Courtesy
Firstly, a shout out to Goji Gourmet, launching their new products and website today!
Courtesy is a funny thing. I don’t think I have it, but neither do half the people around me so that doesn’t bug me too much. And as for the people who do have it, it makes me love them that much more 🙂
Courteous: My dad swinging by McDonalds before hitting the highway on the way back to campus. A cup of Newman’s Own Organic Decaf went perfect with this:
White Chocolate Double Chocolate Pillow
Courteous: Me leaving about 8 of these delicious renditions of double chocolate pillows to enjoy and only stealing a few for myself while freezing the rest.
Courteous: Helping me move all my stuff from the car into my room.
Not Courteous: Me practically throwing my dad out of the room so I could get my butt to the gym.
Honey Cashew YouBar
This pre-workout snack was Courteous of YouBar. YouBar is really cool in that they let you basically build your own snack/energy/protein bar, but they also have some suggested combinations for indecisive people like me who otherwise would spend 12 hours trying to pick a combo 🙂 It definitely went down fast so that I could just get running, but from the bit of taste I did get I liked the flavor; it got major points in the “stick to the roof of your mouth” category.
Not Courteous(?): My dorm-floor neighbor apparently gets very in to his eliptical training. He had his music pumping and was headbanging like crazy. Eventually he looked around, at which point I would have expected him to think “Oh, I look silly” but really what I think went through his mind was something like “Why aren’t they rocking out to the music either?” I don’t think this had anything to do with courtesy, it was just really funny to see this side of a man who otherwise I know to wash his grapes in the men’s room while wearing a collared Polo.
Not Courteous: Me hogging the treadmill even though there were people waiting and I was over the time limit of 30 minutes. But really, 30 minutes? How is anyone supposed to get distance in like that? I also got the broken treadmill which doesn’t read right for it’s pace(way under), so I’m not sure how far I *truly* ran, but it was something like 10 miles in 86 minutes. But since that would be the slowest 10 miles of my life and I was huffing and puffing, I don’t buy it.
Not Courteous: My roommate making something over the weekend in the microwave that exploded and then didn’t feel the need to clean it up. Seriously there was green stuff all over the inside. I think it was spinach from an Indian meal, but who knows. I just cleaned it up and went on my not-so-merry way.
Al Fresco Sweet Apple Chicken Sausages
Dinner was Courteous of Al Fresco. I wasn’t sure after running if I wanted a traditional post work out meal(aka breakfast) or something more like dinner; these sausages had chicken, maple syrup, and apple, so they kind of fit both bills.
Whole Foods Stuffing, Sweet Apple Chicken Sausage, Acorn Squash With Maple Syrup
Courteous: My mom freezing a ton of Whole Foods stuffing after Thanksgiving so that I could have it at a later date. If you’ve never had Whole Foods stuffing, you haven’t lived; it’s that good. And so was this sausage. You can read my review, or not because I’m not very good at explaining it. It really was a mystery even to me what made it so nice but it just felt “homey”. Oh, and there was more maple syrup added to that acorn squash after the picture because I was having a “life’s too short” moment.
Apple
Courteous: The dining hall providing half-way decent apples. I’ll take what I can get.
Courteous: Ricky Gervais in how he’s handled becoming a rich celebrity. Did anyone else watch 60 minutes, or am I just showing my age here?
Q.bel Dark Chocolate Wafer Bars
Dessert was courteous of Q.bel. I didn’t have much expectations for this beyond a good dark chocolate; wow was I wrong. This wafer bar was soooo good. The dark chocolate coating, the cream, the wafer–yum! Such a big leap from the chocolate wafers I remember at grandma’s house as a kid.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Pumpkin Cream Cheese, Pecan Butter, Peanut Butter Chips, And An Advent Chocolate
This pecan butter was courteous of artisana. It, too, was very good; it reminded me of pecan pie if only it had a touch of maple syrup–very rich and smooth. Even though I rated it higher than their walnut butter, I’d probably buy that sooner than this, though. This pumpkin cream cheese was just cream cheese with pumpkin and pumpkin butter as I left the real stuff back at my house.
Not Courteous: Whoever invented advent calenders. Because of him I’ve taken in 220 calories .1g of trans fat over the past 13 days(Jk about being mad 😉 This Divine advent calender is seriously some of the best milk chocolate ever).
Courteous: The Obama’s for inviting Oprah into the White House
Flourless Peanut Butter Cookie
Not Courteous: Me flaunting these and not having time to make a recipe page. I will; I promise. Even though the recipe’s not mine and I wouldn’t know who to credit it to because it’s seriously one of the oldest recipes ever(think: If Martha Washington made peanut butter cookies, she made them like this).
Courteous: Me setting my alarm back 10 minutes because I was having one of the worst night’s sleep. All of the Sunday’s I’ve come back to campus have been like this. When I went to put my contacts in at 6:30, my eyes were seriously bloodshot. It would have been more courteous if I let myself sleep in but I really wanted to get back on normal schedule.
Mocha-walla Odwalla
Courteous: All the facility people who work overnight to make this place not look like a wreck. The gym was nice and spotless(and mostly empty!) when I got there.
Not Courteous: Me insisting one of the TV’s be on Pokemon while the girl on the bike was clearly not as into it as I was. She didn’t say anything, but then again I was their first(it turned out to be a not so good episode, anyway).
Completely Unrelated: Med setting a new distance PR of 17 miles in 2:26:53 this morning. I don’t know how or why, but I was really feeling the run. I just kept going and going until I decided to aim for 17. I hit “the wall” at 15.5, but who would stop then? It feels so good to break another barrier after 16 miles. And the blister I was nervous about bursting did on the run and I totally didn’t notice it. That’s a good thing, right?
Cinnamon Raisin Greek Yogurt, Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mighty Maple And Grain Sweetened Chocolate Chips
Courteous: Me being as quiet as possible in making this breakfast. I really wanted something like gummy bears all this morning; while they do make natural and organic gummy bears, I don’t have any. Raisins are sort of like gummy bears though, so this yogurt was super yummy. Of course mighty maple and chocolate chips are always welcomed.
Courteous: Me watching Regis And Kelly Live with closed captioning so as not to disturb my roommate(but if Jeff Probst were the guest host and not Anderson Cooper that would be another story).
Courteous: You guys making it through this post all the way to the end.
And a sweet Bora Bora Island Getaway Giveaway
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 15 so far )Let’s Play Jeopardy
Before we get into the game, I wanted to mention my guest post over at Christina’s blog with a brand new recipe! It’s on my favorite subject 😉 Can you guess what that is?
Answer: Sweet potatoes, soup, lentils
Carrot Cashew Ginger Soup, Sweet Potato, Snobby Joe Lentils, Ginger Zevia
What does a 90 year old woman eat for lunch on a rainy day? Nope, but darn close. And I’m OK with that. I think they need to thicken this soup up a bit with something but the flavor is really good. And I think I could eat lentils for every meal if that wouldn’t make things around here very smelly.
Answer: Ellen DeGeneris
Who is a funny lesbian? Yes, but what we were looking for was who is my least favorite afternoon talk show. So after Days and Rachael Ray I had no problem grabbing this bar and stepping out:
Peanut Butter Z-Bar
Oh portable peanut butter, you make me so happy. Anyway, I had finished with my Epic Poetry paper and headed to the library to print it and then the Classics house to drop it off.
Answer: Awkward head nod of acknowledgement
What is something you always regret? But of course. And yet, who can help but do it in reaction? I ran into my roommate at the library and gave a sort of half nod of acknowledgement which must have looked awkward. Oh well. The more you think about these things after doing them the more it’s just torture. I dropped off my paper(wahoo!) and then went up and down Thayer street, stopping at Blue State to try their tea.
Berry Tea
Answer: Berry flavoring
What is something I don’t like? Yes. So why did I order their berry tea? Stumped myself on that one. But after I asked the man to point out the decafs I felt obligated to just pick one and go with it. It wasn’t bad, but I definitely like gingery or lemony or black teas better. Basically, any other tea, to be exact 😉
Question: Sigma Kai
Who are the rowdiest frat on campus? Nope. But they win most spirited.
