Monthly Archives: November 2011

Roasty, Cheesy

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We have a 6am flight tomorrow, I should already be in bed!  But since I still plan on showering, nail painting, and watching Castle before bed I guess I shouldn’t worry about it 😉

Taking the dog this afternoon was hard!  I definitely dropped him off with a bag of stuff like a crazy person.  And the husband and I have both said at least twice this evening that we miss him.

I had to go pick up Adam after taking the dog and I stopped at the Co-op in between for a soda.

Orange cream just sounded right.  I also snagged a sample of their pecan pie.

Ah-mazing!  It was all I could do not to buy a whole pie.  And way to go on the gigantic sample sizes, Co-op.

Dinner was a roasty, cheesy, winner.

Baked potato topped with butter, sharp cheddar, and roasted broccoli (with truffle oil!), plus more broccoli with cheese on the side.

‘Twas very good.  And reminded us both that we love baked potatoes and should make them more often.

We also split this bar.

There were little bits of crunchy peppermint embedded throughout; awesome.  Normally I couldn’t stand to open something this Christmas-y before December, but I really wanted dessert!

If I don’t get to blog, I hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving Tomorrow!

You Could Eat Cake With Sarah Michelle Gellar

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My to-do’s aren’t all done but I’m off to a good start.  The ridiculous task of packing 4-days worth of stuff, for 2 people, in 1 carry-on did eat up a good bit of time.

Plus I had to plug the Duncan Hines giveaway into the random integer generator.

MaryBe, Anna S, and Julie L; e-mail me (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) with your mailing addresses so I can send out your coupons.

Winners or not, I hope everyone enjoys a nice slice of cake this weekend, with no regrets.  You can thank Sarah Michelle Gellar for the good idea.  From her interview in the December issue of Self –

“I’ve been doing the birthday-party circuit with my 2-year-old.  Every weekend, we’re at two or three parties.  Now, I’m not going to eat the cake at every one, but when it is homemade or looks particularly good, I’ll indulge.  I like Carvel ice cream cakes a lot.  And really, how is eating a piece of cake bad?  Being bad is murdering someone.  That’s bad.  Don’t do that.”

I’ve been obsessed with SMG since Buffy and this interview was wonderful through and through.  From the quote I loved both the idea of what she said and the hilarious way that she said it!

Lunch, which started at 10 and ended at 3, was fairly random.  A bag of popcorn.

A piece of toast with Smart Balance Light.  x2.

And a big pile of roasted green beans.

I’m getting nervous about dropping off the dog.  Someone please tell me that he won’t hate us by the time we pick him up!?

Window Shopping Wednesdays

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I am not much of a shopper, much to my mother’s chagrin. The woman can spend days at the mall, while I start to feel itchy after just a few hours. It’s not that I’m not materialistic, I totally am, it’s just that the thought of adding more stuff to my life makes it hard to breathe. But I like the idea of things. So I’m an avid window shopper. I browse catalogs I’ll never buy from and hold my breathe when I pass the window at J.Crew. So while I’m stuck at school all day Wednesdays, I thought we could have some fun via blog. Let’s window shop!

Since I’ve missed a few weeks of WSW I’m going to double up; here are the 10 things I’m coveting this week –

1.   The fabric circles necklace from Boden.

Normally I ignore necklaces because my mom makes jewelry on the side and her stuff is cute and one-of-a-kind.  But I’m not sure if she could manage this one and it’s cute!  Feels totally ballerina to me for some reason.  I can see it in my head with a pink pleated skirt and black cardigan.

2.  The Silver Skinny Sparkle Bic Band.

I realize that I actually still haven’t cut my hair or gone to the gym, but once I get around to doing those two things this will come in handy.

3. A Reflective Key Cuff from Lululemon.

As long as we’re pretending, this would be really useful for when I run outside.  You know, next spring.

4.  These striped gloves from Free Hands.

I always could just get off my damn phone when I’m walking outside this winter, but with these I wouldn’t have to.

5.  The Tiered-Pleat Tank from Old Navy.

In Crimson and Clover.  I love love love details like the pleats on the front of this shirt.  And it looks like it would be adorable underneath a blazer for professional moments this winter.

6.  The Humping Bear Salt and Pepper Shakers from Urban Outfitters.

I’m pretty sure I’ve never needed something more.  Nevermind the fact that we dont’ keep salt and pepper at the table.  I call the husband “Bear” so we’ve started collecting a random assortment of bears and I think these could take any of the bears in our current collection in a fight.

7.  This Christmas plates set from Pottery Barn Kids.

How cute are those reindeer?!

8.  A Jet Pack Flying Session.

I don’t understand how this works and I don’t care, I just want to fly!  The site says come fulfill your James Bond fantasy, but I can’t be the only person who sees this and wants to pretend I’m one of the Monarch’s minions!

