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Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Mexicalian Day

Today ended up being Mexicalian Eats day! Lets start from the beginning.

Only took me twenty years to discover the key to perfect scrambled eggs is a rubber spatula.

Southwestern-inspired breakfast pita. Con rolling pin y cafe.
In the pita: 1/2 c. egg beaters, splash of soy milk, montreal seasoning, and mustard; poured over sauteed onions, red and green peppers, fresh cilantro (uh...i think it was cilantro, anyway) and crumbled bacon. Added some Chipotle salsa and a French Onion Laughing Cow wedge, scrambled and stuffed in a toasted Joseph's pita.
I've discovered the secret to the Joseph's Flax Pitas is to toast them first. Otherwise, they break really easily, and get soggy from just about anything since they are so thin. Definitely not good if you're looking for nice, thick bread; but I like them for stuff like this because I think it's just enough bread, and toasting them adds a nice crispy crunchy factor!

And a side of snow! So pretty to wake up and see it, it was kind of weird because as snow was falling, it was melting off the roof! It was like, 35* out I think; I was able to walk to the bank from school without freezing which was really nice!
Speaking of school, classes started out pretty good! My first was at 9:30 and is a world regions and cultures course; going to be kind of similar to a cultural geo class I took last semester, and it's even with the same teacher. It was supposed to go until 11, but only went until about 10:15 for today, hench my walk to the bank. It was a nice in-between breather before Intro. to Criminal Justice! Should be an interesting course; I'm thinking of a psychology or sociology major, and so c.j. sort of ties in and interests me, as well. I feel like I'm on a ten-year plan, though. I'm  second year and still sort of lost as to what I really want to do.
How long did it take you/is it taking you to decide on a major?
I'm jealous of the people who've always known where they're going with their lives!

I was actually able to come home for lunch, too! My next class wouldn't be until 4, and I had absolutely nothing to do around town until then. Vermont isn't exactly a happenin' place.
It's sort of a pain since I do commute about 25-30 minutes between school and home, but I figure once the semester gets rolling I'll have stuff to be working on in the library or darkroom.

I was pretty excited to be able to make a nice fresh lunch rather than packing one, though! I hadn't had  really good salad in quite a while and thought I'd do a mexican-esque one kidney beans (=love!) and spices and tomatoes and err'thang, but also really wanted fried polenta! I love crispy but chewy fried polenta in salad! So, I decided a mexicn polenta pizza over a bed of lettuce was in order. Yes, I could have just thrown it all together in a salad. But I've gotta make it pretty for the blog!

For the Polenta: Slice pre-made polenta into 1/4" thick or thinner slices and place on a nonstick, sprayed pan and fry on both sides until crispy on the outside, but slightly soft on the inside. I seasoned mine a bit with some montreal steak seasoning, but you could use anything.
For the Bean Mixture: Sautee chopped onions, red and green peppers, minced fresh cilantro, and minced garlic in a non-stick, sprayed pan for just a couple minutes; not even until onion is browned. Add 1/2 c. drained kidney beans. Season with some chili powder to taste. Mix well over heat for another couple of minutes, and then add 1/2 wedge laughing cow cheese and all-natural salsa. Mix until melted and combined.
To Assemble: Over a bed of romaine, place fried polenta rounds in a circle. Top with sliced fresh tomato followed by the bean mixture. Top with a dap of sour cream or plain greek yogurt. Drizzle with some balsamic vinegar and lime zest.

This turned out SO SO good! Made myself proud, haha. I'll have to have it in a wrap sometime in the not-so-distant future :)
What are your favorite salad toppings??


