Buffalo Mini Meet-Up

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Buffalo has finally arrived to hot hot summer weather (ie we hit the high 80’s today) and it was the perfect afternoon for a sundae.

I ate exactly one serving of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and was pleasantly surprised by how large the serving was (when I’m not eating it by the container, ice cream is one of the things I use my food scale for).  My bowl was super bulked up by the additions of chocolate syrup, a tiny crumble of coffee cake, and a nice juicy plucot.

I’m loving the summer produce today, this was the first plucot I didn’t taste and toss this year!

This evening was spent at my first blogger meet up!

L to R – Katy (a reader), me, and Katie (a reader and IRL friend).  A few people had to bail at the last minute so it was a pretty teeny “meet up” but the small group meant we could have a real conversation, yay!  Of course I was lame and akward and I’m sure I could have used the buffer of a crowd, but I had a great time.

We went to Saigon Cafe since they can work with meat-eaters and veggies alike. Katy ordered the summer roll appetizer and shared a piece with me.

And I ordered the Pad See Eiw special – extra veggies, level 5 spicy – for my dinner.

Extra veggies meant tons of squash which was delicous, and this actually had a bit of spice to it (though no where near as much as I’d like).

Good food, good conversation, good meet-up!

Katy and Katie both had long walks home so I went with them.  We stopped at the Co-op like good healthy living blog readers should.  I went home with Katie to try on her Lululemon Ta-Ta Tamer.  I loved it (yay!), but determined that my boobs are ginormous (yay?).

Two Weeks Too Early

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I want to tell you that I ate a late lunch because I had a meeting, but really this is a late lunch post because I sat for 30 minutes waiting for a meeting that’s actually not scheduled for another two weeks.  Whoops!  I think I was so excited about getting started on the study I’m participating in that I somehow missed the July 25th part of our Monday meeting.  I tell you more about the study when I know more… in 2 weeks!

Breakfast came right on time; from the taste of it blueberries are having their moment this month.

That’s two servings of cinnamon Puffins with skim milk and a big handful of blueberries.

My aunt introduced me to the cinnamon Puffin and blueberry combo and it’s pretty genius.

Eating before yoga – for me at least – was genius as well.  I know a lot of people like to practice with an empty stomach, but having a little fuel made the class a lot easier for me.  I couldn’t necessarily stay in (or even start!) all of the poses, but I didn’t have to stop to rest once!  60 minutes of 90* yoga, done and done.  As I tweeted on the walk home, I think I’m really going to like this month –

I thought I had a 2 o’clock meeting, so I took the world’s fastest shower and scurried over to campus right after yoga.  I was starving so I ate a Vanilla Almond Luna Bar on my way.

After 30 of the longest minutes of my life it occurred to me to check my e-mail and I realized I was an idiot.  A hungry idiot.  When I got home I snacked on a serving of Chip’ins with salsa while I waited for my lunch to get done in the oven.

My oven roasted lunch was worth the wait.

Green bean fries,

and corn on the cob.

My socks are officially rocked that I can make corn in the oven, the only thing keeping me from eating it every day was the fact that I hate dirtying a pot for something Adam won’t even eat with me.  Per my Google search, I slathered the naked corn cob with Smart Balance Light, secured it in a tin foil packet, and baked at 450* for 25 minutes.

I’d love to try corn on the grill, but alas, we have no grill.  How do you cook your corn?

Not So Souper

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I waited too long to eat this afternoon and ended up crazy, ravenously hungry.  I ate two Dr. Kracker pumpkin and cheddar flat breads.

Adam and I also finished off the last of his chips and french onion dip (probably 2-3 servings each).

True Story – I poured the chip crumbles into the last of the dip and ate the mixture with a fork; it was epic.

Not the best pre-run meal, but aching belles be damned, we ran anyway.  2 miles down Elmwood in 20:40.  I may have been running 7 miles in May, but we are starting from scratch fitnesswise.  We made a loop that hit 2 miles halfway through the 2nd lap, so with our walk home we brought our total to 2.8 miles (4 miles total today).

Our dinner plan was a simple soup, so we showered and got bed-ready as soon as we got home.

I’m not gonna lie, I moved this meal up in our weekly meal plan so I could use my new mug I scored at an antique store for $1.

To fill my cute mug, Manischewitz minestrone.

I’m not gonna lie, this soup was inedible.  I undercooked it but I’m pretty sure it would have been terrible regardless.  Gag me with a spoon, literally!

After we poured dinner down the train I was ready for bed, both in dress and energy level.  All the food in the house required time to become meals and take-out was money we didn’t want to spend.  So I threw a cardigan on over my nightgown and we headed to the Co-op.  Which is how I ended up making my final walk down Elmwood (5 miles total for today!) in this –

This is my life people, some times I’m embarrassing trend-setting in the name of food.

