Vegetarian Meal #8 of 10

Okay ... after reading your comments to yesterday's post, I totally feel boring in the popcorn department! You guys put some crazy, yet interesting things on your popcorn! What I am wondering is, what made you want to try new flavourings for the first time?? Are you really that adventurous!? I am a chicken, and never venture beyond the butter or margarine world. Hence, my boring popcorn last night:

You know how a few weeks ago I woke up to snow ...
Well that is all gone now. It was nearly hot last weekend.
And this morning I woke up to pouring rain! This is Saskatchewan weather for ya!

So when it is pouring rain, and cool, and dark, breakfast can only be one thing ...
OATS!



(1/2 cup unsweetened vanilla almond breeze, 1/2 cup water, 1/2 cup oats, homemade pumpkin butter, and pumpkin seeds)

I had a mid-morning glo-bar snack:



Then for lunch I had perogies:



And the terrible two:


(old Cheddar and pears go fabulously together).

I have had more of an appetite than usual today, and by 3:30 I was haaaaaangry!
I had my 2nd LARA Bar:



This one was even more delicious than the last. I am so happy I finally tried these bars.
They are a little on the sweet side, and since I don't have a sweet tooth, I can only eat about 1/2 at a time - but I do love 'em.

Dinner was Vegetarian Meal #8 of 10

Red Tofu and Bean Chili

Ingredients:

- 2 t olive oil
- 3 cups chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chili powder
- 1 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 minced garlic cloves
- 3 cups veggie stock
- 1 can kidney beans, drained
- 1 can black beans, drained
- 1 can chopped tomatoes, drained
- 1 can mushrooms
- 1/2 block extra firm tofu
- Cheddar cheese to sprinkle on before serving

Directions:

• Heat oil, add onion, saute 5 min.
• Add spices, and saute 30 seconds
• Add stock, beans, tomatoes, bring to a boil
• Add tofu and mushrooms
• Simmer about 45 min. or 1 hr.
• Sprinkle shredded cheese on top before serving

I just realized that I didn't eat very many fruits/ veggies today. Guess that means I should have a GM tomorrow morning.

I really try to get my veggies in everyday, but some days (like today) I realize that it just didn't happen. No sweat. I will just have more tomorrow :-)

How do you maintain balance in your diet? Do you strive for a certain # of servings of the different food groups, or just eat what you feel like eating?

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

Well - today we had the first snow fall of the season in my little city. I walked out of the lab this evening to see a fine layer of snow covering the ground, trees, and cars. It was a beautiful sight, however it frightens me just a bit - is winter here already?

It is hard to believe we are almost halfway through October! I have less than 3 months until my whole world is going to change - I will be done school, and not registering for more classes for the first time in 9 years. I am so excited about the prospect of free time. I cannot wait to cook more, bake more and entertain more, and just enjoy life more in general.

I love university - I really do ... but I am done. I need a break. For the first time since I was 17 years old (I am turning 27 next week) I am NOT craving a new semester of classes. I used to love this time of year because it meant registration date was coming soon, and I could pick my classes for the next semester. Well right now I am thankful that I don't have to pick classes. I am finally just done. And I am totally okay with that.

Just some thoughts for this cool October evening :-)

Now on to eats ...

Breakfast today was a Green Monster - obviously! I decided to switch up the pic for your sake.



And a Glo-Bar for carbs/ protein:



This held me over until lunch.
For lunch I had 1 turkey sausage and some mashed sweet potato with some margarine:



I also had a fruit cup:



And a piece of cheese:



After work today I headed straight for the lab to run some more participants through my experiment. I was there until about 7:00, so I bought a small pasta salad to hold me over until dinner. I had about 1/2 cup and then tossed it because it was gross (sorry no pic).

Dinner was something quick and easy since I got home pretty late. I made a can of mushroom soup that I split with the hubby, and some tuna salad that I ate on a few organic rice crackers:

I am going to study for a bit and then head to bed early!
G'nite peeps!

