As I was standing in Warrior II this morning and staring out my window, a squirrel ran across the ledge of my balcony (and scared the crap out of me but that’s besides the point). Does anybody else get ridiculously happy about the concept of nature?
On my drive back to Albany from Rockland yesterday afternoon, I couldn’t help but notice how beautiful things are when you really take a moment to look at them. I can’t wait until it gets warmer out and I can do yoga on my balcony. I think I will be in heaven then.
Since I wrote my Motivation and Time Management post on Thursday, my life has basically revolved around this:
and this:
Yes, that Lavender Blueberry Dark Chocolate. I know, I died a little too.
On Saturday morning, I made oatmeal pancakes
But not before blowing the bowl of oats up in the microwave. I laughed for 10 minutes when this happened.
With Real Maple Syrup, Shredded Coconut, and a few Dark Chocolate Chips on top for good measure
Saturday afternoon was spent driving 2 hours south of Albany to my parents’ house in Rockland County. I’m going to spare you the details of my eats because 1) I didn’t eat much and 2) what I did eat was boring.
What I will tell you about, however, is my trip to the city (NY) for my brother’s birthday dinner at Heidelberg on Saturday night.
My brothers! Birthday boy is on the right
As I said in my previous post, it is not easy being a vegetarian at a German restaurant. There was a lentil soup on the specials menu and here’s how that went down:
Me: Is there meat in the lentil soup?
Waitress: No, just bacon (what?!)
Me: Yeah, I’ll have the potato pancakes, thanks!
And the creamed spinach
The pancakes were bigger than my head and delicious! I could only eat one and a half. I passed the spinach around to share with the table. My family got a sausage platter which was unfortunately placed right in front of me. I’m pretty sure that was one of the reasons I couldn’t eat most of my meal (the bread basket also played a role). Even before I stopped eating meat, the things on this platter would have made me sick. Pigs knuckle is absolutely disgusting looking. GAH- I’m grossed out just thinking about it.
Dessert made up for it:
Hot Raspberries over Vanilla Ice Cream--amazing!!
And, of course, it helped that myadorable nephew, Nicholas, was sitting right next to me:
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Qp3O-uWE6Q]
Overall, it was a great night out with my family!
I woke up at 5:30 on Sunday morning without an alarm. I figured since I was up, I might as well get some school work done. While I was reading, I snacked on raspberry Chobani
For breakfast, I stopped by my favorite deli in Rockland County. I used to get breakfast sandwiches from this place all the time when I lived at home. My standard order was a sandwich called a Sobo which is sausage, egg, cheese, and homefries on a roll. I found out yesterday that the sandwich without meat is called an Obo. And guess what? I liked it better without the meat on it!
So good!
After stopping by Dara’s house to chat for a bit, I started my 2 hour drive back to Albany. When I got home, I made a black bean and cheddar pita for lunch:
I had some greens on the side.
I did loads of school work for a while and then got to work on dinner.
I made Baked Cheesy Pasta with Zucchini, Broccoli, Carrots, Onion, and Tomato Basil Sauce.
This is my favorite go-t0 dinner because it’s very easy to make and so delicious when it’s done.
During halftime of the Super Bowl, Jefff and I decided to make Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I found the recipe on the Cooking Light website
We didn’t have pecans so we doubled the dark chocolate chips. Our packed brown sugar was being impossible so we used granulated light brown sugar. And we were out of vanilla extract, so I used NuNaturals Vanilla Stevia instead (the company sent me some a while back).
The recipe made 2 dozen and they are excellent! Definitely a keeper.
I actually had 2 but I’m trying to trick you into thinking I only had one. Did it work? 
Well, I’m off to class. Sorry for the longggg recap!
Question:
1) If you’re vegetarian (or even if you’re not), which type of cuisines do you think are the most vegetarian/vegan friendly. The least?
German food is definitely on my list for the least!
Have a great Monday!
I can’t see the video of me! Can you add me as a friend or something?
It was nice seeing you – maybe we’ll get up to Albany soon!
I love how bacon doesn’t register as meat
Yum, those cookies look delicious! I have found that Indian, Mexican, Thai, Italian and Chinese food is all pretty vegetarian friendly. To me, “American” food (burgers, hot dogs, steak dinners, etc.) is the least friendly. This works out fine for me since I love ethnic cuisine!
Indian food is pretty veggie friendly. Lots of beans and lentils.
Indian food is probably the most vegetarian-friendly international cuisine! Mexican and Spanish food are as well, just make sure the beans don’t have pork or lard
ahaha! i can’t believe she said ‘no, just bacon’ haha…though i’d probably make the same slip. i’ve totally had an oatmeal explosion before…IN THE OFFICE MICROWAVE..yeeh! i think indian food is by far the most vegetarian friendly (since it’s a predominantly vegetarian culture) and i think it packs the most flavor. i heart indian food! 2 close friends are indian (one’s a veg the other eats fish & birds) and i loved sneaking homecooked meals from their moms
um, filipino food – DEFINITELY not vegetarian friendly. i can’t think of anything that is meat free!
I found, back when I was in college, I did my best studying early in the morning. Easier said than done, but sometimes it really makes a difference. Even today, I have been known to get up and work at 6:00 in the morning (on a weekend) because things just seem to be flowing better at the time.
Middle Eastern foods seem to be pretty veggie-friendly and some of the tastiest:)
Those potato pancakes, that pasta, those cookies – mmmmm, I am way too hungry to be looking at all this yummmy food!
I finally found Greek yogurt today – I am so excited to try it.
I would say that Indian or Afghan food is the most vegetarian friendly. I love them both.
How do you cook oats in the microwave? I have not once been successful at this!
AS far as veg friendly, there is a lot of vegetarian Chinese dishes (traditional at least!) Mexican, and as many people said, Indian often offers tons of veggie/veg dishes!
<>
Least veggie friendly? German & Irish top the charts. I think they may be pretty similar, but I’m not a huge fan of either cuisine.
Oh my gosh, nothing irks me more than finding out that there are hidden meat products in my vegetables….
That reminds me of when I lived in a sorority in college and requested a late plate from our house cook when I was going to miss dinner one night…. I asked for a vegetarian late plate and she gave me a turkey burger thinking that turkey isn’t meat! lol!
YUMMMMM you’ve inspired me to make those cookies now..look delicious! As has been mentioned a lot, I think Mexican food is really Vegetarian friendly. As for not friendly I would say (and not because I’m from there and get annoyed by it) but Australian food. I’ve eaten in Australian restaurants overseas as well and they were all meat except the green salad.
I blow things up in the microwave all the time– I just wrote about that in a post haha. So far my list includes oatmeal, eggs, and cheese dip.
Speaking of nature and noticing it, I’m about to go Thoreau on my husband if we don’t do something outdoorsy soon. I’m buying a kayak today for this very reason. The “concept of nature” is everything.
Oatie explosion! Im vegan, and I have found that mexican and italian foods are both really good when going out. Mexican especially you can almost always get a bunch of guacamole, salsa, beans and other tasty fixins.