Told ya!

Told you I would be back! That’s right…I’m back to blogging and very excited about it! I have finally found the direction I want to go in and feel comfortable with my new bloggie. You can find me at www.hungryyogini.wordpress.com. Come visit!

Reader Not a Writer

Hello all-

 

Well, after a very short stint in the blogosphere as an actual blogger, I feel as though I am meant to be a reader, not a writer, at least at this point in my life. I have REALLY loved all of your comments and have enjoyed getting to know some of you and will continue to comment and email. I feel like I know you already! I just feel at this point, I have too many commitments and don’t want to disappoint myself by not giving this blog what it deserves. I feel that I will continue in the future with blogging but have to put it on hold for now. Thank you again for all of your sweet comments.

 

Don’t worry, you haven’t seen the last of me! Have a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

 

Until next time,

Courtney

Go With The Flow

Wonderful class this morning. It was a new class that the studio is offering called Yoga Grooves. It reminded me a lot of Shiva Rea’s style in that there is a lot of fluidity in the movement, almost like a dance. The actual poses were like those in a regular flow class but the twist was that the music was the star and was used to inspire movement. There were many times when we were able to flow freely doing whatever our bodies told us to do and to “go with the flow” of the music. She encourgaed us to get lost in the music and see what your body wants to do with it. I loved it. Flow always feels so graceful to me and takes me back to my days as a gymnast. I was a gymnast for 9 years and kept up with tumbling and cheerleading for 6 years after that..I was quite the little tumbler!

 

I could talk about that all day…but I won’t. I woke up a little later than I wanted so I made breakfast lighter than the normal oats. I had the remaining fage from yesterday with raspberries and honey and an Ezekiel English Muffin with ooey gooey Barney Butter and Pumpkin Butter:

Those are my favorite Christmas plates. We have had them for years. I have been known to use them at all times of the year

 

Post yoga I had an apple and some chocolate soy milk:

 

My mom and I are off to Whole Foods for lunch and shopping. Hope you all have a great Friday. See ya later!

Purple People Eater

Well, I didn’t make it to yoga today. I missed it by about 15 minutes because I had to pick up Raleigh from the groomer. No biggie…I did about 35ish minutes of yoga when I got back.

Have I told you that Raleigh loves yoga too?

It’s why we were meant to be together The second the mat comes out she runs to it and just sits or lays there. When I practice, she lays at the end, sometimes getting in the way. It makes me laugh though. Whenever I am in down dog she likes to walk in between my arms and legs or under me as though I am a little bridge she is crawling under. She will just circle and circle. We always say that is how she gives hugs.

 

This afternoon Mom and I went to Sam’s Club to buy some organic lettuce and baby spinach. We go through it so quickly and Sam’s is close that it makes sense to buy it there. Welllllll, I found these guys there and couldn’t resist. They are my favorite!

I have been pretty impressed lately with the selection of organic and natural products at Sam’s and Costco (where we will be going Sunday since it is a bit further of a drive). Sometimes it isn’t always the “healthiest” organic stuff like weird cracker or cookie things,  but atleast they are headed in the right direction with it.

Post-Sam’s Club and pre-Raleigh pick-up, my dad and I split a smoothie. This is about half of what we made:

The first thing that came to my mind was “purple people eater.” That’s all I could think while drinking this deliciousness. This mix was 1 cup of vanilla soy milk (had a LITTLE too much soy today for my liking) some of dad’s whey protein powder (going to get the hemp protein powder tomorrow at Whole Foods. Living Harvest brand, right VeggieGirl!?), half a banana and about a cup of  frozen cherries and 1/2 cup frozen blueberries. OH MY GOSH it was so good! I had never tried cherries in a smoothie and I really liked it.

Dinner was an “Eggurrito,” as I like to call it. Mexican food is my favorite and this was a breakfast inspired tribute. I sauteed red onion and yellow bell pepper then added minced garlic, cumin (which I later dropped and shattered all over the floor…yikes), 1/4c of black beans and a large handful of spinach. Topped with an over-medium egg and salsa. Delicious!

And a jazz apple. I like this kind but doesn’t compare to a honeycrisp or pink lady.

 

Well, I am officially exhausted. The effects of a stressful semester are finally settling in and I am so happy to be home relaxing and re-energizing. Just got good news though….I got straight A’s! I am very proud that all of that hard work paid off!

Tomorrow morning I will DEFINITELY be going to yoga. There is a 90 minute power flow class at 9:00am. I can’t wait! I will let you know how it goes.

 

Have a great night…tomorrow is Friday!!

Hot Lunch

I couldn’t wait to get in the kitchen today. It had been WAY too long! Okay really only 2.5 weeks but it felt like an eternity!
We had some tempeh in the fridge that was waiting to be cooked. I whipped out my Veganomicon cookbook that I got recently and based my meal off of the Smoky Grilled Tempeh. I used most of what they called for but tweaked it a tiny bit with different spices and such.

 

I was very pleased! I have actually never had tempeh before and I really enjoyed it. The leftovers would be great in a sandwich. I also roasted some brussel sprouts (something else I had never tried) and sweet potato. Obviously, I was craving a hot meal!

 

On the side I had some fresh raspberries and fage with some granola:

 

 

Oh..and this little surprise was waiting for me on my bed when I got home:

My mom was trying to help them get their product into Publix and she sent us some samples and a t-shirt! Hopefully it will be coming to a store near you soon! I LOVE it!

