Hangry Pants

In making my BSI submission recipe for this wake I realized that sweet potatoes might just be one of my favorite foods. They are versatile, delicious and nutritious. All star ingredient chosen by sweet Melissa.  

One way I like to enjoy sweet potatoes is mashed, with the skins on …

with bananas.

I know the white blobs look like butter, but they’re bananas and they melt in the warm mashed potatoes just like butter! All you do it clean, cut and cook the sweet potatoes in water. Then, when they are soft enough that you can easily put a fork through them, drain and mash. Add a banana, mash some more and enjoy.

I can’t entirely take credit for this idea. I starting adding bananas to mashed sweet potatoes after making Rachel Ray’s Sheperd’s Pie. 

Tonight, I used the sweet potato banana mash as the basis for a “pita pizza.” I made another batch of these wraps, but I made on particularly thick and spread the sweet potatoes right on the thick wrap/pizza. Then I added sauteed spinach and roasted eggplant and popped it in the oven heated at 350* for about 10 minutes. As I suspected, the bitterness from the veggies was the perfect compliment to the sweet potatoes. 

Really not very important considering the magnitude of the day, but because I had the day off and was able to consume actual meals, I took pictures of all my eats today. I have to say, I give those food bloggers who photo and log their daily meals and snacks a lot of credit. It’s quite taxing!

Breakfast + Running

I started the day with my usual mug of coffee with skim milk. Today I added stevia. I did a quick 5 mile run while watching the Today Show. Then I enjoyed a v. leisurely bowl of oats.  I never get to do this during the week anymore. MMMM.  I missed you oats. 

Oats w/ banana, wheat germ, flax and Teddie's Unsalted Creamy Peanut Butter.

I leave the PB on the oats like that. I like it to melt and then I dip my spoon in the melty peanut butter. 

Vote + Lunch + Snacks

I voted and went to Starbucks with fellow voters my mom, brother and his girlfriend (hi Megan!). They all got free voting drinks, but I wasn’t feeling it.  The place was empty and the workers were nice, so they gave them any drink free! My mom got a tall pumpkin spice latter, brother got a grande latte and Megan got a grande iced coffee. Interestingly, Starbucks had to give everyone who asked the free coffee or face a potential lawsuit re: gifts to voters! Anyway, free lattes - thumbs up democracy! 

For lunch I had some vegetable sushi and the most delicious iced tea! I need more of that tea. 

I also had a Macoun apple, which are my new favorite due to their crisp, sweet nature,  and some of my new favorite Pumpkin Spice tea. 

Dinner + Dessert 

Because my brother was visiting for the election (he is still registered here, but just moved to Mass.), my mom made one of his favorites: meatloaf. Back in the day, it was one of my favorites, too. This evening, I chose a Dr. Prager’s instead. 

I had more broccoli because it is important to eat veggies and more butternut squash because I liked it. I almost always have seconds (thirds!) of things. Do you? 

Let’s discuss white asparagus, or actually, asparagus in general. I roasted these tonight and Megan asked me if I peeled them. I’ve never heard of such a thing. She said the peeps on Food Network do it all the time, but I swear I’ve never seen it. Asparagus: peeled or not peeled? 

For dessert I had a nice fresh date and a spoonful of my new Cashew Butter, straight from the Whole Foods Grinder. Not surprisingly, this tastes just like cashews. A little salty, but good. Not something I can eat a lot of though, which is probably a good thing. :) 

This picture is odd in many ways.

Doggy Treats!

Oh yes, I baked my brother’s dog, Sugar Magnolia, Maggie for short, some of Gina’s Tail-Wagging Doggie Treats. She loves them. 

What a fun, fast weekend! I think I mentioned I was having some running troubles at the end of last week. Well, I didn’t run at all Friday, and Saturday morning my run was great! It reminded me of how important rest is, too.

Well, Mark was here this weekend. We had lots of fun, especially filming the ProBar Contest announcement video, but now Mark is back in New Jersey. So sad. I got a little excited to use Mark’s camera, which is much newer and nicer than my own, so here was our weekend in pictures. 

Saturday Morning Farmer’s Market

After I ran we went to the Casey Farm Farmer’s Market in North Kingstown. Here are the hightlights. 

Not excited it's November.

Do you like my ridiculous glasses? $5 at Wal-Mart.

Trader Joe’s

Next, we went to Rhode Island’s first Trader Joe’s.

Now I’ve lived by one before, so I know what Trader Joe’s is like and am familiar with their products, but mom was really excited about it. Unfortunately, it was crazy crowded and she didn’t really get to enjoy the experience. It was a cool store though! Lot’s of local R.I. flair on the walls. Sadly, we bought extremely rotten Root Vegetables chopped in a bag. They are great about returns and when my mom called to ask about it, they said she could get a full refund.

The lines were similar to those at Toys R Us at Christmas. We were in line in the “bar aisle” and when I spotted the famous Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar I knew we needed to try it.

Neither Mark nor I are in love with Larabars, but this flavor was okay. I’d rather eat a spoonful of PB though. 

Lunch!

When we got home I was going to eat my arm off, so I had Hummus on an Ezekiel, a Trader Joe’s Greek Yogurt (meh) and non-photographed Triscuits with more hummus and a banana. 

Mark had a Dr. Prager’s with Hummus and some Blue Horizon Organic Indian Style Spring Rolls. I had the inside of one and they were pretty good. 

Mark also ate no less than 5 Cliff bars this weekend. Unfortunately, I took no pictures. Too bad because he really had quite a flavor variety going on. 

