Nuts for bananas

Hey gorgeous girls! Hope you've had a fantastic, relaxing weekend and been able to stay warm...sounds like most of us have been fending off the cold and snow!

This morning was another early one- I'm getting back into my early-rising groove :) I breakfasted on the usual bowl of cereal, caught up on all of your lives, and headed to the gym, as usual. I did Week 2 of Gina's plan for the last time, since she's posting a new one tomorrow. I'm actually really starting to like strength training, and how it's way less monotonous than cardio. Don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up running or my beloved elliptical soon (half marathon training starts this week...yay!), but it's nice to mix things up a bit and still feel like I'm getting a great workout. I also love that her routine uses mostly your own body weight with some added small weights. I've always felt like such a weakling trying to use the machines alongside all the muscle men!

For lunch, I decided to make a variation on something I'd read about on Allie's blog the other day and have been dreaming about ever since:

 

BANINI! ~2T cashew butter, sliced nanner and cinnamon on a Food for Life Brown Rice tortilla

Allie, girl- where has this combo been all my life?! I've tried heating banana/PB sammies up in the microwave before, but cooking it in a skillet made it 98098745 times better. I seriously suggest you all try this! 

I did homework all afternoon (blechhh), breaking for the usual snackage:

Baby carrots, Mary's Crack and Tribe hummus, plus the last 2 squares of my Lindt dark chocolate. Nom nom nom.

Dinner came a few hours later, a slight variation on yesterday's lunch:

1/2 block Nasoya firm tofu marinated in olive oil and balsamic, romaine, tomato and nutritional yeast

I had a very nut buttery two part dessert: first off, an unpictured Fuji topped with PB&Co. Mighty Maple, then this bad boy:

Frozen banana + PB&Co Dark Chocolate Dreams

Next to the banini (so fun to say!!), this was definitely one of my top eats for the week. Something about chocolate + PB + banana just feels so ridiculously indulgent. I used to hate bananas, and I've had two today...along with 2 servings of PB! It's an addiction, and I love it :)

Well, homework beckons :( I need to stop leaving it off until Sunday night! Have a great Monday loves...only 5 days until the weekend!

What's one food you used to hate and now like? What's at the top of your favorite eats this week?


PS- Kailey of SnackFace is having an amazing blogaversary giveaway! Check it out here!

Kryptonite

Thank you guys all so much for your kind words on my last post. I was apprehensive to finally talk about all of it, but I’m so glad I did! I love you all!

Yesterday (or Friday, since it’s technically Sunday) was pretty boring, both food and activity wise. I got a lot of homework done, but nothing exciting…I had an afternoon Tupperware salad snack:

Baby romaine, tomato, mixed steamed veggies and salsa

The highlight of my afternoon came around 4 when a new girl on my floor that I’ve met a couple of times knocked on my door and asked if I’d like to go to Magnolia Bakery with her for a cupcake. I’ve never been one to turn down an invitation to that place of heaven on earth, so we braved the cold and walked the few blocks there. I didn’t take a picture since she’s a new friend and I always feel bizarre whipping out my camera in front of people I don’t know, but I had a vanilla cupcake with buttercream frosting. Picture this, if you will:

Heaven. If you’re ever in New York, you have to try one. (source)

My cupcake held me over for a bit longer, but as with most sweet treats, I was hungry soon! Since I originally had plans to go out, I made myself a quick and easy dinner:

Amy’s Organic Split Pea Soup, dry Ezekiel English muffin (later topped with hot sauce and mustard a la Kailey), Fuji apple and celery sticks

The Amy’s soup was surprisingly awesome- really thick and creamy! I was ready to go out soon when my friend who I’d planned to go visit at work (she’s a bartender) called and told me she was too busy and not to come. Bummer. I used the evening to catch up on some reading, snacking on this:

Raisin and almond trail mix. Other snackage included celery sticks dipped in salsa and a few more squares of Lindt.

