LATKES!!!

Whew, I'm exhausted! I spent a good 4.5 hours just walking without sitting down once! I slept in because I watched Gossip Girl until 1 am.... guilty pleasure guilty pleasure... then I walked into my mom's study to check on her to find her watching the SAME THING (but a few episodes behind me)!!!
Because I slept in so late, I had a relatively light breakfast: cottage cheese with a little yogurt (not Greek, which is rare), 1/2 banana, blackberries, grapenuts, pecans, and sliced almonds.
I needed to get out of the house... this is what happens when I sleep in-- I feel like I've wasted the day! I decided on a whim that Jewish or not, I would be celebrating Christmas this year by buying people presents! I braved the freezing cold weather in my warmest clothes, gloves, a scarf, and a hat, and took the bus downtown. I spent ages gazing at presents I knew I couldn't afford, but eventually I was pretty successful. I left at around 11:45 and I didn't get home until after 4:00. I didn't stop for lunch or anything! I did, however, grab a quick nonfat decaf mocha (not pictured... I didn't sit down, remember?), which warmed me up considerably.
However, when I got home, I was STARVING! I scarfed down the rest of the lentil chestnut soup, graham crackers and peanut butter, and an apple.

This still didn't really fill me up (moral of the story: bring a snack), but I knew dinner would be relatively soon, so I didn't eat anymore. It's a good thing I didn't, because tonight's dinner was fantastic!!!
I only really need to eat latkes once or twice a year, due to being so rich. Tonight we had latkes with homemade apple/pear sauce and Greek yogurt (full fat because when you just have a dollop it makes all the difference... I wish it had been sour cream, though, for the full Jewish effect).

We also had a beet soup with beet greens, like a faux borscht, which we also ate with a little yogurt.

I had 1 1/2 latkes, and believe me, I was stuffed! These latkes still weren't as greasy as most, though, which is why they're not 100% golden and crispy.
On the side we had an arugula salad with candied walnuts.


My parents thought this was a weird meal because there was no main course, but that didn't even occur to me! To me, it seemed perfectly balanced and filling. I didn't even think of having dessert.
But I did have a tangerine.

Go Crazy with Kimchi

Lake shot of the day

I woke up pretty sore from these last few days of running. I looked out the window, realized that I really didn't feel like going outside today (good thing I didn't, because it turned out to be really windy), so I went down to the weight room and did my usual 40 minutes on the elliptical while looking at some stupid book on colleges... I need big books that will stay open. Boring, but at least I got to sweat some.
Breakfast was amazing, if I do say so myself. I plan on eating this amazing gingerbread until it's gone, so I need to get creative here.
Gingerbread Parfait with Caramelized Apple Chutney, Greek Yogurt, and Cashew Butter
Sounds gourmet, no?
Basically, I just layered the ingredients with a drizzle of Whole Foods raw fresh cashew butter, which I'd never had before. Very mild, but refined. Delicious, in fact, but a completely different creature from peanut butter, which is attention-seeking and hogs the spotlight.
I heated the gingerbread first. It went great with my chutney, which has proven to be versatile! My dad ate it with chicken for lunch, and, just as I predicted, it makes a nice accompaniment to meat.
Lunch: leftovers! We must clean out that fridge! More of that seitan pie (now that I think about it, it really isn't a pot pie, because the crust isn't puff pastry and there's a bottom crust), spinach and more vegetables.

And a pear.

I went to the bookstore and bought:
-A better edition of Anna Karenina
-TALES OF BEETLE THE BARD, which I've already read. And all the proceeds are going to charity! Go Rowling!
-There was a 20% off cook book sale, but I couldn't find anything I wanted! I have more than enough cookbooks, but what I really want are some good Japanese, Korean, and African (not just North African) cookbooks.

I was a little hungry later on and had a bowl of Amy's chocolate vanilla bunnies with a little GoLean Crunch, half a banana, blackberries, and soymilk.

Therefore, I wasn't too hungry for dinner, but my dad and I cooked, and I'm really glad we did. We were thinking of just having more leftovers, but we ended up incorporating leftovers into what I made, which was bibimbap! I've never made Korean food at home, but it really wasn't as scary as I thought it would be. The only difficulty was stir-frying EVERY single topping separately. (Check out the awesome peanut oil-pouring shot!)


