Author Archives: Emily

Just Call Me Lara Craft

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What a night!  What a night and morning!  It’s been a day, we’ll leave it at that.

I don’t know if it was eating too much rich food or doing my mini workout too close to bed, but within 10minutes of laying down last night I was getting back up to puke.  The husband still feels ok, so fingers crossed that it was just me having stomach issues rather than the end of our Cheesecake Factory days.

I felt fine when I got up today, and immediately set to work being crafty.  I baked up a loaf of Beer Bread (recipe here) as well as a batch of Blackberry Topping (recipe from this book).  I can’t wait to utilize both of these goods in all sorts of yummy ways 🙂

Then I got to work being a bad-ass and battling evil.  Seriously.  I engaged in 15minutes of combat with a spider that just would not die!  I smashed it with a mushed up paper towel at least six times and this sucker just would not let go!  Oh, and did I mention he was a jumping spider?!?!  It was insane.  After five sessions of smashing only to see him scamper annoyingly out from under the paper towel I finally thought I won.  So I carried him carefully and quickly into the trash can.  NOPE!  When I saw him start to hightail his way out of the trash can too I seriously screamed so loud that the neighbors must assume there is some sort of domestic issue (the fact that I was repeatedly screaming “f**k you, you little bastard, get the f**k out of my house” probably didn’t help much either).  I lunged for the can of Raid and 30 continuous seconds later – 30seconds I’m sure I’ll be regretting if I’m ever diagnosed with lung cancer – I was victorious.  UGH.  Sidenote: whenever I’m annoyed with something I say “ugh, ugh, ugh,” a habit which is apparently starting to be something that annoys the husband.

So that’s my epic saga of bravery and screaming like a little girl with a potty mouth.  I plan to keep strong and carry on though.  I’ve got more crafting and bad-assing in my plans, like time spent working on my magazine binders and a trip to the gym for a run.  Where’s the food in this food blog post, you ask?  I’ll eat when I stop gagging.

*****Updated to add –

P.S. I’m not sure how much butt kicking I managed to squeeze in, considering that I was asleep at 7pm!!!  I awoke at 10 and stayed up for a few more hours but it felt strange nonetheless.  Most of today has been spent schlepping the husband back and forth (we are officially a 2-car-family now (ugh) and getting the “new” car registered has been a pain.

We All Scream for a Completed To Do List

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My to-do list took a slight turn, but it’s been a busy, productive day nonetheless.  I did lunch on-the-go while we were at campus doing my printing.  Pink Pineapple Funky Monkey,

and a Carrot Cake Lara Bar.

Yum, on both counts.

I spent the afternoon working and organizing (and marveling at our ice cream maker!) and we decided to move the schedule around and do some moving work this afternoon.  I had to fax something from Office Max so we did a little Target trip and also spent some time mapping out our new rooms.  It stinks to have to double pay rent, but having access to both apartments for the full month of July is definitely less stressful than trying to move all at once.

In the end, we went to the new apartment –> Target –> new apartment –> Bed Bath and Beyond.  We also managed to check every single item off of our to buy list, phew!  It felt really good to get that all done.  Excitement aside, we didn’t finish up until after 9pm so we ended up getting a late dinner at Cheesecake Factory.

I had some of the famous bread with butter.

And then we did lots of sharing.  An endive small plates salad (with blue cheese and pecans) to start.

And entrée split down the middle.

The husband gave me one of his avocado eggrolls,

and we split the spicy cashew chicken.

Mmmn, this is my very favorite thing at CF and it was nice to split so I wasn’t tempted to eat too too much.  We ended up with a nice plate of leftovers for Adam’s lunch tomorrow too.

When we finally got home we had dessert: that ice-cream I’ve been yapping about all day –

We used a recipe from Rachael Ray Magazine, Key Lime Pie Ice Cream.  The husband didn’t want graham crackers so I left them out and sprinkled some on top of my dish.

We enjoyed some Futurama reruns whilst mmmn and ahhhing.

Afterwards (way way too late) I talked him into doing a quick mini workout with me; 10minutes of strength and stretch moves.  Bedtime is imminent.

What is your favorite flavor of ice-cream?  My real favorite is plain (tart) froyo!

A Plumb Post

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Happy Monday, welcome to the week everyone!  I had a free minute and I was feeling the blogging itch so I decided to do a quick stop-by.

We didn’t get much sleep this weekend (hello, new baby in the house!) so I tried to catch up today and happily stayed in bed until 9.  Ever since then it’s been go-go-go, but with some fun in there too.

I made my nutrition cartoon, completing this assignment a whole day early 🙂

I also got started on some ice cream.

I can’t wait until this stuff is finished!  And no, I’m not pregnant, I just have a thing for shapeless shift dresses (at least they’re not shiftless, ahaha).

And I’ve eaten a tasty, pretty breakfast.

0% Plain Oikos topped with 1t maple syrup and 2 chopped plucots.

