Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
This morning marked the return of the oats! I will be honest and say that I never really particularly enjoyed oats. We never had oatmeal growing up so when I first tasted it sometime around 15, the gooey, mushy texture just did not appeal to me. To this day I don’t love oats but I’m trying to like them because they make such a great breakfast.
If you’ve never had overnight oats, you’re in for a treat! You just mix 1/3 cups oats with 3/4-1 cup milk (any kind – I’ve used cow, soy, and almond) and add any mix ins you want! A lot of people add chia seeds or protein powder but I’ve just been adding 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder. Mix your dry ingredients, add your wet, whisk until combined, and let sit overnight! Then the next morning, top with your favorite toppings and enjoy! It really is as simple as that. The best part is, there is no cooking. I am always running late in the mornings so I love having breakfast already ready.
This morning’s chocolate overnight oats were topped with half a banana, vanilla Chobani, and peanut butter. Now this is a breakfast I can enjoy!
Also, I finally bought a new blender! With all of this warm weather I have been craving smoothies like no other. I think I’ll make my first green monster of 2011 today, to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day!
May your blessings outnumber the shamrocks that grow, and may trouble avoid you wherever you go.
-Irish Blessing
C25K love
A little over a year ago, I found out about this amazing program called C25K. It was just after I had started reading healthy living blogs and I was inspired to start running. I had never considered myself fat or particularly out of shape, but I definitely didn’t have the aerobic strength or muscle tone I wanted, and I lived a pretty unhealthy life. Lots of junk food, lots of drinking, and subsequently lots of late-night eating made me feel tired, sluggish, and overall unhappy.
So, I started it. I figured if the ordinary women from the blogs I read could train for and run marathons, there was no way I couldn’t at least run a 5K every now and then. As it turns out, a 5K is a lot harder than it seems. 3.1 miles is 30-40 minutes of running if you’re a slower runner like I am, and coming from someone who has never run before, I didn’t think I could ever make it to that. On top of that, I found myself in the midst of preparing for finals, the MCAT, and my study abroad trip. So, I stopped and sort of forgot about running. When I returned, I realized that I had overindulged a little in France so I started C25K again, from the beginning. Again, I made it through Week 3 but found myself making excuses – I have too much studying, it’s too cold out, blah blah blah. Ultimately, I ended up not finishing. Again.
Well, about a week ago, my good friend Sarah finished C25K! She heard about it from me (I think) one of the first two times I started it and has now completed it, WAY before me. I am a little embarassed that I quit twice before finishing but I am so proud and inspired by her! SO, today I started it again. This time, I am determined to finish. I have big dreams of running a race with Sarah someday which means I need to catch up! She lives in Houston but we can work something out 🙂
My workout today consisted of 30 minutes on the treadmill (W3D1 of C25K), and some weight training! I’ve never done it before and I want to work on improving my overall strength so I braved the weight room at my university gym. I did 4 machines – working on my triceps, back, calves, and hamstrings. It felt so good to get back in the gym!
Tonight’s plans include grocery shopping (I’m learning how to coupon from Kelly) and some catching up on homework and housework so that I can enjoy St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow!
Do you have any fun St. Patrick’s Day plans?
sushi obsession.
I have a new love and it’s definitely sushi. Sorry, Andrew!
I used to abhor it and in a way, I still do. Even though my love for all Asian food runs deep, something about raw fish has never sat right with me. I can stomach a bite or two of a Philly roll but then will usually pass for something else. For some reason though, my friends and I always ended up going out for sushi so I decided I was bound and determined to like it. My favorite roll was, and embarrassingly still is, a California roll. As a “vegetarian,” my sushi options are pretty limited so I will make an exception for the crab-deliciousness that is a Cali roll. (Side note: another weird thing? I don’t like avocados! What kind of health food nut am I?)
So anyway, because I *try* to be a vegetarian, I try to limit my intake of any meat, including seafood. As a result, I have recently been exploring my vegetarian options because honestly, who can live without sushi?
