Sushi with Senor Ambassador

Good evening everyone! I hope you all had a nice Tuesday:) I apologize, but I wasn't a very diligent food blogger today and forgot to take multiple photos. This morning, for example, I arose at 5AM for swim practice and was too exhausted to snap pics of my breakfast or snacks. Before leaving for practice, I consumed a Stonyfield Farm's yogurt. Practice was hard since I hadn't swum for an entire week, and we completed approximately 4500 yards (1 hour total). After practice I grabbed a coffee from Oren's and consumed a delicious pineapple muffin alongside a nanner. I needed to be well-fueled since at 8:30AM I met my amigo for a one hour run which traversed through both Riverside and Central Park's which was quite nice.

My poor developmental psych profesora was sick, so she cancelled our morning class. As much as I sympathize with her illness, it was definitely beneficial to have some extra time. I returned to the casa and consumed a mid-morning snack of pumpkin bread that my amigo made. The bread was perfection; moist and very flavorful. Thanks amigo!

To accompany my thick-slab of deliciousness I had a cup of iced coffee.
I then headed back uptown to mi escuela where I consumed my usual PB lunch.

Fast forward to the late afternoon when I snacked on some mango
I was also beginning to feel the effects of my 5AM wake-up call and desperately needed caffeine. Since I had already consumed about five cups of coffee (no joke) I decided to have some diet coke instead.
I had some cooking adventures in the kitchen, but I'm afraid I have to wait to share the details until tomorrow;) Around 6PM I started getting hangry, and apparently I wasn't the only one...
That's my girl!

Luckily, I had a delicious feast awaiting me this evening. I attended dinner with Senor Ambassador de Venezuela, our mutual friend, and the Madre. We went to Tenzan on the Upper West Side, which I believe offers the freshest sushi in the city. I was too immersed in the interesting conversation to take pictures of the appetizers, but I did manage to snap a quick pic of a few of our rolls. Everything tasted amazing, I particularly enjoyed the rolls topped with eel and yellowtail.
For dessert I had a dulce deleche/ snickers flavored fro-yo while listening to Obama's speech.
I hope everyone had a nice Tuesday and I shall see you tomorrow (though probably on the later side since I have a 9PM meeting on campus).

An XXL Nanner

Good evening everyone! Mondays are always difficult, but the difficulty exponentially increases following a holiday weekend. I combated this sentiment with an extra-large coffee-in-a-jar and a stellar breakfast.

Breakfast began with an uber creamy Wallaby yogurt
The next course featured a nanner on steroids, probably the largest I've ever seen. I could make so many naughty jokes right now, but I'll be a mature adult and spare you;)
An extra-large nanner meant an extra-large surface area for peanut butter! I also had my usual chocolate vitabrownie, since homegirl needs chocolate in the AM.
I packed up my daily eats which included a PB sammy, two apples, a banana walnut muffin, and a bottle of green tea since my throat was still sore.
Drinking iced coffee-in-jar, a bottle of water, and a bottle of green tea was not the smartest decision before sitting through a two hour bio lecture. Mental note for next time!

My bio-lab ended early today (it's our last one of the semester, excluding next week's final exam) so I had time to head to the casa before my 6PM class. I knew I would get hungry during my evening course so I majorly snacked it up before leaving.

First course: PB topped nanner and a pear( or make that two pears)
Leftover roasted veggies topped with triple-layer hummus (that sounds like a galactic space weapon)
A cozy cup of warm vanilla soy milk mixed with carob powder. Definitely soothing on this dismal, rainy day!
My creative writing class was quite interesting and I returned to the casa around 8:30PM. I then consumed some salad topped with Citarella's tomato sauce (I could seriously drink a jar of that stuff)
And a heaping bowl of the Madre's mushroom risotto. I'm not a huge fan of class mac n'cheese (sorry, Zara!) but hand me a bowl of cheesy risotto goodness and I'm one happy mamacita:)
I hope everyone had a great start to his or her week! I would also like to give a shout out to a reader who left a comment and lives all the way in Spain!!!! How cool is that??? Now I have to be extra diligent in editing my grammar before posting in Spanish to avoid errors haha. Muchas gracias para leer mi blog!!!!

