U-G-L-Y you ain’t got no alibi….you’re TASTAY!!

Meet the ugliest pancake in the whole wide world. I intended on making mini pancakes but I accidentally dumped all the batter in the pan and it made for difficult flipping! While ugly, it tasted great–just like baked oatmeal hot outta the oven.

Oat Bran Danish Pancakes

• 1/3 cup oat bran
• 1 egg white
• 1/3 cup cottage cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• splash of almond milk
• cinnamon

Topped with Greek yogurt, pears and kumquats (I was trying to cover the ugliness ).

The ‘pancake’ was crumbly yet soft and cake-like. I essentially cooked a bowl of oat bran!

French press coffee

It was a beautiful day, so I went for a 30 min. walk while reading for my Entrepreneurship class. I have problems focusing when I read indoors. I cannot last more than 10 min. without finding something else to do. However, when I read outside, I can easily read for 30 min. straight.

A Whole New Mind talks about letting your creativity shine by enhancing your right-brain’s functionality. The way most school systems are structured favor left-brain thinking i.e. standardized tests, cutting out music and art classes, grades, etc….Pink believes that utilizing both the left and right hemispheres of your noggin’ is the key to success.

Did your schools emphasize left-brain thinking (sequential, literal, analytical, textual) or right-brain thinking (aesthetic, metaphorical, simultaneous, contextual) or both??

***

For a late lunch, I made a Grilled Pear Salad w/ pecans, almond cheese, and broccoli slaw.

I grilled the pear slices on the panini press:

The pecans MADE the salad.

I planned to go to the gym at night to watch the Duke v. UVA basketball game, so my afternoon munchies came along and were rather fierce!

I calmed them down with some snax: plantain chips, cranberry almond biscotti, and chocolate chips.

Lemon Ginger Green tea latte

While reading (blah), I had a spoonful of Naturally More Almond Butter.

I used to eat almond butter by the jar! I could finish a jar in a mere 4 days. I had to limit the number of jars in my room because they would disappear so fast! Well, at some point I got a hold of that wild addiction and now I have it on english muffins, with my oats, with fruit, or just a spoonful at a time.

Naturally More, however, has super charged my addiction! I love this stuff. I just want to take a spoon to it like a pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream .

At the gym, I ellipticalled for 60 min. while we crushed UVA. Wahoo!

I came back and broke out the ugliest banana ever. It’s the shade of my place mat!

I made a protein green smoothie:

• 1 cup spinach
• 1/2 banana
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 packet of vanilla protein powder

AND I finally got to eat an Ezekiel English Muffin w/ cottage cheese, bananas, and cinnamon.

I swear, I wake up every morning and think about eating an Ezekiel English Muffin. I have to say no sometimes because not only is it boring for the blog, it’s quite pricey.

I continued my post-workout eats with pumpkin ice cream, crumbled Carrot Ginger Muffin and Naturally More almond butter:

Then I chatted with my roommate until 1 AM while eating choco chips. Work? What?

Hope you’re having a great start to the week. It’s in the 50s and sunny today. Too bad it’s supposed to snow tomorrow and Wednesday!…..I’m ready for Spring and Spring Break!!

I fixed Ecto!!! Whew! What a headache that was. Thanks to Miss Kelsey for the help.

Yesterday, April McGregor, the owner of Farmer’s Daughter (a local farm-driven artisan food business), came in to my Culinary Cultures class to do a biscuit-making demonstration. She talked about her experiences growing up in a small town in Mississippi as well as her pursuit of a career in food, despite getting a graduate degree in Geology.

There seems to be a common theme here. I keep meeting women who have pursued their passion–first my professor, then the Pie lady, then the bakery owner, and now April. I think it’s a sign .

***

I’ll show you the biscuits she baked in just a few photos but first, breakfast:

Strawberries ‘n’ Cream (Greek yogurt)

Cinna-raisin Ezekiel English Muffin topped with 2 egg whites and cottage cheese:

Chock full of protein!

Necessary cup o’ joe because I got up suuuuuper early to try and fix my blog problems.

I kept it light knowing we would be eating in class.

Two people brought in food for the class:

1. Sweet Pancake

This had peanuts inside so i did not have any (allergic).

2. Homemade vegetarian gumbo with rice

The flakiest butter biscuit hot outta the oven!

