Category Archives: work

Routines, Routines…

     Good Wednesday! Prepare for another quick blog. I’m tired and ready to crash. Let’s start with a picture of the love of my life that I wake up to every morning:

3 cups of spinach, 3/4 of a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/2 a banana, 1/4 of a cup of frozen cherries, and the juice of a lemon and a lime.
     This one turned my tongue green! I felt the need to Tweet that. No pictures, don’t worry, a green tongue isn’t photo-worthy, only Twitter-worthy.
     I had a few hours to lollygag around the house, so I caught up on some of my favorite bloggers and whipped up some lunch to fill me up a little before work.
Lunch was a fried egg sandwich on Great Harvest 9 Grain bread. Quick, easy, and full of protein!
     Work seemed exceptionally long. I had to take an early lunch, which made the rest of the day crawl by. I was tempted to get a “fatty sammich“, but instead went for the healthy alternative.
Say it with me now, “Mini-spicy tuna roll on brown rice”. Lunch was followed by a small gelato from Paciugo – I’m ridiculously predictable.
     When I got home, I put together a plate of pepper jack cheese and water crackers. I’ve been having dairy a lot lately, and not having any effects from it… I’m not sure why, but I’m going to go with it, since I can currently have gelato and cheese, the other loves of my life, with no troubles. 
CHEEEEEEESE! Pepper jack cheese is my all-time favorite cheese.
     We were planning on watching Paranormal Activity last night, but it wasn’t available on On Demand, so instead we would up watching all of the dance scenes in Step Up 2 (AWESOME dances! Crappy storyline, but that’s not what we watch it for 🙂 ), and then watched A Walk to Remember. AWtR is one of my favorite movies (such a sweet story!), and is the only movie that is better than the book it’s based off of – at least in my opinion.
     What’s your favorite book -> movie?

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Filed under A Walk to Remember, fried egg sandwich, green monster, pepper jack cheese, sushi, water crackers, work

Sunday Night Bliss

     I normally enjoy Sunday nights, but when I don’t have to work a full shift AND get to sleep in on Monday morning, I love them even more. Today was a good day because it started with a long-awaited Monsta!

FINALLY! 3 cups of spinach, 3/4 cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/4 cup of frozen cherries, a few chunks of frozen pineapple, lime juice and 1/3 of a banana. YUM.
Since I had a long day ahead of me, I decided to carb up and had two frozen blueberry waffles with agave-maple syrup.
   I was supposed to have someone else to work with today, but she didn’t show up, so I got all the sales and commission to myself. Muahahaha! I had a standing lunch-date with the lovely Vicky who is totally not the one who convinced me to get thirteen cookies yesterday – the ones that I totally didn’t finish or anything, and we stopped by Stone Oven for some of our favorite “fatty sammiches”.
Garlic Basil Chicken Sandwich with Basil Pasta Salad and Unnecessary Caps.
I found a flat noodle! I should send it in to the Guinness Book of World Records! I’m easily amused!!!
    Work took awhile to get through. I spent most of the day reading, and am about 100 pages into Up in the Air. Nothing has happened yet! It’s almost impossible for me to stop in the middle of a book – I’ve only done it once in my life, and I fully intend on going back to that book and reading it through! For now, I’m struggling to find a plot in this one, but I will be finishing it in the upcoming week.
     I came home to an awesome dinner. The roommates had grilled some turkey sausage, bell peppers and onions, and made a big KSS. A tall glass of cider rounded out the meal.
My cider is on my plate. I’m cool like that.
   That sums up my day. I apologize for how boring I’ve been, but such is life. I’ve got a few things to look forward to this week, so these posts will get a bit more interesting. I’m off to enjoy some music and hang-time with the roommates.
Any big, exciting things coming up for you this week?

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Filed under Cider, green monster, kitchen sink salad, sammich, Stove Oven, waffles, work

Back to Reality

     I am officially back! I had an amazing few days hanging with my cousin and having an extended vacation, but today sent me straight back to reality – work, Paciugo and sore feet.

     I woke up early this morning and had two massive cups of coffee, and reheated the rest of my amazing gnocchi dinner. I haven’t had a Green Monster since Tuesday morning! It’s awful! SAVE ME! I sped off to work full of carbohydrates and caffeine, ready to work!

