3 am Alarm, 6 am Flight, 8:15 am Home in Oregon!

I had grand intentions of writing lots and catching up on some post ideas I've had in my days here in Oregon, but it turns out my family's internet connection is stuck in the last millennium and it's too frustratingly slow to post from home. So, although it's now my third day at home, I've just now ventured out to a Starbucks to take care of school business as well as write a post about how lovely it is here, even sans internet. 


So...

I arrived safely home. My flight was quite early, so John was rather awesome in his willingness to drive me to the airport. I read a book, had some Biscoff cookies on the plane, looked out the window, and before I knew it, landed at home.

Rather empty at 4:40 am.

Mom and I stopped at Trader Joe's in Lake Oswego on our way home. The one in Salem opens on June 17th (1 week!) but just not in time to feed me on this particular trip. I'm very familiar with Trader Joe's so Mom let me walk her through every aisle, tell her what I'd tried and hadn't, what I liked and not-so-much, and we left with quite a cartload. Next time I visit, there will be one here in Salem. People are pretty excited about it.

After our grocery adventure we ended up at Sweet Tomatoes (AKA Souplantation in other parts, I think, or maybe just remarkably identical in concept and decor?) and I had an enormous salad and apple. Some branches guarantee a vegan soup, but there's lactose in the vegetable base, and this one didn't have any soups that didn't use that base.

I went out to lunch with my Mom again the next day at a new-to-me restaurant in Salem - Venti's. It's very vegetarian/vegan friendly but has lots of omnivore options as well. There's also a basement bar, but I didn't check that out. Yellow curry (rather too spicy we thought) for her and a veggie wrap for me. It's nice to know there's a restaurant in town with "vegan" on the menu. It's very popular though especially since it's downtown, we got there and it was empty at 11:45, but the line was out the door my noon. They're opening another branch on Commercial soon, but it probably won't really cut down the downtown lunch crowd, since I would imagine many people walk from work.

I love her. 

I also crashed my sister Emma's last class as a high schooler. AP Art History - I took the class six years ago (really? six?) and it was nice to say hello to an old teacher as well. I also saw her get some awards at the Senior Awards assembly. I'm so proud. I mean, look at that face.

I also bought new running shoes. Correction: Mom bought me new running shoes because she's wonderful. It had been a year since my last new pair...oops. They're the Asics GT series, a stability shoe, and basically the current model of the exact shoe I had before. I tried on 3 others, but they couldn't compete.

Now I just need a new race to train for...

And finally, last night my beautiful friend Rachael drove all the way down from Portland to have dinner with me. It was wonderful to catch up with her over some summer rolls and curry at the Thai Orchid. Talking with her always makes me want to move to Portland that much sooner. As you can see, she also makes a lovely model for our appetizer. Thanks Rachael!

And now, while I still have internet, I'm looking forward to catching up on all your blogs, and then I have a cooking date with Mom and Emma's graduation is tonight! My flight is early on Sunday, so I really only have another day and a half here at home. It seems like too short a time when I get to visit so infrequently now. It always makes me wish I could move back a little sooner.

Also, it's the weekend, so I hope you all have a great one.

Do you live far from your family? How often do you get to see them?

Convenience Food Reviews and Countdown: 2 days!

[The Crazypants Baking Post]

Regular readers and friends know I like to cook and bake on Saturdays and eat leftovers or simpler meals for most of the week. It's inexpensive, gives me a chance to try new recipes, eat well, and still fit cooking into a life that is, at least for the moment, very full of studying.

Sometimes though, I do rely on prepackaged meals, especially if I've just been away for the weekend, or for non-leftover-based lunches I can take to the university when I spend the day there studying. I'm always on the lookout for tasty new ones, so here's my thoughts on some I've tried lately:

1. Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake
2. Trader Joe's Green Papaya Salad 
3. Trader Joe's Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas
4. Tasty Bite Kerala Vegetables and Target Brand (Market Pantry) Precooked Brown Rice. 

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1. Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake

Kashi makes 3 frozen vegan entrees. I can't really afford them with any regularity, but when they go below $3.00 each on sale, sometimes I make the splurge. 

Here's my previous reviews of the Black Bean Mango and here's Tuscan Veggie Bake.

The last one to try? Mayan Harvest Bake. Unfortunately these cell phone pics are even worse than usual.

I really love them all, but this is my favorite for sure. Wow. The mix of textures was great, and as usual you can count on them to have way more veggies than your standard frozen meal. 

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2. Trader Joe's Green Papaya Salad

I didn't really know what to make of this one. I was skeptical as I was putting it together, but the flavors are honestly awesome. 

