Busy Baking Bee

It’s true, the baking bug hit me again this evening. But you’ll just have to read through this post to see my latest kitchen creation. I`m such a tease

I started off my morning intent on featuring something I cooked up last night – Pumpkin Butter!

I used this recipe, only switching out the water for some unsweetened applesauce, and adding a glug of maple syrup, since I was a little short on the brown sugar needed. I cooked it on the stove top on medium-low heat, and it took FOREVER to cook to a nice, spreadable consistency.

What better way to feature this delight than on a bowl of piping hot oatmeal!

I whipped up a pretty basic oatmeal combination that I knew would compliment the pumpkin butter nicely.

• 1/2 cup oats, milk, water
• 1 banana, thinly sliced
• splash of vanilla
• 1 tbsp flax seed
• peanut butter drizzle
• blob of homemade pumpkin butter
• end of a bag of chocolate chips

Gratuitous close-ups!

With a glass of refreshingly tart cranberry pomegranate juice.

Although it lacks the exact consistency of Trader Joe’s famous Pumpkin Butter, it was still delicious. I’m hoping it will keep, otherwise I’ll be eating it by the spoonful so it doesn’t go bad!

I had a little extra time to enjoy my morning, since I didn’t need to pack a lunch. I was participating in a focus group on the new common study area in our faculty building, to see what students like about it, and what could be improved. To bribe us poor students into giving up an hour of our time, we were fed lunch. Yay!

Of course, I usually eat lunch after my first class, around 11:30 am, so I knew I’d be eat my arm off hungry by the time the focus group rolled around at 1:00 pm. I was a thinker, and packed a snack.

One of my Apple Carrot Raisin Oatmeal Muffins, and a Coconut Cream Pie Larabar (just in case the lunch was totally unacceptable – gotta be prepared). And somehow that bottle of caffeine gold made it into my bag. I have no idea how that could have happened.

Fortunately, I didn’t need the Larabar, as they served up some really nice pizza – it was on thin, whole wheat crust, and had some fun toppings, like the chipotle chicken with corn, peppers and onions (love! must put corn on pizza now), a vegetarian one, and a steak, pepper, onion one. I definitely had no fear of starving.

I met up with one of my group members during our normal class time, and we hammered out an outline for our group paper, and assigned sections to the rest of the group (who were out at their schools). Here’s hoping it all goes smooth – we have all been given extensions into the first week of exams, since so many groups were having troubles contacting their schools to do their surveys. No excuse now to not get it done, and done well.

I was able to make my way home early, which was excellent (who doesn’t like getting home early). I had the pleasure of listening to these two flamboyantly gay guys behind me on the bus, one of which I think either wanted to model, was a model, or was obsessed with models. They talked the entire time about how they didn’t want to get fat, and how one guy only ate salad, maybe with a piece of bread, but didn’t like to have too much protien, etc, etc, and then went on to talk about how they needed plastic surgery to have better cheekbones, yadda, yadda. I kid you not. It took all my willpower to not turn around and just go WTF? Seriously….I just…I had no words. And it made me sad – even these guys are completely obsessed with weight and thinness and appearance. Sigh.

I came home to the smells of homemade soup. Yum! It was split pea with ham.

Mom also baked up some cornbread muffins – they were buttery and slight sweet. Delicious.

I filled out my plate with a few carrot sticks and hummus.

I did some work on our group project (fun with Google Maps!), and then the baking bug bit again. This time, I knew exactly what I needed to make.

I made the ever popular…

It’s true, I finally got around to trying out these blog favourites. I don’t know what kept me from doing so for so long – it’s not like there is anything on the ingredient list I wouldn’t normally have in the house.

The results:

I must have made slightly smaller cookies than the recipe called for, since I got 18, and the recipe said 11 – 12 cookies. Bite sized are more fun! I probably could have gotten 19, but, ya know…I may have done some dough tasting. Tee hee.

Is there any doubt I needed to try one out for an evening snack?

