WIAW #13

It’s Wednesday, and you know what that means!

For this Wednesday, I thought I’d group some of the eats I photographed since Saturday under some awesome alliterations. Okay, anyways…

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Chewable Chunky Chocolate

Saturday was great! I did wake up at 6:15 am and was quite tired, but it was worth it since I got to volunteer for my first run! I picked up my free t-shirt and safety vest since I was directing traffic at a T-interection. I had a four hour shift and almost fell asleep in the middle of the road (I was allowed to bring a foldable lawn chair), but it was fun people-watching and seeing people of all shapes and sizes, experienced runners and running families, all come together on a Saturday morning to participate in something healthy (and for a good cause) when people are usually sleeping-in.

After my shift, my dad picked me up and we drove to Oakland for my sister’s band review. On the way, I had a Luna Protein Bar in chocolate that I picked up from Raley’s.

Love Luna Protein (the chocolate chips with the chewy doughy inside is what makes it), hate that they’re soooo small!

After watching the concert, we stopped in Berkeley to pick up some idli batter from an Indian grocery store, and then stopped by a local health foods store for samples (cookies and cheese, anybody??) and Artic Zero (Mint Cookie flavor!!). My dad and sis tried a spoon of it, and well, didn’t enjoy it as much as I do. So my pint of “cold vaporizing air” (as my dad likes to call it) was all mine for me to enjoy on the ride home.

I also had a pretty bad headache so I tried to take a nap but it only got worse. I then decided it was best to just actually get some work done for the rest of the day and have dinner.

Spicy Scramble

On Sunday, I casually did some more homework and went to the gym with my Dad for a mid-morning raquetball session. I still had a lingering headache, so we stopped playing earlier than usual. I was also pretty hungry, so we stopped  by Fresh n’ Easy and found some sauces on sale for $0.99! We bought a bottle of Mesquite sauce, which I added to an egg scramble on top of some flatbread for lunch (main ingredients: egg whites + boca meatless crumbles):

Bar-y Breakfast

Yesterday, (and today) I had two yummy bars of different flavors and textures:

This is the second MilkBite bar I’ve tried, and so far, it trumps the raisin flavor. What can I say? Anything with cranberries and blueberries already has me won over :3. I can’t wait to try the chocolate flavor though (it’s sitting in my fridge right now, and will make an appearance here soon enough )!

Don’t let the size of this bar fool you! It’s pretty tough, and lives up to the saying on the wrapper: “chewy yet crispy”. It’s chewy when you first bite into it, but then when your grinding it up in you’re mouth, it gives your jaw a mega workout! Haha . Gotta love the chocolate chips though!

Yucky Yogurt

Okay, don’t hate me if you are a Chobani fan(atic). Sure, there are some amazing flavors by Chobani, but this honey flavor? Blegh. I mean, what honey? There was nothing at the bottom! And the yogurt? Where was the sweetness? Good thing this wasn’t the first Chobani I tried, I probably would have never tried any of the other more amazing flavors (like strawberry).

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Happy Wednesday…and Memorial Day Weekend coming up!!

Craving for Salads, Craving for Summer

The past week and a half was busy, but it was a good kind of busy. I’ve been able to do things I’ve looked forward to doing, as well as make time to do things that I have to do (without feeling too much pressure or stress).

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Last Thursday, my Dad happened to stop by the Nugget and pick up two new-to-me NuGo bars in Orange Smoothie and Chocolate. You know, those bars that look like Rice Krispie Treats but taste better?

And then on Friday, I tried another new-to-me bar, since I found a free coupon for it in the Sunday newspaper. I literally gasped when I found the coupon say in bold letters: “Free Bar!”. It was for a Good’n natural bar, and since the only store that’s close to me that sold the bar was Rite Aid, I gleefully picked one up after school!

It has the texture of a Larabar, but it’s much bigger and more satisfying, imo. And the lemon flavor is hard to beat. I absolutely love lemon-flavored bars!

