Lilveggiepatch » juice

Hippie Juice

admin — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 03:59:55 +0000

Happy Christmas Eve eve! I still can’t believe it’s already here. I won’t be blogging tomorrow, so please have a very merry holiday

Last night, Ari decided he wanted a bowl of oatmeal! This is actually pretty shocking, because he’s not a huge fan of my breakfast creations (although he’s eaten Jim once once or twice), favoring bagels or bacon-egg-and-cheese breakfast sandwiches instead. To each his own! Anyway, I wanted him to like his snack, so I mixed a scoop each of pumpkin butter and Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter. This combination got the thumbs up!

He then opened a can of pickled jalepeño peppers. That’s my man!

This morning I made myself one of the best bowls of oats. Seriously!

1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup water
pineapple
dried cherries
plain nonfat yogurt
unsweetened shredded coconut
agave nectar

This breakfast was tropical and festive, and reminded me of a piña colada in a bowl. We used to go to Guadeloupe this time of year, and it reminded me of traditionally cold months spent in a warmer climate!

As I’ve mentioned, there really weren’t too many people in the office today… mostly other assistants who are holding down the fort while their supervisors are away. I took advantage of the downtime to sort out some glitches with IT; the highlight of my day was actually when the computer technician and I spoke for almost half an hour about our favorite things to eat and cook! All of that talk made me hungry, and after some embarrassingly tummy growls I finally went to the office kitchen to retrieve my snack: plain yogurt with pumpkin butter, almond butter and cinnamon.

I split my lunch hour into two parts to get the most out of it. My hair is in that in-between stage where I can definitely wait another month or two to get it cut, but my bangs were starting to resemble a curtain. I’m going to a wedding next week, and thought it would be nicer for everyone if I cleaned myself up a bit. So 20 minutes and $15 later, my bangs were neat and tidy! I know some of you have master skills and can trim them yourselves; if you’d like to do a tutorial on this for us lesser folk, I would greatly appreciate it.

When I got back from the salon, I gobbled down my lunch while manning the phone. I’m trying to eat up the (scant) ingredients in my fridge, so I made a salad with romaine, raw red cabbage, and two types of WF tofu (“balsamic baked” and “Sal’s special”).

Then I journeyed back outside to Westerly Natural Market for a juice run with a coworker. He treated me to his favorite green juice, green lemonade (not 100% positive about the ingredients, but I think it was made with romaine, kale, apple, lemon and ginger). It was so refreshing, and great to know there’s a good health food store within walking distance! This could, of course, be dangerous for my wallet…

Someone came by my office at 4 saying we were all desperately in need of a sugar high and brought us each iced sugar cookies. These aren’t normally my style, but oh my lordy, they were good! It literally tasted like eating sweet butter. Trust me, that’s better than it sounds.

I’d planned on going to a spin class at 5:45, but after almost 8 hours of not much action at work, we had a borderline crisis at 4:30. So, no spin. I was exhausted by the time I finally left the office and didn’t feel like going to the gym for any kind of exercise, so I just went home to relax.

Ari and I had nearly matching dinners: Whole Foods minestrone soup and a slice of Ezekiel Cinnamon Raisin bread with a Morningstar Farms Pizza Burger and melted cheddar. Ari was a bit of a pansy and wasn’t feeling the veggie burger love. He did, however, ask for “hippie juice” when I offered (what I refer to Bragg’s as). Baby steps.

We watched The Brave One while we ate dinner. Has anyone seen it? I think it deserves a 6.5/10. Not bad, but not great either. I had the last of the pineapple (recycled photo) for dessert, which was still incredibly sweet and juicy.

My food has been pretty boring for the last week or so (excepting the amazing dinners out), but hopefully I’ll have a little time on my hands to whip some fun things up. I have to work tomorrow (although we close at 3 PM) and Monday, but I’m off Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I can’t wait!

And, if you celebrate…

HAVE A HOLLY JOLLY CHRISTMAS! Safe journeys to anyone traveling.

(And don’t forget to send me your FAQs )

Gym Class Heroes

lilveggiepatch — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:07:08 +0000

Good evening and happy Monday! I hope the start to your week- and your November- is going swimmingly. It’s strange to think that another year is almost over already, and I feel like I only just graduated! I have two bits of news… one I’ll share now, and one that’s going to wait until the end of the post.