And Adam and I ended up splitting a bagel with cream cheese for dinner.

It was perfect.  But veggies are high on tomorrow’s agenda.

Foster Finder

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Dear Crazy Drunk Dude Who Rang Our Buzzer Repeatedly at 5am –

I hate you.  I know we haven’t been officially introduced, but seriously, I hate you.  You scared me and ruined my awesome night of sleep.  I hope your girlfriend dumped you, because you seem like a douche.

xoxo,

Emily

The plan was to get up and run this morning – I even got myself int0 bed at 10:30 last night like a grown up – but somehow 7am felt really early.  So did 8, and 9, and 10; although by 10 I decided it was high time to get up regardless.

The heat made us push back our workout to this afternoon, but we did go on a nice 1+ mile walk around our neighborhood.  Including a stop at the Spot for a large iced coffee with skim milk.

The Spot uses a cold brew method for their iced coffee (sort of like French pressed if I understand correctly) and it give it a totally unique flavor.

I had gone to bed pretty hungry last night and I was just starting to get cranky on our walk when the clouds parted and we spotted this –

Banana Foster French Toast?!  Don’t mind if I do, JP Bullfeathers.

Thick slices of cinnamon bread topped with pillowy bananas and a rum caramel sauce,

plus a side of fruit.

My mind was pretty much blown.  Fact – Adam had to tell me to calm down because I was mmmning too enthusiastically.

I could only manage half of the plate because it was so rich but I left very satisfied.  I haven’t had the actual dish in at least a decade but bananas foster is my very favorite dessert!

Brunch felt extra festive because Adam and I both got $1 mimosas.

Way to go JP Bullfeathers.

Buffalo readers – I’m having a meet-up tomorrow at Saigon Cafe at 7:30!  Send me an e-mail if you’d like to come.  I’d love to see you there!

Taste of Buffalo

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It’s been a fabulous Saturday!  It’s always great spending time with the husband (he’ll have most weekends off during this section of his clerkship) but it was nice to have fun activities to do as well.

After yoga I had to shower, go to the campus library to do some printing, go to the post office, and go to the bank before I could get my hands on some food.  Thank goodness our first fun activity was the Taste of Buffalo, a food festival with offerings from all the local restaurants.

We bought 30 tickets (ie spent $15) and we’re very impressed with what we were able to get on such a cheap date. 

Buffalo natives – if you haven’t been yet please keep in mind that Adam used more than half of our tickets so my food eaten isn’t totally representative of $7.50 spent.

P.S. I need to be honest about what a fatty dork I am; I printed off the menu from the website and arrived at the festival with a circled, highlighted list –

Adam and I shared and I ended up with many fun bites.  One bite of fried cheese ravioli from Cecelia’s.

One tiny bourbon glazed shrimp from The Grill at the Dome, which was the biggest waste of money of the day.

A small glass of berry chai smoothie that Lipton was handing out for free.  This free sample was actually the 2nd best thing I had all day!

Adam and I split this smoked bourbon chicken sandwich from Chester’s Cajun grill and it was the #1 favorite for both of us.

Half of a gourmet watermelon popsicle from Sweet Melody.  This was delicious and I wish I could have downed the whole thing but it was just too drippy.

Among other things the husband also tried catfish nuggets and a huge cup of Cuban roasted pork.  We definitely discovered a few restaurants that we want to go check out.

We parked near our old apartment and walked to the fair which meant we got in a little more than 2 miles in total wandering.  It was just hot enough that stopping at The Spot for a diet pop on the walk back was pretty damn exciting.

As we talked about our favorite bites we realized that I hadn’t actually gotten all that much to eat (Adam was stuffed!), so I grabbed hot bar when we were picking up groceries.

Peak of season delicious watermelon and pineapple,

plus a random assortment of veggies.

During our downtime this afternoon I also snacked on a serving of coffee ice cream with blueberries and chocolate syrup.

You wouldn’t expect that combo to work but it totally did.

Dinner was also an expected win.

Breaded buffalo chicken – Marinate.  Roll in panko.  Bake at 350* for 38 minutes.  Eat dipped in blue cheese dressing.

Plus asparagus that we threw into the oven during the chicken’s last 20 minutes.

The chicken was taken totally over the top thanks to a sample of KC Masterpiece Buffalo Marinade from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program.

I always forget how much marinating does for the texture of chicken, it was like butter!  The marinade itself was tasty too, a nice vinegary buffalo without an excess of spice.

