Tag: Lunch

Beans and Greens Burgers

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Not gonna lie.  Not a lot of cooking has been happening over here the past few days for a few reason:

1. No one will eat my baked goods. Boo.
2. I’ve been eating salads like it’s nobody’s business.  Fresh things are just fun in the summer.
3.  I’ve been spending the better parts of my day watching soccer.

Basically I made one big pot of lentil/rice/greens and ate that for about 4 days.

I also ended most meals with strawberries that were in my CSA bag this week.  Pretty tasty.  Sad they’re gone.

Finally, today I decided it was time to make something.  Why not a burger?

Beans and Greens Burgers

1-2 big handfuls of greens (I used turnip greens and kale)
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 an onion, roughly chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 handful of fresh basil (I bet mint or cilantro would work great too)
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes (rehydrated or packed in oil)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 cups cooked garbanzo beans
1 tsp salt
2 “flax” eggs (2 tbsp milled flax + 6 tbsp water)
2 tbsp flour
1/2 tsp paprika

Preheat oven to 400 F.  Put greens,  garlic, onion, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, olive oil, lemon juice and zest in the processor and pulse until it resembles a coarse pesto. Add remaining ingredients and continue to pulse until you get a consistency you like (I left mine kind of chunky).

Form into patties and place on a greased baking sheet.  Bake for 15 minutes, turn and bake for 15 more minutes.  Serve as patties or on a bun.

In other news, I’ve been watching Glee. While a lot of the times I get embarrassed for the characters who are singing and have to fast forward (does this happen to anyone else!??!),  I’m enjoying it.  But let’s be realistic, it’s no secret I watch TV shows/movies for the eye candy…

Anyone else love Puck?

M.I.A.

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Hi Friends!

Next week is the last week of classes! Woo! That means the next few weeks I will be

or rather

Consequently this is the extent of the vegetables in my produce drawer:

Thus lunch has to be

Had this for a few days now.  Not sure how tomorrow’s going to pan out since I’m out of bread and cheese.  I’ll figure it out.

Also…

WTF, Ithaca!??! It’s practically May!!

Off to class I go!

I Hate Sunday

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Sunday is my least favorite day of those days that we consider “the weekend.”

Let’s be realistic.  Sunday is a jerk.

Friday is exciting.  It’s the beginning of the weekend, and you’re ready to relax.   He’s like the cute boy you have a crush on and can’t wait to see.

Saturday is great.  You can sleep in, go to the farmer’s market, watch shows you’ve been waiting all week to catch up on, stay up late with friends knowing that it doesn’t really matter what time you wake up the next day. He’s the boy that takes you on fun dates.

Then Sunday… There’s the expectation that you were lazy all weekend and should probably get something done.  The lazy lounging around that makes Saturday so blissful is replaced by the guilt that you should be getting work done while your brain tells you that it’s still the weekend. He’s the boy you’ve been with far too long for your own good and should probably break up with to maintain your sanity.

This specific Sunday, today, was particularly unproductive. I opened readings, read the first paragraph and got distracted.  I went to the computer lab and got little done.  I lost my student ID and didn’t go to the gym.  I ate about 15 oreos… maybe more.

I managed to redeem myself with dinner, featuring pee’s best friend: asparagus.

Open faced cheese, egg and asparagus sandwich.

1 sliced of multigrain bread, toasted with cheddar cheese.

Topped with roasted asparagus in olive oil, salt and pepper

and poached egg.

Nothing makes up for Sunday’s jerk like tendencies like a runny yolk.  That and the potential of having strawberries grow in my window.

Now these little guys are sitting on my window sill soaking up the sun chillin’ like it’s Saturday.

I, on the other hand, must get to reading because pretty soon it’ll be Monday, everyone’s favorite day.

Hope you all had a nice weekend.

What’s your favorite day of the week?

Taco Flavored Kisses

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You’re probably all too refined to watch South Park, but my lunch reminded me of that episode.

Taco Salad!  (But way healthier and probably more delicious!)

Started with:

  • Romaine (~ 3 cups)
  • Red Pepper (1/4 of a pepper)
  • Black beans (1/2 cup)
  • Cheddar Cheese (about an ounce)
  • 1 Packet of Wholly Guacamole!

Then topped it with my amazing homemade creamy salsa dressing: 1/4 cup salsa + 1 tbsp greek yogurt! That’s it!

Doesn’t look that tasty but trust me, it is!

Delicious! I considered having it again for dinner but decided I should probably vary my daily nutrient consumption (not that soup and toast was a better option… but oh well).

After lunch, I couldn’t resist a cupcake.  So I had a huge cat mug of tea with a cupcake.

Delightful!

Stress Eating:

So yesterday and today, I’ve been stress eating a bit, okay maybe more than a bit.  Honestly, I’m trying not to worry about it too much.  Everything will be turned in and done by Thursday.  I figure if I overeat a little too much these days, it’s not going to kill me.  I’m not going to let a little bit of overeating stress me out even more.  There are more important things for me to stress about right now.  I’ve realized this month that once my stress levels drop, I eat significantly less.  So the moral of the story is, sometimes stress eating happens and while I do all I can to curb it, sometimes I just have to give in, get my work done and move on to maintain my sanity.  What are your thoughts?

