After returning from my dish extravaganza yesterday, I was in serious need of some snax. Dish shopping is tiring when you’re lifting up heavy plates and imagining how they would look in photos with various foods.

I had a plate of dates with coconut butter. We finally finished our jar of almond butter. Now, what time is it?!

It’s sunflower seed butter time! I’m comin’ outta rehab .

I also finished off a tub of plain yogurt (~1 cup) with a banana. I love when bananas are at this stage–ripe with plenty of brown spots but not mushy yet.

Love green bananas? I read in the latest issue of Health magazine that slightly green bananas have more resistant starch. The starches turn into sugar as the banana ripens.

Workout:

60 min. elliptical + 10 min. abs and stretching

***

Dinner was a dish prepared by Peter, Head Chef at Peter’s Kitchen. It’s been awhile since his dishes have been featured here. I had something on my mind already but my dad insisted on cooking something for me….in less than 10 minutes.

I’m going to try and get him to write a guest post since so many of you ask for tutorials/recipes. Stay tuned.

Here’s a preview:

Peter, posing with a head of broccoli in his chef coat….errr Road Runner t-shirt .

After a humongous dinner, I somehow made room for some cantaloupe. So ripe and so sweet.

Then, I picked up a package from the HLS roomie Sarah!

Sarah is one of the first bloggers I met (back in Jan ‘09 when I was a blogless reader). We met up at a restaurant in Hillsborough, NC with Kath, Matt, and a few other readers. Several months later, after I started LLE, we began to communicate more and more. We sat next to each other at HLS 2009. Then in the Fall of 2009, we watched Food (Th)Inc. together, organized an NC blogger meet-up, and then had several more meet-ups! You can see all of my blogger meet-up posts on my Favorite Posts page.

Sarah has always been one of my biggest cheerleaders…at school, with Live Laugh Eat and in life. I’m so sad that we live hundreds of miles apart now .

P.S. I think Sarah has the best handwriting of any doctor I’ve ever known. I bet pharmacists love her prescription slips .

She is a big AllieBar fan too, so I brought her some when I went to HLS 2 weeks ago. She sent me this delicious granola made in Chapel Hill, NC as a thank you.

I’ve gotten Little Red Wagon Granola once before when I was living in Hilton Head. Of course I tried the Carrot Cake flavor. <–during my first week of blogging (!!).

I was excited to try another flavor last night, Chunky Monkey. It has banana chips, chocolate chips, pecans and almonds. Mmmm!

I opened the bag immediately.

….and went back for more and more and more…

…and more. I’m not sure if there are any chocolate chips or pecans left in the bag!! Thank you, Sarah–I miss you too!

***

Yesterday, I asked you where you take your food photos (if you do). Well, I thought it would be fun to show you where I take MY photos. You know, so you can see where the magic happens .

Usually, I go out onto the balcony for the best lighting….

…and get tangled in that hairy plant every time!

It has chairs that I can stand on to get a bird’s eye view….while getting some funky glances from the neighbors.

I occasionally use this little table when the sun is shining directly onto the bigger table. I try to avoid direct sunlight because it can be quite harsh.

Have you ever wondered why some of my photos have a blue blur in the background? Yeah, it’s that darn beach chair right over there.

If I feel like it, I typically grab a placemat on my way out. Don’t ask why the tags are still on.

If I’m lazy or don’t have the ability/time to take everything onto the balcony (such as when I’m doing step by step photos for a recipe), I use this lovely window sill by the kitchen table. It only gets good lighting during certain hours of the day though.

I would love it a whole lot more if those grey bars weren’t there.

Remember several months ago when all of my food was photographed on top of a concrete slab? Yeah, that was right here on the ‘porch’ of my apartment at school.

That apartment was like a cave and the only place I could get a good amount of light (or any light at all) was outside on the porch…or on my bed HA! It wasn’t the most modern looking apartment but we all know the air conditioning definitely worked!!

I went out there every single day, even when it was snowing.

I’m gonna have to find a whole new set of good photography spots once we move to the new house. The kitchen has a ton of windows though so it should be easy. Hopefully I won’t have to go outside when it’s frigid!!

***

Tell me: How do you like your bananas? What’s your favorite granola flavor?

A couple months ago, I purchased the Insanity workout program in an attempt to get me out of my workout rut. All of a sudden, running wasn’t happening for me and I wanted to find something else that was both physically challenging and relatively enjoyable. I found a good deal for the workout program online so I figured I would give it a try.

