Happy Halloween

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We haven’t done loads of studying (I have another test on Friday), but it has been a good day.  Besides, Halloween is about eating loads of crap, and I’ve done that!

Have you ever had Halloween oats?

This was actually my first attempt at making a double batch – I’m doing something very fun with the second bowl tomorrow! – and I think it went well.  For two bowls I stovetop cooked 2/3 cup oats, 1 & 1/3 cup liquids (a mix of skim milk, unsweetened Silk almond milk, and water), 1 banana, and a pinch of salt.  And then in honor of Halloween I topped today’s bowl with the last vegan pumpkin pecan blondie.

Delish!

Brunch/the first half of lunch were turkey corn dogs from Jimmy Dean.

And then I brought out of my salad leftovers from last night.

A little soggy, but still good!

I also split a bag of cheetos with the husband.

And what’s the 31st without candy?

Mmmmn!

Have you eaten any Halloween candy yet today?

Spooky Saturday

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It’s been a full and fabulous day!  A race, some shopping, good eats, going out with friends; yup, it was pretty perfect!

Our morning started bright and healthy with the Jack O’ Lantern 5k.

The course looped 3.1 miles around Goat Island (Niagara Falls) and was beautiful.

I split a Cliff Crunchy granola bar with the husband on the drive up.

Today’s race had everything going against it – I had to run alone (Katie had to back out at the last minute and the husband wanted to actually run), the lack of bathrooms meant my full bladder bothered me the entire course, I was slow as all get out, and it was frigid out.

But you know what?  Even a terrible run is still a great one!

I don’t know my exact time but, it was something less than 31:20, I’ll take it!  I was terrified of coming in last (ask me to tell you that story sometime!) but I ended up only coming in behind 75% of the racers.

We hit up the food tent afterwards – Adam housed at least two sandwiches – and I ended up eating part of an ice pop.

I didn’t really it get it together to eat a real meal after that and my hunger ended up hitting hard later in the day.  The husband requested a pumpkin chocolate milkshake (he’s a genius!) and I did take a few sips of that before we headed to the grocery.

Adam had to go into the lab in the afternoon so I went with him and did some school-work.  I packed a snack for while I studied.

Apple slices and baby carrots dipped in a serving of sun butter.

Unfortunately this was around the time my hunger hit and I ended up not getting much work done.

Afterwards we headed to the mall to pick up a few things.  We must have done at least 4 full loops of the mall and by the time we stopped at Cheesecake Factory I was ready for diner!

Bread, x2 with butter. (Sorry for the blurry pictures, I don’t know why CF is always so darn dim!)

I ordered off of the appetizer menu for dinner and my salad was still huge!

The Fresh Vegetable Salad – Asparagus, Green Beans, Tomato, Cucumber, Roasted Beets, Apple, Edamame, Radicchio, Romaine and White Cheddar All Chopped with Pomegranate Vinaigrette.  I subbed in spicy peanut vinaigrette for my dressing, which somehow also got me edamame; score!

This is sooooooooo good.  <– That’s what I said to Adam at least 10 times during dinner 🙂  Huge as it was, I still managed to finish 2/3 of it.  I have a nice takeout container for lunch tomorrow as well.

I stole a few of Adam’s french fries too.

After we got home a couple of friends came over and we hung out for a bit before heading out to some nearby bars to check out people’s costumes.  We had a lot of fun, but I didn’t bring my camera so you’ll have to take my word for it – I’ll show you my “costume” tomorrow!

While we were out, Adam and I split a Woodchuck Cider.  And once home I ate part of a vegan pumpkin pecan blondie.

What a day, what a day.

Time to Break the Cycle

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I’m back!  Hell Week part deux is over!

This past week wasn’t a total fail, but I wouldn’t call it a success either.  You see, there’s this cycle I’m trying to break.  I’m really ready to change, but right now it’s basically a schedule that goes like clockwork.  Here’s what goes down on weeks with multiple tests –

  1. I get really excited about all the studying I’m going to do.  I write up an intricate schedule of all the things I’m going to accomplish.
  2. I look at the schedule and get really overwhelmed.
  3. I get so overwhelmed that instead of studying for any of my tests, I stick my head in the sand like an Ostrich and watch Grey’s Anatomy.
  4. I stop going to the gym and I eat a bunch of crap, because I’m “busy.”  Except I’m not busy, because I’m not actually studying.
  5. I feel like crap physically (probably from eating crap) and mentally because I’m disappointed with myself.

