Tag: snacks

Plans may go awry …

18 Comments

… but not today!! Today was a rare day in that I was able to stick more or less to the food plan. As much as I love all the free food and exciting flavors that I typically encounter at work, I have to admit that, once in a while, I enjoy eating a reasonable amount of healthy food and having legitimate room for a real dinner when I get home.

In addition to the soup and yogurt that I had for lunch around 12:30, I also packed an orange that I ate mid-morning:

img_4142

And since it wouldn’t be interesting if there were absolutely no meal interlopers, my coworker Jennifer shared her leftover Moroccan food of couscous and veggies. I had about 1/2 cup after my soup (which was actually not as foul as I had expected; the overnight must have given it time to mellow) and before my yogurt:

img_4148

And then Jessica released her private stash of Valentine’s Day chocolates to the office. I broke the chocolate ice, of course:

img_4139

I chose one (well actually, I chose four but put three in my empty tissue box for “safekeeping”) to eat for dessert. Dark chocolate with praline cream filling, mmmmm:

img_4150

Afternoon snack happened around 3:30. My packed “Christmas” snack baggies of grapes and red pepper:

img_4152

And at 4, this yummy bar that came from Tina in my V-day scavenger hunt prize pack:

img_4156img_4158

img_4160

This bar was very minty and very chocolatey (one of my favorite combos!), but despite its deliciousness, it did nada for my hunger. I was ravenous when I got home! Obviously, I had to make a three-part dinner.

I heated my last piece of pumpkin kibbi and steamed the rest of my asparagus:

img_4165

Part three was pumpkin-apple pie yogurt which I made by heating 2/3 cup pumpkin, mixing it with 1/4 cup yogurt and the holy trinity of spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger), and topping it with a baby apple that I chopped and sauteed in canola and water until browned:

img_4172

Mmm, such a comforting and satisfying meal! I am about to indulge in a dainty little dessert of my dark chocolate pomegranate truffle that came from Brandi as part of my BSI: Spinach prize and some Italian cookie crumbles I brought home from our Valentine’s lunch at work on Friday:

img_4174

Ahhhh, I just had a bite of the truffle … AMAZING!! Thanks, Brandi!

img_4176

I’m off to attempt a repeat last night’s successful tea and reading in bed … though tonight’s reading may be more of the blog variety since I haven’t had a chance to read any all day! What’s your bedtime routine?

Also, you must go visit Beadie for the scoop on this week’s BSI and the amazing one-of-a-kind prize she is offering!

High to lowwwwww

12 Comments

Lunch was out. of. this. world.:

img_4103

I had 1/2 grapefruit; 1/2 thinly sliced apple, part of which got cinnamon and part of which went into this:

img_4104

Looking at that picture right now kind of makes me want to eat my computer. I had an open-faced sandwich on 1/3 toasted sun-dried tomato bagel with cheddar and jack cheese slices, thin apple slices, and a toasted Morningstar black bean burger (I found the lone burger at the bottom of the freezer when I was cleaning it, and I swear angels started to sing). Once assembled, I broiled the whole sandwich for 3 minutes so it could melt together. Ahhhhh, give me another one right now!

Dessert was a small handful of chopped grapes (I’ve been grape-crazy lately … prob because they’re so cheap right now!) with healthy cream cheese icing, a crumbled graham stick, cinnamon, and an Earl Grey Biscotti Bite:

img_41151

I needed a snack around 3:30, so I had soymilky Tazo chai:

img_41161img_4117

And the other half of my grapefruit with a heaping tsp of peanut butter:

img_4120

My friend Ting was headed back to Providence this afternoon, so I met her for a little pre-drive snack around 4:45 at Bar Toto. She ordered a Margherita pizza, so I had a slice of that:

img_4127

The pizza was decent, but it looked prettier than it tasted. See the grill marks?

img_4123

We were both feeling anxious about returning to real life, so we decided a stroll through CVS was in order. For the past eight and a half years that I’ve lived in New York, CVS has always made me feel better when I’m stressed or homesick. I can walk into any CVS, and it just feels so familiar! Do you have places like that? I used an ExtraCare coupon for shampoo, and that helped as well. Because I know CVS really does care extra :-).

Ting set off for good ol’ RI, and I set off for my apartment. I’m kind of appetite-less, which is weird — again, maybe the end-of-weekend-caused stress — so I made a quick little mess for my official dinner:

img_4131

The mess had 1 cup pumpkin, 1/4 cup soymilk, 1/4 kashi golean crunch, 1 chopped prune, 1 chopped date, 1 tsp peanut butter, and a sprinkle of cinnamon:

img_4130

It was good, but my tastebuds are tired or something. Weird, I know! I guess I’m just feeling mopey because I’ve had such a lovely weekend full of perfect friends, things checked off my to-do list, healthy and unhealthy delicious food, good workouts … and I don’t want it to end! So I’m going to go put on cozy pjs, make up a mug of sugar cookie tea, and read (for pleasure!) in bed — something I haven’t done in ages! Maybe it will make me feel more ready for tomorrow …

Sleep tight!

Guest Post: The Professional Vegan Bakes …

7 Comments
… Apple Pecan Muffins!
baked-and-on-plate
I’m super excited to be guest posting on Tales of Expansion; as my blog is geared towards dressing professionally as a vegan, writing about food is a fun diversion from the vegan clothing and accessories.  Since I’m a vegan on a budget (aka – law school grad with loans on a government salary), I make a batch of vegan muffins every weekend and then eat one or two for breakfast every morning (one if I make jumbo sized; two if I make regular size).  This week I made Apple Pecan Muffins based on a recipe in The Joy of Vegan Baking.