I had one Super Charge Me Cookie, and another fantastic cornbread muffin, that I “iced” with some pumpkin butter.

These cookies are little bites of joy. I’m a big fan of the peanut butter/maple syrup flavour combination. Plus they have chocolate and coconut – two of my favourite things! I think if I made them again, I’ll have to double the recipe. With 4 people living in this house, they will be gone in no time.

Alrighty boys and girls – this blogger needs to get some shuteye. Night!

Happy Tummy

I am sitting here, relaxing on a comfy couch, blog reading, with a happy, content tummy from the most amazing lunch. But we’ll get to that.

I managed to get myself out of bed this morning, early even, and was able to enjoy a leisurely breakfast.

It started with a bowl of Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise cereal, topped with some craisins and shredded coconut.

Part 2 was toasted Silver Hills Squirrelly Bread with peanut butter and apricot jam.

And to round it all out, I had a glass of Oasis Pomegranate Berry juice.

This quick breakfast meant I had even more time to chill this morning.

We’ll breeze over the uneventful transit ride and psychology class, and move straight on to lunch.

Yesterday I asked you all what you would order off the Fall Harvest Menu, and although the salmon burger was the definite leader, I had my heart set on another tasty dish.

I made my way over to Bernoulli’s Bagels and ordered the Butternut Squash & Caramelized Onion Bagel Melt.

I chose the organic multigrain bagel as the vehicle for this taste sensation.

The toasted bagel was topped with layers of garlic & onion cream cheese, butternut squash (from the UBC farm), caramelized onions, and another cheese that I’m assuming might be mozzarella, but I’m not 100% sure.

Gratuitous close-up!

They even served it with pickled beans – one of my favourites. Bonus points!

Let me tell you – this did not disappoint. When I got my order, I was first hit with an amazing aroma, that made me want to dig in right then and there. After the first bite, I was beyond impressed with my lunch choice. All the flavours complemented each other perfectly. This is something I will have to try replicating at home. And talk about filling!

Not only was the food great, but they served it up in a compostable container, with compostable utensils.

 

Now it’s up to me to remember to head down to the compost before class!

And since today is National Carbonated Beverage with Caffeine Day in the US (who comes up with these things?!), I figured it was only fitting to have one of these.

I have a snack packed up for later on, but I’m not even sure if I’ll need it! I’m off to enjoy the rest of my break before class. Later!

Pineapple Express

Too bad I didn’t have any pineapple to eat!

I don’t know if anyone else has heard this weather term – I think it’s a west coast thing. But this monsoon we’re having is what we like to call a Pineapple Express. Warm, moist air comes up the coast, usually from Hawaii, resulting in warmer than normal temperatures, and torrential downpour. I tried to get some photos of just how wet it is out there, but none of them do it justice

Ah, the wet west coast. I know some people find all the grey skies and rain depressing, but I grew up here. I find the rain so soothing. Plus it’s a good excuse to stay indoors and eat things like soup and stew

Fortunately, I managed to not drown while outside today, so I’m able to bring you my day’s worth of eats. I know you are excited.

On the unfortunate front, I had another middle of the night (3:30 am) random wake up, resulting in a sleepy Marianne who was running behind, trying to get out the door. You know what that means.

Good ol’ cereal for breakfast. I went with Kashi Honey Almond Flax cereal with a smattering of pomegranate arils.

A glass of juice – cranberry.

All on my mom’s Christmas Kitty quilted tablecloth.

I also had to pack a bit of a lunch – my Mondays have officially gotten busier, so no time to eat at home.

There was some leftover apricot bbq chicken from dinner last night, so I made myself a sandwich on Silver Hills bread, with chicken, avocado, and Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Hummus.

Class was class, then I was off to my volunteer shift at Sprouts. Per usual Monday tradition, I nabbed a tasty baked good. And boy, did I pick a good one today!

This is a Qunioa Blondie. It is completely gluten free, which made many of our customers happy, as often we don’t have any gluten free baked goods. It had all sorts of good stuff in it like honey, cinnamon, chocolate chips, and raisins.

