Bloody {Mary} Sunday

by Emily

My big plans of knocking off some school work didn’t come to fruition, but I did manage to do some day drinking. That’s a better use of time really, isn’t it?

I started the morning with this bowl of absolute incredibleness.

Dannon Oikos Cafe Latte Greek Yogurt, 1/2 serving Nature’s Path Coconut Chia Granola, fresh blackberries, 1 tsp honey, 2 Tbsp coconut butter.

Oh my goodness, you guys, the coconut butter. I have been reading Kath talk about coconut butter acting as a magic shell for years but I never quite knew what she meant. It was amazing.

I also snacked on (approximately 2 servings each) BBQ Pop Chips with reduced-fat french onion dip.

If I had known I was going to have chips with dinner I might have done a veggie-based snack instead, but at that point I planned on having soup! Sidenote – did you know that Pop Chips has a new ketchup flavor?! I’m pretty sure that sounds terrible.

I spent my afternoon at work. The weather has finally gotten the memo that it’s Spring so lots of people were out and about.

At the end of my shift some friends stopped by to invite me to Blue Monk. They were having a Bloody Mary special, with celery, hot sauce, tomato, etc infused vodkas.

A girl from our program sweetly got us a 2nd round so I ended up having two.

Bloody Marys make me crave stick-to-your-ribs food so instead of soup I ended up with Moe’s for dinner. A rice bowl – rice / black beans/ sautéed onion / mushroom / green pepper / cheese / sour cream / guacamole / corn salsa.

Plus chips with queso.

Apparently there’s always room for chips.

Do ketchup flavored chips sound good to you?

6Apr2013

Weekend Welcome Back

by Emily

Hello again! I know I kind of dropped off the face of the earth. This semester has been busy. I don’t have a lot to say tonight, and my pictures are poorly lit and blurry, but it was a good day so I wanted to share.

I slept in this morning; we’ve got a serious stayed-up-too-late-watching-Battlestar-Galactica-every-night-this-week sleep deficit going. I ended up eating “breakfast” during the afternoon at work. Chobani Vanilla Golden Crunch Flip.

I love most of Chobani’s flavors but I have really disliked the Flip line*. This was my 2nd try with this flavor and both times the vanilla yogurt was so tangy I was actually a little afraid it had gone bad. *the Honey BeeNana one was really freaking good

I also drank a Dr. Pepper 10.

The first in a fun line-up of beverages today.

After work I met up with a friend for bubble tea; strawberry green tea with both kinds of boba.

We hung out for the rest of the evening and had a fun night. Next was drinks at a bar in Allentown. I enjoyed this Genesee Cream Ale more than I was expecting to.

It was basically water, but at least it was quite refreshing. Plus it is locally made.

Finally we headed to Seabar for a late dinner.

I was very disappointed that they were out of the (the) lobster ramen bowl, but I rallied with three small plates.

Seaweed salad.

Pickle cucumber salad over sushi rice.

Udon noodle bowl served with tempura shrimp.

All three were quite tasty but the cucumber salad was my favorite.

I brushed my teeth the minute I got home and now I’m actually blogging from the bed! Sweet dreams!

2Apr2013

No Talk Tuesday

by Emily

Tomorrow includes the last quiz of this semester. Quick, how many mg of cholesterol in 3 oz of dark meat turkey?

A: 72 mg.

P.S. Alter Ego makes the best flipping chocolate, the Dark Coconut Toffee bar blew my mind.

2Apr2013

Buffalo Chicken Mac And Cheese

by Emily

When I made this dish last weekend I was not planning on sharing the recipe, I just really wanted Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese.

But then I took my first bite and fell head-over-heels in love. Several of you requested the recipe on the blog and Instagram, and who am I to say no? This recipe is not, I repeat not healthy. But it is tasty, yummy, cheesy, spicy, decadent, comforting, and delicious.

And it gets even better leftover. Particularly when you steal cold bites from the casserole dish the next morning.

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese, serves 4

4 oz uncooked miniature shell pasta
1 Tbsp butter
1/2 Tbsp canola oil
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast; cubed
8 oz 1/3-reduced-fat cream cheese
1/3 cup reduced-fat ranch dressing
3/4 cup medium-strength Buffalo sauce
8 oz extra-sharp cheddar, shredded
3 oz blue cheese crumbles
2 green onions, sliced

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Prepare a 8×8 inch baking pan with cooking spray.
Prepare pasta according to package directions. Drain and set aside.
Melt butter and oil in a large skillet with a lid over medium-high heat . Add chicken cubes to skillet, cover and cook 3-4 minutes on each side.
Remove cooked chicken from pan and reduce heat to medium. Place cream cheese, ranch dressing, and Buffalo sauce in skillet and cook, stirring frequently, until combined. Add all but a handful of the cheddar and stir until melted.
Remove skillet from heat and stir in cooked chicken and pasta.
Pour mixture into baking pan. Top with blue cheese, remaining cheddar, and green onions.
Bake 30 minutes.

