Hey (Shuga!) What’s Going On? {Giveaway}

by Emily

What’s going on around these parts?

Look at what I did at work yesterday –

I probably should have taken pictures before it got dark out, but I did have a really good time making that train!

Even though there were only a few days to go, the Vegan 20 Day Challenge has unceremoniously …ended. Not that my friend and I were doing that well anyway, what with eggs sneaking into half of what we both were eating. But yesterday I dove head first into a slice of buffalo chicken pizza. (I also ate an entire bag of chips, but that’s neither here nor there.) And tonight’s dinner involved these guys –

Adam and I have wanted to buy that shrimp plate for months and at $12 we finally decided to take the plunge. So good!

Tonight’s dessert was vegan –

We made the Chocolate Vegan Mousse recipe from the Hey Shuga! website.

Full disclosure – I recently received a bottle each of Hey Shuga! and Lil’ Shuga! to sample.

Hey Shuga! is an organic cane sugar syrup. It pours more easily than honey and blends into liquids easily. Lil’ Shuga! is a blend of organic cane sugar syrup and stevia leaf extract. I will be honest about the fact that I hated the Lil’ Shuga!; one small taste made me screw my face up in disgust. I hate, hate, hate, stevia though, so take that as you will. I shared the Lil’ Shuga! with a fake-sugar-user friend and she was a fan. And Adam and I both thought that the Hey Shuga! was quite tasty. We are both looking forward to using it in coffee and smoothies.

The company wanted me to let you guys know that both products are available in the Northeast at Wegmans. They will be doing demos at many of the stores, including at Wegmans Eastway and Wegmans Pittsford. Hey Shuga! is going to launch a fun contest with prizes for people who submit pictures of the product at Wegmans, Whole Foods, or in specialty natural food stores and tag “@HeyShugas” on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or Pinterest.

They also offered to let me share with you guys – I can send a bottle of Hey Shuga! and Lil’ Shuga! to one reader. For a chance to win – leave a comment on this post before midnight on Monday, February 25th.

Have you seen the Hey Shuga! product in your local store yet? Have you tried it?

19Feb2013

Asian Carbs

by Emily

The title describes every single thing I ate today! At least I managed to cover a good spread of the continent – Thailand, Japan, and India.

Adam wasn’t excited enough about my Pad Kee Mao leftovers, so I ate them myself for breakfast.

Amazing. Broad rice noodles (when cooked in a Thai dish and super spicy) are my favorite food.

I rounded out the meal with a spoon of peanut butter.

I left a little bit behind for the dog and he was on Cloud 9.

Lunch was spicy avocado Inari.

Yes, contrary to ~~popular~~ Adam’s belief, that orange stuff in mayonnaise-based. But when you husband sweetly delivers you lunch at work you don’t turn it down just because you’re doing a silly challenge.

We used a groupon at India Gate for dinner.

I got Chana Bhatura.

I ate half of my chickpeas, with rice. And 1.5+ of my fried dough. I tried to eat less but half the times Adam went to take a bite I ended up snatching it away from him!

The flavor was very similar to the Johnny Cake I grew up eating and I was having a total taste memory.

Adam is in bed (he got under the covers at 8:45!) and I should be there too but I have a mental problem that keeps me from making healthy sleep decisions so instead I’ll probably get some dessert and watch Law and Order: SVU.

P.S. I picked a winner for my Slow Cooker Desserts giveaway – (#1)

Cori, e-mail me with your mailing address so I can get your prize sent out!

19Feb2013

Back On Winter Break

by Emily

My title’s no joke – I am officially back on winter break until the 28th! Since I started my rotation early I’m spending the rest of this portion of the semester catching up on the days of winter break that I missed. I do have a placement with an outpatient RD on Thursday, but other than that the time is mine. I’m not doing anything super exciting; in fact, I work every single day of the next two weeks! I’m hoping to get back into the gym habit too.

My last day of senior practicum was bittersweet, I loved this experience so much more than I was expecting to. I am going to post some more about the internship after I gather my thoughts, but for now I’ll stick to breakfast.

Breakfast. A packet of Spiru-Tein Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Protein Powder shaken with 1.25 cups Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

I didn’t really love the texture/flavor all that much, but at least this kept me full through rounds. p.s. – this flavor has bee pollen in it so it won’t work for strict vegans

Lunch was packed with veggies. I brought a container of roasted butternut squash and green beans,

and topped it with a thing of Sea’s Gift Sweet Seaweed Snack.

That combo was ridiculous good. I actually drove to Wegman’s the minute I was done with the day to buy more of the sweet seaweed!

Can I brag for a second? I brought the nutrition department a thing of my Triple Butterscotch Blondies to say thank you and everyone raved about them. You know a group of dietitians doesn’t go for seconds on a dessert unless it’s good!

