Author Archives: Emily

Off Plan

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Adam was on call last night and sleeping by myself did not go as well as planned.  To start, the dog and I stayed up until 1 am painting my nails and watching “Drive Me Crazy.”  And it didn’t seem like I was sleeping poorly but when the alarm went off this morning I wanted to punch it in the face.  I knew by the first snooze that I needed to update my workout and breakfast plans.

Instead of a run, I did 10 minutes of strength and stretch moves.  Not gonna lie though, I don’t think I could have done more than 10 minutes even if I’d had the time!

Instead of a yogurt bowl at home I took breakfast to-go.  A Naked Green Machine that Adam brought me home from the hospital.

And an Apple Turnover Larabar Uber.

The bar was tasty though a bit stickier than I’d like.  The flavor wasn’t really apple, instead it was chock-full of raisins.

Lunch was simple but good.

Roasted broccoli,

topped with Makhani sauce.

With Junior Mints (Canada style!) for dessert.

When I got home from class I snacked on mango slices.

Yuuuuuum!  We almost never buy mango (and Adam has to cut it for me when we do!) but it is the perfect blend of tart and tangy.

Plus bread with olive oil.

And a small slice of pizza.

It was less than a dollar but it wasn’t very good and I shouldn’t have eaten it no matter how hungry I was.

I had homemade soup planned for dinner but then the husband ate a bunch of food and came home stuffed.  I moved the soup to tomorrow and instead I got a $6 fish taco for dinner.

This was more enjoyable than the soup would have been anyhow!

Did you follow your meal plan for dinner this evening?

S’mores Mug Cake

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Are you starting to look for an afternoon snack?  Because this mug cake takes less than three minutes from start to finish.

This dessert isn’t super gooey so it won’t win “Best S’more” any time soon, but it is quick, easy, and sweet – aka a damn fine mug cake.  I use verbs like “cream” and “fold” in the instructions but go ahead and use a spoon as your utensil for all of the steps.

Feel free to play around with mini marshmallows or cinnamon graham crackers to suit your fancy.

S’mores Mug Cake, serves 1

  • 1.5 Tbsp butter
  • 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg white
  • 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 level Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 1/8 tsp baking powder
  • 1.5 Tbsp mini chocolate chips
  • 1.5 Tbsp Jet Puffed Mallow Bits
  • 1 sheet honey graham cracker, crumbled
  1. Place butter in the bottom of a deep coffee mug.  Microwave 10 seconds until soft.
  2. Cream together butter and sugar.  Whisk in the egg white and vanilla extract.
  3. Stir in flour and baking powder. Then fold in 1 Tbsp each chocolate chips and mallow bits.
  4. Top with graham cracker crumbles and remaining chocolate chips and mallow bits.
  5. Microwave 50 – 75 seconds until fully cooked.  The time will depend on the strength of your microwave; cook for 40 seconds and then continue to microwave for 10 second increments, checking for desired doneness.

 

What A Weekend!

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The title exclamation is supposed to be aggregated, not excited.  What a weekend, indeed.  Nothing major went down (I always try to remember that in the big picture we are so, so blessed) but there was lots of stress.  First the dog got sick and then my car battery died.  And worst of all, Adam spilled my entire large fountain diet soda with ice.

Now the dog seems to be feeling better and $120-later my car is feeling better too.  Phew!  Plus I found out that I passed my ServSafe exam with a 98%, i.e. only 1 question missed out of 80.

I didn’t have it together enough this morning for breakfast – instead I took a much-needed shower! – but I did pack snacks that I nibbled throughout the school day.  An Apple Strawberry GoGo Squeez packet.

A mini box of raisins.

2 servings of Cheez-It Bigs.

And a packet of Artisana Raw Pecan Butter.

I ate the pecan butter on the cheez-its but it was sort of watery so the combination was only okay.  The homemade pecan butter I used in my Gluten-free Cowboy Oaties had a lot more flavor.

The day continued to look up when we got out of school early and I came home and ate something delicious.

The recipe will be posted by tomorrow, pinky swear.

I also ate a small piece of bread with honey.

Then I went out for a wog.  (<– I stole that from A Healthy Slice of Life and it is my new favorite slang!) 9 sets of 2 minutes running / 3 minutes walking for 45 minutes and 4 miles.

