Smile, It’s A Gerbera!

1. Here’s what was hiding in the corner of my grocery goods:

Gerbera daisies! Settled in their vase atop of my desk. Every Sunday when I go grocery shopping, I treat myself to a couple of flowers. They always sit on my desk and whenever I’m stressed and swamped with work, I can always look up at them and smile. They just make me happy.

Q: What are the small things in life that make you happy?

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2. Easy-peasy-yummy-vegan PASTA time!

Ingredients:

• pre-marinated tofu (I buy mine already marinated, but you can marinate your own too)
• whole wheat rotini pasta
• crushed garlic (1-2 cloves)
• 2 cups spinach
• 1 c broccoli or other vegetables
• 1 tbsp EVOO
• mozzarella cheese (I use SoySations)

1. Boil water on the stove with a touch of salt. When boiling, add the pasta and boil for 8-10 minutes until tender.

DORM TIP: If you don’t have a stove, but have a microwave, you can still make pasta! Using a ratio of 1 c pasta to 1 quart water, cook on high power for about 20 minutes, checking every 5 minutes. More information here. This would have been helpful to know when I was living in the dorms!

2. While pasta is boiling, cut tofu into cubes and saute in a pan until light brown.

3. After tofu cooks for about 4-5 minutes, add a big handful of spinach to the pan to wilt.

4. A huge handful shrinks to this!

5. When pasta is cooked, drain and rinse, then pour back in the pot you cooked it in. Add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1-2 cloves crushed garlic, then mix in the tofu/spinach mixture. Add broccoli/other veggies and stir mixture for 3-5 minutes until veggies warm. Serve on a plate topped with mozzarella cheese!

That was my yummy dinner for tonight. Before dinner I snacked on a gala apple and a handful of Mary’s cracker with hummus. After dinner I snacked on 1/2 c of my chocolate coconut milk ice cream with the other half of my Vegan Nirvana cookie.

Now it’s off to bed because I have to be up early tomorrow – I have an appointment with a new nutritionist! I’m very nervous about it because I haven’t seen a nutritionist in a few weeks and I’ve never seen this particular nutritionist, but I’m trying to keep an open mind and breathe through the stress. Adi of this week’s free YogaToday video would be proud!

Have a lovely Sunday night!

 

A Girl’s Gotta Start Somewhere…

Food and fitness blogs have been really capturing my interest lately. Blogs like Oh She Glows and Simply Fabulous have opened my eyes to new products to try, new recipes to make, and a new, healthy attitude about eating and life!

In the past, I have struggled with poor body image and disordered eating. I still have days where issues still come up, but for the most part, I am trying very hard to let go of my unhealthy attitudes about food and my body and instead experience life! Instead of looking at food as something dangerous or something to avoid, I am trying to look at food as something that my body (and everyone’s body) needs. It’s been fun to try and make balanced, nutritious, and delicious choices that will provide optimum fuel for my body and mind.

This morning, I had about a cup of hot, multi-grain cereal with raisins, brown sugar, and some apple cinnamon granola as toppings. I also had a medium banana – delish! Although, I’m not sure that I would add the granola again – I was hoping the crunchy texture would be nice, but the granola was a little too tart for my taste.

For lunch, I decided to go with an egg white omelette filled with spinach, tomatoes, and feta cheese. Along with this, I had a piece of freshly baked vegan rye bread and an empire apple. I had about 2/3 of the omelette because I was really trying to listen to my body’s signals and stop when I was full!

Unfortunately, I think I stopped a bit too soon, because I was hungry about an hour later, right when I was getting ready for my run. I snacked on a vegan pumpkin chocolate chip cookie – it was soft, moist, and chewy, and supplied me with some much needed carbs for my run!

Daily Activity: 60 minute run on park trails

I felt so good afterward! This is the longest I’ve run in quite a while. I’m trying to move my workouts outside from the gym now that it’s spring and the weather is nice.

Post-run, I snacked on half a piece of Joseph’s Lavash Bread (flax, oats, protein, and fiber!) with 1 tbsp of natural peanut butter and 1 tbsp of strawberry preserves. Yummy! I found these Lavash breads at BJ’s and they are just great with jam.

I’ve been waiting to have the garlic hummus that I have in the fridge, so I decided to make an open faced sandwich on some new 7 Grain Deli Flats that I picked up today:

I topped it off with some baby arugula that I grabbed at the farmer’s market today, along with some black beans and garbanzo beans.

I also had a delicious smoothie!

– 1 banana

– 1 cup frozen strawberries

– 1/2 cup soymilk

A couple other things about me:

– I am a college student (dorm-living makes things a bit trickier!)

– I am registered for a half-marathon on September 12

– I love kitties, and have a cat named Skittle (she lives at home, and I miss her very much!)

I’ll leave you with one reason why I’m glad it’s spring: no more of THIS!

What’s your favorite part about spring? (I can’t decide between all the fresh produce or not having to wear a knee length parka anymore!)