Classic Dad Breakfast

Good Morning! Last night I set my alarm way later than usual knowing that I would probably wake up before it. The night before I was waking myself up, stressing that I had slept through my alarm which, as you may know, does not amount to much restful sleep. My self-tricking plan worked! I still woke up before 8 but it was natural and much less stressful. yessss!

Breakfast

This morning I made what I think of as a Dad Breakfast- savory, healthy, and ridiculously delicious (and always with a side of quality Java). Obviously I'm missing home and with the thought of spring break being so close yet so far away all I can do is close my eyes and pretend my daddy made this for me and that all my papers and auditions are behind me! Ahh, if only! However, I think I came pretty close with this breakfast. The only thing missing was the morning news!

The ingredients included

• Pam cooking spray
• sliced mushrooms
• red bell peppers
• 2 vegan breakfast sausages
• huge handful spinach
• cilantro pesto
• 1 slice whole wheat bread
• Tahini
• salt and pepper

I started by heating the pan on medium heat. When it was warm I sprayed with a little Pam and added the mushrooms, bell peppers, and breakfast sausages. When everything started to sizzle I gave a quick stir to make sure nothing burned.

After about 2:30 min. I flipped the sausages and added a huge handful of spinach right on top. Before the spinach began to wilt I also added what was probably about a teaspoon of cilantro pesto that I saved from the other night.

At this point I pressed down my slice of whole wheat bread that was patiently waiting in the toaster. One very important thing that I learned from my dad (that I am still working on mastering) is that good cooking is really all about timing. You can learn to cook risotto or lemon meringue pie but if your entree gets cold and there's no time left to fix the runny pie...that's just bad timing. Knowing how long everything is going to take and planning accordingly is easier said than done, let me tell you! My Dad sure makes it look easy :)

Once all the spinach wilted, and my toast popped out in perfect timing, I killed the heat.

I arranged everything nicely on my plate and spread tahini on my toast: voila!
Classic Dad Breakfast: Pesto Spinach Veggie Blend with vegan breakfast sausage, whole wheat toast with tahini spread, vanilla soy Java, and a Women's Once a Day vitamin.
Usually at home the coffee is hazelnut (which I looooove) and Dad is always coming up with fancy ways to cook up something for his crazy vegan daughter. I love my daddy :) My whole family are meat eaters except for me and being the chef in residence, my dad has never shied away from a "chef's challenge" as we call it. I guess you can begin to see where my love of food and cooking was born! My Dad and I had a conversation a while back about how amazing it is to be able to appreciate flavors and foods for their simplicity. Food doesn't have to be complicated to be amazing but the more creativity the better. A shared favorite of ours is a hefty scoop of chunky marmalade on some hearty toast. So simple yet soooo delicious! Baaaahh, I can't wait for spring break! Get ready for some good eats y'all! The Daddy Daughter Duo is a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen!

Ok enough fantasizing about food, back to reality and pending papers. At least my morning is off to a good start and I hope yours is too. (If it's not, try enjoying something for its simplicity and turn it around!)

Wow, I think my switch back to coffee this morning is making me way too optimistic lol!

See ya at lunch time!

Bipolar Weather = Allergies?

I keep forgetting to mention these new gummy snacks I mean Vitamins I'm taking. They are so good! Sweet fun gummy candy + vitamins = perfect for me!

You only get to take two everyday :( I would eat at least ten if it were up to me.
Sorry I couldn't get a very clear shot but I thought it may be of interest what exactly is in these suckers. I got them at Costco also.

Vegan Report! So these deli slices by smart deli are actually pretty good as far as faux meat goes. I packed strips from two slices for my pita today and I could really taste the roasted flavor. Quite nice indeed.

