Sad Smoothie

This face is the reason I just got back from a 3 mile dash of a walk on the creek path .

So pitiful Lily .

Rather than fix myself up at my vanity when I came back , I threw some laundry in, threw some consumables together and am now throwing this blog together :)

Yesterday there were veggies.
Wait.
When are there not veggies?

On my CSN bamboo cutting board, leftover chopped onions from Taco night , broccoli, carrot and some dirty mushrooms.

.

Choppe and cleaned and slightly softened them in a skillet with some sunflower oil . I added a bit of chicken broth , fat free cream cheese and some pre cooked bow tie pasta.

Yum.

I love dishes that are filling and delicious but don't leave me feeling bloated and heavy . Especially in this heat.

After the dash, I thought a smoothie was in order. Thought being the key word here people.

Whole Food Vega Smoothie Mix ( I used probably 1 tbsp of the package)

Maranatha's Organic Smooth Peanut Butter ( 1 tbsp) YEY for my fav peanut butter being back in stock .

1/4 cup of 2 % Milk

1 frozen and unpictured banana

1/4 cup of chopped strawberries also unpictured

couple handfuls of baby spinach

I was surprised that what appeared to be about 1/4 of a blender full , filled up my sbux cup and a club glass.

I was also surprised that while this mix tasted amazing it made me feel very phelm-y . Perhaps it was the milk or combo of milk AND banana . I couldn't drink more than the club glass .



Ready to gnaw off my hand at this point, I grabbed the quickest thing . A cheddar and herb bagel from Superstore's bakery section, and smeared half of it with herb and garlic cream cheese.

I paired it with a homemade iced coffee in yet another starbucks cup ( I have all the cute ones ) because I need fuel and it's too hot for, hot coffee.

What's your favorite smoothie mix ?

What items do you hate in your smoothie ?

Day of Eats and Dinner For One

I think this is my first day of complete eats. Not completely sure, but anyways, this is everything I ate today.

I started with Starbucks Dark Roast something or other , brewed with love by the bf and added Hazelnut Coffeemate and sweetner.


And then took various pictures of it , rather than drinking it.



Lunch/breakfast, was this luscious bowl of oats.

In the Bowl:

1/2 cups Bob's Organic Old Fashioned Oats ( yey i got more. Steel Cut oats are NOT the same)
3/4 cup of water
1/2 a banana save a few slices for on top
pinch of salt
dash of vanilla

I was not lazy this time and cooked it on the stove top . I cooked most of the banana save for the slices on top, with the oats.
It made ALL the difference.
Stove top oats are so much better. I do hate washing the extra dish/pot though.

I topped these oats with a few fresh blueberries, some Blue Diamond Almond Butter and a couple slices of banana, and some PC Omega 3 Granola.


Blue Diamond Almond Butter is not my favorite but I am trying to eliminate nut butters before I purchase even more, and it's ok for oats. Definately not spreadable.
These oats were soooo creamy and delicious, yet chewy and not liquidy and such which i hate !

I purchased these items yesterday at the teensy health food store at the mall.

Vega Wholefood Smoothie packet, and a Berry Crush and Acai Energy drink packet . I love the berry one for after yoga or mid lecture. Even though I only have about 4 lectures left before I' m done school !
I also grabbed a Banana Larabar.



Loved it.

So far I love : Coconut Cream, Pb and J and Banana .
Hate : Cocoa Chew, Apple Pie, Cherry Pie

While making dinner I "made" Banana Soft Serve in my sad excuse for a blender.

It may be a ghetto blender but it crushes ice and it never lets me down.

Random Fact : No appliance in my house ever has near the correct time.

I missed the part where the banana is meant to be frozen?

So i blended for nothing and then when i realized it was far too easy , it was too late. Its in the freezer now but I am doubtful.

I even had frozen banana in the freezer but I guess my head was just not in it.

This was dinner.

2 tortillas , folded in half for sturdiness.

1 :

pasta sauce : vine ripened tomatos, garlic, onions, mushroom and spinach w/ marble cheddar and spinach

2: PC organic salsa w/ marble cheddar and spinach

And on the side the other half of the batard (?) from last nite's dinner, spread with i cant believe its not butter light and garlic powder pre toast over bake.

It was gooey. I could not manage to eat it all unfortunately .

