Candy Cane Vodka

by Emily

Do not put this vodka in eggnog. That would be disgusting. But beyond that, go crazy. My friends and I drank it in Sprite and/or club soda. The vodka becomes sweet and a little bit thicker and it goes perfectly with something fizzy*.

*It’s also good straight from the bottle!

Candy Cane Vodka

The following recipe can be increased as needed. Just keep the original ratio between the vodka and candy intact.

2 candy canes, broken into smaller pieces
6 oz good vodka

Place vodka and broken candy cans in a covered container until candy has completely dissolved, 36 – 48 hours.
Stir occasionally. Or shake, if you’re into that…

20Dec2012

Sweet ‘n Salty Puppy Chow

by Emily

I’d never made Puppy Chow (or Muddy Buddies, Garbage, etc) before this attempt and I knew I wanted to start out on the right foot. As much as I love sugar (a lot!), I prefer a mix of flavors to a dish so sweet it makes your teeth hurt. Enter Cheez-its.

This Puppy Chow has the perfect balance of salty and sweet. You can definitely eat it by the handful. I certainly did. And so did my friends, who generally eat much more like dietitians than I do! Plus this great party snack comes together in a snap. You basically just melt, mix, and shake-shake-shake!

Sweet ‘n Salty Puppy Chow, yields 8 servings

2.5 cups corn squares cereal
2 cups Cheez-its
1/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Place powdered sugar into a large sealable food-storage plastic baggie and set aside. Prepare a large baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Place chocolate and peanut butter into a large microwave-safe bowl. Microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring regularly, until fully melted.
Use a spatula to fold cereal and crackers into melted peanut butter and chocolate until evenly coated.
Place mix into powdered sugar bag, seal, and shake, shake, shake until squares are evenly coated.
Pour onto prepared baking sheet and spread into a thin even layer. Let dry, 1o minutes or so. Store in the fridge in a sealed container.

What does your family call it? Puppy Chow, Garbage, Trash, Muddy Buddies, something new??

19Dec2012

Holidaze Hello

by Emily

Hello, hello. Do you like my days =/= daze pun?

I know I fell off the earth for a few days there, sorry, mom!

Recently Adam was out-of-town for 15 days straight. Did I keep that under my hat, or was it blogvious? <– that’s obvious on the blog

He was gone a really long time, and I didn’t want to broadcast that all over the internet.

Then he was home for a few days and I wanted to spend every moment I could with him.

And then he was gone again for a few days, this time to hike alone in Yosemite and sleep in a stupid tent, and I spent two days straight eating nonstop and Googling bear attack statistics.

Here is a tiny snippet of what’s gone down since I last blogged –

I haven’t done the best job of taking pictures lately, what with all the working, stressing, and stress-eating. Whoops.

But I am officially tired of eating jalopeño poppers for dinner.

And I only have one week left of crazy work shifts.

And if I expect to blog when I rejoin the full-time workers with my internship at the end of January I’m going to need some practice.

Basically, plan on seeing me again!

P.S. I know it’s lame, but I thought “blogvious” was pretty clever so expect to see that again too.

14Dec2012

Done Done Done

by Emily

My semester is done, done, done! In other news, I’m a little drunk. And more than a little tired. Quickest post ever?

Very special vodka mixed in sprite.

Very special puppy chow.

{Two special recipes are coming in the next few days}

Gorgeous Hanukkah gifts.

A sample from the co-op.

Candy cane.

Christmas movie watching.

Magic bar.

Indian food for dinner with friends.

Plates 1 and 2.

Pink lemonade vodka with sprite and club soda. Followed by guava rum with sprite and club soda.

I just now realized that I didn’t take a single group picture during tonight’s fun. <– boo!

13Dec2012

New Favorite Things For 12/12/12

by Emily

Hello, hello, hello! Did everyone take a moment to appreciate today’s day? I had lots of things to appreciate today. Here are three:

1. Being done with finals for the semester.

2. The gorgeous cashmere infinity scarf (squeee!) that my aunt and uncle sent me for Hanukkah.

3. I may have won some money in a contest… I’m not getting excited until I’m sure it’s for real though.

On to the day’s recap. Why yes, I was up at 4:45 am drinking a 20 calorie grape Rockstar. {it was delicious}

You see, I have this mental problem where the night before two important final exams I spend 4 hours getting my hair dyed, 1 hour on Pinterest, and 2 hours watching Jim Gaffigan on InstantWatch. Genius.

