Back On Winter Break

by Emily

My title’s no joke – I am officially back on winter break until the 28th! Since I started my rotation early I’m spending the rest of this portion of the semester catching up on the days of winter break that I missed. I do have a placement with an outpatient RD on Thursday, but other than that the time is mine. I’m not doing anything super exciting; in fact, I work every single day of the next two weeks! I’m hoping to get back into the gym habit too.

My last day of senior practicum was bittersweet, I loved this experience so much more than I was expecting to. I am going to post some more about the internship after I gather my thoughts, but for now I’ll stick to breakfast.

Breakfast. A packet of Spiru-Tein Chocolate Peanut Butter Swirl Protein Powder shaken with 1.25 cups Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

I didn’t really love the texture/flavor all that much, but at least this kept me full through rounds. p.s. – this flavor has bee pollen in it so it won’t work for strict vegans

Lunch was packed with veggies. I brought a container of roasted butternut squash and green beans,

and topped it with a thing of Sea’s Gift Sweet Seaweed Snack.

That combo was ridiculous good. I actually drove to Wegman’s the minute I was done with the day to buy more of the sweet seaweed!

Can I brag for a second? I brought the nutrition department a thing of my Triple Butterscotch Blondies to say thank you and everyone raved about them. You know a group of dietitians doesn’t go for seconds on a dessert unless it’s good!

I couldn’t have a blondie – they are sooooo not vegan – but when I got home I did eat 1.5 servings of So Delicious Coconut Milk Cookie Dough Ice Cream.

The flavor of the ice cream is a little bit funky, but the cookie dough pieces are the best I’ve ever had (vegan or otherwise).

Let’s do a final Fashion ~~Friday~~ Monday –

I accented my outfit with this great bracelet my mom sent me for Valentine’s.

That is seriously such a “me” pieces of jewelry.

Since the college is closed for Presidents’ Day, my night class was cancelled. This meant I could go out for celebratory drinks and dinner with friends.

I didn’t plan on drinking much, but I kept a Tea’s Tea Green Tea with Grape in my purse for rehydration purposes.

Really I only drank 1 Jack and ginger ale.

I was embarrassingly tipsy afterward.

My friend had a friend visiting from out-of-town so we had to shower her the wonder of Sun Restaurant for dinner.

I went with the Pad Kee Mao, ordered Thai spicy. Thai-style fried wide rice noodles with hot and spicy sauce, mixed vegetable, and basil leaves.

There wasn’t egg listed in the description, but it was definitely present in the dish. I’ve already cheated on the Vegan 20 Day more than once though, so it’s not like it was a big deal.

I ate a little more than half of my pasta, then brought the rest home for Adam. I also brought him a whole order of the tea leaf salad that he loves to help bribe him into making me popcorn.

Score! I smothered that bowl in melted SmartBalance Light and it was amazing.

Did you have the day off for Presidents’ Day?

16Feb2013

Kool And The Gang

by Emily

Q: Do you know what these two things have in common?

A: I used the Kool Aid to (re)dye my hair!

I never captured it in a photo, but over the last week or so I lost 90% of my purple and was left with a lot of white/grey streaks. Since I don’t have an appointment to go back to brown for another two weeks, this wasn’t exactly a good thing. So last night the husband helped me sit with my head in a bowl of concentrated Kool Aid.

It was windy today!

I’ve still got some white but overall it looks much better. We’ll have to see how long the color lasts. I used to dye my highlights with Kool Aid in high school and I remember getting at least a couple of weeks out of it.

The hair photos were taken on my way to work. I woke up this morning feeling a bit under the weather; I had a fever and I was super achy all over. Adam fed me an aspirin and I stayed in bed until the last possible second. I’m feeling much better now {knock on wood}. And thankfully I was only working a partial shift.

I skipped breakfast for bed and was very excited about food when I got home this afternoon.

1/3 cup of Nature’s Path Coconut Chia Granola with Naked Vanilla Oat Milk and tons of chopped dapple plum and nectarine.

Plus lots of tea. A cup of Revolution Tea Lavender Earl Grey,

and a cup of chai with 1 tsp honey an hour or so later.

I carried the lavender theme over to my snack as well.

My mom got these floral candies from a student whose parents are from Japan.

My dad says they all taste like peach, but I swear the ones I tried had subtle differences.

We spent a long-ish time on errands this evening and I got a small plate of hot bar to keep from getting too cranky.

Maple cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes plus sautéed veggies and 3 pieces of General Tso tofu. It’s been ages since we’ve roasted sweet potato fries and we definitely need to make them again soon.

Dinner didn’t take very long to prepare once we got home, but it sure was good.