 

Well, I’m off to run some errands with mama. Then I am going to flow yoga tonight with one of my favorite teachers! YAY!

Home Sweet Home

FINALLY! I’m home! In the last few hours at school, I wasn’t sure I was going to make it. I got in around 9:30 last night and felt a huge wave of relief.

 

I fired up the BIG crockpot last night to ensure I would have a nice comforting breakfast in the morning. I had apple-cinnamon oats with Barney Butter and craisins.

 

YUMM.

Raleigh greeted me last night as she usually does by jumping all over the place. It’s a joyous reunion…sometimes she whimpers as if she is crying with joy. Or at least I like to think that. Makes me feel like a good “mom.” 

 

My Mom and I are off to take her to the groomer. Her hair is so long you can barely see her face!

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thursday!

Veggie Blue Burger

For lunch today I decided to recreate my dad’s Kobe Blue Burger last night. I had just one plain english muffin and just one Amy’s California burger left and KNEW that that would be lunch but I needed something different. I give you the Veggie Blue Burger:

 

It was really tasty!! I think I would prefer just plain old cheddar but this was fun. I had an organic Fuji apple and the few remaining bites of yogurt from this morning’s smoothie on the side.

 

I have spent the majority of my day packing. Man do I have a lot of stuff. My car is filled to the brim. I am going to go finish getting my self organized, go take my test at 5:30, and then PEACE OUT! I will probably have to grab a quick bite on my way out of town. Not sure yet what I will do for that. We shall see.

 

Next time I write, it will be from home! Au revoir!

SUCCESS!

I SLEPT! YESSSSSS! It took me about an hour to finally fall asleep but I feel MUCH better!! I slept for probably 8 hours. I needed it…today is a busy day!

 

I decided to make another smoothie for b-fast in an attempt to finish some of my frozen fruit. This one had vanilla soy milk, vanilla yogurt, 1/2 a banana, frozen mango, frozen blueberries and the 2 remaining frozen strawberries I had

 

It was quite good but I think I enjoy smoothies more when they have protein powder. That sounds strange but they are just creamier and thicker, kind of like a milkshake rather than just a smoothie. I also think that peanut butter toast is a smoothies best friend.

 

Last exam today! Thank goodness. I will be studying, packing, and leaving straight from my exam to make the 2 hour drive home! Can’t wait to see everyone and my puppy, Raleigh! And by puppy I of course mean a fully grown 1.5 year old lab mix.

 

Here she is as a baby:

 

Picture Perfect! Have a great day!

Winding Down

Test #3 down, 1 to go! I thought it would never come! This will be my last night here at school and I can’t wait to sleep in my own room! And cook! Well of course see my family too! Test went really well tonight. Got an A in the class! Woop Woop!

 

This afternoon I was able to nap for about a much needed hour. I had a nice size snack around 3:30 to hold me over until my Dad picked me up. Half of an Ezekiel English Muffin with PB&Co Dark Chocolate Dreams and a sliced apple. Only part of the apple made it to the PB and toast

 

 

SO tasty!

 

After my test my Dad picked me up and we went to a chic restaurant downtown called 101. It is a very neat atmosphere and we enjoyed it. No pics but I will tell you what we had. We started out with a warm loaf of fresh olive bread with oil and balsamic for dipping. I had a house salad; a bed of baby romaine with ribbons of carrot and beet with slices of cucumber and tomato and the house vinaigrette. Dad had a delicious caesar. The dressing was so flavorful. He ordered a Kobe burger with blue cheese and garlic aioli and I had the Eggplant Parma Pollo; chicken wrapped in a strip of fried eggplant with a sweet marina sauce and cheesy penne pasta.

 

Can you say DECADENCE? It was delicious and I am perfectly content! I enjoyed my Dad’s company and the distraction from school. We had a really nice time. He said he can’t wait ’til I come home so that he can eat yummy food again (since I will be doing the cooking)

 

Well this tired girl is off to shower, relax and get a full night’s sleep. Exciting day tomorrow! Good night, sleep tight!

Speeding Ticket

If you could get a speeding ticket for operating at too high a speed, then I would owe some hefty fines. I am just non-stop! Despite the lack of sleep last night I seem to be operating at an extremely fast pace. My mom informed me on the phone this morning that in my conversations with her these past few days she could tell I was WIRED!!! And I am for some strange reason. Test anxiety? Excited to get home? Excited to see the daddy-o tonight? What ever it is, it sure is keepin’ me going. I just can’t seem to sit still.

 

It’s amazing how changing your attitude and have an “internal locus of control” can really change the way events in your day affect you. In the last 24 hours I have been more clumsy (I have dropped my phone multiple times, left the lights in my car on, tripped, fallen, you name it) than I can remember in the longest time. I have just been going with the flow though and am finding it helpful to be able to laugh at myself and move on. If you are having an off day, I encourage you to do the same! I need to remember this in all situations. It’s easy today but sometimes I can be, well, pessimistic. Tryin’ to stay all smiles today though.

 

I took a break for lunch around 11:30. I was impressed with how well that smoothie held me over. Oh was it satisfying!

For lunch I had an Amy’s California Veggie Burger in a folded pocket bread with spinach and a little ketchup and brown mustard. On the side I had the rest of the Fage from last night (which was most of it) with a drizzle of honey, dried cranberries and granola. Now THAT is what I’m talkin’ about!

 

Back to the books. Don’t worry, I won’t be talking about studying ANY MORE after tomorrow!!

 

See you later and have a great afternoon!