In the Cards

by Emily

I’d like to start the morning by reminding everyone, most especially me, of a quote I had on here the other day – “Life consists not in holding good cards, but in playing those you hold well.” ~Josh Billings

You know, I do have lots of reasons to complain right now – my foot hurts like crazy, I’ve gained weight the past few months, I can’t sleep at night which makes me tired all day, I don’t know what to do with the rest of my life, moving to Buffalo with Adam limited the programs I can apply to, my skin is going crazy and it makes me sad – but I have so many things to be grateful for I can’t even begin to list them. Even if I don’t know what programs I am applying to yet, doing well in my Chemistry class is a prereq for all of them. I need to stop wallowing and do the best to make the most of what I have.

That said, I woke up at 8am this morning and got started on breakfast.

Wegmans Key Lime Fat free yogurt, sample box Kashi Honey Sunshine, 1t Crofters Europe Superfruit Spread.

It was very tasty, though I don’t think I will buy that particular fake sugar yogurt again. I liked the pillowiness of the cereal but I think that with milk it would take a huge bowl to fill you up.

I also drank the 2nd half of Adam’s orange Rockstar.

On the agenda for today –

Prepare for my first lab: answer the pre-questions, fill out a flow-chart
Study for my first quiz: review my notecards, do practice problems
Go to the gym (even if I can’t do anything but walk on the treadmill for 5minutes and cry, I’m going)
Shower
Lunch
Drive to campus – my new way, which is all highway, is 8x faster, yay
More studying
Chemistry (5-8:50pm): quiz, lab
Drive home – my new way home is even faster!!!
Dinner
Blog
Bed

What is your goal for today?

23Sep2009

Crossing My Fingers and Toes

by Emily

I actually got in bed before 10pm last night, but when we wake up 8bazillion times a night you kind of are tired no matter when you go to bed! I wouldn’t have mattered when I woke up today though, I let my sadness over my foot kind of take over my whole day. Not good, Emily, not good.

For breakfast I made 0% Fage with a heaping teaspoon TJ’s Sun Butter.

And lunch made tasty tasty use of leftovers (and made leftovers for tomorrow!).

I chopped up cooked lasagna noodles and stir fried them with broccoli, carrots, seitan, evoo, soy sauce, and chipotle oil. It was super tasty, but I don’t think I like seitan as much as I once did. I used this package from West Soy, and it just tasted a little off.

All in all the plate was still pretty good though.

Adam came home early from school (a class was canceled because of a big test this week) and we watched “Boogeyman” together. It was a strange movie, but the eating of 4squares of this greatly upped my enjoyment.

I got to school in time to print off class notes and purchase a stuffed buffalo for my niece. We are visiting Adam’s brother in Ohio this weekend. I also gave Jamba Juice a second chance.

Much better. When I got home from class I supplemented “dinner” with these pretzels.

Tomorrow is a big day, I have my first lab, my first quiz, and hopefully my first day back at the gym. Wish me luck!

What are you crossing your fingers for this week?

22Sep2009

My Foot Hurts :(

by Emily

I’m glad people liked my candid relationship post! Please, feel free to write in with your own sordid stories 🙂

Things went pretty deeply downhill this afternoon. When I went to put on my sneakers that attempt led to tears which led me to the couch, where I can tell you no homework took place. I did do some snacking. A 100calorie bag of Popchips I got as a free sample.

A solid two servings of these pretzels.

And 5 unpictured salt water taffies while my camera was charging. Dinner dinner kind of never happened. Perhaps I’ll get something to eat in a bit. Tomorrow will be better! ‘Night.

What did you think of my last post? Genius? Too real?

22Sep2009

Put Up Your Dukes

by Emily

I’m doing good work of my to-do list, but there is still much to do so this will be quick.