I had 1.5 servings of Wegman’s Don’t Be a Chicken Meatless Nuggets dipped in honey.

They were great, far more enjoyable than I ever find chicken nuggets to be.

I made use a hot spinach salad for our veggie component.

(recipe to follow) We loved it. The spinach was super creamy and there was such a good mix of textures.

Dinner didn’t really fill me up though, and I ate some Smart Fries while I wrote this post.

Much better.

Hot Spinach Salad, serves 2

1 Tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter
1 pint white mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 pinches salt
3 heaping cups raw baby spinach
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup smoked almonds
1 Tbsp evoo
2 heaping Tbsp vegan sour cream

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown mushrooms with butter and salt.
Add spinach to mushrooms, tossing until greens are completely wilted.
Add remaining ingredients to pan and cook 1 more minute, stirring regularly.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Have you ever dyed your hair with Kool Aid?

5Feb2013

Loves Of Late

by Emily

Here are some of the things I’ve been loving lately…

1. Getting to give you guys stuff.

Sarah and Ashley, you won my Sparkling KeVita giveaway! Please e-mail me with your mailing addresses so I can get out your prize.

2. The “Paperman” short.

I often enjoy the shorts before the movie better than the feature film. Case in point – “Paperman” from “Wreck-It Ralph” and the “Knick Knack” from “Finding Nemo”

3. The French Lavender Hair Stuff my mom got me from EO.

I’m not one who loves showers, but fun scents definitely make them nicer. EO also has a Coconut Hibiscus line {hint, hint}!

4. “Little Talks” by Of Monsters and Men.

The music video is the best I’ve ever seen; it is totally captivating and goes with the song seamlessly. Plus I like the song so much it hurts and howl along with it at least twice a day.

What song are you loving this week?

21Jan2013

Winter Weight Gain

by Emily

I came through my first full-time day at the hospital with flying colors! Well, I guess I was a little in the gray when I ran out of time in the morning and had to skip breakfast, but that was the only hiccup. I had fun, learned a lot, and made it through 8 – 4 without thinking longingly of my couch once!

We were busy on rounds (walking around the floor and listening to the medical residents give an update on all of the patients) all morning and I was too busy to miss breakfast. Then I got to grab a tea latte from Tim Horton’s while we charted.

My earl grey with frothed skim milk was great. And the RD let me chart on a patient! I’ve got to do a lot of work independently to meet all of my internship curriculum goals so it was a good sign that they let me hit the ground running. In the afternoon, among other things, I observed a gestational diabetes education that I’m eager to try on my own.

I was worried about finding a table in the packed cafeteria, but thankfully the RDs invited me to sit with them for lunch. I’m with a different person each day of the week so it was great to get to meet some of them in advance.

I packed a really tasty sandwich.

A multi-grain Sandwich Thin with Crofter’s strawberry preserves, 2 slices of Applegate Farms Honey & Maple Turkey, Cabot’s 50% reduced sharp cheddar, and pickled jalopeños.

A pack of Annie Chun’s Sesame Roasted Seaweed Snacks.

And a Trader Joe’s 100-calorie milk chocolate bar.

This lunch was perfect – fun, healthy, and it helped fuel my brain through its first afternoon of actual thought!

Before I knew it, the day was over and Adam was picking me up. His lab was closed for Martin Luther King Day and I was thrilled that he could drive me because it is brutal outside. My phone’s weather forecast for Wednesday is a giant, ominous looking snowflake.

My workday may have flown by, but our errands took forever. Adam and I ended up splitting an ice cream Twix bar while we were out and about.

He {claims that he} hates Twix bars so the sharing portions were in my favor.

I also snacked on a Caramel Pineapple Chobani Bite with the last of the blackberries.

This snack was so flipping good, I can’t wait to eat the rest of the pack of Chobani and I must buy more fresh berries immediately! The caramel gave the yogurt a little extra sumthin’ sumthin’ compared to the regular pineapple variety and the entire gorgeous carton only has 100 calories. Plus it smelled delicious and made me want a big slice of cheesecake.

– – – Sidenote: Why, oh why did I keep scrolling through Chobani’s website? I need the Key Lime Crumble and Almond Coco Loco Flips, need. I’m sure they won’t hit Buffalo for another couple of months and I’m basically going to die. – – –

Dinner was a big salad with some confusion about its roots.

Inside the jumble –

baby spinach
peanut sauce
1 Tbsp ground flax
chopped green pepper
chopped red onion
buckwheat groats
chopped honeycrisp
leftover 1000 island bbq sauce pulled chicken

Somehow all of those flavors just worked together.

