Tag: snacks

Layers upon layers upon layers

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Remember when I was panicked earlier in the week about not having enough food due to lack of grocery shopping? Yeah … I needn’t have worried.

The lunch I’ve been carrying around since Wednesday got pushed to the side again today for some more urgent delights :-). Vianni brought in her famous shrimp, veggies, and rice for me to sample. I had about 1/2 cup:

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She also brought me the actual seasoning packet that she uses to flavor many of her dishes (featured here and here and here). I’m so excited that I can now Viannify my food!!!

Next, Belkis gave me an entire chicken and salsa fajita left over from a meeting yesterday! It was very cutely cut into little pieces like sushi:

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I ate it cold because the microwave was otherwise occupied, but it was delicious and very filling!

All of this eating took place as part of a new “event” my agency is trying out to build community amongst employees: brown bag staff lunches every other Friday. You bring your own lunch (or the lunch with which your amazing coworkers have provided you) to the meeting, and a few people also bring desserts (like the angel food cake here) and snacks to share.

I did my part to make sure that no snacks went to waste. Multiply what you see here by about three (or more!). I had honey pretzel twists with spinach dip, cheez-its with spinach dip, cinnamon nut rugelach with nutella, and coconut cookies with more nutella (again, x3!):

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In my parents’ group with Myrna, I continued the streak by taking part in group snack: apples and peanut butter! I probably had the equivalent of one chopped apple and 1 tbsp peanut butter (unpictured):

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After all of this, I was able to control the sugar insanity for the duration of the afternoon. I only ate two mints today, a record! Around 4:00, instead of going for the candy jar, I went for my dates and prunes:
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img_5196After I left work, I headed downtown to meet Erin Gunn (yes, of German food fame!). I was early and decided to go find samples kill some time in Whole Foods. I sampled buttered Irish soda bread, a handful of wasabi peas, 2 sandwich cookies, cashews, and cucumbers in miso dressing. I also bought the pineapple (only $2.99!), cashews, and almonds to the right. The dates, avocados, and cocoa powder came from Morton Williams where I stopped on my way home post-Erin Gunn. These foods are more expensive than what I normally buy, but again, I only spent $5 on groceries last week, so I have a little wiggle room this week! Grocery total so far: $22.

Since I was the farthest thing from hungry ever, Erin and I split a pot of tea and a salad at teany (review to come shortly) and then headed over to Kenny’s Castaways for the main event: a show by her friend’s band, Wesley Jeremiah.

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Erin had beer; I had water (pretty standard unless there’s karaoke involved …):

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(Keep in mind that, throughout all of this, I was lugging around a pineapple, among other things. I felt kind of like Baby with her watermelon.)

img_5197I got home around 10:30, just in time to help my roommate Brigitte with the first of her birthday celebrations (her birthday is on Thursday). Brigitte’s friend Katie is staying with us and made a surprise birthday cake for tonight.

I “agreed” to have just a little teeny piece. Until I realized that this was not just a regular cake but rather a no-bake chocolate-wafer-and-whipped-cream cake … aka a giant log of oreo goodness. I added another little piece to my little piece. And another little piece to those pieces.

Here’s my tower:

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There were chocolate and peanut butter shavings on top …

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And layering perfection:

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Good thing Kate and I have 9 miles planned for tomorrow morning :-D.

Enjoy the rest of your Friday night!

With sprinkles on top

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Thursday is my wake-up-to-sunlight day, and I love it! I got up at 6:30 this morning so I could enjoy a sunrise run through the park. My motivation faltered significantly when I got outside and felt how cold it was. All my muscles tightened up, and my legs just did not want to move! But I told myself I could run as slow as I wanted and turn around if I needed to, and I ended up doing a whole lap of the park plus a teeny bit extra. It was so gorgeous out there with everything all snow-covered … but it was kind of lost on me because I am ready to see some green! Stats: 4.1 miles, 45 minutes, 342 calories, average heart rate 144, max 169.

I had planned to do the 20-minute Gentle Hatha #1 yogadownload when I got home, but I just didn’t have it in me! I did a few pigeons, dogs, and child’s poses on my own instead.

Breakfast was another cup of pumpkin gingerbread crockpot oats:

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With 1/2 cup healthy cream cheese icing, coconut, pumpkin seeds, cumbled graham sticks, cinnamon, and ginger:

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And soymilky black tea:

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During class, I snacked on 1.5 black bean-salmon patties dipped in 2 tbsp peanut-butter-pumpkin-roasted-red-pepper-hummus:

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Don’t judge. It was delicious.