April brought in some of her preserves–on the left is a pear preserve and on the right is sorghum. I also had a dip of some chocolate gravy (which tastes like hot chocolate sauce)!

Her homemade preserves:

After class, I went to the gym to work off some steam/frustration. It worked like a charm! I got there totally flustered and came out calm and composed. Exercise is a wonderful thing.

Work Out:

• 3 mile treadmill run–it felt great but I had slight shin pain by the end
• 35 min. elliptical
• 30 min. full body strength training and ab work

I ate this Chocolate Heart Thrive between cardio and strength training to get some sugar in my blood stream.

Pre-shower snack: my muscles needed some fuel and fast!

Sandwich round with pumpkin butter and mozzarella almond cheese:

Spring break is in ONE week and I am now realizing that I have A LOTTA food to eat up!! Let the fridge cleaning begin.

I’ve got to finish off:

• Greek yogurt (no worries)
• Kefir (definitely no worries)
• Cottage Cheese
• Broccoli Slaw
• Eggs
• Strawberries
• Pears
• Artichokes
• Almond Milk
• Kumquats
• Tofu

Got any ideas for meals/snax using these ingredients?

***

I took a stab at my list for dinner:

Salad w/ eggplant, artichokes, broccoli slaw, cucumbers, and tzatziki sauce dressing.

Tofu cubes with ketchup–surprisingly great combo. Try it!!

For dessert I nibbled my little mouth off:

Plantain chips and dried pineapples with Naturally More Almond Butter:

Pumpkin Ice Cream with biscotti. It looked just like this:

Chocolate chips and a green tea latte:

I ended the night by watching the Olympics (Apolo!) and heading to bed early (12:30 AM haha). I had an early wake up call to go to the bakery!

I’ll be back with a bakery recap (including the 5 layer wedding cake) and footage of our blogger meet up tonight at Guglhupf Bakery, Patisserie & Cafe!!

I’ve had the same exact DukeCard since the very first day of freshman orientation, August 21st 2006. I’m quite proud of this accomplishment as the ID card is used for everything campus related–to get into dorms, to buy food, to check out books and to get into the gym!

I’m someone that never loses stuff. Despite my messy room, I always know exactly where my stuff is. I used to hate cleaning my room when I was younger because I would complain that I wouldn’t know where anything was afterwards (Umm stuffed under your bed perhaps?!).

All year, the people at the gym have been nagging me about my photo being ‘faded.’ I avoided getting a new card because I wanted to last all 4 years with the SAME one! Plus, I didn’t want to take another photo. However, they have been buckling down and getting feisty about it lately. So in fear of not gaining admittance to the gym, I finally got a brand spankin’ new card.

I went after hours though so I didn’t have to take a new photo . I swear I haven’t aged since 7th grade!

You can totally see my face in the old card!

The number to the left of the barcode indicates which card number it is. #1 baby!

***

I couldn’t get my cravings straight for breakfast. What to do? Eat small portions of everything. That way every taste bud is a happy camper.

Check out these tempting combos:

Oatbran w/ crumbled Carrot Ginger Muffin and almond butter

Kefir + Greek Yogurt + Kashi Puffs + Apple chunks

Apple slices

Before class I had s’more apple and a slice of almond cheese. Fab combo!

Workout: 60 min. elliptical + 30 min. full body strength training

Post workout Shake:

• Vanilla Protein Powder
• Spinach
• Almond Milk
• Banana

For dinner, I made a waldorf style salad using TJ’s broccoli slaw.

Broccoli Slaw, Walnuts, Apple Chunks, and Greek Yogurt

All mixed together:

I then used it as a topping for a salad.

On the side, I had a sandwich round w/ cottage cheese, banana slices, and cinnamon:

Dessert couldn’t come sooner!

• Pumpkin ice cream
• TJ’s Tart Frozen Yogurt
• Chocolate Chips
• Plantain Chips
• Chocolate Hazelnut Nutella Cookie

I went back for seconds of EVERYTHING! Strength training always makes me hungrier than normal….gotta feed the muscles!

The snacking continued as I watched the Olympics–love womens figure skating!! I may or may not have started tearing up when the skater whose mother died over the weekend completed her performance.  Such a sad yet inspiring story.

+ a huge spoonful of almond butter.