I’m still feeling a bit hungry but I did a lot of nibbling while I assembled dinner and tomorrow’s lunch so I’m closing my kitchen for the day. I’ve been steadily gaining weight since we moved to Buffalo but recently my unhealthy habits have been out of control and I’m officially too fat for some of my work pants. Pride and health may not have motivated me (though they really should of!) but my wallet sure does – it’s time to lose some weight! I’m not planning on going on a diet, far from it, I’m just going to stop being ridiculous. Wish me luck?

Did you gain any weight over the winter holidays?

20Jan2013

30 Days?

by Emily

Since I last blogged… Adam was out-of-town on one of his very last trips this year (yay!) and I lived on the couch eating Chinese food and laughing so loudly at “30 Rock” that I hurt my throat. We all had our parts to play.

I did occasionally peel off my his sweatpants, once to visit the hospital where I will be spending the next month. The final semester of my Coordinated Program is full-time internship hours – though I will actually being taking a history class too, to finish up my graduation requirements. The semester is split into thirds: 1 = clinical work at a major hospital, 2 = time in long-term care and independent work on a business plan, and 3 = placement of our choosing.

I chose a local children’s hospital so I could get more exposure to pediatric nutrition. For the next four weeks, I’ll be at the hospital (M-F, 8-4:00), trying to soak up as much as I can. I am so excited! I’ll be sure to share more details tomorrow.

Since I have to spend the next month rejoining the world of the living – aka showering regularly and eating meals that wouldn’t make my classmates wince! – I figured I would try to knock off my 30 days of blogging goal. We’ll see how long that lasts.

And my new camera? I’m on the fence. I’m missing the old version (I rebought the Sony Cybershot but in a newer model) and hoping that I’m just working my way through the learning curve. For today, I forgot to resize the photos and editing this post took way too long. I’ll have to let the pictures speak for themselves and keep my descriptions short…

Cascadian Farm Berry Cobbler Granola with fresh blackberries and the last of the vanilla cashew milk.

Argo Tea Hibiscus Tea Sangria. <– so refreshing!

Chocolate Crisp Bumble Bar.

Spicy avocado brown rice inari.

Smart Fries.

Dinner.

Chicken – cooked in the crock pot then shredded – tossed in my 1000 Island BBQ Sauce.

Roasted green beans.

An Alexia Artisan Sweet Potato Roll.

A few words on the rolls, since Alexia sent them to me to review – we liked them. I don’t know if I’d say loved, since potato bread isn’t one of my very favorites, but they were certinaly the best packaged bread product I’ve ever had. The rolls were fluffy with a nice crust and while the flavor didn’t scream sweet potato there was definitely a little something extra there. They were easy to cook (12 minutes in the oven) and each roll has 110 calories and 5 grams of protein.

I spread a little Smart Balance Light on the split roll after I snapped the photo and I quite enjoyed it.

What’s your favorite type of bread? Mine is sourdough, mmmn!

12Jan2013

Cashews, Coffee, And Curry

by Emily

First things first, I need to announce my Taste of Treme Giveaway winner –

Jordan, let me know how the cookbook stacks up against Abita’s! And please e-mail me with your mailing address. Congrats!

I apologize for not posting the results sooner; we have had a rough couple of days around here. Webster has been having seizures.

So far (that we know of) he had one Friday morning and another at 4:30 a.m. last night. I ran him to the vet in hysterics on Friday and she said that there could be a variety of causes but that seizures are not all that uncommon in dogs his size and that she wasn’t too worried. We are waiting for some lab results and I will be sure to keep y’all updated as we learn more.

Once he recovers he seems to be in good spirits but both episodes were pretty scary for me, especially because Adam has been out-of-town. It is a bad feeling to see someone you love out of control and not be able to help. Both times I just petted him and gave him kisses until it was over.

I had my sights set on a hot yoga class this morning but it just didn’t feel right to go, instead I stayed in bed an hour longer with the little man in my arms. I’m glad to spend time with him but I do need to get myself to a class asap. I have been to a grand total of 1 class during my unlimited two months; if I don’t get my act together over the next two weeks it will mean that I paid $75 for a single yoga session, yikes!

Once we got up, the dog and I did have a successful day. Lots and lots of cleaning was done. And I made homemade cashew milk.

How Sweet Eats’ Vanilla Cashew Milk was good, but probably not worth the time committment to ever make again. I’m glad I got to experience it once though.

I did a lot of taste testing while I made the cashew milk and then I took advantage of the dirtied blender and made a big smoothie for breakfast.

Midmorning we put on our sweaters and took a walk.