Saturday Dinner

For dinner, my mom grilled steaks and I made brown rice, Brussels spouts, sweet potato crisps and salad with pears and gorgonzola.

I also baked another batch of the Veganomicon Chickpea Cutlet inspired burgers. This time I used black beans, pinto beans, corn, smoked paprika and chili powder in the recipe. Mark really liked this and calls them “Bean Cookies.” I gave him some to take back to New Jersey to help him with Back to Basics Month.  

Mine was the same, minus the steak.

Saturday night we went to Barnes & Noble and read magazines. I read this very interesting article about the Glycemic Index in Men’s Health. Everything I’ve been reading lately says the same thing: to be healthy it more whole foods! It makes perfect sense! I’ve been doing okay, but Halloween was tough and there are always lots of snacks at my house. Anyway, after that we watched SNL and Mark laughed and laughed and laughed! 

Today we went to Target and Mark was overwhelmed with excitement at the playmobil sale. Christmas was in full effect, music blasting and all. It’s no wonder the boy got was so giddy with delight. 

I believe he bought the bigger box and played with it while we had lunch at my house. Then he headed back to New Jersey and I guess I forgot pictures today.

Hope everyone had a super weekend. I am really looking forward to the day off on Tuesday. I am an election nerd, so I’ll be watching the Election coverage all day. 

Oh yes, Mark wanted to ask, but is playing shy: Who are the rock bands teenagers listen to these days? Not the Jonas Brothers or anyone else from the Disney Channel. He wants to know what current bands from now will be on classic rock stations years from now.

I realize it seems like I haven’t been doing such a great job at eating more food, less food like products (Laura’s Junk Food, Probars), but I rarely post breakfast or lunch, so you don’t see all my good efforts!

My favorite breakfast is oats with banana. I like to eat it slowly and fully enjoy the experience. Sadly, since starting student teaching, I haven’t had the time to eat my favorite breakfast during the week. So, here is something I’ve been trying for breakfast: banana, sliced almonds, walnuts and iced milk-coffee (honestly, mostly milk) with Sun Crystals. Yes, iced coffee even though it was 29* F this morning!

It’s quite filling and because I can’t really eat a lot of nuts at once, lasts for awhile. It’s also portable, which is good because I’ve been eating breakfast on the run!

Please note that I do not eat these nuts in my school. Nut allergies are such a big deal these days. I actually just read this article about rising allergy rates in the U.S. Did you know 11 million Americans have nut allergies? One theory blames increased amounts of food allergies on our improved hygeince. According to the “hygiene hypothesis,” our immune systems have turned to fighting things like egg or wheat because they do not have to battle parasites, vaccines and infections anymore. A study found that children who grow up on farms are less likely to have food allergies and asthma, which according to the article, could be because they are exposed to more dirt.

That’s really interesting and explains why they are more common, but I am not sure it explains why people often “grow out of them” and why they often run in families.

I’m overly interested in this topic because, as I’ve mentioned, my nephew is allergic to both nuts and seeds (he also has asthma - maybe he is too clean!) and it’s really hard for him to go places to eat. He’s old enough to ask about things, but you can never be sure. And he has to eat nasty soy nut butter! For me it means reading the back of every bag of chocolate chips to see if it was manufactured in a place with nuts!

Have you noticed an increase in food allergies from when you were kid? Any theories? Do you know what, if anything, schools where you live do to protect children with food allergies?

Well, thanks again (on Mark’s behalf) for your kind thoughts about his Grandma.

I left Queens last night to get back for school today. I don’t want to complain about my travels given the circumstances, but man am I worn out. I drove from R.I. to N.J. to Queens and back to R.I. in a little less more  24 hours! There were car accidents everywhere in Connecticut, so it took nearly 5 hours to get back home (usually takes 3.5 or 4). I had no time to rest, sleep or prepare for the week and I am definitely not ready for the week. I hate that feeling. 

The school where I’m student teaching is a little untraditional, so there is no set curriculum or lesson plans in place to rely on. Everything is done from scratch. Sometimes it’s a little difficult to come up with some wonderful lesson idea for every subject. I often get lesson plan writer’s block and it stinks. The teachers at the school are all brilliant and excellent and there is a little pressure associated with being observed everyday. I just remind myself that I enjoy it and that it’s nothing like the lawyer hell I lived in before. Then I try to move on, but just so everyone knows, teaching is not all about singing happy songs and recess. Alright, I’ll stop complaining now. No one likes a wining food blogger. 

I am in such a funk lately and I really don’t have anything interesting to share. Oh, we’re pushing the new blogging challenge back a week so Mark can have some time to go to the store to buy actual food.  

Here is my lunch and snacks for today. I’ve never had that bar, but I am such a fan of bananas that I can’t imagine I’ll be disappointed.

And a bag of too small clothes that depress me. I am giving them away per Jenn’s example. 

Hopefully once I get going today I’ll feel a little better, but right now I feel like going back in my bed and sleeping for about 12 hours.  I know I need some good, clean food (like an actual fruit or vegetable) and a run or something. It’s so interesting to me how a couple days of being inactive affects my mood. I need to come up with an exercise equivalent for the word “hangry” that means the gross, agitated, slumpy shoulderfeeling  one gets from not exercising for several days.

Well, hope everyone has a good Tuesday. I promise to be in a better mood soon.

Today is crazy. I thought I would quickly share the array of things I brought for lunch and afternoon snack today. I usually eat a couple things at lunch at 12:00 and then a couple more at 2:30-3:00 after the students leave.

The stuff all the way to the right is almond butter. I am not sure how I feel about the Kashi Hot Cereal. I think I like oatmeal better. This stuff is a little soft for me.

How is your Monday?