Epic Fail?

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It took me so long to get going this morning (food blogs? guilty!) that I was actually hungry before I left.  I dealt with it by eating a hunk of sourdough flatbread.

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I don’t care what it was supposed to be like, this was good!  I’m going to try to do it right next week, but I will greatly enjoy eating this with the dip I’m planning on making tomorrow.

For actual lunch I ordered a sandwich from the coffee shop below my apartment where I went to study.

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It came with three bean salad, which I disliked and only took one bite of, but the sandwich I adored.

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Roasted eggplant with hot sauce and blue cheese on a whole wheat bun.  This is a combo I will be recreating!

I studied for about 1.5hours before I realized I was too distracted and should go home.  On the way out I bought a cupcake.  Homemade chocolate cupcake with real strawberry icing, who in their right mind would pass that by?  It was pretty delish, but I left a fair amount of base, because I don’t really like cake (which makes it even stranger that I keep ordering cupcakes!)

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It’s possible my attitude of whimsy seeped into the rest of my day and I watched Bones reruns instead of studying…..

Around 4 I got gussied and headed out to meet Adam and another med school event, at Steer, this one to celebrate the first full week of school.  I drank a Rolling Rock,

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and a had a small plate of veggies and pizza.

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We stayed ’till around 7:30 then ran home so Adam could get a sandwich before we went to our next meet-up.  I grabbed a PB Gnu bar to eat in the car.

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But was very underwhelmed and ended up giving half of it to Adam.

We got to Pearl Street Brewery around 8:30 where we had a very fun meet-up.

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Sarah is in town with one of her best friends because her friend is getting married and her sister who lives in Buffalo is making the wedding cake.  Confused?  Everyone was really nice and funny and it was great getting to catch up with Sarah.

I ordered an Oatmeal Irish Stout,

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but everyone else was drinking something called “The Widow Maker.”

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For eats I got an Fresh Apple and Pear Salad.

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Apples and pears sauteed in rum and brown sugar served over mixed greens and topped with toasted pecans and fresh goat cheese; with brown sugar rum vinaigrette.

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It was frickin fabulous!  I ate about 3/4 of it and only didn’t take the rest home because I knew it’d get soggy.  P.S. That brown rectangle is one of Sarah’s portabella mushrooms cooked in beer.

A med school friend came by and met us so after dinner we stayed for a game of pool, and ended up leaving around 11:30.  And now it is way too late and time for bed, toodles!

Superfruit Squared

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Good morning all!  I didn’t sleep very well last night but the encouraging comments from my fabulous readers at least had me in a better frame of mind 🙂

No amount of positivity, however, could save my baking skills.  Through a series of mistakes (I wrote them down and I think I can fix it next time) this was my sourdough “loaf.”

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It looks more like Naan!  I am going to try a hunk with lunch but I’m not holding my breath.

I moved past my bread failure, aware that I need to get ready for chemistry review, to make myself a super breakfast.

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Stoneyfield Super fruit Fat Free Yogurt + Crofter’s Europe Superfruit Spread + 2 farmers’ market plums =

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Ahh.  I’m betting there was a pretty darn healthy level of antioxidants in this bowl.  I wasn’t all that impressed with the yogurt or the fruit (I think my plums aren’t quite ripe) but the spread beyond saved this bowl.  It was unbelievable.  Plus, when I got this sample in the mail I about died of happiness – every jar has a bear…holding a berry!

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I call my husband bear so we get pretty excited about them.  For example, did you meet Ulrick?

As soon as I’m presentable I am heading to the coffee shop downstairs to get my study on.  Be back this afternoon!

What is your nickname?  Adam calls me Mouse (or Mife, i.e. mouse + wife), my parents used to call me Bug, and most of my friends call me Wax.

p.s. today is Adam’s first final, think smart thoughts for him!