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On Saturday, I had a take-home midterm due for my African American Lit class, so I was scrambling to do that while out and about with my sis and Dad, since I wanted to see my sis perform with her Wind Ensemble at a local band review. We were also driving her friend, and I was trying to keep my cool even though I had to deal with slow wi-fi in the front of a Safeway parking lot in order to submit my exam on time!!

The midterm was submitted with an hour to spare, and I celebrated with a Skinny Cow Cookies ‘n Cream Sundae Cup!

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Sunday was a pretty chill day, since all I did was study for my bio midterm in the living room(on multicellular eukaryotes and the wonderful world of plants…) while my Dad watched the basketball play-offs all afternoon. I had a wonderful salad that day though: Sweet Egg and Onion!

Obviously there’s lotsa other good and crunchy stuff in there, but the eggs and onions were definitely the star(s) of the bowl! It’s been a while since I’ve had a craving for salads (since I had them all the time last year in college when I was living in the dorms), but with it being late spring/early summer and all (and with the weather getting hotter and hotter), my salad cravings have come back to me!

I also like dousing my salads with Braggs Liquid Aminos…something that frequently flavored my DC salads…

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I even craved salad for lunch the next day at school! I packed one similar to the one I had Sunday, only this time I substituted the chickpeas for black beans. I also added some sliced apples! I munched on this while cramming in some last-minute reading for my English class.

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On Tuesday, I had the chance to shadow an oncologist at a local hospital. I’ve been so immersed in research for the past year that I haven’t had time to explore the clinical side of the medical world. I did volunteer at a gynecology and oncology clinic my freshman year, but I haven’t had a chance to really follow a doctor around like a lost duckling. Haha! While I can’t disclose any real details (due to confidentiality and all that), it was definitely a learning experience, and I realized there are many cons as there are pros to the job. Not sure which outweighs the other, but I’m sure I’ll figure that out soon enough! I have to get at least 24 hours of physician shadowing for this one med program I am interested in, so I’m going to be looking out for more doctors to shadow !

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Wednesday was a long-ish day at school, but tolerable. I decided to pack the same salad I had on Monday for lunch, but this time, also cook up a Morning Star Spicy Bean Burger to crush on top.

It added so much body (and spice) and was sooooo good! I enjoyed it outside while catching up on some reading. I think there were also some dance try-outs or some dance-related thing going on as well cause there were a bunch of girls on the quad (where I was eating) just dancing around to Top 40 remixes. Twas an interesting site for sure…probably more for the guys !

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Yesterday was my ”labs day”. At least these snackables fueled me in the morning before leaving for school:

I had Bio lab in the morn, and we had to take notes on random plants in a greenhouse. I was assigned to take notes/present the epiphytes with a few other people. The plants were cool, but the lab was BORING. I literally wanted to curl up and sleep in the greenhouse, no joke.

O Chem lab was loooonger than usual (we almost used the full class time when we usually are able to get out an hour early). And for some reason, even though I followed all the steps, the final product I needed for this chromatography experiment would not form. No clue why, but this is the second time something went wrong in O Chem lab for me this quarter ><. Ah well!

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Grr. I have SO much work to do this weekend, but at least I’ll be doing some things that are “fun”. Tomorrow I’ll be volunteering at a sunrise run directing traffic (free t-shirt!!) and then leaving for the Bay where my sis has another band review to perform at. There’s no doubt I’ll be toting my notebooks along with me !

Do you crave salads in the summer?

What are your fav salad ingredient combos?  

WIAW #12

Today’s WIAW is pretty random, but I have a dire need to participate this week since I was so busy last week!

(These are eats from random days, but I didn’t want the pics to be lost and not ever seen again! Haha…)

Like in the middle of my midterm-craze last week, I forgot I had taken a pic of the latest Chobani flavor I tried—Peach!

Strawberry is still my favorite, but the brightness of the peach was a perfect complement to the warm, sunny day during which I had this yogurt.

Yesterday evening before Biochem, I stopped by Trader Joe’s after my last day at my internship. I had about two more hours till I would get home and have dinner, so I decided to snack on yet another flavor of Think Thin bars—brownie crunch!

