Friday (Mostly) Freebie

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So it’s been 14 hours since my last post, also 14hours since I last sat at my laptop; yikes!  I’m a bit concerned that this semester is basically going to be insane.  My packed lunch was tasty, I guess, I’m not really sure since I inhaled the sandwich while running to class.  The cucumber slices were good, but perhaps a bit loud for crunching during Orgo; insert red face here.  I did squeeze in some Friday fun though.

After my last class ended (3pm) Adam came over to my campus for a study session with me.  I am so much more focused when the husband is next to me, probably because I’m not texting him!  A little after 5, I headed to the gym.  30minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  I wasn’t so lethargic today so I was able to run interval sprints for the last 10minutes or so.

After a shower we headed to the mall to Johnny Rockets.

I came home from BlogHer with coupons for 2 free meals so we made that our dinner date.  Usually JR would not be my first choice, but I’m kind of cheap 😉  Adam and I decided to do some sandwich splitting –

I got the #12 turkey burger,

and he ordered a tuna melt on sourdough.

He loved the melt (I thought the tuna tasted funny) and I thought the turkey burger was actually pretty fabulous, not too greasy at all.  I’d forgotten how much I enjoy pickles on burgers.  I ate ~ 1/3 of each sandwich and half of my fries.

Since all we had to pay was the tip we brought the evening’s cost up to a grand total of $6.71 by splitting a mini Brownie Batter Blizzard.

Cons – I don’t like brownies so I’m not sure why I thought I’d like this (I ate about 1/3 of it though).  Pros – our DQ has mini Blizzards now, yippie!

Does your DQ offer the mini?  What is your Blizzard order?

Signs of the Season

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Friday, Friday, Friday!  But that’s not all I’m excited about.

Adam left first today and when he called to tell me he was cold I had one thought – “Blazer!”

Some people are excited about the first Pumpkin Spice Latte (don’t get me wrong, I am too, but October is the pumpkin month!), I’m jazzed about the first blazer of the season.

I’m not ready to give in to fall yet though, I’m still rocking the Reefs and my breakfast felt pretty summery.

A serving of Kashi H2H topped with a chopped nectarine and Silk Almond Milk.

Here’s what I’ll be eating for lunch –

Turkey, Laughing Cow, Sandwich Thin.  Yes, that is an entire cucumber in the bag, and I am happy to see you 😉

What is your favorite sign of fall?

Don’t Be Catty

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I don’t know what’s up with me, because yesterday I was insanely hungry and today I was hit by fatigue!  Again, it was almost indescribable.  I felt like I was wading through mud all day long, my mind was cloudy, I was even falling asleep over my dead cat.  Yeah that’s right, there was a dead cat.  WARNING –  there will now be graphic pictures from Anatomy Lab.  Cat in a bag.

Oh, and here’s a picture of my lab partner and I with our dead cat.

She smelled fantastic.  Actually, lab was interesting but a bit frustrating because I was having a really hard time identifying the muscle groups.  Anatomy lab is a grade I’m already worried about.  Food lab (after my lunch post) was much more exciting because we got to identify vegetable cuts and spices and herbs, that I can totally do 😀

After class I went to the gym; the following is a short essay about how working out is the panacea to the world’s ills:

Feeling fat?  Go to the gym.  Mad at your boyfriend?  Go to the gym.  Stressed about work?  Go to the gym?  Having trouble sleeping?  Go to the gym.  Exhausted?  Go to the gym!

The time I spent working out was pretty much the only time I felt truly awake today.  I’m not gonna lie, I went to the gym for one reason and one reason only – I was already wearing my Lululemon sports bra under my dress and I didn’t want to “waste” it.  But I was glad I went, even if my legs weren’t moving as fast as they usually do.  Elliptical, random, level 6, 35minutes.

After my 30minute walk I totally crashed again, but it was nice while it lasted.  I was so tired I didn’t even take photos of my exorbatint amount of food (what?  I didn’t say the hunger was gone).  Plus, who wants to see pictures of food after the dead cat?

Have you ever taken a lab course with dissections?  Any fainting action or did you enjoy the learning?

I Wrote This Post Last Night

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I’m taking a page from Kath‘s internship days and ‘ghost-writting’ this lunch post.  Thursday’s classes and gym trip mean that I’m out of the house from 9am – 4:30(ish) pm and since I have a tasty lunch packed I figured I’d go ahead and post it.  As this publishes I will be exiting my first Anatomy lab with a cat component – I’ll definitely tell y’all more about that later!

I centered lunch around the last Jalapeno Popper turkey patty.

I put it on an Arnold’s Sandwich Thin instead of a bun, and nixed the broiled sharp cheddar, so I knew I needed something special to tie the whole thing together.  Enter Laughing Cow Blue Cheese –

Sandwich perfection.

I imagine I’m going to enjoy that very much 😀

I also packed a small sliced purple pepper,

and the last (tear) of the dried kiwi with some dried apricots.

Hopefully this holds me over through Food Lab and a workout, I can’t deal with yesterday’s insane hunger!

What is your favorite type of dried fruit?  I love kiwis and hibiscus.

