Monthly Archives: May 2011

Drunk Puppets

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Holla!  holler, not Spanish for hello; but hello nonetheless

I usually blog before heading to work (since I eat my “dinner” in the afternoon and just come home and go to bed) so the fact that I’m not blogging until now should indicate just how successful this day was.  <– not very

Speaking of not successful things, let’s talk about the 4mile run on today’s training plan.  It ended up being not a run, not so much, but more of a walk.  In fact, it straight up was a walk.  My “troublesome” knee felt funky and I planned on running anyways but every running step I took felt like my leg was going to give out.  I tried a few jaunts, looking like my puppet-master was drunk, before I finally gave up.  My husband is the nicest man ever, so instead he joined me for a 4 mile walk, 1 hour and 13 minutes.  Followed by some strength and stretch moves at home.  Something is better than nothing, something is better than nothing…

After a quick shower I headed out to my biannual dentist appointment.  This venture was more successful, my teeth were pronounced “perfect,” though he noted that wearing retainers is not an excuse to skip flossing!  Ironically, once I confirmed that my pearly whites were doing well, all I could think about was coffee!

We headed to the Spot for a small frozen coffee.

The caffeine boost took me from dragging to functional, but it still didn’t give me the energy to make the planned dinner that I keep putting off.  The good news is that this procrastination means I can keep procrastinating on grocery shopping.  The other good news is that I read an entire new book from start to finish while I should have been cooking.

The bad news was that this plate of baby carrots with blue cheese dressing

and this slice of Swiss cheese

ended up being dinner.

Also a huge bowl of Cinnamon Pecan Special K.

I didn’t have huge hopes for this cereal – Special K is usually good but not great – but I actually really enjoyed it.  And I’m crediting it in keeping me full through work in spite of eating nothing but carrots and cereal all day!  Can we pretend that since it’s summer vacation I’m not a Dietetics student who should know better?!

They Were The Worst Of Plans, They Were The Best Of Plans

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Contrary to this morning (when my grand plans were thwarted), my terrible evening plans failed for the better.  Sometimes when things run off course you end up in a much better place.

I needed a win after my lame shift, so I decided to spend time on an activity I knew I could do well –

reading magazines on the couch.  I also lifted my mood exponentially by breaking in to my Co-op best-ever candy bar stash.

I ate it slowly, with a fork, over 45 minutes of magazine reading and was practically in heaven.

But I guess I wasn’t feeling angelic, because the end result of our dinner plans was me getting in a screaming match with Adam over the best way to measure flour.  Seriously.

I stormed out of the house in a dramatic huff and ended up at Talking Leaves, sitting a table on the sidewalk with my book and a drink.

Like I said, a better place.  Though it was even better once the husband joined me, finishing off the other half of my iced coffee with Irish Cream.

We sat long enough for me to finish my book.  <– not Sloane Crosby’s best showing; I Was Told There’d Be Cake was far superior, How Did You Get This Number? was more whining than funny

It was too late to make dinner at that point, so instead we headed to Saigon Cafe for Thai food.

I strayed from my go-to order of broad rice noodles and went with Pad Krapow – chicken with spicy basil sauce.

I asked for extra veggies and extra spicy.

I got enough veggies, but unfortunately the spice level was much closer to bland than “Thai spicy.”  I housed the entire plate, but my spice tooth is still begging to be satisfied.

Actually, I was randomly so I hungry that I surprised the husband with how much food I wolfed down.  I shared most of my rice with him, but I killed my meal and stole several bites of his Pad Thai to boot.

Adam and I wandered down Elmwood in search of chocolate ganache (I’m not sure what sparked the craving but my spice needs seemed to be linked to a desire for deep chocolate) and finally settled for a Starbucks salted caramel bar mini.

I’ll let the chocolate thing go, but I still need to find something to smoother in Sriracha, soon!

Instead of dinner at home we somehow ended up with drinks, dinner, and dessert; at three locations natch.  Regardless of the fact that he knows nothing about flour, I think a date with the husband is always a better plan!

They Were The Best Of Plans, They Were The Worst Of Plans

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I had such good intentions today and they all turned against me!  In spite of all my good ideas and plans nothing seemed to work out today.

Even though today is a rest day, I planned on heading to the gym this morning to make up for last week.  Great idea EXCEPT that I made it to the locked gym door before I remembered that it was Memorial Day.  I ended up walking home and doing 15 minutes of strength and stretch moves.