This flavor/texture tasted just like the white chocolate, except substitute the white chocolate with milk chocolate. I loved how it was more chewy, even though there was a subtle crunch with the bits of “rice krisps” or whatever they’re called!

Last night, I made Alexandra’s “Night Time Goodum” since I had a weird craving for peanut butter, but I also noticed we had cottage cheese and I had the sudden realization that I could use the vanilla-flavored soy protein powder sitting in our pantry (from Trader Joe’s) for things other than smoothies.

So the outcome was this:

And I kept it in the freezer as Alexandra instructed . It made the perfect late breakfast today after it thawed! I enjoyed every last morsel sitting outside one of the freshmen residence hall patios after my peer advising class.

Other things I ate today include wheat tortillas (plain) and ofcourse a vegetable pot pie which I pretty much have for dinner every weeknight. Hopefully I’ll have more time/freedom from school to vary my dinners this summer. Most of you are out of school, but I have….five more weeks? Blegggh…

At least I do have some idea of what I’m doing this summer. I’ve decided to take a break from research for the summer and use the time to study for the MCAT, which I’m taking in August. We also plan on taking a week’s vacation to see some family members who are coming to the Yosemite-area in July, and from there, take a trip to LA with my best friend before she heads off to college! After the MCAT, I’m going to be taking part 2 of Biochem to ease my workload (if only a little bit) for the coming school year, and to make it a bit of a comfier ride towards my hope of graduating early. Yes, so many plans, but along with these things, I have more personal goals I’d like to work towards this summer. That’s a topic for a separate post, perhaps post(s) even. It’s something I’ve thought about sharing for a while, but I want to devote enough time into writing it out/truly expressing my feelings, so it may be a few weeks till I post such (a) post(s).

What are your summer plans?

What was the first thing you ate after getting out of school? Or, what was the first thing you ate this morning?

A Not-So-Bad Weekend

On Saturday, I had to attend a multi-cultural competency workshop (for my counseling job) for the whole day. It wasn’t as boring as I thought it would be to be honest.

The workshop was based around how to address the needs of individuals who identify with certain identities, and what type of language to use when advising these students. We actually had to do a lot of group activities and role playing which was fun, and people got pretty deep with their stories, so it was a fascinating experience.

And ofcourse, we had lunch at one of the residence halls dining commons for free!

I visited my old friend, the salad bar, and made a salad of tabouli, bok choy, endives, sweet diced red peppers, olives, mushrooms, and champagne vinegar. I also picked up a vegan burger, and had a bowl of sliced cantaloupe for dessert. I wanted to fall asleep by the time it was 2:00pm from all that food, but we had to work on our last group activity till 4:00pm.

After the workshop, I stopped by the Juicy Couture Outlet before heading home. I decided to treat myself to this gorgeous velour jacket that was on sale:

Yes, I know it’s summer, but we still have our cold-ish mornings. And how can you pass up a cute Juicy Couture jacket on sale? And since I haven’t gone shopping in well, a very long time, I thought I would just splurge a little. No second doubts here !

After a quick dinner, I played raquetball with my dad at the gym (which was less crowded than usual—Saturday nights are like that I guess!) and we stopped by Fresh n Easy afterwards to pick up some groceries since we had one of those $5 off every $25 purchase or more coupons. I love it when we use one of these coupons since I make it a priority to try a new bar every visit. Okay, so that’s a “new” priority for me, but I think it’s an important one, especially since I consider myself a energy bar fan(atic).

So I decided to try the Think Thin Cookies & Cream bar, which I had as part of my breakfast on Sunday.

Ermmmm….not that amazing to be honest. I mean, I like it, but it reminded me of a Promax bar I had a couple months back. Like, if I had closed my eyes and eaten this, I would have thought I was eating that Promax bar! So, the white chocolate flavoris still reigning champion…for now !

Along with this bar, I tried had another one of Trader Joe’s greek yogurts (mango).

And a Kraft MilkBite Oatmeal Raisin Bar. Picked up the box from the 99 cent store!!