Next I spent some time in the kitchen.  Here’s dinner.

I put 1 lb of chicken breasts in the crock pot this morning (8 hours on low) and this evening we shredded the cooked chicken and tossed it with a mix of Makhani sauce and Stubbs BBQ Sauce.

The liquid I put in the crock pot with the chicken was the reserved juices from our roasted whole chicken and I like to feel like it added a little somethin’-somethin’.

My meat was served on a pile of warm cole slaw.

I put cole slaw veggies, apple cider vinegar, and a bit of sugar in my wok and cooked until softened.  Then I tossed in some Miracle Whip and raisins.  The end result was a little too tangy from the vinegar but not terrible.

My final kitchen effort was chicken stock.

Homemade Chicken Stock, yields 3 quarts

  • bones from 1 roasted chicken, stripped mostly clean
  • 2 sprigs rosemary
  • 1 cup chopped carrot (or baby carrots)
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 3 quarts cold water
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit.  Roast bones 45 minutes.
  2. Place roasted bones, rosemary, carrot, and garlic in a large stock pot and cover with cold water.
  3. Place pot over high heat and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 hours.

A few notes – Roasting the bones really helps to bring out their flavor.  Please be sure to cool your stock safely if not using right away.  You have two hours to bring it down to 70* and an additional 4 hours to get it down to 41* before you put it in the fridge.  Transfer the stock into smaller containers and place the containers in an ice bath, stirring regularly.  ServSafe at work, baby!

Have you ever made your own stock?

Gluten-Free Cowboy Oaties for Camille

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Does anyone remember my gluten rant?  While I hate that gluten-free is “trendy,” I deeply sympathize with anyone who has to follow a GF diet for medical reasons.  People like my cousin Camille – one of the smartest, funniest, people I know, who took her new diet completely in stride.  Her sister is awesome as well so clearly my aunt and uncle are doing something right, but that’s beside the point.

Camille occasionally reads the blog and knows that I like to bake.  Awhile back she texted me a request for a GF update to Cowboy Cookies.  I don’t think I’ve actually ever eaten a Cowboy Cookie but I did some Googling and gave it my best shot.  I’m positive that the texture is different but the taste components of Cowboy Cookies are all there – chocolate, coconut, pecan, and oats.

Gluten-free Cowboy Oaties, yields 12 dozen

  • 2 cups pecans
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
  • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup gluten-free oats
  • 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Prepare a cookie sheet with baking spray.
  2. Spread pecans in a single layer on prepared cookie sheet.  Spritz with a bit of baking spray and sprinkle with salt.
  3. Toast pecans, about 10 minutes in the oven, watching them carefully so they don’t burn.  Remove from oven and allow toasted pecans to cool completely before moving on to the next step.
  4. Place cooled, toasted pecans into food processor along with olive oil.  Process until smooth, 1 – 2 minutes.  You are looking for a consistency similar to natural peanut butter.
  5. Place pecan butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl and use a hand-mixer to mix until well-combined.
  6. Use a spatula to fold oats, chocolate chips, and coconut into batter.
  7. Line two cookie sheets with parchment paper or Silpat mats.  Roll batter into heaping teaspoons and place in evenly spaced rows on prepared cookie sheets.
  8. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit, until firm.

If you do not have a food processor you could probably substitute 1 cup of store-bought pecan butter for the pecans but I make no guarantees that this substitution will work.  If you are following a gluten-free diet for medical reasons please make sure that the ingredients you purchase are appropriate for your diet.

Rested Recap

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Hey there!  It’s been a busy few days so I’m having to do a multi-day recap post here.  Thankfully I don’t have too too much to say.  It’s been fun though.

Thursday I did breakfast to go.

The last of a jar of crunchy pb (~ 1-2 Tbsp) filled with a 0% strawberry Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup of raw oats, and 1/4 cup of Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.

Lunch was roasted broccoli with peanut sauce.

This combo was delicious, even cold.

And some gummi cola bottles.

The amount shown there is about 1/2 of what I brought back from Canada; I should have bought more!

When I got home Adam and a nice surprise for me –

The hospital he’s doing his current rotation at has a great cafeteria that sells our favorite pizza in Buffalo (legit!).

