Samurai Sushi

This morning I woke up with the most horrible hangover. The thing is, I didn't drink anything last night. I don't know what happened, but I had a horrible headache and my stomach hurt. I took a huge Ibuprofen and went in to work anyway.
Breakfast made me a little more cheerful. It was a big bowl of steel cut oats with half a mashed banana, topped with coconut shreds, walnuts, raisins, and twisted peanut butter chips. I almost topped it with granola, but held back.
Those chips are Nestle Peanut Butter chocolate chip twists. I figured they might be good in banana bread someday, but they ended up catching my eye when I scrounged for oatmeal toppings.
At 11:00 I had a mini Larabar. Do you see the size of this thing? About two finger joints. That's small, but tasty and just enough for a small snack. I surprised myself by really liking the apple pie flavor. The thing is, I don't usually like apple flavored food, but I love real apples. And Larabars have real, unsweetened apples in them.
I know a lot of people feel the same way. We don't like fruit flavored candy or drinks, but like the real deal.
I worked out at noon, even though I was feeling sick. I almost didn't, but then right when I was going to leave for Starbucks one of my coworkers mentioned the gym, and I started to feel guilty, so I picked up my bag and left. It turned out to be all for the best. I love the gym on Fridays - no one is there.
Lunch was a carbon copy of yesterday's meal. A pita bread sandwich with hummus, sprouts, mushrooms, and spinach. Pita with only hummus:
Now stuffed:With FSTG Olive chips.I took their web site's suggestion and dipped the chips in hummus. Pretty darn good!
And Veggies:This was quite filling.
After several hours I broke into my stash and got a Zbar.
I liked it! It was almost cookie-like, and was excellent with coffee.
Dinner:
Tonight I decided on sushi, so we went to Kamado's. We haven't had sushi in ages, and that might be my favorite meal ever. First, I should apologize for the picture quality. If we ever go out to eat again, I'll do better. I promise.
For an appetizer I got spicy soup. It's similar to a hot and sour soup. I loved the mushrooms, zucchini, and shrimp in it. The vinegary, seafood and tomato broth is so tasty. It was HOT!

We ordered a salmon and avocado roll, a vegetable roll, a Negihama (yellowtail and scallion) roll, 2 pieces of mackerel sashimi, and a special roll: The Samurai.

The samurai has crawfish, crab, spicy mayo, eel sauce, tobiko, tempura flakes, tuna, and about a jillion other things I can't remember. Frankly I was hoping their website would post a full menu, but I shouldn't have counted on that.

We didn't finish all of our food. Usually we order a ton of rolls and scarf them all!
I think my favorite might be the vegetable, although it wasn't on point tonight. I love the crunchy pickled vegetables.
Tomorrow's a big day- shopping, cleaning, baking, etc. Also, LSU vs. Florida so I need to be off of the roads. Tailgating started tonight. People are cuh-razy.
Links Of Interest
Lower Depression Risk Linked to Mediterranean Diet
10 Foods Most Likely to Make You Sick
Study Finds Calorie Postings Don't Change Habits

A Hot Mess

Last night I soaked some steel cut oats in anticipation of this morning's breakfast. I popped the container in the microwave and within a few minutes there was an exploding sound. Every single wall of the microwave was covered in oats. Luckily I had yogurt as a backup. Voskos full fat plain topped with Super Nutty granola from the bulk bin.
And a delightful pear.
I accidentally bought the full fat Voskos. My spoon could stand up straight in it! I only had half of the container, which still brought my breakfast to a whopping 20 grams of fat. Whew!
I snacked later on a mini Larabar.
Lunch was one I've been dreaming of. A veggie sandwich with sprouts, hummus, and mushrooms. Couldn't quite fit the spinach or avocado. There might be a repeat tomorrow.
On the side I had some Food Should Taste Good Olive chips.
Dinner was a simple pita pizza. I made mine with onions, black olives, red bell pepper, mushrooms, and anchovy. There was also a small ear of corn on the side. It didn't want it's picture taken.
Good Night!

A Complete Breakfast

Monday! I got a call from my boyfriend early this morning that I brought his keys to work with me! Ack! I hate it when things like that happen.
Breakfast was the Last of the Voskos with honey, PB Puffins, and a banana.
Once again I'm impressed by Greek yogurt. This container has 140 calories, 0 fat, and has 24g of protein. Plus the texture and flavor is out of this world!
I snacked on carrots, grape tomatoes, celery, plus a couple of red bell pepper with leftover hummus.
After working out at the gym, I came back to my desk starving. My coworker was talking to me while I was cramming my sandwich in my cheeks. It's a regular pita, with Boston lettuce, 2 oz of ham, and 1 oz of cheddar. I like Boston lettuce a lot, so I might have to try growing it. The grocery stores here usually carry pitiful looking heads.
This kept me full for quite a while.
Around 2:00 I had my customary afternoon coffee. I couldn't help but break out the Clif bar.
These things are the devil. Yum!
When I got home, I really wanted a sweet potato, but decided against it. Instead, I threw together a stirfry. It consists of carrots, celery, shelled edamame, garlic, ginger, secret bayou seasonings, and shrimp. Atop brown rice
Just mediocre. I should've gone with what I was craving instead of trying to make a dent in the freezer food.
For dessert I had a pear.
Protein:
This article links to a World's Healthiest foods article about Protein. I found it very informative, especially the foods high in protein that are plant based.
I need to go to bed!

Pulled Pork Sandwich

Breakfast this morning was homemade sweet potato bread and a cup of coffee.
At work I had a few snacks. There was a blood donation emergency at work, so I was more than happy to oblige. Some people are sick or queasy by the sight of needles or blood, but not me. Bring it on! Snacks were: a bunch of yogurt covered raisins. These are good. Laughing cow Gouda cheese and a sweet, sour, crisp delicious Granny Smith Apple!

Lunch was a kangaroo pocket pita stuffed with leftover pulled pork, cheddar, and baby spinach. I should've had some BBQ sauce. Oh, sweet Baby Ray, how I missed you! I have made pulled pork several times, but this time I used a recipe culled from aggie's blog. I originally got to the recipe from itzy's kitchen. It was fabulous, and the consensus at our household is, never make it the old way again. Pictures of my food taken in the AM:Cruel light of morning.
Bag o' spinach, pulled pork, 2 pita pockets, and a cool mint chocolate Clif bar.
The Clif bar was uneaten today, as I ended up not being able to work out. The nurse who took my blood said no strenuous activities for 12 hours!
I usually workout at lunch and then hurriedly eat my lunch at my desk. It's definitely become a habit to exercise, and I feel thrown off if it doesn't happen.

Sunrise and Pita

My view this morning driving to work was heavenly. Really my camera and photography skills can't do it justice.
I need to figure out a way to take pictures of my lunches and snacks. My work is very private so I feel wrong taking pictures of anything at my desk. I did sneak and take a picture of my snack cabinet, for sort of a time capsule of what I've been eating lately. Excuse the overly saturated light effect. I work in almost complete darkness.

Left to right: Nature's Path Pumpkin seed granola, Smokehouse almonds, pitted dates in a ziploc bag, Community Coffee medium roast (local brand), granny smith apple, two boxes of mint tea, creamer and sugar, small box of clif bars. In the back: croutons and dried apricots.





Dinner was a pita stuffed with black beans, swiss, and a thin slice of ham. Which I then crammed with spinach. Oh yeah!
I'm ready for bed!