Let me tell you, this was insanely delicious. To all my fellow UBC’ers – get to Sprouts and buy one. They are moist, flavourful, and decadent. I’m tempted to go back and pay retail for one tomorrow!

I also purchased a new fruit to try out while I was there.

Any clue what these are?

 

Guesses?

 

Come on….you know you want to.

 

They are quince!

And no, it’s not moldy. They have this weird furry coating on them, but it just brushes off. They have the most fragrant smell. A great addition to your fruit bowl, if only for the smell! I’m not 100% sure what I’m going to do with them. My understanding is they really need to be cooked to be enjoyed, so perhaps I’ll make a little quince paste/jelly? Suggestions?

After I gobbled up that blondie, and got changed, I was out the door on my way to my newest volunteer position (do you think I have enough of those yet?) – working at the Diabetic Clinic at my local hospital. It wasn’t overly thrilling, but I didn’t expect them to give me any amazing projects on my first shift. I spent alot of time stuffing envelopes to go out to patients to attend workshops, putting together new files, and stamping envelopes. They are checking into some confidentiality issues, and hopefully I’ll get to do some more work with actual patient files (hello, experience to help out in clinical settings!)

I found my way home, and decided I was done with going outside in this rain and wind. Therefore, I passed on going to cardio kickboxing with my sister (at least the gym is open again). Instead I had my ass kicked by Jillian and her No More Trouble Zones. I even had to open the window to let in some fresh, cool air since I was sweating up a storm.

A shower later, and it was dinner time. Mom cooked up some hot Italian sausages.

Let’s be honest – there is no way to photograph a sausage without it looking a little phallic.

There was also roasted red potatoes, which I enjoyed with some sweet chili sauce.

And steamed broccoli & cauliflower, kicked up a notch with some parmesan.

There was alot of spicy going on in this meal.

I did a little prepping for my presentation tomorrow (I’m so over these presentations), watched a little TV (Battle Of The Blades! The best of both my favourite ice sports!), and played with the cats. Then it was time to snack.

Another score from Sprouts! This yogurt had just reached its expiry date, so we couldn’t sell it, but since it had never been opened, there was no point in throwing it out. They offered it to me, and of course I said yes. I’ve never tried this brand – Avalon Organic Yogurt.

This one is a little different from most yogurts out there, because it is fortified with Vitamin D. Usually only fluid milk gets fortified, not milk products. Plus they have added inulin, a prebiotic to work in conjunction with the probiotics in the yogurt.

 

It has 2% milk fat, hence the trace amounts of trans fats (naturally occurring, not the same as the ones from hydrogenated oils). What you can’t quite see in the picture is the Vitamin D amount – 35% of your daily value. Awesome for a yogurt!

So what did I do with my yogurt? Made a yogurt mess!

I topped my yogurt with peanut butter, apricot jam, Nature’s Path Pumpkin Flax Granola, and some shredded coconut.

And because it was rainy and cold, I ended up with a giant mug of Ecuadorian hot chocolate. I added a splash of coconut extract for fun.

If you got through that marathon post, props to you! If you aren’t completely spent, head on over to Miss Gliding Calm’s blog to check out Earrings of the Blogworld  Yours truly is modelling her ear bling for all to see. Night!

Remembrance Day

Hello eveyone. How did you spend your Remembrance Day (or Veteran’s Day for those in the US)? Did you attend any ceremonies? Take a few moments out of your day? Anything? I’ll be honest – I’ve never been to a Remembrance Day ceremony that wasn’t held in school. I don’t buy poppies to wear. I don’t even know anyone who has served in a war. It makes it harder for me to really connect to the meaning of the day. I know that those people who have gone to war have made the freedom I experience possible, but at the same time I find I have a disconnect to the whole thing, because it hasn’t influenced me directly. Does anyone else out there feel similar?

I did take my day off school to be productive though – no point in wasting that freedom that has been granted to me, right?