This happens every time!  When I was a kid my dad used to tell me that the worst part of procrastinating when doing an unpleasant task is that in addition to doing the task you have to spend a lot of time thinking about it.  I know not to do this, but somehow it hasn’t quite clicked 😉

I didn’t have time for breakfast because I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off (not studying for my tests sadly, I had 4 papers to read for my Nutrition class this morning).  I did manage to warm up with a mug of honey vanilla chamomile,

and to do this –

That’s a good use of time people!

The papers presented in Nutrition today were actually fascinating – the impact of obesity on pregnancy, the benefits of breastfeeding, nutrition intervention in people with developmental disabilities – but I was too wound up to really focus.

We had a block of time before Orgo and I ended up buying a veggie sandwich while I studied.

Meh.  Too much bread, not enough veggie; I ate half.

Then it was time to face the music.  I think the hardest part was that I had the two tests back to back – I literally had to sprint from my Orgo exam to my Anatomy exam.  In the end things went better than they could have gone.  I’m guessing a B/C on the Orgo exam and a C/D (ugh!) on Anatomy.  Moving on…..

I’ve got a weekend of freedom!

Actually, we’ve got some excitement on the agenda tomorrow; Adam, Katie and I are going to run in a 5k!  I’m not even close to being ready for this race (when will I run something I’ve actually trained for?!?), but it will be fun to see if anyone comes in costume.

When I got home this afternoon I decided to dig deep, roll up my sleeves, and start working on breaking that cycle!  I reorganized my binder and got started on Orgo reading.  (go me!)  While I read I ate a crunchy snack.

A sliced cucumber,

and a serving of Sing Buri Cashews that Sahale Snacks sent me.

The nuts were soooo good.

The mix of cashews, peanuts, sesame seeds and dried pineapple was sweet and savory with just a perfect bit of spice.  I never like cashews when they are by their lonesome, but in mixes like this they are divine.

Plus a small vegan pecan pumpkin blondie.

And then it was time for a quick dinner.

(That’s on the small plate from my blondie)  I reheated some leftover roasted broccoli in 1/2 Tbsp of butter, then scrambled in two Eggland’s Best eggs, and topped with a dollop of chunky salsa.

Yum, I love eggs with broccoli!  When I cook eggs I let the yolk and white set separately for a while before I scramble; it gives them the best texture.

Dinner had to be quick because we were meeting a group of friends for a movie.  I packed my own snack, a small assortment of candy from the bulk bins.

Sidenote – when I get candy from the bulk bin I pick and choose the exact pieces I want.  I generally take 1-2 pieces of each candy (that’s 1 jordan almond or 1 gummy bear), it takes at least 10minutes, and I drive the husband crazy.

Anyhoo, we saw “Red” and it was hysterical!  Everyone in the group agreed that it was one of John Malkovich’s best movies.  Two thumbs up.

What is your favorite action comedy?

Mexican x Dos

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A few things need to be said to preface this post –

  1. Today was carbtastic!
  2. You are not seeing double; my lunch and dinner pretty much were identical.  In retrospect, I think I was just so excited about dinner that my fried brian jumped the gun at lunch.
  3. I just finished taking a midterm and I have tests in Anatomy and Orgo on Friday.
  4. I promise this blog will stop sucking (or will at least suck less) when said tests are finished.

Breakfast (1), Cliff Spooky ‘Smores Z-Bar.

This was my first time with this flavor and I thought it was pretty great.  The flavor was marshmellow-y without being too sweet.  Not very filling though, which leads to (2) – a cinnamon raisin bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

I also bought an iced tea.  The vat of coconut cocoa iced tea had been tempting me for days so I finally caved.

Whoops! Where do I think I am, Brooklyn?!  Of course this was pre-sweetened!  Sometimes I forget that BSC is the mecca of all things unhealthy, and also making things that should be healthy into things that are unhealthy.  You guys know that I love all foods sugar laden, but tea is one of the few things that I think should not be sweet.  I took a sip and then dumped it in the trash.

Something that should be sweet is candy!  Like candy corn.

During the 2hour anatomy review session I also snacked on this cucumber.

I went straight from class, to class, to a review session and by the time I was heading home at 1 I figured I should just buy lunch on the way so I could focus on my midterm.  Enter nachos.

I stopped at a ‘fresh fast food’ Mexican place that we don’t usually frequent on the way home and I figured I should try an old favorite.  I was pretty impressed – these were cheesey without being too cheesey (ahem, the jalapeno nachos from my year on the couch!), and packed with beans.  I felt healthy(ish!) rather than sick after eating them.

Special K Red Berries with skim milk.

Picture a small vegan pecan pumpkin blondie here too; I couldn’t take a photo because I ate it during my timed online midterm.

Dinner came courtesy of Foodbuzz, as well as my recent crock pot obsession.  Let me explain.  As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program I was sent a sample of this Pace Picante Sauce.

