Dinner for One

Veggie Plate!

Some extra slices of mozarella on
Mixed frozen veggies with fresh brussel sprouts - salt and peppered
Vegetarian Crumbles.. Morningstar Meal Starters

And..on the way home from Minority Health class, I kept seeing pizza delivery cars. I wanted pizza but I REALLY didnt want to spend the money on ordering one (especially since Jeff is gone tonight and tomorrow on a business trip and the next day we leave for my parents)... Sooo.. I made three Mini "pizzas"...kashi crackers with a thin slice of mozzarella, a slice of turkey pepperoni on each!

I think it was mostly the pepperoni and mozzarella! Hit the spot perfectly for 80% of the cost and calories! ( note nothing other than good pizza can TRULY hit the spot but this was a great solution b/c I didn't really WANT to purchase a pizza)

My new Great Debate

After finally trying/finding Cliff Z-Bars recently for the first time, I emailed the Cliff company about making seasonal holiday flavors of Z-Bars. What I discovered was that Cliff DOES make seasonal Cliff Bars, but have been discussing seasonal Z-Bars. I had also found out the Cliff bars are particularly geared towards the vitamin and mineral requirements of adults, whereas The Z-Bars ( that so many bloggers out there love (inlcuding me)) are specifically made towards the nutrition requirements of children.

After reading Organic, Inc. and Slow Food Nation, I realize that bars like these are just another way that America has placed a demand for better food, available in more convienent places. This is good and bad in my opinion, because these books really discuss the information not an opnion either way, of how small farmers have been driven out by conventional agriculture's processed fast cheap product standards. Small farmers lose out, We lose out on good quality Whole food...

I am wrestling with this because I love the "bar" idea as a snack especially with having classes and training and such a busy schedule. However/Despite that its a processed packaged food albeit a HEALTHY , organic ingredient-rich packaged food... but still it doesn't necessarily support my local economy or sustain local agriculture does it?

Did you know that Kashi is owned by Kelloggs? Yes, its the same idea of "Big Food" coming in an taking over agriculture- sure Kashi products are great, but its the same practices that conventional agriculture does. BIG conglomerates making BOTH conventional, cheap, high fructose corn syrup cereals right along side with whole grain Kashi products. Yes, it makes it more available to the U.S consumer, but you are supporting conventional agri-economy even though you might not know it, you just want to make "right' decisions, eat whats "healthy". Companies like that have and want the best of both worlds.


So after talking with Cliff, although they are a "Big Food" kind of company trying to get "Organics for everyone..." - They are making huge efforts in green practices, sustainability and wholesome products.

And they offered to send me free samples of their cliff seasonal bars!!! ( which I have never had before because they seem so high in calories - which is why I immediately liked the Z-bar- more of a snack size).

Here they are with another great suprise in my mail, The Journal of the American Dietetic Association! Woohooo! They sent "Iced Gingerbread, Spiced Pumpkin Pie, Pear Apple Streudel"
they are made with organic soybeans and about 250 calories, 10g of protein....

Below... is lunch

I had some left over Kashi Pilaf, mixed with some egg beaters ( and some caraway seed and some thyme) and a nice organic spring mix salad with a little tomato, low fat mozzarella, drizzled in red wine vineagar with some chickpeas too. I HAD to have a bite of the Iced Gingerbread Cliff Bar!
DELICIOUS! Thanks Jordan!!

Pear vs. Bananas, The Final Showdown

"IMPOSTER!" cries Banana, "How dare you try to pass yourself off as banana?"
"I admire you so much for your high potassium content, when you get to 9 inches long you have 4 g of fiber and you get to have 2 mgs of sodium, I don't have any!!" Plus you have your super cool cousin, Plaintatin...and I just have a million gazillion brothers and sisters!"

"Awww, its okay Pear, you are deliciously sweet and juicy. You are a good source of fiber and potassium too! I love you Pear"

"I love you Banana"

Hooray...

( but secretly, I mean cmon, if you have to imposter banana, it totally won! Plus it goes well with so many things oatmeal, toast and pb, banana pudding, banana's foster, stuffed into french toast, mixed in yogurt, blended into a smoothie.. I <3 bananas).

In the middles is a Kashi Strawberry Flax waffle, with Strawberry Chobani on top, on the side is a tsp of opb! *you down wiht opb, yah you know me, you down w/ opb, every last lady...***


( and if you have no idea what this is all about, check out my post from Monday "Pears vs. Bananas" the way I put them into the bowl made it look like the pears were hovering over the bananas, which were curled up onto the sides of the bowl like they were running away. I know how silly I am!)

