A Day of Eats

Good morning! I hope you all had a great weekend. Mine was filled with fun stuff including some awesome meals, an adventure to Brooklyn, and going to the Giants game yesterday. I also squeezed in a few hours of studying which I am thanking myself for on as I get my head back into the books this morning.

I always think it is interesting to see what people eat in a given day, and I always mean to participate in Jen’s What I Ate Wednesday posts. I’ve done it a few times in the past (here and here) but it has been a while. I always forget to snap photos of what I eat, but I happened to capture almost everything on Friday and thought I would share. So here goes!

I kicked the day off with an awesome bowl of Apple Pumpkin Oats. I made them on the stovetop with about a 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 an apple, almond milk, water, pumpkin, a dash of vanilla extract and cinnamon. I then added a handful of chopped walnuts and drizzled it with about a teaspoon of maple syrup. Delish!

Study time… I ventured to Starbucks and had a Soy Misto (old picture):

Lunch was veggie tacos:

Two corn tortillas, refried beans, avocado, tomato, Wild Harvest peach/mango salsa, sliced pepper. On the side, half a cucumber.

Later on in the afternoon, I hit the gym. But not before capturing a picture of myself in workout gear. I crack up when I look at the self pics I took… I have a new found appreciation for people who know how to take full length self portraits. It is not as easy at it looks!!

40 minutes on the treadmill/elliptical and then back to studying.

For dinner, I made French Lentils and added them to boiled red potatoes and spinach, topped off with Asiago cheese:

I don’t know why I never made lentils before. They are so easy and so good!

Here they are in the pan:

I made them with garlic, onion, celery and carrots. Then just added the lentils and water and let it all simmer for about a half hour. This made a ton of leftovers which I will definitely be eating all week.

I went back for seconds… this was a great hearty combo.

I then headed out to a Happy Hour and then ventured to Brooklyn with some friends to go to a bar we like there.

Throughout the night, I just had two beers which I forgot to take pictures of, but here is a recycled pic to give you an idea:

And that’s it! As a whole I would say that Friday was definitely a healthy-ish day for me. Honestly, my eating habits since school started have been all over the place, and I really have no “typical” days, but I think this one at least represents a few general themes I usually have… veggie heavy, carbs at every meal, not a ton of meat (actually, Friday had no meat which I wouldn’t say is typical), I try to not eat a ton of sugar (this does not always happen), good beer, coffee.

Hope you have a great Monday!

Balancing Life as a Student & Veggie Tacos

I have to admit that getting back into the student mindset has been harder than I had anticipated. I was really thrown for a loop during my first few weeks, but thankfully people kept calming me down and reminding me to be patient (I am horrible at this) and that it was going to take some getting used to.

Well they were right. I am slowly but surely figuring out how to do this. I am getting used to — and actually loving– my random and inconsistent schedule, am getting back into the swing of studying for exams (flashcards had escaped my vocabulary for the past 4 years but are making a serious comeback– see pic below), and am actually getting pretty good at balancing everything.

I’ve realized that as busy as I get with school work, three things are still really really important for me to have in my life on a daily basis:

1) Seeing friends and staying connected to friends all the time. By nature, I am extremely independent. Over the past month or so, I have become so thankful for that because I spend a LOT of time by myself. However, in this day and age, you are never really “alone”. With all of the outlets to connect to people- emails, texts, calls, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter- it’s easy to stay up to date on what is going on with your friends during the day. I also make a lot of plans so that I am seeing friends almost every day. Whether it be walks in the mornings, meeting for lunch, drinks/dinner after they get out of work, or even just stopping by their offices for coffee midday, I literally build in these times to my day (I have an amazing color coded calendar…haha!).

The number one question I have been asked since I started school is if I get lonely since I am not in a corporate office with a ton of people around anymore. Honestly, I would say 95% of the time, it is the opposite. I feel constantly connected to people, plus I see people in my classes, and I am too busy to even feel lonely for a second. The other 5% comes in when I am spending multiple days studying for a big test, and I am not able to see people as often. I can sometimes isolate myself and put a ton of pressure on myself to keep studying, but I am slowly learning how to maintain some sense of balance even during those higher pressure times.

