The Day Before Thanksgiving!

I'm so, so excited for Thanksgiving tomorrow! I only wish I could be spending it with my family back home. My mom and I already set a telephone date for tomorrow morning. We are going to chat on the phone while drinking a cup of tea. We love the holidays!

This morning I wanted something a little different for breakfast, so I made an English muffin sandwich with Morningstar's fake bacon, 75% reduced fat cheddar and a little Smart Balance. It was pretty tasty. On my way into work, I picked up a pumpkin spice latte (with nonfat & no whipped topping) from the coffee cart outside. It was not as good as the last one I had, but I still drank it anyway because I was cold.

Lunch was provided at work today. I had one slice of thick crust cheese pizza (no photo).

After work, I felt like snacking, so I busted out the baked tortilla chips and salsa. I'm not sure if I like these baked tortilla chips or not. I will try them one more time before I give my official opinion. These held me over until dinner was ready. I probably should have munched on some fruit for a healthier choice, but I'm in one of those moods today and I don't want any.

To make up for my less than stellar eats earlier, I made sure that we ate lots of veggies for dinner. We started out by steaming some asparagus...

Next, I cut up some zucchini, squash and bell pepper... sprinkled the veggies with olive oil and some salt. And then into the oven they went.

While I was taking care of the veggies, my husband was busy making tofu lemon picatta. We didn't have any capers for this recipe so we diced up dill pickle instead. On the side, we also had some couscous with mixed vegetables. The tofu didn't look pretty, but it sure tasted good!

I'm so excited to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade tomorrow morning! I've watched this parade almost every year since I was a little girl... maybe I'll call my mom and we can watch it together.

Well, it's time to relax and enjoy my cup of peppermint tea. Have a good night, blog friends!

El Moro Canyon

Yesterday's hike was pretty intense! This was our first time ever hiking El Moro Canyon so we did not know what to expect. The actual trail that we hiked was 3.52 miles long, not including the walk down from the ranger's station. I think altogether our hike was about 4 miles... whoa! The first mile or so was pretty easy, but the second mile was straight up. Thank goodness for switchbacks!! The view on the way down of the Pacific Ocean was priceless though- it made all the huffing, puffing and sweating worth it. I feel so good today after the hike! I really can't wait to go back.

Here is a picture of the trail we took...

The view of the ocean from the beginning of the trail at the bottom of the canyon...

We made it all the way to the top. The climb is called, "I think I can." Prashant told me to keep saying that to myself on our way up there... he's so helpful. ;)

What a view! The crystal blue Pacific ocean from the top of the trail...

A pretty little butterfly that we passed along the way...

Another photo of the amazing view as we descend...

The bridge that you see in this photo is back at the beginning of the trail. We climbed way, way up there. You should have seen the crazy mountain bikers- man those guys were dripping sweat as they pedaled by. I felt like such a sissy in comparison!

Getting closer to the bridge...

Yay, I made it before collapsing!

Once we made it back to the ranger's station, Prashant and I ate our sandwiches that we picked up earlier from Subway. Thank goodness for planning ahead! Food = Happy Suzie :)

And last, but not least... breakfast from earlier that morning.

That's it folks... this girl is tired. I'm off to finish the laundry and then fall into bed.

G'night!

Thai Food Delights

Yesterday afternoon, Prashant and I tried a new restaurant called Sri Maya Thai Cuisine. When Prashant first suggested that we try this place I was a bit apprehensive because of its location. It is located near the corner of Cherry & PCH in Long Beach. For those of you who are familiar with the area, you know that it's not the nicest.

I was pleasantly surprised when we arrived to the restaurant by how clean and nicely decorated it was. The staff was also very friendly and helpful, which is especially important to us being that we are vegetarians. The owner personally saw to it that none of our food had any fish sauce or any other kind of animal product in it. Needless to say, I was extremely impressed by his caring and willingness to happily accommodate each of our requests. I am so thankful to be a vegetarian living in California... being a vegetarian in Wisconsin is not this easy!

We started things out with their 101 Por Pia. They describe them as, "Quick fried rolls stuffed with bean thread noodle, carrot, and cabbage, served with house special tamarind sauce." I ate 2 of these with the dipping sauce. These rolls tasted good and they were not dripping with oil, thankfully.

Next, we ordered the vegetarian version of Som Tum. The Som Tum is a green papaya salad with a spicy lime dressing. I loved this! It cleared my sinuses, too!!

We also tried their yellow curry and Keow Tiew Kee Mow with tofu. Some how I lost the picture of the yellow curry dish though, sorry. Both dishes were very good, and the yellow curry was the most flavorful I've ever had.

I was so full from lunch that peppermint tea is all I had for dinner...

We got everything crossed off of our to do list yesterday... Prashant now owns a new pair of sneakers and grocery shopping for Thanksgiving dinner is complete! This morning, Prashant and I are going for a hike, so I better get ready quick before it gets too late. I'll be back later!

A bowl of apples and oats

Apparently, I was a tired girl last night. I was watching The Fringe with my eyes closed... I should have remained upright, but I was so comfortable wrapped up in my blanket that I fell asleep. Obviously, Oreo was quite comfortable, too. She is such a lovey!