As you know, I’ve been devoting most of my time recently to researching and applying for jobs. I recently applied to an entry level job at Wine Spectator, and the editor who looked over my application noted, after browsing through the blog and reading my cover letter, noted that while I have a clear and definite passion for food, my interest has not been directed towards wine. While I may not get this particular job, I’ve decided that I do want to take a more active pursuit towards learning about wine. Wine has always been important to my family, but with the exception of knowing that Malbec is from Argentina, Vouvray is from the Loire Valley and 2007 was a good year for white, I know next to nothing. So I’ve decided to take a proactive approach! I’m going to take advantage of the free tastings that go on every day around the city, and I’ll do my best to have some inkling about the wine I pluck off the $10-and-under shelf at the liquor store. In the next few days, I’ll add a special tab on the blog devoted purely to vino in order to chronicle my progress. I don’t know where this will take me, but since I have a little more time on my hands due to unemployment, I’m excited to learn a useful skill and pursue a new hobby!

Anyway… let’s jump back a bit.

Yesterday I was awakened quite early as Ari left for a morning meeting. Musicians keep very strange hours, I tell ya! Since I was already up, I decided to make a breakfast cookie to plop in the fridge while I went back to sleep for a few hours.

Jim was made of:

1/3 cup oats
1/2 banana
2 T skim milk
1/2 packet YouShake Vanilla Dream protein powder
1 t peanut butter
toppings: cinnamon, 2 prunes, 1 fig, 1 pecan

I also broke into my new McNulty’s Sumatra coffee to get my buzz on. And on and on.

Finally found a real solution to the Ester-C problem… POM Wonderful‘s Pomegranate Nectarine juice (which the company sent to me a few weeks ago) is sweet enough to completely mask the taste! I simply dissolved 1/3 teaspoon of Ester-C into 1/4 cup of juice and gulped it down as fast as possible. All I was left with was a pleasant fruity taste!

After I finished up breakfast, I looked at the time, packed my gym bag and hustled out the door to make a 12:15 60 minute Pilates class in the city. I got there five minutes early and went into the studio with my jacket, bag and shoes still on so that I could reserve a spot on the floor. Class had already started! I was a little annoyed- I didn’t want to disrupt the class, but it was early! It was also pretty warm and really stuffy, and I thought about asking the instructor to turn off the heat. After ten minutes, we still hadn’t moved to the mat to work on our cores and instead seemed to be moving through a Vinyasa flow. I turned to the girl next to me and whispered, “This isn’t Pilates, is it?” She shook her head and whispered, “Nope, it’s hot yoga!” Oops. I really love Bikram, but had I known I would be taking the class I would have hydrated, brought water with me, and not just had half a pot of coffee! Still, I’m glad I stayed for the full 90 minutes, and even more glad that I didn’t pass out from dehydration!

When class was over, I went home to have lunch and get some work done. I was surprised with festive snail mail from my girlies, which brightened up my day.

I hadn’t brought any food with me, so I rooted around in the freezer to check out the pickings. Not bad! I found bulgur pilaf with mixed vegetables, to which I added raisins and cilantro:

I also found sweet potato soup with navy beans from the Moosewood Cookbook, which I also added cilantro, peanuts and raisins to.

I washed it all down with Natural-flavored Zevia:

Not bad for an improvised lunch!

A little later, I snacked on a Jonagold apple while I did some work.

I’m pretty sure Ari had dinner while it was still light out, so I made a big orange salad with cilantro-chili vinaigrette for myself.

In the mix:

two handfuls of spinach
1 sweet potato, microwaved and diced
1 orange
1 Trader Joe’s Vegetable Masala Burger
shredded carrots

I made the cilantro-chili vinaigrette with:

1/2 T toasted sesame oil
1 T olive oil
2 Trice vinegar
1/2 t Sriracha sauce
1/2 T raw blue agave nectar
1 slice red onion
handful cilantro
1/2 t chili flakes

It was enjoyed with a bowl of leftover miso soup and Christina Yang.

For dessert, I had 1/2 each of a brownie and blondie Edgie.

We watched half of Good Bye Lenin! before tuckering out for the night. It’s been on my Netflix queue for years, but I’m really glad we finally saw it! Or, half of it at least

Onto the second bit of news! My dad called today with a proposition. He’ll be traveling to Russia in December for work and offered to take me with him. Let me think… yes!!! We’ll be in Moscow for four days, then we go to St. Petersburg for two. Not only do I get to spend some much-needed quality time with Daddy-O, but I’ll also get to see my Sarah!!! I can’t wait. Life is good!