I adore plums in general, and the plucot just might be my favorite fruit, it is certainly the most stunning!

On the agenda for the rest of the day –

  • going to campus to print off all of my notes
  • lunch?
  • updating our mailing address everywhere (ugh)
  • classwork
  • finishing our ice-cream production
  • a run
  • dinner, with ice-cream for dessert 🙂

Which is your favorite variety of plum?

Watermelon in a Smoothie and Beans in Some Soup

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I hate doing all these drive-by posts but things have just been so busy.  A little rush is worth it though, it was wonderful getting to meet our new niece.

We got in the car around 10 this morning and I was thrilled to see a Sheetz where we could buy fresh food in time for lunch.

I got a chicken burrito with fire roasted tomatoes, rice and beans, colby cheese, diced tomatoes, lettuce, green peppers, diced onion, and salsa.

And ate an apple packed from home on the side.

We pulled back into Buffalo around 5:30 and I immediately got to work unpacking and heading to the grocery store.  Once I was home for good, the husband helped me whip up some delicious soup.  More specifically, White Bean Consomme with Almond Milk, from SELF magazine.

I ate a serving of Salt and Pepper Sommersalts on the side.

It ended up being the perfect quick meal.

I also made a huge smoothie to drink.

Tons of frozen watermelon chunks blended with a Simply Raspberry Lemonade.

Pink!

We didn’t finished dinner until 9:30 but I knew I’d be happiest if I got in some sort of a workout.  10minutes of stretching and strength moves later, my day is complete and I’m on my way to shower and sleep.

What is the most unusual application of watermelon you’ve tried this summer?

Taking a Page from Janetha

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Meals

Quaker Express Cinnamon Roll oatmeal.

Gelati from Rita’s,

coconut cream ice with soft serve twist.

Tasty, tasty dinner.

Sliced cucumber,

and veggie pizza.

Times that pizza by 2, I was starving!

Moves

1hr +ish of speed walking around the neighborhood with Adam. 

Raw Oats and Raw Dough on the Road

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It’s been a long day, but we are safe in PA and our new niece is gorgeous!

I ate dinner via tupperware while on the road.

Right before we left I mixed 1/3cup raw oats, 1/2cup Silk soy milk, a Siggis plain yogurt, 2T of maple syrup, and a bunch of blueberries.

It was very tasty but I feel like my stomach hurts every time I eat raw oats.  I’m so bloated now it looks like I had the baby.

Dessert was something I’ve been excited about for a while.  Remember when I said I didn’t miss anything during Vegan Month?  Well that was a bit of a lie, but what I missed was pretty ironic.  Lara Bars.  “But, Emily, aren’t Lara Bars vegan?” you ask.  “Yes,” I say “normally, but now they make three not-fully-vegan, beyond-fully-fabulous new flavors.  And when they sent them to me to sample during June I thought I would die having to wait to eat them.”  Enter Cookie Dough –

It couldn’t quite compare to the Cookie Dough Balance Bars, but barring (ha) that epicness this was the tastiest bar I’ve ever had.

Hope everyone else’s weekend is off to a good start!

The Sea Cow

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After my ultimate breakfast lunch was a bit of a disappointment.  I’d been salivating over the thought of green bean fries all week, but when I opened the bag today they were all slimy!  I almost went ahead and roasted them anyways but I was afraid it would be like eating a sea cucumber.

Instead I got my veggies from a bowl of Dr. McDougall’s Vegetable Soup.

On the side I roasted a small handful of baby red creamer potatoes; baking spray and salt, 400* oven, 20minutes.

In the last 5 minutes of roasting time I stuck in an onion bun with a slice of colby jack cheese.

All together they made a pretty tasty lunch combination.

I realize my day needs some fruits and dairy, but I’ve got those food groups covered with my planned dinner.  Said dinner will be consumed in the car, because we are driving to PA for the weekend to meet our new niece!  I’m very excited, but it does mean that I have 1hour now to pack, do some sort of work out, shower, and be ready when the husband gets home.

Just for fun – what is your favorite marine creature?  I have a minor otter obsession.  And, of course, the sea cow!

Jokes.com
Jim Gaffigan – Manatees
comedians.comedycentral.com
Futurama New Episodes It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Russell Simmon Stand-Up Comedy

It’s Certainly No Pop Tart

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In order to show you my breakfast I’m going to have to ask you to be a little bit open-minded.  Not so much that your brains fall out, but you know, no judgement 😀

Isn’t she a beauty?

That would be 1 Van’s homestyle pancake, eggs (I scrambled 1egg and 1egg white with 1T of butter and a big handful of spring mix salad greens), and half of a salmon burger topped with 2t maple syrup and Sriracha.

O.M.G!  This flavor combination was spot-on; I am all about the savory and sweet.  Plus, how often do I manage to squeeze seafood and vegetables into breakfast?!

What is the strangest combination you’ve had for breakfast?