T’was a Blustery Day…

Hello loves! Happy November! I’m sorry for being MIA (again), but I’m sure you all can relate – school + work + work + trying to maintain SOME sort of a “life” (what is this “life” you speak of?) leaves very little time for much else. I always read up on your blogs though, I just haven’t gotten around to updating my own.

Like I said, my life’s been consumed by l’ecole and work. I’ve been feeling OK. Some days have been better than others…unfortunately I can never seem to fully shake those disgusting ED thoughts. I’m working on it. There have been some changes that I’m more positive about…you guys, I think I’m growing a butt. I’ve been flat as a pancake for ever and this is kinda exciting! (I just hope it doesn’t get cellulitey :S). Also, my hair is doing a LOT better and my face is clearing up, which is always nice. I try to focus on these things whenever I look in the mirror and hate what I see. I just turn to the side and say “See? SEE? It’s a bump!”.

I’m sorry you had to read that. Let’s move on, shall we?

[[ Oatmeal! Avec soya milk; frozen mixed berries; cinnamon; wheat germ, and a BIIG dollop of PB&Co White Chocolate Wonderful! ]]

[[ PB&J Larabar; Apple; Almonds; Book (this book is amazing, by the way - for school, but a must read!! )]]

[[ I had PASTA! With tofu; broccoli; carrots; grean beans; green pepper, and MY homemade tomato sauce ]]

I keep forgetting/not feeling like whipping out the camera to take pictures of my eats. I’ll get better at this, promise! OH, I tried my Peanut Butter & Jelly Larabar – OFFICIALLY NEW FAVOURITE FLAVOUR. Next to Coconut Cream Pie. It’s actually better than my Izzybar version. Probably cause they added actual peanut butter (whoops). SO GOOD. Go buy. Now.

So I’ve been hunting a pumpkin butter for an eternity and a half. I found out they carry one up here at William’s Sonoma. For those of you who aren’t familiar, that shitza is HELLA expensive. $14.50 for a small-ass jar.

I feel like such a sucka but seriously, I wanted needed had to have it! Gah! Seriously, those pumpkins better have been planted and watered by JESUS HIMSELF, and mashed into a butter by BRAD PITT HIMSELF. (Jesus and Brad Pitt? That would qualify as some fancy-ass Pumpkin Butter!). I’ll tell you guys how amazing it is once I open it : )

Do any of you have those teachers/profs who are super-super hard markers on purpose? Like, not towards you only, but everyone? And they don’t justify their marking either? I have one of those right now. My courses at Uni are all very reading and writing intensive (I love writing), and my marks are always pretty good, with the occasional really good mark. Seriously, this lady will not give anyone a break! I got my midterm back and got kind of a lump in my throat over the 74% I received (respectable, but I thought I deserved a lot better). She apparently didn’t give out a SINGLE 80+ and most people got high-60s/very low-70s! And there are some very, VERY smart people in my class! I’m bummed about this lady. I just completely unmotivated to work hard in her class cause I know I can’t do much better than about 75%. How do you guys deal with teachers/profs who just won’t cut you any slack?

I really hope you guys are doing amazing. And if you’re down about yourself or the weather, I’m sending good vibes your way. In the past few days I’ve felt a lot of freedom from this disease. Like, I know it’s still there and honestly, I’m not sure if it’ll ever go away 100%, but when I just look at how much I’ve achieved and how good it feels to just live and eat, I’m planning on stopping at nothing to be able to live as normal and ED-free a life as I possibly can.

Much love, gorgeous people.

[[ izzy xoxxxxxxxxxxxxx ]]

PS. Check out this barlicious giveaway by the lovely Haylee!

It’s Peanut Butter Jelly Time!

Hello beautiful people! Hope you’re having a fantastic day. The weather’s chilly over here, but so pretty. I wanna go out for a walk or something, but alas, homework keeps calling out my name. I really should get on that stuffs…

The past few days have been kinda tough at times, not gonna lie. I honestly hate how one moment I’ll be up and feeling great about myself and the next I can see and feel new pockets of fat everywhere I look. The past two weeks or so have been the most dramatic changes – body and weight-wise – that I’ve had in a while, and it is catching up to me. I feel it and I see it. It also doesn’t help that I haven’t had much of any kind of life in the past few weeks. *Sigh* Hopefully now that midterms are over, I can get out a little more and hopefully that’ll bring my spirits up.

