Sorry for my late post!
I have been racing non-stop today. It all started when I woke up! I went to the gym for some cardio (10 minutes on stairmaster, 10 minutes running sprints on the treadmill and jumping jacks), then I rushed to meet my mom, then my friend for lunch, then to the doctor who happened to have a cancellation and could squeeze me in and now I have one more appointment until I’m free!! For lunch, my friend Kate and I met at Royal Thai Palace, my favorite Thai spot here in Tampa. I got what I always order there: the basil tofu. Oh man, it’s pretty amazing. Of course they only have white rice and I don’t even eat white rice but just because it was on my plate I ate half of it 🙁 Oh well. I love going there for lunch because the portions are so perfect. It is about half the size of the dinner portion, which is great for a light lunch. Nothing was oily or fatty. Just tofu and veggies—the way I like it!
For dinner tonight we are celebrating Ryan’s mom’s birthday at his parent’s house. His parents are grilling shrimp, making salad and some veggies and I offered to bring ED&BV’s Bean and Corn Tortilla Lasagna with Avocado because I’ve been dying to make this recipe and now is the perfect time! I’m going to start that once I get home from my next appt. and it doesn’t seem like it takes too long to throw together. I’ll let you all know how good it tastes 🙂
Oh! and since I couldn’t tell you before! Here’s what I packed in Ryan’s lunchbox.
a salad with carrot strips and a side of his fav. dressing from an Italian restaurant he loves
a baggie of grapes and strawberries
an apple
a ham sandwich on whole wheat
a super-charge me cookie
and a clif bar for a snack later!!!!!!
Now you all are thinking…oh my god, she packed him a ham sandwich!!! Well APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!! It was ham, but I added some tofurky to the mix, using 2 slices of ham and 2 slices of tofurky. And you know what? He never knew. I did tell him on the phone earlier so he won’t be shocked reading this but he was pretty impressed that he couldn’t tell he was eating tofurky (he always makes fun of me for eating that!). I don’t know if he will become a tofurky convert….probably not…but its fun to try new things and now he knows it doesn’t taste all “weird” and “vegetarian”. I laughed so hard when I told him!!!
rae
April 1, 2008 at 7:19 pmjenna–
would you ever want to own a restaurant? or bakery? just curious.
what type of job do you forsee getting when you are done with your degree? and is culinary school pretty affordable?
Beth
April 1, 2008 at 7:20 pmI asked this on Kath’s blog, but noone seemed to know.
Does anyone know of any brands that sell a natural or organic turkey pepperoni?
Appelgate sells turkey bacon but not pepperoni 🙁
Kristin Point
April 1, 2008 at 7:22 pmFunny you mentioned the sneaking of tofurky in ryan’s sammie…last night i told my boyfriend i would make him a sandwich and used a boca buffalo chick’n patty with cheese, spinach and franks red hot. Surprise! He loved it! he always makes fun of me for eating this stuff so i’m super glad he enjoyed it!
Susan
April 1, 2008 at 7:25 pmAshely H,
I totally agree with you that it is equally as hard being thin as being overweight- I don’t care what anyone says. I find it to be very frustrating. What do you say to people or doctors. I hate feeling like I can never order anything healthy becuase people assume that’s all I eat ignoring the fact that I eat pb, nuts, and other things most fat phobic girls won’t eat.
Nadia, I am surprised no doctor has never said anything to you, maybe it’s b/c you are in nyc and they are used to models!
Vegan_Noodle
April 1, 2008 at 7:38 pmHow cool that you snuck in some tofurkey! Can’t wait to hear how the lasagna turns out. Wish Ryan a happy birthday!
Katherine
April 1, 2008 at 8:02 pmHi Ryan,
I hope you don’t mind me asking a question. I remember Jenna mentioning you have a mba, so I am hoping you can help me with my question. What is a CFA? I hear a lot of students talking about it, but I don’t understand really who needs one (The people I know who go to the bulge braket investment banks don’t seem to talk about it as much as the people not going to the big firms). Some places I read it says it doesn’t mean anything anymore other places I read it’s impossible to pass. (It sounds like there are a lot of levels). Thanks and wish your mom a happy b-day.
Don’t worry about answering until you have time 🙂
Romina
April 1, 2008 at 8:25 pmWow you’ve been busy!!