2) Staying Active. In college, and even when I was working full time, when things got super busy, I would usually sacrifice a workout. These days, I am so much better at that. I do something active almost every day. During especially busy days, that may just mean going on a 20 minute walk, but I try to at least do something. I’ve realized over the years that study breaks are essential. They help me focus, and although sometimes I don’t feel like I have the “time” to get in some fresh air, I am more effective in my work when I do.

I go to Central Park a lot. I am really into walking these days and just roaming around.

I will go for a run maaaybbbee once a week, although I am not really into running right now. Every now and then, I’ll go to a class at my gym, and I’ll occasionally zone out on the elliptical while watching a TV show. One of my favorite things to do is meet up with a friend for coffee and a long walk. Whatever it is, I almost always try to get some sort of activity in and that has helped me feel energized and balanced.

3) Good Food. Obviously, right? 😉 Food is really important to me and I love trying out new food, new restaurants, and also continuing to experiment in the kitchen. One thing that I have come to love that I never really knew existed… Lunch Specials!! All of these great restaurants have really cheap lunch specials during the day since they don’t get nearly as much business. About once a week I’ll treat myself to a good lunch or breakfast at a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try.

Usually though, cooking is where it’s at. As busy as I get, I try to make time to eat a decent meal and stop what I am doing to enjoy it. On Tuesday, for example, I was cramming for a big test I had that night, but I literally closed the books at around noon, went out for a run, and came back and made these tacos in less than 10 minutes:

So simple!

Corn tortillas with some refried beans spread on top. Sautéed Portabella mushrooms and onions, plus corn and salsa. Cheap, easy, and so delicious.

So those are three things I’ve learned about myself so far as I continue on this interesting journey. I used to struggle with balance A LOT during college and even after college, but slowly but surely, I am getting a little better 🙂 I guess you live and you learn!

What helps you stay balanced during busy times? If you are a student, any advice in this area??

Three Pumpkin Recipes

Hello there! As I was laying in bed last night, I started feeling guilty. Guilty because I had leftovers from THREE delicious pumpkin recipes sitting in my fridge and I hadn’t shared a single one with you yet. How selfish of me!

So I knew I had to get these out this morning. Like many of you, I have been hit by the Pumpkin Bug. I finally bought a couple of cans of pumpkin at the store last week and have been coming up with recipes to use it ever since.

I am giving you the abridged version of these recipes because I have a big test tonight and hours of studying ahead of me, but hopefully these give you an idea of how to recreate. Just use them as inspiration, if anything!

First up… Pumpkin Pancakes:

I used this recipe (I love Emily’s recipes. They are some of my favorite. Vegetarian — sometimes vegan– but really hearty and wholesome) and made a few changes.

Instead of flax, I used a real egg, I left out the apple cider vinegar and halved the entire recipe. I also used wheat germ instead of flour for 25% of the flour it called for (so half the recipe called for 1 cup WW flour. I used 3/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup wheat germ for a nutritional kick). It made 6 pancakes, and I saved half of them in my freezer for another day (probably today 😉 ). Also, I added chopped Walnuts for some healthy fats. I sprinkled them onto the pancakes while they were cooking. Delicious!

Next up… Baked Pumpkin Pasta with Roasted Veggies

This has been great because I made a big batch of it and have had it all week. Rough recipe:

1) Roast Veggies. I used Eggplant, Brussels Sprouts, and a head of Cauliflower. Drizzle with balsamic vinegar, EVOO, S&P. Roast in 450 oven for about 30 minutes.

2) Cook pasta according to directions

3) Make the Sauce: I used about a half cup of tomato sauce, plus about half a can of pumpkin. I added a couple tablespoons of butter and about a spoonful of ricotta. You can get creative here.

4) Combine everything once the veggies/sauce/pasta are done into one large baking pan. Add some grated parmesan (handful) and bake at 350 for about 10 minutes. I used about 3 cups of roasted veggies, a cup of sauce, and a whole package of pasta. This made about 6 or 7 servings… good for the whole week.

This turned out better than I had expected and was super easy. I love how the pumpkin really helps create a pretty healthy but creamy sauce.

And finally… obbvviouusslly Pumpkin Cookies with Raisinets

I randomly bought Raisinets the other day and needed to do something with them. What else other than a Pumpkin cookie!? I used Whole Wheat Pastry Flour instead of flour, which made these super light and fluffy. They really came out well!