The thing is, I feel like during ED, I pushed away a lot of people. I didn’t want to be near anyone. I was too fat or fug to go out. Etc, etc. Sure now I’m starting to “get out there” again, but it’s not the way it was. Some of my former friends I barely/don’t even talk to anymore. Others, it’s become kind of strained. It’s just this feeling of loneliness I get sometimes, feeling like none of them can understand or some of them just don’t want to have to deal with the “self-conscious, picky eater”. Blah.

So this past Tuesday, I had to go into work during the day for a health and safety seminar. Well it ended up finishing super early (11:30 am) and I didn’t have my other work till 6, so I thought I amuse myself by heading downtown to the Whole Foods down there! This was only my second visit ever to a Whole Foods so I was uber excited.

Don’t have any pics of my buys, but I just got some protein bars that were on sale. I was super disappointed because their selection of Nature’s Path stuff and Larabars was terrible. I mean, nothing. Wow. Lame. I was really hoping to find some Jocalat or other flavours of Laras we don’t have readily available here in CahNahDah.

So I had emailed the Larabar people recently, hoping to find out if there’s anywhere here I can find Jocalat or the PB&J or Tropical Fruit flavours. Honestly, they were pretty useless. First they gave me the address of some stores in Markham (a burb like an hour outside of the city), then when I asked for some Toronto stores, she gave me ones that carry Larabars in general. FAIL, Larabar.

FAIL.

So then Thursday night I needed to pick up my paycheque so I moseyed on over to Real Canadian Superstore just ‘cause. I hit up my favouorite aisle ever, the Organics aisle, picked up a/5 $1 off Kashi coupons, and stuff. The yellow sale tags in the Larabar section caught my eye, so I bolted for that. 3/$5. Yeahyeah!! In deciding what three flavours I want, something caught my eye, right under the Cherry Pie box…

YOUR EYES ARE NOT DECEIVING YOU! It’s a Peanut Butter & Jelly Larabar, (and a Pistachio one I got as well) in Canada!!! First I gasped for air, then I passed out (only for a moment), then I did a little happy dance. Haha, you SEE how lame my life has gotten with all this school? This is what gets my blood pumping and gets me excited, haha.

Now I’m just waiting to hear from the Clif Bar people about the seasonal availability. C’mon, Clif peoples!!

[[ Beautiful PB&J Oats (kinda) - oats avec a whole big mashed 'naner, almond butter and raspberry jam ]]

[[ Roasted Green Pepahhs - with tuna, tofu, onions, grean beans, spinach, ginger and hummus! ]]

Like I said, school is really catching up with my. November’s gonna be hella crunch month – lots of final assignements, final exams. Aghhhhhh. One good piece of news, I had a BIIIIG paper due this past week that I got back today…94%! One of the top marks in the class! I’m finally getting a hang of this thing after my long summer break! (And it’s only November next week… -_-)

Till next time, dahlings.

[[ izzyy xoxoxxx ]]

Beauty Is Not How Skinny You Can Be

I was feeling kinda “blah” about myself this evening, and this video found me.

‘Night, loves

[[ izzyy ]]

xxxxxxxxx

My Friend George

Hello dolls! Oh gosh, the past few days have been…a blur. Not one of those awesome “Ohmigosh where has the time gone – those were such good times” blur. More like, “Ohmigosh, how have I been sitting here for almost three hours and I only have one paragraph written” blurs. Yup. Most def. I can’t tell you how much I’ve missed reading all of your blogs every day. I literally just spent the past hour trying to catch up. Best part of my weekend.

So I probably should be studying for one of my midterms tomorrow, but that’s not till 10-something. And it’s barely 9pm now, so I’m pretty well goooood for that. (ish)

I really wish I had exciting stories to tell, pictures to show. But not much has happened. Ugh. I upped my calories yet again. I’m at a pretty scary number now… a whole lotta zeros I thought I’d never see. I was pretty well maintaining on my last amount but the past few days have been pretty tough. I guess it’s that initial calorie-upping weight that comes on uberfast (Water weight? Idk). I’ll be ok, I’ve been here before. Something good this way comes, and all that.

One excitingish thing did however occur…exciting to a foodie like me anyways…

GEORGE FOREMAN happened to me!

I got a beautiful, delicious, cheap George Foreman sex machine/grill! I’d been creeping some George Foremans on eBay for a little while now, and those shitzas are expensive. Finally I had the wild idea to check out Walmart’s website and guess what – $25. Seriously.

