Eating Alone in Public Places

I shortened my run down to 30 minutes yesterday because I new my body was still fighting a cold. But as it turned out, I ended up pushing my self at a faster pace...and felt great afterwords.

When I was done I had just enough time to sit down on a ROCK and have a Jumbled Jam Jar snack. Yes, they really do have rocks downtown by campus buildings. It was quite the busy place as it was the middle of the day, so tons of people were walking by.

The sun was shining, and my mouth was very happy. This jar combination ROCKed (no pun intended).
Along with the almonds, hemp seeds, and protein PB you see on top, there is also a pleasant surprise underneath.

I layered broken up Suzie's Whole Ancient Grain Kamut Cakes and Pineapple-Coconut-Banana Yogurt and let the jar sit overnight in the fridge.

By the time I was enjoying it, the yogurt had softened the puffed cakes and made for a very interesting texture (in a good way)!

I got a few strange looks from others, perhaps because I was taking a picture of my food on a rock. Or maybe because I was sitting on a rock enjoying the sun as if it was actually warm outside. It wasn't warm to say the least, and my snack on a rock didn't last long.  

Either way, eating alone in busy public places sometimes makes me feel uncomfortable. 

Does anyone else feel this way about eating alone in busy public places?

Springful Thinking

I woke up this morning to a bright blue sky, and a very happy pet bunny. My rabbit's name is Brey, cause he is half BRown and half grEY.

Some mornings when I let him out of his 'house' (cage is such a cruel word) he hops around my room like a little bugs bunny. When he wants to be pet he chases my feet, and runs in circles around my legs!

There is something about having a happy hopping bunny that makes it feel like Easter is coming. With the bright blue sky and the improved weather forecast, I'm really starting to have some springful thinking.

Getting Geeeky:
So I've gone back an forth between using different RSS feeds. There are so many. I've used the one on iMail (for mac), Google Reader, and Feedly...

But there is just something about actually GOING to the blog that makes reading it so much more interactive.

But, with so many blogs that I read multiple times a day, it was getting a little time consuming opening up ALL your lovely blogs.

So I used mac Automator, to make my own little Blog! Application.

Now when I click on the little orange Blog! Icon all of my favorite blogs open up in different tabs!

It is quite the convenient little app, and its really easy to add new URLs too.

How do you read your favorite Blogs? An RSS Reader? Going to the actual blog? Something else?

"You can do it, and you know it" Thanks Halls

Rise and Shine! I woke up feeling almost 100% better. I have a strict "getting a cold" regime which always seems to keep everything at bay:

-Lots if liquids
-A bit of exercise. Enough to work up a sweat though
-Cold FX or a name name version
-Halls Vitamin C and cough Drops
-2 hours of feeling bad for yourself. Since the first step to getting better is admitting that you actually are fighting a cold

So I spent two hours last night feeling bad for myself, sucking on Halls cough drops, and drinking Throat Formula Tea.

The 'Pep talk in ever drop' on the Halls vitamin C drops were really encouraging! They helped me get through last evening.

Yes- the wrapper really does day "Let's hear your battle cry" and "You can do it, and you know it"

I sent myself to bed early and woke up half an hour later then usual (Usually I'm up around 7:20am).

After a warm cup of coffee (okay fine... a couple warm cups of coffee) out of my favorite mug, and a filling breakfast, I am ready to start my day.

The countdown begins only 31 days until the Royal Wedding! I missed the TLC Royal wedding special on the weekend :( But that's alright, I'll be done exams on April 28th, so I will be able to follow the wedding all day on the 29th!

What are your tricks and tips to overcoming a cold?

Getting a Cold :(

I woke up this morning feeling pretty crumby...with a sore throat and foggy headache. Yup, definitely a cold coming on. I have an immune system of rock (knock on wood), so hopefully this cold won't stick around long.

In order to clear my sinuses a bit- I decided to make up a really spicy tomato soup. Here's how it turned out:

Spicy Spring Soup

-Fresh Ginger chopped

-Garlic Clove

-Ground Pepper

-Chile Pepper Flakes

-Can of diced tomatoes

-Shredded Cabbage, Broccoli Slaw, celery

So it turned out REALLY spicy. I wish I had cottage cheese to top it with, but sour cream will do:

By the end of it, my mouth was on fire, but my sinuses were clear. It was nice on this 'spring' day...but the good news is according to the 14 day trend, we are in store for a 'warm up'. 

