Tomorrow’s the day

April 5, 2009February 6, 201523 Comments

As usual, I did some snacking while I got my lunches ready for the week. Among other things, I had a dried Newman’s apricot while I was chopping them for my yogurts:

I ate the pretty one in the middle 😀

I also broke into these spelt pretzels from Newman’s because they seemed like they would pair nicely with the guacamole I’m planning as a snack for tomorrow. I ate two just to make sure I liked them 😛 I couldn’t really taste any difference between these and regular non-spelt pretzels, but I’m not really a pretzel connoisseur, either. I do think it’s worth noting that these pretzels are not whole grain, as they are made with plain spelt flour and not whole spelt flour:

Dinner was more leftovers from Friday’s shower. I mixed Maria’s pasta with a similarly-seasoned whole wheat pasta that my roommate Tara left behind this weekend. Careful inspection seemed to indicate that the pasta included tomatoes, spinach, pine nuts, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, and non-fat feta. Perfecto! I had a cup of the pasta mix on top of a giant bowl of Maria’s green salad:

Plus four tamale slices (two spicy and two plain chicken) for garnish.

Ooh, I almost forgot to mention that I mixed in the stems from Tuesday‘s caramelized onions.

Yum, perfect sweetness!

friends Speaking of perfect sweetness, Yasmin from It’s a Wrap! has passed this sweet Friends award onto me. I felt so touched after reading the award description:

These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and to be friends. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated.

Awwwwww, exceedingly charming?? Thanks, Yasmin! I’m so glad I’ve “met” you.

The next part of the award, of course, is that I need to deliver it to eight other deserving bloggers, who should then pass it to eight more (until everyone ends up with it :P). I’ve gotten to know so many great ladies in the short time I’ve been blogging … and these eight are just a few of them.

Thanks for your support and for coming back to see what I eat (and what I find) each day! You all inspire me to be a better scavenger, and you’re all invited to come over and help me with leftovers any time 😛

For dessert tonight, I defrosted the small and slightly mangled inaugural slice of the healthy(er) cheesecake I made Friday night:

I also got this genius idea to stuff a giant strawberry with homemade cashew-almond butter and a little chunk of Hershey’s:

Wowwwwwwwwwwwaaaaa. I will be doing this again.

And finally, in honor of Meghann’s Bake Sale that starts tomorrow (Monday), I had a dollop of healthy cream cheese icing with two jasmine tea biscotti bites:

Meghann put her Baker’s Spotlight on these goodies last week, and you can see it here if you scroll down to the bottom of the page. Not to toot my own horn (ok, yes to toot my own horn), these bites are sooo good. I keep forgetting just how good until I take one bite and want 300 more. And they’re healthy 🙂 So head over to The Inner Workings of a College Graduate tomorrow to place your bid!! 😀

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be going back to the gym for the first time in over a week (the longest week ever). I am hoping that my ruined leg has had enough “quiet time” to support me in this endeavor because the rest of my body is desperately craving some heart-pumping activity!

Do you have any fresh starts planned for this week?

Happy birthday, mom!

April 4, 2009January 23, 201921 Comments

In honor of my mom’s birthday today, I filled my evening with sweetness 😀

I mentioned earlier that my roommate Tara had donated some overripe bananas and aging strawberrries to me since she’s out of town for the weekend. She also donated some banana peanut butter oatmeal which obviously needed a place of honor in my dinner tonight.

I mixed her cup of oatmeal with the remaining 3/4 cup of protein porridge and then heated half of that mix in the oven. Alongside 1/3 cup healthy cream cheese icing, lots of strawberries, and a slab of cashew-almond butter:

Sometime after that, I had a minor snack attack and grabbed a few tortilla chips right out of the bag. I also had a couple tbsp golean crunch with a spash of unsweetened soymilk:

For dessert, I made a sampler platter of treats.

The platter included the last slice of chocolate-frosted chocolate brownie from my freezer bag:

Healthy cream cheese icing, strawberries, and a jasmine tea biscotti bite:

Plus the star:

Remember when I got to have cheesecake batter for dessert earlier in the week? My roommate Brigitte saved me a big slice of the finished product! (Side note: Brigitte cooks in a way that I would never have the guts to. The entire cheesecake included six full packages of real cream cheese plus loads of real butter.) I had half of it with a twistie-tie “M for Mom” since I couldn’t find any birthday candles:

Ummm, and then I went back and had the other half of the slice. It’s my mom’s birthday, after all! And it was also SO good. Especially the crunchy chocolate wafer crust. Ahhhhh!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, MOM!!! Thanks for giving me an excuse to eat lots of sugar (as though I needed another one :P).

How often do you eat REAL (as in, not healthy) desserts?

Don’t forget to enter the Bob’s Red Mill giveaway. The contest ends at noon tomorrow!

