Author Archives: Emily

Merry Christmas

by

Happy Holidays Blog Readers!  I dragged my whole family to school so I’ll keep this quick.  I don’t have many food pictures today, so I’ll take a moment to show off all the red and green I’ve been rocking this week –

After my last blog post I spent the day setting up for our Christmas Eve bash.  I had some random snacks for lunch; carrots,

a Hello Dolly,

a few nuts,

and half of a tuna salad sandwich.

I did lots of nibbling during the party but I ended up not taking any pictures.  My parents had the lights low and there were a TON of people in our little house so I ended up skipping it.  A fabulous time was had by all though.

Christmas morning with my parents and husband was wonderful.  Just 3 years ago today, Adam was proposing to me under the Christmas tree!!!

My mom and I made a great, festive breakfast.

I had an eggnog scone that was super tasty, I plan on buying more packs from this company.

And we made scrambled eggs with red and green bell pepper and white cheddar.

Plus I had a small glass of nog, I think I actually like Silk Soy Nog the very best!

My dad’s sister’s family is flying in in a few hours and then we are all going over to my mom’s sister’s family’s house for dinner.  Merry Christmas, Everyone!

Tuesday Afternoon – Thursday Afternoon

by

My family’s Christmas Eve party is tonight and we’ve got lots of setting up to do so this will have to be kept quick.

Tuesday Afternoon….

After my last post Adam and I set out for some exercise.  We ran on the waterfront downtown together.  We did walk/run intervals for 40minutes.  I’m not sure exactly how far we ran but I burnt 450calories.

Adam and my parents made chili for dinner (which I’m really not a fan off, unless it’s from ED&BV) so I pieced a few things together.  Like a smoothie –

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 small banana, splash milk, squeeze honey.  Topped with nutmeg.

My mom also reheated me a slice of pizza from the freezer, Adam ate all of my half from the other day so it was just plain cheese.

We went out for drinks with some friends but I was the driver so I stuck to diet coke.  We stayed out past 1 though, so we were a little sleepy the next day! 😉

Wednesday…

Our plan was to go study at our favorite coffee shop, but due to our late start and some unexpected traffic it just didn’t work out.  I was planning on blogging too, but I forgot my camera cord, doh!  We did get tasty sandwiches to eat in the car while we ran errands with my mom though!

I got a whole wheat wrap with sweet potato, goat cheese, spinach, and spicy hummus, YUM.

I was feeling really sick later in the afternoon (NOT because of the sandwich, spicy food does NOT seem to affect my stomach) so Adam made me this yummy tasting plate.

Thankfully I rallied in time for dinner.  Adam and I cooked for my parents and grandparents, who are down visiting as well.

Adam made a Real Simple recipe for roasted red pepper turkey meatloaf,

and I roasted up some okra and green beans.

My mom provided dessert –

A teensy sliver of rum cake a parent brought her,

and a peppermint chocolate cookie.

I ate a snowball a little later too.

And a cup of Eggnog’n Tea.

And then we went out drinking way too late for the second night!  Good times were had by all, but I did stick to diet coke again.

Thursday Morning….

I think the no-booze rule saved me last night because I was able to get up this morning and go for a run!  I did ~ 45minutes/490 calories, and ~3miles.  I did my pt when I got home before I dove into this –

holy food am I glad I can find the pineapple Chiobani down here!

Although I was probably most excited about this Carebear spoon I dug up!

Now as soon as we leave the library we are heading home to prep for the party.  There won’t really be dinner or lunch today, more like lots of snacking on really tasty things.  🙂

I probably won’t be posting again until after this weekend, so to all my readers who celebrate – Merry Christmas!

Monday – Tuesday Afternoon

by

Hello from sunny St. Thomas!  This will be the first of many recap posts since I only have computer access when I go to work with my mommy (my parents don’t have internet).

Things started up yesterday at 3:45am!! when we made our way to the airport.  The one benefit to leaving at that hour is we got to see the festive skyline in complete darkness.

Our flying day wasn’t so bad, we had 2 stops but at least everything went smoothly.  On stop #1 Adam bought Taco Bell at 8am!  I had one slice of his chicken quesadilla.

Our next flight was our long flight so I saved my eating for it.  I’m not gonna lie, I thought I was super clever to back a baggie of salad and a small container of Sabra Babaganuosh.

Yums, I think this is about as healthy as plane eats can get!

I also packed some sliced yellow bell pepper, cucumber, and Kerrygold cheese.

And I supplemented with a few buys from the airport store.  Dried bananas and cherries.

The price and nutrional stats on these were both pretty solid.

Any finally this 100 calorie pack of mini meranges.

They were super tasty and adorable.

I only ate about 3/4 of the pack though, for 100calories it was a LOT of food!

Our 2nd stop was Puerto Rico, which meant we had to take a teeny tiny Cesna Prop to get to St. Thomas.

I actually flew a plane that was just a little smaller for my last birthday so it was pretty fun; we were happy to be home though!