It tasted JUST like cold oatmeal molded into square shape, with some raisins thrown in and a frosting drizzle on top. It was also pretty small, but dense from all the oats and milk. Overall, makes a pretty cool snack .

After my breakfast of sampling, I did some work that didn’t require my full attention (i.e. I could have the TV on for background noise and still understand what I was reading ). After that, I spent the majority of the day napping, and after dinner started on the next chapter of O Chem. I’ve been hearing from others that the next midterm is gonna be harder, so I can’t risk getting behind!!

Anyways, hope everyone has a fun and fantastic Monday!

Eat, Sleep, Study

Phew! To say the past weekend/week was not-so-fun would be an understatement. I spent last Saturday and Sunday planted on the living room couch with a TV dinner foldable table stacked with piles and piles of notes, books, etc. I studied for 8+ hours for an O Chem midterm…not even a final! And Biochemistry?

Do.not.want.to.talk.about.it.

So I won’t. Instead, I’ll share some amazing eats from the past week or so. (Especially since I’ve not been the best WIAW participant lately…)

Found this at Fresh n Easy for $1.00. I know plenty of you have probably already tried this flavor already ! It wasn’t my favorite flavor since it tasted more like a PB Pretzel mix. Maybe if it had some chocolate drizzle on top it might have worked for me.

I absolutely love Amy’s Kitchen Burritos line. I had the Southwestern flavor for breakfast one morning at home and the Especial at school. They’re pretty fantastic when it comes to microwaveable burritos, but why do they have to be so small ? (Looking at the pic, I think I may have cooked the Especial a bit too long since the tortilla came out crispy !)

I sometimes find Target’s Archer Farms brand to have some nice surprises. Like these cookie straws for instance. My mom had got them for herself, but I had to try some (for breakfast along with the Amy’s Southwestern Burrito). They’re pretty sweet and sugary, but they probably would have made the perfect afternoon tea cookies! I’ve also seen the lemon ones—now that’s a flavor I’d really like to try!

In the midst of studying over the weekend, I managed to go out to the gym and play some raquetball around Sunday evening. Before eating dinner that night, I noticed the Jif peanut butter jar we had was empty. I immediately knew it was time for OIAJ numero dos, made with Jif Peanut Butter, Oats, and Oikos Honey Fig Nonfat Greek Yogurt.

So. delish.

The only downside was that I the oats were pretty concentrated in the yogurt, which sort of made me thirsty. I need to remember to at least add some milk, haha.

The morning of my O Chem midterm, I wanted something different for breakfast. It was pretty warm so I still had a blueberry smoothie, but along with that, I had a Sweet Potato Egg White Mini Omelette with Wasa Crispbread. It was a great change-up in my breakfast routine of oatmeal+blueberry smoothies, but I think I’ll puree the sweet potatoes next time. I like having my foods reflect the color of their ingredients (orange omelette anyone )?

Also had these two new-to-me products. I especially loved my first Think Thin bar in white chocolate! It tasted like a soft oreo encased in, well, white chocolate! I can’t wait to try the other flavors Trader Joe’s has to offer since they make great walking-to-school snacks !

And I love Trader Joe’s greek yogurt line. Their strawberry flavor > blueberry > honey. I’ve also tried their mango flavor which is amazing.

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I think the whole studying too long/much made me pretty scatterbrained by the time Thursday rolled around. I had O Chem lab that day and was just all over the place. I was pretty meticulous when it came to separating the organic layer from the aqueous layer for this experiment we were doing. I even separated the layers three times into three separate test tubes to ensure that all of the aqueous layer was out. But then I absent-mindedly dumped all of my test tubes down the drain when I was cleaning up. I forgot to weight the final product and turn it in!

I didn’t freak out, but it was a face palm moment for sure. My TA kinda just laughed it off and said to be more careful next time. Well, at least I didn’t break anything.

And the Winner Is…

Sorry, no food pics right now (it’s midterm week, and I’ve been studying all weekend long and I won’t be done until Thursday…)

But I do have a winner for the Protein Bakery Giveaway!

Yay Helen! I will be contacting you for your address so you can try these ASAP!