I went to bed pretty early and was up by 7:30…I’m finally getting back to my early bird ways! (I hate sleeping the day away). Breakfast was the usual bowl of cereal (I think the pictures are getting a bit redundant), eaten while browsing NYU’s Career Services site. I need to start looking for a summer job, stat…eek! I headed to the gym a little later and did some abs plus half an hour on the elliptical while watching Taking the Stage on MTV. I’d never seen it before, and I have to say, these people are incredible! High schoolers who dance and sing and play instruments like professionals. 10 years of ballet and 15 years of piano lessons didn’t do much for me J

Last night, I cut up some tofu and marinated it overnight in a simple mix of balsamic and olive oil. Today for lunch, I stir-fried it with a veggie mixture of broc, cauliflower, carrots and zucchini and added lettuce and nutritional yeast. Bomb.

  

½ package Nasoya firm tofu, steamed veggies, romaine and nooch

This was exactly what I was craving and SUPER filling…I had to wait awhile to eat the banana! I also munched this little guy:

Mini cherry pie Larabar

A few of you have asked where I picked up the mini Laras…I found mine at Whole Foods. They come in a variety box of 12 with Cashew Cookie, Apple Pie and Cherry Pie and are perfect as a mini-snack or dessert. Good thing I bought two boxes! Afternoon snackage has included a Fuji with PB&Co. Mighty Maple, the remains of my almond raisin trail mix and 2 squares of Lindt 70% dark chocolate:

  

My desk is clean, I promise

I had dinner in the Bronx at Mike’s friends apartment, where we ordered Chinese food. After sampling a slice of homemade gingerbread Mike’s mom had sent him, I wasn’t too hungry, so I opted to go simple:

Steamed veggies and shrimp topped with hot sauce

Shrimp is one of my favorite foods, so I couldn’t go wrong. I followed it up with the typical Saturday night snacking: Garden of Eatin’ yellow corn tortilla chips, two homemade white chocolate chip macadamia nut cookies, a single Corona, and trail mix. I swear, trail mix is my kryptonite…I can never stop myself! Something about all the little pieces just begs to be eaten J

While at their place, I made the boys pizza dip, which I’d made before for my older brother after reading about it at Tina’s blog.

Pizza dip: cream cheese, Bolognese sauce, mozzarella and pepperoni baked for 10 min at 350 degrees

Considering the meat in the dip, I obviously didn’t have any, but the boys loved it! I’m a Martha at heart, so I love cooking for people, even if it’s not my favorites! The ingredients all came from a local Italian grocer, and I sampled the mozzarella…it was the good stuff for sure!

Well I’m off to bed! I’m glad I’ve been getting to bed earlier recently, and I’d like to keep up the trend. Have a great Sunday!

What’s the snack you can’t keep your hands of? And what’s your favorite thing to cook?

21 degrees...

...feels like 6. According to the weather.com, that is the current temperature in New York City. Sounds like someone should have checked the weather before walking to the gym in shorts. Smart move, Gabriela, smart move. Anyway, thank you so much for all your birthday wishes- you really know how to make a girl smile! I loved hearing about all your favorite cakes and celebrations!

Breakfast yesterday was a bowl of Nature's Path SmartBran cereal, topped with Himalania Antioxidant Goji berry mix and unsweetened Almond Dream, eaten while catching up on all of your glorious lives:

My tummy was already starting to rumble when I left for class, so I munched on my last, sad brown banana  topped with cashew butter while walking out the door. From the lobby of my building, I was greeted with what seemed like a blizzard...it was a chilly walk to class! For some reason, walking in the snow always reminds me of My Favorite Things from The Sound of Music: "Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes/ Silver white winters that melt into springs/ these are a few of my favorite things!" No kidding. As Anna posted about yesterday, nothing gets me through winter besides the promise of warm weather in a few months!

Between classes, I dashed home to make a lunch from my dwindling fridge supplies. Lo and behold, it had stopped snowing within just an hour and a half, and the sun was even peeking out (by noon, there wasn't a cloud in the sky). Weird.

  

Gardenburger GardenVegan patty, Ezekiel english muffin with yellow mustard and hot sauce, giant sliced tomato, carrots and Fuji.

Today was one of those "bottomless pit" days, which I seem to have had in common with a certain hungry hippie. This feast didn't quite fill be up, so I also munched a huge Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip protein bar (Averie's recipe). These bad boys are dangerous...I only have a few left, and I promised some to Mike. Gotta practice some self control if I want to get them to him!

