I don’t have a particularly fantastic work schedule at the moment, but at least I’m on day shift for the entire month. So I’m certainly not complaining!
After a sweaty morning sesh with Jillian, I enjoyed a scone before heading into the office hospital.
Here’s the stash I brought along.
What a snack scene!
That would be, dehydrated apple rings, dark chocolate covered edamame, candied ginger, Nature’s Path Chococonut bar, mini PB cookie Larabar, mixed dried fruit, and a baggie of home-made cereal/nut/dried fruit trail mix.
Breakfast number two was oats with a parfait-style twist.
I mashed half a banana with the last few tbsp of plain greek yogurt to make a banana fluff of sorts which I then added on top of the oatmeal.
Pre-banana fluff…
Post-banana fluff…
Not too shabby!
BTW, I let the granola soak with the rolled oats so it got soft, thereby making the top layer of oats almost like a pie or coffee cake crumble. Yummy layers for optimal enjoyment.
For lunch I had some of the mystery pasta atop a bed of lettuce.
This pasta is delicious warm or cold.
At the risk of sounding boring like a broken record, dinner was the exact same thing.
Hey, if it ‘aint broke…
Kyle had already had his way with the dish before I got home. 😉
I had seconds (duh) and so by the time we were both done with dinner, all that remained was a teeny tiny portion.
Kyle’s not allowed to bring his own lunches to his summer internship, so I got to add it to my work lunch.
Aside from spinach, the salad needed further enhancing, so I added red quinoa and chickpeas…topped in Bragg’s liquid aminos.
After dinner Kyle and I walked to Barnes&Noble so I could make this very important purchase.
For anyone who hasn’t read The Hunger Games series, do yourself a favor and get hooked now. Suzanne Collins’ books are fantastic. This is the last book and I’m trying to figure out a way to go slowly enough to enjoy it to the max.
Back at the casa I popped some of these Superfood Snacks. Talk about raw, vegan treats! These are a great dessert option because the sugar won’t keep you up all night.
The package has six balls (a serving is two) and they are reallllly chocolate-y. Even my cocoa cravings was maxed out after two nuggets. I tried the Chocolate Cherry Qi flavor.
They are dense, but not like a solid piece of fudge. They have good texture thanks to the hemp seeds. I could have used a bit more cherry flavor because it was very subtle, but all in all, I was really pleased with them.
The next day’s packed food was pretty similar. As I mentioned, the pasta salad was lunch.
Breakfast at home was a home-made dried fruit/nut bar (with coffee).
This was NOT preceded with a workout because I got up and felt like poop. Instead I used the time to stretch out my back and meditate wake up.
Work was CRAZY busy. I had an extra patient and a student nurse with me, so I was definitely running behind for the beginning of the day. A few of my patients were ticking time bombs if you will (meaning they were on the cusp of becoming very unstable very quickly). So critical thinking and amazing nursing care was of the essence. That said, the student nurse got to do a TON of really cool things, and she was adorably excited about it all. I love having students with me because I remember being really scared and nervous at my clinicals, so I try to make the setting as relaxed as possible. None of this nurses-who-eat-their-own-young-BS. I explained why we were looking at certain labs, why we were keeping the blood pressure in a specific range, why we were holding a medication, and I could see her making the connections in her head. It was cool.
I think I starved her half to death though because I didn’t get to eat breakfast until 11!
Here’s the mix of rolled oats, banana, Silk creamer and chia seeds the night before.
And here it is after gelling over night.
So thick!
My nursing student went home around noon, so the rest of the day I was doing my thang. My patients were extraordinarily sweet. I spent a ton of time chatting with a few of them. One patient was recently diagnosed with cancer and was very interested in the holistic approach to healing. He was telling me all about his dietary changes (less meat, more whole foods, green tea, ginger, etc.) and the books he’s read on the subject, so I told him about Kris Carr and printed out some stuff for him. He was diagnosed on Valentine’s Day just like she was! Craziness. He was so responsive to everything it warmed my heart. I left work feeling like a rock star. Best. Job. Ever.
The only thing different about my lunch, btw, was my home-made trail mix. New combo, this time with Love Grown granola 🙂
Kyle and I got sushi take-out for dinner.
My seaweed salad looks small when it’s smashed in the to-go box like that, but it was a monster of a salad.
I think it was meant to be an entree actually. So good!
Check out the rolls packed in like sardines.
My date in his casual Friday attire. 🙂
Sushi King was where the take-out was from for any locals who are interested. It’s quick and inexpensive, so I def recommend. It’s just a few blocks away from us, too. Doesn’t get much easier than that.
I finished off my already salty meal with several (as in 4) bowls of nuts. Meanwhile, Kyle and I enjoyed a tivo full of Curb episodes. We’ve seen Larry David a few times in Santa Monica, and it’s always fun trying to recognize where the episodes are.
True story: he almost ran me over in his car once when I was crossing the road on a run back in 2005 when I lived in Brentwood.
I’m working on it.
This weekend I have Saturday off, but then it’s back to the grind on Sunday and Monday.
This morning’s breakfast was oats (shocker) with silken tofu, cocoa powder, carob chips, and raisins.
And now I’m off to enjoy the rest of my Saturday!
Yay for nurses who don’t eat their young! LOVE! 🙂
Now I have images of where you work being EXACTLY like Grey’s Anatomy, except – as you seem to like your student nurse – you’re an Izzie, not a Christina!
I really hope you watch Grey’s, or this comment makes no sense….
Elise, did I just read chocolate covered edamame! Holy I wonder what those taste like! where did you find them!?
all your eats look fantastic. Your pasta dish looks so scrumptious!