9.  The Refined Facial Polish from Benefit.

We’re not even into December and I’m already needing to slough winter off my skin.  Plus the packaging on this makes me smile.

10.  The Bobbing for Baubles polish from Essie.

I wish I had spotted this in time before tomorrow’s Miami trip because I would have bought it.  My nails need to be this cool.

What’s on your shopping list?

Miami Bound

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I’m not sure how this hasn’t come up on the blog yet (because it’s all I talk about in real life), but I’m going to Miami for Thanksgiving!!!  Adam and I are meeting my parents there tomorrow for four days of nostalgic, sunny, fun.  We don’t have any family in Florida (we’re spending Turkey Day at a steak/seafood place) but my parents loved visiting when Adam and I went to UM and they thought it’d be fun to recreate a trip.

I’ve been excited for weeks but I hadn’t actually thought logistics until this morning.  Today’s to-do list includes –

  • packing for myself and the husband
  • packing some sort of “brunch” for the airplane tomorrow
  • painting my toe nails
  • shaving my legs for the first time in at least two months (eww!)
  • putting away tons of laundry
  • dropping the dog off at the vets for boarding
  • lots of random schoolwork

Where are you spending Thanksgiving?

I started my morning with the most decadent oatmeal.

I know a lot of food bloggers use that word a lot, decadent, but this bowl seriously was.  I had to use up the open pumpkin but wasn’t in the mood for its slightly bitter flavor and I just kept adding ingredients to cover it up.

What I ended up with was –

  • 1 cup skim milk (cooked)
  • 1 medium banana, sliced (cooked)
  • 1 pinch salt (cooked)
  • 1/4 cup oats (cooked)
  • 1/4 cup pumpkin (cooked)
  • 1/4 cup 1% cottage cheese (stirred in at the end)
  • 2 tsp butterscotch chips (topped)
  • 1 Tbsp Biscoff spread (topped)
  • 1 Tbsp light cream (topped)

Dang.  And amazingly my least favorite additions were the chips and Biscoff; they strong-armed the other flavors in their bites.  My most favorite was the cottage cheese.  I’ve used that before but I don’t think I realized how much I like it.  I need to put that on the grocery list more often!

Don’t forget, you have until 2pm EST to enter my Duncan Hines giveaway.

By The Magazine

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Last day of school before a 5 day break, what what?!!  I was actually super busy all afternoon but something about not having to go to class tomorrow just made the whole day feel 100% fun.

I rolled over to look at the time this morning and it was already 7:15.  It’s possible my alarm didn’t beep, but more likely that I turned it off in my sleep.  Breakfast was on the go, and rushed.  A perfect pear,

and this Orgain Iced Cafe Mocha protein drink.

I bought the drink on super-sale at the Co-op and it wasn’t really what I was expecting.  It wasn’t thick or sweet at all, which would normally be nice but was strange when I was expecting the opposite.  But the nutrients did a good job of filling in my morning.

And then we had cake.

I’ll tell you again, that my classmates all loved the crock-pot cake.  Even if you don’t win my giveaway I suggest making it at home.

Amid afternoon activities, lunch was eaten in parts.  First, a strange-sounding yogurt bowl.

Activia Selects French Pineapple yogurt with canned pumpkin and shredded coconut.

I know that combination sounds strange, but it was pretty good.  Pumpkin Colada?

Plus a bag of popcorn.

And a Biscoff spoon.

I’ve had this jar of Biscoff open for more than a month now and I’m sort of not sure how there’s still any left.

Dinner was Tomato-Vodka Soup and Scones, both magazine recipe finds.

The Tomato-Vodka Soup was from Everyday with Rachael Ray.

I skipped the spices and rim rub, only used half of the vodka, and substituted light for heavy cream.

The Easy Scone recipe was from Woman’s Day.

I used light cream instead of heavy again, but otherwise left this one alone.

Both were delicious.

But I’m not the hugest tomato soup fan (I made this for the husband mostly) so I left behind the 2nd half of my bowl.  Instead I ate a 2nd scone.

With Smart Balance Light and honey.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Duncan Hines giveaway.

Yes, You Want Cake

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This post is for Katie. And for everyone – not to worry, I did eat food-food today, I just wanted to get this posted asap so y’all could enter the giveaway.

What do you get when you combine these things?

Cake!

Seriously.

My mother-in-law made this one Thanksgiving and it blew my mind. There’s also a ton of varieties on the internet, going as Crockpot Cake or Dump Cake. You can pair any combo of cake mix and pie filling that suits your fancy, so the possibilities are practically endless. And you basically just dump everything in your crock pot and go.

