Italian cravingI

I had major munchies this afternoon!! I ended up eating the 2nd tangelo I bought (now I’m out and need to find more). This was seriously the juiciest citrus I’ve ever had, rivaling only a peach in its juicy fruity goodness.

Tangelo wedges

Not long after, I felt really strange and ravenously hungry, which is so weird! Usually in the afternoons I just get snack munchies, but I was dying for carbs so I listened to my body and ate an English muffin with a tiny bit of Smart Balance buttery spread. However, I was too impatient to photograph it, sorry. Just imagine me stuffing my face with an English muffin. Ready… go!

That, thankfully, kept me for 3 hours. I didn’t make dinner til 8pm! In the in-between time, I painted all my nails (toes are now tacky purple – for something fun – and the fingers are a nice, normal color). I also OD’d on Food Network (“Chopped” and “Iron Chef”) and had major polenta cravings. I had this great sauce planned in my head and then we didn’t have any polenta. Sad face. But I pulled it together and used whole wheat orzo instead. This sauce is my standard tomato sauce that I LOVE to make and it is super easy and tasty. I beefed up the protein (pun intended) by adding some TVP, or texturized vegetable protein (1/4 cup dehydrated that I rehydrated). I’ll put the recipe for the sauce in my Recipes tab up top

Whole wheat orzo with Shortcut Catcciatore Sauce

I ate 1/2 of this and saved the rest for tomorrow! Topped with more basil, some parmesan, and red pepper flakes.

I saved half of dinner for tomorrow. It was the serving size for the orzo but the sauce is kind of heavy so I felt super full. I’m definitely getting better at reading my hunger and stopping when I am comfortably full, rather than eating food just because it is there. Plus, this will make good leftovers for lunch tomorrow! And an added bonus: the majority of the ingredients just so happened to be organic and from TJ’s!

A couple hours later and I was properly digested and ready for dessert. But I wanted to keep it a little healthier than soy cream or a No Pudge brownie (very good dessert alternatives in themselves, but I’ve eaten a lot of that lately). So I went to an oldie but goodie that is a balanced dessert and will give me good fuel for tomorrow.

1/2 anjou pear (microwaved), 1/3 cup low fat plain yogurt, 1 heaping tbsp naturally sweetened granola, ~8 dark chocolate chips

For all those doubtful people out there, try microwaving an apple or a pear for an amazing treat!! If the pear is ripe, it needs 1-1:30 in the microwave, and if its an apple or an unripe pear, give it 2-2:30 to make it soft. Drain off any excess liquid if you want and top it with whatever you choose! I usually don’t put the chocolate in, but felt like living on the edge a bit tonight It got all melty with the hot fruit. True love.

Off to bed, I have an exciting run planned with not 1, not 2, but 3 running buddies! Details tomorrow!!

bike!!!!

I got my bike!! Details later… first the important stuff: food.

Woke up at 8am with no alarm. This seems to be the time my body naturally wakes itself up when I go to bed around 10 or 11pm. That way its not too hard to wake up at 6:30 or 7am for the gym. Also, I think I require a lot more sleep than the average person! I was NEVER able to do an all-nighter in college and the latest I ever stayed up (doing work) was 2am. I seriously cannot function on less than 6 hours of sleep, I don’t know how some of my classmates did it!! Cuh-ray-zeee.

I had no set plans for a workout and ended up sitting in bed on the computer for 30 minutes until I was inspired to get up. I really enjoyed not having a plan in mind, that way I wasn’t disappointed or left feeling like a failure when I couldn’t live up to my own expectations. No pressure! I am continuously anxious about graduate school acceptance (should be coming in the mail any day!) so I decided to go where I go when I’m feeling anxious or upset: the pool. Deep down, I still have the heart of a competitive swimmer.

Before I swim, as opposed to any other form of cardio, I can eat almost anything and my stomach is fine, so I had a small breakfast instead of a “snack”.

1 piece multigrain bread, 2 tsp IM Healthy Chocolate Soy Nut Butter; a few grapes

Clearly I was not starving. I got to the pool and a senior (high-school age) group was doing a practice so I got into the lane next to them. It really made me miss the good old days of swimming! I think it surprised them all when I could keep up with them. Just because I’m bigger than the typical swimmer does not mean I flounder around!! It makes me feel kind of proud to still be able to swim fairly well. I ended up swimming for 40 minutes and doing only 2200 m, but that is all I really felt like doing. Again, no pressure.

Came home not starving but needing a snack after my light breakfast, so I had a bowl of cereal.

1/4 cup Nature's Path Flax Bran, 1/4 cup Cheerios, 1 tbsp raisins, 1/3 cup skim milk

I completely forgot that I could have used my new almond milk in this until uploading the picture! I think the refrigerator swallowed it last night because if I had seen it I would have remembered. Oh well.

After some Olympic action and other morning activities, I busted out the tempeh for lunch. I was inspired by this recipe from one of my favorite blogs, No Meat Athlete. It is a great resource for a newbie vegetarian like me. Since I had heard that the tempeh had a taste that was “love it or hate it” or one that “grows on you”, I wanted to use a recipe instead of making up something on my own and hating it. I’m so glad I used inspiration from that recipe because I loved my lunch!

Marinated the tempeh in a "buffalo sauce" (spicy BBQ, hot sauce, honey, and lemon juice).

Buffalo tempeh quesadilla (buffalo tempeh, spinach, bleu cheese, white cheddar, TJ's small whole wheat and flax tortillas); 1/2 bosc pear; snap peas

After I let the tempeh sit in its sauce for a few minutes, I threw together a healthy quesadilla that was FANTASTIC. I would have liked it in a wrap, but my tortillas weren’t wrap size (they’re the baby tortillas) so I didn’t want to mess it up and have it look sloppy. I added 1/2 slice reduced fat white cheddar since there wasn’t a ton of bleu cheese left and you need cheese to make a quesadilla stick to itself (I lived in Mexico, I’m the quesadilla authority).

For those that want to know, here’s a definition of tempeh. I got TJ’s Organic 3 grain that has soy, millet, and something else I can’t recall at the moment… I think I could really like this stuff. Had a great, meaty texture that I’ve been secretly missing.

Then I went to pick up my BIKE!!! Mona let me borrow her SUV so I could get it (getting my bike rack on Monday). After I got it, I took it to the local bike shop so I could get a helmet. They ended up taking a look at the bike and recommending a “tune-up” or their basic maintenance package. They recommended this for used bikes (got it off Craigslist whoop whoop!) and I am more than willing to pay money for my personal safety. They’re going to adjust it to me (my height and preferences). Sadly I didn’t snap a picture before I left it there for its sleepover, but it should be ready around Tuesday. You’ll just have to wait. And, OF COURSE, I named him. I name everything, and everything is always a male. I know, I’m weird. Anyways, he is a Mongoose brand bike, so I have dubbed him “Rikki Tikki Tavi” in honor of childhood memories of my brother & I (10 pts if you get the reference).

Got home from my bike excitement and had a simple snack.

1 serving Kashi TLC Fire Roasted Vegetable crackers; 1 wedge Laughing Cow Original Light

Now I’m going to read or something. I like the having nothing pressing to do part of an adult Saturday. Really don’t miss the Saturday homework crunch of college!