This morning I woke up jittery so I went out for a jog. I did about 1.75 miles (?). When I got back I picked up my breakfast from Metro Cafe – a 12 ounce oatmeal made with skim milk + cinnamon, banana, and blueberries.

I finished it, but it wasn’t very good. I’m not getting it again. What the what Metro Cafe? I’ll stick with your bagels. Tomorrow’s breakfast is going to be instant grits from a hotel we stayed at on the road trip. Hehehe.

After a long day at work I opted for the hot foods bar at a random deli on my way home (I walked; about 1.5 miles or so). I met up with Bobby in the middle. (He got pizza.) I dumped honey mustard dressing on this.

This meal was kind of oily but really good. I had grilled chicken, random prepared salads (something with broccoli, one with mushrooms, a sealeg salad, tomatoes, etc…), a sweet potato (I think), and some other things that I can’t remember right now.

Dessert was rice with honey mustard dressing (a little random) and these carob chips that my sister gave me. Um… more than pictured. I might still be eating them now.

I’m off to snuggle and get some rest before work tomorrow. I apologize for the lack of commenting as of late; I’m sorry to say it’s going to continue. I’m still reading of course.

What was your favorite job?

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• April 18, 2010 -- Menu Plan Monday (vegetarian/vegan)
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I usually don’t like Mexican food, but last Thursday (I think?) night it was late when we got into Tulsa (Oklahoma) and I didn’t feel like making an effort to find a good place. We decided to go to Monterey’s Little Mexico restaurant right near the hotel. (Funny how we went to another restaurant called Monterey the night before.)

We started off with free chips and salsa (score!):

I can’t find what I ordered on the online menu, but here it is:

It was a grilled chicken breast with a side of rice and beans, plus sauteed veggies. I don’t like beans so I asked for extra veggies instead. But I kept the rice – it was delicious (I usually hate rice). I actually finished this whole plate. Bobby got this gigantic margarita:

I think he almost finished it, with a little help from me. It was pretty yummy but not very alcoholic.

I really liked Monterey’s in Tulsa – I hope they come to New York soon!

Today I had a yummy *vegan* meal from Wegmans (a grocery store in NJ and NY that I worked at in high school). Back at Cornell, Bobby and I (and others) would make midnight runs to Wegmans and buy humongous bags of sour gummy worms. We were an odd group.

I got 2 packages of a butternut squash dish (butternut squash, spinach, cranberries, and onions with a whole lot of oil and a few spices) and a veggie medley dish (zucchini, yellow squash, carrots, red peppers, green beans, and some more oil). I love Wegmans’ prepared food. I think I like it more than Whole Foods’ hot bar. I have to figure out the recipe for the butternut squash one. I don’t think it’ll be too hard.

Do you buy prepared food? Why or why not?

P.S. …I have some good news. Friends, email me if you want to hear about it!

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I don’t know the recipe, but I know it had lots of peanut butter. It was delicious. Maybe I’ll ask her how she made it sometime soon. It had all of my favorite veggies – broccoli, mushrooms, carrots (which I actually avoided because I’m trying not to turn orange), and red peppers. She’s not scared to use enough oil to make it taste good either.

This morning (and yesterday I think) for breakfast I made a really good bowl of hot cereal. I mix together…

• ~1/2 cup of quick cooking oats
• a few tablespoons of farina
• cook it in water & almond milk
• cinnamon, almond or orange extract (or both!), dash of salt

I like to top it with milk (whole cow’s milk or more almond milk) and maple syrup or honey. My facial lady told me to avoid sugar and see what happens (I know what will happen – my face will be clear), so today I had it with no syrup (but extra milk).

Uh oh. I think I have a new addiction. It sounds like kabocha, but it’s more expensive – kombucha.

The one I tried was $3.39 (yikes) and it was "GT’s Organic Botanic No. 7 Kombucha". I specifically got the one with probiotics to help with my digestion. This one was raw.

Kombucha is a fermented Chinese tea. It takes about 30 days to make; during the process various nutrients are formed (enzymes, probiotics, amino acids, antioxidants, and polyphenols). It’s basically the healthiest thing you could possibly drink.

Some people say it tastes like vinegar; I thought it tasted a little bit like wine, only fizzy and better (I don’t really like wine). I’ll definitely be buying this again as soon as I can wrap my head around the price. It’s so darn pricey. I will absolutely try to make this in the future. Tips?

