Valentine's Day Blues & Brunch ~ February 13th

I am definitely not in the Valentine's Day spirit this year after the fiascos with my "boyfriend." I was half tempted to title this post "F*** Valentine's Day!" lol But that wouldn't be fair to all of you wishing to enjoy your holiday. :) Oh well, Peanut will be my valentine this year. And I know all of you are jealous... he's young, great looking, and doesn't make me watch sports. :) In fact, I was in CVS the other day and found this valentine that reminded me of him...

It has a dismal amount of candy in it, but the kitten looks like Peanut, so I got it anyway! (Note Peanut in the background. :)

I went to Qi Asian Eatery (one of my favorite places) the other day. It has really become quite popular since it opened last fall. Around 1 o'clock the place was PACKED. The lunch specials are an amazing value at around $7 with free appetizer... I got my usual, spring rolls and pineapple fried rice with tofu.

Mom and I ordered pizza from Pomodoro last night...

Today I had the pleasure of having brunch with Melissa (from Missy Maintains) and Maggie (from Say Yes to Salad). Maggie and I have wanted to meet for a while now, so the three of us decided to meet up at Blossom for brunch. I was pretty sure that I was going to get the french toast again (see here), but I happened to see someone else eating the tofu scramble, and it looked so good that all 3 of us ended up getting it!

You had a choice of greens or fries, so being that I usually say no to salad (play on words here lol), I opted for the fries and wasn't disappointed! All of us really liked the tofu scramble and I was glad that I tried something different for a change!

After brunch Maggie and I decided to go over to the Chelsea Whole Foods that was nearby. We did some shopping and I got this vegan cupcake. It was tasty, although I ended up mainly eating the top of it!

For dinner Mom made a favorite of mine, eggplant parmesan with spaghetti.

For my snack tonight I decided to make my almond parfait, which consists of a plain fage 0% yogurt, mixed with maple syrup & a dash of vanilla extract, slivered almonds, chocolate chips, and topped with amber agave nectar.

And my baby Peanut turns 11 months old today! Here are some recent pics of him going about his day! :)

In the bathtub, a favorite spot of his to play.

Using the litter box. Perhaps a little too personal of a pic, but it's so cute how he always perches the same foot up on the edge of the box! lol

Drinking peach yogurt smoothie out of the cap... he loves peach flavored things!

On top of the unopened boxes we still have not gotten rid of from our "move."

Ok everyone, enjoy your Valentine's Day and the long weekend!

Daily Eats & Struggles! January 5th & 6th

These past few days I've been very busy... you'd think it would be easy to find a decent place to live in NYC, but think again! It actually takes a pain staking amount of work. If it weren't for the poor insulation in this building (and lack of heat), we'd never be moving again already, as we just did last January. So understandably my eats have been all over the map... Here's what I had yesterday...

For breakfast I tried one of the new Luna protein bars. I had tried the cookie dough one the other day (see here), but this time I tried the peanut butter one. I thought it was really good! It almost tasted like a Reese's peanut butter cup!

For lunch I tried out a new asian restaurant in the village... I say "new" because it is relatively new, and I've never been there before. I walk by it often, so I thought I'd give it a try. It's called Ritz Asia on Bleecker St. (b/w 6th Ave. & MacDougal St.).

For starters I tried their vegetarian spring rolls. These were good, although they were very generic and NOTHING like the description on the menu (which is really weird!).

The waitress told me they made vegetarian steamed dumplings, even though they aren't on the menu. So I figured I'd give them a try. You can imagine my surprise when 2 small dumplings arrived on my plate with no sauce to even dip them in! When I asked they told me to use the spring roll sauce! These were pretty good, but charging me $6 for 2 dumplings is criminal.

Since I was obviously not full from what I had just eaten, I decided to get dessert. Big mistake. I never thought I could dislike cheesecake, and mango cheesecake sounded interesting. But alas... First of all, it took them FOREVER to bring this to me. Their service was miserably slow (which is shameful considering I was one of the only two people in the whole restaurant!!), and this is weird considering most asian restaurants are SUPER fast! But worst still was that the cheesecake was kind of frozen and had this odd texture. It was supposed to come with fruit too, but they didn't give me any. I mean, why bother?! (I was so angry I felt like making a run for it when the bill came! lol)

Suffice to say I will not be going back to Ritz Asia. In fact I hope they close down and they put up another Wild Ginger in their place!!! :) The service and food sucked (oh, and there was this weird perfumey smell too to top it all off!), and I now see why there was no one there during peak lunch hour. It's a shame too because it's a pretty big restaurant and the location is nice. Oh well, this Veggie Girl will not be returning!!

So anyway, with all this stress, plus hormonal issues (aka "that time of the month") gave me a SPLITTING headache yesterday. I ate next to nothing the rest of the day, and the french toast my Mom made me for dinner I couldn't keep down. But I did manage to take a few pictures of Peanut! He looks like a little wooly bear with his winter coat! :)

Luckily I felt better today. I was very hungry this morning since I had nothing in my stomach, so I made myself a Food for Life cinnamon raisin english muffin topped with PB&J and had some orange juice with it.