Curly Girls

lilveggiepatch — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 19:31:10 +0000

Good afternoon, ladies and gents! How is your Thursday treating you? Mine has been just fine, although my body clock is a little out of whack. I had a bone density test at 8:30 this morning (won’t find out the results until late today or tomorrow), and although I’d brought my gym bag with me, was so exhausted that I ended up just going home to sleep until 12:30! If I had a dollar for every time I’ve done this….

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In the mix:

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

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

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

I had a glass of red with lunch.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

See ya later, alligators.

Smooth Moves

lilveggiepatch — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 12:57:47 +0000

Good morning and happy Wednesday! I can’t believe the week has flown by so fast… and I’m that much closer to being 22. I think I’ve turned a little anti-birthday, but maybe not. How do you feel about your birthday?

The night before last, I’d planned a really unique breakfast as I was lying in bed, trying to fall asleep. When I woke up, though, I was doubting my creative abilities and sent a frantic Tweet asking for some breakfast suggestions. A few minutes later, though, I went with my gut, and am I glad I did! I present you with: The Fall Smoothie.

This is made with:

homemade raw almond milk
1 banana
1/3- 1/2 cup puréed butternut squash
nutmeg
cinnamon
granola for garnish

Uh-MA-zing! If you make this and don’t have almond milk you’ve made yourself, I suggest throwing in a few whole almonds for thickness and added flavor.

As usual, I puttered around for a few hours before I was ready to go for a run. To hold myself over, I snacked on the last piece of butternut squash banana bread with a smear of peanut butter:

The run itself was uneventful, but I did have some lovely new music to keep me going.

Total distance: 4.5 miles

Total time: 43:46

Maximum heart rate: 186 (93%)

Average heart rate: 172 (86%)

Calories burned: 494

Lunch was exactly the same as dinner (hence the re-used photo). Blegh. Soup is finally all eaten up, though!

I made a pineapple spritzer using the juice that was left in the can and a little seltzer.

Both the run and lunch were starting to put me to sleep, so I brewed up some “Magic Feeling” tea that I got in Berlin (only in Germany, eh?).

I felt a little too magical, because I conked out for the next two hours. Whoops! When I woke up, I was ready to get cookin’. I snacked on three chunks of energy to get me moving again…

I’ve had the ingredients to make Veganomicon‘s Corn and Edamame-Sesame Salad for a while now, and at the very last minute I decided to add some diced grape tomatoes to the mix as well.

I also whipped up SELF‘s White Bean Consommé with Almond Milk, and halved the recipe so I wouldn’t have another soup sitch like last week!

It was lacking a little something, so I “remixed” it with alfalfa sprouts, chili flakes and Bragg‘s. Much better!

For dessert, I tried out my last new flavor of Vitamuffin, Deep Chocolate.

I crumbled it on top of a container of Trader Joe’s nonfat Organic Vanilla Greek Yogurt, and topped the whole thing with homemade almond milk. I don’t know if I’ve expressed how much I enjoy this yogurt before, but it’s amazing! You can actually see the specs of vanilla bean.

Well I’ve literally got to run out the door so I’m not late for my internship. Have a great Wednesday!

Long Runs & Last Days

lilveggiepatch — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 14:04:36 +0000

Good morning and a happy Friday! I am so excited for the weekend. For one of the first times in a long time, I feel like a weight has been lifted from my shoulders and everything really will be okay. Thank you so, so much for your kind comments on yesterday’s post. Leaving my job was a really hard decision for many reasons, but I smiled every time my phone buzzed with an e-mail yesterday. It’s incredible to know how supportive our community is!

Yesterday I’d planned to do another- my second- 6.4 mile run. I fueled up with a piece of peanut butter-topped butternut squash banana bread.

I was still really stiff from the 30/60/90 class, so I warmed up with Yoga For Runners. With loose mussels, I laced up and stuffed the Hammer Gel my dad gave to me into the tiny pocket of my running shorts for mid-run fuel.

Do you bring energy snacks for long workouts?