Ambassador Interview

Ahoy there maties! How has your weekend been? Mine has been muy bueno, though quite deficient in studying. This morning I arose bright and early to meet the ambassador of Venezuela for an interview. The interview was immensely interesting and he even brought me a gorgeous pair of earrings from Spain! I should have been the one showering him with gifts for agreeing to be interviewed! He definitely provided valuable information to utilize in mi proyecto de espanol.

Before meeting Senor Ambassador, I consumed a filling breakfast. I began with a Stonyfield strawberry yogurt
And than also had a vitabrownie PB-topped nanner combo.
Served with iced coffee-in-a-jar
My throat was still pretty painful this morning, so I made sure to consume ample amounts of green tea throughout the day.
Lunch was one hundred percent random and assuaged to my carbohydrate cravings. First up was some grilled asparagus
Next was a blueberry/pineapple muffin (sorry for the blurry pic!)
The final course was a cup of oatmeal purchased at Whole Foods. I was hoping that my strong dislike of hot oatmeal was simply a result of how I prepared it. Nope. I still didn't enjoy this hot oatmeal, though after refrigerating it for a few hours it was perfection:)
The poster children of good health: apples and carrots
After lunch I attempted to get some work done and than met an amigo for a run in Central Park. The run was a complete disaster and I went slower than I have in a long time. We ran the Central Park loop plus an extra mile, completing 7 miles in total. I was running so slowly that my friend went ahead, so I flew solo for the majority of it. The remainder, however, turned out to be quite eventful. First, I passed by Megan, who was happily sprinting in the opposite direction. Next, I witnessed a pretty bad bike crash involving a head-on collision. Finally, I happened to run next to a pretty-handsome gentlemen who asked if I could help pace him for a while. We ran and talked for the remaining 4ish miles, which was quite enjoyable. It was a much better experience than the Liberian mathematician who asked for my digits (I will save that story for another day). I felt really bad, however, for my initial friend who sped ahead since I was definitely a lame running-buddy today. Sorry amigo, Tuesday shall be better!

A spaghetti squash was staring me down on my kitchen counter, so I decided to utilize it in tonight's dinner. I cut it in half and roasted it
And then scraped the flesh away with a fork to form a spaghetti-like texture. I topped the squash with pomodoro sauce from Citarella's and crumbled, herbed goat cheese. Delish!

On the side I had a bowl of fresh, roasted farmer's market veggies.
An orange for dessert and for an extra vitamin-C boost.
Alrighty, I am off to complete the last of my assignments. I hope you all had a great weekend:)

Matzoh Ball Soup for the Soul

Good evening chicos y chicas! I hope everyone had an awesome Saturday. This morning began with an uber-creamy Wallaby yogurt

And the usual vitabrownie PB covered nanner combo
Iced coffee-in-a-jar
The Madre and I then drove to the Upper West Side Whole Foods to do some serious damage. Driving permits us to commit even more damage, since we don't have to lug heavy bags around. I woke up this morning with a sore throat, low-grade fever, and runny nose, so I knew it was time to reign in the beast. I purchased a packet of Emergen-C and a bottle of tea at Whole Foods, which I proceeded to mix together. For the record, I do not believe Emergen-C does anything to aid illness, I was simply hoping it would have a placebo effect;)
The damage in all it's entirety:
My favorite items purchased were carob powder, multi-grain pancake mix, and vanilla soy milk. That would make a great menage-a-trois, no?

I also could not resist this cup of pre-cut fruit which grabbed my wandering eyes
I had my usual PB sammy for lunch ( I live on the edge, I know) served with a delicious vanilla soy milk/ carob powder drink. Delish!
I pretty much wasted the remainder of the day doing who knows what. I managed to complete a creative writing assignment, which I guess was borderline productive. Early evening I met an amigo to go shopping for a bit. We stopped at Gray's Papaya, a famous Upper West Side establishment, where the amigo proceeded to inhale two hot dogs.
The amigo was really not feeling well (I'm hoping it's not the flu) so I suggested we grab some Jewish medicine, aka matzoh ball soup. We headed over to Artie's, a Jewish delicatessen on Broadway. I like Artie's because they bring out delicious pickles and cole slaw, rather than a bread basket.

