Author Archives: Emily

Goats In The Grass

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So that turtle sundae was about as amazing as an afternoon snack gets.  My finger scooped several more tastes of the coffee caramel throughout the afternoon!

Thankfully I was looking forward to dinner, in large part due to my most recent co-op discoveries.

First, a maple yogurt from Maple Hill Creamery, made with organic milk from 100% grass-fed cows.

I so wanted to love this.  This was my first time trying any dairy product sourced from 100% grass-fed cows.  To give you some short background info, grass-feed cows provide different nutrient content (via meat and milk) than their “traditionally” fed counterparts.  Eating polyunsaturated fatty acids (such as omega-3 and omega-6) is essential for a healthy diet, but the ratio of those PUFAs is important as well.  The typical Western diet has a greater ratio of omega-6s to omega-3s and does not fall within the healthy range of the 1:1 – 1:4 ratios.  Milk from grass-fed cows provides a healthier 1:1 ratio of omega-6 to omega-3 fatty acids.  Plus, Maple Hills Creamery is a NY company with great business practices that I’d love to support. 

However, I just didn’t enjoy this!  I want to try MHC again and I definitely want to try 100% grass-fed dairy again, but I just don’t enjoy flavored non-Greek yogurt that much.  The flavor of this was way to sour for me, no sweetness or maple flavor at all.

Once I realized that I couldn’t eat more than a bite of my yogurt – and more than a bite of 50% of my dinner calories – I ended up stealing from Adam’s packed lunches.

I know that doesn’t look very fancy but I promise it was good.  The husband threw chicken breast, carrots, and sweet potatoes into the crock pot and cooked until delicious.  Then topped the final dish with a healthy dose of A-1 Steak Sauce.

I ended up going back after a few bites for a dollop of sour cream to balance out the A-1, but overall I loved this.  The melded flavors of the sweet potato and chicken were amazing.

The second half of dinner was the real winner though.  Cue my new favorite salad.

A romaine base, topped with 1 Tbsp of Catalina dressing, craisins, groats, and goat cheese.

Can we talk about the goat cheese?  This was the co-op purchase that panned out.

A Double Cream Chevre from First Light Farm and Creamery.  A local business with sustainable business practices, and the producers of the best flipping goat cheese I’ve ever eaten!  I was dying eating my salad.

This was so creamy and rich!  Locals – buy some asap!

Godiva Mocha Pecan Turtle Sundaes

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As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program I was sent the latest seasonal flavors of Godiva Coffee.  These products were enjoyed free of charge.

As soon as I saw (smelled!) the Godiva Caramel Pecan Bark Coffee I knew I wanted to make something sweet.  Like really sweet.  Like turtle sundaes.

These sundaes came together perfectly!  The salt in the toasted nuts helps to balance the sweetness of the rest of the ingredients.  The coffee in the caramel comes through clearly without throwing off the other flavors.  This is a delicious twist on the standard turtle.

Godiva Mocha Pecan Turtle Sundaes, serves 4

  • 1/2 cup shelled pecans
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp brown sugar
  • 1/2 tsp canola oil
  • 2 cups vanilla ice cream
  • 1/4 cup fudge sauce, heated
  • 1/4 cup Java Pecan Bark Caramel Sauce, heated  (see below for recipe)
  1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
  2. Roughly chop pecans, running knife through 3-5 times.
  3. In a small bowl, toss together chopped pecans, salt, brown sugar, and canola oil. 
  4. Spread nut mixture on a prepared baking sheet and bake 6 minutes.  Set aside to cool.
  5. Divide ice cream equally among 4 bowls.  Top each bowl with an equal amount of fudge sauce, caramel sauce, and toasted nuts. 
  6. Swoon.

Java Pecan Bark Caramel Sauce

  • 4 Tbsp brewed Godiva Caramel Pecan Bark Coffee
  • 1 cup light cream
  • 1 cup granulated sugar
  1. Stir 1 Tbsp of prepared coffee into the light cream.  Set aside.
  2. Place a medium, heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat.
  3. Pour sugar and remaining 3 Tbsp prepared coffee into the saucepan and bring to a boil; do not stir!  Boil for 5-6 minutes, until the sugar has begun to caramelize.  The boiling caramel will look like the froth on top of a root beer float when it is finished.
  4. While beginning to whisk, carefully stream coffee/cream mixture into the boiling caramel.  Boil 10 more minutes, whisking constantly.
  5. Remove from heat and immediately transfer to a heat-proof storage container.
  6. Let cool at least 20 minutes (to allow to thicken) before serving.

The finished caramel sauce will keep up to two weeks when stored, tightly sealed, in the fridge.  Sauce is delicious on top of sundaes or used as dip for fall fruits.

