Quinoa Stir-Fry & The Ekko Park Show

Though I claimed all my dinners henceforth this week would be boring and predictable, last night’s dinner was actually quite interesting!  It was, indeed, stir-fry, but we had some cooked quinoa on hand to use instead of rice Wild and crazy, I know!

Here’s how to make Cheater’s Quinoa Stir-Fry

1. Chop one carrot and some mushrooms, green beans, and broccoli.
2. Saute the carrots for a few minutes first.
3. Microwave the broccoli for a minute to soften it up.
4. Add the rest of the veggies (broccoli, mushroom, and green beans) to the pan.
5. Add a few dashes of soy sauce.
6. Add the cooked quinoa.
7. Pour in a lightly beaten egg.

Try it, you’ll like it!

Our quiz master from trivia at Father Ted’s is in a band, Ekko Park, and they played a free show last night, so of course we were there!  I enjoyed Alex’s leftover Tui before we left:

In the spirit of trivia, here was my Cap-Fact: What is New Zealand’s largest inland city?

………

Hamilton.

The show was AWESOME!  It was late, but short and sweet We had such a good time.

That’s our quiz master in the center.  Not only did we feel so cool to know the lead singer, but he’s also really friendly and nice, which makes the whole situation that much cooler!!!  And their music is good, to boot.  This is a music video of my favorite song by them, which happened to be filmed in the very same bar!

So the show was basically just like that!  But in color.  Lol. Except that sadly, there wasn’t a big crowd becuase 1) it was raining, and 2) it’s the Queen’s birthday weekend.  Lame, I say.  Nevertheless, they put on a fantastic show.  We were there and had an absolutely fabulous time!  We also stood right behind their biggest fans, and it was so fun to watch them dance like mad and sing along to every word.  I’m so glad that we got to see his band live before we left.  We have seen the videos so many times and we’ve known Joe for months, so it was about time!

I woke this morning, ready to run in the sun, but guess what? That’s right: hip pain!  So I settled with just taking a 45-minute walk around the domain and photographing ducks and trees.

(The answer to your question, David, is yes, the leaves have fallen and the trees are bare.  I guess I just haven’t been very observant. )

When I came home, I realized something that may or may not end up being a crisis-type situation:

That’s a dangerously dwindling supply of instant coffee.

Here’s hoping it lasts the week!!!  I do NOT want to have to buy a whole other package before I go home.  I only use a bit at a time, but I don’t knowwwww….

Fingers crossed!

I am really lucky because I got to talk to my good friend Tara this morning for so long!  She’s back in the states from her semester studying in Ireland.  It was sooo good to see her, but such a tease.  I can’t wait to see her in a few weeks, for REAL!

For lunch, I had a large salad of lettuce, carrots, peppers, and mushrooms, all lightly drizzled in light Italian dressing so that it didn’t taste so….raw.

This is the salad I’ll be eating for the next five days straight.  YUM!

Then, for protein and grains, I made a microwaved egg with S&P, and put it on top a piece of toast with sundried tomato hummus spread on top.

The hummus was new-to-me and it gets my hearty stamp of approval!  YUM!  Lunch left me so satisfied! And it kept me full for ages.

Today, all day, I have been working on my final math project.  And it’s officially whooping my a$$.  My rough draft is done, it’s at over 2500 words, and both my examples and references are weak as.  I’m not sure I can bring myself to do much more today.  So yes, tomorrow will be hellish.

You might already know that I love inspirational videos by children, such as Jessica’s Daily Affirmation, and my brother David sent me another one recently that I just can’t get enough of.

Seriously, I’ve already watched it like 5 times!  It’s helping with the project: I can do it because I believe in myself!  This video might make tomorrow slightly less torturous….

At least I have some pure joy to indulge in!

That’s right, M&M brownies (Rose, you created a monster!)

It’s the perfect pick-me-up.  And necessary for finals.  Well, my final week of school, that is

Have you been to a good concert lately?

Namaste.

Happy Birthday, Gram L!

Happy Birthday to the coolest 86-year-old on the planet!

Here is why we should celebrate her amazing life:

• She is a world traveler.  She’s been all over Europe.  She just went to Paris just a few months ago, but all her loyalties lie in Italy.  If only she would come to Vermont…
• She is a grandmother of three.  Gram L has lived with me since the day I was brought home from the hospital.  As I mentioned in my Mother’s Day post, she has cared for my like a mother my whole life.

