mid-week madness. kinda. not really

i'm still lacking fruits and vegetables in my diet.. but i think i made some good choices this week. we'll see (fyi.. i've lost 3 pounds since i started blogging again - did i tell you? hehehe)

breakfast:
deep chocolate vitatop (yummmmm)
coffee
lunch:
1/2 marinated tofu sandwich from cafe intermezzo
dinner:
salad from intermezzo (romaine, alfalfa sprouts, cucumbers, tomatoes, croutons & poppy seed dressing)
1/2 cowboy cookie (see below)
movie snack (we watched up in the air. SO GOOD!):
1 glass wine
1/3 bag popcorn

fyi.. i loooooooooooooooooove intermezzo. we happened to be in berkeley today for the first portion of clinicals, so i had to stop in. it's just a soup/salad spot.. but omg. their sandwiches are incredible, and the poppy seed dressing puts the salad over the top!!! if you're ever in berkeley, you have to check them out.

here's a picture of cowboy cookies i gave with a baby shower gift a while back... substituting light blue and green m&ms for the regular. she loved them so much she contacted me for the recipe later.. thank you bakerella!!

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fast forward to thursday. St. Patty's!

breakfast:

string cheese

nonfat dark chocolate mocha freddo from peet's (270 cals)

lunch:

'reduced guilt' primavera pizza from TJ's

15 m&ms

dinner: (see pics below)

beef & guinness stew

irish soda bread

1 can guinness

i went out today to look for a dress to wear to lisa's sister's wedding this weekend and found one that i LOVE, especially because i'll be able to rock it this summer with some gladiator sandals.. i'll have to post a picture of my 'adjustments' to dress it up for the wedding:

floral shirtdress from the i heart ronson collection at jcpenney.
apparently it's popular, because it's sold out online!
glad i found it in the store!

after i got home from shopping i got to work on dinner.. being that corned beef and cabbage is my all time favorite meal, you would think i would have made that for St. Patrick's day.. but I love this stew.. and it's much better for you and filling in smaller quantities. instead of potatoes like you would expect, it uses carrots, parsnips and turnip. kris couldn't tell the difference. plus.. i got to buy vegetables that the checker at the supermarket didn't know the codes for. fun! ^_^ 

here's my before and after pics:

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!!

ugh.. allergies.

every damn time the weather changes.. i swear. without fail my allergies haunt me. and, good for me, i have allergy-induced asthma.. so you can guess what else happens. to get through the day it takes a whole lot of zyrtec, claritin, benedryl, albuterol and one other steroid inhaler. ugh. i haaaaate it.

anywho.. today was LEFTOVERS day!!! how exciting!

breakfast:
coffee
multigrain cheerios w/ almond milk

lunch:
1 piece leftover cheese pizza from sunday

dinner:
leftover pork, potatoes and haricots verts from yesterday
carrot sticks
15 almond joy pieces (omg. these were amazing - glad they came from my friend.. or else i would have eaten the whole bag!)

snack (on the way home from my clinical rotation.. in the car. lol):
gala apple
2 peanut butter cookies
handful granola

now that i popped a benedryl i'm sure i'll be asleep any minute now.. after i finish my homework.. maybe. for your viewing pleasure.. pics from my phone of my weekend endeavors:

it's monday, and i can't stop eating.

soooo tired today. still getting used to daylight savings i guess. plus, it's a certain TOM.. so i was completely RAVENOUS all freakin' day!!!

breakfast:
coffee
to-go oatmeal bar
apple
tiramisu cake pop (thanks so my classmate who works at the 'bucks)

lunch:
chicken wrap (tortilla, chicken lunch-meat, ranch dressing from yesterday, crumbled blue cheese, lettuce & tomatoes)
carrot sticks
tomato-basil hummus

snack (this was throughout the duration of my afternoon when i couldn't stay out of the kitchen):
3 fresh mozzarella balls
pretzel crisps
2 peanut butter cookies
snack bag cheese-its

dinner:
bacon-wrapped pork loin
potatoes and haricots verts (TJ's frozen side)
1 glass wine

"our daily red" organic, sulfite free wine

here are the changes i made to the pork recipe: i used a 1.5 lb pork loin (maybe smaller.. i don't quite remember), 3 slices bacon, frozen pre-chopped onion, dried rosemary, omitted the raisins, and doubled the sauce. i seared it in my cast-iron skillet and threw it in the oven straight from the stove. it ended up taking about 45 minutes, and i basted it with the sauce every 10 minutes or so. hi, i'm a bacon-wrapped pork loin, and i'm amazing:

after you let it rest for about 10 minutes, slice it into medallions. serve with pan sauce drizzled over top. YUM!

daylight savings...

ugh.. losing an hour TOTALLY sucks.. i'm super tired right now. didn't do much today.. some homework, a lot of cleaning (my oven is SPARKLING!).. and visited my parents for a bit.