Protein Bakery Review—and GIVEAWAY :)

Last Thursday, a wonderful box of baked goodies arrived at my doorstep from The Protein Bakery!

The protein-packed doughy noshes of cookies and brownies were delicately packaged and wrapped with black and silver polka dot tissue paper. Yes, I was just as excited to receive the tissue paper as I was for the desserts .

The Protein Bakery has been in business since 1999, and has specialized in baking protein-rich cookies, brownies, and blondies. Their goal is to satisfy the sweet tooth of their clients, while removing any guilt or sugar crashes that are often associated with regular baked goods (especially overprocessed ones…). These desserts are high in muscle-building protein, high in dietary fiber, are not made with wheat flour, and are made in small batches (meaning no factory line!).

Here was what they sent me to try:

• Chocolate Chocolate Chip Cookies

I let my sister tries these since she is a self-proclaimed chocoholic. She tried these and within the first bite was in chocolate heaven (or so she says ).

• Wicked Mint Brownie

I was super excited to try this, cause the emerald-colored mint chocolate chips reminded me SO much of Wicked…the musical!

Note – saw this musical about two years ago in SF…AH-mazing!!

[Source]

Maybe it should be renamed the Elphaba Brownie? Haha… I expected the brownie to be more dense, but this brownie tasted more like a soft snack cake. I like dense, heavy brownies, so I was a tad bit disappointed that this brownie didn’t meet my expectations. The mint chips were certainly minty though, and made up for it .

• Peanut Butter Brownie

Like the Wicked Mint Brownie, this tasted more like a soft snack cake with a light coat of peanut butter-like icing. It wasn’t my favorite only because I was expecting more. Perhaps a few peanut butter chips in the brownie/cake may have made this more appealing?

While the brownies may have not met my expectations, the blondie exceeded them.

• Black and While Blondie

Now this beauty was DENSE! So dense that one half was a hefty enough serving (I split this with my dad). But this is what I expect from a brownie/blondie, and the white and milk chocolate chips only added to the beauty and wonderful chunky texture of this dream dessert!

• Trail Mix Cookie

I really loved the thickness of this cookie, and how the seeds and cranberries were visible in each bite. I split the cookie with my dad, and surprisingly, one half was a filling enough serving.

• Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies and Peanut Butter Cookies

I.LOVED.THESE. Yes, PB and Choco combos always make me go weak at the knees, but these tiny cookies were PACKED with peanut butter and the chocolate chips were just melt-in-your-mouth fantastic! And since I was in a PB + Choco craze and was a bit stingy with these cookies, I let my sister and dad try the plain PB ones. They raved about the texture and PB aroma.

So I can say for sure, the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookies were my second favorite product. Speaking of which, what was my first? Well…

…it was this…

• Chocolate Chocolate Cherry Cookie

So if you want my recommendation, and if you could only buy ONE thing from the Protein Bakery…GET.THIS.COOKIE. O-O!! There’s something about chocolate and cherries that is just so heavenly. I savored the first bite, and was almost in tears when I chewed the last bit of cherry. Okay, so maybe I wasn’t in tears, but I did want more!

• Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies

I had these in the morning since “oatmeal” was in the name, and it made for a tasty bite-size breakfast! I am a crazy fan of cranberries and oatmeal together (exhibit A), so these cookies were perfect for me . These cookies were also interesting since it was like the outer crust was like a “shell” and the inside was super soft and chewy!

Now that I have you drooling over your keyboards, you’re probably wondering how you can get your hands on these and try them for yourselves? Well, you could order them online, or you could enter my giveaway and hope to be the lucky winner!

The winner will receive a package that is dubbed “The Taste of Protein Bakery”, and includes an assortment of 2 brownies/blondies, 2 colossal cookies, and 3 cookie 2-packs. A $45.00 value with shipping! And since they only ship
within the mainland of the US and do not accept PO Boxes or APO addresses, this contest can only be open to US residents and those with no PO/APO addresses.

Here are the many ways to enter (leave a comment for each entry).