Tuesday

Lunch:

The leftover tuna from yesterday mixed with Annies Organic Mac n Cheese (1/2 serving) mixed with some heated up veggies ( broccoli, peas, asparagus). I made the Annies Mac n Cheese Sauce with 1/2 cup nonfat greek yogurt and the last of our nonfat sour cream ( 2 T ish)

Almond Joy Fun Size and An Apple!

Dinner:
("down low"... "how low can you go" )

Steak with loads of veggies (onions, mushrooms, bell p

epper blend, broccoli) with salad (Earthbound Organic Spring Mix) and mushrooms and tomato and some of me leftover Annies from lunch


"Up High Now yall...take it back one time... two hops two times" ( its from a song that popped into my head when I took the pictures)


Anywhooo....Yes, I am a big leftover person! I hate wasting food and don't mind the redundancy ever so often- I think I eat enough variety overall so I'm not worried about it. To be completely honest though, I usually make enough so that there will be leftovers so Jeff can take it to work for lunch ( save some $$$). i.e he doesn't like tuna or kashi pilaf or having yogurt or pumpkin oats for lunch and I do so we make it work!

Oh my... such a big election and I have to voice my opinion because I can, because this is my blog, and I really don't like EITHER candidate! Gasp!

I strongly feel that Obama has absolutely no clue how to make these so called "changes" that he is all about saying he will do- he has no experience and has yet to discuss any specifics on HOW he is going to change ( other than saying hes going to give 95% of people a tax cut) ! Biden I believe is a great choice and has experience. At the same time, Mccain does have a history agreeing with Bush (who I never voted for) but Palin I believe can make strong gains with the areas of Special Needs Education/Families ( a cause close to my heart). The biggest dissapointment with these two candidates was that BOTH their campaigns were AWFUL in negativity and pitting against each other to make "Americans" believe they are a better choice. Neither candidate gave me a sense of what they will actually do to make change happen- they just said that their opponent couldnt.


Anyhow, those are my feelings and I certainly would be happy with someone other than Bush in the hot seat for the next 4 years!

Pears vs. Bananas Day 2

That banana was not being bullied today by the pear-
Bananas win the battle for today ....
Pears 1 , Bananas 1
Final Showdown Tomorrow

Pumpkin Filling Oatmeal Underneath:
1/2 cup irish rolled oats mixed with 1/2 cup water

1/3 cup organic pumpkin

1/3 cup egg whites

Mixed everything well, added pumpkin pie spice, microwaved for about 2 mintues+

Added banana slices and Pear slices on top .. Peanut butter again is a wonderful peacemaker!

Body:
Gym for Cross Training! *update* Bike 9 miles in 20 minutes and Elliptical for 25 minutes

Mind:
Presentation 2 pm... *update* WENT AWESOME!!! Does anyone know how to upload powerpoint presentations to blog? I will totally put it on here!

Soul:
Vote! Election Day! One presentation will be over with by the end of the day! 1 day closer to the marathon.... im getting more and more nervous....

*update* I have WAY more than I need for my yogurt presentation ( other people presented theirs after our book presentation)... Super happy that I can cut down on mine!

Also, I talked with the little boy's mom that wanted me to work privately every morning for her doing therapy and told her basically the truth. At first it seemed like it would work but after all this trouble with the agency and stress over fittin everything in, it just is not going to work every morning. So I am going to email some previous co-workers to see if they might like the position. I feel much more relieved!

Monday..Late Night!

Update: Body:
Yoga 28 minutes+ went very well as did the Walk with "JACK brown-dog" 25 minutes and I swept and mopped the floors!

Lunch Monday:
Tuna ( lemon pepper starkist- 1/2 package)
Kashi Original Pilaf ( 1/2 instant 90 second pack)
Some pickes, mustard, yogurt

and... the last of the banana from breakfast, and a snickers almond fun size!


Dinner Monday:
We went out to eat at Baja Burrito ( does anyone else have these by them? it's not Baja Fresh...)
I had the Baja Salad ( romaine, spinach, mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, carrots, black beans, and added Mole chicken ! Yum! Thats is greek feta dressing which i had about 1/2 of.

Rock Show!!

body.mind.soul

Body:

Nose still stuffy and running-hard time breathing, using my inhaler more than normal.
Good news: I don't feel like death- so its Yoga time!
If that goes well- it will be Walk time with Jack ( who is snoring really loud by the way- Does anyone else's dog snore like its owner?)


Mind:

Presentation edited, revised, added to final product, transition slides added as well...
Presentation 2, slides in their outline format, references posted, history slides need edited
On to minority health presentation , draft due wednesday
Read articles for tonights class, Print Articles for Wednesday class
Rehearse presentation for Tuesday

Soul:

Guest Room is ready for D-Hurt
Laundry is put away
DBT show is tonight!!This is the third show we have all gone to together, woohoo for good music and good friends