Author Archives: Emily

New Favorite Things For 12/12/12

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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.

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

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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}

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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.

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and an Iced Gingerbread Clif Bar.

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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.

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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?

Exam Eating

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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.

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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.

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My morning snack was from my #simplesurvivalkit.

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

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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,

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and a bowl of melted pb with cocoa powder.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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…

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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???

Happy Hanukkah!

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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.

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And had a mug cookie both days.

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Also pizza both days…

I had my first Starbucks red cup.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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

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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.

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Plus a Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale.

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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.

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3 cheese blintzes from Manischewitz.

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

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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.

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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.

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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!

Finals Frustration

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I really wanted to post the last few days but I was upset about a bunch of things that I couldn’t put on the blog.  Today was the official end of the semester and the only word I can come up with to describe this day was “eventful.”  I’m still angry and disappointed about things I can’t talk about but I think that the pictures of today’s eats actually paint a pretty accurate portrait of today’s mood all on their own.

At clinic…

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While studying at a coffee shop…

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{note – that latte was made with *chocolate chip cookie* flavored syrup!}

On a trip to the mall…

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After the day’s third and final catastrophe…

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I work 20+ hours this weekend and then have a giant cumulative exam on Monday.  Ugh.

I’ve clearly whined enough; would you like to vent about anything?  I’d love to listen.

Sunny Sunday Monday

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We had a high of 57* today, wheeeeeee!  And tomorrow promises to be in the 50’s as well.  I’m hoping to take the dog on a glorious long walk.

Today’s exam was thing 1-of-6 on the “big things left in the semester” list.  So that’s where I’ve been.

Yesterday I was actually busy being sick.  I woke up with a cough and a constantly running nose and even my boss said I looked terrible.  I didn’t have it in me to make or eat food before my shift at noon.  When I got home at 5, I had some spicy avocado inari.

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So flipping good; I love how the tofu skin is a little bit sweet.

I also ate the best dipping plate I’ve had all year.

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A sliced green dragon apple.

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This apple variety – a hybrid cross between a Japanese Orin and a Golden Delicious was new to me and I loved it.  Perfectly sweet!  I have another one in the fridge and I can’t wait to eat it.

2 Tbsp crunchy peanut butter melted with 1 Tbsp Biscoff for dipping.  Plus a spoonful straight from the jar.

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The pb-Biscoff combo cannot be beat!

This plate was supposed to be dinner.

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The roasted green beans were divine per usual,

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but I was not a fan of the Tofurky Pepperoni Pizza.  The “meat” was way too soft and the “cheese” did not melt.

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I could only eat two bites of pizza before calling uncle.  It is worth noting that Adam clearly thought it was fine because he ate the rest of the pizza!

I ended up supplementing my green beans with Chinese take-out.

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Crab rangoon was the perfect one-handed dish for study-eating.

Soon after dinner, I realized that the only way I could study was if I had a constant stream of food going.

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I also ate a bowl of baby carrots and these sugar-plum candies from Wegman’s bulk bins.

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The sugar plums were quite good, I recommend buying some if you spot them at your store.  There really was plum flavor, not just one note of sweetness.

Studying went about as well as could be expected when trying to cram with a sudden cold.  But it was what it was.

P.S. Adam decorated the house for the holidays while I was at work because he is the best.

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And then he decorated the dog.

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Too awesome.

I got myself up at 6 this morning and {hallelujah!} discovered that I wasn’t actually sick any more.  I don’t know where my cold went but I hope it stays there! {knock on wood}

I drank a mug of hot chocolate while I did some clear-headed studying.

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And then I was off to take my exam.  It didn’t go as well as I could have liked (do they ever?!) but it certainly could have gone worse.  Phew!

After my classes I did something amazing…

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I worked out!  60 minutes of hot yoga was heavenly.  And the session was nowhere near as hard as I’d worried it would be after more than a month of no exercise.  <– yikes!

I have a 2-month unlimited pass that expires soon so I had to go to yoga today, looming finals or not.  I probably will only go once or twice more in the next two weeks though because I really do have to study.  But as soon as break begins I am looking forward to making the most of my pass!

A Stinger honey waffle was consumed on the walk to yoga.

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And a juicy apple was consumed on the walk to work.

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My six+ hour shift went well, though I did have to deal with a bleeding lip since my body waited until the warmest day of the winter to rebel against the cold.  I got a Starbucks Strawberry Lemonade Refresher while I was out buying emergency Chap Stick.

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Finally home, I did eggs for a quick dinner.

