Making Eats for a Week at Once Increases Sanity

FOOD

Bulk cooking on Sunday’s really comes in handy! I had salads and soups most days for lunch. Lot’s of smoothies too.

I have a fridge in my office, so these are big containers. The soup lasted 2 lunches, and the smoothie and salad in a jar were my bfast and lunch one day.

at the office and ready to start my day!

BAS! Romaine, tofu, lotsa veggies, and my balsamic dressing.

Silk soy vanilla yogurt and fresh blueberries

there's oatmeal buried under this dish. — there’s oatmeal buried under this dish.

I also made a home made black bean burger that was really good and has also been lasting me for days! It was pretty simple – 1 can refried black beans, 1/2 cup cooked oats, 1/2 cup (ish) salsa, fresh chopped cilantro from my garden (about a cup), 1/4 chopped red onion, 1-2 tsp cumin, and enough coconut flour to bind it all without falling apart. It certainly wasn’t an exact science, but I put the mixture in the fridge and have whipped up a yummy burger on demand!

as a lettuce wrap topped with simple slaw (Just Mayo & rice vinegar) and a baked spud with plain soy yogurt and hot sauce.

just the burger topped with more slaw and red onion. Side dish is whole grain pasta with a green sauce of tofu, cilantro, garlic, and lemon juice, tossed with spinach, green onion, and red bell pepper. Recipe courtesy of China Study Quick & Easy. — just the burger topped with more slaw and red onion. Side dish is whole grain pasta with a tofu-based creamy sauce, tossed with spinach, green onion, and red bell pepper. Recipe courtesy of China Study Quick & Easy.

FITNESS

This week was mostly DVD workouts because it’s been hectic. I did get to the gym one day, just one run, and twice daily walks with Kuma.

LIFE

After my last post on Sunday, D went to the restaurant where both A and M work and hung out with them a bit. So cool.

and a quick one with R after he got home!

Since it summer break right now, there’s no morning pics with D and R 😦

However, most days in the summer I’m up and gone before anyone else wakes up. And D and I are total nerds so we send each other good morning selfie 🙂

On Tuesday we went out to see the USA v Argentina game (we don’t have cable). It wasn’t as painful as I feared it would be, but still sad we lost. M and I got in our Chelsea gear to get in the soccer spirit!

I got to see AC and E yesterday for a quick visit! First time since AC moved to NOLA about 5 months ago.

The rest of the week was work and studies, cats and dog and general Clan mayhem! It’s the end of the term for me at school and exams are starting through the next two weeks. Wish me luck!

laying claim to the dog's toy — laying claim to the dog’s toy

enjoying my global economic research documents

a shot of Kuma last night to send to BF - a classmate of mine who's a major pup lover...and wanted me to name her Donut. — a shot of Kuma last night to send to BF – a classmate of mine who’s a major pup lover…and wanted me to name her Donut.

Mine and D’s anniversary is tomorrow, so we’ll be out of town most of the weekend having a good time – which I may or may not blog about 😉

Happy weekend everyone!

June 24, 2016June 24, 2016

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Kitchen Krazies & Celebrating D on Father’s Day!

FOOD

Well it seems that the only motivation I needed to spend a bunch of time in the kitchen was to openly admit that I haven’t been spending any time in the kitchen!

Both yesterday and today were cooking heavy days for me. D was out an about all day yesterday and a portion of today, and since I’m feeling better, figured it would be a good use of time (couldn’t handle being in bed anymore!).

So – some meals and meal prep fun!

coconut water, hemp heart, strawberry, banana, spinach green smoothie to start my Saturday

stovetop popcorn snack (though R ate almost all of it!)

this week's salad dressing - a creamy and slightly sweet balsamic — this week’s salad dressing – a creamy and slightly sweet balsamic

Dinner was a lemon-thyme rice (using thyme from my herb garden!), smoky tofu, mushrooms, and curried cabbage. To be honest – the picture looks terrible (I was outside with Kuma), but it was really good. The cabbage was a touch too spicy (I guess I shouldn’t have used 2 tablespoons of Hot Curry powder!), but otherwise wonderful.

I spent a lot of time outside on Saturday, and part of that was my typical weekly meal planning. To make things simple, I grabbed just one cookbook off the shelf and went with that. I was given a copy of the China Study Quick & Easy book, and I’ve honestly barely cracked it open. I felt it was due some love, so all of this week will feature recipes from that book. Most of Sunday’s cooking was either for eats today or for lunches during the week.

this morning's green smoothie was coconut water, banana, blueberries, vanilla, and spinach. — this morning’s green smoothie was coconut water, banana, blueberries, vanilla, and spinach.

since I picked up a HUGE thing of blueberries from a local farm, made some blueberry lemon muffins to give A. I'm sure her roommates will appreciate it! — since I picked up a HUGE thing of blueberries from a local farm, made some blueberry lemon muffins to give A. I’m sure her roommates will appreciate it!

chickpea, artichoke, red onion salad with sundried tomato dressing

FITNESS

While I am feeling tons better, still not gym/running better. I did take two long walks with Kuma yesterday and (so far) one today.

On a side note, we did a school project where we had to track some data point for about 2 1/2 months. Many of us have fitness wearables and did that. After actually creating process behavior charts with that data, a whole new realization that the entire point of having a wearable is to use the information.

