Lost (Yoga) Puppy

Hola! Sorry for the tarde post, but it is GORGEOUS in NYC today.

65° and sunny—and I don’t feel like I have the swine for the first day in forever! These two more-than-welcome abnormalities have provoked giddy school girl syndrome, which has involved a lot of hyperactivity and a compulsion to spend as much time outside as possible.

I just stopped home for a little blogging, e-mailing, eating and listening to my construction friends sing la cucaracha (I really adore them and their musical taste)—and then I’m heading back out to bask in the sun/run errands. I love days that allow you to combine the two.

Onto Tuesday’s treats…

Cran Bran Vita in a Strawberry Yogurt Hug—a la K.

Look how cran-packed this Vita was!

I attempted breaking the Vita off—spoonful by spoonful—to ensure perfect bite after perfect bite.

But I quickly realized that when you make a yogurt mess, every bite is a perfect bite.

This breakfast was perfect for several reasons. First, I haven’t had flavored yogurt in forever. Don’t get me wrong; Greek is #1 in my dairy-loving corazón. But I almost exclusively (for lack of a less pretentious word) eat plain Greek yogurt—so I think I’ve missed the flavor/texture variation of standard strawberry yogurt. Mmmm.

Next, I haven’t loved Vitas, thus far. When I tried the Corn Muffin Vita, it was too dry. When I tried the Blue Bran, it was better—but not amazing. But—I really liked the Cran Bran! I’m not going to drop the L-bomb yet because I want to become a bit more acclimated in the Vita flavor waters before I start naming favorites. But I loved the abundance of berries! And because I, again, let it thaw at room temperature instead of microwaving, its texture was pretty moist.

I had some cream cheese and jelly toast on le side.

In the spirit of going against the food blogger common consensus, I think that cream cheese & J > PB & J. Lo siento.

Lunch carried on Monday’s tahini kick.

How, you may wonder, did I steam brown rice without access to a kitchen?

I didn’t. He did.

I heated up an Uncle Ben’s 90 second brown rice bag, added frozen peas, carrots and corn—and then dressed with Soy Vay and a big dollop of tahini.

All mixed together.

The Soy Vay-tahini combo was such a delicious flavor blend—and it perfectly coated each and every of Uncle B’s grains. This took approximately 5 minutes to prepare and kept me full for so long. I also feel like it would taste great cold (or re-heated), so—if I ever find myself employed—this would definitely be a go-to Tupperware lunch.

In the interim, it’ll be a go-to microwave-friendly meal.

Later—though I was still really full from the rice—I used my last Nutridel cookie for a snack. I wanted to eat something because I was taking a dinner-time yoga class, and I try to avoid the awkward public hungry tummy grumbles (mouthful!) at all costs.

I had my last flaxseed—mi favorito.

Since this was my last Nutridel experience (unless they open a NYC location), I channeled a little cookie consumption creativity and decided to create a Nutridel-fro-yo sandwich!

I spread a thick layer of vanilla yogurt between the two cookie halves—and then threw it in the freezer for about an hour.

While giving my best Matilda stare to the freezer—in an attempt to speed up the process—I had the remainder of the vanilla yogurt with some Fiber One.

Fast forward an hour and—while the result wasn’t particularly photogenic—it was ice-cream sandwich brilliance.

All of the cookie’s incredible flaxseedy flavor was out in full-force in its frozen form. No me gusta the fact that I can’t re-create this.

‘Twas perfect yogi fuel. But, unfortunately, last night’s class ‘twas not the perfect yogi experience.

If you recall, I’d never tried yoga until last month. During my one-week yoga challenge, I attended five Bikram classes and absolutely loved them. Before committing to a monthly pass at the Bikram studio (which is muy expensivo), I wanted to try out a few other yoga classes—specifically non-heated forms.

Last night I went to Athletic Yoga—and I was quite underwhelmed. Because of the name, I expected a pretty challenging, athletic class. But the class sort of just felt like an hour of stretching; I think it’d be great for athletes who need quality stretch time. But, because my “athleticism” is currently pretty limited due to a hip injury, I got sort of antsy.

The instructor also wasn’t particularly helpful or engaging. I’m pretty sure I did half the positions incorrectly, and I just sort of felt like a lost puppy in yoga land. I still kind of do because now I’m doubting my initial yogi love. Before Bikram, I’d always assumed I was too fast-paced a person to get into yoga. I’m wondering if that assumption was on-point; maybe I only liked Bikram because it had an element of intensity. I’ll definitely give other non-Bikram practices a try because I love the idea of loving yoga—but I’m also not going to force it.

To my yogis—a–hem—any advice?

I had a super quick, super late dinner after class.

Ensalada Enorme

Featuring amazing apple-y tuna salad

In the mix: 3 oz. tuna; 2 dollops greek yogurt; 1 laughing cow garlic & herb wedge; 1/3 chopped gala; slivered almonds; lemon pepper seasoning; krazy salt.

Gah, this mix never fails. It went on top a big bed of mixed greens, avocado, red onion, more apple, red bell pepper and green beans; drizzled with my balsamic-honey dressing.

On the side I had half a red bell pepper filled with the best salsa ever.

And more spicy string beans—this time topped with melted mozzarella, garlic powder and sriracha.

And—because my swine started to subside last night—I treated myself to some No Pudge love and a grande spoonful of almond butter. I’ve been going (comparatively) easy on the nut butters because I don’t like how they feel on my throat when I’m sick. So, I figured a dollop of AB was the most self-indulgent effective way to determine if my illness had retreated.

My throat didn’t mind it at all. But perhaps I’ll re-test my almond butter indicator tonight, for accuracy purposes.

Hope you all enjoy Glee your Wednesday nights!

-Sarah

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almond butter, apple tuna, brown rice, brownie, carrots, corn, cranbran, cream cheese, fiber one, food blog, gala, greek yogurt, habanero lime, jelly, mozzarella, no pudge, nutridel, peas, salad, soy vay, spicy salsa, strawberry yogurt, string beans, tahini, toast, tuna salad, uncle ben's, vanilla yogurt, veggies, vitatop, wild oats, yogurt mess

October 21, 2009

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