Author Archives: Emily

Cheesy Baked Eggplant Casserole

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Full disclosure – all brand name products in this post were provided by Newman’s Own and the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.  They also sent a Flip Cam for video-shooting.

The eggplant turned out perfectly.  (there’s a written copy of the recipe at the bottom of the post)

It was cheesy and rich and comforting.  The eggplant turns to *butter* (in flavor and texture) when you bake it like this!

We ate our servings with nice side salads.

An Italian Blend lettuce bag base topped with groats and 2 Tbsp of Newman’s Own Family Recipe Italian Dressing.

The dressing was a little more caloric than I usually prefer to use (130 calories for 2 Tbsp) but the flavor was great.  It was oily in a very pleasing way.

Speaking of oil, we were feeling a little unsatisfied after dinner so we drove to Wegman’s for a loaf of Garlic Tuscan Bread.

Confession – we used up our grocery money for the week already so we recycled our cans on this trip for the $!

We dipped our hunks in olive oil with spices and all was right with the world.

It’s almost Halloween!

I may not be dressing up this year but I’m still excited.

Cheesy Baked Eggplant Casserole, serves 4

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Farenheit.
  2. Layer eggplant and tomato sauce into an 8×8 inch casserole dish; placing tomato sauce as the bottom and top layer.  You’ll most likely end up with three even layers of eggplant if your eggplant was sliced thinly enough.
  3. Bake 40 minutes. 
  4. Remove from oven, top evenly with cheese, and return to oven for 10 additional minutes, until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Way Too Busy For A Sunday

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Hi, all; hope everyone else had a relaxing Sunday!  My day has been busy and stressful, but cooking for the Chili Sale went even more smoothly than we could have hoped so I’m not going to complain.

I have some amazing, funny, hard-working classmates.

We made almost 200 servings of chili today!  100 beef and 75 vegetarian.  There was a lot to do, and all of the measurements were based on my math so I was pretty nervous, but we got it all done and finished just under our time goal.

I was too busy to eat breakfast but I did sip on this half-sweet, pumpkin spice latte throughout the day.

Plus a slice of veggie pizza that our instructor bought us for lunch.

A classmate whose family owns a local restaurant brought us fancy cookies.

I planned on eating half a jack-o-lantern but I got distracted by stirring and ended up only tasting a bite or two.

When I got home I made up for lost sugar by eating a small square of this chocolate-cheesecake bar I baked up with leftover muffin batters.

Did I mention what type of muffins they were yet?  Pumpkin Double Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins!  Oh yes.  I’m posting the recipe some time tomorrow and I urge you all to copy it down.  I brought most of the mufins to school today and my classmates all gave them rave reviews.

Other afternoon snacks included a slice of 2% provolone cheese,

and this fruity yogurt bowl.

I topped some Fat-free Plain Stonyfield yogurt with TJ’s mango butter and a handful of (sweetened!) shredded coconut; the bowl was quite tasty.

I needed to be well-fueled because my main to-do this afternoon was shooting a fun video for my dinner post.  I’ll see y’all then!

Too Busy For A Saturday

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Oh man.  I’ve been “on” for 14 hours straight so please forgive me if this post is “off.”  I spent several hours on campus this afternoon and I’ll spend most of tomorrow there as well so I’m warning you in advance that Sunday’s recap will be cranky!

Today’s plan included three main objectives –

  1. Attend a training at school.
  2. Get all the shopping for Chili Sale cooking completed.
  3. Bake amazing muffins to help thank classmates for coming into school on a Sunday.

The training was actually for a job, thank goodness.  A short-term one though; I’m going to spend the next month working as a caller for the Buffalo State College alumni donation effort.  10 – 2pm today was spent in training sessions for the upcoming first week of work.

I didn’t have much time in the morning (I was trying to maximize sleep!) so I packed this NuGo Organic Double Dark Chocolate Bar for breakfast.