Sigma Kai
Seriously, how cool is this? It’s also right near my dorm so I see it quite often. AND they have a serious sound system which normally is for parties but they blast Christmas tunes through, too. Awesomeness. I picked up stuff for dinner and made my way back into my warm and dry dorm to make some oats.
Pumpkin Oats With Smart Balance And White Chocolate Chips
That also helped to warm me up. And when doesn’t melty, salty peanut butter feel good? Never’s what I think, too 🙂
Answer: Dr. Phil has had a vasectomy and reverse vasectomy
What is something I really didn’t want to know? Unfortunately, I watched his show, and he shared that. Really? Ew. I never watch him usually. but I got to remembering how my mom loved him and I would watch out of necessity. It’s not that he doesn’t give good advice; he just has on the stupidest guests whose problems are so obvious. I was still pretty set from my oatmeal for dinner but I could not resist gobbling this down anyway because of how amazing it is.
Answer: Vegetarian Philly Cheesesteak
Vegetarian Philly Cheesesteak, Pepper Strips, Sunflower Cheddar Flatbread
What is the tastiest contradiction ever? Ding, ding, ding. we have a winner in this dinner, you crazy sinner. I had this for lunch Tuesday, and afterwards when I thought about it, I realized this meal made me feel like Julia Child; if you asked me what I love after I had eaten this, my eyes would have rolled in the back of my head and I’d of said “I love to eat!” It’s that good. And all it is is 4oz or so Lightlife sausage style meat, cooked onions, and a slice of American cheddar cheese. I love food.
Answer: Entertaining
What is Modern Family? or what is naturally colored coated candies bleeding in yogurt? Both!
Vanilla Soy Yogurt With Milk Chocoalte Peanut Sundrops
Sooo good. Carby overload with the chocolate and sweetened soy yogurt probably, but still so so good. I got a good amount of work done on my next paper but took the night easy having finished the other one. If I had it my way, I’d take all my tests tomorrow to just get them done with, but it doesn’t work that way. Then I got extremely snacky and had this right before bed
Small Bowl Of Oats With SB PB, Yogurt With Milk Chocolate Peanut Sundrops, Advent Chocolate, Milk Chocolate Orange Slice
At least it was a well balanced meal with fruit(the orange slice) and dairy(milk chocolate). I think the magic of the milk chocolate peanut sundrops only works with soy yogurt because this wasn’t as good; oh well, now I know. Nothing ends the night better, though, than melty, salty peanut butter. That definitely had me sleeping tight.
Answer: 10 Miles
How far did I run this morning? Well 14, if you must know. I woke up super energized and just hit the gym ready to run. My legs felt like a rag doll’s at first but I got into it sometime around Pokemon and just kept going without any running fuel or anything. It was a little slower than yesterday(1:59:33) but still felt good. I had an odd craving for breakfast I won’t even mention but instead settled for something more traditional.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mighty Maple, Tempeh Bacon, And White Chocolate Chips
Yogurt With Mint Chocolate Orange Goji Cookies
Isn’t white chocolate, peanut butter, and bacon tradition for everyone? I restrained myself with the white chocolates; just because I’m running doesn’t give me liscence to turn breakfast into dessert in my opinion(though this tasted close enough! :-)) I love these goji gourmet cookies; the flavor is so freshy and perky and perfect for the morning. And now I’m trying to be a good roommate and not make too much noise but I’m also trying to watch Live! With Regis And Kelly because Jeff Probst is on and I’m a Survivor addict as you know.
Answer: A giveway
What is to come this afternoon? Come back and check to see 😉
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 22 so far )Color My Yogurt
Apparently the mystery is solved: I ate an unripe hachiya persimmon whereas I should have eaten a fully ripened or fuyu persimmon. I think from now on instead of hear about the 25 reasons I could be dying from WebMD I’ll just ask the blogger world. Dare I go back and try another? I think this experience has scared me off for now and I will stick with the dried persimmons in my granola. Well when I said I was dragging yesterday, I was reeaaallly dragging. I reached for the only caffeine I keep around after I posted.
Cola Zevia
Well that picked me up. I straightened up a bit around here; there seem to be papers and books everywhere. What is this? A dorm during finals period?! Oh wait… haha 🙂 Dr. Phil was on Oprah; I can’t really stand him on his own show but somehow Oprah made him tolerable. I must admit I love some of his expressions: “dogpiling in the foyer” If anyone can explain that to me, they get bonus points. My hunger definitely subsided after the persimmon incident and I wasn’t feeling too snacky in the afternoon. There was one thing I didn’t mind having, though.
Plain Soy Yogurt With Peanut Sundrops
Omnomnomnom. I love this soy yogurt with milk chocolate peanut butter cups, so having it with milk chocolate coated peanuts was just as good! It was so nice and sweet and salty and delicious. But what I really loved here was how the colors ran and made the yogurt orange and yellow and purple. It may sound silly, but once and a while since going all-natural I miss the fun food colors and playing with those, and most natural food dyes cost an arm and a leg. This reminded me of how ugly cookies get when you bake them with M&M’s in them 🙂
Like I said, I wasn’t very snacky in the afternoon, so I had no problem holding off until dinner when I could try out my new purchase.
Tikka Masala Simmer Sauce
I think I’m starting to like Indian food. Or at least start to crave it, because it was on my mind all through Whole Foods. I really wanted to make a chickpea dish but the dining hall didn’t have those, so instead I got carrots and broccoli and diced half of one of my sweet potatoes and let that “simmer” in the microwave at a low power. I served that along side some lemon and lime salmon also from Whole Foods
Vegetable Tikka Masala, Lemon And Lime Salmon
The salmon(which was like 1.50 off the salad bar, wahoo bargains!) surprisingly did taste like lemon and lime. Sprite, anyone? With enough salt, though, it got back to its fishy roots. I liked the vegetables, but the sauce was a bit too mild? I know it says “England’s favorite mild curry sauce” but I was expecting their mild to be a bit more. Oh well, I’ll have to step it up next time!
I loved loved loved Survivor last night. it was the auction episode, which I’m always a fan of. It’s also such a good sign you’re getting towards the end of the season and can see who the real playa’s are. I had a (very repetitive) snack.
Oikos With Crushed Sunspire Peanut Milk Chocolate Drops
These mini Oikos cups are… mini, but they’re perfect for when you just want the topper and could care less about the yogurt 😉 Have I mentioned I’m now obsessed with the milk chocolate covered peanuts? I’m writing in to Trader Joe’s to request it(literally). Since there was no Grey’s, I was able to watch The Office and 30 Rock on their regular time. Neither of them had me loling, but at least I don’t have to worry about watching them online now. Then I got really random for Leno.
Toast With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter, Vegan Pumpkin Molasses Cookie, Double Chocolate Pillow, Advent Chocolate, Newman's Own Organic Orange Dark Chocolate
Like I said: random. I was going to make my favorite bowl of oats but then thought this “sampler” platter was more fun. I still way prefer peanut butter on oatmeal than toast–it’s just better! And both of these cookies were still amazing after so much refrigeration, which made me happy. I’m definitely “rediscovering” my Newman’s Own Organic chocolate stash, which is dangerous since there’s a ton to rediscover.
This morning I didn’t have much of an excuse not to get up and go go go for a run. I set my sight on 12 miles and grabbed this bar.
Amazing Grass Whole Food Energy Bar
At 6:40, anything with the word energy is very welcomed. This flavor is OK, but I really prefer the chocolate or chocolate peanut butter(Could you imagine that? Me preferring chocolate and peanut butter? :-P). I ended up eating half and saving the other part for another morning, though I must admit I hate the idea of having half a bar around and right now that’s the case with 2(!). After the 10th mile I had to stop; I just wasn’t feeling it and, while I could have “entertained myself” and gone another two miles with eating up the rest of the bar, I recognized this was a time when pushing myself was not a strengthener but would weaken me. Instead I stopped at 10 miles and 83:18, did my cool down, showered, and made a breakfast.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Maple Almond Butter And 2 Goji Almond Oat Cookies
Pumpkin Yogurt With Brown Sugar
Omnomnomnom. The oatmeal was such a great bowl of antioxidants, healthy fats, and flavors. And I forgot how simple yet worth it raw sugar on yogurt can taste. Maybe that’s a good thing I forgot since sugar isn’t exactly the most nutritious thing but some granolas are practically 100% sugar anyhow so I just got rid of the bulk 😉
This morning I had a really positive interaction with my gym friend, Gail, that I thought I’d share. She told me that she saw me from her office window yesterday and wanted to compliment me on my leather jacket.
