Oats in a Jar

Hey! How did everyone celebrate St. Patrick's Day? I opted not to do the bar scene thing last night because, as I keep hinting at, I have been having the worst week of sleep for various reasons.

Yesterday while at work I could not stop yawning. When 2pm rolled around I felt like I had been in the lab for a decade. I considered taking a nap, but I really wanted to analyze my data so I ran home (I live close to my school) and made use of the rest of my ice coffee. It did the trick and kept me focused for the rest of the day, I also save 2+ dollars, and I'm all about saving right now.

After work I laced up my green sneakers and met my friend Ena for a killer chisel class followed by a 3 mi easy run on the treadmill and .5 mi cool down. When I returned home I refueled with a really green monster, but forgot to take its picture.
The spirit of all things green continued this morning when I used my microplane to add cinnamon to my oats via cinnamon sticks. I'm all out of powdered cinnamon!! I'll have to grab some when I'm in Philly this weekend (I'll be hitting up Target to replenish my cooking basics).

I was able to fall asleep before 12 am last night (first time in a week!), did not wake once in the middle of the night, and slept until 8:21 am. I'm also taking it slower this morning, usually I'm in lab by now, but given that my hours are flexible sometimes it's nice to ease into the day.

For breakfast I made use of my nearly empty PB jar and had oats in a jar. This was the first time in over a month I had old fashion oats. I've been eating a lot of oat bran, and I definitely think I prefer the bran, I feel like it has a natural sweetness and less chewy?

Ok, time to get myself into gear.

Nicole

Calm

I definitely need some calm! I've been feeling pretty anxious the last 24 hours and without going into details, involves my focus on the negatives rather than all the positives in my life, I need to make that transition.

Backing up, the last two days have been pretty full. Yesterday I went to a talk by Chris Mooney who was speaking about his new book Unscientific America, and it was pretty good. I received a free autographed copy and cannot wait to read it! Also, not going to lie, he was kinda cute.

Later in the evening I met with a few friends to make some homemade strawberry ice cream using my friend Jen's ice cream maker. So simple, sugar, strawberries, splash of balsamic vinegar, and plain yogurt. It was so light and refreshing, the way all ice cream should be!

Blending up the strawberries:

Into the machine:Swirl, swirl, swirl:
And time to enjoy!

We also attempted to make gel electrophoresis cookies, but the night was getting late and the cookies were never iced, but ideally they were supposed to look like this here.

Action shot of batter mixing:

Final cookies, we got tired of squares (I guess we lack patience after hours in the lab) and made other shapes as well:

Today after highs and lows in the lab I met up with some of my past RAs for a NYU alumni event. The event was about 40 blocks away (about 2 miles) so I enjoyed the beautiful weather by walking instead of taking the bus. So glad I did, I miss seeing the sun!

NYU provided quite the spread! I miss my days as a RA!!

I also set up my fundraising page for my trip to Peru. Check it out here.

Trying to find sleep, haven't had much luck the last few nights.

Nicole

As promised a food post

Hey all-

As I mentioned in the last post I was involved in my school's student recruitment the last two weekends. As a result I was able to see two broadway shows. God of Carnage which is now featuring Lucy Liu, and the new musical Memphis which opened fall '09. I absolutely loved Memphis which is about the birth of rock 'n' roll in the 1950s. The singing and dancing were outstanding and the dialogue was pretty humorous. I see a Tony nomination!!

As much as I enjoy recruitment I'm glad it's only a two week event. I ended up staying up until 5am Friday night/Saturday morning but couldn't sleep beyond 8:30am. Then I headed out into the Monsoon that hit the northeast last night for my friend's birthday party, but didn't stay out too late given my lack of sleep from the prior night (actually the night before as well) and loss of an hour due to the time change.

Today I started the day off with a large cup of coffee with almond milk.

I ended up doing my grocery shopping for the week at the local Food Emporium rather than heading cross or downtown for either Whole Foods or Trader Joes. As a result I ended up buying more frozen than fresh vegetables:

A)For the the price, frozen is generally much cheaper than fresh.

B)Food Emporium doesn't always have the best selection, although their local and organic options have increased since I first moved into the area.

C)Unless you know your vegetables are locally grown or organic, frozen vegetables actually have a higher nutrient content since they are picked at their prime and snap frozen to lock in the freshness. On the other hand the fresh produce is usually picked before it's ripe and generally matures via synthesized chemicals.

