Fall is coming…

I love fall almost as much as I love winter. At the cafe I work at, we now have pumpkin lattes. Now, I don’t like lattes or hot coffee but I love knowing that fall has come. We stop selling out of iced coffee and start selling out of our pumpkin syrup! Breakfast was a little sad today. No oatmeal. No porridge, even! It’s fall break still, so there are not as many options. I ended up having egg whites, grapes, cantaloupe, and rice krispies. Eugh. I don’t like rice krispies but all the other cereal was filled with sugar – cocoa puffs, fruit loops, frosted flakes, etc. I know rice krispies are not a nutritional powerhouse… but I do love my grains at breakfast! I made a nice little treat today after breakfast:

A Peppermint Mocha Frappuccino! This is my first in ages, but I just needed a little pick-me-up! I put in 2/3 cup skim milk, 1 cup of coffee, 1/2 cup ice cubes, 2 tbsp cocoa, and 1/3 candy cane (crushed). I should have put less of something in because it didn’t fit in my cup. Anyway, I took the delicious drink to the library where I’m currently about to start studying.

 

A month and a half of college food…

And the college student is quite happy!

A delicious breakfast: strawberries, egg whites, and a blueberry pancake! I actually didn’t like the pancake – I’m more of a porridge person.
And a somewhat delicious dinner: pasta with marinara, steamed vegetables, and a salad with hummus. The marinara was too sweet, though.

So I ate a big bowl of fat free vanilla yogurt instead!

And I a delicious lunch:melon, salad with hummus (I don’t really like dressing), tuna on a pita with tomato and swiss, and two pickles!

So much for terrible college food

I’ve arrived at college! Classes and orientation have not started yet, but I’ve been eating at the dining hall. What? I hear you say. You’re choosing to eat at the dining hall? Yes, yes I am. Because I have amazing, healthy dining!

Here’s a picture of my meal. My other picture won’t upload…

Bowtie with marinara, apple muffin, vegetable soup, salad with tuna

Wow. Well, on the way to college, the ‘rents and I stopped at a little eatery. I had eaten Banana Overnight Oats and Homemade Frap, a Starbucks Frap, a Clif bar, and an applesauce. Naturally, I was very, very hungry. That food list is missing an essential component – lunch! So I went into this eatery very hungry. I ordered something unusual – a falafel salad pita. I like falafel, but avoid it usually since it’s usually cooked in peanut oil. This was cooked in veggie oil. This was the massive meal:

Pretty much as it came, some falafel crumbled onto the pita, eaten only a bit

And THIS is what was left:

Ugh... so stuffed.. but so delicious!

I ate the pita, the lettuce, the tomatoes, the cucumbers… that alone was voluminous, if not much calorific value. Since I do watch my fat, I used about 1-2 tsp of tahini yogurt only. And, I (if you can tell) didn’t eat any of the fried falafel. I “gorged” the falafel balls and ate only the unfried parts. But, for a person who eats very little fat, that was a big uh-oh!

So, I had a stomach ache for an hour or two, but I woke up at ten pm STARVING.

Too Delicious to Take a Picture

This morning (last breakfast at home!) I had overnight oatmeal. Umm… first off, oatmeal is disgusting when it is cold. However, Overnight Oatmeal in the microwave = best oatmeal ever. Last night, around five p.m., I made the oatmeal and put it in the fridge. At 5:45 a.m. this morning, I took it out, tasted it, and immediately decided that I do not like cold oatmeal. So, I put it in the microwave for 4 minutes at 50%. Wow. Amazing. My taste buds have met their perfect match. So, last night, I put in a bowl…

1/2 cup oats

1 medium banana, sliced and halved

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup water

Honestly, last night I was doubtful. The banana in the bowl was double the size of the oats. I wanted banana in oatmeal, not oatmeal in banana. But this morning, the oatmeal had tripled in size. This was a recipe that I wish I had tried earlier! Next time, I would add cocoa powder and dice the banana (slices were too big).

All Wrapped Up in Packing

I’ve been a bit busy the past two days with packing for college. I make fast(er) lunches than usual, maxing out at ten minutes prep, aiming for five minutes prep. Here’s some eye candy of my quick lunches.

I love bananas

Delicious

Banana Oats – Breakfast 8/13/11

Last night’s dinner was filled with blueberries. Blueberry bagel and light cream cheese for dinner with carrots, cucumbers, and an apple, blueberry clif bar for dessert. If only the cream cheese had been blueberry flavored…

So, this morning, I was thoroughly blueberry-ed out. I chose to have banana oatmeal instead. I made 1/2 cup quick oats with chopped banana in the microwave for 1 minute, added a tsp of vanilla extract and mixed! Next to it is my morning coffee drink – 1/2 cup skim milk, 1/2 cup extra strong coffee, 1.5 tbsp torani sugar free vanilla syrup, pectin (to thicken), and 1.5 cups ice blended.

Vanilla Frappuccino and Banana-Vanilla Oatmeal

Strawberry Bonanza Lunch

Today’s healthy eats

Strawberry Oatmeal Smoothie – 2/3 cup skim milk, 1/8 cup oats, 1 cup strawberries, 1 cup ice

Yogurt Parfait -1/2 cup Stonyfield fat free plain yogurt, 1/2 cup kamut, strawberries, sprinkling of go lean crunch!

Salad – lettuce, cucumbers

toasted “chicken” wrap – Morningstar grillers chik’n, lettuce, pepper, whole wheat tortilla

YUM!

A food documentation

I am not a foodie. I just like food, particularly strawberries and oatmeal. I am starting this blog because I love coming up with delicious and nutritious simple meals. I am going to college soon, so I don’t know how often that I’ll update or how this blog will change.
I love oatmeal. Instant, regular, packets, cookies, smoothies, plain, you name. I haven’t met an oatmeal that I don’t like. Best of all, it’s healthy.
I also have to watch what I eat for health concerns, so you’ll notice my diet is low fat and high fiber.
In honor of the name of the blog and the first (short) post, here’s a picture of a new favorite food!