1st things 1st. My gorgeous amazing perfect friend just went through a break-up and I am sending her love. Just the other day, this friend and I discussed how silly it is that bloggers pretend to have *the perfect* marriage. If you truly never argue more power to you, but I’m kind of a b**ch so I just don’t see that happening for me. That said; the first few years of marriage suck. The first few years of medical school suck. Being unsure about what to do with my life sucks. And my fabulous husband and I are angry bitter people, we can’t just do yoga and mentally picture the suckiness floating away in a bubble, we fight. A lot. In fact, the reason I got such a late start this morning is because we screamed at each other instead of going to bed. But you know what? I love my husband. I love my marriage. As life calms down and we grow up we will fight less. But for now we fight, and that’s really ok.

Anywhoo, said fight meant I didn’t leave for coffee/studying until 10:30 this morning. A PSA to my younger readers – When you are 24, and unemployed, and late, and low on laundry, you too will put on this for drinking coffee.

Snazzy sparkles aside, I didn’t actually drink coffee, I went with my craving and got a diet coke.

And it was gooood. I was at The Spot again, so you know I got another Mike’s sandwich.

This was not so gooood. I think I’ve finally kicked my Mike’s craving, this one had too much cheese and turned me off. Not to say I didn’t finish it 🙂

This afternoon/tonight I need to finish my reading, work on homework, do some housecleaning, pre-make dinner for tomorrow and go to the gym. Back to the grindstone!

Do you fight or are you a robot? **totally kidding, I really am happy for people who are that mature

21Sep2009

Tuna Lasagna and 3.14

by Emily

Howdy there! I left the apartment and made it to the pharmacy (across many many a highway) unscathed 🙂 I was so proud of myself I bought a fountain diet coke from Subway as a reward! I reached school around 4:30, which meant I had 2ish hours to study before class. I still understand everything but I did stay for a while after class to ask a question.

When I got home I made some Chocolate Amazing Grass with skim milk.

Adam put the dinner I prepared this afternoon into the oven and it was ready when I got home.

(That’s a small plate portion) Tuna Salad Lasagna Stacks from Rachel Ray magazine. Here’ s a link to the recipe.

It was pretty good, but I saved room for dessert.

Tyler Pie was a success, the husband has been enjoying it. It is nice and custard-like.

I’m hoping to shower and get to bed pretty quickly because I have tons of schoolwork to do tomorrow. I’m going to head to a coffee shop to study so I won’t be posting until lunch. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that I can go to the gym tomorrow.

Do you ever use food as a reward? I don’t use “food” per se (and I am strongly against doing this with children), but a diet coke? Hells yeah! P.S. Whenever I get a fountain soda I always add a shot of cherry coke for funsies.

21Sep2009

Peanut Butter, Pasta, and Peace

by Emily

I’m back! I’m still pretty pissed about my foot, but at least I am calm about it now. It’s not just that my foot hurts, it’s mostly that the hurting is making me unable to walk normally, which is making my knee and hip really hurt. Even if I ignore the pain I physically can’t make myself walk normally and I’m worried that once I can run again I’ll have messed up my hip or knee. Argh! I’m going to take one more day off and then attempt to go to the gym tomorrow.

Moving on. I didn’t sleep well last night (shocking right?!) so I slept in until 9 and then got up and got organized for volunteering. I ate a PB&J Lara Bar on the walk to the hospital.

I love this flavor! When I put my shoes on at home I seemed ok, but by the time I was a block away I knew it wasn’t going to happen. My ward (dialysis) didn’t have anything seated for me to do so I offered to help in the volunteer office. I spent an hour or so on the telephone helping people get appointments for free heart health screenings. There wasn’t much else for me to do so I got home much earlier than usual.

I took advantage of the found time to make dinner for tonight.

I have night class, so Adam can just throw this in the oven when it’s time for him to eat.

Then I got started on noon eats. For lunch I made my Easy Peasy Peanut Noodles (click the link for the recipe).

I used a Justin’s pb packet and added baby arugula and shredded carrots.

Delish. I love reheating pasta in a pan so it gets all nice and crispy.

