Scheduled

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Hello, future readers, it’s Emily from the past!  In order to share my lunch before I get home at dinner-time I pre-scheduled this post.

Speaking of scheduling, here’s a look at my life this semester –

Hours-wise this should be a bit easier than the fall, but most of my classes are slated to be pretty difficult, so it’s going to be a busy semester.

Today’s plan is to eat lunch between my two nutrion classes, in between dropping of an important application, fingers crossed!

I’ve got a sliced up cucumber,

and a leftover serving of last night’s wonder pizza.

As I munched happily last night I told the husband that this (bbq chicken caramelized onions and gouda) pizza is a 7-out-of-10 on the pizza scale, but a 9.5-out-of-10 on the homemade pizza scale!

I’ve got plans to hit the gym after my last class (finally!) and then this evening should be nice and relaxing since Tuesdays are school-free!  See ya this evening!

Back to School, Back to School

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Today is a big day – the first day of my second semester at BSC!

Normally I like to bound out of bed on mornings of big occasions, but today’s -7* weather left me clinging to my pillow!  Fun fact – in just a bit, I’m going to have to go outside for my 30minute walk to school in those negative temperatures. Yikes!  I’ve already had to build extra time into this morning’s schedule for bundling.

I also made time for (warm!) breakfast.

Even though I’m not a teacher any more, I still like to start off new semesters with an apple.  This morning it was a stewed apple – a la IGE – atop a Van’s Berry Boost Waffle.

With a side of ‘smores hot cocoa.

Now if I can just find a parka and a dog with a barrel around its neck I’ll be ready for school!

Help me.  This is my first foray into degrees below 10, does anyone have any advice about my walk to school?

Like a Saftey

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Confession – in order to write my clever title I had to Google “football players who tackle.”  And I was a cheerleader.

Anyway, that’s what this weekend has been about, tackling my to-do list:

Hooray!

I tackled two weeks worth of laundry (actually, the husband tackled this, but I folded!),

I tackled the pile of outgoing mail,

I tackled my huge stack of unsorted magazine clippings,

I tackled my planner for the semester,

And more!  I didn’t work the whole weekend, but I did more in two days than I’ve done in two weeks.

Breakfast this morning had a mix of carbs and protein to fuel me up.

That’s a plan fat-free yogurt with Crofter’s Strawberry Jam stirred in, topped with Kashi H2H and some chunky peanut butter.

So good!  Peanut Butter and I have totally resparked our love affair lately.

Around noon I headed out to run some errands at school and replenish our food stores.  Wegman’s was terrible this afternoon – the hot bar was barely stocked and the store was packed.  Nonetheless, I managed to carve out a booth of calm and spend an hour tackling my NYE resolution to read more.

Eating materials, hot bar Asian style veggies, potatoes, and sweet and sour chicken.

Reading materials, The Food of a Younger Land, Mark Kurlansky.

When I got home from pushing my way through the hoards I snacked  on a mini bag of kettle corn and a glass of skim milk.

Dinner involved some prep throughout the day – chicken getting soft and shreddable in the crock pot, red onions caramelizing on the stove – but the end result was beyond worth it –

Bbq chicken pizza with caramelized red onions and gouda!

I topped a store-bought crust with caramelized red onions, shredded chicken tossed with bbq sauce, and gouda, and 10minutes later I had pure, steamy bliss.

Bliss served with a side of roasted asparagus.

It was a pretty heavenly dinner.

Dessert was from the bulk bins; yogurt pretzels, chocolate pretzels, and a piece of local sponge candy.

I’ve got to go shower and get my beauty sleep; school starts tomorrow!

Snow Filled Saturday

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Howdy all, happy Saturday!  It’s been chilly and busy ’round these parts.  I had lots of errands to run, but more on that later (tomorrow).  Basically I have today and tomorrow to tackle this monster to-do list –

Before I got started on my errands I grabbed this coconut aloe juice.

So good, the best coconut (or aloe) drink I’ve had yet!

The weather was insane today, whiteout for miles.  

It took me forever to get the five miles to the post office, probably because I was only going 10miles an hour!  At least the bad weather meant that this adorable snowflake ended up on my steering wheel –

I snacked on a bag of kettle chips when I got home.

And made myself a Peanut Noodle Lean Cuisine for lunch.

This was actually very good, the sauce was mild but nice.

I also snagged a minneola.

And while I was ruthlessly cutting down my magazine clipping I snacked on a 7-Layer bar.

Then came dinner.

A recipe from Everyday with Rachael Ray, Stir-Fried Pasta Primavera (sorry I can’t link to this recipe).

I basically followed Ray’s lead, with a few healthy changes:

  • I wanted 3 big servings (vs. 4), so added a bit more veggies and used a bit less pasta
  • subbed parsley for basil
  • subbed light for heavy cream

The end result was delicious.

I almost never order cream sauces when dining out but lately we’ve been loving them at home.

What’s the weather like in your neck of the woods today?

Blojo, It’s Not What You’re Thinking

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I don’t know what my deal is lately, I have lost all my blojo (that’s blog mojo, fyi).  Sometimes I run out of time to blog, or sometimes I’m just too lazy, but the other day I actually forgot to blog before bed.  That’s crazy!  As I spend my last days before the semester begins relishing my time as a slug, I guess my eats have been pretty forgettable though.  Sort of like the pizza we ordered for dinner tonight 😉

While we wait for that delivery, I might as well fill you in on my day.  Like breakfast.