While we unpacked I ate a Dove Peppermint Bark candy.

And then we headed out to dinner at my parents’ favorite pizza spot.  It was dark, so you can assume the food was about 90% better than the pictures look.  Adam and I started by splitting a ceasar salad.

And then we all shared pizzas.  I ordered my half with – spinach, artichoke, pineapple, mushroom and no cheese.

Second piece.

Yums.

I was glad I went no cheese because I had room for a tasty snack when I got home.

Kona coffee with skim milk,

and two small pieces of 7-layer bar (Hello Dollies for you Southerners).

And……..bed!

This morning was supposed to start with a run but I was just to exhausted, I need to get myself on a proper sleep schedule this vacation!  I ended up waking up around 9 for breakfast.

Pom Chiobani and half a sliced banana.

We spent the day running errands with my parents; my family throws a huge Christmas Eve party so there was lots of shopping to do.  Here’s what I snacked on throughout the day –

An apple,

and a seasonal gingerbread Cliff Bar.

I also grabbed this package of trail mix as we headed out to school.

Now Adam and I are headed down to the school field for this morning’s belated run.  The next few days will be a whirl of baking and presents so hopefully we can fit in a little bit of fitness!  See you soon!

What’s the strangest plane food you’ve packed?

Rocked Recap

by

‘Tis the season for recaps!  We are going home tomorrow for Christmas and since my parents don’t have internet the posting schedule will be a little off.  I’m going to school with my mom several times so there will be some loooong posts coming sporadically.  Yesterday’s recap is due to sleepiness not internet though.

After my exam – which I think I did pretty well on – Adam picked me up and we did our final bit of Christmas shopping.  By the time we got home at noon I was starving.  I had these two samples from Sabra to try, so they were the basis of my lunch.

The animal plates I bought for Adam’s surprise party actually have dipping wells, so I knew they would be perfect for this lunch.

Half a yellow bell pepper,

3/4 of a cucumber,

1 T Sabra Jalopeno Hummus,

and 1 T Sabra Classic Babaganoush.

Yums, Babaganoush is so tasty and it’s creaminess with the fresh veggies went so well with the Jalopeno hummus.

It was a pretty light lunch though, so I ended up drinking 3/4 of this Odwalla Vanilla Al’Mondo Protein Super Protein drink.

It was delicious, and I needed protein before our next adventure, ROCK CLIMBING!

Adam and I went to an indoor gym with some friends and we all had such a good time.

We were there from 2:30 – 5 and it ended up being such a great work out.

Afterwards we headed to the mall to catch Avatar.  It was good, but not great, in my opinion.  I was captured for most of the 3hours, but towards the end my large diet coke caught up with me and I just wanted it to be over!

By the time the movie got out it had been hours since we had eaten so the four of us went to TGIFriday’s for dinner.  I got the bbq chicken salad.

It was only ok.  The menu listed tons of veggies, but the real thing was mostly iceberg lettuce with too much dressing.

I was so hungry that it got devoured anyway.

After dinner our friend Benji came home with us to watch a movie.  I think I was on the couch for 5minutes before I went to the bedroom and passed out.  A combination of studying from 10am – 2am the day before, the stress of taking the exam, the rock climbing work out and being up from 6 – midnight was just too much for me.  Adam said he found me on the bed in my winter coat with my sneakers still on!

That tiredness continued through the day, as I slept all day long.  Seriously.  I haven’t eaten anything yet and my suitcase is empty.  Time to get cracking!

Before I go, the winners of my Amy’s giveaway are –

  1. (#1) Katie – winner
  2. (#4) Katie Moo – runner up
  3. (#11) Traynharder23 – runner up
  4. (#13) Jessica – runner up

Ladies, send me an e-mail at emilyhwaxATgmail.com with your address so Amy’s can ship out your prizes!

Back from the Black Hole

by

And the fall semester has come to a close!!!  I’m actually not going to talk about today yet – not only because I’m heading off on a fun adventure, but also because I haven’t actually eaten anything yet today!  But instead I’ll do a quickie recap of yesterday.

Did I mention yesterday?  More like study black hole.  Caroline and I just might have studied from 10am – 2am.  Yikes!  Most of that took place at the Spot, so my eats were all coffee shopped.

Breakfast –

Fruit bowl,

housemade granola,

tiny bit of skim milk,

diet coke # 1 of 3.

Lunch –

Cajun Turkey Wrap (ww wrap, lettuce, turkey, cajun sauce, pepperjack cheese),

and a side salad.

Dinner?

Housemade nonfat chai latte.  End scene.

I’ll be back later today with a recap of today, and an announcement of who won my Amy’s giveaway.

Studies and Sweets

by

Another day at study central has come to a close!  Tomorrow is a horrifying all day affair, and then my final is at 8am this Saturday.  And then I go home!  To the beach!

My high volume low calorie lunch did not do the trick for me at all.  Usually I am more of a volume eater (popcorn?) but I was starving again .2seconds after eating.  I distracted myself for a minute with my fancy Christmas socks,

and then was hungry again.  I snagged a piece of peppermint bark on my way out the door.