Enter Sushi Neko – in my opinion, the best sushi place in OKC… possibly Oklahoma. They have 4-5 vegetarian options which is great for variety since I only eat two rolls at a time anyway. My recent obsession? Their Triple Delight. It has tempura (deep-fried) asparagus, sweet potato, and avocado (which I usually request they leave out), and an amazing, currently unidentified sauce. It’s to die for!
So naturally when I was craving sushi today, I dragged my begrudging boyfriend all the way to OKC for my Triple Delight fix. Here is what ensued.
Vegetable Dumplings
Check out that beautiful tempura asparagus. My mouth is watering all over again.
Aaand that’s my Saturday, folks! Time to study for my two midterms next week and then prepare to ENJOY Spring Break! It’ll be my last one as a college student… or, EVER, and I plan to spend it well.
new header!
Check it out, guys! I finally got around to designing a header. It’s pretty simple but I like it. I’d love to eventually upgrade to my own domain and have someone design a theme for me, but I’m going to try posting consistently first. Baby steps…
Last night I had the pleasure of celebrating one of my oldest and dearest friend’s 23rd birthday! Devin and I have been friends since the 7th grade. Right before our sophomore year of high school, her family moved about 45 minutes away and she transferred to a different school. Then she did the unspeakable and went to other big university in Oklahoma… OSU. That’s okay though, because she’s still a SOONER at heart! She wanted to have a dinner celebration at her parent’s home with her closest friends so I begrudgingly (kidding!)Â made the one hour trek from Norman to Edmond.
I forgot to mention to her parents that I try to eat mostly vegetarian meals ahead of time so when I showed up, her dad was in the backyard grilling up some delicious smelling steaks. Who am I to be impolite and refuse such a great looking meal? I embarrassingly ate a steak the size of my head (I am NOT kidding), half a baked potato, and then a nice sized slice of ice cream cake. Portion control flew completely out the window but I enjoyed every last bit. Like always, I believe in balance and there’s nothing wrong with enjoying yourself every now and then… even if it means eating a steak the size of your head.
I also didn’t snap any food pictures because were too busy chatting and catching up that it completely blew my mind. Plus, I didn’t want to seem weird… I’m still getting used to the whole food blogging thing. It’s not like my Canon DSLR is discrete.
How do you guys deal with the weird looks/questions when you pull out your camera at dinner?
thunder up
I think starting school for a week, then having 6 snow days (4 consecutive, 2 not) has really thrown my schedule off it’s balance. Typically I go from having no set schedule for a month (winter break) or 3 months (summer), to having a pretty set schedule during the semester. I normally transition well between these two scenarios but not when it’s so on and off. My body got used to being busy and then it got thrown all out of whack again. Needless to say, I haven’t really been in the best of moods or all that productive lately.
A couple of nights ago, the opportunity to go to the OKC Thunder game came up and I jumped at the chance to have a relaxing night off. I met up with my friend Lindsey to do some thrifting beforehand and then we met up with Andrew afterward to head towards the game.
Of course no game (of any sort) is complete without nice cold glass of brew.
After the game, we went to grab sushi at one of my favorite places, Sushi Neko (pictures and reviews next time I’m there), and then headed home around 11 to get to bed. It was a Tuesday night after all! I am thankful to have great friends and a wonderful boyfriend who are always there for me when I need to de-stress and relax.
guilty pleasures
AHHHH IT’S BACHELOR NIGHT.
I spent all week studying for exams and all weekend catching up on homework/housework so tonight I am going to relax and enjoy a night in front of my TV. I am a sucker for TV. Don’t even ask how many shows I currently have recording on the DVR because I would probably lie to you I’m so embarrassed. Let’s just say it’s very much in the double digits.
The Bachelor is one of those guilty pleasure shows. Most of my shows I am not afraid to admit I watch. In fact, I am even proud of them. Some of them I hesitate to mention. A few of them I outright lie about. The Bachelor belongs somewhere in the middle of that list. A lot of people laugh at me for watching it but just as many people get sucked into the totally scripted drama every Monday night.
