Well, that whole 405 “carmaggedon” thing turned out to be quite a bust.
After hearing months and months of hype, I think everyone was expecting the worst…which caused people to take extraordinary measures (like riding your bike to work and then spending the weekend sleeping over at your cousin’s house).
I had it better than many of my coworkers, who were put up in dorm rooms. But I wish I had just ignored all the hoopla and slept in my own bed, down my normal AM workout routine, and driven to work. Like every other day shift. The roads on weekends are already mostly deserted anyways…
Oh well.
Here’s how I fared in the food department while away from my own kitchen:
Friday
Breakfast – oats with apples, Sunflower butter, and a lot a lot of almond milk. I baked the apple chunks by adding them in with the oats at the beginning. And then I drenched it in milk. Mostly to cool the oats down, but thinning it out made it last longer too (and that’s always good).
I made the mistake of leaving the Sunbutter jar on the counter so after the oats were gone there was some spoon-to-jar-to-mouth action. Straight up.
Sunbutter is ridic. Almond Dream is not.
Tastes nothing like vanilla. I honestly think this was a unsweetened almond ilk carton that somehow got mislabeled. There was nary a ‘nilla bean to be tasted.
Lies.
Lunch – couscous/red quinoa with baked sweet taters, carrots and a hummus/nooch sauce. You want a recipe?
Drank
Yes. Yes. Love.
I’ve actually had another KeVita flavor before (mango coconut), which I really liked, so I wasn’t too worried about dropping $4 on this bevie. It was a safe risk. Plus, it’s a pretty bottle.
Pretty fab ingredients with a mild strawberry flavor. It’s not very sweet at all, and lacks the fizz and vinegary taste of Synergy kombucha. It reminds me of coconut water, but less weird (and less caloric).
After this, I hit the road (on my bike). Truthfully, I had major anxiety about this ride because it’s the exact route that I crashed on. But, obviously, I made it.
Once I got to my cousin’s house, I showered and walked to Whole Foods for dinner.
Let’s be real, being without a kitchen, fridge, and pantry the whole weekend was pretty much the perfect excuse to drop a bunch of cash at my fave store.
Dinner – Asian BBQ tofu and veggie fried rice with Gardein chik’n
I easily polished off the rice along with half the tofu. The rest of the Asian BBQ ‘fu I saved for work the next day.
It felt weird not packing up my food the night before work. Granted I had all the bars, packaged granola, etc. that I packed to bring with me. But that’s only breakfast/snack fare.
I left a lot of time on my hands. I wandered around downtown and eventually walked back to my cousin’s house before it got too dark. Since nobody was home, I read my way into a slumber state. I fell asleep by 10 pm!
Saturday
I slept in until 5:15 am (a real luxury for a work day). It took me 15 minutes to get ready, and by 5:30 I was out the door. I walked to Starbucks where I sipped on a soy misto and read more.
Breakfast – oats with fresh strawberries, granola and raisins.
This was my VERY FIRST cafeteria meal in the hospital. Ever. Can you believe it!?! I don’t actually have a photo because I was on the unit and my coworkers don’t know about the blog.
All the employees working during the 405 freeway closure received coupons for $8 worth of comida for breakfast and dinner. You may think that’s a lot of food considering my oats cost 2 smackers. However. The caf sells all toppings separately. And they are by weight. And they are 200% more than Whole Foods pay-by-weight. It’s still very generous and kind of the hospital to hook us up though.
Here’s the granola. I snapped it covertly, so you will have to enjoy it’s beauty through the lid. To be honest, it surprised me. Lots of different nuts and seeds and dried fruit but not caked in oil or sugar. I actually think it may be home-made? Is that even possible? I know I work at a top tier hospital, but the quality of the breakfast bar definitely exceeded my expectations. The fresh fruit was SO perfectly sweet and yummy. I had a ton of strawberries and grapes. Like I said, all these toppings eventually made their way into my oatmeal.
Lunch – vegetarian lunch box (FYI, the alternative was turkey)
Also provided by the hospital. So…what do we have here?
Grilled veggie sammie on wheat bread (no cheese!!) and a bag of chips, apple, and cookie. And a water bottle on the side.
Good, not great. [I didn’t eat the chips or cookie] While I was pleasantly surprised that the vegetarian option didn’t have dairy, the rest of the lunch was pretty meh. Thank goodness I had the rest of my tofu from the previous night’s dinner to bulk up the sandwich.
The work day was not at all the easy breezy shift I was anticipating. Very much a normal (hard, long, stressful) work day.