The week that I started the program, I did the fit test and the first two workouts. The rest of the week I jumped around the program and only completed bits and pieces of the workouts. For some reason my head wasn’t in the program so I decided to give it a break and go back to it later.

Yesterday, I pulled out the Pure Cardio workout on a whim and completed it (~30 min. minus the stretching). I followed it up with 40 min. on the elliptical and 20 min. full body strength training. After 2 days off from exercise, my muscles were fresh and I had plenty of energy.

I really got into the workout yesterday. By that I mean I didn’t press pause to take extra water breaks as much as I did before . I probably won’t do the Insanity workouts 6 days/week as suggested because a) it’s a little too much high impact exercise for my wimpy shins b) I actually find the workouts a bit repetitive c) I think I would burn out.

Instead, I’m going to do the workouts a few times per week to get my heart rate up and to take a break from the elliptical. I think my brother may join in on the fun too .

Oh yes, it really is.

***

Another Kale Green Smoothie, this time spiked with AllieBar crumbles.

I got a bit overzealous and piled on too much! I eventually ate the AllieBar in the background a little later.

While writing a cover letter for a job opportunity I found, I snacked on some toasted pecans and chocolate chips. I was writing at a rate of about 2 sentences every 30 minutes. In the end I think I cranked out a total of 10 sentences…? Yikes, I better get back to that today!

Post workout I made a veggie sausage, spinach and goat cheese patty using the same technique as I did with the meatballs over the weekend. I plunked my delicious patty on a toasted cinnamon raisin English muffin with a thick layer of smashed avocado.

On the side, I had some Greek yogurt with fresh figs.

I’m pretty sure this entire meal was created in about 5 min. flat.

Dessert: Cherry Vanilla ice cream with toasted pecans and 1 1/2 AllieBars. <—This is becoming a trend!

***

The rest of the night was spent making 6 batches of AllieBars–the most I’ve ever made in one night! Baking sure is exhausting. My entire back is in one giant knot today–I don’t know if it was from the Insanity workout or from stirring the AllieBar ‘dough’ .

Off to go roll out my back and work on my cover letter!

Another first for me….

A Kale Green Smoothie! I’ve heard kale in smoothies is pretty foul-tasting not for the faint of heart but I had to give it a try for myself.

The Combo:

• 1/4 cup Blueberries
• 1/3 Banana
• 1 cup Kale
• 1 scoop wheatgrass
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup plain 1% yogurt
• stevia and ice

The verdict? I actually thought it was pretty good. It tasted similar to a regular ol’ spinach smoothie to me. It may have helped that I used steamed kale instead of raw….?

Did I just call spinach smoothies ‘regular’?

I even added a scoop of wheatgrass powder to give it an extra kick.

My Magic Bullet can never finish the job with green leaves. Good thing I don’t mind the little green specks in my smoothies. Speaking of blenders, my Momma and I saw a Vita-Mix demonstration at Costco on Saturday.

She said she would buy one for me as my wedding present.

Anybody wanna get married? ANYONE?!

We could elope and make kale smoothies together. Romantic, no?

My Magic Blender did, however, make a wonderful homemade apple sauce. I needed apple sauce for a recipe and realized there was none to be found in our house.

To make the applesauce, I simply microwaved a peeled, cored, and chopped apple for 2 minutes. Then I blended it with some cinnamon. I may never buy applesauce in a jar ever again.

See? If you marry me, we could also make all-natural baby food for our offspring…in the Vita-Mix no less!!

***

I needed the applesauce to bake some cookies for the winner of my Blogday Giveaway, Jenny. Not just any cookies though. These are the Pecan Chocolate Chip cookies I made several times last fall + winter (the difference between the photos I took with my point + shoot camera and now with my DSLR is pretty crazy!).

There was taste testing going on left and right.

I also made 4 batches of AllieBars (1 for Jenny, 1 for us). One of my roommates from school’s mom (Hi Claire+Christina!) requested 8 batches….so I’ve got 6 more to go!

***

Head Chef, Peter, was back in the kitchen yesterday while I was busy baking. He whipped up….

A corn, tomato, and green pepper salad with cilantro and onions, tossed with rice wine vinegar, olive oil, salt and pepper.