The menu even listed the matzoh ball soup as "Jewish Penicillin", which I thought was a cute touch;)
I bid the amigo adieu and then headed home for a relaxing and lazy Saturday night. A bit later I had some roasted veggies the Madre made topped with salsa
And the remainder of her sweet potato topped with some triple-layer hummus. Delicioso.
For dessert I had some dark chocolate bark that I picked up from Jacques Torres on my way home.
I'm going to go to bed pretty early tonight, since tomorrow morning I am interviewing the ambassador of Venezuela for a Spanish project. I'm super excited (though nervous, of course) since I'm sure it shall be quite interesting. Have a fun night, everyone:)

Thanksgiving 2009

Hola everybody, or should I say "gobble, gobble"? Yesterday I enjoyed a great Thanksgiving and hope all of you did as well.

I didn't know what time my next meal would be, so I had a substantial breakfast before leaving for the amigo's house. I began with a strawberry Greek Oikos

and then consumed my usual vitatop and peanut butter-topped nanner combo
Served with iced coffee-in-a-jar
I had gotten up mighty early, so I decided to bake an improvised peach-spice loaf to bring to my amigo's house.
I topped the loaf with butter, brown sugar, and oats to create a streusel topping. The loaf turned out TERRIBLE, as in, it was a complete disaster. I don't think an animal would have even enjoyed eating it haha. That's simply an occupational hazard of not following a recipe!
After baking I headed to my amigo's house and we completed a nice 5-mile run across the George Washington Bridge. We then began cooking for the Thanksgiving feast.

The primary ingredient of all our dishes was duck fat. Yes, you read that correctly, duck fat. As you can probably see, I did not abstain from meat this Thanksgiving. I do occasionally consume poultry which is why I never formally labelled myself a vegetarian. Duck fat seems to make everything better in life.....
Duck fat even went into the pie fillings (we made apple, mixed berry, and pumpkin) per the suggestion of the amigo.
While I started preparing the pies, my friend set about making biryani, a fragant and delicious Indian rice dish.
Shallots, raisins, and cashews were caramelized as a garnish for the biryani.
To accompany the dish, my friend made a raita, which is a yogurt sauce containing red onion, cucumber, whole milk plain yogurt, and cilantro. An analogous dish would be the Greek tzatziki. The yogurt sauce helps cool the palate after consuming the spicy rice.
Unfortunately, that constitutes the last of my Thanksgiving pictures. We headed to the amigo's relatives home and I did not feel comfortable whipping out my camera. Rest assured, everything was delicious and I consumed a bounteous plate full of stuffing, mashed potatoes, stir fried snap peas, birani, raita and a slice of turkey. I also had a sliver of all three pies we made, a la mode, just to ensure they weren't poisonous;)

Thank you, amigo, for allowing me to attend your fabulous Thanksgiving feast:)

We returned to the city rather late, so I crashed at my friend's house. I was pretty tired from all that tryptophan (though the fatigue was most likely due to an insulin peak since tryptophan is produced in such small quantities). OK, so perhaps I slept over for the sole purpose of using their leopard print snuggie. Man, I knew that thing would be useful, but I didn't realize how much it could improve your life;)

I returned home this morning pretty early and consumed a slice of pumpkin pie that the Madre brought back from her Thanksgiving festivities (she attended dinner with her friend in New Jersey). I happen to exponentially prefer cold pumpkin pie over hot pumpkin pie so this baby tasted like heaven:) Not the healthiest breakfast, but at least it contains vegetables!
Mid-morning I began getting stir-crazy so I headed downtown to Trader Joe's. I picked up a bunch of items including:

-butternut squash

-Laughing Cow cheese

-Camembert cheese (my favorite)

-baby carrots

-three layer hummus
-Greek yogurt

-mushrooms

-multigrain bread

-pumpernickel pretzels

-lentil biryani

-palak paneer
-maple/agave syrup blend

-whole wheat tortillas

-nut mix

-jumbo raisins
Shopping at Trader Joe's truly saves a ton of money, I can't wait until the one opens in my neighborhood! Note to self: Do not tote stinky cheese on the subway. People WILL shoot you strange glances.

