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My yard. 

A.k.a, the Gillianasana photography-practice site.

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Couldn't decide.

All my mother. I bake, she gardens. Hobbies are important.

Especially when they become your career! Yesterday I zipped down to Providence, Rhode Island to check out the Johnson & Wales culinary school campus. It hopped to the forefront of my list when I read about their Culinary Nutrition program and decided it was definitely worth a visit. It was indeed, and I got a lot of really good information and now have way too much thinking to do. I'm going on a college tour road trip with my brother (a senior-to-be in high school) and madre this coming week, and on the way back we are stopping in Hyde Park, New York to check out the holy land  CIA - Culinary Institute of America. It's the big one, where you go to be in the food industry. It scares me. 

That said, tomorrow we leave for Philadelphia and will be on the road until Friday night! I am bringing my mini laptop and will hope and pray to find hotels with wireless access or computers - but just in case I can't, I promise I WILL return! With pics. LOTS of pics. I'm looking at this trip as a good time to practice my [food]photography skillllllz. 

Speaking of which...breakfast anyone?

Melon is one of those foods I could (and often do) eat every day and never get sick of it. Especially this kind:

Tuscan melon!

It is a lot like canteloupe, only smaller and I find a little sweeter and stronger in taste.I had this in, where else, Florence, and fell in love. Look for those indented lines in the rind. It's amazing.

Blueberry Acai Dannon Light & Fit

Yes, another new flavor I was powerless to try. I actually really liked this - I could actually taste the acai and it blended wonderfully with the sweet blueberry! It's kind of a hard flavor to pinpoint, but I find it a little tart and a little sweet at once, a bit like pomegranate. The only issue, other than the ingredient list, is the awful fake-sugar aftertaste. WAY too sweet. I wish it had just been sweetened with real fruit! Oh well, I 'll just have to do it myself.

Nothing like a waffle on a Saturday morning (er...afternoon...)

AB-squared: apple butter + almond butter. A perfect combo.

Did some shopping at Old Navy. Ugh, shopping. I can never find exactly what I want. BUT, I did get a pretty cute dress 50% off because one of the straps was broken! Sewing won't even be necessary. LOVE that!

I came ravenous. Nothing a smoothie can't fix - especially when it involves this:

Amazing Grass's Amazing Meal Chocolate Infusion protein powder.

I used half the packet + 1 c. frozen mango + 1 c. almond milk + splash vanilla. I should have added a little extra cocoa powder, but didn't.

Aglow with healthy goodness!

I didn't love the Amazing Meal - it was a little too spirulina-y for me. But I didn't hate it either, and liked it with the mango very much. Of course, I like pretty much anything with mango....Either way, as far as Amazing Grass goes, the Kidz Wildberry and Original Superfood powders are in the lead.

The liquid health theme continued with this:

I got it on sale at WFs last week. As usual with Kombucha, I have no idea what to make of this! What I love about it is the complexity of the flavor - it changes every second it's on your tongue and definitely keeps me interested. This one went from berry-sweet to flowery and then very pine-y. I probably wouldn't but it again, but it was a fun try. I wish the Honest brand would go on sale again!

Because my mother, brother and I hit the road tomorrow, we had to have Father's Day a little early.

Dinner on the patio!

Including:

My grandmother's salad: romaine, tomatoes, avocado, red onion in red wine vinegar+olive oil and S+P.

Grilled eggplant, marinated in balsamic + olive oil. Melt-in-your-mouth amazing. Probably one of my favorite things.

Roasted taters

Fresh pasta in a vegetarian sauce for me, lamb for the fam. [Don't worry, I had some tempeh for protein ealier!]

And my present to the man of the day:

Chianti, straight off the boat plane.

YUM!!

Tippy agreed.

For dessert, I whipped up some peanut butter-chocolate chip cookies (Dad's fave)  using the Supercharge Me cookies recipe:

The first batch was gone before the second even left the oven. I think they liked them. 

Dessert also included this newbie:

Chobani Champions honeynana!

