Author Archives: Emily

Road To The Outback

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Hello from Ohio!  I left my boys back in Buffalo and I’m missing them like crazy but I’m having a great time here with my grandparents and mom.

The drive takes 7 hours so our morning started early with Starbucks.

A venti skinny cinnamon dolce iced latte.

I packed my mom and myself sandwiches for the road.

Mine was a cinnamon raisin Bagel Thin with Laughing Cow light french onion cheese and Applegate Farms turkey bologna.

Tasty and easy to eat one-handed.

When we got to Ohio I had a Dove chocolate,

and a Buttered Rum Raisin Cookie.

The afternoon was spent visiting with my grandpa and driving around (I can’t believe they got me back in the car!).

My grandma chose Outback Steakhouse for dinner and I ended up having a great meal.  I got a blue cheese pecan chopped salad to start.

And the tilapia with lump crab meat.

“Tilapia crowned with crab stuffing, pure lump crab meat and sliced mushrooms, finished with a drizzle of light lemon butter Chablis sauce.”

It was served with mixed veggies.

The seafood was all amazing.  Butter sauce requested on the side.

I left about half of the tilapia but devoured the crab.  Yum!

Our evening ended with a trip to the store (my parents stock up on products like batteries and razors when they are in the states) where I snagged this bag of jelly bellys.

I guess I have a kids’ palate because the flavors were right up my alley.  The watermelon was my favorite.

What is your favorite jelly bean flavor?

Baked Potato Casserole Or Party Potatoes Light

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Hey there!  I’ve skipped a few days of blogging but here is some of what you’ve missed –

  • my mom is coming tonight (yay!)
  • early tomorrow morning my mom and I are setting off for Ohio for a weekend with my grandparents; we’ll be back Monday afternoon
  • this afternoon I had coffee with blog reader Jessica; she is looking into Dietetics programs and I told her a little bit about my experience at BSC
  • the assignment I’ve been putting off all semester – writing a business plan summary – is finally complete!
  • a serious amount of chocolate was eating during the completion of the aforementioned assignment
  • my baking bad luck streak is finally broken

That is a Buttered Rum Raisin Cookie and it was fabulous.  I’m sharing the recipe on Monday but I’ve already eaten 10 since yesterday afternoon so I can promise that it’s a winner.

All I have to share from today is dinner, but it was definitely worth sharing.

Roasted green beans,

a small pile of shredded chicken with Stubbs bbq sauce,

and a serving of my newest creation worth sharing – Loaded Baked Potato Casserole.

Omg guys, that casserole is so flipping good!  I was setting out to make a light version of Party Potatoes but I think I ended up with something even better.  They are seriously like a loaded baked potato, but extra creamy and cheesy and good.  And the dish isn’t too too heavy so you can have a nice big serving.

Loaded Baked Potato Casserole, serves 4

  • 3 medium potatoes, roughly cut into 1-inch pieces
  • 4 green onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 slices cooked turkey bacon, roughly chopped
  • 5 oz extra-sharp cheddar, shredded
  • 1 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt
  • 1/2 cup panko-style breadcrumbs
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.  Prepare a cookie sheet and an 8 x 8 inch casserole dish with baking spray.
  2. Place chopped potatoes on prepared sheet and season with salt.  Bake 40 minutes.  Place roasted potatoes in a large mixing bowl.
  3. Set aside approximately 1 Tbsp each bacon, cheese, and green onions.
  4. Add  Greek yogurt and remaining bacon, cheese, and green onions to the potatoes.  Stir to combine.
  5. Pour potatoes into the prepared casserole dish.  Top evenly with panko breadcrumbs and reserved bacon, cheese, and green onions.
  6. Bake for 20 minutes.

Blog Tips and Bagels

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We stayed up pretty late last night but thankfully having to move our cars got us up and out of the house for an early walk.

I’m still loving this weather.  Walking weather it is.  Sidenote – a major character died on Stargate: Atlantis last night (the show is off the air, we are watching on Netflix Instant Watch) and I gasped so loudly I’m pretty sure the neighbors heard!