The prep isn't really what I look for in a packaged meal, because you need your own dish, and you microwave it but just enough to defrost. I sort of think it might work better to just put the papaya packet and dressing together in a tupperware and keep it out of the freezer until dinner time to thaw, but the defrost microwaving definitely worked fine.

That said, the taste was a wonderful mix of thai flavors, crunchy and spicy.

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3. Trader Joe's Black Bean and Corn Enchiladas

If possible, I like these even better than the Amy's ones of similar makeup, and they actually fit my budget. There's tofu, plenty of sauce, and they didn't skimp on the veggies either. Seriously, Trader Joe's knows where it's at. This one was actually today's lunch. Eaten while sitting outside and trying not to enter study panic mode.

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4. Tasty Bite Kerala Vegetables and Target's Precooked Brown Rice

As usual, I added steamed veggies. I'm incapable of resisting.

Tasty Bite: This is possibly my favorite Tasty Bite Indian flavor. It's a little bit coconutty, lots of vegetables, and the curry has a kick that isn't overwhelming - I'm not a huge fan of spicy. 

Rice: I prefer the Trader Joe's precooked, this one had a bit too much added oil (based on the nutrition facts, I'm pretty sure it's an extra teaspoon per cup), but it definitely serves the purpose and completes the meal when I don't have an hour to cook my own brown rice.

And so, packaged meal in hand, back to the books.

Boards countdown: 2 Days! How? How did this happen?


I'm not quite sure what to do. You can't really cram a test that covers 2 years worth of knowledge, but how is it that I feel there's so much I still wanted to review but haven't?

Have You Seen My Chopsticks?

They look like this:

When I say, 

"I really lost my chopsticks today," 

it sounds to me like something one would say when they really mean, 

"Today I got completely teetotaler whack-a-mole crazy."

But that's not what I mean. I mean I literally lost my chopsticks.

7:30 am: Leave for school. Chopsticks are in backpack.

12:00 pm: Go to eat lunch. Chopsticks are nowhere to be found. 

Somewhere in the in-between time they ran away. Let me know if you see them.  

Fortunately my roomie was willing to lend a fork, so I didn't have to starve.

So yes, no starving today.

Breakfast was rather icy.

Overnight Oats with Frozen Blueberries

Overnight mix: 

1/4 cup (56 g) plain soy yogurt

1/2 cup (4 oz.) almond milk

1/2 cup (39 g) quick oats

Morning addition: 3/4 cup frozen blueberries. 

The blueberries were so nice and cold, my breakfast actually got some ice crystals going. Usually I only like a freezy smoothie in the afternoon, or a frozen soy yogurt for a dessert, but this was a fun temperature change for my morning. 

Lunch was a Trader Joe's Noodle Box. This morning was Kung Pao, and I've also had the Pad Thai. The Peanut Satay is still in my cupboard just waiting for it's day in the sun. Of the two I tried, I prefer the Pad Thai, but they're both really good. 

These are great because they're super convenient, don't require a fridge, and keep me full for a long time. Unfortunately they're about 25% a daily allotment of sodium, but it does help to pour on only part of the sauce. If I ever ate them at home I'd cut the noodles in half (leftovers!), load it up with steamed veggies and it would be perfect, but in my mind that sort of defeats the purpose of buying packaged food. It's supposed to be easy to take with me. So not an every day food, but I'm happy with it for a quick lunch when I'm low on leftovers. 

First the Pad Thai...in a time before my chopsticks made a break for it. 

And Kung Pao. With a fork. 

Forgive the cell phone pics, that's another thing about portable lunch food, it's usually eaten without my camera around. 

For snack, I'm still working on that tray of 12 apples from Costco. 

And dinner looked exactly like last night. You know me, I love my leftovers. 

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In other news, yesterday for a workout I did a couple of the free 20 minute classes I had downloaded from Yoga Download. The intermediate/advanced "Power Vinsaya Flow #5" and the Dave Farmar "Baptiste Power Yoga #3."

At the time I thought it couldn't possibly be working me out very well ... I wasn't so much holding poses as constantly falling out of them. I suppose I'm a combination beginner/intermediate yoga-er, (yogini? yogress? what's the word?) so the intermediate/advanced was especially a challenge. It was nice to try something new though, and this morning, my muscles are reminding me they're around, and well-worked.

It felt great to stretch them out with 5 mile run this morning.

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Guess what I saw driving around the neighborhood today? 

The ice cream truck! I'm actually reasonably certain he doesn't sell anything vegan, though I suppose I could verify that, but I just like the obnoxious sometimes unseasonably Christmas-themed music. It makes me feel like summer. 

5 weeks from now I'll be getting ready to take Boards in the morning. EEP. Back to work.

Tell me: Do you eat by temperature? Is one meal of the day usually hot vs. cold?