Newlywed, Newly Veg!

Hey guys! I’m glad you enjoyed my post from last night—it was a fun meal!  I think I enjoyed a little TOO much wine—I woke up feeling less than 100% this morning.  But it’s SNOWING again…which gives me the perfect excuse to lounge around in bed all day, right?

Actually, I haven’t exactly been lounging.  I wrote for an hour this morning, and then worked on my online classes ALLLLL morning long, until noon rolled around.  If you gotta do work on a Sunday, you might as well do it in bed!

Before I get to lunch…allow me to unveil my March challenge!!!

TASTE THE RAINBOW!!!

Okay, I’m already having fun with this one!

For my challenge in March, I decided that instead of taking something away (not fun!!), I’d ADD something to my meals (much more fun!!)…namely, as much color as possible!!

My challenge for March (and feel free to play along!) is to eat as many colors as possible every day, with the goal of hitting all five main color groups (red, yellow, orange, green, and blue/purple) at least once every day.  I’m sticking with fruits and veggies…so, for instance, cheddar cheese wouldn’t count as an “orange” hit. 

Ryan created this nifty little chart for me:

…so I’ll be posting this at the end of each of my dinner posts with the tally of colors for the day.  I’m really excited about this challenge…I already eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, but sometimes I’ll look back on my meals and think, “Wow, I haven’t had anything green today,” or “Wow…every single fruit and vegetable I ate today was orange!”  I’m hoping this will inspire some creative dishes and encourage me to incorporate as much variety as possible into my diet. 

I don’t usually post breakfast, but I’ll probably combine some of my breakfasts with my regular lunch posts, and I’ll definitely let you know what I have in terms of color every morning at the very least. 

Let’s get this rainbow party started!

In other challenge news, the month of February is drawing to a close, which means that my sugar challenge should be almost over…BUT, last week, Ryan decided that he wanted to try to go a week without sweets or dessert.  I’m really proud of him for doing this—the boy eats A LOT of sweets!  So, for the sake of solidarity, I’m extending my sugar challenge for (almost) one more week, from today until Friday.  I won’t be counting my added sugar intake, but I will be refraining from desserts and bars with added sugar (Cliff bars, Luna, Balance bars, etc.).  This will probably only help with the taste the rainbow challenge—hello, fruit for dessert!

To kick off the TTR challenge this morning, I whipped up a tri-color green monster with bananas, strawberries, and spinach, plus almond milk and a Vega protein powder packet.  Yum! 

I continued the color-fest at lunch, trying my hand at something new: veggie pancakes!

Using my regular mix (Hodgson Mills), I combined 1/3 cup pancake mix with 1 egg and a splash of almond milk.  I also added a few shakes of tamari for a more savory flavor. 

Then, in my electric steamer, I steamed about a half a cup of broccoli and a half a cup of purple cabbage for about 5 minutes.  When it was done cooking, I combined the veggies in the food processor with about a half a cup of shredded carrots and a smallish piece of ginger.  Pulsed until it looked like this:

…and combined it with the pancake batter.  Then, I plopped all of it down into a non-stick skillet:

I was a little nervous about flipping this bad boy, but I just took a deep breath and did it:

Success!

This was really tasty!  I wish I had cut the ginger up into smaller pieces, because I got some pretty big chunks of it.  But, overall, a tasty (and filling!) lunch indeed!

I also enjoyed a few bites of Ryan’s apple, and I munched on some crackers and tortilla chips while I was cooking.  Full disclosure

See you tonight for a fun dinner!  Hope you’re having a great Sunday!

Aka, Ashley, please don’t leave me!!!

Hey guys!  Tonight, Ryan and I hosted Ashley from Fashionably Fit for a comforting chili dinner.  Ashley recently got engaged down in Florida, and will soon be moving there permanently to be with her fiance.  I’m so happy for her…but it makes me sad that she’s leaving right when we were able to meet!  Ashley is super fun and nice, so I’m sad that she’s moving away…but, I know we’ll stay friends—thus is the beauty of the blog world, right?

