Is Still Too Cold

by Emily

If you couldn’t guess from the title, my complaints this week are: a) it’s too cold outside and b) I’ve caught a cold. A.1 would be holy plastic, Batman, I’ve eaten a lot of packaged foods this week!

I’ve been eating {tons of junk} but not photographing so this will be a quick recap. Thankfully speed helps keep my complaining in check!

breakfast

And I started my Monday off so well.

Smoothie = Coco Café Vanilla Coconut Water Latte, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, and a scoop of peanut butter.

Tuesday went downhill.

Bagel with {tons of} cream cheese from a truck on my way to work.

And this morning I admitted defeat and got a giant latte with an extra shot of espresso. Sidenote – I want to try the vanilla macchiato at Starbucks ASAP.

lunch

Monday.

GoPicnic Box.

And a Cara Cara.

Readers who live within a feasible distance of Trader Joe’s – go get thee a bag of Cara Cara Oranges this very minute! They are sweet, seedless, and rocking my face off.

Tuesday.

An herb and garlic tuna packet scooped with TJ’s popped chips.

With more Cara Cara love.

Wednesday I felt so bad I actually called into work. I slept for most of the day and then hit the bed hard again by 10 pm that night. Boo.

Thursday.

A ranch tuna packet stirred into a mac and cheese cup.

Tuna was good, the macaroni was disgusting. The Cara Cara was fantastic, obviously.

junk

Please note – this post only shows a small sampling of the truly massive amount of junk I’ve been eating lately. Speaking of which… I have these {ridiculously delicious, like seriously out of control good} pretzel bites on the train at least twice a week.

That habit needs to die, immediately.

I’ve also developed a pretty hardcore Good & Plenty obsession this week.

As far as candy goes, this is hardly the worst because you get a very satisfying serving for 180 calories and no fat. But as far as being a healthy adult goes, I need to stop eating so much freaking candy.

Chocolate covered pretzels are also candy.

I actually ate these for dinner one night, but that was too depressing so I put them under this category instead. I am clearly struggling with being a grown-up during the weeks when Adam’s working nights and I’m left to my own devices.

dinner

I ate cereal (and/or candy) for dinner most nights this week but did get in two nights of people food. Like leftover pizza.

Topped with chicken, caramelized onions, and bbq sauce.

And last night Adam had business in the city so he swung by Brooklyn to pick me up from work for Date Night! Swoon!! We got in a freezing but enjoyable 2 mile walk, stopping along the way to split a green juice.

Kale/collards/romaine/cucumber/celery/parsley/green apple/lime.

Then we had a wonderful dinner at Calexico.

We wandered into it by chance after our first choice for dinner didn’t work out and I am so glad that we found it. We can’t wait to go back for margaritas and nachos.

For dinner last night, I did the black bean taco – guacamole, pico de gallo, cotija cheese, and “crack sauce.”

Plus the veggie special – fried brussels sprouts in chili and peanut salsa.

The food was fresh, inventive, and perfectly seasoned. I know my pictures were dark and blurry, but I was afraid if I didn’t blog this meal I would forget about it and I definitely want to remember this place. Calexico will be a repeat spot!

What bad habit do you need to start being more of a grown-up about?

3Mar2014

Weekend Wrap-Up; Purple Hair Don’t Care

by Emily

It’s been a fun weekend. On Saturday I did this again –

Welcome back, purple hair, I’d missed you.

Things have been pretty low-key since I last posted. Adam has an insane schedule for the next month and I was trying to soak up as much time with him as I could.

Plus we were pretty productive – we spent Saturday buying him 2 of the 3 pairs of shoes he desperately needs (new running shoes, comfortable shoes for the hospital, and days off shoes). We even made a trip to the gym. I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill, doing some half-hearted running intervals and incline walking. I can’t go back for a few days – I can’t wash my hair until the color sets so I don’t want to sweat – but it was a good start.

Here is some of what I did on the food front…

breakfast

Iced Americano with fat-free chocolate milk.

Still obsessed.

Baked oatmeal with maple and pecans for Sunday brunch.

I loosely followed this recipe. I cut back on the sugar and used candied pecans.

lunch

Thursday I had packed a lunch, but then when I went into the cafeteria to buy a drink the special called to me.