After a post-walk shower (it is sweating weather too!) I hit the caffeine hard.

2 cups of cold coffee with English toffee syrup and Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.  I had a date with a friend so I drank my coffee en route and I helped myself to one of her homemade “energy balls” when I got there.

The balls were a Pinterested recipe with oats, pb, and coconut and they were quite tasty.

Kim invited me over to pick my brains about all things blog.  It’s weird to give advice when Eating Chalk is so tiny and unknown but there are little tips that I think I’ve got figured out.  I taught her about tagging, pages versus posts, and emailing responses to comments, among other things.  I hope I was helpful!

I needed to pick up a few groceries before my mom gets here on Friday and Kim lives one town over from me so I took the opportunity to hit up a different Wegman’s.  There was a Manhattan Bagel along the way and I stopped there too.

I’ve been craving a bagel (a good bagel!) like crazy lately and I’m glad I gave MB a chance.  My jalapeño-cheddar bagel with light garden cream cheese hit the spot.

It was super chewy and spicy.

I cooled down my mouth with a Blackberry Hibiscus Mama Chia once I reached the mecca.

The drink had more texture than flavor, but was very tasty.  My out-and-about food purchase quota for the week has been reached but it was worth it.  Besides, March Back Home March is basically ending once my mom gets here; I’m not turning down “free” food!  🙂

I hit the jackpot with the “new” Wegmans too.  I found all sorts of fun new products to try.  Like these Bissli BBQ and Smokey snacks.

They were super crunchy.  Adam and I split them but I scarfed more than my fair share.

I also ate most of these adorable things.

They were little biscuit cookies with white and milk chocolate.  So tasty!

I spent twenty minutes this afternoon agonizing over whether or not to run (sorry, husband!) but I’m having some foot problems so I decided not to.  After more than a week off (whoops!) what’s another few days when I’m having pain?  I’m not even going to attempt a workout until Sunday, but thankfully we’ll be in Ohio for the weekend and I should be able to run on the neat path near my grandparents’ house.

Not running didn’t mean I was any less hungry though.  I ate a Wegman’s low-fat coffee yogurt with honey roasted peanuts before dinner.

The peanuts were out because I was making the husband some homemade vanilla honey peanut butter.

I took a few licks too, yum!

Dinner was quick and easy.

We need some (turkey) bacon for a recipe tomorrow so I cooked up a batch tonight,

and we scrambled eggs in the same pan when the bacon was done.

Plus roasted asparagus.

It was a very savory meal.

Let’s end with a puppy picture, shall we?

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

Here’s what I’m coveting this week –

1.  Lavender shortbread cookies from Botanical Bakery.

I know it makes me seem like an old lady, but I want these so badly!  I’ve tried the cinnamon basil flavor and they were outstanding.  Very buttery and perfectly crumbly.  Since I love all things lavender I’m pretty sure this flavor would blow my mind.  I want to sit down to a plate of them with Earl Grey tea.

2.  A-Taupe the Space Needle nail lacquer from OPI.

I want to drink tea with my lavender shortbread but for my nails I need coffee!  I have a pink, ruffled blouse that this super dark taupe would look lovely with.

3.  L’Occitane’s Limited Edition Shea Butter Lip Balm in Hibiscus Flower.

I pulled a magazine sample of hand cream in this scent for the husband to use (I hate having lotion on my hands) and he smelled downright amazing.  It’d be great to have that small right under my nose all afternoon.  Hibiscus is my favorite flower so this just makes me happy.

4.  A 1000 mL Love Bottle in Orange and Bubbles.

I love the idea of serving water at a dinner party in a big glass bottle and this style is adorable.  Even better, it’s partially made with recycled glass.

5.  The Tunes for 2 Headphone Splitter from Fred Flare.

The husband and I love to listen to music from the same i-pod while we are traveling but it’s always a little annoying to only get tunes in one ear.  Per usual, Fred Flare has come up with a sweet solution to the problem.  This splitter is small enough to be tossed in my purse and cute enough to show off.

What is your favorite flower?