No Take-out ‘Tober

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Bedtime was closer to midnight than my planned 9pm.  I suck.  But to be fair, it’s hard to motivate on the couch when you’re sitting next to this –

I’ve got a lot to do today (like all the stuff I didn’t do this weekend) so I made myself a heaping bowl of breakfast.

That’s 1/2 cup Wegman’s 0% Plain Greek Yogurt with 2 servings of GH Galaxy granola and some peach and red plum.

Lunch preview – Today I’ve packed a big Sweet Tango apple,

and a leftover serving of tofu quiche.

Both should be delicious.

Speaking of future foods; I have an announcement for this month…

No Take-out ‘Tober

For the sake of our waistlines and wallets, Adam and I are making October a take-out free month.

In the past year or so we’ve become way too reliant on buying food out and bringing it home.  Wegman’s hot bar, anyone?  It’s always expensive, and never healthy.  Of course there are times when eating pizza on the couch is amazing and necessary, but it shouldn’t be a weekly habit.  I really enjoy cooking at home and 90% of what I make is cheaper than what we would purchase out.  Obviously restaurant meals can be expensive and caloric too, but they come with atmosphere and experience.  We’ve decided it’s time to rein our take-out habit in.

For the month of October –

  • Wegman’s hot bar is off-limits.  Period.
  • No take-out of any kind may be purchased.
  • Restaurant meals are ok as long as they are eaten in the setting.
  • We don’t have to starve if there’s no food at home, but what we can go out and purchase is bread, turkey, and cheese; not pre-made Buffalo chicken sandwiches!

Does anyone want to join us for No Take-out ‘Tober?  Let me know in the comments if you (and your family) want to take part!

10/90 Work To Sleep

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I spent basically the whole day napping with the dog and the husband.  It was epic.

Just like next week will be an epic fail as I try to work around all the stuff I didn’t do.

I swear the cold just makes me go into hibernation.  My appetite was all over the place too.  We started our “morning” with hunks of sourdough dipped in herbed olive oil.

Off all the things my body could have demanded at 45* degrees in October, next came ice cream.

I topped Ben and Jerry’s Cinnamon Roll ice cream with hot fudge and Heath crumbles.

When we did make our way out of the cave it was to go to the movies.  50/50 was great; very touching and funny.  I love Seth Rogan in everything he does but it was nice to get to see him play a new role.

We also made a weekly trip to Wegmans.  They were out of eggplant entirely which through our meal plan for a loop, but I think we worked it out.  We didn’t get any hot bar (more on that tomorrow) but I did buy 50cents worth of Halloween candy.

50cents for $100 worth of happiness.  I live for theme things.

Following the theme, Adam and I split a pumpkin beer when we got home.

Shock Top’s Pumpkin Wheat was wonderful.  Not bitter at all like some pumpkin beers I’ve tried.  I think I actually liked this variety better than traditional Shock Top.

For dinner we made this tofu quiche.

Same recipe as last time, though I did leave out the milk this go-round.

It was quite good; very cheesy.  A good hibernation food.

How did you celebrate the start of October?

The Pumking and I

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Has October become synonymous with winter in your neck of the woods too?  It’s so freaking cold here I’m actually blogging in bed!  We aren’t planning on switching our summer for winter wardrobes until next weekend and I’m not quite sure how we’ll get through to then.  I’m keeping this post quick before my laptop dies.

I did not get near enough schoolwork done this afternoon.  I did drink some milky tea,

and get in a session at the gym.  30 minutes on the elliptical, random level 6.  I started to read The Help while I ellipticized.  I’m only 5 pages in but I’m already loving it.  I’m not loving that it’s 500+ pages long; normally that would thrill me but I have to finish it by next Friday for book club!

For weekend fun, we met up with two other couples at The King and I for dinner.  People have praised The King and I as the best Thai in Buffalo for years; I’m so glad we finally got a chance to go.  And the food was pretty dang delicious.

I stole several bites of Adam’s Tom Yum soup.  The famous Thai soup, slightly sour and spicy with fresh mushrooms, tomato, chili, lemongrass, galangal, and lemon juice with cilantro, scallions, and chicken.

I loved how tangy this was, totally umami.

My tactic to trying out a new Thai spot is to order either the Pad See Eiw (my favorite meal on Earth) or an extra spicy dish (to gauge what they deem “spicy”).  Tonight I went the spicy route.  I ordered the vegetarian Pud Met Ma Muang.  Steamed tofu sautéed with cashew nuts, mushroom, bamboo shoot, bell pepper, onion, broccoli, baby carrots, and Thai basil leaves in a hot chili sauce.  I ordered 5-star spicy and extra veggies so they added chili, Napa cabbage, and zucchini.

Loved it!