I stayed in most of the day, on the internet and the phone looking for apartments. After yesterday's disappointment, I decided to order the reliable... spring rolls and pineapple fried rice from Qi Asian Eatery! They deliver & they're cheap. God bless them.

After I got back home from Tribeca (where I was apartment hunting), I made this CedarLane omelette thing that I found at Fairway. It's an egg white omelette with spinach and mushrooms and you can microwave it! It was pretty good, although it didn't cook that evenly. Oh well, I was hungry and ate it anyway (along with an orange - not pictured).

To get my chocolate fix I had a Cadbury Double Decker bar. These are AWESOME. And I love that you can find UK chocolates in some Manhattan grocery stores. I had eaten some of it for my snack on the way downtown, and had the rest after dinner.

For my snack tonight I made a favorite... my almond parfait. I use a container of Fage 0% greek yogurt, mix in some maple syrup and a dash of vanilla extract, then add in some chocolate chips and sliced almonds. And I top it off with some amber agave nectar!

I got this idea from that nut Bethenny Frankel. She eats two bites of everything (if you read her book "Naturally Thin"), but hey, even a broken clock is right twice a day! lol She has some good ideas too. :)

So my goal is to find an apartment this week. Then comes the packing, then the moving. And we'd better hit the lottery somewhere in between to pay for it all! That's all for now! ;)

Daily Eats ~ August 6th

Slept in again today... and when I woke up, I wasn't really in the mood for breakfast, so I only had a bit...

Breakfast:

I had 2 slices of Food For Life's cinnamon raisin ezekiel toast topped with peanut butter & peach preserves. I had some strawberries and an Apple & Eve organic grape juice box alongside. (I didn't finish all the toast or strawberries.)

Lunch:

I had a repeat of yesterday's lunch... a Van's veggie, egg, & cheese pocket sandwich with a Mott's peach medley apple sauce.

Peanut's nap... it looks like he belongs in a nursery! :)

Snack:

I made my almond parfait with a new greek yogurt that I haven't tried before... Brown Cow's plain greek yogurt. I added in a tiny bit of vanilla extract, some agave nectar and maple syrup to sweeten it, and topped it with sliced almonds and chocolate chips!

I thought that Brown Cow Greek Yogurt tasted a lot like Oikos Greek Yogurt. Both were pretty good, although a bit sour for my taste.

Dinner:

I had an Amy's Country Cheddar Bowl for dinner. I also had an orange later (not pictured).

Dessert:

I had some of a piece of vegan chocolate cake that I got from Whole Foods.

I haven't been that hungry today... I'm really trying to follow my body's cues now, and I seem to have no desire to overeat or under eat anymore. This is a really big step for me, because for the first time in years, I finally feel free of my eating disorder. It's just something that I feel like I'm ready to move past now. I never thought that this day would come either and I'm terrified of a relapse, but I can only worry about today, and today I can honestly say that I'm okay. So for those of you still struggling, please know that recovery is possible and it's possible to get in a good place when it comes to food again! xo

Daily Eats ~ July 27th

Peanut let me sleep in today... I was rolling over a lot this morning, and before I knew it, it was after 10! Remember, August 1st I'm going to be posting FAQ's, so if you have any questions, please send them to: marinajc@rcn.com.

Breakfast:

I had a favorite... 2 Van's Belgian Waffles topped with real maple syrup, berries, and dollops of whipped cream. I had an Apple & Eve apple juice box alongside.

Lunch:

Another favorite... 2 Yves veggie dogs wrapped in 2 Pillsbury breadsticks with ketchup alongside, and an Annie's single serve mac & cheese with peas mixed in.

Snack:

I decided to make my Almond Parfait using a plain Oikos Greek Yogurt (thanks again to Kristina at Stonyfield Farm for sending me the coupons!!). (You can see the package she sent me the other day here.) To make this parfait I used one container of Oikos plain yogurt, a drop of vanilla extract, a drizzle of maple syrup, then I stirred that all together and topped it with a few handfuls of sliced raw almonds and chocolate chips.

So my review of Oikos Greek Yogurt is this...

Kristina is right, there isn't an aftertaste, which can be found in other brands. The plain is a little on the sour side, but I think it's meant to be used more in baking than it is to be eaten plain. But the tart flavor works really well for my almond parfait, because you're using maple syrup and chocolate chips to sweeten it. The texture isn't super thick, but it's really silky and lovely. I actually think I prefer this texture better! I also still have the vanilla flavor to try, and I definitely plan on getting more Oikos in the near future!!

Peanut sleeping like a baby (actually, he is a baby! lol) through the afternoon thunderstorms.