As I mentioned in my previous post, I cooked up some cocoa coconut chili from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan.  It was just as good as it sounds!  The coconut flavor was mild, but present.  It gave the chili a slightly sweet, mildly tropical flavor.  It was just enough to tickle the taste buds and give the chili a little switcheroo from your average, everyday bowl of vegetarian chili.

While we waited for the cornbread to finish cooking, we gossiped over wine and homemade guac + tortilla chips.  Sorry, no pic—I only took one, and it’s super blurry!

The table was set in an LSU theme of purple and gold, I later noticed:

Gotta represent the homeland, right?

Cocoa Coconut Chili:

+ cornbread:

+ good company:

= a fun night for all! 

Ashley was a very fun dinner guest…and she didn’t even complain when Baxter crawled into her lap to steal her (gluten free) dessert:

After dinner, we sat on the couch for another couple of hours, chatting and drinking the delicious Cupcake Chardonnay that she brought us!

Thanks for coming, Ashley!  So sad that you’re moving…  

Hope you’re having a great Saturday—tomorrow I’ll unveil my March challenge, plus I’ll have a sugar challenge announcement. 

Night, kids!

Hey guys!  Another MIA lunch post, right?  I guess it’s kind of easier to drop the ball on the weekends. 

This morning, I did some writing for a few hours, and then hopped on the treadmill for a run.  I was not feeling it, so I told myself to just do a mile, and then I could do some strength training.  BUT, once I got going, I felt great, and I ended up pounding out 6 miles in 55 minutes!  Don’t you just love runs like that?  Sometimes you don’t know what you have in you until you just suck it up and do it, and then you surprise yourself! 

After my run, I cleaned up and we headed out to pick up some groceries for the week.  Once we got in the car, I looked at the clock and said, “Is that RIGHT?!?”  It was already 1:00—where did noon go?  For some reason, I thought it was like, 11:30.  No wonder I was starving!

Luckily, I had a bar to snack on in the car:

And I picked up a kombucha to drink as we shopped.  The bar + Kombucha held me over until we got home at 2:30 and finally made some lunch.  BUT, we’re having dinner tonight with Ashley from Fashionably Fit (yay!), so I didn’t want to eat a big lunch and spoil my appetite.  I ended up snacking on…

Honey Chobani + wheatberries + trail mix

and Kashi crackers + this new raw goat cheese I got at our local health food store.

Natalia Rose recommends this cheese in her Raw Foods Detox Diet book, and it is AWESOME!  So good. 

I also had a few bites of a double-chocolate vegan cookie that Ryan managed to sneak into our grocery cart while I wasn’t looking.

After lunch, I got cooking for our meal tonight.  After hearing so many people rave about it, I decided to make Dreena Burton’s Cocoa Coconut Chili from Eat, Drink and Be Vegan.  It was really easy to make, and it already smells heavenly…and who doesn’t love chili on a cold, winter day?

I also cooked up some brownies (from a box…sorry, Ashley!), and I’ll be making some guac to have with chips and some cornbread to have with dinner.  I’m so excited to see Ashley—I’ll get to hear all about her engagement from last weekend!!! 

Now I’m done cooking…but I’ll be cleaning and singing for the rest of the afternoon!  I’ve discovered that listening to my i-pod while mopping and vacuuming makes it go by SO much faster!  I have my Pandora set to “Glee,” “Avenue Q,” and “Rent.”  Musical lover, much? 

I’ll be back with a post later tonight with some chili pics…hope you’re having a great Saturday! 

Wow—you guys rocked that discussion!  Fifty-two comments is definitely a new record high…which is hilarious, because some bloggers get more than that about their daily bowl of oatmeal, but whatever…

I really enjoyed reading each of your comments, and thought that everyone made excellent points.  I wish I could show your comments to my students…but I don’t want them to know that I have a blog! Lol.

Sorry for the lack of a lunch post today, but A.) my lunch was boring, and B.) I didn’t want to mess up the great flow of discussion y’all were having in the current post!

