Longer than necessary

Ahhh the trains today were out of control! Delays all morning, delays all night. Reason #56498 to leave NYC. Alas, I’ve got many months of grad school to go.

My morning fruit ‘n’ yog was so pretty that I had to take a picture of it from the side:

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My 1/2 cup of fruit salad was the same combo I’ve been eating all weekend — pineapple, mango, banana, plum, strawberries, grapes — and I topped it with plain yogurt + lemon curd + cinnamon and a sprinkle of golean crunch.

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Mmmmm, yogurt perfection.

Plus a pre-visit sugar fix:

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While on my visit this morning, the mom basically deposited a hefty square of tres leches cake onto my lap. How could I refuse? Obviously, I couldn’t.

I love tres leches cake — it’s probably the most moist cake you can imagine, given that it’s soaked in condensed milk and all. Mmmm, again. Unfortunately, I don’t take my camera with me to visits, so I didn’t get to capture the beauty on film/memory card/whatever it is. However, Beryl was just about to tuck into a banana-rum mini-bundt cake when I got back to the office, and she generously offered to let me take a picture before she demolished it. So, in lieu of the tres leches cake I did eat, here’s the banana-rum cake I did not eat:

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Lunch during the parents’ group today was a low-key affair since only a couple moms came in. I had a cup of raisin bran with 1/2 cup 1% milk and a few banana pieces:

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And then, I ate the rest of the banana smothered with about 2 tbsp peanut butter (aka perfection) and an orange:

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I probably ate another orange’s worth of wedges after that, too. Girl loves her fruit πŸ™‚

A boredom lollipop:

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Later in the afternoon, I broke into the Quackers samples that Melissa brought to yesterday’s blogger brunch:

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Ooooh, they were so good! I made a little dip for them out of goat cheese, plain yogurt, dried basil, and freshly ground black pepper. Perfection again (there was lots of it going around today, apparently).

A breath-freshening mint:

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I inhaled pretty much all my dinner right at the start of class tonight. The spread included a cup of roasted veggies:

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With manchego cheese samples from the gourmet market:

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Two stuffed collard greens leaves:

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I made these with the same method I used for my Stuffed Kale Leaves, and I stuffed them with some of the mixed-grain salad I made last weekend.

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Hiding under the stuffed collard greens is some scrumptious roast chicken left from Mildred’s lunch today:

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The chicken couldn’t have come at a better time because I was feeling a little bit low on protein!

Dessert was a few banana and orange pieces left from the parents’ group this afternoon.

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And look what was waiting for me when I got home!

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My prize package from Abbie’s Foods That Fit giveaway!! I’m so excited for all of these treats: cocoa java almonds, 2 oatmeal squares, PB2, single-serve nutella, single serve Barney Butter (which I’ve never tried!), and sugar cookie sleigh ride (just as I’m running out of my last box of it … SO perfect) πŸ˜€

I was stilla bit hungry, so I actually broke into the almonds as part of this little snack set:

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The ramekin on the left has two more stuffed collard greens, and the ramekin on the right has 1/2 cup fruit salad with a mix of above-mentioned almonds, trail mix, and vanilla-almond granola.

But I wasn’t quite done! Last treat of the night:

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A chocolate macaroon from One Lucky Duck, another of the samples Melissa brought to lunch yesterday. Ahhh, this was so dense and chocolate-y. I want 10 more of them now.

But what I really really want more than anything else is go to bed. So that’s what I’m off to do!

And make sure you go check out julie golean because she is giving away HER favorite things, and her favorite things look pretty tasty πŸ˜€

Just call me Popeye

Breakfast this morning was another new and exciting (to me!) creation:

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I got up at 5 to go to the gym, got all my layers on, jogged there in the 30 degree weather … and found six other people waiting outside the locked and gated entrance! My gym is supposed to open at 5am on Mondays, and it was definitely 5:20 by this point, grrrrr. I gave it a few minutes, but every moment counts at that time of day, so I eventually gave up and jogged my creaky crunchy knees back home. It probably worked out better anyway since it gave me time to do the beginning Yoga for Runners #1 from yogadownload.com — my knees needed the rest!