Since my whole family was at home this morning, my mom cooked up bacon & eggs for breakfast. I’m not an egg person, and wasn’t really feeling the bacon and toast, so I went with cereal.

Just a bowl of Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise, topped with craisins and shredded coconut.

With a glass of Oasis Black Currant Elderberry juice.

Just what I wanted.

But I’ll admit it, I totally snagged a piece of bacon that went unphotographed. What can I say, I love me some bacon

I had an appointment to get my hair cut today, because it was getting just a little out of hand. I don’t like when it gets too long, because it doesn’t curl nicely. I went to the salon my sister goes to, and I think they did a pretty good job. Plus they blew it out straight, which I always enjoy. What do you think?

 

Yeah, I know, more pictures of me not smiling. I’m just not good at fake smiling for pictures! So deal with it

I also browsed the mall for some boots, as I seriously need a waterproof, stylish, well made pair. Le sigh – why must they all be so expensive? Like I have $200 to spend on a good pair of shoes. But I refuse to buy shoes that are shoddily made, that have no arch support, and that I can’t wear in the rain. So demanding, I know. This is why I really need to find a job

I came home from the mall, and had some leftovers for lunch. It started with some salmon loaf (for those who asked for the recipe – it’s coming!)

Orzo with parmesan, olive oil, herbs, and spices.

And steamed broccoli & cauliflower.

Hurray for leftovers!

After my lunch, I set out on a mission to get me a job! I printed off some copies of my resume, and went out to flog them at a few grocery stores around my house. I figure if I’m going to get a part time job, it should involve something I enjoy. Can’t go wrong with food! It took me a good couple of hours though, seeing as almost every place I went wanted me to fill out an application form as well.

Once home, I was in need of a snack. The double pumpkin cranberry cakie from Sprouts was calling my name (plus I didn’t want it to go stale).

A few bites in it hit me that this would be awesome with some pecan butter.

And I was right! Yum

Dinner was another collaborative affair between me and mom. Mom’s component: Baked Mac & Cheese.

 

My components: Steamed green beans.

And a caesar salad. My sister did a good job of setting the table too.

My plate, with a little of everything.

Close up on the cheesy crust. Mmmmm.

Shortly after dinner, my sister and I were off to my cousin’s place to partake in some Cardio Striptease a la Carmen Electra with my cousin’s wife. He always hides when we do the video tape, it’s quite funny. We bumped it up a level, and tried some harder routines, so it was fun.

We raced home to make sure we didn’t miss all the key shows we needed to watch tonight – ANTM, Criminal Minds, and CSI: NY. Heaven forbid we miss Wednesday night tv! I spent the time multitasking on the computer, and enjoying a snack.

I was craving popcorn and cinnamon toast, so I combined the two into cinnamon toast popcorn – popcorn with a little butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar.

And a mug of rich Ecuadorian hot chocolate. I’m almost out, it makes me sad.

Question of the moment: How do you make your hot chocolate? With water? With all milk? With water, then add some milk for creaminess? I’m a water + milk user myself.

Now I’m off to watch the rest of the news, then hit the sack. I have a full day of school ahead of me tomorrow. Night!

Wonky Week

Hello wonderful readers I hope everyone has started off their week right. Mine school week is going to be a bit off – today I’m staying late to meet with some people, tomorrow I only have a midterm from 2 – 4 pm, Wednesday is a holiday, then Thursday/Friday should be pretty normal.

Alas, I still had to wake up before the sun, so I went for the usual quick breakfast – cereal.

This was a pretty great combo of flavours.

• Kashi Honey Almond Flax
• Kashi Cinnamon Harvest
• Peanut Butter Puffins
• dried raspberries
• shaved coconut

I like how the shredded wheat pieces fall apart in the milk, making the bowl of cereal seem thicker. Plus they give the milk a delicious cinnamon flavour

I also had a glass of that Oasis juice – Black Currant & Elderberry. You’ll be seeing it for awhile!