For our evening entertainment we cashed in a Groupon for a Broadway light show at the Whitworth Ferguson Planetarium (conveniently located on my campus).

I really don’t want to share my opinion because Adam and I actually hate most musicals, which obviously colors our review.  I will say that the show was not the most exciting hour I’ve ever spent, and Adam claims to be having Vietnam War-esque flashbacks.  The high point of the activity was that the husband and I got to say planet-AIR-ium to each other a million times.  <– don’t get it?  watch this.

Winners All Around

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First off, congrats to the winners of my Everyday Health, My Calorie Counter giveaway –

Laura and Sharon, e-mail me (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) so we can get your books sent out.

Secondly, congrats to me!  Hot yoga was awesome and got me in a much better frame of mind.  Technically I only did “warm yoga” – a 60 minute session in a 90* room – but I was pouring so much sweat we can go ahead and call it hot (or, not).  I’m out of shape in general, and I haven’t practiced yoga in a few years, so this class was haaard.  I had to stop twice and sit in child’s pose but I still got in a great workout.

I rehydrated when I got home with a O.N.E. Coconut Water with pink guava.

I am pretty hungry, but our plans for the day are packed with foodie fun so I’m holding out on my appetite for now.  Buffalo people – if you see me at Tops Taste of Buffalo please say hi!

Confessions Post VI

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Click here to see confessions I, II, III, IV, V.

Confession #1 – I’ve been neglecting the blog this week because I’ve got an unshakable malaise and I didn’t want to subject others to whiny posts about eating ice cream.  I also haven’t worked out since I got back from vacation and I’m feeling a little awkward about it.  The real confession is that I think part of the problem is that I’m thrown by turning 26 this month!

Confession #2 – I woke up at 6am this morning and made myself a grilled cheese sandwich.

Confession #3 – When I was 15 my parents let me pierce my belly button in exchange for attendance at a Saturday math skills camp.  The camp was cancelled the week after I got pierced.

Confession #4 – I have a Groupon for a month of hot yoga that kicked in on Monday but hasn’t been used yet.  I’m afraid I will be a huffy, sweaty walrus in a room of hot-hot yoga girls.  I’m making myself go tomorrow morning and I’m nervous.

Confession #5 – I couldn’t think of a final confession so instead I’m asking you guys to confess…

  1. How do you feel about getting older?
  2. What was the first thing you ate this morning?
  3. Is your belly button pierced?
  4. Yoga is supposed to be about yourself, not competition; how good are you at keeping your eyes on your own mat?
  5. Buffalo readers/bloggers – what nights are you available next week for a meet up???

Everyday Health My Calorie Counter; Book Review and Giveaway

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Do you count calories to maintain your weight?

I don’t count calories per se, but I am aware of them.  On super busy days I loosely keep track to make sure I eat at least 1,200.  I aim for my meals to have no less than 200 but no more than 600 as a general rule.  And as a future dietitian I think it’s important that I’m aware of how many calories common foods are packing.

So when Everyday Health e-mailed me about reviewing their new book, My Calorie Counter, I jumped on the opportunity.

My Calorie Counter is essentially a database of nutritional information.  I would not recommend this book for someone with no interest in tracking calories, but there is a nice section of information about nutrition and weight loss in the beginning of the book.  I liked that all of the advice in this section is correct and up-to-date (at least as far as what I’ve learned) and doesn’t rely on any fad diet mentality.  The book can be helpful all on its own, but is meant to be paired with Everyday Health’s online tools.

What I Liked –

  • The book is divided into three sections – common foods, store brands, and restaurants.
  • The restaurant section included a vast range of eateries, including nutritional information for Cheesecake Factory, which is notoriously difficult to locate online.
  • The book is small (about the slice of a slice of bread) and light enough to be easily slipped into a purse or briefcase.
  • The font is easy to read and information is shared in a graph that is easy to follow.
  • In addition to calories and total fat; saturated fat, sodium, carbs, fiber, and protein are also included.  (ie, this book can also be useful to diabetics or people watching their sodium intake)
  • As I stated above, the advice in the front of the book is up-to-date and easy to understand and would be helpful for any lay-person.
  • The book does not necessarily apply only to weight loss and dieting, but would be useful for someone looking to maintain a healthy diet.

What I Didn’t Like –

  • “Common Foods” is divided into veggies, fruits, grains, etc, but it would be easier to find what you are looking for if those divisions were marked on the top of the pages.
  • I wish that trans fat values were also included, as this is one of key things I always check for on nutrition labels.

Everyday Health is also giving me the opportunity to share with my readers.  I am giving away two copies of My Calorie Counter.  To enter to win – leave a comment on this post.  You have until midnight, Friday July 8th to enter.