I was working the day shift today, so I planned on making a fun, protein-full breakfast before I headed out.

I whisked together 1/2 cup of 0% Fage with half a packet of cocoa mix,

and topped it with peanut butter banana soft serve (1.5 frozen bananas, food processed with 2 Tbsp Smuckers Natural PB with Honey and a splash of skim milk).

The combo was beyond delicious.

It would have been the perfect, filling meal EXCEPT I realized at the last minute that I had work at 10:30, not 11:00, and had to give the last 1/3 of my breakfast to Adam as I ran out the door.

I planned on bringing home the bacon (figuratively) from work today EXCEPT that no one knew we were open on the holiday and I only served two tables before I got sent home early.

Let’s hope I can pull off dinner without a hitch!

At Least It Wasn’t An Egg Salad Sandwich

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Our evening plans took a sharp turn, and this is a much different blog post than I planned on writing.  I’ll have to make/blog my dessert idea later this week, but we had a great time.

We walked down Elmwood, then walked back to the apartment before we decided that we were hungry for sushi.  After a slightly longer walk, unfortunately we were greeted with this –

No matter.  A slightly longer walk still and we made it to Tokyo Shanghai Bistro.

We’d never been to TSB before, and picked it on a whim, but the complimentary appetizer was a good sign.

I knew dessert was in my future so I went with two small rolls for dinner.

A shitaki mushroom roll,

and a veggie roll with crab and egg.

It wasn’t the best sushi I’ve ever had – both rolls were strangely chewy – but I slather on so much wasabi it barely matters!  I probably wouldn’t go back for sushi, but we spotted some great looking tofu at another table so I think we’ll try again next time we’re in the mood for Chinese.

By the time we were back home from dinner we’d walked another 2 miles.  Bringing our grand total to 6+ miles walked today.

At one point early in our travels I decided that it was absolutely essential that we buy the locally made mini cheesecake we’d been eyeing at Wilson Farms.

We both took a few bites but it wasn’t very good.

What, you mean you wouldn’t look for quality cheesecake at the gas station?!?

What’s the strangest thing you’ve purchased at a gas station?

Walk It Out

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend, readers!  The holiday doesn’t mean much to me (I didn’t even know tomorrow was Memorial Day until a few hours ago; I was so confused the last two days at work when my manager said we were ‘slower than usual because of the holiday weekend’) but I imagine it’s exciting to those of you with real jobs.

Since I hadn’t eaten since 3pm yesterday I made sure to fuel up with a big Granny Smith Apple and a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter before we set out this morning.

It’s funny that the Justin’s website referenced the fact that most other choc-hazelnut spreads have more sugar than frosting, because the flavor and texture of this goodness totally made me think of frosting!

I ran yesterday on my off day and I felt pretty sore from work so I decided to do a long walk today.  Adam and I headed to Delaware Park for an hour of walking while I quizzed him on pharm. questions.  We walked ~ 2miles.

After a super quick shower I met up with my friend Katie for lunch and ended up walking another ~2miles in the process.  Our final destination was JP Bullfeathers for brunch.

I ordered two poached eggs, cooked dry.

Which came with  a side of fruit,

and rye toast (I ate 2 half slices).

Dipping thick toast into drippy egg yolks might be my favorite restaurant food sensation.  Poached eggs are the perfect dish in my eyes (dippy yolks but much healthier than fried eggs because not cooked with any sort of oil) but I can’t get them right at home so they are the perfect restaurant food for me.

Katie and I also split a side of sweet potato fries, which were sadly sort of awful.

Soggy fries aside, it was nice to get out and about and to see Katie.  I also grabbed a cup of coffee and a Lindt truffle for dessert.

This afternoon Adam and I decided to split a slice of buffalo chicken pizza.

I realize we eat this pizza a lot (it’s possible we fall into food ruts, Wegman’s hot bar much?!) but it’s something we both love.  Plus, at least we always split it!  However, it’s after 6pm and we’ve both determined that we’re really not hungry for dinner so perhaps we should have skipped it today!

We’re going to take another (short) walk and see how we feel about dinner when we get back.  Either way, I have a fun dessert recipe I plan on posting (and eating!) this evening.  See you then!

What is your favorite food to order while dining at restaurants?

