Author Archives: Emily

Alliteration, Always Awesome

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Ick, ack, yetch!  My plan for last night was snack, mini-workout, early bed time and the heat put a crimp in all three.  I was too hot for food or movement (and I guess those two sort of cancel out) and I ended up not falling asleep until after 3:30am!  Not only do we not have AC but it is actually hotter in our apartment than it is outside.  I don’t even want to think about what moving day will feel like!  My late night pushed everything back this morning but the day is starting to turn around.

I enjoyed my breakfast bowl yesterday and when I saw bbbbbBlack Cherry yogurt in the fridge I knew I’d have to make it again!

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Black, Blue, Berry, Banana Breakfast Bowl

  • Stoneyfield Fat Free Black Cherry Yogurt
  • 1 medium banana
  • ~1/4C blueberries
  • 1T wheatberries

I made today’s bowl a little smaller because I am actually meeting Adam for lunch soon!  He is out doing laundry and I am going to try to get some studying done.  We are planning on packing up our kitchen and bookshelves today and we have to finish all of our business online because we have no internet as of tomorrow morning.  Hopefully we can sneak some fun in too!

Do you prefer blueberries, blackberries, or black cherry?  I am a blackberry fan.

Eat Up the Fridge

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I was very productive on the business-front (although registration for classes does not look promising) but my split study schedule might have been a bad idea.  By the time I got back to Starbucks in the afternoon it was packed.  I roamed all the coffee bars in the area and it took me until 4:45 to find one that wasn’t sardined with Park Slope stay-at-home-mommies.

I drank a Fizzy Lizzy Tangerine while I worked and did manage to get some good studying in until Adam came to meet me at 6.

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This drink was real juice with fizzy water and had 100% daily dose of vitamin C for 100calories.

Our fun plan was to hit up a beer tasting at a place on 5th Avenue but that fell through.  When we got there we learned that 1. the tasting was an hour later than listed online, and 2. they don’t have a full liquor license so we couldn’t sit and drink beers while we waited.  Our make-up plans were much better though 🙂

We took the looong walk (3miles total) to 7-11 for my version of heaven.

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I got a Big Gulp of diet coke and it made me smile the whole walk home.  And, we stopped in at a local playground so I could do what I’ve been dreaming of for the past two years…

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…climb the mini rock wall!  It was everything I had hoped for.  We also tried to do the monkey bars but I was way too weak, children’s game are good workouts.

I was very hungry by the time we got home so I ate 5 of Adam’s Saltines,

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and another kiwi bowl.

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Dinner was a ‘use up the fridge’ effort that ended up being amazing.

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My plate had –

  • 1/3C cooked wheatberries
  • ~2/3C sauteed peas and artichoke hearts
  • 1/2 can of tuna
  • the last jalopeno chicken sausage
  • and tasty sauce (for 2 servings I shook together 2T red wine vinegar, 1T lemon juice, 1T evoo, 1shake oregano and paprika)

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This was so yummy!  It was a great mix of textures and the flavors blended together really nicely.

Tonight I would like to do a mini workout (seriously mini, like 20 sit-ups) and I will probably have a small snack/dessert if fullness doesn’t kick in after 20minutes.  I am also determined to go to bed early!

Have you had any recent ‘eat up the fridge’ successes?

Lunch Break

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I’m making pretty good progress on my to-dos.  After the post office I got to Starbucks at 10:30 and studied until 12:30.  I drank a Grande Iced Americano with bit of skim milk while I worked.

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I decided to split my study session into two because I got distracted by a phone call from my mommy and my coffee was making me pretty jittery.

We decided that lunch out should be forgone in favor of using fridge food because we are packing our kitchen/dishes up tomorrow and that will be the end of that.  I managed to make a pretty exciting meal at home though.