***

I’m heading back to the bakery on Thursday to chat with the owner and the catering manager. I need some suggestions for questions to ask them….anything! I’ve got a list of questions but I feel like you all have great ideas that I may not have thought of. Let me hear ‘em!

A lot of you asked if I went back to the bakery to work or if I will be working there. I did not go back the next day. The baker was just sayin’ it casually and unfortunately, I don’t think she is the one who makes those decisions. However, I will meet those who do on Thursday, so we’ll see. I’m going ~1-2x per week for my project so I’ll be there observing at the very least. I’m trying not to overstep my boundaries though, ya know?

My professor suggested I bake my Pumpkin Coconut Pecan Granola for them as a thank you prezzie…and a potential topping for their gelato. That means I gotta get my oven warmed up tonight!

So last night my calves (the lower end), where they meet the achilles got incredibly tiiiiiiiiiight. So tight that simply bringing my toes toward my shins hurts. Badly. I had my dad massage them and I tried rolling them out but nothing has really worked. I woke up this morning barely able to walk!! I had to waddle around like a penguin….going into labor….

What the heck!? I didn’t even workout the day before so it couldn’t have been sore muscles. My only guess is the jumping jacks I did during the basketball game!? I always do jumping jacks but I guess not when I’m barefoot?? UGH I blame CBS.

Needless to say I didn’t workout today. I have done 50 billion downward dogs to stretch out my calves though.

***

Lunch Time Breakfast. That’s what I’m calling my 11:30 AM breakfasts. I’ve gotta fix up my wake up/bed times. Day time is barely long enough as it is!

I ate my apple (nuked for 2 min.) with a Justin’s Honey Almond Butter Squeeze Pack. I’ve had many packets of Maple but have never tried Honey. It was okay. Maple is the bestest in my book.

Color changin’ apple.

I also had some leftover kabocha squash slices.

I made another mug of pumpkin pie spice coffee just like yesterday. This time I drank it out of our Starbucks mug to make it seem REAL. I’m definitely Team Starbucks. What about you?

Not too long after, I had a kefir+Greek yogurt bowl with the uzhe.

My Momma and I headed out in the snow-covered streets to do some Christmas shopping. I didn’t buy anything for myself or anyone else. Humph. I’m gonna have to brainstorm presents big time the next couple o’ days. I’m running out of time! Yeeps!

We came home hungrrrry. The emergency Bliss chocolate from my Momma’s purse didn’t last long!

We decided on some quick pita pizzas. No cooking necessary. I also had a side of broccoli slaw+dressing. I finally finished off the bag!!

I topped mine with pizza sauce, mushrooms, broccoli slaw, and cinnamon cranberry goat cheese. Mmmmmm!

Hi little baby mushroom!

Momma’s pizza w/ shredded cheddar and mozzarella cheeses.

After dinner we had some persimmon, kiwi and unpictured oranges. It’s funny because I remember hating persimmon as a child but I just gave it another try and I love it! I was a rather picky child back in the day. Glad I’m not so picky anymore–there are too many yummy foods out there to be picky!!

We stopped at a Mom and Pop bakery to pick up a birthday cake for my uncle (happy birthday, Uncle!). We picked a Key Lime Mousse Cake.

I love the holiday white chocolate border! Can’t wait to eat a big ol’ slice of this guy!

The bakery doesn’t look spiffy from the outside but it sure has some high-quality baked goods, sandwiches and coffee inside. They had a help wanted sign on the door too (yes? job? yes?) There was a guy asking for an application when we were there. If I didn’t have to go back to school I would totally apply too!

Alright, off to stretch out my calves and eat some cake! So close to Christmas!!!!

I’m loving the snow. A lot. Except for 2 things:

1. I can’t return my Red Box DVD= $1 down the drain.

2. I couldn’t watch the Duke Basketball game at the gym!!! CBS SPORTS MOTHER $%&@#$ was broadcasting snow news over and over and over again in our area (GAH!!!). I went down at 4pm sharp ready for a heart pounding game and 5 min. later found myself back in my condo cursing up a storm. NOT COOL.

After 50 min. of tweeting CBS Sports and my mom calling them (no kidding!), we finally found it on some random Doppler Radar Channel.

I was pleasantly surprised to find so many other tweeters angry at CBS Sports hahaha.

This channel wasn’t on at the gym though, so I had to bring the gym to my condo for a makeshift workout. I did jumping jacks, body weight exercises, high knees, pushups, situps, dumbbell exercises, and other random things. During half time I went downstairs to run for 10 min. on the treadmill.