In my second class, I was hungry again (less than two hours after lunch!), so I munched a Clif Banana Nut Bread bar to fuel me through my workout:

At the gym, I did an easy hour on the elliptical while watching trashy E! specials. It's been forever since I've caught up on my gossip :)

I came home to a post-workout snackage of Cranberry Synergy, half a box of Mary's Crack and a mini cashew cookie Lara:

 
Kombucha + crack handful (x3) + baby Lara

I relaxed for a bit before meeting Jillian at Eva's for an early dinner. It's a health food restaurant attached to a store that sells exclusively protein powder. The walls are plastered with pictures of bodybuilders. Ironically, they make some of the best vegetarian meals around. Seriously. I have dreams about this salad:

Non-dairy vegetarian combination salad: Falafel, eggplant salad, hummus, brown rice, olives, sliced lemon and tossed greens. Eaten with a whole wheat pita and hot sauce.

The best part is that this sucker costs less than nine bucks and is so huge that it keeps you full for hours. This was the first time I'd been satisfied all day! After dinner, I headed to my friend Zoe's apartment to hang out and have a low-key night. Between the two of us, an entire Lindt 85% Dark Chocolate bar and half a container of dried prunes were consumed. We're bizarre, I know. I came home hungry yet again, taming the beast with another of Averie's bars. Last one, I promise...the remaining three are for the boy! Looking back on today, I'm realizing the fruit and veg intake was pretty low....maybe it's the hunger culprit?

This morning, I made a breakfast identical to yesterday's before taking my very chilly walk to the gym. I don't think my legs could have hated me any more. As per Gina's plan, I did:

15 minute warmup on the elliptical
10 overhead presses (20 lb)
12 wall push ups
20 second plank
12 bicep curls (10 lb)
10 tricep dips
15 reverse medicine ball crunches (10 lb ball)
20 second reverse plank
50 regular crunches
   Repeated x3

After the gym, I headed to Health and Harmony in the West Village to restock my dwindling food supplies. It was a pretty large trip, and while I left the store quite a bit poorer, I'm happy with my finds. Among the goods are some new cereal, hummus, Ezekiel, tempeh, Amy's soups, and Dr. Praeger's burgers. Yum! I also snagged some goods for my secret bloggie Valentine...yay :)

Lunch was an oldie but goodie:

 

Peanut Butter & Co. Mighty Maple on Ezekiel bread with a sliced banana and cinnamon; Fuji apple, baby carrots and the rest of the banana on the side

For dessert, I broke into this dark chocolate bar Mike gave me:

Lindt 70% Dark Chocolate

In other news, the April 25 half marathon I signed up for is 12 weeks away from Sunday! I've been looking for a training plan and a lot of blogs seem to recommend Hal Higdon's schedule. I'm capable of running pretty long as is, so I'm looking at the intermediate schedule...any thoughts/advice? I'd love to hear what experienced runners think! Thanks everyone!

Have you ever run a race? What kind/distance?

"We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children."

Hello pretties, and happy humpday! My title is a quote printed on the menu at Candle 79, where I went tonight for my birthday dinner...but let me start from the beginning!

Last night ended up being so fun! We went to a great little Italian restaurant in the Bronx to celebrate with a bunch of friends. I ordered an individual pizza margherita (my favorite!), and also munched some awesome bread dipped in olive oil and a few glasses of wine :) The only bad part was that the service was horrible- the restaurant was empty and it still took over an hour to get our food. Upside to this? We were comped two bottles of wine and a round of limoncello shots. Score! The only foodie pic I took was of my (first) slice of cake:

Chocolate mousse cake, made by my friend who goes to the French Culinary Institute. She is now my idol.

Overall, it was a great night! I made it home pretty early and woke up blessedly hangover free. (I'm not a big drinker, but I'm a huge lightweight.) Breakfast was a new kind of cereal:

Nature's Path SmartBran cereal with blueberries and Almond Dream

This cereal is delicious! It tastes exactly like Rice Krispies, only with super impressive nutritional stats (only 8 ingredients and 13 g fiber per serving? I had two!). Plus, the fiber makes it way more filling than the usual puffed rice cereals. Definitely a keeper.