I followed this recipe but halved it (I do not need 60 cookies sitting in my kitchen!). I also cut the sugar in half, so only used 1/2 cup instead of 1 cup for half the recipe. Like I said, I used WW pastry flour instead of flour, and of course Raisinets instead of Chocolate Chips.

I hope these recipes inspire you to add some fall flavored pumpkin to your meals. It’s a fun vegetable with a lot of health benefits (low calorie, tons of Vitamin A which is good for your eyes and your immune system, loaded with fiber), and is very very versatile. Go crazy!

The Green Smoothie

I started reading about various versions of the “Green Smoothie” on blogs a few years ago. It became a craze and everyone was coming up with different versions of them. For those of you who haven’t seen them before, a Green Smoothie is basically a smoothie with some sort of leafy green vegetable added to it, most likely spinach or kale.

Why were they so popular (and still are)? Because you can use the basics of a normal smoothie, add a ton of kale or spinach and not even notice a difference. You can basically sneak in a huge serving of quality nutrients without any extra work or an alteration to the taste of your “normal” smoothie.

Reasons Why Green Smoothies Rock: 

1) They take no more than 5 minutes to make

2) They are really refreshing

3) You end breakfast knowing you’ve already accounted for at least a couple servings of veggies that you need for the day

4) They are BRIGHT GREEN (cool)

5) You can get really creative with them. There is no “right or wrong”. Just throw in some ice, a couple handfuls of raw spinach or kale, some milk or yogurt, protein powder if you want, some wheat germ or oats if you’d like, frozen berries, a banana…. the options are endless!

6) Spinach and Kale both have a TON of health benefits. They fight disease, have high levels of Vitamin C, have virtually no calories, and are packed with antioxidants.

I’ve only ever made these for breakfast, but people will often times make them for snacks after a workout, or even for lunch paired with something else. I’m not always in the mood for a smoothie, but when the craving strikes, some version of the Green Smoothie is my go-to.

A piece of advice… use a banana! The banana helps to thicken the smoothie and also add a layer of sweetness. I feel like it wouldn’t have enough substance without a banana, so that is always included in my smoothies.

Below is the recipe for the one you see pictured, which I had for breakfast the other day. It is just a basic recipe, but you can really get creative in terms of what you add. A lot of people like to add peanut butter for some staying power, or greek yogurt to make it thicker with a higher protein content. If you haven’t ever tried this, I promise you that you can not taste the spinach! I hope you give it a shot 🙂

Basic Green Smoothie 

(serves 1… makes a huge smoothie. I had enough for about another half glass more than what you see above)

• 5 ice cubes
• large handful raw spinach
• 1 large banana
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• about a cup of almond milk
• 2 T wheat germ
• about a half cup of water (I added this at the end because I tasted it and wanted it slightly more diluted… but just add water or none at all based on your preference)

Add everything into a blender and blend away.

Whole Wheat Orange-Cranberry Muffins

Hi guys!

I hope you had a great weekend. Mine was spent in Cape Cod with my brother’s fiancé and her friends Leah and Tara. Here we all are on the beach:

Doing some cartwheels:

And attempting some yoga:

We did a lot of exploring and wandering. We went to antique shops, outdoor markets, and of course ate at some really good restaurants. On Sunday we visited a Cranberry bog where they harvest tons and tons of cranberries every season. I took some home and got to work yesterday on a fall inspired healthy cranberry muffin.

When I bake, I like to make things pretty healthy. I figure that if I want something more indulgent, there are like 10 places I can get a more unhealthy muffin within a two block radius from where I live. So when I keep things in the house, or make things for friends, I like to make them on the healthier side.

Enter whole wheat flour, wheat germ, no butter, and less sugar.

These muffins are pretty delicious and only have about 115 calories per muffin.

They are great as an on the go breakfast, as a snack in the afternoon, or as an addition to lunch. The cranberries are naturally sour but when baked in the oven and mixed with some sugar, they retain their strong flavor but lose most of their bitterness.

