Frozen Feet

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Has everyone done the Friday dance?  I’m sure glad for the weekend!  I actually have a ton to do the next few days so I made sure to include some relaxation in today’s plan.

My morning was a little too relaxed; leaving my warm bed feels bad, but running around like a headless chicken trying not to be late feels worse!  After I went to the trouble of buying a banana last night I couldn’t even get it together to make breakfast this morning.  Also, 30minute walk in 40* weather, not a sandals time.  Who knew!  😉  At least my tortured toes gave me a good excuse to buy a coffee before class.

A medium skim latte with sugar-free English toffee syrup. 

We had a guest speaker this morning who works in pediatric nutrition; she was fascinating!  The teacher of my Friday course is super energetic and excited about Dietetics and the speakers she brings in have all been just as enthusiastic.  They make me really excited about my future career!

After class I met up with my group; we have a poster presentation on November 19th and we are already 2/3 of the way finished.  I had ~ an hour between our meeting and Orgo so I made the best use of the time possible – I went to the gym!

I told you guys if I take a day off it turns into a month!  I had been going regularly (and loving it!) and after my I’m sick/I have 5 tests/OMG week I haven’t been in 16 days.  I know that I feel 100% better when I’m working out regularly so I’m going to try really hard to make sure I stick with it.  I didn’t have a ton of time today so I tried to use it wisely on the treadmill –

  • 5minute warm up (walking)
  • 20minutes running
  • 3minute cool down (walking)

In my 28minutes I covered 2.58miles, not terrible!  I’m actually running a 5k in a couple of weeks so hopefully that will keep me motivated.

I didn’t ever get it together to get food so I bought myself a Lemon Lime G-2 post gym.

It kept me hydrated but by the time Anatomy started my hunger had zapped my energy.  My class notes today are baaaaad.

A freezing, sideways raining walk home later, and I was heating up a Chicken Enchillada Suiza Lean Cuisine.

I needed some time to reheat while I refueled so Adam and I caught up on a bit of tv.  Has anyone seen the most recent CSI: Las Vegas?  Terrifying!  I also snacked on some Halloween candies,

a small handful of Southwest Cashews from Sahale Snacks,

and the last honey vanilla caramel apple.

The granny smith was the best yet!  I really, really, really recommend trying these.

Then it was time for business, we got out our fall decorations and finally switched out our summer and winter wardrobes.  My toes were oh so glad to see my Uggs!

Before catching up on “Bones” (love) we did find time to make a pretty snazzy dinner.

That’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage from Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals.

We basically followed the recipe, although we used a bit less meat and pasta than called for.  Actually, we didn’t use meat at all; I couldn’t find any turkey sausage without pork casing so instead I swapped in some Gimmie Lean vegan meat substitute.

We also used the big can of local canned pumpkin I bought when I was panicking over the possible Libby’s shortage.

The flavor was spot on, but the texture wasn’t quite as velvety as the good stuff.

But the dish was still damn tasty.

This is one of the recipes Adam and I used to make all of the time when we were living in Brooklyn, it’s an old favorite.

I still have to shower and make our grocery list before bed, but I’m hoping to turn in before 11.  Amid a heap of homework, I signed up to volunteer at a health fair tomorrow.  What’s on your agenda for the weekend?

Life As I Know It

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It’s been a rather fun day, especially for a Thursday!  We’ve managed to pack in a lot of good times.  Plus, look at the sun rise I woke up to today:

Not quite as impressive foodwise; I’m not sure how I managed to get so completely out of food!  We actually made a special banana stop this evening so I could make myself oatmeal (a real breakfast) tomorrow!

I did the best I could with breakfast today though.

I knew I didn’t have time for lunch between classes so I tried to make a bowl that would hold me over for the long run.  0% Plain Oikos, maple syrup, homemade pb, peanuts, shredded coconut, and craisins.

Filling, and actually a very tasty combo of flavors.

I got some good news in Anatomy, an A+ on last week’s practical exam!  And in between classes I finished all of my work for tomorrow, which meant I had time to play later on.

Food lab today was all about veggies.  My group experimented with the effects of cooking techniques.  Did you know – if you want your broccoli to look extra green and appetizing you should use cooking water that’s a bit alkali (baking soda).  If you cook it in an acidic medium (with vinegar) you’ll end up with a very unappetizing olive-green shade.  I didn’t sample any of our experiments, but I did take some tastes of the dishes the other groups made.

Adam came to pick me up from school because of the rain, and we took a spontaneous trip to the movies!  You know we split a medium popcorn 😉

We saw “Life as You Know it,” which I’ve been jazzed about for months.  Normally I hate chick flicks but something about Katherine Hiegel makes me unable to resist!  The movie was adorable, very touching but with a lot of funny moments as well.  I give it two thumbs up!

Our apartment is seriously foodless, so when we picked up my banana we also swung by Moe’s for a quesadilla.

I ate my fair share of chips too.

And a honey vanilla caramel apple.

Have you made these yet?  Do it!

Now we are watching “Nightmare Before Christmas.”  Adam’s been trying to get me to see if for years and I’m actually totally loving it.  Hope you all have *sweet* dreams!

A Few Highlights

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Between a dying camera battery and an unshakable bad mood I couldn’t quite get it together to blog today.  I’ll just share some highlights….

For breakfast I tried out the Zone Perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough bar.

It wasn’t as good as Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (because really what is?) but it held its own.  The texture was pure cookie dough and the inclusion of raisins was a lot of fun.  The flavor wasn’t too sweet and this didn’t have any sort of chemical taste at all.  Plus, this variety is a bit lighter at 170calories and 1.5grams of saturated fat.