After breaky, I headed to the gym for 15 min on the elliptical and another round of Gina's Winter Shape Up. Is it bad that I get seriously sore from doing this? My mom has osteoporosis, so my parents keep telling me how important it is to strength train!

Lunch was a a blog favorite that made a perfect celebratory lunch: oats in a jar!

Remnants of a jar of Maranatha PB (a little more than 2 T, maybe?)

  

Steel-cut oats with 1 c Almond Dream, sliced banana, and raisins

This definitely lived up to the hype! The last few bites were the best- full of sticky PB goodness! I need to get cracking on some more jars! I also ate a Fuji apple and some baby carrots for fruit + veg intake.

Between my two afternoon classes, I made myself a salad snack:

Baby romaine, large tomato, crumbled Mary's Gone Crackers and 1/4 c Tribe Hummus

I was still a little hungry on my way to class, so I grabbed an unpictured vegan chocolate chip cookie at a deli...hey, it's my birthday!

A few hours later, Mike came down for my birthday dinner. His mom had recommended Candle 79, a vegan restaurant on the Upper East Side, and I'd been looking forward to it for weeks!

Let's just say it definitely did not disappoint. I can't even begin to describe how creative and delicious everything was. Even Mike loved it, and he loves his meat! To start, I had a cranberry lemonade made with cranberries, lemon and agave. So. Freaking. Good. The food only got better:

Vegetable Nori Rolls: pickled ginger, avocado wasabi, chipotle aioli and tamari-ginger sauce

Mike's Fall Harvest Paella, with valencia rice, seitan sausage and red pepper sauce; my Live Celeriac Ravioli (which was raw!) with spinach-cashew ricotta, pine nut peso, sundried tomato sauce and broccoli rabe; onion rings with chipotle aioli to share

Dessert (best part by far!): Mike's Chocolate Peanut Butter Bliss with chocolate and PB mousses, a chocolate shell and raspberry sauce; my Mexican Chocolate Brownie, with carmelized banana, coconut ice cream, toasted pecans and chocolate-ancho sauce

Holy. Yum. This was seriously some of the best food I've ever had! The brownie especially probably made the top 5 desserts I've ever eaten. And it was all natural, vegan goodness! Definitely worth a visit if you're ever in NY!

After dinner, we came back to my apartment and Mike gave me the perfect present: a sterling silver necklace with a Titanic charm! Anyone who read Sunday's post knows how perfect this was. He also gave me a few jars of baking supplies (cinnamon, vanilla, ginger and an apron), as well as some chocolate. He knows me too well :) I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

The quote on the menu at the restaurant made me think a lot about the choices we make and how they affect the future. I'm by no means a passionate environmentalist, but since becoming more educated about food production in America, I've come to realize that eating local and organic foods, as well as cutting back on animal products, makes a huge impact on the environment as well as on our bodies. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with eating meat or processed foods- heck, I love to eat junk sometimes as much as the next person, and even though I don't eat meat, it's more for taste than anything else- but making an effort to eat the way nature intended us to is beneficial both for us and our surroundings. One of my favorite quotes is Michael Pollen's "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants." I'm not claiming to be any kind of environmental saint, but the quote made me think about how I want my children to be able to enjoy the same kind of earth I do!

Well, I'm off to bed! After last night's fun, I definitely need a good night's sleep! Have a great Thursday!

What is your favorite quote? What inspires you to go above and beyond what's expected of you? And what was your most memorable birthday?

The last supper...

...of being a teenager! My friend Zoe and I had a conversation Saturday night about how 20 seems lightyears older than 19. It's a pretty anticlimactic birthday (doesn't everyone wait for the big 21?), but I'm excited to celebrate anyway.

I was in bed by 10:30 last night, so I woke up early enough for a pre-class workout. I ate a plain Ezekiel english muddin to fuel 45 minutes of sweaty ellipticizing at 10 resistance, 10 incline. Some old school Spice Girls kept me going. What's your most embarrassing workout jam?


I came home, showered, and ate breakfast while G-reading.

  

Ezekiel + ~1.5 c Kashi GoLean, 1/2 container bloobs, ~1c Almond Dream (Please excuse the gaggy lighting- I had to use the flash since the roomies weren't up yet!)

