Waffles, Rallies, and Halloween Wackiness

Happy Halloween y'all! I hope you've had a great weekend and fun Halloween. It amuses me at how my celebration of Halloween has changed throughout the years - I definitely celebrated more as a kid and then again in college!

Saturday was quite a fantastic day. On top of ideal fall weather I woke up with a craving for waffles. I broke out my waffle iron and my favorite pancake mix, Pamela's Baking & Pancake mix, and got to work. The batch yielded 7 waffles so I froze most of them to enjoy on days I don't feel like making waffles.

 

I had one waffle topped with a mix of syrup and fig jam, heated up, and some almond butter, plus an egg white and half a pear.

The Rally to Restore Sanity was set to begin at 1pm so I headed out around noon to get there. I took my time because I felt pretty indifferent about the event. A few friends convinced me I should go and see it and I'm glad I did. The crowd was pretty normal and I definitely appreciated all the witty signs.

I only stayed down on the Mall for about 15 minutes as I really don't do well in shoulder-to-shoulder crowds and I couldn't see or hear anything. I walked up to Chinatown and the Health and Fitness Expo for the Marine Corps Marathon. I got to check out some of the vendors and tried out The Stick for the first time. My calves felt like new and I can see myself purchasing this item very soon!

From there I began the walk home but got hungry a few minutes in. Enter - pit stop at... Whole Foods! Trip #4 for the week. Lunch was a salad plus black beans and Mexican rice.

I contemplated heading home then but the weather was so nice and there were a few things I wanted to check out at Target so I continued my "little" walk. By the time all was said and done I walked over 8 miles yesterday! My feet were a little achy but no pain in my stress fracture foot which is awesome!

After resting for a few hours I met Lauren for dinner at Mai Thai. We got things started with Apple-tinis, which are a Halloween tradition of sorts for me.

 (from Halloween 2008, Nightmare on M Street Bar Crawl in DC)

We started with some chicken satay

And for my dinner I got the drunken noodles with chicken, easy on the sauce and oil. There is so much flavor in the cooking process and my stomach doesn't love lots of oil so these modifications ensure a tasty dish that won't upset my stomach.

From there we headed to another bar to watch the Rangers win Game 3 of the World Series and the Longhorns lose another game. I think the state of Texas missed the memo that we're supposed to have talent in football!  The night ended with some amazing costume watching of the folks who participated in the DC Halloween bar crawl. I did it 2 years ago and it was a blast - last night I couldn't get over how young all the participants looked!

For all the activity of yesterday, today was quite the opposite. I slept in until 10:30 and immediately rolled out of bed and down the block to the Dupont farmers market. I picked up my usual - eggs, apples, pears, and kale, and came home. Not without snapping a picture of the gorgeous cauliflower though!

I was hungry by the time I got home and had 2 slices of Udi's whole grain toast, one with a little Earth Balance and peanut butter, one with spinach, red pepper spread, and and egg white for breakfast. I also had one of my pears.

Then it was time for a good cleaning of my apartment (I cleaned for the better part of an hour and half). Feeling much better and more organized, I had a light lunch of leftover roasted butternut squash, kidney and black beans, spinach, and 1/4c of wild rice.

I made my 5th trip of the week (seriously - an intervention may be needed!) to Whole Foods for groceries and spend the afternoon prepping food for the week.

Dinner was a bowl of freshly made broccoli soup (x2), a portion of Alexia oven fries, and half a serving of baked beans.

I'm now watching Game 4 and deciding what my sweet treat for Halloween will be. I haven't eaten a lot of candy yet but perhaps I'll find something sweet to celebrate with!

Did you go to the rally yesterday (or watch on TV)? Dress up for Halloween?

I - I will Survive

As evident by my channeling Gloria Gaynor, I've gone a little crazy over the past few days. I blame it on staring at this for the better part of my weekend:

Between accounting studying and a huge group project that was completed over the weekend, I'm beyond happy for this quarter of school to be wrapping up. I've learned a lot about myself over the past 2 months and am eager to make a few changes moving forward!

Friday I had a relapse in sickness which led to my continued feelings of misery and therefore lack of blog posting. Saturday was group project day followed by a delightful dinner with friends that ended with gelato. Ice cream solves problems and cures illness, didn't you know? Dinner was actually the turning point with this cold I've been battling and I've been feeling better and better since!

Yesterday morning I was up earlier than I would have preferred which at least allowed me to tackle a long to-do list, I was still feeling better, and spend a few hours preparing for my impending accounting final!