This morning I woke up hungry, so I dug into this bag of persimmons. One of the participants brought these in for me yesterday- they came from a tree in her yard. Pretty nice of her, I thought.

I ate this while cooking a bowl of quick oats...

I made apple cinnamon oats for breakfast. Into a pan: 1 apple, 1 tsp organic sugar and many shakes of cinnamon.

Just about done...

Smelled so good...

Here's the oats with water and cinnamon...

All Mixed together...

My oats turned out pretty thick today. They were still really good, but next time I'll use a little more water.

Our day has been relaxed so far, but we do have some things that we would like to do before the day is through. Right now, I'm off to clean house a little and then later we're leaving to have lunch and buy hubby some new sneakers.

Have a good afternoon!

Finally Friday

Happy Friday! I can't believe I actually made it through the week. After today, I hope I can put the past week behind me and enjoy the weekend. On to more exciting things... Are you all as excited as I am for the Thanksgiving holiday next week? I am so ready for 5 days off in a row! Yep, that's right, 5 whole days off in a row!! After work on Wednesday I won't have to report back until the following Tuesday. Yippee (if you were here you would see me jumping for joy)! So, what do you all have planned for Thanksgiving? We usually go to visit Prashant's family in San Jose, but we won't be going this year. The drive is long and Prashant's father is not cleared to ride on an airplane yet, so we've all decided to stay home and celebrate togehther next week at his parent's home. It will very nice and cozy with just the 6 of us, and who knows, maybe they'll invite some friends over, too. I know we'll be missing the rest of the family though. Hopefully, we will all be able to visit soon.

Yesterday I started my day off with the usual English muffin, peanut butter and cranberry apple butter. I'm so predictable. I'll spare you a picture because it looks the same as always...

I didn't take any pictures of my ugly salad at lunch either. It was very basic with romaine, carrots, cabbage, garbanzo beans, tomatoes and Italian dressing. Lunch definitely did not knock my socks off that's for sure.

Dinner was much better (and worth taking a picture of also). I made some yummy tacos and Spanish rice. This time I used Trader Joe's meat substitute (Soy Chorizo). TJ's tastes pretty good, but it has a little more fat than the Soyrizo brand.

My salad was huge: a bed of romaine, a taco shell crushed into pieces, soy chorizo, salsa and rice on the side.

I am off to spend the rest of the evening chillaxing with Prashant- we have a date to watch Smallville tonight.

G'night!

Another article on movie theater popcorn...

Just thought I'd share this with you:

Movie theater popcorn information

See you back here later!

Movie Theater Popcorn

This morning I read a very startling article about movie theater popcorn. According to the Center for Science and Public Interest, "Consuming a medium size popcorn and soda is the equivalent of eating three Quarter Pounders from Mc Donald's, along with 12 pats of butter." (CBS Report) As a movie theater popcorn lover, this news makes me so sad! Prashant and I always split a small or medium size popcorn when we see a movie. We always order it without butter, thinking that we are making the right decision at the concession stand-- there goes that whole idea right out the window! I guess I will have to pop my own beforehand and bring it in with me because there is no way I'm going eat theater popcorn anymore, especially since a small popcorn has about 670 calories (article does not specify if butter was added). Major bummer. I will miss you movie theater popcorn, but at least I'll always have fond memories of you.

So anyway, I'm sorry about yesterday. Some days are just downright hard at work. I wish the participants in my class were attending because they want to come, not because they are being forced to come. I have a class full of injured employees on modified duty from all different companies. They are sent to my class when their company has no light work for them to do... while in my program, I teach them about injury prevention, diet, exercise, ergonomics, etc. In theory, it should be a great and rewarding job, but, so far, it's not. I've had a lot more downs than ups, and it really wears me down some days. Well, yesterday was one of those days. I cried and Prashant comforted me. I'm very thankful for my hubby... thanks honey! Today, is going a little better, especially with one of the more difficult people being off for the day. This person will be back tomorrow, so I will go home tonight and try to mentally prepare myself for her return tomorrow.

In other news, I got my H1N1 vaccination today... it's either the shot or wear a mask all day around the hospital. It's kind of hard to teach a class with a cumbersome mask on, so I opted for the shot. I hope I don't get a fever again like I did when I got the seasonal flu shot. I guess I'll find out later tonight.

This morning, I woke up 20 minutes late because I forgot to set the alarm. Thank goodness for my cat! Who needs an alarm clock when you have a pet? When it's time for her to eat, she will not leave me alone. :) Luckily, I still had time for breakfast. To eat, I toasted a whole wheat English muffin, spread on some peanut butter and cranberry apple butter and then added banana slices on top. I love this breakfast... it's so, so good!

Lunch was eaten in the cafeteria today. I ordered a 1/2 sandwich on wheat with cheddar cheese, romaine, tomato, pickle and mayo. I also grabbed a bag of garden salsa Sun Chips to have with it.

I'm not sure what's on the menu for dinner tonight. I hope it's something good! Have a good evening... see you tomorrow!