I have class from 6:30-7:50 tonight but I’ve got to leave before 3:30 so I can go to the pharmacy to pick up my foot medicine. We have our first chemistry quiz (and our first lab!) this week so I’ve got lots of studying to squeeze in today. I’m glad dinner is done with 🙂

There are three reasons for the end of this post: 1) Caitlin’s brilliance this morning reminded me, 2) I’ve been planning on posting some inspiration ever since I found out that today is The International Day of Peace, 3) my attitude has been pretty negative lately, I would like to put out some positivity. That said, here is a list of some of my favorite quotes –

“A man is what he thinks about all day.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” ~Edmund Burke

“People who are sensible about love are incapable of it.” ~Douglas Yates

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life – it goes on.” ~Robert Frost (I actually have part of this one engraved on the back of my i-pod)

“This one step – choosing a goal and sticking to it – changes everything.” ~Scott Reed

“Life consists not in holding good cards, but in playing those you hold well.” ~Josh Billings

“For all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are those ‘it might have been.'” ~John Greenleaf Whittier

What is your favorite quote?

20Sep2009

No Post Day

by Emily

I kind of can’t discuss the fact that I still can’t walk – and therefore can’t run to train – without being a whiney brat. So I won’t. It’s a good day not to blog anyways, I’ve got a rather busy study schedule.

Be back Monday!

~~Monday Update~~

I am posting today, but it’s a whirlwind, so it won’t be until late(ish) 🙂

20Sep2009

Peppers and Pie

by Emily

My biggest accomplishment this afternoon was getting rid of my headache, but that’s actually a pretty big accomplishment in my book! I finished GhostWorld and I can officially say I’m not a fan 😦

After crappy movie hour I finally did my kitchen to-do’s. I pre-made pasta for lunches this week, made dinner, and…..I made a pie!

Tyler Pie to be exact. I can’t give you the recipe, but it is from Pie, Pie, Pie; Easy Homemade Favorites by John Phillip Carroll. I’ve made things from this book throughout the years and I highly recommend it. Here is the description he gives in the book –

Incredible as it sounds, in the past, it was not uncommon to christen foods, particularly desserts, after political figures. Named for the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler of Virginia, this pie has its heritage in the South. Though the ingredients are simple, the pie has a caramel-like flavor and a smooth texture that combine to give it a soothing quality. It is a suitable for breakfast as it is after a good meal.

More on that later though, dinner was a success! I pulled the recipe completely from my head and it ended up being great 🙂

Stuffed Peppers, serves 4

5oz ww penne pasta
1C chopped broccoli
1T evoo
8oz 99% lean ground turkey
1/2C marinara sauce
4oz log goat cheese
4 peppers, any color (we used red, yellow, and orange)
1/4 shredded cheese (we used 2% cheddar)

Cook pasta, following box directions. In the last 3-5minutes of cooking stir in broccoli. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475*. Cut the tops off of the peppers. Using a spoon, scoop out the pith and seeds, careful not to break the bottoms of the peppers.
Put pot back on stove, turn heat down to medium and heat evoo. Add turkey meat and cook for 2-3minutes. Pour in marinara sauce and finish cooking meat through. Remove from heat.
Add pasta and broccoli back to pot, along with goat cheese, and stir to mix.
Spoon pasta into peppers. Split cheese ontop of the peppers. Place peppers on a foiled cookie sheet.
Bake for 15minutes.

Notes on the recipe –

* Think anti-Sir-Mix-A lot with the peppers, get ones with flat bottoms (i.e. they will stand alone)

*I did not do this, but I highly recommend preheating the peppers for 5-10minutes

* Each serving has ~400calories

Our peppers were pretty small so I ate some filling on the side.

I took too much though, I ended up leaving most of the extra filling. I needed room in my belly for pie!

It was pretty good, it had a nice eggy taste to it. I got some free coupons for Wholly Wholesome products so I used one of their pie crusts.

We watched “The Open Window” while we ate, which was also a strange movie. And now it is late, and bedtime. Nighty night!

Do you bake?

Eating Chalk

Author Archives: Emily

In the Cards

Crossing My Fingers and Toes

My Foot Hurts :(

Put Up Your Dukes

Tuna Lasagna and 3.14

Peanut Butter, Pasta, and Peace

No Post Day

Peppers and Pie