There was the standard trip to the farmers market. Has anyone seen black radishes before? These were a new-to-me sighting!

Also, check out the size of this beautiful comice pear. It was at least the size of my face! I love Toigo Orchards - they have the best pears and the nicest staff by far!

Of course I got to enjoy a special breakfast over the weekend - "oats" in a jar! My standard mix with blueberries, cinnamon, maple, and crushed pecans in an almond butter jar.

Last night I had the last of my chicken chili along with half of an acorn squash, which I ate skin and all.

Now, I'm just plugging away through the day and trying to keep prepping for this acocunting final at 7pm. I'll be more than ecstatic when it's over!!

How was your weekend?

Slowly Catching On

Hi there! How was your weekend? I'm sad to see another one behind us. Sadly we are not off for Columbus Day so tomorrow will be a full day of work and class!

This morning I was up earlier than I had hoped and my tummy was growling. That seems to be the Sunday trend as of late. I quieted the Hungry Monster with another fall bowl of hot cereal. This was the standard mix with a spoonful of mashed sweet potato, frozen berries, 1/2T of peanut butter and a light drizzle of syrup. Yum!

I took care of a few things and then headed out to the farmers market. I got quite the haul today: eggs, apples, pears, green beans, a small kabocha squash, and a mini Amber squash which I've never tried before.

Once home, the morning was still young so with my best effort to procrastinate homework I started the process of cleaning out my closet for fall and winter. I made it through the hanging items but still have drawers to go through most likely on Tuesday.

I decided to take advantage of the gorgeous weather we're having in DC and combine my goal of some exercise with grocery shopping. I huffed it to a Whole Foods almost 2 miles away from my apartment which made for some great cardio. I treated myself to a hot bar lunch that included a few pieces of veggie sushi, greens, black beans, beets, carrots, tofu veggie burger, black beans and rice, and some chick peas. It was the perfect treat!

My walk home was just as glorious and I didn't mind carrying my groceries home with me.

I decided that I would make chili this afternoon so I got started on the prep work for that. Here is the recipe for my Chicken Chili, which I kind of threw together based on what I had in my fridge and freezer.

• .8lb ground local, organic chicken breast
• 1c chopped onion (it was ~1/4 of a large onion)
• 2 carrots chopped
• 1 28oz can of fire roasted tomatoes
• 2T tomato paste
• 3/4c black bean
• 3/4c corn
• 1c chopped bell pepper slices  (I used frozen)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• chili powder and cumin to taste (maybe 1/2t and 1/8t respectively)
• 2 cups water

In an non-stick sprayed pot, cook the chicken on medium heat, breaking it up into smaller chunks and crumbles. This should take about 5 - 6 minutes. Once chicken is fully cooked through, remove from pot along with any liquid that cooked off. Respray your pot and over medium heat, cook your carrots, onions, and garlic until onion turns translucent. Add in the beans, corn, bell pepper, tomato paste, diced tomatoes, spices, and water and stir. Adjust seasoning to suit your tastes. Bring mixture to a boil and then reduce heat to a summer. Let the chili simmer over low heat, covered, for 2 hours or so, stirring occasionally. If you like a thicker chili, remove lid and let simmer for an additional 30 minutes or so.

This recipe yields 5 1 cup servings with a great nutritional profile as well. Not to mention it's delicious!

While this was cooking I tackled accounting with an apple for brain food interspersed somewhere in there. It's amazing how I feel like I'm finally catching on to some of what I'm learning just as our final is right around the corner. Oh well... After smelling my chili for the better part of 3 hours I was ready to dig in for dinner!

I toasted up a bit of polenta to make "croutons" which I topped my chili with along with some hot sauce.

The rest of the night has been spent cleaning, homeworking, and preparing for the week.

Are you off for Columbus Day? When it comes to chili, recipe or no recipe? Beans or no beans?

Lots of Phone Time

I always appreciated the phone - growing up, it let me speak with my grandparents who lived in Pittsburgh, keep in touch with family and friends, and the super long twirly cord in our kitchen was pretty fun to play with :)

(source)

When my dad got his first cell phone that was pretty cool too. Even though it was the size of a brick it was a phone! That you could use in a car!

(source)

I guess it was around the time of college and I'd long since (~2 years) had a cell phone of my own and our house had cordless phones instead of a few with fun elastic cords to play with. I started hating my phone because it was constant access. I was president of my sorority and balancing 100 other things and the thing always seemed to ring and buzz when it needed a problem fixed. The one perk was that the phone was mobile, as was I, so that I could walk while I talked and distract my body so my mind could focus on the call.