Fill in the Blank

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First off, I loved Angela’s most recent post, so I wanted to show you my answers here:

I Am – enthusiastic
I Want – to know what to do with the rest of my life
I Have – a blog – https://eatventures.wordpress.com
I Wish – I had the capital to start a restaurant
I Hate – hate
I Fear – hate
I Hear – “New Slang,” by The Shins
I Search – for meaning in difficulty
I Wonder – where I will be in 10years
I Regret – not exploring more in college
I Love – my husband
I Ache – for direction
I Always – gulp diet soda with a straw
I Usually – smile
I Am Not – a teacher any more
I Dance – without rhythm
I Sing – Joshua Radin
I Never – stop wanting to kiss Adam
I Rarely – turn down popcorn
I Cry – when I am angry
I Am Not Always – tired
I Lose – sleep in my new loud apartment
I’m Confused – about where to go
I Need – direction
I Should – trust in fate
I Dream – of the future
I hope- for my husband’s happiness
I feel- loved
I appreciate- all the experiences I’ve been given

Actually, first off should be how much I frickin’ love my readers.  I am so appreciative of all the supportive comments on the last post, you guys don’t even know!

It is way later than planned and some of my to-do’s still are not done…..is it obvious I’m the wife of a med school student the day before his first final? 🙂

I decided to recreate the best smoothie ever, only better.

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Total success!  This was (approx) a 1/2C each of –

  • Goya frozen soursop pulp
  • Purely Decadent coconut milk Coconut ice-cream
  • So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk
  • and a medium banana

The coconut made it even better, if that is even possible.  I took my smoothie on the go, along with Adam’s study sheet, and we took a long walk while I quizzed him.

I continued quizing once we got home, so I did quick and easy and ate this Lean Cuisine for dinner.

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Delish, truly.  I topped it with a sprinkle of Parmesan but it would have been flavorful and yummy without it.

After *we* studied, I spent more time with the bread dough I think won’t work tomorrow and now I’ve got to shower and go to bed.  Sweet dreams.

If you didn’t already do it on OhSheGlows, please fill out an I Am poem here!

Reflections and Refraction

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I am back, officially!  I promised some reflecting in the last post, as to why I was being such a naughty blogger –

I am freaking out a bit.  About going back to school, about moving, about not having any idea what I want to do with the rest of my life.  About only taking one class next semester, about that class being too hard for me.  About quiting teaching.  About going back to teaching.  The list goes on, and there are a lot of contradictions.

It does not help that I am beyond exhausted, I don’t sleep well anyways and our new neighborhood is astonishingly noisy.  In the interest of full disclosure, I will also mention that I am becoming very depressed about my foot.  I’ve mentioned that I had plantars worts on my left foot (I am apparently with out an immune system!) and now instead of 3 I have 5.  And I don’t have a doctor’s appointment for another month.  And my foot hurts like heck and I’m afraid it will effect my marathon training.

From these reflections, I realized that I’ve been doing some self-sabotaging.  I’ve been eating crappy food, not working out, not studying.  I had planned on signing up for a week yoga pass (I have to do it now because once school starts my class is all at night) when I realized that I was dreading going.  That is not the feeling I want to have, towards yoga of all things.  I decided I will not do more than 5-10minutes of strength training a day until class starts, and let myself focus on volunteering and chemistry review.  I’ve had a lot of big changes in the last month, I need to allow myself to deal.

Today, I ate an Orange Cranberry Gnu Bar sample on my walk to volunteering.

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Probably the best flavor I’ve tried so far.

For lunch I used my volunteer voucher to get a cup of vegetarian chili, which I topped with cheddar cheese and jalopenos.

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I love veggie chili so much, I have a list of chili recipes I am excited to make this winter.  This was beyond tasty for cafeteria food, but left my mouth pretty spicy so I ate half a sample bag of Sahale Snacks Soledad Almonds Nut Blend.

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This was a much more pleasant flavor to spend the afternoon with 🙂

After volunteering I walked back to a coffee shop in my area and set up shop for studying.  As mentioned, I am taking one class this semester (Gen. Chem. I with a lab).  To prepare I’ve been working on Chemistry for Dummies.  I studied from 2:15 – 5:45 and while I worked I had an iced coffee – 1sugar, splash of cream – and the rest of my nuts.

