Check out my progress on Shockingly Wholesome
The main event of this weekend was a mandatory “sisterhood retreat” in which we discuss the details of recruitment. As a senior, I’ve experienced the process multiple times, so my enthusiasm for the event was not exactly ChiO-tastic. Also, as the true foodie that I am, perhaps part of my negative ‘tude was due to the fact that I expected that the nibbles at the event would be the sorority girl staples: Oreos, Cheeze-Its, and Diet Coke. (See last year’s assortment). In preparation, I brought my own snack stash (which you’ll see below). However, when we arrived, I was pleasantly surprised to find a table full of healthful goodies: grapes (three kinds!), baby carrots, my favorite kind of store-bought hummus (Cedar’s Vegetable Hommus), and trail mix. Woohoo! Yeah, I made several trips to the snack table last night. All that sisterly bonding was made all the better thanks to being properly fueled. Have you ever had a similar experience, in which you expected the food to be horrendous but were pleasantly surprised by the healthful offerings?
Aside from all that yumminess last night, I managed to squeeze in a few other tasty meals this weekend:
Friday
So the Jungle Book sing-along totally sucked. My fellow audience members were a mix of totally drunk freshmen and obnoxious, attention-seeking frat guys, pretending to be drunk. The faux-drunkies spent the entire time suggesting sexual innuendo between Mowgli and Baloo. Ugh. Sometimes, I just can’t wait to graduate. Anyway, at least I had a delicious smoothie to cheer me up.
peach-strawberry smoothie with berry HempShake, soymilk, & Nature's Path Os
Saturday
I think it’s safe to assume that I have developed a coconut butter dependency. I would most definitely cry if I were ever to be deprived of its lusciousness. Although I designated it as a “July/August obsession,” I predict that it will be an obsession for years to come.
Van's vegan waffles with strawberries, bananas, & coconut butter; TJ's Whole Grain drink
dear coconut butter, you make my heart sing.
There have been some crazy-delicious grilled cheese concoctions circling around the blog world lately, so I broke down and made one for myself with a sliced string cheese stick and a bit of spinach. You can’t have grilled cheese without soup, so I made myself a big pot of leftover-veggie stew, including onions, zucchini, white beans, & a bit of leftover pasta sauce.
grilled cheese (mozzarella & spinach); white bean-veggie soup; cantaloupe & flax
a little stretchy cheese action
Before heading over to the sisterhood retreat, a few of my fellow health-minded sisters hit up Jason’s Deli for dinner. Although it’s no Whole Foods, the Jason’s salad bar is pretty dang impressive. There are plenty of organic vegetables, along with prepared salads, low-fat cottage cheese, assorted nuts, and–the best part–a delicious roasted red pepper hummus. As you know, I am a bit of a hummus snob these days, so it’s a may-juh deal for me to like a chain restaurant’s hummus. Also, they have these amazing whole grain pumpkin-seed crackers on the salad bar that I stock up on every time I visit. Well done, Jason’s. Check-plus from Broccoli Hut.(PS Here‘s another Jason’s trip I made awhile back…my selections were eerily similar).
Jason's Deli Salad Bar: organic spinach, cuke, yellow pepper, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper hummus, & olives; pumpkin-seed crackers
best crax in the world...you better believe I stuffed my purse with these bad boys
As I mentioned above, the snacks at the retreat were pretty stellar, so I didn’t need to dig too much into my stash. I ended up eating only the PB Z Bar (click for my review), the pistachios, and the apple. Not nearly as satisfying as my usual smoothie, but lugging along the blender might been a bit much, no? Believe me, I briefly considered it:)
I guess I was a little Clif-happy yesterday
Sunday
We woke up bright and early to return home for a few extra hours of sleep. By my second wake-up time, I was ready for breakfast. I finally used K‘s trick of adding PB2 to the mix. It made for especially peanut-ty flavor. I can only imagine what it would be like with chocolate chips…
Cream of Wheat cooked in banana, PB2, & TJ's Whole Grain milk topped with cinnamon & PB
For lunch, I picked up one of my favorite campus salads again from Alpine Bagel. I added the white beans for a little protein boost.
salad with walnuts, cranberries, & white beans (Alpine Bagel); apple
With half a bag of broccoli slaw on its last legs, I decided on stir-fry for dinner. I cooked it with a little ginger, soy sauce, and agave. Yum.
veggie stir-fry with edamame & cashews; whole grain couscous; orange
Alright, now I must go do some serious food-logging for my EvAnth project. Ciao for now!
Filed under: Meals
Caroline Yoder, dietitian-to-be and all-around foodie.
Wow, I don’t know what to say! I’m absolutely blown over by everything on this page. Everything looks sooo good and nutritious!
Just a question though, do you pre-planned your meals? And do you track your intake (ie how many serves of vegetables/fruits/carbs/proteins/fat you get)
Sorry to bother you with all these questions
Hope you have a awesome day!
Can you believe I never eat a grilled cheese with soup?? What a great idea to get more veggies haha!
We always have the crappiest eats at those things! Go Chi O! Okay I seriously need to stop by and get a lick of that coconut butter. Where do you get yours from? Online?
I like my broccoli slaw raw…correction, I LOVE it raw although your stir fry looks pretty delish. Cute chopsticks
Oh and bummer about the sing a long. I second the ‘can’t wait to graduate’ bit. Thanks for making me feel relatively normal haha.