And then I fell asleep at 5pm.  I was feeling super tired throughout the day and the minute I sat down on the couch I was done for.  I slept from 5 – 10, got up to get ready for bed, and went back to sleep!

Don’t worry, I more than made up for any missed dinner calories on Friday.  The amount of junk I ate was so disgusting that it ended up being almost impressive!  Everything was delicious (duh!) but I think my body would appreciate a few more veggies.

It was National Donut Day and I had to partake.

That donut was rich I couldn’t even finish it.  I’m just not a donut girl, my consumption for the year is officially over 🙂

But sweet coffee?  Dont’ mind if I do.

I got a large Black Cocoa iced coffee with skim milk.  Adam got this (Men in Black!) special the other day and I was so good I had to have one of my own.  The lady who served us told me they were only making them through this week so taste one while you can.

Lunch was fresh-cut pineapple,

and a Cherry Cobbler Larabar Uber.

It was good but not as tasty as Bananas Foster.  Again, lots of big nuts and almost no date flavor.  And the cherries were tart and sweet.  Somehow it didn’t have quite enough flavor though.

School went really well on Friday.  I am ServSafe certified, woot!

Some friends and I celebrated after class.  Bloody Mary at Pano’s.

x2.  And then I was drunk.

I also took them to check out Nickel City Cheese and Mercantile.  In addition to having great stock the owners are fantastic.  My friends bought an aged cheddar and a gouda each and the man behind the counter had us do lots of swoon-worthy tasting.  I also brought home a treat for Adam.

He brought a treat for me too!

I happily ate that slice but then I had to tell him to stop bringing me pizza so I don’t get fat…ter.

Then we tried my treats.  A blue cheese and dark chocolate and goat cheese honey milk truffle!

We took one bite of each but I think I was a bigger fan than Adam.  They were a little strange but sooooo good.  The creaminess of goat cheese makes a perfect truffle center.

We had a gift certificate to use so we went on a dinner date to Romeo and Juliet’s Cafe.

I started with bread; one slice with garlic and a second with butter.

And for my meal I ordered the Baked Eggplant Parmigiana.

Oh. My. God.  I left the pasta to the side (who eats pasta when there are layers of eggplant and cheese available?!), shared a few cherished bites with Adam, and then demolished the rest.

We took dessert to go.

That ball was a peanut butter mousse with chocolate ganache.  Ridiculous.

I wanted to post last night but unfortunately I passed out then as well.  The dog has been shedding a lot more recently (this is our first June with him) and I may be the tiniest bit allergic to him.

So now it’s Saturday.  I’ve eaten a bowl of Maple Brown Sugar Mini Wheats with Silk Vanilla Almond Milk,

and I’m ready to conquer the day.  Conquer may mean errands or may mean tv, we shall see.

Loves Of Late

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While I’m busy at summer school (not loving that!) I thought this would be fun to do again.  Here are my loves of late –

In literature –  The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure

The book itself is only ok; it’s certainly not bad but it won’t be my new favorite either.  What I’m loving is the way that McClure helps me to remember my own Little House aspirations.

When I was a kid I was obsessed with all of Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books.  I went as Laura for several Halloweens and she formed the basis of most of my make-believe. I was particularly interested in traveling by covered wagon.  The books didn’t give me much to go on, but I somehow decided that wagon travel was hot.

Embarrassing story – When I played “wagon” I would start by closing the windows and turning off the fans.  It’s important to note here that I grew up on an island in the Caribbean.  Next I would put on most of my Laura gear, usually two long-sleeved shirts and two long calico skirts.  Finally I’d borrow every quilt from the linen closet.  Then I’d curl up in the comforters in my sweat box of a room and sit sorting buttons until my mom or dad came and saved me from boiling to death.

In television – The LA Complex.

Canadian TV wins again!  I’ve ended up loving it even though I only started watching because the cast includes Jewel Staite (aka Kaylee from “Firefly” and Keller from “Stargate: Atlantis”).  There’s acting, back-stabbing, meaningless sex, self-harm, and porn.  Sure it’s soap-y and overly dramatic, but it’s also occasionally touching and often funny.

