Sweet ‘Tater and Chili? Um, yes please!

Stop the presses!  That was one of the best dinners I have made in a looong time.  Here’s how it all went down.

Microwaved half of one sweet potato for six minutes.

Put it in a bowl and topped with half a can (1 cup) of Amy’s Low Fat Medium Black Bean Chili.

Grated 1 ounce of low fat, part skim mozzarella cheese on top.

Added half a loaf of multi-grain pita bread.

Nuked the whole thing in the microwave for about 2 minutes. 

BAM!  Here it is.

Now, that’s a really terrible picture.  I put it in a gladware bowl thing so I wouldn’t feel bad about not washing it afterward.  Therefore, it’s not the most aesthetically pleasing dish, but it was GOOD.  And it took a grand total of 10 minutes to make, two of which were spent trying to use a manual can opener.

It was so good, I packed up the other half of the potato and chili for lunch tomorrow (which also happens to be the last day of classes.  Heck to the yes.).

Hope everyone’s Monday was super-fabulous!

The Home Stretch

As the title might suggest, I am in the home stretch for this semester.  I only have an Eastern religion test, a physics final, and a calculus final.  I have already drawn up a schedule for studying, which keeps me from freaking out too much.  I have also made time to workout everyday and maybe do something fun for a study break.  I figure as long as I keep positive and don’t feel like a slob, I should be okay.

Yesterday was nothing special in my food world.  I had oatmeal for breakfast, a Luna bar for lunch, and a Subway veggie sandwich for dinner.  It wasn’t anything really worth taking a picture.  The Luna Bar was really good, though.  It was peppermint chocolate, and it tasted like Christmas.

Today, I had another round of oatmeal for breakfast and an almond butter and banana sandwich for lunch (idea courtesy of Jill@Quarterlifewellness!).  For dinner tonight, I plan to have this new concoction that I’ve read about on at least two different blogs.  It’s a baked sweet potato topped with vegetarian chili.  I think it sounds really odd, too.  But you can’t knock it till you try, so here goes.  I’ll let you know how that one turns out.  However, I’m also planning on going to this forum on religion called, “Ask an Atheist.  Ask a Catholic.  Ask a Muslim.  Ask a nondenominational Christian,” where they are serving pizza.  I’m having a really hard time saying no to the pizza idea.  So, tonight might end up being free pizza night or chili and sweet potato night.  Or both, but shhhh! don’t tell anyone.

I just thought I’d share with you the cutest invention ever made.  I love to write letters, so my mom got me this little stamp holder.  It’s a teeny tiny mailbox!

Vegan BBQ

Today was one of the most uneventful days of my life.  It was just packing, packing, packing.  And some movie-watching.  However, I did make some vegan BBQ.  It was amazing.  It tasted like real BBQ, without the gross pork taste. :)

In other food news, I had a glorious snack of pita bread and almond butter.  Too bad I ate it before I remembered to take a picture.

I got the cookbook Skinny Bitch in the Kitch today, and I’m so excited about some of those recipes.  Vegetarian chicken salad?  Yes, please.

Hope everyone is enjoying their Saturday night!

Guacamole and Packing

Yesterday was such a crazy day that I never got around to blogging.  I had a fever all day but still went to work and stuff.  To make me feel better, Sam (the boyfriend) and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant.

Here is a terribly blurry picture of the world’s best guacamole.

Sam enjoying said guacamole.

All that glorious Mexican food made me feel so much better.

For breakfast, (both yesterday and today) I had oatmeal with raisins, a banana, and some tea.  It’s my new favorite breakfast  I have never EVER like oatmeal.  Whenever my mom would make some for breakfast, I would stare at it until I finally got too hungry to turn my nose up at it.  However, the raisins make all the difference.  It tastes like rice pudding.

So far, today has been filled with packing for the big move next week.  For all the work I’ve done, this is all I have packed up so far:

Three boxes, a lamp, and a sewing machine.  You would think having moved all this crap before and after every semester for the past three semesters, I would be more efficient.

What’s everyone else doing with their weekend?  Hopefully something better than packing!

Schrödinger

Short blog for tonight.  I had a great day until a headache and flu-like symptoms set in.  Yuck.  I’m feeling a bit better after a shower, some chamomile tea, and SELF magazine, though.  It’s an early day tomorrow, so I’ll probably hit the hay soon.  Hopefully I can get another 10 hour night!

Oh yeah, don’t you hate it when you know you’re weekend is gonna suck?  This is the weekend right before finals, and that’s no weekend at all.

Wow, really negative post.  Sorry, ya’ll.

Here’s something positive and happy.

 

Schrödinger loves socks.  I think he thinks they’re another cat, because he wrestles with them and hisses at them.   Poor guy doesn’t know that next Friday he' goes to the vet for some booster shots.  But I’d bet he’d take the shots before he’d take the “snip snip” that’s happening in a month and a half.  Poor kitty. :(

It’s also really difficult to get a good picture of him.  He finds the orange light on the camera to be fascinating.  So, when I try to take a picture, he runs at the light.  Resulting in pictures like this one.

Grocery Shopping

First of all, I would like to share the highlight of my day.  I ran out to my car to grab my camera so I could upload some pictures, when I saw him (her?).  A deer standing in my yard.  Staring at me.  So, I crept to my car and got my camera, and SNAP!

I took this with no zoom; he was that close!

Here’s a close-up of Barney (I just deemed that to be his name).

He stayed there for the longest time, just munching away and staring at me.  Then I shut my car door, and that freaked him out, so away Barney went.