     However, there was no work to be done. It’s very hard to work when everything is clean and there is nobody around. I wandered, visited See’s, and stared at the clock until I could finally escape for lunch.

Another mini-spicy tuna roll with brown rice? I need to expand my repertoire.
     I went to my couch and read my current book, The Help by Kathryn Stockett for forty minutes, and desperately tried to keep my eyes open. Doing nothing can be very, very tiring! I really recommend this book – I spent the whole day staring longingly at the book in my little cubby, wishing I could take it out to read.
     After lunch, I went with my friend, Michael to get some gelato and had a small with chocolate peanut butter, butter pecan and amaretto chocolate chip, and Michael had a small of apple pie. There is no picture because I couldn’t be bothered with waiting before I devoured it! 
     The day finally finished and I raced home to heat up some leftover pad thai for dinner. Pardon the picture – it tastes much better than it looks!
I LOVE THAI FOOD!!!
     After dinner, I went down to the train station to pick up my roommate who has been in San Diego at the opening day of races at Del Mar. Tomorrow I’ll post a picture of her hat that she made just for the occasion!
     That basically sums up my day. I was kind of lame with the pictures, so I’ll add some to the end of this so you don’t feel totally robbed… 
Magners with a view!
What is this? 
This be some crazy caveman stuff!
What is one food you could eat forever and be happy? Mine’s a tie between thai/indian/sushi/anything edible…

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Filed under cassette, Del Mar, gelato, Paciugo, pad thai, sushi, train station, VHS, work

Surprise Training!

     Hello all! I hope you had an amazing Sunday! I had to work, but it was actually a really good day, overall! It helped to start with this:

This baby had 3 cups of spinach, 3/4 a cup of unsweetened soymilk, 1/3 a cup of frozen cherries, 1/2 a banana and lemon juice!
     I missed my Monsta! I had a full shift at work today, so after a lovely Monsta and cup of coffee, I headed out. When I got inside, I was surprised to find that I had four hours of training today. That would’ve been good to know before I’d arrived, but I can deal! The most important change that the training brought around: TWO LUNCHES!!!
     First lunch was…
Subway! I had a 6-inch on wheat with turkey, roast beef, pepperjack cheese, spinach, cucumber, tomato, green peppers, a little mayo and mustard. And a few chapters of my newest bike book!
     Training was not as painful as I was expecting! It was very interactive and basically involved lots of girls chatting and throwing around ideas. The time didn’t drag, and at the end of it, I got to have my second lunch!
GELATO! I got a small with peanut butter cookies, mint chocolate chip and amaretto chocolate chip. I LOVE TRAINING DAYS!!!
     The rest of work was interesting – we got two counterfeit $100 bills that somehow slipped by unnoticed (if I hadn’t been in training, this wouldn’t have happened :P) : people can be really clever/awful nowadays. Acid-washing bills is common now??? 
     I came home to an awesome dinner that the roommates had made – Indian-spiced chicken tenders and grilled vegetables.
This was delicious! The chicken was pre-marinated from Trader Joe’s and very salty, but no salt was involved in the veggies, so it balanced out.
And a Stockyard! This is a cheaper-priced, better quality beer than New Belgium’s 1554. I’ll be repeating this one, for sure!
     Well, that’s all the pictures I’ve got for you, folks! Nice and easy, eh? I’m currently watching ‘New Moon’ (which I own, as well as Twilight – I saw Twilight in theatres and hated it, and as soon as it came out on DVD, I bought it. I told you I was weird!) while sipping the remains of my beer and trying to plan out a productive day tomorrow. I’ll leave you now with the question of the day:
What do you most look forward to in your week?

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Filed under beer, green monster, grilled vegetables, Indian-spiced chicken, Paciugo, Stockyard, Subway, work

Happy Belated 4th of July!