We’ve been loving stewed chicken in the crock pot lately, so why not salsa stewed chicken?!  Soooo simple – 1lb of chicken in the crock pot, a jar of salsa dumped on top, 8hours on low, shred with 2 forks.  Note – the spice level (for a medium) in this sauce is perfect, and I like the level of chunkiness.  Two thumbs up.

Easy peasy, and in a few more short steps we had a fabulous dinner.

Oven roasted butternut squash and broccoli,

sautéed chopped green peppers and onions,

shredded sharp cheddar,

salsa stewed chicken,

dollop of Daisy store-brand reduced fat sour cream.

Fabulous.  Made even more fabulous when finished with the addition of Terra Blues Chips.

Fabulous x 10.

What’s your go-to order for American-Mexican food?  Burritos, enchilladas, or do nachos feed your soul?

Going on Walkabout

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Walk to The Spot

Katie and I were supposed to meet this morning for breakfast and a study session,

but we spent most of our time talking, whoops!

We did manage the breakfast part though.  A grande iced (it was so warm here today!) coffee with skim milk,

and a thing of artichoke and spinach humus.

I know that humus is a strange breakfast but it sounded so good I just couldn’t pass it up!

Unfortunately the flavor was too garlicy for my taste buds, but it was nice to get some veggies into my morning.  I finished about half each of the humus and the bread sticks.

Walk to school

I had a busy time on campus today – a meeting, two classes, and another meeting, all back to back.  I snacked on a small vegan pumpkin pecan blondie before my first meeting.

And during Anatomy I ate this Balance Pure Cherry Pecan Bar.

I was a little unsure about the flavor – I got it on super sale at Wegmans – but I ended up being a fan.  It wasn’t as amazing as the cookie dough variety, but it also wasn’t as caloric and had fewer grams of saturated fat.

School fun facts – 1. They recently discovered taste buds in our lungs.  2. I did such a good job on my Orgo homework (rewriting the class notes) that he gave me extra-credit points!

Walk to Wegmans

I knew I needed to get in a couple hours of solid concentration with my Orgo notes, so I headed to the Wegmans’ Cafe to study.  And to get a tasty dinner.

Veggies, veggies, everywhere,

and green beans and chicken and eggplant in garlic sauce.

Since I was alone, and therefore wasn’t sharing a drink with the husband, I decided to try this fun looking drink.

I don’t know if it tasted exactly like chai OR cola, but the flavor had a nice spice and wasn’t too sweet.

Walk Get picked up and drive home

I covered more than 2 miles just in transit today, but canceling my run was Adam this evening wasn’t an option.  We ran one mile out and walked one mile back, with a very exciting destination in the middle –

One morning few weeks ago, I was taking a walk and talking on the phone with my mom when I spotted that window display…..and I made such a loud exclamation of glee that the owner (who was in his car outside) asked me if I’d like him to open up the shop specially for me!  Excited much?  I told him I could contain myself, but my mom told me that for my ‘fall gift’ (yes, she’s crazy) I could go charge a couple of pumpkin brews.

Nice!  We are very excited about our selection.

A sampling of pumpkin/seasonal beers,

a Root beer from Abita (one of my top 3 favorite beer companies),

and a few Tuskers, our new favorite beer that is almost impossible to find in Buffalo! 

The Village Beer Merchant is awesome about having a great selection of things that are absent elsewhere in Buffalo, and the employees are all super nice and helpful.

Adam had to crack open a Tusker the minute we got home, and he saved a few swigs in the bottle for me.

Ahhhh.

What is your favorite type of beer?  I actually don’t like beer that much, but I have three obsessions – 21st Amendment, Hell or High Watermelon; Abita, particularly the strawberry and winter brews; and Tusker.

Facts of Fall

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There is nothing pumpkin can’t do.

The weather in Buffalo today was beautiful!  In lieu of a formal workout, Adam and I took a long walk to soak it in.

Today included too much snacking and not enough studying.

The words in this post are lacking (just wrote “snacking,” whoops!), but I will at least show you everything I ate today; plus some “Fall” photos for funsies.

Arnold’s WW Sandwich Thin, Laughing Cow Blue Cheese, 3 slices of turkey.

Mini Vanilla Tootsie Roll, x2.

Baby carrots and ranch.

Small slice of pizza from the school food court where we were studying.

Leftover Loaded Potato Soup (make it, seriously!).

Waffle fries (more potatoes?!) doused in salt and vinegar.

Allie’s Vegan Pumpkin Pecan Blondies.  Note – I halved the oil, substituted the spices (little bit of pumpkin pie spice, lotta bit cinnamon and nutmeg), and used light brown sugar and these still came out fabulously!