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– – Cooked 8 oz package chopped seitan in 1 Tbsp Earth Balance until crispy, set half aside for tomorrow.  Add ~ 1 cup frozen spinach, chopped cilantro, 1 tsp evoo, 1/2 tsp sugar, salt,  and a few dashes of Sriracha.  Scramble in 2 large eggs and 1 egg white plus 2.5 oz Cabot’s 50% Reduced Sharp Cheddar. – –

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I couldn’t get a single good picture, but this meal was out of control good!  I adore eggs.

With a microwave chocolate chip cookie for dessert.

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It was much tastier than it looks.

I didn’t get to study today (I needed a day to recover from my exam anyway) but I did put away a load of laundry, do the dishes, and organize my study materials.  Now I’m off to read a book in bed!

Did your area get hit with unseasonably (fabulously) warm weather this week?

Friday-Saturday Frenzy

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I worked 9.5 hours on both Friday and Saturday, so the weekend has felt a little frenzied.  Basically ever single thing I ate was on the go, covered in cheese, or both!  Quickly, because I have to get up tomorrow and study for my giant exam before work…

Friday morning on the walk to school, an apple.

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When I had to spend time on campus contesting a credit waiver instead of going home before work, a juice.

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I made a custom blend – kale, spinach, carrot, and apple.

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Lunch at work, delicious co-op hot bar.  Chicken paprikash and smoked gouda mac and peas.

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Late night dinner while I waited for my husband to get home from the airport, a giant plate of nachos with black beans and olives.

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Saturday morning at work, a rosemary olive scone.  Apparently I loved olives this weekend.

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“Lunch” at 5pm during a busy shift, a Katie’s Food Stash Bar and half a veggie and hummus wrap.

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On a 9pm grocery trip, December candy.

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A late dinner that was worth the wait – eggs and hash browns.

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For two – a pint of mushrooms browned in 1 Tbsp Earth Balance, 1.5 cups spinach with 1 Tbsp evoo, salt, 2 eggs; scramble.

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For two – 2 small potatoes and 1 red onion cooked in 1 Tbsp evoo and 1 Tbsp Earth Balance; salt, garlic powder, spicy paprika.

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An impulse buy at the store, I got sucked in because the box was only $1.50.  It was pretty good.

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While catching up on tv, my boys are the cutest.

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Good night!

The Best Thing Ever

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Howdy!  It was bedtime hours ago is bedtime but I’m bubbling over with good cheer so I wanted to blog.  Spread the love and all that.

Note 1 relates to note 2.  Note 1 – Please ignore my crazy hair and old lady scarf and focus in on how fabulous my giant puffy sleeves are.

Love them!  I bought this top back in my teacher days and it always made me feel like a professional city lady.

Note 2 – I got to Google Video Chat with Adam tonight and it was the best thing ever.

My husband is the most handsome man on the planet!  And me…. well, I’ve got my great sleeves.

Adam has been/will be traveling a lot for interview this year and suggesting that we use the video chat today is the smartest thing he’s ever done.  I can’t even tell you how good it was to see and hear him while we said goodnight.  And this best thing ever is actually a silver lining on what seemed like a terrible situation.  You see, yesterday Adam broke his cell phone.  And if he’d had his phone with him on his trip today we wouldn’t have been on Google Chat at all.  The money and time we are going to lose fixing it and the hassle of Adam having to navigate a new city tomorrow sans phone all pale in comparison to how wonderful it was to video chat this evening.  <–silver lining

Don’t get me wrong, all of the travel has been/will be hard.  A lot of his interview dates are right on top of one another and they make our busy schedule even more hectic.  For example – he got to the apartment at 2am this morning and was heading to the airport by 6am.  This meant I got 3 hours of sleep last night.  Ugh.

It was a double pizza day.  Making a smoothie meant getting out of bed five minutes earlier so instead I breakfasted on the cheese slice Adam brought me from our favorite pizza place in Brooklyn.

Amazing and also a bit sickening.

Clinic went well today, even though I was tired.  In the morning I partnered with another student to chart on a tube feed and in the afternoon I shadowed a RD on the renal transplant floor.

Lunch was a mix of food from home and $2 spent at the salad bar with our great nutrition department discount.  A ‘Thanksgiving leftovers’ sandwich of sliced turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, and cream cheese on a Sandwich Thin.

Plus Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips.

And salad bar with cherry tomato, cucumber, carrot, red onion, and honey mustard dressing.

I always have to really talk myself into salad at home but when I’m out and about it tastes so good!

Dinner was round two of pizza since I was stuck on campus working on a group project.

A buffalo chicken slice that was nowhere near as good as Zetti’s.  And I dropped a greasy piece of chicken on my nice pants.  I clearly should have gone with another salad instead!

Finally, I ate 2 oz of chocolate covered kettle corn nuts while I puttered around the house this evening.

They are good, but not as good as they were inside cookies.

How do you stay close to your loved ones when you are physically far away?