I just got back from grocery shopping, and I’m so excited about my purchases.  Vanilla soymilk, vegan BBQ (!), vegan chili, apples, bananas, lara bars, pita and hummus, vegetarian refried beans…

I’m so proud of myself.  Before I went shopping, I sat down and drew up a menu for EVERY meal of EVERY day.  Then I made the shopping list for those meals.  I was in and out of the grocery store in about 30 minutes, a new record.  It also helped me cut down on my spending.  I splurged on sprouted grain bread and organic chili, but that’s nothing to what I could have splurged on (a new car? a le creuset dutch oven?)  Plus, the cashier was super nice.

It’s another vegan hot dog for me tonight.  But tomorrow will bring new and exciting meals.  I’m thinking an egg white scramble burrito…

By the way, my mom is so great.  Even though she’s two hours away, I was able to call her, and she knew exactly where the vegetarian refried beans would be in the grocery store.  I don’t know how she does it, but she always knows.

Rain, rain, I despise you. Don’t come again some other day.

Wouldn’t you know that a super fabulous day would be followed by an epic crappy one.  It’s raining.  I couldn’t wear my heavy coat, even though it’s super cold.  I forgot to wear rainboots, and OF COURSE, three drivers decided it would be super hilarious to spray me with water from their tires as I walked the mile back to my car.  My jeans were soaked past my mid-thigh.  All of this to say, the weather is terrible here.

Other than that….things are good.  I’m starting to feel the stress of finals approaching.  I don’t even think I have that much to be panicked about really, but in my mind, I hype it up to this unconquerable mountain of work.

For breakfast this morning, I had a Weight Watchers 1 point oatmeal raisin cookie and some green tea.  I knew that that cookie wouldn’t keep me full, so I took a little bag of pretzels along as well. 

They look so big and awesome on the box.  You think, “That’s only one point?”  Then you get them home and take them out…

And they’re teeny tiny things.

For lunch, I had another Weight Watchers meal-a 5 point Ravioli Florentine frozen dinner.  I’m on campus at lunch time on most days, so I usually end up taking some frozen thing to heat up in the microwave at my boyfriend’s place (he lives super close to all my classes).  I don’t like those dinners all that much, but they’re easy.  Does anyone have any super easy pack-ahead-of-time meals?  I know I need more fresh fruits and veggies, and those frozen things just aren’t cutting it.

You might wonder what all the Weight Watchers stuff if for.  I did Weight Watchers after my first year of college (the dining halls on campus are all you can eat 24/7.  Most of the food is really sub-par, so you feel like you have to eat a lot of it to get your money’s worth.  Needless to say, I gained some poundage.)  It totally worked, and I felt great.  And BONUS!  You can eat all the veggies you want without counting points for them.  However, all that counting points was tough once I got back to school, but the plan really showed me what one serving looked like and about how much food I need a day to keep my blood sugar stable.  I still really like some of the WW food, especially the Smart Ones desserts they have, though.  The cookie dough ice cream?  Um, yum!

Anyways, in an effort to make this day better, I’m off to do some yoga and/or pilates.  I should probably work some cardio in there, too.

Check back in later!

Well Rested

Today started off smashingly.  I got TEN HOURS of sleep.  Let’s say that again: TEN HOURS!  Hooray for no more physics labs on Tuesday mornings.

I actually got to eat breakfast, one that would actually keep me full.  I know that an egg salad sandwich might sound like an odd choice for breakfast, but I knew the protein would keep me full.  I also had some green tea, because I’ve heard that it jump starts your metabolism.

I also did pilates first thing this morning.  That makes three days in a row!  My abs are sore, and I love it!  I measured myself (bust, waist, hips, butt) today so that I could keep track of any inches I might lose.  Www.exercisetv.tv is a life saver.  I don’t have a television, so I just hop on over to that website, and they have tons and tons of free exercise videos.  The ones that aren’t free, you can download for about two dollars a piece.  The pilates one that I use is Nicole Stewart’s Total Body Pilates.  It’s only twenty minutes long, which is perfect for my mornings.  As much as I want to be healthy, I just can’t bring myself to wake up an hour early to get an entire workout in.  I usually do more exercise once I get home from class or work.

It was actually cold today, so I was able to wear my brand new winter coat.  I felt to sophisticated! :)

For lunch I had yet another vegan hot dog and some pretzels.  I put it them a little serving basket, like the ones you would get at a ballpark.  It made the meal so much more special than if I had thrown it on any old plate (or no plate at all, as is sometimes the case with me).  I also had some Smart Water.  I don’t usually buy bottled water (bad for the planet, yo), but when I have to (i.e. at school and dehydrated), I buy Smart Water.  It has electrolytes and all that good stuff.

Are you stuck on what to get for your friends or family for Christmas (or Hanukah)?  How about some TOMS?

These are hands down the most comfortable shoes I have ever worn.  EVER.  They come in approximately a bajillion styles, and every single one of them is cute.

But here’s the best part.  Their philosophy is “One for One". This means that for every pair that you buy and send to someone on your shopping list (or to yourself!), they give a pair to a child who doesn’t have shoes.

Now, don’t let the prices ($40 and up) scare you away.  Remember, an impoverished child gets a pair, too.  So, really, it’s like buying two pairs of shoes.  Because they are a charity, I believe there is no tax charged on your purchase, nor do you have to pay shipping.  Convinced?  Go to www.tomsshoes.com.

What’s on ya’ll’s shopping lists?

P.S. On a more somber note, today is World AIDS Day.  Please take a moment to pray for those ravaged by AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses.  Go to www.joinred.com for more information.