I'll Be a Little Sad...

I'll be a little sad in a couple weeks when John no longer lives in Irvine.

Okay that's completely not true.

I'm extremely excited for him to graduate on Friday [Masters of Civil Engineering!] and move to Loma Linda and not be an hour away. Also find us an apartment and start setting it up so when we get married in 7 weeks it's much less overwhelming to move.

But I will miss this:

Veggie Grill B-Wing Salad. 

While there's no shortage of great vegan food in Loma Linda, it's mostly grocery store-based. I can get any ingredient I need to cook really anything without any problem, but there are no all-vegan restaurants like Veggie Grill or Native Foods. Frankly, there are some things they just do much better than me. And since I drag John to one of these every single time I visit, my steady supply of this deliciousness is going to decrease significantly when he moves and I don't come out here that much anymore. 

So on my perhaps last visit to Irvine for a while, we went out to Veggie Grill yesterday.

Jess at Get Sconed! [click for the reviews] has been really up on the new Veggie Grill menu items through some promotions and I was keeping her reviews in mind. Usually I wouldn't really go that much for Buffalo Wings, but she was giving this one some serious praise, so I stepped out of my comfort zone and ordered it. 

Amazing.

I did not leave a single scrap of food on that plate. 

It's probably the best thing I've ever eaten there. 

Now John and I are just wrapping up a morning of studying at Panera, and getting ready for lunch.

Back to Veggie Grill? Yeah it's likely.

If you went to a restaurant multiple days in a row, which one would it be?

#7 Donate Blood: Check!

So back in February I wrote this post about how I tried to give blood but couldn't because my hematocrit was only 35, and it has to be 38 to donate. This meant I was just very slightly anemic. Although I didn't have the complete analysis to prove it, it was most likely related to my iron levels, because I had a normal complete blood count from 2 years previously.

Yesterday 3 months later I tried again.

Verdict?

I'm missing a unit of blood!! YAY!

The blood bank is actually super nice. Big comfy chairs, country music going. I brought some study materials but did find it kind of hard to focus. It didn't take that long anyway. I made the mistake of looking at the needle, which is unfortunately enormous, but it didn't hurt as much as I expected. I still had a little lightheaded/nauseous feeling when it first started. Medical types will understand me when I say vasovagal, but I recovered with a chair tilt and a cool cloth and felt fine by the time we were done. 

Back in my previous post I wrote about some changes I planned to make to try to boost my iron. I tried it, I really did. I have a bottle of iron tablets in my pantry, but I'm going to just be straight with you - they were way too constipating and I couldn't take them.

So I tried to at least take my multivitamin with iron in it, and usually I did an okay job of remembering.

And I didn't really make any other changes. However, my blood apparently made a great recovery, because my hematocrit was 44.

This isn't actually very accurate I'm sure, because it flowed super slow, meaning I was kind of dehydrated, so it just seemed like 44, when it was really probably more low-normal.

But they were able to get it, and that means #7 of my 25 by 25 can be checked off the list! Also that I helped save lives or whatever, nbd.

Afterwards I drank a full bottle of water and balanced my blood sugar with an almond/raisin snack.

I was still really tired for the rest of the day. Like couldn't catch my breath after walking across the house, but John took care of me and today I feel fine.

I'm looking forward to the next one.

Do you donate blood? Or have any stories about it? I'd love to hear. 

Peas & Thank You Tempeh Bacon Reuben

Before we talk about this (amazing) recipe, we're taking a trip back in time.

One year ago this past Thursday (May 31), I was in Santa Barbara visiting my then-boyfriend (now Fiance) and my friends. I had just taken the USMLE Step 1 (Boards), and it took me a couple days to recover emotionally. I was finally feeling like I was on vacation and was spending the day on my own while John worked. I ran, I went out to lunch, I went shopping.

That was the first time I ever had a Reuben Sandwich. Here's the post about that day. Little did I know, John would propose that evening, but that's another story.

At the time I think I wrote that this was pretty good, but really it was kind of bland. I just didn't have anything to compare to.

Until now. 

