Author Archives: Emily

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. Rebel Mary Peanuts from Lord Nut.

Peanuts with spicy bloody mary flavor, lemon, celery, and pepper.  My favorite drink meets my favorite legume!  The other flavors – Thai, Cinnamon… – look good too.  I think these would be a lot of fun to have out at the cocktail parties I like to imagine I throw.

2. The crunchy spread from Biscoff.

When I spotted this in the catalog (Yes, I get the catalog.  What?) I about had a heart attack.  Crunchy is my favorite kind of peanut butter and Biscoff is my favorite kind of spread.  Conclusion – crunchy Biscoff would blow my mind.

3. Outlast Lipstain from Cover Girl.

When I showed you guys the last pencil-like lipcolor I hadn’t seen this product yet.  This looks like the Sephora lipstick I loved and lost.  You get color without mess (lipstick on your teeth?!) and you don’t need to reapply every five minutes.  I actually don’t ever wear lipstick hello, Chapstick! – but for some reason I’m willing to make an exception for these sticks.  In Flirty Nude or Everbloom Kiss!

4. The collapsible water bottle from the MoMa.

It’s not like I do much hiking in my day-to-day life, but I still think this is amazing.  It’s a reusable water bottle that rolls up or stores flat like a piece of paper when it’s empty!

5. The Planetaria ring from Laura Bohinc.

This is the dream-no-way-Jose-in-real-life item of the week.  Diamonds and pearls?!?  And actually the version I spotted in a magazine was gold instead of sterling silver; it was more fabulous and more expensive.

What are you coveting this week?

A Smart Breakfast

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“Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”  Or so it’s been said.  I’m not sure I agree 100%, nachos are more of a dinner thing, but there are days when breakfast is crucial.  Like when you accidentally eat beef, get really sick, stay up late throwing up, and waste an entire day watching tv and napping.  Our class was cancelled yesterday and I did not use my time well.  And I’ve got an important test today.

Good thing I made time for a smart breakfast.

I don’t have the patience for stove top oatmeal most mornings, but they always reward me when I make time.

This bowl was coconut themed.

I boiled 2/3 cup light coconut milk (plus 1/4 cup of water) and stirred in 1/3 cup oats and 1 medium banana.

My oats didn’t taste as much like coconut as I would have liked, but my toppings more than made up for it.

2 Tbsp unsweet shredded coconut and 1.5 Tbsp Biscoff spread.  Yuuuum!

I hope everyone has good hump day!  Please think smart thoughts for me for my test!

Wegman’s Jackpot

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We didn’t get in bed until past 11pm and the dog snuggled me awake 10 different times during the night but somehow I did manage to get in a 6am gym session.  Woo-hoo!  30 minutes on the elliptical at level 5.  My feet kill and I was moving pretty slowly, but I got some movement in and spent some time reviewing my notecards.

When I got home I grabbed a coffee for the road but didn’t bother taking a picture because the dog ate my camera cord.  Coffee, English Toffee syrup, Silk Plain Almond Milk.  I think y’all know what that looks likes.  Instead, here is a picture of Webster the Destructor –

I had a nice break between class 1 and 2 because my test only took half of the alloted time.  The test went well, probably not an A but definitely not an F.  We’ve had mostly multiple choice questions for the past year so I need to get used to the short answer, matching, etc. format.

I ate my breakfast on the break (I uploaded my photos after I packed lunch last night).  Mini box of raisins,

serving of Love Grown Granola (HLS swag),

and a Trader Joe’s applesauce packet.

I ended up going ahead and eating my lunch during the same break (phone pic).  I packed a frozen serving of leftover kale and beans which I plated and stuck in the campus bookstore microwave. 

There was a bit of tofurkey sausage and parmesan on the bottom too.  Even frozen and defrosted the bbq kale and beans were still delicious!  I’m sad this is all gone and plan to make another batch soon.

Eating lunch at 10am left me pretty hungry come my second break but I distracted myself with some computer time.  <– I even started writing this post!

After school I had to run to Bagel Jays to pick up some halvah for a school presentation later this week.  They were all out, but the cashier did have a suggestion of where I could find more.  And an epic journey to the Wegmans 25-minutes away with an international section ensued.  In the end that hour was completely worth it though; I ended up finding all sorts of goodies that I haven’t spotted elsewhere in Buffalo!

Adam and I have been searching for everything matzoh every since we left Miami!  And I was excited to eat a snack find right away.

Pizza flavored snacks (chips? crackers?) from Bissli.

Adam and I split the package and we both loved them.  The flavor was pretty mild but the texture was unlike any snack I’ve ever had, very hard and crunchy!  When I turn my epic Wegman’s journey into a monthly event I will definitly be buying more Bissli products.

I also drank a Wegman’s diet root beer and pretty much died and went to heaven.

