kale chip disaster August 22, 2008

my first attempt at making kale chips failed miserably. i don’t think i put enough kale pieces on the cookie sheet because they came out crumbly, like melt-in-your mouth crunchy and not in a good way. also, they were WAAAAAY too salty, it ruined the flavor of the kale. i sprinkled on quite a bit of salt because i was afraid i wouldn’t like kale’s natural flavor. i was wrong.

i’m going to try again soon because i have a ton of kale sitting in the fridge now that i need to use. here’s last nights batch before going into the oven.

and close-up, bathed in salt and olive oil.

fresh out of the oven on my plate along with my chick’n sandwich.

you can totally see the salt concentrations… it makes me gag just looking at how salty they were. my sandwich was good though. it was a chick’n patty on an ezekiel english muffin with a tiny sprinkle of mozzarella (that i couldn’t even taste) and some spicy mustard.

i was probably full after just eating that but i was so disappointed in the kale chip disaster that i craved something creamy and cool and sweet. i compromised by adding a tbsp. and a half of agave nectar to some soy yogurt and pairing it with kashi h2h and slivered almonds. so really it was a trio of things in there, (not counting the agave) not a pair.

friday morning dawned bright and early today. after my shower i was hungry so i dipped into my cantaloupe.

lots of fresh juicy cantaloupe and i ate it all. cantaloupe is my all-time favorite favorite fruit ever. of all time. i love it so much that last statement wasn’t even redundant.

i wasn’t so hungry after all that cantaloupe but i packed some grapes and an almond butter & banana sandwich for mid-morning.

having eaten all of that i should be stuffed. but i’m definitely already hungry for lunch. i’m excited to share something i’ve actually cooked myself with my dad. i had a ton of stuffing left over the other night from the spicy bean stuffed peppers. i brought the filling to work with me today and plan to run next door for some lettuce we can wrap it in for spicy lettuce wraps! i know he’ll love them because they’re really hot and he likes jalapenos.

rain delay August 15, 2008

the rain was not really part of the reason this post has been delayed but it did rain last night on my way to yoga. the real reason i haven’t posted until now is because i was purposely avoiding the internet so i wouldn’t accidentally find out the results of the olympic events broadcast during prime-time that i was recording. i wanted to watch it, not have it spoiled for me just by opening my firefox homepage (espn.com).

after jazzercise i hurried home to fit in a quick bite before yoga. i decided a simple pb&j would stave off the hunger for a normal dinner but not make me so full that i wouldn’t be able to do yoga. so i spread the last of my almond butter on 1 slice of an ezekiel english muffin and some blackberry fruit spread on the other for a delicious filler between workouts.

when i got home, i wasn’t hungry. i thought that was weird because i had hardly had anything substantial to eat that day. i should have gone with that and just had a mug of hot mint tea to watch the olympics with but instead, i ate. gah. it’s official, i’m a compulsive eater…

i baked a sweet potato in the microwave for about 1.5 minutes and wrapped it in foil once i took it out so it could sit in the foil for awhile and finish cooking? i have no idea what the purpose of the foil is but my sister told me it’s the only proper way to bake a potato. anyway, when i was ready to eat it (barring any actual hunger) i spread a tiny tiny bit of cinnamon butter on either half and drizzled it with sugar-free maple.

that should have done it. i should have drawn the line and not made myself keep eating. but my cranberry walnut bread has been sitting the fridge for too long and i want to eat it before it goes bad. so i toasted a slice and spread it with a lite laughing cow wedge.

i thought i wanted to just eat the rest of those wedges (i still have a wheel left from before i gave up cheese) but i’m going to donate them to my parent’s kitchen because i can’t stomach it anymore. it wasn’t a disaster but i feel noticeably better when i keep dairy out of my diet. and, as if that STILL wasn’t enough, i had an uncle eddie’s vegan cookie just because i could see the package and i happened to be standing in the kitchen. it was too impulsive for there to be time for a photo. i paid the price for not listening to my own tummy. it was very sour after my kitchen binge.

