New Addictions!

I hope everyone had a great Easter holiday! Nick and I went to Spiral Diner and saw the Hunger Games. Pretty good!

Also, over the weekend, I became addicted to Tumblr. Oh god, what a wonderful timewaster. I started watching Doctor Who. Why didn't someone TELL me this show was so good?! And, I got some new running shoes! More Brooks Addictions! My favorite. They were on sale for $50. It would have been irresponsible NOT to get them.

One not great thing about the holiday is that it's thrown off my workouts. I didn't get to go to the gym Sat or Sun.. then I was going to go on Monday, but I had a headache. Then today, I skipped kickboxing because I donated blood. Last time I went to kickboxing after donating blood, I felt awful. Almost like a hangover feeling. Headache, lightheaded and sick to my stomach. Ick.

Donating blood didn't go that well, either. At first, they couldn't find my vein. Then the blood flow was really slow. Then it stopped. A few different Phlebotomists tried to get it going again, but then they just let me go. What the heck. It's usually fine!

So, what I ate today. Not really great, actually. I have to get back on track. I blame holiday-minded eating.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal w/ blueberries and 1 Tbsp walnuts
Soy milk

Snack:
Ezekial toast w/ hummus

Blood drive snack:
Oreos

Lunch:
Creamy mushroom linguine
Strawberries

Snack:
Apple slices w/ almond butter

Pre-dinner snack
Ezekial toast w/ almond butter

Dinner:
Spaghetti w/ beanballs

Post-dinner snack:
Walnuts w/ semi-sweet chocolate chips
Decaf coffee

Eeeeeeeek. Need to cut down on the snacks and pick up the workouts.

Here's my spaghetti and beanballs from the Veganomicon:

Easy avocado toast breakfast

I didn't get much sleep last night. Nick has been working day shifts and so we've been sleeping at the same time. So we're in a bit of an adjustment period. For example, he woke me up at 1am to tell me that Satine had jumped on the bed and was being cute. WHAT IS WRONG WITH HIM!

So I needed a good breakfast to get me going.

Avocado Toast w/ black beans and hot sauce

-1 piece Ezekial bread (toasted)

-1/4 avocado, smashed

-Sprinkled black beans

-Dashes of hot sauce.

YUM

And a Pineapple strawberry smoothie!

So altogether, I ate today:

Breakfast:
Avocado toast w/ black beans and hot sauce
Pineapple strawberry smoothie

Snack:
Toast w/ almond butter
Green tea

Lunch:
Creamy Mushroom linguine

Snack:
Carrots w/ hummus

Dinner:
Chickpea cutlet
Caulipots w/ vegan gravy

Nick ate it on a sandwich. I was kind of jealous I didn't think of it first. Oh, and I feel the need to mention that this is on a salad plate, to make the portions look bigger. haha

Ahhhh Tornadoes!

So, we had some excitement here in Dallas this afternoon!

I was in a meeting when we heard the sirens go off, and we noticed it was getting pretty dark out. Then we started hearing warnings to stay away from windows. So we all took our laptops and headed into the kitchen. We were listening to the weather report and saw that funnels were actually touching down and even tossing Tractor Trailers into the air! HIGH into the air!

Fortunately, nobody was hurt. I drove home. It took slightly longer than usual, but when I got there, nothing was damaged. What a relief. I did miss my workout, though. There was just too much weather drama.

The coloring at sunset was kind of weird, too. A little more yellow than usual. Not sure it comes through in the picture, but this was taken looking down our street.

What I ate today;

Breakfast:
Green Monster Smoothie (Soy milk, banana, blueberries, spinach)
1 piece Ezekial toast

Snack:
Ezekial toast w/ hummus

Lunch:
Quinoa salad w/ mango and black beans over Romaine.

Snack:
Baby Carrots and hummus
Protein Shake

Dinner:
Ancho Chili lentil soup with Grilled Pineapple

Here it is!

First, make some Ancho Chili powder:
-2 dried ancho chiles, seeds removed, ripped into bite sized pieces
-1 Tbsp cumin
-1 Tbsp coriander seeds

Put them all in a small saute pan on medium heat, stirring constantly for about 3-5 min.
Dump into a food processor and whiz around until it's a powder. There can be chunks.

Soup:
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 large onion, diced
-3 cloves garlic, minced
-2 bay leaves
-1 tsp salt
-2 cups green lentils
-7-8 cups of water/veggie broth or a mix
-3 Tbsp lime juice
-6-8 pineapple rings
-hot sauce

-Preheat a big stockpot over medium heat. Add oil and chopped onion. Saute for about 5 min.

-Add garlic and bay leaf - Saute for 1 more minute

-Add Chile powder, salt, lentils, and 7 cups of water or broth. I used 4 cups broth, 3 cups water.

-Cover and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat and simmer for 30 min.

-I used fresh pineapple and they weren't rings. But I just set the broiler for high and flipped them every 3 minutes until they were a little brown and carmelized.

-When soup is done, add the lime juice and either immersion blend or use a potato masher to mash it up a bit. I wanted kind of a chunky soup, so I just potato mashed it.

-Add the pineapple and a little hot sauce on top! It's really good. Smoky and sweet with a spicy kick of the hot sauce.

I can barely lift my arms.. Save me, Quinoa!

This Monday dragged on and on and on. And I was tired from the beginning. I had this anxiety dream around 4 am that I was missing something at work, or that I was late for something I was supposed to do. Nothing makes me more crazy than being late for something important.

So to sum up the weekend, I have my car back! Yay! Nick and I have started watching Mad Men. I tried to watch the pilot by myself once, and the sexism made me so mad that I didn't really get into it. But we're on the 3rd season now, and it's pretty exciting! Nick is starting to align himself to my schedule. Sort of. He works in the afternoon/evenings, but we're both home at night now.

