Your Mom Likes Boston Cream Pie

by Emily

Happy Hump Day! This Wednesday is particularly exciting because it is not even the middle of my week; I leave for San Fransisco on Friday! I am so excited. This will be my first time meeting the bloggers who are going (none of my new york peeps are making it) and my very first time in California.

Breakfast was quick and easy [like your mom!]

Yoplait Light Boston Cream Pie, a flavor that I have only ever tasted in yogurt,

and an 18 Rabbits Nibble a Sultana granola bar.

It was tasty, even if I did have to Google sultana.

Since not a whole lot took place here yesterday this is a lot to do today. On the list?

unpack from my last trip
wash/put away 8billion dishes
clean the kitchen
clean the living room
study for my huge test the day after I get back from SF
work on the homework assignment, also due the day after I get back from SF
call Budget for the umpteenth time about the money they owe us
a very very needed shower: I’m still wearing the pumpkin shirt!
class at 6:30-7:50

Wish me productive!

Have you ever had Boston Cream Pie? What’s it like?

3Nov2009

Fail

by Emily

Fail # 1 – if you have big boobs and eat breakfast on the couch, you get pumpkin on yourself.

I guess this is also fail # 2, because yes, I am wearing yesterday’s shirt.

Fail # 3 – lunch.

Which lead us to unphotographed fail # 4, dinner – casserole. And, erhm, 2-3 servings of chocolate chips.

Fail # 5 – not a lick of school work done all day. I did watch old episodes of “Buffy” though! 🙂 Tomorrow!

Fail # 6 – after my intense speed walking yesterday (and a few calf raises yesterday morning) my calves hurt so bad I can only get around via lurching.

Fail # 7 – this lame post, sorry guys!

Any fails you’d like to share?

3Nov2009

Amy’s Challenge

by Emily

Just keeping you guys in the loop…..here is an e-mail I received from Amy’s Kitchen –

Dear Amy’s fans,

Amy’s Kitchen is celebrating its 22nd birthday this year. Believe it or not, after all those years in business, Amy’s has no official slogan! The closest thing the company has to a tagline is “Healthy eating for busy people.”

Amy’s needs a slogan! And we need your help to spread the word. We’d love it if you could ask your readers to tell us what phrase, word, jingle, or rhyme encapsulates Amy’s Kitchen for them (in 15 words or less). The winner will receive $500 worth of Amy’s products!

To enter, send your readers to www.amyskitchen.com or search for “Amy’s Go Organic” on www.facebook.com. Entries must be received by February 1, 2010.

We can’t wait to see what your readers come up with!

3Nov2009

Table to Toast

by Emily

Letting things go to waste is not in the spirit of the Thanksgiving Challenge, so breakfast this morning was all about the leftovers. To use up I had – bread from my grandma’s birthday lunch, and pumpkin from the cupcakes I made. To use it up I made…..

French toast. I used 2eggs and a splash of skim milk because I like it super eggy. Topped with pumpkin, cinnamon, and maple syrup. Delish.

I did not make it to the gym this morning, the husband gently suggested I catch up on sleep. We were up at 1am because he was studying for a test and it’s possible I had a mild, sleep-needing, fit; complete with incoherent rambling about my glass of water. Apparently I was thirsty?!?

There’s lots to do around here, so I’ll see you for lunch.

What were the last leftovers you saved?

3Nov2009

Adding to My Happy List

by Emily

I discovered several new things I enjoy today. If I had to make a “happy list” it would be a bazillion pages already but it’s always good to find new things.

Volunteering went well, there was more for me to do than usual, which is always nice, and it was good to spend time on my feet after the car and plane trips of the past weekend. One of the nurses gave me a piece of “Canada candy.”

It was surprisingly good, I thought I didn’t like milk chocolate but maybe I’ve been lying to myself.

In challenge fasion, I used my lunch voucher to bring Adam home pizza for his afternoon snack. For my snack I had two servings of Quaker Quakes Kettle Corn Rice Cakes.

I thought I didn’t like rice cakes, but apparently I was wrong about that too! I bought this last week because I had a coupon and was pleasantly surprised.

I was rushing out of the house and I was a little worried that I ended up looking like I was rocking my pjs.

I think the (amazing, far nicer than anything I’ve ever owned before, handed down from my aunt this weekend) jacket salvages it don’t you?

I was hurrying because I had a meeting with a professor at UB’s anthropology department. She couldn’t answer all of my questions – the big one being do I want to be an RD, an anthropologist, or a turnip – but it was informative. Afterwards she asked if I’d like to sit in on her class that afternoon (4-6). It was amazing! She had a guest lecturer – a previous student who now is a policewoman/csi. She talked about evidence collection and showed all sorts of crime scene photos and generally thrilled me. I seriously sat there for two hours with a big grin. I don’t know which career path I’ll choose, but I do know that I find forensic/anthropology fascinating.