1. Like Protein Bakery on Facebook.
2. Follow Protein Bakery on Twitter.
3. Leave a comment saying which of the above desserts you’d want to try.
4. Link back to this giveaway.

Winner will be announced Monday, April 30th!

Saturday Six

Ah, the weekend has arrived! The weather is taunting me by being so beautiful and gorgeous outside (it’s been in the 70s all week—yay!), but I’ve got a Bio midterm on Monday.  Hopefully I’ll get to enjoy the weather sometime today though, either through a jog or tennis—it would be criminal not too!!

I thought I’d post six random things that I’ve eaten/thinking about/reading…for fun (gasp!).

1. I’ve been reading (and finished Thursday night) A Thousand Splendid Suns. It took me about 10-15 minutes each night for the past three weeks or so.

(source)

I never actually read The Kite Runner (just watched the movie), but I found this second novel by Khaled Hosseini a good read. It wasn’t a non-stop page turner for me (I found myself skimming through some of the more detailed/political parts), but I felt happy/sad/angry for the two female protagonists at the appropriate times as their stories unraveled. I’d give it an 8.5/10…not bad !

2. I need to go clothes shopping, plain and simple. I still have layering tanks from freshman year of high school. I also have too many giftcards from Christmas and my birthday from last summer that are weighing down my ID pouch ><. I’m just so indecisive when it comes to buying clothes!

Hmmm…maybe some shorts…

…some cute tanks…

…and some lovely strapless dresses. I’m also looking for some maxi dresses !

(Yes, all of these are from A&F. I always end up getting my clothes from here…or HCO or Gilly Hicks …).

3.  Lately, I’ve been spending waaaaay too much time at school (more than I’ve scheduled myself for). I usually have class from 11 am to 3pm, but yesterday was an exception. I was at school from 8 am – 5 pm, going to lecture plus office hours for Biochemistry…that class would seriously be so much easier if the professor didn’t have an accent, was organized, and the tutors actually had a clue as to what they were doing (as well as if they all agreed on the same strategies and answers for the practice homework!!). While I’ve been able to be “more efficient” with how I spend my time at school(use time at school to go to OH, etc.), the time I spend in OH could go by quicker if the tutors/TAs were prepared themselves. I guess you can only have control over what you can do, but it’s so irritating to have to go to three different tutors, and all of ‘em just give an answer, just to give an answer.

- sigh -

4.  On a less tense note, I was perusing through World Market the other day before heading over to a program I had to shadow for my peer adviser job, and I discovered the next best thing to Biscoff Spread…

…Biscoff Crunchy Spread. I wanted to squeal with delight, but I just managed an awestruck gasp. This is definitely on my food-to-buy list…along with the four varied flavors of PB & Co. Butter Jars that were next to it!!

5. The other day, my mom went to Target and saw these featured in a great promo—free ICE CREAM! I’m not sure what she bought to get these for free, but no questions were asked!!

(source)

Why do these have to be limited edition? Vanilla and chocolate should never be limited edition, and I love the vanilla wafers !

6. The warm weather has been a great excuse to walk to school. I’ve been snacking on some random energy bars to get from point A to point B.

Including…

I also had some $0.50 off coupons for Dr. Praeger’s products, so I bought these to have for lunch at my internship.

These burgers are soooo delicious! One of the girls I’m training was like, you eat them plain like that? And I was like yeah, why not ?

It’s 8 am and it’s as bright as noon outside! I am really tempted to study outside in the sunshine, but I think I may fall asleep if I do that and end up basking in the sun…

What foods have you found while grocery shopping (recently) and want to try?

How do you plan to enjoy the summer weather (even if it hasn’t hit your neighborhod yet )?

WIAW #11

So I am glad that I’m on the WIAW bandwagon this week.

I’ve been having so many anxious thoughts/irrational fears swirling through my head for the past few weeks. Especially with Spring Quarter classes and summer coming up. It’s been hard for me to put things down on paper, let alone a computer. Being so anxious about practically everything is probably the reason why my posts have been lacking (there’s also the laziness factor—haven’t been in the mood to photograph what I eat lately).