The NuGo people knew what they were doing when they stuck these samples in our HLS bags; every bar of theirs I’ve tried I plan on buying for myself!  This wasn’t as good as Balance Bar Cookie Dough (what is?!), but I liked the crunch and chewiness of the inside and the chocolate coating was sweet without being too sweet for breakfast.

I bought a sandwich for lunch on our break.

This was a book store cafe paninni with pesto, roasted tomatoes, and mozzarella.

Plus an Earl Grey with skim milk.

When I left campus at 2 I headed straight to the store to meet up with some classmates in the Chili Sale group.  We had to go to Wegmans, then BJs, then back to Wegmans again, but I think we are ready for tomorrow.

I bought a coffee with skim milk while we shopped.

And very happily accepted this chocolate sample with my beverage.

Guylian shells are my favorite chocolate candy of all time and they are pretty pricy so this 2-piece freebie put a huge smile on my face.

That smile was promptly wiped off as our hunt for dinner turned into an epic journey.  I got the first half of my work schedule for the week and it required some meal plan switching so we decided to go out.  But we don’t have much (any?!) money right now so we agonize over how we spend it.  Nothing is good enough to justify the expense and the dining options in Buffalo just aren’t that good to begin with.  Adam and I wasted a good hour driving around from vetoed, to closed, to 40 minute wait-listed.  We finally ended up at JP Bullfeathers and decided just to split two of the cheaper options.

I ate 2/3 of the Julius Caesar;

a salad with sun-dried tomato Caesar dressing topped with crab and rock shrimp salad.

Plus 1 triangle of Adam’s grilled avocado quesadilla,

which had cheddar, jack cheese, and roasted poblanos.

Mine was better 😉

Dinner wasn’t as filling as I would have hoped though.  I did a few nibbles whilst baking, plus I noshed on this bag of Combos.

These weren’t bad but I think my thing is finally over.

When we got home around 9, we finally got to baking.

I don’t have the time (or energy) to tell you about these muffins now, but I promise to blog the recipe soon because it’s a good ‘un!

Thank you to my amazing husband for playing medical intern to my lead surgeon (ie holding bowls, laying out supplies, and wiping my brow); without whom my baking project would probably still be underway.

Staying Alive, Staying Alive

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Let’s not talk about last night.  Dinner was a disaster, studying was a disaster, bedtime was a disaster.  Let’s not talk about this morning either.  No breakfast, no answers to the test questions, no remembering that my car was parked on the wrong side of the street and that deciding to walk would earn me a ticket.

Let’s just start this post at 11; that’s when the eats for today started anyway.  I spent the hour between my test and class in the food lab, planning for the Chili Sale.  We are selling on Tuesday and cooking all day Sunday so my group had to go think logistics.  We’ve got a specific plan for what all 18 classmates will be doing in the kitchen for 6 hours on Sunday, but I’m pretty sure it’s still going to be a shit-show.

Today’s food lab was the fat substitute group.  Normally I don’t snap pictures because I’m too busy taste-testing but there were a few things I couldn’t eat today so I had the time to photograph.  We tried regular and reduced fat samples of potato chips,

pudding,

and shredded mozzarella.

I could totally tell the difference between the original and modifieds!  Appearance, texture, and flavorwise.

After lab I got some real lunch (and breakfast!) at the campus bookstore.

Del Monte Tropical Medly fruit cup for vitamin C.

Plus this go picnic snack pack.  It contained crackers with hummus,

and roasted edamame, a fruit and nut blend, and a small square of dark chocolate (all of which were fantastic).

This ended up being a very filling lunch, though 520 calories is low to cover two meals.

I was stuck on campus until 2 so I got a little bit of studying done.  After our crazy chili week we have two super difficult weeks of testing and assignments and I’m hoping to be a little better prepared.  And speaking of being prepared … I am recertified in CPR!  That was what my committment at 2 was, BSC offers classes to students for free.  2 hours of chest compressions felt like quite a workout!  I can’t think of a better motivation to start hitting the gym than the fact that I might be too fat and out of shape to save a life.