I would only call this 3-star spicy but I’m rating the dish 5-stars for satisfaction since the veggies were so good.  Other Thai places in Buffalo load up their dishes with onions, it was great to have an actual plate of vegetables!  Plus everything, tofu included, was cooked perfectly.

I basically licked my plate clean, plus several scoops from the communal rice bowl.

We will definitely be coming back soon.

None of the couples were ready for the night to be over so we all headed to Dolci for gelato.

The worker graciously let me taste several flavors (including Sriracha-coconut!!) until I came upon two that made my heart sing.

Burnt caramel and Pumking Ale.  The burnt caramel was obviously the best because you just can’t top that flavor but the Pumking Ale was amazing as well, and the combo was divine.  The Pumking had just hints of booze and pumpkin and it was almost fizzy!  I totally confirmed my suspicion that I can’t make it through this October without some Southern Tier.

What’s the strangest flavor of ice cream you’ve ever tasted?

In The Navy, Yes You Can Sail The Seven Seas

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October is here!

Now that it’s finally Pumpkin Month, you know that I had to start my morning off with another Wilson Farm’s pumpkin spice latte.

50% regular, 50% sweetened, 100% pumpkin-y deliciousness.

Actually, I started my morning with a fruitless trip to the BAC.  At an event last weekend (which I didn’t blog about) several friends and I all won “$450” to the Buffalo Athletic Center.  We didn’t get our hopes up too high, and sure enough, when we took the tour this morning we learned that what we won was the privilege of buying a $19/month membership.  No thanks!

The morning wasn’t a total wash though because Janessa happened to mention that she was heading to the unmarked stand at the farmers’ market, which is actually a Great Harvest.  What, what?!

Score!  I picked up a bag of granola and a loaf of sourdough.  Adam and I tore off big hunks of sourdough right in the car for breakfast.

Doughy and sour and delicious.

We were in the car because we were on our way to cash in Groupons at the Buffalo Naval and Military Park.

The weather was cold and drizzly but we trudged onward because our Groupons were set to expire soon.

I’m so glad we stuck it out; we had such a great time!

Buffalo people/visitors – be sure to plan a visit.  The self-guided tour led through (and up and down!) a missile cruiser, a destroyer, and a sub.  Adam’s parents both served in the military (his dad was in the Navy) and we loved feeling extra close to them.  You felt like you were walking though history and several exhibits made me tear up a bit with pride in being an American.  Plus squeezing through the small doors and going up and down ladders felt like a pretty good workout!

When we got home I made lunch with my new GH goodies.

A side salad of romaine with a bit of fat-free dressing and buckwheat groats.

A toasted slice of sourdough with Crofter’s Grape and a microwaved egg.

And a half cup of Wegman’s 0% Plain Greek Yogurt topped with sliced black plum and apricot, and a quarter cup of granola.

Yums!

We have plans with friends this evening so I’ve got to hit the books.  When I didn’t blog yesterday I wasn’t working either!  There are a few things happening in my department that I’m pretty upset about and I just needed to give myself the afternoon to be mad.  Mid-sulk, I came to the realization that being negative won’t help the situation any and the best thing I can do is to suck it up and keep positive.

Do you know anyone who has served their country?

Blog Reading for Cultural Expansion

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I was not very productive today.  Just ask the homework that has to be done this weekend and the run that has to be done tomorrow!  But I cuddled with my puppy, had a good class at school, and got my teeth fixed; so the day wasn’t a total wash.

It’s possible I even started the day off in poor form.  I had to give a presentation in class today so I headed in early.  Sidenote – don’t you love my semi-professional outfit?  I felt like fall!

On my drive to school I realized (for the first time in three weeks of making the same drive) that I pass a Wilson Farms.  WF has my favorite coffee so I knew a stop was in order.  Unfortunately I just kept acting dippier.  First, I got a pumpkin spice latte when it is still apple month!  Next, I walked past at least five signs proclaiming “free 16 ounce coffees for all,” and poured, and paid for, a 20 ounce coffee.  Frick!  The cashier thought I was nuts. 

At least it was delicious.  I did half pumpkin spice coffee (unsweet) and half pumpkin spice cappuccino (sweet) and it was perfection.

And minus my caffeine shakes, our presentation went great.  The class all had to evaluate each other and Janessa and I got nothing but good reviews.  It helps when you bribe them with food!

That’s marble halvah (a sweet, sesame based treat) that we brought in to showcase as one of the foods from our Jewish Food Habits presentation.  A few people found the aftertaste to be strange, but most of the class loved it.  Halvah is one of my very favorite sweets and I ate at least two servings.

During our 10:30 break I also wandered over to the campus Freshens for a smoothie.