• She is a loud, sassy, zesty Italian woman.  She doesn’t take crap from no one (she has taught me all the Italian swear words, shhhh), but she’s also the star of every room she’s in.
• She has cared for my Aunt every day of her life.  And my mom, too, but I don’t think she gave her as much trouble as Paula…

• She is a total foodie. (Italian is her favorite, of course.) I get that from her, too!  I wish I was having an Angel Food Cake with homemade whipped cream and fresh fruit – her typical birthday treat.
• She is a coffee connoisseur.  She goes to Starbuck’s every morning and knows everyone’s name.

• She walks every morning to and from church!  She is more active before 7:30am than many people are all day.
• She laughs the most joyful cackle you will ever hear.  Every night as she watched Seinfeild or America’s Home Videos in her little cave, we can hear her laughing from the other side of the house!

• She makes friends everywhere she goes.  I admire her friendliness and contagiously fun personality.
• She is so stylish!  Chico’s is her favorite store, and she’s also a great bargain-hunter, too!

• She sends me the best chain emails.  She has a Facebook.  She comments on my blog.  She Skypes with me.  For someone who was alive in the ’20s, she’s very modern!
• She knows how to party!  She’s always celebrating something with her lady-friends, and wouldn’t say no to a glass of wine…

• She is a church lady.  She goes to Catholic mass every morning at 6:30am (and again on Saturday afternoons), but actually she doesn’t go on Sundays.  It’s too crowded.  But hey, she does her time!
• She loves her pup!

• SHE IS SANTA CLAUS!!! The secret is out.  I think she might be the Easter Bunny, too!
• She shares all her food with me, including the “good eggs” that she buys.  She also makes an excellent bowl of oatmeal!

• She has lived an incredible life.  She has survived the Great Depression, went against the norm to become a working woman, fell in love with a Navy boy that I’m sad I never got to meet, raised a daughter (or two ) with special needs, cared for her grandchildren when her daughter needed it most, and traveled the world…in her 70s.
• I admire her so much and I am thankful that I have inherited so many of her sparkling qualities.

I love you, Gram L!  I hope you have a fabulous birthday! 

**********************

This morning, before my run (read about my tips on how to become a runner!), I had two dates slathered in peanut butter.

I usually get digestive stomach cramps when I eat right before a run, or I get hungry tummy rumbles by the 20th stride if I go on an empty stomach, so I have been on the lookout for the perfect pre-running snack.  I have read about eating dates on a couple of blogs, and it seemed like they are energizing, but still light.  I have been on the lookout, but I haven’t seen them in the grocery store until this past Thursday!  Added bonus?  They are a product of USA (scratch that, it’s actually a big shame…thinking of all the greenhouse gasses that were released to transport it!)

The verdict?  They were PERFECT!!!  No hunger and no cramps!  Me likey!  I ran for about 30 minutes mostly because I was running (ha!) a bit late.  I was feeling really energized and strong, though!  When I got home, I did some yoga in the form of downward dog, pigeon, and forward fold before quickly showering, panicking about failing to correctly submit a paper (FOR THE THIRD TIME!!!!  Thank God I don’t really go to this school), and eating brekkie:

Instant coffee w/soymilk and a microwaved egg w/ S&P on Italian Herb Paste-slathered toast.  Plus, vampire toast made an appearance.  Apparently, I have recently become a vampire and need my daily does of blood-on-toast to survive.  (Is this little bit getting too gross?)

Then it was off to the Farmer’s Market for our weekly produce supply!  Last week, we bought a bag of mandarin oranges (because the teller at the convenience store told us they were in season) and half the bag was moldy.    Boo!  So today, I bravely yet respectfully confronted the produce man we’d bought them from, and he offered to give us a free bag of them if we bought 2 kilos of apples.  Very fair.

Sold!  Except now we have A TON of apples because my teacher gave me some yesterday, too lol

For lunch, I made a grand ol’ salad:

Salad greens with raw carrots and green beans.  Dressed in lime juice, S&P, and pumpkin-kumara hummus.  Bit of a rando combo but it rocked!

