Tag: veggies

Supporting roles

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In addition to the lunch and snacks I packed today, several supporting food items deserve appreciation and acknowledgement for getting me through! It started with a thick chunk of crunchy chocolate chip cookie that I discovered in one of the kitchens while filling my mug with tea water this morning. The cookie chunk became my 9:10 am snack:

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My orange came out to greet the world (and my mouth) at 10:30, and lunch took place at 12:30. As an intermediate course (or 3!) between my packed soup and yogurt, I enjoyed (seriously enjoyed) some of Mildred’s Chinese food broccoli:

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I love plain steamed broccoli, but there’s just something irresistible about how it’s done in a Chinese restaurant …

Myrna came along with her shrimp (!), beans, and rice, so I had some of that, too:

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And several (again, several = at least seven) pieces of Jessica’s cantaloupe:

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Then, Rosalie came straight to my desk with a box of Ghirardelli chocolates (!!) and gave me first dibs. I took one of each kind:

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They went into my empty tissue box because they’re wrapped and can stand to hang out for a little bit while I work through the unwrapped Russell Stover truffles I snagged yesterday. For lunch dessert, I extracted this from the tissue box:

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It turned out to be dark chocolate filled with vanilla cream … yum!

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At 2:30, the next round of packed snacks came up for air: green grapes and red pepper strips, just like yesterday. And also, I may have eaten my 3rd of 5 mints for the day:

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The real trouble began at 3:30 when Mildred came back into the office accompanied by evil in the form of rich, freezing, creamy, sugary deliciousness:

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Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I had about 1/3 cup and couldn’t help but crumble a butterfingery Russell Stover chocolate (you guessed it — from the tissue box) over the top:

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Ummmmm … and another 1/3 cup:

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Interestingly enough, the ice cream did have a positive side effect: it satisfied me enough for the rest of the day so that I was able to resist mindlessly inhaling the Z-bar I had packed :-).

I’m running somewhat behind schedule tonight, but I do know that dinner is going to involve serious experimentation with our apartment’s fall decor (that we finally decided to swap for some springier accessories!):

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Results of the experiment are forthcoming!

Things to do:

1. Caitlin is hosting a RoadID giveaway at Healthy Tipping Point, so go check it out!

2. Jamba Juice has coupons for $1 oatmeal again right here!

3. Now that Wednesday is over, do you feel like you’ve really jumped over the hump of the week? I do not …

Plans may go awry …

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… 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:

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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:

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

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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:

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

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

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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:

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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:

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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:

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

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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!

Use what you got

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My lunches for the work week happened when I found an intriguing soup mix packet while cupboard-organizing the other day … probably left over from the roommates I had before the current ones, over 3 years ago! Because my apartment just kept getting sublet, there was never any sort of complete clean-out. Here’s the packet with some other soup ingredients:

soymilk, coconut, homemade (!) veggie broth, frozen work mystery meat from a while bag, coconut-ginger soup base

soymilk, coconut, homemade (!) veggie broth, frozen work mystery meat from a while back, coconut-ginger soup base

And:

chopped green pepper, chopped red pepper, chopped onion

chopped green pepper, chopped red pepper, chopped onion

I made this soup yesterday and sort of used the recipe on the soup mix packet, but mostly I did not. The veggies all got sauteed in canola until they were browned, at which point I added the meat and sauteed more until it was fully thawed and heated through.

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I did not have coconut milk, as requested by the soup base packet, so I kind of made some by simmering 1 cup of soymilk, 1 cup of water, 3 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut, and 2 tsp of this guy I’ve had in the fridge:

img_4087It probably would have been delicious as it was, but I had to go and add the actual soup base packet to the pot:

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I knew pretty quickly that this soup was not going to be amazing because I could smell that fake lemony concentrate smell coming from the pot as soon as I dumped it in. But I forged ahead. Eventually, everything went into a big pot with the veggie broth (and loads more water because I was trying to dilute the packet), powdered ginger, and black pepper:

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It got pretty thin, so I added 1/2 cup whole wheat cous cous for quick thickening, and that seemed to do the trick:

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In the end, the soup turned out okay and I’ll definitely eat it, but I won’t ever use one of these packets again!!!!

My experimenting resulted in about six cups of soup, so two went into the freezer and the rest I’ll eat one cup at a time for lunches this week.

Along with the soup, I’ve packed a standard yogurt blend of 1/2 cup yogurt, 1 chopped date, cinnamon, chopped apple pieces, chopped strawberry pieces, and a sprinkling of kashi golean crunch over the top:

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I’ll be back later to report on snacks and any adjustments to the food plan. What’s your experience been with soup mixes/spice packets? Do you prefer seasoning yourself or using something pre-made?

Also, The Healthy Hostess is giving away Banana Nut Cheerios along with some fun kitchen goodies (including a banana tree!), so make sure to go check it out!

High to lowwwwww

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Lunch was out. of. this. world.:

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

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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:

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

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

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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:

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

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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:

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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:

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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!

Cultured grapes

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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:

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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:

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

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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.

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

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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!