Monthly Archives: July 2010

Prioritizing

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Today has been such fun!  It’s felt packed, but in the best way possible.  First things first, let me announce the CSN Stores giveaway winner –

Clare (#14) please send me an e-mail – emilyhwaxATgmail.com – so I can get you your prize.

This morning actually felt a little stressful; I way overslept and was trying to squeeze in lunch plans, a workout, apartment cleaning, showering, and being on time to pick my parents up from the airport.  I’m really proud of myself though because I made exercise a priority.  I realized that Katie wouldn’t be upset if I made our lunch date a maybe, and my parents wouldn’t care if the apartment was messy, but I would care if I skipped my run.  So I went!  And I ended up having time to (quickly) do everything else too.

I did cut my length though, which ended up being for the best because my calves were stupid tight.  I didn’t manage my times as much, just ran and walked whenever I needed to.  In the end I did ~1.6miles and 20minutes.

I kept my lunch date, and picked Katie up for a trip to Panera.

I did the half/half deal; half a strawberry, poppy seed, & chicken salad,

with half a turkey and artichoke pannini,

with an apple as my side.

The sandwich was gooey and crunchy and perfect but the salad was NOT good.  I ended up leaving 95% of my salad even though the other half of my tray was practically licked clean.

After dropping Katie off I went to the husband’s computer lab to print off airport directions; what, I’ve only lived in Buffalo a full year?!?  We had a fun time showing them the town, we hit up the mall, Target, Allentown, the Erie Marina, and finally had a fabulous dinner at Pearl Street Cafe.

There was a long wait so we went the bar so that my parents could try some of the microbrews.  I went the tall Johnny Walker Black and Coke route.

Drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk, drunk!  I did not eat enough today to functionally handle this big drink and the poor husband definitely dealt with me being a little loopy during dinner 😉

Foodwise my mommy and I split a small Chicken Cheddar Pizza.

It came with broccoli and black olives, a fantabulous combination.

I had this slice times 2 –

As well as a few big bites of Adam’s lobster ravioli.

It was a perfect “Welcome to Buffalo” dinner.

How do you make exercise a priority?

Mixed Metaphor Magoo

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Our evening plans ended up all wonky, but you gotta roll with what life throws you!  <– mixed metaphor much?  We had to go get some keys made at the last minute (don’t ask, I am a bit irritated with our new apartment) and I had to scrap dinner and workout plans.  Here’s what I did do –

  • get to take a walk with the husband
  • make the tastiest eggs I’ve ever fricking eaten
  • bake up some banana bread

I don’t know what my problem is today, I’ve been sooooo hungry!  Perhaps delayed hunger from two days of hard workouts?  I’m going to bust my butt tomorrow morning so I guess that means I’ll be extra hungry for yummy meals during my parents’ visit 🙂  I made a big (random) snack bowl this afternoon.

A mix of sour cream and onion Goldfish, cinnamon chips, dried kiwi, and dried apricots.  Bowls like this make me adore my kitchen scale with tare function all the more – if I had to eyeball those servings I would have ended up with a much larger bowl!

Dinner was basically epic. <– Caitlin is right, sometimes this is just the only word.

I melted .5T of butter in my skillet, cooked up some chopped green tomato and avocado, then scrambled in two eggs.  I tried to scramble the whites and leave the yolks alone until the last minute and the dish ended up being amazing.  Topped with some Newman’s Own Chunky Salsa.

On the side I had some Boulder Canyon Balsamic Vinegar and Rosemary potato chips; I did not measure that serving and I’m pretty sure I ended up eating more than recommended.

For dessert I ate a slice of banana bread fresh from the oven.

The recipe comes from Cooking Light but I added some chocolate chips to appease the husband.  Very tasty.  Note – if you decide to make your own beware, an hour cook time was way too long for our oven.

I also got to try another one of blogland’s obsessions –

PB cups made with MaraNatha.

The husband and I split the cups and we do NOT plan on spending $6 to get a jar, I just don’t see the obsession!

Do you have a kitchen scale?  What sort of things do you weigh with it?  Also, can someone explain the MaraNatha obsession to me?

Like Ice Cream

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Today has been sort of … lame!  I guess maybe I should call it low-key?  I do have some baking and a workout on the agenda for this evening, but other than that, zilch.  The real excitement starts tomorrow when my parents get here for a visit!  They’ll be in town all weekend -yay! – and then the next weekend is BlogHer and a visit from two of my best friends.  I’m so excited!