Repurposing leftovers, part 671

April 4, 2009February 6, 201511 Comments

I was in no rush for breakfast this morning after yesterday’s expansion-fest, so a leisurely breakfast experiment was in order. I worked on a pot of Berry [much needed] Detox tea throughout the process.

“Worked on” was an appropriate phrase to use, as it turned out, because it was hard work to choke this thing down. I’m usually a fan of sweet and spicy combos, but anything berry-flavored should not be setting my throat on fire! I think the culprit was some rooibos in the blend — I really can’t stand that flavor. On the flip side, however, the teabag managed to break open in the pot, and I kind of enjoyed chomping on the little bits of orange peel that accompanied every sip.

Anyway, the experiment:

First, I mixed 1/2 cup of protein porridge with about 1 tbsp of Newman’s dried berry blend. Next, I smeared a bit of canola on the bottom of a pie plate and pressed the porridge blend onto the plate in a thin, flat strip. I baked for 20 minutes at 375, used a spatula to flip, and baked for another 20. Here’s what I came out with:

Doesn’t look like much, does it? BUT I mashed 1/2 an overripe banana (thanks to roommate Tara for donating her aging bananas and strawberries to me!) with 1 tbsp of PB2 and spread that onto my protein porridge berry flatbread. With a sprinkle of cardamom:

Yum! I enjoyed this experiment. It will have to happen again.

On the side, I chopped the rest of the banana into the 1/2 cup fruit salad from work yesterday. The lucky fruit salad got a topping of 1/4 cup healthy cream cheese icing and a drizzle of lemon curd.

I probably also had 4-5 smarties from yesterday’s shower favors:

I started to think about lunch around 2, even though I wasn’t nearly hungry yet. I’ve seen this tasty-looking asparagus recipe popping up over the past week courtesy of Michelle and Heather. Since I just happened to have a stash of fresh asparagus (and two giant portabello mushrooms caps) in the crisper, I decided that now was the time to jump on the curry butter train! I followed the recipe exactly, except that I added in those portabello caps.

When I got hungry (closer to 4), I ate 1/2 cup of the finished product on top of a pile of the salad that I brought home from work yesterday. Also involved in the salad were a ring of tamale slices with a little bit of guac pizzazz (and freshly grated parm and ground pepp):

A better view of the pizzazz:

Reminder: the Bob’s Red Mill giveaway ends tomorrow at noon. Get your entries in!

Also, go check the giveaway at N Her Shoes! You don’t have to enter, though, because I really need some new workout gear for ME 😛

Elastic waistband, please

April 3, 2009February 6, 201524 Comments

By the time I got home from work today, my pants no longer fit! I can’t believe I’m showing you this picture, but I feel like it’s important I accurately represent myself when I say I feel expanded. I’m not talking about: Oh, I’m so bad. I ate two cookies today. (P.S. If you’ve been reading along, you know I would never say that anyway!) I’m talking about: Ohhh, I really enjoyed my food today … but maybe too much because now I feel decidedly uncomfortable!

The day began with another bowl of black and white protein porridge since it was such a hit on Wednesday:

I can’t get over the contrast:

Now, I want the real deal!

Once at work, I opened up the next flavor of Newman’s Own Organics breath fresheners. I think I ate four of these peppermints over the course of the day.

Today was another brown bag staff lunch. I ate the collard greens, vegetarian baked beans, and cornbread that I packed:

Plus 1/2 cup cooked spiced apples with 1/2 cup healthy cream cheese icing and a sprinkling of golean crunch:

And then it was time for communal treats: fruit salad and pecan pie!!!

Obviously, I had seconds:

I took that picture of plate #2 in the elevator, and a woman in there asked, Oh, are you documenting your lunch? I said, Yes, I am … and every other meal, too!

After lunch, Mildred, Jessica, and I got to work decorating the nursery room for Heather’s surprise baby shower.

As I filled the goodie bags, some of the candy that was supposed to go into the bag went into my belly:

And then it was time for the shower! Myrna finally managed to get Heather down into the room sometime around 3:30. We surprised her … but not enough to make her go into labor (phew):

Here’s the “snack” spread with Maria’s green salad and pasta, Mildred and Myrna’s chicken and cheese empanadas, tamales, myrna’s flan pudding, Inginia’s guacamole, tortilla chips, Deborah’s fruit salad, mini-quiches and jalapeno poppers:

My plate — a big one this time — with (clockwise from top) pasta salad, fruit salad, empanada with green sauce, tortilla chips, guacamole, 1/2 tamale, and flan pudding:

I had another plate just like it.

Plus two bowls of salad like this:

And Myrna’s homemade pina coladas made a repeat appearance, yum!

