Claire Fried Rice Experiment

Dinner

All through choir I was mentally drafting recipes for dinner. I ran out of lettuce at lunch time so I had to come up something else! I ended up using the sweet potato my mom gave me from home. I peeled it, sliced it, and mixed it with

• drizzle of olive oil
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder

Simple as that! Sweet potatoes have so much flavor on their own, all you have to do is cook them how you like them!

I set the oven at 350 and baked the pieces on this tray with tin foil for twenty minutes.
While the sweet potatoes cooked I made up a little recipe of my own! All I used was

• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1/4 cup chopped white onion
• 1/2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 cup brown rice
• 1 cup sugar snap peas

First I put the olive oil in a hot pan and tossed in the chopped onion.Next,I added the rice and fried it a little.
While the rice cooked I put the peas in the steamer!
I added the vegetable broth to the rice, covered the pan and set the timer for 20 minutes.
After about 6-8 minutes (I lost track!) the peas turned bright green! I removed them from the steam and set them aside.
The rice ended up needing another 10 or 15 minutes before it was totally cooked. I chopped up the steamed peas and added them to the rice.
It came out really well! The sweet potatoes came out nice and soft and the rice had a lot of flavor. Woohoo!
I used the rest of the hummus from lunch for a little dipping action and a drank a little almond milk with dinner.

Dessert

For dessert I had one mug of raisin bran crunch! One!

Now I'm relaxing in front of the TV watching some of my favorite shows... you know, addiction and crime documentaries lol.

I'm going to bed early tonight! See you in the AM!

Awesome Salad

Lunch

For lunch after class I came home and made an awesome salad! I used

• romaine lettuce
• white onion
• tomato
• grilled red bell pepper
• carrots
• sugar snap peas
• cilantro
• a little Tapatio hot sauce
• scoop hummus
• salt and pepper
• scoop guacamole on top with a cilantro garnish

This salad was so delicious!! I couldn't get through all the hummus but I did finish all the carrots.
I wanted to have something a little carbby so I used this fig and cocoa spread...
and some peanut butter on a piece of toast. It wasn't as satisfying as I was hoping...

Snack

Later I had a this chocolate brownie Z Bar. I love these, they are really chocolaty!
I'm going to try to get a little practicing in and maybe even a nap...we shall see!

Getting Back in Control!

Last night I ended up having a bowl of raisin bran crunch for 'dessert'. Looking back, I really didn't need to have another bowl of cereal. I woke up this morning feeling disappointed with my will power lately and I think it's time for me to get serious about portion control again. If I'm serious about getting fit I need to get serious about healthy portions.

Breakfast

For breakfast this morning I made a batch of my usual banana oats. I just wanted to remind everyone of this nifty extra step! Try cooking the bananas in the pot (raisins opt.) to bring out the extra sweetness in them. It works, trust me!
In the mix

• 1 large banana
• 1 handful raisins
• 1 cup water
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 tps. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. flaxseeds
• shake cinnamon
• scoop peanut butter

Accompanying my lovely oats today is a mug of chia tea with a splash of sugar free vanilla syrup and almond milk, and a Women's Once a Day.
My car appointment is at 9:30 this morning so I gotta get a move on it!

See ya!

Silvergreens for Dinner

Dinner

I was completely unprepared for dinner! I don't know why but I was hoping that there would be a break between opera rehearsal at three and work at six. I was wrong! I had work from 6-10 and I didn't pack any of the tasty food I could have brought with me. It actually ended up being a tasty mistake but I would rather not do that again.

While I was at work I called in an order to Silvergreens.

I got a half salad with

• baby spinach
• almonds
• broccoli
• carrots
• cucumbers
• tomato
• avocado
• and balsamic vinagrette

and a cup of tomato basil soup. This was suuuuch a tasty dinner!
Now I'm pooped! I have an appointment to bring my crazy car into the dealership at 9:30. Think I will wake up in time to shower in the morning? Yeah...it's a gamble. I think I can do it!

Now I'm off to find something a little sweet ;)

Night!

Lunch at Home is Always Good

Lunch

For lunch I made a tasty sandwich with

• yellow mustard
• romaine lettuce
• sprouts
• grilled red bell pepper
• tomato
• onion
• cilantro
• a little hummus
• salt and pepper

Sliced kiwi, carrots, sugar snap peas, and hummus on the side. And the rest of this diet iced tea for a drink.

A little while later I throughly enjoyed a bowl of my favorite cereal. I really need to get over this stuff!
Opera rehearsal at three, work at six, no rest for the wicked!

Hopefully I will get a chance to practice my italian pieces later today!

Adios!

Back in The Swing

Breakfast

Morning y'all! You know I'm really getting back into the swing of things when I start the day with my classic bowl of oats. In the mix:

• 1 large banana
• 1 handful raisins
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 cup water
• 1 tsp. chia seeds
• 1 tsp. flaxseeds
• 1 tsp. agave syrup
• 1 huge scoop peanut butter

And of course a Women's Once a Day on the side.

