Author Archives: Emily

Reflections and Refraction

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I am back, officially!  I promised some reflecting in the last post, as to why I was being such a naughty blogger –

I am freaking out a bit.  About going back to school, about moving, about not having any idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.  About only taking one class next semester, about that class being too hard for me.  About quiting teaching.  About going back to teaching.  The list goes on, and there are a lot of contradictions.

It does not help that I am beyond exhausted, I don’t sleep well anyways and our new neighborhood is astonishingly noisy.  In the interest of full disclosure, I will also mention that I am becoming very depressed about my foot.  I’ve mentioned that I had plantars worts on my left foot (I am apparently with out an immune system!) and now instead of 3 I have 5.  And I don’t have a doctor’s appointment for another month.  And my foot hurts like heck and I’m afraid it will effect my marathon training.

From these reflections, I realized that I’ve been doing some self-sabotaging.  I’ve been eating crappy food, not working out, not studying.  I had planned on signing up for a week yoga pass (I have to do it now because once school starts my class is all at night) when I realized that I was dreading going.  That is not the feeling I want to have, towards yoga of all things.  I decided I will not do more than 5-10minutes of strength training a day until class starts, and let myself focus on volunteering and chemistry review.  I’ve had a lot of big changes in the last month, I need to allow myself to deal.

Today, I ate an Orange Cranberry Gnu Bar sample on my walk to volunteering.

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Probably the best flavor I’ve tried so far.

For lunch I used my volunteer voucher to get a cup of vegetarian chili, which I topped with cheddar cheese and jalopenos.

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I love veggie chili so much, I have a list of chili recipes I am excited to make this winter.  This was beyond tasty for cafeteria food, but left my mouth pretty spicy so I ate half a sample bag of Sahale Snacks Soledad Almonds Nut Blend.

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This was a much more pleasant flavor to spend the afternoon with 🙂

After volunteering I walked back to a coffee shop in my area and set up shop for studying.  As mentioned, I am taking one class this semester (Gen. Chem. I with a lab).  To prepare I’ve been working on Chemistry for Dummies.  I studied from 2:15 – 5:45 and while I worked I had an iced coffee – 1sugar, splash of cream – and the rest of my nuts.

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The bag had 2servings, 260calories in total, and was just the right amount of munching to keep me focused.

Tonight I have some more to-do’s to check off (including putting away the laundry I did more than 24hours ago!) and I have a 10pm bedtime goal.  See ya for dinner!

What have you been freaking out about lately?

2nd Monday

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This needs to be a quickie because Adam and I got waaaay too sucked in to Bones reruns and now it’s late.  I swear to Gouda I will be actually posting on Thursday, and there is even a revelation to come.

Espresso Chip Gnu Bar for breakfast.

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White pizza with black olives for lunch.

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After volunteering I did some errands/busywork, including spending quality time with my dough starter and running to the store for more flour.  Adam totally convinced me to get Wegman salad bar (he didn’t have to twist my arm!).

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I knew this was snack and not a meal, so I didn’t do (heavy) veggies but took one bite only of things that looked good.  Adam and I split a hibiscus tea lemonade.

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We also did the ‘fill your own bag’ candy aisle.

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My mini bag cost 63cents!

Dinner was actually made yesterday.

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This was a recipe from the July/August edition of Fitness Magazine.  It was a cinch to make, it came together so quickly (yesterday!)  I’m posting the recipe below, along with my modifications.

Mediterranea Chicken and Pasta, 4servings

  • 1 6oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped, liquid reserved
  • 1T evoo
  • 12oz skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces (we used a few ounces less because there was some yuckiness (skin?) that had to be cut out)
  • 3cloves garlic, thinly sliced (I used 1.5T chopped jarred garlic)
  • 1/4C chicken broth
  • 1/4C dry white wine
  • 1t dried oregano
  • 1 7oz jar roasted red peppers, drained and cut into strips (I used an extra oz or so)
  • 1/4C pitted kalamata olives (I used Manzanilla with pimentos because they were a bazillion times cheaper)
  • 3C hot cooked penne pasta (whole wheat, of course)
  • 1/4C crumbled feta cheese (optional, we skipped this)
  1. Drain artichoke hearts, reserving marinade, and chop them.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; and chicken and garlic.  Cook and stir until chicken is brown.  Add the reserved artichoke marinade, broth, wine, and dried oregano.
  2. Bring to a boil; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, 10minutes.  Stir in chopped artichokes, roasted peppers, and olives.
  3. To serve, spoon chicken mixture over pasta.