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The bag had 2servings, 260calories in total, and was just the right amount of munching to keep me focused.

Tonight I have some more to-do’s to check off (including putting away the laundry I did more than 24hours ago!) and I have a 10pm bedtime goal.  See ya for dinner!

What have you been freaking out about lately?

2nd Monday

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This needs to be a quickie because Adam and I got waaaay too sucked in to Bones reruns and now it’s late.  I swear to Gouda I will be actually posting on Thursday, and there is even a revelation to come.

Espresso Chip Gnu Bar for breakfast.

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White pizza with black olives for lunch.

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After volunteering I did some errands/busywork, including spending quality time with my dough starter and running to the store for more flour.  Adam totally convinced me to get Wegman salad bar (he didn’t have to twist my arm!).

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I knew this was snack and not a meal, so I didn’t do (heavy) veggies but took one bite only of things that looked good.  Adam and I split a hibiscus tea lemonade.

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We also did the ‘fill your own bag’ candy aisle.

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My mini bag cost 63cents!

Dinner was actually made yesterday.

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This was a recipe from the July/August edition of Fitness Magazine.  It was a cinch to make, it came together so quickly (yesterday!)  I’m posting the recipe below, along with my modifications.

Mediterranea Chicken and Pasta, 4servings

  • 1 6oz jar marinated artichoke hearts, chopped, liquid reserved
  • 1T evoo
  • 12oz skinless, boneless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces (we used a few ounces less because there was some yuckiness (skin?) that had to be cut out)
  • 3cloves garlic, thinly sliced (I used 1.5T chopped jarred garlic)
  • 1/4C chicken broth
  • 1/4C dry white wine
  • 1t dried oregano
  • 1 7oz jar roasted red peppers, drained and cut into strips (I used an extra oz or so)
  • 1/4C pitted kalamata olives (I used Manzanilla with pimentos because they were a bazillion times cheaper)
  • 3C hot cooked penne pasta (whole wheat, of course)
  • 1/4C crumbled feta cheese (optional, we skipped this)
  1. Drain artichoke hearts, reserving marinade, and chop them.  In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat; and chicken and garlic.  Cook and stir until chicken is brown.  Add the reserved artichoke marinade, broth, wine, and dried oregano.
  2. Bring to a boil; reduce heat.  Simmer, covered, 10minutes.  Stir in chopped artichokes, roasted peppers, and olives.
  3. To serve, spoon chicken mixture over pasta.

Nutritional facts per serving for original recipe – 347calories, 26g protein, 38g carbohydrats, 9g fat (1g saturated), 3 g fiber.

I had a small serving.

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After dinner, still during Bones, I ate a mini ice-cream sandwich from So Delicious.

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Good night!

Life

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Soooo, I guess I’ve been gone for a little while.  Through a combination of slight sickness and extreme laziness I decided to take a short break from the real world.  I haven’t posted, pictured or studied, but I have eaten a ton of crap and spent an inordinate amount of time on fmylife and watching Bones reruns online.  I actually called in from volunteering today because my tummy was feeling off and I didn’t get much sleep the night before.  We live right above a street and I need to buy earplugs, stat!

At 4pm today I decided it was time to rejoin the living and tackle my to-dos.  This is what I accomplished from 4o’clock on, not bad.

  • post office
  • unload the dishwasher
  • do 2 loads of laundry
  • make dough starter for bread
  • make dinner for Tuesday (plus leftovers)
  • pack lunch for Adam
  • and finally make dinner for tonight

The last to-do was the most exciting, because I got to use the new clementine olive oil my mom sent,

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plus the bundle of multi-colored carrots I bought at the Farmer’s market.

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We started dinner with a salad.

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Chopped Chinese cabbage dressed with clementine oil, sliced plum tomato, and macademia nuts.  Very tasty.

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Then I made Sweet Cilantro Baked Tofu, you can find the recipe here.

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And maple carrots.

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After peeling and chopping the carrots I put them in a pan over medium-high heat with 2T of Smart Balance Light.  I covered and let them cook for 5minutes then pour 2T of maple syrup over the top.  Yums.