My baked potato with cheese sauce, broccoli, onions, and pickled jalopeños was delicious. Not as filling as I’d hoped though, I ended up buying a snack later that afternoon.

Friday my abandoned lunch from the day before was already in my office.

Quaker Summer Berry Oatmeal,

topped with Big Slice Cinnamon French Toast Kettle Cooked Apples.

The apples were delicious, their texture was perfect. I went to Target that very day to buy more. Coincidentally, the oat bowls were on sale and I got more of those too.

snacks

Iced coffee from Café Dada.

Yum x infinity. I salivate when I think about this coffee.

Adam and I split a rocky nut Snickers.

The marshmallow layer is crazy.

More sugar.

We are both completely obsessed with these Juicy Bears. They are so juicy!

dinner

A fancy Friday dinner.

Salad – arugula with yogurt blue cheese dressing, shredded carrot, and Emmy’s Blueberry Cashew Super Cereal.

With groats, raisins, cashews, and dried blueberries the cereal really seems like more of a salad topper anyway. Plus a reject piece of too small chicken from our new favorite recipe.

Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken, serves 2 – 4

4 oz light feta cheese

2 Tbsp capers
10 queen sized pimento-stuffed green olives
medium lemon, juiced and zest (reserve both juice and zest)
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 Tbsp smoked brown sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit. Prepare a baking dish with cooking spray.
Place feta, capers, olives, and lemon zest into the bowl of your food processor. Pulse until well-combined and no large chunks remain.
Using a serrated knife, slice into the side of each chicken breast until you are a quarter-inch from the other side. Basically you want to be able to open the breasts like little books.
Open the chicken breasts and place into the baking dish. Spread filling mixture onto one side of each breast, then close the “books.” Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the chicken, then drizzle with lemon.
Place baking dish into the oven and bake 40 – 45 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

Saturday’s dinner was less exciting. More salad.

Arugula with carrots, blue cheese, sliced green olives, crumbled feta, and flax.

Plus eggs cooked with pizza sauce, more arugula and olives, and shredded Parmesan.

The olives seemed like a really good idea but in the end their juiciness was not appreciated in the eggs.

Last night I ate pizza for dinner.

Thank you, cheese, for being you!

Have you ever dyed your hair a crazy color?

27Feb2014

I Love TV

by Emily

As promised, a comprehensive list of the television I have loved.

It’s definitely worth noting that these are just the shows I really, truly, deeply love. Adam and I watch a ton of tv and I really like “Modern Family,” “New Girl,” “Castle,” et. al. but they didn’t make the list of undying devotion.

I know a lot of people think that television is a waste of time, but it is the artistic medium that I find the most meaningful and moving – even more so than music, though a lot of what I love about television is closely linked with soundtrack.

the key:

{A} currently airing
{C} cops or military
{F} sci-fi or fantasy
{M} medical or science
{S} sitcom or comedy
{W} produced by Joss Whedon

30 Rock {S}
Battlestar Galactica {M} {F} Hated the finale but the use of music in this series was some of the best I’ve ever seen
Bones {M} {A}
Brooklyn 99 {S} {A} Surprisingly hilarious and the way they handle race, gender, and sexuality is perfection
Buffy the Vampire Slayer {W} {F} If I had to, had to choose a favorite this show would be it
Charmed {F}
Dollhouse {W} {F} The entire series is worth watching for the big twist alone
Firefly {W} {F}
Futurama {F} {C} It’s not often that a cartoon will bring people to tears but the “Jurassic Bark” episode is universally lauded for turning on the waterworks
House {M} Hate the finale – seriously, one of the worst episode of anything ever – but other than that it had great character development and growth
Life {C} This show, on the other hand, had the best finale of all freaking time
Parks and Recreation {S} {A}
Rookie Blue {C} {A}
Scrubs {M} {S} Before we started watching “Buffy” this was our favorite for years; I’ve seen every episode at least 10 times and it basically got us through teaching
Seinfeld {S}
Stargate: Universe {C} {F}
Stargate: Atlantis {C} {F} Both Stargates did a wonderful job of creating characters that were everything you could ever strive to be while still being believable
That 70’s Show {S} We were obsessed with Kitty and Red but we hated the final season so much that we actually never finished the show!
The Nanny {S} Even now that the jokes are no longer topical they still make me laugh wildly

What are some of your favorite tv shows? Did I list any you just can’t stand?

