Soupasana

I think this is my first lunch in a week that is taking place at an actual lunch time! The yoga class went really well today (I thought). We even did a couple of poses of the Iyengar wall with straps. Lots of core work. The guys were huffing and puffing by the end.

Glorious lunch:

part 1 – sauteed mushrooms (in water and soy sauce) + avocado + sweet and spicy mustard on foccacia bread

part 2 – spinach + green apple + cucumber + walnuts + sunflower seeds + apple vinegar + sesame oil salad

Mmmmmm…

Dessert. These are still not rocking my world. I gave one to a coworker who buys figs all the time. She said that these are not the best out there, as the skin is a little bit bitter. Also, the best figs are sweeter. I don’t know if I will be giving these another try though. I can see them working in recipes better than by themselves.

There is also something really creepy and Dexter-like about the insides of a fresh fig.

I spent most of the afternoon marking and listening to good music. Eye of the Tiger, anyone? Dark Side of the Moon? Oh yeah.

Over half of my students are immigrants. In fact, I think over 80% of them were born outside of Canada. The cultural differences and the experiences they share are mind-blowing sometimes. For example, in Toronto, it is easy to forget that most marriages in the world are still arranged.

Every semester I learn through students’ personal journals about living with an unwanted partner, someone they met the day of the wedding, and living with years later. Often, they feel stuck because children are involved. Often, divorce or any kind of separation is not an option.

In one of my courses, I ask my students to complete an introductory exercise in our first class together. They draw a timeline to represent their past, complete 20 I am statements to represent the present, and 20 things they would like to accomplish before they die (aka bucket list). Every semester at least one student says that they would like to marry the person they love, but can’t because it would be a love marriage. And those are rare in their community. Imagine…

Chickpea Apple Salad

• 1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cucumber, cubed
• 1/2 green apple, cubed
• 1/2 red onion, cubed
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 3 tbsp pepitas (pumpkin seeds)

For dressing, I used olive oil + a little mustard mixed with water to make it more liquidy.

Side dish – mushroom flavoured noodles from the Asian supermarket.

They tasted really good, but with all the little baggies of questionable spices, I’d say this is an occasional indulgence. Missing a photo of a full plate – must have been that hungry!

Zee best carrot juice!

Zee best bread I’ve ever tasted. Notice how it changes week to week?

Dessert. With crunchy peanut butter. Mmmm…

Sipping on this, while cooking. Rana, I promise this is the last one! Wow, these lasted a LONG time. Mostly, because I couldn’t really get into the taste. They are SOOOO sweet. Crazy how much our palate changes.

Lately we started eating dinner at respectable time of 6.30pm-7pm, instead of the usual 9pm. However, as a result I find myself hungry later in the day. Of course, the solution would be to go to bed earlier. But where is the fun in that?

Looking forward to a nice hot yoga class tomorrow and SOF in the evening!

Ugh… the 3 slices of bread with hummus and an apple were completely unnecessary after dinner last night. I’ve also been feeling kinda lazy with my workouts. I ended up not going to SOF on Tuesday, and decided that yesterday was going to be my OFF day. Need to kick my butt in gear today.

A new breakfast star in my kitchen…

The texture of Scottish oatmeal is somewhat similar to steel cut oatmeal, however, it cooks faster and is creamier.

I made it with:

• 1 cup of Scottish oatmeal
• 3 cups of water
• a little salt

This makes 4 servings. I actually divided it up right away this time.

And now I have 3 more breakfasts waiting for me. All in 10 minutes.

I finally broke down and bought this:

Artisana Cacao Bliss is raw chocolate coconut butter. Yep, I know…. And apparently, it’s fairly difficult to find too. I only found it in one health store.

It tastes REALLY good on one condition… you must like chocolate… and coconuts. Vlad has a completely unexplained hatred of coconuts. It is so extreme that sometimes it rubs off on things that have nothing to do with coconut – like cocoa butter, mango, etc.

Although I did gently suggest that he is not going to like the smell of this, he insisted. Mind you, I failed to mention that this chocolatey goodness largely consisted of one edible species he loathes so much. I’ll spare you the details, but the facial expressions and the screaming were priceless.

Scottish oatmeal + 1 tsp of Cacao Bliss (it’s there!) + strawberries + granola.

Bestest of friends…

This was my “it’s 10am, and I just feel like chewing on something for absolutely no reason” snack:

I’m off to teach yoga!!!

My breakfast had two parts: small sandwich with avocado + tomato AND blueberry Solgurt with strawberries and granola!

Yeah, I think I get what people meant when they told me that soy yogurt tastes awful. This was bearable, but it has a very strong aftertaste. Not for the weak of heart…

I always feel nice and full after breakfast that includes bread – even a little bit!

Vlad’s breakfast in two parts also: small sandwich with avocado + mozarella AND plain yogurt with strawberries and granola.

As you can see, we essentially had the same thing!

I was so hungry at lunch that I totally forgot to take a picture of my sandwich! It was 1 slice halved with homemade hummus and tomato. I inhaled it!!!!!

The rest of lunch below: banana + raisins + apple sauce + black coffee with So Good vanilla milk. These little boxes of non-dairy milk are my solution to take out coffee, since regular coffee shops rarely have soy milk, and I can’t really drink coffee black. On the downside, once I open one of these boxes, I gotta finish it – can’t have just a little bit.

After lunch I headed to the second session of Teaching in the College System course. Oh man, this timeslot is brutal!!!! You gotta be completely rested. I find myself nodding off with even a hint of sleep deprivation. The dry content does not help the matter in the least. Today we talked about different models of curriculum design. Cyclical, rational, dynamic… Sigh.

On the drive home I was staaaarving! Tried to kill the hunger a little bit with sipping on carrot juice. This one:

Bolthouse Farms Carrot Juice is the best carrot juice I have ever tried, hands down! It has ONE ingredient, and tastes REALLY good. We destroyed a whole bottle recently before a yoga class, and no one believed me when I told them it does not have any added sugar or ANYTHING else for that matter.

I scored a huge bottle of this juice at Walmart today for 3.97! It was 4.97 + 1 dollar off coupon. Yay!

I was also very tempted by one of the Luna bars I keep in the car. But I made myself put it down, after deciding not to spoil appetite before dinner. How disgustingly adult of me!

The dinner in the making.

Squash soup (from the box) with cut up fried tofu:

With leftover whole wheat couscous with basil and black olives:

Topped with tomato, spinach and garlic (why does it turn green in the fridge):

On the side: pita with Moroccan style hummus. On a second thought, I am not crazy about this hummus. I kinda want my hummus to be garlicky, rather than sweet…

Coffee cup from lunch housed chai tea with soy milk.