Birds Eye Take Two

by Emily

Tonight for dinner we tried the second half of the Birds Eye Chef’s Favorites sample I was sent as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program. To read my thoughts on the line as a whole (convenience, nutrition, etc) please read this post.

On the left is Lightly Sauced Primavera Vegetable Risotto.

Sadly, this was the one variety I didn’t love. The white rice/carrot/pea combo reminded me too much of fried rice and it was a bit gummy. I should note, however, that the husband thought it was pretty good, better than the other risotto in fact. I only ate half of my serving and he happily finished it off. Each serving contains 180 calories, 4 grams of protein and 14% of your daily sodium.

On the right is Lightly Sauced Roasted Red Potatoes and Green Beans with a Parmesan Olive Oil Sauce.

I was a bigger fan of this one. The potatoes were neither mushy nor too firm and the sauce was good without being heaving. 120 calories, 3 grams of protein, and 12% of your daily sodium per serving.

To enlarge our meal Adam and I also split a thing of spicy lump crab roll.

The sushi from Wegmans is shockingly good.

My facial appointment went well this afternoon; definitely not something I would pay a full price for but fun to use a Groupon on. I’m pretty sure the lotion she used with end up making me break out but the shoulder massage was greatly appreciated.

I had to stop by the co-op this afternoon and I was so hungry I ended up buying a small box of hot bar and inhaling it on the walk home.

Adam confirmed my suspicions that walking whilst eating does make you a fatty but it was totally worth it. I got waldorf chicken salad and a few tortellini.

I’m going to wrap this post up now because (surprise, surprise) I still haven’t packed. I’ve got to go figure out what I’m going to wear this weekend!

Are you going to the Healthy Living Summit? If you see me there pretty please say hello; I’m terrible with faces and I’m afraid I’m just going to be stuck in a corner by myself!

18Aug2011

Gotta Get Packing

by Emily

This day has been pretty random thus far. When I woke up at 7 feeling more like the evil witch than Sleeping Beauty, I knew I’d need to sneak in some more sleep before my 7 hour drive to Philly tomorrow. So I stayed in bed until 10:30 and multitasked walking the dog with my trip to campus to drop off the study materials.

When I got back home there were slim pickings for lunch, but I made do. The second serving of creamed spinach from last night.

Adam wouldn’t eat it because he’s crazy but I thought it was very tasty, even leftover.

Plus a yogurt bowl.

I whisked together 1/4 cup Plain 0% Stonyfield, 1/4 cup fat-free ricotta, 1 Tbsp brown sugar, and 2 Tbsp So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk. Topped with 2 sliced plums and a dusting of cinnamon sugar.

Delicious. I think adding the milk was key, fat-free ricotta is pretty dry.

For dessert I used the broiler to make s’mores.

Gah. They were no S’mores Brownies, but still delectable.

On the agenda for the rest of the day –

prepping food for Adam this weekend
cashing in a Groupon for a facial(!!)
packing for HLS!

17Aug2011

Birds Eye Blue

by Emily

Tonight, we dined in the future! Well sort of, we tried the new Chef’s Favorites line from Birds Eye that won’t hit stores until September. I was sent an exclusive free trial to sample as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.

Initial thought – I think this line is a wonderful idea. Each bag contains two servings and cooks in the microwave in approximately 5 minutes. The veggies are flash frozen and the ingredients are mostly natural, 99% just like a home-cooked meal. The meals cook right in the bag, so you don’t have to dirty any dishes or really do anything. Two bags come together to make a nice meal (with a protein ideally) in approximately 10 minutes, and those 10 minutes are basically hands-off. All of which is to say, if you have a few of these in your freezer there’s no way to say “I’m too tired for dinner, let’s get take-out.”

On the left is the Lightly Sauced Mushroom and Green Bean Risotto.

It contained a few iffy ingredients (xanthan gum, modified food starch, maltodextrin) but overall was like what I’d make at home. The taste was pretty similar to what I’d make on my own (after way more work!) too. Not the best risotto of all time, but very creamy and with a good ratio of rice to veggies. Each serving had 170 calories, 5 grams of protein, and only 18% of your allotted sodium.

On the right is Lightly Sauced Creamed Spinach.

This was nice and creamy though the spinach did have a little bitterness. Each serving contained 90 calories, 3 grams of protein, and only 14% of your allotted sodium.

Together, this made a tasty meal.

Wins all around, I say.

The calories in dinner were pretty light though (~270), so I supplemented with beer.

Abita Strawberry Harvest Lager is in my top five for favorite beers.

We also had j-e-l-l-o for dessert.

This afternoon I made up a box of pina colada jello with half water and half club soda for some fizz.

‘Twas good.

Two final notes: 1 – We are currently half way through “Blue Valentine” and I’m loving it. All this point I can’t decide if it’s really hopeful or really sad, maybe both. 2 – Webster’s godmother asked for a picture that shows how big he is –

17Aug2011

I Lied

by Emily

I lied.

I know I said I wasn’t going to blog until Friday, but the minute I told myself I didn’t have to, then I wanted to. It’s like I just needed the freedom not to. Does that make sense to anyone else?

Anyway, I’m glad I decided to blog because I’m having a good day. This morning was full of excitement; I went with some friends to buy our lab coats for clinical.

Like a ~~boss~~ RD. Though I imagine I’ll look less silly when I’m not rocking jeans underneath. I’m just glad to have that trip out of the way before the school year starts.

My friend Hillary drove, so I walked to campus in the morning to meet up. Afterward I got dropped off at home to grab Webster for a walk and we ended up accompanying my friend Janessa back to campus. All total I made the trip three times, which is good practice since I plan on walking to class again this semester.