Thanks to Mama Pea, I now know what a Reuben should taste like. This is another recipe from the Peas & Thank You cookbook. Pretty much all the recipes are written for 4, but I often adapt for things like sandwiches that don't keep as leftovers, because I'm typically just cooking for one or two people. 

I've been eating it all week, and I just make an individual serving each time. I fry up 3 slices Tofurky Tempeh Smoky Maple Bacon in just a little cooking spray, then transfer to a plate and use the same little pan to make my sandwich. I cut down the Earth Balance on the bread a little - but I think some is an essential part to the taste. You need that salty crispiness on the outside of the bread. For individual servings, I just put the Vegan Thousand Island dressing ingredients directly on the bread and swirl around with a knife, instead of making the sauce separately in a bowl. Also, I'm not always the biggest Daiya (vegan cheese) fan, but this is exactly the kind of meal it's designed for. The only other change is that I'm using Ezekiel 7 Grain instead of Rye. 

It sort of tastes like a super grownup grilled cheese.

Usually after about 4 days, I'm glad that my leftovers are gone because I get bored of a dish, but I think I could keep eating this indefinitely. 

It's that good. 

What's the meal you could eat over and over?

Memorial Day Weekend

I've been busy lately. And when I say busy, I mean my normal life/fun things/3 episodes of Criminal Minds on Tuesday evening. So not really busy. I should be busy - studying mostly - and I'm working on it, but as I ramp up the study hours and scale back the skittering-around-having-too-much-fun hours, here's a post full of fun from last weekend that I can look back on fondly.

When I found out I had all of Memorial Day Weekend free, I was really surprised. Yes, I'm on my Psychiatry rotation. And in general it's considered a little less rigorous than some other ones, but I was still shocked to be getting an extra holiday. It's a third year medical student dream.

So for Memorial Day Weekend I trekked up to Santa Barbara and got to see some of my very best friends.

We had a lunch at Sojourner Cafe - this is the special, a tofu stirfry. And split a Vanilla Chai Cake Trifle for dessert. Dessert is my favorite part of this place.

I got to see my girl Christina's new place. We went to the beach. Bri's baby has grown so much since I saw him 4 months ago. AHHH so adorable!

Me, Kitra.

We also had some Blenders - the best smoothies I've ever had ever. My favorite's Guava. Kitra and I went shopping. I spent $50 at Teavana. How does that happen? Well I'm prepared with enough Wild Orange Blossom/Youthberry tea blend to ice for the rest of my life.

[Photo Credit to Bri and Brennan - thanks!]

And I just got to catch up with my friends. I'm so lucky to have them.

Then I made the trek to Irvine for Monday, where John and I went to Newport Peninsula and rented bikes, took care of some important wedding things (Honeymoon is booked!!!) and of course found an excuse to go to Native Foods.

This was the Veggie Pizza. As Native Foods goes I was actually kind of unimpressed. It was good, but usually I can count on it being amazing. It was a little too oily, and it seemed like something was missing. I saved half for leftovers and added Daiya to it at home, which took it up a notch.

Confession: When I got back Monday night I was dead exhausted, but in the best way. The way that makes you feel like it's because you were really living.

It's a little belated, but I hope you had a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Peas & Thank You Broccoli Salad

Morning friends. Happy Sabbath. Our charming grandmotherly cleaning lady has run of our house and John and I are once again coffee shop working until Church. 

This picture is from 2 weeks ago - but it literally looks exactly the same. He's wearing a slightly different checked shirt today. 

So I thought I'd take this opportunity to do a recipe update that I skipped over in all the excitement of going to Colorado to see Shannon graduate.

I made this dish last week but never worked it into a post. As you may recall, one of my "25 by 25" - 25 things I want to do by my 25th birthday in October - is cooking all the way through the Peas & Thank You cookbook. I haven't yet made a page with all my recipe reviews linked, but that's coming soon. This is an adaptation of your standard broccoli salad - complete with some fakin bacon.

