Sunday, August 14, 2011

A Sunday With My Mom

Last night I spent my first night alone in my apartment.  It felt long overdue. I was happy to get a chance to just be on my own and decompress considering all of the stresses that got introduced in the last couple of days.  I slept as well as could be expected with all the soreness I am dealing with and woke up at 8:30 to grab a quick shower before my mother arrived.

I treated her to brunch in the form of chai protein pancakes with banana coins in them.  I topped mine with cinnamon homemade peanut butter, chia seeds, and maple syrup.

IMG_2894

The cinnamon of the pb with the chai of the pancake and the banana was a winning combination.  On the side, in my awesome orange mug, I had two cups of tea.  The first was Yogi Echinacea Immune Support and the second was Pineapple Lychee by Republic of Tea. It’s funny how I always drink way more tea when my mom is around…plus, my new electric kettle probably is helping with my consumption.  It is so much easier than using the stove and the tea kettle.  The new one also holds much water, perfect for two tea drinkers in the apartment. =D

While we ate, mom and I compiled a list of all the things we needed to buy/do today.  When we finished and put the dishes in the dishwasher we headed out to “shop till we dropped” and oh boy, did we ever.

The fun started at Sam’s Club where I got some fantastic chicken sausages, lunch meats and cheeses, some ziploc bags for freezing portions of the former items, and some awesome new bread.  It has 80 calories a slice instead of my normal 35 calories but it has unbleached flour and a lot more nutritional ooomph.  The slices are also larger so I think the difference shouldn’t be too big of an issue.

IMG_2920

In addition, we picked up some MoJo bars that will come in great when I am on campus taking classes all day in a few weeks.

IMG_2916

Our next stop was Walmart to get some bookends (thank Heavens I finally found them!), a city map, and some conditioner since I ran out in the shower today.  After this quick in-and-out, we marched ourselves over to Whole Foods.

IMG_2895

It was my very first time and I was so excited.  It was a little after one at this point and we were hungry so we tackled the hot and cold food bars.  I was pretty pumped, not to mention slightly overwhelmed by all the choices, but I ended up getting a bit of everything a few great dishes.

IMG_2905

My box included some Vegetarian Tokyo Buckwheat Soba (the bomb!), Vegetarian Sesame Noodles, Eggless Tofu Salad (stellar), Cranberry Couscous, marinated mushrooms, steamed vegetables, roasted garlic (surprisingly mild and mellow, perfect), and roasted artichoke hearts.  I devoured every single last tiny morsel it was all so scrumptious.  It’s a good thing I don’t live super close because my bank account would just die…

IMG_2908

While we were eating, and contemplating all the things we could buy in this wonderful store, a super perky lovely employee dropped off two chocolate chocolate chip cookies for us just because “it was written all over your faces!” and they were well worth it.

IMG_2906

Just a few bites but utterly satisfying.  So with full, happy bellies we went about our business and ended up getting more than we came for.  Can you blame us? To make things even better, I found something I had been searching for forever.  Hello Peanut Butter & Chocolate Puffins!

IMG_2917

With a Chinese broccoli recipe in mind I picked up some sesame oil as well and some goat cheese, an essential ingredient in Caitlin’s Holy Deliciousness Hummus which I cannot wait to make and smear everywhere.  Soba noodles also made it into the basket because of how taken I was with the dish from the cold bar.  I need to use them soon, for sure.

IMG_2918IMG_2919IMG_2922

When we were looking at the bulk bins (and snagging some unsulphured apricots and white kidney beans) we found the tea wall.  It was heaven. We bought three kinds (the left most one mom already had but she’s leaving it with me which I am a-okay with).

IMG_2921

At this time, we were ready to drop so we came on home and did laundry and put away groceries.  I was much more sore at this point from being up and walking around.  As a result, I ended up sleeping for a bit to recoup my strength.  When I got up, dinner was on my mind.  We had bought some raw kale salad from Whole Foods so we mixed some of that was some salad fixings in my fridge: romaine lettuce, carrot, celery, grape tomatoes, red onion, mushrooms, green pepper, dried cherries, and garbanzo beans.

IMG_2923

The prepared kale salad had a lemon-y dressing on it so I used that to dress the rest of the veggies.  It worked great and man, that kale was really, really good.  I was beyond impressed by its yum factor.

Mom and I are heading to bed early so we can tackle the rest of our errand list tomorrow.  To end on a high note, check out the view this evening from my balcony.  Beyond beautiful.

IMG_2924

Question: What is your favorite thing from Whole Foods?

0 comments:

Post a Comment

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...