On Monday this week I had a long, but good day. Most of it I spent packing; which means I guess this is a good time to let you all know that in exactly a week, I’m leaving NYC and heading to Connecticut, to live with my friend Maggie for a month and complete yoga teacher training in Rhode Island! After that, I’m not coming back to New York, which is even bigger news, but I’ll dive into that in more detail another day. Right now, I’m just so excited and ready to leave, and of course really busy trying to wrap up a bunch of stuff before I go.
Breakfast: I made a small but filling smoothie with half a cup of vanilla almond milk, half a frozen banana and a heaping tablespoon of Amoretti’s Graham Cracker Cookie Spread, which I just discovered and is so good! These flavors combined perfectly and the texture made it more like a milkshake. This was like dessert for breakfast, but only about 300 calories and 15 grams of sugar (women should have no more than 25 grams per day).
Snack #1: Before running out for my 75-minute vinyasa yoga class, I snacked on a handful of cherries.
Lunch: After yoga I was starving, so I ate a quarter of a large Florida avocado (about half of what’s pictured) with balsamic vinegar, a tiny little bit of olive oil, and some spices (cumin, garlic salt, black pepper). This was my first time trying Florida avocado, and I have to say, they’re not as good as the Hass variety. These have less fat, so they’re more watery and less flavorful. Maybe I would use them for a low-calorie guacamole, but otherwise I’m sticking to the Hass next time.
I also heated up some whole wheat pasta leftovers. I’d cooked down an onion and butternut squash in ChimiButter, an herbed butter made with 100% Organic rBGH-Free Butter and Samba Flavor’s Chimichurri blend of herbs and spices. Using this super flavorful butter basically allows you to skip the part where you have to choose spices that go together, because the spices are already in the butter. I’ve used it on a bunch of different things; a full post on this to come! I added shredded mozzarella and cheddar to the buttery onions and squash, and then threw in the pasta. Topped with parmesan cheese, it was delicious.
Snack #2: After some more packing I took a break for dandelion root tea and unsweetened hibiscus iced tea with lemon, that I’d brewed at home.
Snack #3: After even more packing, I treated myself to a teaspoon of Amoretti’s Noisina, a hazelnut spread, straight from the jar! This stuff is so good; it’s similar to Nutella but not as thick.
Snack #4: I fell asleep for a few hours. I love that I am able to take spontaneous naps now that I’m moving; it’s like being in college all over again! For some reason I was starving when I woke up, and I had to run out the door, so I just grabbed a cookies & cream Quest Bar. I was in the mood for something savory but this was all I had that I could eat on the go.
I met a friend to try out Aqua, a super weird, but fun, workout class. Supposedly it is the first and only underwater cycling class (not sure if that means in NYC or the US). I have to admit, I love trying new exercise classes because they’re always interesting and fun, and tend to work out muscles that I don’t usually pay attention to. This class was particularly unique; for an hour we spun and splashed our arms around in a pool, to loud music. It was definitely fun and I was actually sore the following day, but I don’t like the idea of sweating into a pool with a bunch of other sweaty women, and I don’t think it’s worth the steep price.
Dinner: Of course, I was ready to eat again after the spin class! My friend and I met a third friend at Empire Biscuit in the East Village. I ordered a breakfast sandwich: sausage, egg and cheese on a biscuit, with salted lemonade (that tasted more sparkling than salty, but was good).
These biscuit sandwiches were so delicious! All the ingredients were really high-quality and you could tell that everything was house-made.
Dessert: I forgot to take a picture, but we stopped by 16 Handles for frozen yogurt on our way home. I had salted caramel and cake batter froyo with some various chocolate toppings; I’m sure I didn’t need the extra calories or sugar, but at least I didn’t have too much, only $4′s worth!
Total estimated calories: 2,200
What did you eat today?
Empire Biscuit
Location: 198 Avenue A New York, NY 10009 Phone: (646) 682-9529
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