What a day

What a loooooonnnng day, I mean. It started with me getting up at 7am to study for my 10:30 am exam, which was fine. It’s not unusual for me to be up at 7. I even managed to stay off my computer except to post my breakfast!

So, about 10am I decide to check my e-mail one last time before heading out to write my exam. What do I see? A message that the power is out on the whole west side of campus and all exams scheduled there were postponed until later this week! Of course my exam had to be in one of those buildings AND I’m moving 8 hours away tomorrow morning! Needless to say I got an e-mail to my prof sent out pretty quick (after calling my boyfriend and then my mom and having a small meltdown!) I am usually a pretty calm, go with the flow type of person, but this time, I bluntly told my prof that I would not be in here later than tomorrow morning and that I had to write the exam today if at all possible. Usually, I am against communicating in this way because I do believe that politeness gets you much further, but I didn’t want to leave him any wiggle room to try to convince me to stay an extra 3 days.

As I waited for the reply, I managed to work on some more sample problems which may have ended up helping me in the end. At about 2 pm, I finally got the reply that I was waiting for. I could write my exam privately if I could be in the secretary’s office by 2:30! I threw my books into my backpack and half walked, half ran to school Yes, this was completely unnecessary, I arrived at 2:10!

After all that, I came home very happy to be done school for the year!

Amidst all that commotion, I ate a bowl of soup at 10, when I thought I needed some energy for my exam:

Then I ate a bean cutlet, okra and mushroom stir-fry with Cajun seasoning. It was really good during my time of stress

My original supper plan was leftover dal, which I started to eat. After a few bites though, I knew this wasn’t what I wanted. My taste buds are a bit off with this cold and it just didn’t taste as good to me as it did yesterday.

Instead, I decided to brave the rain, umbrella in hand, and head to the grocery store to treat myself. I decided on a big bowl of fresh fruit to get in some extra vitamins and antioxidants, some plain probiotic frozen yogurt to soothe my throat, and a cheesecake splurge to celebrate the end of the semester.

Fruit and berry bowl (about 2 to 2.5 cups of fresh pineapple and plump, juicy berries)

Brownie cheesecake – need I say more?

Frozen yogurt – I wasn’t really thinking when I ate out of the container with this cod. I guess the rest will go to waste because I don’t want to re-infect myself with more germs later (besides, I don’t think it wil survive the 8+ hour car ride!)

I also got some baby carrots to snack on tomorrow and a yogurt, granola and berry bowl for breakfast tomorrow. I guess I should post that now since I’m unplugging my computer tonight!

I should add that I won’t be blogging for a couple of days, due to the move. It’s going to take a while to unpack and set up my computer and I want to spend my remaining time with my friends and family! See you in a couple of days!

Pasta? Pizza? Maybe Both!

Another day of study study study! I broke it up today though with a class and a trip to the store, where I bought a larabar for tomorrow. Yes, I went all the way there for a bar to eat between exams! I think the real reason was for a study break though It was a beautiful day to walk outside too!

Lunch was leftover pasta from the other day. I’m too tired to remember what it was called (from Looneyspoons though), but it was good again as leftovers.

Sorry for the blurry photos, I’m not a good photographer today!

I got a bit hungry during the afternoon (or it may have been exam nibbles… hard to tell) so I had a bowl of yogurt and a kiwi. I found a steak knife that wasn’t packed, so I even managed to cut it!

So, I would really have loved some pizza for supper but that just wasn’t in the plan for today. What did I have instead? A pasta pizza, no recipe again though because it’s from Looneyspoons again. Last one for a while though

On a side note, please excuse any typos – especially words with an L – my keyboard is being stubborn. Here’s what heppens when I hit L once llllllll GRRR! I don’t have time for computer problems now!

Oops, I almost forgot the most important part – the last of the soy chocolate PB ice cream!

Yawn

Sociology reading is so boring! While I was reading, I tried mixing some squash puree with my yogurt, to simulate the pumpkin yogurt idea that’s been floating around lately. I have a confession: although I’ve never tried pumpkin, I have always believed it is yucky! Now, there’s no reason for this since I like other types of squash, so I will make it my new mission to try pumpkin sometime!

Back on topic, this was not too bad. It did increase the volume of my yogurt, but I didn’t puree the squash enough, so there were lumps. I don’t know that I’d do this again, but ya never know!

Sorry for the ugly plastic, it’s time to wash dishes soon!

Lunch was my last chickpea cutlet, along with some brown rice and steamed spinach. I added some barbecue sauce to my cutlet (yum) and some plain yogurt to my rice (also yum!).

It’s another gorgeous day outside with a forcasted high of 16 Celsius. I should try to get outside later, but that means I have to speed through the rest of my reading, so I better get at it

SNOW!!! (+ looking for ideas)

Nooooooooooo, it’s snowing! Real snow too, not just a couple of flakes This is what I woke up to this morning:

Isn’t that a lovely view I have from my bedroom window? I’m so sick of winter, I think I’ll stay home as much as possiblle today!

Back on topic, I had another bowl of granola for bedtime snack last night, so that’s been put away indefinitely. It will be used only for a treat or topping and not as a meal or a snack from now on. Although I practiced portion control with each bowl yesterday, I know that some other food groups must have suffered, being replaced by granola. It’s also not filling at all (to me anyway).

I decided to have a nice lazy Saturday morning, sitting around in my pj’s eating oatmeal pancakes.

I made my version of Kath’s oatmeal pancakes using large flake (old fashioned) oats that I ground into a powder (almost) in my food processor. I left it with a few larger pieces for texture, but no whole flakes. Here’s what I used:

• 35 grams oats, ground (no idea how much this measured, sorry)
• 50 grams egg substitute (1/4 cup?)
• 50 grams banana, mashed (about half a banana)
• 1/2 tsp baking powder

I just mixed it all together and plopped them into the pan – so easy and good! On the side, I had a serving of plain yogurt to get some dairy in. I still think the banana adds so much to these pancakes, it makes them nice and moist and sweet. I ate some of these plain and some dipped in the yogurt since I didn’t have or want any syrup.

Hereès my snack that I’ll be sipping throughout the morning:

A homemade latte, heavy on the foam! I made it with skim milk and no sweeteners. I’m still getting used to coffee without sugar, but I find if I make it a latte it tastes much better.

On a final note, does anyone have any suggestions about what they would like to see on the blog? I’m open to all requests, as long as they are realistic for me to try

Change of Plans

Well I was planning on making a “real” supper using chicken and pasta, but when I got home I just didn’t feel like cooking. With this in mind, I decided on an easy veggie wrap. Yes, it’s my second wrap of the day but it’s Friday and I’m tired!

I filled my white whole wheat tortilla with a mixture of pinto beans, BBQ sauce, mushrooms, spinach and grated carrot. Even though I didn’t want to cook, I mustered up enough energy to heat it in a dry frying pan for a couple of minutes, just until it was a bit toasty and warm. Not too bad for an easy, healthy meal!

Of course this didn’t hold me over as long as a heavier pasta and chicken meal, especially since I did a quick bike workout this evening too! Later, I decided that I wanted more of that delicious Peanut Butter Granola that I bought today. I can see it’s not going to last very long in my cupboards – it keeps calling my name

I paired it with some yogurt and a bowl of mixed fruits (mango, strawberry and peach)

I microwaved these to warm them a bit since they were frozen (on sale, so I bought them for a treat ) Check out that yummy looking peach in the foreground