Tag Archives: about

You’re Like School In Summer*

by

*A hypothetical, cracking wise, unseen you; obviously, my blog readers have loads of class!

I did, however, spend this summer day at school.  And I don’t mean online class school – which I’ve been heavily slacking off in, remind me to buckle down please? – I mean literal, classrooms, 18-year-old-make-make-me-feel-very-old students, school.  Yes, today was Transfer Orientation Day.

I’m not going to bore you with the whole recap, but the very exciting points are –

  • I’m not the oldest person in my major; many people seem to be my age and I’m even younger than a few!
  • I think I’m going to adore most of my classmates, Dietetics seems like a fun group.
  • Our program director recognized me.
  • I am so excited to head back in the fall!

I don’t really do the stale donut thing so I packed a Chocolate Chip Brownie Lara Bar sample for breakfast.

Fab-u-lous!  Best damn brownie I’ve ever had, granted, I hate brownies 🙂

Lunch was buffet style and I filled up a pretty good looking plate –

Aaaaand then the fire alarm went off and they evacuated us, which meant I threw most of my uneaten lunch in the trash.  I ate most of the salad and veggies, all of the watermelon, a bite of the macaroni, and none of the cupcake.

He husband dropped me off in the morning, so when orientation finally let out (it was fun, but 8am – 2:30pm, really?) I set off on my 2.5mile walk home.  Once we move I won’t be able to count my to/from school trips as incidental exercise any more since it is a gloriously short 8minute walk to BSC from our new apartment!

I’ve been doing some organizing but my lack of  a full lunch finally forced me to settle down for a snack.  I went with a sundae of sorts.

A container of Pomegranate Passionfruit Siggis yogurt, a little bit of homemade key lime pie ice cream, blackberry topping, and some graham cracker crumble.

I’ve got a super random dinner that I’m quite excited for, I’ll see you then!

What was/is your favorite thing about YOUR college?

Sample

by

It’s been a fun evening but I probably should have been in bed hours ago so I’ll try to keep this short 😉

When the husband got home this afternoon we took a much-need 1hour nap.  Then we geared up to go to the gym.  I realize today probably didn’t provide the best circumstances for a work out (lack of sleep, not a lot of food) but I’m finding that if I take even one day off from gyming it that one day turns into two, and three, and so forth.  It’s like my lack of motivation snowballs.  So for the next 30days or so – the amount of time it takes to form a habit – expect to see some sort of formal workout from me every day.  Even if it’s just 10 minutes of stretching, hopefully making it “official” will keep me motivated.

Today’s workout was 30minutes on the elliptical.  I set the machine to level 6 random, and did backward pedal/forward pedal intervals as well as several sprints.

I gave it my all and was so tired afterwards I had a hard time raising my arms to wash my hair in the shower!  I think I managed to look pretty cute though, dontcha think?

The only thing I like more than ruffles is trying out new restaurants with the husband and that is precisely what tonight’s date entailed.

We’ve had SAMPLE on our radar ever since we wandered past it last month during the art festival.  The concept is that you get to SAMPLE a lot of little tastes.  It’s like tapas but the serving sizes are even smaller, single portion, no sharing.

The husband and I are a unit though (gag) so we managed to share a bit.  Like the cheese plate we split –

Carmelized onion, goat cheese, and roasted pear butter pannini.  Housemade ricotta cheese with fire roasted pineapple chutney. Aged provolone “fondue” with roasted tomato & basil pesto and baguette cubes.  I ate about 1/3 of this; it was ok, but nothing exceptional.

Or the 2-for-1 rum drink special that prompted us to order strawberry mojitos –

The husband’s entrée consisted of little sandwiches and “lots” of meat –

Cuban sandwich, steak frites, beef on weck, and pulled pork.

I got one sample plate to taste, Fish and Chip –

Beer battered salt cod served on a crispy potato guafrette with napa cabbage cole slaw.  The cole slaw was crazy good, but I was glad to only have a small bite of the fried fish.

I took the healthy route for my meal and choose something of the “Small Plate” menu instead of the “Sample” options.  Beet salad –

Tender green salad with roasted beets, gorgonzola cheese, and beet vinaigrette topped with housemade candied walnuts.  This was very good, but certainly not the best salad I’ve ever had.  I prefer this combo with goat cheese.

For dessert we split the Sample Some More –

Housemade graham crackers, chocolate peanut butter cream, bruleed vanilla marshmallow with dark chocolate sauce, and peanut brittle, served with dark hot chocolate.  This dish was a winner, you can’t go wrong with ‘smores!

In the end we agreed that we had a good time but probably wouldn’t go back (unless it was to sit at the bar and eat dessert).  The concept was wonderful but the execution wasn’t quite there.