Hemp Hearts

So I recently came across these:

 Being my indecisive self, it took me a long time to decide if I wanted to spend the full $11 bucks on them. The main problem being - I had NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WITH THEM. The first time I saw them I actually changed my mind at the counter...I'm pretty sure the cashier thought I was crazy.

 Either way, the second time I came across them, I bought them and they made a great addition to breakfast!

Again, being indecisive I decided to try dip my cantaloupe in them, top my yogurt with them, and sprinkle them on my toast. It was all good, and even just one tablespoon went along way.

They also made my way into my "Jumbled Jam Jar" snack:

I made it the night before, it's just a jumble of ingredients that are stuffed into an old jam jar. This jar had:

JUMBLED JAM JAR

-1 tbsp Hemp Hearts

-Almonds

-Protein PB

-Crumbled up Spelt Cake 

-Few Banana Slices

-Cinnamon (Can you tell I'm a cinnamon fan?)

The flavours really mix in over night in the fridge, which is great! And it turned out to be a great snack, which means that I am now able to get more work done rather than getting distracted by snacking every 15 minutes!

Although I should get to some school studying work, and stop writing this blog post! I hope everyone has a productive weekend, there is nothing like time well spent!

Weather Woes and Wildwood noodles

So I recently came across these packages of WildWood PastaSlim noodles at Noah's Natural Foods

The first time I tried them...well lets just say they didn't turn out so great...but once you've experimented with them a bit they are actually pretty good!

It pretty much turns out a bit different each time I make it, just depending on what veggies/protein I decide to throw in. It ranges anywhere from corn to peas and from shrimp to black beans. It's really quite versatile! This is how it turned out today:

It's even got scrambled eggwhites mixed in, seasweed steamed on top, and fresh ginger and garlic in the mix. It was absolutely DELISH.

Too bad it didn't sit to great for my afternoon run. It wasn't horribly uncomfortable, just felt like it was taking a long time to digest, perhaps I put in too much ginger.

The run only went alright, but I'm getting tired of running inside. I want real pavement beneath my feet, and trees to look at. Come on Canada, why are you behaving so stereotypically? It really is like the north pole up here. When I woke up this morning, the news (Breakfast Television) told me it was -15C with the windchill. Needless to say, I will not be running outside until the weather changes into something much more acceptable.

High Pass Filter

Being a student studying electrical and computer engineering, I got quite curious about how photoshop's High Pass Filter works.

You see in analog and digital communication systems a high pass filter will remove low frequency components of a signal, and pass the high frequencies. A HPF is actually a simple circuit, and looks something like this:

But photoshop's HPF is clearly not a circuit so since I'm always reading SOMETHING while I enjoy my breakfast, I decided to explore how this high pass filter concept applies to image processing. I won't bore you will all the gory details - but according to this informative site: "The kernel of the high pass filter is designed to increase the brightness of the center pixel relative to neighboring pixels. The kernel array usually contains a single positive value at its center, which is completely surrounded by negative values."  


I decided to apply a high pass filter to a picture of breakfast. 

Turns out that the settings I have it on just make the air look a bit smokey - I swear I didn't burn my toast... :)


What are your favorite photoshop filters?

Moleskine Notebooks

So, I absolutely love Moleskine Notebooks.
And look at BEAUTIFUL University of Toronto's Bookstore - where they have plenty of Moleskines to choose from...

Can you guess how many Moleskines I am currently using?...

SIX!!

1. Getting Things Done/ 'Whatever' Notebook
2. Concrete appointment/tests/assignment due dates
3. Day to Day -"I really should do this problem set at 2:00pm Notebook" (you get the idea?)
4. New Years Resolution Notebook- Writing Three Blessings A Day - (Yes, I have not broken my news years resolution yet!)
5. Favorite Bible Verses (Each day, I flip through my bible until I find a verse I want to write down)
6. "A Daily Piece of Knowledge" Notebook (I write down at least one thing I learned that day. It helps me remember and reflect on the day)

This is me with one (of my 2) Peanuts Special Edition ruled moleskin notebooks.