     Ohhhh, dear! I fear I must attack you with another barrage of pictures since I was offline all weekend thanks to the LBM. So, let’s recap:

After Saturday’s KSS, I went back to the LBM house and tried the Mission St. Brown Ale. It had a good full flavor, but a little bitterness at the end, and definitely tasted a bit cheap. Not something I’ll be getting again.
     I woke up early on the 4th of July (Happy belated Independence Day, all you Americans out there!) so I could fit in a good breakfast before work.
I had french toast! Woohoo! I had two slices of Trader Joe’s frozen french toast, sliced up two strawberries (plus one for a pretty garnish) and drizzled it with pure maple syrup. I had a huge mug of green tea with it and lounged around the house until work.
     The green tea didn’t cut it. I got a major caffeine withdrawl headache at work, and went to pick up a small honey-almond latte and a tipperary bon-bon. Caffeine and sugar are made for each other!
Yummmm!
     I met up with Vicky, her boyfriend Oliver, and Ashley for lunch.
 
We’re strange, yes. 
I decided that since it was a holiday, I would have a big fatty sandwich from Stone Oven. I got the garlic basil chicken sandwich (Again. I’m boring, I know.) with basil pasta salad, and had half. So worth it.
     After work, I swung by Trader Joe’s and Albertson’s to pick up some celebration supplies.
Ooooh, yeah! I finished the rest of my sandwich, a mini-bag of barbecue chips, two chocolate chip vegan cookies, a scotchmallow and apple pie truffle, and both of those beers. I tried a new one – Kostriker Shwarzbier. It’s a German black lager that was surprisingly light and tasty! There was no bitter taste which surprised me, considering it was a dark beer. I followed it with the Franziskaner – I know that I love Franziskaner, and just in case Kostriker didn’t turn out, I wanted to end on a good note. It ended very well :).
     The only fireworks I heard were in the neighborhood park where I was dog-sitting. To answer your question: no, I didn’t go watch, or even see any fireworks. I enjoyed having a small party with the LBM, watching some really cheesy TV shows and drinking my good beer. I was even more happy with my decision this morning at 7:30am when I woke up to get ready for another full shift at work.
     Today started with another round of french toast. I started with it plain, but it needed some color and health from the strawberries.
Now it’s healthy!
     I had time to pick up a coffee before work, so I had no withdrawl today :). It was actually very busy today, which was nice because it made the day go by so much faster. My wonderful parental unit came to take me to lunch. We went to the Lazy Dog Cafe :).
When at the Dog, you must always start with their spicy edamame!
I got the Hawaiian Ahi Poke… AGAIN!
We split a big order of the nachos. 
I ate too much. It was awesome. My parents rock :).
     The rest of work flew by. I got home and had a big KSS.
This had half a bag of lettuce, 1/2 a chopped and sauteed zucchini, LIBERALLY sprinkled with HdP, 1/4 a chopped bell pepper, 1/2 a cup of warmed lentils, and 1/2 a cup of homemade egg white salad. The egg white salad at TJ’s was getting too expensive, so this was made with 8 hard boiled eggs that had the yolks removed, then the whites were finely chopped and mixed with garlic aoili mustard, finely diced red bell pepper, a touch of soy sour cream and 2 of the removed yolks mashed in to give it a little substance.
This will keep in the fridge for about 3 days before I’m too nervous to eat it again :).
 
Oh yes, and a Magner’s!
Dessert was too many of the vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookies split amongst my roommates and me. There is no “off” switch on me when it comes to food lately. Let’s remedy that this week.
     Now that I’ve once again bombarded you with photos, I’ll leave you in peace. I’m off to unpack from the weekend at the LBM house, and to go through some sides for an audition I have tomorrow right after class. Tomorrow’s blog will be very late – I’m having dinner with a friend in LA and I’ll be coming back after 9pm.
Enjoy your Tuesdays! Stay off the highways so I can live vicariously through you :).

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Filed under beer, Independence Day, Lazy Dog Cafe, little blurry monster, Trader Joe's, work

A Quickie

     A Quickie BLOG. If you make any snide comments on my title, I will know that you’re as immature as I am. And then I will eat chocolate because that will somehow make everything better.
    
     Because I forced you all into a picture-coma yesterday, today’s blog will be nice and short.