I always say Siggis yogurt is so thick it looks like ice cream, so this morning I served my breakfast out of an ice cream bowl!

That’s a Pomegranate Passionfruit Siggi with a bit of fruit topping.

I will admit, it was a lot more fun to eat with my fancy spoon 🙂

I had a lunch date that got canceled at the last minute (seriously Katie, don’t worry about it, I was running soooo late) so I buckled to my near obsession with getting another tuna salad sandwich with red onion.

The red onion makes the sandwich.  On a similar note, I would consider myself a cheese fanatic (my husband calls me mouse!) but I didn’t miss the cheese on this sandwich at all.  I am going to offer everyone the advice that you should consider whether or not it will actually make a difference in the sandwich before you blithely pile on the cheese.

I did the combo (fountain diet soda? yes please!) so I also had this baggie of apple slices.

Not a bad lunch at all.

Are you going to be attending BlogHer???

I’m Just Mad About Saffron…

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I can’t believe so many of you have never heard of the Slimcado; I feel like if it’s come to Buffalo it must be everywhere! 😉

The husband and I were both starving during our Goodwill visit so we ended up stopping for a pre-dinner snack.  I ate half of this huge slice of pizza.

And a few sips of this classic –

“they call me Mellow Yellow….”

Dinner was leftovers that were practically better than the first night.

Buffalo Blue Bean Burgers,

and Unfried Green Tomatoes.

We also cracked open a bottle of sparkling wine that the husband got at his brother’s wedding (before we were even seriously dating!).

Gag.  I took a sip and I think I’ll be sticking with Prosecco, thank you.

I had a good time catching up on tv this afternoon.  Has anyone seen Rizzoli and Isles yet?  I think I might be a fan!

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

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I made myself a smallish breakfast because I could tell today was going to be a snacky day, and sure enough at 11:30 –

1.5servings of ‘Smores Goldfish.

They were pretty good, but nowhere as good as lunch.

This sandwich was indeed pretty killer.  A pretzel roll with ~2oz sliced turkey, a slice of green tomato, hot pepper peach preserves, and ~1/6 of a slimcado.

The mix of textures and flavors here was amazing.

I didn’t misspeak by the way, that really is a slimcado and not an avocado.  I did a bit of research, and the slimcado has 50% less fat and 35% fewer calories.  Regular avocados are grown in California and slimcados are grown in Florida; the difference in growing enviroment gives them slightly varied properties.

Have you ever tried a slimcado?

Sick of Showers

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I am sick of showering!  I took a show yesterday afternoon after working out, I took a shower last night before bed, and now I just got out of another one.  At least I have a good reason to be sudsing up – I was out getting my sweat on.  A run, a run, a glorious run; holy bananas did I miss running last year!

Since I haven’t worked out, you know at all, for the past year I’m pretty out of shape, but running makes me smile no matter how wheezy and like a dying walrus I look!  I’m trying to be smart and avoid another myriad of leg injuries so I’ll  try to space out my runs throughout the week and I’m throwing in lots of walking breaks.  Here was today’s workout –

  • 5minute warm up
  • 5minutes jogging
  • 3minutes walking
  • 5minutes jogging
  • 3minutes walking
  • 10minutes jogging
  • 5minute cool down

In total that’s 36minutes and ~3miles.  When I got home I spent 10minutes slooooowly stretching out on my yoga mat.

I tried to prolong the inevitable by browsing blogs, but finally I did go take a shower.  Which was good, because that meant it was breakfast time.

I piled up a serving of Van’s Minis Waffles and topped it with some berry topping…..and a crumbled cookie.

Yum!

On the agenda today is my magazine binder, a visit to Goodwill, and getting my car cleaned.  Also, watching a ton of Hulu because I missed tv while we didn’t have internet!

Running; like it, love it, or hate it?  Also alternately – showers; like ’em, love ’em, or hate ’em?

The Devil Went Down to Georgia…

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We have internet!  And I cooked dinner in my oven!  A banner night all around 🙂

On my walk home this afternoon I realize that it had been 6hours since breakfast and was going to be another 4 until dinner, definitely time for lunch!  I made a stop into Subway.

I got a 6inch tuna salad sub with oil and vinegar and red onions.  I think the combo of tuna salad and red onions is just to die for!

