little tastes

Just a couple pix from breakfast and lunch.

Breakfast I had some of this:

Fiber One Honey Clusters! I have to say, I have always been kind of freaked out by the IDEA of Fiber One, and I know I already get a ridiculous quantity of fiber in my diet, so I definitely don’t need it. But yknow what?

The honey clusters are delish! It’s like Honey Bunches of Oats, except it’s whole grain and actually I think the flakes are BETTER because they don’t get soggy!

I had this with skim milk, and also had a big banana.

Lunch I just have a teaser.

Another lovely TJ’s whole grain tortilla with hummus, teensy bit of broccoli, green peppers, and carrots, skillfully wrapped in plastic to go in my lunch bag and off to work. I also had an apple, and a strawberry-kiwi light ‘n fit, which was meh. I tasted no kiwi.

For an afternoon snack, I had some Cranny Banany trail mix. They sell it in my school store, and I can’t remember what brand it is, but I’ll try to get a picture later, cause it is YUMMY! Raisins, dried cranberries, peanuts, pepitas, banana chips, almonds, walnuts, dried apples… think that’s it? It’s 170 calories for 1/3 cup, which is a good size serving, and it’s nice and salty and sweet and has a nice mix of textures, and it combines protein and fiber which is the perfect afternoon snack!

My friend is going to put me on one of her guest meals in the dining hall, which is beyond nice of her. I still feel seriously sick (I finally gave in and made an appointment at campus health tomorrow- my latest concern is that I might be anemic, because I have a lot of the symptoms) so it’s going to be nice not to have to cook, and also to get to catch up with her!

p.s. um, awesome giveaway?< at run to the finish.

quick one

http://carrotsncake.com/2009/03/pure-bar-giveaway.html

Pure bar giveaway! Although please don't enter... better chance for me! I want to try cherry and cashew!

pina colada and peanut sauce

I went back to work today, and I genuinely love my job (I’m an intern for the American Diabetes Association—public health=<3), but I am definitely still not up to 100%.

I tried to refuel with a protein and fiberiffic snack.

 

I’ve had a bunch of the berry fruit leathers before, but this was my first time trying the pineapple. It is YUM!

I bought this on a whim from the cafe under my office. I wanted sweet and calcium and protein, and this delivered.

I know it sounds slightly insane, but I swear alternating bites of the pineapple bar with the vanilla milk was pina colada reminiscent.

Then I walked home from work. I was apprehensive about doing it, because like I said, I’m still feeling a little sick, but I was actually really glad I did it. It was nice to move and be active and get fresh air, and I felt better, not worse, when I was done.

My dinner side dish was this baby:

There’s this restaurant at home, Lighthouse Tofu (the best name for a restaurant… ever?) that’s Korean, and like many Korean restaurants serves all their dishes with a bunch of fun tangy spicy condiments on the side. They have one with cucumbers that is soooooooooo goooooooooood. I invented these, which are kind of pickles with Asian flavors, to try and duplicate it. They taste NOTHING LIKE IT.

But, I decided they’re good in their own right. Toss some cucs with rice vinegar, salt, sugar, and some chili paste. As a spicy food lover, I adore them.

I made baked tofu, which I’ve been really into lately. I started making it after reading about it in everyone’s blogs! I baked it at 375 for 40 minutes or so, flipping halfway through.

The star was supposed to be some peanut sauce that I had leftover from Thai food awhile ago—I smeared it on the tofu before I baked it. Honestly, the texture was great but it lost the peanut sauce flavor. I should’ve added it at the end. Live and learn!

I did toss some more peanut sauce (those blobs are dabs of it, this is before I topped everything with tofu) with the other components of my meal. I had a half serving of soba noodles I wanted to use up, so I made those and tossed in some fresh broccoli for the last minute and a half or so of their boiling time. Then I stir fried them with the aforementioned peanut sauce and topped them with tofu.

I ate all this good stuff with chopsticks. My technique of using them is probably not correct, but it is effective, and fun!

baking and lunch preview

Last night I wanted to bake muffins again, so I modified my old shredded wheat recipe, making them apple-carrot muffins. They were only okay, though, so I’m going to tweak it before I post the new recipe.

In the meantime, a preview of lunch!

I made some lurvely tuna salad with a 2.5 oz packet of tuna, some chopped up onion, carrot, and cuc, 1 tsp olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, and a bit of mustard.

Atop a Trader Joe’s whole wheat british muffin. I adore them with all my heart. I have no idea why they call them “british” rather than english.