I had a very hard time picking a flavor combo – carrot cake mix + pineapple filling? devil’s food cake mix + cherry filling? spice cake mix + apple filling? – but in the end I decided to use Duncan Hines Classic Yellow Cake Mix and Comstock Premium Strawberry Pie Filling.

I brought my cake into class today (I actually I made it during class in the back of the room!) and everyone loved it. The 18 of us finished every last bite!

Crock Pot Cake

  • 1 box Duncan Hines Classic Yellow Cake Mix
  • 21 oz can Comstock Premium Strawberry pie filling
  • 8 Tbsp butter, chopped
  1. Spray the inside of your crock pot with baking spray.
  2. Pour pie filling into the bottom of the crock pot.
  3. Combine butter and cake mix and sprinkle on top of pie filling.
  4. Cook, 2 hours on the low setting.

Giveaway

I received my cake mix and pie filling for free as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program and they want me to share with you guys too.

Three readers will receive two coupons for a free box of Duncan Hines cake mix. To enter to win –

  • leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite kind of cake is
  • post a link to this giveaway on Twitter, and leave a comment on this post letting me know that you’ve done so
  • post a link to this giveaway on Facebook, and leave a comment on this post letting me know that you’ve done so

You can do any or all of the above to enter. Contest ends Wednesday, November 23rd at 2pm EST.

Delirious Dinner

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I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance for the plethora of typos that will most likely pepper this post.  Between my 4+ hour sleep deficit and wracking my brain all day for answers to two major tests, I’m a bit off my game.  And the husband was on a 24-hour shift last night and he’s wrecked as well.  Our joint delirium made for an interesting afternoon.

But first, lunch.

Despite appearances, that’s not a yogurt.

It’s also not a 6oz container but a big guy, stocked with last night’s roasted dinner leftovers.

These were still good cold, but I had to shovel them in at 10am which felt a little odd.

I want to think my tests went well, but honestly I’m not sure I even remember.  Thanksgiving break is going to be all about catching up on sleep.

When I finished my make-up exam at 3, I picked up the husband so we could do a quick grocery restock.  My gnawing hunger led me to the gingerbread men.

Such a good idea.  Adam ate his buttons, and thought this was so funny he made me snap a picture.

I told you we’re tired.

Except that tired is the understatement of the century.  Between bad luck, Adam’s distraction, and my complete and utter confusion at life, we went to three different grocery stores and somehow ended up with nothing more than a bag of pears to show for it.  Frick.

Some complaining, more confusion, and lots of aimless driving later, and we managed to end up at a Chinese buffet for dinner.

We were totally drawn in by the bubble tea.

Adam and I split this Taro one.

The food wasn’t necessarily good, but it certainly wasn’t bad either.  Not healthy at all and a miserable lack of vegetables, but overall we had a nice dinner.

Green beans, baked salmon, 2 stuffed mushrooms, and a crab rangoon.

Sushi, chicken with broccoli, and some cheesy crab salad that blew my freaking mind.  It was so rich I couldn’t even eat all of what’s shown but I was seriously in heaven.

Tiramisu, pineapple, glazed banana, pudding, coconut gelatin.

I had lost steam by dessert and shared .25 – .5 of this with Adam, but I did devour the coconut jell-o.

I love buffets because getting to try little bits of lots of things makes my soul happy.  If I could find a buffet with actual healthy options I think my heart would explode with joy.

And sleep in 3, 2, 1 …

How do you feel about buffets?  What dish do you always look for on the line?

Are You Having A Good Life?

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I got something like 4 hours of sleep last night.  I’m not ready for either of today’s two exams.  I’m tired and cranky, x 10.

But yesterday evening I spotted an e-mail in my inbox from Fage and Foodbuzz about winning a trip to Greece by posting about the Greek tradition of “Good Living.”  They defined good living as having a positive, healthy life and I’m inclined to agree. 

So last night I set myself up at the mantle.

I’m healthier, happier, and less likely to fall asleep if I study while standing rather than sitting.

And this morning I took the time to make a healthy, tasty breakfast.

Though I did make sure it could be eaten quickly, and with one hand!  Today won’t be fun or easy, but at least it is off to a good start.  I think that pursuing a good life means making an effort to be healthy and positive, and that the little steps you take towards this goal are the ones that really matter.

Pumpkin Pie Smoothie, serves 1

  • 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
  • 1 cup Fage 0% Greek Yogurt
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 1/2 tsp dried cinnamon
  1. Blenderize.
  2. Sip.
  3. Swoon.

“As part of the Foodbuzz Featured Publisher program, I have been entered for the chance to win a trip to Greece courtesy of FAGE. You too can enter to win one of three trips to Greece by entering the FAGE Plain Extraordinary Greek Getaway here: http://www.fageusa.com/community/fage-greek-getaway“

P.S.  Earn my love; who sings the song with the lyric from the title?