26Feb2014

Weekish Wrap-Up

by Emily

The title is sort of a pun! Because this post is pretty weak. Get it??

I’ve been all over the place with my posting schedule lately but it just feels right. Especially this two-day “week” because I’ve been total snack monster so I’ve eaten a full post’s worth of food. Here we go…

Cold-brew coffee with low-fat chocolate milk.

Oh, I noticed you admiring my nails {just go with it}, here’s a better shot –

I know they aren’t perfect – and I cleaned up the edges a bit after that photo – but I was so flipping proud to have managed them at all. My hands have made me happy all week.

Onto pictures you’ve actually asked for… welcome to my office at work!

It is never as messy as my hair is in that picture {yikes!}.

I haven’t done much decorating, but I have a few touches to make it feel like home (mostly reminders of Webster).

But back to my mocha, that did not make me happy. I bought a jug of chocolate milk and made a week’s worth of coffee… but I used the butter rum flavored coffee from Target and ultimately it is just too nasty to drink. I ended up throwing out my whole batch!

I had this Dannon pecan drinkable yogurt on the train.

I was really impressed with how creamy it was.

Work lunch.

An apple,

and leftover shrimp pad thai from the weekend.

I still can’t believe we were able to make it taste so good/authentic.

Another lunch. This one not nearly as photogenic.

Pumpernickel with miracle whip, grape jam, banana peppers, sharp cheddar, and smoked turkey.

A red pear.

And a mini Honeycomb chocolate from Chuao.

Snacks at work: Lots of tea from my Numi samples.

Haribo liquid center fruit gummi candies.

And a bag of Somersaults.

Snacks at home: A packet of tuna salad.

A ridiculous peanut butter fudge mug cake.

And a mini Firecracker Chocolate from Chuao.

I don’t know how they keep the pop rocks so fresh when they’re enrobed in chocolate but this bar had crackle!

Last night’s dinner was rice noodles with bean sprouts and tons of broccoli cooked in peanut sauce.

Normally this is one of our favorite meals but this dinner felt very meh.

And that’s all she wrote! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week!

25Feb2014

Loves Of Late

by Emily

Here are some of the things I’ve been obsessed with lately. Missing from the list? Coffee. Still coffee. Always coffee. ❤

{1} My Sugar Paper desk calendar.

I picked it out primarily because I liked the way it looked (polka dots!) but I love that it has lined space for notes along the side and a full year’s calendar on the bottom of each month.

My day planner is from there as well – more dots! – and I’m a big fan of that too.

In the life of a list-maker, a good quality planner is very important.

{2} The web comic series “Girls with Slingshots” by Danielle Corsetto.

It is the funny, racy, comic version of my weekly soaps. I read all the way through the archive and now I’m enjoying seeing what happens to the main characters from day-to-day.

{3} NBC’s Parks and Recreation.

How on earth did I wait so long to get into this show?! I’m actually not watching it in real-time yet, but Netflix instant-streaming it is rocking my face off. I love (love, love) every character and the story lines are intensely funny and sweet. My only regret is that I watched the first 2 seasons without Adam, who has now grown to adore it as well.

On a related note – when I thinking about how much Parks and Rec has been making my life lately I started thinking about other shows I loved. For funsies, I’ve got another post coming this week with a comprehensive list of the other shows that have stolen my heart.

{4} Comedy Central’s Key and Peele.

The sketches are smart and funny. The substitute teacher one embedded above is my favorite, but “Office Homophobe” is also amazing.

24Feb2014

Weekend Wrap-Up; Winter’s Gone And I’m Not Sad

by Emily

Winter is not gone for good, obviously, but it took a much-appreciated hiatus this weekend. It was so warm yesterday that we could walk the dog without coats!

Oh spring, you cannot come soon enough.

Stream of consciousness style, here is some of what I ate this weekend…

Thursday’s lunch.

The new Key Lime 2% Fage is so ridiculously good. I stopped on my way home that same day to buy more!

Plus a Lady Alice apple.

And a Strawberry Lemonade Cascade Ice.

I bought the drink with my own money after enjoying my samples, but something in this reeeeeally made my stomach hurt so I probably won’t be buying it again.