Salmon with green onions

And a tofu, shrimp and leek stew-ish.

After dinner, I walked on the treadmill while watching The Next Food Network Star. I had a late night dessert of ice cream with a handful of toasted pecans and an AllieBar.

So…what do ya say? You + me + Vitamix = to love and to cherish ’til death do us part?

This weekend I had fruits from all over come to visit me. For some fruits it was their first time here while the others knew my belly like the back of their hand stems. Allow me to share with you my fruity escapades from the last couple of days.

First, take a look at my exotic fruit loot!

Before this summer I had never tried Fresh Apricots. I suppose I avoided them in the past because I thought I was allergic (since ya know I’m allergic to fresh plums and peaches). And before this weekend, I had never tried Fresh Figs!

I’ve been eating dried apricots and dried figs for years and years but never thought to seek out their fresh counterparts.

Seriously, what better way to enjoy fresh figs than with goat cheese?

While you’re at it, add some avocado, apricots, and drizzle some balsamic vinaigrette.

These fresh figs were everything I had hoped for and more. My favorite thing about dried (and fresh) figs is the millions of seeds inside.

After playing tennis with the ‘rents on Friday night, my mom wanted to make some Homemade Tart Frozen Yogurt. I swear she asks to make this every. single. day. I don’t mind though because it means we get to go to Trader Joe’s to buy yogurt, among other necessities .

Side note: Our TJ’s has been sold out of European Style yogurt for over a week now (!!). Using half Euro Style yogurt is the key to making the frozen yogurt tart. We had to use 1/2 regular plain and 1/2 Greek. It just ain’t the same!

We wanted to try making a flavored froyo this time so we blended our last mango to make a mango puree….

…and added it to the yogurt….

to make Mango Tart Froyo.

Topped with toasted pecans and frozen pomegranate seeds.

The mango flavor was pretty subtle. I think it could have used another mango’s worth of puree.

***

The fruity escapades continue…

Oatmeal Squares–perhaps the best cereal to grace this wonderful Earth of ours.

+ a chocolate chip Chewy granola bar.

After a full day of running errands and buying shower curtains (at Homegoods, Bed Bath and Beyond, and Costco) we came home for dinner.

I made Goat Cheese and Spinach Meatballs with steamed kale, avocado and hearts of palm.

To make the sausage, I mixed 1/3 cup Gimme Lean Veggie Sausage with 1/2 TBSP goat cheese and 2 TBSP thawed frozen spinach.

(I didn’t want to make too much because I didn’t know how they would turn out. This was a totally improvised creation)

Rolled into balls and pan fried for about 5 minutes.

The end result? Amazing! I wish I had made 50 more. The warm goat cheese made the veggie meatballs incredibly creamy and flavorful.

The more I eat Gimme Lean Veggie Sausage, the more I love it.

For dessert I enjoyed some Cherry Vanilla ice cream with chocolate chips. This bowl x3!

Stay tuned for even more fruity escapades. Next up? Dragonfruit!

Tell me: What’s your favorite fruit? Exotic or not.

Remember the alligator jaws from math class? Oh yeah, I know you do. It’s the oldest math trick in the book. Remember actually drawing teeth on your < and > signs to figure out which number was greater, as if it made all the difference? Hmm maybe that was just me. Alrighty let’s get to some Allie-gator math problems, shall we?

Waking up at 9 am > Waking up at 10 am…..when you’re a super sleeper like me.

Pre-workout: 2 slices of Brown Rice Bread + almond butter. So long, farewell BRB.

Did I just show you a photo of our trash can? I sure did. Photo of trash can > Photo of…toilet?

I also had an Iced Green Tea Latte. It tasted mighty fine.

Iced GTL > Hot GTL when it’s 90* outside.

Kicking my rut in the butt:

• 30 min. elliptical
• 5 min. treadmill sprint
• 25 min. elliptical
• 15 squats, 20 lunges, 30 calf raises

Not too shabby. Avg heart rate=148 BPM.

In an effort to break out of my workout rut, I brought Garmy to the gym to keep tabs on my heart rate. I’m not sure why I stopped using it her as a heart rate monitor (I usually only use her to calculate my running distance) but she worked like a charm to motivate me this morning! Seeing my heart rate encouraged me to push myself. Even while reading a novel, I was able to pedal at a high speed + high resistance. Every time I looked down at Garmy, I was reminded to keep on chuggin.’

