Ready for the day!

I didn't have any spinach in the house; and I didn't want to use mushrooms (I'm sure I'll be eating plenty at lunch!) so I decided to make a different omelet- one with broccoli, orange pepper, some cheese and parsley.
It was very delicious!
I used 3/4 cup egg whites (100 kcal) and included 1/2 cup broccoli (cooked, 25 kcal), 1/4 cup pepper (25 kcal), a bit more than 1/8 cup shredded reduced fat cheese (50 kcal, 3 g fat) and a bunch of parsley. I dipped this in 1/2 tbsp organic ketchup (10 kcal)
On the side, I had 2 vegetarian sausages while cooking (80 kcal, 3 g fat) and 1/2 a large grapefruit which was PERFECT... yum! (75 kcal)
Now I'm full, making some lists, and going to run early today so we can head up to Prov to hit some of my favorite spots before school! =)

Omelet:



Grapefruit with 1/2 eaten omelet:



Total breakfast calories: ~365 kcal, 6 g fat

Sweet snack

I was craving something sweet, but had already eaten yogurt today... so I went for a small bowl of blackberries drizzled with some hot water and mixed with a bit of splenda. Mmm! Hit the spot, almost tasted like pie filling!
Now I'm settling down with a cup of sweet coconut tea, and heading to bed before more shopping tomorrow! =)



Snack calories ~75 kcal

Home at last (aka "ahhh")

That's a good, relaxed "ahhhh".

Get ready for a long post, because this is breakfast, lunch and dinner because I was out and about, busy all day!

I didn't run today because honestly, I hate running on the treadmill when it's dark outside. Being outside is fine at 6 am (when it's warm!) but inside gets a bit annoying. Instead, I woke up and went for a nice inclined 45 minute walk on the treadmill before showering and getting ready for work.

Last night I prepared a bowl of overnight swiss oats with 1/2 cup oats (rolled, from whole foods), 1/4 cup soy milk (nonfat), 1/4 cup water, 1 oz dried cherries, 10 g chopped walnuts, and a whole bunch of cinnamon. This morning, I added 4 oz greek yogurt, 1 sliced banana and drizzled on 1 tsp honey.
It was sooo yummy and held me over for almost four hours! (Good thing, it was a pretty hefty amount of calories!)



Total breakfast calories: ~565 kcals

For lunch at work, I had 1 1/2 cups (1 serving) of the amazing Lentil Stew I made a few days ago, (465 kcal, 10 g fat) wth a 1.75 ounce chunk of whole grain loaf I toasted. (120 kcals, 3 g fat)
Another big, filling meal!

No picture here, I was in the office at work and I figured my manager would find my food photography a bit odd.

On that same topic, I am going to try and take pictures of most of my meals when I'm back at school (tuesday!) but they will be much more scarce when I am eating in the dining hall... it's kind of hard to photograph my food surrounded by college kids! But I'll take plenty of pictures, and post recipes of my dorm room cooking =)

Back to my meals!

Back at home I snacked on a medium apple and 1/2 cup whipped cottage cheese (together 170 kcal, 2 g fat) before hauling a bunch of my belongings back to school!

We were going to grab take out, but my mom, sister and I were planning on going up to Thayer Street in Providence for a while tomorrow, and having a yummy Indian lunch at one of my favorite Thayer St spots- Kabob & Curry, (they have SO many veggie filled options!) so we decided to save our $$ and cook up something quick at the house.
We made Meditteranean Tuna Pasta with whole wheat penne, diced tomatoes/celery/garlic blend (cooked in olive oil), tuna and black olives. I had 2.5 oz of pasta (300 kcal, 2 g fat), with about 1 cup the diced tomato mix (~120 kcal, 6 g fat), 2 tbsp olives (30 kcal, 3 g fat), and 3 oz tuna (packed in water, 90 kcal, 1 g fat)
This was very yummy, but I wanted more veggies so I had a small side salad with mixed greens and 4 baby carrots (40 kcal), drizzled with balsamic. Yum! Now I'm full, and I might just have a small snack later =)




Total dinner calories: ~580 kcal


Calories today are already pretty high though (1900 kcal!); my snack/dessert has to be light!

**Note** Sorry about the weird photos, my camera was on the "ISO" setting and I just realized it. Told ya I was running around like crazy today!

Wonderful night out!

The play was fabulous, and dinner was FANTASTIC!
We went to the all-vegetarian Garden Grille, only about 10 minutes away from the theatre. It was absolutely delicious, and even though I spent a fortune, it was totally worth it.
I've got an awesome best friend, who has the same weird savory-exotic taste cravings as I... we were both looking for something with mushrooms and goat cheese, so we started our meal with portabella mushrooms with herbed goat cheese. Yum!
I had about 3/4 a large grilled portabella, which was marinated in a yummy glaze, and about a tablespoon or so of goat cheese.
I also had 1 large grilled sweet potato wedge from bridget's plate, dipped in a bbq sauce!
They ordered nachos, but I wasn't really in the mood so I decided to save my apetite for my entree!