Did you know that cranberries are really really good for you? They pack a ton of antioxidants, have components within them that help to prevent bacteria from attaching to both the urinary and stomach lining, and in recent years have shown to have strong anti-cancer benefits. Research also shows that eating cranberries whole, rather than in juice form, can give you the maximum benefits and can help with cardiovascular and liver health. So yeah, cranberries are definitely a superfood of the Fall!

Whole Wheat Orange Cranberry Muffins

makes 12 muffins

(adapted from this recipe)

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• .5 cups wheat germ
• 2 t baking powder
• 1/3 t salt
• 1 cup chopped fresh cranberries
• 2/3 cup almond milk
• 1 small container of applesauce (or about 1/2 cup)
• 1 t grated orange rind
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 large egg
• cooking spray

1. Combine flour, wheat germ, baking powder, salt in a bowl

2. Add chopped cranberries.

3. Combine milk, applesauce, egg, orange, vanilla in a small bowl. Beat together.

4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients. Mix well until combined.

5. Coat muffin tin with cooking spray. Spoon in muffin mixture.

6. Bake in 400 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Eggplant, Fig and Ricotta Pizza

Oh man, yesterday was a really good day. In part because I cooked THIS…

…which just puts a smile on my face by looking at it, but the whole day was generally one of those good days.

The past week has been stressful– I had to turn in my Organic Chem midterm plus take my first Anatomy & Physiology test. For me, this meant very little sleep, a ton of studying, really early mornings, a lot of coffee, and countless thoughts running through my head at all times.

So yesterday I declared a mini break. I needed some sleep and a break from the pressure of exams and the work.

So…I woke up at 9:30!!!! Usually my alarm goes off around 6:30/7, and especially this past week, I’ve woken up really early to get my studying on. 9:30 was freakin’ amazing.

Feeling refreshed, the first thought in my head was “brunnnchhh!”.

I ventured to my favorite little rinky dink diner on my block and sat in my usual seat– at the counter. I like to be part of the action and the hustle and bustle. I love hearing the conversations between the owners and the “usuals” who come in every morning, sit at the counter and order the same thing. I also love hearing what people order. For instance, today this guy came in and sat next to me. He first ordered soup, but the diner wasn’t serving soup till 11. He then ordered fruit, but when told how much the fruit cost, he decided against it. Then he said, “fine just give me some of those Rice Krispies. I don’t want milk though, I am on a diet”. Of course I internally rolled my eyes. I could have talked to him for three hours about what he could be eating instead of Rice Krispies but I kept my smartass mouth shut. Then he proceeded to POUR WATER into his rice crispies instead of milk!! Oh my gosh. I wanted to half laugh and half be like WTF are you doing dude. I felt bad for him– his idea of dieting is Rice Krispies with water for breakfast?? Oh man, that is so sad, we’ve got problems.

Anywho, I ordered a smoked salmon eggs benedict type of thang (minus the hollandaise), had three cups of coffee (they were small!) and chilled out reading my non-school-related book for at least an hour and a half. I was so happy.

Then I got a few things done around my apartment and headed down to class. I only have one class on Thursdays which is really nice and I don’t mind going at all. It is my psychology class and I absolutely love it. My teacher is amazing and I find the material so interesting and applicable to everyday life.

As I was venturing back home, I started getting really hungry. I was inspired by this the other day, but I needed something more than just veggies. The thought of pizza entered my head and I couldn’t get it out. I needed to make it, and it needed to be made now! I headed to the grocery store and did some shopping. And by shopping I mean whizzing through the aisles frantically picking up my ingredients so that I could just get home already and start cooking.

This thing came together in about 25 minutes. I grilled the eggplant and 1 tomato on a grill pan while I stretched my dough out. I used a rolling pin to make the crust as thin as possible. Topped it with some sauce, ricotta, the veggies, fresh figs, some basil leaves, and finished it off with a drizzle of balsamic and olive oil plus some grated fresh parmesan. 10-15 minutes in a 450 degree oven and it was finito.

I demolished about half of this. Since it was nearing the end of the work day, I seriously debated asking a couple people to come by to eat the rest, but then I got really selfish and stored the rest in my freezer. I am usually good at sharing, but I just couldn’t part with this pizza. I felt guilty as I stashed it away, convincing myself that i was still a good person.