Beryl led us in some games — I won a bar of soap because I remembered all my nursery rhymes! — and then it was time for dessert 😀

Look at the magnificence:

I had a bowl with one slice of chocolate mousse cake:

And one slice of custard fruit tart (my favorite dessert!):

I had another slice of fruit tart after that 😀

After we packed up all the leftovers, I somehow wound up coming home with a ton of food, including 11 empanadas (now in my freezer), 4 tamale halves, 4 cups of green salad, 2 cups of pasta salad, 1/2 cup fruit salad, 1/2 cup guacamole, and 1 cup of flan pudding. How did that happen?? 😛

I turned the flan pudding into my Friday night project. When I got home, I mixed the pudding with two cups of healthy cream cheese icing and two eggs. I put the mix to the side and then pressed a bunch of crumbled graham sticks (that have been in my freezer since some time in January) into the bottom of a pie plate with a bit of millet (for crunch) and canola (for glue and nonstick-ness). I baked the crust for 10 minutes at 450. Before and after:

Next, I poured the batter on top:

I baked for one hour at 375 and then turned the oven off, cracked the door, and let it sit in there for another hour:

(That dark spot is a raisin from the cream cheese icing. It’s not an ant. In case you were wondering.)

And now I have a beautiful and healthy(er) cheesecake. I sliced it into 12 pieces and put it in a container for the freezer (because I do not need any more dessert right now)!

There were crumbs left in the pie plate. I obviously ate them:

And now I really wish my leg would let me run!! The weather was beautiful earlier this evening (before the flood started), and I was so jealous of all the runners out for their dusky jogs. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I’m at least elliptical-ready by Monday!

I’m also not sure if I’ll ever be hungry again (I know, I say that all the time), but I guess we’ll find out about that soon enough.

When will YOU be hungry again?

And if you haven’t entered the giveaway yet, hurry up because there are just two days left!

Bits ‘n’ pieces

April 2, 2009February 6, 201524 Comments

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I’ve got to say that I’m feeling the lack of exercise this week. The regular cheery Sarah keeps disappearing! Maybe there really is something to that whole endorphins thing 😛

I got up at 7:30 this morning (because Thursday is my leisurely class day) and worked for two straight hours on some work homework that was supposed to be done yesterday, ack! At 9:30, I realized I had to leave for class in 30 minutes, so I heated breakfast and got ready fast fast fast.

Breakfast today was the same protein porridge mix I had on Monday, with apples and bananas mixed in, yogurt on the side, and PB2 poured over the top:

Mmmmm:

Since I ate that around 10, moments before I walked out the door, I didn’t bother bringing a full lunch to class — just a couple snackies to get me through.

Chopped apple and spices on the bottom with lemon curd + healthy cream cheese icing and golean crunch on the top:

And a chocolate chip Z-bar:

I also finished a sleeve of my Newman’s Ginger Mints when I was bored during class. They set my mouth on fire, but I liked it!

On my way home from the subway station, I stopped into Ladybird for a sample of carrot muffin:

(It was so sunny out!)

Lunch main course was an entire plate full of the fancy apps from last night’s re-enactment:

(That’s a lot of tuna I think. I don’t mess around.)

There’s still a ton of tuna left, so I bit the bullet and put the whole container in the freezer. It’s half raw anyway, so I figure it will freeze fine, and I can just cook it all the way through when I’m ready to use it again.

I had way more work homework to do, and I comforted myself about that by finishing the bag of white cheddar soy crisps:

With salsa:

And then some Newman’s Own Organics dried berries, apricots, and prunes:

Once again, who knew Newman’s made dried fruit?? I thought it was all salad dressings and Ginger-Os!

I also had half a chocolate rugelach and a piece of oatmeal chocolate chip cookie from the freezer cookie bag:

Two more hours later, I had finally gotten all my work done. I struck out to do some errands. Obviously, I stopped into Union Market while out to have sample gouda and cheddar cheese cubes and these sample pieces of pecan pie and fudge pie:

When I got home, I prepped food for tomorrow, which meant more bites of protein porridge, yogurt, cream cheese icing, fruit, baked beans, etc.

Finally, I was able to settle down for a(nother) nice little desserty treat:

A scoop of healthy cream cheese icing “ice cream,” a scoop of raw chocolate mousse “ice cream,” hot apple topping, a sprinkling of pb2 powder, and graham cracker crumbs.

Mmmmm. I’m so sleepy. I hope I can go to bed soon!

Does your mood change when you’re not working out?

FYI, Becca’s giving away some SERIOUS goodies from the CIA!!! (Intrigued? Go check it out!)

Tales of Expansion: Baby Butternut Edition

A Natural(ish) Parenting & Food Blog

Tag: fruit

Tomorrow’s the day

Happy birthday, mom!

Repurposing leftovers, part 671

Elastic waistband, please

Bits ‘n’ pieces

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