Firenze Leather Jacket
Spiffy, no? I got it in Italy the summer after 9th grade and now that it fits me better I find it so comfortable to wear. I also corrected her in thinking that my name was Ian; it felt a little awkward to address but I knew it’d be only more awkward with time and that it was better to correct a problem like this at the beginning. I think I’m going to make it my goal to compliment someone today. If such a simple and little thing can brighten someone’s morning, why not do it, right?
Who doesn’t love a tofu giveaway?
Amazing giveaway at Averie’s blog
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 20 so far )It’s Just Puppy Love
Montana
Naturally, I’m talking about him. I don’t know why, but yesterday morning I was struck with a little homesickness for him. First, on my way back from the gym, I saw a squirrel on a trash can whose expression instantly reminded me of him(weird, but true). Then I got the most hilarious email from my mom saying he bit her toe last night. Okay, maybe that shouldn’t be funny, but I have an awful sense of humor. From what I gather, they were both sleeping in bed and she kicked him. The whole thing sounds like the episode of Everybody Loves Raymond where they get into an argument because Raymond doesn’t like to be cuddled. Why is that show not on anymore? 😦 Oh the things I miss…
Anyway, class yesterday was dullsville. I got a horrible craving for chocolate chips in class which then led to the challenge of fitting them into my lunch somehow. I also swung by the dining hall to find something a bit more substantial. It turned out to be tempeh day on the vegetarian line! I filled up a container, some for lunch and a lot leftover, and then made the rest in my room.
Maple Mustard Tofu, Plain Tempeh, Broccoli
Peanut Butter Greek Yogurt With Chocolate Chips
This was definitely a protein overload(aka it sat like a brick in my stomach) but all tasted soooo good. I like the tempeh just plain; I think the flavor is so interesting on its own. It must be the whole fermenting thing. Of course, the yogurt was what really hit the spot 🙂 I’m pretty sure my friend Alex in Greek History class couldn’t tell what flavor Chobani I bought but was too afraid to ask.
I didn’t actually do the reading for Epic today(oops) because I figured 6 pages of writing was torture enough. It worked out fine because we didn’t cover everything we were supposed to and what we did I read in the original Latin all 2nd semester of last year. When I got back to my dorm, I found out when exactly my roommate sleeps: 3pm. I think we’re just a little off in our schedules. I started working more on my paper and Greek(the only homework I have for today), and snacked on this bar:
KIND Almond And Cashew Bar
This has easily been one of my favorite bars all through Summer. I’m so glad they sell it at campus stores where I can use my points! It has a honey and date base which is nice and sweet, and the nuts taste really rich. I don’t know why but whole nuts are always more desirable in bar form than on their own with me. Plus it has Omega-3 from flaxseed(which is why it’s called KIND Plus…). This was very tasty while I watched about the woman who was torn apart by a primate. Did anyone else see that? It’s so sad, I couldn’t imagine an animal doing that much harm or a person living through it. I made some oatmeal after Oprah.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mocha Peanut Butter
I don’t eat it much, but every so often I get an urge for this Naturally Nutty peanut butter. I figured the earthiness of it would work well with some pumpkin oatmeal. I added in nutmeg to deepen the flavor, and it was really strong. For dinner, I met with Adam at The Ratty.
Lentil Chili, Carrots And Zucchini In Garlic, Cooked Spinach, Raw Tomatos
This was definitely a “take the picture fast and don’t look too odd” picture, lol. The chili was OK, but not great; it needed more chili powder I’m guessing. I always like that carrot and zucchini medley, and the rest was pretty simple. I’ve stopped looking at what’s in the non-vegetarian line pretty much because I’ve expected weird stuff. Tonight, I got to see what it was via my friend’s dish: “paella” with fried chicken and unopened mussels. First of all, since when does paella have on-bone chicken in it? I’ve been to Spain and that’s not how they roll. Also, unopened mussels? Not smart. That pretty much describes why I pick up quality meat at Whole Foods to make dinner for myself some times. Meat and these:
Ginger Ale Zevia
This one I think had one of the weaker flavors, but maybe I just feel that way now that I’ve had ginger preserves which are spicier than all hell. Of course, by 8 I was watching the CMA’s. Go Lady Antebellum for single of the year and best group! I think any of those were good songs(like Chicken Fried!) but they deserved to win something. I think the entire show was just awesome.I’m not so secretly a country addict, with half of my itunes library being Sugarland and Taylor Swift alone. I had a little of this mid-broadcast.
Greek Yogurt With Cherry Butter, Dried Cherries, Vanilla Sugar, And 2 Goji Gourmet Cherry Cacao Cookies
These have to be my favorite cookie of all time. I’m definitely placing a big bag in my shopping cart from Goji Gourmet. By the way, congrats to them for being a Rachael Ray snack of the day! I hope that episode airs on a Tuesday or Thursday when I can watch it. I also now need to restock on cherry preserves; do you think I can get the register attendant to ring it up as cranberry butter like with the dried ones? 😉 Back to television, I was standing on my feet when Taylor won; that was so exciting for her! And of course I was rooting on Sugarland, too. Afterwards I made some breads & spreads(why haven’t I used that phrase in a while?).
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin English Muffin With Ginger Cream Cheese And Mushed Banana With Baker's Chips, Chocolate Fig Vitatop With Chocolate Sunflower Seed Butter
I really didn’t know what to do with this flavor vitatop but I think it worked well with chocolate sunflower butter for an odd but attractive duo. I either burn through english muffins or have to force myself to want them. Good spreads like this help with that, though. I think when Taylor won entertainer of the year that pretty much summed it up. Her reaction was priceless, and this definitely was her year.
This morning has just felt so “on” so far. I woke up at 6:20, and then decided another 20 minutes of sleep would be just fine 🙂 On the way out of my dorm I grabbed a new Larabar.
Peanut Butter And Jelly Larabar
I don’t quite have time to write a review at this moment, which would be here once I set it up, but this was awesome. I really did not expect to like it so much and I hate relying on new flavors of bars when I’m out of the house but this was so dead on. This really powered me through 11 miles in 90:36. It must have, because I was only planning for 8, but I think I was meant to do 11. In that time I listened to every Taylor Swift song I have(which took 88 minutes) and got to watch a segment on the Today show about childhood diabetes and the foods we can use to prevent it. They didn’t promote oatmeal and pumpkin but I’m going to bet those are good ones 🙂
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mighty Maple And Maple Syrup, Eggnog Oikos With Nutmeg
I think I’ve rightfully stopped fooling myself I won’t be having oatmeal and yogurt, even on days when I’m short on time like this morning. Silly me should have stocked up on Oikos last sales period but now I’m out 😦 Hopefully I’ll make it down to Eastside Market today for that and pumpkin, which I’m also low on(surprise, surprise).
These aren’t quite giveaways but I wanted to clue ya’ll in on some coupon codes I know. If you love peanut butter like me, check out P.B. Loco and all their fun flavors. Spend $30 or more and get a free “P.B.Loco Dreamy Creamy Peanut Butter” with the coupon BLOG1209. Also, if you spend $50 dollars or more, you can use the coupon FREET2009 to get a t-shirt! Clearly it’s worth it to pick out a bunch of fun and funky jars for yourself and Christmas presents and place a big order for all these freebies.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 27 so far )Lemony Fresh
Yesterday morning, the morning I ran the farthest, had the most to do in terms of classes, that was the morning I had ample time to grab a coffee before class. I do not understand life sometimes. My teacher, who never calls on me, did for Horace’s 11th Ode, aka the “carpe diem” poem. How fitting, I thought, and thankfully I was well prepared(lucky me it’s probably one of his easiest to understand). I decided to make lunch when I got back.
Exploded Eggs
I knew things got a little pressurized in the microwave, but I didn’t realize how much so. Don’t poke an egg yolk if you hear sizzling to check if it’s done, or else you get albumen everywhere. They were still decent enough to eat, though, so I went ahead and finished up the meal.