What’s your favorite comfort food? Mine clearly all involve cheese!

1Apr2013

Choco-Cherry Love

by Emily

I’ve been skipping breakfast on most of the early mornings of my internship without incident, but today I ran into issues. After a week of eating breakfast – giant, glorious, egg studded breakfasts – my body rebelled at today’s sudden fast. I spent the first hour of my morning light-headed and nauseous, crossing my fingers that I wouldn’t pass out while reading charts. Yuck.

All that is to say, I drank a regular sugar Pepsi for breakfast (I felt better almost immediately!), after breaking out in a very embarrassing cold sweat while talking with a doctor. No photo because I was in a hurry to get back to work.

Lunch was nutritionally lame as well; I ran out of time to pack food this morning.

At least the hospital cafeteria has good pizza.

When I got home this afternoon I made myself a Choco-Cherry Smoothie.

1 heaping cup frozen sweet dark cherries // 1.5 heaping Tbsp Navita’s chocolate Protein Smoothie Mixer // 1 Tbsp U-Bet chocolate syrup // ~1 cup Silk Vanilla Unsweetened Almond Milk.

It had so much potential but sadly my smoothie had absolutely no flavor. It was basically ice water! I’m not sure where I went wrong, but I drank the whole thing any way to get in the nutrients.

I spent my afternoon working on my thesis for the history class I’m taking this semester. I am not enjoying having to write an actual paper; it’s been awhile! I am hoping to plug away over the next two weeks though and get it done a little bit early so I can get it off of my mind.

I ate baby carrots with blue cheese while I worked.

The perfect snack.

I spent the evening in night class. We talked about the Holocaust today, which felt like a throw-back to my first time in college. Did you know – when I thought about getting my Masters in English I planned on writing my thesis on Holocaust literature?

Then I hurried home to squeeze in a few episodes of “Battlestar Galactica.” I enjoyed a sliced banana with peanut butter while I wrote this post.

I’ve decided I’d rather paint my nails – a gorgeous, sparkly pink! – than eat a grown-up dinner, so that’s all she wrote.

Can you skip meals or does it make you too queasy?

31Mar2013

Easter Brunch

by Emily

I hope everyone had a hoppy Easter! Our day was quite nice; tasty food, nice weather, and tons of tv.

Adam’s parents sent us $ in lieu of an Easter basket so I got to go to brunch with my handsome husband.

He took me to Left Bank, a spot he’s been to with friends (working weekends means I usually have to skip brunch, boo!) and was dying to share.

The space was gorgeous and the menu had lots of offer. Plus, they brought yummy lemon poppy-seed bread.

Adam ordered a mimosa while I went with an extra-spicy bloody mary,

but we were on the same page when it came to food.

We both ordered the Seafood Benedict,

crab cakes topped with poached eggs and [citrus] hollandaise. <– I asked for regular hollandaise, served on the side please!

The dish came with sides of fruit and hash browns and was quite good.

I saved one of my crab cakes for Adam but devoured my eggs.

Meals where you soak up yolks are my very favorite!

The rest of our day was gloriously low-key. We knew we were going to hunker down on the couch, so we made sure to take the dog on a quick walk first. I got an iced, non-fat, caramel macchiato on the way home.

Why yes, I did ask for extra caramel – it was Easter dammit and no one bought me any candy!

Minus a few hours spent on a take-home exam, we spent the rest of the day screaming at the characters on “Battlestar Galactica.” My food totally fit the tv marathon vibe… Chips.

Leftover buffalo chicken mac and cheese. (recipe’s coming this week, promise!)

And no-bake brownie batter. (recipe’s coming as soon as I work out the kinks!)

Readers who grew up with the whole bunny thing; do you still get an Easter basket?

30Mar2013

Break’s Up

by Emily

Can you believe my last day of spring break is tomorrow? I certainly can’t! My days have gone by way too fast, and I’ve done the very minimum that a person can do with their days. Since I last blogged, I – watched Seinfeld, read two murder mysteries, made a single-serving 7-layer bar, and spent an entire day in bed. That’s it! Well, except for what I did today; but I’ll share that now.

Today I… Went to work.

Took two long walks with the husband.