Grocery List

Day off!

There's nothing nicer to have a day away from the everyday grind to have a break.  Well, I had class this morning, walked home, and then drove to the market.  I bought the healthiest stuff.  Too healthy, perhaps; I'm feeling all high and mighty about my purchases like the people who silently judge what you put on the conveyor belt.  Ha, ha.

It's getting hot, so I bought frozen strawberries and mangoes to make smoothies.  I'd rather drink a smoothie than eat a hot lunch right now.  With my past career at Jamba Juice, I have a ton of options.  Instead of using juice, I bought plain soy milk (juice has too much sugar).

Also bought a whole pineapple, bananas to take on the go, extra sharp cheddar cheese (the most magical ingredient that makes everything taste yummy), red bell pepper, red and yellow onions, celery (to eat with my peanut butter), pudding, jello, dark chocolate (yummy), asparagus, broccoli, and whole wheat tortillas, which has nearly the same nutritional content as flour tortillas.  Also 1% milk and cereal for breakfast.

I bought two new things-- a sweet potato-- never cooked them before-- and ground flaxseed.  Ground flaxseed is something that I've been curious about but never tried.  It was the most expensive item out of my list-- $5!

Apparently, it is rich in fiber and omega-3 acids and helps with cholesterol, digestion, and blood pressure, etc.... and dry eyes!!  We shall see about that-- my eyes most always feel like they're going to pop out of my head.  I'm going to sprinkle it on top of yogurt, cereal, smoothies, vegetables.. the list is seemingly endless.  Not sure if it'll taste good, but will report back.

Happy Friday!

Leftover tomatoes, I turn you into healthy tomato sauce!

It's funny how busy I am in grad school.  Lately, I've been thinking about what I'm going to do with all my free time post-graduation-- learning how to properly cook, exercise, sew, start reading books again--!  until I realized that I said those same exact things while I was working.  I can't wait until I go to grad school so I can finally start exercising!  Learn how to cook and sew-- and I can read again!  Just goes to show you that if you want to do something, you just need to set time aside and do it.

But seriously, after I graduate, I'm going to start.  Forreals.

I'm trying to eat healthier-- less processed meals and more simple foods.  Eating fresh food isn't very difficult to prepare.  During this health kick, I've been wary of pasta.  I didn't want to use canned sauce anymore, but I really wanted pasta.  Since I'm working from home today, I decided to make some:

Does this not look delicious?  I dare you to say otherwise!

I used to buy too many tomatoes.  Since I love them, I thought I could eat them all, but always ended up throwing them away when they went bad.  I started freezing them-- just plopped whole tomatoes into the freezer.  No cutting or Tupperware necessary.

To create a sauce to top my whole wheat pasta, I threw two of my frozen tomatoes into the microwave.  Chopped up two cloves of garlic and threw in some red wine vinegar and olive oil and .. voila!  Just add pepper and top on pasta.  I'm surprised how flavorful it turned out!  Plus, tomatoes are a good source of lycopene, an antioxidant (I think?).

I bet eggplant would be good, too.  Maybe next time!

A Nutrition Kick

In addition to exercise, I'm trying to eat more fruits and vegetables-- I'm ashamed to say that a couple of days can go by without eating any vegetables!  The cooking life of a grad student includes an abundance of cereal and pasta.  After I come home from school and work, I'm exhausted-- plus I need to start working on projects and homework-- there's just not a lot of time and enthusiasm to cook.  Lots of onions, noodles, and canned sauce.  No more.

I loved my breakfast today-- no cereal!  Not to say anything negative about cereal, which I love (shredded wheat, yum), but sometimes, a change is needed.  Apparently, pineapple is nutritionally awesome, despite being high in sugar.  According to the online internets, pineapple has high amounts of vitamin C and manganese, a mineral that is reportedly good in all things health.

I wish I could eat leisurely like this every morning, but unfortunately, I usually wake up and rush out the door just 25 minutes later!

Avocado, Pineapple, and Yogurt.  Don't forget the coffee!  Yum.

Recommendation of the day:  Lately, I've been addicted to this food blog.  Check it out!  I especially love the posts about food eaten at home since it seems like something I could follow!