And…as a nursing student myself, I’m kind of (really) scared about being in the hospital this coming school year. But at the same time, it’d be such a great experience to be able to work with real patients instead of dummies!
i dont watch grey’s. but it sounds like a compliment?
trader joes!!! so good. they taste just like peanut m&m’s
Mmmm all your oat creations look absolutely delicious!! Love the sushi, too. It’s been way too long since I’ve had a good roll.
YES to the Hunger Games! Your strategy for reading slowly is spot on because I was having serious withdrawal once I finished. Can’t wait for the movies to come out. 🙂
Also, I’m thinking sushi for dinner.
The hunger games were an excellent bunch of books, (I’m hoping the movie doesn’t murder them…) have you read any of the “Mortal Instruments”? I loved them too (they are an excellent mix of modern fantasy, humour, and action)!
Just out of curiosity, how often does your shift change? My sister is also a nurse, and she always works the 11PM-7AM shift–7 on, 7 off. It’s always consistent, but I can never seem to keep straight which week is on and which week is off! It makes it hard to call for a chat 😉
I am slowly but happily catching up on Hippie posts! I love your “I’m working on it” comment. Your work eats are inspiring as I now need some ideas working 12 hour shifts myself! 😀
I think it’s hard having student nurses. I’m defo conscious that when I’m working with a nurse I slow them down and give them a greater workload. I really appreciate working with nice nurses who are understanding and take an interest in sharing their knowledge and teaching, as I’m sure your student did.
Food! I have to try your pasta dish! And I desperately must go shopping. I’m in a food rut. So bored with all my food. Must get granola at least! Ok, now I’m just rambling. Hope you had a nice day off xxx
PS The Hunger Games series- never heard of them. What style are they, aside from fiction? I’m reading our next book for book club and it’s not floating my boat. It’s a bit cliched so far. x
mmm…your eats looks so good…everything 🙂 but particularly so those oats with love grown granola, oats and yogurt on top, and your mystery pasta dish…wow! i love reading about your eats (or rather, drooling over photos of them!)
so glad you had such wonderful patients and a great student nurse to work with, its so fantastic to hear about days liek that and must feel so good – love that feeling of having the best job ever…it’s very precious! <3
i can't believe kyle isn't allowed to bring lunch with him?! why not?! that seems kinda harsh and crazy 🙁 i don't think i could handle that! need my dairy-free whole-foods home cookin', lol! 😛 xyx
its kinda like harry potter…i guess…hard to describe. SO good though. i remember thinking the same thing about sarah’s key (thats what youre reading now, yes?). i read that one a while ago, but im obsessed with that WWII nazi genre. weird, i know, but it fascinates me.
his summer internship is with a food company. youd know it by name. they have to eat at the cafeteria there.
we work 12 hour shifts, not 8. its not consistent, we fill out schedules each month with what we want. 3 days a week, whenever. the shifts are either 7 am to 7 pm or the opposite (7 pm to 7 am).
I try to be empathetic to nursing students that come through – a bad experienced with a cruel nurse can tamper the student’s perceptions of nursing and a certain area of care. I would want students to feel that, wherever he or she choses to work, that there will be a network of support and knowledge from more experienced nurses. That, and to think that where I work is kickass.
Last night was rough for me too. It was the night of Code White.
Your food always looks uhmazing…..! Sushi, nuts, oats… Yum.
Have a nice Sunday!
SO awesome you got to talk to your patient, affirming him and giving him more information and tips to help him navigate his path to wellness. Making changes is not easy so all information and support along the way is crucial. I love Kris Carr. Have you seen her documentary? I love it because it documents her process, all her experiments and experience, what worked, what didn’t – the start of how she came to be the awesome wellness warrior she is today!
Doing what we can through diet and lifestyle to help prevent and even cure degenerative diseases is a topic near and dear to my heart. I was on the brink of becoming diabetic and was able to reverse it. Both my parents had cancer. My dad is currently recovering from the chemo and radiation therapy he just completed. I had him read The China Study and In Defense of Food. He hasn’t been able to eat, so I taught my mom to make healthy, real food “smoothies” for his feeding tube and when he can eat again I was thinking the Clean Food cookbook would be the perfect gift for him! Do you have both Clean Food and Clean Start? Is it worth getting both?
Your pasta salad looks awesome! If I was not allowed to bring in my own lunches like Kyle, I would definitely be sneaking in food!! 😉 Hopefully they offer decent options!
That’s really awesome that you’re so welcoming towards the nursing student. I have a few friends who are in nursing school right now and I know they talk about how stressful clinicals can be, so I’m sure she appreciated it. This post also made me want to start eating overnight oats again…I haven’t had them in months, not sure why!
I am about 100 pages into the first Hunger Games book and cannot put it down. Also, those blueberry scones? I can’t put those down either.
i really think you should come visit in santa monica 🙂 bring adrienne and ill repay you with vegan gluten free waffles.
oh i see! well, that’s okay then, I see their point 🙂 xyx
so i bought candied ginger recently because of you, and i have the most genius trail mix for you ever: candied ginger, dark choco chips + raw almonds. it’s heaven. trust me.
I actually HATED the first few chapters of the Hunger Games… and then became obsessed and I cant wait to read the next one. Although I heard the next one isnt as good.
Also… I am so jealous you have seen Larry David! Curb is my second favorite show after the Office… sooooo hilarious!!
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Sorry I keep posting comments on your older posts (I just start clicking on those related post icons and I end up reading all of your blog posts hah) but when you make the oats with the silken tofu do you just add it after cooking?
haha…i do the same thing!!! (is that weird that i re-read my own posts…its like reading a journal though)
anyway, i add the tofu after, but im weird and i like the flavor of plain tofu.