I also ate 2 dates and 2 prunes for snack dessert:

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We had advisement after class, so I brought along a full lunch to carry me through, including what I made Tuesday night when I realized how low on produce I was. After rummaging through the depths of my cabinets and freezer, I came up with a can of chickpeas, a box of frozen spinach, and a can of tomato sauce. Seemed like cause for Indian food to me! I quickly threw together this dal with some adjustments (scallions in place of the onions I didn’t have, tomato sauce in place of the tomatoes I didn’t have, cardamom plus every spice in my cabinet in place of the garam masala I didn’t have, sweet potato pieces because I did have them and thought they’d be fun in it) and added in about 3/4 cup cooked brown basmati rice. Here’s today’s one-cup portion:

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With my “pumpkin plus” yogurt:

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After advisement, Emily, Lisa, and I stayed on to touch base for the group presentation we’re giving next week (about infant adoption, yay!). I was thoroughly drained when it was all said and done and needed some Tasti-D stat:

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I got a swirl of dulce de leche and burnt sugar (which, in reality, tasted like fancy names for vanilla and chocolate). But it was still very tasti:

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With sprinkles on top, obviously, because what is ice cream without sprinkles?

I’m finally home and contemplating things like dinner and the Fridayness of tomorrow.

What do YOU put on top?

Patty-cake

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But not the kind of cakes I usually fall prey to at work, thank goodness!

Mid-morning snack was more “yogurt of the week,” aka fresh pumpkin yogurt with every fruit/spice under the sun and golean crunch:

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Really one of the most delicious combos in the world. Anything with yogurt and golean crunch (especially when it’s had the chance to get soggy) takes the cake, HA.

And then came the real cakes! Three (yes, three — need to get my apple in somehow!) Sweet ‘n’ Spicy Black Bean-Salmon Patties:

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Lunch was super short on fresh produce since I have none in the house (since I basically decided I didn’t need to grocery shop over the weekend and did not adequately think through the week!), but my coworkers helped me out as usual. In addition to my wrinkly roommate grape tomatoes, I also ate the tomato slice from Myrna’s sandiwich and some of Belkis’ steamed veggies:

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Dessert was a special treat from the tissue box! A dark chocolate caramel Ghirardelli Square from Rosalie:

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And then, throughout the afternoon, I stumbled upon dessert numbers 2 through 5 because Belkis refilled her candy jar and I took a candy with me for moral support each time I needed to leave my desk and/or brave the artic chill outside:

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(Don’t be fooled by the mini-pictures. Those are some sizable candies!)

Mid-afternoon snack was another desperate attempt for produce/protein. I had 3 Kavli crispy thin crackers (in pieces) with a combo of pumpkin, roasted red pepper hummus, and peanut butter that I whipped together from the ends of containers last night (there are about 2 tbsp in that little cup):

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And a later mid-afternoon snack (or another throughout-the-day snack, as it turned out) of toasted pumpkin seeds, two dates, and two prunes

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Which I followed with a little spoonful (maybe 1/2 tbsp) of office peanut butter (aka crunchy skippy):

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I don’t know what the deal was today — I was so munchy! My lunch didn’t do its job, and I don’t have all the produce on hand for snacking like I usually do. What was I thinking?? I don’t have time to go to the store, so I’ll have to scrounge around for something extra tonight.

My final snack of the work day was this 100 calorie candy pack that’s also been hiding in my tissue box:

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I was excited about this pack because Oreos (or any cream-filled sandwich cookie, really) are my favorite type of cookie. But while these candies were filled with that unique chocolate-cookie crunch, the most critical component of the cookie was missing: the cream!! Serious oversight on the part of the 100 calorie people. If that chocolate coating is supposed to stand in for the cream, it does a poor, poor job of it. An Oreo is not an Oreo without the cream.

When I got home, I started rummaging through all my emergency “shelf-stable” food to see what I could rustle up as a lunch supplement for the rest of the week. I’m excited about what I made … but you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the debut ;-).

Dinner was the last of my asparagus, steamed, with a piece of baked sweet potato and a toasted morningstar farms Asian veggie pattie (and a sprinkle of my homemade parmesan of course):

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Mmmmm, love those patties!

Dessert was a return of my favorite combo: 2/3 cup golean crunch (the rest of the box) mixed with 1/2 cup of yogurt. I let it sit and “marinate” while I cooked the lunch food and dinner, so it was perfectly tender when I finally got around to it:

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Ahhhhhh, so good! I could eat Kashi GoLean Crunch for every meal and still be such a happy camper.

Is there a food that you can imagine eating at every meal without getting bored?

No rest for the snowy

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Just as I predicted this morning, today was business as usual (40 minute subway delay aside, grrrrr). By the time I got to work, I didn’t even have time for my usual snack before running out for my first visit at 10:45! I dove into lunch when I got back around 12:30.

The other half of yesterday’s quesadilla, deconstructed :-):

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And a cup of fresh pumpkin yogurt (also with apples, banana, dates, prunes, golean crunch, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, cardamom, cloves — I clearly went a little ingredient-happy, but it was delicious!):

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The end of my baby carrots (still left from last week’s work meeting) and a tbsp peanut butter:

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Lunch dessert was one prune and one date (saved the others for dinner):

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And a big strawberry lollipop to power me through the freezing, windy 20-minute snow- and slush- walk to my afternoon visit:

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Sadly, the mom was not home. All that sloshy walking for nothing! Except the exercise, I suppose. Maybe it balanced out the lollipop?

I was legitimately hungry from all the “exertion,” so I had this bar around 3:30:

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Again, it was tasty … but too processed for me to want to go out and buy it for real.

