Author Archives: Emily

2 Week Vegan Challenge

by

I mentioned last week that there was lots of fun coming this February.  One thing on the list was my 2 week vegan challenge.  I want to preface this challenge with the fact that I have no plans on going permanently vegan.  I love eggs and Greek yogurt too much and I’m still on the fence about whether or not everyone can survive healthfully on this lifestyle.

That being said –

  • eating more vegan meals each week can be beneficial to your health
  • veganism is kind to our planet and can be a good way to conserve energy
  • while I don’t have a moral issue with consuming dairy, I do have an issue with much of the United State’s commercial dairy

For all the reasons above, and to help mix up my dietary rut, I’ve decided to spend the next two weeks completely vegan.  No meat, dairy, or animal products of any sort (although I haven’t quite made up my mind about honey).  Expect to see me try some new products, try some new recipes, and finally make something other than chili from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan!

I’m off to the store (it seems like all we have in our fridge is yogurt!) but please stop by and offer me advice, recipes, criticisms, whathaveyou.

Eggland’s Best for Dinner

by

Dinner tonight was inspired by a coupon I received from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.

I always buy Eggland’s Best brand eggs, but usually I can’t afford to go organic so this was a nice treat.

My recipe was a tweeked version of my spinach ricotta pie.  Serves 3

  • 10 oz package frozen chopped spinach, thawed and squeezed out
  • 1 C frozen artichoke hearts, thawed
  • 5 Eggland’s Best eggs, lightly beaten
  • salt and pepper, to season
  • 15 oz container fat free ricotta cheese
  • 6 t 2% sharp cheddar, shredded
  1. Preheat oven to 375*.  Grease the cups of a muffin pan.
  2. Place first five ingredients in a medium bowl and stir to combine.
  3. Carefully pour mixture into the muffin pan.  Top each “muffin” with 1/2 t cheese.
  4. Bake for 20minutes.

Each muffin has 72 calories.

With all my mall food I was pretty full but the husband still needed dinner so I went ahead with my plan.  I had a half serving for funsies and to add a few veggies to my day.

It was a tasty meal and according to the literature I received “Compared to regular eggs, Eggland’s Best eggs now contain –

  • 4 times as much Vitamin D
  • 75% more Vitamin B12
  • 10% more riboflavin
  • 50% more Vitamin A
  • 25% less saturated fat and 3 times the level of Omega 3s”

Thanks Eggland’s Best!

I hope all my readers have a happy Valentine’s Day tomorrow!

Valentine’s Day

by

I know it’s not actually Valentine’s yet, but the husband has a big test coming up and we can’t celebrate tomorrow.  Plus we saw the namesake movie today!  I’m not 100% yet but I am feeling better.  I skipped Friday’s post because the day pretty much consisted of clear sodas and my Chemistry test.

Adam was at his preceptor’s office all morning and I was curled up on the couch in all my unshowered glory so imagine my surprise when he walked in the door with this –

Seriously, how handsome is my husband??

I will NOT be posting a picture to explain why loving me makes him a saint but let’s just say it’s a good thing I showered finally before we left the house!

We are not big Valentine’s people but the husband did bring me home flowers and Sour Patch Kids.

After giving the husband plenty of air kisses (my germs and his upcoming test cannot mix!) I managed to do a bit of cleaning and make a grocery list AND take that shower.  I powered through my chores with a protein-packed smoothie for breakfast/lunch.

2 frozen bananas + 1.5T pb +1/2cup skim milk.

Then around 2:30 we were off to the mall for our date!  I’m pretty sick but I did the best with what I had.

The amazing necklace my mommy made me at least got me on theme. 

Sadly, the movie theatre was beyond packed and things kept getting pushed back.  We ended up going to Jack Astor’s for a bit.  I had a Blue Lemonade.

And we split a plate of buffalo chicken fingers.

Then we played some arcade games!

In the movie I ate my Sour Patch Kids and we split a large Coke Zero and some pretzel bites.

Mmmn.  Our movie was less cheesy than our snack, Valentine’s Day was actually really funny and awesome.  It’s like an American Love Actually but a whole lot funnier.

Now I’ve got an easy dinner planned (homemade for a change!) and I’m planning on heading to bed earlyish.  See you in a bit!