I used to love broccoli salad. I have very happy memories of rare nights when Mom and all of us kids would go to the Roth's Deli when cooking just wasn't going to fit into the nightly schedule. Along with the chicken fingers and the potato wedges, broccoli salad - though a rare choice - was always super tasty. Around the age of 11, I became a vegetarian, and broccoli salad didn't make the cut.

Until last week, I'm pretty sure it had been 13 years since I had anything so closely resembling the classic.

This recipe combines Vegenaise with some smoky bacon (I used Lightlife), red onion, dried fruit and cashews for extra crunch.

The day I made it, I only let it set up for 2 hours in the fridge and I wasn't so sure about it. Most of it was perfect, but the red onion was little too strong for me.

However, the next day it was perfect. The time to sit and soak up the flavors toned down the sharpness of the onion and it was just right. I loved how filling it was without feeling heavy. I had it for lunch 4 days in a row - and it just kept improving.

I would definitely make this again. Just let it set up in the fridge for a whole day.

Do you have a favorite recipe that gets better with time?

Congratulations to Second Lieutenant Shannon!

Or: The time I went to Colorado for 22 hours and saw my sister meet the President and graduate from the Air Force Academy!

President Obama, Shannon.

As of Wednesday, my sister is a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force. She's also a college graduate with crazy studies in Physics and Math headed for her PhD studies after her break.

It was a whirlwind trip - less than 24 hours on the ground in Colorado - but so worth it to see my family and especially my sister Shannon graduate. President Obama was there, the Thunderbirds performed, and I got to see all three of my sisters all in one place. It's too rare.

We got ready all together.

Faces as usual.

Oatmeal w/ peanut butter, honey and banana for breakfast.

And coffee.

Don't forget the coffee.

Now we're awake.

Then it was on our way. 

USAFA Graduation.

And we did hit some traffic, but made it in plenty of time.

It's so impressive the way they all march in. 

And they look so classy compared to those snowman robes the rest of us wear to graduate.

And then the President was there. 

After the speech, which was far more political than graduation-themed for my taste, time for diplomas!

Over 1000 cadets. It took awhile. 

Yeah!

And then after taking their oath, celebration!

We danced in the stands while the Thunderbirds performed.

Parents <3.

Love you Emma. And your face.

Graduate!

And then after a quick trip around the Academy and some packing, it was almost evening and we were all starvingpants. And then I got to take this picture: Proof I'm not the only one in my family that thinks food is important.

Not to worry. Noodles & Company to the rescue. I had the Japanese Pan Noodle with Tofu.

And so hangriness averted, we said our goodbyes and headed to the airport. Of course it was much too short, but I'm so glad I was able to go. Definitely worth it.

Congratulations Shannon!

It's graduation season - who are you celebrating?

Blessings

It's Sabbath morning and I wanted to share some blessings. I've been very wrapped up in errands and overwhelmed with everything I'm trying to get done (we all are I think), so here's some positivity.

1. I'm blogging from my favorite local coffee shop this morning. The coffee is strong and The Civil Wars are excellent music. I feel happy. I'm glad about this because it's been a while since I've felt like I have time to just stop and sit and feel content.

2. John is next to me working hard on a midterm - he graduates in June with his Masters in Structural Engineering. Frankly I have no idea what he does. There's books and notebooks and some computer program and he writes code and it does something that has to do with buildings, but he sure looks handsome.

3. I made a bowl of oatmeal this morning that looked much like this:

And tasted much like awesome.

4. I talked to this woman for like an hour on Thursday. And yesterday too. And she gives me great advice and never gets sick of hearing the most boring stories from my life. My Mom is the best.

5. Next week I get to go to Colorado and see my whole family AND see Obama speak and more importantly see this girl graduate from the Air Force Academy. It's an understatement to say I'm super proud.

6. I'm still on Psychiatry and I get the weekend off (I mean, except for all the studying). I'm going here to Palm Springs for the night! Many thanks to Katie for finding a hotel and making this happen.

Our actual hotel!

7. Yesterday John and I were matching. This was an accident. Okay not so much a blessing as just funny.

8. It's Sabbath and my next stop is Church at the University. It's a blessing to have a service we enjoy so much that also pushes me to think.

Blessings to share?