My first beautiful creation by my George Foreman was a delish Tuna-Spinach Wrap, with hummus and a whole grain/whole wheat wrap. Chyeeeah. Oh, gosh, I cannot wait to make fantasmagorical new creations with this guy.

Despite being eternally glued to my computer screen/notebook, I’ve also managed to take pictures of some yummy, yummy eats. Sorry about that shitastic quality of these – one is from my cell phone and the others are from my $40 eBay camera with the broken viewfinder. Am I one classy lady or WHAT?! I’m still looking into getting a DSLR, alas, they are uber expensive. Do I’m saving up my pennies and am hoping to get one on boxing day this year. Fingers crossed!!

[[ Pumpkin Oats with Walnuts and Raisins ]]

[[ Whatta hot mess: Oats with mixed berries, mashed banana, almonds ]]

[[ HeavenInABowl: Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Granola - Liberte Vanilla Yoghurt - Peanut Butter & Co White Chocolate Wonderful - Coconut Cream Pie Larabar ]]

Before I forget, the lovely Nic bestoed upon me this lovely award!

Thankies lovey! I love being tagged in notes/getting awards! Haha. So here it goes:

1. Where is your cell phone? Purse

2. Your hair? Wavy
3. Your mother? Neurotic
4. Your father? Strong
5. Your favorite food? Oats!
6. Your dream last night? Blurry
7. Your favorite drink? Tea
8. Your dream/goal? Health
9. What room are you in? Living
10. Your hobby? Clothes!
11. Your fear? Spiders
12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Away
13. Where were you last night? Class
14. Something you aren’t? Extroverted
15. Muffins? Delicious!
16. Wish list item? PBJLarabar
17. Where did you grow up? Toronto : )
18. Last thing you did? Eat : )
19. What are you wearing? Athletics
20. Your TV? On
21. Your pets? None
22. Your friends? Hilarious
23. Your life? Improving
24. Your mood? Cool : )
25. Missing someone? Always : (
26. Vehicle? Soon!
27. Something you’re not wearing? Socks
28. Your favorite store? Forever21 / TheBigCarrot
29. Your favorite color? Purple
30. When was the last time you laughed? 1hr ago
31. Last time you cried? Monday
32. Your best friend? Nutjob : )
33. One place that I go over and over? School – __ -
34. One person who emails me regularly? Tra
35. Favorite place to eat? Car

Kay, I TRIED!! Haha. I know I should tag people now but according to the readings I’ve just done, pretty well everyone in the blogosphere has done this quiz. So if ya haven’t yet – I’M TAGGING YOU!

Okay, I really need to get back to le studying. My grades have really really started slipping this semester compared to the last two…not good, seeing as I rely on my scholarship!!! : S Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Mucho love, ladies,

izzyy

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxox

PS. Check out this NATURE’S PATH (ya huuurd meh) giveaway by the lovely Julie GoLean!

PPS. Check out this MUFFINLICIOUS giveaway by the lovely Jenny!

PPPS. Check out yet another delicious giveaway by the lovely Heather!

A Complete 180

Hallo! And happy (belated) Canadian Thanksgiving! I can say for certain that I’m feeling much better than I was in my last entry. I wanna thank ya for the kind words in my comments, email and in all your blogs. I don’t comment much but I read them all. This community of bloggers is so inspiring and I don’t know where I’d be without it <3

I have been feeling a lot better. I haven’t dropped or restricted at all, I’m happy to say. I think I’m gradually learning to accept what I see and feel and link it back to reality. It’s like every once in a while I have a hiccup – a near breakdown – then I’m jolted back into reality and realize that even though I’ve made progress, I’m still not near done my recovery. Mentally or physically.

Some of my upbeat mood may in fact be accredited to a complete stranger. On Sunday, the fam and I were at Costco after church (3^rd trip this week? Hells to the yeah). So I was in the cereal aisle (second home <3) and I kinda notice this woman in the corner of my eye giving me stink eye. Or atleast staring. I figured it’s cause I was wearing heels. I’m a good solid 6’ tall in heels so it would kinda make sense. Then she comes up to me and is like “excuse me, I was just wondering what shampoo you use or something cause your hair is GORGEOUS”. I was so flattered/shocked. Flattered because it’s always nice to get a compliment and shocked because only a month ago my hair was so thin. Two months ago my hair was falling out in clumps. It’s certainly nowhere near as thick as it once was, but to know that it’s getting shinier and healthier looking makes me so happy! We’re so getting there!

