Author Archives: Emily

Hello from Ohio

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Howdy folks, happy Friday!  Sorry for such a late post, our internet has been going in and out intermittently and this morning it was finally just off.  We picked a great weekend to be at someone else’s house computerwise, right now I’m using my brother-in-law’s internet 🙂

It’s been kind of long crazy day.  I did manage to make it to the gym though.  Since dinner last night looked like this –

I ate a pack of Luna Sport Moons on the walk to the gym.

I then I did a quick 2miles (we were already running late) on the treadmill.  All total with warm up/cool down my stats were 2.3miles and 25minutes.  I was so happy to have gone but now my left leg hurts so badly.  I’m going to do a post soon talking about the running situation.

After a quick shower, and an even quicker packing session, we were on the road.  We got into Ohio right at dinner time so we met the family at a local restaurant.  I was so hungry I ate my fruit bowl before I even remembered to snap a picture.

Even though we were at an “American” style dinner (the rest of the family had bacon cheese potato skins and french onion soup) I managed to find a good vegan meal.

Roasted veggies with terriyaki sauce on garlic rice.  I demolished it.

My sil and niece actually had a small party to go to after dinner but my bil took Adam and I to pick up some movies and games.  We stopped at the grocery store for snacks and booze and I managed to pick up some produce as well.  I have a bag of snacks from homw though so I’m not too worried about the food situation.

As I write this I’m nibbling the other half of my vegan chocolate peanut butter rice krispie.

I might have a few snacks while we all hang out but I’ll do a recap in the morning.  I hope everyone’s week ended well!

What is your favorite diner order?  I order blintzes whenever I can, or a good tuna melt.  I’m also a big fan of handspun black and white milkshakes.

Jump Up and Catch A Kungry

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*If you can tell me where the title of my post comes from you will have forever earned my deepest respect.

It’s been a strange day; I slept terribly last night and I’ve been out of sorts all day.  Plus I’ve been soooooooo fricking hungry!  Boo.  My hunger couldn’t distract me out of another awesome layered outfit though.

I know breakfast is a strange time for dessert, but I picked this up at the Co-op yesterday and I just couldn’t wait anymore!

I had half of the Vegan Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispie (on the adorable little plate from my secret valentine).

Even that was too intense though, I ended up bagging up half (so I ate a 1/4) to bring to the husband.

For lunch I had fries and chips.

The healthy kinds!  Kale crisps,

and oven baked sweet potato slices with garlic powder.

How gorgeous are these guys?!?

I should have eaten more calories though because by the time I made it through my first class I was so hungry I wanted to gnaw off my own arm!  The vegan choices at school were less that stellar, I need to always pack a healthy snack.  I had a single serving package of peanuts.

And I split this candy and chips (the unhealthy kind) with the husband.

By the time I got through with my second class my hunger had turned into a dull ache.  Or maybe that was just the aftershock from my terrible test grades.  I knew my sickness (and, ahem, lack of preparation) were going to kill me.  I got an 86% in Anthro (class average was a C-) and an 80% in Chemistry (class average was a 59).  At least they posted semester grade averages with Chem and I still have a solid A.

Now that we are home I’m so hungry that I’m not even hungry any more.  Does this ever happen to anyone else?  I’m so uncomfortable that I probably won’t even eat dinner, I wasn’t the hugest fan of the lentil soup anyways.  The recipe was a total success – Adam was in love with it – it’s just not my thing.  I might make another batch of cocoa though…the husband hasn’t had a chance to taste it warm yet! 😉

Be the Change You Wish to See in the World

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Good evening everyone!  I feel exhausted and gross (still?!?!) so I’m keeping this quick in the hopes that I get to bed soon.  I always say that, it never happens, and still I keep on hoping.  It’d be like not clapping for fairies to admit I’m an “early to bed early to rise” loser.

Our grocery trip went well.  The communal coin jar was full and Coin-Starring it paid for our groceries 🙂

This afternoon Adam and did all sorts of healthy stuff like take a long nap and split this Jokerz bar (i.e. a vegan Snickers).

It was good but not great, I’m not sure why they went with mockolate instead of just dark chocolate, I had about 1/3.

For dinner I made Tomato, Dill, Lentil Soup from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan.  It had a 60minute simmer time though so I had a small bowl of cereal while I waited.

1/2 cup Kashi Go Lean Crunch with plain, reduced fat soymilk.  Two notes here – 1. I know Kashi has honey in it; honey and gelatine are still on the menu here, even during the vegan challenge.  2. Always measure your cereal.  You guys know I am not any sort of dieter, but I always measure my cereal.  Many (healthy) varieties are still calorie dense and it is such an easy item to overeat.

Followed by a small serving (1/2cup) of the aforementioned soup.

I’m not gonna lie, I was saving myself for dessert.

Thank You Angela!  To Die For Cocoa, from Oh She Glows

·         Ingredients:

  •  
    • 3/4 cup coconut milk (full strength, not light!)
    • 3/4 cup unsweetened almond milk (or any milk)  I used plain, fat free soy
    • 1/4 cup Dutch-processed cocoa powder
    • Pinch of sea salt to bring out the sweetness
    • 3 tablespoons of maple syrup
    • marshmallows and cacao nibs/chocolate chips to garnish (optional)

Directions: Throw all ingredients into a pot and whisk like crazy. Bring to a boil and then simmer on low for several minutes while whisking to remove clumps.

I poured it in one big mug but I’ll probably drink 1/2 – 3/4 and then put it in the fridge for the husband.  A perfect (super) sweet note to end the day! 

What do you do with your lose change?

Best Lunch Ever

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I’m on cloud-9 here in excitement over how tasty my lunch was!  It was delicious x 10 and healthy, healthy, healthy!