Morning Monster: 2 cups of spinach, 3/4 a cup of soymilk, 1/2 of a frozen banana, 1/2 a cup of fresh blueberries, lemon juice and ice.
     Got to work on time, but didn’t have enough coffee to keep me awake. I dozed with my eyes open and then went to Paciugo for some caffeinated gelato (not really, but they do have affogato gelato where they pour shots of espresso over your gelato choices. Why didn’t I get that? I’ll have to try it tomorrow!).
I got a small with rocky road, amaretto chocolate chip, and Grandma’s Peneche which is a vanilla made with sour cream, and ribbons of caramel made from brown sugar. The owners of this franchise actually used their grandmother’s recipe for this!
     Lunch was the boring but healthy usual:
A mini-spicy tuna roll with brown rice. Wheee.
     Vicky and I decided to decorate our counter space a little more.
We have a lot of time on our hands…
Oh yeah, that’s right – we made Edward! We gave him some white-out fangs, some lip-gloss blood, and glued sequins to his abs so he’d glitter in the light. 
Waaaaay too much time on our hands!
     Work was typical. We got a stereo and I got to blast my insanely random mix of music – Owl City to Chumbawumba to Uffie to Greg Laswell to Taylor Swift. I’m cool like that.
     After work I went over to let the LBM out, then swung by Trader Joe’s to pick up some KSS makings.
This had 2/3 a bag of chopped fresh baby greens, a chopped up zucchini that was roasted with olive oil and Herbes de Provence, 1/2 a chopped bell pepper, 1/2 a cup of Spicy Ranchero Egg White Salad, 1/2 a cup of lentils and 2 teaspoons of homemade dressing (1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon of olive oil and a small dollop of whole grain mustard).
     How was that? Short and sweet! Now I have to head back to the LBM house where I will relax, eat a vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookie, and most likely fall asleep early since I have to work all day tomorrey.
What are you doing for the 4th of July?

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Filed under gelato, kitchen sink salad, Paciugo, Trader Joe's, work

Mediterranean Delicacies

     GOOOOOD Thursday, all! I hope you got to start your day off as wonderfully as I did!

This Monsta was nothing but FRESH! 3 cups of fresh spinach, 3/4 a cup of soymilk, 1/2 a cup of fresh blueberries, fresh lemon juice, 1/2 a fresh banana and some fresh ice! 🙂
     I had a full day at work, but the good news is that it’s now officially July, which could mean only one thing… FREE GODIVA (If you belong to the Godiva Rewards Club, you get a free piece every month). Yes, I track time through chocolate. What’s wrong with that?
Godiva is kind of a diva. It doesn’t like to be photographed and always comes out blurry – it’s a defense mechanism.
     I didn’t make breakfast after the GM, so I had to snack on the Clif bar I had leftover from Tuesday.
     I was planning on going to the farmers’ market for lunch and feasting on the samples, but when I stepped outside in my all-black ensemble (mandatory for work) I realized that it was about 90 degrees, and the parking lot where they hold the market would be quite painful. Instead I went to Lazy Dog for a farmers’ market-inspired meal.
This is the Mediterranean Veggie Foccacia Sandwich. Grilled eggplant, fresh tomatoes, lettuce, sliced onions, fresh goat cheese, and sun-dried tomato hummus on rosemary foccacia bread. Oh yeah, and french fries :).
     I had half the sandwich and half the fries, as well as a few edamame on the side. I was so full, I didn’t even have the room to stop at Paciugo! After an hour back at work, I did need to have a little See’s, just to keep me awake!
Scotchmallow, apple pie truffle, dark peppermints and a tipperary bon-bon.
     I got home around 6:30pm and it was still very warm out, so I sat out back with a glass of Magners and listened to Owl City’s new/old song “Brielle” while watching the sunset.
A nice, crisp cider for a warm night out – perfect! An Owl City soundtrack to accompany the view? Priceless!
     Dinner was the remaining half of my sandwich, with a chocolate soy ice cream sandwich for dessert. 
So. Full.
     I’m going to be crashing super early tonight in preparation for tomorrey! There will be lots of pictures, lots of words, and lots of happiness! 
Have an amazing Friday! I’ll see you here tomorrow night 🙂
(A compilation of artwork my coworkers and I made 🙂 We be creative.)