my only consolation is that maybe i really did need the extra calories because i did two workouts and ate very light the rest of the day. but if i keep thinking that then i’ll never rack up enough of a deficit each day to lose any weight. my new mission is to remedy this dilemma by starting the week off a bit more prepared in the food department. while still sticking to my budget, of course.

i’m tired August 12, 2008

and it’s getting late so here’s what i ate. snacked on a vegan cookie and an oat bagel earlier

and for dinner, the same as last night, bbq tofu sandwich on an ezekiel english muffin with black beans on the side. while the tofu was re-heating in the microwave and the muffin was toasting i had the rest of my wine

the wine ended up being times 2 and 1/2 and for dessert i had 2 vegan cookies that i didn’t photograph. and i’m so tired i don’t think i’m gonna be able to stay up and see how the girls do in gymnastics.

weekend August 11, 2008

another short weekend ends rather unceremoniously. i’ll start where i left off saturday. that lunch i had really filled me up and kept me completely un-hungry for way too long. it was 830 before i felt anything. so i had a heaping bowl of kashi h2h with pecans and blueberries in soymilk

i was full, no lies. but that was when i started to get hormonal and crave-y. the sweetness of the cereal made me want to forget it immediately. so i cracked open two things: a can of amy’s spicy organic chili with tofu AND a bottle of riesling that has been sitting in my fridge since february. i suppose i was waiting to open it for a special occasion that never came along or perhaps to wait to drink it with someone special who also never came along. instead of holding out, i decided to just start drinking it with myself because i bought it at a wine tasting in california so i knew nobody else would even enjoy it as much as i could. it was the perfect olympic-watching companion.

here’s the first glass along with the bottle

glass #2

glass #3

it’s a good thing i took pictures because i thought that was the last one. but my camera doesn’t lie and there was a fourth glass pictured like so:

who knew watching the olympics would be so much fun on a saturday night? i got to watch michael phelps win his first gold medal and completely smash the world record that he set himself… that’s why i love athletes and like to pretend i am one.

after all the wine i really wanted something cheesy, of course. but it was not to be. i toasted an english muffin and called it a night. luckily i didn’t get the spins while i was trying to fall asleep and also managed not to wake up with a headache. i still have about 1/3 of the bottle left which should be gone in no time.

filling pancake August 9, 2008

this blueberry oatmeal pancake was way more filling than it had any right to be

i suspect it had something to do with the extra protein the egg whites in the recipe called for. and the cup of vanilla yogurt i had to supplement

the yogurt was a bad idea but i am super impressed with the pancake. i plan to find a recipe that doesn’t call for egg whites so i can make it again vegan-style. i wasn’t hungry again until 2-ish and i ate breakfast between 8 and 830!
between breakfast and lunch i had my movement screening for becoming a jazzercise instructor. it was laughable how easy it was. but i won’t know if i passed until monday. i found out that after i go through the process i will technically be a certified group fitness instructor with a ’specialty’ in jazzercise. i’m pretty excited to learn as much as i can about the human body and become a reliable fitness source for myself and my family!
after the screening i went to whole foods and got a bunch of staples for the fridge, finally. i even managed to stay within the budget i set for myself so that was pretty bomb diggity doo dah.
highlights of my purchases were soy yogurt, morningstar vegan patties, ezekiel english muffins, fresh produce, kashi h2h, and vegan chocolate chip cookies! i had to try one as soon as i got home and they did not disappoint

they’re soft and chewy and chocolate-y which are pretty much my only stipulations for a chocolate chip cookie when i’m craving one. which is often.
the reason i like vegan products has nothing to do with me taking any kind of stance against animal cruelty, political or otherwise. i have found that veganism is just a way to eat whole foods and develop a habit of eating well. when i have choices i will choose vegetable protein over animal protein not only for the lesser calorie content but because i also truly believe my stomach can digest plant products much better.
lunch was a salad of baby spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, mushrooms and blueberries with annie’s goddess dressing

there was possibly too much dressing on this but that was an accident. as a general rule, i believe in dressed salads.
i also had a morningstar vegan patty on an ezekiel english muffin with barbeque sauce. my meal all together:

also unbelievably filling. i’m still not hungry and i ate this around 2.