So, after an awful week, weekend, and the day from hell… I am ready for some couch cuddling time with these guys.
What are your favorite shows?
expect the unexpected
A couple of weeks ago I purchased a Groupon-type coupon for a place in OKC called Pachinko Parlor. Andrew and I have been so busy lately that we didn’t really get a chance to celebrate Valentine’s Day so we decided tonight would be a great time to do that!
We opted to sit out on the patio because it’s been in the upper 60’s all week. It’s almost criminal to not be outside when it’s so beautiful. Here’s my goofy boyfriend. 🙂
Pachinko Parlor is a sushi place but it’s not your typical sushi place. They have some of the usual rolls but their niche is creative and unique rolls. We got 4 rolls – Philly Cheesesteak, Curried Chicken, Crab Rangoon, and Sara’s Garlic Chicken. 2 rolls each ended up being WAY TOO MUCH. I can usually scarf down two rolls no problem, but these rolls are huge and really filling. We ended up eating less than half of the rolls so we took them home for lunch tomorrow.
The crab rangoon roll was completely deep fried – pretty good but a little too much for me. I only had two pieces.
After dinner we popped in next door for dessert. Sara Sara Cupcakes is pretty well known and I’ve been dying to try it. We split a delicious red velvet (cleverly named Crimson and Cream – go Sooners!) cupcake.
I think it’s been a pretty great Saturday!
it’s a wrap
My tests are finally over! Hooray! Tonight, I’m celebrating by going out with some old friends.
First though, eats! I didn’t eat breakfast this morning, and lunch was a boring veggie burger I forgot to photograph … whoops.
I have been eating pretty crappily lately so my body was craving veggies hardcore. I was inspired by Emily at Daily Garnish to make brussels sprouts for dinner. Brussels are my favorite vegetable and I eat them all the time. However, I usually only prepare them the same old way – blanched and then oven roasted in olive oil and salt. Totally delicious but sometimes a little repetitive. So, I decided to try Emily’s recipe and couldn’t be happier. Her way is pretty similar to mine but the addition of liquid aminos (I used soy sauce) and whole roasting them gave them a slightly different flavor and cut back pretty significantly on prep time. If you’ve never had Brussels or remember them as steamed, tasteless, soggy vegetables, think again! Give this recipe a try and I promise you’ll love them.
I cut and washed some Brussels sprouts and broccoli,
drizzled some olive oil and soy sauce on top, and let them roast at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.
Then, I made some of this –
I typically make my own mushroom rice but I was in a hurry so I grabbed this on my way home. It was surprisingly pretty good!
I put all of this and some leftover corn on whole wheat flatbread and sprinkled some mozzarella and parmesan on top. Sorry about the weird lighting… my apartment doesn’t have a lot of natural light.
It was simple, quick, and pretty healthy! Not to mention delicious. 🙂
By the way – check out my adorable salt and pepper shakers. I bought them at the Coca Cola store when we went to Las Vegas for my birthday! Notice the empty pepper one – I haven’t bought pepper yet so we are using this pepper grinder I may or may not have stolen from a certain restaurant.
I slept in this morning until 11 because I was up pretty late studying. I was enjoying a pleasant dream about something I cannot remember when I was rudely awoken by the sound of someone banging on the door. You see, earlier this week, our hot water heater tank broke and leaked water all over our guest room closet. The main problem had been fixed but now they were back to clean up the soaked carpet. I scrambled out of bed and to the door – looking fabulous, I’m sure.
After they left, I decided I should probably start my day. So I made a quick breakfast – over easy eggs and vegetarian sausage patties. I’m not usually a HUGE fan of faux meat products but I’m loving the Morningstar sausage. Their veggie burgers are really great also and a good substitute for when I start to crave meat. Because yes, even after 4 and a half months, I still crave it.
Now, I am getting in some last minute studying before my test. T-minus 2 hours! Wish me luck!
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My Little Part in Something Big 