It's my combined GTD (Getting things Done) and 'whatever' notebook. There are plenty of interesting GTD notebook organization ideas out there such as: PigPog and this student GTD Hack.

I've pretty much used some of the ideas I found for GTD notebooks combined with my own. This is how it all plays out:

The INBOX page is a MASSIVE list of EVERYTHING I need to do separated into:

• Special - Any form filling, banking, or any other tasks that don't fit in social or school
• Social - Emailing certain people, remembering to do something nice...ect
• School- Pretty self explanatory: assignments, problem sets, concepts...

I did say I like alliterations didn't I? Hense the SSS. It's actually quite liberating just spending 15 minutes racking your brain for every single task you need to do.

I blurred out names, since this is a public blog and all..

Most pages are NOT 'Inbox' pages, but rather lists and noticed used to process the tasks in the 'inbox'. For example in the Inbox Special section I may have "Go grocery Shopping" and then on another page I would have a grocery shopping list. 

You may be wondering what this post is doing on a blog about f-EEE-ding brain and body. But Notebooks = Organization and Organization is the edibles to engineering. How is that for reasoning!

Question: What types of lists do you make in your notebooks?

100% Protein "Peanut Butter"

I think I must have been really tired last night - because when I woke up this morning and saw the snow I figured I must have slept right through to December 23rd 2011!

We all have guilty pleasures or habits that are bad for you. I confess, mine is Walden Farms Calorie Free Peanut Spread:

You will see from the ingredients that this is a completely processed 'junk food...

BUT

I found a way to give it some great nutritional value...

ADD PROTEIN POWDER

You can experiment with ratios, and protein powder flavours. Try cocoa though, it's great!

It goes great on Ryvita Whole Grain Snackbread... especially with bananas!

These snackbread (or crackerbread depending on what country you are in) are great, because they are so versatile! You can have it with cheese or jam or brushetta or really anything you can come up with!

Does anyone have any favorite cracker toppings or spreads?

Introducing ME!

Okay, so I know there are plenty of good food and fitness blogs out there, and that many new ones have been popping up.  So you may be wondering why I decided to start one of my own…

First...This is me:  

1) I am a early 20s FEMALE studying (see my beautiful study space below) ELECTRICAL and computer engineering at the University of Toronto. Apparently a lot of of the my peers don't have the same hobbies that I do...as a result there are not many people to socialize/talk with. This blog will allow me to write out all the things I want to say!

Have you ever seen the show: The Big Bang Theory? Although it's quite stereotypical of nerds and geeks...it's actually a somewhat accurate portrayal of the engineering students I have come to known (even myself sometimes!)


2) I have some pretty good food ideas (if I do say so myself). For example my Protein Pumpkin Pudding (Yes, I do LOVE alliterations)

FYI: These picture do NOT do this recipe justice. 

PROTEIN PUMPKIN PUDDING

-1/2 cup canned pumpkin

-1/4 cup egg white

-2 tbsp Almond Breeze Almond Milk

-1 tbsp of your favorite protein powder 

-Splenda and cinnamon to taste (I use ALOT of cinnamon)

Mix it all up, and microwave for about 5 minutes (depending on your microwave strength. I like to put some cut up strawberries on top, but they are just for fun and not necessary. 

Please NOTE this Blog is NOT a Food Blog (I am not going to take a picture of everything I eat...although entertaining to read, this would be too big of a job on my part). I may however periodically (math pun intended) reference by favorite food blogs!

3) I have been running on and off for the past five years, but this year it has been more ON then off.  I am hoping to complete my first half marathon by the end of this year - this blog will keep you posted on milestones and accomplishments

Stay tuned for some pretty exciting idea's regarding edibles, engineering and exercise. You won't be disappointed. 

To give you a sneak peak: 

In my next post I'll be talking about Walden Farms Calorie Free Peanut Butter Spread! 

But I would love to hear your opinions first....so what do you think Toxic or Tasty? Please leave comments :)