Pieces

April 22, 2009February 6, 201520 Comments

I had more prune groatmeal for breakfast this morning, but I switched things up on the flax oat bran side by mixing in 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder and 2 tbsp PB2:

I sprinkled some of the dry PB2 on top and then sprinkled hot water over that to enhance the peanut-flavor prominence. I find that PB2 often gets lost when I mix it in. If you look closely, you can see a bit of marbling from this highly intricate procedure:

If you haven’t caught on already, I surrounded the oats with a ring of fruit salad and topped it all with unsweetened coconut:

I had my glass of water and some soymilky almond sunset/black tea on the side:

There was also some gymming somewhere in there: 20 mins on the Stepmill, hip abductor/adductor, glutes, and chest on the cybex, 15 minutes elliptical, stretching/abs, jogs there and back. Stats: 1 hour and 18 minutes, 519 calories, 133 average heart rate, 176 max.

I had a meeting all morning at work, so I was starving when it ended at 11. Myrna came over to donate the rest of her breakfast sandwich from McDonald’s since she couldn’t finish it. I had a couple teeny bites of sausage and then put the rest away for later:

As my official healthy snack, I brought out a cup of pumpkin pie flax pudding:

Shortly thereafter, some Reese’s pieces appeared on the fateful conference room table:

I think Myrna was the culprit? Either way, I had four small handfuls:

I had back-to-back visits planned that would keep me out of the office from 12:30 to 3:30, so I ate lunch at noon even though I wasn’t quite hungry yet. Lunch was made of leftovers and scraps, as usual.

In class on Monday night, Lisa gave me a big slice of multi-grain bread that she had left over from her Hale & Hearty soup. I sliced the bread in half “the long way” to make two thinner slices of equal surface area. I started with one slice and topped it with leftover smoked salmon salad from last night’s Eggland’s Best event:

I finished it with time to spare, and it was even more delicious than anticipated, so I ate the other half right then as well:

(Side note: For more useful egg facts, check out Missy’s recap of last night!)

Followed by a mint to address the salmon-breath:

When I got back from my visit at 3:30, I found a note from Deborah waiting for me at my desk: “Sarah, I have food left from lunch on my desk. You can come take.” Music to my ears, especially since Deborah had been waxing poetic about her mom’s stewed turkey during the morning meeting! I went to Deborah’s desk and helped myself to a bite of turkey with some of the accompanying rice and beans:

I also had another mint and this pineapple candy:

And I broke out my fruit somewhere in the 4:00 hour. An orange and fruit salad (which now includes the fruit salad I saved from the EB event last night):

I’m actually hungry for dinner tonight, so that should be coming along soon. And thanks for all the eggciting (I promise I’ll stop with the eggsaggerated “egg” usage soon — it’s so addictive) egg recipes. I can’t wait to get started 🙂

Pieces or cups? I prefer cups, but I obviously don’t discriminate against pieces!

Throw it away

April 21, 2009February 6, 201518 Comments

Eek!! Just kidding. You know I’d never ever recommend that you throw anything away. Except for maybe this post. I’m just going to slap down everything I ate today so that I can hurry and get to the main event: my eggcelent dinner! (That was a hint.)

Morning snack was a cup of pumpkin pie flax pudding:

I heated it today — still yummy, but I think I like it better cold. It really tastes/feels just like pumpkin pie filling. I guess that makes sense since flax is a known substitute for eggs, and the only thing I’d do differently to make pumpkin pie would be to add eggs and bake …

Lunch was a cup of mushroom agnoblahblah with tempeh and pumpkin-sofrito sauce:

Green salad from Inginia:

Fruit salad (mango, blood orange, orange, strawberries, blackberries) from me:

And a sponge bob santa claus lemon chewy attached to a lemon candy cane:

And a mini blue raspberry candy cane:

And two gooey strawberry-filled candies:

Eeek, what happened today?! Back on the candy wagon! (Not to mention four Newman’s ginger mints.)

I got hungry in the afternoon again and had two kitchen sink mini-muffins heated with just under 1 tbsp homemade sunflower seed butter:

And two small handfuls of Jessica’s pita chips:

And a spoonful of office pb just before I left:

And then I was off to Free Cone Day. Just kidding! I got to the B&J at Rockefeller, but the line was way too long for me to make it through in the 10 minutes I had before my eggstatic dinner event, so I had to skip the ice cream. Tear.