I am SO glad I brought my own supply of snacks because the sandwich kept my appetite at bay for maybe two hours. Not so helpful when you are working a 12 hour shift. I had roasted salty cashews, candied ginger, and a Nutty Marshmallow ProBar.
Dinner – Whole Foods hot bar mish-mash (before above, after below)
I had a mega fiber baby after finishing this meal. It contained everything from balsamic and maple glazed tofu & carrots to fried rice to sautéed veggies.
After dinner I walked home and crashed. I wanted SO badly to finish my book, but i couldn’t keep my eyes open.
Sunday
I started the day the same as the day before (sleeping in til 5:15, walking to Le Bux, reading and sipping java until work and then heading over to the hospital).
Breakfast – hospital oats with Love Grown raisin almond granola (brought in by moi) and hospital fruit
Lunch – vegetarian lunch box
Looks familiar huh? Ok, different chips, true, but otherwise not much has changed.
I darted over to WF on my break to get Fresh ‘n Nova hummus to add in the grilled veggie sandwich.
Much better this way.
Ok, the grilled veggies seriously downgraded from Saturday to Sunday. Saturday’s sandwich included multiple colored bell peppers, squash, mushrooms, and zucchini. Sunday’s had five items, two red onions, two green peppers, and one zucchini. Um? They also made people walk to a separate table to get a vegetarian box the second day. I guess more people wanted veggies than turkey and they weren’t anticipating it? Oh well. I’m just glad I had the time to get the hummus.
Unfortunately, this left me with just a few moments to eat. I went back to work with 5 pages left in my book. Now THAT is agony.
Dinner – home-made salad!
It may not look like much in terms of home-cooking but dang was it nice to make my own food. [I’m obviously using the work “make” liberally here, as these were frozen vegan soy nuggets]
Health is Wealth brand is better than Boca in my opinion and I almost always have them on emergency standby in the freezer. The above is about 2/3 of the box.
I dipped a few in the hummus, and cut up the rest to top the salad.
Spring greens, sugar snap peas, green bell peppers, and corn were the only random veggies I could find around the apartment.
Dessert – perfect puddin’
So nice to be back in my own bed.
What food item do you miss most when you are away from home? What’s one thing you MUST bring with you?
Whenever I go away I always bring corn thins/rice cakes, peanut butter, soy milk, snack bars, and fruit… I think that’s it… When I’m away I miss my own salads and my morning routine (wake up slowly, with coffee x 2, and my laptop to catch up with things). x
To be honest, I miss caribou. I am of aboriginal decent, and this is the traditional wild meat we eat. When I moved away to get my degree, I barely ate any other animal products because beef/pork/chicken tastes artificial and wrong. As soon as I got home I made sure I was involved with a traditional dinner of caribou, bannoc, and creamed corn. Welcome to northern eating!
i was wondering about the whole carmageden hype, haha. Glad its not that bad.
Almond breeze is SO MUCH better than almond dream. It tastes like vanilla for sure. and Have you tried the mango kevita? good stuff!
I thought of you when I heard on the radio that carmageddon was no big thing! I love that WF is your favorite store. It’s mine too but we don’t have one here, so when I visit my boyfriend I get really giddy when he utters the words “Do you need anything at Whole Foods?” I always say yes even if I don’t! And I definitely like Almond Breeze brand better than Almond Dream.
I miss all my food when I’m away! Which is usually every other weekend. Since I’m vegan my boyfriend doesn’t usually stock the essentials to cook, so we end up eating out a lot. It gets expensive and I miss my food! I’m just going to start packing a cooler!
“Lunch – couscous/red quinoa with baked sweet taters, carrots and a hummus/nooch sauce. You want a recipe?”
Not sure if that was rhetorical and/or a joke, but yes please!
I’d have to say I miss my arsenal…ahem, I mean pantry full of nut butters the most when I’m away from home! I have been known to bring travel sized packets with me when traveling…but any lengthy stay requires an entire jar…or two!
IMO, hummus should be a requirement for all veggie sandwiches/wraps!
I hate having to stop reading a book when I’m almost at the end! I feel your pain!
Also, glad to know about the Kevita drink – I’ll be on the lookout for it in these parts.
Looks like you did pretty good! 🙂 I always miss overnight oats and smoothies! I usually just pack some bars, oats, fruit, and yogurt when I go anywhere. Nothing too crazy!
My family think my vegan diet is pretty weird, so I miss everything when I’m away! I always end up eating plain pasta/rice and vegetables, not very exciting. And because I travel by public transport the most I usually pack is some snacks and a carton of soy milk!
It makes me seriously appreciate my diet when I’m back home 🙂
My heart sank when I saw you didn’t like Almond Breeze–then I saw the pic–that’s almond dream! Try the breeze–you will taste the vanilla.
