Confessions XIII

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Click here to read Confessions part I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, VIII, IX,  X, XI, and XII.

Confession #1 – I’ve listened to “Every Single Night” at least 200 times since I downloaded Fiona Apple’s newest album last month.

Confession #2 – I may have given my friends Apple Month bags in September.

Confession #3 – I Post-it the husband’s whole world.

Confession #4 – I read Gail Simmon’s memoir almost a month ago (at FNCE) and I still can’t stop thinking about it.  She is modest, funny, and totally enviable for staying true to her dream.  One or two chapters made me cry, many made me laugh out loud, and every single chapter left me drooling.

Confession #5 –  I’m really sad that I can’t do something crazy for Halloween this year.  Nevermind that I haven’t done something crazy for Halloween since college, when Adam and I went as the original Adam and his Eve.  I want a crazy wig and short skirt, damn it!

What’s the craziest costume you’ve ever worn for Halloween?

It’s Getting {Pinapple Turkey} Chili

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Yesterday I spent 3 hours standing in the 40* rain… It was fabulous.

Elmwood Avenue held its trick-or-treat session yesterday afternoon and since I’ve never gotten to give out candy before my store let me be in charge of that job.

I checked out all of the cute costumes, rocked my bunny ears, handed out candy (ate a lot too!), and froze my butt off.

When I got home from work I needed new socks, one of Adam’s sweatshirts, and a big bowl of something hot to warm me up.  Good thing I had gotten the crock pot started before I left for work.

Pineapple Turkey Chili, serves 8

  • 1 tsp evoo
  • 1 lb 94% fat-free ground turkey
  • 1 medium red onion, roughly chopped
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 15.5 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
  • 15.5 oz can cannellini beans
  • 29 oz can tomato sauce
  • 20 oz can crushed pineapple
  1. Heat evoo in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add ground turkey and cook until browned, 3 – 5 minutes.
  2. Place all ingredients (including browned turkey) into crock pot and stir to combine.
  3. Set pot for 4 hours on the “high” setting.

P.S. I hope all my readers in the path of the Frankenstorm are doing alright!

Pumpkin Party

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Last night we spread some newspapers, poured some hard cider, put on the “Halloween” station on Pandora, and got our hands into some pumpkins!

Here is the before –

And here is the after –

I went with stars because they a) are cute; b) remind me of my first tattoo; and c) only require straight lines.

Here is what we saw when the light’s went off –

Adam’s –

Patrick’s –

and mine –

We all had a ton of fun; I’m so glad we decided to carve pumpkins this year!

Did/will you carve a jack-o-lantern this year?  What design do you usually go with?

Chocolate, Croissants, Coffee, and Cuddling

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As my title indicates, it’s been a damn good day!  This is the most time I’ve gotten to spend with the husband in weeks.  Other than my short, 4-hour shift at work, we spent the whole day together.  There was studying I could have done, and I certainly could have eaten healthier food, but I’m calling today a raging success!

We started our morning by sampling last night’s baking efforts.

My Pumpkin Double Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins earn two giant thumbs up.

Next we perfected my drinking chocolate recipe.

Two more thumbs!  I’ll be sharing that recipe on Halloween.

And finally, we settled in for croissants, coffee, “Chopped,” and cuddling.

I had a Wegman’s chocolate croissant,

and a small mug of coffee (cinnamon vanilla nut, brewed with ground cinnamon) with skim milk and sugar.

When we were at the store picking up croissants we snagged pimento cheese samples.

The cheese spread was only ok, but the baguette they served it on was perfection.

Lunch foods were a Cara Cara orange,

and baby carrots with blue cheese dressing.

I should have eaten more food and less chocolate because I was very hungry when I got out of work.  Co-op salads were consumed on the car ride home to stave off hunger and get in some veggies.  Ramen cabbage crunch,

and 5 bean and feta salad.

I had about half of each and handed the rest off to Adam.

A friend was coming over and we had to clean up our hovel, so dinner was snacky.  1.5 oz of smoked almonds with 1.5 Tbsp butterscotch chips,

and (2) 100-calorie bags of kettle corn with 2 Tbsp of melted butter.

I’m definitely not minding the vegan challenge as an excuse to eat up all of the cheese and butter!

While our friend was over, the three of us split this Crispin hard cider.

The Saint wasn’t quite as good as the honeycrisp variety, but it still got good reviews all around.  Not too sweet or sour.

Adam and I finished up the day with bbq and buffalo chicken pizza (from Zetti’s) while we got our Halloween movie on.

“Once Bitten,” aka the 80’s-fabulous vampire movie that was Jim Carrey’s first starring role.  OB always reminds me of my friend Lana Winter and is one of my favorite films for Halloween.

