Friday, November 30, 2012

Foodie Penpal Reveal Day!!

I signed up to be a Foodie Penpal at 

My blogger is Catherine over at  Veg Charlotte. She is a vegan who was excited to send me some vegan goods! :) I was excited to get them, I'm really thinking about attempting a vegan lifestyle for a little while, after finals of course!

My box!


 Vegetarian Hamburger mix! I can't wait to try!

Banana chips! Believe it or not, I've never tried them before, I'm so excited to eat these Friday night during my Evidence final cram!



Yummy Caramel Apple Tea!

Pumpkin butter, which as soon as I got home I opened and ate with a spoon! My goodness! That stuff is AMAZING!! Tastes just like pumpkin pie!


Yummy vegan dark chocolate. I've seen this brand before, but have yet to try it! :) Can't wait!


Peach gummies, another great exam study snack!


She also sent me a book on veganism and some vegan magazines! I'm packing these for my cruise, and I can't wait to read more about the lifestyle! I really do admire vegans so much!


My breakfast this morning with the pumpkin butter on two slices of toast! Oh. So. Good. It should be illegal! :)


I really want to thank my foodie pen pal for all my goodies! I hope my penpal enjoyed all the goodies I sent to her as much as I enjoyed mine!

My foodie penpal can be found at: MCM Mama Runs

If you're interested in signing up here is a link:

<div align="center"><a href="http://www.theleangreenbean.com/foodie-penpals/" title="The Lean Green Bean" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.theleangreenbean.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/blogbadgeAPPLE.jpg" alt="The Lean Green Bean" style="border:none;" /></a></div>

Next month we're doing something different, and donating money to the survivors of Hurricane Sandy. As a survivor of Katrina, I understand the need that hey have there. I hope you'll join us!




Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Its Been A While

Hi blogging world!

Its been a while, I know. But I've been soooooo busy with my family that I did not make time to blog. I am sorry, for those of you who are out there reading my blog.

The next couple weeks will not be much better, I have a final on Saturday and then another on Monday. Yes, you read that right, a final on Saturday. Ugh.. I will do my best to take a few minutes every day to blog.

Well yesterday's eating looked like this:

Breakfast was my cheesegrit egg white bowl, no spinach because I had not been to the store yet and a cinnamon raisin bagelthin. Delicious.


Lunch was dry cereal and an apple. It was really good, but went unpictured.

Dinner was pulled 'pork' on toasted bread with broccoli and cauliflower and also a side of garden medley (green snap peas, potatoes and red peppers). It was delicious.


I found this stuff when I was in Whole Foods and I had to eat it before it went bad, it was really good. I would definitely buy it again.


Wish me luck on exams! Off to study!!

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Humpday Humpday

Wednesday started out with a not so easy time of getting myself out of bed. So. Sleepy. Want. Sleep. BUT I forced myself out of bed at 5:30 to do my Insanity workout. Its so tough!! After taking Leo for a walk and showering I had breakfast.

Which included a toasted whole grain English Muffin, egg whites with spinach, blueberry greek yogurt and grapes. So good. So filling.


Lunch was some whole grain chicken noodle soup. Yummy and warm. Today was a really cold day, so the soup was much needed!!


Dinner was my treat meal of the week. My favorite burger in town is at Boure. The Boure burger comes with 8 oz of grass fed beef with boure sauce and fried pickles dressed with lettuce and tomatoes. SOOOOOOOO GOOOOOOOD! And of course a side of french fries. There were no leftovers. 


I got desert to go. Cheesecake is my favorite dessert. However, once I got home, I was so full I decided to save it for dessert tomorrow! I can't wait! I did have a bite and it was delicious!!


