Case of the Monday Blues

I didn't sleep well last night because it was so cold! Well, cold for southern California that is. ;) Plus, when I left this morning, Prashant was still nestled snug as a bug in bed with the cat purring softly at his feet. I was so sad... I wanted take my work clothes off, put my jammies back on and hop back into bed. Even though I couldn't crawl back into bed this morning, I have 5 days off (Thursday-Monday) in a row next week for the Thanksgiving holiday! I haven't had 5 days off in a row since the last time I went back home to visit my family. I can't wait... I'm so excited!

Yesterday was a lot of fun. We spent it with Prashant's family to celebrate his brother Vijay's birthday. We started the festivities off at Tangy Tomato in "Little India" (Artesia). Tangy Tomato offers Chinese-Indian fusion cuisine. Part of our group opted for the lunch buffet, while the other ordered from the menu. I have to say, I was pretty disappointed by the quality of the food served and their service. I realize that they were busy, but not busy enough for our food order to take so long or taste the way it did. Don't get me wrong, the food wasn't awful... just not what I'm used to. Plus, it was way too oily for my taste. The company was great though, so it more than made up for the food and service problems!

Before I get too far ahead of myself, I first have to tell you about what I ate for breakfast. A couple of weeks ago, I saw this cranberry apple butter and knew that I had to try it.

I spread the cranberry apple butter on top of some peanut butter topped whole wheat English muffins. It tasted a lot like cranberry sauce and I liked it! I would also like to try the pumpkin butter... I'll have to pick that up next time I'm shopping. Yummy!

After eating breakfast, Oreo helped me change the sheets on our bed. After we were finished, we both took a little 15 minute nap/cuddle break.

Alright, on to Tangy Tomato eats. While waiting for the rest of the family to show up, Prashant, Petra and I split an appetizer of Chinese-style bhel. This was pretty good!

I also ordered a cup of chai. It was not nearly as good as what we make at home, but I like the frothy bubbles on top.

The guys (Vijay's 2 friends on the left and Vijay & Prashant on the right) got the buffet...

Petra, yours truly, Dad and Mom...

My plate: plain naan, vegetable chow mein, chili paneer and Manchurian gobi. I took a little of everything.

After lunch, we all drove back to Prashant's mom and dad's house for dessert. Vijay's cake was Creative Cakery's banana butterscotch bundt. Very festive looking don't you think?

Birthday boy turned 27!

Petra brought these super delicious Japanese black sesame and green tea cupcakes. The frosting is made with green tea and that's why it such a cool looking green color!

Petra also brought these vegan brownies! I was in dessert heaven!!

Vijay, just to blow out the candle on the cake...

Here's the plate that I shared with Prashant...

Dad and Mom with Vijay...

It was such a lovely day spent with the family... made me miss mine back home. Mom, if you're reading this, I love and miss you all very much!

G'night everyone!

Let's take a look inside...

I bet you've always wanted to see what the inside of my refrigerator looks like, huh? Well then, today is your lucky day! ;) This afternoon, I took a photo tour of our fridge just for you. As you can see, our fridge contains mostly fruits and vegetables.

We always keep berries and bell peppers on hand...

Greens (kale, romaine, etc.), homemade hummus, eggs...

More veggies...

Yogurt (for spicy Indian food), my beloved English muffins and sourdough bread...

Condiments galore, along with Raw Power, flax oil and Maca Power...

Inside the freezer: lot's of Morningstar and Quorn products. The big bag on the right is our cat's food. Our cat is a freak- she'll only eat her food if its been in the freezer! On the bottom shelf: leftover beans in one serving portions and frozen veggies...

Alright, I hope you enjoyed viewing the inside of our fridge! Prashant and I have a lot of tasty meals planned for the upcoming week. I hope you'll check back to see! I have a preview dinner to share with you now, but first I want to set the mood.

A little mood lighting...

I love eating by candlelight... it's muy romantico!