Here was my plate.

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We watched “My So-Called Life” while we ate, and now it’s time for bed!  I promise that regularly scheduled posting will continue tomorrow!

To Market

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What a day!  Saturday is only half over and I am grinning from ear to ear  🙂

Most of our agenda so far has been shopping.  We started at the farmers’ market.

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I loved getting to explore a new farmers’ market, and this isn’t even the only one in town!  There was tons of fresh produce and we bought some great veggies to use this week.  The produce there is definitelymore expensive than at the grocery store, but I think it’s worth it.  One, when you consider that the veggies are basically organic it doesn’t seem as expensive.  Two, in addition to getting food for your family you are helping the famers to put food on their tables; these markets help to support small local businesses.

Next we went to Target for some cleaning supplies and cards.  I got handed a free sample of Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters so I ate them in the car.

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The taste was ok, but it would have been a bazillion times better if made by hand, or at least Lara Bar style.

Our final stop was food shopping at Wegmans.  Adam was starving (it was after 1:30) so we decided to do lunch at the salad bar.

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Yums!  All this was less than $6.  I got blanched cauliflower and curry cauliflower,

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General Tso’s Tofu and steamed veggies,

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and one piece of sesame chicken.

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My plan of attack with buffet situations is to do 90/10 healthy food to splurge.  I also like to stick to a majority of veggies.  I am especially pleased with Wegman’s salad bar because they post the calories for most items.  For example – I wasn’t going to get the tofu because I figured it was deep fried, but then I saw that it was 210calories for 1cup.

After we got home and unloaded all of our purchases I made my best snack ever.  This –

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equals perfection.

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  • Stoneyfield Fat Free Plain Yogurt
  • 1/3 a Jonasgold apple
  • sprinkle of cinnamon
  • crumbled Cinnabon Breakfast Bar [yes mom, this was from the box I bought you]

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We finished most of our fun, now I have to tackle our practical to do’s.  See you for dinner.

What is your plan of attack at buffets? 

Do you shop at farmers’ markets?

The Anti-Drogging Post

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Don’t misunderstand the title, I am in no way anti-drogging (drunk blogging); I just didn’t think drogging a recap of the whole day was my best idea.  I’ll start from the beginning, more than 24hours ago!

I didn’t have to volunteer on Friday so I slept in and lazed around reading magazines, which was glorious.  I lazed a little too long, however, and ended up having to rush to get dressed with Adam got home.  The reason his parents came up to visit is that he was receiving his white coat and taking his Hippocratic oath in a special ceremony.

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In the car on the way there I ate some free samples.  Gnu bar in Lemon Ginger, which was interesting.

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And Sahle Snacks Glazed Nuts in Almond PB&J which was fantasmic.

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Between the two items I ate about 250calories, which managed to fill me up for the ceremony.  I am so proud of my husband!

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Afterwards there was a mini buffet so I snagged a small plate of fruit, veggies, and cheese.

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The ceremony ended around 5 and we drove back to a spot near our house to have dinner with his parents and their friend.  We were at a bar directly below our apartment that I think we will be visiting often!  I got a Hienekin Light to drink.

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And for dinner I ordered a Turkey Melt; roasted turkey, jack cheese, tomato, sourdough bread, russian dressing.

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It came with sweet potato fries (which were fabulous, but nowhere near as good as the baked ones we make at home) which I shared with Adam, and I also split his side salad.

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When we said goodbye to the parents around 7 we drove over to another med student’s house for a party!  Over the course of the evening I ate a cracker with Brie,

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and a sweet pepper stuffed with cheese.

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I also had two (largish) CokeZeros with Jack Daniels that I didn’t photograph.  It was a really fun evening and we somehow managed to not get home until after 2am!

Today we have some fun and practical things planned, and I’ve got to scadadle!

When was the last time you were proud of a loved one?  I am so excited for my husband that he is on his way to being a doctor.  I was proud of him for the two years he volunteered teaching too, but his excitement makes this all the sweeter.