I ran to the same soundtrack I used on my first 6.4 miler… I’m a little superstitious about things like that. I didn’t have a problem with stitches until I was about 30 minutes into the run, but it wasn’t so bothersome. It got really bad during the last 1/2 mile, but since I could literally see my house I pushed myself through it. Erin gave me some great suggestions about belly-breathing, but I don’t seem to be able to puff out my stomach while inhaling! When I try, I sort of default into a double-inhale-gasp thing. Overall, the run was a success. I had to stop more than usual for traffic (which is a good thing, since I forgot to wear my RoadID), but now that I’ve done it twice I know that the first time wasn’t just a fluke! It’s very exciting for me

Total distance: 6.4 miles

Total time: 1:09:53

Maximum heart rate: 184 (92%)

Average heart rate: 171 (86%)

Calories burned: 773

I soaked some steel-cut oats in the fridge on Wednesday night, so when I came back from the run I dove into them.

Steel-cut oats expand a LOT; I had 1/2 cup of soaked oats with Greek yogurt, a banana, and cinnamon.

When stirred, they turn in to a sweet, tangy and delicious mess.

Paula made a return around lunchtime, when I enjoyed a bowl of leftover lentil soup.

I also gobbled up the last of my mom’s brown sugar Brussels sprouts. I LOVE Fall produce!

I packed up the last of my chunks of energy to snack on during my last wait shift ever (I hope).

I left a little early so that I could make two important stops.

Stop #1: Sephora! Ladies (and gentlemen), if you are not yet apart of the Beauty Insider Club, what are you waiting for?! I am not in any way affiliated with Sephora, but this perks club is the best. You get great online discounts, free goodies every time you earn a certain number of points, and birthday presents!

My birthday is still a week away, but they let me pick up it up early. Pretty sweet, hmm? I also took advantage of being in the store to play around with the makeup a little bit… killing time at Sephora is one of my favorite things to do. I can experiment in really silly ways without having to commit to actually buying a product (although I do that too, from time to time). ALSO, if you want to try out any of their skincare items, just ask! They’ll make you a nice little to-go sample.

Stop #2: Liquiteria for some Grasshopper Juice (pineapple, pear, apple, wheatgrass & mint). This is definitely not cheap, but it was my gift to myself for my last day of work. And lordy lord, is it tasty!

Before I went into work I decided that I was going to make this day one of my best. I was going to have fun, enjoy the company of my co-workers, and not let any restaurant stress get in the way. Behold the power of positive thinking…. It worked! I left on a very good note.

My dad came in for dinner, and after Judy joined him I got off early and we all went out to ice cream. I think I’ve successfully hooked them all on Stögo! From left to right:

Judy’s: Coconut Vanilla Bean/ Coconut Strawberry; Dad’s: Banana’s Foster/ Chocolate Hazelnut; Mine: Bananas Foster.

Now that I know how to make ice cream, Bananas Foster should be a cinch! This is made with banana “ice cream”, cinnamon, rum and caramel.

On the ride home, I dug into dinner (for some reason whenever I go to Stögo, I eat dessert first!). For my last meal, Ramón had hidden some of the scallops from our dinner special under my salad. He is so sweet.

I came home to an adorable goodie kit from April at Sweet Leaf Tea. I can’t wait to try out their different flavors! And I’m sure Ari can’t wait to try out those guitar pics

I slept hard last night, and now I’m off to the gym. What are your weekend plans? I’m looking forward to catching up with a lot of my best friends!

Have a great Friday

Edited to add: Congratulations to my friends Shannon and Fredo, who welcomed baby Lucia into the world yesterday afternoon!!!

Train-Tracking

lilveggiepatch — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 00:11:24 +0000

Good evening and happy Labor Day weekend! Please excuse the delayed post… I overslept a wee bit this morning and my whole day has been thrown out of whack! No matter… change is good

Yesterday flew by in a blur… I’m glad I document my moments with photos, or I’d never remember what happened from day-to-day! For breakfast, I had a giant fruit bowl with 1/2 mango, 1 peach, raw almond milk and a sprinkle of GoLean! Crunch. Heaven!

I love this breakfast because while it’s filling, it doesn’t leave me with that belly-busting-bloaded feeling. It was substantial enough to power me through a 4.5 mile run… yep, you read that right! I took the same route as last time, ran easily but didn’t stop, and listened to some of Beck’s covers of the Velvet Underground & Nico which my friend passed along to me. I still can’t believe I can run long enough to listen to an album in its entirety… I am woman, hear me ROAR! But, again, I’m trying to be extra-careful with my legs this time around, and I don’t want to do too much too soon. Learned that the hard way.