Bad News Bakers

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Have you ever had a string of fails in the kitchen?

I’m starting to seriously question my baking ability.  First, there was the Guinness cupcakes fail (apparently you can’t add beer to cake batter like the diet coke cake trick).  Then this weekend I learned this – adding strawberry pie filling to peanut butter cookie dough does not make pb & j cookies.  But as I told Adam as he was scraping an entire bowl of cookie dough into the trash, if I don’t at least try then I’ll never learn.

I was hoping to have a fun smoothie recipe to share today but I learned from that too.  Instead I had to turn to leftovers for breakfast.

This casserole was a fun mix of brown rice, shredded chicken, spinach, celery, toasted pecans, and fig butter.

Plus I had fruit and yogurt on the side.   Plain Siggi’s with blackberries, yellow plucot, and maple syrup.

It was a good meal.

And it’s always good to get a healthy start after several days of popcorn!

I took an extra long walk this afternoon.  Two friends from school came over and we took Webster on several loops of the neighborhood.  One of the girls recently switched majors and it was a great to get the chance to catch up with her.  Unfortunately now I have a huge painful blister on one of my toes; I can barely walk!

When I got back I ate a big spoonful (~2 Tbsp) of my new favorite thing.

Now that Wegman’s sells Crunchy Biscoff Spread my life is complete.

Lunch looked similar to breakfast, but had a flavor profile that was all its own.

I mashed roasted butternut squash with Miracle Whip, stirred in brown rice and roasted, shredded zucchini, and topped with some chopped 50% reduced fat cheddar.

Some people live without microwaves, how do they get things melty?

Dinner was melty too, but from the oven.  I roasted a sandwich thin with turkey, more reduced fat cheddar, and six (6!!) pickle slices.

Plus a pile of roasted green beans.

It’s not the first time I’ve had that meal this month and I don’t expect it to be the last.

In spite of my foot, the weather was too nice for me to not go another short walk with the husband.  We split a Push Up from the convenience store.

It felt like being 8 again!

Adam has a late start tomorrow and I’m on spring break so we plan on watching Stargate: Atlantis late into the night.  Woot!

P.S. I was gone yesterday because I got some frustrating news at my “final” orthodontist appointment – I’m back in retainers for three weeks.  Ugh!  So yesterday I was sulking and eating soft things.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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I may have had water at the beer garden but I did manage to sneak some booze into my St. Patrick’s Day.

Iced coffee with Tres Leches Liqueur and Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

I enjoyed my beverage on a walk with the husband and the dog.  It was warm enough to do this –

Spring has sprung!

We all made sure to get our green on today,

even Mother Earth.

It was the perfect day for a walk and apparently we weren’t the only ones who thought so because the sidewalks were packed.  Or maybe people just heard that the Co-op was giving out free carrot cake samples?

It was a fruitful day, I also snagged some samples at the grocery store.  Some peanuts, fresh squeezed blood orange juice, and a big hunk of cheese in addition to the cake.

I also had a pear,

and a 0% Oikos Greek Yogurt with Caramel on the bottom.

Awhile back I complained about the texture changes in Stonyfield yogurt and a company rep sweetly offered to send me some coupons for products I might like more.  You can assume that the next few Oikos products I mention were freebies.  This caramel Oikos was delicious and the texture was perfect, smooth and decadent.

I topped it with a handful of Heath Bar crumbles and it made a great afternoon treat.

I was pretty hungry all afternoon so we ended up making an early, easy dinner.

Tricolor six cheese tortellini with marinara sauce, and roasted sliced mushrooms and shredded zucchini.

Tasty, tasty.  I kept my portion on the small side because my evening plans include a HUGE bowl of popcorn.  Also Stargate: Atlantis.  A real party animal, that’s what I am!

What did you do for St. Patrick’s Day?

Spring Break Has Begun!

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Actually it began yesterday, but I didn’t get a chance to blog until today.  I don’t have any big spring break-y plans, but it’s always enjoyable to get some time off.  My mom is coming to visit next week for her spring break though and we are driving over to Ohio to visit my grandparents.