I immediately broke into the three-layer hummus and dipped some carrots into it. Yup, it was as epic as it sounds.
For lunch I had my usual PB&J sammy, nothing too fancy there;)

I couldn't resist snapping a photo of the pooch (or Kitty as my friend strangely calls her). It seems as though she had her fair dose of tryptophan (or glucose) as well.
The remainder of the day passed by really quickly and I was not productive at all. Dinner began with a delicious Mediterranean salad containing copious amounts of feta cheese, red onion, chickpeas, kalamata olives, tomatoes, cukes, and romaine lettuce.
For the main event I had a couple quesadillas containing cheese, oodles of hummus, avocado and salsa accompanied by roasted veggies. It was the perfect, simple meal:)
I also had a farmer's market sweet potato on the side
Now I'm in the middle of watching Y Tu Mama Tambien, which is quite provocative (in a good way). I hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving and consumed tons of pie:)

Giving Thanks/ Candle Cafe

Hello, everyone! Happy day-before Thanksgiving;) Since I will be too immersed in Thanksgiving festivities tomorrow, I shall give my thanks today. I have so many things to be thankful for and compiled a few into a list. These include:

-The pooch

-La familia ( particularly the Madre, who works immensely hard)

-My amigos who provide constant kindness and merriment

-My health and the health of my friends and family. After interning in an ER and being perpetually surrounded by the ill, I value good health even more.

-Coffee

-Barack Obama being commander-in-chief

-All of you who continually support my blog and endure the gross images of my infected toes;) I seriously appreciate all of your sweet comments and wise advice.

The final thing particularly resonates after interning in the ER today. The ER was absolutely crazy since many people had the day off from work and decided to get their major health concern checked out. I ended up speaking to one man for nearly an hour as he waited for a detox bed. This man had lived on the streets for many years and suffered from severe alcoholism. He had attended many detox clinics, but continually relapsed and ended up back on the streets. For him, the ER constituted the most comfortable place he had been in a while since he was surrounded by caring staff and could sleep without fear and covered by a soft blanket. When I told him my future career goals he seemed astounded and told me he was really proud of me. I had only known him for ten minutes and yet he told me he was proud of me. He also advised me to stay away from any substances and to stay off the street. It was then that I realized one of the main things I am most thankful for; my education. Sometimes I become too immersed in moaning over midterms and papers that I forget to step back and absorb where I am. Without receiving a proper education I, too, could have ended up on the streets and would not any of the opportunities I currently possess. The man said he would do anything to get clean and return to school, which both saddened and instilled me with hope. I sincerely believe that if he focuses on detox and attends to his health, he will truly succeed in life.

Phew, I apologize for that ramble, I guess Thanksgiving brings out my sentimentality;)

This morning I awoke with a stomach ache so I consumed a strawberry Chobani to quell it.

A bit later I had my usual vitamuffin and peanut-butter topped nanner combo.
Served with iced coffee-in-a-jar, por supuesto;)
Before my ER internship I consumed my usual PB&J sammy and a Nature's Path chocolate-orange granola bar which I am currently obsessed with. I needed to be well fueled since running around the ER is kind of like running a marathon (or half marathon at least)
After my shift ended I rushed home, showered and then met my friend Zara for a vegetarian feast. We went to my all-time favorite vegetarian restaurant; Candle Cafe on the Upper East Side. Don't confuse Candle Cafe with Candle 79, by the way, because Candle Cafe is MUCH better.

To start I ordered a carrot/apple/ginger "cocktail" since they are known for their juicy concoctions. I have to say, I could barely make it through two sips. I guess vegetable juice is just not my thing....
I was extremely ravenous and suggested that we order two appetizers. For the first appetizer we selected the nori rolls which were both beautifully presented and delicious. The dish was accompanied by a wasabi dipping sauce, which offered the perfect amount of spice.
For the second appetizer we got the guacamole which had the perfect blend of spices. I apologize, once again, for the blurry pics, I'm still figuring out my new camera.
Chips for dipping. We finished the entire dish of guacamole in approximately 2 minutes. Yup, we were hangry;)
For the main event Zara ordered the special Mexican wrap and gave me about one quarter of it. Holy yum! The rice contained definitive notes of cumin, which gave the dish a comforting element.The inside also contained hunks of spicy marinated tofu which had a nice firm texture.
For my entree I ordered the Farmer's Market Plate which came with four sides and two dipping sauces. For the dipping sauces I selected the soy-ginger and carrot-ginger. This dish was truly amazing and exponentially better than it's equivalent at Cafe Blossom. A vegetarian restaurant should know how to properly prepare veggies and Candle Cafe definitely knows how do that. I love that they infuse high-quality flavor into their veggies, rather than just throw some bland ones onto a plate. This restaurant could easily convince a non-veggie enthusiast to convert! The plate also included grilled tempeh which had been marinaded in an Asian-inspired sauce and was both perfectly textured and flavored.
I definitely would like to return to Candle Cafe, since every item on their menu looks appealing! Their popularity is evinced by the number of locals entering the restaurant, all given a friendly greeting by the kind wait staff.