Total time: 45 minutes

Total distance: 4.5 miles

When I got back, I entered my data into my new training log. I’m keeping track of sleep, miles (run), cross-training, strength training, yoga, ab work, and stretching. Hopefully, I’ll be able to figure out what’s right for me this way. I’m factoring in things like sleep and stretching to document how they affect my progress, and to make sure I don’t overstrain my body.

Sweaty beast that I was, I chugged the last of the carrot juice.

Lunch was a massive salad that filled up an entire 9-inch Pyrex bowl.

In the mix:

1 heart of romaine
2 chopped beets
sprouts
Ginger Tofu Peanut Salad
Annie’s Light Gingerly Dressing

While I was getting ready for work, I munched on an apple and dreamt about France… I need to go back as soon as possible.

I brought a baggie of dried fruit to work… and so did my friend Alexandra! Great minds think alike. Many of the staff at the restaurant are Muslim and observing Ramadan, so at 7:30, after having fasted all day, they break to feast. On their dessert plate are all kinds of fantastic sweet treats, including… walnut-stuffed dates! Who knew?! Siyab let me eat one. I’m pretty sure I’m going to turn into a date-head one of these days

I also drank a packet of Greens Plus Original Superfood. I mixed it with seltzer, and again drank half and re-filled the rest with club soda. It has a very strong taste, but I like it… I just need a bigger glass!

Work was fine… not too much drama, which is always cause for celebration. An exciting coincidence also happened last night… a few weeks ago, when Liz and I went to Bonobo’s, the owner and I were sure that we recognized each other from somewhere. Well, turns out he and his girlfriend are regulars at the restaurant! I’ve waited on them oodles of times, but I guess we just didn’t recognize each other out of context. I’m glad he reminded me! I explained my nori-wrapping woes (although I think I’m getting a little better), and he offered to give me some pointers the next time I go in there. Small world!

Dinner was FABULOUS. Ramon is on vacation for the next month, so Gregorio took his place. I think he was trying to outdo Ramon, and made me a salad with mixed greens, apples, beets, avocado, walnuts, and GRILLED SHRIMP. Mario also gave me a hefty slice of Bufala… I really couldn’t have requested a better meal.

Ari was in the neighborhood when I got off work, so we met up for some fro-yo. I loaded my cup with nonfat cheesecake, tart, and green tea tart; I topped it all with strawberries, blueberries, a blackberry, mochi, and coconut.

We went home and I, unfortunately, subjected Ari to a pretty horrible movie that left us both feeling weird, even though we turned it off after it was half over. Blegh. Better luck next time!

We are hopefully taking a day-trip tomorrow; we need to go somewhere we can get to by bus or by train. I really hope it works out! We could both use a little fresh air. What are your plans for the long-weekend?

Key Ingredients

lilveggiepatch — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 14:36:33 +0000

I’m sure you know the feeling: you’ve spent hours (or even a few hard-earned minutes) preparing something that you’ve been thinking about for weeks, only to discover that it’s not quite right. Had you splurged for the right spices or the good cheese, it would have been perfect. The perfect ingredients can make or break a dish; a simple slice of avocado – or sprouts, as it was yesterday- can make an ordinary sandwich something really special. This thought came to my mind time and again yesterday with each meal I savored that special something, or pinned down what upgrade would make it better.

Yesterday we woke up and headed to the diner, where Ari treated me to breakfast.

I ordered the parfait again…

Something was off, though. I asked for “more yogurt, less granola,” but the yogurt wasn’t Greek anymore! Very sad. There also wasn’t any mango syrup. I still ate it, but I don’t think I’ll be getting that again

Ari, however, ordered their new peanut butter pancakes, and substituted chocolate chips for bananas. I had a few delicious bites of those… they were even better than they look.

I puttered around the house for a little, killing time before my yoga class. On the way to Vinyasa Flow, I grabbed some carrot juice. For those of you who asked about this stuff: I’m obsessed! I used to drink it a lot when I was younger, and have just now re-addicted myself. It’s delicious: sweet, vegetable-y, and the perfect anytime snack.

Yoga was GREAT. It kicked my booty– I got into Firefly for about .5 seconds before toppling over– but I felt strong and relaxed after it was over.

I’d packed a mondo sandwich: Faux-zekiel with hummus, mustard, arugula beets, sprouts and a Dr. Praeger’s sweet potato pancake.

Sprouts always make a sandwich better. I think it’s the stringy, crunchy texture… so perfect.