I’ve noticed that I have not reached my step goal about 60% of the time, and had to realize that non-run days doesn’t mean non-walk days. Since we did the project, the only time I’ve fallen below my goal was due to being sick. I even spun the data this morning to check on things (creating charts, process limits, etc.). Kind of fun and addictive, actually.

LIFE

I went to bed stupid early on Friday night. Slept 11 hours – which I apparently really needed. I started to feel human again yesterday. I was up early, walking the dog, and studying before we had class at 10. After class, I did the meal and grocery planning and then went back to school stuff.

We were supposed to have friends over, but with me not feeling well, we just couldn’t. There would have been 5 kids (several pretty young) and a pregnant woman, and no way would I want to gift this to them!

So, instead I went about making arrangements for D to have a good weekend. After a trip to get his hair cut and beard trimmed, he went to work on his book and then hit up a Tides baseball game. He’s a huge baseball fan. The Tides won, and he was home around 10.

And because I had slept so much, I wasn’t in a hurry to get to bed, so we stayed up until about 1am to watch a movie.

Obviously today is Father’s Day! Since M & A both work today, they made special arrangements to spend some quality time 1:1 with D. M surprised D by taking him out to brunch today – just the two of them. M drove, so it really was a surprise until they arrived at the restaurant. While they were gone, I went grocery shopping!

Before this though, just D and I were awake, and we enjoyed some quiet time. We took Kuma for a walk (where she was an obstinate pup who kept stopping and refusing to move forward) while drinking coffee, and just chatting with each other and people who were out and about in the neighborhood.

D has spent the afternoon with R and me and relaxing. Pretty soon he’ll be taking off to see A and have Father’s Day drinks!

To be honest – we don’t tend to make a really big deal out of things like this. Truth is, we do a really good job of showing appreciation to each other every day, and while it’s nice to have a special day, we’re always really chill. He’s a great Dad all of the time. He knows how much the kids love him (and me too, of course) because they always say so. So today is really about D not having to do anything he doesn’t want to. It’s the “get out of jail free” day 🙂

I’ve been bouncing between studies, kitchen fun, and laundry. Pretty much a near-perfect Sunday.

June 19, 2016June 19, 2016

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Compatibility

So I have to say that I’ve been increasingly concerned that blogging is incompatible with my life! Which – frankly sucks because I’ve always loved it so. So – I’m not willing to give up on it, but I do apologize it’s been so scarce! Between a full-time demanding job, a full-time demanding grad school program, a busy family, and life in general – it get’s tough sometimes. But…I’ll keep blogging when I can and hope it gets more frequent than it has been!

FOOD

To be honest, I have not spent nearly enough time in the kitchen of late. Another things I feel has been sacrificed to the grad-school gods! That doesn’t mean there aren’t good eats though 🙂 Life is too short for icky food!

Here’s a few things I’ve noshed on in the past couple weeks.

Smoothies…always!

D and I occasionally do “smoothie selfies”!

his are always from Tropical Smoothie Cafe. He gets an Island Green almost every morning! — his are always from Tropical Smoothie Café. He gets an Island Green almost every morning!

once in awhile, I go there too (though I usually make mine). Apparently I found buying my smoothie unamusing this day... — once in awhile, I go there too (though I usually make mine). Apparently I found buying my smoothie unamusing this day…

Other eats!

the BAS has made a huge re-entry. Fast, easy, healthy, yummy, and filling.

baked spud w/ refried beans, cabbage, and hot sauce

baked spud w/ lentils, kale, and BBQ sauce

FITNESS

Re-joining the Y has been a really good thing. While I still prefer to run outside, it’s a nice alternative when I can’t. I’ve started going 3 days per week to weight lift and either run there or at home. It’s not as consistent as I’d like yet, but so far, so good! I’ve taken a few classes too, but group exercise classes are rarely my favorites!

LIFE

Well you know. Work. School. Family. Puppy. Those all take up most of my time 🙂

Can’t complain about any of them though. My current term at school is wrapping up and we head into exams next weekend. Lot’s of projects, papers, and cases to fill my evenings.

Work has been steady, but not overly crazy – which is nice. Had one quick work trip since I’ve gotten back from China, but it was just an overnighter.

Family has been very great. M and A are both moving up in responsibilities at work, which is great for them. A is also doing great in her very own apartment and balancing that, work, and school. R finished up 7th grade just yesterday! D is always pretty awesome, and everyone has been healthy.

Kuma is a total sweetie. She potty trained quickly to the bells on the back door, and she’s wicked smart. Stubborn too, but that’s why she’s in puppy school!

Ending with pics!

Kuma!

on her way to the first day of puppy school!

smelling the catnip... — smelling the catnip…

Bumble and Ginny!

Morning pics!

Other fun stuff!

E from school bought me a scarf in China! I couldn't figure out how to wear it around my neck, so I wrapped it around my hair. — E from school bought me a scarf in China! I couldn’t figure out how to wear it around my neck, so I wrapped it around my hair.

me, a glass of wine, and the Wall Street Journal on my Nook!

school influencing work! The beginnings of my Kanban board (it's gotten more stickies since I took this pic a week ago) — school influencing work! The beginnings of my Kanban board (it’s gotten more stickies since I took this pic a week ago)

June 17, 2016June 17, 2016

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