Lunch was a sad-sack of a Buffalo chicken sandwich.

Highlight of the day was a honey vanilla caramel apple.

I linked to the recipe yesterday, but I’m going to do it again (click me!) because it’s so crucial that you make this.  Seriously.

 What is your prefered color of highlighter?  I’m a purple girl myself.

Pour Some Sugar On Me

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I’ve had that ubiquitous Def Leppard track stuck in my head all weekend.  Around midnight on Saturday I even requested it be added to the party playlist!  And “Pour Some Sugar on Me” is a fitting anthem for this evening as I’m currently buzzing from a major sugar high.

Let’s cover dinner first shall we?

The tofu I was pressing earlier was cooked up this evening into my fabulous Coco Loco Tofu.  If you haven’t tried this recipe yet I highly recommend it; it’s the dish that got the husband hooked on tofu!

We used the remaining coconut marinade to cook down a big batch of kale.

The creamy (coconut), tangy (rice vinegar) sauce was the perfect complement to the kale.  Sometimes I hate how much greens cook down though; I swear that is a big serving of veggies!

I was ravenous while we were cooking dinner so I made myself a tiny bowl of 0% Plain Oikos with homemade chocolate pb, Crofter’s strawberry spread, and a pinch of shredded coconut.

Tasty, but ruined my appetite for the main event; I ended up only eating 2/3 of my tofu and sharing the rest.

I worked up an appetite for dessert stirring, stirring, stirring in the kitchen.  40minutes later I was rewarded with caramel apples!

I pulled a recipe from Everyday with Rachael Ray for Honey-Vanilla Caramel Apples.  I decided to make a half batch of apples (Adam won’t eat any) and save the rest of the caramel for other means. 

Granny Smith, Paula Red, Crispin.

I haven’t tasted an actual apple yet because I made myself too sick on caramel, but I can already tell you that this recipe is a keeper!  The honey vanilla caramel is divine and it was easy as pie to make.  There is a fabulous deep roasted flavor that makes it addictive; there was a lot of this –


Healthy dinner, check; most of my school work up to date, check; satisfied sweet tooth, check plus!

Caramel, candied, or naked, how do you prefer your apples?

Rye Sense of Humor

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This is a late lunch post because I ate a late lunch – my oatmeal held me over until 3pm!

I had forgotten to take my planned leftovers down from the freezer, so I settled on a nice sandwich plate instead.

That’s a slice of toasted rye, topped with Miracle Whip and pickle relish, stacked with 3 thin slices of turkey and 2 slices of 2% colby cheese, stuck under the broiler for 5minutes.

I kept it open-faced because I want to really taste the cheese and not just a bunch of bread.  I will say though, I definitely enjoyed having the rye (with carraway seeds!).  When I was growing we always had rye in the fridge; I never even tasted white bread until I was in college!  Maybe that’s why I have such a wry sense of humor….. 😀

Some baby carrots on the side for crunch.

This was the perfect one-handed meal to eat while I worked on my laptop.  I crunched and munched my way through part of a group project.

The plan tonight is an easy dinner, a fun dessert, and hopefully switching out our winter and summer wardrobes.  Oh, and some more school work!

What kind of bread was in your childhood fridge?

Thanks for “Finding” Us!

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Growing up in the Caribbean means I spent years studying the Arawaks and the Caribs, so I’m more inclined to think that Christopher Columbus is a monster than a hero.  However, a free Monday off from school?  I’ll take it!

Unfortunately the morning started off like this –

I wasn’t even taking a shower; I was about to wash my face and I felt creepy for some reason so I checked in the shower!  Thankfully I’d already brushed my teeth, so I went all Zena Raid Princess, sealed off the bathroom, and washed my face in the kitchen with one of the face wipes I use for travel.

My heart felt like there was a axe-weilding murderer in the shower instead of a hairy bug so I turned on Pandora and did a bit of quiet stretching.  I’m keeping yoga duds on all day so I can squeeze in mini workouts around my studying.

Around 9 I headed into the kitchen.  First things first, I had to prep some tofu for tonight’s dinner.

I wanted to get this done early because I’m marinating the tofu and wanted to give it ample time to bathe.  Note – even when I’m marinating, I always press the water out of my tofu first.

Since I was in the kitchen anyways, I decided to (finally!) try my hand at a bowl of stove top oats.

Oh. My. God!  How have I not been doing this?!?!  I actually don’t think microwaved oats are terrible, but this was just so much better!

I cooked a 1/2 cup of oats with a 1/2 cup each skim milk and water, and a medium banana.  Then I topped my bowl with a serving of butterscotch chips and a dollop of chunky peanut butter.

To die for, for real.  Even without the toppings the banana made the oats perfectly sweet and the texture wasn’t sticky or gummy at all.  Delish!

I (per usual) didn’t get much done this weekend so I’ve got to hit the books hard.  See you for lunch!

Do you get the day off today or are you reading this at work?

An In and Out Post

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Can I do 100 words or less?

We had a late dinner party to attend yesterday so I did some random snacking to tide me over until 9pm.

Two of our Russian friends provided a traditional ethnic feast.  My plate included potatoes with mushrooms, salad, and bellinis with caviar (omg, the caviar!).

The table also had liver and onions and tongue!!!

We didn’t get home until after 2am – I was the only non-drinker in the room – and even abstaining from alcohol couldn’t keep me feeling peppy today.  Let’s sum Sunday up with more random snacking.

Also picture and unphotographed glass of chocolate milk and several extra handfuls of peanuts.

Word Count – 111