A few things have changed - like the fact I love my Blackberry but overall I still kind of hate the phone sometimes. Unless I'm walking somewhere and moving my body that doesn't always love sitting still, it's hard for me to concentrate and I get easily distracted.

Why am I telling you all of this? Between yesterday, today, and early next week I am logging some serious hours on the phone (in my "spare time") to conduct phone interviews for a leadership program I run. Don't get me wrong - I love it and it's fun to get to speak with 20 undergrads from across the country. I just hate the idea of sitting someplace quiet (my apartment) for hours at a time being on the phone and trying not to get distracted. To keep myself sane I pace the length of my studio 100s of times and clean up when I can. My brain works best when my body is moving and therefore can't distract me.

Anyone else have a love / hate relationship with the phone and mobile technology?


Last night after work and then interviews I had a few errands to run. Somewhere along the way I got the craving for: barbecue beef, Asian food, and my couch. Of course I would crave barbecue Asian food - it's my inner Texan screaming hello, and I thought long and hard about my various options to remedy those cravings until one dish at a neighborhood restaurant popped into my head.

I ordered the Korean BBQ Skirt Steak lettuce wraps from Raku and headed home for a date with my couch, Invictus, and a delicious dinner.

I added a simple spinach salad on the side, drank maybe half of this glass of wine, and somewhere along the way snacked on a pear as well.

This morning after 10 wonderful hours of sleep, I had a craving for my first true Fall bowl of hot cereal. Into the mix went:

• 1/4c BRM GF hot cereal and buckwheat
• 1/3c Whole Foods unsweetened almond milk (I might love it more than Almond Breeze!)
• ~1/2c water
• 1/2T chia seeds
• cinnamon
• spoonful of MASHED SWEET POTATO
• pinch of frozen blueberries
• maple syrup
• 1/2T peanut butter
• a couple of crushed pecan halves

This was amazing and I expect many more breakfasts with a bit of mashed sweet potato mixed in.

Now I'm getting set for more phone interviewing along with some pacing, straightening up, and at-home activity while I do so!

What are you up to this weekend? Do you volunteer in any way?

Weekend Recap Thus Far

Hi friends! How has your weekend been? Mine has been going swimmingly for the most part and I'm just now getting a chance to check in.

Friday night I hosted 8 friends for a little dinner party to celebrate the fall. T'was lovely and more to come on that this week including recipes for everything that was served!

Yesterday morning I woke up feeling not quite on my A-game after a few glasses on wine the night before. There was no time to wallow though because I had things to do and people to see.

I had a lighter breakfast of half a large pear chopped up and topped with a bit of almond butter and a little egg sandwich on Udi's whole grain bread with a light schmear of Trader Joe's roasted red pepper spread.

I then made my way to Sweet Green for a blogger meet up. Emily just moved into the area and organized this gathering of 20+ bloggers and readers in the area. I enjoyed chatting with people and making new friends! I'm always amazed by the community that is built around blogging - what an unexpected yet amazing bonus!

I was all decked out in my Texas gear in honor of our biggest rivalry game of the year. Texas was playing the University of Oklahoma and I was hoping for a beat-down...

before that though I had a bit of shopping on the agenda. In need of some fall items I found great success at the Gap.

Then, it was game time. I met up with Lauren (Fred) for our traditional lunch and game watching at Champps. I got the BBQ Chicken salad with about 100 modifications to make it gluten free and made it through half before calling it quits. I also feasted on this plate of waffle fries (x5) - I finished breakfast around 11:30 and it was 4 - 4:30 by the time I ate this. I was hangry!

Sadly Texas did not play its best and we were not victorious. There's always next year once the freshmen get their acts together... I hope...

By the time I got home I was bummed about the game and tired so I called it a night. I never really got hungry for dinner but I did snack on some leftover roasted veggies and rice.

This morning I headed out to to the farmers market first thing for a couple of things. I was out of fruit so I restocked on apples and pears. Yes, I love my Envitote and no, I don't have any regrets about looking like a hot mess on my way to the market. It's Sunday morning people!

I had a simple bowl of hot cereal with blueberries and chia seeds mixed in, topped with 1/2T peanut butter, cinnamon, and crushed almond slices. My body wanted nothing fancy this morning.

Now I'm working on blog stuff, procrastin getting ready to tackle some homework, and dragging my butt to the gym if it kills me. I am craving activity and am fed up with exercise falling by the wayside!

Do you go through exercise slumps? How do you pull yourself out? What's your favorite sports rivalry?