Bringing the edge back to vegetarianism?

Good evening! Thanks so much for your patience and understanding yesterday... sometimes blogging hiatuses (hiati?) are necessary for mental health, ya know what I mean? I'm still going to blog yesterday's eats, so here we go!

Enjoyed some subway java on my way into the city yesterday:


I thought I had an eye doctor appointment yesterday, but it was actually today. Whoops! I wish I could say that was the fist time I'd done that, but I would be fibbing. So, since I was in the neighborhood, I walked over to Bloomingdales to check out the sales and ended up staying there for over 2 hours! Since I put off lunch while shopping, I did the unthinkable: scarfed down sushi in the dressing room. I'm a classy lady, what can I say?


My mom and I went to Forty Carrots for a snack. According to Mama D, it was the first place in Manhattan to serve frozen yogurt. Pretty cool, but why was this the first time I indulged? I don't know if you can tell the scale of the yogurt from this photo, but apparently it was a "small." Friends, this thing was easily over a pint of ice cream! I could barely finish half of it. It was good, but too much sweetness!

The two flavors are Caribbean Coffee and Mango.


I hauled booty to the gym and had a great workout.


30:00 minutes bike
20:00 minutes stairmaster

arm machines

ab series

Totals:
Time: 1 hour 19 minutes
Maximum heart rate: 182
Average heart rate: 142
Calories burned: 635


I picked up one of these Primal Strips at Whole Foods the other day, and ate one in the locker room for instant energy.

Thai Peanut Primal Strip:

Ingredients: Non-GMO vital gluten (wheat protein), water, unrefined evaporated cane juice, naturally brewed soy sauce (water, non-GMO soybeans, wheat, sea salt), expeller pressed canola oil, peanut butter, vinegar, fresh Thai basil, sea salt, natural vegetarian spices. No MSG.

Nutrition Facts:
Calories: 74
Total Fat: 2g, 1g saturated
Carbohydrates: 8g
Protein: 10g

Well, I certainly felt "primal" ripping into the strip in public and shredding it with my teeth. Some bits of it got stuck in there, but that might not necessarily be a bad thing... who wouldn't want to save a little taste for later, without having to worry about self-restraint? It had a nice smoky flavor, and at 74 calories and 10g of protein, need I say more? It's a great snack, and a great way to fuel up on protein. I'd definitely try these again, and there are quite a few flavors to choose from.

Stewart had a dinner party at his house, so I high-tailed it over from the gym. He'd set up a nice appetizer spread: eggplant dip, chips, veggies, nuts.



Look at all that eggplant-y goodness!


My mom made Lemon-Pepper Parmesan Crackers from the May 1993 issue of Gourmet. They were delicious, especially when smeared with eggplant.


I had quite a few chips, crackers and veggie sticks, just so I could have more of that dip.

I had a glass of Chardonnay (and another with dinner):


Stewart made the best cod (no joke) I've ever had, marinated in soy and covered with bok choy. I have to remember to ask for the recipe...


My dad brought two onion loaves from the Fannie Farmer Bread Book.


We also had Japanese rice salad with tofu:


Gingered butternut squash:



And last but not least... dessert! Cranberry walnut clafoutis (très français):


Apple raisin walnut cake. YUM.


Stewart found a great way to clean the floor: with his feet.


Winding down with clemmies and dark chocolate:


I slacked a little on the groceries this week, and when found neither yogurt or milk in the fridge I decided to have one of my favorite Queens treats (I haven't seen these anywhere else in the city): an oat & raisin bagel with low-fat cream cheese. De-lish!


Good ole $1.10 coffee:


I had a banana on my way out of the doctor's office:


The drops that the eye doctor put in to dilate my pupils did not sit well with me today. I was disoriented, my eyes were very sensitive, and (sorry to be graphic) I thought I was going to throw up. I wandered around for awhile, debating whether or not I should go to the gym, but the thought of getting up on a machine was nauseating. So, I chose the smarter road and went home to relax.

A while ago I saw Jenna make an egg/broth soup when she wasn't feeling well. I don't remember exactly how she made it, but I tried one of my own.


2 cups water
1 whole egg, beaten
2 tsp Better Than Bouillon base
fresh lemon juice
chives (or any other fresh herb)
pepper

Heat water on stove and stir in Better Than Bouillon. When water is just about to boil, remove pot from heat and stir in egg. Season with lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon), chives and pepper. Slurp and enjoy!