After getting my fill of ‘za, I got a few more things done at my apartment and allowed myself to digest a bit, and then headed to a dance class (!!) at my gym that I have been wanting to go to for months now. You better bet I danced. To all sorts of music. It was pretty hilarious and I’m glad none of you were there watching.

I took a quick shower and then headed out. I first stopped by a bar where many of my old coworkers were and was able to see them again. I hadn’t seen any of them since I left and it was awesome to catch up a bit. Finally, I met up with a friend for drinks to end the night.

So yeah, yesterday was a good day. I hope you enjoy this pizza and that it makes your day a little bit better 🙂

Eggplant, Fig and Ricotta Pizza

• Pizza dough from your grocery store. Pictures above, I used about 3/4 of a package of dough
• 1 eggplant
• 1 tomato
• 4 or 5 figs
• about 1/2 cup part skim ricotta
• about 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• about 10 basil leaves
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 2T cornmeal (to lay the pizza dough on)
• 2T olive oil
• 1T balsamic vinegar
• S&P

1. Preheat oven to 450

2. Start by cooking your eggplant and tomato. I used a grill pan but you can bake the tomato and eggplant our you could just use a regular satuee pan. The point is to just let it cook until its soft. I added a little bit of olive oil, S&P to these while I was cooking them.

3. Roll out your dough and get to work on it! Use a rolling pin and some flour to get it as thin as possible. Or, if you like thicker pizza, keep it a bit thicker.

4. Once you have your dough rolled out, sprinkle the cornmeal on a baking pan and then top it with your dough.

5. Add pizza sauce and spread it around the dough. Add ricotta and spread it as much as you can. It’s ok to just have small spoonfuls of it randomly placed around the pizza– you don’t need to spread it all around.

6. Add the cooked tomato and eggplant. Add figs. Add basil. Top with grated parmesan.

7. Sprinkle the entire pizza with a little bit of EVOO (1 T) plus the balsamic vinegar. Add a touch of S&P.

8. Pop it into the oven for about 10 minutes, or until crust is crispy and cheese is melted.

Roasted Carrot, Avocado and Orange Salad

Morning sunshine!

Today I bring you a very interesting salad. A salad with a twist, if you will.

Last weekend, Ken and Marc came over to cook on Friday night. Marc, being the very thoughtful guy that he is, bought me a few cookbooks for my birthday and we had talked about getting him in the kitchen to help cook one of the delicious looking recipes. if you don’t remember Marc, or do not know about his cooking skills, refer to this post. He admits that his cooking experience is limited, but hey, at least the guy was eager to learn!

I found a recipe that I thought was easy enough and looked refreshing and, most importantly, interesting. I would never have thought to make this on my own. I guess that is the point of breaking open cookbooks right?

We used this book:

(source)

April Bloomfield owns three famous restaurants in NYC- The Breslin, The John Dorey Oyster Bar (at the Ace Hotel) and The Spotted Pig. Her cookbook talks about growing up in England and her journey into the culinary scene while giving thoughtful insight into why she creates the food she does. It is a beautiful cookbook with so many good looking recipes to try out.

I like pictures of food (obviously) and naturally navigated toward a salad with a huge colorful accompanying photo. The recipe looked pretty simple, and I knew I could modify it slightly to make it even easier. Carrot, avocado and orange salad it was.

In this recipe, the star is the roasted carrots. You basically mix the carrots with some flavorful spices and roast them in the oven until soft. Then, you mix in the orange and avocado slices which have both also gotten a little special love as well.

This was perfect as a side to orange marinated chicken and couscous, and the leftovers tasted great over the next couple of days. It’s a great dish to just make a big batch of and keep in your fridge for a few days to add to lunches and dinners. Below, you’ll see that I put mine on top of some crunchy spinach and turned it into a larger salad.

My favorite part about this salad is how refreshing it is. The cold citrus paired with the hot spicy carrots and the cool, creamy avocado was a really interesting and entertaining mix.

We ended the night with some macaroons, thanks to Ken. Another successful kitchen adventure from the lil’ Studio.