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This spicetastic sandwich is –

  • 2 slices toasted white (cheap) bread
  • 2 TJ’s Spicy Jalopeno Chicken Sausages
  • 1slice provolone cheese
  • smidge Stonewall Kitchen Hot Pepper Peach Preserves

This was hands down the best sandwich I’ve ever eaten!  I think it was the hot pepper peach, which I adore.  On the side I had a chocolate Amazing Grass packet with skim milk.

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I need to get back to business – I have some things to do online and then I’m heading to Starbucks for another 2 hours of studying.  Adam is meeting me around 6 for some fun this evening though!

What is your opinion on spice?  I say the more the better!  I don’t like the chemical taste of Chinese hot sauce but beyond that bring it on.  Jalopenos, chillis, red pepper flakes, buffalo sauce, are all good in my book.

Blue, Berry, Banana, Breakfast Bowl

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My alliteration obsession was the driving force behind this morning’s breakfast.  Brought to you by the letter B –

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led to –

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led to –

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Yum.  This bowl contained

  • 1/2 C blueberries
  • 1/4 C wheatberries
  • Stoneyfield Fat Free Strawberry Yogurt
  • small banana

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Some facts –

*Blueberries seem to be out of season now but I was still able to have fresh ones for this bowl.  A month or so ago, when they were super cheap, I bought a few pints, washed them carefully, put them back in the fridge for a day to dry and then poured them into baggies and put them in the freezer.  Last night I just poured from the baggie into my measuring cup, put the cup in the fridge, and this morning I had thawed fresh blueberries.

*Camile asked a question about wheatberries and they are pretty new to me too so I did some research

  • A wheatberry is a wheat grain stripped of its outer hull to leave just the whole kernel
  • They can be ground up to make wheat flour or you can cook them whole for use in dishes
  • Nutrition is equivalent to that of whole wheat
  • A cup of wheatberries has about 300 calories and is packed with protein, fiber, and iron

I think they are chewy and tasty, here are a few spots you can order them –

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Today is one of the last low-key days before we have to actually start packing for the move.  I am headed down the street to do some studying, I have to mail a box to my parents, we need to update our filing system and file our CPR certification, and we are planning on heading over to the Meat Packing District for lunch.

What is the best thing on your agenda today?

Bye, Brooklyn Bloggers

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Our mini-meet-up was a success; good food and great company!  Diana, Vani, Sarah, and I met up at Organic Heights, a vegan spot near the Bergen stop.

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It was a cute little restaurant although the menu was also pretty little.  I am a Reuben (turkey Reubens only) fanatic so when I saw tempeh Reuben my order was obvious.

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I ate none of the salad and 95% of the sandwich.  It was de-lish-ous!  The bread was sourdough, which is always fantastic, and they got the tempeh chewy and wonderful in a way I never could.

To drink (my third bought drink of the day, I think I went a little over calorie/$ budget in liquids today) I got a Vita Coco.

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It was great getting to spend a final bit of time with that group of girls.  I have met some really wonderful people through this experience.  We sat after dinner and had a big chatfest which is exactly what I needed this stressful week.

Diana was a sweetheart and brought us all homemade, vegan, chocolate chip cookie/brownie bars.

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They were delicious.  They did not deter me, however, from getting suckered into Haagen Dazs which is across the street from where Adam and I had to go after dinner to deposit a birthday check from my grandma.  I got a mint chip dazzler.  I couldn’t take a picture due to drippage but think of the biggest sundae acceptable for a grown woman to eat and multiply it by 3!  I threw away half of it and it was still a ridiculous serving.

On a similar note, I think the thing I am most excited about in the move is shaking up my routines.  This year (and the last month especially due to move circumstances) we have done so little cooking.  I really do love my time in a kitchen.  When people play the ‘if you won the lottery….’ game with me the very first thing that pops into my head is culinary school.