Today has been SO ugly outside—the house has just been shaking and quaking with winds of over 45 mph!  The snow that still hadn’t melted has been drifting around in the winds, and new snow has fallen too.  I am SO ready for spring…and next year, I’m going to kill that stupid little groundhog if he predicts six more weeks of winter!

I worked in bed all morning, writing and grading.  Around 11, I grabbed a Kind bar from my stash.  I wasn’t too crazy about the previous Kind bar I tried a while back, but the one I had today was AWESOME!  It was macadamia nut and apricot, and it was really soft! 

It held me over until about 1, when I finally sat down for a quick lunch:

Amy’s Brown Rice and Vegetable Bowl.  I think this might be my favorite of all the Amy’s microwave meals.  It never lets me down!

This afternoon was…well, lazy!  I lounged around in bed, reading and napping on and off for THREE hours, until I finally got out of bed to do a little laundry.  What a lazy bones!  I won’t be surprised if I have trouble getting to sleep tonight, after my afternoon of lounging. 

At four, I got on the treadmill for what started as a walk but ended up as a walk/run.  I ended up doing 5 miles in about an hour, with a steady back-and-forth between walking and running. 

For dinner tonight, pasta was on the menu!  This recipe turned out really well.  I’m happy to share it with y’all!

Artichoke and Walnut Fettuccini With Toasted Breadcrumbs

Ingredients

1 10 oz. jar of artichoke hearts, drained

1/4 cup walnuts

1 cup loosely packed parsley

1 tbsp. lemon zest

salt and pepper to taste

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Fettuccini, or pasta of your choice

Directions

Bring a pot of water to boil for cooking the pasta.  When water boils, add and cook pasta. 

In a food processor, combine artichokes, walnuts, parsley, lemon zest, and salt and pepper.  Pulse 2 to 3 times for a chunky consistency, or 5-6 times for a smoother consistency.

In a small pan, heat olive oil for 2-3 minutes.  Add breadcrumbs and stir rapidly until breadcrumbs have absorbed the oil and toasted.  This happens very quickly; the breadcrumbs only need cook for about 30 seconds to a minute, or they will burn. 

Drain pasta, reserving a cup of the pasta water.  Combine the fettuccini with the breadcrumbs, adding a bit of the pasta water if the breadcrumbs are too dry. 

Top pasta with artichoke mixture and serve!

We enjoyed our pasta with huge, spiralized salads!  I’m telling you, if you aren’t a salad person, buy a spiralizer and see if it changes your mind!

Playing with food…

Hope your Friday night is going well!  See you tomorrow, kiddos!

Evening, folks!  Let the weekend officially begin!

I had another fun day of classes.  We talked about the Dove Real Beauty campaign, and my students had a lot of interesting things to say.  They were actually really cynical about the campaign—I was kind of surprised.  Many of them noted that, though the girls used in the campaign aren’t “model beautiful,” most of them are still very attractive with nice bodies.  Even the girls who are “bigger,” for instance, have flat stomachs, toned legs, and no cellulite—certainly none of these girls would be considered overweight.

This was the particular ad that we viewed in the textbook:

You know…I kind of agree with my students.  Although these girls are “real” looking…they aren’t exactly posing a huge challenge to the standard of beauty, as they are all relatively attractive with attractive bodies, good hair, white teeth, etc.

They also all agreed that Dove was probably only trying to find the most effective way to turn a profit—in this case, by “cashing in” on the way that women have traditionally been portrayed in the advertising industry.  While many of them thought that the campaign has some merit, they all agreed that Dove’s desire at the heart of the campaign was to earn as much money as possible, not to “widen the beauty ideal” or help women to feel better about themselves.

We read a really interesting article that went along with the reading by Virginia Postrel.  You can read it here—basically she says that the problem with the Dove campaign is that it insists that we’re all “beautiful” in our own way…and most of us are simply not.  The word “beautiful” holds a power that has more to do with evolution and biology than social construct—that since the beginning of time, when choosing a partner meant choosing the best “mate” to bear your children or continue your lineage, we’ve been drawn to faces that are more symmetrical.  We’re drawn to eyes that are bright and skin that is clear and lips that are full because these are good indicators of fertility and health, not just beauty.  I thought that was really interesting.  She ends her essay by saying that a girl claiming she is not “beautiful” does not indicate horrible self-esteem, but rather an acceptance of the truth.  Most of us are not beautiful, we are simple average-looking—and there’s nothing wrong with accepting that.  Postrel concludes,  “Asking women to say they’re beautiful is like asking intellectuals to say they’re geniuses. Most know they simply don’t qualify.”

