Monthly Archives: July 2012

My Last Day At Twenty-Six

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Tomorrow I begin my twenty-eighth year!  Isn’t it weird how you’ve starting a year that’s older than your age?!  Today was low-key but good, a great way to wrap up 26.

I started my day with a trip to the gym, sort of.  I overslept, then I had to drive Adam’s car and couldn’t park in the gym lot, then the parking machine stopped taking my money halfway through… blah, blah, blah; I only had 16 minutes to work out.  But I made the most of them!  16 minutes on the elliptical at random level 10, with several rounds of sprint intervals.

I had to hurry because I had a 10am appointment at the Sprint Store.  Yes, again.  Several new parts later, my phone is working again.  Thank goodness for phone insurance.

I ate a big bag of green grapes on the drive.

And made a delicious mug of caffeine when I got home.

Strong cinnamon vanilla nut coffee (brewed with cinnamon!) with 1 Tbsp fat-free sweetened condensed milk.

It was amazing!  But I don’t think I enjoyed myself as much as the dog, who was breakfasting on a ginormous bone.

Gah, cuteness overload!

I got called in early to work so there was no time for a sit-down lunch but I ate this pb&j LARABAR on the walk.

A pallet of boxes came in today so I spent my entire shift tagging and sorting new inventory.

The husband and dog met me after work for a walk and when I got home at 8pm I was glad to have dinner ready and in the fridge.  Pasta with Daily Garnish’s Creamy Vegan Sweet Potato Sauce.

I skipped the Earth Balance, used dark raisins, and topped my serving with 1 tsp chipotle oil, but other than that I followed Emily’s lead.  It ended up being a very good meal.

Plain yogurt with honey and chopped nectarine for dessert.

I’m ready for another year!

eFoods Direct And The Importance Of Emergency Preparedness

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Growing up on an island meant gorgeous beaches, drinking dark rum at 18, driving on the “wrong” side of the road, and feeling like the luckiest girl on earth.  It also meant hurricane season.

When I was 10 years old, St. Thomas was devastated by Hurricane Marilyn, a level 5 storm.  Almost 80% of the homes and businesses on my island were damaged or destroyed.  My family was incredibly lucky but 10,00 other people were left homeless and many homes had blue FEMA tarps for roofs for months afterward.  We had several friends who lost everything they owned in the storm.  The experience obviously had a large impact on my childhood and is something I would like to blog about in more detail in the future.

Even though our house was intact, we were without power for more than 5 months after Marilyn.  We also went more than a year without cable (no big deal) and more than 7 months without phone service (this felt like a very big deal to me because this was the year my friends and I started calling boys!).

We had a generator but gas was expensive so we still took bucket showers and opened the fridge as little as possible.  Family in the states, along with their very kind friends, took to sending our family boxes of nonperishable food.  Their generosity was extraordinary but we couldn’t help but smile at some of the items they sent.  Like tiny juice boxes that made us cry with laughter as we pictured my 6-foot-3 cousin trying to drink one after football practice.  Or multiple boxes of microwave dinners.  One of the main things I’ve taken away from my childhood experiences with hurricanes is the importance of being prepared.

Since emergency preparedness is near and dear to my heart, when eFoods Direct asked me review some of their products I jumped at the opportunity.

eFoods Direct is a company that sells foods that are storable for up to 25 years.  The foods are packed fresh and date stamped and can all be prepared by mixing the packets with boiling water.  They have a huge menu of options, many of which are vegetarian.  They sell packs that range from 1 week’s worth of food to enough food for a whole family for the year.  They are currently offering a special discount in memoriam of the disaster in Japan last summer.

Adam and I tried the Tortilla Soup,

and the Cheesy Chicken Rice Casserole.

We are saving the potato soup for winter.  They weren’t the best meals we’ve ever eaten but they were far from the worst.  The serving sizes were appropriate and we were impressed with the variety of vegetables in both dishes.  The chicken had great texture, it was better than the chicken in several soups I’ve had that were not dehydrated.