Did you get a free cone today? If yes, what flavor? If no, what flavor would you have liked to get?

Buffeting around town

April 19, 2009February 6, 201515 Comments

Wife and I arrived at the dinner reception location, Charlotte’s University Place Hilton, with about 45 minutes to spare, so we took a stroll along the boardwalk behind the hotel.

There were drummers, giant chess pieces, and lakefront perches:

Just before 7, we wound our way back to the Lakeview Ballroom, collected our table assignment, and planted ourselves firmly at Table 7:

Well, not all that firmly, since the hors d’oeuvres were calling us!

Crudites and grilled veggies:

Crackers:

CHEESE!

Fruit (with an unpictured chocolate fountain!):

Here’s my plate with grilled zucchini, yellow squash, and eggplant; carrots and tomatoes with spinach-artichoke dip; two crackers with green cheese triangles (it was herby and so delicious!), cheddar cheese sticks, and dill havarti cubes; and grapes and strawberries:

Servers came around with a couple more goodies, so I also had a smoked salmon-wrapped broccolini:

And an antipasti skewer with roasted red pepper, artichoke heart, fresh mozzarella, olive, and sundried tomato (and my sweet tea in the background, finally!):

I also got a small appetizer dessert plate with fruit and chocolate:

The champagne toast was next, but I don’t like champagne (I know, I know, how is that possible?), so I had sparkling white grape juice. The toast from Ilin’s dad is when the waterworks started again. I’m such a sap for father-daughter stories!

When the toasts were finished, it was time for the dinner buffet! I filled my plate with Mediterranean salad (spinach, sundried tomatoes, roasted red peppers, huge chunks of feta), caprese salad, asparagus with goat cheese and pinenuts, a mountain of sauteed veggies, and a small piece of salmon on a bed of spinach (there was also rice pilaf, beef, and chicken breast, but I passed on those because my goal was to leave the reception still able to walk on my own two feet):

Everything was delicious, obviously.

For drool purposes:

Dessert was more chocolate fountain!

Our tablemate, Ilin’s friend Ivana, had the genius idea to fill a teacup with chocolate and use a roll from the dinner buffet to dunk!! I wish she had thought of that sooner because I was just on the cusp of overexpansion at this point and did not want to push it. I took a picture to document the brilliance:

With that, Wife and I said our goodbyes and went on our way back to Kristin’s house, stuffed but not overstuffed. Everything about the ceremony and the reception was so beautiful and perfect and sincere, and we had a lovely time. Congratulations, Ilin and Theo!

What’s your favorite item for chocolate fountain dipping? Mine is banana!

Southern hospitality, part 2

April 18, 2009February 6, 201514 Comments

After Wife collected me from Kath‘s house yesterday, we made our way over to her friend Kristin’s house across town. So many things have worked out perfectly for this weekend: my JetBlue gift certificate that covered airfare, the last minute plans with Kath yesterday, Wife being able to drive up from GA, her friend Kristin (and her husband Dustin!) living here and offering to put us up — I think Charlotte is my lucky city 😀

Kristin had the guest room perfectly coiffed and ready for us:

Don’t be jealous, Ted 😉 (That’s Wife’s boyfriend.)

We all spent much longer than we realized chatting and snacking on some very mature appetizers of mixed nuts and pimento olives:

Then, we headed to a late dinner at 131 Main, an uptown Charlotte restaurant with a fire pit!

I ordered the Crab Cake Salad with mixed greens, fresh corn, herb vinaigrette, and whole grain mustard sauce (I got the dressing/sauce on the side):

Look at all the meat in that crab cake!! I felt like I had died and gone to Maryland.

The salad spent some time warming its toes by the fire:

(Speaking of corn and toes and fun food names like boat eggs and broccoli trees, my mom used to call my toes corn niblets when I was little because they were so teeny and short. Just thought I’d throw that out there.)

Wife couldn’t quite finish her cedar plank salmon with whole grain mustard butter and wild rice salad, so I took care of the rest for her:

It was tough choke down, but I took one for the team and found a way somehow.

For dessert, the three of us split the homemade key lime pie with graham cracker crust. It was a huuuuuuge slice:

Mmmm, look at that crust. It was so thick and crunchy — the best part!

It was past 11 when we got back to Kristin’s house and fell right into bed (or blogged, as the case may be).

I’m not sure what the plan is for the rest of the morning; the afternoon/evening will be quite full with wedding events. Can’t wait!