It was a lot of soup, but was very tasty and comforting. The egg/chive combo reminded me of the scrambled eggs my mom used to make me when I was sick... classic.

I also had some papaya with Fage 0%, crushed walnuts and honey drizzled on. Perfection.


I met Ari at Starbucks and got a Tall London Fog tea latte. It tastes just like Earl Gray tea, but I think I like the Vanilla Rooibos tea latte bettter.


Off to put on my penguin PJs and do some housework. Hope you had a wonderful day! Do you feel different now that we officially have a new president? Relief? Anything at all?

Good afternoon, bloggies! I'm so sorry I couldn't get it together to blog yesterday... I got off work at midnight and my brain was just not in a technological mindset by the time I got home.

So, back to two nights ago: the later I stay up, the more likely it is that I will need more food. Simple math, eh? I ended up finishing my Josie's salad the same night!


I tossed it with some Annie's Lite Gingerly Vinaigrette, and it really complemented the salad nicely.


I woke up pretty late yesterday, so all I did was get dressed, hop a subway into the City, and meet my mom for lunch at Seven's Turkish Grill. We ordered exactly the same thing as last time, with the exception that I had a couple cups of Turkish tea.


This lentil soup with lemon is so delicious. I'm going to try to track down the recipe. Extra lemon squirts are key!


The "bomb-diggity" bread... still bomb.


These spreads were just as good as we remembered, with the exception that they were really cold, like they'd been stuck in the fridge overnight and hadn't had a proper chance to thaw out. That didn't stop us, though... we munched along merrily.


Mama D and I spent a lovely day shopping around, and ended with a nice manicure. I got my nails painted with Damsel In A Dress... cute, huh?

I had a banana and an Apricot Clif Bar right before I went to work, around 4:45.

Sadly, those snacks didn't hold me over through my 7.5 hour shift, and I started looking at the clock and reading the menu at 8:30. I had some restaurant nibbles: a couple nachos, a clementine, a lot of club soda with lime...

When I finally got to eat (in the car, at 12:15) I pretty much inhaled my dinner. Because it was my second to last night, I wanted to have the first meal I had there (I'm sentimental like that): steamed shrimp dumplings (sorry about the photo, it was taken in transit):


... and goat cheese salad. This really comes with a full bed of lettuce with cabbage and tomato, and two other goat cheese crostinis, but I was so hungry that I was almost finished before I remembered to take a photo.


My dad dropped me off at the diner (what a nice daddy) where I had a little wine with Ari. I came home and had a mint Skinny Dipper (finally, Sarah!). Yes, it's a little too green, but it is mighty tasty.


Last night I made overnight oats to have for breakfast this morning. It has been a while, OO, and I'm glad to have you back!


1/2 cup steel-cut oats
1/2 cup water
1 small container 0% Fage
1 banana
cinnamon
1 T maple syrup

I'm off now to organize my day. Enjoy the rest of your weekends!

Behold the healing powers of miso!

All your well wishes seemed to do the trick; I feel almost 100% now. Of course, I do have to give a little credit to the good food I had tonight. I'm obviously not a doctor, but I'm a firm believer that unless you've got some kind of stomach bug, it's best to eat foods that both comfort and nourish when you're not feeling your best. Anyway, on to the eats! I've been lucky enough to eat with my parents almost every night this week, and we've had quite the spectrum of food.

We started off with some edamame:


Some much-needed green tea and miso soup:


I wasn't sure if I'd be able to finish all of my usual dinner, the sashimi bento box. I ordered it anyway...


And ate every last bite! (Except for the rice.) It was delicious. I could really eat this every day. In the box was green salad, shrimp and vegetable tempura, tuna and salmon sashimi and a California roll. Finger-lickin' good!


I came home and did some cute little domestic things, like fold laundry and arrange my closet. My idea of a Friday night! Ha, actually I didn't even know it was Friday until my parents reminded me, and I'm all for having a relaxing evening at home. I had the perfect nightcap: a navel orange and a rectangle of Dagoba New Moon (yes, I may have bought it for the name) 74% dark chocolate.


I'm all snuggly in bed watching Charlie Bartlett, but I have a feeling I'll be falling asleep before the movie's over. It seems pretty brilliant so far though, so I hope I can stay awake for it.

Have a lovely evening!

