I’ve been hanging out with this little dude, I swear I didn’t quit the blog.
I’m heading back to school soon so we’re trying to fast-track socialization. I will be back on Friday, blogging from the Healthy Living Summit.
Monthly Archives: August 2011
This Is A Morning
I said I’d blog in the morning, I just didn’t say which morning.
As promised, Adam came home Saturday night with a feast.
We split some waffle fries,
and I ate half of this spicy bean enchillada.
In the morning we took a long walk (he pooped!),
and picked up an iced tea from Starbucks.
Then came home and made breakfast.
I had turkey bacon,
two eggs with spicy corn relish scrambled in,
and a Bagel Thin with Smart Balance Lite and Crofters Organic Grape Spread.
My plan for the afternoon was supposed to be a 3 mile run. But then this happened –
So then this happened –
Webster makes spending the afternoon at home so much more exciting. As do brownies.
These S’mores Brownies are definitely in the top ten list of things I’ve baked!
I think I actually like them better than traditional s’mores!
We did take a few walks, which turned into mud baths, which turned into Webster’s first real bath. Eeee, wet dachshunds are so cute; I will have to remember to take a picture next time.
I had dinner/drinks plans at 8:00 which felt late so I did some afternoon snacking. Baby carrots dipped in blue cheese dressing.
Half a matzoh sheet with extra sharp cheddar melted on top.
A mug of Candy Cane Lane with skim milk.
And 1 serving of Trolli Soda Poppers.
The snacking did the trick and before I knew it I was at Bar Louie with my friends. I know it’s sort of a breakfast drink, but the extra spicy bloody mary was calling my name.
It was spicy and delicious, but I was a little put off by the freaking sandwich Bar Louie stuck in the top of it –
I don’t eat meat! I did eat a small plate of the appetizers we shared.
I’m so happy that I ended up with such a great group in my year for Dietetics. I didn’t get home until after 12 and I will admit to feeling a bit cranky this morning.
I’m starving and I assume Webster’s chewing on my bookshelves to tell me that he’s bored, so we’re off to take a long walk. This will be my first day home alone with the puppy, wish me luck!
Family and Froyo
As you can probably guess from the title, we had a good Saturday. Of course Saturday got off to a ruff start when our neighbor’s dog parked from 1-2 am. No not a peep from Webster, he doesn’t bark, seriously. He did get us up at 4:30 for a quick pee walk though; good thing he’s so cute!
When we got up for real around 8 we took Webster on longer, 50 minute (round trip) walk to the lake.
He got a break in the middle while I tackled these –
I can tell you that there are 41 steps there because I counted while I ran up and down them. Actually, I walked down and sprinted up for 15 minutes of cardio, gasp, gasp! Good thing I had such a nice view.
I made some sludge for breakfast.
1 frozen banana, ~ 3/4 cup frozen spinach, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, and ~ 1 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk.
The flavor combo was good but the spinach didn’t blend all the way and I don’t like chewable smoothies! Sort of like chewable vitamins, which I swallowed whole for months before my parents realized I could switch to big girl vitamins.
After a quick shower we got on the road to Ohio for our niece’s sixth birthday party. Adam’s entire family made it for the festivities and I’m so grateful that our friends agreed to puppy-sit for the day so we could go.
Also exciting? They have froyo in their town!!!
I got ~ 1/2 cup of cake batter and dulce de leche swirl, topped with butterfinger, skore, coconut, sprinkles, and hot fudge.
Gah, froyo, we need you in Buffalo!
Sidenote – remember how I said I wish I was more preppy? This outfit is like what would happen if that ambition threw up all over me.
It’s hard to top self-serve, but we had a wonderful time at the party. We don’t get to see Adam’s family (or mine) as much as we’d like.
I lunched on party food.
Fruit salad with tasty mango,
part of a turkey sandwich with l, t, m, and c (mayo and cheese),
and a small slice of pizza.
After presents and singing, we also had cake.
I split that piece with the husband; cake – Adam, icing – Emily.
A loooooong (not really, but it sure felt like it!) car ride later and we were kissing Webster. He actually hasn’t pooped since we picked him up yesterday and I’m getting sort of worried. He has one more day to drop some kids off at the pool before I’m calling the emergency vet.
It was after 9:30 when we got home and I might have had a bit of a mini meltdown about how hungry I was. The situation was not helped by our exhausted puppy making us feel too guilty to use the microwave. The situation was helped greatly by Adam’s announcement that his mom slipped him money for dinner. He’s out picking up a feast while I blog. Recap to come in the morning.
Does your town have self-serve froyo?
Meet Webster
Webster is 4 months old. He is a red dappled dachshund. He stole our hearts.
It won’t be easy, or cheap, adding a puppy to our lives but I’m sure it will be worth it.
Side note – we want to get a French Bulldog named Merriam next.
I’m going to keep my eats recap short, who would sit on the computer when there’s a puppy to pet?! This afternoon I ate a bowl of H2Omelon chunks.
And for dinner we threw together an Asian-inspired bowl.