We had some errands to run – like picking up an exciting package at UPS – before we made our way to Coffee Culture around 2.  Which is where we stayed until 8.  Actually, I got there at 2, Adam spent an hour being a creeper.  Keanu Reeves is shooting a movie here in Buffalo and Adam wanted to get an eye-full of his man-crush.  Lucky for him my friend Caroline was involved in the shooting and she snuck him in for a peak.  Oh man was he ever excited!

When I went to order my coffee (with skim milk) the man told me a small with a homemade cookie would cost me $2, who could resist that?

This peanut butter cookie might be the best cookie I’ve ever eaten.  It was crumbly and chewy at the same time and just perfect.

A few hours later it was time for dinner.

I got the “All American” – whole wheat panninni, roasted turkey, cream cheese, american cheese, ranch dressing, cranberries.  I know it sounds goopy and over the top but the dressings were all really light and it ended up being delicious.

I feel like I “should” be full, but I’m still not, and it’s very likely I’ll have a snack before bed.  Otherwise, I will see you all tomorrow.  Caroline and I are planning on spending all day studying at the Spot again, so I’m not sure when I’ll post, but expect it to be boring! 🙂

Don’t forget, my Amy’s giveaway ends tomorrow at noon!

Gaga, Green Beans, Grapple, Giveaway*

by

*If you could care less what I ate or how pt is going, skip to the bottom for a giveaway!

If you do care, I had my last pt session today!  I have a (long) set of exercises that I should plan on doing indefinitely.  Post-foot surgery in January if I’m having pain when I start running again then I’ll go back for another appointment.  For now, I plan on doing my exercises and enjoying the few weeks in December I have to run.

I warm up on the treadmill for 20minutes during pt so the gym was a logical next stop.  I had a quick snack at home to refuel first.  A tiny sliver of Kerrygold Aged Cheddar with Irish Whiskey.

And something I’ve been eyeing for months and months that finally went on sale – GRAPPLES!

The grape-apple hybrid caught my eye back in Brooklyn and I was so excited to finally try it.  The apples have a slight maroon tinge and smell a lot like grape soda.  The small is more noticable than the taste though, just a slight afterflavor of tang.  Still good though.

Fueled, I hit up the treadmill for a run.  My plan was to do 2minute run/1minute walk intervals.  That was what I did most of the time, but a few times I just couldn’t bear to stop running!  I did a few extended walks too so hopefully it all evened out.  In the end my stats were – 38minutes / 3.2miles / 395calories.  My music made the work out –35minute Playlist

  1. Into the Ocean; Blue October
  2. Every Ship Must Sail Away, Blue Merle
  3. Hot Blooded, Foreigner
  4. No Long Talking, Lady Saw
  5. Fearless, Cyndi Lauper
  6. I Know You Want Me, Pitbull
  7. Paparazzi, Lady Gaga
  8. Bad Romance, Lady Gaga
  9. Platypus (I Hate You), Green Day

It  was the perfect mix.  The husband (ahem) got me obsessed with Lady Gaga recently.  I hate her old stuff, but the two songs on the playlist are pretty damn catchy and you have to like her music videos – I love the styling and contrasts.

After a quick shower it was time for lunch.

Amy’s Fire Roasted Southwestern Vegetable Soup,

and green bean fries.

The “fries” were spritzed with evoo, sprinkled with salt and paprika, and baked at 450* for 20minutes.  They were delicious, but maybe could have used ten more mintues.

Yes, I ate the entire bag.  Yes, I know that is disgusting.  Yes, it was delicious.  The soup was tasty too.

I loved the flavor, but I left most of the broth.  It was a yummy lunch.

Now I’m off to study.  For the rest of the day.  Ugh.

*Now we are talking about the free stuff –

You can have a yummy lunch with Amy’s too!  1 Grand Prize winner will receive a variety pack of three soups.  Three runners up will receive free product coupons for any Amy’s product.

To enter –

  1. For one entry – leave a comment on this post.
  2. For a second chance – go to Amy’s website and sign up for the Amy’s newsletter.  Leave a comment telling me you’ve done so.
  3. For a third/fourth chance – link back to this contest from your blog and/or on Twitter.  Leave a comment(s) telling me you’ve done so.

The contest ends Friday at noon, Good Luck!

Nog Makes It Nicer

by

It’s Thursday, the week before Christmas break is almost complete!  I have a pt appointment this morning, which is why I’m actually awake for a change.  I don’t have much time though so breakfast was started last night – overnight oats.

  • 1/3 cup oatmeal and
  • 1/3 cup Silk soy nog were stirred together last night and put in a fridge
  • approx. 1/3 cup low fat plain yogurt and
  • dash nutmeg were stirred in this morning and
  • holiday sprinkles!

‘Twas festive and yummy.

I’ve got to scadaddle, have a great morning!

How do you make overnight oats?  Any fabulous mix in ideas?