Tired Travel

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Hello from Charlottesville!  The last 48 hours have been a total whirlwind, but a little sleep deprivation is definitely worth the family time. 

Yesterday afternoon we had to finish packing, and Adam had to shave, and we had to drop his car off, and the clock ticked ominously as it got later and later.  By the time we actually hit the road it was after 6pm and we knew it was going to be a long night.

We dinnered on sandwiches from home as we drove.

I assembled Nature’s Pride bread, Applegate Farms Organic Roasted Turkey slices, 2% Swiss cheese, and honey mustard; wrapped in tin foil for easy road munching.

Adam and I also split a Starbucks Double Shot drink.

Caffeine was a very good idea (and it continued to be good all today as well) since we pulled into my in-laws’ house at 4:30 in the morning!!  I’m not sure how we managed to be so chipper for our 9:30 wake up call, but I think that vacation excitement always overrules lack of sleep.  I can’t even tell you how crazy the drive was though, between the thunderstorms and the fog we were pretty sure we were driving through the apocalypse.

Breakfast called for carbs, protein, and bacon.  Half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese,

1 scrambled egg,

and 2 slices of turkey bacon.

Moving was not as bad as I was anticipating at all (it probably helped that I was responsible for packing up the pantry and not carrying the couch!), especially since my brother-in-law drove down to help as well.  At some point in the afternoon I was sent into town for packing supplies and Starbucks for my mother-in-law; I grabbed a grande iced nonfat latte for myself.

Lunch was one of those random simple meals that ended up being extra delicious.

This veggie pizza was something my MIL found in the freezer section and it was so dang good; she was worried that the crust started to burn but it was crispy and crunchy in the best possible way.

And this was the best (only?) watermelon I’ve tasted all summer.

The melon was supposed to be dessert but my MIL and I found ourselves stuck at Wendy’s while the moving truck was returned and Frostys were calling our names.  The new Caramel Apple Parfait looked too good not to try.

Oh my gosh guys, props to Wendy’s because this was delicious!  I only ate ~ 1/3 because I didn’t want to overdo it before dinner but I was seriously impressed.  The caramel had great mouth feel and the right balance of sweet and salty.

Adam and I stayed in town after the moving was done so we could have Fathers’ Day dinner at my FIL’s favorite restaurant.  Clearly it was a day of hot work because I drained my beer before it even occurred to me to snap a picture.

This might be the first time I’ve tried a Shock Top and I was surprised by how much I liked it, light and refreshing.

I also nibbled on a complimentary cheesy biscuit.

Think of the biscuits from Red Lobster, but better.

Sagebrush isn’t the type of restaurant that I typically love but my dinner ended up being amazing.

I ordered a side of the veggie medley (without butter)

and a side of sweet potato casserole

to go with my Mountain Trout.

Trout!  This was my first time trying trout and I think it might be my new favorite fish, it was so buttery.  The menu said flash grilled but I’m pretty sure this was fried.  I scraped off the skin but other than that I cleaned my plate.

After dinner we had another late, rainy drive.  I bought this huge (half-sweet) coffee for the road.

I hope the caffeine doesn’t keep me awake but traveling makes my stomach upset and I was hoping coffee would help me feel better.

Tomorrow we’re spending the day exploring Charlottesville and then driving to DC in the evening.  My best friend just texted to let me know that her apartment doesn’t have internet so my posting schedule might be a little off.

Can anyone recommend any “must go” spots in Charlottesville or DC?  Other than frozen yogurt we don’t have much on the agenda!

Happy Father’s Day

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I don’t think I have very many male readers, but if you are a dad I hope you’re having a great day!  Adam and I are spending the day with my father-in-law, but I won’t get to see my dad for a few more weeks.

I’ll be thinking about him though, especially because there are so many things that he’s taught me –

{When driving} Always keep your eyes out the front window

Ugly isn’t always nasty, pretty isn’t always nice {this one’s a quote from “My Little Ponies”}

When you say something nasty you can’t take it back, so always try to keep your temper

Never run by a pool

It’s important to be a healthy eater {My father fed me a banana every morning and baby carrots every afternoon my entire childhood}

When you procrastinate, it just means you have to think about the task longer

Don’t take yourself too seriously

Thanks, dad!

The Board Beard

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Adam is finished with his Step I Board Exam!!!  He won’t know his score for a while, but this means he has a free week to relax with absolutely nothing he should be studying.  This also means he’s finally going to shave.

That, my friends, is a “board beard.”  The husband has had a (normal, groomed) beard for several years now and I love it.  Much to my chagrin, he decided a month or so ago to grow a board beard.  Basically, he wasn’t going to shave again until after the exam.  I’ve been sharing a bed with Paul Bunyan, lovely.