Yesterday morning I walked to school in just pants and a long sleeve T-shirt (spring came just in time for its break!) and ate breakfast during class.  A GoGo Squeez Apple Strawberry pouch,

and a Peanut Butter Pretzel Mojo Bar.

Both were good and the combo of salty and sweet was great.

For lunch I had a Simply Asia Spicy Mongolian Noodle Bowl.

I guess it was the morning of packaged foods?

Other than the sodium content (which is something I don’t really worry about within my diet) the nutritionals on these bowls are pretty good and they allow you to get food in a hurry when you’re hungry.  1g of saturated fat and 13g of protein in under 3 minutes?  I’ll take it!

The afternoon included an unsuccessful baking attempt.

My goal was Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey’s Buttercream for a St. Paddy’s Day treat.  But I hate chocolate cake and I really hate Bailey’s Irish Cream so it actually wasn’t too big of a loss.

Since we won’t be telefundraising over break I volunteered to work the final shift last night.  I drank a ProBugs Strawnana Split Kefir on the walk back to campus.

Work went well and at 8:30 it was officially the start of spring break!

Adam and I cashed in a meal out (and a Living Social deal) for dinner at Lagerhaus 95.

There, I drank water at a German beer house like a total loser.

We had an amazing meal and are planning on going back next week with my mom.  Adam and I split three things to maximize tastes.  We started with the Camembert Fondue – Franziskaner infused camembert wheel / crisp apple slices / crusty sesame bread.

Fondue is Adam’s and my favorite dish to share at new restaurants and this one did not disappoint.  The Camembert was served on top of sautéed sweet onions and the flavor mix was magical.

Next we had the special, a Crab cake Sandwich.  It was served with vinegary cole slaw and crisp green apples on a brioche bun.

I hate crab cakes that are full of breadcrumbs and this guy was super meaty and perfect.  The bun was almost sweet which was an interesting contrast.  It came with a trough side of clam chowder that Adam devoured.

Finally we had the Truffled Wild Mushroom Panini – Haus blend of fresh wild mushrooms / white truffle oil / cippolini onions / fresh arugula / gorgonzola / pressed on foccocia.

Everything was great,but this was the best dish of the night, hands down.  Adam doesn’t have a sense of smell and I was dying the whole meal that he couldn’t experience the scent coming off the truffled mushrooms.  The earthiness with the creamy gorgonzola – which was far creamier than any other gorgonzola I’ve tried – was great.

The panini came with a side salad that was also impressive.

There were several herbs, I couldn’t identify which ones, mixed into the lettuce and it had the most unique flavor.  The honey mustard champagne vinaigrette (unpictured) was nice too.

Overall we had an amazing experience at Lagerhaus 95 and I can’t wait to go back!

Sometimes great flavors seem to make you even hungrier for more and Adam and I stopped on the way home for a box of chocolates.

I ate half of every flavor, or two servings.  A little excessive because they weren’t even that good but I kept thinking each flavor would be better.

This morning I tried a Chobani 2% Passion Fruit Yogurt.

So good, my favorite Chobani yet!  I love passion fruit in general but this one had the perfect balance of sour and sweet.  If you’ve never eaten a passion fruit before the crunchy seeds might seem a little strange but I promise it’s worth a try.

Now I’ve got to shower and then I’m off to get my green on and make a trip to the grocery store.  Are you wearing green today?

My Meal At T.G.I.Friday’s

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Disclaimer – I was given the opportunity to sample the new menu at TGIF free of charge.  As always, my thoughts are my own.

The other day I had the opportunity to try the new menu at T.G.I.Friday’s.    The new menu is currently out in Buffalo, Minneapolis, and Denver and a group of local bloggers were given the opportunity to come and taste some of the new dishes.  I brought my friend Kim along and we had a really great time.