(For the record, I use Tresemme Heat Defense shampoo & conditioner, and when I remember, protection spray. I straighten my hair pretty well daily so I need it!)

[[ Nature's Path Flax Pumpkin Granola - Soy Milk ]]

[[ Half-Eaten Post Workout Snack - Black Cherry Almond Clif Bar - Almonds! ]]

Anyways, since I didn’t wanna make a big fuss over dinner and counting, I decided not to count at all yesterday. Okay, this isn’t completely true since regardless of whether I’m “counting” or not, I count in my head. Like I approximate amounts. I hate it but I can’t get over it (yet). We don’t really do a big dinner or anything at all, but it’s one of maybe  five meals all year that mama, dad and I eat together. Plus there was gonna be wine and what’s more of a spoiler than getting out the measuring cup and pouring the wine in that first? :P

Dinner was ok. We’re not as big on the whole Thanksgiving thing on this side of the border as they are down south. But we had the obligatory turkey (breast) and veggies. And so really, really nice white wine. Ernest & Julio Gallo Pinot Grigio. Very nice with turkey!

Today’s gonna be another busy busy day. Gotta take mama to the hospital (endocrinologist appointment), then work. AND I should probably try to fit in some studying/school work, as I have a film midterm tomorrow, another one Monday, and a big huge essay also due Monday. Oh, the joys of school. (…counting down the days till Winter break!!!)

Just for kicks, here’s what I’m debating between wearing today…I’m leaning towards the white:

[[ Blurry - Tube Dress, Garage - Sweater, (altered) Garage - Boots, Forever 21 ]]

vs.

[[ Geek Sheek? - Sweater, Urban Planet - Skirt, Costa Blanca - Boots&Beanie, Forever 21 - Glasses, FCUK]]

(All featuring my new boots!)

Hope you’re all doing simply fantastic and having an amazing morning/afternoon/evening/night!

[[ izzyy xoxoxoxx ]]

Slippage and Spillage

Hey lovies. This one’s gonna be kind of a rant. Apologies in advance if it’s triggering in any way to anyone out there but I really gotta get it out. This is seriously the only place I can get these thoughts out.

I’ve been really really really struggling with keeping my calories up the past few days. I haven’t slipped yet, but the ED thoughts have been so much louder and more pronounced than they have been in a while. I think I finally see my body really changing. My stomach is bigger. My legs are wobblier. My face is rounder. I can’t believe that the last 5 lbs I’ve gained have made such a huge difference in how I see myself and feel about myself. It’s not even just what I see, it’s how I feel. Like an extra weight attached to my body. Honestly, I can’t imagine going even higher. I’m around 10 lbs from a BMI of 18.5. Seriously, 10 more lbs?, ED keeps saying. I don’t even know if it’s gonna even out or if it’s just gonna sit there.

Blah. Sorry about this downer of a post. I don’t know if it’s school and work starting to get to me (I’m honeslty not even caring about school these days. I’m totally slacking on my readings and work) or if it’s just the colder, shorter days. Or all of it. Luckily did manage to capture some nice eats over the past few days…

[ Oats - Soy Milk - Pumpkin Puree - CinnamonNutmegGinger - Walnuts ]

[ Tofu - Broccoli - Carrots - Green Pepper - Green Beans - Curry ]

Other than school, work and food, I haven’t been doing much at all the past few days. I have a few small events coming up the next few weeks so hopefully they’ll lift my spirits. And challenge that ever louder voice in my head. I’m not gonna let this sunofabitch win.

Much love, and hope you’re all doing great,

[[ izzyyxoxox ]]

PS. Check out this lovely giveaway by the lovely Mikey! PEANUT BUTTAH!!

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere…but not a bite to eat.

O, haii der. Don’t worry, it’s not gonna be an LolCatz post. However, I am presently enjoying a big, huge bowl of Jordans Muesli with yoghurt and extra nuts so this entry may take me a while to type :)

I’ve noticed I haven’t been writing a whole lot about my ED recently. Honestly, it creeps in there sometimes, subtley enough – when I’m making a choice of what to eat, clothes, etc. But I’m finding he’s becoming less and less of a problem. You know what I realized? I think it has a lot to do with the people you surround yourself with. I have a whole lot of new friends at Uni who I hang with a good 95% of the time now (in and out of school) who are really supportive of more “real” body images (they don’t know about my ED… nor are they big by any means). The people I used to hang out with most of the time were extremely, extremely thin (triggering on its own sometimes) and constantly mocked bigger people – even if they weren’t the “f-word”. I haven’t seen that group of friends for alittle while. For a while it was scheduling problems, then recently I knew I’d be triggered to either limit my food or up my exercise in order to fit in better. Now, I realize I’ve been avoiding them purposely. We’ve been friends for longer, and I don’t want to lose touch with them completely, but when I look at my progress in the last few weeks vs. before, maybe it’s better the way it is.