The non-canine walkers got Starbucks during the walk. I drank a tall white mocha frappuccino but I don’t have a photo because I still thought I wasn’t blogging. Here’s what you want to see a picture of anyway –

Have I mentioned I’m in love? We call him Webs, Dog, or Little Dude.

I’m glad that coffee fills me up because I had lots of little things to do on my computer, and I took Webster on another walk, and before I knew it 3 o’clock came without me eating any solid food. I was heading to the grocery anyway and luckily I found a magazine in our mailbox on the way so I grabbed hot bar for lunch.

Panang tofu, channa masala, and veggies from the cashew chicken.

plus fruit for dessert.

I had to replenish our stores so I could cook Adam casserole for while I’m gone. Speaking of which, I probably should start thinking about packing for HLS, huh?

Bloggers – how often would you say you just don’t feel like blogging? What helps you push through your rut?

17Aug2011

Puppy Playtime

by Emily

I’ve been hanging out with this little dude, I swear I didn’t quit the blog.

I’m heading back to school soon so we’re trying to fast-track socialization. I will be back on Friday, blogging from the Healthy Living Summit.

15Aug2011

This Is A Morning

by Emily

I said I’d blog in the morning, I just didn’t say which morning.

As promised, Adam came home Saturday night with a feast.

We split some waffle fries,

and I ate half of this spicy bean enchillada.

In the morning we took a long walk (he pooped!),

and picked up an iced tea from Starbucks.

Then came home and made breakfast.

I had turkey bacon,

two eggs with spicy corn relish scrambled in,

and a Bagel Thin with Smart Balance Lite and Crofters Organic Grape Spread.

My plan for the afternoon was supposed to be a 3 mile run. But then this happened –

So then this happened –

Webster makes spending the afternoon at home so much more exciting. As do brownies.

These S’mores Brownies are definitely in the top ten list of things I’ve baked!

I think I actually like them better than traditional s’mores!

We did take a few walks, which turned into mud baths, which turned into Webster’s first real bath. Eeee, wet dachshunds are so cute; I will have to remember to take a picture next time.

I had dinner/drinks plans at 8:00 which felt late so I did some afternoon snacking. Baby carrots dipped in blue cheese dressing.

Half a matzoh sheet with extra sharp cheddar melted on top.

A mug of Candy Cane Lane with skim milk.

And 1 serving of Trolli Soda Poppers.

The snacking did the trick and before I knew it I was at Bar Louie with my friends. I know it’s sort of a breakfast drink, but the extra spicy bloody mary was calling my name.

It was spicy and delicious, but I was a little put off by the freaking sandwich Bar Louie stuck in the top of it –

I don’t eat meat! I did eat a small plate of the appetizers we shared.

I’m so happy that I ended up with such a great group in my year for Dietetics. I didn’t get home until after 12 and I will admit to feeling a bit cranky this morning.

I’m starving and I assume Webster’s chewing on my bookshelves to tell me that he’s bored, so we’re off to take a long walk. This will be my first day home alone with the puppy, wish me luck!

13Aug2011

Family and Froyo

by Emily

As you can probably guess from the title, we had a good Saturday. Of course Saturday got off to a ruff start when our neighbor’s dog parked from 1-2 am. No not a peep from Webster, he doesn’t bark, seriously. He did get us up at 4:30 for a quick pee walk though; good thing he’s so cute!

When we got up for real around 8 we took Webster on longer, 50 minute (round trip) walk to the lake.

He got a break in the middle while I tackled these –

I can tell you that there are 41 steps there because I counted while I ran up and down them. Actually, I walked down and sprinted up for 15 minutes of cardio, gasp, gasp! Good thing I had such a nice view.

I made some sludge for breakfast.

1 frozen banana, ~ 3/4 cup frozen spinach, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, and ~ 1 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk.

The flavor combo was good but the spinach didn’t blend all the way and I don’t like chewable smoothies! Sort of like chewable vitamins, which I swallowed whole for months before my parents realized I could switch to big girl vitamins.

After a quick shower we got on the road to Ohio for our niece’s sixth birthday party. Adam’s entire family made it for the festivities and I’m so grateful that our friends agreed to puppy-sit for the day so we could go.

Also exciting? They have froyo in their town!!!

I got ~ 1/2 cup of cake batter and dulce de leche swirl, topped with butterfinger, skore, coconut, sprinkles, and hot fudge.

Gah, froyo, we need you in Buffalo!

Sidenote – remember how I said I wish I was more preppy? This outfit is like what would happen if that ambition threw up all over me.

It’s hard to top self-serve, but we had a wonderful time at the party. We don’t get to see Adam’s family (or mine) as much as we’d like.

I lunched on party food.

Fruit salad with tasty mango,

part of a turkey sandwich with l, t, m, and c (mayo and cheese),

and a small slice of pizza.

After presents and singing, we also had cake.

I split that piece with the husband; cake – Adam, icing – Emily.

A loooooong (not really, but it sure felt like it!) car ride later and we were kissing Webster. He actually hasn’t pooped since we picked him up yesterday and I’m getting sort of worried. He has one more day to drop some kids off at the pool before I’m calling the emergency vet.

It was after 9:30 when we got home and I might have had a bit of a mini meltdown about how hungry I was. The situation was not helped by our exhausted puppy making us feel too guilty to use the microwave. The situation was helped greatly by Adam’s announcement that his mom slipped him money for dinner. He’s out picking up a feast while I blog. Recap to come in the morning.

Does your town have self-serve froyo?