Thursday, April 22, 2010

Quality over Quantity

Hi folks! Whew, the weekend is in sight! The past 2 days have been a little out of the norm because the semester is wrapping up. I've had to attend a couple of end-of-year events which have been fun to experience. It's like a throwback to my own days as an undergraduate!

For the sake of quality over quantity, I'm going to give you the highlights of the past two days. There were times were I just couldn't bust out the camera but you didn't miss anything too exciting.

Breakfast yesterday and today has been the same as earlier in the week. Blueberry vanilla hot cereal topped with a pinch of crushed sliced almonds, a bit of cacao nibs, and PB and AB mix - I'm :thisclose: to "oats" in a jar :-)

Lunch yesterday was a large salad with shredded green and purple cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, and a bit of parmesan cheese. I also had the last 1/4c of millet and black beans mixed with salsa.



I had another apple with some AB around 3 and by 4:30 as I walked into a rehearsal was starving.

I was on campus late last night for the end of year Student Excellence Awards. Since I had a couple of hours in between the official end of the work day and the start of the awards ceremony, I knew I was going to need a snack to hold me over. I picked up another salad from the dining hall. This time -
  • Romaine and spinach mix
  • Assorted bell pepper strips
  • Broccoli
  • Carrots
  • 1/4c rice
  • 1/4c kidney beans
  • drop of mixed bean salad
  • slice of roasted acorn squash
  • Roasted sliced carrots

It was delicious and I inhaled it in 7 minutes flat. I thought it would hold me over until the end of the ceremony but shortly after I presented awards for my student group (and there was a Kanye-Taylor Swift skit involved too, for fun and entertainment - yes, we rehearsed it) my stomach started growling.

At the dessert reception (9pm by now) there were tons of goodies: Coldstone Ice Cream, CakeLove cakes (they have the coolest way of slicing their cakes btw), rice crispy treats, and more, I found the fruit platter and had about 1c of pineapple and strawberries. I also couldn't resist and had a few little tastes of frosting and wasn't so impressed.

By the time I got home, I was only in the mood for a slice of toast with some Earth Balance and PB and also munched a small bit of cereal.

Lunch today was another salad - this one from a new-ish to DC place called Mixt Greens. I had heard great things about their salads and decided to give it a shot.


Right off the bat I had to ask for the staff to use clean tongs and bowl because of allergies and he happily obliged. I got a mix of spinach and romaine lettuce with carrots, hearts of palm, black beans, roasted golden beets, and shaved parmesan with the fat-free balsamic on the side.



This salad was great! Everything was crisp, fresh, and flavorful! AND, the size - the large container is the same length as my forearm! I could only eat about 1/3 and saved the rest for lunch tomorrow.



The 2nd university event today was in honor of Earth Week. Staff from our division spent time on campus planting hedges, mulching, and picking up trash. Unfortunately, I couldn't participate in the activities because being in a walking cast isn't conducive to kneeling on the ground, so my role was to guard everyone's bags in our meeting room. I passed the time with a magazine and had a phone call to take, during which I paced around the room. I couldn't imagine sitting for an hour and a half straight!  There was more fresh fruit to snack on and I enjoyed some blackberries, strawberries, and pineapple.

The staff community organization had a tent set up around the corner for us to decorate pots and plant our own basil. They encouraged us to make two so I now have my own Italian Basil and Lemon Basil plants sitting on my ledge, waiting to be used in the kitchen. So fun!



From there we went to a happy hour for a colleague who is changing jobs (but still works at our university). I just had water and nibbled on some crudite and a few tator tots ;-) They were too good to pass up!

By the time I got home, I was quite hungry and knew exactly what I wanted for dinner. The downside was that it would take a while to cook. I made a small salad to tide me over.



And the main dish - edamame fried rice. I heated 1/2c chopped spinach and 1/2c frozen edamame in a pan with some garlic powder. Once that was heated through, I added 1/2c rice, a bit of Earth Balance, and soy sauce. The butter might seem out of place but it enhanced the flavor and creaminess of the dish! I added about 1/2 an egg white, scrambled it all up, and voila! Quick (once the brown rice was made), easy, healthy, and yummy!



I've spent the night dancing around my apartment and belting it out to the Power of Madonna soundtrack from this week's Glee. It's the first show album I've purchased but I'm obsessed. I keep listening to it over and over. I did the dishes, cleaned out a bunch of old tupperware (to be recycled), and cleaned the kitchen.

Now it's time for a pear and Private Practice. New Grey's Anatomy - where are you?! I guess they're also going by the quality over quantity mantra these days as well...

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