Sidenote -I don’t show you all of the diet soda I drink (I’d never get off the computer!), just the interesting ones.  Diet cola is my favorite thing on Earth but other sugar-free sodas tend to make me gag.  I’d sooner dehydrate than put Diet Sprite in my mouth.  But this root beer was amazing; perfect balance of sweet and spice, no aftertaste.  This actually was the best root beer I’ve ever had, diet or regular, period.

We ate our snacks on the road because we were out searching for a camera cord replacement.  Many (many) stops later we finally had success.  By the time I had the ability to photograph dinner Adam and I were completely demoralized.  He actually called my mom and begged to charge dinner!  She’s the best lady ever, so out we went.  And wouldn’t you know it, we wandered into restaurant week.

How serendipitous!

My pictures of dinner are all terrible.  I’m hoping it was the lighting because if I need to buy a new camera right after I sprang for a new cord I might just cry.

Course 1 was soup;

a jalapeno cheddar corn potato chowder.

This had a nice spice to it but was too rich for my taste.

For my entrée I ordered the tortellini ratatouille.

That’s not it.  I was two bites in I was complaining about the lack of veggies when I came to a startling realization – this was the tortellini Bolognese.  Pros – my entire pre fixe meal was comped.  Cons – I ate a cow!!?!

Our waiter was apologetic about the mishap and soon enough I had my ratatouille.

Much better, this had tons of veggies.  I ate 2/3 of my meal and brought the leftovers home for a happy husband.  He ordered steak with a Stilton crust and was thrilled.

For dessert I ordered peach cobbler with Grand Marnier and chantilly cream.

I never really consider the cobbler but this was a lot of fun to eat.  I finished all of the peaches and cream and 3/4 of the cobbler.

Not so fun is the fact that my stomach started hurting halfway through dinner.  It was bad enough that the pain was making me sweat (though not bad enough that I’ll skip dessert, apparently!).  The issue was probably the creamy soup, but I’m going to blame the beef!

Are there any foods you don’t eat?  When was the last time one slipped into your meal?  Veggies – how do you react when you accidentally consume some flesh?

Shrimptastic

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I can’t even tell you how freaking good it feels to be back to blogging.  I know I don’t always blog everything (though if I blog for a day than I include everything that goes in my mouth) but going extended periods without posting just feels strange!

I’ve got a busy week ahead – 3 tests and 2 projects by Friday – so I set my alarm for 8am to get working.  I got a little distracted by house organizing and puppy training but I got a good bit of work done too.  I was extra fueled by coffee.

Into my big mug (thanks Janetha!) went 2.5 cups of coffee, 2 Tbsp English Toffee syrup, and a big pour (~3/4 cup?) of Silk Plain Almond Milk.

Hello, dog.

I went unorthodox for breakfast because I found the last serving of bacon, corn, and shrimp chowder lurking in the back of the fridge.

Food safety regulations would have called for tossing this but it tasted great and I feel fine.

Around 12:30 I headed over to Delaware Park for a run.  Running at high-noon wasn’t my best idea but this ended up being a terrible workout in general.

  • ran 1.75 mile lap in 19:30
  • paused break for peeing and stretching (I drank a big cup of water with my big cup of coffee; slosh city)
  • “ran” 1.75 mile lap in 24:30
  • walked 1.75 mile lap in 43:30

That’s 3.5 miles in 44 minutes plus 1.75 miles more walked.  This run was pretty much a shitshow.  9 minutes into my second lap my feet went completely numb and I had to walk to avoid twisting my ankle.  Adam had tightly tied my shoes for me but loosening them didn’t help and I wasn’t off pins and needles until I actually took my shoes off.  I wanted to finish my last walking lap because I had my notecards with me to review so I ended up doing 1.75 miles barefoot.  It seemed like a good idea at the time but my gigantic, excruciating blisters indicate that it was actually a terrible idea.  Ouch!

I was at least cheered up by my shower thanks to this lavender soap my mom sent me –

When I was a kid my mother loved lilac (which smells like cat pee, by the way) but my dad and I couldn’t get it together so we’d always buy her tons of lavender-scented goodies.  I teased her for years about being an old lady but in the last year or so I’ve become completely obsessed with all things lavender.  Guess I’m the old lady.

Adam offered to help me hobble through the grocery store so I did a quick-lunch out of hand.  A black plum,

and a Sweet Tango apple.

Holy crisp and juicy, Batman!  I was so thrilled to loudly munch through a fresh apple; Sweet Tangos are divine.

We did Wegmans and the co-op and when I got home I hungrily dug into this container of Dr. McDougall’s Spicy Kung Pow Noodles.

Pretty darn good.  The was a nice amount of spice to these and it felt like a ton of food for 220 calories.

Dinner involved more shrimp and tasted better than it looked.