This weekend is going to be super busy (I’m spending Saturday and Sunday on campus) so when I got home I did some preemptive cleaning and got ready for our weekly grocery trip.  Plus I put dinner into the crock pot.

I refueled around 7 with a Honeycrisp apple.

Plus half a Wolaver’s Pumpkin Ale, split with the husband.

We weren’t fans sadly, neither of us finished our half.  The first sip was heavenly but every subsequent taste felt a little more bitter.  I washed my mouth out with a cordial.

And then we were off to the store.

Thankfully dinner was preparing itself at home because we were HUNgry like Attila by the time we got home.

And this meal was gooood!

Roasted green beans.

Tofu “fish” cakes from More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow.

And a hunk of Piccolo bread from Wegman’s bakery.

Some notes on the bread – a) it was perfect; chewy yet airy; b) I dipped it in olive oil but couldn’t get a good photograph; and c) another (smaller) hunk was also hungrily eaten in the car on the way home!

Are you CPR certified?

Fruit In My Purse, In My Chocolate

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I should NOT be blogging right now but I needed a study break!  Tomorrow is going to suck; I’ll leave it at that.

Breakfast was grabbed quickly but ended up being good.  A Revolution Foods Organic Berry MashUp.

I’ve seen some chatter on the internet about how lame it is for grown women to eat “baby food” but all I have to say to that is – sorry you don’t know what’s good?  These are delicious and if you can find another way for me to stick a half cup of berries straight into my purse, I’m all ears.

Plus a sample box of Cascadian Farms Dark Chocolate Almond Granola from HLS.

This was so crunchy and tasty that I actually snapped a picture on my phone to remind myself to buy more!

Since you can already see my warm jacket peeking out from those pictures I’ll admit defeat and show you bundled up look –

It was in the low 30’s today, there could have been snow!  There’s even another shirt on under that top layer (which was Adam’s!).

Not to worry, no one could see that I was wearing stripes + stripes + plaid, that layer was purely for bundling.

Towards the end of our 4-hour class our instructor took us on a field trip across campus to see some of the research posters being presented by faculty from across the disciplines.  We got out of class early and they had food, score!

Fruit,

veg (that brown stuff is a hummus based sauce),

bit of pasta salad and a turkey sandwich with chipotle mayo.

The photos make everything look a bit bigger than it was in real life, this was a smallish lunch.  Good thing I supplemented it with Combos.

I’m having a Combos thing this week, so sue me.

The hours of 12 – 3 were spent hard at studying with some friends in a computer lab.

So. Much. Material!!!

Cherry cordials when I got home.

If this evening goes like I think it’s going to I suspect this will not be the only dessert I have today…

It’s About The Week

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Since Tuesday was completely devoid of veggies I made sure to fit some into every single meal today!  My life is still so all over the place and some days I don’t even come close to eating the healthiest diet.  I try to make up for those days by getting in extra nutrients on the days where I can.  Healthy living is more how your week looks than any one day in isolation.

For breakfast I got in a massive dose of Potassium and Vitamin K, aka pumpkin.

Into the blender went:

  • 1 medium banana
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 1 Tbsp chia seeds
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
  • 1 cup Plain Fat-free Stonyfield yogurt
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup

I ended up with a massive smoothie!

Lunch was all about Folate, or chick peas.

I topped a leftover half serving of channa marsala with some mango chutney.

I also snacked on this baggie of Combos during my last class.

I didn’t say every food choice was about nutrition, some things you eat just for fun!

Dinner was all about Lycopene (and some others), with baked eggplant in tomato sauce.

This dish was so darn good, even as leftovers!  A billion times better than it looks, that’s for sure.  I’m going to publish the recipe soon as part of a Foodbuzz sample post, it deserves some love.

