A Day in the Life…Day Three!

Evening! I got home thinking it must be close to midnight…nope, only 8:30. And there is a mysterious garbage stank to be dealt with (or maybe not so mysterious since it’s probably…dun dun dun…the garbage).

Here we are. Day three of “A Day in the Life”. Did you check out Days One and Due? I suppose I could keep going but by the end of the week, between class and running low on groceries and dipping energy levels, eh. I’ll think of more interesting things to keep us both entertained.

I’ve really enjoyed keeping a log of my meals (shh, it’s not dorky. really.) and I think I could be this type of blogger if not for that whole full time job thing, you know? I really do put a lot of thought into nearly all of my meals and nibbles (and even the less thoughtful ones are still mulled over for a bit!) and seeing them come to fruition on HAP is oddly rewarding.I pride myself on being a devotee of Michael Pollan ‘s – you know, the “Eat real food. Mostly plants. Not too much.” guy? That really smart, supercool real foodie guy?

It’s been nice to see that I really do eat as I believe most of the time. I hope I’ve made Michael proud 😉 These last few days actually contained all the meat that I’ll eat for the week, I can imagine – I’m super selective about the meat I buy (and try to be picky when I’m out and about). Many of my meals are vegan and most days are vegetarian. Nothing wrong with “conscious” meat (it’s delicious and my body loves it, it has told me so many a time…we could never part). It’s just good to get variety and explore alllll that this delicious planet has to offer.

Today’s Breakfast

Time: 5:20am. Yup, you read that right. I planned a strength training session for today’s workout so not only did I know eating beforehand wouldn’t make me sick but also that I needed to eat first. There is a huge difference in my strength and stamina when it comes to lifting on an empty stomach and lifting when I’ve recently fueled up.

Reheated banana flax oats! Made ’em last night and heated them in the mic this morning with a splash of almond milk. TJ’s Sunflower buttah on top with unsweeted shredded coconut, a sprinkle of Whofie’s Save the Rain Forest Granola, and a bit of Polaner’s raspberry fruit spread. Reheated oats are…a’ight. The flavor is mostly there but the texture is, well, crappy. They tend to clump and the creaminess is no where to be found. Maybe I’m just not reheating properly? It’s a bit much to ask before 6am, I’d say. Still tasty, though! House Blend to the right.

Snacky Snack

Kind of a lame excuse for second breakfast, if you ask me. I found these lactose-free yogurts at Whofie last summer and love them! Too expensive to get every week but definitely a nice treat. I totally forgot toppings, though, hence the lame award. I also had to eat it very early (8:30) since breakfast had occurred at such a dark and early hour.

Lunch

Today’s lunch threated to be the culinary disaster of the year in my office. Remember these? Wellll, I practically squealed with excitement when I remembered I had two left in the freezer and threw one into my lunch bag for today. Mixed green salad on the side, of course, with various chopped veggies.

Back to the burger, though. While transferring my lunch to the fridge I realized that my burger had thawed…into an uncooked softened blob that was only staying intact due to the restrictive wonders of Saran wrap. DUH. This was an UNCOOKED BURGER. How the heck was I supposed to salvage this mess?!

All I can say is thank goodness for a microwave and a piece o’ crapola toaster oven. Between heating in the mic and toasting for about 7 hours on top of a tinfoil “plate”, I managed to make a delicious lunch. Crisis averted!

On the side, since no meal is complete without some grains…

Crunchy and sweet for dessert.

Tea Time

I brought celery sticks and hummus to deal with the afternoon hangry monster but when 4:00 came, that snack was totally unappealing. I headed to the bakery up the street for a Chai tea (not the latte…the tea bag) and a multigrain roll!

Ahh. If not for the school reading I had to get done, this would have been perfetto. Nothing could ruin this roll, though! Soft and doughy, nuttiness from the different grains, crunch from the various seeds. I was really tempted to go with a cookie or muffin since they are all made in-house from real food and are terribly scrumptious BUT I knew I didn’t need the sugar.

Dinner

Leftovers.

So. Damn. Good.