I knew Adam would still be hungry but in my effort to feed him I shared too much of my salad and ended up a bit hungry myself.  We drove around for awhile and ended up grabbing a 4-piece chicken nugget kid’s meal at Wendy’s.

I know a lot of bloggers wouldn’t eat Wendy’s, period, but I was actually pretty proud of myself for this choice.  My meal wasn’t quite big enough so I had hunger and not appetite (look at that nutrition vernacular!) and this was a reasonable little meal.  We are going out of town again this weekend so our fridge is pretty bare and I can’t think of any fast food option that would be a better choice than a kid’s meal.  I could have probably done without the fries but Wendy’s fries are sooo good – I like the extra squishy ones – and I did share some with the husband.

How do you get/stay motivated for your work outs?  Any tips for me as I get back into shape?

Long but Loving

by

Hello again!  I hope that everyone got over the week’s hump nicely.  I’ll describe my situation succinctly: I will never put off my work for 4 days in a row again!  It’s been a painful experience that I don’t want to soon repeat.  The last 48hours have been stressful, but my eats have all been so good that there was no way I wasn’t posting them; hence the long recap post.

Wednesday morning I made a breakfast that was truly a thing of beauty –

A serving of Van’s Belgian Waffles topped with 2T maple syrup, the last of the strawberry sauce, fresh blueberries, and a cinnamon sprinkle.

Gah!  I always used to think that I didn’t like waffles, pancakes, etc, but that was just because I didn’t know to top them off with fruit and cinnamon.

{study, study, study}

Lunch was some Allergaroo Spyglass Noodles.

These were super tasty, and just the right about of food.

I wanted to keep lunch light because it was Katie’s birthday last week and we had a cupcake date.  It ended up being too hot for cupcakes, but locally made ice cream certainly fit the bill.

I got a small scoop of A Date at the Zoo, coconut ice cream with wine poached dates, brazil nuts, and chocolate chips.  Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds!

{study, study, study}

When hunger hit (hard) later in the afternoon I sliced up a big plate of cucumber to munch while I studied.  Unphotograhed accountability note – I also ate ~ 1/3 of a salmon patty straight from the container.

The water-dense snack was a good choice, because when the husband got home at 6 we headed out for a run.

I didn’t wear my watch, so I have no idea what the times are, but it was a good workout.  We did a mix of running and walking (with a few stops so I could fuss with my socks, eek I’m not sure if it’s the shoes or the socks but something with my new shoes isn’t working) and covered 3miles in total.

When you have good leftovers a healthy tasty dinner can literally be less than 2mintues away!

Over a bed of spring mix lettuce I combined 2/3cup microwaved frozen corn, a salmon patty, and a big scoop of medium chunky salsa.

The flavors of this salad went together so well!  It filled me up but it tasted so good that I kept scraping at my plate so I wouldn’t lose any of it 🙂

{study, study, study} um, {study, study, study, study}

That’s right folks, I pulled an (almost)all-nighter!  I stayed up until 4am doing the reading I should have done over the weekend.  Ugh.

I fell into bed for 6hours or so and then got right back to my books.  My messed up sleep schedule messed with my hunger in turn, and breakfast just didn’t sound good.  I did nibble on a serving of Jammie Dodgers throughout the morning though.

Around 2:30 I was finally caught up on the reading, which meant that I was ready to study for and take my test, jeez!

I did break for lunch though.  I pulled a carton of Dr. McDougal’s Lentil Soup out of the depths of my fridge.

I gussied it up with a chopped string cheese, a dollop of plain Siggis yogurt, and some Sriracha.

With a Savory Kathy’s Krackers Flax Snax on the side.

All together now –

Then it was more studying, yadda, yadda, yadda, and FINALLY I took my exam.  And I’m pretty sure I got a 100%, phew!

and if you’ve stuck around through all of that, I’d like to reward you with some recommendations…..

A Few of My (Current) Favorite Things –

1. The new fishy measuring spoon set my mom sent me.

They are available at Fred Flare, but I have heart palpitations whenever I view the kitchen section of that store so I can’t give you an exact link!

2. This College Humor Article about us 90’s kids.

Although I was actually always partial to Treasure Mountain, the article is hilarious.

3. The free online game Red Remover –

It is based on actual principles of physics, it is wickedly entertaining, and it’s flipping adorable.

Any current loves you’d like to share with me?

Vegan Challenge Recap

by

Howdy, again!  Thank you for being patient with all these blogging-free days.  My online class has been as hard (if not harder!) as I was expecting.  The fact that I’m in catch-up mode (I had to print out all the hand outs, write up my profile, etc) is definitely adding to the stress though; once I’m on top of things this weekend everything will run more smoothly.  I actually have my first exam today, so no food post now, but I wanted to do a Vegan Challenge Recap.