At about this point, I realized I had not planned so well for the day. I think I was kind of expecting something to get cancelled along the way (don’t know why since nothing ever does around here), but no go! The only thing that got cancelled was the Monday parents’ group with Inginia, during which I usually partake in one of Inginia’s scrumptious group lunches! With no group and my evening class still on at Hunter, I was definitely short a meal.

I contemplated my food planning failure while chewing on this fruity tootsie:

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I came to the conclusion that there was no way around having to spend some money, which I figure is ok since I only spent $5 on groceries this week anyway (a gallon of milk for yogurt and a can of black beans for the BSI) — though I might need to tend to that now that I see how low on food I really am!

Anyway, here’s the dinner I managed to put together for class:

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I paid $4 for that baby cup of white bean, broccoli, and sun-dried tomato soup from Hale & Hearty:

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Plus my weekly manchego cheese samples from Butterfield Market:

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An apple from home (my last one — what will I do tomorrow??):

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My other prune and date and two Tate’s Bake Shop chocolate chip cookie pieces (also samples from the market!):

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And somehow, Emily couldn’t finish the oatmeal raisin cookie that she brought to class as her dinner, so she let me do the honors.

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Thanks, Emily!

And that’s that! I did a bit more nibbling tonight as I prepped tomorrow’s lunch (think big spoonfuls of pumpkin yogurt and golean crunch falling into my mouth by accident …) which I hope gets me through the day without necessitating any more extra expenditures!

Here are some things that are more noteworthy than my evening nibbles:

1. Spiceaholic at One Bite at a Time is hosting this week’s BSI. Make sure to visit her so you can find out the new secret ingredient! And congrats to Becca for winning last week’s contest with her Black Bean & Avocado Cornmeal Muffins!

2. Comment for a cause! All you have to do to contribute to this food drive is leave a comment for the very generous athlEAT here.

3. Finally, go win some more bars with Strawberry Shortstuff. She has tons to give away!!

Do you ever get tired of free stuff? I do NOT! 😀

The big cheese

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Wellllll … I did not so much work on the group presentation today. As usual, I took a quick break from homework to do one thing in the kitchen, and now it is three hours later. While preparing my yogurt for the week’s lunches, I helped myself to some of the overflow:

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The yogurt has fresh pumpkin, dates, prunes, banana, apple, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, whole cloves, almond extract, and golean crunch mixed in. And pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top, of course.

Quesadillas were in order for dinner. I made my tortillas the same way I made whole wheat wraps here, but I used half whole wheat flour and half blue cornmeal. (I love this blue cornmeal that I have because it is very coarsely ground and adds texture and crunch to everything. It’s especially amazing for coating chicken or fish before browning in a pan, mmmmmm.)

Anyway, once the tortillas were done, I layered on the filling:

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  • last 1/4 cup salmon
  • last 1/4 cup black beans
  • salvaged rotten roommate scallions and grape tomatoes, sauteed in canola
  • last 2 oz. fat free feta

The other tortilla went on as a lid, and everything went into the oven for a melting session.

Meanwhile, I decided it was time to disrobe my parmesan cheese!! I have a small dairy-making hobby with weekly yogurt (which you know already), occasional cottage cheese and ricotta, and even more occasional hard cheese. Yesterday, I finally finished the round of blue cheese cheddar that I made in the fall. I call it blue cheese because it tasted sort of like blue cheese and had a penchant for turning blue from mold. Nothing a damp paper towel can’t fix, though. Before and after:

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Making your own cheese will do wonders for your mold tolerance.

Anyway, the blue cheese/cheddar was a thing of the past, so it was time to move onto bigger and better things with my parmesan! This parmesan has been aging in my fridge for nine months. That’s right — it takes at least as long to make parmesan as it does a baby! When I made the cheese last summer, I remember thinking that it would never be ready, but the day has finally come! Here it is pre-wax removal and post wax-removal:

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Of course, I had to taste a hunk right away:

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Success!! It’s salty like the Dead Sea, probably from all the brining it had to survive, but quite tasty. And very hard and crumbly, mmmm, perfect for grating. So that’s exactly what I did! It went on top of my quesadilla, along with salsa left over from a work meeting last week, steamed asparagus, and freshly ground black pepper.

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(Btw, that’s 1/2 the quesadilla. The other half is planned for tomorrow, depending on what kind of food I come across throughout the day.)

Inside:

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Mid-demolition:

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Dessert was more homemade fro-yo — I’m hooked! This mix contained scrapings from the batch of pumpkin gingerbread crockpot oats I made today, plain yogurt, and a tsp of peanut butter. Mmmmmmm! Again, I topped it with light whipped cream, toasted pumpkin seeds, sprinkles for flair, and a baby raisin walnut toast:

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And then, because I needed some extra love to pump myself up for the week, a chocolate heart:

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I’m in bed now with a mug of sugar cookie sleigh ride tea and a book, and I am pretty sure that sugar plums will start dancing through the room any second …

What’s your hobby? And is it food-related?