MINUS 2 DEGREES?

Yes, that is how cold it was today. So freezing that the wind was blowing chunks of hail in my face. The outside running is postponed once again. My mom and I went to the workout room, but for some reason it was also FREEZING in there... guess the radiator was off? Also, something is seriously wrong with my knee. Probably shouldn't have pushed myself when I knew it was hurting, because now I feel like I have shin splints. I wonder what's wrong...
I only did 25 minutes on the elliptical, then did a faster mile on the treadmill... I don't understand. it seems like I can run a 7 minute mile outside, but when I do that on a treadmill, it feels like I'm full-out sprinting...
(Before I left I had half of a rotting banana)
Breakfast was a pretty small bowl of oatmeal-- strawberries, the other 1/2 of the banana, 1/2 cup skim, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup cottage cheese (cept then I went back and got more because it didn't really fill me up), vanilla, strawberry jam, and peanut butter.

I TOOK MY MOM TO SEE TWILIGHT TODAY! Before the show, we stopped at the most awesome place to open in Hyde Park yet: Zaleski and Horvath Market Cafe.

I knew there was a gourmet foods store opening, but not that it would be so AWESOME! Check out the shelves:
They also have great coffee, sandwiches, soups, salads, and cookbooks.
My mom got a ham sandwich with a bunch of fancy spreads and cheese (She really is eating more meat than usual) and a cappucino.
I ordered a panini on whole wheat with eggplant, red pepper spread, muenster, and greens.
Both sandwiches came with a side sample: my mom got coleslaw and I got veggie slaw, which had chickpeas, raisins, carrots, and all the things i love.
I fell so in love with this place that I APPLIED FOR A SUMMER JOB! I'm not sure what I would do, but that would be amazing if I could work there... put my blog URL on the app...


I rarely eat cheese, but that little bit of cheese in the sandwich kept me full for a good 7 hours! Is this the secret of life?
After Twilight (Which my mom loved, but she kept laughing during all the romantic/suspenseful scenes and I had to keep yelling at her. It would be "hurry! she only has minutes left!" and my mom would start laughing loud enough that everyone could here... I see where I get my cynicism from) we went shopping... I got some amazing Lulemon leggings on sale. It was so unbelievably cold...
While I was cooking, I had an apple.

Happy Hannukah!

For dinner, I made Deborah Madison's lentil-chestnut soup with fennel, which I've made once before. It's perfect for winter, with the chestnuts giving the same starchy sweet flavor that sweet potatoes do (we use Chinese vacuum-packed chestnuts).
We also had brown rice and stir-fried watercress.
It's been ages since I really indulged in some dessert, so tonight I had a big bowl of ice cream: Purely Decadent Cherry Nirvana (nondairy) and nonfat vanilla frozen yogurt (I may or may not have gotten another scoop of this afterwards)... my sweet tooth is now at peace.

IT'S BREAK!

I'M FREE!!! and my mom comes back tomorrow!!!! I must say I haven't been doing exercise these past few days, but it's been too awful outside to run, and I couldn't get into the workout room at school :( tomorrow, definitely.

Thursday
Breakfast was a fabulous oatmeal creation: Blackberry cardamom oats!
These had 1/2 cup of oats, a cup of oat milk, 1/2 banana, blackberries, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, Greek yogurt, and a drizzle of cashew butter, which made the entire bowl!

Snack: Carrots (plus some leftover Kashis)

Lunch: I actually went out for lunch and didn't take a photo :( But I went to the Medici and got a great veggie sandwich on olive ciabatta with goat cheese, roasted red peppers, hummus, pesto, and a ton of spinach. I got cole slaw but didn't really eat it... meanwhile, I ate an entire HUGE sandwich... it definitely kept me full till dinner.
Dinner: We had a fast, simple, LIGHT meal, which was exactly what I wanted. It was a group effort: my dad cut up all the vegetables and I made the omelettes. We had green pepper and mushroom omelettes with Trader Joe's butternut squash soup that I doctored (sauteed some sage in butter, added half a pear and some ginger) and salad.
And toast, of course.


Dessert: an apple
HA, this looks like the Twilight cover!


Friday

Breakfast: Strawberry banana oats
1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 banana, lots of overripe strawberries, stevia, vanilla, cardamom (can't get enough!), almonds, Greek Yogurt, peanut butter
Snack: chopped up apple (turned down lots of yummy looking holiday cookies :()
(ignore Luna bar picture)

Lunch: Sandwich with hummus and tempeh mole (I can't believe this is still good but I guess it keeps really well...) and watercress
Carrots and pepper strips
Grapes

I really wanted to work out after school, but like I said, complications arose. I went and hung out with the swim team... so many memories. I really miss these people. They were having pizza and lots of junk food, but I decided to come back early so I can greet my mom in the morning. I was STARVING and ate a ton.
My dad made stir-fried broccoli and a tofu dish with corn, peas, and celery.
Later: a tangerine

Pasta Party

Before I blog about Sectionals and today, I'll go back to last night's pasta party, which was a lot of fun! After practice, we headed over to the party (practice was pretty easy-- just 6 100 yard sprint sets, warm up and cool down, and we were done!) .
It was different from my party by a lot, in that it was all Italian pasta. It was cute-- my friend Aimee's (who asked specifically to be put on the blog) parents put out vegetables, pita chips, pretzels, delicious hummus, and salsa out for us to munch.
I ate a LOT of veggies and hummus.

I really liked the way the pasta and sauces were set up-- very Flat Top-ish and clever!

There were 4 different pasta shapes: corkscrew, spaghetti, rice noodles, and ravioli, and they were all served naked without sauce.
On the side there was vegetarian marinara sauce, non-vegetarian marinara, pesto, low-fat alfredo, mushrooms, chicken, tomatoes, grilled peppers, cheese, and olives, as well as a huge salad with romaine, feta, and tomatoes.
I loaded my first plate with half salad (no dressing was really needed), vegetables, pesto, marinara, and a little of each kind of pasta. The gigantic cheese ravioli hit the spot!
For my second plate, I just got refills on marinara (I could literally drink sauce... I'm weird that way), salad and vegetables :)
Despite dessert not even being the kind of dessert I usually eat, I thought I deserved it and ate it with relish.
There was store-bought angel food cake, homemade chocolate cake, chocolate chip cookies, strawberries, and Cool Whip.



I wanted a little of everything (except the Cool Whip) and took half a cookie, and small pieces of each cake, along with a glass of milk to wash it down.
After dinner we sang karaoke and made signs for the meet. I was so nervous! I went home and went STRAIGHT to bed, I was so exhausted.