Eggs With Strawberry Marmalade And Broccoli
Tempeh Steak With Broccoli
This has been the week of repeat meals; first the tofu salad and now this. But when you find something good, why stop eating it! I wanted something acidic for the eggs so I added strawberry marmalade with orange liquer. And the “tempeh steak” was just 3oz leftover tempeh with mushrooms in 2 tablespoons 365 steak sauce and microwaved at half power for 5 minutes. This would be sooo good properly baked.
I took this to class and ate it there. My Greek history professor is such a character. First he said he didn’t have our midterms because the TA lost 3, one of which he “named” as mine. This was him being funny, but I’m so gullible I think my heart skipped a beat. Then he said he just was too lazy to finish them so far, but that one was very creative and stood out to him(he might have even said genius?). Anyway, it was mine! I was mortified to be singled out in the class like that, especially since it’s a large crowd of upperclassmen, but I also felt like I needed a recognition of good work like that lately because work has felt a little thankless.
Charity Bake Sale
Between class I found an awesome opportunity to be charitable. This table was set up with The Cupcakerie cupcakes, aka the kind of been buying myself for the past few Cookie Fridays, and all the proceeds were being donated to their charity. How could I say no? I grabbed my treat for later and headed off to class. The cupcake was for dessert at night, but I did grab this.
Vitaminwater 10 Lemonade
I forgot how fresh and sweet these are. But they’re 2.75 dollars at the campus convenience store! I could have had another cupcake for that money(although this was bought with my dining points whereas the cupcake was out of pocket). I hope the money for the vitamins was worth it; gotta keep that immune system up when it feels like everyone around me is getting sick.
Class was completely unhelpful in helping me choose an essay topic to write on. Now I feel like I’m going into the weekend practically blind of ideas. I’d like to have something to grab onto just so I feel like I’m heading in the right direction. I’d be glad to grab a B like on my last essay. Later on, around 4, I worked my way back to my dorm for a snack where I took a tip from the tipping point.
Pumpkin Oats With Mighty Maple And Maple Cinnamon Frosting
Did you all see on Caitlin’s blog yesterday morning her waffles with amazing greek yogurt “frosting”? I did. And it was stuck in my brain all day until I tried it on these oats. I did a little less than 1/4 cup Oikos, 2/3 tablespoon maple syrup, 3 drops vanilla stevia, and cinnamon. Wow! This was such a sweet winner. I love the way it flavored the oats drizzled on top, but never overpowered anything. Caitlin used some great spices I wish I had at my disposal in my dorm; I’ll have to try this over he Holidays when I’m home and making Christmas Oats. Later on, I grabbed this bar and stepped out of the dorm.
Kardea Lemon Ginger Bar
One thing I love about these bars is I feel entirely healthy and like I don’t need another veggie or fruit for the rest of the day 🙂 Just kidding. This flavor was pretty good. It reminded me of a lightly sweetened lemon bar. I think if I was in Paula Deen’s kitchen I would have busted out the powdered sugar on it. After going up Thayer street, the night(and 5:20 is totally night) took me to Blue State.
Blue State Decaf
If you’re ever around Providence, skip the Starbucks down the road and stop at Blue State. I’m not going to say the coffee tastes entirely different, but it is quite good and they have such a friendly staff always. This was definitely one of those times where my own productiveness impresses me. I grabbed dinner to-go on the way back, watched The Office, 30 Rock, and How I Met Your Mother, assembled the pile of work I need to do over the weekend, took care of general hygiene(as in cut nails, shaved, but sadly no floss, sorry Ms. Everythingtarian), wrote 2 reviews, microwave roasted a squash, and changed my clothes. Whew. Dinner was a relaxing time to sit down.
Cajun Baked Pollock, Asparagus Tips With Lemon, Mashed Acorn Squash
Excitingly, fish was on the menu tonight. This actually had surprisingly good flavor; spices are a great way to turn the heat up in a dish without making it too heavy. The aspargus was a little… mutilated, but it counts as greens right? I also liked that it was cooked with lemon 😉 And I needed to use that other 1/2 of an acorn squash. Normally I eat it whole with the skin but I felt like something different tonight and mashed it. It was nice and light with a slightly buttery flavor; mashed acorn squash would be a great light dish at the Thanksgiving table(though I think I’d pass and opt for more sweet potato :-)).
The internet basically stopped working last night around 7. Not everything, but everything that mattered(email, google reader, runner’s world forum, etc.). I guess it was a good motivator to study and read *Sigh* Ghost Whisperer helped entertain me. I love this season so far; it actually has a plot and that’s so rare in television shows these days. This also helped with the boredom:
Luscious Lemon Cupcakerie Cupcake
Yesterday for Cookie Cupcake Friday , the one that seemed best to me was the lemon flavor. The base cake had a great, light lemon note to it, while the buttercream frosting had a much heavier, richer flavor. I loved the candied zest on top, which made the whole thing smell so perfumey. This was easily my favorite lemon treat of the day. We need to petition for something better to be on at 9 on Fridays. This is prime viewing time and I was watching Masterpiece Theater. Has anybody else seen that? Don’t. It’s nothing terribly exciting unless you need a good English accent fix. I kind of wanted pumpkin oatmeal with peanut butter at 10. What I didn’t want was a bowl to clean up at 11. Instead, I had a yogurt mess with the same flavors.
Peanut Yogurt With Vegan Pumpkin Molasses Cookie, Pumpkin Butter, Chocolate Chips, And Maple Syrup
My messes are too organized, but I just hate to make them not look so good 🙂 This had perfect flavor in it. I need to make another batch of these cookies ASAP. I just can’t wait for Thanksgiving. The maple syrup was an after thought after the picture. Since when did maple syrup ever become an afterthought? It’s just too good to deny. I also snacked on this to Leno and hit the hay.
Deep Chocolate Vitatop With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter
9 hours of sleep. Need I say more? I suppose it is a “treat” that the gym doesn’t open until 9 and this morning was supposed to be below freezing. I woke up at 8:30 to good news; I emailed the professor of the class I want to be in and it seems like I’ll get in yet! This will make my schedule very awesome for next year, but I’ll disclose more when it’s official. I got to the gym only to find the usual shows I’d watch on Saturday weren’t on, so instead I let my ipod entertain me for an hour, and ran 7.2 miles in that time. There were only 3 machines and a lot of people so I was worried I’d get kicked off before I was done but I didn’t; the benefit of running at 7 is no one fights for machines. When I got back I put in a load of laundry, showered, and made two glorious messes.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Mighty Maple And Goji Ginger Walnut Cookies
Yogurt With Dried Cherries, Cherry Butter, And Crumbled Cherry Dark Chocolate Squares
See? I can get messy after all. I used a little less oatmeal this time because of the cookies(which are whole grain after all so that’s not heinous). I just love the maple and whole chunks of ginger! Talk about some sweet heat. The yogurt mess was equally good but also a bit of a let down. I put the cherries in the yogurt when I woke up hoping they’d rehydrate a little like the raisins did but apparently it doesn’t work the same. Still it’s quite delicious.
Today’s a bit in the air but there’s about a 90% chair of baking and sitting with Montana on the couch; I got word over the week he’s always looking for me to sit with when I’m not there and no one else sits with him! I also have high hopes of doing 2 history midterm essays, some Horacian odes, and picking a thesis for Epic Poetry. Hmmm, we’ll see about that *rolls eyes*…
Giveaways
Join me in celebrating An Apple A Day’s 1 year anniversary with her huge celebratory giveaway!
How about an Amazing (Grass) givaway at Fit And Fabulous?
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 9 so far )Goji Gourmet Cookie Review
Good afternoon! How appropriate that this comes on Cookie Friday. Coincidence? I think not. Last week I received samples of Goji Gourmet’s superfood cookies to review. Each cookie is all natural with no refined sugar, rich in antioxidants from goji berries and secondary ingredients, handmade, and–if I may say so–delicious! The goji berry often harvested in the Himalayas have 10 times the antioxidants of a blueberry, which really helps to bolster the immune system, especially during flu season. Goji Gourmet currently has 4 fun flavors but I’ve heard that a 5th is coming soon. Each flavor has other superfoods like ginger or cherries. So instead of buying a cookie from Starbucks this Cookie Friday, why not order a bag here? Or, if you have someone special in your life that you want to deliver a treat to(especially if they live far away and are–say–in college or something ;-)), why not treat them to a surprise? Here are my reviews for the four flavors.
