Catching up on Pre-Turkey Day

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Before we get to the Thanksgiving festivities I thought that I would catch you up on my recent eats

Breakfast:

Almond butter, honey, chia seeds and cocoa nibs on whole wheat english muffins

And prior to a jog this morning, almond butter and strawberry preserves with chia seeds and cocoa nibs on whole wheat bread

Indian Lovve!

A new restaurant, A Taste of India, opened up on the edge of campus and I knew I had to try it out. I took my Indian food-loving friend and we chowed down on the $7 buffet. Everything was SO good, but my favorites were the sag paneer, chicken masala and the naan!

Last night, Amy joined me for dinner. I was not able to go home for Thanksgiving due to weather, so I’m joining a few friends from architecture in their apartment over break. Last night was a crazy transition time with people taking off for the holiday, me moving to my friends’ place, and getting out of studio so I had to do a quick dinner.

It was definitely good, but not quite as good as A Taste of India.

 

For Turkey Day, another friend who grew up in Eugene offered for me to come and join his family for dinner. I’ve been to his place before and his mom is an absolutely wonderful, healthy cook! Instead of Turkey was had a homemade “UnTurkey.” Apparently they stopped selling them a few years ago, so they made one from scratch. I absolutely loved it!

Also served: roasted brussels sprouts, parsnips, turnips and carrots, mashed potatoes, gravey (with wild mushrooms), homemade jam and rolls.

For dessert: pumpkin pie, chocolate and hazelnut pie, mixed berry crisp and apple pie

We had slivers of each.

What was so great was because all of the food was “pure” as in no funky ingredients and everything was homemade, my stomach felt SO good after eating!

 

Afterwards I went home and made Fitnessista’s Sweet Potato Biscuits. I changed it up a bit and instead of using sweet potato puree, I cooked my own sweet potatoes

Well, attempted to cook them. After 65 minutes in the oven it seemed like they just wouldn’t cook anymore.

I also used Whole Wheat flour as the Fitnessista suggested

The biscuits ended up being huge, but SO good, especially with some fruit spread!

Thank you Fitnessista!

 

Now it is time to go into a food coma…

What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

and

Do you cook a “healthier” Thanksgiving?

About to Fall Asleep in my Indian Food

I’m so tired I could fall asleep in my Indian Food. Last weekend when I went to Chrissy’s Grandma’s house they told me stories of all the other old ladies on the island. One of them was so tired she face planted into her spaghetti and fell asleep. I can totally relate.

The day started off with a tofu scrambled (with onions and corn) on top of chapatis and topped with salsa. It would have been good but the salsa tasted funky! I can only describe it tasting like wine. Salsa & wine do not mix. Especially in the morning.

For lunch I went with Caitlin’s Perfect Baked Tofu on top of a salad with pecans and an apple. Accompanied by a green tea frappachino for a much needed energy boost.

I added a bit of rice whip for some added flair. But I really didn’t even taste the rice whip. It wasn’t very sweet! Oh well.

So what did I need the extra energy boost for?

This. Piles of clothes waiting to be packed. These piles don’t include anything that is hung either. So my 16 jackets, 8 dresses and about 30 tops hung in my closet waiting to be packed too.

I also packed my make up, the last bit of my toiletries, my desk stuff and shoes. Oh dear goodness I hate packing shoes. I love them all so dearly that I don’t want them to get bent out of shape, but there just isn’t enough room to be able to do that.

I went from 9AM-2:30PM only stopping for lunch, to pack.

Afterwards I took a 20 minute nap (note, there was no “power” in the nap), then headed off to pick up the boy from school and nanny for a bit. Nannying is so much more difficult when the kid has a meltdown right before he’s supposed to go to the orthodontist because a kid was making fun of him today. Grawr. It took me and one of the staff at the school 20 minutes to calm down, and was finally resolved when he called his mom and was able to listen to her voice. The meltdown was big enough for his mom to come home earlier than usual from work, which left me time to get going on an Indian Feast for my dad and I.

I prepped all the spices and vegetables for the Chicken with Carmelized Onion, Garlic and Ginger recipe. Once you start cooking an Indian recipe, it goes so fast!

I also made fresh Chapatis

It was super easy. Just whole wheat flour, water and vegetable oil. Both recipes are from Easy Indian Cookbook.