A lot of my anxiety has to do with what my plans are for the summer. I’m still on track to graduate in a year (June 2013!!), but my original plan was to marticulate into an MD/PhD program the fall of the same year. I had to make the decision of waiting till after I graduate to apply, meaning I would be aiming for marticulation into the Class of 2014. I didn’t want to do this originally because I didn’t want to “waste” a year, but thinking about it from a resonable angle made me realize that I would probably be a much more competitive applicant if I had the opportunity to add to my application all of the things I accomplished in my undergrad career, and not just what I have up until this point.

So I figure that my biggest priority this summer will be studying like a madwoman for the MCAT.  I even decided to take a break from research for the summer just so that I can fully devote myself to it. I’ll probably do some things on the side just to save my sanity like physician shadowing, hospital volunteering for those patient exposure hours, and some volunteering things related to my peer adviser job, but nothing is set in stone.

So not having to worry about getting the AMCAs application done in addition to what I mentioned above is a huge relief, but then there is also the fact that I need to pour the energy I have right now into my spring quarter classes and make sure my grades don’t fall to the wayside. The thing that frustrates me though is that you can work your butt off for any of these classes, but you seriously won’t know the outcome until the very end.

Like my genetics class last quarter. I had a solid A going into the finals, but once the final came, there was no way anyone could have guessed what was going through the professor’s head when he wrote out those problems. And to my dismay, I ended up with a B for the class.

I’m not saying a B is bad at all! But I feel like for the work I put in for that class, I definitely should have gotten an A for effort. My other classes balanced out the B, but my GPA did not go up (or down, thankfully!!) from the previous quarter. So perhaps this is why I am so anxious about this quarter since I truly want to be successful in all my classes up until the very end. Successful meaning a straight-A quarter. This is tough to accomplish in college, but hopefully things will turn out favorably and will complement the hours I spend studying for each class.

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So now that you know what’s been up with me lately, here are some of my latest eats (hover over for name/description–this is my laziness talking here !):

You can probably see I’ve been making a dent in my list of Chobani flavors to try…

And these easter tootsie roll midgees?! Total addiction right here!

Haven’t had Clif Mojo bars in a while, so I enjoyed these over the weekend !

And this overnight oats concoction? Dry oats mixed with black cherry and blueberry greek yogurts (CHOBANI!), topped with peanut butter. This was the highlight of my 12-hour day yesterday !

Happy WIAW my blogging friends !

A Ridiculously RAWesome Review

Last week I was gifted with a generous amount of food from the folks at Rawvolution:

The company is based in Santa Monica, California, but they have a cafe in LA and New York. They pride themselves in making meals using only raw foods and wholesome ingredients which combat three things: dehydration, malnutrition, and lack of enzymes. They say raw foods help with all of that! The foods are not meant to be heated, but can be refridgerated and then brought up to room temperature before consuming. You can read more about the vegan/vegetarian-friendly food here.

The cooled, perishable (and heavy!) box came to my doorstep on Wednesday, and I immediately stocked the fridge with the amazing raw foods they sent:

• Russian Red Borscht
• Ninja Protein Balls
• Mediterranean Tabouli
• Tropical Fruit Parfait
• Indonesian Noodles
• Mushroom and Swiss Burger
• Pizza Italiano
• Broccolini Salad
• Spicy Sesame Cream Soup
• Assorted Crackers
• Vegetable Lasagna
• Mock Chicken Salad

Their menu frequently rotates, and a box that features everything on their current menu would retail $120.

Here’s a review of what I got…

Russian Red Borscht –

The color of dark blood, but it sat in my fridge looking so innocent, so I decided to try it first. I had no patience to wait for it to warm up to room temp., so I got out a bowl and poured 2 cups worth in. I didn’t expect much from what looked like liquified beets, but WHA-ZAM! Upon the first spoonful, the was a burst of lemon tanginess and garlic! It was so deceiving, but tasted AMAZING! What were the ingredients in this soup?!

Beets, carrot, celery, dill, lemon juice, garlic, sea salt.

