picture roll

 

vegan ice cream sandwich

 

 

 

 

 

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

food, and more food?

Fun fact (or should I say, scary fact?) :  3,000 Calories are consumed by the average person at Thanksgiving dinner. (How can you avoid that? - My advice, fill up half of your plate with veggies and help yourself with little bit of everything on the other side of your plate. Eat until you're full, not until your stomach feels uncomfortable and you have a hard time sucking in. Indulge in all of your Thanksgiving favorites without going overboard - aka intuitive eating. Also, if you're too full to eat dessert - save it for later - it won't be as scrumptious if you stuff your dessert down on a full stomach. Savor every bite. And please do enjoy yourself, and the company of your family & friends, Thanksgiving doesn't have to be all about the food.)

The last two days have consisted of eating out..for homemade meals. Yesterday when I came home, I left for my friend's to spend the night - we attempted to do a LOTR marathon - but a few of us fell asleep (like me, who ended up falling asleep during the first movie). The next morning we all woke up to this....

French toast casserole

potato pancakes

my plate (I was starving!)

Then all day today, ran errands for tomorrow - grocery shopping and such - saving the shopping at Walmart for later tonight, meaning waaaay later, blech.

This evening another friend of mine invited a couple of us to dinner - his mother cooked quinoa with vegetable stock. She cooked shrimp for me and made chicken for the others (how kind of her!) - it was delicious, I love quinoa so much! :) Then we finished the meal off with some pumpkin pie - I had a small slice myself (which I didn't take a picture of). I'm off to finish my book for my research paper and then I have some more grocery shopping to do. Happy Thanksgiving!

the good and the bad

I think this nightly routine of making breakfast ahead of time motivates me, in terms of waking up early. I got out of bed even before my alarm screeched its sweet little melody into my ear ( or for my roommate to hear). I always feel so bad because I end up dropping something or tripping as I stumble around in the dark. So this time, I just grabbed everything I needed and headed out the door. I don't think I woke her up or at least she didn't mention any sleep disturbances, whew.


I went on a run this morning around campus.. however I wasn't feeling too well for about the first 2 miles and on top of that, my knee was bothering me again. So I decided to do intervals of jogging for 3 minutes and walking for 1 minute. I felt a little better with the walking but I was still irritated by my knee. Then it started to feel a little hot to the touch and looked a little red so I ended up returning to campus. So this morning's run was a failure. But when I got back to my room, my knee pain was gone..how annoying! Sigh, I'll definitely be resting this week, maybe cross train to see how my knee's doing.

 So if I had such a bad run, why do I look so happy and why am I giving a "thumbs up?" (Sorry for the post-run look)

Because of this jar of goooodness! (Greek yogurt, banana & pear slices - put together last night then added  Kashi whole grain flakes, flax seed and a little bit of almond butter in the morning) This is what I'm talking about, ah motivation! ;)

Off to my class now and will be on my way home soon -
looking forward to reuniting with the amigos! :)

expectations

I was organizing my desk and I came across this little guy..

And in it, I found recipes which I had written down a few months ago..

 

You know what this means?

Consecutive days of baking this week.
On my list -

• Oatmeal yogurt "scone"
• Vegan Banana Walnut Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Mocha Meringues
• Chocolate Raspberry Cake Roll

CHIA

I just purchased two pounds of chia seeds online so I can keep one bag and send the other bag home for my mom to try. I haven't tried chia seeds myself but almost every blog I look at have been raving about them, so I did my own research.

But why yes..chia seeds - sound familiar?

You can now benefit from these AND create your own little pet.
or...your own Brittney if you'd like...

Check them out here, where you can read more about these magical seeds. I'm just so fascinated by how much water they can absorb -

"The chia seeds are great for athletes because they are highly hydrophilic. Being hydrophilic means it absorbs large amounts of water. Chia Seeds can absorb over 10 times their weight in water making them a great enhancer in hydrating our bodies. They absorb the water we drink holding it in our system longer. "

So magical, I tell ya.

sunday morning

 

Sunday morning! Got my 6-miler in as the sun was rising, came home and showered then made myself breakfast (since no one else in the family likes oats -boo). Cooked with Almond Breeze, topped off with kiwi and apples, stirred in a spoonful of chocolate whey protein powder - downed everything with a cup of black coffee.

Now I'm back on campus, finishing up last minute reading
- hoping Tuesday will come around in no time.

a grilled sandwich kind of day

• whole grain bread (I used the boule I had purchased this morning) - I used SmartBalance to spread onto each side, then placed the bread slices on sandwich press.
• 1/2 eggplant, sliced - brushed off with olive oil and baked in the oven at 375 for about 15 minutes. Then arranged the slices on top of bread, sprinkled with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper.
• handful of baby arugula - placed on top of eggplant slices.
• fresh mozzarella - placed on top of arugula.
• then had the sandwich press do its magic!

I had been running around town to finish up some more errands with my mom and that breakfast smoothie had me going until about 12 or 1. Then I had to grab a snack so I had a Chobani with some rolled oats and craisins. I think I finished that up it in three spoonfuls. Then when I was finally back home around 3 - I wanted something warm and toasty. So I had this quick lunch, served with some homemade sweet potato chips on the side.

I couldn't locate the slicer we have so I had to slice them by hand...