A slice of cinnamon sugar toast with Smart Balance Light, on a rye/pumpernickel swirl.

Plus a tasty yogurt bowl; 0% Plain Oikos, honey, pb, and a chopped banana.

This was the high point of my day nutritionally, – which shouldn’t be hard because Greek yogurt is pretty nutritionally impressive – mostly because lunch came in the form of corn, popped and kettled.

And several handfuls of cheezits.

Hello, carbs.

It’s time for another trip to the store but with 10* weather I’m having a hard time finding the motivation (hence the pizza dinner delivery).  However, I realize that the lack of fruits and veggies is effecting the rest of my motivation; the motivation that gets me off the couch or prompts me to write a decent blog post.  Dare I say school on Monday might be the best thing to happen to me all month?

How do you keep up your blojo?

Chocolate Straws and Muffin Bars

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This morning I had Adam drop me off at my school on the way to his, so I could finally get those to-do’s done.  It was nice to be out of the house, and up before 9, for a change.

Plus it felt good to check things off the list.  I picked up my recommendation letter, and delivered it to the application desk, and I printed off a few things.  Then I went to the registrar’s office….no, wait, I didn’t.  I walked halfway home and then I remembered that I had one final to-do!  I trekked back and was informed that my music class does indeed cover two requirements, which means I can’t drop it, no matter how god-awful it sounds.

I wasn’t expecting to make that extra half trip, but I’m glad I came prepared with breakfast in my purse.

LaraBar sent me their newest flavor to sample, Blueberry Muffin.  I’ve heard mixed reviews in the blog world so I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I loved it!  I don’t know how they managed to approximate a baked good so well using dates.  There was this great crumbly muffininess to it.

When I finally did make it home from tromping about in the cold, I was parched.  Enter a big glass of skim milk with a chocolate milk straw.

I don’t drink a lot of milk (I prefer to get my dairy in yogurt form), but when I do I love it.  The straws are pretty neat too, they just barely flavor the milk with cocoa.  I tried to find a link and came up short, but I did discover that the Got Milk? site is totally amazing.  You should check it out.

Two Questions for Hump Day:

  1. What is your favorite way to eat dairy?
  2. What is your favorite LaraBar flavor?

Representative, REPRESENTATIVE!

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Woo-whee, today has been a frustrating day!  This morning I lost two hours of my life to customer representatives, two hours I’ll never get back.  Can I just say – I hate automated phone systems!

I didn’t have time to go to the grocery store until much later than planned, so most of the day’s eats were random things from my almost bare fridge.  1.5Tbsp of cheese spread with Mary’s Gone Crackers.

A mug of hot cocoa with mini marshmallows.

And the last of the Plain Siggi’s.  I introduced Siggi’s to Adam this week and he totally fell in love, I’m so proud!

I drizzled the last serving with honey and a serving of chunky pb.

Divine.

We couldn’t get to the store until after 7pm, so we ended up picking up dinner at Moe’s while we were out.

Chips, queso dip, and a buffalo chicken burrito.

For dessert I munched on the random grab bag of candy I picked up from the bulk bins.

And we watched Futurama while we ate, it was the perfect evening to counteract my  annoying morning!

Pizza for Breakfast and Presents for Dinner

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I’ve got to cover breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, so hang in for a longish post.  Thank goodness I don’t do things like work out or leave the house, there’d just be too much to say!

Breakfast (late breakfast) was one of my favorites, Pizza Eggs.

Eggland’s Best scrambled up with turkey pepperoni, sharp cheddar, and marinara sauce.  To die for.

Making it even better, I’ve discovered the best way ever to scramble – leave the yolks set (almost like you are making fried eggs) and scramble just the whites.  Then, at the last minute, scramble in the yolks.  Allowing the components to cook apart for a while takes eggs to a whole ‘nother level!

Lunch covered another favorite technique, my new favorite for tuna salad.

I call this “Last Date Tuna Salad;” my regular recipe – canned tuna, miracle whip, and tons of pickle relish – taken over the edge with the addition of lots and lots of chopped red onion.  Try it, you’ll thank me, just don’t kiss anyone right after lunch!

Aside my salad was a piece of ciabatta bread, toasted and buttered.

It was a smelly tasty lunch.

I had to eat a peppermint stick to slay my breath before the husband came home!

I also nibbled through the last two cookies this afternoon.

Remind me how I haven’t made every last one of Jenna’s recipes yet?

Then came dinner.

My generous parents know we’re too poor for healthy seafood (and I’m too much of a girl for sardines), so they gifted us with “charge some salmon to the credit card one night, and marinade it in the maple dill dressing from your stocking” for Christmas. <– Yes, this was a stocking gift; and yes, they’re a little crazy.

Alongside we roasted up some asparagus,

and mini yellow potatoes.

And then there was snack.  For dessert we sampled a new flavor of Pop Chips.

Think early bedtime thoughts for me please; tomorrow I’m going to try to get up and be a real girl, maybe I’ll even leave the couch house!