Author Archives: Emily

Carb Craving

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When my hunger did finally hit this afternoon it did so with a vengeance.  All I wanted was carbs.  We can just pretend I was carbo-loading for all that intense working out I do, cough cough 🙂

I had a bowl of Adam’s pasta topped with 2% colby.

And then a single-serving bowl of Frosted Flakes.

With some Kashi Go Lean Crunch to finish off the milk.

Around 5 we headed out to The Spot to do some studying.  I did dinner there.

Fountain diet coke and a Mike’s (egg and cheese) Bagel Sandwich.

I told myself that if I worked out once I got home (after 10!) I could eat a cookie, so I bought a cookie at the gas station on the way home to ensure that I wouldn’t shirk out on my work out.

I Netflix’d Crunch: Pick Your Spot Pilates.  I did abs, buns, and thighs for a 30minute workout.  As much as I enjoy this DVD, I think it is too easy for a “real” workout, I’m going to try to incorporate it more for stretching or mornings.

And now I’m enjoying this hottness before shower and bed-time –

FEST Check-in, Day 4:  Most of this is N/A since almost fainting is clearly never in the plans.  I am proud of myself for getting in a work out though, no matter how small.

What is your favorite kind of carbs?  Mine is definitely NYC bagels, yum!

Strange

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I can’t really characterize the last 12 hours as anything but strange.  Odd perhaps?  Either way, the food has been less than thrilling and I’ve got lots to do this afternoon so I’ll keep it quick.

Last night my raging sweet tooth ganged up with my cabin fever and used this gift card I received as a thank you for volunteering against me.

The husband was game, so we set off in search of a Tops at 9:30pm, for funsies.  We each picked a couple of items, but we made this bad decision together –

I had two, and they were delicious, but I’m glad the husband took the rest of them to school to share with friends today.

I had a weird toss-y/turn-y sleep last night and I felt pretty wrecked when I got up this morning.  I was too dazed to deal with breakfast and I ate this KIND Plus bar on the walk to the hospital for volunteering.

On my floor I was super thirsty but feeling ok for the first hour or so.  Then I started feeling super faint and I would not go away!  My head started swimming and I really tried to push through sitting down even though I felt like I was going to pass out.  But then my co-volunteer told me my face was getting super red so I did end up taking a break.  It was so frustrating!!!!  I’ve had similar experiences since high school and we’ve never quite figured out what the deal was.  Sometimes it seems to happen if I’ve gone too long without eating, sometimes if I get too much sun, and once a doctor said my low blood pressure might be the cause.  Either way it is inconvenient and embarrassing.  My ears start to roar and everything gets hazy and black and a break out in a cold sweat, although I’ve never actually passed out.  Has anyone experienced anything similar?  Any ideas????

Thankfully it didn’t get bad until it was almost time to go, so I pushed through and then staggered down to the lobby.  I slowly drank this bottle of regular Pepsi and the caffeine/sugar gave me the energy to walk home.

I have lots of studying and gym trip planned so I’d like to get lunch soon but right now solid food sounds kind of gaggy.  We’ll see.

random question – what is your favorite kind of potato?  I love sweet ‘taters, but the purple ones are pretty exciting too.

Walking Dead

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Ugh, it’s a good thing I made two home-cooked meals today because that is about all I did!  I felt like a zombie all afternoon!  This post will be a quickie because frankly I don’t even want to think about it.

Afternoon snacks: Stoneyfield Pumpkin Pie yogurt.

I searched high and low for this item all fall and then it randomly showed up at the grocery store the other day before disappearing again.  I finally got to try it and all I really have to say is meh; real pumpkin stirred into Greek yogurt is much better.

A heaping t Sun Butter.

And some Cedar’s pita chips with feta spread (YUM!).

Like lunch, however, dinner was a delicious homecooked creation.

Cocoa-Coconut Chilli from Eat, Drink, and Be Vegan.  In the year I’ve owned this cookbook this is the only recipe I’ve made and I still consider it a good buy!  The husband will not eat this (hence his pasta leftovers) so I only made a half batch this time.