Our exercise schedule, or lack thereof, could also use a good shaking.  I am 24, the amount of stiffness and lack of energy I currently have is unacceptable to me.  Even if I hadn’t recently discovered that I’m 10+lbs over where I want to be, I don’t like the way I feel.  Aside from long-term health benefits and looking good I like to be active because I enjoy the way I feel in my body when it is in shape.  The CPR instructor yesterday did a quick heart health speech and he made a very good point – this is the only body you have.

So now I’m going to try to take my only body and actually get it in bed a reasonable time!  Peace y’all.

What do you need to shake up?

P.S.  Who doesn’t want Chiobani????

Too Hot

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Woo-who, it is a scorcher today!  You’d think I’d be used to it from growing up on an island but I hate hot weather!  I just feel so puffy and sticky and gross!  I was too hot this morning for breakfast, Adam and I did some move strategizing but mostly I laid around and acted snippy (these days leading up to the move have not exactly been my shining moments).

Lunch, however, was very exciting.  In fact, it was my final check on my ‘to do before the move’ list.  I had to go to the city for a doctors appointment so I had lunch from the Whole Foods Buffet.  There isn’t a Whole Foods (or a Trader Joes, tear!) in Buffalo so this was a must.  On the train ride up I tried to combat the heat by splitting a Bolthouse Farms Mango Lemonade with Adam.

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Please excuse the crappy pictures, I forgot my camera and had to use the husband’s cell phone.  For lunch I chose vegetarian.

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Steamed veggies, okra marsala, lemon baked tofu, and Caesar salad.  I had this okra marsala once before and fell in love – it is chewy and spicy and delicious.  To drink I had a hibiscus and lime Ooba.

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Check!

The doctors office went ok, I currently have 4 plantar warts on my left foot, ugh!  My protein light lunch left me pretty hungry and when I was still complaining after my appointment so Adam bought me some corn chips.

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I have been randomly craving Fritos (I haven’t had them in years and years) the last week or so and these perfectly hit the spot.  Plus, kudos to Utz, this bag had only 150calories, the reason I hadn’t just bought Fritos is because the “small” bags were all 300calories+.  Another fun fact about Utz – I got to tour their chip factory as a teenager and it rocked my socks.

Before you think “God she eats a lot of crap,” go ahead and picture a slice of provolone cheese with two slices of bread, because that’s what I ate when I got home.  I was too lazy to take a picture but the whole thing was 210 calories if that helps you to visualize.

I have fun plans for dinner too: a mini blogger meet up at a new restaurant.  See you then.

Do you prefer hot or cold weather?  I can handle cold, but hot makes me crazy.  The main thing is that my body really reacts to temperature so when it’s hot my jewelry is all too tight and my clothing feels super uncomfortable.

Thunder, Turkey, Too Much

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I am so hungry!  I’ve eaten so much, as you will see in this post, and I am still starving!  I finally just stopped eating because it was getting ridiculous.

We didn’t have much to get at the grocery store for this week – milk, bread – but we stocked up on some snacks for our upcoming road-trip.  Due to some plan changes I just found out that I will be driving from the city to Buffalo alone by myself in the car.  It’s a little scary – moving vehicles put me to sleep in minutes – but my plan of attack is to do a lot of snacking and chug some sugar free energy drinks.  By the way, for obvious reasons, I won’t be blogging during the move.  We lose our internet this Wednesday and it won’t be set up in Buffalo for about a week so I will be taking a quick hiatus.

The errand took a little longer than planned because we got caught in a massive thunderstorm –

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I looked like a drowned rat.  By the time we got home I was (wet) starving so I grabbed my emergency candy from when I thought the CPR class was running until 6.

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Limited Edition Coconut M&Ms.  These were really good, the coconut flavor was very present without being too strong.  Plus some had cute little palm trees stamped on them.

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I also love these “what’s inside” nutrition stat bubbles.