Still busy working on papers and outlines. Oh life of a law student! :)

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Terrible Tuesday

Tuesday I got to sleep in a little, since my 8:00 am class was cancelled. I still woke up pretty early though and did an Insanity workout. After I finished, and wanted to die a little (in the best way possible haha) I took a shower, took Leo for a walk, then got ready. Before heading to class, I made a green smoothie. I love these things. :) 


Lunch was a Lean Cuisine Spinach and Artichoke Dip and Flatbread with some chips and salsa. Yummy.

I had an assignment due Tuesday that I thought we were supposed to work on separately then each give our advice to the class. I made a few notes, read a lot of cases and I thought I was ready to go. The teacher called up our group, who then made an introduction and then gave a lineup of who was going to address which point. Wait a minute. What?!? I'm part of this group and I thought we were doing it all separately. I was annoyed, I was freaking out. No, the projects are not for a grade, but I did not want to look bad in front of our professor, a former Dean of the law school AND a native of my hometown. I was appalled. Horrified. Annoyed. Embarrassed. Just to name a few emotions I felt. Well as we ended, I made my apologies for not having anything to add (everything had already been covered) and found out that another girl had not known about the meeting. Apparently the meeting was announced after class on Tuesday after I had left. I was astounded that the group would not have looked and made sure everyone was involved in the group. But they didn't. Oh so bad. Oh so stressed. :(

I decided to take my frustrations out at the gym, with a long slow walk on the treadmill. Which because of frustrations I added extreme bursts of activity. I burned calories so thats a plus. I am still not pleased with the situation, but I'm trying to move on.

For dinner, after last nights debacle with the Shiritaki noodles, I was NOT in the mood for pasta, so instead I made brown rice to mix the sauce with. The sauce was delicious. It was very simple, I just added roasted cauliflower and chopped cherry tomatoes to a prepared Whole Foods organic tomato sauce. On the side I added green beans and home made garlic toast. 


I still have a lot of work left to do on a paper due Friday, so off to work on it!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Marvelous Monday

Monday started out with an Insanity workout then a quick walk with Leo. These work outs. They are kicking my butt. In as good a way as possible haha. 

After a shower, I had breakfast of pumpkin spice toast, which I had frozen (I've never frozen bread before- but I decided to try it before the bed went bad) once it was toasted it was delicious! Definitely something I may do again, before the holiday flavors go away! Alongside the toast was some cheese grits and egg whites and spinach and a banana. I love that the picture looks kinda like a smiley face.


Lunch was cereal and grapes. I enjoyed it immensely but forgot to take a picture!

After class I went to the gym for a little while, I enjoy loosening my muscles up, because I feel like they get so tense after Insanity, doing some light walking while watching bad television keeps me feeling good. :) 

So for dinner I had bought some Shirataki noodles at Whole Foods because they were on sale. I was excited to give them a try: the whole bag was 40 calories! I prepared them exactly as they said to. I did notice a slight fishy smell, but I tried not to think about it so I wouldn't psyche myself out about trying them. I made a pasta sauce with Whole Foods Italian Herb Pasta Sauce and brussel sprouts and cherry tomatoes sliced in to add some bulk. I was excited to sit down with my slice of garlic cheese bread and green beans. But it was the weirdest texture I had ever eaten. It was like rubber and I couldn't finish more then two bites. So I finished my sides and ate another big bowl of cereal. Eek. Well, now I can say I tried!


This next week is going to be crazy with Thanksgiving break coming and finals looming overhead, but I'm going to try and find time every day (or as early the next day as possible) to blog. :) 



Sunday, November 11, 2012

Weekend Roundup

So this weekend has been pretty busy and fun.

When I started my journey last month into vegetarianism I had an old teacher from my undergraduate studies that lived in Memphis offer to take me to a vegetarian or vegan restaurant in Memphis. I was super busy all month so I didn't get to go, but I asked her if the offer was still good last week and she agreed to meet up with me on Saturday.

There were several options available but when she said there was a vegan diner style restaurant I was sold!

The restaurant is called Imagine and it was in Midtown.

Breakfast before I went


The restaurant:


The Menu was huge!