Back to campus tomorrow! : (

coconute h2o

I should be relaxing at home - but I'm drowning in piles of books and documents to analyze, with finals coming up and all. This morning I woke up to go on a run, and it felt great to go on my old running route. The weather wasn't too bad either, just a little windy. I ran on an empty stomach - but I wasn't bothered by it at all because by the time I returned home, I felt great! I didn't want anything too heavy but had to fuel so I decided to blend what I had on hand for a smoothie :) Here's what I managed to gather up -

• scoop of whey vanilla protein powder
• 1/2 cup of fresh cranberries
• 1 banana
• 1/2 coconut water
• 1 tbs raw organic cacao nibs
• 1/2 cup of ice
• 1 tbs raw coconut flakes

It's been a while since I've made a smoothie but this really hit the spot and satisfied my sweet tooth for the morning. I showered and ran some errands, decided to stop by Fresh Market. I really wished we had Whole Foods here though. I bought several items for some snacking and a few to make lunch later in the day. I'm such a slow shopper when it comes to groceries, I look through every perimeter of the store until I finally figure out what I want. And plus, it's fun :)

So after spending about 45 minutes? or maybe close to an hour, in the store - I managed to walk out of there with....

• fresh mozzarella 
• brie cheese
• 0% Chobani (vanilla, plain - 3 of each)
• whole grain boule
• coconut oil
• basil
• jar of sun dried tomatoes
• and......zico coconut water

I couldn't wait until I got home - so I took a sip in the car.

 I was pretty happy with the product - it has a stronger and a sweeter taste than any of the other coconut water products I've tasted - I think it's just a little too sweet for my taste, I actually prefer Vita Coco. However, it won't hurt to try Zico - if you'd like to try something a little sweeter. I've yet to try the 'pomberry' one, maybe tomorrow morning? I have Vita Coco stocked up and I usually use it for smoothies (like this morning) or for quick hydration when I'm on the run. I probably won't be purchasing Zico again..the 2 for $4 sign lured me in :p

home sweet home!

I'm finally back home - which is weird because I have to be back on campus by this Sunday for class on Monday and Tuesday. Then it'll be Thanksgiving break and I'll be home again. But a close friend of mine who lives nearby was going home so I thought oh why not and go home with her? So here I am, waiting on some steamed crabs, cookin' away now with some garlic and lemon juice - soon will be dusted off with some Old Bay :) While I've been away at college, I haven't been eating any seafood - one reason why I have my omega-3 fish oil supplements handy in my room. It should be any minute now that these should be ready to eat....In the meanwhile....here are a few pictures I took earlier today and some taken when I arrived at home.

My mom had sent in the jar this Tuesday and the nutty chocolate goodness was all gone by this morning..OOPS. I will need to buy a jar...or two before going back in January.

A snack - baked sweet potato - a huge snack actually.

Our house stash of fuji apples - we never run out :)

My brother was so happy to see me! Can't you tell? It's just that he's very shy around the camera, haha.

Goofy faces- brother & mom!

I might post more pictures from this soon-to-happen blue crabs fiesta....if I do get my hands on my camera of course. tooooodles!

Today at the dining hall, they served a "Thanksgiving" dinner - when I saw them carving the ham I cringed (So does that mean my vegetarianism is official, and I'm serious about it?). I helped myself with little servings of this and that and ate the crust around a pumpkin pie slice I picked up - the filling was not good. This just makes me wanna be home for Thanksgiving already. Before going off to the gym to do some cross training...

Had a salad with spinach & romaine w/ balsamic dressing - eggs, corn, feta, green peppers, cherry tomatoes and a small sweet potato on the side!

 

 

snacking here.

And of course for dinner - the usual that's served at Thanksgiving without the meat. My roommate just came in with bananas because she knows (along with few others) about my scheme every time I go to the dining hall. I discretely take about...hmmm say 7 to 9 bananas? because I definitely do not want to pay 1.09 for one on campus. I need them to make my overnight oats especially.

 

Off I go to get my sweat onnnnnnnnnn.

:)

Oh Korea

Korea has one of the best street foods - I'm totally being biased here, har har :) The street food stands in the city of Seoul provide food to help satisfy one's taste - from the sweet, nutty, crunchy and chewiness from hodduk to the spiciness, and the sauciness of dduk-bok-ki. Winter season has got to be the best time to be in Korea. When I visited Korea this past July, I definitely arrived with a mental must-eat list. Unfortunately, the street foods I've been wanting to get my hands on didn't make the cut since it was blaring hot and summer shoos away those winter street food staples.

These little pancakes are hodduk - filled with honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, and crunchy walnuts - then cooked until crispy and nicely browned on the side. (OHMMYGAHHHH!) If you click here, there are more information on these little bad boys. There is something about the food stands that is comforting - toughening out the cold weather with a hodduk in your hand under the stand tent. If you're ever planning on a trip overseas to Korea - plan on traveling in the fall/winter!

PS - I'll have a recipe for this soon, because I am in serious need of some comfort food!

Since I'm on the topic of Korea, where I was born, I'll share some pictures with you all from my visit! Some of the things were new to me and some refreshed my childhood memories :) [Sidenote: Some of these pictures were taken by my best friend, who I took with me on this trip, so props to her!]

Yes - this IS Korea :) Korean bakeries do their best to be fancy!

First sit down restaurant we went into - my friend was amazed at the number of shoes.

The traditional wedding ceremony room

The building even had bullet marks on the walls from the war

it was too hot. too humid.

train tracks that used to connect to the north

heart of Seoul!

market in Seoul that attracts many foreigners

near one of the temples we visited

market area with fresh produce from local farms!

instrumental exhibition

temple in Jejudo (see the lady at the bottom? she's spinning the prayer wheels)

Our hotel in Jejudo Island!

Ocean front :) GORGEOUS view.

Another incredible view, where a lot of movies were filmed.
 

cooling off in the humid weather.

So serene.

Hope I didn't overwhelm you with all of these non-food related pictures! :)