Naughty Chocoholic

It's still sort of morning for me, since I just took a little nap. I desperately needed that sleep, which was made very clear when I fell asleep for the first half of Slumdog Millionaire! It's too bad, because I've been looking forward to seeing it in over a month. What I did see, though, I loved, so I'd recommend it.

I had lunch with Greg, Kalle and Mike at the Metro Diner yesterday. I'd already had coffee (which doesn't usually stop me from having more) but I just felt like sipping on tea.


I've been having a lot of formatting problems with Blogger recently, so sorry about the double image. It doesn't want to delete.


The Metro makes THE best veggie burgers. They're literally over an inch thick, and made with a delicious blend of beans and spices. I didn't get the "deluxe" which comes with fries, but I ate a few of Kalle's.


One of the independent movie theaters we go to has THE best treats. Even though I was still pretty full from lunch, I had two cookies: a chocolate covered coconut macaroon, and a dried fruit and nut rugeleh. So yum, but don't know if I needed both of them...


Someone brought in two packages of Ferrero Rocher chocolates (you know, the milk chocolate hazelnut truffle kind?) and put them up on the little ledge where I sit. One of the waitresses and I (who is also a serious runner) and I tried ignoring them all night (hiding them under my seating chart, putting a glass in front of them, etc) but finally they got the better of us and we each ate one. Pure bliss, but they each have 16g of fat!


I got a salad with potatoes, artichoke hearts, cabbage, tomatoes, carrots, romaine, onions and a hard-boiled egg (they forgot the avocado... sad).


Some of my friends from school (Mike, Greg and Max) came by when I was finishing up so I stayed and had my shift drink with them (note: we have to wait until the end of our shift to drink it, we can't have it while we're working).

I don't know what was going on with me yesterday, but the chocolate/fat/treat/whatever-you-want-to-call-it bug hit me hardcore yesterday. I had a Hershey's Cookies 'n Creme bar on the subway; I don't even really LIKE these and only eat them when I'm really caving them. Oh well, tomorrow is another day, tomorrow is another day...


I made a nice big bowl of overnight oats that I enjoyed around 8:45 this morning.


1/2 cup steal cup oats
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/2 cup skim milk
1 tbsp peanut butter
1 banana (sliced on in the morning)

I was planning to go to an early yoga class, but I decided to go back to sleep and go to the 1:30 class. I'm off to do that now; hopefully "the hair of the dog" will ease my muscle soreness. Have a great day!

Dead Santa

Good afternoon! Thanks for being so understanding about my slackerdom yesterday. I feel nice and energized today!

Backtrack to yesterday: Ari and I saw this sad sight on the way to breakfast. That might be even more depressing than brown Christmas trees on the sidewalk!


I ordered a huge bowl of oatmeal, which I added skim milk, brown sugar and honey to. Gotta problem with that?


"I wear my sunglasses inside..."


Artsy fartsy picture on the way back from breakkie:


After the gym, I met my mom for some of the best Turkish food I have ever had. We went to Seven's Turkish Grill and each ordered a vegetarian lentil soup:


... and the cold appetizer platter with smoked eggplant, minty yogurt dip (a little thicker than a regular tsatsiki), homemade hummus (!!!), tabouleh, spicy fava bean salad, olives...


And the most bomb-diggity warm and salty bread.


I took a little catnap, then had my pre-work snack. I had a Coconut Cream Pie Larabar, which was, as I remember, fab. I think they should change the name to Coconut Macaroon, though.


I also had some white tea and berry fruit salad.


When I got off work around 11, I had my usual Crispy Crunchy Veggie Salad, but this time I had it with no croutons and added a hard-boiled egg (whose yolk I flicked out... yuck!).


Another caramel Skinny Dipper when I got home... love these guys.


I'm sure there are some Redskins fans out in the blogosphere, so this water bottle will probably only make sense to you. It complimented the photo of my breakfast cookie:


In the cookie:
1/2 cup oatmeal (used up the last of it!)
1/2 scoop protein powder
1 T peanut butter
1 tangerine
2 scoops yogurt
toppings: craisins, raisins, almonds, chocolate chips (this is a keeper!), a date

I had coffee with Ari while he had breakfast. This is him "being a mushroom":


I fully intended on going to the gym today, but time ran out and I am still super duper sore from yoga the other day. Isn't that silly? One of the women I work with is a massage therapist so she pushed on my trigger points, which helped a lot, but I still feel like I have bricks on the backs of my thighs. Ow!

I'm off to have lunch with Kalle, Mike and Greg. Have a great day!