This afternoon Prashant and I went on a hike... our hike turned into an adventure and took much longer than intended because we made a wrong turn and found ourselves on the opposite side from where we needed to be. Woops! It was okay though because we ended up on a beautiful path and got to see some things that we hadn't seen before. Plus, I enjoyed the extra time that I had to walk hand-in-hand with my honey. However, by the time we got back to the car, both of us were starved. We were much too hungry to make a marinara sauce from scratch, so we did the next best things and doctored up a bottle of sauce that we had in the cabinet.

First, we warmed up some of this Italian "sausage" in a pan...

Meanwhile, hubby sautéed some onion, red bell pepper, onion, yellow squash and garlic in some olive oil. He also added a ton of dried herbs...

For the sauce we used TJ's organic tomato and basil marinara...

To go with the dinner, I made a super simple salad of romaine, cucumbers and tomatoes...

Everything mixed together. This sauce had a bit of a kick, so I asked what he added to make it spicy... he said that he added the chili sauce that we use when cooking Chinese or Thai food. My husband isn't afraid to try new things- I think that's why everything he cooks tastes so good.

Instead of spaghetti, we used bucatini...

I really enjoyed the texture of the bucatini, but its not as flexible as spaghetti so I ended up missing my mouth a few times. Good thing for napkins and dim lighting!

After cleaning up the kitchen, I decided that I wanted a treat. Popcorn is one of the healthiest treats I could think of, so I got to popping some up real quick!

Lots of popping going on...

Action shot... popping in air!

Voila!

I use only a small amount of vegetable oil to make this. The bag of corn calls for 3 Tbsp, but I only used 1/2 of a Tbsp. There is just no need to use more than that! It turned out delicious. I ate many a handful before asking Prashant to take it away.

Alright, I'm going to veg out now because I'm in a food coma and I'm tired. Have a good night!

I love the weekend

What a wonderfully relaxing Saturday it has been so far. Prashant and I woke up around 9 o'clock but stayed in bed for another hour just being lazy and talking about life and such. I think the only reason I got out of bed at all is because our stomachs started to growl. After I got up I went straight for the kitchen, chugged some water and started breakfast. Prashant requested an egg with potato pancakes, so that's what I made. I also added a slice of fake bacon for each of us to the pan and then toasted some rye bread. Sometimes, the most simple food satisfies me most.

I also wanted to eat a breakfast that would have staying power because Prashant and I plan on a hike this afternoon. I'm not sure what else we'll be doing this afternoon. We were talking about making a pot of marinara sauce for a big spaghetti dinner tonight, but I'm not sure whether we're still going to. Anyway, I'm off to get ready to leave. Have a good afternoon!

Chili and The Fringe

I am so happy that tomorrow morning I won't be waking up to the sound of my alarm going off. This morning I felt like throwing my clock out the window, but I didn't. After all, it's not the clocks fault that I have to wake up, it's just doing its job.

I'm not sure what's on the agenda for tonight... maybe dinner and a movie? I'll have to check IMDB to see if there is anything worth going to see. For dinner, I would love to go to Zephyr Vegetarian Cafe. Last time we were there, I got the best cup of hot apple cider. I could tell that their cider didn't come from any store! Yum, yum.

Last night was pretty kicked back. Well, actually, a lot kicked back. I was so tired that after dinner, I parked myself on the couch and watched Thursday night television. My husband is anti Grey's Anatomy and Private Practice, so I watched The Vampire Diaries and The Fringe instead. I'll have to wait until tomorrow morning to watch Grey's online! ;) I really like The Fringe though. Have I ever told you that I love all things Sci-Fi? Yep, I'm a big nerd and proud of it.

For din-din, I made vegetarian chili with beans, red bell pepper, yellow squash, onion and garlic. I always saute a bit of olive oil with cumin seeds first before adding the garlic and onions-- the cumin seeds give the chili a really good flavor. I served the chili over whole wheat penne pasta... it was delicious!

Breakfast was tasty, too. I had waffles with a strawberries, raspberries and blueberries poured over the top. For the berry topping, into a pan I threw a whole bunch of berries and then sprinkled them with 2 tsps of sugar and let them simmer on low for 5-6 minutes.

For lunch I packed a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, which I ended up eating during my 1o o'clock break. My sandwich was really small- so small that I had to get a salad at noon from the cafeteria. My salad consisted of romaine lettuce, shredded carrots, garbanzo beans, cherry tomatoes and lowfat ranch dressing.