Goji Almond Oat
6.5/10: I like almonds and I like oats. But as “flavors”, I think they really need to have something special done to them to make them pop, and these just didn’t pop. The almond crunch of nuts was nice, but didn’t feel particularly special like the other cookies. Overall, I think these were really good as their basic “goji” cookie, and definitely the one to buy if you want the simple goji flavor. Other than goji, though, I think the flavors here are just too subtle.
Goji Cherry Cacao
9.5/10: I won’t beat around the bush on this one. These cookies were amazing! Truly, the only reason I couldn’t give them a 10 on my scale was on account of their limited availability and steep price. But on flavor and nutrition, consider these little gems. I loved the chocolate base with a cherry flavor infusion; and the chewy gojis with sweet cacao joined in perfect harmony. The simple ingredients are really what make these feel so wholesome, and the fact that they’re handmade drives it home. If you’re looking for your next bit of healthy indulgence, look no further.
Goji Ginger Walnut
8.5/10: These cookies were a bundle of pleasant surprises for me. I loved how they were flavored, not seasoned, with ginger. By this, I mean they had whole chunks of ginger and not simply the powdered stuff from the average kitchen pantry. This added great flavor as well as some additional superfood nutrition. I also didn’t mind that this tasted relatively low on walnuts in comparison to gojis and ginger; I’m not a big walnut fan, but those who are might care for more. Of course, the gojis added an interesting antioxidant boost and worked well with the other flavors. Overall, this was a surprising success with me.
Goji Orange MintChip
9/10: I’m always worried when a product has a lot going on, because I’m a man of simple taste–literally. In each little cookie, Goji Gourmet aimed to mix orange, chocolate, mint, and–of course–goji. Well somehow they rocked this one out. Each bite gave you these flavors, both distinctly and how they worked together. Everything accented each other for a very cool, clean, crisp flavor. Dare I say, these almost made my mouth feel as fresh as a breath mint? Another great flavor by Goji Gourmet.
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 4 so far )Veggies And Heat
Don’t I always say “I have plenty of time this morning”. And wouldn’t you know I always leave my room in disarray with an unmade bed and sometimes uncleaned dishes? I’ve definitily further developed my decaf coffee addiction, because while I could have more time in the morning I often end up rushing out to get coffee. Yesterday was no different until I got to The Blue Room where I switched it up.
Raspberry Lime Seltzer
How is it that I’ve virtually forgotten about the original all-natural soda since moving? I used to drink ore of this stuff, especially on my trip to Georgia. I guess I just don’t shop that aisle at the grocery store, but I definitely should because it’s a way to get me to drink water. I love that fizz! For lunch, I had an undeniable craving. And you know I wouldn’t deny a craving 😉
Trader Joe's Mac N Cheese With Peppers, Broccoli
I could 100% live off of Trader Joe’s instant Mac N’ Cheese if I really needed to. I think it’s best with the cheese powder slightly not mixed in so you get that real, artifical taste(even though it’s all-natural!) 🙂 I grabbed peppers from the dining hall to add some bulk and flavor and broccoli for the side. Gotta have the broccoli, right? I also grabbed this for “dessert” to be eaten in class.
Blueberry Vanilla White Chocolate Attune Bar
This was definitely my favorite of the Attune bars! It had a perfect white chocolate flavor that I absolutely loved. And I think white chocolate and cheese pair so well together. I’m pretty sure there’s a recipe out there for vanilla fudge made with cheese. Maybe it’s a Paula Deen recipe? Anyway, this was perfect and the best thing to power me through classes. When I got back to my dorm later though I was a bit hungry famished, and threw together some oats to solve the dilemma.
Kashi Vanilla Pumpkin Oats With Vanilla Almond Butter
These might not be the sexiest oats at the party, but they got it going on. I used a Kashi Vanilla oats packet and mixed that with pumpkin for an irresistibly seasoned base, and topped that with my favorite almond butter to drive the vanilla home. As Emeril Lagasse would say, Bam! Unfortunately, this caused me to tap into my “reserve” can of pumpkin. I’ll need to pick some more up today or tomorrow for sure!
There was a ton of hullabaloo around Oprah today because a local person was part of the episode. I only got to watch half of it though 😦 You see, first I brewed some coffee and decided to have an apple.
Red Delicious Apple
That was a crappy apple because it was 2+ weeks old. And that was a crappy picture of a crappy apple because at this point my camera died and I realized I had no other batteries. I chugged my coffee(isn’t that always smart?) and went to the bookstore. Surprisingly, they only carry some very cheap generic brand, so I went the extra distance to CVS. Batteries confuse me so much. I get the AA, AAA thing; what I don’t get is why my camera and remote take the same batteries but if I put the wrong ones in the wrong system I’ll be channel flipping for 10 years but get 8 pictures and a flash out of my camera.
Energizer Ultiate Lithium
I went for the ones that pandered to my weak consumer mind the most. See how 2 are missing? Yeah, they work at least. Rechargeable seem like the best option. But all I could find were rechargeable batteries, not a battery recharger. That’s awful marketing. I also picked up a foodie magazine even though I haven’t read my last two. Oops. When I got back to the dorm, I was cold, but not too cold that this wasn’t excellent.
Pineapple Chobani With Semi-Sweet Baking Chips
I don’t think I could ever resist a creamy yogurt with some sweet chocolate to top it off 🙂 It was at this point in the day I had my “Oh crap, I have a Greek test tomorrow and I’ve barely studied!” breakout. Blogs are not helpful during that time other than being entirely entertaining. I made a special dish to have for lunch tomorrow as I got ready to meet my friend Adam at The Ratty. I decided to bring it “just in case” there wasn’t anything I wanted at the dining hall. Good call, Evan, good call.
The Heat Is On Tofu Salad, Baby Carrots, Stir Fried Peppers, Oregon Style Beans
The menu posted for the dining hall and what they actually had were totally off. There was no baked sweet potatoes with honey and chives. Shame, too, because that sounded good 😦 The lunch I had made was a tofu salad with The Heat Is On peanut butter. I used about 1 1/2 servings firm, mushed tofu, 1 tablespoon The Heat Is On peanut butter, salt, and sweetener to taste. I’d never tried it before but I’ve done it with tuna so I thought it might work. It wasn’t too peanutty, but it was quite delicious and something I’ll definitely make again. I think 2 tablespoons peanut flour and some soy sauce would really put it over the edge. They had baby carrots on the salad line, which they don’t usually have. Don’t you love baby carrots? I figured it was a sign that I was meant to eat my tofu on the carrots. After chatting, getting back to my dorm, and studying some more, I had to go back out, get ripped off buying a Chobani with my dining points, and make this.
Plain Greek Yogurt With Raspberry Jam And Vanilla Stevia, Topped With Jam, Super Dark Newman's Own Organic Chocolate, And Vanilla Sugar
I’m really enjoying these gourmet yogurt messes cleans. I was looking for a pomegranate chobani, but they didn’t have that, so instead I fruit sweetened a plain one with raspberry jam and stevia, and topped it with some more jam, 1 Newman’s Own Organic super dark chocolate square, and vanilla sugar. Sweetening your own yogurt is the best. Just be sure to have some good cheap jams to easily replace because it can take quite a bit, I used 365 brand for this, which is a great brand to get when the actual fruit is higher on the ingredient list than white grape juice. Otherwise, you might as well be paying for white grape jam.
Modern Family was awesome last night. Not because I thought it was particularly funnier than the other episodes but because I used to fence epee too for 3 years 🙂 I don’t own any equipment so I’m not sure if I even could join the club here but it’d be something to look into I suppose. After some debate of what made good “I wish I school work didn’t exist” snack, I toasted this up.