Overall, the last month was very satisfying.  I will straight up admit that yesterday (June 30th) dinner was a big cheesy plate of jalapeno nachos!  Amazingly, it was the first time all month I even wanted anything that wasn’t vegan.  I had several people ask me over the course of  month what foods I was missing, and the honest answer was nothing.  Vegan foods can be easy, tasty, and satisfying.

Will I be permanently changing my eating style then?  No.  I still believe the things I said in my Challenge Introduction Post –

  • Eating many vegan meals each week contributes to a healthy diet.
  • Vegan cooking and baking can be fun and satisfying.
  • Veganism is kind to our planet and can be a great way to conserve energy.
  • The current industrialized dairy and meat industries are immoral (even though in theory consuming meat and dairy is not) and the best way to vote is with my wallet.

But I also believe these things as well –

  • I personally feel healthier when I am eating some animal products (especially Greek yogurt, eggs, and lean fowl).
  • Going out to dinner is a lot easier and more enjoyable, especially in Buffalo, when your diet is less restricted.
  • I enjoy foods like eggs and Greek yogurt.  And even though I didn’t really miss them during June, I don’t want to cut them out of my life forever. 
  • I don’t drink a lot of cow’s milk, but soy milk in iced coffee just isn’t the same.
  • We are going to be broke as hell next year and not using my year’s worth of free eggs just isn’t an option.

 For all my ‘traditional’ readers – have you ever done a vegan challenge?  What were your final impressions?

Hear Ye, Hear Ye

by

Hey guys!  This is me writing to you from the car yesterday, mid-road trip.  You won’t be hearing from Today Emily until later this evening.  With any luck she’s been up since 6 this morning, plugging away at school work.

I just wanted to give you guys a little monthly announcements post.  Please feel free to picture a boy with a scroll and one of those long trumpets.

It is July  in the land of Eatventures.  I realize that it’s still June for the rest of you, but to me it’s now July.  And July is synonymous with BUSY round these parts.  Here’s some of what’s on tap for the next month –

  • My very first dietetics class!  Which also happens to be my first online course.  And it’s with the head of my department.  And she force registered me in ahead of the rest of the waiting list.  And I need a recommendation from her to get into the coordinated program I’m shooting for.  Basically I need to earn an A++.  And she has already let us know that we should expect 25hours of work a week minimum in order to do well in the course.
  • My incredible anxiety about whether or not I’m going to do well in my first dietetics course.
  • Our move to our new apartment!  There’s actually a one month overlap in our rents at our current and new spots, which means we can make little trips throughout the weeks to move some stuff in pieces.
  • My 25th birthday.  Not so fun fact – our moving truck day and my birthday are going to be one in the same.

I’m incredibly nervous, but also really excited about this new chapter in my life.

For those of you who decided to skim or skip ahead, here’s the basic take away message – don’t feel like I don’t love you any more if my blog posts are few and far between this month.  In fact, I love you bunches 😀

Double-U Tee Eff

by

What is up with me this week?!  I left my camera at home again today.  I forgot to charge it last night and when I remembered to charge it this morning I forgot to unplug it and put it in my bag. 

Since I’m spending most of the day out of the house (I’m blogging from the library right now) I won’t bother doing a food post.  But since I don’t want to deprive you of my wit (ha!) I leave you with these Five Fun Facts –

1) The husband and I play the Punch Bug game religiously.  We’ve also recently started playing Vibe Slaps, a similar game of our own invention.  We are both basically black and blue at this point.

2) Over the last few months the husband and I watched all 7 seasons of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”  We loved it, and you can in no way convince us that it was a waste of time.  In fact, we are so obsessed we are considering starting over again in 6 months!

3) The song “A Light on the Hill” by Margo and the Nuclear So and So’s is on regular rotation in my car playlist.  In spite of the repetition I cry literally every single time I hear it.  I embedded the video below and I dare you to get to the end of the song without tearing up like a 8-year-old who just fell off her bike.

4) I scored a 49/50 on today’s Sociology exam.  My professor said that was the highest score he’s given in 20 years of teaching.  Go me! 🙂

5) I recently wrote an article on eating healthy at a bbq for Van’s Natural Foods.  You can read it here.

Do you have any of these facts in common with me?

Accept No Substitutes

by

Tonight’s dinner was all about one of the main perks of the vegan challenge – it reminds me to cook from The Holy Grail a.k.a. Dreena Burton’s Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan.  It seems I never turn to this book unless I’m “forced to,” but I’ve loved every single thing I’ve ever made from it.