Nutritional facts per serving for original recipe – 347calories, 26g protein, 38g carbohydrats, 9g fat (1g saturated), 3 g fiber.

I had a small serving.

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After dinner, still during Bones, I ate a mini ice-cream sandwich from So Delicious.

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Good night!

Life

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Soooo, I guess I’ve been gone for a little while.  Through a combination of slight sickness and extreme laziness I decided to take a short break from the real world.  I haven’t posted, pictured or studied, but I have eaten a ton of crap and spent an inordinate amount of time on fmylife and watching Bones reruns online.  I actually called in from volunteering today because my tummy was feeling off and I didn’t get much sleep the night before.  We live right above a street and I need to buy earplugs, stat!

At 4pm today I decided it was time to rejoin the living and tackle my to-dos.  This is what I accomplished from 4o’clock on, not bad.

  • post office
  • unload the dishwasher
  • do 2 loads of laundry
  • make dough starter for bread
  • make dinner for Tuesday (plus leftovers)
  • pack lunch for Adam
  • and finally make dinner for tonight

The last to-do was the most exciting, because I got to use the new clementine olive oil my mom sent,

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plus the bundle of multi-colored carrots I bought at the Farmer’s market.

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We started dinner with a salad.

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Chopped Chinese cabbage dressed with clementine oil, sliced plum tomato, and macademia nuts.  Very tasty.

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Then I made Sweet Cilantro Baked Tofu, you can find the recipe here.

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And maple carrots.

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After peeling and chopping the carrots I put them in a pan over medium-high heat with 2T of Smart Balance Light.  I covered and let them cook for 5minutes then pour 2T of maple syrup over the top.  Yums.

Here was my plate.

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We watched “My So-Called Life” while we ate, and now it’s time for bed!  I promise that regularly scheduled posting will continue tomorrow!

To Market

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What a day!  Saturday is only half over and I am grinning from ear to ear  🙂

Most of our agenda so far has been shopping.  We started at the farmers’ market.

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I loved getting to explore a new farmers’ market, and this isn’t even the only one in town!  There was tons of fresh produce and we bought some great veggies to use this week.  The produce there is definitelymore expensive than at the grocery store, but I think it’s worth it.  One, when you consider that the veggies are basically organic it doesn’t seem as expensive.  Two, in addition to getting food for your family you are helping the famers to put food on their tables; these markets help to support small local businesses.

Next we went to Target for some cleaning supplies and cards.  I got handed a free sample of Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters so I ate them in the car.

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The taste was ok, but it would have been a bazillion times better if made by hand, or at least Lara Bar style.

Our final stop was food shopping at Wegmans.  Adam was starving (it was after 1:30) so we decided to do lunch at the salad bar.

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Yums!  All this was less than $6.  I got blanched cauliflower and curry cauliflower,

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General Tso’s Tofu and steamed veggies,

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and one piece of sesame chicken.

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My plan of attack with buffet situations is to do 90/10 healthy food to splurge.  I also like to stick to a majority of veggies.  I am especially pleased with Wegman’s salad bar because they post the calories for most items.  For example – I wasn’t going to get the tofu because I figured it was deep fried, but then I saw that it was 210calories for 1cup.

After we got home and unloaded all of our purchases I made my best snack ever.  This –

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equals perfection.

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  • Stoneyfield Fat Free Plain Yogurt
  • 1/3 a Jonasgold apple
  • sprinkle of cinnamon
  • crumbled Cinnabon Breakfast Bar [yes mom, this was from the box I bought you]

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We finished most of our fun, now I have to tackle our practical to do’s.  See you for dinner.

What is your plan of attack at buffets? 

Do you shop at farmers’ markets?

The Anti-Drogging Post

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Don’t misunderstand the title, I am in no way anti-drogging (drunk blogging); I just didn’t think drogging a recap of the whole day was my best idea.  I’ll start from the beginning, more than 24hours ago!