Mmmm waffles + grilled cheese!?! This post makes my life complete!!
I just discovered your blog a few days ago but I love it! All your food looks delish, and it gives me tons of ideas. Yayyy! And I’m glad the sisterhood retreat was better than expected (and glad it’s done with?)
Anywayssss love the blog, keep it up!
that coconut butter on that waffles looks so sinfully deeelish!
i know what you mean by wanted to “graduated already”.. some poeple err…men.. can be very immature!! oy. even in college! it sucks!
what kind of flax to do use? do you freeze yours?
xoox
Mmm, those waffles!!! You sure do know how to make a plate look beautiful!
hmm delishious foodies presented here. thank god its dinner time soon
hope the weekend has given you some much deserved rest.
loads of care
neela
hooray for the good food at recruitment practice! We use to always have a bunch of crappy food too- pizza, cheesy bread sticks, etc. Loing that grilled cheese. I have a container of coconut butter I am still yet to try! I think today must be the day
I just LOVE your taste! And I think the coco-butter is a new item on my take-home-from-the-us-next-time-list!
xxx Julia (Taste of Living)
Usually i don’t expect much about food in those social gatherings because you know… people just like cookies and soda. I don’t bring snacks with me because I don’t want to see people’s eyes saying: why you make us feel guilty? I just skip those snacks! I wish I had a more healthy conscious people around me!
Yay for healthy eats!! At my friend’s lake house I was surprised to see hummus. I didn’t think any of my friends even knew what hummus was! Jason’s Deli is on my ‘must try’ list. I just have to find one!
Glad you liked the PB2 addition – it is glorious with chocolate/carob! There’s a high probability I’m eating a bowl of it as I type this
I loooove the Jason’s Deli salad bar! I was impressed by the hummus as well.
Hope you have a great week!
I feel like that happens to me a lot. I expect there to be crap being served and it ends up being not bad!
dear coconut butter,
you make my heart sing and I don’t even know what you taste like.
love always,
julie
ahh I remember “mandatory sisterhood” events from my sorority days! sounds like there were some good eats though. And I totally get it about being kinda over it senior year… recruitment is a exhausting!
Sorry in advance for all the questions.
First, what variety of Vans waffles do you buy? I used to buy one I thought was vegan, but then I realized it had egg whites.
Second, what’s TJs whole grain drink?
Finally, you didn’t tell us how you liked the final product of your pumpkin bread! As someone who usually only eats ww flour, could you taste a difference?
Sorry again for all the qs. Oh and could you answer here, as I’m not supposed to give out my email address. Thanks!
That all looks delicious. When I went to Georgia this summer, I wasn’t expecting there to be much around the house of the family I was with. After buying some staples at the store(they didn’t have any peanut butter :-O) I was surprised how much fresh fruit and brown rice they always kept on hand
Glad there was some healthy treats at your meeting! Usually I’ve experienced the opposite; I can’t think of a specific time when I’ve been pleasantly surprised.
Love the Clif bar stash! Today I have a guest post up by one of my fellow interns for pumpkin energy bars that really do taste like Clif bars!!
http://healthnut-em.blogspot.com/2009/09/that-guy-who-makes-energy-bars-dans.html
I was quite sad when I realized many people at college still acted like they did in high school
I’m having grilled “cheese” & tomato soup tonight! Can’t wait
Holy smokes, those waffles look amazing! I love waffles. Love em!
Also: edamame. I need to pick some up! Sushi restaurants that bring out big bowls of salted edamame make me one happy mama.
Hi Sarah, questions are always welcome! No need to apologize!
1) I buy Van’s waffles. They do have soy in them, but they are free of eggs and dairy.
2) TJ’s Whole Grain beverage is a milk alternative available at Trader Joe’s, made from a variety of whole grains. I buy the unsweetened kind.
3) I didn’t get to sample the pumpkin bread yet–it’s for a sorority event tomorrow, so I’ll be sure to update you on the final product once I get the chance to slice into it!
I totally know what you mean! I always bring a healthy selection to group gatherings…. That way I know I can at least eat MY stuff!
-A
This happens to me more frequently than expected (although it would be nice if it happened all the time
). Usually when my church has snacks, we have hummus, pita bread, and veggies, to my delight! Also, I’ve been having lunch at church due to Bible study, and we’ve been having Korean miso soup, veggie soup, and the like. Nothing too unhealthy:)
Coconut butter is definitely an obsession of mine too (ugh, but so expensive!). I love the drizzles on your waffles!
HAHAHA pretending to be drunk? that is hilarious because it’s sooo true!
soup looks really good by the way.
Coconut butter sounds amazing, definitely something I could get hooked on too!
I was a year older than everyone in university, so even as a freshman I was sort of like “ugh!” Now that I’m working full-time, I kinda miss it though. Funny how that works
[...] I hit up the salad bar. Unlike my hummus experience at Jason’s, this hummus was lame. Far too sour and not enough spice. I added the tahini once I got home and [...]
OH man my sorority had the WORST (read best) food out for recruitment, like TONS of it- and I had no willpower and ate bowls of goldfish and peanut m and m’s
haha NO willpower thank the lord i’m outta there!
Love Jason’s deli too!! I’ve only been in TX but you know I’m a big fan of anywhere that serves huge salads + soft serve