Kashi Strawberry Flax Waffles With Smart Balance, Strawberry Jam, And Microwave Bruleed Bananas
I think waffles just make a good anytime snack, don’t you? The mysterious white powder on the jam is surprisingly not cocaine but rather vanilla powder because that’s how I roll. That strawberry jam is Wild Oats and not 365 brand because 365 brand has not-strawberry as its first ingredient. In all honesty, I got a little mad at myself with how fast I ate this. I wasn’t that hungry or anything, but I got stressed once I read an email from my Epic Poetry teacher about an essay she had just assigned for next Friday. Frankly, I should have taken that class Pass/Fail since I’m not much of an essay writer. I guess I know what I’ll be doing with my weekend.
1/2 English Muffin With Peanut Butter Spread, Deep Chocolate Vitatop With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter
A little more snacks and I shut off the comp to study, then hit the hay early. Honestly, I’d rather walk in and take a test on a subject I’d never heard of before after a full nights sleep than take a test in something I’m a master at on no sleep. I think when you’re well rested your mind can pull info it didn’t even know it knew from just about anywhere.
I slept in a little(read: 7) and went to the gym for a shorter run(read: 7). My gym friend came in and to be quite honest she wreaked. I’m going to give her the benefit of the doubt because she might have been eating an everything bagel with cream cheese, but wow that got me running those 7 faster. When I was done, I hit the restroom, and came back to find someone had moved my ipod and ID to use my machine even though there were other free ones. Umm what? Sure, I was done, but they didn’t know that. That irked me a bit. When I got back I made a fantastic breakfast.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Maple Almond Butter And Goji Almond Oat Cookies, Peanut Soy Yogurt
A little note to clear confusion: peanut yogurt whenever you see it on this blog is more often than not 6oz some brand yogurt mixed with 2 tablespoons byrd mill peanut flour. If such a magical product existed on store shelves trust me when I say I’d let you know. This really did feel like the breakfast of champions. Anyone want to take a guess at how much protein and fiber it has? I can’t do the math off the top of my head but I’ll start off tomorrow’s post with the answer(aren’t the kind of “games” we foodies play hysterical?).
Yesterday I won a free Mojamix with up to 7 ingredients on their weekly facebook contest! Any suggestions for some fun mixes? And now, I leave you with a chest shot to express how I feel right now.
T-Shirt
Chobani Giveaway over at The Actors Diet! Can never have enough greek yogurt 🙂
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 18 so far )Bars, Bars, Bars
Bars are a runner/blogger/anybody health conscious’ best friends, aren’t they? There was some serious bar lovin’ yesterday on my part. Normally, I really hate leaving a dirty dorm room. Yesterday, I had time to make my bed and clean my dishes and still be at class on rime. Or I could screw all that and get coffee and be at class on time. I chose the second option. The not-so-fun part was doing it all when I got back on my lunch hour while catching up on emails. The fun part was that I got mail when I got coffee.
Nugo Bars
Nugo Bars. I won these in a contest, so I’m not going to feel the same pressure to write reviews for them the way I would if they were from the company. But if any of them really stand out, good or bad, I’ll give you the 411. I read my emails; apparently ya’ll do a lot of blog commenting after I’ve gone to sleep, you night-owls. That or a lot of people just live on the west coast. Before going off to class I needed to make a lunch.
Italian Veggies, Maple Mustard Tofu
Maple Nut Clif Bar
“Make” is an interesting word here since this is probably the least effort I’ve (had) to put into a meal. The veggies were straight from the dining hall, so all I had to do was toss tofu with mustard and maple syrup. I really like this tofu I picked up(read: had my parents buy me) more than the one they serve at the dining hall. It’s softer and just tastes fresher. Even though it’s one of those things I *could* get for free, I think I’ll start paying for my own ‘fu. And the Maple Nut clif bar was just the perfect thing to get me through my next two classes.
Don’t you hate it when a teacher or anyone is awkward and they just don’t stop? My Epic Poetry teacher made a joke about nymphs stealing young boys with their lust(it was relavent to what we’re reading) and wouldn’t stop “warning” us to watch out. For 5 minutes. Really? I think I’ll be set walking to Eastside Market from the nymphs. After that class, I had another package waiting for me.
Larabars
More bars! I feel so behind in the blogosphere: I actually haven’t eaten more than 1 or 2 of these, ever! I’ve made my own, but not had the original, so I was excited when they sent these 4 flavors to sample and review. I’m really pumped to try the PB&J one, of course. I met with my advisor to talk about classes next semester. It looks like I’ll be following up on my History and Greek classes, taking a Latin translation course, and then a 4th literary course outside my concentration that I’ll take Pass/Fail so it’s not so much of a pressuring course. That being said, I actually need to find said classes being offered, so I’m not entirely sure what I’ll really be taking. When I got back to my dorm, the afternoon had practically gone by and I was starving.
Carrot Muffin Bottom Yogurt With SB PB, Deep Chocolate Vitatop With Cream Cheese
No bars here. I feel bad eating bars when I’m in my dorm room and could be eating “real” food, even though most of the bars I have are made with simple ingredients. I love the cream cheese and vitatop combo–perfect savory sweet. And normally my muffin bottom yogurt tastes more like carrot cake but this time it just wasn’t happening 😦 Maybe it needed more cinnamon? Or just a fresher muffin. I was still decently hungry after this and needed more.
Oatmeal With Sunland Banana Peanut Butter And PB&Co. Mighty Maple
I couldn’t decide between banana peanut butter, or maple peanut butter. Silly me–together the two are tastier than the 1! These worked so well together for some nice sweet oats. After this I was quite satiated, enough so to realize how little I’d accomplished for the afternoon. Ugh. I made the decision then to stay in for the night and hopefully get stuff done, starting with sharpening 5 pencils, putting on some PJ’s, and thinking “if only I owned a snuggie right now…”. I ended up having a late-ish dinner, which usually happens when I fend for myself.
Broccoli, Acorn Squash, Zesty Lemon Tempeh
This was the last of the Lightlife tempehtations I had to review. And boy did I enjoy it! I think all the flavor that was lacking in the other two wound up in this one, because it really was zesty. All that garlic flavor really pleased my Italian heart. Similarly, the acorn squash from under my bed(because that’s where all acorn squashes grow) tasted delicious as well.
I didn’t really care for Heroes last night. Let’s face it; it was a clip show. A clip show with a unique plot twist, but a clip show nonetheless. I translated Horace’s 10th and 11th ode. I’m sure you all know the phrase carpe diem but did you know that’s from the last line of his 11th ode and the full phrase is carpe diem quam minimum credula postero? I bet you didn’t (want to) know that. What you will want to know is how I made the most amazing yogurt mess clean.
Gourmet Organic Chocolate Cherry Oikos
I can’t call this a mess; it was too crisp and clean. And gourmet is definitely the right word. I took a plain Oikos and fruit sweetened it myself with a tablespoon cherry butter(American Spoon), vanilla stevia, and some vanilla infused sugar from the Dedham Whole Foods. Then I topped that with the dried cherries from WF the bulk bin and 3 squares of the Green & Black organic Dark Chocolate Cherry bar my mom gave me for Halloween. Oh my God. This redefined dessert in my book. There was tart, sweet, bitter, creamy, crunchy, smooth, and chewy all in the same bowl. Creativity like this is the best reason to opt for plain yogurt.
English Muffin With Pumpkin Butter And Chocolate Chips And Mighty Maple
After seeing this sammie on The Inner Workings Of A College Graduate so many times, I knew I needed to try it. That, and I needed an excuse not to just eat chocolate chips out of the bag 🙂 This was really good! I ate it open faced, because that’s how I have every sandwich(not just PB&J’s, but everything save burgers), but I loved how the flavors still managed to find each other. It kind of bums me out TJ pumpkin butter isn’t vegan 😦 Is it just me, or does maple syrup make more sense to sweeten pumpkin butter with anyway? Maybe we can make a motion for that for next season. Unfortunately, what this didn’t do was hit my chocolate chip tooth.
Whole Wheat Bread With Cream Cheese, Vanilla Bean Sugar, And Chocolate Chips
I like to think I made the healthy choice by having this with whole wheat bread and cream cheese, a source of calcium. I also like to think cream cheese is a source of calcium, that princess Di is still alive somewhere, and that the moon is made of cheese. Anyway, this was good and the non-melted chocolate chips totally hit the spot.