Ah-ha! So this borscht got some help from lemon juice and garlic—lots of help indeed! I then added a ripped up tortilla to the soup (not pictured) for some texture, and slurped up what was left like a mad Transylvannian resident woman. No vampires came visiting that’s for sure :K!

Ninja Protein Balls –

Can you imagine the insides of an energy bar? Well, picture that rolled up into bite-size balls covered in raw chocolate. That’s what the Ninja Protein Balls basically were!! It was like eating a energy/protein bar in bite-size form. While it is marketed as a “power-packed dessert”, I could easily see someone eating this as a pre/post-workout snack, or even on-the-go.

The Mediterranean Tabouli had a lot of body to it surprisingly! Or maybe not surprisingly since it was chock full of hemp seeds. It tasted like mushy spinach (I love mushy spinach btw!). The lemon juice, garlic, and olive oil made it very flavorful AND filling.

The Tropical Fruit Parfait made a great breakfast, even though it’s marketed as a dessert. My Dad tried some, and compared it to ice cream, with mango and fruit flavor. It had a tart undertaste, which was the main reason my sis didn’t exactly appreciate it.

For dinner, Indonesian Noodles sounded perfect!

It had a distinct South Indian flavor (despite being called Indonesian noodles) with the aroma of coconut milk. I thought the kelp noodles looked absolutely adorable and I loved the variety of vegetables that were mixed in.

Mushroom and Swiss Burger -

Now this was interesting. The “bun” was actually a pretty fragile crust comprised of flax seeds, and sunflower seeds, with what I believe was a walnut-based patty. The rest of the condiments were packaged separately (to avoid soaking the crust too soon I presume) and really balanced out the saltiness of the crust and patty. The crust also had a cheesy-ish aroma, and the whole “burger” tasted better after being thawed. My favorite part was the mushrooms ofcourse .

Pizza Italiano -

Similar to the burger, it came with an already-broken crust. The toppings reminded me of tapenade since there was predominantly olives, peppers, and spinach leaves that I topped with a hummus-like sauce that came on the side. It reminded me of a Greek/Mediterranean pizza. (Hmmm…this may have tasted better with some Fat Free Trader Joe’s Feta Cheese now that I think about it…).

Broccolini Salad -

The minute I opened the bag, an intense, fresh, and olive oil smell hit my nose. It smelled pretty much like broccoli doused in olive oil. But if Cher likes it, it’s worth trying right? All I can say is this is side dish perfection–light, but satisfying!

Spicy Sesame Cream Soup -

This soup was kickin’ in lemon juice and chopped onion, and reminded me of taco soup rather than an asian broth (although it does look like it with the orangey color). There were even noodles in there I think!

My package even came with Assorted Crackers, that looked like the crusts from the burger and pizza meals, and looked like they were made from a mix of various seeds. Perfect when paired with the soup!

Vegetable Lasagna -

My favorite thing about this was the vegetables ofcourse! I love how the zucchini slices were cut so thin! I mean, look at the description from the website:

Thinly sliced zucchini noodles topped with heirloom tomato marinara, seed cheese, fresh basil and oregano, diced bell peppers, yellow onions and marinated Portobello mushrooms.

Now, I’m not a raw zucchini fan, but when mixed with seed cheese and marinated Portobello mushrooms? Who can pass that up?

Mock Chicken Salad -

The last thing in the box was the Mock Chicken Salad. (Sorry for not taking a better pic—I was so busy the day I took the pic!!)

This one bag could probably make 10 meals! One scoop was so satisfying and enough to keep me satiated. And while it tasted creamy and looked exactly identical to a mayonnaise-laden chicken salad, it could have made a great condiment between two sandwich thins. (I didn’t try this, but definitely a great recipe idea!).

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All of the foods were raw and still tasted amazing! This would probably do well in hospitals where people would need to get in nutrients quickly. Despite having a lemony/garlicy breath after consuming each meal, the textures and foods came out fresh and lasted me a little over a week from when the box arrived at my door. I highly recommend you at least give raw food a chance sometime in your life—Rawvolution really does revolutionize the raw food lifestyle!

Thanks again for the sample box Rawvolution!