I was out the door a little late today, but transit was working in my favour. The train was there right when I got to the station, and the bus was sitting waiting for me to get on once I was off the train. I made into class only a couple minutes late, which is perfect, because our professor spends the first 5 min recapping what we covered last class.

I had my usual volunteer shift at Sprouts after class, and I scored a couple of tasty treats. You’ll just have to come back later to see them

Then instead of heading home, I found a place to eat my packed lunch.

My cousin’s wife made soup yesterday, and brought some over. Obviously, I had to try it out for lunch. You can’t pass up on homemade soup! It was a modified version of Avgolemono soup.

So it doesn’t really photograph well, but it was tasty! Instead of chicken, she used leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, and used whole wheat alphabet pasta instead of rice.

I’d never had avgolemono soup before, but had always wanted to try it. I loved the turkey in this. Unfortunately, most of the pasta fell apart in the soup, but it made it thick and creamy. I think the rice would have been a better choice, but it’s not the end of the world. I’ll have to try making it one day myself

To go with the soup I had some cucumber and snap peas.

With some Sabra Roasted Pine Nut hummus for dipping.

I guess I should get some midterm studying in while I wait to meet up with my group. We are working on our education programs for Nutrikids. At least it’s a fun project!

Question of the moment: It seems I’m the only blogger out there who has a morning glass of juice. Do you drink juice? Why or why not? I feel juice gets a bad rap in the healthy eating world!

A Moment Of Self-Consciousness

Ah Sunday, the day of rest. Which I indulged in by sleeping in, per usual weekend routine. No matter when I set my alarm for, my body is all about sleeping in on the weekend.

Another good thing about weekends? There is always time to cook up an excellent bowl of oatmeal.

Into this bowl of oatmeal goodness went:

• 1/2 cup oats, milk, water
• 1 banana, thinly sliced
• splash of vanilla
• shredded coconut (2 tbsp maybe?)
• 1 tbsp flax seed
• peanut butter
• Artisana Cacao Bliss

A new juice found its way into my glass this morning – Oasis Health Break Immuniforce. The main flavours being black currant and elderberry.

Full meal deal.

The juice was tasty, but nothing holds a candle to my beloved Happy Planet juices. What can I say, I’m all about supporting the local businesses whenever I can!

Sienna longed to go outside today. But we saw I coyote out back this morning, so no kitties were going out in the backyard today.

My sister & her boyfriend made a trip down to Tim Horton’s this morning for breakfast, and brought back a big ol’ box of Timbits. Obviously I had to try out at least one. I went for my fave, the sour cream glazed.

The rain decided to hold off for most of the day, so mom and I took the opportunity to go for a walk at Mundy Park. We spent a good hour wandering through the park, getting in some much needed fresh air.

I went on down to the mall afterwards, to get my newly hemmed jeans. I don’t know why it took me so long to get them done – what good is it to have a pair of pants you can’t wear hanging out in your closet for over a month?! I’m such a procrastinator sometimes.

Once I was back, I made a little snack. I wasn’t really in the mood for a full on lunch, since I had a late breakfast, and knew we were having a big Sunday dinner. There was a fresh loaf of French bread just asking to be sliced into. I had a slice with some cheddar cheese, and a sliced gala apple

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing in the lazy boy recliner with the laptop and some Food Network. I *should* have been working on some midterm things, but as I stated above, I’m a procrastinator extraordinaire!

I invited my cousin’s wife over for dinner (since my cousin was at work), as mom was making her delicious beef stew with dumplings, and apple blackberry crisp for dessert. And for some reason, I totally couldn’t bring myself to take a picture. I don’t know what it was – I just felt too self-conscious to do it this evening. I’ve been writing this blog for over a year, and yet I still have this apprehension about photographing my food sometimes. I’ve also never even really told my family or friends about my blog. Is that weird? I’m not sure what it is. I guess I fear explaining it to them, and making them understand that it’s enjoyable and that yes, people actually want to read. Is that odd? Am I making a big deal out of nothing?