It definitely wasn’t the same but I still broke a sweat that’s for sure. Lesson learned: ESPN>CBS SPORTS

***

Snow Storm Update:

This is the view from our gym on the ground floor. I heard our area had around 20 inches as of 4pm. It’s still snowing now!!! We probably have ~2 feet!!!

View of the covered pool area:

This morning I had a kefir+yogurt bowl. I am so excited to hear that so many of you are trying this out!! Isn’t it spectacular?

Underneath the cereal is 1/2 a ripe banana and some pecans. You KNOW how much I hate wasting food. Poor little guy. He tasted great though!

I also had some homemade pumpkin spice coffee. I added pumpkin pie spice to my coffee grounds before brewing. IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM!!!!

Got this baby at TJ’s on clearance for 3 buckeroos!

Sittin’ in the snow. True story: I went out onto our snowy balcony to take this. I stepped barefoot in snow. Brrrrr!!! It was too appropriate with the snowman mug not to.

2 Clemens

Some pre-workout chocolate chips and a homemade Green Tea Latte.

I brewed green tea and added some almond milk and stevia. Mmmm.

After my CBS-ruined workout (yes, bitter), I roasted the kabocha squash my dad got for me.

Plus a salmon filet atop greens and a broccoli slaw salad.

I love when my Daddy makes the salmon nice and crispy. I had about twice that amount of salmon.

I made the broccoli slaw salad by tossing it in a Greek Yogurt+Tahini mixture and topped with dried cranberries and pecans.

I am so fiberfull from kabocha+skin!! However, my hand is still reaching into the bag of choco chips as we speak!! Gots to end on sweet

It’s snowing, it’s pouring, the old man is snoring!!

I’ve been singing that out loud all morning like a 5 year old. It is POURING snow over here with crazy strong WINDS. It looks like there are snow machines blowing the snow out from left to right.

How did I get a day behind again!? Maybe we’ll get two posts today

***

Breakfast (I keep saying the word ‘breakfast’ but this meal is typically consumed around 11 am, if not later). I’ve been on a pubertal teen sleeping cycle and I can’t break it!

I made some oatbran with egg beaters.

Topped with almonds, coconut flakes, and pumpkin walnut bread. Plus an unpictured massive slice of Pumpkin Walnut Bread

And a staircase apple sprinkled with cinnamon.

All I have to do is microwave the apple for 2 minutes and all the allergens are gone! Wahoo. Seriously, I love apples but have been scared away by my allergies for so long. Get ready to see some apple action over here!

Then I got inspired by the vegan carob banana chunks I bought at WFs and I decided to make some raw bites. Two kinds even.

First I put my Magic Bullet to use and ground up 8 dates, ~10 pecans, ~10 almonds, and cinnamon.

There was some manual labor too. I kneaded the dough so all the ingredients would be evenly distributed and then rolled ‘em up.

Tossed them in shredded coconut.

And ate them….ALL.

These were similar to Larabars, although not as chunky. I’ll share the second version I made in a later post. Those were closer to the vegan carob banana chunks that I bought at Whole Foods.

Dinner was Operation Use Up Food Before They Retire.

This is totally lacking creativity but my greens and broccoli slaw are about to retire!! Nobody else in the house is helping me eat them!

I had a pita pocket with Pumpkin Hummus, greens, and a yogurt+tahini sauce I made at the last minute.

Plus a huge bed of lettuce with broccoli slaw and cranberry goat cheese.

Dessert was a bowl of Butter Almond FULL EVERYTHING ice cream. Ice cream can be eaten even when it looks like this outside:

Shots taken from our condo windows.

Same view this morning!

Now, how am I going to return the Red Box DVD due at 9pm!? Yikes. Stay warm bloglings!

Yesterday, I found a foam roller at Target for $24.99. Although there are better deals on Amazon I have the patience of a 5 year old and can never wait for shipping.

It’s funny because I’ll take forever to decide to buy something. I drag the decision out forever and ever. But as soon as I decide to get something, I need it i-m-m-e-d-i-a-t-e-l-y.

This one even comes with a DVD!

Oprah Circuit Training

I went to the gym and right as I arrived Oprah was on with the cast of Nine. I cannot WAIT to see this movie!!! I love musicals and all the movie stars in it. I ellipticalled during the show and strength trained during the commercials.