After work, I was starving, so I ate the quickest snack possible... an apple with peanut butter spread on top.

Wow, I'm hungry now after talking about all this food, plus.... typing is such hard work, right?

Alright, I'll see you tomorrow. Have a wonderful Friday the 13th!

Next holiday flavor crossed off my list

So... is it me, or does today feel like it should be Thursday? I've been feeling that way all day!

This morning I toasted 2 pieces of bread, smeared them with a little peanut butter and then covered them both with slices of banana. I love the taste of peanut butter and bananas together! You know what's even better than that? Bananas, peanut butter and chocolate mixed together!! No chocolate for me this month though... it's day 11 of my "no candy for the month of November challenge."

During morning break, I walked outside to the coffee cart for something warm to drink. While there, I checked out what other flavors they had available during the holiday season. If you remember last week I had a gingerbread latte, so today I ordered a tall nonfat peppermint mocha. I was asked if I would like whipped cream and I declined... it probably would have tasted great, but there was no need for the extra calories. I really enjoyed the flavor of this drink even without the whipped cream. I love peppermint anything!

Next month, I'm going to try to conquer my love of sweetened tea and coffee drinks. I do notice that my cravings for candy/chocolate have decreased a lot since last week so that makes me happy. Let's see how I feel a few days from now though, lol.

I ate a baked potato smothered with vegetables for lunch. Besides the salad bar, the potato was the only other healthy vegetarian choice in the cafeteria. I asked for the potato with no sour cream, so, of course, the lady put sour cream on it anyway. As soon as I got to the table, I scooped all of it off into a napkin and then threw it away. I don't know how she got No confused with Yes, but it's okay, I'll live. The potato was only so-so...

I came home starving, but still had to exercise before cooking dinner, wash 4 loads of laundry and empty the dishwasher, so this is what we ended up with tonight...

A Morningstar "chicken" patty on rye bread with romaine and veganaise, vegetarian baked beans and a pickle. It was quick, simple and hit the spot. I scarfed it all!

Exercise was good tonight. I did one of my favorite routines-- 1o sets of stairs from the beach up to the street followed by yoga (sun salutes, etc.) and push-ups. This workout gets me every time... the stairs really burned my behind!

Alright, I've got to go. It's time to decompress and relax for a while before bed.

G'night!

Yummy in my tummy!

Oh my, I just ate the most delicious burrito for dinner! But before I can tell you about it, I better get breakfast and lunch out of the way first.

This morning I had a small bowl of Kashi Go Lean cereal with banana and almond milk. I love cereal but it never leaves me full for very long, so I added some rye toast with Smart Balance to bulk it up a little. I should have eaten more fruit instead, but you all know I have a love affair with rye bread... so, no- more fruit was not an option!

For lunch, I took leftover Indian-style green bean and potatoes with a 1/2 piece of naan. The green beans weren't spicy but I still added a dollop of yogurt because I like how it tastes together.

And finally... my burrito! This was such a good dinner- simple and yet so delicious. In a pan, I heated some cumin seed in a splash of olive oil and then I added chopped onion, garlic, yellow squash and red bell pepper. Next, I added a can of vegetarian refried beans, juice from a whole lime and a dash or two of garlic salt. I stirred everything together and then let the beans simmer on low for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I grilled some asparagus with a bit of olive oil and a pinch of salt. My burrito filling was wrapped up in a sundried tomato tortilla with some cheese and hot sauce. Ooo la la, it was sooo good!

My pictures all look a little brown because I've been using the camera on my phone a lot lately... sorry! I've been having battery problems. When I charge the batteries, the little indicator on the charger itself says they're fully charged, but when I put the batteries into my camera, the camera starts blinking and says that they are not charged. Sometimes, if I jiggle the lid where the batteries go inside the camera just right the camera will work but other times it doesn't. I don't know what's going on with it. Everything else about my camera works good and the pictures are great... maybe I should take it in to see if the lid/battery connection can be tightened? Until then, please bear with me and my brownish looking photos.

G'night! I'll see you tomorrow!!