While shopping I was going to skip on my milk purchase because their soy, almond, and rice milks are about 2x what I pay at either TJ or WF. However, right before walking away from the dairy section I was surprised to see the new Almond Breeze's larger cartons of almond milk. For a half gallon I paid 3.99, not bad since the normal 32oz packing cost 1.99. I'm curious how much the half will cost at WF. Actually I'm curious how much it cost not in NYC, everything is so expensive here.

For dinner tonight I made two sides dishes that I have not whipped up for quite some time; they accompanied my baked tofu.

1st up sweet potato casserole with ginger snap crumble, modified original recipe found here. While this took a bit more work than my roast sweet potatoes, it was a nice Sunday evening treat.

Next up, kale chips. Simply wash kale and remove from stem. Place into a 350* oven until crisp.

Viola! I love kale chips, the taste of the green completely changes upon baking. I would say bake for about 5 minutes and then check them out, if they aren't crunchy enough then pop them back in, but I prefer chips that aren't too dark. I think I baked mine a little too long this go around and as a result only ate about 3/4 of my batch.

Off to bed I go, need to get back to normal sleep routine for the work week.

Nicole

Miss me?

Sorry all-crazy week! 2 weekends of recruitment at school (convincing interviewing students why they should come to my university for graduate school) and in between the two I had to prepare for my lab presentation. I'll return tomorrow with the food.

A little off topic

This isn't exactly food or music related, but I can't fall asleep because I'm planning out the rest of the year...well as far as trips/vacations are concerned. I wish I could plan out experiments for an entire year, but I don't currently have enough foresight.

Anyhow, I decided to volunteer in Lima, Peru next January. I'm posting a video about the volunteer organization and trip. If you would be interested in more details please let me know!

Ok, need to slow my mind, I have my eye on a 6:30 am spin class and short run, today was a rest day.

Also, checkout Spoon tonight on the David Letterman show (see I got the music in there after all)!

Nicole

Hey all~

I don't know if you are aware of the brand "Food Should Taste Good," but I'm a huge fan! The products are all natural and are amazing in every way, which unfortunately makes them hard to stop eating at times. In addition, to making products that are delish, the company also has great values and often turns consumer ideas into products. As in the case with their newest chips. I couldn't resist being one of the first to try them out so I ordered their new flavor sampler pack.

And received a free tote bag!
For dinner tonight I wasn't terribly hungry, and really just wanted some yogurt and granola. But...my meals today were lacking in the veggie department so I compromised by blending in some spinach, a banana, and protein powder and of course I still had my granola.

I also snacked on the cheddar flavored Food Should Taste Good chips and they're another winner :)

Nicole

Bad News

I think I'm feeling 95% better, of course I thought I was better this morning and then around lunch my back began to ache once more and my head spinning so I called it a day in the lab and came home to do a bit of reading and took a nap.

Before the flu took me for a loop I was getting pretty creative with my desserts. Below is a quick apple crisp like concoction. Usually I just break a few ginger snap cookies over applesauce and microwave for 20-40 seconds. To get rid of some pumpkin in the refrigerator I threw it along with some cinnamon into the mix, and perfection!

Messy but so yummy!

While there is nothing aesthetically pleasing about this next mix it taste amazing. Simply heated a sliced banana for 20 seconds, added a teaspoon of chocolate peanut butter, and heaven!

As of Friday I was eating mostly vegetable broth, so vegetable soup was an upgrade yesterday. For the most part canned soup isn't really part of my diet since I realized homemade soup is easy to make and much lower in sodium; however, the only soup I had stored in the freezer contained lentils so I went for something lighter, Progresso's Vegetable Soup. I was surprised at how delicious this soup was and every spoonful was full of veggies!! The next time I crave canned soup I will definitely stick with Progresso.

At the moment I'm waiting for clothes to come out of the dryer and listening to Fleet Foxes, a band I really grew to appreciate when I saw them live at All Points West last summer, I love love love White Winter Hymnal. Since Bonnaroo posted their 2010 lineup I've visited the APW webpage about twice a week hoping to hear information about a 2010 festival. Unfortunately they have not changed their page and even worse the New York Times ran an article last week about the looming possibility of a 201o festival, and given the lack of performer bookings this years reoccurrence looks bleak.

Also, guilty pleasure to admit, I downloaded Justin Bieber's Baby today and have already played it 5x. I first heard it during a spin class last week and immediately fell in love. Do you usually fall in love with a song immediately or does it grow on you?

Nicole