On the left is a small serving of Cooking Light‘s Bombay Shrimp Curry.  My changes to the recipe included using ground mustard instead of mustard seed, skipping the cilantro, and using a veggie mix with peas, corn, carrots, lima beans, and green beans.  I also skipped the rice because I had just eaten pasta.

Unfortunately, we hated it.  Adam and I both could barely choke this down.  The flavor was strangely flat and it was spicy in an unpleasant way.  Do not recommend.

I know the stuff on the right looks bad, but I promise it tasted sooooo good.

Cheesy baked eggplant!  Using this Italian eggplant I picked up at the farmers’ market last week.

For two – into my mini casserole dish went a thin layer of marinara, a layer of thinly sliced eggplant, a sprinkle of salt, a thick layer of marinara, and 2 slices of 2% provolone cheese.  Baked at 450* for 45minutes.

Gah; this was unbelievable!  The eggplant got soft enough to cut with a fork and baking the cheese intensified its flavor x100.  We are going to make this again as a main meal very soon.

For dessert I used Mixchief Jell-O Mix to make Cherry Coke Jell-O.

How fun!  It wasn’t as strong as I would have liked but I would try it again and substitute more cola for water next time.

That bowl had 2 servings but I only ate one.  To be honest I’m feeling pretty unsatisfied; I think I will most likely end up adding enough dessert to this day while I study.  I’ll update later if I do.

How often do you update your blog?  Does it feel strange to take breaks.

***Updated to add – I did have a 2nd (fiberific) dessert; 1/3 cup of All Bran Bran Buds with 2 tsp of crushed Heath bar.  No picture because the dog chewed through my camera cord.  <– ugh!

Sharing is Caring

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***Bad blogger alert!  Bad blogger alert!***  I haven’t done a full-day post since Tuesday!  I got a new (final?!) set of retainers that made solids a no-go for two days and Thursday and Friday we did lots of food sampling in class that I couldn’t photograph.  I realize my life’s not at all that interesting but there is something almost lonely about skipping posts.  Plus, my mom has called me twice this week to check that I’m not dead.

I plan on getting back the posting everything I eat as of tomorrow, 3 tests next week be damned.  For now I’ll just share the important things that you missed.

#1 – Chocolate Chip Cherry Torte Larabars are awesome.

Larabar sent me a fun package the other day to celebrate their newest flavor.

Chocolate Cherry Torte is my new favorite; it even edges out the other dessert flavors!

The date flavor was nice and mild which allowed this to taste more like dessert than a snack (sometimes I find the overwhelming datiness of Larabars to be a little gaggy).  The chunks of cherry were nice and big and they gave this a great, tart flavor.  Plus there were TONS of chocolate chips!

#2 – Biscoff x Biscoff = Heaven.

Do you remember when my friend Janessa made Oreo balls with Biscoff spread in them?  Well that gave me a terribly wonderful idea.  Her birthday was coming up (it was today actually!) so somehow I managed to patiently wait.  Biscoff Balls!

I food processed one package of Biscoff cookies, mixed the crumbs with 6 ounces of reduced fat cream cheese and ~1/3 cup Biscoff spread, and rolled the dough into balls.  They were amazing!

#3 – Time with friends makes me happy.

<– That’s Holly, my new friend from The Frozen Pineapple with whom I shared dinner last night.  She is another future RD who recently moved to the area and I’m looking forward to spending more time with her.

I also went to a comedy show with the husband and several other couples last night, and to a birthday breakfast with school friends this morning!  I didn’t snap a single picture and I’m so sad about it.  My school friends and I actually decided today that I needed to start blogging group shots when we go out so we actually have some pictures with each other!

What’s new with you?

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. The Pac Man cookie cutters from Fred Flare.

If you don’t want this then you don’t love the 80’s and I probably hate you (probably because that means you’re younger than I).  I’m never all that excited about cookie cutters because usually the fun shapes have to be well-frosted for you to see what they heck they are.  These seem like a simple slap of frosting would make them more recognizable.  Though if I buy these I’ll need to get some fruit shaped cutters to complete the theme.

2. Marshmallow foaming hand soap from Bath and Body Works.

The antibacterial hand soap from BBW is pretty much the only kind of hand soap we use; for the quality the price is the best I’ve found.  I love holiday themed items and marshmallow is a year-round favorite so this sounds like the perfect October splurge as soon as I make it to the mall.

3. The Marshmallow Fireside candle from Bath and Body Works.

Once I’ve got the hand soap I might as well go all the way!  I can’t even imagine how good this would make my apartment smell.

4. Pumpkin Pretzels from Stonewall Kitchen.

The goodness that is yogurt pretzels with the goodness that is pumpkin.  If two of my favorite foods had a love child it would look something like this.