In music – “Silent Comedy” by Bartholomew

The promos for the “Hatfields and McCoys” mini-series practically make me tear up!  I’ve been walking around the apartment singing this all week.

What are you loving this week?

Chicken Makhani At Home

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Hello, hello!

I managed another morning workout today, though I overslept a bit and didn’t have a ton of time.  25 minutes on the elliptical, level 6 random.

Breakfast was exciting; our teacher kindly brought in bagels!

I had an everything bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

I totally used the cream cheese to “sop up” the fallen sprinkles of onion and poppy-seed.  My friend Hillary and I laughed because when we finished eating her plate was spotted and mine was bare.

We are getting ServSafe certified in summer school and we did our first 8 hours today.  I took the course in college when I worked at the on-campus bar but I mostly seem to remember the strange questions.  For example – When can raw, unpackaged meat be offered for self-service? (answer found at the bottom of this post).

Lunch was tasty, but I went more than a little overboard on the sodium.

3 oz of bread and butter pickle slices.

1 serving of pretzel twists.

2 servings of turkey pepperoni.

Mustard to dip it all in.

I didn’t even finish the last quarter of the pretzels and pepperoni and I joked that I could actually taste the hypertension.

Our new classroom (we switched rooms three times the first day!) was freezing so I also bought a coffee for warmth.

With skim milk and three sugars.

Speaking of sugar… I got a coupon for a free donut from Dunkin yesterday and you know I wasn’t going to turn that down.

That star is an Undercover Black Cocoa Donut.  It was delicious.  Like seriously delicious.  And I actually don’t even like donuts; craving one felt like the strangest thing ever.

And since I don’t like donuts (you know I’m a froyo/Ben and Jerry’s/bubble tea girl) I’m able to say with a straight face that dinner was even more delicious.

Adam and I have been super obsessed with Indian take-out this year, particularly chicken and paneer Makhani.  It tastes fantastic but the habit is expensive and I don’t even want to know how many calories we’re taking in.  We can’t seem to shake the addiction so it seems like the solution needs to be making our own Indian dishes at home.

I’m not ready to make the sauces from scratch but I picked up this Butter Chicken Simmer Sauce from Patak and I think we’re in business!

It was very creamy and just a little bit spicy.  And for 150 calories for a third of the bottle it’s not as scary as the restaurant version!

I started dinner by rehydrating a handful of raisins in hot water.  Meanwhile, I toasted a handful of cashews in a big skillet.  I added the raisins, ~7 oz of chicken, 1 Tbsp butter, and 1 cup of sauce to the skillet and let it simmer for a bit.  I served my portion on top of a pile of roasted broccoli.

Delicious.  Seriously delicious.

Answer: At Mongolian barbeques

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

Here’s what I’m wishing for this week –

1.  Essie nail polish in A Crewed Interest.

The photo of the bottle makes it seem nude, but I saw a picture of this color painted on in a magazine and it was actually peach.  It seems like a nice summer-y color.  Perhaps I could do this with one finger done in teal.

2.  The Honey do Shampoo and Conditioner Set from A Beautiful Life.

Holy frick those are cute!  Growing up we always reused honey bears as dish-soap containers so these would make my shower feel like home.  And you really can’t go wrong with honey scented bath items.

3.  Cinnamon Glazed Pecans from Schermer Pecans.

Here’s what they say – “Roasted with just a hint of salt before receiving a sweet candy coating in our circa 1940s copper caldrons and a hand-tossing in our proprietary blend of cinnamon and vanilla sugar.”  Here’s what I say – Yum!  These would be good on oatmeal, with ice cream, or in snazzy trail mix.

4.  Kona Coffee & Sugar Detox Whole Body Scrub from Pacifica.

We’ve got peach, honey, and cinnamon pecan, how about coffee?  Kona is the husband’s favorite and it feels fancy in any application.  The product review are all glowing and several mention that the scrub takes years off of their skin.  Sounds good to me!

5.  Raspberry Crush Lip and Cheek Stain from Stilla.

Let’s end with berries.  Sidenote – now I’m starving for a plain Greek yogurt topped with peaches, raspberries, and honey!  I used to buy this Stilla stain in college and something about the packaging just makes me happy.  I’m not brave enough to use this color on my cheeks, but I love it on my lips.

What are you hungry for this week?