Note – this positive review comes of my own volition.  I was not paid for my thoughts (though I did sample the meals free of charge); I just really think it’s important that people consider emergency preparedness.

Have you ever experienced a natural disaster?

The Last Three Days I’ve Been…

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…all over the place!  Figuratively speaking.  I don’t know where my head is but my meals have been less than impressive; lots of junk food, not a lot of veggies, and I keep forgetting to eat breakfast.  Adam was preparing for an important exam and between that, getting used to working, and obsessing over some new books, I’ve felt a little crazy.  It is what it is.

Friday

This was a no breakfast day.  And I didn’t manage to pack lunch before work either.  I ended up grabbing a mix of co-op salad bar.

Cucumber salad, farro salad, vegan pasta salad, and a few dolmas.

Plus a Sweet Leaf Sweet Tea.

When I got home I had chip and dip leftovers.

Plain low-fat yogurt with banana slices and a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk.

And a giant bowl of frosted flakes with skim milk.

I guess I didn’t have it together for dinner either.

Saturday

I ate breakfast!  Cottage cheese stirred into a Liberte Coconut Yogurt.

But I packed the stupidest lunch of all time.

A Plum Kids Strawberry Lemonade Yogurt Mashup,

and a Fiber One cookie.

Supplemented with an iced Earl Grey with skim milk.

And the last of my chips and dip when I got home.

Saturday morning Adam took the biggest, 8+ hour, most important exam he’ll take in his entire life (seriously, he’s done nothing but study the past month) so we went out for a celebratory dinner with another couple that night.

I made a small plate from the communal cheese board.

And drank a (giant?!) glass of riesling.

For dinner I ordered the pesto spatzle.

I loved the idea of the innovative pesto (romaine! pistachio! mint!) but sadly didn’t enjoy the execution.  You know that I can throw down with some heavy food but this dish was missing some desperately needed acid to cut through the richness.  I ate a few bites and figured that my chip appetizer would keep me from starving 😉

Sunday

I started my morning with Harvest Bay Coconut Water,

and chicken salad.

Plus a shake shared with the husband.

(Thank you birthday freebie coupons!)

Mid-day I headed to yoga.  60 minute hot yoga class.  Love love loved it.  This was definitely the high point of the last few days.

Then we had more ice cream; I can’t resist the allure of birthday freebies.

That’s a kid’s size vanilla frozen yogurt with reeses pb cup and cookie dough.

Veggies, chicken, and macaroni were consumed on a shopping trip.

Plus a mug of cocoa at home.

It was delicious but unnecessary.  As I wrote up this recap I was fairly disgusted by the amount of sugar (and chips!) I ate over the past three days.

Around 7:00 we hunkered down in the kitchen for a mega cooking session.  Three dishes were on the agenda – tonight’s dinner, tomorrow’s dinner, and tuna casserole to freeze for Adam for the week I’m in Ohio.  Two out of three worked out.  After spending a lot of time making Janetha’s cauliflower crust pizza I covered it in marinara that turned out to be covered in mold.

Uggggh!  Adam threw out our dinner and I threw a fit on the floor.  I took a giant bite of marinara sauce before I spotted the mold so a lot of histrionic gagging went down.

Then a bunch of other shit happened and many hours later I ate nachos for dinner.

The end.

A Few Of His Favorite Things

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Hello again, dog.

If Webster had to compile a list of his favorite foods I think it would look something like this:

  1. coffee  (he is obsessed and begs like crazy whenever he smells that Adam or I have a cup)
  2. chicken  (we pronounce it chick-ON chick-ON in this house)
  3. peanut butter
  4. apple slices
  5. cheese

Since Webster is my favorite little dog, I make his treats from scratch.  For this round of pupsicles I managed to squeeze in most of his favorites –

Apple Cheddar Peanut Butter Pupsicles; yields 20 frozen treats

  • 4 oz sharp cheddar
  • 1 cup plain low-fat yogurt
  • 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
  1. Cut the cheese into fourths and use a food processor to crumble it.  (You can probably make these in the blender, just shred your cheese first.)
  2. Add yogurt, applesauce, and peanut butter to the bowl and process until well-combined.
  3. Spoon the mixture into clean ice-cube trays and freeze until solid.