Toppings we used:
-Carrots
-Burdock (also known as mountain yam... it looks like an extra thick, hairy, brown carrot)
-Cucumber (But only the skins, which is interesting)
-Watercress
-Instead of beef, I used some "soy chicken" from Chinatown, which is basically just tofu rolled up to look like chicken... no TVP here. I seasoned it with sesame oil, soy sauce, sesame seeds, ginger, garlic, and a little sugar.
-Leftover mung bean sprouts
-Leftover Korean zucchini seafood-pancake (literally a tiny piece)-- we used this instead of a sunny side up egg
-MUSHROOMS
-and of course, kimchi.
-AND some pear-- this really evened out the spiciness


(All mixed together)
We microwaved leftover brown rice and mixed it with chili paste and sesame oil, then topped it with the vegetables... and more chili paste.
I ate the entire bowl, minus some of the soy chicken. The carrots and burdock were the best part-- they were a little burned, almost like shoestring potatoes or something!
Mm, this is one of those meals where I just don't want a dessert because I want to remember it. To get rid of that garlicky kimchi taste, I had a tangerine.

I finished Interview with the Vampire. How come nobody told me it was so philosophical and depressing? Any slightly more cheerful vampire stories? Or just good books in general?

Grad student eats!

Hello, everybody! TGIF, for sure... I don't have big plans for the weekend, but today was busy and fun.

Here are some lake photos for you, taken out the window.
Breakfast: oatmeal with oat milk, homemade applesauce, cinnamon, nutmeg, pecans, and Greek yogurt.
Snack: carrots

Lunch: wrap with tempeh mole and arugula, the pumpkin and lentil stew, and 2 tangerines.
I was afraid I wouldn't have enough time to digest because today I tried something a little different: on Fridays I get out of class at 1:45, so I went running by the lake by myself right after my last class, which was gym, so I was conveniently already in the locker room. I managed to get back 10 or 15 minutes after everybody else got out of class, so I ran for a bit more than an hour.

IT WAS A GREAT RUN! It was longer than yesterday's, so I was going at a slower pace, but that was fine for me. It was also colder, so it was hard to get into it at first, but once I was by the lake, the sun was out and I got into it. The thing is, maybe it was the earlier time, but NOBODY WAS THERE. Not even people walking or biking! It was eerie... if it hadn't been so early I would have been afraid. It was the opposite, though: I felt so relaxed and zen... and I had actually just come from yoga, so it was double the relaxation!
When I finally got to the playground (3 miles or so later), I got on the swings and felt like a kid again. It was great. At the end of my run, just when I was getting tired, I ended up getting sprinting in! this was NOT intentional: here's the story. I was running and I saw a guy walking in front of me... I was thinking, "crap, is that who I think it is?" and they turned around, and it was exactly who I thought-- this senior guy that is so attractive I could die... he is my Edward Cullen, basically. Anyways, the second he turned, I SPRINTED to the left and ran until I was out of sight. I was embarrassed for anyone to see me running, let alone him (I REALLY HOPE HE ISN'T READING THIS), although I know I should be proud for going :) because it was so cold... I did 6 or so miles, which is twice what I usually do on my own! Yay!
After my run I changed and went to Page's house, because I ended up going to the guy's swim meet! I had a banana that I didn't photograph.
The swim meet was annoying at first because we were in the stands with all these girls who were only there to stare at the shirtless guys (of course, there are those benefits, but I also care about the sport!)... they didn't even know what was going on, and we wanted to go time, but the captain was being really annoying and not letting us. FINALLY we got to go down... it was interesting watching the guys swim, because, honestly, it made me realize how hard our practices were in comparison, and how our times really weren't bad at all... not that they suck or anything... they just weren't as astoundingly good as I remembered.
When I got home, there was an art history department party being hosted at our house, with a TON of vegetarian food. I was starving because I didn't have a substantial snack. Highlights:






-Salad of tofu, sugar snap peas, carrots and string beans
-Vegetarian lasagne
-SEITAN pot pie! I couldn't believe it! I usually don't like "fake meat" stuff, but this was amazingly delicious! I mainly ate the filling and ignored the crust, but it had peas, carrots, seitan, potatoes, and a bunch of other vegetables, and even had a kind of smokey taste to it.
-Paella with carrots, string beans, and white fish
-Korean egg zucchini pancake
-Mini quiches
-Insalata Caprese
-Meat (which there was not a lot of): turkey, turkey pie
I got seconds on the seitan pie and paella, which were my favorites.
There was a ton of dessert, but I picked the thing that I REALLY wanted and I loved it so much that we wrapped up leftovers and put them in the fridge.