I ordered the Maui Mango (Mango, Strawberries, Bananas, Passion Fruit, Juice Blend & Booster) but I think they gave me the wrong cup because all I could taste was peaches.

It wasn’t very good and probably ended up only drinking about half.  I looked up the nutritional info which stated ~300 calories per smoothie, so I still can’t figure out why it was so disgustingly sweet.

Our class today was a lot of fun.  In addition to Judaism there were presentations on 7th Day Adventist, Mormon, Greek Orthodox, Native American, Alaskan, and Rastafarian food selection and restrictions.  I didn’t really learn anything new, but it was all fun info to revisit.  It’s always interesting to me how much cultural background knowledge I seem to have compared to my friends (who know all sorts of things about other subjects that I know nothing about).  I’m not sure if it’s from my interest in Anthropology or from the diverse places I’ve gotten to live.  I grew up with Rastafarians and have read a lot about Native American cultures but my exposure to Mormons has been through blog friends.  Reading blogs has definitely been a factor in introducing me to new things!

Lunch was easy and soft to chew.

I don’t eat a ton of “diet food,” but I actually really enjoy some Lean Cuisine flavors.  The Roasted Turkey is a favorite.

Confession?  The stuffing in there is actually my very favorite of all the stuffings (homemade included) I’ve ever tried!

I also took several soft bites of Biscoff straight from the jar for dessert.

After my teeth were fixed I could finally move on to foods with chew and crunch factor for dinner.

Mango, pineapple, tiny piece of watermelon.

Udon noodles, a veggie eggroll, and more veggies – including some very tasty bok choy – hidden on the bottom.

Note – when I made this plate I still thought I was running or I probably wouldn’t have gone quite so heavy on the carbs.  But then in rolled a big storm and out rolled not being a big fatty.  At least I’m excited to get tackling my to-do’s tomorrow!

Mormon, 7th Day Adventist, Native American, or Rastafarian – do you follow any bloggers who have these backgrounds?

Chipped Chompers

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As you can probably tell from the title, this is not a happy post.  I mean, it was a fine day and all, but it ended with a bit of despair.

My smart breakfast held me over nicely through my 1st 2 hour class; oats for the win.  I was ready for lunch by the time we reached break though.  Mostly because I knew in advance how darn good my sandwich was going to be.

1 slice of 2% provolone and 2 slices of Applegate Farms Honey and Maple Turkey on a  toasted Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin.

The turkey was delicious and the sweetness of the bagel totally made the sandwich.

I also packed a baggie of baby carrots but they were so slimy I couldn’t even eat them.  Thankfully my friend Rachel realized that we were burning through our glucose stores cramming for the exam and she bought us Rochers.

Got to keep that brain powered.

I also bought a caramel apple frozen coffee.

But it was disgusting.  I’ve had the drink before and I know it doesn’t usually have a strong aftertaste but it was too close to class time to get back in line so I just threw it out 4 sips in.

I used both of my breaks to study today and the test ended up going ok.  Not as well as I would have liked, but I probably should have studied in advance for that!  I don’t want to do “ok” this semester, I want A’s!  It is worth noting though that I finished our 77 question exam in 17 minutes.  I’m a test speed demon.  <– that was with checking everything twice

I had to stay on campus after our test was over and I was starving.  I turned to the vending machines for sustenance.

The dietetics’ building’s machines actually have some healthy options, but Clif Bars are $2.50 and honey mustard pretzels are $1 so you see how that went.

My late home-coming was because I had a job interview at 6pm (fingers crossed!).  I think that went really well but sadly then the evening took a downturn. 

I ate my pretzels at 5  and then didn’t eat anything else so I was still starving.  The important point there is that at 7:30 I hadn’t eaten in almost 3 hours; that’s a key detail.  I came home and cleaned up the remains of the husband’s shoes (thanks a lot, Webster!), took the little monster on a walk, and was just catching up with Adam when I felt something in my mouth.  “I think I chipped a tooth.”  Adam told me to shut up – it’s possible I’m paranoid about my teeth and it wasn’t like I was currently eating anything – but did get out his otoscope.  And, confirmed; I chipped a tooth!  I chipped two teeth last year using my old retainers but tonight I basically cracked one of the previously chipped molars in half.  Ouch!

We had to cancel our hot, crunchy dinner and we also had to go buy Adam new insoles so while we were out we picked up Subway for dinner.

I got a 6inch veggie sub with pepperjack cheese, lettuce, tomato, red onion, lots of pickles, and yellow mustard.

And I also scarfed the last quarter of Adam’s tuna sub.

Eating was a little painful, but no worse than hunger pains or a day without veggies.  Bleck.

Have you ever chipped a tooth?  Any food suggestions (or warnings) until I can get it fixed?