I hope everyone has an AMAZING Thanksgiving and I will see you Friday with a FULL recap:)

Perri Klass Lecture

Hello everyone! I apologize for not posting last night, but I was attending a special meeting for my ER internship. The meeting was special because my all-time idol gave a speech.......Perri Klass!!!!! For those of you unfamiliar to her, Perri Klass is a pediatrician who also writes fiction and a monthly column for The New York Times. I was pretty giddy with excitement since I've read the majority of her books; including Not an Entirely Benign Procedure and Letters to a Young Doctor. As someone who hopes to possibly pursue both pediatrics and creative writing, I was particularly enraptured by her lecture. Klass' lecture was both engaging and thought-provoking and she definitely inspired me to continue writing. People called me a nerd since I was uber excited and continually whipped out my camera, but I didn't care;)

After her lecture I remained in the hospital for a research group meeting which ended sooner than I expected and I arrived home by 9PM.

I can't remember my exact eats from the past two days, but I know yesterday began with the ever-essential iced coffee-in-a-jar
**Please bear with me as I figure out how to properly utilize my new camera, I know that these photos are NOT of the best quality.....

In the past few days I've probably consumed 23 apples. No joke.
For breakfast yesterday I consumed a yogurt mess consisting of nuked frozen peaches, Sigg Icelandic yogurt, and two biscotti (con crumbs)
For lunch I had my standard PB&J sammie and a bowl of roasted veggies topped with goat cheese.

Somewhere during the day I also decided that I definitely want to have an Indian wedding when I get married. Random, I know. I just love Indian music and dancing and find it immensely joyous. Some songs I would include in my wedding are "Marjaani Marjaani Karame" and "Aahun Aahun." Now that I've just deterred any possible suitors, let's return to the eats;)
Sometime mid-afternoon a car crashed into a building near my casa. This seems to be occurring more frequently these days! Luckily my friends at the Sensuous Bean (see, amigo, that really is the name!) were not harmed and I do not believe any pedestrians were injured either.
This morning I arose bright and early and headed to my hour-long swim practice. Practice was quite challenging today, since the coaches want to prep us for our Thanksgiving feast! Unfortunately, in my 5AM state of semi-consciousness, I forgot to photograph my breakfast or packed-up snacks.

Mid-morning my amigo and I ran approximately 6-miles in Central Park. I was pretty hungry afterwards and grabbed some prepared tofu and veggies from Westside Market. I was still a ravenous beast when I returned home, however, and snacked on a biscotti with peanut butter
A white chocolate truffle. I'm pretty ambivalent about white chocolate since it lacks sufficient flavor. Every once in a while, however, it provides a nice respite from dark chocolate.
A nanner topped with peanut butter. I guess you can see I've been on a peanut butter kick lately.....
After snack-time (am I in kindergarten?) I ran across town for my doctor's appointment. Those of you familiar with NYC public transportation know that the cross town buses are slow as molasses. It only took seven minutes to run to my doctor, whereas it would've taken forty minutes by bus. My doctor's appointment went pretty well and she gave me an asthma pump to use before running. Hopefully my lungs will not burn during any more races!
My doctor is located relatively close to Columbus Circle so I grabbed some dinner en route to the casa. Note to self: Do NOT enter Whole Foods anytime close to Thanksgiving. The place was an absolute zoo! The madness didn't stop me from grabbing some salad bar, however.
The items included bean salad, roasted veggies, and a boat load of Indian food. To bulk up the mixture I added a Dr.Praegers veggie burger and a package of tofu shiritaki noodles when I arrived home. Perfect!
The Madre left part of her sweet potato, so I happily took care of that for her;)
I couldn't resist entering the Columbus Circle Tasti D-Lite as I walked by and purchased a small cup of half chocolate cookie-dough/half pumpkin pie flavors. If you order pumpkin or apple pie flavors you apparently get a free topping, so I happily selected blueberries.
When I got home I realized the swim suit I ordered online had arrived. The color is a bit, err, bright, but that's OK. Think the print is camo? Look closer, it's actually composed of froggies!
I hope everyone is having a great week so far and that your Thanksgiving preparations are going swimmingly (no pun intended!).