I bagged it with an apple and a huge bottle of water…

… and ate it in Union Square Park…

… watching the pigeons.

Then I went back home to get some work done. My stomach was growling all day… I noticed Leslie Tweeted a while ago that she’s hungrier when she practices yoga than when she does a more “traditional” workout. Has anyone else noticed this? What exercise makes you feel the hungriest?

I [temporarily] squashed my hunger with a TJ’s Trek Mix Bar.

Since I had a lot of reading and writing to do, I wanted to make something fast and easy that would still taste delicious. A week or so ago, after admiring Caroline‘s fabulous dinner, she kindly sent me the recipe for the Ginger Peanut Tofu Salad she made. I scanned the ingredients and prep: yep- fast, easy, tasty

Can you believe that in all the years of my vegetarianism (that would be until last night, I had yet to make scrambled or mashed tofu? Bad LVP!

I halved the recipe, then added a bit more soy sauce.

In keeping with my mondo sandwich at lunch, I made a mondo salad for dinner.

I filled the plate with a romaine heart, a huge handful of arugula, baby carrots, an apple…

… and a pickle, for good measure.

I had some Annie’s Lite Gingerly Vinaigrette for dipping…

It really was the perfect dinner. I was a little full afterward, but an hour or so later, my tum was demanding a sweet end. Biscotti to the rescue!

I finished my work at midnight, caught up on Project Runway (which I already ruined for one of you… sorry again!), and got 8 hours of sleep. Not bad!

Ari’s mother brought (upon my request) some old school photos for the room.

I think we would have been friends, don’t you?

Have a great day!

Spice Gets In Your Eyes

lilveggiepatch — Sat, 22 Aug 2009 17:36:22 +0000

Good morning and happy Saturday! I hope you’ve had a fabulous Friday night, and your weekend is off to a great start. I let myself sleep in again today, giving myself a whopping 9.5 hours of sleep! I could get used to this

Breakfast yesterday was mighty fine: an Ezekiel English muffin with almond butter, 1/2 banana, cinnamon and honey. I also had a carton of O.N.E. coconut water that I found on sale, and some wake-me-up-it’s-Friday! coffee.

I must not have washed my hands well enough before putting in my contacts, because the cinnamon from my breakfast really burned me up!

I didn’t learn my lesson, though, and snacked on an apple with more cinnamon sprinkled on top a few hours later

I’d planned on spending a couple hours at the gym, but somehow the hours got away from me and it was already 2:00 by the time I suited up. I really wasn’t in the mood for a run, and turned back around after five minutes. I guess the Fates must have been telling me not to force myself to exercise, because it started pouring on my walk back home. Sometimes I just have to let myself not work our when I’m not feeling it.

Lunch was something I’ve been craving all week: Gina‘s Raw Pad Thai With Spicy Almond Butter Sauce. In place of the cucumber, I added some shredded carrots. It was delicious! Sweet, spicy, and filling.

Speaking of Gina, she recently revamped the look of Fitnessista, and is having some problems with Google Reader. Please re-subscribe to Gina’s site so you can keep up with her amazing recipes, cute puppers, and sweet husband!

I also had a container of Liquiteria’s Royal Flush: Pineapple, pear, aloe & ginger juice with their liver-kidney detox blend. This was delicious! Lightly sweet, with that ginger kick that I love so much.

The story behind this juice? A customer at the restaurant, after hearing me rave (a little longingly ) about Liquiteria, produced one from his tote bag and gave it to me! Who says New Yorkers are unfriendly?

After lunch, I did some housework then dodged raindrops as I hustled into the city to meet my little red-headed friend and our friend Danny for dinner. We went to Lantern, a Thai restaurant I found when looking up BYOB restaurants in the Union Square area. This ended up not being the case, but we still had a nice time. (Clearly, I did not know this photo was being taken…)

The three of us decided to split everything. We started with an appetizer trio (L-R): Golden chive patties made with rice flour in a sweet black soy dipping sauce; summer rolls with baby spinach, rice noodles, carrot, celery and a peanut-plum dipping sauce; and Lantern’s Angel- shrimp wrapped with crispy rice noodles in a honey-chili sauce. Kalle and I let Danny have the bear’s portion of all of these… growing boys need their nutrients!

We split two entrées: Pad Thai with shrimp…

… and Massaman Curry (a peanut-y soup with chunks of potato and onion) with tofu.

I enjoyed each dish with a little steamed rice, and it was just the right amount of food for me.