Topped with a dollop of 0% Fage, some shredded 2% colby, and Siracha.  Delicious!

Dinner’s success didn’t distract me from the fact that my sweet tooth is annoyed with me and I am disappointed in myself, boo.  I’m going to go sulk, and hopefully get in bed before 10.

FEST Check-in, Day 3

  • Food- excellent!  Everything I ate today was homemade and healthy.
  • Exercise – zilch, although I feel like my body did need a day off.
  • Sleep – poor, per usual we stayed up, and slept in, too late.
  • Time management – terrible!  Who has a quiz in two days?  How much did I study this weekend?  Urk!

All I Need Are My Pearls

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I was quite the little wife this afternoon, making my husband a nice home-cooked lunch.  Actually, what I made was a big batch of pasta so he could eat leftovers for dinner the next three days but I’d like to think he still appreciated it!

I had a nice bowl myself for lunch while it was still hot.

My Arugula Brie Pasta is my improvement on this Real Simple recipe.  For six servings –

  • 14.5 oz box whole wheat penne
  • 1T butter
  • 6.5 oz onion, chopped
  • 1 bundle (8 or 9) green onions, chopped
  • salt and pepper
  • 3/4 cup dry sherry
  • 6 cup arugula
  • 9 oz brie, chopped
  • 1/2 cup skim milk
  1. Prepare the pasta according to box directions, drain and set aside.
  2. Melt butter over medium heat in a large skillet.  Add all of the onions and cook 3-4minutes, stirring occasionally.
  3. Season onions with salt and pepper.  Pour in half of the sherry and cook until reduced.
  4. Carefully stir arugula into skillet.  Pour in the remaining sherry and cook 4-5minutes, until reduced.
  5. When veggies are almost done, reheat the pasta pot over high heat.  Add in pasta, milk, and brie.  Stir to combine then cover for 3-4minutes.
  6. Pour veggie mixture into pasta mixture and stir to combine.

It was quite tasty, if I do say so myself. 

The only fail was our attempt at dessert.  While I was out running errands this morning I picked up a small piece of this Rosa’s Chocolate and Peanut Butter Fudge.

Yetch!  The husband and I both spit out our bites, it tasted like a piece of wax.

I promised myself I could buy another, less disgusting, dessert if I went to the gym so the likelihood of me working out today is pretty high 🙂

What was the last dessert that made you gag?

Sleepy Sunday

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We overslept (what else is new?!?) so waking up was a stressful, frustrating affair; but I tried to make breakfast as soothing as possible.

A serving of leftover carrot cake pancakes,

with 1/3cup 1% cottage cheese topped with a honey tangerine.

I’m loving all the citrus options lately!

I’ve got to get cracking, see you for lunch.

What is your favorite kind of citrus?  I enjoyed the Ugli fruit a lot just because it was so unique, but clementines top my list due to their lack of seeds.

P.S. Check out this girl’s first giveaway!

Sweet Serendipity

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After my last post I grabbed my People: Style Watch and headed out to the gym.  The magazine was a total clock-killer, if I hadn’t gone so close to closing time I would have been totally motivated to keep going.  As it was, I did 35minutes on the elliptical.  My machine said that was worth 3.3miles but I was going at a pretty easy pace so I’m not sure how accurate that is.  When I got home I did 25more minutes of strength training, stretching, and pt exercises.

After a quick shower it was time for a dinner I’ve been looking forward to all week; I finally recreated the Summer Bries sandwich from Serendipity3!  Serendipity is my favorite restaurant on the planet – the atmosphere is fun and the food is fabulous!  Plus it’s right off Lexington, one of my favorite streets on the planet!  Serendipity is the spot I always would take visitors when I lived in the city: click on the links to see the recaps for some of those fun meals link 1  link 2.

I own the cookbook and even in my hands their desserts are amazing.  However, while most people go to Serendipity for the ice-cream, I go for the sandwiches!  My very favorite – The Summer Bries – is what I recreated tonight.

