Getting my balls on...

When the measuring cups and spoons come out, you know Lexi's in the kitchen.

And when the Magic Bullet is out... Well... It's time to cook!

When I got home from therapy this morning (after doing a major stock-up at Whole Foods!! Including Dark Chocolate Dreams for the first time!), I wanted to create something. I've been wanting to make Amanda's Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Protein Balls for a while now, so the moment I got home, I was whizzing around the kitchen, grabbing Almonds, dates, oats, protein powder, and chocolate chips...

The assembling of ingredients was surprisingly easy! Instead of using three large dates like the recipe recommends, I added about 1/3 cup of chopped dates. The Magic Bullet made quick work of the almonds and dates, delivering a smooth, even consistency within moments. I was happy :)

  I also used Whole Foods' Chocolate Soy Protein Powder rather than vanilla, 'cuz, well, that's all I had!

The Bullet gave me a very fine, dry powder, which I was supposed to turn into balls. What? How am I supposed to turn this dust into a sturdy, firm form? Impossible! I considered adding some almond milk or more dates to the mixture as a binder, but I figured I would give it a go before altering the recipe more. Forming the mix into balls was tough, but I squished into submission and ended up with a lovely product :)

I'm not sure why, but somehow instead of making four balls, I came out with seven! Weird much? Maybe my protein powder scoop in big, or I just have small hands and thus small balls (at least I'm not a guy). It's a mystery.

I popped them in the fridge, once balled, but of course, I couldn't resist a sample first. Mmmm. So good. A little crumbly, but so much chocolaty goodness! It was like... Taking a bite of very firm oatmeal filled with chocolate... Or... Eating an oatmeal chocolate chip cookie. Divine.


What's your favorite recipe from the blog world?

4th of July recap, eats, and Sushi lunch!

Good morning!

So yesterday I had a nice 4th of July dinner with my parents - they had ribs, potato, grilled corn and some salad, while I just had the grilled corn and salad. I was feeling so not hungry by the time dinner rolled around, so I opted not to have tofu but just add some edamame to my salad. I had had a rather voluminous lunch (1/2 cup cooked millet with spinach and broccoli, hummus, and some chocolate for dessert) and then a heavy snack (~1 cup of greek yogurt, pb, and jam.)

However, I didn't hear the end of how small my dinner looked, and that this was a 'diet' dinner. Yes, I understand it was the 4th of July and everyone was feasting, but I just wasn't feeling it. I listened to my hunger.

Nevertheless, I made a special "4th of July" themed dessert that was delish. I mad Katie's fudge dadies and topped them with her coconut banana butter and some blueberries and grapes to try to tie all the colors in with Independence Day :)

Unfortunately I didn't get a picture, but they were yummy. My parents loved them. In other words, success! The brownies were ooey gooey (I tossed some extra chocolate chips in there) and the butter complemented them perfectly.

I've been on such a grape kick lately. It used to be I greatly disliked them - maybe it's because I associate them with feasting Romans...

But lately I've been eating them cold from the fridge, and they're divine! I've tried them frozen, but didn't like them much... Too icy and chewy in my opinion. But refrigerated they turn sweet, just crisp and crunchy enough... perfect.


What else have I been eating lately?

For breaky, I had something I've never had before - chocolate banana oats!

 Naked. 1/2 cup oats, 1 verrrry ripe banana, 

1.25 cups water, and about 1 Tbsp. sweet Ghirardelli cocoa powder.

Dressed! With drippy drippy almond butter.

Up-front-and-personal with the wonderfulness. 

My attempt at 'artful' decoration.

After this I got ready and headed over to my doctor's appointment. She said I've gained back a little, and am now at the minimum of where I should be. She wants me to gain a little more so I'll be in a safe space when I go back to college. Apparently she expects that with the extra walking at campus, the stress of work, etc. that I will lose weight, so she wants to create a buffer zone. 

I'm not sure how I feel about that. Most of the time I feel large and bloated, and it annoys me that I don't have to be that weight all the time. It also annoys me that she expects me to lose weight. I mean, what if I don't lose weight? What if I gain weight? Last Fall, when started my Freshman semester, is when I started gaining weight, despite all the walking around.

It's just kind of nerve-racking, I suppose.

Afterward my madre and I ran some errands (I picked up some silver paint for the bureaus in my room that I'm repainting) and by the end of the morning I was feeling kind of faint and hungry, so we stopped and got bubble tea! :) It was yummeh. My mom got almond flavor, and I got soy hazelnut. We shopped some more, then had lunch at a sushi restaurant.

A lot of people think it's hard to be vegan or vegetarian at sushi restaurants, surrounded by raw fish, but it's actually quite simple! Here are the things I tend to order when I'm getting my Japanese food on:

1. Avocado roll - love this. So yummy, rich, yet simple.
2. Edamame - steamed and salted, this is a great, tasty source of non-fish protein
3. Miso soup - not very nutritious, but still vegan and yummy
4. Tofu cheesecake. No words. So good.

 We meandered down the street a while, and came across a cute boutique where everything was 50% off! I got two cute tops that I <3 before my mom treated me to a pedicure (and eyebrow wax - but we'll keep that shush shush ;] )

When I got home, it was snack time!