Now that I’ve had that little brain spew, I’m off to get into the homework a little before bed. Better late than never, right? Night!

Friday = Takeout

Yes, it’s another instalment of Friday Night Takeout at my house. You’ll be happy to note, that we did not have pizza or Chinese food. I know, how is that possible? Those are the 2 standbys around here. But I put my foot down (or just whined alot). I had really hoped we could get something from a place that serves sweet potato fries, because I’ve had a serious craving lately, but I was out voted. Hmph

So, what was on the menu? Fish & chips.

Here’s my piece of halibut, with some delicious tartar sauce.

And the chips, with ketchup.

It’s fish & chips. Not much more you can really say about it.

I have a love-hate relationship with the fish & chips. I do love the taste, but they don’t always love me. Fortunately, tonight they were on my side

I watched/napped through the Canucks game, which they lost. I caught up on a variety of random tasks, and got in some upper body work while my cat sat on the couch, looking at me like I was crazy.

Eventually it was tea time – Stash chocolate hazelnut decaf with a splash of milk & agave.

And then I was feeling the need for fruit, so I went with the classic frozen fruit in milk. Today’s fruits included blueberries and Saskatoon berries.

I jazzed it up a little with some coconut, coconut extract, and brown sugar. Yum!

Basically, it was a low key evening at home. I like my Fridays for relaxation, because there usually isn’t much time during the week.

Now it’s time for the ultimate relaxation – sleep! Night

Go Fig-ure

So Operation: Clean Up is sort of going well. I managed to get into bed at a decent time, and had a decent sleep. But alas, I slept in a little longer than I wanted, so I couldn’t bust a move this morning before I was out the door. No worries though – after I finish this post, I’m going to go for a walk around campus before my next class starts It’s a beautiful fall day, so I have no excuse

Oatmeal was on the menu this morning, and I decide to try out another Costco purchase – dried figs.

It’s not that I’ve never eaten figs before – hello, Fig Newtons? But I’ve never purchased them, eaten them as is, or combined them into my own creations. I couldn’t resist when I saw the little package for a steal of a deal. Into these oats went:

• 1/2 cup oats, milk, water
• 1 small banana, sliced
• 3 dried figs, chopped
• 1 tbsp flax seed
• splash of vanilla
• shredded coconut
• Artisana Cacao Bliss

A refreshing glass of Happy Planet Mango Peach Party was along for the ride.

What a great way to start the day.

So I think I’m in love with figs. They are super tasty to eat just on their own, and they added the perfect sweetness to the bowl. More so than a ripe banana does, I think.

I had an uneventful transit ride to school, then sat through a psychology lecture on sleep and dreams. We also found out that our class is cancelled next Tuesday, which is perfect, because I have a midterm that afternoon. So instead of going to school for 9:30 am, I don’t have to be on campus until 2 pm. You better believe I’ll be taking advantage of that!

After lecture I found myself a comfy seat per the usual Tuesday/Thursday routine, so I could play on the interweb and chow some lunch.

The highlight of today’s lunch was ED&BV Cocoa-Coconut Chili I pulled out of the freezer.

I paired it up with some whole wheat pita wedges for dunking.

As well as some carrot sticks and snap peas.

And some Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Hummus.

I even had a (cute) guy stop and tell me that my "soup smelled so good". I told him it was chili, and he said even better! He asked if I made it, to which I replied yes. Then he was sad that he was off to the SUB to "eat the crap" there. Too bad he was total jailbait

I’m still having issues with my WLW on my laptop – I cannot add links to any of my posts, and even with my support request into Microsoft, I can’t figure it out. It’s very frustrating – has anyone else had issues using Vista & WLW?!

Well, I’m off to enjoy the crisp fall day!

Prosperous Pit Stop

Another Monday come and gone. Can you believe we are in November already? Only one month left of classes! Crazy I tell ya. Before you know it, that other holiday *cough* Christmas *cough* will be upon us.