Pizza Fest

It has been a pretty good weekend! Yesterday, I got a lot crossed off of my "to do" list, went to a (silly) movie and exercised. I think it was about 6 pm when Prashant and I finally got ready to get our hearts pumping with a little bit of cardio. We started out with climbing/sprinting the stairs up from the beach to the surface street 10 x's. Then we came back in and exercised for about another 45 minutes or so. I don't know why, but I have always preferred to exercise in the early evening over the morning. I definitely have more energy in the morning, which makes exercise easier, but for some reason, I just can't bring myself to do it then. Plus, I don't think I want to wake up any earlier than I already do... this girl needs her beauty sleep! :)

Today, Prashant and I are going over to his parent's house. My sister-in-law will be there, too. She just got back from Japan! I can't wait to hear all about it-- she was there for 2 weeks with my brother-in-law. Have any of you ever visited Japan? It looks like a wonderful place to visit.

Alrighty then... on to food!

Friday morning I woke up craving an egg sandwich. Who am I lately? Eggs usually creep me out. I'll use them in baking, but very rarely will I eat an egg just by itself. And if I think about the egg while eating it, I won't be able to finish it. I definitely had eaters remorse after this sandwich... I enjoyed the taste, but now I feel kind of sad about it.

I made my sandwich by toasting a large slice of sourdough bread, spread a little Smart Balance on one side, added 2 slices of fakin' bacon and an egg. The 2 black vitamins are vegetarian sources of Omegas (flax, sunflower and sesame seed oil).

For lunch I brought leftover beans and rice to work with me. I forgot to take a picture of my lunch so I'm using the photo that I took of dinner the night before. I also brought a piece of kiwi fruit for dessert, but I was too full after the beans and rice to eat it.

I was tired Friday and did not feel like cooking dinner (or the clean-up afterwards), so I took Prashant out for dinner. He suggested pizza and I said yes without hesitation. Buono's has pretty good food and they also give out complimentary bruschetta to each table! I ate 2 pieces...

I ordered a side salad with romain, garbanzo beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, a few croutons and Italian dressing.

Cheese pizza with onions and bell pepper. It's kind of hard to see the onions and bell peppers under the sea of cheese. I had 2 slices of ooey gooey heaven!

Dinner was so good! Not one moment of guilt or eater's remorse after the pizza. Besides chocolate, pizza is my biggest food love. Speaking of chocolate, for the month of November I've given up all candy. This means that you won't be seeing any chocolate, gummy bears or other kind of candy on my blog the entire month. I haven't given up all sugar-- only the candy form of sugar for this month. And I'm not giving up candy or chocolate forever-- I'm just trying to do reduce my cravings for them little by little. I don't have a hard time controlling the amount of sweetened drinks I consume, it's the other stuff that I have a problem with. So far, so good this week. I've been clean and sober from chocolate for 6 days now! I've promised myself a facial if I can make it through the entire month. Woohoo, facial here I come!!

Breakfast yesterday was a whole wheat English muffin with peanut butter and strawberry jam. The strawberry jam was delicious.

And of course, I had to have a slice of leftover pizza for lunch with a small bowl of salad. I've found that the best way to reheat pizza is to warm it up in a skillet on top of the stove. I try not to microwave pizza (or any type of food for that matter) because it makes the crust soggy and gross. In case you're wondering why I try not to use the microwave, a doctor (at a health seminar I went to at the Todd Cancer Institute) once told me that cooking your food in the microwave will cause cancer. I don't know if what he said is true or not, but it scared me enough to make me think twice before ever using the microwave for my food again. Lately, our microwave gets used to warm up hot packs and that's about it.

I tried to keep things light for dinner, especially after eating pizza 2 days in a row.

In the bowl: 1/2 C yogurt, blue berries, strawberries, ground flax seed, Kashi Go Lean cereal, and kiwi.

A Chinese coleslaw salad with tofu and veggies. My husband made a huge bowl of this stuff. I'm glad it's so good because I have a feeling we'll be eating it for days!

I probably won't have a chance to post again until Tuesday evening... tomorrow is going to be busy, busy! I hope you all had a great weekend. See you on Tuesday!