Cabbage, which I saute-steamed with some rice vinegar,
topped with roasted tofu and zucchini that I tossed in a skillet with peanut sauce.
Such a delicious mix, you can’t go wrong with peanut sauce.
This meal was out of this world delicious. The tofu gets spongy and amazing if you bake long enough and the peanut sauce forms an amazing crust.
Our friends Patrick and Michelle came over to meet the new addition and it was a great evening all around.
other exciting things –
- we are going to Ohio tomorrow for our niece’s birthday party
- I’m going to Philly next weekend for the Healthy Living Summit!
My Poor, Unfortunate Soles
This morning was a total clusterf**k, but things started looking up as soon as I got home (you’ll see…).
I needed to meet my landlord, a seemingly simple task that devolved into me waiting at the wrong location for 30 minutes – driving to and having to locate the correct location – having to locate parking – backtracking from the car to the office – and then finally having the meeting.
I spent every last cent in the car paying for parking downtown which meant that parking at my campus and driving to Wegmans was out of the question. What I ended up having to do was park at my house – walk to campus – gym it – walk back to my house – and then drive to Wegmans. Whew!
While I was at campus I completed a workout for the study I’m participating in. Treadmill at 5% incline for 60 minutes and 2.9 miles.
While I was at Wegmans I replaced the peanut butter Adam finished even though he knew we need it for dinner and bought myself an iced coffee with skim milk.
I’m done with errands for the weekend minus one this afternoon that will lead to an exciting announcement, whee!
For lunch I ate an Angel Hair Marinara Smart One.
I don’t generally eat a lot of frozen meals and I pretty much hate angel hair in anything else, but I’m totally obsessed with this frozen meal. The pasta isn’t mushy at all and the veggies taste very fresh. Plus it’s a super filling serving for less than 300 calories.
I was keeping lunch on the lighter side because I knew what was waiting for me in the oven.
S’mores Brownies! Am I evil or a genius? An evil genius?
A buttery graham cracker layer topped with gooey brownie and a toasty marshmallow on top? Hells yes!
I ate one for dessert and was pretty much dying. Click here for the recipe.
I’m going to end this post on a low note by talking about feet. Foot blisters to be exact. Since I was a teen, something about the way I walk has caused me to get fin-like blisters on the bottom of my ring-finger toes. My right foot has always been worse than my left, but recently it’s gotten out of control; probably not helped by my 7 miles yesterday.
Notice the super hot blood blisters. I’m okay when I’m barefoot but every step in tennis shoes feels like knives. I guess I can finally relate to Hans Christian Anderson’s Ariel. Does anyone else get toe fins?!?
Embarrassing side note – do you remember the scene in “The Little Mermaid” where Ariel gives Ursula her voice?
When I was in 2nd grade I would corner my teachers – daily – and make them listen to me sing that song!
I Made Coq Au Vin!
What a day; I’ve been a busy bee since literally the minute I got out of bed! I realize I didn’t do anything major – and most of you have jobs – but lots of little things added up and I feel accomplished and exhausted. I don’t loving doing one long post a day but that will probably have to be the schedule once school starts anyway.
I had a scary doctor’s appointment across town this morning which meant I got to drive along the water.
I also got to eat breakfast in the car, in the form of an 18 Rabbits Cheeky Cherry Chocolate Granola Bar.
This was awesome; the perfect amount of chew with a little bit of tang from the cherries and a little bit of sweet from the chocolate. Plus for 240 calories this was very filling. I know I live for Cookie Dough Balance Bars and Chocolate Coconut Covered Lara Bars, but when it comes to straight up granola bars 18 Rabbits takes the cake oat.
My doctor’s appointment wasn’t fun, but it wasn’t as scary as it could have been. I had a bump on my hand that needed a biopsy so 2 needles, 1 scalpel, and a band-aid later I was done.
It hurts a bit, but felt a little better once I could get home and pretty it up.
Did you know we only have children’s band-aids in our apartment? I’m going to hit up a drug store tomorrow but Adam’s going to have to wash my hair tonight because those cuties are not water-tight.
On the way home I stopped at the gym to complete a workout session for the study I’m participating in. We fuel with three different drinks and then walk on the treadmill for and hour at our heart rate range and take some notes on exertion levels. Today I fueled with this 24 oz mystery beverage that I believe was water and apple juice.
I walked on the treadmill at a 5% incline for an hour and 2.9 miles.
I had to hurry to shower when I got home because I was meeting friends, but I was heading back to the gym after lunch. It was the perfect time to try out the Champion tank every blogger’s been raving about.
I picked this up at Target the other day and I’m in love. You know I’m all about the blouse-tank.
This may be my new favorite top for play and workouts; it was so comfy. Plus, two different homeless guys stopped me to tell me I looked hot, so I’m giving this two thumbs up.
For lunch I met up with a few school friends at Coles. It was so great getting a chance to catch up with a few people I haven’t seen all summer. I ordered off of the specials menu.
A sandwich of grilled salmon in a sweet glaze with pickled veggies, and french fries.
This was okay, but the sauce was oddly sweet. The best part was actually the spicy mayo which wasn’t even mentioned on the menu. I ate about 2/3 of everything.