I Apologize in Advance ...

For my super boring meal pics today. I ate the exact same thing for lunch and dinner ... and it was leftovers from last nights dinner. Oh well, it was SO good, I don't mind!

No morning post today, because I was in a rush to get to work for 7:45 - I had a lot to do!

First things first ... this was my snack from last night:

(Source vanilla yogurt topped with Glo-nola, Chia Seeds, and Organic Coconut).

I also had this:

(You might see a lot of these little babies on here for the next little while - they are my FAVE, and they are less than 100 cal - perfect for a little snack!)

This morning for breakfast, I had 1/2 a bagel with cream cheese, and a Green Monster:

Lunch today was leftover Mousakka from last night:

An orange:

And a piece of cheese:

After a great day at work, I headed straight to the university to run my experiment in the lab. I was there pretty late, and had this bar to hold me over until dinner:

When I got home, the hubby had already had leftovers for dinner, so I had the same ... more mousakka!

Looks gross, but tastes great!

I would like to thank Jessica for this thoughtful award:

And I would also like to thank Nicci for this lovely award:

In order to accept the "Over the Top" award, I have to answer each of the following with 1 word answers ... here goes!

1.Where is your cell phone? Bag
2.Your hair? Brunette
3. Your mother? Giving
4. Your father? Youthful
5. Your favorite food? Pasta
6. Your dream last night? Forgotten
7. Your favorite drink? Water
8. Your dream/goal? Happiness
9. What room are you in? Office
10. Your hobby? Blogging
11. Your fear? Failure
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Vacation
13. Where were you last night? Home
14. Something you aren’t? Judgemental
15. Muffins? Meh
16. Wish list item? Books
17. Where did you grow up? Saskatchewan
18. Last thing you did? Email
19. What are you wearing? Robe
20. Your TV? Reality
21. Your pets? Someday
22. Your friends? Fun
23. Your life? Busy
24. Your mood? Overwhelmed
25. Missing someone? Always
27. Something you’re not wearing? shoes
28. Your favorite store? Metro Park
29. Your favorite color? Black
30. When was the last time you laughed? today
31. Last time you cried? days
33. One place that I go over and over? Chapters
34. One person who emails me regularly? Chris
35. Favorite place to eat? Korea House

My snack tonight is this:

(1 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk, frozen peaches/ strawberries, mango, 1 tsp coconut).

Tomorrow might be another single post day - my life is a little crazy right now ... but it should slow down soon! I am holding out for New Years and my trip to Dominican!! I need to kick back and relax!!

Do you have any travel plans for the next little while?

Today the hubby and I went to our favorite coffee house/ restaurant for a fresh and healthy lunch. I had a hummus and veggie wrap, with a side of Golden Dahl soup (tasted like carrot with some curry flavor):



After lunch I went to work for about 3 hours, and while I was there the hubby cleaned the whole house :-) He also went shopping for the new shower curtain, but none of the stores had what we were looking for. I stopped working for a dinner break around 6:30 ...



Dinner featured wild rice, a mango sweet chili turkey sausage, and a tomato.
I have been trying the different flavors of turkey/ chicken sausages that Costco has been bringing in. They have really good nutritional stats, and they are pre-cooked, which makes it easy when you need something quick.

I went back to work after dinner ... and got a couple things crossed off my to-do list.

I worked until 10:30 this evening, then came home and had a snack:



1 apple, 1 tsp almond butter, 1 90 cal piece of cheese

I didn't accomplish everything on my to-do list today, but I did make a pretty nice dent. Tomorrow I plan on taking it easy and relaxing a bit - and maybe I will go for a run too!

Right now I am in the process of planning some meals for next week so that grocery shopping tomorrow will be organized. Do you plan your meals each week, or do you just decide daily what you are going to have? Do you take a list grocery shopping?