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What a clear, colorful way to make sure important information does not go overlooked.  My only complaint is that they do not list trans fat in the bubble – that is by far the most important thing I look for when I read nutritional labels.  Even when I am totally pigging out I never eat trans fat.  With the disagreements over how trans fat effects fertility it is disgusting to me that this [added] ingredient is still in products.  It’s one thing to say that Big Brother shouldn’t put laws on how much fat products can have or restrict supersizing, it is up to consumers to be informed.  But when it comes to trans fat there is a real glut of information, even many informed consumers aren’t informed and they deserve to have risk-free food.

While we were cooking I also lopped off the top of a kiwi and ate his brains out with a spoon.

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This was the best method at maximizing flesh eaten and minimizing mess I’ve found so far.

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For dinner we sauteed extra lean ground turkey with frozen collard greens and some peas and then added Newman’s Own Cabernet Marinara.  We ate that on top of some wheatberries Adam cooked in bulk the other day.

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I ate a ton of toppings over 1/3C of wheatberries.

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Tasty, and quick.

Of course I was still hungry after dinner, so I dipped into our car snacks stash and at a small large bowl of cheddar goldfish

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And finally a mini strawberry rice krispies treat.

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As I said before, I’m still hungry, but it was time to stop.

Unfortunately I never got in even a mini workout, but I am just so wet!  I need to go shower so I can snuggle up in bed.  I’ll leave you with some interesting happenings online –

1. Surprising Secrets of Celebrity Chefs from MSN.  My favorite tip was from Ming Tsai, there are so many wonderful, easy applications for store bought wonton wraps.

2. Kath and Caitlin both blogged about free samples in bloggerland.  I don’t get many samples (although I’d like to get more!) because my blog is pretty teensy and I don’t ask for them.  However, when I do get freebies I think I do a good job of mentioning that the item is a sample.  I will always be completely honest about how I feel about a product – if it’s bad it’s bad, my blog isn’t big enough to be worth compromising my integrity.  While I don’t get a lot of free samples, I do do a fair amount of product reviews on here.  I know sometimes it seems like I gush about everything but honestly, I’m just really excited about food!

What is a non-negotiable for you on nutritional labels?

What do you think about blogger freebies?

“How to Save a Life”

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Did anyone guess correctly?  I was at a CPR certification training!  Actually, we went to an advanced emergency professionals’ training so I am AED/CPR certified now.  Also exciting was that it finished earlier than scheduled at 3:30.

We got a late start this morning (more on that later*) so we had to rush to the American Red Cross center.  It was so hot outside that even speed walking felt like a major chore!  I was sweaty and sticky and my thighs hurt from all the Warriors in hot yoga yesterday!  I didn’t get a chance to eat breakfast but I felt myself getting a little sleepy so at the 10:30 break I bought this winning combo –

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I shared a few lifesavers with Adam but the sugar/caffeine combo was just what I needed.

When we broke for lunch Adam and I went to the deli next-door, the only food spot for blocks, and I got paninnis.  Mine was The Chipoltes grilled chicken, salsa, chipolte, avocado, swiss, lettuce, tomato, and mayo.

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It was pretty tasty but super duper spicy.  I ate 90% of the sandwich but left most of the chips.

The day consisted of lecture, video, practice; repeat for each topic.  This was my first class ever so while I knew the basics I found it very informative.  We had a 40question test before we were certified and I only missed 1 question (and the teacher said it was a stupid, poorly worded question)!

This evening we have to make a teensy grocery trip, make dinner, and even though I’m sore I would love some sort of mini work-out.  See you this evening!

*later – I realized I had yet to set yearly goals for 24, I like to do them on New Years and birthdays.  Here we go:

  1. Go to bed earlier…
  2. …and wake up earlier!
  3. Complete at least one of the prerequisites for the RD programs.
  4. Run more regularly…
  5. …and complete a half marathon!
  6. And finally, since I had to weigh myself to program my heart rate monitor and I practically fell off the scale in shock, lose 10pounds.

Are you CPR certified?  Why did you decided to take the course?

Do you set birthday goals too, just New Year’s ones, or none at all?