I snaked on a mandarin orange and p’nut butt- with a side of sliced apple (and a few crackers!)

Our friend had asked Hannah and I to help her with one of her photography projects this afternoon.  We were models!

Hannah with another "model" on the "set"

I had to hold a sad face for a long time, not easy for silly me!

Dinner was another simple one.  I have been totally lazy today in so many respects.  Another frozen pizza.  This one was only nz$3!!! It was tasty (BBQ chicken with tomato chunks pizza)

But def not as good as the Spicy Vegetarian we usually get….

Is your grandma awesome, too?

Namaste.

Nothing and Everything

I woke up at 5:45am!  I am always very eager to go to school on Thursday mornings So naturally I needed a coffee.

I got my hands on the big mug this morning – boo ya!

I was starved and I wanted to have a big breakfast to keep me full during a long morning of teaching. So I decided to make a massive bowl of oatmeal!

Full to the brim!  I cooked 1/2 cup of oats with 1 cup of water (+ the last dash of milk) and heaps of cinnamon.  I also added chopped banana, shredded coconut, and smashed almonds–violent!  lol

Lately I have been crushing my almonds with a spoon instead of tediously chopping them.  Twice as fast, doesn’t make as much noise, and adds a more satisfying crunch!

Hidden treasure:

a glob of peanut butter at the bottom of the bowl

New Zealand is the first country to see the sun every morning.  And I am probably the first person in Auckland to see the sun every morning

Today in school I did nothing. Yet at the same time, I did everything.  During their morning run, I was in charge of monitoring the most oft-cut corner of the track–big responsibility!  Then, the class finished making Mother’s Day cards and started making people chains.  This is part of a “following instructions” unit.  I helped students figure out what to do and such, but mostly they just helped each other, which I love to see   While my teacher did some logistical stuff, I was in charge of overseeing the class and transitioning them to the next activity.

At Morning Tea, I wasn’t hungry–go oatmeal!–but I ate my apple as a preventative measure.

(The almonds were eaten during second break to curb a bit of hunger brewing in my tummy.)

For the rest of the morning I did more of everything (which was nothing).  The students planned a “recount” of their day yesterday.  They needed to fill in:

• When?
• Who?
• What did we do?  First… Next…  Then… After that… Finally…
• Concluding statement

Then they were to write it in paragraph form, all in the past tense.  Again, I oversaw the class, helped those who needed it, and led the transitions.  Of course I was pleased to be in charge, but all of this comes very naturally to me.  I guess I just wanted the challenge of instruction.

By lunch time, I still didn’t have much of an appetite, so I just ate my carrot sticks and hummus.

I didn’t even want my beautiful salad:

Field greens, boiled egg, mushrooms, red bell pepper capsicum, and more carrot sticks dressed in Lite Italian.  At the end of lunch break I was beginning to feel a bit hungry, so I ended up eating about half.

After lunch, the math specialist came in to introduce measurement.  I think there was some instruction going on, but I was deep in the process of making a new homework chart for the second term.  I know it was an urgent task since it was almost the end of the second week, but there was MATHS going on across the room!

I was finished with the chart in time to help with the standard unit introduction.  They learned the types of things you would measure with millimeters (a ladybug), centimeters (your arm), meters (the building), and kilometers (the distance to America!). Their task was to copy down what they had brainstormed, but I don’t think they understood.

Guess what we did for the last 45 minutes?  Finished the people chains…

I have declared Thursday my day off from exercise since I have no time in the morning and I’m too tired when I get home.  Plus, I tend to eat extra well since I don’t have time to snack!  But I think I’m going out for Mexican food and then dancing tonight, so that’s a bit of a workout there!

Are you celebrating Cinco de Mayo?

Namaste.

Homemade Hint-of-Lime Pita Chips

I am proud to say that I finished another paper today! This one is for my internship, to be sent to UVM. I interviewed a few of my students some math questions and how they solved them, then wrote an assessment about math strategies! Fun stuff!

For lunch, I had this wonderful beauty:

A HUGE salad. It started off with salad greens and chopped tomato. Then, I sauteed chopped zucchini and carrots, then threw in some cooked brown rice and an egg at the end. Oh yeah, and two big spoonfuls of hummus and salsa.