So other than working 24/7 on school-related stuffs, I’ve also found just a bit of time to devote to my other loves – kitchen related stuffs (new love!) and shopping!!! I made some more LaraIzzybars – this time, Cashew Cookie:

Cannot wait to try these! I also forgot to mention I tried my Peanut Butter and Jelly Lara Izzybars a while ago…SO GOOD! Granted, I have nothing to compare those to, as I STILL cannot seem to find the Lara version in stores anywhere here ( saddness D: ). If I find some time this Tuesday, I’ll be heading out to the outlets to get a dress for formal and I’ll make it downtown to check out that Whole Foods! Maybe they’ll have some…

[ Jordan's Morning Crisp - Grapes - Almond Butter - Liberte Yoghurt ]

In other foodie news, I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it, but I have another yummy obsession. PUMPKINS! What good timing too… I’ve been eating my Kashi Pumpkin Spice bars like made recently, had me a Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte yesterday and Starbucks Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffin today for lunch. I even bought Pumpkin Granola. Oh, and one more thing…

IT’S A REAL-LIVE PUMPKIN!

So I was working and schooling all day a few days ago, and I come home to nothing less than a REAL pumpkin on my kitchen counter – courtesy of dad. It’s been sitting there for a while now, but I honestly have NO CLUE how to start with it! Like…I’m not expected to eat the whole thing at once, right? I have no experience with pumpkins! Help?

So as I mentioned, I’ve been doing some shopping recently (what else is new?). In desperate need of new fall clothes, I hit up outlets, downtown, seriously everywhere. I love putting together outfits out of random little piece I pick up different places. Fun Fact – when I was younger, I used to put outfits together in my head in church. Now I do it as I fall asleep so I know what I’m wearing the next morning :)

Dress - Forever 21 ($10!!!), Boots - believeitornot, Walmart! (~$20)

Wish I took a better picture of those boots, but they’re black (patent) leather, flat heel, with buckles. Like really sleek riding boots. They’re so great! And I couldn’t believe they were from WalMart! Then yesterday, I was clearly in a shoe-mood…

Forever 21! - $32

Paired those boots with leggings (been really feeling the 80s/90s ish grudgey look recently) with my new Ramones shirt and cardy. Can’t wait to wear this out! Maybe tomorrow :)

I’m done my Muesli and I think I’m gonna have to wrap up this post. I think I’m coming down with a cold (fingers crossed it’s not Swine Flu!!!!) and I have so sosososososo SO much work left for school tomorrow. *Sigh* Thank God for Thanksgiving long-weekend next week! Yaya!

Mucho love,

[[ izzy xoxo ]]

Oatmeal Fiend

Hello beautiful people! Just a quickie between studying for my big test (first of the dreaded midterms) and studying for my OTHER test! Oh, the joys of academia.

First off, I’d like to thank SO SO much to the lovely Nancy for awarding me with the Kreativ Blogger award! *Victory dance!* I feel so unworthy of it but thanks times a million just the same. Now to fulfill the obligations that go along with such a prestigious award :) …

Seven interesting things about MOI:

1. I used to love ketchup and hate tomatoes – now I love/like tomatos and hate ketchup!
2. I’ve never been farther south than New Jersey…ANYWHERE on Earth. :\
3. I still play on my Super Nintendo, and I still buy games for it from eBay.
4. I wish I loved/liked/could tolerate cottage cheese! (Shout out, Tra!)
5. I love sushi more than anything…though I never woulda touched the stuff less than a year ago!
6. I’m really struggling to think of things interesting enough.
7. I live for buying my clothes at the outlets. I refuse to pay more than $15 for a shirt.