It's not thick at all; it's basically like regular yogurt, but I suppose that could very well be more appealing to kids which I assume are the target consumers here (although I know plenty of "grown-up kids" who would be attracted by the cartoony design). The flavor is great though! Unlike the chocolate, the cane sugar taste blends  in very well. It reminded me of a yogurt I ate all the time when I was little, but I can't remember exactly which one - I think it was Yoplait Custard-Style Vanilla. SO good. Gotta love nostalgia foods :)

Time to go pack, pack, pack! 

~Namaste!~

P.S. Remember that surprise I mentioned? Check out the sidebar --- I'm a Foodbuzz Featured Publisher!!! Dancing most definitely ensued when I got the email. I love Foodbuzz, and my absolute favorite blogs are all a part of its awesome community, so I'm super excited and proud to be too. Share the foodie love!

Fake-Out

Ok, so don't get me wrong - I am a hardcore believer in the importance and general superiority of whole, minimally processed foods, and a big part of this blog is dedicated to finding and delivering new and delicious recipes and products that are just that. BUT, let's face it - in the U.S., with our busy Blackberry-driven lives and the vast availability of the processed stuff, sometimes we save ourselves some stress and trouble and buy it. Being a college kid, I get it - sometimes it's better (taste and health-wise) than the "food" served in the dining hall. Plus, while it's not always the case, a lot of the natural stuff has a higher price than the regular stuff. I do think it's worth the price - I kind of look at it as an investment in my own health, but it's not going to be the end of me to eat it once on a while. And if others prefer this stuff to the all-natural kind, or need to eat it for other reasons, that's ok too. This is just my personal opinion. Ok, there's my spiel, on to the pics!

Before I discovered the wonderful world of Greek yogurt, I was a Yoplait Light/Dannon Light & Fit addict. I saw this new flavor and, well, I can't resist anything pomegranate-berry flavored. Tried....but can't.

Meh. The texture is clearly nothing special, but I was in it for the flavor - and it didn't really deliver. It was kind of a vague berry-like taste with that odd fake-sugar aftertaste. Boo. Oh well, at least I tried it.

The thick-style Yoplait Light was my favorite part of breakfast ever - again, pre-Greek. Loved the thickness, even if it was a little questionably gelatinous. A new flavor came out and I felt I should be fair and see what it was like.

Well, what I liked about it was that it did do some justice to blueberry pie, crust and all. It had a graham-like flavor in the background that worked well the the berry flavor. Still can't quite get past the fake-sugar though - last fall I decided to give up sweeteners as best I could (sometimes a girl just needs a Diet Coke!), and now I can practically smell it when I have products that use it. But minus that, the flavor was decent.

Alas, I just couldn't stay away:

THAT would be Chobani's pomegranate and may I just say - WOW!! I loooooved this! Had that nice cranberry-like tang that pomegranate does, and it had actual pom. seeds in it! The "fruit on the bottom" wasn't syrupy or heavy, it was just like when I add jam to my plain yogurt. And, as you can see, it passed the sideways-spoon test! My only problem? The $1.50 per cup part. Cruel. I suppose it will make breakfast all the more special when I have it!

That "special meeting" I mentioned yesterday was actually just me going to see my high school band director. He was essentially my 3rd parent/therapist my junior and senior years, and I practically lived in his office. I wouldn't have done, well, a LOT if it weren't for him. He's one of those people that I can talk forever to, because he's very good at reading my mind and just "getting it," ya know? So, I stop at Dunkies for our coffees and spend a couple hours just chillin and chattin. He's retiring this year and it makes me unspeakably sad that I won't be able to do it anymore :( But, change is good. It makes things happen.

P.S. - does anyone else adore Dunkies's cinnammon coffee? Mmmmm :)

After my "therapy session", I came home and was hangry. The sunny-side-up egg with spinach on toast disappeared way to fast for LuLu to snap a picture, but I did manage to breathe long enough to show you these beautiful organic grapes I got at WFs yesterday:

LOVE grapes. Juicy, brightly-colored goodness.

I had a turkey-arugula wrap for lunch, but it looked about as lackluster as it tasted (it needed....something). However, I did put my new bag of frozen mangoes to use:

1/2 c. mango + 1/2 sliced banana + 1/2 c. almond milk. I like going simple the first time I try things.

It was good, but I think mango and banana together are too sweet - they both call for citrus or berry (or both). And I also didn't add spinach, but I wonder if it wouldn't have mellowed the sweetness a little. Spinach is clearly a must-have in all smoothies!

