Did I just write a paragraph about mattress shopping? Oy. You know your life is dull when the highlight of your day is a trip to MattressMax. Please—tell me something exciting about your day. Maybe then I can live vicariously through you.

Let’s discuss more interesting things, shall we? Yes, food sounds like a good topic.

The other day, my mom randomly asked me, “Caroline, what’s your favorite Larabar flavor?” Without a moment’s pause, I answered, “chocolate-coconut chew.” Said conversation reminded me of a magical bowl of oats I had many moons ago featuring chocolate and coconut. I attempted to recreate it this morning with delightful results.

Another flavor combination that rocks my socks? BBQ-avocado.

I worked the evening shift tonight, so I packed a fresh salad for dinner (despite its shameful crunchiness). This was the first time that I prepared my Chickpea Waldorf Salad ahead of time, and I was pleasantly surprised at how delicious is was after several hours. Those extra hours in the fridge gave the flavors a chance to intermingle in their tastiness.

Google Reader beckons, my friends. Have a happy Friday!

My family has a tendency to inhale meals. Indeed, thanks to our turbo eating speeds, Thanksgiving dinner typically lasts no longer than 30-40 minutes. Unfortunately, this rapid eating style continues when I’m on my own too. During the school year in particular, I am often far too focused on the upcoming test or activity to truly savor my meal.

Accordingly, I have made several concerted efforts over the years to eat more mindfully—to dine rather than merely eat. One method I’ve adopted in the past to slow down mealtime is the use of chopsticks. In my experience, grasping pieces of food with two sticks of wood is slightly more challenging than stabbing them with a fork, thereby reducing the likelihood of the trademarked Yoder chow-down.

In looking over my meals today, I noticed that I never used a fork. Granted, the first two meals were eaten with my fingers, my utensils of choice. Nonetheless, dinner required occupied a reasonable 20+ minutes to consume thanks to the use of chopsticks. Bearing these results in mind, perhaps I’ll set up a Chopstick Challenge for myself (ala Katie).

Are you a fast eater? How often do you use chopsticks?

Let’s get onto the forkless meals:

Although there are utensils pictured below, I didn’t use them. Sometimes utensils seem far too fussy

In organizing the pantry last night after a Publix run, I noticed a lonely jar of roasted red peppers. Unsurprisingly, Roasted Red Pepper Hummus was on the lunch menu this afternoon.

Tonight’s dinner was a modified version of my beloved Peanut Butter Noodles recipe. Instead, I made a Peanut Butter Slaw dish, substituting broccoli slaw for noodles (and adding tofu, of course). Tasty.

Good night, lovelies!

Despite the pleasant, running-friendly temperature this morning, I opted to go for a swim due to achy joints. As per usual, after my workout I set about preparing breakfast. This time, however, instead of sporting my sweaty running tank and shorts while cooking, I was wearing my dripping bathing suit. I soon discovered that such garments were a poor choice for culinary endeavors. By the time breakfast was served, I had splattered hot oatmeal on my stomach, stained my belly button with blueberry juice, and dripped water from my damp bathing suit all over the kitchen. While seemingly convenient, preparing meals in your bikini is not a good idea, my friends.

What did you learn today?

Aside from my slightly dysfunctional breakfast preparation, I was quite a productive little booger today—finalizing details for my new apartment, furniture shopping, setting up my fall classes, and getting all three of my watches fixed. Shweet. Here’s the food that kept me going:

This breakfast certainly was not a joy to prepare, but it was dang tasty. I enjoy the blueberry-banana combo so often I think I should come up with a new name for it—Bloonana? Bananabloob? Suggestions welcome.

After scouring furniture stores all morning, I returned home for a quick lunch.

Dinner-time snuck up on me again, so I turned to the freezer for inspiration. My friend Amy came to the rescue yet again.

I am seriously in need of some groceries, so I am off for a fun evening at Publix. Good night!

I can’t wait to get started on decorating! I will be updating you on the move-in process as it progresses—design tips are welcome!

I spent most of today in the car, unfortunately, so I consumed mostly grab-n-go fare. I apologize for the slightly blurry pictures—it ain’t easy taking food photos while riding in the car at 80 MPH!  Without further ado, the grub:

Between my morning workout and an appointment with my advisor, I managed to scarf down some breakfast kindly provided me by my dad.

Then it was time to hit the road back home to Birmingham. Lunch was a mish-mash of various items gathered over the course of the trip: hummus from Whole Foods, sandwich thins from Kroger, Subway salad, etc.

Dinner was a quick trip at Moe’s, where I ordered the (limited time only) Vegetarian Tofu Bowl. Loved the flavors in this meal—just wish they had been a little more generous with the guac!

Now I sit chomping on cottage cheese, excited for the next phase of my life to begin. Good night:)

Before I get onto the food, below are a few pictures from the weekend:

Another visit to Elmo’s Diner:

Furniture shopping for my new apartment:

A return to Butternut Squash:

Now onto the grub!

Saturday

Brunch meal before apartment hunting:

Many apartments and several handfuls of frozen grapes later, I was starving for some of Elmo’s comfort food.

Sunday

I haven’t had oatmeal in ages (Wednesday’s overnight oats don’t count), so my breakfast menu was a no-brainer.

Before heading out for one last apartment tour, I made a snacky plate of all my favorites.

We had a repeat of graduation weekend in that we dined at B-Nut Squash and the Yogurt Pump. I just can’t get enough fro-yo these days…

Good night, all!