So back to breakfast, yet another work of art inspired by Heather and her spinach oats!

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If you recall, I brought home a giant packed bag of fresh spinach leaves last week when we had extra in the food pantry at work. Despite diligently incorprating the spinach into salads all weekend, I barely made a dent! So last night, I made 1/2 cup stovetop oats custard-style and also added about four cups of spinach, half of a giant grated carrot, and a chopped apple. When everything was wilted and cooked, I immersion-blended my heart out. With the heat off post-blending, I mixed in another 1/2 cup oats (for texture), 1/2 giant mashed banana, 1/2 giant chunked banana, vanilla, cinnamon, 2 tbsp lemon curd, and 2 tbsp unsweetened coconut. The whole thing made just under 4 cups of oatmeal.

This morning, I heated 3/4 cup of the mix, set it on a bed of lemon yogurt (yogurt + more lemon curd + cinnamon), and topped it with strawberries, vanilla-almond granola, more coconut, and a big ol’ spoonful of homemade almond-cashew butter:

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And you know the soymilky black tea was not far behind:

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Thanks for yet another delicious breakfast idea, Heather!

I’ll be back much much later tonight because I’ve got class after work. Can I just say how much I love these endless Mondays??

Where do you go when you leave work at the end of the day?

Weekend remainders

More photos from yesterday

Taken by photographer/organizer extraordinaire Melissa: Ashley (reader), me,
Dori, Missy, Danielle, Ashley, Gena (the Raw Foodist and soon-to-be-blogger), Mark, Heather, Shane, Emily, Amelia, Vani, Olga

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And waiting in the subway station with Vani and Emily, my fellow slopers:

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I eventually got around to another salad-infused dinner last night and finished up the contributions that I got from Inginia and Nydia Friday at work.

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This salad had greens, peppers, cranberries, corn, garlic-lemon juice, goat cheese, strawberries, roast chicken, s&p, and a drizzle of Annie’s Lite Gingerly Vinaigrette:

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Dessert came in the form of another salad!

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This combo of fruits made me feel like I was in Costa Rica, sigh. My fruit salad contained pineapple, mango, plum, grapes, strawberries, orange, and banana. I topped it with a mix of plain yogurt, lemon curd, and cinnamon. Plus a sprinkle of coconut and vanilla-almond granola because I couldn’t stop.

And yes, I did balance the bowl on the TV so that I could capture the last whimpers of natural sunlight for the day:

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I cooked a few things for the week (and nibbled on them, too, obv), including the latest oatmeal which will be along in my breakfast shortly!

Did you make any new friends this weekend?

Guess what!!

I’m DONE!! I finished the midterm tonight at 8:32 πŸ˜€ So much faster than I expected, yayyyyyyyyy. And I’ve been on a roll with “relief” eating, but I’m stuffed now, so I think I’m through for the night!

As I predicted, lunch 2 came less than 10 minutes after my last post: my final fajita wrap sampler.

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It was still delicious, but after eating it three days in a row, I’m glad it’s gone!

Sometime a little bit later, I had these Earl Grey Biscotti Bites (x2):

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With chocolate tea (black tea, soymilk, unsweetened cocoa powder, cinnamon, cayenne):

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For dinner, I turned Mildred’s Dominican beans and pork (brought home from work yesterday) into a soup by adding veggie broth, a handful of spinach, and two crushed tortilla chips:

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Soooo tasty. And I love how my coworkers keep feeding me all weekend long πŸ˜›

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Dessert #1 was a mini breakfast dessert cookie:

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The cookie was a mix of 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats, 1 tsp goat cheese, 1 tsp lemon curd, 2 tbsp Greek yogurt, 1 chopped strawberry, 1 chopped square of hazelnut chocolate, and 1 tbsp vanilla almond granola. After letting the cookie “set” in the freezer for 20 minutes, I topped it with the last of my chocolate mousse mixed with 1/4 cup Greek yogurt and unsweetened coconut.