Anyone else in Mass. feeling gross right now? It is hot, sticky and icky. I felt a bit worn down all day, even after a nap. I hit the elliptical to see if it would help, but I think it just made me feel grosser. But, my philosophy with working out is even when in doubt, try it for 5 minutes. If you can't do it, it's not worth pushing, but it's a very seldom occurrence that I regret working out. And with an iPod full of Glee tunes, it's pretty enjoyable anyway! (The It's My Life/Confessions mash-up rocks my socks!)

Pre-run snack was this guy:

One of my favorite flavors. It's sweet and nutty, you can SEE the berries and seeds, and it pleasantly crumbles in your mouth but not before. It is a little sticky, but it doesn't bother me. It is quite sweet, but the tartness of the berries seems to balance it out. Yum:)

I treated myself to a trip to Whole Foods for some cold, creamy treats (to be revealed tomorrow!), and this guy:

I am obsessed with these. They're just so good! This flavor is particularly awesome - a little floral, a little sweet, a lot awesome. If you like flavored water but not the sweeteners, try these!!! They have wicked fun flavors too - I want my Whole Foods to stock the mango-grapefruit so bad!

Dinner was again inhaled too quickly for LuLu (this is NOT a habit I intend to continue), but it wasn't too interesting - imagine if you will a Morningstar Farms black bean burger over spinach with a little cottage cheese +dijon+ pineapple salsa. If you have not tried pineapple salsa, you MUST - it is absolutely drool-worthy with teriyaki-glazed salmon. Trust me. You will never look at teriyaki the same again.

Dessert was a mish-mash, including this newbie:

After reviewing the Raspberry one a couple days ago, I was wary. And again, underwhelmed. It was not cardboard-y like my last try, but it was waaaay heavier on the date than blueberry flavor. But it was pleasantly gooey, and the nuts on top added a nice semi-crunch. Still...blah. I'll give the apple a shot - and then give up. Although I still think the cherry-pomegranate was pretty good...(see above for my opinion on pomegranate anything.)

I also made good on my word and had a peanut butter-fluff waffle:

YUM. I think the marshmallow brought out the sweetness in the waffle, and the peanut butter...well, I'm pretty sure peanut butter improves pretty much everything it's put on. I used my favorite brand ever, Naturally More - although my mean grocery store no longer carries the regular kind, only organic, which I don't like as much (go figure, right?). The regular has added egg whites and honey, whereas the organic doesn't - maybe that's why? And Whole Foods doesn't carry it. Hell if I know why. You can find it at WalMart (yes, you read that right), and it's really pretty cheap - if you're a pb fan, you MUSTmustmust try this. It changed my nut-butter-lovin' life. Whole flaxseeds give it a little crunch, there's a little bit of can sugar for sweetness...gah. Sogood.

At the beginning of this week, I declared the start of Project: Conscious Eating. I haven't forgotten about! And, while I can feel I'm getting better at it, it's a sloooooow process. Sometimes I just start snacking and can't stop. It's too easy here, with a family-size kitchen available 24/7. It's frustrating, and can be very defeating, but here is what keeps me sane: 1) I learn more about myself and how my body works everyday, and I know what helps and what hinders it, and 2) the world is not going to stop turning if I eat one cookie or handful of cereal too many. I will get up, start a new day, and try again. One of the hardest things I struggle with is eating too much - in the past, feeling "stuffed" triggers a total binge and then guilt so painful it's tangible. And that cycle is just not fair to myself. So, that is really the point of my project - which is really a lifelong project - to continue to live and get back on the horse and look at each day as a new chance. I truly hope that anyone who takes on their own project keeps that in mind above all - let the past be the past.

And on a completely unrelated topic, I'm watching the movie 27 Dresses (cute, but pretty formulaic-chick-flick), and JAN from The Office is James Marsden's [character's] editor!! She does play an excellent "woman-in-charge." Although I looove the episode where so goes all "hippie mom" on them....hehehe. 

I got me a babysitting job tomorrow AM, and still need to de-ickify. Gosh, I have rambled like whoa today!

Sweet dreams all :)

~Namaste~