Speaking of yummy things, I did these 5 videos yesterday for exercise. They are each 10 minutes. Try them out! My sister loves Polly’s videos too.

• YOGA for yummy abs
• YOGA for upper thighs
• YOGA for your muffin top
• YOGA for yin
• YOGA for triathletes

Do you like kombucha? Have you tried it? Have you tried Polly’s videos yet? (It’s her birthday week by the way!)

P.S. Check out Clare’s Positivity Giveaway. She’s so sweet

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• September 24, 2008 -- Goodeats for 9/23/2008
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• February 2, 2012 -- ZWOW!
• February 4, 2009 -- You know you’re an addict when…

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Appetizer: Heavenly Stuffed Wings – de-boned chicken wings stuffed with ground chicken, silver noodle, cilantro, water chestnut and black mushroom. They came with this great sweet dipping sauce. This was kind of scary at first (fried! processed! breaded!) but the deliciousness made up for it.

For dinner we shared 4 dishes. The Blue Mango Fried Rice – a big house special: chicken fried rice topped with sweet garlic pork.

The Green Curry – eggplant, bamboo, and bell pepper are soaked in coconut milk, with a hint of basil (cannot be mild).

Mushroom Mountain, as usual – soft tofu, baby corn, bamboo, straw mushroom, and bean sprout stir-fried with a bit of green curry paste. Sesame seed are sprinkled on for a beautiful finish.

And Basil Chili Chicken, also as usual – with bell pepper and onion.

After dinner we went out for dessert (frozen yogurt) at Golden Spoon – pumpkin pie and chocolate flavors. The toppings were raspberries, mango (not ripe, unfortunately), and crushed brownie bits.

Blue Mango never disappoints. And neither does Golden Spoon. If you ever get a chance, go there! (I’m talking about the Blue Mango on Stevens Creek – I hear the other one is not so good.)

Now that I’m in NJ I don’t have Blue Mango. But I do have Edo Sushi! Bobby, Julia, and I all went out for dinner tonight. I love this place. Edo Sushi is a Japanese and Chinese restaurant on Route 31 in the same shopping center as Pennington Market. It’s about a 10 minute walk from my parents’ house.

First is the tea… (unlimited and free – my two favorite qualities). Notice my cool NY key chain – it’s kind of vintage because it has the twin towers on it. I think I got it back in middle school.

I got chicken and broccoli with the sauce on the side (brown sauce).

The other pictures didn’t come out, but Julia got veggies and tofu with the sauce on the side (also brown sauce). Bobby got the Dragon vs. Phoenix – chicken, shrimp, and veggies stir-fried with yet another brown sauce. He also got a big pot of rice.

We finished everything. The check came with pineapple cubes and fortune cookies. Yum! I love Edo’s.

This dinner was nice after my indulgent afternoon… My parents gave me a massage + facial combo for my birthday and I finally used it. I went to Sydney Albert Salon Spa in Princeton. I’d highly recommend this place – I’ve been going there for years and I’ve always loved everything. Their haircuts are amazing, the facials are fantastic, and the massage was wonderful. Bobby also got a massage and he loved it.

While we were getting pampered, our Relocube arrived. Now we have to unpack it. I’m going into the city tomorrow, but when I get home I think we’re going to try to start sorting through all of our stuff. It’ll be a big project.

What’s your favorite restaurant?

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• September 13, 2008 -- Wait, wait, wait…

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This was the best meal I’ve had in a while. It was fantastic. The flavors blended perfectly; the tomatoes were sweet and delicious; the bread crumbs were crispy; the eggplant was superb. The whole family loved it. She made one completely vegan…

And one with cheese…

My dad, brother, and sister have all raved about this lasagna to me. Now I know what they’re talking about. These disappeared in about 20 minutes.

My mom requested that I make my massaged kale salad (kale, olive oil, sea salt, lemon juice) and I topped it with some thinly sliced onions. Everyone loved this too! I was really happy. They were kind of doubtful about the kale but now I’ve converted them to be kale lovers.

I had a very yummy homey breakfast today. It was huge!

• 1/4 cup (a little more) quick cooking oats (to use them up)
• 1/4 cup farina (suggested serving size is 3 tablespoons)
• <1 cup water
• <1 cup almond milk (sweetened)
• cinnamon
• orange extract
• dash of salt
• toppings: whole milk, honey, agave nectar

I’ve been really into simple big bowls of oats with minimal toppings. I love my breakfast grains. I got into the habit of simple bowls while driving across the country. Almost every morning I had this at Denny’s (minus the fruit; that was Bobby’s):

A big bowl of oats topped with brown sugar, milk, and sometimes a little bit of butter.

