Author Archives: Emily

That’s What HE Said

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Shortly after my last post, I enjoyed one of these –

Usually I wouldn’t boast about a pre-10am diet soda, but what I’m really showing off is the straw.

My mom bought me these reusable straws, with their own pouch!, for Christmas.  Now I can be green while slurping my favorite chemicals! 

I drink everything (water, milk, iced-coffe, soda) through a straw so this is a great area for me to look into reducing waste.  The straw didn’t feel too strange and I loved how cute it looked.  When I use regular straws I chew on the tips which the husband hates (wow, that got dirty in a hurry!) so maybe these will cure me of that habit.

Either way, the caffeine must have inspired genius because I had a great lunch.

I started with these Johnsonville Turkey and Cheddar Sausages.

I melted 1/2t Smart Balance Light over medium-high heat and then added 1/3 of a chopped green pepper and two chopped sausages to the pan.

Once everything was nice and browned I sprinkled on some Kernel Seasons Ranch seasoning.

Finally I topped the bowl with hot and chunky salsa.

Delish!  I really really liked the sausages, they had the best smokey flavor and the cheese gave a nice kick without being too goopy.

For dessert I had a 2% Pineapple Chiobani.

Buffalo Residents – Price Right on Elmwood currently has these for 99cents!

And now it’s off to the old chopping block, yikes!  I’ll be back for a tearful post this evening!

Lucky Rabbits’ Feet

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Today is the big day – I’m having my (minor) foot surgery at 2:10 this afternoon!  Thank goodness Adam’s professors said he could miss the second half of class, I’m a nervous wreck!

I got up at 7 with the husband to shower and take care of any last standing to do’s around the house.  I even gussied up my toe nails so my feet could feel confident about their big day.

And I’m eating a *lucky breakfast.

18 Rabbits unveiled a new flavor Belle Bananas Foster of granola bars at Peet’s Tea and Coffee locations on January 1st.  I’m one of the *lucky bloggers who was sent a sample to review.

Delicious!  Carmelized banana is one of my favorite flavors and this indulgence did not disappoint.  Thankfully, for my nervous stomach, it wasn’t over the top sweet but just right.  If you live near a Peet’s Tea and Coffee be sure to snag one of these bad boys for breakfast today!

I’ll probably be back with a lunch post, but just in case, please wish me *luck this afternoon!

Oink?

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Some people might view yesterday’s eats as motivation to get in some greens; I apparently saw it as a challenge.  Prereading Disclaimer – do NOT try this at home, you will gain 15lbs in less than a year and it will make you sad.  That said, eating crap and watching tv all day was fun.

I did leave the house for a little bit though –

Our friend Danielle (who we actually saw at the restaurant!) has been recommending Coles as a brunch spot for months.

Brunch = Bloody Mary.

And to eat I ordered the crab cake Benedict.

I ate about 2/3 of this before passing it off to Adam.  Overall the meal was good, but it just couldn’t compare to brunch in NYC 😦

Afterwards we drove to Anderson’s for froyo.

I got cinnamon with Heath pieces.  I only ate about half of this.  I’m not sure why I kept wasting food, but I do know I probably should have wasted my next two eats –

And then I rounded out the day with a disgusting amount of popcorn.

Divided into two bowls so I could sample two flavors of Kernel Seasons sprinkles.

Yuck, I feel gross.  I’m having foot surgery tomorrow so I don’t plan on moving any time soon but I could certainly eat a lot more cleanly this month!

Do you have a favorite brunch spot in your hometown?  Cole’s was ok but we need to keep looking.  I miss my Brooklyn brunches!

Bring on the Produce, Tomorrow

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I caught a bit of a cold during my long airport day and I knew as soon as I woke up this morning that today would be less than productive.  What a correct prediction, not much work occurred but there was a lot of this –

I also made a point of eating the crappiest foods known to man all day.  Actually, that’s an objective term, no part of my sensibilities will allow me to call these ‘breakfast staples’ crap.

Oh yes I did stir good Green and Black organic cocoa powder into Ricemellow Creme.  And I only had a teeny bit left so I made/ate it in the container.

Consider this my twist on blogworld’s oats in a jar.  Actually, this ‘meal’ had less than 100calories and rocked my socks, so I consider it pretty damn successful.

You can’t follow up cocoa fluff in a container with fruits or veggies so I ate the other half of my cheddar and jalopeno bialy next.

And then I had a big bowl of brocoli and strawberries.

Oh, whoops, I guess that’s popcorn!  Who thinks that this was my favorite product review yet??

I needed some color so in came the jumbo Smarties.

At this point is anyone surprised that dinner was nachos?

From the bar downstairs, these were smothered in black beans, tomatoes, chicken, and spicy spicy jalopenos.  Yums.  But it did put me over the edge.  Bring on the produce tomorrow!

New Favorites for a New Year

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If the first day set any sort of precedent, 2010 is going to be a great year!  And in case I forgot that it’s not 2009, we got lots of new calendars for Christmas.