Before I knew it, it was time to go back to school! But not without making a quick snack:

Citrus Poppyseed Quick Cookie: 2 T. instant oats, .75 T. wheat bran, 1/2 pkt Truvia, lime and orange zest, poppyseeds, vanilla extract, 1/8 t. Baking powder, 1.5 T. egg beaters.
This one was a WINNER! Definitely keeping this version in mind :)

Next up was my Family Violence class. I barely made it in time due to my road being much worse than I'd thought, and made a terrible decision to sit right in front of an open window. Umm, hello! Yeah it's warm-ISH but it's snowing out and night time! Not to mention I am always freezing to begin with. Made for a miserable first hour, let me tell you.
This class is supposed to run until 6:50 (yikes! 3 hours! Just once a week though) but we were let out an hour early. Luckily, the teacher seems pretty nice and actually said "I encourage you to bring your dinner or your fritos." YES! I was a bit worried since it runs right through my normal dinner time. I could only imagine sitting there with a rumbling tummy, and then being way too lazy by the time I got home to make a good dinner. I can think of some things that would make for a non-disruptive yet filling dinner so there will probably be some nights that I will take advantage of that.

Dinner tonight was just leftover Shirataki noodles. Yum! Maybe I like these because I'm not expecting them to be pasta. I don't really think "Oh, I'll just eat my measly excuse for a pasta replacement now." They're moreso like Ramen noodles, I guess? Except made way tastier, haha. The consistency is more ramen-like. To me they don't taste bad, but admit the texture could be a bit off-putting. Kind of rubber-band like, maybe. Regardless, I have no picture. I ate them out of their tupperware. No shame, it happens. Hah.

This is getting really long-winded: I'm sorry! I'll wrap it up, but first, look at this beautiful concoction:


Frozen Greek Yogurt: 1/2 c. Greek yogurt, 1/2 a mashed banana, mixed with small spoonful organic chocolate pudding mix & sprinkle of Truvia. Topped with wheat germ. 
While I was reheating and eating dinner, I threw this together and tossed it in the freezer. By the time I ate & took a shower it was kind of frozen, but more like a very soft soft-serve consistency; ideally I would have given it another half hour or so but upon taste I couldn't wait that long! It was sooo good! Definitely a must-try. And do yourselves a favor and use a full serving of yogurt! I wasn't sure how it'd be so I just used a little bit, haha.

I have so much more to say but it will have to wait until tomorrow! Back to work all day tomorrow.
Have a good night!

4 comments:

  1. Hi! I am so glad that you stopped by my bloggy today....'cause now I know about yours! I cannot believe you are 20! You are so worldly and you eat so healthy for a college student :) Your photos are awesome and your meals look great! I must try those Pita's you wrote about. Have you tried toasting the Ezekiel sprouted grain tortilla's? They taste like nothing un-toasted. When the heat hits them, some kinda magic happens, they transform! I love the idea of you lemon poppy cookie, must try :) The polenta salad...all of it!

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  2. Hi Marla! Thanks for stopping by my blog, too! I definitely try to eat as many healthy and new things as I can, but I do have my vices. I'll get there in time! haha. As I suspected, writing this blog is definitely helping and pushing me to try new things though, as well as reading great blogs like yours.

    Ezekiel products are on my list to try! For the longest time I thought my grocery store didn't carry them, but I finally just realized I was looking in the wrong place, and every time I've gone since I forget about them and end up trying some new sort of bread! lol. I'm putting them on the list so I absolutely don't forget this time.

    The Joseph's pitas are great for when I want a lot of sandwich filling, but not necessarily bread, and they work great for the egg scrambles once toasted, too. I think they have a thicker version as well, but my grocer doesn't carry those - saw it on their website.

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  3. Your photos make my mouth water (or maybe I just need breakfast but probably it's your amazing photos).
    I started out college as a biology major. Then I hated it. I realized I like people not things I can't really see haha. So I started looking for a new major and found Development Studies (basically Political Economy of developing countries) in my second year and stuck with that. I have no idea how I came across City Planning but that's what I'm doing now.

    Those classes sound way fun! Enjoy!

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  4. Thank you, Karla! Sometimes I feel like I have really odd ideas when it comes to food combinations, so I'm glad to hear I'm not too far off base! haha.
    City Planning sounds quite interesting - not something I've ever really thought of, come to think of it! I would love to be able to major in art, mainly graphic design and photography, but I also realize it's not practical, so it will probably just be a minor, major in psych/soc or business. We'll see!

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