Tag: sleep

Food, doldrums, and a tale

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Dinner last night was quick and easy because I was rushing to finish up that assignment. I had two more stuffed collard greens leaves:

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And two Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Black Bean-Salmon Patties with a thick layer of cinnamon-cayenne peanut butter between them:

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I see those weird looks you’re giving me, but come on, you know you want to try it!

Halfway through I remembered about the radishes and lettuce in the fridge I should be using, so they got inserted into the middle. Less pretty but more nutritious:

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Dessert was about 1/3 cup of my tropical fruit salad (look at that juice!) with a dollop of part-skim ricotta mixed with lemon curd and a sprinkling of granola/trail mix/cocoa java almonds:

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And dessert dessert — the One Lucky Duck blonde macaroon sample from Sunday’s brunch:

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This was delicious and made me think about how I really need to get into the macaroon-making business.

This morning, I slept in until 6 and then did the 20-minute Morning Flow #1 yogadownload. On top of feeling achy, I’ve been feeling unmotivated about the gym and just stretched too thin in general all week. The yoga was a good way to combine extra sleep with more gentle exercise … but I also keep finding myself trying to make deals in my head, i.e. you didn’t do cardio this morning, so no cake today if some shows up. I need to stop that!

I’m going to try to find some time this weekend to revamp the exercise routine because I think the biggest problem is that I’m getting bored.

And, of course, spinach oats yet again for breakfast! (Click here for the process.)

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Topped with strawberries, homemade almond-cashew butter, granola/trail mix, and unsweetened coconut:

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And I’ll leave you this morning with a mini Tale of Expansion from my good friend Wife, who you met in a couple photos here. Wife is in the process of getting her PhD (!!!!!) in Athens, GA, but she recently spent spring break in Tucson with her boyfriend. Here is what she had to say about that:

Ted and I went for high tea at the Tohono Chul Tea Room in Tucson over spring break. Not nearly as official and elaborate as the three tier Harrod’s affair when we were in London, but as you can see the scones still make me go crrrrraaaaaazzzzy.

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What makes YOU go crrrrraaaaaazzzzy?

Longer than necessary

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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 🙂

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) 😀

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 😀

Awake

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Before I get to today’s breakfast, remember that time I ate a week’s worth of food in the space of one hour? I know, I know. You’re saying, “Which time does she mean? There are millions!” Let me be more specific. I’m talking about this time. Well, you’re in luck! The full story of the evening, complete with pictures of the most beautiful food in the world pre-demolition, is now available in my guest post at For the Love of Oats. Get a napkin ready because you’ll need it to wipe the drool off of your desk.

Onto today:

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It took me HOURS to fall asleep last night. I don’t know what was going on, but it was well after 1am by the time I dozed off! I knew an extra hour of sleep and yoga would serve me better than 5am cardio, so I got up at 6:15 and did the beginner Power Yoga #3 from yogadownload.com. I had a delicious Fitnessista breakfast cookie (and pb2 experiment #3) waiting for me when I was done:

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This slab of perfectio contained 1/2 cup oats, 1 packet chocolate pb2, 2 tbsp homemade chocolate mousse, 2 tbsp plain yogurt, 4 chopped strawberries, 2 chopped toasted almonds, and one chopped date.

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I decorated the top with a square of Godiva dark chocolate and a dollop of plain yogurt (which I also used to “ice” the edges of the cookie):

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It had solidified well after a night in the fridge, but I popped it in the freezer
for 20 minutes or so before eating because I prefer it half-frozen. I’m pretty sure this was my best breakfast cookie combo yet. The pb flavor really came through (much more than it did yesterday with a similar combo in hot oatmeal form) — in fact, the cookie was reminiscent of peanut butter-chocolate-strawberry cheesecake! It made me thrilled to be awake 😀

I kept things steamy with a mug of soymilky black tea (and the triumphant return of morning sunlight!) on the side:

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I love starting my day with a million pictures of oats 😀 (Speaking of which, don’t forget to check out my guest post at For the Love of Oats!)