Today was all about errands; Office Max, grocery restocking, present returns.  I have my foot surgery this Monday so I’m trying to get all standing activities out of the way.  In between errands I had a lovely late lunch –

The pasta was a Lean Cuisine.  I love how packed with veggies it was, lots of zucchini and the marinara was delicious.

The bread made the meal however.  I don’t know how I managed to only eat half of this cheddar and jalopeno bialy!

Spicy and cheesey and yum!  I also had a tasty bite of Adam’s cookie.

Our final errand took us to the mall, where I discovered my new favorite restaurant – Jack Astors.  There were about 80 things on the menu that sounded good and pretty much everything was affordable.  The booze prices were ridiculous low.  Plus, they let you draw on the table!

Adam’s art was a bit less 6th grade than mine –

I promise I did my drawing before my drinking,

Raspberry Lemon raspberry vodka, lemon, sprite, and soda.  Yums, my favorite drinks are always sour.

And dinner was a Chopstick Chicken Salad Grilled chicken breast on a bed of mixed greens, red pepper, cilantro, toasted sesame seeds and cucumbers, drizzled with zesty sesame soy dressing.  Topped with crispy wonton strips, spicy pecans, and sun-dried cranberries.

Ah-maze-ing!  Next time I would ask for dressing, etc on the side but it tasted awesome.  We were running a bit late to see a movie and I ended up bringing the second half to the theatre and eating it with chopsticks mid-show.  Strangest movie snack ever?!  I also split a small popcorn with butter with the husband.

The only thing that could have distracted me from that salad was an incredible movie, and Sherlock Holmes delivered.  It was my new favorite movie!  It was funny as hell and fully captivating for 2hours.  I love love loved the costumes and setting and artistic shooting.

Now I’m planning on settling in to fill out my new planner before bed.  There is something deeply satisfying to me about a fresh, crisp planner and I’m so excited I could burst!  

Do you use a planner to keep track of your life?  Love or loath it?

Hello from 2010!

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Happy New Years!!!  I’m big on fresh starts, so I love love love birthdays and and January 1st.  And when we got home last night we fully unpacked our bags and put away the Christmas decorations, so things feel especially fresh.

I went to bed moments after the ball dropped and this morning I woke up at 7:30 easily, a half hour before my alarm.  What better place to go on January 1st than the gym?  I did 10minutes of slow walking (practicing foot placement) to warm up, and then 35minutes of walk/run intervals for a total of 3.55miles in 45minutes.  Afterwards I did my pt exercises and Adam and I stood on the bosu ball and tossed a medicine ball.  (1:08, 530calories)

We can’t eat until we get to the store so brunch and shopping are both on the agenda for today.  Before I go I’ll share my resolutions with you:

  1. Floss every day.
  2. Lose 15lbs.
  3. Build more strength and flexibility.
  4. Get on a healthier sleep schedule.
  5. Be less negative.

Of course I have more goals for this year (start a graduate program?!), but I like to keep official declarations simple.   What are your resolutions for 2010???

Monday Night – Tuesday Night

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Yikes, this is going to be a looooong recap.  And that’s if I keep the details breif!  We’ve had lots and lots of good food and fun the last couple days.

After my last post we drove out to Ashley’s to get chicken patties.  They were beyond delicious, but my camera seems to have eaten the picture, whoops!  Then my parents, Adam and I went out to The Point to explore a bit.  We sat and watched the waves hit the rocks and it was wonderfully serene.

For dinner we went to Lotus, my favorite restaurant on St. Thomas.  We took my parents along, even though it was our anniversary dinner!

First we stopped at Fungi’s for a beer,

and then we went to Lotus.  We did lots and lots of sharing and it was a pretty fabulous meal.  Uptown Wonton Soup chicken/cilantro/crispy shallots/white truffle oil.

We got some amazing rolls to share – 1. Joe’s Stoned Crab sea scallop/jicama/scallion/topped with sesame seeds and hot sesame oil.

2. Shaggy Dog tempura shrimp/scallion/avacado/topped with spicy kanikami crab mix/sweet amai yuzu drizzle.

3. Soho House smoked salmon/spicy blue crab/asian slaw/scallion cream cheese/entire roll tempura/spicy yum yum and amai yuza glaze.

Here are all of my servings –

I also had a few small bites of my parents Green Apple Pad Thai,

and a few bites of Adam’s Muy Thai Tofu.

For dessert we I got the Blond Brulee white choclate ginger mousse/crisp banana brulee.

I let everyone else take a small taste but mostly I dominated this, I was swooning!

When we got home I also had a small slice of my dad’s Lindt Sea Salt bar.

We got up beyond early Tuesday morning to join my aunt’s family over in St. John.  Due to our lack of planning and 7:30 ferry time breakfast ended up being less than stellar –

No matter, it’s hard to be hungry when these guys are staring into your car!

My family picked us up and we drove to Ram’s Head Bay for a day at the beach and a hike.  The hike was 1.6miles each way and absolutly amazing.  These are only a tenth of my fabulous pictures.

The hike was very, very hilly and quite a workout.  I drank water on the way and had a few big swigs of Adam’s soda and a cheese cracker when we got back.

Then I spent hours shell collecting.