breakfast:
leftover sugar free mocha from yesterday

lunch:
deluxe turkey dog from wienerschnitzel (260 calories, 11g fat)
chocolate cake scraps from the little mermaid cake i made yesterday

dinner:
salad w/ homemade ranch dressing
homemade pizza
small box raisins

dessert:
1 peanut butter cookie
15 m&ms (yes, i counted)

i made the dressing because i have leftover buttermilk from my baking extravaganza yesterday.. i switched the sour cream to greek yogurt, omitted the chives, and used all dried herbs. really yummy! the pizza used trader joe's herbed pizza dough (my favorite of the 3), newman's own tomato pesto pasta sauce, sliced fresh mozzarella, shaved parmesan cheese & fresh basil. super yummy. if you haven't experimented with pizza dough yet, DO it! so cheap, easy and fun to create your own pizza!

and the weekend begins...

i'm running on very little sleep right now. because of my scatterbrainedness (i'm coining that word).. i forgot i was babysitting the boys today, and i have a cake/cupcakes to decorate...

breakfast:
coffee
fiber plus bar
apple

lunch:
cobb salad (using chopped up leftover chicken saltimbocca)
        mixed greens, carrots, cucumber, cherry tomatoes,
        blue cheese crumbles, french fried onions, tuscan italian dressing
peanut butter cookie

dinner (applebee's)
2 mozzarella sticks
chicken & shrimp entree
long island iced tea

applebee's has really great options for eating healthy.. but i was limited because kris wanted to do the "2 for $20" deal. it breaks down to a lot, but the entree had the best stats of my options.. mozzarella sticks: 235 cals, 11.5 g fat, entree: 760 cals, 45 g fat (i ate about 2/3 of it). eh.. next time i'll fight for my right to choose.
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fast forward to today (saturday).. and i wasn't much better... i spent my morning baking/decorating a cake and cupcakes for a little mermaid birthday party, so all i had in the AM was a sugar free mocha my mom brought me... until we went to our friend's daughter's birthday party at 3pm. note: my 'scoops' are on average 1/2 cup.. i'm pretty good at estimating (the baker in me i guess).

1 scoop pancit
2 pieces lumpia
1 grilled chicken leg
1 scoop rice
chicken & vegetable curry
2 chopped pork lettuce wraps
1 piece chocolate cake

the amusing part of my day was eating the cake, because the talented young woman kristine who made it is the one who gave me the chocolate cake recipe that i use for all my orders: http://bestmoistchocolatecakerecipe.com/. when i bake it, i don't really want any, but i HAD to try kristine's! it was amazing. i can see why people rave about it when i use it.. lol. and it's so friggin easy! the only chocolate cake recipe you'll ever need.

and that's all i ate today... my stomach is punishing me now. note to self: don't skip breakfast and then load up on greasy filipino food... but oh.. so good.

day off..

thursdays are my day off.. so they're usually spent not doing anything. considering i did some studying, finished 2 assignments AND ran errands makes me feel accomplished. so what if i woke up at 10:30 to start my day?

breakfast:
greek yogurt w/ raspberry preserves
pretzel crisps w/ hummus

snack:
16oz "skinny" mocha @ starbucks
tiramisu cake pop (it was FREE!)

missed lunch because i was studying at starbucks then running errands...

dinner:
mixed green salad w/ TJ's tuscan italian dressing
steaks with port reduction and blue cheese
confetti rice pilaf with flaxseed
sauteed mushrooms

late night:
glass port wine (well.. i had to use the leftovers somehow... ^_^)

can you say YUM?! because dinner was amaaaaazing. for the reduction on the steak, i used raspberry preserves instead of jellied cranberry and omitted the broth (i'm sorry, but who opens up a can of broth for a couple spoonfulls?) i wasn't sure how the rice pilaf would be.. it was my first time experimenting with flaxseed. but it was so good! the only thing i changed was that i used brown basmati rice. i will definitely be making it again!

now i'm off to find more things to make with flaxseed! exciting!

encouraging day...

i have to say, even during the tough times, i pretty much enjoy every moment of nursing school. it's something i'm truly passionate about, and the material is so interesting and applicable to patient care. i had a great moment with my clinical instructor today where he pulled me aside to tell me how much he believes i should pursue a master's degree as soon as i'm done with the program. i believe what he said was "i've seen A LOT of students in my time, and i can tell how bright you are. you ask insightful questions and definitely have what it takes to continue your education and be excellent in either administration or as a nurse practitioner". my head only grew about 3 sizes during our 10 minute conversation... the boost in self confidence i experienced really made the rest of my day great - i sang karaoke with the psych patients and got up the gut to have conversations with a couple of the severe psychotic and schizophrenic patients...

soooo, what did i eat? lol.

breakfast:
TJ's honey crunches & oats and almond breeze
coffee w/ creamer

snack:
trail mix bar

dinner:
annie chun's udon bowl w/ added tofu
carrot sticks
tomato basil hummus (my FAVORITE from TJ's)
4 pieces lumpia

late night snack:
pretzel crisps
tomato basil hummus
peanut butter cookie

notes on food for the day: if you haven't tried the tomato basil hummus from trader joe's yet - DO IT! i used to not like hummus, until i tried this one. it's amazing - SO good that i could lick the container. the pretzel crisps are a calorie bargain - 23 pretzels for 110 calories! seriously, lumpia - it was in the break room at the hospital.. i couldn't resist. but i DID resist everything else in there.. cake, pan de sal, empenadas, and potato salad.. YAY ME! lol.