There were those ridiculously sparkly Xmas cookies, tiramisu and cannoli, lemon tart, cinnamon shortbread, macaroons (the french kind, not the coconut), other miscellaneous cookies, berry pie, berry tart, and the one that I had, some kind of gingerbread with chocolate chips and nuts. I feel like there must have been pumpkin, applesauce, or carrots in it to give it that extra moisture.
Either way, it was INCREDIBLE. I had a bite and decided it needed Greek yogurt to contrast the sweetness. I had a big piece and there are no regrets (I ran 6 miles! I should be okay...).
WE HAVE TOO MANY LEFTOVERS TO DEAL WITH!!!

Mozart and Mung Beans

Happy Wednesday! There's a Chinese expression that says "Once Wednesday is over, there's only tomorrow and the day after tomorrow until the weekend!"
Tomorrow I'm actually going to the MIDNIGHT showing of Twilight with Page... shh, don't tell. It seems like all the cool "Indie" seeming kids are actually secretly seeing the movie, but they won't want to say anything.
Breakfast: Oatmeal with 1/2 banana, applesauce, blueberries, raspberries, maple syrup, yogurt, and some grapenuts.


Snack: Peanut butter Z-bar
Lunch: Check out my awesome Chinese lunchbox!
Layer 1:
Layer 2:
Layer 3:
By the way, those are just leftovers of steamed egg and tofu with greens.
Plus an Asian pear to go with the whole Asian theme and some Kashis, dried fruit and nuts (I DIDN'T NEED THIS. I need to stop packing food that I don't need).

As for a workout today, I took advantage of workout center in PE. It was a relatively easy workout, since my legs were KILLING ME TODAY. I didn't think yesterday was hard, but I guess my body wasn't used to it. I did my swim coach's workout: 5 minutes warm up, 1 minute high, fast intensity, 2 minutes easy, for 25 minutes, then 5 minutes cool down (on the elliptical). It was enough to get me really hot and sweaty, so after class I went to the little kids' playground and read Moby-Dick until I got cold. It was nice.
I had to take public transport to music school, which was a way to get some more walking in. I was so tired, I actually fell asleep on the bus! It's rare that I'm tired enough to fall asleep standing up. I was leaning to the side, but when the bus jolted to a halt I gasped pretty loudly and woke up.
I had some time to kill before my quartet (5:30), and I had a private lesson after, so I knew dinner wouldn't be until pretty late. I stopped at Starbucks for some much-needed caffeine and food, since Starbucks has definitely been improving their food!
I got a nonfat gingersnap latte and their "Protein Plate," which had apple slices, grapes, a hard-boiled egg, a mini whole wheat bagel, peanut butter, and cheddar cheese. Squeezing the peanut butter out of the package was really fun! I didn't eat the egg yolk and only had one piece of the cheese, which was rubbery and probably not worth it. But I guess protein really is the key to staying full! I wasn't even that hungry when I got home, but of course I ate way more than I should have.
By the way, quartet was awesome! Teacher couldn't make it this week and the violist wasn't there, so the cellist, violinist and I worked on the Mozart. I love chamber music.
Private lesson also went well, except that my hands are so dry that they were bleeding a little. I need to carry around lotion.
My dad cooked again, since my mom is busy packing. Sadly, he made the dish that I miss most about being a vegetarian, and it's so extremely frustrating since I never even ate the meat anyway! It's a very humble dish: spare rib and cabbage soup. The pork is taken out of the soup and served separately with soy sauce, the soup is purged of all fat and impurities until it's a cloudy broth with leafy cabbage. I miss it so much, and it really is pretty healthy. I was tempted, but I still haven't made my decision. Every time I think I'm going to start eating meat again, I read some terrible article... like today, I read about workers kicking turkeys and shoving broomsticks down their throats.

Anyways, I feasted on vegetables tonight: green peppers and vinegar and MUNG BEAN SPROUTS! Those are the sprouts with the smaller pods at the end, and they're green, unlike soy bean sprouts, which are yellow. The peppers are first grilled until completely burned, then stir-fried with vinegar. They have a very meaty taste.
The mung bean sprouts have lots of scallions, ginger, garlic, a little cornstarch, and sesame oil.


And we finally made real brown rice tonight! I hate the pre-packaged stuff... so dry.
Condiments: homemade chili oil
and this weird fermented tofu stuff.

I really didn't need seconds, but of course I had them. I really need to start listening to my body... maybe I would lose a few pounds. I don't really need to, but I think now I'm eating more than is really necessary. I hate feeling stuffed.
TWILIGHT TOMORROW! OH YES...