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Filed under farmers' market, Godiva, green monster, Lazy Dog Cafe, See's Candies, work

Sick Days

     The beginning of the work week is always a little sad, isn’t it? Luckily for me, today was the END of mine! Kinda… I still have class tomorrow, and working at the talent management office, but that’s stuff that I really enjoy doing! Hooray!
I started the morning in the usual way: 3 cups of spinach, 3/4 a cup of unsweetened soymilk, the juice of half a lemon, 1/4 a cup of frozen cherries and 1/2 of a banana.
     Today was rough – I was feeling pretty sick the whole day – no fun! I sucked it up and went on an hour long hike in the marine layer anyway. It was nice and cool out for most of the hike because we woke up early and got out before 8:30am. The hike was rough overall, but I’m very glad I did it, because that gave me an extra excuse to do nothing all day!
My post-hike snack consisted of a big mug of unsweetened jasmine green tea and a tipperary bon-bon I had leftover from yesterday’s trip to See’s.  
     I did all my fun errands around the house – took out the trash, cleaned the kitchen, and heated up some lunch.
I’m sorry if it looks gross – that’s the Chicken Divan from two days ago. My roommate realized that she forgot to add one of the most important ingredients, curry (but who can blame her, she made her own dairy-free cream of chicken soup! And cooked for the other roommate and me! No complaints on my end!), so I sprinkled some on top and also added a little garlic/mustard aioli.
     The rest of my day was pretty much spent. I sat on the couch with a mug of tea and rotted my brain on some CNBC special about obesity (woohoo…), then took a quick 20 minute power nap.
     When I woke up, I had to throw on some clothes that were acceptable for work. Apparently pajamas won’t cut it. Bummer. I didn’t even bother with makeup, so you can really get a grasp on how I felt. I subject all the customers to that horror! I sense some traumatized complaints coming through management!
     I realized too late that I’d run out of time to eat dinner, so I decided to hit up Paciugo and treat myself to a small gelato.
Get ready for this: I ATE DAIRY! AAAAH! This had one scoop of peanut butter/caramel, one scoop of turtle cheesecake, and one scoop of amaretto chocolate chip. It actually helped me feel better, believe it or not! BELIEVE IT!
     My roommate, who had to leave the house to get away from my whining, apparently had stopped by on her way to a meeting, and left me a surprise in the cabinet where I stash my purse.
Two apple pie truffles and two scotchmallows from See’s! Best. Roommate. Ever.
    
     I actually spent the entire night working: can you believe it? I found a way to sit down the entire time: organizing all of the cabinets that hadn’t been touched or dusted in years, and recycling a bunch of old papers that were out of date. The night actually flew by! Who would’ve guessed that working would make the time go by faster?

     I got home and had a gigantic cup of Vanilla Sleepytime tea (I used to live directly across the street from Celestial Seasonings in Colorado, so I’m partial to their teas) as well as another plate of Chicken Divan – heavy on the broccoli. After putting the leftovers back in the fridge, I noticed that we were… OUT OF SPINACH!! Oh NO!!!

     I guess tomorrow will be excessive amounts of coffee, and I may swing by Trader Joe’s to pick up a prepackaged green-juice-drinky-thingy, as well as a sandwich and some fruits before I begin the long drive in so I’m not subsisting on chocolate tortilla chips like last week, which would be difficult in itself because I ate them all last Tuesday.

     I really need quick and easy to-go food options that stay good without a refrigerator. Any suggestions?

Here’s to hoping for good traffic!

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Filed under broccoli, Celestial Seasonings, Chicken Divan, curry, green monster, See's Candies, sick, work

Sexy Mannequins!

     Ahh, the weekend is so close I can smell it! It’s just too bad I can’t enjoy it – I work six days in a row! It’s going to be painful on my feet, but feel so good on my wallet!

     This beautiful Thursday started with a Monsta.