When I got up this morning, nothing felt like a labor of love; everything just felt like labor. I couldn’t diagnose if I was hungry, or tired, or mad the sun got its butt out of bed before me, or what. I had a shorter run planned anyway, so I decided to just go ahead with it. When I got to the gym, all the TV’s were set so I had the Today sho to watch. Normally I love it but today just seemed like a bunch of yacity-yack. They debated whether the claim “Helps Boost Your Immunity” should be on sugary kids cereal fortified with vitamin A, C, and E. My take? Of course not, because we all know they’d be better off with oatmeal. In actuality though, they definitely have the “right” to put that claim there because those vitamins do help with immunity. It’s just that having 10% more in your bowl of sugar isn’t going to make a difference overall. Well I put up with that crap for 8 miles in 65:03. When I got back I was really apathetic towards food and decided I wanted a meal that would make me feel full.
Pumpkin Oatmeal With Honey Maple Peanut Butter And Ginger Walnut Goji Gourmet Cookies
Plain Oikos With Vanilla Sugar And Chocolate Brownie Z-Bar
Don’t you just love bars? The yogurt became a mess after picture taking, per usual. I decided pumpkin oats are always nice and filling; this bowl had slightly less oatmeal to compensate for the cookie and bar carbage that was also to take place. I wasn’t expecting to love this Goji Gourmet cookie because of my general dislike of walnuts; I hate love it when products prove me wrong. It wasn’t my favorite of the 3 I’ve tried so far, but it was delicious. I just loved biting into whole chunks of ginger 🙂 Which reminds me I haven’t had a ginger smoothie from the bookstore in too long, but that’s another story. I think the walnuts might have been a little light in these, but I wasn’t complaining.
Today already feels stress free, with no more emails to answer, a short google reading list, and 1 class. Maybe a trip to Whole Foods is in order? I can most definitely study and walk at the same time(unless a tree gets in my way). Stay well!
Nature’s Valley Granola Clusters Giveaway
A delicious chocolate giveaway and a funky monkey giveaway both at One2Try
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 25 so far )A Normal Morning Is A Good Morning
Yesterday was dark and pooring. All day. Warning: There was a lot of flash necessary in the making of this post. Eating a larger than usual breakfast later than usual did not have me very hungry after Latin class. Unfortunate because that’s my hour to eat. I perused the Farmers’ Market and found some acorn squash but my food budget for the rest of October is 92 cents so I passed on it all and went for the free stuff in the dining hall.
Stir Fry Tofu And Vegetables, Tomato And Cannelloni Bean Soup
I ate this in Greek History class. Or rather, I ate the soup and the over oily vegetables. I didn’t even bother with the tofu; apparently, if it’s not drenched in maple and mustard, it’s not appealing to me. The veggies in their oily mess were bad enough as was. Greek History class was so boring I almost fell asleep in the last 5 minutes. We had a TA teaching the lesson; the regular professor may be stubborn and opinionated but he’s entertaining. When I got out of class I needed to grab this:
Orange Zevia
Despite the fact that my next class was in the opposite direction, I rushed to my dorm to grab this and then ran to class. Don’t ask me why, but after that failure of a lunch I was craving something sweet and carbonated. If I didn’t have these babies I might have been weak enough to go for a diet Sprite. The next class was slightly better, but when half the students fail to show up you feel a little suckered. Obviously no one wants to go to class in a deluge but we do.
The rest of the afternoon honestly had me wanting to just call my mom and beg her to bring me home for the night or at least dinner. I was soaking wet, and my roommate was napping. Apparently, he caught streptococcus. Our room smelled awful, like a nursing home, where I volunteered 2 hours a week for 3 months last year so I would no. I couldn’t turn on the lights because I didn’t want to wake him, so I resorted to making oats in the dark.
Oats With Mighty Maple And Chocolate Chips
Is there anything more calming than a big bowl of oats? Maybe ones with chocolate and maple syrup. Those two flavors are dynamite in this New Englander’s heart. How has nobody made a maple chocolate bar? I ate this in the dark watching Oprah with no sound. Did I mention how much I wanted to call my mommy? I also had the great pleasure to do homework in the dark, because Ancient Greek letters aren’t easy enough to read in the light. My roommate finally woke up at 5:30, by which point my eyes felt like a mole person’s when the lights came on. I made a snack to hold me over for dinner.
Banana Goodness Bread With Banana Peanut Butter And Oikos
Obviously, this bread was meant to be with this peanut butter. Probiotics are supposed to help against illnesses so I was thinking this would help be not get strep throat(or I was thinking, damn that’ll be good). At 6:27 my friend called to say essentially ditch me for our dinner at 6:30. If this was a few hours earlier, I wouldn’t have minded in the least(I was half planning on ditching him because I knew I’d be a Debby Downer at dinner). But 3 minutes early was just annoying; think of all the extra time I could have spent in my pajamas! I went to the dining hall and picked up dinner, went back to my room, got undressed for the night obscenely early, and ate.
Steamed Carrots, Broccoli, And Peas, Baked Sole
This was exactly what I needed. I felt healthier and more myself with every bite. All the veggies tasted fresh and crisp, which only happens about 20% of the time with the dining hall. What was actually on the line was Sole stuffed with spinach and breading. I’m not a stuffing person(except for Whole Foods stuffing which is incredible and almost back!) so I took 2 and unstuffed them. The whole dish felt nice and light. If I were in the mood for some carby carbs Trader Joe Mac N’ Cheese would have gone well here, but I needed this meal just as it was.
I know I wasn’t the only one excited by The Charlie Brown Halloween Special on last night. Don’t lie. I’m such a sucker for the seasonal shows. I could honestly watch It’s A Wonderful Life again and again. The downside of a light dinner is that you’re hungry not too long later. The upside is dessert’s what’s best anyway.
Greek Yogurt With Chocolate Sauce, Dried Cherries, And Goji Chery Cacao Cookies
Having a sick roommate, I need to bolster my immune system with these amazing cookies, right? Goji berries are my excuse for everything. But seriously this was soooo good. Like a brownie sundae or something ridiculous. Modern Family was equally hilarious last night: “I am loose. I am fun. Remember breakfast for dinner last week? My idea.” and my favorite “Mitchell, she is your family; of course she’s going to be judgmental and condescending.” We need as many shows to show us how crazy and dysfunctional we are as we can get; why did Everybody Love’s Raymond go off the air?
Vitabrownie With Cream Cheese, English Muffin With White Chocolate Wonderful And Peanut Butter Cookie Spread
Wow am I easy to read or what? Clearly, cream cheese and white chocolate wonderful were on the brain. If you’ve never tried a vitalicious chocolate product with cream cheese… well that one may be an acquired taste 😉 Speaking of cream cheese, I wasn’t quite done yet.
Toast With Cream Cheese And TJ Pumpkin Butter
Not really toast because I was too lazy to bust out the toaster at 10:50, this was eaten in bed and then promptly put me to sleep, because I’m classy like that.
Nothing remarkable happened this morning, and that felt great. I rolled out of bed at 6:50, still felt full from dinner dessert, and hit the gym, just like ol’ times. I ran a nice 8 miles in 67:25 while watching the usual shows and studying up for my history midterm tomorrow(my tiny handwriting isn’t exactly easy to read in motion, either). Because I was so on top of everything, I got back to my room at 8:30, giving me 2 full hours before class. I even was the first person to the showers!(aka, I didn’t have to smell the remnants of the hockey player who lives 3 doors down. What could be more glorious than this normalcy, you ask?
Breakfast was a conglomerate of super foods.
Almost Empty Mighty Maple Jar
It was finally time to throw the last punch here. And Mighty Maple is definitely a superfood; Holly ran a marathon and she eats up this stuff like there’s no tomorrow. Of course, we all know what empty jars mean…
Pumpkin Oats In A Jar
Oats are a super grain and pumpkin is a super vegetable… or is it a fruit? I’m just going to say vegetable even if that’s wrong. Now if only they made peanut butters in jars that you could cook in, then this would really be an efficient meal. More super foods from super companies:
Goji Gourmet's Goji Orange MintChip Cookies, Attune Coffee Bean Dark Chocolate Bar
I didn’t actually feel like yogurt this morning(I know, shocker, right?) but I still wanted to get my probiotics so I snatched this attune bar from Attune Foods. I think that’s technically a breakfast food even though it’s chocolate because it has coffee in it. And it’s definitely a super food with the antioxidants from dark chocolate; can’t really prove me wrong with that logic 😉 I also tried a new flavor of Goji Gourmet‘s cookies. I was a little worried this one would have a muddled flavor with everything going on but oh my God was it good. Somehow you totally got the mint, goji, orange, and chocolate essence in every bite. Yum! Now I feel invincible from the germs lurking about.
