8 Days

So it's been about a year since I posted here. It's funny to read my posts back then because I was so hopeful about my health and so motivated. Unfortunately, those posts were written during my last summer as a student before my hardest semester started. Here are some things I have done in the past year:

• Lost 30 pounds- mostly during that summer and abruptly stopped as soon as school started. But I've maintained it for the most part.  
• Passed Neuro!
• Directed my last Vagina Monologues
• Organized my last Take Back the Night (as a student)
• Read a bunch of books
• Applied for graduation
• Registered for the NCLEX

In 8 days, hopefully I can add these to the list:

• Passed Complex Client Healthcare
• Graduated with my bachelors in nursing
• Have been a vegetarian for 1 year and 3 months

I think I can do it. I just need to get through the next week. Send good thoughts my way!

Onigiri (Rice Balls) and Jingle Jim's Swag

I wanted to try something new a couple days ago so I made onigiri! Onigiri just means rice ball. They can be in most any simple shape and usually contain a little bit of some traditional filling like pickled plum, flaked salmon, fish flakes moistened with soy sauce, etc. I didn't have any of that so I made onigiri with garlic powder in the rice, filled with a little bit of caramelized onions. They were pretty tasty!

I wrapped them in plastic wrap so they wouldn't stick together in my lunch. The only issue that I'm surprised to say: they needed more salt! I hardly ever salt food. I salt eggs at restaurants (at home, I put garlic powder and red pepper flakes in) and that's pretty much it. I'm really sensitive to it but these needed some.

I thought lunch turned out really pretty! I had strawberries, cucumbers, onigiri, pistachios and almonds. LeAnn's lunch was pretty too but the colors aren't from nice fruits and veggies.

We're running into the issue of her having to eat it in the car on her way to Lexington to teach. So nothing that requires utensils, unwrapping, heating, or putting together. Her lunch today was full of good fruits and veggies. I'll put up pictures later.

Went with the green bento. Yay!

This past weekend, we trekked up to Cincinatti to stay with Tricia and we got to go to Jungle Jim's! It's a huge and awesome international market/mall and I got some tasty treats.

Miso paste! I love miso soup and wanted to try to make my own and to try out some recipes that call for miso. This isn't exactly like the kind I'm used to but we'll see what I can do with it.

Soy Wrappers. LeAnn really wants to eat sushi but she can't stomach anything that is remotely related to the ocean so she can't even eat veggie sushi because of the seaweed wrapping. We found soy wrappers though that take care of that problem.

And then the regular seaweed wrappers for me. Yum! I'm resisting the urge to just eat it like potato chips.

Probably my most important find was spring roll wrappers. I found a recipe for summer rolls that I wanted to try but I couldn't find the wrappers anywhere. I tried these out last night and they were perfect. I'm very excited to try out a lot of different flavors in my summer rolls!

And then Somen noodles which weren't really what I was looking for. I wanted rice noodles (also called cellophane noodles) and I went by the picture instead of the big text that says Somen. Whoops! They're still good though so I'm looking for Somen recipes.

I'm having a bunch of fun trying out new recipes and trying to eat a ton of veggies and fruits. I think LeAnn is happy that someone else is cooking, though she's not happy about the ridiculous amount of dishes I make. :)

Also, I'm proud to say that I lifted weights yesterday while standing on my little balance circle board thingy and I'm sore as hell today. :)

Today's Lunch: Cheesy Quinoa Cups!

I tried out a new recipe from Iowa Girl Eats for mini cheese quinoa cups. Her's is for ham and cheese with zucchini though so I had to make some changes. I don't eat ham and LeAnn doesn't eat zucchini. I have to say, they're pretty good but I definitely learned from this batch what to do for the next one. 1: My steamer does not do quinoa (or rice well). It's a new steamer so maybe it's me but the quinoa (pronounced keenwah) was more like mush. It's supposed to feel a little like small brown rice. I'll try the stove top next time. 2. I took out one of the egg whites because I had less dry ingredients in but there was still a lot of egg. It was fine; they just were more like quiche than quinoa cups. 3. My oven will not brown things. I put these in for forever and they just cooked to a point and stopped.

They'll definitely be better next time but not bad this time. Especially with sriracha. :) Here's LeAnn's lunch:

We have some color! I'm still trying to work in some green. She's a good sport for putting up with my teasing. She does eat veggies, she just doesn't like them cold. Here's my lunch:

Same thing with cucumbers.

Pretty huh? :)

I hope it's good!

More Bentos! And Some for LeAnn

I got my new Easy Lunch Boxes! I haven't had much time to use them because I've been at home for lunch but I've made a couple for LeAnn to eat on her way to work. She has to put up with me cute-ing up her lunch but she gets food. A good trade-off I think. Here's LeAnn's lunch for yesterday:

Turkey and cheese sandwich, strawberries, walnuts and chocolate stars :)

She seemed pretty happy with it. Here's our lunches for today:

Cheese and crackers, walnuts, raisins, carrots and peppers

I really need to find some silicon baking cups so I can stop using aluminum foil. And LeAnn's:

Turkey pinwheels, chips, walnuts, "Chipster" cookies

LeAnn's lunches look boring. Not enough colors. I'm trying to work in some veggies. :)

Bento Obsession

So I've recently been surfing around some Bento Lunch blogs (and by surfing I mean obsessively surfing) and  it seems like an awesome idea and a good way to remind me to make my lunch.

Yesterday's Lunch:

Today's Lunch:

I'm motivated to eat more veggies and fruits because these are a lot cuter with some color. I have some easy bento lunch boxes coming in the mail today so I'm excited to start on some healthy bento lunches. :)

Day 1: Thwarted by Oliver

Well, I tried to stretch. Ollie had other ideas. 

Summer Goals

Pilot blog! So I have a lot of stuff going on and a lot of changes I want to make. Here's a list of my summer goals.

1. Be a better vegetarian. Not eating meat is easy but not eating things with gelatin or chicken stock is hard.
2. Eat less cheese. Sounds funny but as a vegetarian, it's hard to not eat cheese with everything. I'd like to eat more veggies and less dairy. Dairy and carbs are easy but not what my body needs.
3. Eat out less. It's very easy to just go out for food all the time but it's not very healthy or cheap. This girl's wallet and tummy need a break.
4. Learn to cook (more). I'm not completely helpless but it would be nice if I could put together a healthy menu.
5. Juice. Not a juice fast. I want to get more nutrients and veggies in.
6. Stretch everyday. I am the least flexible person on the planet. It's annoying but also makes me susceptible to   injury.
7. Exercise. Like at all. I didn't put a quantity because anything would be an improvement.
8. Drink less. Not in an alcoholic way. I just want to be healthier and alcohol isn't contributing to it. Unless it's red wine. :)
9. Watch less TV. Healthier body and mind.
10. Go outside. I'm seasonal effective and I need sunshine. :)
11. Try the No Poo for your Do thing. It might be a bust but it's better for my hair and more natural.
12. Volunteer. Good for me, good for others.

Big plans. I have 3 months to get them accomplished. :)