My Chemistry class is at 6:30 and it was all the way across the campus so I ended up having to speed walk there with my huge bag. I was sooo thirsty by the time I got to class. I ended up buying Lifesavers to suck on from the vending machine.

Challenge Balance – 60cents.

When I got home I had a Zevia to drink immediately,

and then I started on dinner.

Oven Baked Chicken Salad from the October issue of “Family Circle” (click the recipe for the link). There were several ways to make this recipe healthier, but due to time and budgetary restrictions I chose to follow it as is – minus onion salt which I didn’t have. However, here are my suggestions for a healthier dish-

Substitute 1 chopped, sauted real onion for onion salt.
Substitute half or all of the mayo with plain Greek yogurt.
Skip the “topping” bread crumbs and cheese.
Add additional chopped veggies – broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber.

I ate my portion alongside some oven roasted broccoli and butternut squash; both cooked with salt, pepper, and fresh ginger.

It was all seriously so fricking delicious! I always forget how much I love roasted broccoli and the casserole was shockingly good.

Mmmn.

I need to hurry to shower now, as starting my gym routine back up in the morning is pretty much a necessity. I hope everyone else has a good night.

Where do you find recipes? I have a long list of things that sound good on other blogs, but for the most part I get my recipes from magazines. I am subscribed to “Cooking Light” and “Everyday with Rachael Ray,” but the healthy living magazines have a lot of great recipes too. The ‘older’ magazines my mommy subscribes too (she sends them to me) have yummy recipes that aren’t quite as healthy, but can easily be modified like my suggestions tonight.

2Nov2009

Gearing Up

by Emily

There was no night post because I passed out promptly at 9:30 with my jeans still on! I guess my grandmother wore me out!! I slept in until 9 this morning (12hours!) and now I’m feeling good.

Yesterday, Adam and I were so excited to see each other. We miss each other a ton but neither of us likes talking on the phone so we always have a lot to catch up on. I brought him back some namesake candy from the Buckeye State and he shared one with me.

Then we cuddled on the couch and watched tv – we were so desperate for cuddle/couch/tv time we even watched Gray’s Anatomy! I ate a huuuuuge bowl of popcorn with melted SmartBalance Light.

Afterwards I did my Chemistry online homework (102.2%!) and then the passing out happened.

This morning, refreshed from my Ohio trip, I am gearing up for San Fransisco this weekend. For breakfast I ate a sample sent from SF itself!

18 Rabbits Funky Figs and Cherries was delicious. If everything in SF is this cool I’m going to be having 18 heart attacks a day!

Now I’m hurrying to the hospital for volunteering. There won’t be a lunch post, because I am actually leaving volunteering early to go to another program meeting. This one is for anthropology. Hope everyone’s week starts off well, see you this evening!

What pets have you had, any rabbits? We’ve had tons of cats, dogs, hamsters, 2 rabbits, and several goldfish named Fluffy.

1Nov2009

Thanksgiving Challenge

by Emily

Thanksgiving Challenge

Giving credit where it’s due, this is an idea I got from Kath last year. The Thanksgiving Challenge is twofold – you limit your grocery spending for one month, flexing your economic muscles and you use the opportunity for reflection. What better month (Thanksgiving) to give thanks for what we have?

The “challenge” is to limit your food budget to $100 for the month of November. We are a two-person household, you may want to move this number depending on the size of your own family.

Here are the rules Adam and I are following –

Track your food purchases for 1 month, spending no more than $100
Non-food grocery items (toilet paper, shampoo, etc) do not count
You start with whatever you happen to have in the fridge/pantry
We are not counting booze – we don’t drink much any way but I didn’t want to restrict the husband if his friends were going out
We are not factoring in free items (Thanksgiving dinner at my grandma’s, what I get at the Foodbuzz festival, etc)

Also, just fyi, there is a dinner at a fancy restaurant we have had planned for months, using my last teacher pay check, that we are still planning on going to.

Some people choose to donate the money they saved to a charity. We are planning on volunteering at a soup kitchen Thanksgiving morning. If nothing else, it is very cathartic to eat down your pantry and fridge and start fresh in December.

I would love it if my readers, bloggers or not, would join me in this challenge. Are you game?

1Nov2009

Happy 80th Nana!

by Emily

Hello, hello, hello! Sorry to skip out for the weekend but I had a fabulous time. I flew to Ohio (with a bunch of other family members) to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday. We did party/family time all weekend, which meant TONS of cake! I missed the husband a lot but I had a great time, my family is so funny! This post won’t be as detailed, due to length, and if you get too bored skip to the bottom to find the winners of the Zevia contest.

Friday we had to get up nice and early to make it to the airport for my 6:35am flight. I was hungry when I got to the airport but it seemed early and I knew I would sleep my first flight so I decided to wait.

On my layover I got egg and cheese on a cheddar jalopeno bagel.

It was very tasty but I dropped half on the floor so I only ate half of it.

I was so excited when I finally got in to the Dayton airport!