I couldn’t have a blondie – they are sooooo not vegan – but when I got home I did eat 1.5 servings of So Delicious Coconut Milk Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

The flavor of the ice cream is a little bit funky, but the cookie dough pieces are the best I’ve ever had (vegan or otherwise).

Let’s do a final Fashion ~~Friday~~ Monday –

I accented my outfit with this great bracelet my mom sent me for Valentine’s.

That is seriously such a “me” pieces of jewelry.

Since the college is closed for Presidents’ Day, my night class was cancelled. This meant I could go out for celebratory drinks and dinner with friends.

I didn’t plan on drinking much, but I kept a Tea’s Tea Green Tea with Grape in my purse for rehydration purposes.

Really I only drank 1 Jack and ginger ale.

I was embarrassingly tipsy afterward.

My friend had a friend visiting from out-of-town so we had to shower her the wonder of Sun Restaurant for dinner.

I went with the Pad Kee Mao, ordered Thai spicy. Thai-style fried wide rice noodles with hot and spicy sauce, mixed vegetable, and basil leaves.

There wasn’t egg listed in the description, but it was definitely present in the dish. I’ve already cheated on the Vegan 20 Day more than once though, so it’s not like it was a big deal.

I ate a little more than half of my pasta, then brought the rest home for Adam. I also brought him a whole order of the tea leaf salad that he loves to help bribe him into making me popcorn.

Score! I smothered that bowl in melted SmartBalance Light and it was amazing.

Did you have the day off for Presidents’ Day?

17Feb2013

The Sunday Scurry

by Emily

I’m in a quandary: I want to blog because yesterday I started my “30 days of blogging” challenge again, but I want to get off the computer so I can hang out with my boys. I didn’t say it was a large quandary. I’ll just keep this quick.

Leftover pineapple crisp (from my Slow Cooker Desserts cookbook).

Ritz crackers with white bean truffle dip.

A lunchtime snack plate.

Honeycrisp.

Crunchy peanut butter.

1 serving of Sweetriot 70% Dark Chocolate with Kickin’ Coconut*.

Co-op hot bar after work. Fried seitan, cucumber salad, and peanut noodles.

Homemade Thai curry for dinner.

Green curry and light coconut milk with a bit of tamari and rice vinegar. Nasoya Black Soybean Tofu Plus** fried in coconut oil. Tons of broccoli and a can of straw mushrooms. Cashews. Tasty Bite Thai Lime Rice.

My boys.

*the chocolate was out of this world; it had all the healthiness of dark but the creaminess of milk chocolate

**Adam and I both want to buy this tofu again; we didn’t press it but it still stayed firm and got nice and crunchy, plus it had a good, different flavor

Don’t forget to enter my cookbook giveaway.

16Feb2013

Kool And The Gang

by Emily

Q: Do you know what these two things have in common?

A: I used the Kool Aid to (re)dye my hair!

I never captured it in a photo, but over the last week or so I lost 90% of my purple and was left with a lot of white/grey streaks. Since I don’t have an appointment to go back to brown for another two weeks, this wasn’t exactly a good thing. So last night the husband helped me sit with my head in a bowl of concentrated Kool Aid.

It was windy today!

I’ve still got some white but overall it looks much better. We’ll have to see how long the color lasts. I used to dye my highlights with Kool Aid in high school and I remember getting at least a couple of weeks out of it.

The hair photos were taken on my way to work. I woke up this morning feeling a bit under the weather; I had a fever and I was super achy all over. Adam fed me an aspirin and I stayed in bed until the last possible second. I’m feeling much better now {knock on wood}. And thankfully I was only working a partial shift.

I skipped breakfast for bed and was very excited about food when I got home this afternoon.

1/3 cup of Nature’s Path Coconut Chia Granola with Naked Vanilla Oat Milk and tons of chopped dapple plum and nectarine.

Plus lots of tea. A cup of Revolution Tea Lavender Earl Grey,

and a cup of chai with 1 tsp honey an hour or so later.

I carried the lavender theme over to my snack as well.

My mom got these floral candies from a student whose parents are from Japan.

My dad says they all taste like peach, but I swear the ones I tried had subtle differences.

We spent a long-ish time on errands this evening and I got a small plate of hot bar to keep from getting too cranky.

Maple cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes plus sautéed veggies and 3 pieces of General Tso tofu. It’s been ages since we’ve roasted sweet potato fries and we definitely need to make them again soon.

Dinner didn’t take very long to prepare once we got home, but it sure was good.

I had 1.5 servings of Wegman’s Don’t Be a Chicken Meatless Nuggets dipped in honey.

They were great, far more enjoyable than I ever find chicken nuggets to be.

I made use a hot spinach salad for our veggie component.

(recipe to follow) We loved it. The spinach was super creamy and there was such a good mix of textures.

Dinner didn’t really fill me up though, and I ate some Smart Fries while I wrote this post.

Much better.