We left the restaurant and headed to Brooklyn to check out Kalle’s new apartment and drink the bottle of wine I’d brought. Notice the frame on the left by Danny’s arm… it’s a picture of Kalle and me on prom night. MAYBE, if I’m feeling feisty, I’ll post some of those pictures later.

The wine we shared was a bottle of Orovales 2007 Rioja, a gift from my friend Howard. Here’s what Howard says about the wine: “The Orovales Rioja 2007 is pure Tempranillo, expertly crafted by Manuel Ruiz Pedreira. It was aged in American oak for 6 months. The 2007 vintage was a challenging one with difficult weather conditions; however, even though yields were down, quality was high with lovely concentrated fruit. The wine is a smooth, vanilla-scented, oak-aged red. The wine is near maturity but can be laid down for 1 to 2 years. It has medium tannin and should be had at 64 degrees Fahrenheit. It pairs well with beef, cheese and tomato-based pastas.”

We enjoyed the wine “solo”, but quickly went out to Yogo Monster for some frozen yogurt. Wine must be had with dessert! I had a cup of Original Tart and Raspberry (both fat free), topped with coconut and fresh raspberries. Nom!

Since Ari’s still away, I decided to spend the night at my parents’ house. When I got there, even though it was after midnight and I was pretty full, I made myself a bowl of Puffins with a sprinkle of Mueslix, topped with blueberries. I don’t know what it is, but in high school and college whenever I got home after a late night, I always had a bowl of cereal when I got home. I guess you just don’t mess with tradition.

I watched a little TV and fell asleep in a pool of mail and magazines. Yes, I am a sloth sometimes

Daddy Date

lilveggiepatch — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:02:48 +0000

Good morning, friends! How are you this fine Thursday morning? I’m not going to lie… I’m a little sleepy and would love to go back to bed! However, I think it’ll be better for my body and soul if I get my tuchus into the city for yoga. I haven’t been to a class in so long!

Speaking of body and soul, yesterday I made an awesome breakfast that was inspired by Body + Soul magazine. I was craving an interesting eggy breakfast, so I steamed up some kale. Then I poached a whole egg in the same water I cooked the cake in, to lock in some nutrients.

On an Ezekiel English muffin, I layered cottage cheese, the kale, egg, and tomatoes, and sprinkled it with a generous helping of chili flakes.

I also had an apple.

Delicious breakfast! Egg whites are good too, but it’s nice to have some yolk every once in a while.

After digesting a little, I went on a quick run, showered, and went to Brooklyn to meet my dad for lunch. He took me straight to Perelandra, a health food store by his office.

We both got carrot/apple/beet/ginger juices. Like father, like daughter!

My dad just got back from an intense bike trip in the Alpes that basically mimics the Tour de France, going over 100 km/ day. Is he a rockstar or what?!

At Perelandra, there was a sample station set up for Counter Culture Coffee.

I had a shot glass-size serving of their Finca Nueva Armenia, a Guatemalan direct trade variety with chocolate notes. Mmm! Might have to get off the Folgers.

After leaving Perelandra, my dad and I went to Iron Chef House, a restaurant with one of the best sushi deals I have ever seen. It’s also mighty good! My entrée came with miso soup (ate all) and salad (ate half)…

I ordered the sashimi plate. It has been so long since I’ve had sushi, and this really hit the spot! My dad and I exchanged pieces… I kept the white tuna for myself, though

After lunch, my dad had to get back to work, so I went to the bookstore to lust kill some time before work.

On the way to the restaurant, I got my hands all sticky by eating this juicy black plum that my dad wanted me to try. It was worth it!

At work, I snacked on a pack of cashews from Oh Nuts and Amazing Grass blended with 1/2 banana and a little coffee. These were the best snacks! The Oh Nuts guys put these cashews in a perfectly portioned bag, and the Amazing Grass really kept me going through work.

For dinner, I had a mixed green salad with walnuts, beets, tomatoes, and oranges. Mario, who makes the pizza, also saved me some Bufala mozzarella (my favorite!!!) so I plopped it on top. Mmm!

I went out for drinks after work, and to be honest, my head has felt better! Hopefully yoga will do the trick. I really have to hustle, though… my goal was to already be out the door by now, and I’m not even dressed! Have a great day.

