Peas & Thank You Mango Strawberry Chickpea Salad

I would venture to say this is the best salad of my life. I don't know if it's the Cinnamon Vinaigrette or the texture combination of the roasted chickpeas and almonds and strawberries but last week when John bought me a mango, I knew I had to try it.

I've just finished 2 weeks on Pediatric Neurology and even though it started out kind of rough by the end I was loving it. We saw lots of interesting disorders and kids with seizures and it seemed like they were all extra-cute with such kind families. I said goodbye to my patients yesterday and it was a little sad to go. I hope they all do well.

In the meantime I've been bringing plenty of this salad for lunches and fueling my brain for the wide world of neurology, which is really kind of vast.

So if you're bored with your salad, I highly recommend this one. 

Next week I'm headed to the outpatient adult Neurology clinic where I'm sure I'll see some really different things compared to the pediatric inpatient. 

But today? Guess where I'm going? 

Yes. That's Vegas. 

John paged me Thursday to find out if I had the whole weekend off. Vegas with some new friends for a night? 

Well, yes.

I've never been. Don't really know what to expect. See you when I come back.

What I Ate Wednesday: Rain and Pediatrics

WIAW!

It rained today and I was completely unprepared. I couldn't tell it was raining either, it was dark since I left the house at 5:30 for the hospital and I didn't look at the weather report, so when I realized the sky was dripping on me I didn't really know what to do.

And I decided not to worry about it since I'd be inside soon enough, for the rest of the day. Would that it weren't so true.

I've started a new 4 week neurology rotation and I'm on pediatric neurology for 2 weeks. It's great. I really missed being on a pediatric service. I find I get more anxious though. I think I kind of overthink it because I really want to do well, since this is what I'll be applying to this year, and it makes me more likely to beat myself up when I don't know the answer. I cried twice on Monday. I need to get it together.

So overall it's been kind of tough this week, adjusting back.

And my food's been boring. So we could call this What I Ate Wednesday: A Boring Normal Busy Workday.

Breakfast: Double tall Protein Shake. 1 cup soymilk, 1 frozen banana, vegan protein powder, strawberry. I just wasn't in the mood for my regular oatmeal this morning. It could have something to do with the enormous quantities of Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter I consumed last night, so I chose to drink my breakfast.

Morning Snack: PBJ. Not really sure whether to call this morning snack or Breakfast Part II, but it gets me through rounds without keeling over. Yes this is a recycled picture. From Christmas. I'm really on top of my game.

Lunch: Linkett Sandwich, Peanuts & Raisins. Technically this is a picture of a Tofurky sandwich, but you get the idea.

Afternoon Snack: Fuji Apple.

Dinner: Amy's French Country Vegetable Soup with peas. Here's my extra cup of veggies for the day for this month's WIAW theme. I find it also improves the taste and cuts the salt in these soups. 

For Dessert I'm deciding between tea and hot chocolate. Leaning toward hot chocolate. It's raining after all!

Did it rain where you are?

What A Weekend

Happy Easter! I hope you found some hope in the Resurrection today.

John and I were Facetiming last week and this is what was behind him. I literally wasn't sure it was real. 

Having completed a rather difficult test on Friday - the Internal Medicine mock board is rough - I left for the blue skies of Irvine for the weekend, and turns out it really looks like that.

Our weekend was pretty full up with the relaxing things.

Beach.

Farmer's Market.

Zpizza.

Man-made Woodbridge Lake. 

We hung out in a Barnes & Noble.

Okay I try not to be judgy - but this is a real book. A REAL BOOK about crafts you can make out of your cat's hair. I don't even know where to start.

Pho!

Champagne's Bistro Oatmeal Breakfast Date. 

Veggie Grill's new Crispy Chick'n Plate. Pretty great. 

And for Easter we went to a service and then to brunch with John's family.

Of course I had too much fun to take pictures, but it was great. I always miss my family when I'm not home on Easter but I'm feeling more and more a part of the family with my future in-laws. 

Happy Easter! Blessings everyone. 

What I Ate Wednesday: Test Day

WIAW!

This month's WIAW theme included a challenge to eat an extra serving of veggies each day. Jenn's post about it totally resonated - I've lost count of the number of PBJ sandwiches I've eaten in the past week. For me I find that the difference is often the rotation - if my food needs to be super portable (like pocket - PBJ) vs. fairly portable (purse +/- microwave) vs. something I can prepare and eat at home.

Since it's test week, all my meals can be made at home. And to be honest, I use elaborate recipes as the perfect study break, so I find I eat pretty well during test weeks. Unless I get super stressed and just destroy an entire box of cereal. Hasn't happened yet this time, but I did eat a full pint of chocolate peanut butter vegan ice cream last Thursday while studying EKGs. And that was totally worth it.

I have a test today - it's the one where we go see standardized patients, do an interview and physical exam, get videotaped and graded on not only the interaction, but the clinical decisions we make. It's at 10:15 am, and I wish it were earlier, because I hate just hanging out before a test. I'd much rather take all my tests at 6 am and never have to waste any of my day worrying about them. 

This morning, since I had such a late test start, I got up at 6 and went on a run. I originally intended to go for 4 or 5  miles or so, but I got out and realized that when I got back I was probably just going to sit and stress, so I decided to keep running a little farther. I headed into my 6 mile loop. It's the first time I've run it with my Garmin though, and surprise! it's 7 miles. 

I had no idea I could still run 7 miles, that's easily the farthest I've run since my mid-January half marathon.

And that brings us to the food:

Pre-Breakfast Post-Workout: Smoothie. 1/2 frozen banana, 1/2 cup soymilk, 4 g vanilla vegan protein powder, 4 frozen raspberries, blended in the magic bullet short cup.