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I ate the cookie faster than the mousse, so dessert #2 was a piece of chocolate chip blondie from the freezer bag of desserts mashed into the remaining mousse:

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And, ummm, dessert #3 was a slice of chocolate chip brownie with chocolate frosting, also from the dessert freezer bag:

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Dessert #4 (I was in a celebratory mood!) was a spoonful of vanilla ice cream with an almondine cookie … you guessed it — from the freezer bag.

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And I’m pretty sure I had a piece of Lindt hazelnut chocolate, too. But like I said, I am now officially stuffed, so that should be the end of that! I’m lounging on the couch with a mug of sugar cookie sleigh ride tea and taking care of some other odds ‘n’ ends.

How many desserts did you eat tonght?

ewardAlso, a big, enormous thanks to Kailey for my second “eward” in one day! I LOVE reading Kailey’s blog SnackFace — she’s probably the busiest person on the face of the planet, but she manages to squeeze everything in with such a fun attitude πŸ™‚

Tomorrow’s the big brunchy brunch, planned by organizational genius Melissa from Fitness NYC, and I’m so excited to meet all you NYC bloggies!

Brief interruption

Ahhh, there’s never enough time! I’m working furiously to get a midterm paper taken care of today so that I can enjoy the NYC blogger brunch with a clear conscience tomorrow. I have a feeling I may be up all night …

Onto the food! Breakfast, 10:30 am:

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On the left is an oatmeal combo of sorts. I stovetopped 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats with a small chopped apple, the usual spices, and 1/2 cup water. Then, I mixed the oats with 1/3 cup plain yogurt and a little dollop of lemon curd. On top went more lemon curd, a ring of chopped strawberries, and 2 crumbled basil-spice meringue kisses.

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On the right is a little 1/4 cup pile of mango surrounded by a starfish (so I can pretend I’m on the beach) of soy-lime coco loco tofu (the last of it) spread with 1 tbsp cinnamon-cayenne peanut butter and topped with more toasty coconut pieces.

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At some point late morning, I got up to make more tea and got sidetracked chopping all of my fancy fruit into an enormous fruit salad. Hmmmm, procrastinate much? I made a little snack plate of the pineapple core and the mango pit (with some homemade almond-cashew butter in the background).

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Lunch was a group effort.

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This salad was a mix of work contributions — from Inginia: greens, cranberries, roasted peppers, apple slices, roast chicken, garlic & lemon juice dressing; from Nydia: greens and corn; from the food pantry’s overflow: fresh spinach; from me: strawberries, goat cheese, toasted cashews, s&p.

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Variety:

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I’m still feeling munchy, so I bet lunch part 2 is just around the corner.

A couple things worth mentioning before I re-enter serious productivity mode (does that even exist?):

1. Danielle at A Year of Healthy Eating has presented me with my first-ever blogger award:

ewardDanielle was actually my first non-family/friend commentor on the blog back in January, and I’ve been hooked reading hers ever since because I love her honest and realistic approach to health. Thanks, Danielle!

In the spirit of community, I am going to pass this award onto two other bloggers who brighten my days!Β  Diana at Soap & Chocolate usually gets me laughing out loud, but my laugh was louder than average today when she amped up one of my oatmeal methods and renamed itΒ  “Apple Aneurysm Baked Oatmeal.” And at the other end of the spectrum, Vani at Fit for Free consistently challenges me to reflect on my food-related behaviors with her thought-provoking and sincere posts. Thanks, ladies!

2. Mo Diva has let loose a torrent of peanut butter madness at Food Snob. Check it out!

OK, back to the midterm paper race against the clock! Who will win?? And do you ever spend hours working on something and then realize you haven’t gotten very far at all?