We did something super fun while our friend was over but I’m going to tell you tomorrow because I have to get into bed this very minute.  Good night!

Have you ever seen “Once Bitten?”

Present

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I know it’s ironic that my “present time” post is a recap of yesterday, but what can you do?

Yesterday started with a Microbiology test that my busy, crazy week completely kept me from studying for.  I think I managed to do ok; not as well as I would have liked but not badly either.  I’m not looking forward to the MNT exam on Wednesday though!

I ate a Sweet Tango on the walk to school.

And a S’mores Luna Bar between classes.

Then a delicious sandwich on the walk to work.  A whole grain sandwich thin with pumpkin spice cream cheese and {a lot of} Cabot 75% reduced fat cheddar.

It probably could have used some meat, but the flavor combo was divine.

Actually, it definitely could have used some meat because I was starving when I got out of work.  I stopped at the co-op to scope out the sales and ended up eating a Peanut Butter Dark Chocolate Plus Protein KIND bar on the walk home.

Dinner was made from these simple ingredients:

A small portion of Annie’s Shells and Real Aged Cheddar (sauce cooked with butter and no milk) with edamame and Trader Joe’s Smoked Trout.

The trout was by far the best component, so smokey and good!

Though I doused my bowl in Sriracha after I took the picture so the whole thing was pretty fantastic 🙂

I also ate 2 handfuls of smoked almonds.

We were up late doing some baking and I got hungry again.

I also sampled one of our muffins when they got out of the oven.

And then I hit the bed snoring!

I don’t have to go into work until 2pm today so I have a gloriously free morning.  Adam’s day cleared up at the last minute too; very serendipitous!  We are planning a chocolate breakfast and an evening of pumpkins!

Past and Future

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Wow; long time no blog!  It’s been a week, which feels crazy.  Last weekend, Adam was out-of-town on interviews and since I didn’t want to broadcast that all over the internet I kept mum.  Then the week was a busy disaster.  One night I came home from work and got straight into bed at 8:20.  One night I drank too many pumpkin beers and got a little drunk.  One night I was out late working on a group project.  And last night the dog threw up and then when we went to clean up I threw up.  Good times.

The Past: Some Things Worth Highlighting from the Last Week

Annie Chun’s Spicy Chicken Ramen.

This soup came together in a snap and it felt fairly authentic.  It was spicy without making you want to run for the gallon of milk.

Another apple-cereal bowl.

This winner creation had steamed (aka microwaved) Honeycrisp apple with Special K Vanilla Pecan, All Bran Bran Buds, honey roasted peanuts, tons of cinnamon, and skim milk.

The new gelato place on Elmwood has pumpkin.

It was good, but the coconut half was even better.

These two pumpkin beers get two thumbs up.

The Long Trail was good, the Saranac was great.

The Potato Chip chocolate bar from Chuao is ridiculous.

Such a perfect melody of salty and sweet!  And the crispiness was fun too.  Now I want to try all of the other flavors!

Arby’s is selling a Peppermint Stick Swirl Shake.

If you like candy canes (who doesn’t?!) you’ll love it.

Mr. Pizza sells a veggie pie that is great.

It was packed with veggies, including green olives!

The Future: A Vegan Challenge in November

Yep, starting next week I’ll begin my annual 1-month vegan challenge.  One of my IRL friends agreed to do it with me and I’d love to have some of my internet friends join as well.  Think about it???

TV Dinner

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I think this is my easiest week thus far this school year.  I actually watched tv this evening!  I know that I really should have been working, but at least for this week it’s not the end of the world that I didn’t.

I was starving this morning and ended up eating all of my breakfast and my lunch within the first ten minutes of class.  Müller Passion Fruit Peach Früt Up Yogurt.

A Clif Grape Fruit Rope (FNCE sample).

And a Jalopeño Popper Burger on a Sandwich Thin with pumpkin spice cream cheese.

This was such a good sandwich combination.

I had a long morning of classes and then a doctor’s appointment – with a super long wait – in the afternoon.  Thankfully my appointment took me near Gin Gin, the restaurant with bubble tea that a customer raved about at work last weekend.

It was worth raving about!  The used two kinds of boba, regular and popping!

The bubbles were in a red bean milk tea, and that was delicious too.  I’m glad I took a chance on something different.

I came home with food too.

Hot and sour soup,

and Mongolian chicken (with carrots, cabbage, and a spicy sauce) with white rice.

I ate about half of each and then Adam ate the rest.

Plus ice cream (about a serving) straight from the pint.

With a side of “Private Practice,” “Castle,” and “Royal Pains.”  ‘Twas a good night!