The ingredients:

ingredients

And the necessary baking instruments:

baking-instruments1

The batter had some trouble holding all of the chopped apples (perhaps I cut too many; oops), but I found a way to smush them all in!  Based on the batter issues, I decided to make regular sized muffins so I could better monitor their progress in the oven. The over-stuffing didn’t hurt the muffins at all. Here they are pre- and post-bake:

pre-bakingpost-baking

Of course, I had to taste-test one of them:

half-eaten

It was very yummy — so yummy that I intend to bring some to my co-workers on Tuesday (I have today off!).  I am on a quest to prove to my co-workers that vegan baked goods are just as tasty as, and possibly better than, baked goods that incorporate butter, eggs, and milk.  Based on co-workers’ previous comments, so far it’s working!  So, next time you are at Whole Foods or think about baking something from scratch, don’t forget to consider vegan options.  😉

– The Professional Vegan

Cultured grapes

10 Comments

Before I ran out for errands this afternoon, I made myself a little snackie of 1/2 cup grapes and a cinnamon and pb-stuffed date:

img_4019

It was so yummy, I felt like I was eating a pint of ice cream all by myself … but better :-D. Dates are the ultimate wonder food.

I was on a mission to use coupons that have been taking up space in my wallet for MONTHS, so I set off in hopes that Target would come through for me on these items. I just missed the bus about four times, so I ended up walking the whole mile and a half to get there. And, of course, Target was overflowing with rude people, the check-out line was wrapped around the store three times, and I couldn’t find what I needed anyway. I went down to the Pathmark and had a litte more success (though it was not what I’d call an efficient trip, either!). Here’s what I got:

img_4021Yogurts and milk for yogurt-making, fat free ricotta for fun, 2 red bell peppers (only $1.99/lb!), grapes (only $.98/lb!), sea salt riceworks (free with coupon — I finally found them!), LiveActive chocolate raspberry granola bars ($1 off coupon). Total: $16, bringing the week’s tally up to $36, still $4 under budget, whaaaaaat!

Side note on yogurt-making: Every 3-4 batches, I use a completely fresh starter (aka pre-made yogurts) to make sure all the good bacteria is thriving. I usually like to mix two types of yogurt so I get maximum culture variety. Therefore, the batch that is incubating tonight includes: l. acidophilius, bifidus, l. casei, l. rhamnosus, s. thermophilus, and bifidobacterium lactis.

This is my first time using Rachel’s brand yogurt, so we’ll see how it turns out. It’d better be good because I had to wait 10 minutes for them to price-check it at the store, only to have the clerk refuse to sell it to me since it wasn’t in the system yet and had no assigned price. I begged and pleaded until he let me scan the cup of Stonyfield again instead.

Three hours after I left, I was back home.

For dinner, I had another slice of pumpkin kibbi (I’m telling you, this is SO good!) with steamed asparagus spears:

img_4025

I love asparagus plain, but I sprinkled it with a bit of sea salt and freshly ground black pepper for visual variety.

img_4031

Dessert was a treat. I’m generally a plain yogurt kind of girl, but when I buy the little cups to make yogurt like I did today, I often get them in fancy flavors for fun since I only need half (or less) of each cup to use as the starter.  For my dessert, I mixed together the remaining chocolate underground yogurt with the remaining mango pineapple passion fruit yogurt, added about 1/4 cup fat free ricotta, and sprinkled the top with shredded coconut and leftover chocolate-covered pretzel from my blogger secret cupid package.

img_4046

And I surrounded the whole thing with grapes and chopped strawberries for dunking:

img_4043

I don’t have to work tomorrow, so I’m going to do something completely wild and leave the apartment after 9pm (to walk three blocks and watch TV with Ting and her friend, haha). Have a good night, and good luck tomorrow if you’re going back to your regular routine!

Socialize for your health

7 Comments

I love when I can combine a good workout with quality friend time, and I’ve been able to do it twice this weekend! Yesterday, Kate, Gina, and I did our 5-mile waffle + ice cream bRUNch, and today my friend Sarah (but I call her “Ting”) is in town and we did another 3.5 around Prospect Park. Our run was so pleasant because it wasn’t part of any sort of training or obligation; it was just a fun thing to do together. Ting’s a bit of a speed demon — I had to work hard to keep up with her, and the stats show it: 34 minutes, 331 calories, average heart rate 166, max 181.

Before the run, I had a quick mid-morning snack of 1/2 grapefruit and a tsp of peanut butter:

img_3995

Post-run, I made us a yummy brunch of leftovers and cleared five containers from the fridge in the process. Yay for streamlining!

img_3997

I sauteed the Dominican rice I brought home from Friday’s work party in a tsp canola with 1/2 green pepper, 1/4 onion, and the rest of my green beans. The little ramekin has the last of Belkis’ habichuelas (about 1/3 cup each) with a couple spoonfuls of brown basmati rice, and I also fried two eggs in a tsp of olive oil (one for each of us). Ting poured hot sauce all over her egg :-). Sooooo good.

img_4003

For dessert, we had the last crumbles of the Orange-Cranberrry Dark Chocolate Heart Tart, also left over from Friday’s work party:

img_4005

So sad this is all gone now. It was amazing!

img_4009

We also each had one of the dark chocolate Adora calcium disks that Tina sent in my Valentine’s package. These tasted just like straight delicious dark chocolate — hard to believe they pack such a calcium punch!

img_4012img_4014

Next up: more errands. The list never ever ends, but I am getting through it! It sounds like there are a lot of you who do NOT have tomorrow off. It’s the worst to have to drag yourself somewhere when you know that everyone else is relaxing. Hope you’re getting some quality weekend time in now!