Spring Fling

Yesterday St. John’s put on their annual spring carnival.

Besides the excessively long lines for the rides, it was a blast!

By “excessively long” I mean we waited an hour and a half to get on the ferris wheel.

But it flew by pretty quickly with all the talking and laughing that went on.

We eventually got there though, and it was definitely worth the wait.

(Photo thanks to Danielle)

The guy running the ferris wheel loved us and ended up giving us an extra long ride!

Lizzy is afraid of heights and every time we reached the top our faces looked something like this:

By the time we got off the ride we realized it was past 4:00 so we ran back to our rooms to get ready for dinner plans at 5:00!

Danielle, Kayleigh, and I met Mike and the four of us went downtown to meet up with two other friends at Kumo Sushi.

(Photo thanks to Danielle)

Although you can do “all you can eat/drink,” Danielle and I opted to split an order of edamame, vegetable tempura, and each ordered the three roll special. I ordered a veggie roll, a healthy roll, and a sweet potato roll. Andrew got the all you can eat/drink special so a snagged a few bites of avocado salad. Everything was great!

After we were sufficiently stuffed, we headed a little further downtown to Harris’s apartment.

The view from his roof is absolutely breathtaking.

After a fun and long night, it was at some point decided that we were going to take a cab back to campus. Expensive but so much more convenient!

This day ranks very high on my favorite days list.

Emily ❤

Question: When is the last time you had a really great day/night? What made it so great?

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Chocolate Cake Protein Bake

Yesterday went by in the blink of an eye. I woke up and headed to the gym for 60 minutes on the elliptical followed by stretching and strength. My calves and quads are sore today! Besides classes and intense paper writing, I had some pretty awesome eats.

When I got back from lunch, which always consists of a huge salad, I figured I should keep up with my ongoing resolution to include more protein in my diet. Thus, I created the chocolate cake protein bake. I wasn’t expecting my experiment to turn out all that great but I ended up loving it!

I kind of just threw everything in a tupperware and mixed until I had a brownie batter-like consistency. So the measurements might be off but here’s what I’ve got:

2 TBS homemade pancake mix (a combination of oat and buckwheat flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt)
1/2 scoop Lifetime Life’s Basics vanilla plant protein
1 TBS cocoa powder
Stevia or sugar to taste
Water

Mix ingredients until you have a thick-ish mixture, microwave for two minutes (or however long), and voila!

It was super chocolatey but not especially sweet, so I ended up sprinkling a packet of Sugar in the Raw on top.

And then I went crazy and added some Earth Balance.

It has about 15 grams of protein and 5 grams of fiber and is seriously SO good.

After I was all powered up from that, I did some more paper writing until around 6:00 when I met Danielle and some other people for dinner. I had a ton of veggies, rice, and sweet potato fries, but couldn’t resist making SUSHI! I know, I have totally been on a sushi kick lately.

My friend Jess made a spicy tuna roll:

And I made a veggie roll of course:

Yum!

In other news, I am totally obsessed with this heart rate app:

It measures your heart rate when you place your index finger over the camera lens. 49 might seem a little low but it is a pretty normal heart rate for me so I think the app is probably pretty accurate!

I’m currently in a computer lab going over my philosophy paper before I hit print. I should make it quick because I’m probably stinking this place up after my 5 miles at the gym (while watching the Royal Wedding coverage)!

Emily ❤

Question: Have you ever surprised yourself with what you can make in the microwave?

Things I Love Thursday XVI.

❤ Sandals and dress weather
❤ Freshly painted toenails
❤ Taking an impromptu "rest day"
❤ Gingerade kombucha
❤ Graffiti cocktail shaker
❤ New workout songs
❤ Sushi
❤ Party planning
❤ "What do you like to do on your Tuesday nights?"
❤ GloZell
❤ Exciting weekend ahead
❤ Knowing I WILL get all my work done
❤ Registering for the Boilermaker
❤ Baking and more baking
❤ Chirping birds
❤ Born This Way
❤ My cute puppy!
❤ New heart rate app
❤ Eight days of classes left
❤ Anxiousexcitedness (more on this post-weekend!)

Emily ❤

Question: What has ben making you smile?

Midweek Weekend

I went to the gym yesterday morning with hopes of completing a 40 minute cross-training session on the elliptical. But once I got there I realized that would not be happening because all the machines were taken and I wasn’t about to wait around for one to open up. So I instead hopped on a treadmill and figured I would do an easy 4 mile run. Around mile 1.60 though, THE stinkiest guy hopped on the treadmill next to me. It was so bad I thought I was going to vomit! I managed to sprint to 2 miles and then book it to the mats for some stretching and ab work. I also did an arm and leg workout which led me to lose track of time and I barely had time to shower before my first class! Lessons learned: get to the gym earlier and manage time better.

On the bright side, my walk to and from the gym was amazing. The weather was incredible yesterday.

I really had no desire to sit inside for my classes but they were decent and I can officially check off one of the six papers I have due in the impending weeks. Danielle and I met up for lunch afterwards to catch up on all that happened over break. What I’m going to do without this girly all summer is beyond me, although we do have some exciting stuff planned!

