Beans And Bison
Thanks for all your advice on the virus. I ended up listening to my dad and downloading and installing Symantec Antivirus from the Brown website and that or something did the trick. I guess being related to a Director of Information Technology comes in handy when you’re not so hot at computers. While I was running 1000 different scans, I took a walk to clear my mind and snacked on this:
Blueberry Z-Bar
I really hope these go on sale somewhere soon because at 1-a-day this could become an expensive habit if I continue it into college. The walk wasn’t actually that relaxing because I came across a snake. I hate snakes; they’re kind of my biggest fear. That being said, though, I’m not too too afraid of them so maybe I’m braver than I give myself credited for. It was slithering into grass when I noticed it so I just kept walking and stayed a little closer to the road.
I got back and was really in the mood for a Trader Joe burger with the Whole Foods bun I always feel like I should eat but don’t get the chance to. of course someone had to throw the buns out THAT morning. Ugh, the excuse was so lame. A little mold never killed anybody… that I’ve met personally. I really wasn’t in the mood for anything else but had a pretty big deficit starting already and was getting hungry so I made a Snobby Joe and ate these Newman’s crisps I’d been eyeing:
Newman's Own Organic Barbeque Soy Crisps
Lunch
Ok, microwaving lentils for 10 minutes isn’t the proper or best way to cook them(they were still a little hard). But put 2 tablespoons steak sauce, 1/2 tablespoon ketchup and 2 teaspoons mustard on anything and all your problems kind of float away in a cloud of bliss…. Sorry I was just thinking about it and drifted off for a second. The soy crisps didn’t blow me away like I was hoping or their other products have. They had a great barbeque flavor in every bite, but left you with that soy aftertaste. I much preferred the white cheddar because it either didn’t have an aftertaste or the white cheddar was a nice subtle flavor which eased into the aftertaste. I still liked these chips, enough that I’d eat them again. And their a great source of veggie protein(7 grams per serving). But if I was looking for just a good barbeque flavor on a chip I’d go for Kettle Chips Baked Honey BBQ.
Naturally, in keeping with the theme of freezer cleaning, I had a little Stonyfield Java froyo.
Stonyfield Java Frozen Yogurt
I really loved the So Delicious Mocha Almond Fudge but my palate just needed something simple and refreshing and wasn’t up to the massive complex sweet and salty flavor so I stuck with the Stonyfield. It hit the tongue spot in the car on the way to Market Basket and Whole Foods in Bellingham. This is the perfect store combo because you never know what you’ll find at Market Basket and any of the staples you can fill in at Whole Foods across the street. Here was the notable loot.
Vermont Natural Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Ground Bison And Organic Omega-3 Eggs
We go through so much bread in this family. We’re going to turn into a bunch of loaves. This all-natural brand was on sale for 1.99 at Market Basket so I thought I’d try it; it’s a nice break from my cinnamon raisin english muffins. Getting the fancy-shmancy eggs was a bit of a battle with my mom but I won out. Normal eggs are fine with me for baking but I don’t eat many eggs straight and the ones I do I prefer be as healthy as possible. And the bison was for bison burgers of course! We also picked up some replacement buns so I’d get the lunch that never was. But first I needed a little something-something to power me through:
Banana Whip With Organic Chocolate Syrup
Things didn’t go as smoothly with my food processor as I would have liked(haha, get the pun?) but I got through. The Trader Joe’s organic syrup was an amazing find. It’s like 1/2 the price of any other brand and it’s all natural. I’ll admit their isn’t much difference between the first ingredient in this being sugar and the first ingredient in Hershey’s being high fructose corn syrup but it’s enough of a difference for me to have peace of mind. Back to the bison, I formed my first patties ever.
Bison Patties
We got 5 3.2-ounce patties out of the meat. 5 bison patties for 5 dollars is a great bargain these days and it was all super simple. I wasn’t sure what to mix in so these were all-meat. I was thinking of flaxmeal(I’m serious, keep with me here) because it would act as a binder and give the meat a grilled nutty flavor, but I wasn’t sure how the parents would like it. Here was my dinner plate:
Burger And Fries
I threw in some homemade Alexa’s sweet potato fries. They crisp up pretty nicely from the freezer to the oven. And the burger was really good, too. My mom for some reason thinks bison is this far-out-crazy meat and didn’t understand it–she asked if it was considered a red meat. She really liked it, though. Hopefully not enough to steal the 2 extra patties we made from me.