Healthy Living Summit Pt. 2

lilveggiepatch — Sat, 15 Aug 2009 22:53:45 +0000

After watching two back-to-back episodes of Bill Maher (and yes, they were the same episode), my brain was too wired and I didn’t sleep very well. So imagine my panic when I woke up and looked at the clock (but a whole lot blurrier… I’m almost blind without my contacts):

Whoops. When I got downstairs, the dining room was filled with hungry girls.

There was a nice spread set up, hosted by Stonyfield and Mix My Granola.

Sadly, I missed out on the Oikos Greek yogurt by being late.

I did, however, snatch up the last cup of Stonyfield Organic Fat Free Chocolate Underground (Vanilla Over Chocolate) yogurt, which I reviewed a few months ago and still loved.

I had a little of Mix My Granola’s Sweet Gogi Berry mix, which I topped with the yogurt.

I rounded out the meal with some fruit and two cups a little bit of coffee.

Before the presentations began, we all made our bids for Caitlin‘s Leukemia and Lymphoma Society bake sale. All of the goodies looked so good, it was hard to pick just one!

The conference started with some “ice breaker” games (and a lot of camera flashes).

The morning sessions included a talk by nutritionist Janel Ovrut, whose main message was to “eat like your grandparents”- eat whole foods, consume things with 5 (pronouncable) ingredients or less, and when reading a label, ask yourself: Have I cooked with this before? Do I know what this is? How far away from the original source is this ingredient?

Zesty Cook, in addition to helping out with a lot of the IT work for the Summit, gave a great presentation called “Blogging 101″. I took some serious notes, so expect some subtle changes to LVP!

I started to get hungry and lunch was still an hour away, so I broke into my swag bag for the pouch of Mariani dried apricots.

There was a stampede to the dining room when lunch rolled around.

I made a HUGE sandwich with whole grain bread, mustard, cucumbers, mozzarella, tomato, onions, roasted peppers, and pesto.

Check out the girth on this guy!

Luckily I was with 124 other people who love food, and understand that messy eating happens.

After lunch, we went back to the conference room to check under our chairs for hidden pieces of paper. Mine said “Peeled”, so I got two $10 gift cards to use at Peeled.com. Pretty nice!

You should head on over to their website; it looks like you can also win a giftcard for filling out a survey.

We listened to keynote speaker Regina Beidler, an organic dairy farmer who works with Organic Valley, a subdivision of Stonyfield.

Here are some things I learned about Organic farming.

What does the USDA Organic seal mean, exactly?

The farm must be re-certified each year. They must report their manure and hay, the number of sick cows they have, the medicine they are using (if any), if cows left the herd, etc.
Everything that is branded with the USDA seal must receive 3rd party verification.
The standards for USDA-certified Organic products began with formers.

Organic farms do NOT use:

Synthetic hormones
Antibiotics
Chemicals
GMOs
Radiation

Organic farms MUST “pasture” their cows, i.e. let them roam free. There are many benefits of pasturing cows:

The cow is allowed to eat the food intended for them, i.e. grass. Cows are NOT meant to eat corn or soy products, which is what many conventionally farmed cows consume.
They produce less methane.
By ensuring the cows have a place to roam, we are preserving the natural landscape.

Bottom line: Conventional dairy prices are kept unnaturally low, which affects the farmer’s income (which is inconsistent), the treatment of each cow, and most importantly, YOUR HEALTH.

After Regina’s talk, Caitlin presented a little on her Operation Beautiful “baby” (which I have, embarrassingly, only participated in once). We all made some OB notes of our own, and were reminded about the importance of this project.

We took a short break and hit up the POM bar…

I love this stuff. I can’t wait to use my coupons to get some more!

I was hungry for something a little more substantial, so I had a bag of Sour Cream & Onion Popchips.

We took a photo, and poof! The 2009 Healthy Living Summit was over.

Thanks to Jenna, Kath, Caitlin, Heather, Tina and Meghann for all of their hard work. It really paid off!

I probably should have had something a little more filling that potato chips as a snack, because an hour later, after the summit was over, I broke back into the swag bag for a Kashi Trail Mix bar.

I haven’t had one of these in a while… I used to eat them all the time!

Just for the sake of it, I laid out all my swag on the bed.

And, just in case you were wondering… I won Jenna‘s Chocolate Chip Biscotti from the bake sale. Can’t wait to try these!

Don’t ask me how it’s going to fit into my already-packed suitcase…

Off to the Fishermen’s Feast Italian Food Festival with the rest of the attendees. Have a great night!