As for the nominations, there really are too too many lovely ladies who desrve this, so I’m just gonna say check out my blogroll to the right there and click on any one of the links listed there. I’m sure you’ll like them. :)

Yesterday, two of my besties and I went out to an all-you-can-eat Chinese buffet for one of their birthday’s (I’d name them by their initial pseudonyms, unfortunately, they both start with “S” 0_0). I ate so SO SO SO much! More than I ever ate at a buffet. I was nearly sick to my stomach. What sucked more than anything is that we had class after. Oh, my. One thing I really realized is that even though I’m happy I can go to these things without all the anxiety I had before, I don’t enjoy eating to the point of illness. Frankly, I’m writing this “the morning after” and I still feel full. No fear, I didn’t skip my favourite meal OF LIFE (aka brekkie), but I think hope this is my first step towards some sort of learning “intuitive eating”. Fingers crossed!

Breakfast:

So, despite being the oatmeal fiend that I am, I have never tried stove top oats! I know, I know, scandal! So finally, since I had no class and plenty of time, I thought I`d try it.

You guys, if you have been microwaving your oats all this time try stove top oats. You`ll never go back.

Ok, so I`m not a fan of really watery-mushy oats. For my microwave oats I used 1/3 c oats (or double that if necessary) and ¼ c soy milk (ditto). That way the milk soaks in and it’s kinda stiffer and not watery. For my stove top oats I used 1/2 c oats, 1/2 c soy milk and about 1/3 c water. Then I added even more water. It looks water and gross whilst cooking but then some evaporates/soaks into the oats. Then half way I add my cinnamon, vanilla extract and blueberries. Then I topped with crushed walnuts and VOILA.

Soinsanelygood.

And it really doesn’t take that long. If you have 5 extra minutes in the morning, I definitely recommend stove top vs. microwave. Ahhhh I ate it half an hour ago and even though I’m satiated, I want more! Whatever happened to intuitive eating???

Rice cake – PB&Co White Chocolate Wonderful – Liberte Raspberry Yoghurt

Deep Chocolate VitaMuffin – Vanilla Liberte Yoghurt – Grapes

Baked sweet potato stuffed with tuna + hummus – Spinach and veggie salad topped w/ leftover tuna + hummus

I stole the VitaTop idea from another blogger (don’t remember who, sorry!). Very yummy. I love Liberte yogurt!

So I’m off to the delightful world of studying. I’ve been loving spending time in the kitchen and I really wish I had more time to do so these days!! Ughh.

Hope you’re all doing amazing and take cares.

izzyy. xoxoxxxx

New + Improving

Allo allo! This will be a blog of firsts. Lots of experimenting, lots of pleasant surprises. Yummy and unexpected. You’ve been forewarned (:

Today I woke up feeling creative so I thought it’d be an opportune time to try a little something I’ve been looking to try for a while now!

Homemade LaraIzzybars!

I’ve been hunting the perfect recipe online for days now (in lectures, where else?). They’re all pretty similar anyways, so I finally attempted it this morning/afternoon. And it actually turned out pretty DAMN good!

Cherry Pie LaraIzzybar

~ 45 g dates (I bought whole, pitted dates)

~ 40 g dried cherries

~ 24 g dry roasted, unsalted almonds

1/8 tsp cinnamon

(When I got the ingredients and proportions, they were all in “cups”. So if you’re more comfortable using cups, all those weights are for ¼ cup. Aka, ¼ dates (they say chopped), ¼ cup dried cherries, ¼ cup almonds.)

1. Using a food processor, very powerful blender or Magic Bullet (like meh!), pulse the dates and the dried cherries until they are a thick, paste-like ball. It will sound like the end of the world. Seriously, my Magic Bullet was NOT taking kindly to those dates and cherries.
2. Take out your paste; set aside. Add almonds and cinnamon and pulse until they’re little chunks. Here’s the mistake I made: I pulsed too much because I still saw whole almond pieces. Then the rest became a fine powder. That’s hard to work with! If most of it are small hard pieces, that’s good enough! The larger chunks are fine! (How many times have you bitten into a Larabar and found a whole almond?)
3. Take that out and with your hands, mesh together date/cherry paste and almond/cinnamon mix. This will take you back to your preschool play dough days. Mix together till your get a big, ol plank o’Lara. Split the plank into two and take two pieces of saran wrap to mould into two Lara-shaped bars.
4. Store in fridge (they will be pretty warm from the heat generated by your food processor). Et voila! You have your own, homemade, CHEAPCHEAPCHEAP, __insert your name here__bars!