I love, love my smoothie everyday–I take my magic bullet wherever I go!
thanks for catching that! ill be sure to try almond breeze 🙂
mmkay I realllly need to go to Whole Foods hot bar asap! alll your food looks so good!
I would say nut butters are the one thing that need to come with me when I travel…
mmmm that breakfast look so so good! I agree about the almond breeze… soooo much better than almond dream! And isn’t gardein awesome? It tastes just like regular meat to me 🙂
Well it looks like you enjoyed some pretty tasty eats even though you were away from home!
I miss having smoothies when I’m away from home as well as oat and my breakfasts. I’m very particular about my breakfasts 😛
I’ve tried Almond Dream as well, and I’m sorry but it’s nothing near a ‘Dream’. I much prefer Silk’s version or Almond Breeze. And yes, I’d like a recipe for the quinoa!
Love that coconut kefir, I need to try more of their flavors! That strawberry acai ones looks good and pretty too!
I’ve been reading your blog on occasion for the past couple months and didn’t realize you work at UCLA’s cardiac center. I had heart surgery there when I was a kid. And later, I had eye surgery at the UCLA Jules Stein Center. I love UCLA’s medical center. My surgeons and nurses there were wonderful. Keep up the good work!
Your meals and snacks are giving me such great ideas as I try to clean up my diet! Would it be possible for you to give us an idea of the portions of everything you eat one day? It seems like you eat so much, yet you’re so lean. I know it helps that your diet is clean and full of high volume foods, but I’m curious about portions too since it’s hard to get an idea of serving sizes just from the pictures sometimes. Thanks!
It’s all about using your creativitiy! I love how you supplemented the measly sandwich with hummus. Hummus does make everything better 🙂
When I’m away from home, I miss having my own kitchen making my own food…. especially the weird combos of food that a lot of ppl may raise their eyebrows at (why don’t they understand that quinoa+raisins+tofu+sprouts+hummus is good?)!
by the way Elise, I tried a something that you may like that I want to share with you!
1) Make a batch of Gena’s tahini miso dressing (http://www.choosingraw.com/choosing-raw-video-debut-episode-1-of-the-kathy-and-gena-show-easy-vegan-summer-recipes/)
2) Make yourself a nice “buddha bowl” layered with quinoa, pan fried crispy tofu, sliced tomato and cucumber, and a big mound of raw bean sprouts on top.
3) Pour the dressing over top and enjoy with a chopstick 🙂
It’s SO good I tell you! The sauce is to-die-for. I had it for 4 days in a row now, some days even for breakfast. And I’m a firm oatmeal kind of person.
Try it!!!! I’m positive you’ll love it.
Hey, Elise!
First of all, I must say I love your blog! You’ve inspired so many things in my life! (exhibit A: cutting out meat and eating way more tofu that I might turn into some soon) Second of all, I just was wondering if I could get your help on something – my girlfriends and I would like to do a trip out to napa valley/san fran (sept ish) to do some wine tasting and sightseeing. Any recommendations on places to do/see/stay/check out? If you have time, that would be great! Thanks so much and thanks for writing such a gnarly blog! Take care!
I miss almond milk when I’m away from home. Most coffee shops don’t offer it. I keep a stash of Truvia packets in my purse.
hey alexandra! thats so great that you are making positive changes. im less familiar with napa (im more of a sonoma girl myself), but for your SF trip you should look at my restaurant reviews page under the nor cal section. ill brainstorm more and get back to you too. 🙂
gena’s brilliant so i have no doubt this is amazing. thanks for the link!
hey kelly. i may address this in a full post later because it requires a longer answer than what im about to write. but for now, what you on the blog is what i eat. often times i eat more than one serving of what i show, and there are countless snacks that i dont take pics of. on work days when i show you my packed food, i almost always eat everything shown. sometimes i eat bars not shown as snacks too. its true i eat a lot, but i also am very active so it seems to balance out. again, a more complex answer will be coming in a full post.
ps i dont measure things unless im making a recipe that i need to know specific measurements to share with others later
🙂 im pretty descrete about it. ive never mentioned where i work, so thats why you probably didnt realize.
on the way!
recipe coming!
i agree! i think thats the best one 🙂
Like/+1/RT!
(Those are some of my favorite foods.)
P.S. I made your tofu chocolate pudding, with some blackberries food-processed in. Gorgeous color. Delicious breakfast.
Thanks! The main reason I wondered is that it’s sometimes hard to tell the sizes of containers that some of your yummy looking meals are in. I always hear that quality of calories is just as important, if not more important, than quantity, and you seem like such a great, healthy example of that!