5. The Air Bite Cami Tank from Volcom.

I’ve never been a surfer (though I did work in a surf shop all through high school) but Volcom is one of my favorite clothing brands.  I love the ruffle detailing on the front and how the shirt comes together in the back.  Black would be cute but purple is cuter.

What you are coveting this week?

Anchovy Enjoyment

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Why the frick am I still awake?  My Sunday tiredness has not disapated at all, in fact it seems to be getting worse, so logging 6 hours of sleep before tomorrow is such a bad idea.  Quick post, quick post.

The dog didn’t get walked (rain), my run got skipped (duh), but I did finish all of my necessary school work (yay), and dinner did get made.

Bagna Cauda Cauliflower Pasta from last month’s Everyday with Racheal Ray.  The recipe isn’t online yet so I can’t link but here is a shot of the ingredients –

My changes were –

  • only using 2 Tbsp of evoo
  • substituting regular, white garlic
  • using 10 ounces of locally made garlic parsley tagliatelle
  • using reduced fat half and half
  • adding 1 Tbsp of all purpose flour to my sauce (I think the reduced fat .5&.5 kept it from thickening properly)

Quite good, but definitley a time consuming recipe.  I can’t believe I like anchovies?! 

I had enough time to starve while we cooked so I plated myself a gigantic serving.

I waited 30 minutes to digest my heaping bowl of pasta but when I was still hungry I made myself a yogurt dessert bowl.

A Wegman’s 0% Honey Greek Yogurt topped with a sliced black plum and 2 tsp of crumbled Heath bar.

Yum; I am so glad that plums are still in season!  Locals – this Wegman’s line of Greek was great, definitely on par with Chobani.

And zzzzzzzzZ!

Must. Have. Chocolate.

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Just go ahead and call me Sleeping Beauty (though Rip Van Winkle is probably more apt), I stayed in bed 90% of Sunday and I still had a hard time getting up this morning!  A few of my friends are sick and I think I must have caught a touch of something.

I didn’t have it together in the way of food but I did manage to make myself a black tea with skim milk to drink in class #1.

I also grabbed a Revolution Foods Berry Mash Up, which was eaten in class #2,

and a mini box of Quaker Oatmeal Squares (HLS Swag), which were eaten in class #3.

Of course, when your morning gets off to a rough start the rest of your day always follows.  In addition to being hungry and sleepy all day, my professor changed the directions on an assignment I had already completed, when my group met to work on a project we found a major glitch in the software we are required to use, and I arrived home to an office full of Webster-shredded papers.  I felt like I was holding back tears all afternoon.  <– pathetic

Enter chocolate.

I received a free box of Ghirardelli Intense Dark chocolates to sample via the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program and today was clearly the perfect afternoon to try them out.  I nibbled and sampled my way to a much better mood.

I know nothing about chocolate, other than the fact that it’s amazing and delicious and we learned about it from the Mayans, so I (loosely) followed the pairing guide included from Ghirardelli.

First up, 86% Cacao Midnight Reverie.

I paired this with a handful of roasted almonds.  They recommend trying it with macadamia nuts, fig spread on a baguette, gourmet marshmallows, or fruit jellies.

You could tell that this was good quality because I didn’t find it to be bitter at all.  The high cacao percentage meant that, to me, this tasted a lot like unsweetened baking chocolate.  I liked the pairing with roasted almonds because the saltiness helped to bring out the sweetness.

Next up was 72% Cacao Twilight Delight.

I paired this with some dried cranberries.  They also recommended roasted almonds, a baguette, or other dried fruits such as raisins or figs.

I like dark chocolate but apparently I’m not all that intense because I definitely prefered the 72% to the 86%.  This had a milder, sweeter taste.  I would eat the 86% in small bits but this I could probably eat a whole bar of.

Finally I tried a new flavor, Sea Salt Soiree.

I paired this with a few bbq chips.  They also recommend trying it with sweet dried cherries, candied orange peel, or stout beer.

Unsurprisingly, this flavor was my favorite.  Dark chocolate with sea salt and roasted almonds?  Forget being able to eat a whole bar in one sitting, I had a hard time not eating the whole darn thing in one bite.  The chocolate here is a little more mellow and the sea salt brings out its sweetness even more.  The texture of this was nice and crunchy and the almond pieces had a good uniformity of size.  I think even a milk chocolate fan would find this to be very enjoyable.

Thanks for the fun, Ghirardelli and Foodbuzz!

While I blogged I finished the rest of the chips.

I also thought about what I have to do this evening:

  • making our planned dinner is necessary; the recipe involves mashing, chopping, and anchovies so I need to cook it tonight when the husband is home to help!
  • finishing all of my notecards from last week is nonnegotiable
  • walking the dog can wait until I’m not so mad at him for peeing under the couch, but it has to happen this evening
  • and getting in a run is my wishful dreaming