I didn’t have to volunteer on Friday so I slept in and lazed around reading magazines, which was glorious.  I lazed a little too long, however, and ended up having to rush to get dressed with Adam got home.  The reason his parents came up to visit is that he was receiving his white coat and taking his Hippocratic oath in a special ceremony.

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In the car on the way there I ate some free samples.  Gnu bar in Lemon Ginger, which was interesting.

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And Sahle Snacks Glazed Nuts in Almond PB&J which was fantasmic.

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Between the two items I ate about 250calories, which managed to fill me up for the ceremony.  I am so proud of my husband!

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Afterwards there was a mini buffet so I snagged a small plate of fruit, veggies, and cheese.

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The ceremony ended around 5 and we drove back to a spot near our house to have dinner with his parents and their friend.  We were at a bar directly below our apartment that I think we will be visiting often!  I got a Hienekin Light to drink.

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And for dinner I ordered a Turkey Melt; roasted turkey, jack cheese, tomato, sourdough bread, russian dressing.

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It came with sweet potato fries (which were fabulous, but nowhere near as good as the baked ones we make at home) which I shared with Adam, and I also split his side salad.

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When we said goodbye to the parents around 7 we drove over to another med student’s house for a party!  Over the course of the evening I ate a cracker with Brie,

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and a sweet pepper stuffed with cheese.

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I also had two (largish) CokeZeros with Jack Daniels that I didn’t photograph.  It was a really fun evening and we somehow managed to not get home until after 2am!

Today we have some fun and practical things planned, and I’ve got to scadadle!

When was the last time you were proud of a loved one?  I am so excited for my husband that he is on his way to being a doctor.  I was proud of him for the two years he volunteered teaching too, but his excitement makes this all the sweeter.

Argh to Ahhhh

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What a long and exciting day it has been!  I’ll start from the begining…..we were up too late after the semi-formal and I was not feeling it this morning.  I felt so gross I almost called in from volunteering, but I knew it was more about being tired than being contagious.  I told myself that I would suck it up and go and planned a reward/major sugar and caffeine rush for breakfast.  I ate a Cliff Mojo Trail Mix Bar on the walk to the hospital.

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Adam had been driving me but it’s only about a half a mile a way.  I should have walked further though, because when I got to the hospital I ordered this –

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cookies and cream javalanche (i.e. frozen coffee).  Oh man, I felt like a 24year old and not a college kid because this made me so sick!  I got about 3/4 through before I threw in the towel but I spent the first hour or so of volunteering wishing I had somewhere quiet to puke!

Volunteeringwas much better today than it had been, because I finally had a bit more to do.  I spent several hours making catheter packs and the repetition was very cathartic.  There was some sadness and hubbub because a DNRpatient coded but getting to see all the UB med students rush in the room got me so excited about my husband 🙂

For lunch I let my uber unhealthy breakfast guide me away from pizza and toward the sandwich counter.

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Sliced turkey with spring mix lettuce, sun dried tomatoes, and chipotle sauce on pumpernickel bread.

When I got home I found a very exciting package, and a review is to come.

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I also had to go to the post office to pick up more excitement from my parents.

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(Among other things) they were in San Francisco last weekend and they sent me all of these goodies they bought along the way.  I also got an Amazon order with two books my mom had bought me for my birthday that were on hold.

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Right now my “to read” bookshelf is packed 🙂

As soon as we got home from the post office we had visitors!  Adam’s mom and dad came up for his white coat ceremony tomorrow and they are staying with their friend Peg in Warsaw.  The three of them drove over tonight to meet us for dinner.  We hung out and showed them our new digs before we walked across the street for dinner here –

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We tried Tempo, and Italian spot on our block, and looooooved it.  We sat on the patio which was gorgeous.

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It came up that I had a food blogand we ended up gettingto meet the chef!  If that wasn’t exciting enough he sent out an extra course for us to sample.  All in all the service was impeccableand the experience was amazing.

I nused a glass of riesling, Richter Porter, Germany, throughout dinner that I adored.

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Soon after we were seated we were delivered an antipasto plate – eggplant tapenade, fresh feta, olives – and some fresh homemade foccacia.

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Here was my plate –

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For my first course I ordered the eggplant antipasto fried eggplant/goat cheese/olive tapenade/sun dried tomato vinaigrette/baby greens.