What's your favorite dinner for one?

Bamboo and Larabar Review

Aww. Lily in the morning.

I am not a morning person. Even a little bit , but this makes me want to get out of bed .

She is just so mellow,cuddly and cute in the morning.

What I do not love is her appreciation for tennis balls. She looooves them. She has a million other toys but is content destroying a tennis ball bit by bit. She usually kills it in a day and when she doesn't kill it she spends her time pushing it under couches and crevices and then crying for us to get it back out. Hate tennis balls.

What I did not hate , was this Larabar.

Shocking , I know . Considering I hated the other three Larabars I tried I really didn't have high hopes for this one.

I googled reviews before unwrapping and Tina's review convinced me.

It really does taste like a macaroon!

Other things I do not hate , include these awesome Bamboo Cutting Boards I was gifted with from CSN stores to review.

I used to think that my knifes sucked but after using these boards, I realized it was the plastic ( or whatever material it was made of , not wood of any kind and defintely not bamboo) that was making chopping and cutting difficult.

These made prepping spinach , amongst many other things since I recieved them , a breeze.

And the best part, well maybe second best part, EASY to clean . They do not stain or absorb very much . Warm water, a bit of soap and you're done.

Thanks CSNstores.

Bimbos , Vegans and Snow

Hey :)

This week felt like it went by too fast and dragged on all at the same time. The school work load was crazy this week and there were too many late nights studying and not enough food photo taking .

I did take a picture of this yummy and filling wrap I had on a snowy day .




Pre walk to meet a friend I made this lunch and even though I was full , I so wanted another one . It was that good.

Ginormous soft flour tortilla, reduced fat Hellmann's , baby spinach, thinly sliced honey ham and swiss cheese. Bliss.

I took a couple of photos of what mother nature has done to the neighborhood on my way to meet my friend.

I love how the snow hides in the corners and crevices of things like tree branches.

On an unrelated note , Mama and her girl are still rocking the Vegan For Lent challenge. Here are some peeks at her eats from the past days.

Dorset berries and cherries ceral is a new find of hers.

Dorset describes it as

a tangy mix of berries including raspberrys, blackcurrants, cranberries ,
blueberries and cherries with chilean flame raisins, sultanas and cereals.

It's suitable for vegans AND vegetarians!

What did Mama think of her new breakfast find ?

Good but pricey at 7 bucks a pop and that is no Costco sized twin pack box either!
She did say though, that she could see herself pairing this with yogurt when "this is all over."

On the dinner side of things, is this meal of brown rice topped with onions sauteed in olive oil , sea salt , Nature's Seasoning and a bit of cilantro.

Mama's Verdict : Very good and VERY filling!

Mama has dubbed this "what feels like a normal meal ".

What a normal meal consists of :

A Morningstar Veggie Chicken Patty ,Moore's Buffalo Wing Sauce that apparently can be bought the gallon!, Galaxy International Foods' Vegan Cheese and mustard on a Oroweat Multigrain Sandwich Thin.

When finding the link for the sandwich thins, I found out the bakery company that makes them is called Bimbo Bakeries.

Yup that made me laugh :)

Making chicken parmesan for me and the bf tonight so perhaps I 'll be a good girl and snap some photos.

Question :

Are you a cereal person ? What's your fav?

What do you think of meat replacement foods like Morningstar?

-A

Snow Day Pasta Bake

This

+

=

Pasta Bake !!

I cooked some spiral pasta and tossed it with :

-some of the leftover chicken from the whole chicken I roasted yesterday
-a couple handfuls of chopped baby spinach
-1/2 jar of organic mushroom tomato sauce
-clove of garlic
-1/4 cup of diced onion
-mozzerella cheese
- 1/4 cup light cream

Then after I mixed it all together , and spread it out in a casserole dish . Topped with italian bread crumbs and mozzerella cheese.

Ooey and gooey fresh out of the oven . So yummy and comforting on this incredibly snowy day.

Back tomorrow with more vegan goodies ( i hope ) . Mama had a day of "rest" on sunday and she reports that she partaked in Baked Lays ( my fav) and I think some lean pockets :)

Oh and those cookies from yesterday . They didn't even make it through the night for me to take a picture of the finished product. I guess that means I ll have to make them again !

-A