It was a sunny day, but it’s started to get dark earlier now, so the lighting is a bit blue

It wasn’t outstanding, but it sure wasn’t horrible!!!

Sorry for the brief post, but seriously, I am going to fall asleep in my bed as soon as I hit publish. At 8PM. What am I, a grandma?

Have you fallen asleep in any strange places? I can fall asleep almost anywhere. I’ve fallen asleep on a mountain road fills with potholes. My friend and her mom placed a bet to see if I would fall asleep even though the car was bumping along. My friend’s mom won

Hungry-Hungry Giraffe

For dinner I knew that I had to feed my hungry-hungry giraffe. Despite his leaf-eating siblings, he prefers Indian food.

Leftover Punjab Choley on brown rice and Tandori naan.

He finished it off quite well. I think he may be getting fatter by the bowl

I followed up with a very familiar So Delicious Coconut Milk Chocolate Chip Ice Cream with mesquite and strawberries

I swear that there was a lot more than it looks.

Goals Update

As we’re heading into Friday I thought I’d do a check of this week’s goals.

As you can tell by the filled in boxes, this week’s goals are going very well. I’m actually about to partake in a 10 minute clean of my room after I finish this post. I love having the message to slow down while eating! It’s actually working! I’ve stopped munching down on my meals while exploring other blogs and just sat at my dining room table desk and focused on my food. It makes the meal feel like it lasts longer and I really enjoy all of the flavors a whole lot more. I highly encourage you to try this, if you already don’t do it!

Do you sit down at a table and eat, or are you usually on the go? Or are you a college student whose apartment is so small we don’t even have room for a table?

An Itch to Scratch

I have the worst, biggest itch right now. A serious itch to go for a long run. Things have been super stressful in the Give Me the Almond Butter world in terms of relationships with people, school, work outs and social engagements. I kind of feel like I’m about to crack. I wish it was daylight out so I could go for a long run to clear my head and pump my body full of endorphins.

Rock Climbing

I did manage to go climbing with a friend from studio which was fun. I climbed this overhang 4 times so I’m really proud of myself. I’m definitely getting to be a stronger climber with better skills and a little bit more endurance.

My friend who works at the wall was super busy giving lessons to new climbers, so we didn’t get to talk. If I can’t go for a run, I do like to talk things out, however it definitely didn’t work out tonight

Dinner

On the brighter side of things I celebrated Indian Food Wednesday in my newly painted giraffe bowl!!!

Vegan Gajar Halwa and Pav Bhaji on top of brown rice.

Don’t worry, the giraffe was well fed

See how fat my giraffe is? I told you he was well fed

It was definitely a great dinner. Time to destress a bit and wait for the weekend

Do you get serious needs to go running?

Yoga and I are Just Not Meant to be

It’s official. Yoga and I are not suitable for each other, or at least not this yoga class that I’ve attended for the second time. Some factors that contributed to this decision are:

• 90% of the class is conducted from downward dog and only downward dog. The instructor is obsessed with downward dog. My wrists were in screaming pain 15 minutes into the class, so I ended up in child’s pose with the obese person next to me a lot of the time.
• We only did one balance pose. One.
• I’m a freak about hygiene and the instructor hasn’t showered in days. Maybe weeks.
• And the last call was when my favorite yoga pants are falling off and they’re spandex.

We’re done.

Prior to this decision I was caught in a torrential downpour.

And I had an umbrella with me.

I peeled off my jeans, put rain boots on and headed outside to go grocery shopping.

Grocery Shopping

Here’s my loot from Market of Choice and Safeway

Tortillas, strawberries, apples, bananas, pecans, kiwi, orange, grapefruit and an avocado

Corn puffs, fish oil, coconut milk, blueberry kefir, yellow onion, tomatoes, coconut milk creamer, hemp hummus, chia seeds, another orange, wild oats & honey bread, cantalope spears, Chobani greek yogurt, parsnips.

What wasn’t on the grocery list: coconut milk creamer (I’m not out of my current stuff but it was majorly on sale!) and cantalope spears

I’d say I did keep a good job sticking to the list!

As apart of my Limit the Bill budget of $75 dollars I did fairly well for the 3rd week straight!

Market of Choice…… $29.98  <–I got realll nervous about the fact it encroached $30!

Safeway……………..$37.92 <– my lowest bill ever from Safeway!

———————————–

Total……………… $67.90

Woot! Woot!