Source

It ended up being about 60 min. on the elliptical and 20 min. full body iron pumping. It ROCKED. I wasn’t bored for a single second.

Afterwards I came back for death by foam roller.

It hurt so much it tickled (a bad tickle, painful tickle). Is that weird?

I thought my IT band hurt until I started rolling out my shins (!!!!!!). HEE HEE hoo hoo HEE HEE hoo hoo! Yowza.

.

ARYD Dinner

Awkwardly Random Yet Delicious Dinner. Again, blogging in the AM leads to some weird content

Here goes:

• Pita wedge plus Pumpkin Hummus
• Shroomies
• Broccoli Slaw
• Cranberry Goat Cheese
• Microwaved Eggs in a Bowl (MEIAB?)

I microwaved ~1/2 cup Egg Beaters for about 2 min. and out came cooked eggs with no pan to scrape to death/clean.

Doesn’t it look like a rose!?

Even more so from this angle.

Next up BAKING!!! All in all, I spent over 3 hours baking a batch of cookies and 3 loaves of bread. GLORIOUS!!!!

I made a batch of Honey and Walnut Pumpkin Bread using this Whole Foods Recipe. We only had whole wheat flour while it called for whole wheat pastry flour. I’m pretty sure that’s why my bread came out so short and stout

I made a few substitutions here and there but nothing major. For example, I used agave nectar instead of honey because that’s what we had. It was moist nonetheless. Definitely ‘healthy’ tasting, as my Momma likes to say.

I then baked 2 more loaves of Pumpkin Streusel Walnut Bread with a more traditional recipe. I knew I wanted pumpkin bread but I didn’t know what else. Not chocolate chips, not cranberries, not orange….

Finally it struck me to make a streusel topping to go on top. This wasn’t a typical oat streusel but a nut streusel. The recipe called for pecans but I used walnuts. Shocker since as you all know, I worship the ground Mr. Pecan walks on.

One loaf will go to my best friend and her mom and the other loaf will go to my Momma’s co-workers. My impatience almost had me taking a stab at the bread before I even got them out of the pan. It makes me nervous not being able to try something before I give it to other people!! What if it ends up tasting horrible!?

My batch of cookies last night came out perfect. No burnt bottoms like last time!

Last time I waited a couple minutes too long. I guess the trick is to take them out early. It’s better to be impatient with these cookies

Alright. Time to get a move on it. I’m going to a vegetarian restaurant tonight (correction: I’m dragging my best friend with me to a vegetarian restaurant) and the menu looks crazy insanely spectacular. Just so cool and creative. I CAN HARDLY WAIT!!!!!!!

Blogging a day behind is annoying me. Isn’t it funny how quickly things change? Last week I was so stressed out that catching up on 2-3 days worth of material was okay with me. Now, with finals over and done with (heck yes), I’m getting annoyed by the dorkiest things.

So yes, I usually don’t post in the mornings but…

It’s my party winterbreak and I’ll cry blog if I want to!

Workout:

I woke up SUPER late, embarrassingly late, and decided to get my energy going by hitting up the gym. Plus, I was due for a shower! I did an incline run/walk mix on the treadmill for 30 min. and hopped on the elliptical for 10 min. There was nothing on TV and I felt blah so I cut it off short.

Breakfast Lunch was quite a large-nosed plate. There’s a reason why I blog at night. The brain activity is a little slow in the AM.

• Two Pumpkin Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
• 1/2 a Nanna mouth
• Pumpkin Fage Yogurt (made with 1 cup fage, 1/2 cup pumpkin, sprinkle of pumpkin pie spice) topped with Kashi Puffs

Plus 1/2 pint of blueberries. This time of year?! I found it in my fridge. I don’t ask questions.

After hitting up Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, and Barnes and Noble, I came home and quickly prepared dinner. All that food shopping got me feeling hungry!

I started with a plate of greens and broccoli slaw topped with ’shrooms.

I also made a pita pizza with the Costco items I promised to show you.

First up, Cranberry with Cinnamon Goat Cheese. 1 word: Amazing. Cranberry and goat cheese should be married. I also spotted this at TJ’s. Give it a whirl if you’re a goat cheese fan.

I also picked up these Whole Wheat Pita Pockets. I’ve only had them in wrap form before.