Honestly, I was kind of surprised by the way my students reacted to the Dove campaign—they were really cynical about it, almost contemptuous.  I do think that part of why they had that reaction was because the ads are run by a major company who, at the end of the day, is simply selling another product, just like every other company.

Whew!  Anyway!

While my students were answering discussion questions, I was cooking up dinner in my head.  I knew I wanted to do something with the swiss chard that has been sitting in our fridge since Saturday—it was use it or lose it time!  We also have a lot of eggs…and some mushrooms…and soon enough, I had a pretty good idea in my head of what I wanted to make!

Swiss Chard, Mushroom, and Couscous Custard 

Ingredients

1 bunch of swiss chard (leaves and stems) (about 2 cups), chopped

2 cups baby bella mushrooms

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1/2 tsp. salt

pepper to taste

1/2 tsp. herbes de provence

3 eggs, beaten

splash of half and half

1/4 cup couscous

1/2 cup white cheddar, grated

Directions

In a pan, saute the swiss chard, mushrooms, and garlic in about a tbsp. of olive oil until the greens have wilted and the mushrooms have browned, about 10 minutes.  Season with spices and salt and pepper, and transfer to a baking dish. 

Combine the eggs and the half and half, and pour over the vegetables.  Sprinkle the couscous over the top, and pat with a spoon to ensure that the couscous is submerged.  Sprinkle cheese over the top.

Bake in an oven at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until the eggs are set and firm. 

Delicious!  Here are some pictures of the process:

This turned out really well—the couscous took on a taste almost like grits.  We had ours with a simple slice of toast:

Simple, but divine!  You know it was good, because we at the WHOLE thing!

Well, I’m beat.  We’re supposed to get 40 mph winds tonight!  Crazy!  See you tomorrow…Friday!

Hey guys! Happy Thursday!  It’s been a low-key morning here.  Got some work done early this morning, then hopped on the t-mill for a lovely six mile run (walked the last half mile).  I took the dogs out for a stroll too because we’re supposed to be getting MORE snow this afternoon—ugh!  I hope I don’t get stuck up at campus when I go up to teach my classes!

Speaking of which, funny story.  On Tuesday, my first class starts at 1:05, hence my rushed lunch posts.  So, this previous Tuesday, I rushed up to campus, made it to my class right at 1:05, and practically NO ONE was there.  We didn’t have bad weather or anything, so I was so confused.  My class usually has 25 students, and there were about six kids sitting in the seats.  “Where IS everyone?” I asked.  My students just shrugged their shoulders.

Well fine, I thought, if they’re all going to skip class or come in late, I’m going to give a quiz.  “Alright, pull out some paper,” I said, and they all (well, all six of them) groaned.  I started rattling off questions from the reading in my “stern teacher” voice for the quiz, and as I gave the quiz, some students started streaming in with panicked looks on their faces, upset that they were missing a reading quiz. 

Finally, one students raised his hand tentatively.  “Yes?” I barked.  “What is it?”

“Ummm…doesn’t class start at 1:15?” he asked in a timid voice.

I looked at the clock.  Ohhhhhhh.  Whoops.

Apparently I’ve been starting class ten minutes early for the last FOUR classes, and no one said anything!!!  I guess when I cancelled those classes because of the snow, I just kind of got my schedule messed up in my head!

“I just figured you were a real go-getter,” one of my students told me, shrugging.  Gotta love ‘em.

We all had a good laugh about it.  Plus, I got to tell them to rip up their quizzes, Rod Belding style:

Funny stuff.

So, with ten extra minutes in my schedule, I got to have a nice, relaxing lunch today. 