I forgot to take a picture of the actual meal, but I want to describe it because it was so amazing. It was a vegetarian take on Memphis BBQ with a sweet tangy sauce on a whole grain roll. It was accompanied with french fries and baked beans. Oh my goodness it was delicious! For starters, we had the vegan appetizer starter that had fried calamari, chicken nuggets, buffalo wings, hushpuppies, and corndogs. There was a lot of fried things, but it was delicious!!!

I will definitely go back and take friends!

After the amazing lunch, I stopped by Whole Foods and picked up a few things that are harder to find in town. I had to babysit so I picked up a salad from the salad bar and some hot food from the hot bar for Sunday dinner.


My teacher treated me to a slice of vegan chocolate cake that I had along with my salad that night. It was beyond believable! I wanted to lick the plate (and I may have haha).


Breakfast this morning was a bowl of cereal and a banana.
Lunch was a couple squares of pizza from the church where I went to a Discovery Meeting to learn more about becoming a member. Then when I got home I had a salad to go with it.

Dinner was from the hot bar and included my first time eating both couscous and quinoa. They were both delicious. Also there is some general tso 'chicken' some penne pasta, broccoli and some cheesy squash casserole. I had a side of some green beans and a slice of toast. I was much impressed! Everything was delicious! Especially the squash and the 'chicken!'


I have some work to do on a paper, and an outline, then I'm out for the night. Early Insanity workout tomorrow! :)

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Thankful Thursday

Today I am just thankful for my amazing family. I have the world's greatest mom. She's so amazing and she'll listen to me no matter how crazy I am!

I am thankful for a dad, who voted for a Democrat, even though he is a staunch Catholic Republican all because he wants my sister and I to be able to make decisions over our bodies and so we can have healthcare.

I am thankful for my wonderful sister, we may fight more then we are friends, but I think that just shows how much we truly do love each other. She is becoming a friend and a sister. And for that I am truly blessed.

I am thankful for my friends. I may not have a huge group of friends, but the friends I do have are extremely supportive and loving. They are there for me no matter what, and I know I can trust them to talk out any problems that I may have.

My day started with Insanity workout Max Cardio Recovery. It was a tough workout, but definitely a break from the past three days.

I slept in late, and skipped my first class so I could work on an outline for that class, I also feel a cold coming on, so I figured some sleep would be helpful!

Breakfast was a smoothie with spinach, frozen banana, blueberry greek yogurt, and an apple. I wasn't super fond of the consistency of the smoothie, but next time I think I'll add more water, and blend it a little longer. It tasted great!

Lunch was breakfast foods. Its so fast and easy to fix breakfast foods. Since someone from management was painting my door, it was also warm :)


Dinner was the same old same old. This time I toasted up a Hungry Girl Sandwich Flatbread to go with it and added green beans with the peas. Its still yummy. 


Tomorrow I have to babysit twice, so its nice to have the food in the fridge and know I can grab it and either heat it up before I go babysit, or if I don't have enough time I can heat it up at my 'kids' house! 

Next week I'm thinking of eating some of the frozen meals I have in my freezer and soups I have bought so I can clean out my cupboards before I go home for Thanksgiving for a week. I am trying to limit grocery shopping to the bare minimums, but today I went hungry and I ended up buying way too much! Oh well! 

Also I am planning on going to meet an old teacher of mine in Memphis, and I may stop at the Whole Foods there. I love getting new things to try that I can't find here! 

Happy Humpday!

Today was a pretty good day, I started out with another Insanity workout. This is such a killer week! WOW!! :) I'm feeling the burn!

Breakfast was my version of a Egg McMuffin- an English Muffin, strawberry jam, egg whites and a square of laughing cow cheese. YUMMY! It was accompanied with a greek yogurt and a little bit of granola!



Lunch was some more cereal and a banana. It was delicious, but not very filling for lunch. I should've added another fruit or something. Like grapes. It was fine though, I ended up eating my afternoon snack a little early! :)


Dinner as I said, would be repeated all weak, but I did remember to take a picture. Delicious and filling. I had to eat early because I had to babysit, but I grabbed an banana and some almond butter as a snack while we watched Little Mermaids. 


So some exciting news: I'm going on a cruise in December. From December 16-23, stops in Cozumel, Jamaica, and the Cayman Islands. I'm going with a friend and my sister and my brother. Its our Christmas present from our parents and we are super excited! I CANNOT WAIT for some relaxation! Sun! Fun!! 

So after babysitting last night I was on the phone trying to figure out the details from my sister. If anyone is reading and has any tips for us I would love to hear them!!

Tuesday, November 6, 2012

Election Day Tuesday

So today, as I'm sure you know was election day. As a law student it was a little crazy, everyone voicing their opinions pretty loudly ha!

Well I started out waking up super early for an Insanity workout, it was another 55 minutes of intensity. I was exhausted by the time I was done, and still sore after yesterday. I am kinda NOT looking forward to waking up tomorrow for the next day, haha. BUT the only work out you regret, is the one you DON'T do, so I will get my butt up and do it!

Breakfast was my standard fare of a Green Smoothie. In this one, I had a small frozen banana, plain Chobani greek yogurt, 3/4 of a small pear, spinach, water, and a packet of stevia. Mighty delicious!



Lunch went unpictured, because I forgot but it consisted of a spinach and artichoke dip Lean Cuisine and some chips and salsa. I was in a dipping, snacky mood. That was the first time I had that dip and I have to say, It was DELICIOUS! Definitely plan on taking that again next week!

Like I said yesterday, dinner was in the crockpot. I love arriving home and having dinner ready for me! You may not get too many pictures of dinner, because as you can see, its going to be repetitive the next few days! I definitely froze two portions, BUT that leaves 3 to eat the rest of the week. Since I'm babysitting a lot, it makes it easy to just pick it up on the run and go!



My final dinner consisted of the pork roast, potatoes, carrots, green beans and 2 (though only one slice is pictured) slices of bread! I definitely need to add more carrots next time, and maybe some broccoli or cauliflower. Or both. After my vegetarian month, I'm definitely loving the veggies. 



After dinner I had some desert, an apple and half a container of Arctic Zero Mint Chocolate Cookie frozen treat (I refuse to call it ice cream) when I first tried it I was not impressed. I was expecting ice cream, and it was NOT ice cream. But now that I know what to expect I really like it! Its expensive though so I do not try to buy it very often, though after all the babysitting I'm doing this week, I may invest in another tub!

After my snack, I had some decaf green tea while watching the debate results. I hope you got out and voted! 



I just noticed Leo in the background! :) He's such a pretty boy!


Movember Monday

So Monday started out with getting up early to do the insanity workout. Today it was Max Interval Circuit. Oh. My. Goodness. It was 55 minutes of Hell. I thought I was in shape, I was wrong. This 55 minute workout kicked my butt. I walked around all day very sore.

Breakfast was a toasted fiber-full English Muffin with strawberry fiber jam. Grits and eggs (spinach and cheese) and a banana. It was super delicious, and very filling.


After breakfast I went to babysit. I think the time change affected the baby, because she would take short cat naps but then be wide awake. It was a long morning, but I really do enjoy babysitting so much!

Lunch was a pb&j sandwich and cheetohs and grapes. It was good. After babysitting I went to class, where our teacher told us he was going to let us out early because he was under the weather. Well after 45 minutes he gave us a break, then proceeded to continue on with the lesson. We got out a full five minutes early. What a tease. :( 

After class I had to babysit again around dinner time, and I planned on taking Leo on a long walk but it was cold and raining so we just took a quick stroll around our neighborhood. Before babysitting, I ran to the farmers market to pick up a bar of the Equal Exchange dark chocolate bar for my friend who loves dark chocolate, but prefers 90% and they only had 71%, though they told me they were ordering more of the 80% but had sold out. I think she'll enjoy it, even though its a little less strong then she wanted. I was never a fan of dark chocolate, but its slowly growing on me, though I don't know if I will every enjoy the 90% variety. :) Whatever works!!

This chocolate is amazing though! I love it, and would encourage you to buy it whenever possible! I love that its all about fair trade and organic!

After babysitting for a few hours I ran home and heated up some pasta I had frozen. It was delicious. I definitely prefer reheating home cooked meals, rather then having frozen dinners where I don't know all of the ingredients. HOWEVER, I still don't mind occasionally having them, in fact, I have plans to eat one tomorrow for lunch. 


I also plan on cooking my first NON vegetarian meal in a month tomorrow. Well, cooking might be a stretch. I plan on sticking a pork roast and veggies in the crockpot so it'll be ready when I made it home that night!

Either way, it'll be delicious. I've made a plan to eat 80% of the time vegetarian and 20% of the time I'll eat carnivorously. When I eat meat, I also hope to try and always eat grass-fed beef and hormone free, free range chicken and pork. However, before I can do that, I need to clean out my freezer's stock pile of meat, which since it is just me, is not very much but over the next couple months I plan on eating it then replacing it with the better more organic ingredients. 

Also, tomorrow is election day, no matter what go out and vote! I don't get one of those handy dandy stickers because I voted absentee but I encourage you to vote! Show your voice! 

Monday, November 5, 2012

Lazy Sunday

Usually Sunday is a day for cleaning my house and going to church and doing school work. This one was no different, just a little less housework! :)

Breakfast before church was a new kind of cereal. Cascadian Farms Organic Cereal-Honey Nut O's. It was delicious! I think I like it better, then Honey Nut Cheerios!


After church, which is next door to my gym, I hopped in the gym and watched an old episode of Real Housewives of Atlanta. I love that show. When the commercials were on I sprinted and while the show was on I walked in an incline. 

After the gym, I ran into Petsmart for some dog food and cat food. 

For lunch I had just two slices of veggie turkey slices so I loaded them up on a sandwich thin added some spinach and mustard. Side of carrots, and cheetohs and grapes. Yes, sometimes my meals are repetitive, but it helps me keep eating healthy.

It got pretty chilly yesterday, so dinner was frozen leftover chili and green beans and a toasted sandwich thin with butter and garlic salt. It was so good and warm!


Tomorrow is already Monday, and I should be getting the name of my Foodie Pen Pal from TheLeanGreenBean, I'm super excited and I'm already trying to think of local things to include in my box! Just have to wait to hear if there are any food allergies before I start purchasing! Have a great day!!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

How NOT to pick up Women

So after an interesting night out the other night, I was hit on by some interesting guys. It made me start to think about the ridiculous things guys do when trying to pick up women and while talking to my Mom she said something like "Well that should be tip number 1 on how to NOT pick up women." I decided to compile some tips of my own based on personal experiences. This is meant to be amusing! :)




Tip 1: Don’t lie about your level in school. Telling a law student that you’re a junior in law school, is like saying that you’re a junior in elementary school. It. Does. Not. Make. Sense.


Tip 2: If you’re going to wear a costume to a Halloween party and plan on trying to pick up a girl, make it a cool costume or at least something really witty. Wearing a spongebob costume, does not work.



Tip 3: If you’re going to try and get a girls number, do not pull out your phone in front of them with a picture of you and your girlfriend kissing on the background of said phone.
Tip 4: Don’t assume that when a girl says she has a boyfriend, that she is lying. (Even if she may be.) Just take the answer and go. Pressuring her, will not make you more attractive or make her give you her real number. It will make you look like a creeper. 
Tip 5: Don’t insult a girl when she is so frustrated with the situation she says she’s a lesbian and her friend is her girlfriend. Again, just take that excuse and walk away. Lying and saying you had just seen her friend kiss a boy will only piss off the friend who will threaten to find security. 



Tip 6: Do not touch a girl without asking. Do not touch a girl in an inappropriate way. Do not slap a girl on the ass. Its not sexy, its ridiculous! Also, its a crime. Don't do it.
Tip 7: If you offer to buy a girl a drink, don't get offended when she asks to go with you to the bar. She doesn't know you. Yes, you're PROBABLY a nice guy, BUT we're not going to take anything for granted. So thank you for the drink, but don't feel offended that we don't trust you yet. 
Tip 8: Ask us questions about ourselves and LISTEN to what we say. Thats the best way to make us feel comfortable with you. You don't have to be super suave to pick up women, you just need to be nice and make the girl feel comfortable.



Tip 9: Don't lie about things. If we do go out with you for a first date, and the car you come to pick us up in isn't a BMW or whatever, we will probably not trust you and won't want to have a relationship with you.
Tip 10: If a girl is interested in you, finish! You can tell by if she touches you, if she leans in to listen to you. If she smiles at you and makes eye contact. Trust your gut. Ask for her number. 



Now, don't get me wrong, I am not saying I'm so special that a guy has to be perfect or anything while approaching me. In fact, I think its shows a lot of courage for a guy to approach a girl, no matter what! BUT at the same time, women deserve respect and these tips are different things I or my friends have experienced. Learn from this! :) 



School Work Saturday

So on Saturday I had agreed to babysit almost all day, but it was fun and I got a lot of school work done during nap time.

For breakfast I had Whole Grain Blueberry Waffles and light syrup and a banana and yogurt with just a sprinkling of granola. :) I love breakfast foods! And I need to go to the grocery store!


Because I love breakfast foods so much I decided to continue eating breakfast for lunch too haha. I had a slice of Pumpkin Spice toast, some grits and egg whites, and a whole bunch of grapes! It was delicious!


For dinner, I finally got off the whole breakfast theme of the day for a meatless turkey sandwich with cheetohs, carrots, and an apple with peanut butter.


I finished the night after babysitting going to the grocery store, tomorrow should be a little less breakfast-fied haha. :) 

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Its Friday! :)

The day started out interesting. I woke up early to do Insanity. Beforehand I take Leo out for a walk, and I accidentally locked myself out. I live in a duplex so I have a neighbor, but I know how busy she is and all so I waited for about thirty minutes walking Leo around outside before knocking on her door. Thankfully I was able to gain entry and warm myself up with some grits and eggs and toast and a banana. I know I eat this breakfast a lot, its so easy for me and its delicious.


After babysitting I ate my regular lunch of this week. A vegetarian turkey sandwich and cheetohs and carrots and some grapes. As always, it was so yummy!

Dinner was with my Bestie and my friend who was a sorority sister of mine. She's going to be close to town more now that she has an internship at a hospital. She's in medical school and I'm so proud of her! She's going to be a great doctor!

Dinner was at her favorite restaurant that she had missed the most. Ajax. Its country cooking and I was thrilled with my first non-vegetarian meal in a month. I had green beans with bacon, mashed potatoes and country fried steak. It was so good!! :) I forgot to take a picture until I was finished, but you can see that there wasn't much leftover!


So I've decided that while I am a huge fan of vegetarians and I applaud their choice to live that way, its just not going to be for me all the time. BUT I loved the way I felt as a vegetarian and I now have plans to follow a kind of 80/20 rule. 80 percent of the time I will eat vegetarian, while the other 20 percent I will eat meat. When I go out to eat with friends and I want a steak. I will eat a steak. 

I also plan on eating as organic and as much hormone free chicken and grass-fed beef as possible when I do eat meat. Though it costs more, I think its better for our bodies. Although I do have a freezer full of not so good meat that needs to be eaten too. I think life is all about balance! And I'm just doing the best I can!