My food consumption as a whole was low in nutrients but I definitely covered things on the calorie front. Plus everything was ridiculously delicious. Plus technically I’m still exam eating.

For breakfast, an overly juicy red pear.

and an Iced Gingerbread Clif Bar.

This flavor verges on being too spicy but then the sweet, juicy raisins pull it back from the brink.

I had exams from 7:40 to 11:00 and a shift at work from 12:00 to 8:30 and in between a friend took me to the grocery store because I don’t have a car. <– it’s a long, sad story and I’m hoping my almost 2 week streak of car-less-ness will be over by this weekend

At work I had a 0% Fage with Honey.

And a Coco Cafe that I bought on a whim at the co-op.

Holy frick you guys, the coffee was so good. It was the kind of good – creamy and sweet with a caffeine kick – that almost hurts because you are enjoying yourself so much. By the time I finished drinking the Coco Cafe I’m sure my coworkers were more than ready for me to stop gushing about my new favorite thing.

<– hold on to your hats, I have another new favorite thing still to come in this very post. Yes, you can have multiple favorite things. That’s a thing.

After work I took the dog on a long walk and it become another night where I came home so hungry I thought I was going to have a fit. Microwave “nachos” on the last 1.5 servings of Nacho Cheese Tortilla PopChips fit the bill.

Um, and then I had another plate but with Food Should Taste Good Chocolate Tortilla Chips.

I know that isn’t the healthiest dinner on the planet but, you guys, the cheese. The cheese. Both plates were made with Kerrygold’s Vintage Dubliner and it rocked my freaking face off.

The Vintage Dubliner was super nutty and it had these amazing pieces of crispiness spread throughout. Plus it melted perfectly. It is my new favorite cheese. P.S. I found it at Wegmans if you want to have a new favorite cheese too.

I realize that this post was pretty packed with enthusiasm but I’m ~~deliriously tired~~ happy so I’m good with it.

What is your new favorite thing?

12Dec2012

#26 – Do Something Crazy With My Hair

by Emily

At first I was all like –

But then I was like –

The streaks are purple, not blue, but I couldn’t get an accurate picture.

27 things, ~~do something crazy with my hair~~.

Have you ever done something crazy with your hair? How long have you had your current hair-style?

11Dec2012

Exam Eating

by Emily

Sunday’s 3pm Spot coffee was a terrible mistake. I got less than three hours of sleep that night! It made Monday morning’s 6 am Starbucks coffee an absolute necessity.

That’s a tall, non-fat, eggnog latte and it was fabulous! And I ate a Green Dragon apple (also fabulous) while I read through my notes.

My morning snack was from my #simplesurvivalkit.

A serving of Food Should Taste Good Chocolate Tortilla Chips to scoop up green salsa.

I had time to go home between my exam (went well-ish!) and work so I made myself a delicious plate of eggs for lunch.

At that point I still thought I was making a healthy dinner so I kept my eggs simple with no veggies. Just 5 chopped slices of turkey – just regular old honey roasted like for sandwiches – cooked in 1 Tbsp Earth Balance with 2 eggs and Cabot’s Sharp Cheddar Light Cheese scrambled in.

They were amazing; I’m having a total love affair with eggs recently.

I brought a Hint Blackberry Fizz with me for my 8.5 hour shift.

The Fizz was good, but it didn’t pack the caffeine-punch that I desperately needed.

At one point during my shift I was so tired that I was in an actual daze! On three different occasions I wanted to call Adam to bring me something and I had to really crank up my brain to work through why that didn’t make sense. <– he was out-of-town

I ended up using the work Keurig to make an extra-strength coffee with cream and sugar.

I stopped at the Co-op for food the minute I got off of work.

I shoved that Orzo Greek Salad into my face while walking around 7-11. Classy.

I had to run another errand on the way home from work and I called my parents to tell them I was home safely and suddenly it was 11 pm. I was exhausted and cranky and so hungry I felt like I was going to pull my hair out if I didn’t get food into my mouth immediately.

I ended up eating a bunch of crap and staying up too late but not studying. Of course. Homemade nachos that I ate so quickly I think even Webster was a little disgusted.

That’s 2-ish servings of Nacho Cheese Tortilla PopChips microwaved with cheese.

I bought the chips with a sweet free coupon that PopChips sent me and sadly I don’t think I like the tortilla version as much as the originals. Something about the texture feels off to me. To be fair, PopChips are amazing so the standard was set high.

Plus Tandoor Chef Vegetable Pad Thai,

and a bowl of melted pb with cocoa powder.