I got a meal (hello, fountain diet soda!) so I also got some Baked Lays.

I took me a while to get hungry but once I was I got HUNGRY!  I also ate a serving of Goldfish,

and two cookies (yes in my Goldfish bowl, we have a tiny dishwasher I can’t be dirtying things left and right!).

Thankfully I was still hungry for dinner because dinner was a freaking masterpiece!

Every single component was through the roof tasty and the combination all together rocked my socks.  Plus, you know any meatless meal that the husband raves about is a winner.

My Buffalo Blue Bean Burgers,

Unfried Green Tomatoes from Cooking Light,

and 2 deviled eggs, recipe below.

Made for quite the pleasing meal.

The husband is obsessed with deviled eggs and since I won a year’s worth of Eggland’s Best it’s hard to turn down his request.  Tonight I tried out a new recipe that I thought up at the bar at Cheesecake Factory the other night;

Dirty Martini Deviled Eggs

  • 1 dozen large eggs
  • 2T olive brine
  • 2.5T blue cheese crumbles
  • 2T mayo
  • 6 pimento stuffed olives, halved
  1. Hard boil your eggs.  My method is to place the eggs in water in a big pan, bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and cover for 15minutes.  If you run cool water over the eggs when the time is up they will be easier to peel.
  2. Peel eggs and slice in half lengthwise.
  3. Dump yolks into a medium bowl and mash together with brine, blue cheese, and mayo.
  4. Spoon the yolk mixture back into the whites and top each egg with an olive half.

I’ve got my 2nd shower of the day and I’ve promised my pack-mule of a mover husband a back massage.  Then it’s off to bed so I can hopefully make it to an early morning tomorrow.

Deviled eggs; like ’em, love ’em, or hate ’em?

P.S. I apologize for the brain worm title, I’ll be singing that song all night too!

Silly Spiders, I’m Going to Smash You

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Someone came by the apartment yesterday to fix the oven –> fire alarm dilemma but when we tested that evening we were still treated to screeching.  I shed a few tears of frustration and we ended up staying up way too late.  The lack of sleep wouldn’t have been so bad, but I was still super hungry and I ended up doing a lot of snacking.  Two mini chocolate chip cookies,

a serving of sour cream and onion Goldfish crackers,

and a bowl of cereal.

This morning, awesomely, started with another man coming to deal with the alarms.  Victory!  Nothing’s ever tasted so sweet, except, I suppose, breakfast –

A serving of Van’s Belgian Waffles topped with the fruit topping I made yesterday.

Now our new apartment is practically perfect.  I’ll let my remaining complaint be illustrated by Natalie Dee –

I needed a rest day Monday after our weekend of moving but today I was ready for a workout.  I had to walk to campus to update my mailing address so I decided to check out my new gym.  I have to go back to fill out my registration forms later but they let me work out today anyway.  I realized once I got to the machines that I forgot my water bottle, but I forged ahead and had a pretty good workout anyways.  I decided to do a circuit of sorts with the cardio machines –

  • 10minutes on the elliptical; random, level 6
  • 10minutes on the recumbent bike; random, level 7
  • 10minutes on the treadmill; 5mins of running then 5 of walking
  • 10minutes on the elliptical; same
  • 10minutes on the recumbent bike; same
  • 5minutes on the stair climber; resistance 6
  • 5minutes on the treadmill; walking cool down

I made it through my 60minutes sans h2o but the walk home (15ish minutes) in the sun was brutal.  Rehydration was key.

A serving of Grape G-2 mixed with an equal amount of water.  I think during these summer months I’m going to place Gatorade (and/or coconut water) on our regular grocery list.

I spotted yet another spider!  I took a quick shower – didn’t even wash my hair because it’s so hot I’ll have to shower again before bed anyways, eww – and threw on the saddest outfit on Earth.

That used to be my favorite teaching shirt.  Now it’s the artist formerly known as “button-up” a.k.a “button up to my boobs and then gape awkwardly.”

I walked down to Elmwood to search for some lemon essential oil; I have to try some natural spider deterrents because the husband said I can NOT Raid-bomb our entire apartment.  I’ll let you know if I find something that works.  I’m blogging now because I stopped at The Spot for a large diet soda and free wifi.  I’ve got to hurry home, we’ve got someone coming to set up our internet, yay!

Do you know of any natural spider deterrents that are actually effective?