What makes YOU thrilled to be awake?

P.S. …

1. Check out Vani’s brilliant, healthy, and fun Forbidden Foods Challenge. This is hands-down the BEST blogger challenge I’ve seen!

2. Thinspired is giving away some exciting British snackaroos!

Subway sleeper

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Breakfast this morning was my final portion of Almond-Infused Rosemary-Lemonade crockpot oats:

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I’m really so pleased with how these turned out — I think lemon is going to be making more appearances in my oats! The long slow cook in the crockpot seemed to take away all of the sourness, leaving just a sweet, lemonade-y taste of summer — something I definitely needed this morning after my foray to the gym in weather that has returned to the 20s!

With the oats, I had 1/2 cup yogurt, 3 crumbled basil-spice meringue kisses, 1 tsp of my properly creamed homemade almond-cashew butter, unsweetened coconut, and 1 tbsp vanilla-almond granola:

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With water and soymilky black tea on the side!

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At the gym, I did my arms and steps: 1 hour and 15 minutes, 440 calories, average heart rate 126, max 165. During what was supposed to be my mini-vacation from meaningful thought on the Stairmill with Us Weekly, I got worked up about all the drama with Rihanna and Chris Brown. Sure, them getting back together sends a terrible message to all young girls out there about accepting domestic violence, but who is reporting this message??? THE GOSSIP MAGS!! Can they please quit tossing around blame and instead examine why and how they play a role in allowing the values of celebrities to dictate those of the world?

So, thank you, Us Weekly, for giving me that glorious, much-needed 30-minute mental break this morning. … Just kidding.  I had to take my mental break on the subway instead and snuggled into my scarf and coat for a solid 30 minute nap from Bleecker to 116th. Take that, trashy magazines! I will be coming after you when I wake up with no purse and no shoes …

Where and how do you take your mental breaks?

Classy classy

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Good morning! Before I get started on today, I just want to mention that I have entered Saturday’s crazy pre-run breakfast — the pb-pumpkin hummus on a toasted bagel with a sweet ‘n’ spicy black bean-salmon patty open-faced sandwich — into The Great Peanut Butter Exhibition #5 – Sandwich contest!

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If you can’t remember how gorgeous this sandwich was, here’s a visual reminder:

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And just to be specific about it all, the pb-pumpkin-hummus spread contains 1 tbsp of each of those 3 components, along with hefty sprinkles of cayenne and cinnamon, yum!! Now I want one of these sandwiches again …

But, I’ll have to make do with this breakfast cookie (oh darn, hehehe):

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Today’s cookie contains 1/2 cup old-fashioned oats, 1 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 1 tbsp peanut butter, 1/2 mashed banana, 2 tbsp unsweetened soymilk, 1 chopped piece of Lindt hazelnut chocolate, and 1 tbsp toasted pumpkin seeds.

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I finally got the proportions of dry-to-wet correct, so no freezer necessary today! It was hard enough from the overnight in the fridge. But I’m also kind of thinking that I might like it better with that extra frozen ice-creamy texture …

Mmmmmm, chunk of hazelnut chocolate hanging onto the edge:

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On the side, I had a pot of tea made from the Yogi Himalayan Apple Spice tea sample I received last night:

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The tea was ok. It just tasted like regular old herbal apple spice tea. I guess the big selling point is supposed to be that it also contains black tea and has caffeine — it’s part of the “revive” series — but again, nothing particularly special about the flavor.

I was planning to go for a run this morning, but I didn’t get to bed until pretty late last night because I was up working! Adjusted plan is to do the run when I get back from class this afternoon — which may actually work out better since it will be sunnier and warmer then. I’ll be back post-run with a report on the day!

(And p.s., I had this little dish with about 1/4 cup of pineapple and 1 tbsp granola before I went to bed last night:

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If I even have the slightest bit of hunger in my belly at bedtime, I can’t fall asleep!)

Can you sleep when your tummy is growling?

** Also, go check out The Fitnessista because she, too, has “comfort” up for grabs today! **