 About 1 cup of almond milk, three cups of blueberries, and 3 ice cubes.

It looks good, but it tasted kind of meh. I think I like my smoothies a bit thicker. 

And no, I did not eat the chard sticks ;)

 On that note, I hope you had a great Tuesday!

Update and Food and Books!

Well. It's been a while. I kind of want to change the direction of this blog. Many things have happened to me since I last posted - taking the semester off, being in treatment to recover from my anorexia, getting healthier, being happier, reading, painting, doing activities again - and I think my blog should reflect that (not to mention I should update more often *cough cough*.)

Sooo, I'm thinking of making this a food blog, since I love food, cooking and baking it, and those are the kinds of blogs I love reading. I'm kind of worried about the whole taking photos of my food thing, because firstly, I'm not the world's greatest photographer, and secondly, I might forget to take photos, not to mention it would be rather awkward to whip out my iPhone every time I have a meal and take photos of it.

But alack, I shall do it. If only for my own gratification.

Hence, let's start with breakfast this morning!

1/2 cup oats, 1/2 cup pumpkin purée, loadsa cinnamon, a big dollop o' peanut butter. Cup of soymilk on the side. Matching dishes from Crate & Barrel.

Bliss in a bowl.

Pumpkin oats is my all time favorite breakfast. So so good. It's also a balanced breakfast - one serving of carbs, for energy, one serving of veggies, for vitamins etc, one serving of healthy fat, essential for mental flexibility and soft skin, and one serving of dairy, an amazing source of calcium, protein, and essential for my bones. It's love.


Otherwise, it's a beautiful day, here in Northern California. It's been raining non-stop since last week (not that I'm complaining - I love the rain!) but the sun has come out and the trees waving gently in the wind are dappled with crystals of sunlight. Hopefully this will do my mini vegetable garden good, at least what's left of it now that the slugs have devoured my chard and soy beans.


Anywho, the second thing I wanted to talk about was... Books! Yes, I have rediscovered my love of literature (pleasure literature, that is.) I kind of lost my ability to read a while ago. I had no energy, no ability to concentrate, no interest in reading. It was really quite lamentable. However, one day in treatment, I found myself itching to read some Jane Austen. Her prose is just so relaxing, so calming, so smooth without appearing to try. I decided to go to the library that afternoon with my friend K - but ended up not picking up Austen, I forget why. Maybe they only had ones I'd already read? Emma, Sense and Sensibility and the like. No Mansfield Park or Persuasion, which I was rather hoping for.

So I carted myself over to the "P" section, seeking the much acclaimed Jodi Picoult. I picked up Salem Falls and House Rules. I also picked up Blue Angel by Francine Prose, a teen novel that ended up being extremely shallow and awkward, Runner's World and Writer's Digest - along with a hefty pile of DVDs I never ended up watching. But hey, they were free, why hold back?

So, the point of this rather long post is that I wanted to review Blue Angel by Francine Prose. It's basically the story of a professor/novelist, Ted Swenson, at a University in New England, teaching a Creative Writing seminar. However, he develops a relationship with Angela Argo, his punk, black clothed, metal studded, tattooed students. Swenson falls in love with her novel about another teacher-student relationship, and subsequently, with her. However, it all goes downhill from there as they attempt to sleep together, Angela asks him to show her novel to his editor, and she ultimately presses charges of sexual assault to get revenge on him for failing to convince his editor to read Angela's lewd novel.

So what did I think? Swenson is an awkward, aging professor, not entirely likable, though rather witty and humorous at times during his inner monologues of paranoia, disdain, and boredom. The romantic interest between Swenson and his student is definitely believable, Prose makes it authentic and progressive, which I liked. The Creative Writing seminar is fun to read about, partly because I can relate, being a student at a New England University planning on majoring in English or Literary Arts, partly due to the unimaginative, perverted students and their stories.

I read it quickly - it was definitely a book you can get into. However, there was something about it that was rather disturbing. Maybe it was the atmosphere of guilt and paranoia. Maybe it was the consciousness of eternal failure. Maybe it was the constant self-destruction. Maybe it was the manipulation. I don't know. It put me in a bad mood, over the weekend, perhaps because I could relate to Swenson so much - guilt, failure, self-destructive behaviors, falling in love with inappropriate people... I don't know. It was all too personal, all too dark, for me to feel good about. All this capped off with a terrible ending in which the protagonist, bent on self-destruction, does not even attempt to save himself, but throws himself, head-first, into the abyss, jubilant in his misery.


But, I won't end on that negative note - let's enjoy my wonderful doggie, Bella, shall we?

Bella! The love of my life.

Questions:
Do you go crazy at the Library?
I do. I always checkout a million books, dvds, and magazines. What can I say?

Have you ever fallen in love, or had a crush on a teacher?
For sure. My English teacher in High School was amazing - I looked up to him so much, and wished we could just run away to some alternate world, go on adventures, and read Shakespeare together!


Any Books you liked or disliked lately?
Salem Falls - liked.
Blue Angel - disliked, but respected.