I had a gorgeous Neon Eggplant to use so that was the inspiration for lunch.

I chopped up 2/3 of the eggplant alongside some okra and a handful of kale.

Then I poured some evoo into a pan on medium heat.  I cooked the eggplant and kale for a couple minutes, seasoned with salt and pepper, before adding a big pour of vegetable stock and allowing it to reduce.  Then I added a few huge glugs of Worchestire sauce.  After a few minutes I turned the heat up to medium high and added a bit more evoo and the okra and cooked another couple minutes.

That amazingness was bowled, drizzled with an einsy bit of agave syrup, and then I crumbled a small last serving of casserole over the top, and some paprika.

Holy Yum!

Some of my favorite flavors were in this lunch and they all came together perfectly!  It was an amazing mix of flavors and textures.

As satisfied as I am, my craving for this seems to finally have gotten the best of me and I think I’m heading to Wegman’s soon so I can pick up some ingredients.  We are driving to OH for an in-law visit this weekend and the husband’s family is most definitely NOT vegan so I need to pick up some supplies any way.

I have a big warm pot planned for dinner, a gym date I’ll hate myself if I don’t keep, and a bit of light homework on the agenda.  See you later alligators!

What was the last simple meal that blew YOU away?  If you can’t think of one please do yourself a favor and remake my lunch!

At Least the Walls Are Still Standing

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Sorry for the very late dinner post!  We randomly had no internet last night.  At the same time the power to the fridge was being funky again and 2 of the knobs pulled off the stove.  It was a fun night!

Plus I burnt not 1 but 2 batches of kale crisps.  Fortunately there was enough from the 2nd batch that were salvageable for dinner.

Plus a serving of Tempeh Hashbrown Casserole leftovers.

With ketchup for dipping.

Yum, yum, and yum; is there condiment better than ketchup???? (I actually prefer 1000island but you know what I mean!)

There was some worry that class would be canceled due to last night’s excitement (everyone is fine by the way) but no such luck.  And all our apartment troubles kept us up late so my breakfast smoothie plans fell through.  Thankfully I had this Naked Green Machine Juice I got with my volunteering voucher.

And I also brought another new flavor of Prana Bars.

After lab I went to the post office to mail some supplemental forms.  As soon as I get my UB transcripts sent tomorrow I will be officially applied!  That is why I’m just now going to go make lunch.  Peace.

Do you keep your cool when the internet has hiccups?  I totally lose it.  As much as I hate our dependence on electronics I am beyond frustrated when things don’t work for no discernible reason.  I need to learn how to chill.

A Quick Hello

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I know it’s late enough for a dinner post, but it’s at least 30minutes until my dinner is on the table so I figured I’d do a quick lunch update.

Apparently my jar o’ oats did have some magical powers because things finally started to fall into place with my application.  And I spent 1.5hours in a T.A. lounge at school getting help with my lab report.  I have more work to do tonight on both, but things are looking much better 🙂  Plus I got all sorts of fun mail: a card, my secret Valentine’s gift!! and a cute hat my grandma made.

Adam and I bought me some Cherry Coke Zero took a walk and I ended up having to rush to class.  For lunch I packed a new flavor of Prana Bars that Boomi sent to me.

I wasn’t really a fan, but I’ve decided I’m a HUGE fan of the layering look –

expect to see more.

There was a student with a gun in the library at UB (I know no details, the website hasn’t listed anything yet) and the campus was evacuated so my class was canceled 40minutes early.  It was scary, and I really hope everyone is ok, but it is nice to be home before 7 for a change.

I’ve got to get cracking – dinner, lab, application, blog; in that order.

Tuesday Morning Live

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This weekend Adam finished off our jar of sun butter and I had to save it from the trash. 

You know what I had in mind for the remains –

Oats in a Jar!

Kath has talked about how OIAJ makes her think of JT’s “It’s my d*** in a box.”  But on the SNL front I think OIAJ fit better with another song.  I feel like they seem to give every blogger THIS reaction.  So of course I had to try them.

I cooked 1/3 cup oats with 1/3 cup water and a medium banana.  Then I topped my bowl jar off with a little bit of Crofter’s Superfruit Spread and Pb.

It was good, but not as **amazing** as some blogs have led me to believe.  To be fair, most bloggers save a serving or so of nut butter in the jar and I was using one Adam had scraped clean.  Plus I’m not in the best mood because I woke up still feeling sick and I’m a little annoyed.  I’d give the concept a solid A- though!

I’ve spent most of my morning working out issues with my application (still!) and I’m heading to campus for classes this afternoon.  Hopefully I’ll be feeling better as my OIAJ work their magic 🙂

Have you jumped on the OIAJ bandwagon yet? 

You Say Po-Tay-Toe, and I say Po-Tah-Toe

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On the menu for dinner was another Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan recipe – Tempeh Hashbrown Casserole.

The husband was less than intrigued by the idea so I only made a half batch.

Once he saw how good it looked though he did concede to a bite….and loved it!

Here was my serving (that’s a side plate),

with a bowl of ketchup for fork-dipping.

Delicious!  I can’t wait to have the leftovers for dinner tomorrow!

I would have prefered to have paired this with a green side but my stomach is still feeling a little off.  Clearly chips were not a healthy lunch choice, but overall for the day I’ve been pretty happy with my produce consumption.  It’s 9:12 and I very very much hope that in the next 5minutes I hop up, take my shower, get into bed, and hopefully fall asleep!  I’ll let you know in the morning.

What’s your favorite way to eat potatoes?  Nothing can top Five Guys fries but I am a pretty big fan of hashbrowns.  I don’t have them often which seems to make them all the more special.