Study Struggle

I’m not sure what my deal is but I am having the HARDEST time focusing on my exam. I think it is a combination of uninteresting material and the thoughts of finishing school looming in my head. I have been doing work at a snail’s pace, finding things to distract me left and right. Initially, I had planned to go to 4pm Vinyasa yoga as my “stress relief” after a long day of sitting and working, but I did not get enough done and my mind would have been wandering during the class. I like to go to yoga as a release but if I’m not mentally present during a class it defeats the point.

Anyways, I got to the bookstore promptly when it opened at 10am. Since I would be eating a lunch from home, I decided to be a paying customer and purchased a medium not-fat hazelnut latte. I’m also addicted and the warm, sweet beverage and it fueled a few hours of studying. I wasn’t starving for lunch, but my lack of focus caused me to break into my lunch box around 11:55am. I needed something to distract me /get me through some of my readings. I am such a study snacker. A few hours later I finally broke down and purchased a decaf coffee (I can’t handle THAT much caffeine in a day, but wanted coffee flavor and warmth) with a Kind Fruit and Nut Delight Bar. These are my absolute favorite! I saw them at the register while I was waiting for my latte and couldn’t get them off my mind.  I know from the past if I am thinking about a specific food instead of the material I am reading that I NEED to have it in order to refocus. Plus a snack that is sweet, nutty, crunchy and chewy….hello, ULTIMATE STUDY FOOD!

Side Notes:

1) I drank about a liter of water to sooth my throat during my during my book store camp out. Along with 2 medium coffees and my green monster–let’s just say I think people were starting to assume I had some issues. I literally had to get up, ask someone to watch my computer and walk to the restroom at least 6 times. At least I’m hydrated.

2) Each time I walked to the restroom, I passed by the cook book section, more specifically Martha Stewart’s Cupcake book, and realized that all I really want to do in life is bake, cook, read and write. You can expect billions of foodie things in my post-graduation state.

3) When I got home I noticed that I spilled coffee down my light gray shirt. I have also been sporting the “slicked back ponytail” look all day, so I must have been looking pretty fine.

Oy. I can’t wait for the college lifestyle to be over.

All day long I was subjected to coffee-house smells of dark roast coffee and warm egg and cheddar sandwiches. I have been craving eggs for a few days now but keep  having “food swings”, changing my meal decision each time I go to make them. Since I literally sat in the cafe area for the entire day, the craving finally stuck and I went home to make a basic cheddar, mushroom and broccoli omelet with a spinach, celery, sprout and strawberry salad and half an orange. I usually make egg white omelets but for some reason I love the pairing of egg yolk and cheddar cheese, so I made a two egg omelet. My throat is still a bit scratchy so I wanted something fresh and cool on the side. I randomly had half of an orange in the fridge, perfect for some extra vitamin c!

For dessert I had a Chocolate Chobani Champions topped with raspberry jam, roasted almonds and Kopali chocolate covered cacao nibs. I’m not a huge fan of the chocolate variety. For some reason it is semi-liquefied, a little too sweet and not chocolaty enough for me. Although, it did taste great with these toppings!

I’m back to the books, but think I need to get to sleep early tonight. I haven’t been sleeping regularly because I can’t stop thinking about how much work I have to do. I just have to keep telling myself that I only have one more week of this.

Slowly But Surely,

Nora

What are your study (or work)  skills/ habits?

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Like Sandwich, Like Omelet

Apparently I have an over packing problem.  I struggle to close sandwiches, wraps and omelets in the same way that I struggle with my suit case every time I travel.

This morning I woke up and decided it was an egg day. The sky was dark and a misty rain was present in the cold air. I thought about oatmeal and pancakes but knew I needed something a bit more savory. My solution: egg-white omelet with spinach, broccoli, mushroom, tomato, vegetarian sausage (I crumbled up a Yves and heated it with my veggies) and feta cheese, a side of whole wheat toast with raspberry jam, coffee and orange juice. I do not make omelets for breakfast often (they are more of a dinner dish for me) because I have an extreme “sweet breakfast” complex, so when I do I tend to go a little overboard. I somehow managed to get it on my plate in a presentable manner, and topped it with Sriracha hot sauce and cracked black pepper. It was the perfect breakfast for this cold morning, and filled me well.

After breakfast I went to a Vinyasa yoga class.  Let me tell you there is nothing better than doing relaxing yoga in a warm room when it is miserable outside. It brings out a whole new uplifting mood! When the class was finished the clouds parted, the sun was shining and the sky was a brilliant shade of blue. Although the temperature was still in the upper 40’s it was an amazingly beautiful day! After class I stopped by the grocery store to visit my co-workers and pick up some produce. I think that my 10am yoga class followed by grocery shopping is becoming my Sunday routine. I picked up some goodies for dinner and headed home for lunch.

I was parched after yoga and shopping so I wanted something refreshing for lunch aka a green monster, granola and raw almonds bowl, apple, carrot, green grapes and Medjool dates with almond butter. I mixed up my green monster a bit, my combination was: 1 large frozen banana, 3 large fresh strawberries, 1 scoop chocolate whey protein, 2 big handfuls of spinach, 1 cup unsweetened original almond milk, cinnamon, cacao and vanilla extract. The strawberries gave it a darker color so it looked like sludge. Since it wasn’t an exciting lunch I neglected pictures but it looked something like this (didn’t I have the same thing last Sunday haha…yep!) with about a cup of big green grapes and a large carrot.Miss Congeniality is on TV and I have a bunch of work to do so it is going to be a stay-in day. I have something nice planned for an early dinner before going to a 7pm meeting.  I love having relaxing Sundays. When I was younger my family would attend church together, have a great brunch, do yard/house/school work all day and gather for a thoughtful and comforting dinner. It was the perfect way to end a hectic week, and refresh ourselves for the week to come. I now see why Sunday is meant to  be a day of rest.

Peace and Love,

Nora

Do you usually do something special on Sunday?

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Breakfast For Dinner

For some reason last night I was CRAVING eggs. I had a very breakfasty day starting with cold cereal and vanilla soy milk with fruit for breakfast and an almond/pumpkin butter sandwich and more fruit for lunch. It was EXTREMELY cold and wet out so I needed something warm and cozy for dinner.  To continue with my breakfast streak and add some veggies to my diet, my dinner solution was an inspiration from Musings of the Granola Girl: Veggie “Frittata” with a Berry Salad. I apologize for the poor quality iphone picture:

Frittata : 3 egg whites, milk, heaping handful of spinach, 4 baby bella mushrooms, 1/2 Roma tomato, 1/4 red bell pepper, generous handful of Parmesan cheese. Whisk together the egg whites and milk and let them set in a small fry pan. In a separate pan sautee mushrooms and spinach. Once the eggs have become firm, top with sauteed mushrooms and spinach, fresh tomato and red pepper slices, and top with cheese. Remove Fritatta  from the pan (the pan I used wasn’t oven safe), place on a lined baking sheet and broil for a few minutes until the cheese is melted and the tomatoes become slightly crisp. Finish with cracked black pepper and hot sauce.

Berry Salad: mixed greens, 4 sliced strawberries, handful of blueberries, ~1 TBS toasted sliced almonds, cucumber, clover sprouts, balsamic vinaigrette.

It was almost like a pizza with an egg base. I let the eggs set up for long enough so the bottom had a nice crispy crust to it, which was a perfect base for the copious amount of toppings I used. The salad was a perfect contrast to my savory dish, and provided an elegant  dinner feel to my breakfast main.

Loving Breakfast,

Nora

Do you like having breakfast for dinner? What is your favorite choice?

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