Friday’s lunch was a delicious sandwich of 1 slice of pumpernickel topped with Miracle Whip, fancy blue cheese, banana peppers, and Applegate Farms Roasted Turkey.

Plus an emmy’s dark cacao macaroon – my new favorite flavor.

And a pear.

The Somersaults you see in the background were swapped out for this Double Shot.

My coffee obsession accepts all forms.

We blended up a final round of our favorite smoothie.

That was the last of our chocolate peppermint soy milk until next holiday season.

I ate a bowl of sugar cereal(s).

Kid’s aren’t all wrong, this was fricking delicious.

I dipped sliced green apple in a blend of melted peanut butter and dark chocolate sauce.

I love green apples when paired with something sweet or cheesy but the thought of eating one all on its lonesome makes my lips purse up.

I tried another evolution juice.

The Essential Greens with Lime was much, much better than the variety I threw out the other day. Still can’t hold a candle to fresh juice though.

I ate a ton of ice cream.

The Ben and Jerry’s Cores are out of control. We’ve tried blondie salted caramel and chocolate hazelnut and both were great. Adam actually liked them more than I did, which says a lot because he claims not be into ice cream.

A friend and I met up at Bierkraft and shared this cider.

It didn’t taste like maple at all, sadly. But it packed some kick, apparently, because we went out for burgers afterward and it didn’t occur to me to snap a picture until there was only one bite left on my plate.

I got an easy dinner from Trader Joe’s after I went grocery shopping at 8 pm on Saturday.

Along with my salad – which was delicious – I had cheesy bread. Aka a baguette baked with butter and sharp cheddar.

That was more delicious than the salad. Obviously.

We made shrimp Pad Thai. And it was good!!!

First, we had to turn this –

into this –

Making tamarind paste “from scratch” felt super badass, just fyi. And it was very essential to getting a good sauce.

Basically just rice noodles, carrots, bean sprouts, shrimp, eggs, and this sauce, cooked in canola oil and topped with lime, scallion, and crushed peanut.

It tasted legit! I can’t even tell you how proud I was.

Last night our dinner plans fell through and we ended up with turkey burger take-out from Bare Burger.

Not the original plan but certainly nothing to complain about. Mine had turkey bacon, peppers, fried onions, and smoked cheese.

Have you ever made Pad Thai at home? How’d it turn out?

21Feb2014

Around The Web

by Emily

Yay for the upcoming weekend, with highs in the 50’s (!!) in NYC! Whether you plan on spending your Friday night learning or laughing, this post’s got you covered.

things to make you think

– click on the text for the links –

Whole-wheat consumption is not linked to increased obesity in the general population. {study}

Myth-busting: 5 misconceptions about Registered Dietitians.

Hospitals’ use of infant formula for newborns increases rate of early breast-feeding cessation, even among moms who are to exclusively breast-feed. {study, abstract only}

Consumption of fish high in omega-3 fatty acids may help maintain brain volume with age. {study, abstract only}

Potential new “superfoods” from around the globe.

things to make you giggle

source

What are your big plans for this weekend? Any marathons planned?

20Feb2014

Weekly Wrap-Up; Out Of Order

by Emily

A Sunday – Wednesday post? Why not! I’m a little out of sorts this week because I’ve been (just slightly) under the weather. Thankfully it hasn’t been too bad, but I’ve had: the sniffles; difficulty speaking as much as I need to at work; and insane, crushing exhaustion. I seem to be on the upswing though, and I’m posting today as a hopeful symbolic fresh week.

Thanks to my sore throat, I’ve been loving the tea. Earl Gray with skim milk and lots of honey.

Black tea with ginseng and honey from Arizona.

And I even tried some juice.

Ugh, couldn’t do it. I’m not a big (fruit) juice person anyway but this stuff was terrible.

Other things I didn’t like this week included.. A cinnamon dolce latte that was fully flavored because I forgot to ask for “half syrup,”

and emmy’s chai spice macaroons.

Both were too cinnamon-y for my tastes.

We also had a terrible meal at a burger place in Astoria.

My turkey burger was fine, but nothing to write home about, but the Fruity Pebbles milkshake we attempted to share – aka the entire reason we were excited about the restaurant – was horrendous. No flavor and very soggy.