On top of my pizza went:

• Green peppers
• ‘Shrooms
• Rosemary (!!)
• TJ’s Pizza Sauce
• Cranberry Goat Cheese

I popped it in the toaster oven for 10 min. and out came a crispy, thin crust pizza.

I <3 melted goat cheese.

Alrighty, I’m off to do whatever I want! I.e. replying to emails (responses are coming, I promise), making stuff in the kitch, and watching Duke Basketball play tonight on ESPN2!!

Despite feeling fairly hungry this morning (thanks to working out late last night), I didn’t know what I wanted for breakfast. So I had some mini plates.

Mango cut tortoise shell style. My favorite way to eat mango. It usually looks prettier but today’s mango was hairy and slushy. Tasty nonetheless!

A slice of bread w/ chunky almond butter and banana. I ate the other half moments later.

A cookie jumped in my mouth when I wasn’t looking!! I swear it had legs!

I walked to Barnes and Noble and Starbucks to look drool at Eat Drink & Be Vegan and Veganomicon. I NEED to buy these books. I couldn’t muster up the courage today to shell out $60 bucks though.

Of course, I had a Pumpkin Spice Coffee while doing some work….or it jumped in

I had Another cookie jumped in before I went downstairs to the condo gym for 40 min. on the elliptical and 20 min. of full body strength training. It felt good to jump pump some I-R-O-N!

I came home and had one of these babies immediately.

For an awkwardly early dinner, I quickly whipped up a wrap/giant taco with:

• dried tofu
• broccoli slaw (oh yes, I brought it back 300 miles from school) I’m serious when I say I hate wasting food!
• avocado
• ICKY lettuce (I’ll explain!)
• sesame ginger dressing

I started by toasting up a whole wheat wrap. Did you know you can warm up your tortilla in about 6 seconds on the stove!? My Mexican family (my host family when I went abroad) did this all the time. The very first time, I almost screamed bloody murder thinking the house would burn down. Nope, it just toasts lightning fast!!!

I then sliced up some dried tofu that I found in the fridge. I love that you can just snack on it straight!

Oh yes, I brought my beloved leaf plate home with me. I mean…what’s Thanksgiving without the leaf plate!?!?

“Icky” and “lettuce” should never go in the same sentence. Lettuce is delicious. Except when you buy it rotten!! We got this YESTERDAY from Costco and it looked like this today:

ICK! You can see the rotten juice. Blegh.

Want a spiralizer but don’t have one? Well, I’m in the same boat. Check out MY spiralizer sub:

I was peeling my cucumber today and I decided to just keep peeling and peeling away….

…and I ended up with cucumber spirals!!!

I also topped it with some microwaved MINI pear slices. Look at this baby!!

Not sure what’s on the cookie dessert menu considering all the cookies have vanished. They must have gotten up and run away….or jumped in a certain girl’s mouth. Perhaps some ice cream is in my future? Sounds good to me!

I am just going through the motions here until it’s time to go home! It’s definitely taper week (for my fridge) because I need to clean up/eat out the fridge so nothing goes to waste. Runners training for races have taper weeks leading up to the race….but my fridge has taper weeks leading up to my breaks.

Anywho, taper week involves eating eerily familiar looking meals…..

Pomegranate seeds and the LAST of my giant tub of Fage 0% Greek yogurt.

Whole Wheat Apple Nut Muffin. This batch has lasted me quite awhile–I’m impressed!

I also had 1 of these cookies walking out the door and then another 2 1/2 walking back IN the door several hours later. I’ll post the recipe soon, no worries. They have five star ingredients though let me tell you.

So good.

I ate the cookies immediately after my workout (40 min. on the elliptical) and felt a tad guilty at first. Then I figured, better after a workout then any other time!!

After cookie noshing, I was pretty full so I prepared the other 1/3 of my acorn squash with melted brie cheese and chocolate chips!! WOAH!

I LOVE baked brie (in a pastry with chocolate!!!) and this came pretty close

I took a 30 min. nap while doing work to get energized for my blogger meet up tonight! I also had a mini-meal because the place that we’re going doesn’t exactly have Cheesecake Factory-serving-sizes (if you know what I mean).

Greens, broccoli slaw, whole wheat pasta, cucumbers, eggplant, olive oil+herb dressing

I followed up with some strawberries:

Off to get ready to meet some bloggies!!