Now, I know you’re wondering about the taste. It tastes FANTASTIC! Mine were a little sweeter and a little more tart than the Cherry Pie Larabar (which I love, by the by). In other words, I feel like the flavours are more amplified, maybe cause I used more of each ingredient? Same texture, same look, same feel. No pretty wrapper but, meh. I’ll live. The only negative of this delish bar is the cleanup…

:S

I showed dad my bar next to a Larabar in the wrapper. Even he was impressed! And he’s never impressed by my food! Haha. I’m excited to do like other bloggers and try my Lara/Izzybars in cereal and oats now. Before, I was like, um, I’m not making my $0.50 breakfast into a $3.00 by adding my presh Larabar to it!!

Now if I could only learn to make Clif Bars, my life would be SET! Tomorrow: Peanut Butter and Jelly (:

Super-duper-uber OATS - oats, soya milk, blueberries, banana, walnuts, almonds and raisins!

Vanilla yoghurt, grapes (waay under tharr) and peanuts.

Chicken + veggies + brown rice with curry.

This will also help me in taking calories on my longass days of all-day school/work. It’s getting tough, not gonna lie. I’m finding it easier to actually, physically reach my calories for the day (even though I still wouldn’t be able to do it sans supplement. Enter LARAIZZYBARS!), but it’s just the planning and preparing that takes a shocking amount of time and effort. I wish I could just wing it like my friends. Make one thing, buy another. Whatever happens, happens type of mentality. I’m mostly concerned a) about exceeding my “comfort zone” of sodium, sat fats, etc etc (old habits die hard?). And also, b) I’m scared of actually not eating ENOUGH. Unintentionally, of course, but I still feel like I have that in me. Blurrgh. Patience, I tell myself, patience.

So yesterday something kind of spectacular happened. I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently, not sure why, and this lil happening just gave me a little boost and a whole lotta motivation. I was in class and excused myself in mid lecture to go visit the little ladies room (hang in there, it gets better). I do my deed, etc, etc and notice a lil something-something. Say it ain’t so! I haven’t seen red in so long I don’t know what to do.

You heard me.

Okay, it’s certainly no heavy Aunt Flow. Spotting at best. (Though it has gotten a bit heavier today) But something’s happening down there! I’m finally doing something right! Ahh. I came out with the biggest, stupidest grin on my face. The girl doing her hair at the sink must’ve thought I was completely nuts.

So you can imagine why I’m in such a good mood today. I’m gonna wrap it up for now and hopefully do little studying or reading or SOMETHING school related! I’ve been out of it for so many months it’s hard to get into that scholarly mindset…even though it’s almost October. My other alternative is fixing up some jeans I bought yesterday at the outlets. $5 for formerly $30+ jeans! I’ll post pics of all my buys in my next entry. (:

Mucho luvv,

izzyy xxxoxo

PS. Be sure to check out this yummy giveaway by the lovely Mikey!

Home Alone 7 – Candy for Dinner

I thought that once I started school I’d curb down on my blogging because it would interfere with school work. No fear – school work and good grades are no match for the procrastination monster. That’s right: expect 3 posts a day, every day, from now on. Also, be cautioned, this is a long one, and quite a foodie one. You have been forewarned.

So today my rents were going out of the city for the day for some event. They invited me to go, but it was only until this morning that it started sounding appealing, and I didn’t have time to wash le hair, or prepare and plan out le food. PLUS I knew there’d be dinner there and I knew it’d make me really anxious. Plus, you know when you kinda just want some time to yourself? Even though I knew I’d be sharing my presh alone time with Salmon Rushdie and Charles Dickens (ermm, the two readings I’m working on for school, at the moment).

I woke up late (for me), just before 10 am. I started out with a yumm breakfast (that I didn’t photograph, as the rents were still around trying to get their shit together), consisting of oats, wheat germ, cinnamon, blueberries, almonds and soya milk. Mmmmm. Got back in bed, attempting to get some DAMN readings done! This did not happen, as Dr. Oz was on and then my friend decided to call me from work and talk about… absolutely nothing. Then I hear my parents tell me they’re leaving…oh shit, it’s 1 pm.

Walked over to the kitchen and make myself lunch:

PB & Co White Chooclate Wonderful on WW Flax Bread, grapes and gree tea (in a coffee mug).