Then today after work, I took an hour step class. I probably looked like an uncoordinated idiot. But that's okay. After that was Body Pump, which is the weights class. That's why I can barely lift my arms. Over 800 reps in total, she said. Ughhhh. I'm sure I'll feel the squats tomorrow.

And now I must tell you quickly what I had for dinner, because I'm falling asleep!

Quinoa Salad with Black Beans and Mango

-1 mango, peeled and diced
-1 red bell pepper, diced small
-1 cup chopped scallions
-1 cup chopped cilantro
-1 can of black beans

INTERLUDE: I had to take a picture when I got this far. Doesn't it look so pretty?

Add the Dressing:
-2 Tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
-2 Tbsp Canola oil
-1/4 tsp salt

-Whisk all this, add to first set of ingredients and mix around.

-Lastly, the Quinoa! I did 1 cup of dry quinoa. Just follow the instructions on the bag. Rinse it with cold water, then mix it all up. It's a salad!

I love all the colors! So fresh, tangy and appetizing.

Out of control Business Lunch

Down 1.5 lbs today! First bit of good news in awhile! Looks like counting points again is working.

Today was a bit out of control for me, because we were having an Official Office Lunch in the boardroom. Turns out it was a New Year's Party. (Fiscal New Year's. hahaha. Happy 2013!) Also, one of my coworker's 20 year anniversary with the company. So it looks like today is going to be my splurge day.

Breakfast:
1/2 lentil loaf sandwich on 1 piece Ezekial bread
1 cup soymilk

Snack:
Plain oatmeal

Office Sponsored Lunch: (not vegan)
Champagne (you heard me!)
Salad
Grilled Veggies (mostly zucchini)
Cheese Tortellini w/ marinara
1 piece bread
1 piece homemade chocolate cake.

Snack:
Celery w/ hummus

Dinner:
Salad
Creamy Mushroom Fettuccini (linguine)

This is such a quick dish to make!

-8  oz whole wheat fettuccini (I couldn't find WW Fettuccini, so I got linguine)
-1 tsp olive oil
-5 cloves minced garlic
-1/2 lb cremini mushrooms (I used portobello)
-1/2 tsp salt
-1 1/2 tsp dried thyme
-1/2 cup dry white wine
-2 cups creamy portobello soup (Vegan brand - Imagine)
-2 Tbsp corn starch
-2 tsp basalmic vinegar
-1/2 cup sliced green onions

-First put on the water to boil the pasta.

-Preheat the large skillet over medium heat w/ oil. Saute garlic in the olive oil for a minute, careful not to burn it. Add mushrooms to the pan, along with thyme, salt and maybe a little pepper. Sautee for 5 min.

-Add white wine and turn up the heat, bringing it to a boil. Let the liquid reduce. Takes about 5 min.

-Pour soup into bowl and whisk corn starch into it, til dissolved.  Lower heat to medium and let it thicken for about 5 min.

-Turn heat off and add balsamic vinegar.

-Add cooked pasta to sauce and mix around. Add green onions on top if you want.

Another reason I used linguine is because the thicker the pasta is, the more I want to eat it. I think I can't handle myself around fettuccini. Linguine is also questionable. Maybe I should try angel hair.

Everything falls apart. Comfort food needed.

Since my car is now being repaired, I took Nick's car to work this morning. Stuck in horrible traffic this morning. Then I get a building-wide email saying: There is a black 2008 Honda Civic with temp license plates whose lights are on. Guess whose car that is? Ughhhhhhhhhh.

So I went to turn the lights off and the battery is dead. I go back upstairs, trying to keep it together.

Fortunately, the first person who asked how I was doing.. err.. got the brunt of a long rant about cars. But she also had jumper cables in her car! She gave me her keys and said I could drive her car to mine and jump it.

-Bad news: There was no available space next to, or across from my car and the jumper cables did not reach.

-Good news: I tried to start the car again, and this time it worked!

I drove around the parking garage for awhile, and this time parked facing out.. in case I needed to actually jump it this time.

Thankfully, when I told Nick he was also like, 'what the hell! I thought the lights turned off on their own!'. Lesson learned!

What I ate today:

Breakfast:
Oatmeal w/ blueberries and walnuts
Soy milk

Snack:
Ezekial bread w/ hummus

Lunch:
Linguine with lentils and roasted butternut squash

Snack:
Celery w/ pb/tofutti cream cheese/hummus
Coffee

Dinner:
Lentil Loaf
Cauliflower mashed potatoes

Snack:
1/2 cup Coconut milk mint chocolate chip ice cream (Yes, I measured!)
Cadbury PB egg (Emergency chocolate to control freakout)

The lentil loaf: Made in my new loaf pan!

Ugh, today doesn't count.

Wow, today was a mess.

It started early this morning. I left around 6:30, and about a third of the way to work, my engine dial cranks up to RED - HOT. Dammit. So I'm able to pull over. Give the car a bit of a rest. Then I pull off the nearest exit (fortunately, the dial temporarily sank back down midway), and turned around to go back home. Nick's phone was on silent and he wasn't picking up. I had to stop the car a bunch of times so it wouldn't overheat.

Finally, I got out with my bottles of water (I keep them in the car in case this happens), and a sweater. Used the sweater to open the radiator cap, and dumped everything I had directly in there. It was enough to get me back home!

I was able to take Nick's car to work, but by that time rush hour was in full swing.

Usually this wouldn't be a problem, because Nick works the night shift. HOWEVER, of course THIS week, he's pulling double shifts. Twilight and Night. So he had to go to work at 4pm.

Thankfully I have an awesome job and a great boss and they're letting me work half days in the morning and then remote from home in the afternoon.

Things could be worse, but what a pain. Hopefully this mess will be over with by Wednesday.