Sunshine burger in an Ezekial pita (I’m loving these! So soft and chewy!), plus sprouts, ketchup, tomato, and raw cheese.  I also had a Kashi Crunchy snack bar (chocolate caramel flavor) for dessert.

I have some exciting announcements about the sugar challenge coming up, plus the unveiling of the March challenge (which I am super psyched for!) is right around the corner!

Happy Thursday, everybody!  See you tonight for dinnah.

What do you get when you combine split pea soup:

…with one overly eager dog:

…and a husband who’s too busy watching Jeopardy to guard your food when you leave the room?

A living room that looks like a scene from The Exorcist!

I didn’t take pictures, so use your imagination.  Trust me—it was as bad as it sounds. 

And speaking of scary movies, you know what isn’t one?  Shutter Island!

I know a lot of people are raving about it, but I thought it was really disappointing!  The previews had me shaking in my boots, but the movie was just so-so.  Everyone keeps talking about the “crazy” twist at the end, but (not to sound arrogant or anything) I kind of saw it coming.  I don’t know—I think my expectations were SUPER high for it too, because The Departed is one of my favorite movies, so I was kind of hoping that this one would be on the same level, and I just didn’t think it was at all.

Moving on.

After our disaster in the living room with bowl of soup number one, I served myself another bowl, and I’m glad I did, because this soup was delicious!

We served it with warm pita bread, perfect for scooping:

Curried Split Pea Soup

Ingredients

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 onion, chopped

5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tbsp. yellow curry powder

1/2 tsp. garlic salt

1 tsp. cardamom

1 tsp. garam masala

1/2 tsp. cumin seeds

1/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup dried split peas

4 cups vegetable broth

1 cup water (optional)

Directions

In a heavy-bottom soup pot, heat olive oil.  Add onion and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Add garlic and cook for another 10-15 minutes, until onion and garlic have really softened and begun to brown.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add spices and cook for another 10 minutes.  Add split peas, cook for another minutes or two, then add vegetable broth, stirring the bottom to deglaze the pot.  Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer. 

Cook for at least 1 hour, until split peas have softened and absorbed the liquid.  If the mixture is too thick, you can add water until it takes on the desired soup-like consistency. 

Voila:

Mmmm…this was SO good!  I made this before the movie and let it cook on the stove on the lowest setting while we were gone.  The garlic really mellowed out with the lengthy cooking time, and all of the spices came together so well.  It kind of tasted like a dal, but was also very much a soup.  Definitely a different take on split pea soup from the traditional soup we made back in January. You can see that (equally delicious) recipe here. 

I guess it was so tempting, Baxter just couldn’t help himself.

Did you know that they really did use split pea soup to act as the vomit for the famous exorcism scene in The Exorcist?  Fun fact, right?

Okay…I think we’re going to take it easy for a while and then head to bed!  Tomorrow is Thursday, which means…we’re almost to the weekend!!! Hang in there!

Hey guys!  Happy Wednesday!

Do you ever have days where you just feel SUPER snacky?  I’m having one today. 

I started my day off right with some green lemonade:

Yum!  Definitely gets the blood flowing!

After a leisurely breakfast, I wrote for about an hour and a half, and then Ryan and I headed to the gym.  I had a good workout—half an hour on the elliptical, two miles on the treadmill, and then some weights here and there.  I feel like we go to the gym less often these days, so when we go, I really like to get a lot of variety in. 

Before we went to the gym, I snacked on half a Luna Protein bar, which I am convinced have crack in them.  How are these so good?

When we got back, I fixed a snacky lunch:

Fage with wheatberries and nutless trail mix (sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds, and dried fruit); carrot sticks; and Ezekial cinnamon raisin bread squares with a big glob of almond butter for dipping.  After lunch, I also finished the rest of my Luna bar for dessert…consider the snacking complete!

It was kind of random, but delicious! 

Aren’t these chick and bunny plates cute?  I picked them up at Target last weekend. 