There is a T.G.I.Friday’s across the street from campus at UMiami and there was a year in undergrad when Adam and I were going pretty much weekly.  I’d get the pecan crusted chicken salad, every single time.  But it’s been awhile and I’ve not had very good luck with chains locally.  I have to be honest that when the offer came in I wasn’t expecting to be all that impressed.  But here’s the thing – everything we tried was great!  Like, everything.  And I realize that those dishes were being put out specifically to serve to a group of local food bloggers, but I was impressed enough that I plan on going back on my own.

You can read about the items here so I’m not going to waste your time by regurgitating the menu.  Instead, I’ll share a few of my thoughts.  We had the opportunity to ask questions and I did my best to ensure that vegetarian dishes were truely vegetarian.  I loved how many options were available for non-meat eaters.  There were also some good-looking beef dishes added to the menu, but since I didn’t taste them myself I’m not going to comment on them.

Peach Sweet Tea.

This was made with peach puree, agave, and black tea.  I’m not the hugest sweet tea fan but this wasn’t too-too sweet and you could taste that the peaches were not fake.

Heavenly Hummus Dip

The hummus was made with roasted red pepper paste which gave a nice layer of flavor under the tahini.  It was topped with goat cheese crumbles which is not a combo I would have expected.  The flavor was good, but very garlicy so be aware if that’s not your thing.  We were told that the hummus is made fresh every day.  It was served fresh with pita toasts that seemed very fresh as well.

Warm Pretzels with Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce

This was my favorite appetizer (duh!).  I know that not everyone is as obsessed with movie theatre pretzel bites as I am, but I promise this app feels fancier than that.  The pretzels are supremely soft and they are brushed with a basil butter that gives them this great, unidentifiable taste (I had to ask).  The beer cheese sauce wasn’t gritty or too sour.  Ask for no bacon on top if you don’t eat pork.  They recently changed from cooking the sauce with bacon to sprinkling it on top so that this accommodation could be made.

Ahi Tuna with Avocado Crisps

I took a bite of this expecting to spit it out and ended up eating the entire thing.  Seared ahi tuna is served on top of tortilla crisps with Sriracha, guacamole, lemon vinaigrette, and a fresh jalapeño.  The blend of flavors and textures really helped me get over the fact that I was eating raw fish.  I loved the fresh jalapeño on top; it gave great crunch and the guacamole helped to mellow out the heat.

I don’t have a photo of the Sedona Black Bean Burger but I wanted to mention it because it was amazing.  It’s a black bean burger topped with chipotle mayo, avocado, and great thick-sliced pickles.  The burger had a nice texture and held together perfectly and the sandwich had just the right amount of spice.  This felt nice and meaty but is actually a good vegetarian option (it’s not vegan because egg whites are used in the bean patties).

Grilled Vegetable Dagwood

I should say right now that the three sandwich options were my three favorites.  This sandwich was fantasmic and Kim and I both made ourselves a little sick because we just couldn’t stop taking bites of it. Two pieces of extra-soft pita were stuffed with spinach, goat cheese, roasted veggies (eggplant!), and mango chutney.  You never see mango chutney on American menus and it really adds a lot of flavor to any dish.

Turkey Cranberry Rueben

What, what?!  It’s a Rueban… and it’s made with turkey so I don’t have to request a menu change… and it has cranberries?  Sign me up!  Actually the cranberry component was in cranberry jalapeño slaw and cranberry jalapeño thousand island dressing, which is even better.  I liked that it had a Goldilocks amount of turkey on it (not too little or too much) but I do recommend requesting that it be grilled without butter.

Victory Garden Pasta

Whole wheat penne with veggies (brocoli, mushrooms, olives! and more) and goat cheese in a lemon sauce.  If you request no goat cheese this one would be vegan.  The pasta was not my cup of tea but that’s just my taste preference because it was Kim’s favorite.  I love the throwback name.

Overall, I was very impressed the amount and variety of veggies that made it onto the new menu.  And I like that the prices are still pretty low in spite of some “fancier” additions, i.e. avocado and goat cheese.  It’s sort of awkward to write a review that doesn’t say anything bad because I think my readers will assume that I’m lying, but I promise that my experience was genuinely just a good one.  If you get try the new menu for yourself please let me know what you think!

What is your favorite chain restaurant?