What you do think about Valentine’s Day?  Love it or hate it?  I’ve never minded <3’s day, even when single, because I find all the theme candy pretty exciting.  However, Adam and I never make too big of a deal of it.  We just aren’t that gushy, we often don’t even do Christmas or birthday gifts.

Couch Frog

by

My tummy was deflated today but apparently I am quite sick.  I woke up this morning 1. on the couch, 2. fully dressed, and 3. feeling like I was hit by a truck.  My glands are all puffed up like a bull frog!

I tried to distract from my couch frog look by finally rocking my snow boots.

Oh yes, those are children’s boots.

And I tried to soothe my throat with a yogurt, Yoplait Fat Free Thick and Creamy Blueberry Pie.

That was delicious.

I got to school a bit early to study and bought the lunch of sick champions.

Lemon Lime G2 (which was actually awesome, not “diet’ tasting at all but way less syrupy and only 50calories in a bottle),

and an onion bagel with cheddar cream cheese.

The test did not go well.  By the time I went to sit for it I could barely keep my head.  My delirium paired with my poor study habits will certainly not be leading to an A.  How am I going to be Temperance Brennan if I don’t do well in this survey class?!?

I actually went out to the parking lot and took an hour nap in the car!  Then I dragged myself up and did my printing at the library and hit up Jamba Juice.

I got a small Cold-Buster smoothie, because I like my denial.

And somehow I managed to sit through Chemistry + extended review for tomorrow’s test.  The plan was supposed to be gym/dinner making tonight but at this point I’m not even sure I’m going to shower.  I think the husband ordered Chinese food so I’ll recap dinner later on.  Could you send *healthy* thoughts my way now?  🙂

What is your favorite thing to eat when you are sick?  All I what is smoothies.  (And I might have tried to con the husband into jalopeno nachos but he wasn’t buying it!)

P.S. Hop over to Anne’s to see how awesome Chiobani is.

P.P.S. or to IGE‘s to check out a shoppping spree.

Want Some Cheese with That Whine?

by

Yuck.  This a boring, whiny post; please feel free to skip it.

Before my study date I ate two slices of ww toast with Smart Balance Light.

Then I got the Java Shake I’ve been eyeing at the Spot for months.

Yuck-city, this was way too sweet and abandoned for diet coke in less than 4 sips.

Not too sweet, and totally adorable, was the espresso loaf the husband bought.

I had two bites and they were delicious.  Also adorable was the Valentine we received in the mail today from my niece.

Caroline and I got a lot done studywise (for Chem, which is on Friday) but the 78% and 62% I scored on the two practice tests were less than encouraging.  I was a bit distracted though because my stomach HURTS!  I feel like I have really bad cramps and I’m so bloated I look last trimester pregnant.  What the heck is going on?!?  There’s no way something from lunch is bothering me this much later and I didn’t drink enough of the shake to be a problem.  Needless to say, “dinner” is going to be a big old glass of water.

Tomorrow is my Anthropology test, please send smart thoughts my way!

A Lunch Post?!

by

I knew this would be a busy week, but now it feels like things are just dropping out of the sky!  Last night’s late night issue was the power to our fridge randomly being shut off.  Fun times 😦

I planned on getting up to eat breakfast before lab but my pushed back bedtime meant I just wanted to sleep in.  I packed a (peeled) minneola to eat in class,

and bought a small package of peanuts from a vending machine as well.

Lab went well, but I’m incredibly worried about how difficult the post-lab calcuations are going to be, the minute my test is done on Friday I’m going to have to start working on that.  First I have to get through tomorrow’s Anthropology test though.

Lunch was a semi-Asian affair.  I had a serving of mini chicken egg rolls,

and a Thai-Style chicken Lean Cuisine.

I also randomly had a forkful of peanut butter,

and a (too) big bowl of cereal.

Now I am about to head to the Spot for a quickie study session with Caroline.  I’ll be back for dinner.

Do you have vending machines nearby at your job or school?  Do they tempt you to make unhealthy choices or are there any quality options available. 

New and Exciting

by

Just before 2am last night I got completely caught up with all of my reading.  The sad thing is that I love the reading and find it really interesting so there is zero reason why I should have been behind in the first place!

In spite of sleep-deprevation I was pretty proud of my wardrobe choices, my outfit was actually inspired by a magazine article, something I never do (new).

I couldn’t get a good picture,

but you can see what I was going for.

