Three Squares: "Not So" Manic Monday

Today was a pretty even keel day, not typical for the stereotypical Monday. I'll take it though! I got to be the passenger on the way to school today, which gave me the chance to watch the scenery and leisurely eat my breakfast.

This morning was cottage cheese and strawberries. I know a lot of people hate cottage cheese, I hated it until I got married! Marc loves it, so I gave it another try. It's pretty good!

My breakfast continued into class with some cashews. The picture is blurry because how weird is it to take pictures of your food when you're listening to a lecture?

After a walk, Ashleigh and I had lunch together. I forgot my phone and she let me use hers. I have to say I'm a bit jealous of the photo quality and I'm thankful for her technology on hand to show you lunch!

Today was exceptionally good. Green peppers, eggs with smoked paprika and pepper, and a nod to a cypress salad- tomato with mozzarella and rosemary.

 

 

 

 

Dinner was made by me... even though it's a Marc dinner night. I am trying to eat a little better and I just didn't want him to feel like he had to really cook. Plus he was feeling really sick today. He's not sick often so I take him seriously when he says he feels badly.

 

I made mustard crusted tofu (marinade is mustard, apple cider vinegar and maple syrup.... so good!), cucumber and mashed pumpkin with parmesan.

 

Chunk of 70% chocolate for dessert! Mmmhmm!

 

Off to watch Doomsday Preppers with Marc, snuggle time!

 

Three Squares: Rollercoaster Weekend

Don't you just love the weekend? I try really hard to love each day, no matter what my tasks are, but having that freedom of schedule is so nice. However, too much freedom of schedule can mess with my ability to make good decisions. It's a balance isn't it?

My weekend was a rollercoaster- of emotion, of busy-ness, of everything. However, I can say I'm really proud of my food choices and am so happy to be consistent with Three Squares.

 

Saturday morning breakfast consisted of plan Greek yogurt and blueberries (probably the last fresh of the season for me), eggs with sharp cheddar and salsa, and my "always" black iced coffee.

 

 

 

I have a class every other Saturday morning, it's about detective fiction (fun!), so after school I was hungrypants. I decided to COOK! How funny to allow yourself time to get down and dirty in the kitchen? I made the best stuffed green peppers of my life! Hands down! My peppers had soy protein, eggplant, mushroom, fresh tomato, garlic, mozzarella and marinara. I want to make these everyday!

 

So since they were the best damn stuffed peppers ever, I ate one for dinner as well.

 

Breakfast this morning was more yogurt, berries and some spicy peanuts. Black iced coffee is of course here as well.

Are you surprised to see another pepper, haha?! I couldn't help myself. I also had some scrambled egg with spinach, cheddar and salsa.

Dinner was had while we were out and about. I desperately wanted a desk that we could multi-purpose into a small dining table. So we searched a bazillion stores for one, as well as visited with family. We got pretty hungry so we stopped to eat dinner at Jimmy Johns. Their veggie sammie is good, but I wish they had some hummus to throw on it.  I had some salt and vinegar chips and a quarter of a cookie. I wanted more cookie but Marc ate only a quarter of the cookie in solidarity, so I could easily watch him throw it out. It made me tear up a bit to see him in my corner that way.

Here's my new desk set up (where I'm writing this now). I love it!!!!! It's the little things in life right?

 

Never in my life did I think I would like a glass anything.... but this is nice because my place is so small it doesn't take up too much room, or visual space. It's also the most PERFECT HEIGHT for my chair. I just need an inch under my feet to reach the floor (constant Czesia problem)

This is a good shot of my desk with Marc's desk. We can be "office" buddies now.

 

Off to see it there is some homework I can get my hands into.

 

xoxo-

 

Czesia

Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee

I can't lie and say I'm not on the Pumpkin Spice bandwagon. I love pumpkin, I love spice, I love fall and everything that comes with it.

 

What don't I like? Chemically laden pumpkin coffees that won't do anything good for you, except give you a marginal caffeine buzz.

