And the pumpkin turned into a coach

Bonsoir mes belles! Thank you all so much for your recovery wishes. I guess they worked, because I feel completely back to normal now! I guess I was just a little run down and my body rebelled!

This morning I woke up feeling fine, but still a little wary of feeling sick again. I hate when you think you're better and it creeps back up on you! I started off my morning with the usual, nothing fancy:

The last of my Arrowhead Mills Spelt Flakes, sliced nanner and almond milk

I spend awhile catching up on blogs and finishing some homework, but started to get antsy. I knew I shouldn't do any intense workouts, but since I felt fine, I was itching to get moving! I'd remembered a few of my friends going to a 10 am class on weekdays at Yoga to the People, and the studio was fresh in my mind since Jaclyn reminded me of it in a recent comment. It's a studio in the East Village that provides donation-based classes. You can pay just a few dollars for a class! I've tried it before on evenings and never been a fan since it gets soooo crowded, but decided to give it another chance.

It was actually great! I felt much more comfortable with space to move in...I'm not very good at yoga, and bumping shoulders with someone while attempting to do the poses always made me self conscious. I tried to really focus on stretching, since so many of you recommended yoga to me in Monday's post. I left feeling stretched out and energized! I don't think I'll ever become a yoga fanatic, since I've tried it many times and just never fell in love, but it did help me to appreciate how great your body feels afterwards! I'm definitely going to try to incorporate it into my routine a few times a month, just to get rid of tight muscles.

I rushed home afterwards to make some lunch before heading to class. I knew I had half a can of pumpkin in the fridge, so during my walk back I invented a recipe and prayed it would turn out edible! The contenders:

Canned organic pumpkin, Pacific vegetable broth, Almond Breeze and cinnamon

I combined half a can of canned pumpkin, 1/2 c vegetable broth, 1/2 almond milk and a dash of cinnamon and heated until warm. Meanwhile, I steamed some carrots in the microwave and then chopped them up to add for extra texture and veg:

When I tried the soup, it was a little lacking in flavor, so I decided to wing it. I added a drizzle of olive oil...better, but still not there. Then, I had a stroke of genius:

Maranatha Almond Butter. Lifesaver. 

I melted a spoonful of AB in the microwave before adding it to the soup and giving it a good stir. The verdict? Exactly what it needed. It turned out great! Every time I experiment like this, I'm reminded of how easy cooking can be!

Enjoyed with Mary's Crackers and an orange, which I swapped for an apple at the last minute because it was less messy to eat and type at the same time :) Nom nom nom. 

After lunch, I skiddadled to my afternoon of classes. On my way, I realized I forgot my water bottle and stopped in a deli to grab one. Look what I found!

Kitten! The deli dude said he was watching it for his girl friend and called it a "pain in the ass." How can something that cute ever be a pain, anywhere?! Made me smile :)

Later, I munched a Larabar between 18th c French Lit and Paris in Art, History and Literature:

Peanut Butter Cookie Larabar

And some unpictured raisins during Paris. I've found that raisins are the perfect in-class snack: the box makes no noise when you open it, and they're chewy, so you don't annoy everyone with your crunching! 

I came home, went to a quick mandatory meeting with my RA (ugh...I hate dorms), and made a monster tupperware salad for dinner. A lot of my toppings got lost in my mountain of spinach, but lots of greens is how I like it!

 

1/2 block Lightlife tempeh, spinach, tomato, steamed Asian blend frozen veggies, sliced green olives, red wine vinegar, EVOO and nooch; Ezekiel english muffin with hot sauce and an orange on the side

After my tum was satisfied, I buckled down and wrote my French paper. 4 pages in two hours, baby! While working, I had a bowl of Envirokidz Peanut Butter Panda Puffs with applesauce and cinnamon:

Is it weird that I chose the Panda Puffs over Leapin' Lemurs solely because the pandas on the box were cuter? 

In other news, I wanted to say thanks to Ashlei at the Vegster and Susan at Tangerine Trees and Marmalade Skies for both giving me the Sunshine award! I'm supposed to tag bloggers who bring sunshine into my life, but as I've said before, it's impossible for me to narrow it down to ten! On top of being the most indecisive human being in the world, every single one of you brings so much sunshine into my life on a daily basis. It sounds so corny, I know, but just the other day I was thinking about how much you've impacted me in the short time I've been in the blog world. I know that it might not always be as easy as it seems, and that many of us have our "issues" when it comes to certain foods, but I truly believe that in reading your blogs every day I've come a long way further in accepting a balance of health and happiness. If I want to eat calamari, I'm going to eat it, and enjoy every single delicious, fried bite!

Well, it's been a long post and I still have some work to do before getting to bed early! Hope you all have an amazing night!

What's the best impromptu creation you've ever whipped up in the kitchen? Today's pumpkin soup was definitely one of my tops!