My goal was to have my average heart rate at 150 BPM so I kept pushing to increase my average. I ran on the treadmill halfway through my workout to further bump up my heart rate. Running increases my heart rate like none other. However, I didn’t have my shin sleeves nor my running shoes on so I didn’t want to run too long.

Where I got the motivation to do some leg weights is beyond me.

Workout with Garmy > Workout without Garmy

***

Usual smoothie, usual glass.

I made a tempeh / pumpkin butter / goat cheese wrap. I wrapped it in some foil and popped it in the toaster oven. Mmmmmmmmm!

Toaster oven > Microwave for heating up wraps.

I also had some Greek yogurt with pumpkin butter and toasted pecan pieces.

Yes, I dipped the wrap in the yogurt. Good stuff.

Then I toasted some raw hazelnuts and ate them with chocolate chips.

Toasted hazelnuts > Raw hazelnuts by 5 million miles. I couldn’t even stomach 1 raw hazelnut. Gross.

***

I had to go to the dentist to get my Allie-gator teeth cleaned. Bahhhh! Thumbs down.

2 cavities > gum disease. I guess these Allie-gator jaws have been chomping on too many sweets!

Afterwards, I walked over to Harris Teeter aka home of the Red Box Machine to return The Time Traveler’s Wife, which we watched last night. It was aight (bahaha remember back in the day when everyone said that?).

I wasn’t really hungry much so I had a whole grain wrap with egg whites, cottage cheese, and a Boca Burger. Simple and easy.

Amy’s Veggie Burgers > Boca Burgers

***

Then I had s’more chcolate chips and hazelnuts. Now I’m chomping on some frozen berries.

Frozen berries ~ sorbet

I hope you learned something tonight from Mrs. Allie-Gator. Okaaay, I’m going to sign off before I say something silly.

….Umm too late.

See ya later Allie-gator!!

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!

It’s that time of the semester again. The ‘intro’ period to my classes are over and now due dates are creeping up on me….FAST! I can usually tell when this time is fast approaching because all I want to do is blog, go to the gym, and bake . Each of those allow me to temporarily escape my worries. Keyword: temporarily.

Better than liquor, excessive $$ spending, and aggressive behavior, I suppose!

***

I couldn’t figure out what I was craving when I woke up yesterday. I ran through all the possibilities but nothing spoke to me. It was probably because I had breakfast-for-dinner the day before!

Kefir, Kashi GoLean, Strawberries, Banana

Look at these beauties!! They’re as red as roses!

1/2 an Ezekiel English Muffin topped with almond butter and half-caf coffee.

I packed some snax for class:

Apple slices + pumpkin/almond butter sammie. I promptly added banana slices to the sammie after the photo shoot!

In my heart <3 container. Like my Starbucks tumbler, it’s only relevant for a couple weeks out of the whole year, but I still use it whenever I want!

After class, I went to the gym for 60 min. on 2 different elliptical machines. It was more for the time to think and clear my head than the physical benefits. I just needed a chunk of time to be alone with my thoughts. Exercise is therapeutic!

Before my sorority meeting, I grabbed dinner at the dining hall on campus. I had to snap this photo as fast as humanly possible because the entire rowing team decided to invade my table and corner me against the wall. So much for choosing a secluded spot to photograph my food

Dining hall salad with tofu and sweet potato chunks, both of which I dunked in ketchup. Tofu + Ketchup was surprisingly amazing!

I also packed the last Eggplant Black Bean Burger with avocado and a slice of whole wheat bread and had it with my meal.

After I got back to my apartment, I had a kefir+tart froyo bowl with Kashi GoLean, Strawberries and choco chips.

Can you BELIEVE how long this box of cereal has lasted in my pantry!!?!? This is a record for me, that’s FO SHO.

And then I finished off my bag of chocolate chips. I had about 2x this amount.

I’m glad the bag is gone now because I’ve been munching on chocolate chips day and night for the past week! It must be that time of the semester month!

…Valentine’s Day, I mean

***

It’s that time of the basketball season.

Tonight is our first game (out of 2) against UNC, our rival! Throughout my time at Duke, we have only won games at UNC, never at home (If we were to win a home, there would be a humongous bonfire and I’m pretty sure the entire school would go ballistic).

Well, tonight’s game is away, but exciting nonetheless. Go DUKE!