This sucker had 3 cups of spinach, 3/4 a cup of unsweetened soymilk, the juice of 1/4 of a lemon, 1/4 a cup of frozen cherries, 1 tablespoon of flaxmeal, and half of a frozen banana. I think the frozen banana really makes it smooth for some reason – there were no big chunks or strings today!
     I was all set to go on my morning hike, and then… I didn’t. No reason. I just didn’t. I woke up SUPER late (after 8am!), had a coffee, made my GM, and by the time I looked at the clock again, it was just too late to go. I had a lot of errands to run today and starting after noon just makes me feel unproductive and stressed.
     Instead of hiking, I went with my roommate to The Natural Cafe to use a buy-one-get-one coupon for lunch. I picked my favorite, the Local Favorite :).
This is avocado, alfalfa sprouts, tomatoes, red onions, lettuce and a thin layer of garlic mayonnaise on toasted 9 grain bread.
     My roommate chose the special of the day.
This had grilled chicken, pinto beans, lettuce, sprouts, onions, salsa and cheese in a whole wheat tortilla, topped with more salsa and jicama, and a side of vegan split pea soup.
I demolished mine.
     Next we headed to Barnes and Noble to glance around. I found a book that interests me very muchly – I’ve put it in my favorites to the right –>
It’s called The Flexitarian Diet by Dawn Jackson Blatner. I think I’m going to become a flexitarian. Flexitarians live a mostly vegetarian lifestyle, but still allow themselves the occasional burger or piece of chicken. I’ve wanted to lower my meat intake and focus on veggies, grains and fish, so this seems to fit my lifestyle right now. I haven’t bought the book yet though – I requested it from my library instead – I’m very cheap!
     Menchies just happens to be next door to the bookstore.
I got a SMALL amount of dairy-free mango sorbet and topped it with strawberries, kiwi, blueberries and a spot of marshmallow creme, just because I had to try it once! It was GOOD!
     I stopped by a specialty wine/beer store and picked up some Old Rasputin stout and a beer that’s been brewed like champagne (don’t ask me what that means, I’ll look it up and tell you tomorrow) so I could have a tasting with some friends tomorrow night. When I got home and threw the bottles in the fridge, I remembered that I’d wanted to try a recipe for a sweet omelette that Heather (Heather Eats Almond Butter) had posted about a few days ago. 
     I beat two egg whites with a hand-mixer until they were big and fluffy, then mixed in an egg and two teaspoons of vanilla. I poured the pretty batter into a frying pan that had a thin layer of (gasp!) butter in it.
So fluffy! And it was a LOT bigger than I was expecting!
And very delicate as well. The flipping didn’t work out how I imagined…
I filled it with a berry mixture – I thawed 1/4 a cup of frozen berries then mixed in a little agave-maple syrup, folded them in between the omelette and drizzled more agave-maple on top. Seemingly weird combo, but I was impressed! YUM!
     Work was the usual – lots of reading, walking around, trips to Paciugo
(I got another blurry soy chocolate. Not picture-worthy)
     There are summer concerts going on in my town now! Tonight was a tropical rock band.
They were okay. I like Black Carl better :).
All the little kids were dancing up a storm! Pretty cute!
     I went to a clothing store to try on a few shirts – I need some more for work since we have to wear all dark colors – boo! 
     Florescent lighting is a horrible invention. I picked a shirt I liked after cursing at all the other ones that looked horrible in the light, and as I turned to walk out of the dressing room, I saw this:
Isn’t that lovely?
     After I paid, I was walking out and saw something that made my day even BETTER!
Teehee, the mannequins are clenching – I’m such a dork!
     There was only one more thing that could make this day absolutely perfect – a sunset.
Okay, it’s just the rays of a sunset shining on a hill, but I’ll take it!
What one thing would make your day perfect?
And now I’m off to crash so I can wake up early enough to make a GM, coffee and attempt to look pretty for the opening shift at work. Wish me luck! I’ll need it!

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Filed under Barnes and Noble, mannequins, Menchie's, Natural Cafe, sunset, work

Chocolate Tortillas and Zucchini Mush

     I’m currently sitting in a cloud of dust, staring far, far ahead at the wagon that I fell off of this weekend. It was a long, hard fall. Today I started to climb back on, but lost my footing and got some more gravel in my knees.

     The day started off well enough.