*Note – dinner was delayed by a mold problem, ugh! and I snacked on a few Cedar’s pita chips and feta spread.  No pictures because I tried to pretend it wasn’t happening*

The sandwiches turned out divine!  Whole wheat raisin pecan bread with 98% ff turkey, apple, alfalfa sprouts, brie, and homemade 1000island dressing.  They got gooey in a 400* oven and turned into perfection.  I had two smallish sandwiches,

Plus some oven-roasted brussels sprouts on the side.

Such a good dinner!  I demolished the sandwiches but I did put back some of my mountain of brussels sprouts.

We are watching the season 2 finale of Buffy the Vampire Slayer so the bedtime goal is 11 – 11:30.  Sweet dreams.

FEST Check-in, Day 2

  • Food – pretty good, my goal was never to skip meals out, just to cut back on the take-out and “box” foods.
  • Exercise – great.
  • Sleep – poor.  11am is not when successful people wake up!
  • Time Management – see sleep.

Double Question Time!

  1. I know the calorie counts are suspect, but do you trust the miles counter on the elliptical machine?
  2. What is your favorite street in the US?  As much as I adore Lexington, my heart is forever devoted to Lincoln Ave in South Beach.  I think Lincoln is the best spot for people (and dog!) watching.

When In The Mall

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Happy Saturday!  My 1am bedtime led to an 11am wake-up, less than stellar.  But Adam and I have certainly made the best of our quickly dwindling day – movie/lunch date at the mall!

Lunch was at our new favorite spot, Jack Astors.

I got an original Bloody Mary to drink.

It was good, but not spicy enough for my liking, I miss the drinks in NYC!

Next up was a small cup of beer and cheddar soup.

This was delicious, it was so nice and creamy.  There was a spot in Park Slope that had the best beer and cheese fondue and we sort of got to relive that with the soup.

And for my main dish I ordered a turkey burger.

I ate a few bites as a sandwich before tossing the bun and dipping the patty in ketchup.

We had more than an hour between lunch and our movie and we ended up walking aimlessly around the mall.  We had fun though.  We bought a hedgehog stuffed animal to help support an environmental group, who thinks the husband approves of that purchase??

And we split a Turtle Blizzard from Dairy Queen.

This was crazy good, my favorite ice-cream on the planet is sugar-free white chocolate from Freshens and this tasted sort of like that.  Plus you can never go wrong with dark chocolate and caramel 😉

You could go a little bit wrong with our movie choice though, When in Rome did not blow me away.  I hate sappy chick flicks but my love for Kristen Bell had clouded my judgement.  We had fun looking at the New York scenes though and the clothing in the movie was making me drool.

I am all about layering, too bad I can never pull it off!

The rest of the day looks pretty low-key, especially because Sunday is going to have to be study, study, study.  See you for dinner.

Do you eat buns/bread at restaurants?  Why or why not? 

Time Keeps Slippin’ Slippin’ Into the Future

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I don’t know what happened today, time just slipped away.  Adam and I will be hanging out and all of the sudden it’s night-time and I’m sad.  I get so frustrated about not moving forward that I sit and stew and continue to not move forward!  Sometimes it just feels like I’m paralyze.

Fortunately the world’s best husband dragged me off the couch at 9:10 (the gym closed at 10!).  I started with some strength training – 100reps of abs, 80reps of legs, and 75reps of arms in various exercises.  Then I finished up with a quick jog on the treadmill.  With warm up and cool down 1.1miles in 12minutes.  I was glad I went, of course.

I actually decided it was too late for dinner, but I drove around with Adam while he got food, hence the late post.  I’ll have to have a nice big breakfast tomorrow!

FEST Check-in, Day 1

  • Food: Pretty good; I could have gotten in more veggies if I’d had dinner.
  • Exercise:  Success!  I got in cardio and strength training.
  • Sleep: Fail, it’s almost midnight and I still have to go shower.
  • Time management: terrible, as stated above.