Breakfast: Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal. 1/2 cup oats, 5 oz. soymilk, 1/2 banana, 1 tbsp TJ's organic crunchy peanut butter. I eat this most days and really never get sick of it. 

Morning Snack: Carrot Chips. This is where I chose to make my swap for the challenge. Normally my morning snack is a bar or almonds and raisins, but today I ate a cup of carrot chips instead. That's not going to improve my orange-tinged hands any, but it tasted perfect. 

Lunch: Mama Thai's Pineapple Stirfry (from Peas & Thank You). I made this on Monday and I've really been enjoying the leftovers with quinoa. 

Afternoon Snack: Orange.

Dinner: Tofu Ricotta Gnocchi (also Peas & Thank You). I thawed this from the freezer from a little while ago, and this is a recycled picture from the original cooking adventure. If possible, it's even better leftover. 

Dessert: Frozen berries. 

I'm about to go take my test.

Happy What I Ate Wednesday! 

Study Day, Peas & Thank You Pineapple Stirfry

I went to bed at 9:30 last night and slept in until 6.

I can't even tell you how awesome it felt to wake up ready to get up, and find that I still had plenty of day in front of me. I don't really like to sleep in if it means I wake up feeling like my day's half gone.

So with my sunrise I went for a slow 5 mile run, fueled by 1/2 a banana with a peanut butter shmear. I've stuck mostly to 3-4 mile runs lately simply because my workout time is so limited with the number of hours I've been putting in at the hospital, and 5 miles kind of worked me. I'm okay with it, it just means I've been working hard in other parts of my life.

I came back rull sweaty and recovered with my favorite shake: 1/2 cup almond milk, 1/2 frozen banana, 4 g vanilla pea protein, and today I tossed in a few frozen raspberries:

I tried to be really intentional about structuring my day so that I would study LOTS but have productive fun breaks and end the day feeling like I spent it well, but I don't think I really succeeded. 

I did manage to clean my desk and room and feel a little more organized. I also cooked well and went on an adventure to Target with my roommate Molly, where I found Justin's Chocolate Hazelnut Butter on sale. Yes. 

Study-wise I did do some work but I bet if I totaled up the time spent on study vs. all the other things, I would find that poorly justified time wasting won. 

Some of that time was spent very well though - cooking. 

For lunch I mixed up a Satay Partay Tasty Bite sauce packet with crispy fried tofu and veggies. I'm still using the sampler my Mom bought me for Christmas - thanks Mom. 

And I ate it out of a metal prep bowl I had previously used to hold my chopped veggies. We like to save dishes in this house.

And as part of my Target trip I picked up ingredients for dinner and made Mama Thai's Pineapple Cashew Stirfry from Peas & Thank You. I served it with quinoa instead of rice, and I have leftovers. I thought this was really great. I don't really like the lemon tofu from Pick Up Stix, but it kind of reminded me of it, but with only the parts I like - the tang and the crispy, without the overly sticky sweetness. 

I just realized I ate kind of a lot of tofu today. No apologies, it was great. 

I still have lots of work ahead of me this week, but tomorrow I get to check off the EKG, Preventative Med and in-house subject test. 

It's weird because on the one hand this week is full of free time and on the other hand it's full of stress. I've kind of forgotten what it's like because on most rotations we just have a couple days of tests and we work right up to it. Internal Medicine is a longer, bigger rotation with a lot of extras to fit in, which is why we have this week. I'm just doing my best to compartmentalize my mind a little so I can enjoy the free time without it all being crowded out by test stress. I feel like I used to be good at this? 

Internal Medicine Ending

April Fool's Day is kind of an anxious day for me. I don't like falling for tricks, and as a blog reader, I feel like each entry I read I have to scan for signs of untruth. Not that people get too wild, and it's usually pretty obvious. We're almost to the end of the day and I haven't heard of any good tricks yet, but I'm pretty okay with it. I'll tell you now - you can relax. There are no April Fool's day jokes in this post.

I am deadly serious about my day. Why?

Because just like that I'm done with Internal Medicine wards! I feel like I just wrote those Friday posts that said I had two days left, but now I'm really not going back to Riverside for the foreseeable future.

I think the relief of knowing I was saying goodbye made me actually a little sad.

There was a patient I admitted just a couple days after I started who has stayed on the service the whole time, and I got to know her family a little and they were asking me where I was headed next and I realized once again that I'm so in the right place becoming a doctor. It's so rewarding to see someone come in sick and get better under your care (okay not really me directly with the medical decisions) and get to know her and then get to go tell her and her family "You're doing well and we get to send you home today!"

And people are nice to me because I have the face of a 14 year old.

That's what a patient told me. The same patient warned me that if I hit a donkey with my car it's like hitting a wall and I would probably die, so drive safe.

I've been craving a smoothie ever since I watched Hunger for Change  on Friday so for dinner I grabbed an Apple N Greens Jamba Juice, with the soy protein boost.

This is a recycled picture from The Day I Didn't Use My Teeth, and I realized I haven't actually had one of these since that day (May 2011) despite the fact that I think they're totally delicious. I just usually blend my own smoothies, or crave food that requires teeth.

I felt like this fueled me well for my intended studying. Unfortunately I then proceeded to watch the pilot of Mad Men because I've been curious what everyone's talking about now that the 5th season just started, and then score rather poorly on a set of my question bank.

Nothing I can do but try. I have 5 or 6 tests this week, but I'm looking forward to a little unstructured time, I've been feeling sort of disorganized and all over the place. I have clothes all over my room and papers everywhere and I feel like I've just been throwing things down anywhere, so tomorrow organization is on my list along with all the learning. The time to schedule the way I want is really nice. 

I think tomorrow I'm going to sleep in until 6 am.