Huh, the tuna salad english muffin looks a lot like my sweet muffins. They tasted different, I promise…

To accompany, a Light&Fit in the new, seasonal flavor: Pomegranate Berry. I’ve had this before and immediately bought another one because it is TASTY yogurt. Not super sweet! Tangy and pomegranatey!

I’ll also have some fruit with it.

Hope everyone’s having a nice day!

soup and salad

Just like yesterday, I felt the worst morning leading into noon, and somewhat bounced back in the afternoon. Odd. However, I went to CVS today and bought myself a magical elixir that starts with Ny and ends with Quil. If it doesn’t make me sleep tonight, nothing will!

This afternoon, post-grocery shopping, I refueled with a guilty pleasure of mine

Oh, coffee flavored Frappuchino light. Yes, it is fewer calories than a regular frappachino, but they are pretty empty calories. Maybe it has some calciumy milk in it? Whatev, it was delicious.

For dinner, I went with a perfect, classic combination: soup and salad.

My salad was a beauteous blend of greens tossed in lemon dressing, topped with radish, cuc, and a touch of black pepper.

My soup was YUM! I’ve made this before, and it made me gloriously happy once again. It’s bay scallop chowder, based loosely on this but with a number of modifications.

Ghetto Bay Scallop Chowder for One

1/4 cup onion, diced teeny tiny
1/4 cup celery, diced teeny tiny
1 tsp butter
2 tsp all purpose flour
2/3 cup diced red potato*
2/3 cup ish veggie broth** (maybe more- throw it in if the soup gets too thick for your liking)
1/3 cup skim milk (or whatever you have, but if you use a fatty milk probably don't use the half and half)
salt
pepper
3 oz. bay scallops
2 little packets half and half***
dash of hot sauce
Melt the butter in whatever pot you have (it should be smallish, as this recipe only serves one) on medium heat (maybe medium high if your stove isn't crazy like mine). Throw in the onions and the celery, cook til they soften a bit.
Sprinkle on the flour and mix around til the veggies are coated.
Throw in potato and liquid, and a generous amount each of salt and pepper. Even the salt. I'm in general a sodium-phobe, but it's worth it in this.
Bring to a simmer and then lower heat.
Cook 5 minutes or so, til everything's warm and the soup has thickened a bit.
Add the scallops. Cook two minutes.
Remove your pot from the heat, and stir in the half and half and hot sauce.

*take a whole red potato. stab it a few times with a fork. microwave it on high for two minutes in a bowl with a little bit of water. flip it over, microwave it another two. let it cool for a few minutes, dice it up, and save the rest of it for another use

**ideally use homemade veggie broth cause it's delish and CHEAP and environmentally friendly- just, whenever you have leftover usually just garbagey things like celery hearts, carrot tops, pepper tops, turnip tops, onion tops, kale stems, etc., throw them in a bag in your freezer. Then, whenever you have a lazy day at home-- in my case, the snow day on monday-- throw them all in a big pot with a whole bunch of water-- like probably double the liquid volume of the stock you want, cause it evaporates!-- a few whole cloves of garlic and a splash of wine vinegar or wine if you're allowed to buy it, which I am not, and some salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat, cover, and simmer for like 4 hours ideally. Then you can freeze it!

***stolen from the nearest coffee establishment. This is ridiculous of me, I know, but I’m not going to buy a pint of half and half to use like two tablespoons (or is it teaspoons?) of it. So I just took a couple of packets when I bought coffee!

These sweet little bay scallops were definitely the star of this dish. I saw that they were on sale for $1.99 a pound, which is marvelous for any seafood, let alone scallops! I did a bit of internet research and actually everyone said that in terms of flavor they are SWEETER and BETTER than big scallops! I guess it’s just that they’re small so you can’t do super fancy presentations with them? Whatever, their affordability is a wonderful mystery. I’ve used them to make pasta fra diavlo with equally marvelous results.

I’ll leave you with a picture of my fruit bowl, which is looking lovely now that I’ve restocked!

my beloved hummus platter

I woke up feeling terrible after not really sleeping, AGAIN! Oi oi oi. I had a nice nourishing breakfast, though. I made a 1/2 cup portion of oatmeal (I almost always do half milk, but today I did it with just water cause my tummy’s been iffy and I’m out of milk anyway). That made me feel better, so I had another portion with 1/3 cup, again just water. Along with that, I had some frozen grapes, cause they were the closest things I had to popsicles, another sickie food!