Your lunch looks so good. =)
And your april fools joke is hilarious!! Tofurky… ahah.
ibex hk
April 1, 2008 at 8:29 pmgood sneak! hah, cracks me up 🙂 have a great night, that recipe looks awesome, can’t wait to hear how it tastes 🙂
jenn
April 1, 2008 at 8:46 pmhello ladies. 🙂
It has taken me forever to catch up on posts and comments (still not thru yet) but I just wanted to re to some things from other days…
re: going vegetarian–
Check out the Physician’s Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM) vegetarian starter kit: http://www.pcrm.org/health/veginfo/vsk/ (click the adobe icon to DL the whole booklet) OR
the PETA vegetarian starter kit: http://www.goveg.com/order.asp (click “click here” to DL the PDF file so you won’t have to wait for it to be mailed to you)
I also thought this link was pretty neat: I can’t believe it’s (accidentally) vegan! http://www.peta.org/accidentallyVegan/
re: Nature’s Path PB granola–
If you can’t find it (or if it’s too pricey!), try melting a little pb in the microwave, then toss with a very PLAIN granola (like Back to Nature classic) until well coated, and add some honey-roasted peanuts too! I also like doing this with a 100-kcal bag of kettle corn (then sticking it in the oven so it crisps up again, soo good!
bikergurl re: pistaschios and nut guide–
I like them!! If you want to try a certain type of nut without having to buy a whole bag (they can be $$!!), try WF or TFM or any grocery store with a bulk foods section– they usually have a wide variety of nuts, raw, dry-roasted & salted/unsalted, etc… and the best part is that you can just buy as much or as little as you want, altho you might look a little weird buying two brazil nuts or two pistaschio kernals haha.
As for a guide to nuts, check out these links: http://www.foodsubs.com/Nuts.html (I think this one is prob what you’re looking for)
http://www.vegsoc.org/info/nutsseeds.html
http://www.naturalhub.com/natural_food_guide_nuts_common.htm
http://www.foodproductdesign.com/articles/781culinary.html (cooking with nuts)
re: fish
I thought the backbone criteria was pretty interesting. 🙂
PETA had some info about eating fish/shellfish… keep in mind where this info is coming from, and examine their points critically as it may be biased… you have to be a wise consumer of information!!
http://www.petaliterature.com/prodinfo.asp?number=VEG344&variation=&aitem=2&mitem=8
re: almond butter
WF 365 brand is less expensive, as is TJ, and Maranatha natural. Raw organic ab (Maranatha brand) is realllllyyyy pricey, I think I saw it @ WF for $16.99 and I remember thinking like, are you JOKING… also, at WF and FM, they have the “grind your own” next to the grind your own pb and honey roasted pb, and they charge by the lb (usually $7.99 or $8.99), so that’s another option if you just want to try some without committing to a whole jar.
Sorry this was so long, but I HTH some!
jenn
April 1, 2008 at 8:47 pmboo why is my comment awaiting moderation?
BethT
April 1, 2008 at 9:10 pmWhat is a “super-charge me cookie”? Do tell!
Kelly
April 1, 2008 at 9:23 pmKatherine, do you mean cpa. I’ve heard cpa related to finance, but not cfa. Hmmm…
jenn
April 1, 2008 at 9:43 pmBethT,
Jenna describes the cookies (Eat Drink & Be Vegan recipe) in this post in more detail: http://eatliverun.com/?p=1209 🙂
SDF
April 1, 2008 at 9:45 pmKatherine,
A CFA is a “Certified Financial Analyst”. There is a website explaining what it is & why you would want it. http://www.cfainstitute.org/
It’s not a MPA because you can do the course in a relatively short time, and is only for investing (my aunt did it in a couple of months). A CPA is actually more accounting (Certified Public Accountant) than Finance.
BethT-the “super-charge me cookie” are the cookies that Jenna made a few days ago (might be closing on a week ago now). If you look at her posts, she shows when she makes them (I think it was Friday)
SDF
April 1, 2008 at 9:46 pmThat shouls say it’s not an “MBA” not “MPA”. Oops 😛
SDF
April 1, 2008 at 9:46 pmAnd that should say “should” not “shouls”. Apparently it’s time for me to go home
ChocolateCoveredVegan
April 1, 2008 at 10:41 pmHaha, great little trick!
And I am jealous of your lunch. Thai is my FAVORITE!!!
Mandy
April 1, 2008 at 11:49 pmjust wondering – why don’t you eat white rice? I mean it’s not like it’s bad for you, right? Brown rice is just healthier.
Lori- the pleasantly plump vegan
April 2, 2008 at 12:45 amman, i miss good Tampa Thai. i told you about Thai Terrace, right? it’s my favorite place to get Thai.
erica
April 2, 2008 at 1:35 amjenna, i hope you don’t mind another annoying oats question! just curious; do you cook your oats in the almond milk, or do you add it afterwards? yours just always looks so creamy and delicious, and i’m very jealous!! haha.
jenna
April 2, 2008 at 2:27 america,
haha, I cook them in almond milk 🙂
jenna
April 2, 2008 at 2:28 amMandy,
White rice is just like white bread. Its empty carbs and not good for your body at all because it is so refined and not complex like brown rice or whole wheat flour. It contains little to no fiber and really isn’t good for you in the least bit!
erica
April 2, 2008 at 3:07 amhaha, thanks jenna. i think maybe i’ll try cooking the oats on very low heat for a longer time. maybe that’ll make them creamier. 😉
Kammie
April 2, 2008 at 6:32 amI love basil tofu too! It’s great with eggplant.