What signs of fall are popping up in your area?  What’s been your favorite pumpkin goodie so far this season?

Project Tasteless – The Naked Chef

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This blog post offers a fantabulous (if I do say so myself) new recipe and serves as my first entry into Rachel’s Project Tasteless Contest.

Basically the rules for the Naked Chef contest were – 1. Take everything off; 2. Put on an apron, and only an apron; 3. Cook something delicious.  The entry post must include photographs and a recipe.  My grandma reads this blog (hi, Nana!) so my pictures are PG, but the recipe is shockingly good!

In honor of the fun contest, I decided to try a recipe I’ve been building in my head for the past couple weeks – Loaded Potato Soup.

In the contest description, Rachel specifically warned against cooking bacon.  But I’m an island girl; I’ve cooked bacon in a bikini!  Bacon in an apron (albeit only an apron)?  Pshaw!  Bring it on, I thought.  And I’m glad I did, because the bacon brought the flavor to this soup.

Thick, satisfying, inventive….. sorry husband, still talking about the soup!

The recipe (included below) looks a little long (that’s what she said!), but it’s actually really easy (that’s what he said!).  Even stopping regularly to try to keep my boobs out of the photographs (a good policy for the modern world in general) we finished very quickly (she’d never say that!).

It was divine.

Loaded Potato Soup, serves 4 –

  • 24 oz butter potatoes (4 medium potatoes will do)
  • 3 tsp evoo
  • 3 slices nitrate-free bacon (I used Applegate Farms turkey)
  • 1 bunch scallions
  • 3 Tbsp butter
  • 3 Tbsp flour
  • 2 cups fat-free milk
  • 1 1/4 cups chicken broth
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream
  • 4 Tbsp shredded extra-sharp cheddar
  1. Wash potatoes and pierce several times with a fork.  Place in a circle on a microwave-safe plate.  Microwave until cooked through and softened, 12-14minutes depending on your microwave.
  2. Finely chop the scallions; set half of the chopped upper green stems aside.
  3. Meanwhile, heat 2tsp of evoo in a large saute pan over medium heat.
  4. Cook bacon until it is browned and crispy.  Remove from pan and roughly chop.  Divide the chopped bacon into two piles.
  5. Add the final tsp of oil to the pan.  Cook scallions 2-3minutes, until softened and slightly translucent.  Remove from pan and reduce heat to low.
  6. Melt butter, swirling to coat the bottom of the pan.  Sprinkle flour into melted butter and whisk vigorously to combine.
  7. Cook the roux over low heat, about 3minutes, to remove the raw taste from the flour.
  8. Working in four batches, slowly add the milk to the pan.  Whisk vigorously and make sure each batch is fully combined before moving on to ensure there are no lumps.
  9. Raise the heat to medium and bring mixture to a low simmer.  Stir in broth.
  10. Use a fork to roughly mash the cooked potatoes.  Carefully add to pot and cook 3-5minutes, continuing to mash with your spoon.
  11. Stir in cooked scallions and half of the chopped bacon.
  12. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in sour cream.
  13. Divide the soup into four bowls and top each one with 1Tbsp cheese and reserved bacon and scallions.

The End.

Hot Bar Makes the World Go ‘Round

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Today was Study Saturday, sort of.  We were up waaaaaaay too late last night, and it shifted the whole day back.  At this point I am at least all caught up and ready to begin studying for my two tests next week.

We puttered around the house a bit in the morning and I made myself a Pumpkin Pie Through a Straw.

We didn’t have a lot of pumpkin leftover so I ended up having to add some ice for filler, which made it less tasty than usual but still pretty fricking tasty!

Around 11 we packed up our stuff and headed to Wegmans cafe for a study session.  Between our hot bar obsession and the fact the booths are perfect study session size, Wegmans is the perfect spot.  And we were jazzed to see that they had Halloween decorations up and employees dressed in costume!

Not gonna lie, lunch was still the most exciting part.

I got a random mish-mash of little bites.  Steamed broccoli and brussels sprouts,

wok seared veggies, bbq tofu, and sesame chicken and shrimp.

Full-bellied, we got a lot of studying done.  Except for the two hours we wasted on an intense conversation about the social construct of gender roles/child care/alimony.  <– dorks!

We got our weekly grocery trip in before we came home.  I had to spend a certain amount of $ in the bulk bins to use a coupon so I filled a baggie with assorted chocolates.

And downed them the minute we walked in the house 🙂  Think chocolate covered peanuts, pretzels, sponge candy…

On the agenda for tonight is a tasty, saucy (<–puns) dinner that’s my entry into a certain fun contest…..