What are your dogs’ favorite foods?

Yoga Not YOLO

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I hate #yolo.  Every time I see those four letters my brain screams “do you mean ‘carpe diem,’ asshat?”  And you say it when you are doing something dumb.  People who get “carpe diem” tattoos usually do so with purpose and intend to live with purpose.  When people post “YOLO” facebook status updates it generally means they’re an idiot.  Also, this is the funniest thing ever –

Ok, rant’s over, I promise.  I actually had a really good day 🙂

I got to go to yoga!  Adam bought me a 2-month unlimited hot yoga Groupon for Valentine’s Day and I’m finally cashing in.  My goal (my intention) is to go three times a week for the next two months, minus the week I’m in Ohio with my parents.  Today I did a 75 minute flow class.  I’ve never tried flow before, and I wasn’t very good, but I loved it.

“I had to run errands at school after yoga so I decided to make it a cardio day as well” …I breezily say as if I work out all of the time!  I did today though.  40 minutes on the stationary bike at level 10 random.

On my walk to school between yoga and the gym I refueled with a Vanilla Stinger Waffle.

Oh my goodness was it good!  I thought it was going to be some sort of chew and it ended up being a cookie!

And I did feel great during my 2nd workout.  I totally bought more of these at the store today.

When I got home I made this strange but genius drink.

1 cup of cold (double bagged) red velvet cake tea with 1 cup of fat-free chocolate milk.  Adam and I both were big fans of this combo.

I did a couple of errands at school and I kept the productivity going all afternoon.  My most exciting to-done was signing up for malpractice insurance.  We are going to have our very own patients this year so we need to cover ourselves legally.  Thankfully student insurance is pretty cheap and it is fun to start to feel official.

My final errand was grocery shopping.  I got lunch from Wegman’s hot bar.

A jalapeño popper and a bit of macaroni,

and veggies.

We haven’t gotten hot bar in a while and sadly this didn’t thrill me the way it used it.

Along with the essentials, I bought a box of Fiber One Chocolate Chip Cookies on sale.

Super meh, but they were very cheap so I’m glad I tried.  The texture was way to cakey.  They will be good for throwing into my purse before work or class, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be buying more when I finish the six that came with this box.

I also bought chips at the store.

Buffalo and blue cheese ruffled chips.  I took one bite and knew that they were going to be dinner.  So I pushed back our planned meal and bought some dip.

Too much fun.  Adam randomly ate a ton of food at 5 pm so he didn’t need dinner anyway.

I did try to feel healthy by eating two plums for dessert though.

And I probably won’t do leftovers for dinner tomorrow!

What are your thoughts on #yolo?

Frozen Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

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Dairy Queen’s Frozen Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate is the most amazing beverage to ever pass through my lips.  That’s a bold statement, but it’s true.  DQ’s FPBHC strikes the perfect balance of icy to creamy and manages a perfect blend of peanut butter to chocolate.  I’ve tried Serendipity3‘s famous frozen hot chocolate several times and I can honestly say that DQ’s version is better.  As promised, I continued to obsess about it until I tried to remake it at home.

I’m not going to claim that my version is as good as the original, but it is good.  And it does have fewer calories and fat grams for a larger serving.

I highly encourage you to try mine out, but I still think you should make a summer pit-stop at Dairy Queen.

Frozen Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate; yields 1 large serving

  • 1.5 Tbsp good quality unsweetened cocoa powder
  • 2 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
  • 3/4 cup skim milk
  • 1/4 cup fat-free sweetened condensed milk
  1. Heat 1 cup water for 90 seconds in the microwave (or to a simmer if you’re using the stove top).  Whisk cocoa powder into water until fully dissolved.  Let cool 10 – 15 minutes.  Pour unsweetened hot chocolate into an ice-cube tray and freeze for a minimum of 4 hours.  You should get 5 – 7 cubes depending on the size of your tray.
  2. Place frozen cocoa cubes into your blender.  Add the remaining ingredients and blend on high until smooth.