Like every morning, I was up bright and early. I managed to get in a little ab work before even eating breakfast. It’s one of my new things – I’ve been slacking in the exercise department, so I’m trying to make little bits of time here and there so I don’t feel like such a sloth! After my 5 min or so, I wandered back upstairs to the kitchen to try out my new cereal purchase.

Kashi Honey Almond Flax Cereal. Me thinks it’s just GoLean Crunch with a honey almond spin. And since I love me some of the Crunch, I figured I should try this one out.

I filled up a bowl with the cereal, and topped it with some craisins and shredded coconut. They appear to be my cereal toppings of choice lately.

With a glass of the Happy Planet Mango Peach Party on the side.

Not sure what was up with the odd lighting. I may have turned on a different set of kitchen lights or something.

Verdict on the cereal? I like it. It doesn’t have the cinnamon undertone of the regular GoLean Crunch, but has this mellow, very subtle sweetness from the honey. And you can’t go wrong with almond flakes added in. I think it will be nice to switch back and forth between this one and the regular.

Off to school I went, where I had a biochemistry lecture, followed by my volunteer shift at Sprouts. I did snag my free baked good – a peanut butter chocolate chip muffin – but I was hungry, and devoured it before I took a picture. It was tiny anyways – it didn’t stand a chance to get its picture taken. HA!

I decided to make a pit stop on my trip home from school. After seeing that Kristie had found the new PB&J Larabar in Canada, I had to stop in at Whole Foods to see if I too would be so lucky. Turns out, I was doubly lucky!

They had both of the new Larabar flavours! I snagged one of each, to test them out and decide if they are worth buying in mass quantities like my precious Peanut Butter Cookie or Coconut Cream Pie flavours.

The good luck didn’t stop there though. I also ran into London Drugs for something else, and found these babies on clearance.

They were only $1.69 each. Which is a good price for here – the Jocolat bars are usually around $2.49 or so retail, and always more expensive than the regular Larabars. Hence, I haven’t really tried many of the flavours. These were the only two kinds they had, so I grabbed one of each.

My dad picked me up from the train, and bought me lunch – deli sandwich from Safeway.

I had the “California Dreamin’” – turkey, bacon, guacamole, lettuce, cucumber, pickles, onion, ranch cream cheese spread. All on a whole wheat bun.

Always a good day when Dad decides to buy you lunch

I let that sammy digest, then headed off to the gym for some cardio excitement. I made it home in time to clean myself up, and succumb to the Hallowe’en candy.

Damn you Oh Henry bar!

Then I was out the door, as I had my volunteer orientation at the hospital this afternoon. This was the general orientation, where we learned all the policies and whatnot, got our pictures taken for ID, signed all the paperwork, etc. We are supposed to hear back in the next two weeks for our job specific training. I talked to the coordinator, and she’s really trying to get me into the diabetes clinic to work with the dietitians there. Woo!

The orientation went long than I thought, so it was after 8 pm by the time I got home. At least mom had dinner waiting for me

Homemade hamburgers. Mine was topped with cheese, lettuce, onion, ketchup, and mustard.

As well as some carrot sticks and snap peas to go with the Pine Nut Sabra Hummus we got at Costco this weekend.

And since we had that giant caramel apple crumble pie…well, I had to have another little slice. With some cheddar cheese – apple pie & cheddar cheese is such a great combo.

I’m actually feeling pretty good about today. This past week killed me, with school and everything. I felt like I couldn’t get on top of anything else in my life other than school work. My room is a pigsty, I couldn’t get in the exercise I wanted, I chowed on way too much candy, didn’t get enough sleep, and barely had time to blog. Not cool. So I’ve decide that for the rest of the year I’m on Operation: Clean Up. As in, cleaning up everything in my life. I hate when I push everything to the wayside just for one part of my life. It doesn’t make me feel good. But I see no reason for the rest of my semester to be that way, now that I only have one class left that has any assignments/midterms left. I’m making it my focus to get my balance back in my life through the end of 2009. Hopefully it will continue on past then, but who knows what next semester will be like, plus the Olympics will be here!