The other half of dinner was mini rigatoni with sharp cheddar and evoo.

This bowl was delicious and I definitely went back for a full serving of seconds!  Plus a few big handfuls of unphotographed kettle chips; we had some reeeeeeally frustrating things happen at school today and I might have been stress nibbling a bit.

When you eat for health do you tend to look at things day by day or take more of a weekly approach?

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!

This week let’s look at Halloween stuff!

1. Halloween Appetizer Plates from William-Sonoma.

Hot cute would these be with a spiderweb cupcake on top?  I’ll be honest that the spider one creeps me out a little bit, but the bat is adorable.

2. Skeleton hand salad servers from Target.

These are freaking ridiculous, they might actually be my favorite thing on the list.  Some day when we have a house and are living our real life instead of our college life I plan on throwing lots of theme parties.  Target actually has a ton of cute spooky stuff this year, which means my wallet and I are keeping our distance until the holidays are over!

3. Essie nail polish in wicked.

Ghouls and goblins alike think this inky purple is fierce.

4. The world’s cutest Halloween costume.

My little hot dog dog needs this!  Adam and I actually planned on buying this but a school project has mucked up our Halloween plans so we’ll have to wait until next year.  😦

5. The Curiosity Appetizer Plates from Pottery Barn.

These are themed but don’t feel childish.  I love that they used an Edgar Allen Poe raven, though “The Fall of the House of Usher” is a lot scarier than that poem.

Are you dressing up this Halloween?  What’s your costume?  Do you dress up your pets?

With A Cherry On Top

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Man, oh man!  I was at school for 12+ hours today.  2 of my meals came out of vending machines.  0 of my photos are attractive.  Basically if you look at the numbers this post is going to suck. 

Breakfast from three angles, none of which are pretty.

Basically I put Plain Silk Almond Milk, chia seeds, and a chopped nectarine into a jar in the fridge and let the mixture thicken overnight.  It was pretty good.  I’ve got a fun idea for a chia seed recipes that I’ve had running through my head for the past week.

When I ate in class I topped the mixture with this granola sample from HLS.

I also packed an Oldwalla Dark Chocolate Chip Walnut Fiber Bar, also from HLS.

This tasted good but breakfast did not hold me over at all.  Midway through our 4 hour class I ran to the vending machine and bought these peanut butter crackers.

If I had known what lunch and dinner were going to look like I probably would have done something different.

Class got out at noon and I had an advising appointment at 1:30 and a club event at 6:30 so I figured I’d stay on campus and study and go to the gym.  Not only did I not ever get to the gym, I’m still 10 pages of notes away from being done with my notecards!  Somehow everyone in my class is shocked by how much material is going to be on Friday’s exam!

Honey Mustard Pretzels and Peanut M&Ms, vending machine dinner of champions.

And when I got to the event this evening I made myself a small plate of snacks.

Our club advisor actually got us all together to watch a movie for funsies.  She picked “The Gods Must Be Crazy II” which I ended up loving.  It was cute, touching, and 80’s humor funny.  Plus part of the storyline centered around the San/Bushmen of the Kalahari and I’m obsessed with them.

When I dragged myself back to my car (12 hours later!) I discovered a ticket on my windshield!  It was for my expired car registration (another really frustrating story) which pisses me off because I don’t see why the campus police have authority over anything other than parking permit issues.  I’m going to argue it tomorrow but I came home in a sour mood.

And then Adam met me at the door with candy!!!!!

I mentioned this weekend that I’m one of the few people who really likes cherry cordials and he surprised me with a box of them.

So good.  He’s the best.

I may not have made it to the gym but when we took the dog on a quick walk I sprinted a few blocks with him, so I’m going to call it good.  At least I made a little use of the sports bra I’ve been rocking all day!

Have you ever seen “The Gods Must Be Crazy?”

Cherry cordials; love ’em or hate ’em?