For dessert first up I needed to try out my new bread.
Cinnamon Raisin Bread And Peanut Butter
What to top this with was a bit of a no brainer, but I kept the spread light and only used 1/2 tablespoon because I really wanted to get a sense of the bread. The most obvious thing was how it was OA with raisins, major plus. The bread was a little tough–I think it needed to be toasted wither a little longer so it was really crisp or a little less so it was soft. Overall it was pretty nice, but unless it’s on sale more often, I’ll stick with my english muffins.
Next I tried another crazy runner concoction I heard about on the RW Forums:
French Toast Oatmeal
What is it exactly? 1/2 cup cooked oatmeal with an egg cracked in, lightly swirled, cooked until the egg is done, and topped with maple syrup and cinnamon. It didn’t actually taste like french toast, but it was pretty good. The egg wasn’t fully swirled in which I liked and made every bite unique. It tasted like having oatmeal, pancakes, and egg all on one plate and letting them intermingle with one another. I don’t eat eggs so often but this is how I’ll eat them from now on when I do. I also gave another Newman’s Own Organic product a try.
Newman's Own Organic Fig Newmans And Toast With The Bee's Knees
I knew I liked Fig Newtons but I did not know how much I love Fig Newmans. Straight out of the package, of course they were incredibly fresh and soft like pillows. The breading didn’t crumble until it hit my mouth and which point it sort of melted goodness. The fig filling tasted like real fig(and I should know considering the pints I’ve gone through this Whole Food sale period). And when fig is the 3rd ingredient, you know you’re getting good quality. Another noticeable flavor was the strong presence of vanilla. At first I wasn’t sure how to react to it. But after letting the flavors sit in my mouth, I realized the vanilla is really what make this taste like a cookie that just happens to be healthy as opposed to a healthy cookie. And with the simple and short ingredient list these clearly beat out the original fig newtons in my opinion.
Tuesday is kind of my “recharge day” when I basically make it a point to charge anything electronic. I’ve got my Garmin going now and my ipod’s next. Anybody else have specific days of the week where you make it a point to do something you could in theory do whenever?
Food Makes Fun Fuel 
YOU GOT 2ND PLACE IN THE PEANUT BUTTER BOY COMPETITION!!!! YAAAAYYY GOOD JOB!!!! =D
http://runningstronger.wordpress.com/
Courtney
August 18, 2009
Thanks 🙂 I just noticed this, I’m going to have to do some bragging on tomorrow’s post hehe.
Evan Thomas
August 18, 2009
PB & Co, Lentils, froyo….YUM-O! 😀
Emily
August 18, 2009
Rando ques: If you’re trying to gain, why are you drinking calorie-less soda? Maybe I was mistaken about you trying to gain though.. just curious!
niptuck
August 18, 2009
I am on a weight-gaining diet. About 95% of the time I drink water or coffee. I used to be addicted to diet soda but gave up artificial ingredients. After a while I discovered Zevia and won a 6-pack in a blog contest and since enjoy 1/2 can every so often.
Evan Thomas
August 18, 2009
I’m so down for the snobby joe action.
veganfritz
August 18, 2009
Yum, all of your eats look fantastic! Your Stonyfield fro-yo and french toast oatmeal are particularly drool provoking! I’ve never tried bison meat before, but it always seems rather intriguing;)
Ada
August 18, 2009
Haha! A french toast oatmeal convert!! I like to wisk mine forever, and let it become a warm, creamy custard. YUMMMY! 😛 Did you like the blueberry z-bars?
And I love the idea of recharge day…I need that: iPod, camera, brain… 😛
ohhmay
August 18, 2009
I’ve been wanting to try Bison! It looks delish.
Mary
August 20, 2009