Today I’m thinking of enjoying the not rain with a trip to Whole Foods and Eastside Market to see the new sales. I have 92 cents left in my food budget for October… We’ll see how that goes.
Speaking of Goji Gourmet‘s cookies, there’s a contest out there for them so go on over and enter! I hope you win, or better yet, order some for yourself because these really are sooooo good!
Read Full Post | Make a Comment ( 10 so far )Messy Monday
Sometimes, Fall in New England can be kind of nice.
But first, some loose ends…
Thank you to all my readers; yesterday finally broke the record set by the day my refrigerator was featured on Carrots N’ Cake as the most trafficked day yet. You guys all rock(and clearly have nothing better to do on a Monday than read blogs :-D)
Banana Goodness Bread has been updated to reflect the change I tried this weekend whereby I used a container of Vanilla Oikos for the yogurt.
In regards to some questions, all the products featured on this blog are all-natural unless I make a point otherwise. “All-natural” means no artificial preservatives, flavors, colors, or ingredients. I think the last thing I ate that didn’t fit this was the frosting on the vegan cupcake from vegan friday, though I didn’t turn purple so I think all is well 😉
I have, under my bed,
23 peanut butter jars(currently including 2 mighty maples and 2 smart balances)
7 almond butter jars plus 2 barney butter packets
1 pepita butter
3 sunflower butters
1 cashew butter
1 chocolate hazelnut butter
and 1 jar of vegan fluff
And I’m always looking for more in my collections so if you have something all-natural you want me to review send it my way 🙂
Okay, back to yesterday morning, I felt like a drain; I could not get enough water in me. After I got tired of water, I took a walk to the mail room, which happens to sell organic decaf coffee. They also happened to have this for me:
Goji Gourmet Cookies
The amazing bakers over at Goji Gourmet sent me these cookies to try(the fact that I said amazing bakers should probably clue you in these didn’t stay unopened for long). Their cookies are infused with superfoods like the goji berry, packing an antioxidant punch with some fun flavors like almond oat, ginger walnut, cherry cacao, and orange mintchip. They’re all natural, mostly organic, and without refined ingredients. A more perfect food for me? I think not. I kept these in my bag through Latin class, then went to the Ratty to pick up broccoli and back to my dorm to make lunch:
Black Beluga Lentils And Beets In Snobby Sauce, Broccoli Spears, Clif Fruit And Nut Mojo Dipped
More good news: The “flame grilled veggie burgers” my cafeteria serves some days are Gardenburger variety, aka my favorite frozen veggie burger and the ones I’ve thus far been paying for. Well, that was awesome to know, but I wanted to use up my Trader Joe’s lentils before they went bad(do lentils even go bad?) so I stuck with them. I think any dish that is 1/4th composed of sauce is an automatic winner. I also love when the dining hall serves broccoli rather than me making it from the salad bar because the spears are huge.
That Clif bar had my name all over it, so I didn’t hesitate giving it a go. The flavor was right, but the bar threw me for a loop. You wouldn’t have guessed there were many fruit or nuts from the looks of it. The vanilla coating really saved it though; I’ll go for anything vanilla. I ate this mid-history class and I have to say that the more he talks about the midterm the more I feel prepared for it. That’s a good sign, right?
When I got back to my dorm I had hopes of plopping on the bed and shamelessly lounging around. Unfortunately, my roommate was taking an afternoon nap(who does this?) and I’m too prideful to be lazy in the company of others. Instead, I think I woke him up by making oats that I was dreaming about during epic poetry:
Oatmeal With Chocolate Sunflower Butter, Cherry Butter, And Goji Gourmet Cherry Cacao Cookies
Chocolate cherry is one of my favorite flavor combo’s, so I knew this would be the bag with the first broken seal. But I’d be lying to you if I said I ate it like that.
Chocolate Cherry Oatmeal Mess
Much better. And then, to eat. Holy chocolate cherry cow was this good! First of all, the cookies were amazing. Take note, ye who are blood obligated to get me a Christmas present: I want these in my stocking. The cherry essence was infused in the chocolate, and the cacao nibs were wowza! Besides that, the chocolate sunflower butter and cherry butter really complimented each other, though I might have to spring for the tried and true dried cherries next time I’m at Whole Foods. I didn’t think this bowl would tame this ravenous beast for the afternoon, but surprisingly I was set until dinner. I had wanted to go to the farmers’ market to get acorn squash but my legs and wallet decided homework would be a better way to spend the afternoon, and I obliged. By dinner time, I was ready to load my plate:
Salmon, Sweet Potato Green Beans, Steamed Vegetables, Vegan Chili
That was the last of the leftover salmon from Sunday’s lunch :,-( Getting 3 meals out of 1 is never bad, though. There was also an all-star line up of veggies being offered, so I went at those. The vegan chili they serve is very good here. But i really had “corn niblets” so I tried to just eat the beans around them–if it ain’t on a cob, it ain’t good corn. This had me feeling nice and bloated stuffed, which is good concentrating for homework blog reading.
Did anybody else find Heroes a bit… hmm, what’s the word… horny for Monday night television? I do not know what was with that opening scene. I don’t particularly think of that kind of stuff when I go to watch Heroes. Blood and explosions is more what I’m looking for. After that I made a pretty racy snack:
Oatmeal With Smart Balance Peanut Butter, White Chocolate Chips And Grain Sweetened Baking Chips
I don’t know why my bowl decided to be so segregated; it’s a bit depressing looking back. When I made it into a mess(unpictured), at least the peanut butter seemed to be accepted by both sides 
My Smart Balance is running so low. I’m going to have not one but two oats in a jar in my future 🙂 I made word documents for the 3 history essays I have; I don’t know why, but making documents always feels like a huge step even if… it’s not.
Whole Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Yeast Roll With Vanilla Cream Cheese Frosting
Have I made you salivate with these yet? That’s really cruel of me, considering I don’t think it’s possible to get outside of CA or MA. These whole wheat cinnamon raisin rolls from the bakery are to die for; if you find anything like it in your neck of the woods, go for it! For the “frosting” I did probably 2 parts cream cheese to 1 part greek yogurt. This made it creamy but also smooth and spreadable like real frosting. I also used 4 drops vanilla stevia to sweeten it just the right amount.
I fell asleep to Man Vs. Wild last night, so that was clearly a good sign I’d be beastly for the morning, right? I slept in until 7:10. a) When did that become sleeping in and b) God that felt good. I decided to pump up the pace today and ran 8 miles at 7.5 pace in 64:22. I find when you’re running fast just don’t look at the treadmill distance and go go go. I caught up with my gym friend for the last few miles; she was in Florida 2 weeks ago and it was 93 degrees! Boy was I jealous to hear that.
Vanilla Bean Voskos Organic Yogurt, Nature's Path Organic Hot Oatmeal, Sunland All Natural Valencia Peanut Butter
Breakfast today is literally all products for reviewing. I won’t say much about it now, because I like to give it a bit more time and thought than my hectic mind has right now(Greek class in 30 minutes!). I will say that the oatmeal smells appley, the peanut butter peanuty, and the yogurt doesn’t smell at all, so that’s all good signs! I hope today stays nice because I get out at 12 and hope to make a great Whole Foods trip! At the very least, I need some bulk bin oats; I have a new bag of Trader Joe oat bran but my organic steel cuts are on their last leg. More tempehtations and dried cherries might also be in my future.
Eating Bird Food is hosting a eggcellent giveaway from Cookware.com for Rachael Ray Cookware! Giveaway ends 10/30!
Enter the contest at this blog to win some awesome Clif Kid prizes(because we’re all kids at heart!)
There’s some great Oikos action going on on Facebook!
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Food Makes Fun Fuel 