I Might Just Move to Iowa

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Yeeeeesh today has seemed long!  I felt tired when I left my Anatomy lecture at 3, let alone when I walked into Chem Lab at 6pm.  Today I am thankful that –

  1. My group managed to finish up our melting point lab early and get out of there at 8pm.
  2. We cooked tonight’s dinner last night!

I am not thankful that it’s nearing the end of the month and my hunger monster attacked late this afternoon.  I packed myself a sliced plum as a snack.

Nah-uh.  You guys, I can’t even begin to describe how hungry I was; it felt like my stomach was going to implode.  I grabbed a Sabra To-Go pack,

and that barely made a dent.  I had a few hours between classes in which I was supposed to do my anatomy reading, but instead I clutched my stomach. 

Finally I found a cinnamon raisin bagel at the coffee shop (I ate half, toasted, plain) and that seemed to quiet the beast.

Fast forward four hours and it was time for dinner.

Iowa Girl Eat’s Chicken Chili.  Kristen is a genius!  Her recipe has minimal meat with black beans and baked beans(!), the combo is to die for!  I topped mine with shredded sharp cheddar.

I had a BlogHer coupon for Pilsbury Simply French Bread – no trans fat, preservatives, etc – so Adam cooked that up for us.  —A quick aside: we bought an over thermometer because we have been burning everything and now know that our oven is a good 200* off.  Joy.  That’s another thing to deal with tomorrow.—

All together.

I am so ready for bed!

What are you thankful for today?

***Updated to add – the beast returned!  I ate another slice of bread, a mini fudge brownie ice cream, two squares of chocolate, and I’m only stopping because I have to go to sleep.  Damn you hunger!

Squash Nosh B’Gosh

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My lunch today revolved around a local white acorn squash I picked up at the Co-op this weekend.

I can’t say squash, or any “osh” word, without thinking of the OshKosh B’Gosh my mother dressed me in pretty much exclusively when I was a kid.  She also used to tape bows to my head when I was a baby, but that’s another story…

I wasn’t sure what to expect with the white squash, but when I cut it open it had a great ‘fall’ scent.  I cut it in half and scooped out the seeds and junk and then roasted it, facedown, at 400* for 30minutes.  Then I flipped it over and filled the halves with a mix of ~ 4T raisins, 3T chopped walnuts, 1/2T butter, 2t maple syrup, big shakes cinnamon.  Followed by a final 20minutes at 400*.  How’d it turn out?

I’m on a recipe roll!  The savory and sweet balanced out perfectly and the consistency was totally comforting.

I also snacked on a handful of peanuts while I studied,

and drank a Zevia Twist with lunch.

This was the last of my Zevia samples, tear!  Cola is my favorite flavor but Twist is a very close second; I hate drinks like Diet Sprite because I think they taste like chemicals but this was just citrus and refreshing.

I’m heading to school now, I’ve got a book and a half (seriously) to print off before Anatomy.  Chemistry class was canceled today (yay!) but we have our first extended lab from 6-8:40pm (boo!) tonight.  We’re testing melting point ranges which sounds pretty interesting at least.

Were you a brand-loyal baby?  I remember a lot of Keds too.

Strawberry Danish Oat Success

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This morning has been pretty much spot on – it’s already mid-week, I’m ahead on my Chemistry homework, I got to workout with the husband, and my breakfast blew my mind!

My insomnia has been rearing its ugly head again but for some reason the 6:24 am alarm didn’t feel so bad.  When I’m planning on working out with Adam I’m excited, so it’s a lot easier to get up.  We dressed in a hurry and I grabbed 60calories worth of energy chews (ahem, Willy Wonka Apple candies) so I didn’t feel empty.

We ran a nice loop around the neighborhood, 2.05miles in 21minutes.  Followed by stretching and pt; I’ve got to start doing pt consistently again, my shins have been bugging me recently.

I ticked shower and some school work off of the list, then worked some breakfast magic.  I’ve always wanted to be an oatmeal person; other bloggers make it seem “cool” and the impending fall makes me crave a warm breakfast.  But oats always fall short for me – they are sticky and gummy and the flavor is always just a bit off.  I’ll do overnight oats from time to time, but cooked just don’t appal to me.  No more my friends, no more.

Strawberry Danish Oats, oh yes, I went there!  I have finally found my oatmeal combo; this was creamy and filling, and the taste was so decadent I might have whimpered a bit when the bowl was empty. 

I was so blown away I even gave this bowl its own recipe page.  For one –

  • 1/3 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1/3 cup milk (I used Silk Almond Milk because it’s so creamy but skim would do as well)
  • a pinch of salt
  • 1 cup frozen, defrosted strawberries (defrosted berries are a bit mushy which I prefer over crunch in my oats, if you only have fresh just cook them a little longer)
  • 1/2 oz reduced fat cream cheese
  • 2tsp brown sugar
  1. Combine oats, liquids, and salt in a bowl and stir to mix.  Microwave on high for 2-3minutes.  (You could stove top cook if you like but these are so creamy that there is really no need.)
  2. Microwave the strawberries, in a separate bowl, for 30-40seconds to take the chill off.
  3. Spoon berries on top of oats.  Top with cream cheese and brown sugar.
  4. Take a bite and gasp with pleasure!

I guess oats (and cream cheese) might be becoming a staple in this house after all!

Are you an oatmeal aficionado?