I wish I could tell you that today has been better on the fruit and veggies front but sadly that’s not true. This is definitely a week of exam eating.

Breakfast of champions.

Plus this Boston Cream Pie Seltzer that I thought would be amazing but ended up getting passed to a friend after one sip because it made me gag.

I have adored Polar this year though and one bad flavor won’t turn me off. I am very excited about the Pear Vanilla I bought with it. And I am crossing my fingers and toes that the Eggnog flavor with be out again in time for Christmas.

Starting at 7:40 I had two very frustrating meetings on campus. I don’t know if I get to graduate or not (getting a 2nd degree vs. just taking the classes needed to sit for the RD exam), I don’t really understand what I need to have done for next semester, and I have lots more to do before Thursday.

I took a walk home to clear my head and got Subway for lunch. A 6-inch tuna sub with lots of red onions.

Do you have a Subway rewards card yet? Because my sandwich was free!

And I’ve got a healthy dinner waiting for me in the fridge…

Or just “a dinner.” I’m blogging my winner of a dinner in advance because I have to go back to school for another meeting at 2:00 and then tomorrow morning I have two final exams that are going to crush me.

Plus this afternoon I am taking a study break to do something crazy. There is a hint in this post. Can you guess???

10Dec2012

Happy Hanukkah!

by Emily

I know I’m a day late on the holiday wishes but 2nd-out-of-8 is not so bad.

I’d love to tell you that I’ve been in a flurry of studying, but in fact I worked almost 22 hours between Friday and Saturday. I am exhausted, cranky, and not as prepared for tomorrow’s exam as I’d like. But it is what it is and I’m just glad I have a job.

Some Friday/Saturday Highlights

I made another round of eggs with seitan.

And had a mug cookie both days.

Also pizza both days…

I had my first Starbucks red cup.

A gingerbread latte (I didn’t love it!) while forcing myself to study with a friend after work.

What I Was Up To Today (Sunday)

Other than oversleeping and wasting some time in the morning, today was nice and productive. Apparently my body just doesn’t want to study before noon!

I was excited to try this Oro Blanco for breakfast.

Whenever I spot something I haven’t heard of before at the grocery store I just have to buy it. Adam and I used to love Ugli fruit when we lived in the city and I was hoping this would be similar.

The Oro Blanco had a very thick layer of skin and pith like the Ugli fruit, but the flavor was not my favorite.

It was bitter in a way that made my stomach hurt and I ended up throwing it out after three segments.

Instead I split a Mike’s bagel sandwich with a friend.

The Mike’s sandwich is a bagel topped with cream cheese, provolone, and a fried egg. It is amazing and ridiculous.

We spent almost six hours at The Spot so the sandwich was only the first of three orders. I also had an iced coffee with skim milk.

And shared a slice of cheesecake (with a pretzel crust and chocolate ganache!) with a friend.

I just have to say – thank goodness for my great groups of friends or I would not have accomplished a damn thing today! We went through the notes as a group and it was so helpful. Not that I’m feeling all that great about a comprehensive exam in one of the hardest classes I’ve ever taken!

I snacked on baby carrots with blue cheese dressing when I got home.

Plus a Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale.

I have 3 pumpkin beers left over from October and I need to drink them before their out-of-season-ness drives me crazy.

I went to my freezer to get a little festive for 2nd night of Hanukkah dinner.

3 cheese blintzes from Manischewitz.

Frozen carrot slices and brocoli baked in 1 Tbsp Smart Balance, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, and salt.

Both of the dinner components were very tasty. I bought a bunch of frozen vegetables on my last grocery trip and I’m actually looking forward to using them. And I have half a box of blintzes left that for which I need to purchase sour cream.

Dessert was very unnecessary, but also fun.

Biscoff Buddies! I have a special version of “puppy chow” in the works and since I’ve never actually made puppy chow before, I wanted to do a trial run with a single serving batch.

For this version I used: 3/4 cup honey squares, 1 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips, 2 Tbsp Biscoff spread, and 1 Tbsp powdered sugar.

Who else thinks I shouldn’t be blogging at midnight when I have a giant exam at 7:40 am? Whoops!

Eating Chalk

Monthly Archives: December 2012

Candy Cane Vodka

Sweet ‘n Salty Puppy Chow

Holidaze Hello

Done Done Done

New Favorite Things For 12/12/12

#26 – Do Something Crazy With My Hair

Exam Eating

Happy Hanukkah!

Some Friday/Saturday Highlights

What I Was Up To Today (Sunday)