Today and yesterday for exercise Bobby, Julia, and I walked to Kunkel Park and played on the swings.

It’s about 3 miles roundtrip. Swinging is also a great ab workout. No wonder (many) kids stay fit so easily.

What did you do for fun when you were little? I loved climbing things and I was always scaring my parents. I (almost) never got hurt though.

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• July 15, 2010 -- Blast Your Plateau Like Whoa
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• March 27, 2009 -- Guest Post – Caroline Bee!
• July 9, 2011 -- YogaDownload Giveaway – Free Yoga

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That night was very fun. Hope we can do it again some time soon.

We got into NJ (my parents’ house) around 2am last night and crashed into bed after some hugs and story telling. I still managed to get up in time for 10am meeting this morning though. It was nice to see some old familiar faces and meet some new people. I also took a walk through Yardley (where meeting is; it’s right across the river in PA) and scoped out a yoga studio. I’m not sure how long I’ll be in this area so I don’t know if it’s worth it to get a card.

My dad made us French toast this morning; no picture. It was fabulous. Some other good eats of the day…

A ham and swiss sandwich (with a little bit of mayo and mustard) on Nature’s Pride Nutty Oat bread (freebie from the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival). This bread isn’t actually available yet but it’s coming out soon. It was so good. I loved it. I will definitely buy it when they release it in stores.

My mom made Vegan Dad’s Burgundy Stew for dinner. It was pretty good. I de-veganized it with parmesan. I don’t think she made any significant changes to the recipe but I’m not sure.

Lots of other yummy eats today, but I’ve been spending time with my family and not worrying too much about foodie pictures. I got to take a long walk with Julia and Bobby this afternoon (and Benji the psycho dog). It’s so nice to be back in NJ (soon NYC).

What do you do when you visit your hometown? I like to eat at my favorite restaurants and spend time with my family and friends. We sit around chatting about nothing but it’s a great way to just sit around enjoying life. Happy Monday! (Or Sunday night, if you’re up this late.)

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• October 16, 2010 -- What’s Up Saturday – 10.16.10
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• October 13, 2008 -- Too many grapes?

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Brandi‘s Stuffed French Toast:

Sabrina‘s Egg White Veggie Frittata Muffins:

Frog Hollow Farm‘s dried fruits (and Warren pears! So amazing).

Frog Hollow Farm also had a variety of chutneys and conserves, which were incredible. This was my favorite booth of the afternoon.

Some kind of shrimp and scallop ceviche from Fuego (can’t find a link):

A cool table with non-traditional shortbread made by Botanical Bakery:

Handmade marshmallows (pumpkin was one of the flavors) by Gateau et Ganache:

Chocolate covered nuts. I brought some of these home for Bobby and he has been calling them "poo balls". They are delicious despite their odd nickname.

My favorite candy of the day, made by Nina. Her Single Malt Scotch Bar was awesome.

Annie the Baker‘s cookies. Amazingly buttery and delicious. They tasted just like cookie dough.

p.o.p. candy‘s toffee – I had so much of the chai one. It had nuts and dried fruit.

Yummy (and pretty) chocolates.

Fabulous spreads.

479 Popcorn. My favorite was the curry (odd because I don’t like Indian food).

My other favorite dish of the day – Vineyard Pantry‘s Autumn Savory Tartlets (little pastry filled with wild rice, butternut squash, blue cheese mustard, cheese, and more). I can’t wait to experiment with their products.

A crazy cool beet meringue goat cheese savory dessert thing. It was a work of art (and quite tasty).

Olives.

Shannon‘s savory bread pudding.

I still have pictures from dinner, but I’ll save them. I met so many amazing people, including Emily from Foodzie – what a cool woman. That is a company I would love to work for.

A big thanks to FOODBUZZ for an amazing weekend.

In other news… wish me luck – we’re moving this week. (We’re taking off Tuesday instead of Monday.) Road trip from Sunnyvale to Princeton with two cats. Will be interesting.

Happy Monday! (Or Sunday, if you’re up late.) What did you do this weekend?

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• May 12, 2010 -- Recipe: Grilled Portobello Kale Salad
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• May 15, 2008 -- Baked Oatmeal
• July 25, 2008 -- Zucchini Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

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I heart Linda.