Before we took a second shorter hike over to Drunk Bay.  The beach is covered with rock sculptures people have made over the years.

Adam added a unicorn before we left.

I was burnt to a crisp at this point – in spite multiple applications of 70spf – so we headed to Skinny Legs for lunch.

My Painkiller was nasty so I ended up leaving most of it.

But my sandwich hit the spot.  I got the grilled cheese with tomato and onion and asked them to add as many veggies as possible.

Devoured.  Then we went back to their rental house for showers and naps.  And more cheese crackers.

My parents came over in the evening and we got take out from “The Chicken Man.”

Plantains,

coleslaw,

small piece of white meat,

fries with amazing bbq sauce.

Mmmn.

My portions were pretty small and I definitly ended up getting nachoes once we got back to St. Thomas!

Finally, just so you know I am “skipping” the last two days of December.  I have a long flying day tomorrow and don’t want to start my new year with an “old” recap.

Friday Night – Monday Afternoon

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Hello, hello, hello!  I hope everyone had a great holiday, we sure did!  I am actually typing at an internet cafe downtown so I’m going to try to keep this as quick as possible, sorry!

Christmas

We did a huge (40+ people) family and friend dinner at my aunt’s house.  I hit this selection of cheeses and spreads pretty hard.

I had one nice cold Coors Light, but mostly I stuck to club soda.

Dinner was buffet style, my plate had tomato, sweet potato casserole, cheesey potatoes, turkey, and coleslaw.

And I filled up this small plate for dessert.

When I got home I was actually still hungry so I made turkey and cheese sandwiches on two small rolls.

It was a pretty fantastic day.

Saturday

We got up early and hurried to the spa with my aunt and cousins, I love my snazzy purple nails!  Afterwards we got food at Barefoot Buddah, my favorite spot!  I had a yummy mango coconut smoothie,

and a Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich.

Holy.Yum!

We hit up another favorite spot later on, Udder Delight, the milkshake shop run by the local dairy.

I got a Jamocho Shake, made with skim milk.

That night we went to another party.  I wasn’t feeling the buffet dinner, but I might have had a few of these jello shots!

We went out with friends later that night and Adam was the best husband ever, ordering me a grilled chicken caesar salad so I wouldn’t be hungry.

Good thing too, we closed down three bars and didn’t get home until 3:45!!!!  I had one or two beers, unpictured, but mostly stuck to soda.  We had a really good time catching up with some old friends!

Sunday

Remember our 4am bedtime?  Especially awesome because we woke up at 7am to go run in a race!  We participated in the Kwanza 7k (for the 7nights of Kwanza).  I tried out one of these for “breakfast” 5 minutes before the race.

My leg(s) have been hurting like crazy and I know I’m out of shape so my plan was to do the Galloway method, slowly!  Adam stuck with me and we just might have come in 2nd to last!!!  I didn’t care though, I was just happy I finished, the course was super hilly!  We finished in an astonishingly slow 54minutes.

Overall it was a great experience, I LOVE TO RUN!!! Plus on the last lap there was a young (high school?) boy in front of us walking and we made him run with us and finish strong.

My uncle and two cousins ran the race too so afterwards we all went back for a refueling breakfast.  The star of the show was this –

Aunt Else’s, who I sampled in SF, generously sent me an Aebleskiver pan and mix.

Aebleskivers are like round fluffy pancakes that you can fill with all sorts of things savory and sweet.  I made the entire mix so I spent a looong time in front of the stove.

The first few batches took a little getting used too, but then I figured it out and started cranking out some beauties!

We filled them with chocolate chips, cheese, chocolate and cinnamon, and jam!  De-lish-ous!  Thank you so much Aunt Else’s!!!!

I actually was so busy cooking that I missed the rest of breakfast, all I managed to eat was three ableskivers.  I was pretty hungry when we went to the movies that afternoon so Adam and my dad snuck in some healthy snacks for me –

cheese, apple slices and baby carrots!  We saw “Up in the Air,” and sadly the snacks were the best part.

When I got home I snacked on some cole slaw too.

Then we met the family for a nice dinner at their hotel.  First we watched the sunset and drank some wine.

I started my meal with two slices of bread and butter.

Then I ate half of a conch fritter with mango.

And a bowl of Callaloo, a traditional island soup made with crab meat, spinach, and okra.

Soooooo good!

Unfortunately my dinner wasn’t quite as tasty.

Jumbo shrimp with veggies and chive mashed potatoes.  I just wasn’t feeling it so I ended up giving away 2 of my 4 shrimp.

We played games afterwards and had a blast, but once we got home I was starving.  My mom pulled two slices of pizza out of the freezer and baked them for me.

Super tasty, but I was stuffed, I should have stuck with one slice.

Monday

This morning I had another tasty pineapple Chiobani.

And a teeny (adorable) glass of locally made eggnog.

And when we set out Adam and I split a soda.

Now we are trying (once I get off the computer!) to walk around downtown.  Gotta split!

P.S. Sorry for the lame-o post.

P.P.S.  Today is Adam and my 2 year wedding anniversary!!! I promise some wedding photos once I get back to Buffalo if anyone is interested.