You might have noticed that unlike the last vegan challenge I have yet to eat 10billion vegan sticky pecan blondies (my very favorite thing from ED&BV, and in fact my very favorite dessert of all time).  In vegan challenges past I’ve gotten so excited about vegan baking that I ate more sweets than is normal even for me.  Since my 25th birthday is coming up in July and I recently had to buy bigger pants I’m just not quite as entranced with the baking.

I’m also making an effort this month not to buy “substitute” products.  At last glance my grocery store carried vegan options for hot dogs, sliced meat, cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, blintzes, ice-cream, cheese and more.  If I ever went vegan for longer than a month I’m sure those products would seem like godsends, but for this challenge I’m trying to keep things pretty natural.  The point of this month (for me) was more about skipping the cheese than making it vegan.  {Note – I’m aware that Allison has recently bought some of these products, more power to her, this post is NOT criticizing that!  Why would I want to insult my self-proclaimed blog twin?}

At 15days in we are officially halfway through vegan month.  I have also officially been vegan for a day longer than any time before.  This challenge has been surprisingly easy for me.  There have been a few times I’ve been jealous of what’s on Adam’s plate (like extra randomly when he ate a cheeseburger at the bbq and I almost cried because I wanted a bite so badly; I haven’t eaten red meat in 10years, wtf?!) but in general there’s nothing I’ve been wanting for.  I definitely feel like I’ll make it through to the end without breaking a sweat.

Back to dinner.  While I waited for Adam to get home I at a serving (2oz) of ww sourdough with Smart Balance Light.

Tonight’s main course was my 2nd favorite recipe from Ms. Burton, Tempeh Hash Brown Casserole.

Yumtastic!  This dish is the perfect example of Unami!  I can’t share the recipe here, but I promise that buying the cookbook is worth it for the blondies alone!

On the side we made pan steamed spinach.

All together now.

Do you ever buy vegan “substitute” products?  Why or why not?

Ecstasy and Irony

by

I haven’t been all that impressed with my Sociology class.  I like the content a lot because it’s so similar to Anthropology, but my classmates aren’t exactly honor students.  Therefore, I’m always kind of torn about what to wear to class because I don’t like “wasting” a cute outfit.  Sometimes I just go with it though –

Looking spiffy just for me (and the husband during our carpool time) is worth it because it puts a smile on my face.  Today’s awesomeness went far beyond the outfit though ….. Note – this post is filled with bragging and over-excitement; you’ve been warned.

Perhaps today was extra awesome because breakfast was so tasty.  This combo rocks my socks off –

I topped my bowl of Kashi Strawberry Fields and Silk Pure Almond milk with a big handful of blueberries.

Gaaah!  This is the best almond milk on earth.  It is thick and creamy and has none of the nasty aftertaste I’ve found with other brands.  This is also the best Kashi variety in the solar system.  The crispy flakes have achieved a level of perfection in the sweetness and the freeze-dried berries get the best consistency when they start to get soggy.

After I dropped the husband off (and he told me how cute I looked) I headed to school early to get my study on.  I like the subject matter, but apparently not enough to study for my test the night before.  And I really wanted to study in the hour before class, but mostly I just daydreamed about what I’m making for breakfast this weekend.  (It is important to my bragging that you note here that I didn’t exactly break a sweat studying for this test)

I also snacked on a serving of Apple Cinnamon Kathy’s Krackers.

Class went well.  We talked about deviancy and, oh yeah, I scored a 47/50 on my test.  Highest score in the class (most of the other grades were below a 30/50), go me!

After class I had some errands to run so I decided to combine grocery shopping and studying into one.  I picked up some Wegman’s hot bar and sat and read.

I tried to keep my portions pretty small to save $.  Asian bbq tofu and wok seared veggies.

The tofu was not awesome.  More like inedible; here’s what I ended up leaving on my plate –

Thank goodness I had a pack of Banan-a-peel Peeled Snacks in my purse.

They were super chewy and took me awhile to eat so I had time to feel full before I started shopping.

On the way home I developed a new workout plan: 1. Move to a neighborhood with terrible parking.  2. Purchase a humongous watermelon because it’s on sale for $3.99.  3. Trek from your parking space to your apartment carrying said watermelon.  Repeat as necessary 🙂

When I finally got myself home I discovered the other awesome excitement –

I think this wins for most ironic moment of vegan month!  A few months ago I submitted a recipe in a Foodbuzz contest and I won a year’s worth of free eggs!  I think that qualifies for a 2nd go me!!!!!  Our budget has been severely restricted for next year and this will definitely help our grocery bills.

Go ahead and brag, tell me why YOU are awesome!