Guess I should get back to paper writing since I won’t be watching Lost 😦

Lastly, here’s a link to a hilarious blog post from NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me where they try the KFC Double Down Sandwich. Have a great night!!

No Panini Press? No Prob!

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Hi Ladies (and gentlemen?)!  Hope your weekend is starting out well! Mine’s been okay.  I finished the book I had to read, now paper writing can commence, but before all that I had a lovely morning.

I watched Ugly Betty (cried a bit… so sad this show is ending) while I had breakfast, cleaned the apartment, did some laundry and went to the gym (45min elliptical + 15 min treadmill + some weights).  Then I came home and before going to the library decided I should probably have lunch.  So this ensued…

Holey Moley!  Sooo good!

Now, I love toasted/pressed sandwiches.  However, I’m poor and unmarried (no registry… not for a long time, if ever) so instead I got a little creative.

I started with a flat out foldy thing (flat bread essentially but any bread would work), spread some delicious hummus on both sides, layered a little under 2 ounces of reduced fat cheese on both sides, then added spinach, sprouts and yellow peppers to create this:

Then I heated a pan and sprayed it with cooking spray and placed another pan on top and weighed it down with a jar of tahini, like such:

Then I had the most amazing meal ever!  Check out the melty cheese!

But seriously what made this extra delicious was this hummus:

Tribe Mediterranean hummus.  It tastes Moroccan!! Sooo good!  (Note: if you have a Harris Teeter look in their deli section for Moroccan Hummus!  Delish!)

I love this hummus with the yellow peppers as well.

Tip: If you don’t want to consume an entire pepper at one time, one way to keep it fresher longer (since they are expensive and you want them to last!) is to wrap the cored pepper in a paper towel then place it in a bag in the fridge.

It’ll keep fresh for up to a week!

Friends, I am a bottomless pit today!  Sadly I came home from the library with no desire to cook (gasp, rarely happens).  This is where I need a sexy man who waits eagerly for my arrival just so he can serve me a gourmet, healthy meal.

Wishful thinking.  Instead I had PB&J

some edamame and cottage cheese.

I’m hoping my hunger monster will go away soon, in the meantime, I’m chugging water and starting this paper!  Wish me luck!

Random Question: What’s your favorite sandwich ingredient?

April Will be AAAAmazing!

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Happy April Everyone!

I hate April Fool’s Day!  Sorry to be a scrooge (what? wrong holiday?), but I won’t even pretend to be pregnant or dropping out of school or anything of that shocking sort.  Are you a fan of April Fool’s Day??

Today has starting out wonderfully!!

Reason #1: It’s SUNNY out and there is going to be a high of 78!!!!

Check out the sunshine radiating from my fire escape!!

See Lauren‘s post on Vitamin D

Reason #2: Amazing oats in my new bowl! Isn’t it cute?

My oats may not be as fancy as some, but my oat + banana +yogurt + almond butter combo is the best thing on Earth to me!  Case in point:

Reason #3:  Delicious lunch!

At Allie‘s suggestion I had a tempeh + pumpkin butter + spinach sandwich.  Yes there is tempeh and pumpkin butter amongst that mountain of spinach.

OMG delicious!  Try it!  Even better than yesterday’s sandwich!

Reason #4: Yesterday I got Mad Men season 3 arrived in the mail.  Thus I can continue my love/hate relationship with Don Draper.

Reason #5: Class was outside today!  I got to argue with someone, which is fun because usually it’s a huge group of people sitting around agreeing with each other.

Reason #6: Fantastic work out this morning!  It flew by!  I did 4 miles on the T-Mill while watching Tyra Banks’ E! True Hollywood Story.  I love trash TV!

So I’m posting this later than expected but today has been a great day so far!  To be honest, I’m not sure how much work I’m going to get done the rest of the day, but I’m a happy camper!

Hope your day has been as pleasant as mine!!

Tomorrow is Friday!!! WOO!

Let’s Go Streaking!

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Ok actually you can and should do this with your clothes on!

My brother-in-law started a fun facebook group called The Running Streak Group.

Basically the idea is to run (at least) 1 mile everyday, never missing a day.  You can see the United States Running Streak Association for more info!

Starting April 1st, I’m going to try to run at least 1 mile everyday!  Sounds kind of fun right?  Anyone want to join me?  Feel free to join the facebook group!  Good way to make sure you get moving at least a little bit everyday!

I wish I had more exciting eats to show you all, but unfortunately I’ve been running around like a chicken with its head cut off for the past few days!   I’m trying to get together school work, apply for internships and be the overall rockstar that I am!

This morning I made a green monster for breakfast and in my rush out the door, forgot it.  That was upsetting… luckily I wasn’t hungry this morning.

But I’m pretty excited for lunch. I’m trying something new!