It was super filling and satisfying, but it left me wanting more hummus…with crackers. But we ain’t got no crackers! But we have pita bread…and an “oven”….so I decided to make some Pita Chips!

I ripped up bits of pita for nice bite-sized chips. I VERY LIGHTLY dipped them in olive oil, then gave them a dash of salt and, on a whim, a few squeezes of lime juice. I baked them at 230*C for ten minutes.

Uneven, just like the zucchini chips! I blame my microwave/oven…

Doesn’t it just look deceitful! Luckily, I like stuff a little burnt and a lot crunchy.

Homemade Hint-of-Lime Pita Chips! The lime definitely took it up a notch. Craving satisfied! YUM!

The rest of my day was spent in class. First in Maori Culture and Society, we learned about views of land and kinship ties. The Maori believe that they belong to the Earth, not that the Earth belongs to them, so they are huge conservationists and honor their landscape. We could learn a thing or two from these environmentalists. In Leadership, we talked about “doing first things first” and talking about our achievements. All very useful information, but it comes so naturally to me. It doesn’t excite me or anything. I need to write a little paper on that, now. Sigh and I don’t want to.

I’ve been struggling with some stress the past few days. Everything is seeming pretty overwhelming: my internship, homework, all the prep for my upcoming 2 weeks of travel. I am trying to remind myself my mantra (stolen from Life is Good) “do what you love, love what you do” but it’s especially hard being away from home! I’m homesick for my support system I’m surrounded by back in VT/PA. I am lucky to have a major component of that support system with me (Hannah <3) but unfortunately, right now, it's like the blind leading the blind!

We both agreed we needed some magic Harry Potter chocolate, so we went across the street for a bar of Cadbury.

It’s working

How do you deal with stress?

Namaste.

CinnaBon Craving Conquered!

I am one of those people who wakes up singing “Good Morning, Baltimore Auckland!” most mornings.  Even when I wake up before sunrise!  I love getting an early start because I know that I have a very full day of my lovely life ahead of me.  And since I had student teaching today, a full day it most certainly was (I’ll update you on the school shenanigans later)

Breakfast was a delicious cinch at 7:15am with Coconut and Mixed Berries Overnight Oats (made with oat milk and lots of cinnamon!)

I also (efficiently) grabbed an Americano with a splash of soymilk from Starbucks on the way to the bus!  I was not late at all this week!  (Read that funny story here).

As a snack during morning tea, in which I had a mug of french press: REAL COFFEE!!!, I brought along a homemade snack bar:

Lunch was a big old salad made with lettuce-wrap leftovers (plus almonds, chickpeas, and watercress!)

and an apple with crunchy peanut butter

On the way home from school, I had a very intense craving for a hot, gooey cinnamon roll (specifically: CinnaBon) that I almost stopped into Starbucks their sad excuse for a cinnamon bun that they have available.  After the thoughts: 1) I don’t need it, 2) it won’t be vegan, and 3) I already gave Starbucks nz$4 today, I decided against it.  Upon entering the lobby of my apartment, I was blasted with an aroma of baking cinnamon.  No kidding.  Someone was baking something wonderful in the communal kitchen.  Thus, I sprinted into my own kitchen, toasted a piece of wholegrain bread, slathered it with Hannah’s honey (sorry, hon!) and doused it with cinnamon.  It was tasted amazing and satisfied my craving, yet I didn’t feel guilty about its sweetness or restricted by its simplicity!  It was simply scrum-diddly-umptious!

After the thoughts of CinnaBon cleared and I could see clearly, I decided I wanted sweet potatoes kumara for dinner, so Hannah and I made roasted veggies with pasta.

Roasted kumara, zucchini, and onion dressed with s&p, Italian herb paste, garlic, and EVOO.

Hannah and I have been dying to try this cookie place downtown for SO LONG (it always smells like heaven when we walk past) so we decided we wanted to venture there after dinner.  Fail.  It was closed.  But we aren’t quitters!  Especially when it comes to hunting for dessert.

We ended up at Elliott Stables Epicurian Village again.  At the Mexican restaurant, Besos Latinos, we shared Chilean chocolate walnut cake with vanilla bean ice cream.

We joked about how the “carob tasted so much like real chocolate” and the “soy ice-cream was just as creamy as the real thing.”

Some vegan I am, eh?

What have you been craving lately?

Namaste.