Note my crisp, clean, unread coursepack in the foreground. OH, so I finally tried my Peanut Butter & Co White Chocolate Wonderful! First impression: not an overwhelming white chocolate flavour by ANY means, but I could definitely taste it. Very creamy, liked it because of its uberlow sodium count and the short ingredients list. I may buy again – does Whole Foods ever have sales? Still waiting to see how I’ll like my Kraft Creamy All-Natural PB (which I’ll open once I’m done this).

So I actually got ONE reading done. Yay, me! Got distracted by the computer, caught up on mah emails. Debated just WHAT I should make for dinner later, even though it’s only 2 pm. Got distracted, again, this time by my camera. Here’s an ever so attractive picture of myself, without a STITCH of makeup or class:

Au natural…au MAGOSH!

Gotta love wearing pajamas all day long on lazy Saturdays. It was killing me being inside cause it’s SO sunny outside. You know when the sky is so incredibly blue without a cloud in the sky? Almost got up and called my friend telling her that, yes, I would like to go out and get smashed tonight, but decided against it because a) I have SO much to read and b) It’s like 15 Celsius outside. Yuck.

After actually accomplishing something, and getting a few short readings done, I felt my stomach rumbling and decided to try something new – my Liberte Muesli yoghurt!

…and one more just for kicks!

O, haii art.

First impression: I am officially switching over to Liberte yoghurt once I’m done my Danone Silhouette 0+ (which was on sale). I tried JUST the yoghurt first, sans granola/muesli and it was SO nice. A kind of creamy texture, which is ok, I’m just not a huge fan of uber creamy, but a really great flavour, too. It kind of reminded me of Nancy’s Organic Soy Yoghurt, but better. No wierd after taste. I added the muesli and was in heaven. I literarlly had to stop reading because I was so into my yoghurt. I got two of these, one Chocolate one Cranberry, on sale at Superstore. I’m getting the big containers next time – SO YUM!

A few more hours of procrastination, music, internet trouble shooting (I’m mooching off the neighbours’ wireless, atm. Ours is down again), and one more reading DONE, I realized I hadn’t watched TV for hours but didn’t feel like moving from my nice rut in the dining room. So I got up and made a small cup of Health Valley’s soup as I prepared veggies for dindin:

Bowl of soup + Midnight’s Children

Ok, so I remembered this soup being so bland that it wasn`t great (no added salt), so I decided to jazz it up by adding a meager ¼ tsp of black pepper.

BIG MISTAKE.

It was SO spicy I couldn’t feel my throat. I was like, well, it’s a waste if I don’t finish it, and so I had to try to get that 1 cup down. UGHHH. Fail. I diluted it to death with water, so at least I had a veggie broth left over, right? Ugh.

After a few more reading (attempts) and snacks, I decided upon baked sweet potato with tuna and veggies for dinner. Do you remember the days when you’d imagine living on your own and being left to your own devices to make dinner? And the first thing that’d come to your head would be, like “POPTARTS!” or “NUTELLA AND CUPCAKES!”. Not anymore, veggies ALL tha way.

But I digress… WHY TO POTATOS TAKE FIFTY BAJILLION HOURS TO BAKE? So yeah, I gave after an hour and a bit and microwaved the scka. One day I’ll find the patience to actually have it baked, haha. Oh, and make sweet potato fries. Yessir.

Looks kinda meh but, flavour’s SO good!

Omg, you guys, it was SO SO good! Tuna, salmon and sushi I think are the only things preventing me from going completely veg. (You’ll also be happy to know that this Clover Leaf tuna is dolphin safe :D) I mixed half a tin of tuna with some of the innards of my sweet potato and a tablespoon of hummus. AHHmazing. Will be having this again.

So now it’s after 9 in the evening. I still have a Clif Bar to eat to meet my daily calorie intake (yes, I’m learning to eat later!!! But it’s only cause I go to sleep after 1 am…always :P). The people across the street are having a loud party – whatevs. They play cool music/I’ll just crank up my own. You know what question I hate more than anything? “What kind of music do you listen to?” If you took one look at my iTunes, you’d find (almost) every possible genre of music. Except for…polka? And country. But I do have a John Denver song or two on there. Blah.

I’m just about done my readings for the day. Or I’ve just suddenly become a realist and decided to stop lying to myself telling myself I will read it. I think I’ll hop on the elliptical for a bit before I eat my Clif Bar (Chocolate Peanut Butter Crisp, can I hear a holla?). Sorry again about the eternally long post! Till next time…

izzyy.

xxxxoxo

PS. Check out this yummy giveaway from the lovely Mel @ CookinFanatic!