Between lunch and my night class I started and made good progress on two more papers due later in the week because I would have felt guilty making plans for last night without having anything done.

Because we don’t have classes on Wednesdays, a few of us decided to go out. It’s like having Friday in the middle of the week! Anyway, we stopped by Mike and Andrew’s apartment before heading to our usual place. It was so packed and hot when we got there but we still had a ton of fun!

Emily ❤

Question: Do you ever go out on weeknights? It’s a definite rare occasion for me.

Central Park & Sushi Round Two

Yesterday morning, Mike and I headed over to Central Park for a run. He really isn’t much of a runner so around mile 2.5 I took off without him. Honestly, I prefer running alone most of the time unless someone is close to my exact pace. I had planned on a longer run but decided to take it easy on my body and completed only 5 miles. I was still feeling under the weather after all.

I made my way over to Whole Foods where I packed a box with the most amazing kimchi dressed salad ever. I kept the salad for later but immediately gulped down a gingerade kombucha, my favorite flavor!

After working on a paper all day, by 6:00 I was starving. Mike, his roommate Andrew, and I decided to go out for sushi. Two days in a row? Why not?

I ordered the same exact thing but didn’t snap any pictures.

We headed back to their apartment after dinner where I made brownie box cookies with peanut butter chips for them. It was so easy and they loved them!

1 box brownie mix
1 package Reeses chips
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup oil

Preheat oven to 350. Mix all ingredients and spoon onto greased cookie sheets. Bake for 15 minutes rotating the pans (bottom on top, top on bottom) halfway through. Ta-dah!

My mind was not on taking pictures yesterday because I don’t have any photos of those either! I didn’t have any of the brownie cookies because of my fear of hydrogenated oils but I did manage to snap a photo of the leftover cookie I consumed.

This whole situation is perfect, I get a kitchen and ingredients to bake with (which is something I love) and Mike and Andrew get to eat the goodies (which is something they love). 🙂

Emily ❤

Question: What is the easiest thing you’ve ever baked?

Sushi & Sugar Cut Out Cookies

Up until about 8:00 last night my diet had consisted of kombucha, an apple, some grapes, and a cup of miso soup. For some reason I had NO appetite. That might have been my sick body talking, but who knows? I went over to Mike’s and decided to order a salad and some sushi because I really can’t go a day without some veggies.

I ended up getting an avocado salad with ginger dressing which was way more delicious than I was expecting!

Look at all that avocado! I swear there was some lettuce under there.

I also got two sushi rolls, the AAC (avocado, asparagus, cucumber) and the sweet potato.

I forgot to order brown rice instead of white but c’est la vie, these were delicious. The wasabi totally cleared out my sinuses. 🙂

Eventually Mike and I decided to make use of the awesome cookie cutters we had gotten from Ikea a couple weeks ago. Our recipe went like this:

1/2 cup non-hydrogenated margarine
2/3 cup sugar
2 TBS applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (I Love Vanilla)
1-2/3 cups flour (plus more for rolling)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Mix all ingredients except the flour
-Once the mixture is creamy, add the flour
-More flour may need to be added if the dough is not stiff enough
-Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and roll or flatten with hands
-Cut out cool shapes while sneaking bits of dough
-Bake for 6-8 minutes

Can you figure out what the shapes are?

The recipe actually made quite a few cookies, there was a whole other pan of unpictured ones. I’m not sure how long they will last over there though because they’re pretty yummy!

When I got back, my appetite had returned with full force. I ended up eating a carrot cake Clif bar (how appropriate on Easter, right?) and a bowl of Kashi berry blossoms cereal with almond milk which was perfectly satisfying.

Emily ❤

Question: Favorite thing to bake? Mine is definitely cookies.

Happy Easter

Happy Easter! My Dad and I went to our church’s sunrise service this morning which is held outside. The weather was absolutely perfect for it and the chirping birds made it feel officially spring-like. Finally!

I am currently on a bus headed back to the Big Apple but my short break at home was definitely enjoyable.

Most of yesterday was spent like this:

Sick me fighting for space on the couch with a spoiled little puppy.

So smiley!

For dinner last night I made cornmeal crusted seitan marsala with brown rice and a salad.

I didn’t really follow a recipe, I just combined wheat gluten with veggie broth and soy sauce, baked it in the oven, dredged the pieces in flour then cornmeal, and cooked in a pan with a little oil and wine.

I always cook rice in veggie broth which makes it much more flavorful. After the rice was cooked I put it into a dish along with the seitan and then poured a marsala wine roux over it all and popped it into the oven for a few minutes. It was missing the more authentic taste of sauteed mushrooms but overall it was pretty good.

My parents must have thought so too because they seriously devoured this! My Mom is no stranger to seitan but it was my Dad’s first time trying it and he loved it!

Anyway, before getting to the bus station my Mom and I made a pitstop at Wegmans for some (hopefully) cold fighting kombucha. I bought the gingerade and multigreen flavors and I loved the gingerade. My Mom loved it too so I left it with her and went with the multigreen which I really liked as well.

Let’s hope this trip is a quick one!

Emily ❤

Question: Favorite means of transportation? I can’t say buses are in my top 3…