 

So without further ado, I give you true, unadulterated Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee

 

Here are the ingredients for this simple treat that gives you a half serving of vegetables in an incredibly easy way! Don't worry, the recipe is on the bottom of this post!

 

Pure pumpkin, almond milk, pumpkin pie spices, vanilla and maple syrup get whirled up with an immersion blender. It creates a creamy base for your iced coffee.

Add your cooled coffee and blend, blend, blend.

 

Add your ice, a straw and enjoy your sipping experience. Finally a drink to feel good about!

 

Pumpkin Spice Iced Coffee

Serves 2

 

1/4 cup pure pumpkin purée (not pumpkin pie filling)

1/4 cup almond milk

1/8th teaspoon each nutmeg & ginger

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon maple syrup*

1 & 1/2 cup cooled black coffee

Iced cubes

 

Add the pumpkin, almond milk, nutmeg, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla and maple syrup and blend it to a creamy consistency.

 

Add the coffee and blend until incorporated. Pour over ice for you and a friend.

 

* Marc said this wasn't enough for his sugar tooth, I like strong coffee but add more at your discretion if you like sweeter drinks.

 

Enjoy!

Three Squares: Life Is Good

Phew! Wednesdays are tough! Mid-week is a sure fire marathon, but we're in the down stretch!

I lost track of time this morning and ended up running out the door with my breakfast. Marc and I carpool to his job on Tuesdays and Wednesdays before I get on the freeway to school. So thankfully I could ride as the passenger while I enjoyed my breakfast. This morning it was a waffle sandwich with egg, cheddar and maple syrup. I'm out of waffles now darn! It's a delicious combo and keeps me full (especially if the waffles are wheat). This is like my "stoner" sandwich and will probably be on our restaurant menu, right Ashleigh? Haha!

I also had a banana that I saved for the ride home from school.

 

Lunch was in the hot, hot sun! A super veggie sandwich with hummus, lettuce, red pepper, tomato, cucumber, pickles and pepper jack (it was so good and so massive!). Red ants on a log which is cherries and dried blueberries with peanut butter and celery. Also on the list, strawberries and a protein bar which was really just chocolate candy lol... it was soooooo chocolate-y. This was one of my most favorite lunches in a while.

Tonight was Marc's last night to cook dinner this week. He made veggie burgers and potato wedges. Forgive the two pictures but I was so starving and complain-y about being hungry that Marc gave me the burger first as a pacifier, shut up pill, hunger pang reducer!

Wedges came later...oh so good. Marc makes great fries with Italian seasoning, smoked paprika and salt. I found a great "Heinz" alternative from Wild Oats, it's got a nice kick to it!

 

Can I just say I love this fellow? No matter what happens, I know he's got my back. This picture was taken while I was writing this blog. He's laying his head on my shoulder and I'm happy to report that 7 years later I still get butterflies. He does a lot for me, and I am so happy in love!

 

 

 Tomorrow I shadow a dietitian at the hospital, I'm lucky and get to do it twice this semester! Yay! Have a good night, we're off to walk the dog around the neighborhood. Life is good.

Three Squares: Obsession Over?

Hi faithful blog readers! I hope you had a lovely long weekend! I absolutely did, spending time with my In-Laws whom I'd rather just call my family, because they truly are. I had the most enjoyable day this labor day, so no pictures unfortunately to show meals.

On to Three Squares:

I've noticed since school started that because of my new routine, I've had less time to obsess over food. This is great news for me, and a great way to change up Three Squares to work for me while I'm at school. I've decided that I'm still going to portion out food to fit a plate size three times a day, but foods for breakfast and lunch will be eaten throughout the day so I am not ravenous before/ after lunch. Dinner will still be eaten on one plate so as not to allow obsession while at home where the cupboards are readily available. No after dinner binges!

Breakfast, was so yummy! I wanted all kinds of different things. A wheat waffle with egg and cheese and maple syrup, red pepper, oranges, and party mix.

Look at Bean eyeing up my pepper! This wasn't from this morning but man she's so cute!