My mom and grandma picked me up and we drove over to Tipp City to do some shopping (also the location of my grandmother’s surprise party!). We saw all sorts of fun things.

Nana (grandma) was impossible to get to her surprise party, she kept insisting the chosen restaurant was too nice, too slow, etc. I finally had to pretend I was going to pee my pants if we didn’t at least go in to the restroom! When she saw all of her friends she was so surprised she cried!

My mom and my aunt (who flew up with my mom a few days earlier than me) did such a good job planning and decorating!

We did a party lunch at Coldwater Cafe and it was very nice. I got a bloody mary to drink.

And for lunch I split – more halfs! – a turkey pannini (with artichoke spread and cheese) with my mom.

I ignored the chips but the sandwich was great.

My grandmother cried when she opened her presents and again when they brought in the cake!

I am not really a chocolate cake fan so I took a small bite and then packed up the rest to bring home to Paps (grandpa). I also packed up all the bread from the table baskets. My family teased me but they are either going to use it again, ewww, or throw it out, wasteful.

We got to go home long enough to pick up my grandpa and then we – me, my mom, my aunt, my grandparents, and the dog – squeezed into the car for a long drive to Toledo where my uncle lives. I seriously can not handle how funny my family is, we had such a good time!!

We were running late when we got there so we had a quick dinner from Wendy’s. I got a baked potato with broccoli and cheese.

I also ate one of my pumpkin cheesecake cupcake/muffins, so good!

My uncle is a high school football coach so we went to watch his team. It was their last game of the season, against their biggest rival, and they whooped them, so it was a lot of fun. My uncle had the marching band play happy birthday to Nana and she cried again!

After the game we went to a ‘end of season’ party my uncle was throwing for the other coaches. I had a small vodka and coke,

and a small slice of pizza.

And then there was more cake and more tears!

Quite a night was had by all 🙂

For Saturday breakfast I had an English muffin with homemade strawberry jam and scrambled eggs.

We spent the morning having family time before we headed to another birthday party, this one for my cousin’s baby! Lunch was buffet style at the party.

Cheesy potatoes,

fruit,

and veggies.

And of course more cake – I just ate the icing off this piece.

Over the course of the party I sipped a beer

and had a good time hanging with my mommy and grandma.

My mom, aunt, and I (all Virgin Islanders) walked to and from the party because it was so exciting to be cold! It was sad saying goodbye to my cousins but then the six of us packed back into the car and headed back to my grandparents’ house. More uproarious fun was had, including the hilarious/horrifying realization that my grandmother – who was driving – talks with her hands a lot!

It was Halloween, so I broke out some fancy chocolate I bought for the occasion.

We all had a small piece.

When we got home we had to rush to get dressed before meeting my grandparents’ best friends for dinner. It was a great last meal. I had a bloody mary again, to which I added a ton of Siracha and sizzled my mouth off!

My grandmother shared her side salad with me,

and she and Rose gave me their martini olives.

They are both amazing and both happen to read the blog, hi guys!

I also had a small piece of bread.

I was torn on ordering but when the waitress said unlimited toppings on the flat bread pizza I was sold! I asked for roasted red pepper, green peppers, red onions, caramelized onions, tomato, spinach, and mushrooms.

Mmmn. I ate 3/5 pieces.

It was another late night and I think we left my grandparents thoroughly exhausted!

This morning my mom and I both had 6:50 flights so it was another early trip to the airport. Goodbyes were easy; I see my grandparents for Turkey Day and my mommy and aunt for Christmas!

For reasons explained in the next post, I packed my own breakfast. A banana from my grandmother’s house,

and a seasonal Pumpkin Spice Cliff Bar from home.

My flights were all blissfully uneventful. I was very excited to see the husband at the airport. Apparently he went to a Halloween party last night so I’ll have to track down some pictures of his costume. He made himself spaghetti this weekend so I had a big bowl of that (doctored with mozarella and red pepper flakes) while I wrote this monster post.

My fingers are exhausted, it is definitely time to say Goodbye! I will “see” you all this evening, hope everyone else had a good weekend!

Zevia Winners

I used a random integer generator to choose the winners.

Runners Up who receive a mixed six pack

(#18) Annalene – i actually have tried Zevia before & I have to say that while they may take some time to getting used to the flavor after the initial drink or 2 these are actually quite good! my favorite is the lemon lime
(#5) Jenny – I would love to try the all-natural diet sodas. I work the night shift, and am obsessed with my diet Pepsi….but always feel guilty about the weird ingredients and colorings.
(#17) Erin – I really want to try this stuff since I love the occasional diet coke.
(#2) Holly – I’d love to win – this soda has been all over blogs and I’ve never tried it!
(#14) Erin– Zevia sounds great!

Grand Prize Winner who receives a mixed case

(#9) Molly – Sounds good!

Winners – shoot me an e-mail (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) by Tuesday morning to claim your prize!