But boards are done, so that thing’s got to go!

My day was a little more low-key than Adam’s obviously.  I did get up at 6am to make him a protein smoothie, but I’m the driver this evening so I crawled back into bed until 9:30 to make sure I was well rested.  Since I did the prep work last night, I awoke with breakfast waiting for me.

I dumped 1 sliced banana, 1/4 cup oats, and 3/4 Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk into the 0% Plain Fage container with the last bits of yogurt.

This morning all I had to do was stir in some cinnamon sugar and move my overnight oats to my new mug.

I picked this kitchen addition up from Budala Pottery at the Allentown Art Festival and I’m loving it.  It has a nice round bottom (great for people who prefer to eat things out of their mugs than drink) and I love the look of the handle.

After breakfast I had planned to go to the gym but I’m starting to get nervous about driving all night (and moving all day!) so I decided to skip it.

Lunch.

One last serving of vegan pasta leftovers, deveganized with parmesan cheese.

It felt good to get some veggies into my system before I head on the vacation I’ve deemed “Frozen Yogurt Tour 2011!”

Plus the last of the soy milk with chocolate syrup.

If it looks frothy it’s because I shook the crap out of it.  I recently read in an issue of Cooking Light that if you aren’t shaking the sludge from the bottom of your soy milk you’re not getting the added calcium.

I spent the afternoon packing – both of our bags, car snacks – and as soon as Adam gets home and shaves we’ll be ready to hit the road.  We are reaching his parents’ house sometime in the middle of the night and spending all day Sunday helping them move.  There’s no internet at their house so I will see you guys on Monday!

What I Wouldn’t Eat

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I did indeed walk to the Co-op this afternoon, they often have Friday sales and I wanted to get in on that action.  I tried to restrain myself though since I have high hopes that I’ll get to visit a Whole Foods on vacation!

I tend to be a little suspicious of Co-op produce since they’ve given me fruit flies in the past (and especially because my spongy plums were bought there) so I ended up buying a Naked Juice to get my fruits for the day.

Adam and I split this Power C Machine 50:50.

As I walked around the co-op my internal thought process went something like this –

Cookie?  Coookie.  I really wish I had a cookie.  A cookie would be crumbly and delicious.  I could buy a cookie from the co-op bakery.  No, I could go to Wilson Farms and get a sandwich cookie with the delicious icing!  No, I could drive to Wegmans for a toffee white chocolate cookie!

If you’re wondering, I ended up not getting the cookie.  Janetha (whose blog always makes me laugh and makes me think) asked this question the other day – “what’s on your [foods I’d love to eat if calories didn’t matter but don’t eat all that often because they do] list?”  After some thought, I realized that my answer was nothing.  For the last year or so I’ve eaten pretty much every single thing I’ve wanted, every day. 

It sounds fun, and it was, but food can be more fun in moderation.  Plus, being in better shape would also be fun.  I’m still going to eat ice cream/cookies/nachos/other holy-yum-ness (especially on next week’s vacation that I’ve already deemed “froyo tour 2011!”), but maybe I’ll stop eating that stuff every single time I want it.

All that rant was to say, instead of buying a cookie I made myself a yogurt dessert bowl.

A small bowl of 0% Plain Fage with honey, shredded coconut, and a few Nestle morsels.

It was delicious and I’m pretty sure I enjoyed it even more than I would have enjoyed the cookie.

We ate leftovers for dinner.

A healthy balance of carbs and protein that will hopefully help Adam power through his test tomorrow.  Plus, roasted zucchini just tastes good!

If there was a magic universe where calories and nutrients really didn’t matter and you could eat totally by taste, I would still eat roasted veggies!

Sometimes we eat things just because they are good for us; if calories and nutrients didn’t matter – what foods would you STOP eating?

Thankfully I love fruits and veggies so much that I can’t think of a single item to put on that list!  There are times when there’s a veggie that isn’t cooked perfectly and I eat it just because it’s a veggie, but in general fruits and veggies are some of my favorite foods.

Comfort Food Fusion

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When I tried the honey mustard chips yesterday I didn’t love them for snacking but I knew they’d work great as a component in a larger dish.  Like say, tuna melt nachos.

I saw a reader suggestion for a similar idea in an Everyday with Rachel Ray a few months back and I’m so glad I finally tried it.  Blending these two classic comfort foods only made them better.

I piled 1.5 oz of Lays Honey Mustard Chips with 2/3 a can’s worth of tuna salad (made with Miracle Whip and pickle relish) and 1/4 cup of shredded parmesan.  After a 8minute spin in a 400* oven I had a win-worthy dish.