And speaking of animals…remember when I mentioned the beautiful blown-glass carafe that my mom gave us for Valentine’s day?  Here it is:

Isn’t it pretty?  I love this etching:

My mom has good taste!  And she supports my obsession with love of bird-ware!

*        *        *

I’ve really enjoyed reading everyone’s thoughts on the age/body issue thing.  It seems like while most people agree that high school is one of the likeliest times that a girl will deal with that issue, worries about weight and appearance can really happen at any point in someone’s life.  Thanks for chiming in, everyone!

This afternoon, we’re going to see Shutter Island!!! I’m so excited! I hope it’s good…and not TOO confusing!

See you tonight!

Hey guys!  I had all sorts of plans to make the soup from last night into some sort of tofu and rice dish, but spending all day up on campus wore me out, and both Ryan and I were ready for an easy dinner by the time we got home at 6:45.

Enter the grilled cheese sandwich.

My grilled cheese had sharp raw cheddar, pickles, and the BEST tomato!!! I picked up this “ugly” tomato at the store on Saturday, thinking, “Well, it’s not tomato season yet, but these look good.”

Oh my gosh, this tomato was so good!  So juicy and flavorful, you would have sworn it was picked in July!  Yum!

I enjoyed mine with the (very little) wheatberry salad leftovers.

Sorry, I know you’re probably sick of these “food as face” pictures, but for some reason they just crack me up!  Check out this wonky face:

We enjoyed our sandwiches with leftover soup and the season finale of Men of  Certain age.  Does anyone else watch that show?  We kind of started watching it on a whim, but I really like it!  It’s serious without being too depressing…and come on, everybody really DOES love Raymond! 

*        *        *

Today for class, my students all read an essay by Susan Bordo, a professor of Philosophy.  The essay is called “The Empire of Images in Our World of Bodies,” and basically explores the topic of body image in our culture, focusing more specifically on the role that the media plays in shaping our views of what we “should” look like, and changing our perceptions of what we see as attainable in terms of physical beauty and perfection. 

We had a really interesting discussion in all three of my classes, discussing things like plastic surgery, stereotyping, pressures that men face vs. women, airbrushing and computer-generated perfection, etc.  It was a good day. 

One particularly interesting thing that my students said in ALL three of my classes was that they thought that the pressure to be thin/perfect/beautiful lessens significantly for girls when they leave high school and go to college.  In all of my classes, both the girls and guys agreed that the college/university atmosphere is more conducive to accepting people for who they are, learning to love your flaws, developing healthier eating habits, etc. 

I though this was really interesting! Looking back on my own experiences in high school and college, I think I was equally as insecure in college as I was in high school; it just might have manifested itself in different ways.  In fact, I’d say I’m just NOW learning to be happy with who I am and to really focus on eating for health, as opposed to eating for the body I want. 

I guess I’m not really going anywhere specific with this…I just found it interesting!  Do you feel like you reached a point of healthy eating and self-acceptance when you were in college, or was it something that you still struggled with during those years?  Do you feel like you’ve reached that point of acceptance now?

Feel free to ignore this segment and just comment on my grilled cheese. I just thought it was interesting. 

Night, y’all!  See you in the morning!

Okay, I am officially obsessed with my spiralizer!!! It makes salads so fun and pretty!

Check out my taco salad lunch:

Delicious!  My tacos had 1/2 an avocado, red beans, radishes, carrots, and lettuce, plus creamy balsamic dressing and raw sharp cheddar.  Um…YUM!

This morning, I graded for a few hours and then hit the t-mill for a 4.5 mile run, so I was more than ready for this delicious lunch come noon!

Gotta run to class now!  We’re starting our two week section on body image and the media + identity.  It’s one of my favorite parts of the semester, and my students always have a lot to say about it.   

See you tonight! Hope you’re having a great Tuesday!

ps-  How about Rozlyn last night?!?? Swearing on her child’s life?!?  There are no words…also, my friend Mindy and I (hi Mindy!) are now convinced that he doesn’t propose to either girl.  I think he’s going to pull a Bob Guinney and do the whole “I’m excited to see where this can go” bit.  If you watch the Bachelor, what did you think about last night?