Before we get to my Plain Jane day I’m going to distract you with some thoughts running through my head

3 meals + 2 snax?

I’m sure you’ve heard the 3 meals + 2 snax recommendation before. Various sources claim it’s the best way to keep your metabolism going and blood sugar levels stable. If you’ve been reading LLE for even a week, you know that some days I may eat 0 meals and 10 snax OR 2 HUGE meals and 1 snack OR 1 meal, and 4 snax….it just depends on the day.

Being a college student, I have a fairly odd schedule. I have various appointments, meetings,and events that change from day to day. Thus, routine is very difficult to come by. I often wonder if this recommendation is the best way to fuel my body and whether or not my non-routine eating patterns are helping or hurting my body.

Well, yesterday I read this article on That’s Fit that addresses this question. Johnny’s answer is ’sometimes.’ People have different physiological and mental responses to eating more or less often. By eating 5 times a day, your insulin is also going up 5 times a day. Some people have found that eating 3 meals a day, each with a starting point and an ending point, works better for them. The takeaway point is while eating 5 times a day works for some people, if it doesn’t work for you, don’t worry! Everyone is different and it’s best to find the eating strategy that works for you. **This is just a summary of the article—I think his explanation is worth reading if you’re curious to learn more.

What’s your meal+snack routine? Do you have a routine or does it depend on your schedule?

***

Caramel deLites?

The other day, I opened the pantry and found THIS box. My jaw dropped to the floor.

Yes, my jaw dropped because I wanted to eat one but that wasn’t the main reason. I saw ‘Caramel deLites’ printed on the box in place of ‘Samoas!’

Having been a Girl Scout for 13 years and sold ‘Samoas’ at hundreds of doors and grocery stores, I couldn’t believe my eyes! I’m pretty sure my first word after picking up my jaw was, ‘WHAT!?’ I looked up why Googled it and apparently there are two different bakers for GS cookies. One cannot use the name ‘Samoas’ since it is trademarked under a different baker (I’m not 100% sure if this is the answer). I just wanted to give you a heads up

What’s your favorite Girl Scout Cookie!? Mine is definitely Samoas. I was a big Trefoil fan back in the day as well.

***

So that’s what was swirling in my head. Let’s get to the food now!

I completely forgot that our power was scheduled to be turned off for 2 hours yesterday morning so everything went dark while I was preparing my breakfast! All I have to say is thank goodness I didn’t wait to brew my coffee!!

1/2 Bagel with Pumpkin Butter and Almond Butter

1 Egg Whole and 1 Egg White with ketchup

Strawberries ‘n’ Mango

With my brewed-in-the-nick-of-time coffee:

Since the power was out, and the sun was shinin’ bright, I went out and read-walked. A bunch of you have asked how I do it. I walk this loop around my apartment that is about 1/3 mile. It’s sidewalk most of the way with some parking lots and steps thrown in there. Ya just gotta pick up your feet so you don’t trip on anything . It’s really not as hard as it may seem.

I like to read-walk so I can’t get distracted by the internet, the pantry, or anything else swirling in my head. I can’t stop reading to write out a grocery list, for example. It works wonders for my highly distractible personality.

2 miles and 60 pages later, I was ready for some SNAX.

Kefir + Kashi Go Lean + Pecans+ Strawberries + Mango

And continued to read….

I also had a lot of unpictured random nibbles. It was one of those foraging in the pantry kinda afternoons.

***

I brought theses apple slices to munch on during class.

After class, I couldn’t decide if I wanted to work out or not. I figured I would walk in the direction of the gym and see if I turned back around. I didn’t. So I worked out

60 min. elliptical and 20 min. full body strength training. Not too shabby for an almost-skipped-my-workout day!

***

Post workout, I was craving some breakfast action.

Green Amazing Grass Kefir Smoothie

• 1 cup frozen spinach
• 1/3 banana
• 1/2 packet Amazing Grass Smoothie Infusion
• 1/4 cup almond milk
• 1/2 cup kefir
• H20
• Graham cracker crumbles

Oat Bran in a Pumpkin Butter Jar!

With some bananas. I loved eating outta this jar…it was perfect for holding in my hand.

My hunger was still lingering (at 11pm!!) so I had a Luna Bar and some chocolate chips.

I’ve got an assignment to start and finish before class today. Yeehaw Senioritis!!!