I’m actually surprised that I was still under the budget considering I bought fish oil which is pretty expensive!

I tried out my first supplement of fish oil…

and it’s a horse pill. Oh well, I think I can take it if it’s helping my heart and my brain

Dinner

After having a disastrous yoga session (but a great session of intervals before hand!) I treated myself to some Indian!

I made Gina’s Vegan Gajar Halwa again as well with some TJ’s Pav Bhaji over leftover brown rice

Yummmmm. I was really pleased that the Gajar Halwa came out at the right consistency this time

Time to work on some homework and get ready for bed.

What is your relationship with yoga and/or yoga classes? I definitely like practicing in my own room better. I’ve had a lot of bad experiences in a yoga class

No Such Thing as Too Much Indian

‘sup bloggies?

After feeling like the past couple of days I have been eating a lot of grains and carbs and not enough veggies, I woke up and made a smoothie.

Despite the purple-ish look to it, it was awful! I’m not even going to post exactly what was in it, cause you don’t want to try it. It also desperately needed to be blended more, but my blender was throwing a temper tantrum this morning and I already feel guilty for making lots of noise while my roomies are asleep, so essentially this whole thing was a distaster.

To make up for the lackluster breakfast this morning I had, you guessed it, more Indian food! This is despite the fact that I had some last night and the night before that.

Nobody ever said there’s such a thing as too much Indian food

I went to the organic and vegetarian cafe on campus, Holy Cow, and got the Mini Vegetarian Curry with steamed veggies with some kind of sauce on the side. It was super loud in the place, so I couldn’t really understand my options as far as sauces go, so I just went with the first one

I tried a sneaky blogger pic, but I’m pretty sure the girl beside me noticed. Haha, whoops!

It was delicious, though a little bit pricey. I loved the mystery sauce that was lightly poured over the steamed veggies. I kinda wish I knew what it was

I’m eating dinner at the sorority tonight. I’m pretty sure its a formal dinner which means absolutely no cell phones, which also means no sneaky blogger pics I’ll make sure to fill you in on my dinner though!

Have a great Monday night!

Indian Summer

Well it should be INDIAN FOOD and summer weather.

After the 5K I had a hodgepodge of a lunch.

Leftover macaroni salad and Caesar salad from last night’s roomie dinner as well as an egg puff with dijon mustard and laughing cow cheese on a sandwich thin.

As well as a salad with feta cheese, tomato and red bell pepper with Annie’s papaya dressing.

All together now.

Afterwards I still felt like I needed to run. I went to the gym and did 30 minutes on the elliptical before the sun teased me and I went outside for a walk instead.

I tried to keep myself entertained until it was dinner time cause tonight it’s Indian food night, baby!

Nothing like some Indian food porn

Brown rice, a pita bread and TJ’s Indian Fare Jaipur Vegetables

I liked the flavor from last week’s mix from TJ’s just a little more, but it was still very delicious!

My body is really pooped out from all the running today. I’m thinking a popcorn and movie kind of night?

Question of the Day: Do you have a favorite Indian Dish? I’m still trying stuff out, but I’m in love with the Eggplant Curry I had on Thursday.

Listening to My Body

Good evening bloggies! Anyone else getting super excited over Bones tonight?! I’m probably the only one as always.

The oatmeal this morning didn’t hold me over as long as usual, so this guy was consumed

I love these bars. How can you not love food covered in chocolate?

My lunch date was at a new place I’ve never been, but they had Indian! Guess what I ordered?

Eggplant curry over rice!!!

Sooooo delicious! My ex-roomie and I are thinking about making this lunch date a weekly event. My mouth could deal with that!

And yes, total sneaky bloggy pic fail! I thought I had a good pic but I was in direct sunlight and couldn’t really see my screen.

Later on, body needed some jiggling. I thought I would listen to my body and dance with the youtube video of a Jai Ho Zumba dance super similar to the one in my zumba class. If my booty wants to get some shaking it, I should listen to it right?

Finally it was getting late and figured I should start making dinner, even though that Eggplant curry had held me over for more than 5 hours.

I made Caitlin’s Flax-Encrusted Sweet Potato Balls with steamed peas and broccoli.

I got burned while pulling out the sweet potato balls but they were  sooooo good! I ate every single bite and now have a food baby–I think I’m having twins!

