Friday, September 18, 2009

study hard, play harder

IMG_4740whew, this week just flew by!  This is great but it’s been a little too fast.  I feel like the weeks are just getting away from me.  While I never really was a party animal, I’m employing the motto of ‘study hard, play harder’ this weekend since I’m going to try to fit in both!  While tonight is Friday, I’m going to try to get somewhat caught up so that I can enjoy the Greek Food Festival Saturday evening and the Pink Martini Concert Sunday night.  Boy do I have lots to do, as I’m sure you guys are no stranger to this, right?

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Thursday I rushed to the farmer’s market after work and before class and found some yummies.  I think I cut the cantaloupe too soon because it wasn’t very good, but the dates are AMAZING!!  I think this is my new love.  I have to be careful because when I brought them home I had 5!  hello fiber and carbs!  I want to try to make granola bars with them or some kind of quick bread.  Do you have any good date recipes to share???  Yum!

The bag had a bunch of different varieties,  I liked the tiny brown one in the back the best. 

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They also had date bread and cookies and I about bought them all!  Next time I want to try the bread.  Oh my gosh, this cookie was just wonderful, you’ll see . . . 

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IMG_4745I’m meeting with my chair tomorrow at a coffee shop, since it’s so hard to meet during the week with work.  I need to look over some more research, but I think I’ve decided on a thesis topic focusing on coconut water!  eek!  I’m excited yet very nervous about the whole thing.  It will be something like ‘The effect of coconut water on rehydration after exercising in the heat’  What do you think? 

Everyone I’ve told or asked about it doesn’t seem too excited and many people don’t even know what coconut water is.  But, no one in the department is giving me any other ideas!!!  I’ve been very frustrated and discouraged trying to find something, but I hope this will work.  I’d like to compare it to traditional electrolyte replacements to see if it is better (that would be neat), does the same, or is not a good sports drink.  I’m just having a discrepancy between how much sodium is in the product.  The USDA database says 252 mg/cup, but most of the brands available say 60 mg or less.  That isn’t really ideal for a ‘sports drink’.  I contacted ZICO brand and they said the USDA must be in error.  Anyone have any ideas?  I haven’t heard back from the USDA as of yet.

IMG_4720Yesterday for dinner I made peanutty noodles.  Peanut butter is one of my favorite things and I can have it for breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert pretty much or just straight from the jar.  I love this recipe because it’s pretty darn versatile.  I didn’t have any bokchoy so I just left it out and added more carrots.  Yum!  I like to use soba noodles, but anything you can find works.

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You can find the recipe here.

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And the yumminess I promised!  I topped 1/4 of the date chocolate chip cookie with a bit of vanilla 1/2 fat ice cream.  Wow, it was the perfect combo! 

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So that’s what my weekend is going to look like, I need to get to studying and brainstorming asap!  Hope you all have a wonderful weekend :) 

What’s your motto lately?

13 comments:

Devan said...

the soba noodle dish looks gorgeous!!

i love making raw dessert truffles with dates.
you need to soak your dates so they get really soft
add carob powder
walnuts (soaked) or almonds
and then coat with carob powder.. or coconut.. or nuts :)

mm try soaking the dates and nuts in coconut water!

good luck at the coffee shop :)

Anonymous said...

that peanut noodle with soba looks delicious! I'm getting some soba too, I'll definitely make this.
weekend will involve a lot of groceries shopping and having family time! :)

Shannon said...

Congratulations on deciding on a thesis topic. I think you're asking a really good question. I've heard a lot about people using coconut water instead of Gatorade. If it works, it sure is a healthier alternative!

Hope the meeting with your chair is a success!

Gina; The Candid RD said...

I think the coconut study sounds VERY interesting. Have you found any previous research on it? I mean, what made you come up with this plan and what's your hypothesis? I would assume those are the questions your chair would ask, right?

Great looking dates and date cookies, I'm a fan of dates! And those peanutty noodles looks scruptious!

My motto lately is SAVE SAVE SAVE. My money is dwindling since I don't start my new job until November, and Christmas is coming up. Scary! Good luck studying, and enjoy the festival!

Emily said...

I like your post title. :-) Sounds like my life philosophy.

Anyway, I like your thesis topic. As Gina said, it would be good to do a mini lit review and see what's already out there.

I bookmarked the peanut noodle recipe, since I also love all things PB.

My motto lately is similar to yours...I also like winston churchill's "we make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

MelindaRD said...

OMG I am soooo jealous. The Greek Food Festival is my fave. Please have some saganaki for me. I can't believe I can't go this year. It is better than San Genarro (however you spell that) feast.

Astra Libris said...

Oh my, you have an intense weekend indeed! Good luck - I know you'll conquer everything successfully!

I think your research topic sounds awesome!! Such a fascinating, interesting topic!! I would love to learn more about coconut water, and it'll be soooo interesting to compare the natural coconut water product with more synthetically manufactured sports drinks! I can't wait to hear more! You go girl! Sending big congrats hugs on your topic selection! :-)

I'm swooning over those beautiful dates, btw... :-) Dates are one of my all-time favorite foods - they seem like natures candy to me! :-) I love to put them in a whole wheat raisin bread - just substitute the dates for the raisins! YUM! :-)

kristen :) said...

Thank you so much! I feel so much better reading all your comments, well that's true all the time!!! It is a interesting topic and I found out about it through the blog world and seeing the claims that the coconut water brands make about it being nature's sports drink, that got me thinking if it really could be hmmmm . . .
Thank you for all your date ideas!! I am loving dates and don't know why I had never really bought them before. I'll definitely experiment with some bread.

Oh yes, the greek festival is so much better than genarro (sp?)and much more worth it money wise.

I will be visiting your blogs asap!! I'm going through withdrawals :)

Nicole, RD said...

That cookie looked wonderful! I love dates, too, as I just recently found out.

As a coconut water lover, I'd be MORE than interested in your thesis topic!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Nicole

Thinspired said...

I think the coconut water thing is a GREAT idea! It's all the buzz lately but not a lot of mainstream research. That would be fascinating, for people to read, and for you to research!

I'm so confused about all the different kinds of dates! I just bought some brown ones yesterday but I have no idea what kind they are.

I've been making a similar noodle dish lately but with udon noodles...so good! Yours looks better though, more professional ;)

A said...

I love the idea of a coconut water thesis! I'm totally intrigued by it so as you learn more be sure to spread the good word! Also, I'm loving the peanut sauce recipe and the dates! I LOOOOOVE dates. You can chop them and put them in oatmeal cookies, oats, on salads.... They are fabulous!!! Oh and you can make your own lara bars too!
-A

Dan Brewer said...

Your blog is awesome. great perspective. those dates look awesome.

Michal said...

I think your thesis topic sounds really interesting, and not too common! I bet it is going to turn out great. Your peanut butter noodles are also looking lovely, I just love peanut butter. Lately i have to say my motto has been... balance and equality. I have been trying to find a balance lately between my crazy school and work schedual and my eating and my excersise. Enjoy your week :)