of these products coming in the next few days, but  until then, you can use the code Lilveggiepatch for a 5% discount at checkout.

At the gym, I stretched, climbed onto the Cross Ramp, cranked up the Gaga, and pounded away for 30 minutes.  I like the Cross Ramp more than the elliptical because, judging from the statistics on my heart rate monitor, it’s almost as “efficient” as running and about twice as efficient as the recumbent bike.   I cheated a little and started my cool down after 27 minutes… it’s entirely psychological, but I really hate staying on that thing after my time is up! I went uptown, showered, and rolled out on my dad’s foam roller.  I’m going to be near Paragon today so I’ll pick up my own; Allison wants me to use it not only to loosen my muscles but for balancing ab exercises.

I snacked on a Jonagold apple from the orchard upstate… I used the honeybear for scaling purposes.  Hugely delicious!

My mom and I went to a reading last night at The Center for Fiction (formerly known as The Mercantile Library).  It’s a really nice space; the first floor is a great bookstore, and the second houses a membership library and readings.  If it wasn’t so out of the way, I would certainly join! I love going to the library; as soon as I finish the book I’m reading now, I’m going to check out some new titles at the NYPL.  Now, if only there were a lending library for clothes…

My dad made us a delicious dinner last night based around salmon steaks he picked up at Bouley Market.  The fish is the same that is served in his restaurants, but he sells it to go at a really great price.  Good to know! Maybe I can upgrade from my Trader Joe’s frozen salmon patties…

We snacked on crudités…

And ate avocado halves with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, sea salt & pepper…

Cajun-rubbed salmon, steamed swiss chard & brown rice…

… and drank big mugs of milk.

We had a dessert tasting with LaLoo Black Mission Fig Goat Milk ice cream and Bouley‘s fresh Rhubarb Sorbet.  They complemented each other perfectly.

When I got home, Ari and I watched part of I’m Not There.  Has anyone else seen it? It came out while I was in France, and I’ve never seen the whole thing all the way through.  A lot of my favorites starred in the film, which I’d support even if it weren’t about Bob Dylan.

Well, I’m off to squeeze in glute-rolling some gym time before I meet George for lunch.  Have a great day!