Roasted Carrot, Avocado, and Orange Salad

serves 3

(adapted from recipe in A Girl and Her Pig)

• 4 medium cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled
• 1.5 t ground cumin
• 1.5 t ground coriander
• 1.5 t red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• about 25 baby carrots (could also use large carrots, cut up)
• 2 oranges
• 3 ripe avocados
• 2 T freshly squeezed lemon
• 2T freshly squeezed OJ

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Pound the garlic and add a large pinch of salt. Mash garlic as fine as you can until you have as close to a paste as you can get. Add spices and olive oil. Stir well, then add carrots. Coat carrots with spices and oil.

3. Put the carrots in a large shallow baking dish. Spread any extra spices in the bowl onto the carrots. Cover the carrots with foil and cook for about 25 minutes. (We didn’t cover ours, and it took a while to cook them, but basically just cook them until soft all the way through)

4. Segment the orange while the carrots are cooking. This just means try to cut the orange segments in a way where you remove the membranes and all skin.

5. Cut up avocado length wise- try to keep the slices sturdy so they don’t get all mushy and break up. Add the lemon juice, the 2T of freshly squeezed OJ, a tablespoon or two of EVOO and a pinch of salt. Add the carrots and then the orange. Toss it all together.

It’s All About the Little Things: Martha’s Vineyard Edition

You know the saying “It’s all about the little things in life”? Well, I completely agree. I love snapping photos of the little things. The little snippets of life that are so easy to overlook but are so beautiful and often times the most meaningful. It’s the little things that make me feel lucky and make me appreciate what I have. It’s the little things that help me realize that beauty is all around us… we just have to be open to seeing it.

This weekend, I headed to Martha’s Vineyard with my family. We did not get lucky with the weather. At all. It was raiinnnny all weekend. Going into the weekend, I was determined to try to capture “the little things”– the things that made us happy and appreciate being able to explore this quaint, picturesque town all weekend, despite the rain and bad weather. Here are a few of them:

I’m a sucker for cafes and coffee shops. My friends know that I would really really like to own a restaurant someday, preferably a cafe serving breakfast/brunch with refillable really good coffee (hate when they charge you for a refill!). One of my favorite jobs I ever had was being a waitress in a tiny breakfast cafe where I grew up. I loved getting up at the crack of dawn on Sundays to go run around like a crazy person, covering way too many tables than I should have been, but serving incredible food to people who had waited in over an hour line sometimes just to sit down. The job was tough. I was yelled at multiple times everyday. But I loved it.

Local smiles 🙂

I found a really really tiny bench outside of the Black Dog Cafe. I thought it was really funny.

This is where we had our first lobster roll of the trip! Delicious. Black Dog knows how to do this right.

Adorable Bed and Breakfast that we stayed at. Another idea I’ve tossed around in my head is either working at or owning a B&B. If I ever do, I’d want it to be just like this one. Informal, welcoming, and cozy.

Dinner at Atria. I hardly ever order Veal, but this was danngg good. Veal Chop with Polenta and Roasted Root Vegetables.

One of the best meals I’ve had in a while.

My family sneaking into the B&B kitchen when we got home at night to steal cookies from the cookie jar. Typical.

Quality food obviously makes me happy. Good, local ingredients.

I had to wake up early each morning to do work, but I got to do it overlooking a garden. You don’t get that in NYC.

Cool houses. I used to want to be an architect when i was younger. I’ve always loved looking at houses, or illegally going into half-built houses to explore, and looking at floor plans.

This is the style of houses in the town of Oak Bluffs. It’s an old Methodist town and the houses here were unlike any I had ever seen. Filled with color and intricate design.

Martha’s Vineyard Chocolate. Enough Said.

One of many many many ice cream shops we passed. We settled on going to Mad Martha’s, which is a famous shop here in Martha’s Vineyard. You ask for a small cone and they give you literally like 5 scoops on a cone. It was seriously good ice cream though.

My Dad and I went for a walk right before it got dark out one night. We walked down to the fisherman’s village where they bring all of their fish in at the end of the day to get weighed. Cute boats. Cute little beach. Ahhh, so peaceful!

One of the highlights for me– watching the fisherman bring in their fish at 8pm and get them weighed. There is a big competition everyday and leader boards all over the weighing station. Then these guys cut the fish and take out all the guts and give it back to the person who caught it. Gross but so cool to watch!

This weekend was definitely all about the little things and it all added up to be a great weekend. Now back to the grind! Two big tests this week… eek!