For my dinner, I decided to go for something tasty and balanced... so I ordered the "buddah bowl"!
I didn't think about "healthy" at this meal so much as I tried to make balanced choices, and keep portions controlled. I think I did well with both!



I could not believe how HUGE this bowl was... definately the size of a serving dish.
It had some high quality vegetarian protein in the form of grilled tofu and tempeh squares, with lots of vegetables and brown rice. The cabbage and sliced carrots that were on the bottom were marinated in a sweet sauce, and the broccolli and squash also had a very yummy glaze. Maybe the toppings weren't the healthiest, but I managed to finish all the broccolli/squash, had about 1/2 the brown rice, 1/2 the cabbage/carrot mix, and 1 piece each of the tofu and tempeh.

For drinks, I had to try one of their fresh-squeezed juices... they all looked so good, it was hard to choose! I went with the ginger lemonade, which was amazing- very gingery, just how I like it =)
I also had a couple sips of Danielle's mango juice, for the record.

Of COURSE us girls needed to try dessert; Danielle and I couldn't decide between the Chocolate Cinnamon Almond Mousse Cake or the special of the day (a silky french banana concoction), so we ordered one of each! I ate about 1/2-3/4 the almond mousse cake, with a few blueberries and I dipped it in some of the strawberry sauce, and I had 2 big bites of Danielle's cake as well.

Cinnamon Almond Mousse:


French Silk:



No estimated calories for this meal, too hard to count... I don't think I overate though I felt full and not "stuffed", so that is definately a sign of a good meal!

On the way home we stopped at one of my favorite tea spots, Tea Luxe. I had an amazing cup of herbal "Kir Royale" tea. Yum!
Now, I'm sipping on some tonic and ready to head in for an early night... I haven't gotten much sleep lately, and I'm in for a longggg day of work (6 hours, 8-2) and moving stuff back to my dorm tomorrow.
Wish me luck making it through the day! haha

Tomorrow's posts will be late, but they'll appear eventually!

Quick lunch

Sorry I didn't have my lunch posted this afternoon, it was a quick lunch after my quick workout (30 minute run, 5 minute walk) before we headed off to pick up Danielle, then my roommate Bridget and her friend Nupur in Providence.

Today I went for a few healthy basics to keep me full; a salad, some cottage cheese and fruit.
In my salad I threw in a bunch of mixed greens (20 kcal), some chopped bell pepper (about 1/2, 25 kcal), 1/2 cup canellini beans (~100kcal), 1/2 cup leftover brussels sprouts (50 kcal) and 1 tbsp pom seeds. I drizzled on some red wine vinegar and was set!
On the side I had 1/2 cup whipped 1% cottage cheese (100 kcal, 1 g fat) and a large red pear (yum!, 100kcal)
(Total lunch calories ~405 kcals)

Colorful salad:


Lunch altogether:


I was full, and it kept me full up until the middle of the play... I got SO hungry, but knew an amazing dinner was waiting so I held off!
I did have one bite of Danielle's incredible-smelling cookie while waiting for the play to start though. Moment of weakness, provided by my excellent sense of smell! hehe

Fruity

Another smoothie for me today =)
I had to finish up the vanilla yogurt I had sitting in the fridge (it expires tomorrow) and what better way than to make a delicious, healthy smoothie? I threw one together with 1/2 cup vanilla nonfat yogurt (Dannon Light n Fit brand, 50 kcal) with 1/4 cup nonfat milk (20 kcal), 1/2 cup each frozen blueberries and mangoes (90 kcal), 1 very large banana (130 kcal) and a scoop of protein powder (40 kcal). Fruit, dairy, protein... and very filling for only 320 calories, 3 g fat.

I also had 1 toasted piece small slice bread (70 kcal) with 1 tsp margaine (20 kcal)... together, 90 kcal, 3 g fat.



Breakfast altogether was ~410 kcal, 6 g fat.
Should hold me for a few hours, I HAVE to pack... I'm moving in most of my stuff tomorrow!
Then later today we're going to see a Matinee of RENT and then going out to dinner at this fantastic vegetarian restaurant in Providence, The Garden Grille. I'm very excited about both!

Back from my nap

Took a short nap, interrupted a couple times, but still relaxing.
I was hungry, so I had a small snack of 1/2 cup Fage 0% with just over 1/4 cup blueberries.
Snack calories ~85 kcal.



Off to pick up Danielle! Hope I don't fall asleep in the car...

I'm bringing her her FAVORITE delicious home made oatmeal raisin cookies from WholeFoods as a welcome home present. I'll only have one or two, I promise. =)

EDIT: I had TWO oatmeal raisin cookies. I probably should have stopped at one, but these were soooo good and I was pretty proud of myself anyways for just stopping at two. These things are addicting! I felt pretty good savoring my second one with my tea while my friends were reaching for their third or fourth.. hehe

Total calories for the day, with snack and cookies ~1730, estimated
(I thought about 150 kcal per cookie; they were medium sized.)