This would have been even more amazing with my honey mustard tuna salad, but I didn’t think that Adam would eat those leftovers.

This dish made me think about other comfort foods we serve together: fries with chilli, Oreos in milkshakes, pizza in egg rolls; I wonder which epic combinations we’ve yet to think of.

My side dish was supposed to be a plum, but this is what I got when I cut mine in half.

I don’t know what that spongey stuff is but it didn’t look appetizing.  I’m taking a walk to the Co-op later this afternoon, hopefully I can get in some fruit then because we are clean out here.

Which two comfort foods would you like to try together?

What A Nightmare

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Late breakfast post to the contrary, we actually woke up nice and early today.  I was having a nightmare and I yowled so loudly that it woke us both up!  That alone is weird, but the “big bad” of the nightmare is even stranger. 

In my dream I was going somewhere and as I was getting ready to leave in the morning I didn’t have time to pack lunch.  Adam and I were running behind and I was going to buy lunch on our way but then we left too late and it wasn’t going to fit the schedule.  Then dream Adam and I got in a huge fight because he didn’t understand how we had time at first but then ten minutes later it was too late.  The yowl that woke us up was actually me yelling at him in my dream!  Strangest yet most realistic nightmare ever.

Once I was out of bed I headed to the gym for a quickie workout.  30 minutes on the elliptical; random level 6.  Followed by a fast strength/stretch session.  It felt good to get sweaty again!  I had to keep it quick because on campus I also had a meeting to procure health insurance for next year and a date with the library to check out some books for our upcoming road trip.  Done and done.

Breakfast had its highs and its lows.  Beverages were the high point.

Homemade frozen coffee is so much better than anything you can buy at a coffee shop!  For 2 I blended 2 cups of coffee, 1/2 cup Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk, 7 ice cubes, and 3 Tbsp of sugar.

Sadly food was a low point.  We had an onion, some garlic, and a green bell pepper to use up so I decided to make eggs.

Getting everything prepped was glorious; now that I know to use a big knife, chopping veggies is my favorite cathartic activity.

But even though the veggies were lovingly sautéed (and perfectly chopped!) they just didn’t come together with the eggs to make something that tasted good.

I finished my two eggs worth, but it was more about eating the protein and veggies than enjoying the taste.

Do you remember your dreams?  Are they usually realistic or fantastical?

Which Resulted In…

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I crossed off all of my to-do’s (I still have to clean the stove but I know that it’ll get done before bed) and I even made a quick run out to Wegmans and Target; bam!  Very accomplished feeling although there were some unintended results…

My trip to the store pushed dinner back later, which resulted in a grumbly tummy, which resulted in an impulse buy, which resulted in me eating 2 servings of Lays Honey Mustard Chips before dinner.

I actually picked up this same bag the other day and then put it back but when I was at the store again with “free” money (we get $ for recycling our cans/bottles) I just couldn’t resist.  Sadly they were oddly spicy and not as good as I was imagining.

The chips did give me the ability to make dinner without a distracted stomach, and I ended up making an amazing meal.

That, my friends, is a heaping bowl of pasta.

This quick and easy dish was randomly chosen but everything ended up coming together perfectly.  For 4 servings, served on top of rigatoni, I combined –

Healthy, filling, and vegan to boot!

Housekeeping

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The title refers both to all of the cleaning I have to do around the apartment before our vacation and to a few blog housekeeping items; so I guess really the title should be “Apartment Cleaning and BlogKeeping.”

On the apartment front there is –

  • deal with the dishes
  • make a batch of bug deterrent
  • put away loads of laundry
  • make a filling, healthy pre-exam dinner
  • clean the stove

As far as the blog goes there are two reader questions on the agenda –

  1. Do you count calories?  The folks over at EverydayHealth.Com (click on the book photo for more info) offered me an opportunity to review their new book: Everyday Health: My Calorie Counter.  As a future dietitian I’m interested in the resource in general, but since I’m doing the review for you guys I’d like to know more about my audience.
  2. Buffalo bloggers/readers – would you be interested in doing a meet-up this summer?  I actually met my friend Katie through the blog, and when we had dinner yesterday we talked about how much fun a meet-up would be.  If you guys are down, I’d love to schedule one!

I’m glad I had that stuff to take care of because I actually don’t have a lot to talk about foodwise; I had a doctor’s appointment at 1:30 that took up a lot of the day.

Adam and I had a few things to print this morning so we walked over to Buffalo State to use the library.  I think I’ll head back tomorrow (and may even go to the gym!) so that I can check out some books for our trip.  We stopped at the book store and split a skim iced latte.

I also ate a Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar on the drive to my appointment.

And a plate of baby carrots with blue cheese dressing when we got home.

Now I’ve got to get cleaning!