A combination of laziness and cold had caused me to dress in jeans, a sweatshirt and sneakers, but this girl's 'fit inspired a slightly more fashionable change into jeans, a sweater and boots. SnackFace always looks fierce, regardless of the cold :)

I went to class #1, Readings in French Literature from 1800-Present, and returned home with a deli favorite for lunch:

  

Healthy Korner Vegetarian Power-Fu sandwich, steamed tricolor peppers, nanner with ~2 T Maranatha PB. These things look foul, but taste like absolute lunch bliss.

Tummy satisfied, I bolted to class #2: Einstein's Universe. 200 people + science + 90 degree heat = sleepy Gabriela. I was super excited to get back into the cold air and return home for some snackage:

Fuji apple, ~1 T Maranatha PB, 1 mini box of raisins. 20, going on 2. I have just enough PB left for my first OIAJ tomorrow!

The past few hours have been spent planning tonight's celebrations...we're going to an Italian restaurant near Mike for a group dinner. Tomorrow Mike is taking me to Candle 79 for my birthday dinner. I can't wait! I've wanted to try it forever! My new favorite veggie combination made an appearance amidst the preparations:

Steamed broccoli topped with salt and nutritional yeast. I could eat this forever!

Sorry to be so short and sweet today! I still have a ton of reading to do before heading uptown. I'll be back tomorrow with a recap of the evening (cake, anyone?) Have a great night!

What's your ideal birthday celebration? Are you a huge party girl, or a dinner with friends type? And while we're at it, what would be your favorite birthday cake?

Comfort Food

Hey everyone! Hope you've had a great Monday! If you're in the Northeast, I hope you've managed to stay dry, as well. It's been pouring here all day!

I braved the downpour for the gym this morning, where I started on week 2 of Gina's Shape-Up. I love it! I'm still a cardio girl at heart, but something about being slightly sore from weight training makes me feel accomplished all day.

Lunch was another open-faced wrap, along with an unpictured Gala apple topped with Mighty Maple:

Huge tomato and romaine with about 1/4 c hummus and S&P on a Food for Life Brown Rice tortilla. So fresh and yummy!

Told ya there was hummus under there.

The rest of my afternoon was...wet. My umbrella got ripped apart my the wind on my way to class, so I arrived soaked through and freezing. I was able to warm up by the time I had to go outside again, but got absolutely SOAKED my a cab driving through a puddle. It was about that time that I realized my BlackBerry keyboard wasn't working. Super. Thankfully, I'd packed a snackbag to assuage my growing hunger. (No one wants to see me frustrated AND hungry!)

Mary's Gone Crackers, Chocolate Jocalat Larabar, banana

I arrived at my last class, a lab, already frazzled. Unfortunately, as soon as I took my seat the TA started passing around...a quiz. WTF? Apparently I'd overlooked the "basic math quiz" indicated on the syllabus. To make things even more annoying, I didn't have a calculator. Needless to say, I don't think it went well. I came out of class on the verge of tears and knew since my broken phone meant I couldn't call anyone to comfort me, there was only one thing to do.

I ducked into a deli and bought a Dove Dark Chocolate bar. Emotional eating? Absolutely. Did it help? You betcha! I know comforting yourself with food is a bad habit, but a little chocolate never hurt anyone :) It's like a drug, I swear! After sitting down for a few minutes and enjoying the creamy goodness, I felt a million times better. I trekked to the Verizon store, where they informed me that my phone was indeed broken, but that I was due for an upgrade. Score! I ended up replacing my abused Curve with a Tour...for nine bucks, with the rebate. Yessss!

I came home starving and threw together a quick din:

Cashew butter on Ezekiel bread with carrots and a Fuji apple

Boring, but delicious. Dessert was even better:

Averie's Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip protein bar. I may have gone back for seconds...they're THAT good! Try them, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

As I'm typing this, I received a text from a friend from high school that I haven't heard from in forever, just saying hi. It's amazing how the little things can really brighten your day. So cliche, but it's true...if old friends and chocolate can't cheer you up, what can? Have a great night, loves!

What's your go-to comfort food? And what's the best way to turn a bad day around?