The Simple Life

Eggs tended carefully so as not to be rubbery

Kosher salt and Pam to taste

One turkey sausage link as a savory partner

A modest slice of cornbread courtesy of Mr. W. Dixie

A necklace of BBBs (Bama Blueberries)

Washed down with an OJ chaser

Chicken noodle soup from a can and what of it?

Particularly good with the PB&J occasionally dunked

With the J consisting of real fruit spread

And the PB being nature’s perfect food

To accompany a surprisingly sweet apple

Whole wheat pasta is the thinking man’s pasta

(I’m thinking it’s better for me than regular)

Red sauce with ground beef, easy on the salt

(Did you say something?)

Tossed salad with ranch dressing

Makes for a creamy counterpoint

Hungry at 8:30 pm  — is it mind or matter?

Shredded Wheat has never just been for breakfast for me

Good, cold skim milk and no sweetener

Nature’s Melatonin to help me sleep

Unfortunately, such a variable eating schedule is typical for me when I am on vacation; unforeseen adventures and obstacles inevitably make mealtimes all but an afterthought.

Do you maintain your normal eating schedule when on vacation? Any tips for someone who struggles with such things (like me)?

Onto today’s random collection of eats:

My first meal was closer to lunchtime rather than breakfast, so I gave into my wicked hummus craving.

After touring an apartment or two, I was hangry. I dove into my snack stash and pulled out an 18 Rabbits bar. I am really digging the coconut flavor of these bars!

For dinner, Seth and I headed out to another old favorite of Durham, The Blue Corn Cafe. You may recall past visits to this restaurant…and that I almost always order the same thing: black bean tortas. Ah-may-zing.

Hope you all have a fabulous weekend, and keep an eye out for a guest post from Papa Broc!

Today was a rare instance in which I adopted Katie’s eating style in that I ate a series of snacks rather than three well-balanced meals. I’ve tried structuring my diet into mini-meals before, with not-so-successful results; I often ended up in situations in which mini-meals were not possible, and my tummy did not appreciate the dearth of food. Nonetheless, a day of grazing isn’t an unwelcome change of pace on occasion. I felt like I was eating more intuitively as a result of being “freed” from the boundaries of meals.

Which eating style do you prefer—three squares or mini-meals?

In accordance with aforementioned grazing, my photos for the day are a bit more scattered than usual:

Before heading to the gym I snacked on some multigrain Puffins. FYI these are gluten-free!

Afterward, I killed some time in the campus student center, where smoothies are available. They seemed particularly appealing this morning, so I decided to treat myself to a strawberry-yogurt concoction. I can’t even remember the last time I had a smoothie that wasn’t homemade!

My tummy started grumbling a few hours later, so I raided Seth’s refrigerator for a snack.

After a matinee showing of Despicable Me, my persistent appetite kicked in again…

I finally had a real meal at about 7PM when we stopped at Green Tango. In the past, I’ve complained about customized salad places like this one because they chop up all the ingredients—highly unappealing for a food blogger like myself. Accordingly, I Seth requested for my salad to remain un-chopped, for your viewing pleasure. Don’t say I never did nothin’ for you:)

Alright, it’s time to continue my day of relaxation. Good night!

Which restaurants are “old favorites” in your town?

Rewind to this morning:

Before heading out on my morning flight, I pulled out a batch of overnight oats that I had prepared last night before bed. I added some tropical flair to this rendition with kiwi, coconut extract, and coconut butter.

As discussed in yesterday’s post, I packed my lunch for today. Just the usual in the brown sack today: Sunbutter + jam, fruit, and veg. (I always use Sunbutter instead of peanut butter when I’m traveling in case someone on the plane has peanut allergies).

Dinner of course was enjoyed at Sushi Love. I think the reason I love veggie sushi so much is directly related to my fondness for avocado:)

Alright, movie time! Good night.

As of tomorrow, I’ll be leavin’. Accordingly, this song has been stuck in my head all day.

What can I say? I’ll always be a sucker for teenage heart-throbs. I am only slightly embarrassed to admit that I am now following Justin Bieber on Twitter.

What was I talking about? Oh, yes. I’m leaving. I am headed to North Carolina for several days to find an apartment and complete a few other tasks related to beginning my graduate studies in nutrition. I am plenty excited for apartment hunting, but I’m far more psyched to see Seth:)

As per usual, I packed a variety of snacks for the trip.

Upon further contemplation, I added a few squeeze packs of Justin’s nut butter and a few Barbara’s samples. I’ve also packed my lunch for tomorrow, as I’ll be in transit come mealtime. Clearly, I like to be prepared…

Do you pack snacks/meals when you go on vacation?

I was busy getting myself organized for my trip today, so I stuck to some B-Hut classics for my meals:

This breakfast was prepared and consumed far too quickly for my liking. Sadski.

Lunch was a simple Greek salad. I could have used feta instead of cottage cheese (we have giant tubs of feta lurking in the fridge thanks to a recent Sam’s run), but my devotion to the cottage cheese-chickpea combo is far too intense to change the recipe now.

Scrambled tofu was on the menu for dinner again. Fortunately, this rendition turned out as delicious as I remember—quite a contrast from the last time I enjoyed this dish (which was an epic fail). I was relieved to discover that my scrambled tofu skillz aren’t lost.

OK Glee is calling my name. Next time I’ll be posting from NC!