My layers might have been a bit thick though, by the time I got my coat on I felt like the kid from A Christmas Story.

For breakfast I grabbed a biscuit with a little honey.

And I realized I was getting nothing done quickly at home so I grabbed some snacks and headed to school an hour early to study there.

I ate the Kind Bar during Chem at 5 and it was great but sadly the grapes when straight into the trash.  I’ve been hearing for years how amazing frozen grapes taste but they made me gag.

To make up for my (overall) lack of produce I snagged lunch from the cafeteria.

A garlic wrap with lettuce, tomato, cucumber, alfalfa sprouts, banana peppers, black olives, and a little bit of sesame dressing.

I saved the banana for Anthro, alongside a large skim latte.

I was planning on attending a review session for the exam after class but I was the only loser who showed up so I told them to cancel it, boo.  I got lots of work done on my own but the large coffee might have been a bad idea, I was literally shaking!  I grabbed a snack from the vending machine to eat in the car in the hopes of evening out.

Soooo glad I tried this, this was a new brand to me and these are literally the best chips I’ve ever tasted!  They were so tangy, and ridged like Ruffles but super thick.  Plus, the bag had less than 200calories (comparable sizes seem to be 300+).

After classes I came home, picked up the husband, and headed straight to the gym.  My new playlist helped me power through my workout; it was a great mix of old and new music with a good range of tempos.

40 minute playlist

  1. Wavin’ Flag – K’naan
  2. I Know You Want Me – Pitbull
  3. Whine Up – Kat DeLuna feat. Elephant Man
  4. Promiscuous – Nelly Furtado and Timberland
  5. What’s in the Middle – The Bird and the Bee
  6. This is Why I’m Hot – Mims
  7. Into the Ocean – Blue October
  8. Sugar, We’re Going Down – Fallout Boy
  9. Semi-Charmed Life – Third Eye Blind
  10. TiK ToK – Ke$ha
  11. Swing – Savage and Soulja Boy

The plan was treadmill time but both my shins were killing me so I took several long walks to loosen them up.  In the end I did 52minutes, 4.5miles follwed by pt and some abs work.

Running killed my appettite, but I was hungry for ice-cream.  I tried a new product – Cyclops Strawberry Greek Style Frozen Yogurt,

in a (new) ice-cream bowl from my grandma.

I had a half cup (plus a little) serving.

This was delicious!  I loved the flavor although I wish it had been creamier, this was more like ice-cream than froyo.

In addition to taking a shower I also have to do my lab flow-chart for tomorrow morning before bed, gotta run!

Are you tired of the long, lame-o posts?  Here’s what’s coming up soon on Eatventures –

  • Wedding recap posts, complete with pictures
  • a 2week vegan challenge
  • a road trip to visit my in-laws
  • my first, untrained for, half marathon…
  • …and a trip to FL
  • as well as a trip home to St. Thomas

F Words

by

Last night was ridiculous; we have to submit our Chem assignment online and the homework site had a major glitch that made the assignment take literally 4x longer than it should have.  Ack, lots of f words were said.  And my very delayed bedtime meant I took a loooong unplanned nap (drooling all over my Anthro book!) this afternoon.

I got hungry while I was working on my insane Chem assignment last night so I made a small snack –

Banana yogurt + grapes + 1T toasted walnuts + 1t cinnamon chips.

Which was similar to what I had for breakfast.

My eats for the rest of the day were all about the big “Fs” – freebies and fatties.  This (BIG) bowl of cereal was technically free because it stole it from the husband’s stash.

And this Kid’s Cuisine was on sale for <$2!

Dinner was much healthier 😉  The jalopeno poppers were sort of a freebie, Adam had a coupon, but mostly a fattie-choice.

And the potato chips were definitely a fat move.  P.S. I also definitely had my hand in a bag of unphotographed tortilla chips for most of the afternoon.

I’m actually glad I didn’t have time for the gym all day because this evening the husband accidentally kneed me in the shin and it hurt so badly I thought I was going to throw up.  Who thinks I increased my mileage too quickly and that my 5mile run this weekend did more harm than good?  Me!

***Edited to Add*** I’m pretty sure I will be having more insomnia tonight so rather than laying awake in bed I decided to stay up a bit longer and study.  Sadly, I find munching really does help me focus so the husband is out at Wendy’s getting me some chicken nuggets.  No pictures because I will be too busy hitting the books.