 

Lunch was a working lunch, working on a project for school. Marc made this for me last night aww! I had watermelon, peppers and a PB&J. I ate about half the watermelon because it was kinda mealy. It's definitely not the best I've ever had, but I loved that Marc made me this lunch!

 

Dinner was also a Marc creation which is so helpful! He made a cheesy casserole type dish with soy protein, spinach and peas. It was good! Even if it wasn't yummy I would have loved it because how could you not when you're not the one who has to cook? His help is like gold to me on busy days.

 

While he cooked/did dishes I got some homework done! Win-win!

 

Off to the Laundromat! xoxo

Three Squares: Wonky Weekend

Weekends are sacred to me, don't you feel like you want to protect them in a way? So I've decided that the Three Squares posts will still include weekends but I'm going to combine both Saturday and Sundays.

 

Breakfasts

Saturday morning was an early one. I was out getting supplies for the food demo yesterday and decided to buy some breakfast at the store. I had one of the blueberry muffins, iced coffee and a banana.

 

Breakfast was slim pickins! I made a kefir style yogurt with Greek yogurt and split it in two glasses for Marc and I. On top is some oats with flax, coconut, dried plum, and peanut butter. This was a killer parfait!

 

No, I didn't like it at all.... ha!

 

 

Lunches

 

I had some gorgeous heirloom tomato from the market yesterday, so tomato sandwiches sounded mighty good! I loaded wheat toast with plain yogurt, tomato, parmesan and green onion. Pretzels  and the cutest little squash on the side. Doesn't this look like a smiley face?

 

 

 

Today I had a vegan BBQ sandwich and fries and a local IPA beer at a great place called Honey Pie. I forgot to snap a pic and gave Marc my leftovers! My lovely teacher was in town from Florida and I enjoyed spending time with her and her husband, catching up. I can't wait to go back it's such a great place!

 

Source

 

 

Dinner

Stuffed zucchini on Saturday night! Veggie protein crumbles, tomato, and green onion with parmesan and provolone on top. YUM! Marc and I both agreed the zucchini was so great and the yellow squash wasn't as good. Weird, right?

 

 

Breakfast for dinner tonight! I made a fruit salad for a family event tomorrow with watermelon and berries. I also had a wheat waffle with earth balance and maple syrup, and an egg.

 

 

Here's a picture of the fruit salad, aren't the stars so cute?

 

 

Hope you all had a lovely weekend! Enjoy labor day with your family and friends!

Food Demo at Tosa Farmer's Market

Today marked another food demo at the Tosa farmer's market. I am so proud of Ashleigh and I! Our recipe was cucumber zucchini gazpacho, and it was a hit! We wanted to highlight nutrition facts of the soup as well as talk up our blogs, and passion for all things food. Hello new readers! Lovely to meet you all today!

Let's go through the behind the scenes of the day shall we? We arrived at the market around 7:30 in the morning. The sun was starting to blaze, but that's what we wanted! We were getting our tent set up and getting organized. Here's Ashleigh taking a picture for her blog Funky Beets. Check out her blog to get the recipe of the soup!

Loved the lanterns, nice and bright. I can't wait to get more, my whole living room will soon be covered in them ha!

 

Loved the sign, Ashleigh made this the first time we did a demo for radish salad and kale hummus. Still looks good 2 months later!

 

 

After getting situated at the table, we went inside and started to make the first batch of gazpacho. Look at the chef!

 

What a gorgeous bounty! All of our produce is donated by Kettle Rock farms. What a lovely group of people, we are proud to know them.

 

 

The produce was stunning, here I've begun chopping some yellow squash and green onion.

Isn't this purple pepper the coolest? What a rainbow!

Getting a handful o' stuff to bring back to our table. I have to say there is nothing I would really rather do then spend a Saturday morning spreading food love, cooking with my best friend and being surrounded by other food passionate people.

Getting all set up to start the demo!

 

 What a crowd! Later we heard that it was one of the busiest days at the market which was great for everyone. We went through 100 recipe cards, almost all ingredients, and oodles of business cards.

 

Thanks to photographer Ashleigh, here is the finished product awaiting to be enjoyed by market patrons. We love the farmers market!