Webster is ultra-super-mega cute in his gray sweater and he got several compliments today.

Lunch was spread across some afternoon snacking. An apple.

An Almond & Apricot Kind Bar.

A Nutffles Red Velevt Truffle. (just 25 cents at 7-11)

A plate of baby carrots dipped in pineapple salsa.

And finally, I did some baking with the “pulp” from the cashew milk.

After I got out all of the liquid, I spread what I could salvage on a baking sheet and dried it in the oven at 200* for 20 minutes. Then I mixed up the cashew meal and baked it macaroon-style {vanilla extract, egg white, sugar}.

They were far better than I was expecting and I ended up having 4. I am very anxious for Adam to try them because he loves coconut macaroons and I think these were even tastier.

Basically all I’ve done over break is sit on the couch and eat junk (by the way, my pants currently don’t fit: oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!) so tonight’s dinner felt extra fancy and healthy.

I reeeeeeeeeally want to cook dinners like a grown-up this semester so I need to get back into the habit before school starts on the 21st. This meal was a good place to start.

Roasted asparagus.

White rice leftovers – from Chinese take-out I ordered on Friday 70% because I didn’t want to leave the dog to get food and 30% because I wanted someone to deliver diet soda to me in the apartment.

Green Curry Fritters from Cooking Light.

I was really impressed with this recipe; such a fun combination of flavors! I did make a few changes, all of which I suggest you follow my lead on if you make the recipe –

substituted turkey for chicken (am I the only one who greatly prefers ground turkey to chicken?!)
used an entire bunch of green onions, whites and greens
substituted nayo for canola mayo
used 2 Tbsp green curry paste
skipped the sesame oil
substituted 2 Tbsp of tamari for the soy sauce
substituted 1 heaping tsp Sriracha for the sambal oelek
substituted 1 tsp galangal paste for ground ginger
substituted coconut oil for canola oil
sized my patties to yield 10 instead of 12

Adam should be home in a couple of hours and tomorrow we are actually getting a visit from my Maryland aunt and one of my cousins! I haven’t seen that set of family in far too long and I could not be more excited.

Now the dog is curled up at my feet and I’m about to pour a cup of tea and make myself finally organize my school materials from last semester.

Everyone please give your pets a big smooch for me.

5Jan2013

On The Goal

by Emily

I stayed up way too late last night waiting for Adam to get home, but that didn’t stop me from crossing not one, but two items off of my birthday goal list. See, who needs New Year’s resolutions?

But first, I made us a fancy weekend breakfast.

Actually, first I put Uggs (and a fleece I found in the dirty clothes section of Adam’s suitcase) over my pj’s to go out to Starbucks to buy Adam a coffee.

I’m a ~~frumpy~~ good wife.

After the public embarrassment, I made us eggnog french toast.

Two slices of whole wheat bread soaked in 1 large egg + 1 white, a big pour of eggnog (~1/2 cup?), 1 tsp of vanilla, and a sprinkle of cinnamon. After a quick visit to a hot skillet greased with butter, I topped my slice with berries.

And maple syrup.

Delish! I wish eggnog was a year-round treat so I could make this french toast again.

My iced coffee was from my fridge, not The Spot, but I like to reuse my cups.

1 cup of Chameleon Cold Brew with a lot of Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and a little of sweetened almond and cashew cream.

The cup was okay but the cream was disgusting and the rest of the carton went straight to the trash.

Also in the garbage? This honey basil seed drink.

The frog egg texture worked for us, but the flavor did not.

My to-go lunch was much more successful.

A riff on the black-eyed pea salad I want to eat for the rest of my life; black beans with chopped green pepper, pineapple salsa, and the last of the Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar.

Not as good as the original, but still worth eating. And it helped me achieve one of my birthday goals…

First on the list? Building a snowman!

This was my 2nd snowman ever. And my first was a inches-tall affair, decorated with buttons that were subsequently stolen, when I was three years old and in the states for a funeral; so I’m not sure that counts.

We used green pepper pieces from my lunch for eyes.

2nd achievement unlocked? A trip to the Buffalo Museum of Science.

It seemed like the perfect museum to attend with a small child, but Adam and I were ready to go well within an hour. I’m glad I went, but I never want to go back.

I got some produce into the afternoon in the form of juice.

Kale, spinach, carrot, and apple. It was tasty but sadly light on the greens.

Dinner was popcorn at a movie! A cheddar and caramel mix from a specialty shop in the mall.

I really wanted this one,

but Adam and I shared (3-1, my favor) this size instead.

We saw “Parental Guidance” and thought that the snacks were better than the show. Also, I’m very sad to report that we saw “This Is 40” on our anniversary and hated it. Jude Apatow, I so want to love you! Apparently we are not quite ready for kids?