After lunch I headed back to the gym for my real workout: a running session on the treadmill. It was pretty hard (being fat isn’t fun!) but I made myself stick to the same goal as Sunday of minimum 5 minutes running, maximum 2 minutes walking. I did 4 miles in 42 minutes, 22 seconds. Seven miles in one day probably wasn’t my best idea though, my back is killing me.
I was starving when I got home and dinner took for-ev-a so I ate a few snacks while I cooked. Watermelon chunks stolen straight from the big container.
And two servings of Trolli Soda Poppers.
P.S. These aren’t bad, but they’re no gummi cola bottles.
1.5 hours later – seriously – it was time for dinner. I made Coq au Vin!
Casey (who I had an obsessive girl crush on) made this during Top Chef and I’ve wanted to try it ever since. I used Cooking Light’s Easy Coq au Vin recipe and my only changes were subbing in turkey bacon and using chicken breast instead of thighs and drums.
This was very good, but I’m not sure it was quite good enough to excuse the long cooking time; we’ll have to see how it does as leftovers. At least the multiple sessions of simmering gave me time to handle my to-do’s around the house.
For my greens I made a tasty side salad.
A romaine base with Newman’s Own Light Cesar, roasted edamame, and roasted buckwheat groats.
The groats might be too savory for yogurt but I think they’re my new favorite salad topper.
I’d like to say I’m going to bed now but Adam’s still not home and I can’t wash my own hair. But since my husband’s been at the hospital for upwards of 12 hours I guess it’s hard to complain about my day!
Preppy Provisions
As promised, as soon as I published my last post I found myself some fruit and carbs.
The very last serving of the spinach pesto pasta,
and some watermelon cubes.
This combination was surprisingly delicious.
And since my carb was very green and my fruit was very pink, this combination was a Lilly Pulitzer approved lunch.
Sometimes I wish I dressed preppier but I wore Doc Martins in high school so I’m not sure it’s allowed.
The gym did not happen but I think that was a good thing since dinner didn’t happen either. Adam and I had some exciting and expensive errands to run (hopefully I have some news to share this weekend) and the night got away from us. Plus we had a gigantic pointless fight. We suck.
But to end this post on a positive note; do you know what doesn’t suck? This sky –
What is the stupidest thing you’ve ever fought with a significant other about? One time in high school Adam and I almost broke up over a hair crimper.
So That’s Where I’ve Been
Hello, hello; long time no “see!” I’m fairly disappointed with myself for not making it to the end of my ’30 day blog everything’ goal but what can you do? My absence was a mix of life craziness and being crazy craziness. I’m very ready to go back to school already, I have not been spending this summer in a healthy, productive manner!
To quickly recap what you’ve missed – Adam got sick on Monday night. He’s fine now and didn’t have to go to the doctor or anything so we really don’t know what the problem was but we’re blaming it on the underripe watermelon. Whatever the cause, he spent several hours clutching his stomach and moaning late into the night. We were up past 2, including a trip to Wegmans for bread to settle his stomach, which was a terrible idea. My impression of the hypothetical scenario at the ER due to this terrible idea (“You made him eat bread?! Jesus, fatty, food’s not always the answer!”) was also a terrible idea since apparently laughter was painful. Actually, I made him laugh all night long and we determined that I’m hilarious but evil. I ended up being the one to eat the darn bread, which I dipped in olive oil and spices to fool myself into thinking I was fancy and gourmet and not the loser eating a loaf of bread at midnight. Adam was fine by the next morning but I spent the day in bed eating caramel popcorn and feeling sorry for myself that I was too tired to go to the gym. And I just couldn’t figure out an upbeat way to blog that so here we are.
On a less rambling note, this morning I had a orthodontist appointment and then a trip to Mr. Tire for a state inspection. During the wait I pulled out my phone to search for coffee and discovered that Sweetness 7 Cafe (an old favorite) was only a .6 mile walk away; sweet!
Half of the drinks on the menu are things I’ve never heard of so I decided to pick something and random and go with it. A Vietnamese iced latte.
After some Googling, I found that these are typically made with sweetened condensed milk, but I only saw the barista use a powder. Whatever the ingredients, it was sweet but still had a rich coffee flavor.
I read while I waited.
The Little Book of Forensics was interesting, but not as in-depth or science-based as I had hoped.
Amid errands this afternoon I also stopped a Wegmans for some veggies for lunch.
Southwestern corn salad, chili garlic eggplant, sautéed broccoli, and roasted squash and mushrooms.
Yummy as usual.
Now that I’m home I need to locate some carbs and/or fruit. I’ve realized that I either eat way too much or way too little each day and that it’s probably making me fatter than eating way too much and then a normal amount on other days. My goal for the last weeks before summer is to get better at eating healthy stuff even when I’m not hungry and not getting so much unhealthy stuff even when I am hungry. Make sense?
My other hope for the afternoon is a trip to the gym but since I have to bring the materials for the study I can only go if the rain clears up. Cross your fingers for blue skies.
Eating Chalk 