Today I have the first gathering of my Intro to Ethics section at 10. I'm sort of racing with the clock here but luckily I don't need to be prepared for the entire day when I leave. I get to come back between 12:15 and 3 woohoo! I'm going to be sure to bring my water bottle and some zicam...my throat was hurting when I woke up this morning :(

The weather is still lookin good! I'm not even gunna bring a jacket!

See you at Mittagsessen!

Taco Time With Aaron

Snack

A while into my reading I grabbed a kiwi to munch on.

Already getting back into the old routine, I had a chocolate chip Z Bar during the choir break.

Dinner

Aaron and I decided to go in together on dinner which is always a good thing. Plus we had some catching up to do! We began with a starter of chips and salsa!
This salsa was super tasty. Too bad Aaron took it with him!
We decided to make tacos so I went out on a limb and purchased a fake meat I have never tried before. It looked promising and was perfect for this particular occasion so I had high hopes.
Aaron was in charge of the 'meat'. He sauteed onions in a little olive oil and added the fake meat. Then he added kidney and pinto beans, and a little chili powder. It came out perfect! The meat had the flavor of beefy taco meat!
While Aaron cooked up the meat I was in charge of making the guacamole and slicing up the add ins for the tacos. To the guac I added:

• a little finely chopped red bell pepper
• finely chopped white onion
• finely chopped cilantro
• 1 and 1/2 super ripe avocados
• 1 finely diced tomato
• salt
• a tiny amount of cayenne

It came out delicious. The only thing I wished I could have added was fresh lime. That would've been perfect!
For the toppings we had:

• shredded lettuce
• homemade guacamole
• salsa
• sauteed red bell peppers
• Tapatio
• and cheese for the non vegan

Soooo tasty! I ended up having two of these babies and now I am reeeeally full!
This is Aaron's taco for proof that even non-vegans can enjoy fake taco meat. I would definitely by Soyrizo again. It was fantastic.
I am super tired! I cannot wait to lay down in my bed and sleeeeeep! Tomorrow is going to be a longer day on campus so I want to be rested. I keep catching myself wishing I could just go back to spring break but I know if I don't start this quarter with a fire under my butt I will have a heck of a time getting re-motivated. I'm going to to my best to stay on top of things...I even vacuumed the floor today!!?! Weird!

Good night blogworld. Sleep well and catch ya in the morning!

First Day of Spring Classes

Breakfast

This morning my brother and his crew came over for breakfast before they hit the road for home. I made the biggest batch of oats I've ever made!! In the mix

• 4 large bananas
• 2 1/2 cups oats
• 5 cups water
• cinnamon
• vanilla extract

Once the oats were finished I set up an assembly line of add-ins: raisins, brown sugar, almond milk, peanut butter, and raisin bran crunch.

To mine I added raisins, a little brown sugar, peanut butter, and almond milk.

This is Matt's bowl. We raced to take a picture of it! He definitely won.

Banana oats and Java. Breakfast Perfecta!

Lunch

The first day of classes have been pretty chill so far. My music analysis class only has twelve people as of today! My next class directly after that is a big lecture GE but it is super appealing to me: Intro to Ethics. I never realized that I would probably really enjoy philosophy but I am actually really excited to get into this class!

Lunch was some homemade bean soup that mom packed for me, some sugar snap peas, and some hummus.

A little later I enjoyed my favorite vice: blueberry pecan cereal bahhh!
I have choir tonight at five so I am going to try and utilize my time wisely until then. The weather channel said this morning that it may be rainy by Wednesday :( I think I will try to sit outside and do some reading for my ethics class.

See ya at dinner time!

Passover Dinner, Car Fiasco!

Breakfast

I made plans to go with Lexie and my Aunt Linda to their workout class Sunday morning so I woke up and grabbed a quick breakfast for the road. They live a little less than two hours from me.

There was some tropical trail mix out and I just felt like having a handful.

I peeled an intense looking orange and grabbed a Honey Graham Z Bar for the road.
And of course, coffee to go!
The workout class was great! It was a dance inspired cardio type workout and I am definitely sore! The plan was to zoom back to Santa Barbara, shower and change, grab my brother who was visiting SB with some buddies, and go back for Passover dinner. Go plan, right? Well it was until the break light in my car went off! I ended up sitting in my car in a gas station waiting for a tow truck for at least an hour. Luckily I have an awesome book on my iPod that I'm listening to and this VitaminWater which had been in my car for a while now.
By the time I finally got home I was starving! I wolfed down the other half of my burrito and a pretty unhealthy speed haha. But I made the turn around and Eric and I were on the road headed back for dinner in a flash.

Dinner

We missed the ceremony :( but still got to grub up on the tasty food!
Dessert and coffee!
One of my favorite traditions of having dinner and my family's house is that we always play solitaire. Now, this isn't just any kind of solitaire, this is intensely competitive, multiplayer speed solitaire! That's Lexie on my left!
And that's my brother Eric in the yellow shirt on the right.

I'm telling you this game gets vicious!


On the drive back I somehow had a grumble in my stomach. I didn't understand how this was possible but I knew my stomach wasn't taking no for an answer. I had some trail mix, but avoided all the M&M's.
We made it back safe and I went straight to be to be rested for the first day of classes...bleh.