Dinner:

I had a strange dinner tonight... more like breakfast really, but it's what I felt like having! I had 2 slices of Food For Life Cinnamon Raisin Ezekiel toast, topped with peanut butter, and more yogurt! This time I had some Chobani 2% pineapple yogurt.

Peanut relaxing on the chaise...

and sitting on my computer desk.

Snack/Dessert:

I had a Clif Chocolate Chip Bar (warmed up in the microwave) topped with Nutella, with a few strawberries & whipped cream alongside.

I also had a couple of oranges later (not pictured).

VeggieGirl is coming to town (my town... lol), and Liz and I will get to spend some time together tomorrow afternoon. We met briefly at the blog dinner a month ago, so it'll be nice to get to chat one on one. And tomorrow morning I'll be posting some pics that I took of Peanut and I tonight... so stay tuned for that! :)

Daily Eats ~ July 12th

Breakfast:

I had 2 De Wafelbakker's Blueberry Whole Grain Organic Pancakes topped with fresh blueberries, maple syrup, and dollops of whipped cream. I also finished my Nantucket Nectars Grapeade juice from yesterday morning with it. I really liked these pancakes... they were yummy and bursting with blueberry flavor!

Lunch:

I was just going to have a Van's Veggie, Egg & Cheese Pocket Sandwich, but then Peanut reminded me....

to have a Mott's Peach Medley apple sauce with it! :)

Snack:

I decided to revise my Almond Parfait from last time... This time I used:

A 6 oz. container of Fage 0% yogurt

Just a few drops of vanilla extract (not a 1/2 teaspoon like before)

A drizzle of maple syrup

Then I stirred these ingredients together, and topped it with chocolate chips and sliced raw almonds. I liked the way this version came out better.

Dinner:

I had an Amy's single serve cheese pizza with 2 oranges that I cut up. I LOVE this pizza-- I'd eat it everyday!

Snack & Dessert:

I had a Naked Juice (the Peach Mangosteen Bliss flavor that I always get) with a Trader Joe's 100 calorie milk chocolate bar (these are SO freaking good!).

Peanut was "helping" me take my bath/shower tonight. I was doing my usual summer routine-- shower, shave, & tan! Peanut loves to participate! :)

I also wanted to give you an update on my Grandfather's condition... Mom got off the phone with Grandma a little while ago. My Grandma was all upset because my Grandpa isn't doing as well as she'd hoped. She doesn't know when he'll be coming home from the hospital now... He isn't critical by any means, but he's not doing that well either. So we'll just have to keep praying and hope he's able to pull through this. Mom and I have already been under a lot of stress in these past few years (between the moving, trying to find work, my eating disorder, Cloudy's death, and everything else), so this is really the last thing we need right now. I'm hoping for some good news soon!

Daily Eats ~ July 4th

Happy Independence Day, everybody! The Macy's fireworks display will be on the west side this year (we say they moved it because of us-- we moved from the east to the west side this year too). I don't know if we'll be able to see them from our building though... Anyways, in honor of the holiday, I decided to make a fancier, red, white, & blue themed breakfast. :)

Breakfast:

I took 2 slices of De Wafelbakkers French Toast (I found this at Whole Foods yesterday), and topped them with strawberries (red), sliced raw almonds (white), and blueberries (blue)! I also got a cute little jug of maple syrup from Whole Foods too that I drizzled on top. I had one of my apple juice boxes with it. Sorry the pic came out a little blurry, but I was trying to get everything in!

As for the french toast, this was good, but I like Trader Joe's better. I wasn't wild about them using orange in the french toast and it having a bit of a citrus flavor. The crusts were also a little too hard to eat, so I mostly just ate the middles of the bread. I have 2 slices left, and I'll probably be fixing them up with Nutella next time! ;)

Lunch:

I had my other Stouffer's french bread cheese pizza along with 2 oranges that I cut up.

Snack:

There was a street fair on our block today, so I got one of my favorites... a strawberry pineapple smoothie! To me this is the only decent option at these street fairs, and they taste great.

Dinner:

I had one of my Morningstar Farms Mushroom Lover's veggie burgers on a Rudi's organic whole wheat bun, with 2 slices of american cheese and mixed veggies (and ketchup) alongside.

Peanut is all tuckered out from the 4th of July festivities!

(He sleeps on top of his carrier during the day, and inside it at night. :)

Snack/Dessert:

I decided to try a recipe that I heard about... you can watch the video of it here. It's a "almond chocolate chip parfait." I tweaked the recipe a little bit, but here's what I used to make mine:

1 6 oz. container of Fage 0% yogurt

1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract

A handful or so of chocolate chips

A handful or so of slivered almonds

A drizzle of maple syrup

And I topped it with a bit of walnut & cinnamon granola that I got from the Organic Grill

This was pretty good, although not earth shattering. I think I like my regular yogurt parfaits better, but the chocolate chips are a nice touch!

I hope everyone had a Happy 4th!! xo