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How gorgeous is that?!?

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The eggplant was unbelievably fresh and the tanginess of the sauce complimented the dish wonderfully.  I ate it all except for a few shared bites.

After the appetizers the chef sent out three plates for our table to try.

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Respectively they were: a. gnocchi in a favabean sauce, beef carpaccio, and a zucchini stuffed with bacon risotto.

Since I don’t eat mammals there were parts I couldn’t eat, but I had small tastes of each –

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The gnocchi was a-maze-ing.  It was the best texture ever, chewy and airy all at the same time.  I realize the bacon was cooked into the the risotto but I said screw it and just sort of ate around it, it was creamy and smokey and great.  And my husband said the beef reminded him slightly of salmon and was delicious.  We just couldn’t get over how fresh everything tasted.

For my entree I ordered the Gnocchi Pomodoro housemade gnocchi/pomodoro sauce/fresh mozzarella.

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I couldn’t stop talking about how beautiful all of the dishes were.

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The gnocchiwas amazing, as before, and the best way to describe the pomodoro sauce is that it tasted made from scratch.  We were getting stuffed at this point and I still managed to eat all but a few bites, though I did peel away most of the cheese.

Stuffed, however, does not mean too stuffed for dessert!  My mother in law ordered a trio of sorbets, best she’d ever had she said, and Peg raved about the cannolli but I was too busy swooning to taste anybody else’s!

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Butter Pecan Gelato with biscotti and housemade fudge sauce.  Adam and I split this but if I hadn’t been so stuffed I probably would not have let him have any!  The gelato was great (again, it was just so clearly homemade) but nothing on this Earth is as good as that frickin’ fudge sauce.  The very best comparison I can make, which doesn’t even begin to do it justice, is that it reminded me of baking chocolate squares, if they were somehow the most amazing thing on Earth.

Adam actually commented after dinner how much he enjoyed watching me enjoy my food 🙂

We walked our guests to their car and since I was too close to exploding to sit back down we spent 20minutes taking a nice walk around our neighborhood.  I called my parents to thank them for the gifts and swooned about dinner all over again.  Now Adam is studying and I am going to do some blog business and then aim for a 10pm deadline.  Sweet dreams.

When was the last great meal you had?  Other than tonight’s amazingness, and the world’s best sandwiches at Serendipity, I would say this meal.

Semi-Formal

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It’s a late night so this has to be quick, but we had a great time at the semi-formal!  I talked to some really fun people and it was great getting to dance with my husband.  Getting low in heels is pretty much an awesome thigh work-out!

I wore my new gold necklace from BR,

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and the shoes I rocked at my wedding!

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Here is Adam and I at the end of the night –

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I got to know the people at our table pretty well and I explained about the food blog so I ended up taking a picture of dinner.

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It was buffet style and I got salad, roasted veggies, penne a la vodka, and a roll.

Adam and I split a small slice of cheesecake for dessert.

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And I also had 2 glasses of white wine.

Tomorrow is another day of volunteering, in addition to Adam’s first day of actual classes; send him good luck thoughts!  See ya tomorrow.

Prep = Snap

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Since I started to prepare ingredients yesterday making breakfast this morning was a snap.  All I needed was a pan and 4 eggs.

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For two servings I used (approx) 2C kale, 2t evoo, 2oz extra sharp cheddar.  Look at those yummy greens.

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Lunch was less than stellar in the greens department for the second day in a row.

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Who could pass up buffalo chicken pizza?  The vouchers we get wouldn’t cover pizza and a salad and I’d rather not spend my own money at the hospital.

Volunteering went well again, although I wish I had more to do.  I’m there 6hours a day and they don’t go by very quickly!

When I got home I made the afternoon snack of artificially flavored champions.

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Diet cherry flavored colas are my favorite kind of soda.  I bought the candy – Kazoozles, which were like Twizzlers filled with goo and made by Wonka – at the gas station yesterday because pink lemonade totally caught my eye.

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Tonight is Adam’s semi-formal.  I’m not planning on taking pictures – tonight is his night, it’s not the appropriate time to explain about the blog – but I will do a full recap.  I will definitely take pictures of my new dress though.  See you when I get home from the ball!

What do you do to ensure a healthy breakfast?