I love that for this recipe the only thing I had to buy was black beans, which were about $2. Definitely in line with my Limit the Bill goal

Even though I was super full, I did listen to my “needs” of my body that “needed” some Green & Blacks Dark Mint Chocolate

I think I’m getting good at this listening-to-my-body thing

Getting some tedious things done such as prepping my resume and cover letter for getting some internships over the summer until Bones comes on. Wish me luck!

Friday Indulgences

Hey bloggies! I hope everyone is having a really great Friday night!

This weekend I plan to change the layout and the header a bit, so for those who don’t like changes, be prepared

Today’s lunch was some leftovers from last night

INDIAN!!! And to make the mush more appetizing the Punjab Eggplant decided to seep into the brown rice and gajar halwa.

I loved the way I dished this up. It allowed for perfect mixing of all three food with each other. There will certainly be more Indian in the future

I later had the last half of my Chobani pineapple greek yogurt with 1/2 of an apple.

I can’t believe I used to not be able to stomach yogurt but now I’m in love with it!

All day I was craving a run, but I was a bit hesitant and nervous about it. I have problems with my knee, a chronic injury that started when I was training for a half marathon last year. I started to have what started as a dull pain in my knee after running a mile, but after two turned into a very sharp pain. When I would run the two miles back I was in unbelievable stabbing knife pain. I had to give up on training for the marathon and I’m generally restricted to indoor rubber tracks.

I wanted to make sure my endurance was still there so I set a goal of running for 30 minutes on the indoor rubber track at the gym and I DID IT! My knee didn’t give me any problems during the run! I’m so relieved that I can make it that far again especially since it has been acting up again walking around school.

It’s Friday which means Roomie Dinner!!!

I was a good blogger and went into sneaky blogger mode

Pasta made with angel hair spaghetti, chicken, cream cheese, spinach and red bell pepper with steamed carrots.

The pasta was most definitely not light or clean, but this is my one night that I indulge a little since my roommate’s took so much time to make it.

Soon a friend took me out frozen yogurt to catch up on life. We talked for two hours over peanut butter frozen yogurt with Reese’s on top. Once again, definitely not light or clean!

I returned and got to opening a package I received earlier in the day

Hmmm I wonder where this beautiful S come from?

Only Sephora!!!!!

I got a Shu Eumura eyelash curler!

and a ridiculous amount of samples.

I’m so excited to try them out tomorrow

What is your favorite store to shop from?

Mine are Sephora, Victoria’s Secret, Nordstroms, Cost Plus World Market and the Container Store

I Love my Indian Food

I also really just love food in general, but today’s afternoon meals were ethnically inspired.

Sorry for the late posting, dinner was super late and I was ridiculously tired last night so this post is going up very late.

After breakfast a chocolate coconut larabar was inhaled

These things are more like candy in my world. So delicious (& nutritious!)

My lunch date did end up coming through so we met at an organic cafe on campus (he was a trooper about this). I got a falafel-esque dish called the Karmapalooza. Though I wasn’t able to take a picture! It felt like it would be really rude to pull out my camera and act like I’m texting. And I was just meeting this guy for the first time so I didn’t feel comfortable being like “oh hey, I blog about everything I eat.”

Anyways, my lunch date got the daal over rice. I told him that the curry was better, but he didn’t listen. Though he didn’t admit it, I’m sure he wished he had gotten the curry too.

I wasn’t able to picture lunch, but this little guy was for dessert when I got back to my apartment

Little in size, high in calories (& deliciousness)

Thankfully, it’s the last of the Easter candy from the Easter Bunny (thanks mom!)

I had to run to a sorority thing-a-ma-bob right during my usual dinner time so I made this beauty for a quick snack to hold me over

a sandwich thin slathered 1/2 T sunflower butter with apple slices on top.

Yum.

The sorority thing was alright, and as soon as I got home I started boiling some water for the brown rice.

But of course thanks to me killing the first pot of brown rice, thus having to boil another pot afterwards, I had dinner at 9PM. Holy cow!

But it was delicious for sure.

Gina’s Vegan Gajar Halwa and Trader Joe’s Punjab Eggplant served over brown rice.

Looks absolutely disgusting but since it’s Indian food it is naturally sooooo good! My lunch date kept joking how Indian food is made to look as disgusting as possible.

How about you, do you think Indian food looks gross?

For me the more disgusting the Indian food looks, I’m probably going to like it better