A Diminutive Break

Good morning everyone!

I just took one of my exams and have an hour and a half until my next two, including my (and this is a direct quote from my teacher) "Mangerial Accounting Final Exam from HELL." Thanks. That makes me feel great. Haha.

So I don't think I'll be able to eat lunch, so I stocked up on some food in the meantime, including this:

Thanks Magic Bullet!

What is it?

Well, it started off as these:

The perfect ripeness...

Plus some carob, some peanut butter, and a drizzle of agave gets you this:

So thick in all it's caroby goodness...

In case you couldn't tell, that's supposed to look appetizing, not like dirt, haha.

It's a variation on Katie's banana butter, but I like to think of it more as pudding. Carob is a natural thickening agent, which makes this pudding so thick and creamy after refrigeration. Yay! I love it. I can't wait to try it with almond next.

Anyway, I should get back to some last minute studying. Stay tuned for an exciting, never seen before...thing! (and that's what studying will do to you, but really, it's a bit exciting and a bit lame. Bear with me.)

Question: How far ahead do (or did) you study for final exams? I like to start a week ahead and then review the information towards the end, but then again, that doesn't always happen...haha.

Too Much Candy, a Good Surprise, and a Bad Surprise

Sigh...I've done it again. I've eaten too much candy. I told myself that once I finished my Easter candy, I would practice some restraint, but apparently that didn't process, as I went out and bought myself more candy. So, to really motivate myself, I am vowing to eat cleanly for the next two weeks.

There. I said it. And since it's in the blog world, it's official. ;-)

Why two weeks, you say? Well, that's because that's when I'm going to do a crazy thing. Well, it's really not that crazy, just slightly crazy for me. Last week I spontaneously booked a flight to go visit my friend for the weekend. It was totally not planned, but it will be so nice to see him again because I haven't seen him since early August and he'll be in Germany through the summer and all next year. I had to book it using my mother's credit card, which leads me into my next dilemma.

I demagnetized my credit card. Stupid me. And I forgot the password to my online account, so I didn't want to use it because then I obviously couldn't pay the bill online. So I need to call the people to help me out. So...I better get on telling my mom that that $250 charge that I really can't afford is legit and will be coming her way in the very near future, haha. She probably won't be too thrilled.

So, those are my two updates. I hope that wasn't a bore!

Now for some of today's random eats:

The dining hall had BLUEBERRIES! Can you believe it? I was so elated that I took some back to my room, bowl and all. They were so delicious.

For a snack I had one of my favorites, banana slices dipped in carob powder. It's like chocolate, only not.

Step one: Slice the banana on the fancy schmancy banana peel plate.

Step two: Open the bag of carob and inhale its wonderful goodness.

Step three: Fork a banana slice, dip it in carob, and enjoy...

Between copious amounts of the aforementioned candy (I am giving the rest away so this does not happen again, haha...practice self control, Claire), I had this little rabbit that my aunt gave me. Apparently one of her neighbors made it.

I'm not sure you can even tell this is a rabbit anymore...

So, recap. I think I need to put this down. No more candy. I know I just gave it up for Lent, but I'm going to stick it out for two more weeks. Besides, I think I just ate two weeks' worth of candy.

Clean eats. Fruits and veggies are my friends for snacks, not candy. (Do you see a pattern here?)

Question: What's the one thing you can't get enough of?

A Random Mishmosh of Eats

Hi readers,

I haven't had time to compile the continuation of my Dallas post, so I thought I'd tide you over with this one. I've been loving my new salad dressing on my kale and fennel salads, so I just had to have another one.

Oooo, ahhh...

And a much closer pic:

Twas delicious.

My go to breakfast in the morning after I work out is this mixture of hemp protein powder and carob. Depending on how much water I put in, the consistency turns out to be like pudding or like cookie dough. I usually add a pinch of stevia for sweetness, but I have tried it without (since carob is naturally sweet) and it tasted a bit like dark chocolate. Yum. It's rather unattractive, but it does taste delicious and does the trick for protein!

I've also been loving bars. I actually bought myself some for a trip that I'll be taking to a conference where I'm presenting a poster. However, they did not last that long. Whoops.

First I tried the Peanut Butter and Jelly Larabar.

I had heard about it, but never tried it, since it has peanuts in it and I didn't like the peanut butter cookie flavor. All it has in it are: dates, peanuts, unsweetened cherries, and salt. It tasted like peanut butter and jelly, but I just wasn't a fan of the peanuts. Not at all. The texture just wasn't right and it was a tad too oily. I probably wouldn't buy it again.

I also had a Pecan Pie Larabar, but the wrapper slipped out of my hands before I could take a picture. ;-)

I've really been wanting to try the Raw Organic Food Bar, so when I spotted them, I snapped one up. Most of the flavors had some form of chocolate in it, and since I gave it up for Lent, I chose the only other flavor, Cinnamon Raisin.

It was a bit oily, but the texture was very nice. Since it has sprouts in it, it gave the bar an almost oatmeal-y texture, so I felt like I was eating an oatmeal raisin cookie. I like how it was all raw: organic cashew butter, organic dates, organic agave nectar, organic brown rice protein, organic biodynamic raisins, organic bio sprouts in quinoa and flax, and organic cinnamon. The only qualm I had was the size. It was tiny! I'd love to try the chocolate flavors next.

So I'm off to my conference, but I'll see you all on Sunday!

Surprise!