Tempeh with jam and spinach! (Note my super bread slicing skills aka super uneven!) Ready to go…

Sounds like an interesting combo!  I’ve seen it around the blog world!  I’ll let you know how it is. Have you ever had the tempeh/preserve/sweet combo?  Did you like it?

EDIT: OMG THIS IS AMAZING!!!

In other news, my Stress-Less March idea is working really well.  While it sucks to have to take everything with me and lug it around campus all day, it’s really nice to get so much done and come home and sort of relax for a bit.

I’m in the library so I should probably get to work.  Hope you have a great day!!

Carb-a-licious!

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Hi everyone!  Happy Saturday!

I woke up this morning still full from last night!  That African food was dense!  After a Green Monster and some internet perusing, I headed to the gym where I ended up doing 4 miles on the treadmill.  My knees felt fine, probably because I did a run/walk combo (run 2 mins/walk 1 min).

I came home to try something new:

Barley!

I’ve realized that complex carbs keep me full for longer.  The past two days I’ve come home ravenous after a basically complex carb free lunch!  So I’m going to try to incorporate whole grains and other complex carbohydrates into my lunches to see if that helps keep me from wanting to gnaw my arms off around 4:30pm.

I made a delicious stir fry with a bit of coconut oil, garlic, zucchini, bok choy, scallions and Kikkoman Ponzu. On top of that, I added a chopped up Spicy Chik’n Patty and helping of barley!

Delicious!  Very filling!  Finished off the meal with two cuties and huge cup of green tea!

I basically did nothing today… I went to TJ Maxx to return the fantastic red heels that didn’t fit 😦 and to Target to pick up some cleaning essentials.

Later in the evening, I decided I wanted a labor intensive dinner, because reading wasn’t looking that good…

Pizza!  Using this dough recipe from Eating Well.

Toppings includes: sauce, a layer of finely chopped spinach, fresh mozzarella, chopped artichoke hearts, and grated romano cheese.

Artichokes make everything delicious!  What are your favorite homemade pizza toppings?


I also ventured and made Chocolate Chia Pudding…

Sad to say this is the first bloggie recipe that I did not like.  I threw it away 😦  Oh well!  Can’t love them all!

Since today was full of slacking, tomorrow is a study day.  Dreading it already.  The Oscars are on tomorrow!  I can’t wait to see the dresses on the Red Carpet!

Have a fantastic night!!

SUNSHINE

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Today was a good day!  For a few reason:

1. I went to the gym and ran (along with a 30 minute elliptical date with Oprah’s O Magazine)!  After 2 weeks off from running to let my knees rest from excruciating pain, I ran 1 mile today!  Pain free!  I’m starting slow again to prevent any other form of injury!

2.  We had SUNSHINE!!!! It was amazing!! I hadn’t seen the sun in weeks!  (No joke!)  I walked to class with a smile on my face!  Great start to the day!

3.  Finished all my reading for this week and tomorrow I’m getting ahead and starting on next week’s!  Woo!  This work day plan is working well so far!

4. Delicious lunch! Left over eggplant parmesan under the broccoli, along with fruit and veggies.  Not photographed is a homemade granola bar!

5.  Grocery Store: Green Star Coop and Wegman’s! Bought the usual spinach, carrots, etc.  But also picked up a few new goodies to try:

Coconut oil!  I’ve heard about all the health benefits and today I broke down and bought some!  I can’t wait to try it!  I hope it helps clear up my dry skin on my face!!

Wheat Berries, Barley and more Chia seeds!

New Almond Butter that was on sale!  I can’t wait to try this brand!  I hope it’s good!  I’m pretty particular about my almond butter!

6.  Recipe for tomorrow is in the works!  Here’s a sneak peek!

Black eyed peas soakin’ over night…

Now I’m off to finish up a movie and hit the hay!  I hope tomorrow has sunshine too!!  Have a great night!!

Lastly, don’t forget to go over to Mara‘s blog and vote for my penguin olives for the Cute Food Saturday Cuteiversary contest!!

Game Face

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Hi all!  Happy Monday!

Thanks for all your supportive comment about my last post!  I really appreciate it.

This morning I woke up feeling on the ball.  I was up at 6:20, had some coffee, packed a lunch and headed to the gym 20 minutes before I usually do.

It felt great to get my work out over with earlier than usual… even though a ridiculous girl kicked me off the elliptical because she had signed up for the one was on after me.  There were 6 other ellipticals open… ridiculous!  Oh well, I didn’t let her get to me!

I wanted a change from plain old oatmeal so this morning I had Oats in a Jar using Bob’s Red Mill Hot Cereal! Delish!

My lunch is packed and ready to go:

Flatbread sandwich with a Morningstar veggie patty, hummus, tomato and kale

Along with some cantaloupe, an apple and a granola bar.

I’ve got my game face on to conquer the work load!

Another tip I didn’t mention: just do it! Get work done and stress will be reduced.  So that’s my goal for today.

Have a wonderful Monday!

P.S. Lovely Fella will be here in 2 days!!!!