Hot Spinach Salad, serves 2

1 Tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter
1 pint white mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 pinches salt
3 heaping cups raw baby spinach
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup smoked almonds
1 Tbsp evoo
2 heaping Tbsp vegan sour cream

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown mushrooms with butter and salt.
Add spinach to mushrooms, tossing until greens are completely wilted.
Add remaining ingredients to pan and cook 1 more minute, stirring regularly.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Have you ever dyed your hair with Kool Aid?

15Feb2013

A Valentine’s Giveaway

by Emily

I know it’s a day late, but I still love you guys. So I got you some gifts. Your first present was me not whining on the blog all week about what a bad mood I’ve been in. Adam says I’ve been unbearable, so you’re welcome.

The 2nd is a chance to win a copy of Slow Cooker Desserts.

I was sent a copy to review and I asked if I could share one with you guys as well.

Remember Dump Cake? Well this cookbook has about a zillion variations of that, and they all look delicious. <– I may be exaggerating a bit, but there really are bunches of recipes for cakes, cheesecakes, crisps, brownies, and more. A fair amount of the recipes are even healthy. And since they are all made in the crock pot the hands-on times are minimal.

The recipes we thought looked most exciting? Bananas Foster, Simmered Sweet Plums, N’awlins Praline Cheesecake, and Rice Pudding with Coconut.

Also Pineapple Crisp, which we made tonight.

I used Earth Balance for butter and cut the brown sugar back by a few Tbsp but otherwise followed the recipe.

Delicious! And all it took to prepare was the time to open the cans!

For a chance to win a copy of Slow Cooker Desserts, simply leave a comment on this post before midnight on Monday, February 18th.

13Feb2013

We Can’t All Be Winners

by Emily

I’m only a week away from achieving my 30 days goal, but – – – I’ve decided to quit. I have been so cranky and frustrated the last two days (not for any good reason, I’m just in a funk) and the thought of blogging them was just too much. Important note – all you are really missing out on is 10 bazilion servings of potato chips.

I have really enjoyed everyday blogging the past few weeks though, and I am excited to start trying for the goal again tomorrow.

For now, the winner of my Petite Treats giveaway:

tara says:

February 8, 2013 at 1:16 pm

I love minis – I can justify eating two or three or four, right????

Congrats, Tara! Shoot me an e-mail with your mailing address so I can get you your book.

11Feb2013

And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

by Emily

My mom texted to check on me after I didn’t post last night, but I promise I wasn’t snowed in/buried alive/on a bender – I’ve just been busy! Monday wasn’t quite as crazy as Sunday, but I am getting this post up early before night class so I have some tiny chance of painting my nails this evening. If I miss another holiday colors polish opportunity I will be so sad.

Sunday I ate this Tandoor Chef Vegetable Pad Thai for breakfast.

Not traditional “morning food,” but one of the best frozen entrées ever. It is a little calorie-dense at 490kcal a package, but the texture and flavor makes it taste like a splurge and not a sad frozen dinner.

I tried to take a cup of my latest impulse purchase to work with me, but ended up passing Adam my glass after one sip.

I love Silk’s almond milks but I think I am just not a soy milk girl; this had such a strong aftertaste to me. Thankfully the husband enjoys it so our carton won’t go to waste.

Adam and Webster picked me up from work, and we got this box from the co-op hot bar on the way home.

Vegan “cheesy” pasta and 3 stuffed grape leaves, shared 70-30 my favor.

We also split this Opal apple.

It is fun to try new varieties, but we probably won’t get this one again for the increased price versus “regular” apples.

I was tired from work, and really didn’t want to go to the gym, so I bribed myself with this Justin’s Chocolate Almond Butter packet.

That stuff is just chocolate frosting, I swear!

At the gym, I finished my first week of CT10k workouts. 4 minutes walking/1 minute running, x 8. Except I shouldn’t listen to Fiona Apple while I run because I’m obsessed; I ended up running for 10 minutes straight in the middle of my workout.

Dinner was all over the place, but the components were all good. A handful of baby carrots.

Pizza crusts stolen from the husband.

A bit of Chocolove Currants and Almonds in Dark Chocolate.

Who knew I loved currants? They definitely helped break up the intensity of the bar.

Finally, we made tasty smoothies.

Thai young coconut, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, and a bit of brown sugar.

Adam has recently decided that he is obsessed with Thai young coconuts, so expect to see more of these. Especially since our coconut was so exciting – it was pink!

Apparently it’s a common variation relating to the varied levels of phenol found in the coconuts.

Today I grabbed a Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar for breakfast.

I attended a workshop on TPN in the morning so I got to eat in the hospital rather than my car, which was nice.

Lunch was another tasty black-eyed pea salad.

Black eyed peas with bread and butter corn, green pepper, smoked almonds, and green Tabasco. I made a big batch so my lunch for the next two days is already packed.

With a serving of the dark chocolate for dessert.