What is your luckiest region of the US?

Busier off

April 16, 2009February 6, 201518 Comments

Ack, it’s pretty late for me to be getting around to this! I always expect to have so much extra time on my days off, and the opposite always ends up being true.

Anyway, I had today off since it’s my class day and Hunter is closed for spring break 🙂 I had lots to get done because I’m leaving for the weekend tomorrow — my old college roommate is getting married in North Carolina! I woke up around 8, got my laundry started at the laundromat, and then came back for breakfast:

That’s right, exactly the same as yesterday: tofu oat bran with prune groatmeal topping! Such a pleasant-sounding name, right?

I topped it with cashew-almond butter and unsweetened coconut again today, but
I decided to go wild and throw on a sprinkle of cinnamon as well.

Lunch, even though it was my day off from work, was the usual group effort.

I had a salad made with rescued brown and leaky roommate lettuce and Heather’s leftover lunch lettuce from work yesterday; half of an abandoned zucchini that I found on the conference room table yesterday (I think it was Inginia’s?) sauteed with olive oil, garlic, and a few thawed pieces of seared tuna from the Electrolux event a couple weeks ago; peanut roasted chickpeas; Newman’s dried berry blend; grated homemade parmesan; and the rest of my sundried tomato dressing from last night’s salad.

On the side, I had one of Myrna and Mildred’s empanadas from Heather’s baby shower and Heather’s leftover guacamole from her lunch yesterday.

I didn’t know whether the empanada was chicken or cheese until I took a bite.

Chicken it was! Delicious 🙂

Lunch dessert was another tbsp of peanut roasted chickpeas and the rest of the Newman’s berries:

After laundry and lunch, I went out on a mission of many errands. I walked down to Brooklyn’s poor excuse for a mall, Atlantic Center, and picked up a new pair of sneakers (in the white/berry/storm color) from DSW on sale for $60. More money than I’m really free to spend, but the health of my knees is worth it!

I also hit up Target hoping to find a cheap dress for the wedding that suits my new, ahem, “curvier” figure (thanks to the injury-induced reduction in running). No luck, though, so I’m going to have to raid my closet! I did, however, pick up a coffee bean grinder. I don’t like coffee, but my mini-food processor bit the dust after three batches of nut butter, and I thought (rather, I called my mom and she thought) the grinder might be a good and cheap ($15!) interim solution until I can get my hands on a powerful processor. Mom was right, and I made some sunflower seed butter when I got home. Sure, it took three batches (and I had to stop the grinder after every pulse to scrape the sides) to make 1/2 cup’s worth, but I now have delicious sunflower seed butter!

I also stopped into several grocery stores on the way back to try to put a dent in my stockpile of coupons. In addition to heavily discounted produce, I also picked up a free kashi meal, free tempeh, free cereal, and free yogurt 😀 The checkout people kept doing double-takes as they rang up my coupons.

By the time I got home, I had been gone for three hours and 3.5 miles of walking. I had a quick snack of a date with my last tsp of cashew-almond butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon:

And then I went out for an inaugural run with the new sneakers! I could definitely feel the difference in my knees. I felt like I was running on clouds, sigh. I made it about 22 minutes until the muscles started giving me grief, so I took a 20-minute walk/run/stretch pain-break. Once things had calmed down, I resumed a solid run for the last 10 minutes. I think I usually run by wildly throwing my legs out in front of me (yeah, I’m sure that’s part of why I’m injured, too) but I noticed today that I felt a lot less pain when I focused on lifting my knees UP instead. I’ll have to make a point of this on future runs. Anyhoo, stats: 55 minutes, 421 calories, 144 average heart rate, 168 max. It was probably around 4 miles total. After the run, I did most of the 20-minute Yoga for Runners — sometimes I just can’t keep my attention on it long enough to finish!

Now I’m off to go finish dyeing my hair, do a little wedding fashion show so I can figure out what to pack, and then start packing! I will hopefully be back soon — I should have a good amount of airport downtime perfectly suited to blogging tomorrow 🙂

Are your days off busier than your days on?

Erin at I Walk In This World is going to be hosting a bake sale/auction next week to raise money for the Jimmy Fund. Go check it out!

Tales of Expansion: Baby Butternut Edition

A Natural(ish) Parenting & Food Blog

Tag: greens

Pieces

Throw it away

Buffeting around town

Southern hospitality, part 2

Busier off

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: