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!

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!!

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! :)

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!

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. :) 

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! :)

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!