Lunch break with acoustic music, massage, and roasted vegetable sandwiches. #food #relax

Fruits I got today! Persimmons are so good, but so expensive right now…can’t wait to go home for Thanksgiving and pick from my neighbors’ tree (we have legitimate permission now! )

Tip: pick pomegrantes that are cracked because that means they absorbed a lot of water while on the tree! Learned this at the farmers’ market today =)

#food #fruit #eatclean #healthy

Fall Breakfast on-the-go:

• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 1/2 cup butternut squash
• 1 banana
• sliced almonds
• PB2 + cinnamon +almond milk dressing

Taken with Instagram

Lunchtime! #food #salad #medschool (Taken with Instagram)

Please appreciate this post. I battled my computer for 2 hours this morning when I need to be reinforcing anatomy/physiology/cell biology/ biochemistry to get this thing up (our first med school test is next week!) It has taken all the patience I’ve gained from practicing Buddhism through my life to not flip out. I haven’t been posting as often because of med school and because my computer’s choking on something and just loves to torture me. wahhhhh help. -___- 

That being said…Check out what I had for dinner yesterday! 

Grilled Eggplant Sandwich 

Ingredients: 1 eggplant, fresh diced tomatoes or salsa, salad greens, salt, pepper, cooking oil, hummus spread, sliced bread (optional if you’re hardcore). Makes 6 mini sandwiches to share (I didn’t eat all of them…) 

Directions

1. Slice your eggplant into 1/2 inch rounds. 
2. Pour oil into a paper towel, and wipe eggplant rounds with the towel. If you have cooking spray or oil-spray, you can use that. This way you are only using a teensy bit of oil necessary for grilling.
3. Season with salt and pepper. 
4. Heat grilling pan on medium heat. 
5. Grill eggplants 3-4 minutes on each side until brown. 
6. Spread each eggplant round with hummus; top with lettuce and tomatoes!
7. Sandwich between favorite bread. 

So I ate the first one without bread…it was a little daunting, because I don’t particularly LOVE eggplant (like I do butternut squash and tomatoes!). But, I added toasted pumpernickel bread to make a real sandwich and it was delicious, savory, and filling. I could eat eggplant all day if it was sandwiched between rye, sourdough, or any whole grain bread! 

But what’s so good about eggplant anyways? Why go through all the trouble to eat it if I don’t like it that much? First off, I always want to try new whole foods, especially vegetables. And, eggplant has so much to offer (with little calories)! 1 cup of cooked eggplant is only about 30 calories! The skin of eggplants contains nasunin, an antioxidant that protects our cells from damage. Studies have shown that nasunin protects the cell membrane of brain cells. Each serving offers 3g of soluble fiber and significant amounts of manganese, calcium, and potassium. Overall, it’s super filling and a great vegetarian substitute for a deli meat or a patty! Also, grilling is a super fast and fresh way to prepare your veggies! My grilling pan looks like this. 

So what are you all doing this weekend? 

I have lots of materials to cement in my brain, doing a 20-mile run (hopefully it’ll go well enough), seeing my parents, cleaning my room, and going to cook teff for breakfast and eggplant curry for dinner. 

Talk to you soon!

Geri 

Lunch and snacks for the day! Curry tofu, brown rice, and spring mix in a jar…pumpernickel bread, wasa crispbread, and an orange =] oh and my new lunchbag with a threadless artist design! #food #lunch #medicalschool (Taken with Instagram)

Quinoa with roasted vegetables on top of mixed greens with mango salsa dressing for #lunch #food. Not going to lie…the quinoa mix was prepared from Andronico’s…but I will definitely make my own next time! #vegetarian #eatclean #plantbased #vegan (Taken with Instagram)

Lunch time in between classes! Packed a 3.25 salad to the brim with mixed greens, chickpeas, edamame beans, tomatoes, bell peppers, and brown rice! Hope everyone is doing well! #food #medschool #salad #vegetarian #eatclean (Taken with Instagram)

Hi Everyone! This is what I’m packing for my main lunch entree this week. Making a salad-in-a-jar is so easy and you feel really accomplished for making such a pretty ensemble. There’s only a couple guidelines to follow: 

1. Dressing first. 
2. Add hardest items next.
3. Top with salad greens. 

Glass jars keep your salads fresher for longer so you can make a few of them at the same time and store in the fridge for each day of the week. I used Annie’s fat-free mango dressing, red beans, organic shredded carrots, cherry tomatoes, 1/2 orange each, and organic baby kale. 

Show me your salad jars and have a great Monday!

~Geraldine 

Hello oatmeal with white beans/pear/almond/cinnamon! I was thinking about you all 16 miles this morning <3 #food #love #running #healthy #fitness (Taken with Instagram)

Who here doesn’t like protein powder? I kind of hate it…but still want to add protein to my meals that aren’t so loaded. For example: oatmeal. Oats are like a blank canvas. The possibilities are endless. Try adding chickpeas/garbanzo beans or white beans to morning bowl of oats for more natural, whole protein and fiber. These mildly flavored beans blend right into the oats and you don’t even taste them! 

My Powered up Back-to-School Oatmeal: 

• 1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
• 1 cup water 
• 1 apple, pear, or banana
• 1/2 cup white beans 
• dashes of cinnamon 

Try it and tell me if you like or dislike the beans!

Geraldine 

Hi Everyone! 

Med School starts tomorrow and I’ve been planning how to eat healthy and efficiently. Here are some tips from me and Dr. Barbara Rolls’s The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet book (Facebook & Amazon). For lunch salads, I buy mostly pre-cut and washed items to quickly throw together. For dinners, I use whole vegetables and prepare them quickly, mostly by boiling. I’m not a fan of frozen vegetables because mine always end up soggy…I also prepare big batches of grains and refrigerate them for the week. However, I did see some frozen cubed butternut squash and frozen cooked lentils that looked promising. I absolutely hate frozen zucchini…bleghhh soggy tasteless mess. 

What’s more important for you? Saving time or saving money? 

Hope everything is going well! I miss everyone =)

~Geraldine 

Hi Everyone, 

These are my favorite sources of plant protein! As you can see, you can get a lot of protein from plants. Not only that, vegetable sources also provide fiber which animal protein sources do not.

This past month, I’ve been breaking out worse than usual, in different areas, and during different times of the month. Therefore, I’ve decided to cut out dairy, which has been shown in many reliable studies to positively correlate to acne. That means, no Greek yogurt and its powerful punch of 20g of protein per cup. I’ve relied more on vegetable protein, especially from these sources! For dinner today, I had brown rice, lentils, and spinach.

For some light reading on the relationship between acne and dairy see: 

Acne: Are Milk and Sugar the Causes?

For a more rigorous review: Diet and Acne

Hope this helps!

-Geraldine 

P.S. My skin’s clearing after 2 weeks. 

I found brown sticky rice in the #wholefoods bulk aisle! Aka brown sweet rice. Yay for healthy asian #food! (Taken with Instagram)