I had a square of dark chocolate when I got home and a few cinnamon roasted brown sugar pecans (which sound better than they really are…I hate pecans).

This lady needs to hit the hay. 6am spinning class tomorrow. Yay? Catch y’all on Friday, I assume. Thursdays are crazy busy!

Happy almost TGIF…how’s that optimistic for ya? 😉

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A Day in the Life…Part Due

Has anyone else noticed that buds are beginning to appear on the trees?! And that ants and spiders are starting to call our living room walls home again? I think it’s spring!

Today’s Breakfast

I quickly grabbed a fig shmeared in peanut butter before the gym this morning to keep my energy up during my treadmill speed workout. Breakfast is always the first thing on my mind when I wake up so heading out the door without even a tiny nibble is impossible. After my workout, I went next door to the coffee shop and whipped out the cereal bowl I prepared last night: Nature’s Path Heritage Heirloom 100% multigrain cereal, chia seeds, sliced banana, sliced strawberries, and a handful of walnuts. Added some skim milk this morning! Shh, don’t tell….I played it off like I just enjoy really light coffee…

Second Breakfast

This wasn’t much of a second breakfast, just a handful of roasted almonds to carry me through until lunch!

Lunch

Lunch was easy peasy to throw together last night – leftover channa masala, Trader Joe’s “pocket full of fiber”, a mixed green salad with yellow bell pepper, carrots, tomatoes, and cucs, and the last of the pineapple!

I’ll be frank…channa masala is a risky lunch to have at work and is exactly why I keep a toothbrush in my desk. Garrrllliccc city. And it left me with this raging jones for chocolate! Luckily my coworker had placed a box of chocolate covered macadamia nuts within reach. One of those babies finally cut that garlic edge.

Even though this lunch was initially really filling (fruit tends to trick my belly into thinking it’s full), I was hungry only 2 hours later. I packed small handful of Nature’s Path Hemp Plus granola and a few Wheat Bran cereal squares but completely forgot to snap their photo! They didn’t really do much for my hunger in the long run, though, so I made an emergency trip to Whofie after work so that I could put together this dream date on a plate…

Dins

Fresh whole wheat papardelle with chicken andouille sausage, freshly grated pecorino romano, and peas!

Oh, yes. Soft, chewy whole grain noodles with spicey bits of sausage, salty touches of pecorino cheese, and a fresh snap from the peas. It was everything I could do not to eat the entire pot (uh, yeah, of course I made a double serving to get in on the fun again later in the week). That plate up there is a dessert plate so despite how it looks, I did not quite eat my body weight in pasta.

Dried pasta doesn’t stand a chance next to the fresh variety. Dried is the weeny younger cousin, always running after the big kids but never fast enough or strong enough to keep up. Yeah, it’ll work in a pinch (and, truthfully, is what I use most often) but if you want pasta, go for the fresh. It is the pillow of the food world =) (No, that title does not belong to mashed potatoes in my universe.)

I don’t usually add salt to my pasta water but fresh pasta really needs the help – just a sprinkle will really bring out the flavor.

After adding the salt and a teaspoon of Garlic Gold Olive Oil (to prevent sticking annndd because it’s delicious), I boiled the water and added the pasta.

While the water boiled, I sauteed the sausage (antiobiotic-free, minimally processed precooked andouille flavored chicken variety) in a bit of olive oil. When the pasta started cooking (fresh pasta is fast, only a few minutes), I added a cup of frozen peas to the sausage; the heat from the pan and later the heat from the pasta was enough to thaw them and cook them through.

After draining the pasta, I grated pecorino romano cheese on top and mixed it all together with the sausage and peas. Supper time! This is absolutely the best pasta dish I have ever made (thanks mostly to great ingredients) and will absolutely be made again.

I also ate a small bowl of green beans but, quite honestly, they were outshone by the pasta and not really worth remembering!

Dessert

A small glass of Lactaid and a vegan double chocolate cookie. I made these a while back and froze most of the batch (individually wrapped in foil…wasteful and a constant source of amusement for my roommates). As soon as they disappear I will share the recipe! Promise! I don’t think I could go a day without some form of cookie in my freezer…