Frozen grapes are pretty amazing. My group of friends freshman year were OBSESSED with them, and it took awhile for them to get me sold, because what I love about fresh grapes is that great pop and burst of juice when you bite them. But once you quit expecting that and enjoy the different and unique sensation of biting a frozen grape, they’re great! Plus I can never eat a whole bunch of grapes before they start going soft, so it’s nice to have another way to enjoy them instead of wasting them by throwing them out!

I knew I should keep the liquids going to flush out these germs, so I tried a new product!

In general bottled iced tea is REALLY sweet for me, but this one, while sweet, was still refreshing. I liked the combination of green tea and citrus! For lunch, I pulled out these bad boys:

These are my fave tortillas. Their nutritional status is ridiculously good, and they taste great and have a very pleasing, sturdy texture. Today, I put one, sliced into sixths, on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray, sprinkled the pieces with chili powder and a bit of cumin, and baked in a 400 degree oven for like 5 minutes per side (keep an eye on them; as you can tell I almost burnt a few!). Voila! Instant tortilla chips.

They went into my go-to lunch, the hummus platter. It is so easy, so fun and varied, so well- rounded in terms of health. I have it at least once a week.

In addition on my plate was about 3 tbsp. Cedar 40 spice hummus (which is really good for packaged hummus! I have no clue what the 40 spices are but they are really tasty!), and some sliced up green pepper, carrot, and broccoli.

I had another vitamin C jolt

And some (horribly photographed) Chobani! I love Greek yogurt, but it is too expensive. It just is. BUT Chobani was on sale for $1 a carton, and even though regular I usually get for $.60, it’s so good that I got juuuuust a few. This one was plain, and I had it with a bit of slivered almonds and honey. And yes, it was totally delicious and filling and made me really happy. But it is JUST YOGURT and is STILL TOO EXPENSIVE. If a company starts making Greek yogurt that is the same price as regular yogurt, I will shill them to the high heavens. Just telling any yogurt company executives who read this (haha, no one reads this).

Okey dokey artichokey

I had my sickly snack of toast (with a bit of pb for protein) and applesauce, plus tea. The toast was Trader Joe’s spelt bread, which is my default bread. It is SO GOOD! Especially in toast form.

The applesauce was also Trader Joe’s, of the unsweetened variety. It is also good! I can’t eat sweetened applesauce anymore, it’s too much for me. As I’ve gotten older I’ve realized what an insane sweet tooth I had as a kid- I used to put two large spoonfuls of sugar in my tea, and I probably would’ve added more, but my mom cut me off :D

However, the highlight of the meal was…

MY ARTICHOKE! They had a special on them and they were only $1 each. While that is not cheap, per se, usually they are like $3 or something ridiculous like that. Plus, I figured, it’s in season. And it is SO DELICIOUS AND BEAUTIFUL AND PERFECT!

Artichokes are my favorite vegetable, if not my favorite food. I have told people that if I win the lottery, the best thing about it will be being able to eat as many artichokes as I want. That is the way I’d be happiest spending my earnings. THEY ARE THE PERFECT FOOD. They are definitely my favorite vegetable, if not my favorite food.

On the side I had mayonnaise. I generally hate mayonnaise, but since I was a kid and my family would eat artichokes together (I grew up in Spokane, WA, and we’d get in fresh artichokes from the Yakima valley in the spring!) we’d always eat them with mayonnaise, and they’re pretty much the only thing I have mayonnaise with, like, ever. So… heh, I had no mayonnaise. So I stole some from the student union. That dab on the plate is like 1/2 of one of those Hellman’s packets. It’s regular mayo, not light, but whatev. I only used a little bit and actually the ingredient list is a lot shorter and more natural, so I’m almost glad they only had regular.

It was delicious and perfect!

I wasn’t going to bother with the other stuff I ate (just leftovers), but these beans I threw together were so delish I wanted to share them!

Super mega easy. Take like 1/2 tsp olive oil. Throw in a bit of diced onion and minced garlic (just a note—on this blog, when I say garlic, I always mean fresh. I don’t buy jarred garlic. Fresh is so much better, and not expensive at all). Throw in like 1/2 cup canned white beans, and like 1/4 cup canned crushed tomatoes. Add lots of cumin and crushed red pepper flakes. Let it cook til things are nice and soft and combined—just a few minutes—and then add lemon juice and serve. That’s it! And the flavors were seriously wonderful! Simple food is the best.

p.s. Another giveaway! over at the hungry yogini!