Have you been to DQ yet this summer?  Have you ever tried frozen hot chocolate?

Black Bean Benedicts

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As I’d hoped yesterday, this was a much more successful day; after work I checked off several to-do’s that were looming.  I didn’t get in a formal workout (I was out of bed and dressed in time though, go me!) but that was because I chose a long walk with my boys instead.

Our walk ate up my time for working out and breakfasting, but at least I got coffee out of the deal.

(with three caramel coffee creamers)

Lunch was a breadless wb&j, aka a giant bag of green grapes and a packet of walnut butter.

I didn’t love Artisana’s pecan butter so I was pleasantly surprised by the walnut.  I think I’d prefer all off their options with more salt and more roast.

I also ate a thing of broccoli and cashew salad on my walk home.

To-do’s were tackled before cooking.  Sidenote – major shout out to Bank of America for awesome service; we had a fraudulent charge on my credit card and they have resolved the issue so speedily.

Dinner was worth waiting for.

A big pile of roasted green beans.

We roast the green beans (at 450* for 20 minutes) in baking spray and salt but somehow this pile tasted like butter.

Butter made an appearance on the other side of the plate as well.  The exciting thing I was going to do with Cilantro Lime Black Bean Burger leftovers? Benedicts!

Well, my take on Benedicts anyway.  A bean burger topped with a sunny side up egg topped with hollandaise-ish sauce.

The “-ish” is because I couldn’t quite pull off the sauce.  I followed a traditional recipe cut down for two servings – 1 large egg yolk, 1/8 tsp mustard, 1 tsp lemon juice, 3 dashes hot sauce, 2.5 Tbsp melted butter – but I couldn’t get it to emulsify.  I ended up cooking the sauce in my hot skillet to help it thicken up.  The smooth hollandaise texture was lost but the taste was there.

Have you ever tried your hand at hollandaise sauce?

Window Shopping Wednesday

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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 on Wednesdays, I thought we could have some fun via blog. Let’s window shop!

Here’s what I’m crazy for this week –

1.  The Chicago Mix from G.H. Cretors

I know I post a lot of popcorn on WSW, but how can I not?  There are so many tasty sounding types out there!  G.H. Cretors is a family business with all-natural, kosher products.  All of their flavors sound good (kettle corn! caramel nut crunch!) but the Chicago Mix would be the perfect blend of sweet and savory – Caramel Corn and Cheddar Cheese Corn mingling in one bag.  I actually don’t really like cheese flavored popcorn but something about this company and this blend makes it appealing.

2.  The Starfish Journal from Night Owl Paper Goods

I basically just wanted everything I saw on this site.  Owls, hedgehogs, stripes, and swirls abounded.  When I had-to-had-to pick a favorite (so I could show y’all a picture) I went with this journal because I adore starfish.  Did you know that our wedding had a starfish theme?

3.  The Elsa Peretti Starfish Pendant

Speaking of starfish… I’ve now been coveting this pendant for a full decade.  Tiffany & Co. probably won’t be on my shopping list for another decade still, but this necklace is the most “me” piece of jewelry I’ve ever seen.

4. Scallop Stitched Cupcake Stands from Sweet Lulu

This was another site where I just had to pick a favorite of favorites.  Apparently Sweet Lulu is the one-stop-shop for the party of my dreams.  Cupcake toppers, and milk bottles, and striped straws, oh my!

5.  Anatomical Sweet Heart Floursack Tea Towels from Girls Can Tell

Adam is leaning more towards Oncology than Cardiology, but I’m still pretty sure we need this tea towel.  I adore the look of this type of drawing.  I’m also a big fan of the feel of science-y things in the kitchen.  And I should note – I went weak in the knees for most of this site as well.  I’m having an excitable day.

What is getting you excited this week?