Well, I thought I was out of nuts. Not so, my friends, not so. I found a little bag of some walnutty crumbs, so I decided to, naturally, make cookies. I threw in some carob, the last of my almond milk, and some stevia. But I was a little heavy-handed with the almond milk. Whoops. The mixture was a little watery, so I added some coconut. It turned into more of a macaroon type cookie instead of what I usually make. I stuck it in the freezer to get a little hard (inspired by these babies). This is what came out:

Sorry for the poor quality picture; the lighting wasn't right. After I finished eating it, I realized that I had wanted to make Ani's carob cookies made with walnuts and raisins, since I had some random raisins laying around. Oh well, I'll be home and in a kitchen in three weeks, which will make for some exciting posts that don't all revolve around dessert, haha.


Oh, and for dinner last night, I had the most wonderful salad: spinach, mandarin oranges, sliced almonds, and feta cheese (I almost got excited and thought the cheese was goat cheese, but...it wasn't. Bummer.). Obviously not all raw. I've realized that I like the taste of raw almonds so much better than roasted almonds. To me roasted almonds have too much of a burnt taste. I can't wait until I can have some almond butter again. Then I'll resurrect the Banana Butter Cup Pie. Yum.


I've got a 5k tomorrow, so I have to rest up and fuel my body tomorrow morning. Wish me luck!

Raw Chocolate: Attempt 1

The dining hall finally has spinach...hallelujah! I love spinach more than any other green, leafy vegetable and when there's a shortage... : ( For lunch and dinner I had a lovely spinach salad with some artichoke hearts and red cabbage slaw (it's always the luck of the draw as to what "special salads" they have down there) and a side bowl of melon. Yum.

Last night I attempted to make raw chocolate, til I realized that my cacao nibs weren't going to grind up into a fine powder. So I decided to go with carob powder instead. I mixed about a tablespoon of coconut oil in a semi-solid state with a teaspoon or so of raw agave and a tablespoon of carob powder. As I was mixing it, it sort of formed this giant, squishy ball. Not at all like the liquidy chocolate I was expecting to freeze. So I put it over my radiator to warm it up a bit, thinking that it would melt the coconut oil and make the whole concoction more liquidy. Um, no. It remained a squishy ball, only now it was a little oily around the edges. So I decided to add more carob powder. That was not so great of an idea either, as it clumped up. Exasperated, I threw in some dehydrated coconut flakes, put the thing in the freezer, and called it a day.

This morning, when I woke up, I ran to the freezer and found this:

Not that appetizing, but it was very tasty. It reminded me of the "cookies" part of "cookies-n-cream" ice cream. I got all excited and immediately started planning how to make raw cookies-n-cream ice cream when I get home in...3 months. Bummer.

To satisfy my chocolate-y cravings (since the raw chocolate thing obviously didn't work out as planned), I decided to make carob chia pudding. Except this time I was determined to make it less like tapioca pudding. So I took a long shot and attempted to grind the chia seeds into somewhat of a powder, then mixed in almond milk (unfortunately, from a box and not raw), agave, and carob powder. And guess what? It worked! It wasn't all that chocolate-y (it could have stood to have a little more carob), but it wasn't like tapioca at all. It had a much better texture, and the little chia seeds still worked their magic to thicken the concoction up. This is not a great picture, but you get the idea:

It was pretty tasty.

I am still on the quest to make raw chocolate. This week will be pretty busy, so we'll see...

Christmas in October?

Sorry for not posting...I have been very busy and also a little lazy!


Yesterday I tried a mini-juice fast (partially because my friends were going out for a pizza buffet...yuck!). I was pretty good, but I don't really feel any different. This morning I attempted to make myself a protein shake with half a banana, hemp protein powder, some superfoods, and a little carob. Thinking that it was going to taste amazingly carob-y, I took a big swig and grimaced. Not good AT ALL. So I added a little stevia and forced down the rest. I'm still on the look-out for a good carob smoothie that doesn't use coconut.


So, lately I've been thinking about making raw caramel apples, since it's now fall and (unfortunately) around 45 degrees here...boo. And it's nearly Halloween! Hopefully later on today I'll be able to make some raw treats to share.


Oh, and the other day I got a little package from my loving mother with some kale chips that she dehydrated. When I got them, they weren't all that crispy, but still very tasty. If you haven't tried them, you should! As you can see, I've eaten most of them...

Also in the package were these...

Any guesses? They're raw oatmeal cookies made with sprouted oats. They are soft and chewy, with a good, but interesting, flavor. I think some raisins would add more pizzazz to the cookies.


Finally, she made some raw granola with nuts, dates, raw honey, and cinnamon. It's addicting!

Then, this past weekend I saw my aunt, who gave me some raw pickles she made, along with some of her applesauce (not raw, but insanely delicious!). She's so sweet.

And finally, the moment I've been waiting for...

I went to the grocery store and bought what I've been craving...

Chocolate-covered raisins, you say? But they're not raw!


Nope. These are far better than chocolate-covered raisins. I found them in the organic bulk foods section of the local grocery store and I've fallen in love with them ever since. They're carob-covered raisins, unsweetened! Yay! I am telling you, they are the most delicious thing ever (but not better than dried figs, haha). I have to portion control them or else I would eat the whole bag. If you haven't already tried these, you should!


Last week was almost like Christmas for me; all this new raw food! It makes the whole "living-in-food-desolation-with-the-campus-cafeteria" thing much more palatable.