What was the worst movie (or best!) you’ve seen recently?

31Dec2012

Resolutely

by Emily

2012 was a good year, but sadly that was in spite of my resolutions, not because of them. This was a year of good food, good time, good friends. A year of learning and professional growth. A year I got to spend with my favorite man and my favorite dog. It just wasn’t a year of goal achieving.

Let’s look at how I did. {I reordered my resolutions from least to most successful}

#1 – Work out a minimum of three times per week.

Fail. Wow, what a fail. I have no excuses and little in the way of explanations. I have to do better in 2013 because otherwise my freaking heart is going to stop.

#3 – Put the time and effort into my school work that I can be proud of each week.

Ish. I did pretty well this semester, but not A’s across the board and I certainly could have done that. This was my first semester in Dietetics with an outside job and with that addition I am proud of my performance compared with other semesters. I definitely should have worked less so that I could study more, but in the end we needed the money more than I needed slightly higher test scores.

#4 – Continue working on being a positive person.

Mostly Win. We went through a lot of bad(ish) stuff this year and it really helped me to appreciate all of the good in my life. This is an arena where you can always do better, but I think I made steps in the right direction.

#2 – Continue to read at least one book a month, for a minimum total of 30 books this year.

Total Win! Check out my list –

January

Death Du Jour – Kathy Reichs (f)

Deadly Decisions – Kathy Reichs (f)

Fatal Voyage – Kathy Reichs (f)

Grave Secrets – Kathy Reichs (f)

Bare Bones – Kathy Reichs (f)

Monday Mourning – Kathy Reichs (f)

Cross Bones – Kathy Reichs (f)

Break No Bones – Kathy Reichs (f)

Bones to Ashes – Kath Reichs (f)

February

206 Bones – Kathy Reichs (f)

Firefly Lane – Kristin Hannah (f)

Spider Bones – Kathy Reichs (f)

March

The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins (f)

April

Catching Fire – Suzanne Collins (f)

The Surgeon – Tess Gerritsen (f)

May

Kitchen Counter Cooking School – Kathleen Flinn (m)

Flash and Bones – Kathy Reichs (f)

Postmortem – Patricia Cornwell (f)

Body of Evidence – Patricia Cornwell (f)

All That Remains – Patricia Cornwell (f)

How to Eat a Small Country – Amy Finley (m)

Mocking Jay – Suzanne Collins (f)

Cruel and Unusual – Patricia Cornwell (f)

June

The Body Farm – Patricia Cornwell (f)

From Potter’s Field – Patricia Cornwell (f)

The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie – Wendy McClure (m)

Service Included – Phoebe Damrosch (m)

Ice Cold – Tess Gerritsen (f)

July

The Heart and the Fist – Eric Greitens (m)

The Silent Girl – Tess Gerritsen (f)

Cause of Death – Patrica Cornwell (f)

Unnatural Exposure – Patrica Cornwell (f)

Point of Origin – Patrica Cornwell (f)

Sellevision – Augusten Burroughs (f)

Black Notice – Patrica Cornwell (f)

The Last Precinct – Patrica Cornwell (f)

Blow Fly – Patrica Cornwell (f)

August

Trace – Patrica Cornwell (f)

Predator – Patrica Cornwell (f)

Book of the Dead – Patricia Cornwell (f)

September

October

Talking with my Mouth Full – Gail Simmons (m)

November

Those Who Save Us – Jenna Blum (f)

Bones Are Forever – Kathy Reichs (f)

Scarpetta – Patricia Cornwall (f)

The Scarpetta Factor – Patricia Cornwell (f)

December

Port Mortuary – Patricia Cornwell (f)

Red Mist – Patricia Cornwell (f)

I missed September but read 47 books in total. Go me! This is a something I hope to continue.

I’ve decided not to make an resolutions tonight. 2013 is going to be a big year with lots of challenges already – graduation! moving! getting a big girl job! passing the rd exam! thinking about having a baby! adjusting to Adam’s residency schedule! Instead, I think I’m going to focus on my birthday list.

Are you making any resolutions this year? How did you do on your 2012 resolutions?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: about

Back On Winter Break

Kool And The Gang

Loves Of Late

Winter Weight Gain

30 Days?

Cashews, Coffee, And Curry

On The Goal

Resolutely

#1 – Work out a minimum of three times per week.

#3 – Put the time and effort into my school work that I can be proud of each week.

#4 – Continue working on being a positive person.

#2 – Continue to read at least one book a month, for a minimum total of 30 books this year.