I heart bloggers taking pictures (Jenna, Tina, ??, Allijag).

I heart Elizabeth.

I heart Kath, Jenna, and Meghann (and their matching red outfits).

I heart Coco and Sophia (my weekend roommates).

And I heart warren pears and dessert (more on this later). I also heart Frog Hollow Farms.

More foodie pictures to come; I need some sleep!

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• February 3, 2010 -- Have a cup o’ tea (behavioral change)
• July 22, 2009 -- A day in the life

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Tonight we drove up to San Francisco for the first Foodbuzz Festival event. The welcome reception was from 5-7pm at the Hotel Vitale. This wasn’t the main food event of the day, but they did have two cool appetizers: gruyere gougeres with bacon and mascarpone and pork rillettes. They were provided by midi.

I tried the rilletes. Pretty good, but kind of salty. I didn’t try the puff things, but they looked cool.

After the reception we headed over to the Ferry Building for an amazing dinner event. Foodbuzz rented out a portion of the building and had restaurants serving food all the way down the alley.

As soon as we entered I saw mini cupcakes, and I couldn’t resist. Dessert first! I tried the pumpkin cupcake, but they also had red velvet, chocolate cinnamon, and an almond flavored one. I had an almond one on my way out for my real dessert. These were provided by Mission Minis.

I also tried this delicious vanilla bean ice cream by Straus Family Creamery. Awesome.

Then it was time for some real food. I had a bean burrito from Tacolicious. It wasn’t that good. I wanted chicken, but they were out. They had cool shirts though.

I also tried these savory vegetarian and meat pies from Pie Truck. Pretty yummy!

And a raw oyster from Hog Island Oyster Co…. awesome.

I passed on these chicharrones (fried pork chips) but they were cool looking. From 4505 Meats.

Alive had a selection of raw foods – 2 raw pizzas and raw cheesecake. These were okay. Not my favorite, to be honest.

The best items of the night: Spencer on the Go‘s Beet Salad with blue cheese and "far west fungi vol au vent" (creamy mushrooms on top of a puff thing). I went back for seconds on both of these.

Then there was some incredible thin crust pizza from Pizza Politana. This was the best pizza I’ve had outside of Italy and New York. And I didn’t think I was a pizza person.

Lastly, there was a cool pork sandwich and potatoes from Roli Roti. This seemed to be really popular with other bloggers, but I thought it was just okay.

They had this funny shirt: "I heart Crispy Skin". (TWSS? Not.)

My favorite of the night was absolutely the mushroom dish from Spencer on the Go (second favorite was their beet salad). Holy amazing yum. On the way out I snagged some more ice cream and the almond cupcake.

Don’t worry, I didn’t finish everything pictured. I can’t wait to see what’s in store for tomorrow… Happy Saturday!

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First up: here are two breakfasts. Cheesy grits topped with leftover chicken (1/4 cup grits, cooked in water; cheese added at the end). There was a little bit of avocado on there too (avocado came with the chicken salad that this is leftover from).

Oat bran cooked with protein powder, cinnamon, vanilla, and a dash of salt. Topped with sesame seeds and maple syrup.

Have you tried Averie’s raw vegan cookie dough balls yet? Okay, mine are not balls (the first batch was), nor do they have chocolate chips. They are so simple to make.

Averie-inspired Raw Vegan Cookie Dough Yum

Ingredients (1 serving)

• 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon maple syrup
• a little bit of water

Directions

Mix syrup and flour together. Add a few drops of water at a time until you get your desired consistency. I like mine a little bit too wet for balls (TWSS?).

Variations

• part wheat germ, part flour (my favorite)
• part wheat bran, part flour
• ground nuts for flour (Averie‘s original recipe)
• part oatmeal or oat bran, part flour
• grind oatmeal/oat bran in the blender and sub for flour

I also made bread the other day. I just took my Easy Peasy Pizza Dough recipe and subbed in a few things for the flour. Instead of 3.5 cups of flour, I used the dregs of a cornbread mix (maybe 1/4 cup – Jiffy brand), some Heart Smart Bisquick, and whole wheat flour. It came out well. It was a little dense, but yummy with soft butter.

I have 3 more pictures of healthy yums, but I’ll save them for when I’m on the road and lacking in delicious food.

I can’t wait to pick up Sophia tonight and go to the Foodbuzz Festival.

What are you doing this weekend? You know what I’m doing.

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