I had a big Purple Monsta with 2 cups of spinach, 1/4 a cup of frozen cherries, 3/4 a cup of soymilk, 1/3 of a banana, a tablespoon of flaxmeal and some lemon juice.
     I hopped back on the trails for a hot hike wearing my new WHITE Nike Dri-Fit shirt (my black one has been absorbing the sun and killing me in the summer heat). It was nice and quiet, with very few people, and no breeze at all! The air was completely still and quite torturous. 
     All I could think about on the hike was the coconut cream cake that I ate last night after we got back from Ventura, so I caved and had a teeny-tiny piece from the freezer.
No guilt. If you truly take the time to taste, enjoy and appreciate something and don’t just mindlessly stuff your face, then guilt should never factor in.
     Those chocolate tortilla chips I got for my dad were crying out to be tried, so I took a nibble of one.
Yes, they’re tortilla chips, and yes, they’re chocolate. YES, they’re incredible! Sweet and salty is one of the best combinations ever.
     Lunch was very simple – baked ziti.
This was 1/4 a cup of whole wheat pasta, turkey meatballs, diced orange and red bell peppers, onions, chopped tomatoes and a teaspoon of goat cheese.
     I ran out to Costco to get some more spinach and came back to attempt making zucchini birdnests that caught my eye from my library book, Cooking from the Farmers’ Market. I started by shredding 4 green zucchini (zucchinis?) and 3 yellow squash (squashes?) – Let’s just call them by their New Zealand/British English name: Courgettes. After adding a pinch of salt and letting them sweat for five minutes, I wrung them out to get rid of all the liquid – courgettes have LOTS of water in them! Next, I shredded a small yellow onion, minced 2 cloves of garlic and broke an egg.
     I’m not a fan of having a lot to clean, so I broke the egg in the center of my mixture, and then lightly beat it in the bowl so I wouldn’t have another dish to wash.
     After mixing it all together and stirring in a tablespoon of whole wheat flour, I plopped them into a frying pan that was sprayed with a thin coat of canola oil and heated over medium-high.
Lookin’ good so far!
Hmmm, maybe not…
     I think these still had too much moisture in them, even though I wrung them out over a strainer multiple times. They totally fell apart, then burned on one side and stayed raw in the middle, so I threw them in the oven with convection to try and dry them/cook them.
They do not look pretty :(.
     This is what they’re supposed to look like:
And here’s mine:
Yeah, so it completely fell apart and became a zucchini scramble. It was edible…ish. I tried to make the recipe healthier by using whole wheat flour instead of white flour, and using spray oil instead of the recommended 2 tablespoons to fry them in. Sometimes healthy just isn’t worth it!
     …And sometimes it is. For dinner I had my good old standby – a wonderful KSS.
2 cups of chopped baby greens, 1/2 of a diced bell pepper, 1/2 a cup of warmed lentils, 1/2 a cup of egg white salad and dressing made with 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar, 1 teaspoon of whole grain mustard and 1 teaspoon of blood orange olive oil.
     I had the closing shift at work so I headed off with my beer book to study… I mean work… yes, work.
I just got to the “Beer Appreciation” chapter – tasting! So cool!
     Looking back over this post, I’m realizing I wasn’t THAT bad in the eating area. That all changes now. I went to Paciugo and got a child size of their soy chocolate. Hint: at most places you can request a child size and it will still fill you up! No more American-size portions!
So creamy and delicious! Can’t believe it’s soy – a lot of soy ice cream is grainy and gross, but this is heaven in a dainty cup!
     One of my coworkers went to Godiva and decided to share – darn you, Kyle! I was very happy, but very upset at the same time. My happiness definitely overwhelmed the upset :).
That’s half of a chocolate-covered strawberry and banana stick, plus one of my dad’s chocolate tortilla chips. I shared the other half of the stick with my roommate. Everyone wins when you share!
     Tomorrow will be a little difficult in the eating area again. I have my acting class in LA, followed by running a talent manager’s office completely by myself all afternoon into the evening, so I won’t be able to sit down and have a nice, well thought-out meal. Hopefully I’ll have time to grab a big salad to-go from Trader Joe’s or something.
I shall go sleep now and hope for an early waking to squeeze in a hike before I head to LALA Land. Ciao = CHOW!

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Filed under Godiva, kitchen sink salad, sharing, Tortilla, work, zucchini