Since part of my balance involves getting sleep, I should go do that now. Night!

Another Marathon Day

Wake up time: 6:30 am

Time out the door: 7:30 am

Time home from school: 9:15 pm

Bed time: ASAP!

These marathon days are just killing me! Especially when they involve projects and presentations. I feel like such a bore in my posts lately, but school is taking it’s toll on my brain.

I started off my morning with a bowl of cereal – mostly because I was cooking up something for lunch, so I didn’t want to cook oats as well.

It was a mix of Nature’s Path Mesa Sunrise, Peanut Butter Puffins, and Nature’s Path Pumpkin Flax granola, topped with pomegranate seeds, and drowning in a sea of unsweetened vanilla almond milk.

A glass of cranberry juice paired nicely with the cereal mess.

I’m starting to run low on acceptable cereals now! Oh no!

*insert psychology lecture on altered states of consciousness*

Then I made myself comfortable to map out what I was going to say in my presentation later on this afternoon, and to chow on some lunch.

What’s in the thermos you may be asking? Well, I made up a little pasta dish featuring the wild rice pasta I bought a little while back. I cooked some up this morning, then mixed it with some leftover chicken, peas, corn, red onion, shredded carrot, parmesan cheese, and Annie’s Organic Green Garlic Dressing.

Honestly, I could even detect any difference between the wild rice pasta and regular wheat pasta. I’d totally eat it again.

There was also an apple.

And for a snack later, I brought two leftover blueberry pancakes with peanut butter inside.

They kinda looked like tacos, folded in half like that. Pancake tacos!

I sort of wish we had pancakes, with leftovers, more often. What a great little snack idea

Then we had our class with our presentations. It went fine, and we got a higher mark than on the last one. Considering I wasn’t even sure the presentation was going to get completed yesterday, I was glad to see we’d still improved. But – some of the comments on our evaluation irked me, so I really hope we fix them for our next presentation.

I totally toyed with the idea of going home after my class, because I was just so drained, but there was a "Meet The Dietitian" night at the school, so I figured I should go. It was actually really interesting, and I am glad I went. They had 3 community dietitians in to answer questions. It was great to hear about their experiences working in the community, since there is so much focus on the clinical aspect through school and the internship. Even though I’m aware of many of the different areas one can get into once they are an RD, they still brought some more to my attention.

I also met up with Bronwyn at the session, and the wonderful person she is, brought me a whole wheat fig scone she had baked. It tasted great, and was a good snack to keep me from gnawing my arm off before I got home from school Thanks Bronwyn!

*insert transit ride home, where I nodded off on the train, and was this close to missing my stop*

Dad informs me on the ride home from the train that they had KFC for dinner. Booo-urns. So I know I’m going to be scrounging for food when I get home. I totally thought there were some perogies in the freezer, and got myself psyched up to eat them. Alas, when I open the freezer, I find out there are gone. Apparently they were "eaten ages ago". I pout, open cupboards, complain to my family there is no food in the house, then lie on the couch for awhile feeling cranky. I contemplated just going to bed, but I was to hungry. Back to the kitchen to come up with something…

Sesame bagel with cheddar cheese, cucumber slices, dill dip. Something about a cheese sammy. I just love it!

Of course, I realized I still had a chunk of vegan brownie leftover from my volunteer shift on Monday, so I made a fro-yo sundae.

Vanilla frozen yogurt, crumbled brownie, chocolate chips, coconut. I swear, there is actually fro-yo under there!

It was obviously amazing. Even if it left me chilled afterwards.

My eyes are totally getting droopy, so I guess I should sleep. Not only do I have my one, early class tomorrow morning, but I have a job tomorrow! That pays money! My sister’s work is doing inventory this weekend, and they need help, so she got me in for three days worth of work. And they order in lunch for all the staff when doing inventory. Woohoo! It’ll be nice to have some spending cash pay bills.

Anyways, I sleep now. Night!