Here's to better planning! The idea here is to be slightly over packed in order to avoid another starvation incident like yesterday. On the menu from left to right we have a cup or two of left over creamy hearty veggie soup, a Fuji, all the fixings for a delicious pita sandwich: cherry tomatoes, slices of fake meat, sprouts, hummus avocado, roasted butternut squash, and mustard. Half a pita bread, a Naked Superfood juice, slices of mango, and for dessert a Clif Mojo Bar Dipped Chocolate Peanut flavor.
This little tangerine had been rolling around in my bag for some time now so I decided a little snack in Anthropology would be good. It was all dried out and not very tasty though so I only ate about three slices of it before deciding to toss it. Sad.
Instead I ate this raspberry fruit strip which was also living in my purse waiting for a moment just like this one.
Yesterday was such a rainy, gray day and today was totally gorgeous! The weather here is seriously bipolar. This is a shot of the music building a.k.a. my home away from home away from home. I was on my way towards work after anthro when I took this shot and met a man who was also taking photos. He had a much better camera than me and clearly knew more about photography. He showed me the shots he'd just been taking of a puddle next to the bike path and in the reflection you could see bikers riding by! It was pretty cool and he suggested that when I update I go with Sony. My little camera has just about given all it's got. It just about has a seizure when it focuses and all the buttons are kind of messed up.
I took a lunch break around 2 while at work and I sat and had lunch in Storke Plaza. You can see the sign in the upper left of the art museum on campus and that ledge in the foreground is actually a big pond with coy fish in it.

I think I mentioned this morning that I was having some allergies when I woke up. Well, they didn't get better even though I took a Zyrtek and I have been sneezing and sniffling all day. Finally around 1:30 I took Benadryl which I was avoiding because it makes me drousy. I needed it though I couldn't concentrate on anything.
This is a little bit of Storke Tower on the right. What a sky!
I have to admit, I built a pretty tasty looking pita!
Love this juice. It's such a treat now that I'm not much of a juice drinker anymore. I try to only drink juice I make myself.
I had just a few tastes of the soup and saved the rest for later, before choir. Turns out this soup is good cold too.
Mango mango.
Alright, dessert time. Actually I was really full but I was so curious as to what this thing looked like I thought I would just take a taste.

It was really good. Less chocolaty than I expected but still, works as dessert for me. I took about three bites and saved the rest. I'm thinking I'll finish it off after dinner as a little treat!

After lunch I went back into work and the Benadryl hit me like a ton of bricks. I was struggling just to keep my eyes open and I was cold... but at least I wasn't sneezing as much. I don't know what's going on with me right now but I can only hope it's just allergies. Two of my roomies are sick with flu-like-colds or something and I really hope this isn't the beginning of it for me. It sure feels like allergies (miserable) but who knows. I think that's one aspect of college life that just sucks. You're in such close contact with people on a daily basis who are, for the most part, less than considerate of spreading germs. I'm a germaphobe for good reason! After work I went back to the same bench area and actually fell asleep in the sun. That's something I never do! I have this weird thing about sleeping in public when I'm alone. I guess I was too tired to care this time.

After choir and making a bazillion copies at the library for a paper I'm consciously avoiding thinking about, I finally made it home and began creating the salad I had been imagining all during choir!
I've never tried this brand of salsa before. Drew's is generally pretty good but this was mostly a college budget inspired purchase.
Spinach, wild rice and pinto beans, roasted butternut squash, sprouts, creamed spinach, roasted brussel sprouts, hummus, salsa, salt and pepper. The salsa was pretty good! I'm into roasted salsas and this one could have stood to be a little roastier tasting but it was still chunky and tasty. I was totally feeling the butternut squash today in my pita so it needed to make a reappearance.

I really don't know what to do about these allergies. It's really miserable to have to go through the day always with the feeling like you're just about to sneeze. Even when I sneeze a bunch of times in a row it only feels better for a few seconds! Argh!! I think I'm going to use the Neti Pot tonight just to be sure I can't help clear out whatever is making my face explode. What's a Neti Pot you ask? Well it's descriptive name would be nasal douching but don't let that name put you off. My fellow soprano roomie bestie bootch soulmate Savannah is the one who introduced me to this magic lamp looking device. You mix a warm saline solution of non-iodized salt and water in the little pot, position the spout in one nostril and tilt your head slightly over a sink and like magic the water goes into your sinuses, clears out congestion, and comes out the other nostril. I'm sure that sounds really uncomfortable and bizarre but it's actually not. Check it out on youtube if you don't believe me! Savannah and I swear by it as the way to prevent from getting sick, or doing it whenever something just feels off. Apparently it's a really big thing with singers.

I'm going to go enjoy the rest of my Mojo Dipped Chocolate Peanut bar and attempt to do a little reading. Maybe going to bed early will help my allergies or at least prevent me from having to suffer through them any longer. Plus I'm going to try try try to get up early and get some work done on that paper I'm avoiding.

Gute Nacht!