That Sounds Dirty

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My shift last night went great, but when I got home to bed that’s when it felt like the real work began**.  I’ve been having a terrible time sleeping lately and it’s driving me crazy.  I’ve always struggled with bouts of insomnia, but I’m fairly certain this week’s sleeping difficulties are tied to skipping the gym.  Even though I was tired (obviously), and it’s technically a free day in my training plan (the whole week has been “free” apparently), it was pretty easy to convince myself to work out this morning once I made the no gym = no sleep connection .

Once I got the husband up**, we were off for a 9am run.  We ran 2 miles down Elmwood and back for a 4 mile run.  4 miles in 44:53. Yikes, holy skipped training days, Batman!

After a quick shower and a date with some ice** we retraced our running steps so I could pick up a few things at the Farmer’s Market and Co-op.  The Farmer’s Market was a gigantic puddle, but we had more luck on the rest of our stops.

We split a grande (non-fat, half syrup) iced caramel macchiato.

And bought some brunch from the Co-op.

I knew my dinner was going to be veggie-heavy so I loaded up on protein.  Pad Thai noodles,

mango cashew curry chicken salad,

waldorf chicken salad,

and pea and radish salad.  That stuff in the corner was Adam’s tofu.

We ate at a table outside in the sun and it was glorious.

The real excitement came at dessert though, they have my new favorite candy bars back in stock!  Adam and I split one for funsies when we got home.

Mmmmmn!  <– things that make you go oh god, yes!**

I spent some time cleaning the apartment this afternoon, balanced with time spent curled up with a few magazines, and then it was time for lunch/dinner.

I had a neon eggplant and some purple kale (yay, colors!) to use up and the first place my mind went was honey sesame eggplant.

First I saute/steamed the eggplant and kale in a bit of sesame oil and water.  Next I tossed the veggies with a mix of tamari, rice vinegar, and honey.  Finally I topped them with some crunchy sesame seeds.

Not my most amazing combination ever, but good enough and at least it was quick.**

Gotta get in your veggies!

I’ve got one more shift at work tonight and then I’ve got the day off tomorrow, yippie.  I’m off to be a working girl**.

**that sounds dirty

The Gym of Life

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Today makes the fourth training day in a row I’ve skipped.  <– arrrrgh!  This week has been a combination of genuine leg pain and genuine laziness.  On the bright side, my legs are so sore from my shift last night that I’m counting work as at least a half workout.  The restaurant is split into two levels, with the dining area upstairs and the bar and kitchen downstairs.  This means that I go up and down the stairs 8 million times a shift.  Yay for the gym of life.

This morning I made Adam an Orange Dream Machine knock off (vanilla ice cream, orange juice, and vanilla protein powder) and I drank the extra.

This is going on the ‘to make again’ list.

Adam and I had some errands to run, which culminated in a trip to Wegmans to pick up lunch.  While we were there I grabbed and iced coffee, Wegman’s version of Jamaican Me Crazy with skim milk.

Not as good as the Wilson Farms’ one sadly.

Lunch was great though.

Fruits – berries, pineapple, cinnamon banana.

Steamed broccoli, grilled squash, succotash, and cashew chicken with tons of celery picked out of the container.

Plus a white chocolate toffee cookie.

The perfect end to lunch/dinner.  Hopefully it will hold me over through work, it’s going to be a busy shift!

Workin’ Girl

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Yikes, my first real shift at work left me pretty tired!  Hopefully this job will force me to get my sleep schedule in order.

I had to skip another day at the gym and I haven’t been getting very good sleep lately so I spent most of the day napping, summer vacation-style.  That would have been all good except that I realized an hour before I had to head to work that eating would be good.  I did my very best to squeeze enough my needed calories and food groups.

First up, a protein packed yogurt bowl.

This guy was a fun, filling mix.

  • 1 sliced banana
  • 1/2 cup 0% Fage
  • 2 Tbsp raisins
  • 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 2.5 Tbsp Smuckers Natural PB with Honey

 The combination was great; I think I’m going to start adding raisins to all my yogurt bowls.

I also made a veggie plate.

Roasted brussels sprouts,

and roasted potatoes drizzled with truffle oil.

Thankfully I found that this held me through all 7 hours at work.  It helped that I was too busy to get hungry too.

I’m probably going to be working 4 night shifts a week and I’ll be doing a late, huge lunch on those days.  Hopefully, like tonight, I won’t be hungry for dinner when I get off work and I’ll be able to simply blog, shower, and get to bed.  I’m looking forward to seeing how it all works out.

Shower and sleep time!  P.S.  The giveaway winners are –