Tag Archives: apple

Awkwardly Awesome

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Hello again.  We had a family crisis this weekend so I was away from the blog, but now it’s all good and I’m all back.  Also we squeezed in a party and watched the dog squeeze his face into the last of my milkshake.

Obviously there were good part to the weekend too.

I had lunch for breakfast today.

Baby carrots,

some Libby’s Tropical Fruit Salad,

and a sandwich.

Turkey, pepperjack cheese, and tons of pickles on a sandwich thin.

Lunch for lunch was a salad.

Romaine topped with peanut sauce, nutritional yeast, buckwheat groats, and sliced Crispin Pink apple.

With Honest Tea Half and Half to drink,

and Cookie Butter Fudge (x2) for dessert.

Oh yes I did!  Recipe is coming tomorrow.

I started watching the first season of “Awkward” online while I ate.  I loved it!  Might be my new favorite show.  I watched while I wrote this post too, which is why it took so damn long!

I worked until 7pm today and was stupid tired when I got home.  Dinner seemed impossible and I ended up getting hot bar at the co-op at 9:30.  Vegan “cheesy” broccoli and orzo, an Asian cabbage salad, and some maple roasted tofu and veggies.

I know the picture is gross but it was all delicious and I felt fortunate to have skipped my planned dinner.

Six Hershey’s Simple Pleasures for dessert.

I plan on going to bed as soon as this episode of Awkward is over.  I also plan on going to yoga at 7am.  The 2nd plan is totally dependant on the first; we’ll see what happens.

Have you been watching Awkward?

Buffalo Blue Cheese Black Bean Burgers, From Yesterday

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The past 24 hours have been odd but gratifying.  Mostly because I’ve done odd but gratifying things, like frying up a batch of bacon yesterday at 5:30 in the morning.

I ate three hot slices of turkey bacon and they were delicious.  And now you know our wonderful reason for having bacon in the house.

I ate a bagelwich with my bacon.

A Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin with two slices of turkey and 1 oz sharp cheddar.

In addition to bacon and breakfast before 8 am, I also cleaned the kitchen, registered for a conference, made a batch of pupsicles, and worked out.

1 hour hot yoga class.  I love how even if you’re not very good at yoga it’s still a nice workout.  P.S. Wanna know why girls who do yoga are so skinny?  For safety.  My boobs practically smoother me to death in rabbit pose!

After yoga I walked the little man.

We’ve had him more than a year now and I’m still amazed by how well he stops at cross-walks.

Pre-lunch snack was a plate of pickle slices.

And dessert first, since I had to make a last-minute trip to the store for a forgotten ingredient.

Trader Joe’s cookie butter dark chocolate bar, does that even need a description?!  Though I will say that I freaking adore the little bites of crunch embedded throughout the bar.

An epic journey of three stores in my sweaty yoga clothes later, we had panko.  And shortly after that, lunch.

Roasted green beans,

and Buffalo Blue Bean Burgers.

(recipe included at the bottom of this post)

In the afternoon I worked.  It was a good shift, I actually worked several hours by myself for the first time.  It’s always fun when someone trusts you to hold down the fort.

But then on the walk home I got a migraine.  I didn’t take my medicine in time and I ended up being down for the count the whole evening.  I curled up in a fetal position on the couch and Adam brought me to bed at 10.  Unfortunately by then my head felt better and my stomach was twisting with hunger pains.  I probably should have gotten up and eaten but instead I flopped around for several hours before falling asleep.

When I got up this morning cereal was the last thing on my mind; I wanted savory and lots of it.

This salad fit the bill.

With the bites I took while I filled my bowl, this salad contained:  a romaine base, 2 Tbsp light honey mustard dressing, 1 oz gorgonzola crumbles, 2 oz honey roasted peanuts, 2 slices turkey bacon, and 1 chopped Crispin Pink apple.

With a Green Dragon Tea from Honest Tea for drinking.

I also ate the last serving of Maple Pancake and Bacon Ice Cream.

That stuff was ridiculous good.  Pretty please go make it and see for yourself.

I’m actually about to eat another small dessert now too.  It’s a recipe I’m working on though, so no pictures for now.  Hope everyone else is having a sweet day!

Buffalo Blue Bean Burgers, serves 4 – 6

  • (2) 15.5oz cans reduced-sodium black beans
  • 1/2 cup, plus 2 Tbsp buffalo wing sauce
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 3/4 cup gorgonzola cheese crumbles
  1. Preheat the oven to 450*.  Foil and spray 2 baking sheets.
  2. Empty bean cans into a colander and rinse thoroughly – this is a heart healthy step that helps to further reduce the sodium in this recipe.
  3. Pour rinsed beans and 2 cups wing sauce into a blender and puree.  If you have a rickety blender you may want to do this in two batches.
  4. Empty blender into a large mixing bowl.  Add rest of wing sauce and eggs and stir.  Stir in panko and cheese.
  5. Using your hands, form 12 patties out of the bean mixture.
  6. Put patties on prepared sheets and bake for 20 minutes.  It is not necessary to flip the patties during baking.

Positive Turn Around

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I love it when a day I think it going to be bad ends up turning around to be good.  And thankfully most of the ones I assume will be good turn out good too!

I didn’t have high hopes for this day.  I stayed up until 3 am doing nothing and then slept through my workout.  Our evening plans got rained out.  My baking was a disaster.

But somehow things turned around.  The batter I got to lick off a spatula wasn’t half bad.

My bosses surprised me at work with a giant birthday basket.

This was so sweet and a definite factor in my mood change; I was very touched.

And my birthday gift from my in-laws arrived as well.

Among other things, they sent pictures from our visit to the Outer Banks.

Adam’s family takes a picture in front of that sign every year and I felt very special that I got join the tradition.

It’s impossible to be in a bad mood when you’ve got birthday presents to open.  And good food doesn’t hurt.  Cereal for breakfast.

1.5 servings of Special K Cinnamon Pecan and 1 serving of All Bran Bran Buds with Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

Salad (or a salad-ish dish) for lunch.  I topped spinach with peanut sauce, leftover pesto pasta from last Saturday, a sliced Jazz apple, sharp cheddar, and buckwheat groats.

This odd combination was super delicious.

You know I broke into the popcorn in my gift basket the minute I got home.

That bowl had two servings.  I really wanted more but instead I distracted myself with a big plate of baked green beans.

And it turned out that they were even tastier than the popcorn!

My parents come to visit tomorrow, so that’ll be a good day too!

Days One And Two

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My first two days as a 27-year old have been busy/crazy/fun/carb-filled/fantastic.  And the third day brings a workout, a shift at work, and night-time plans with friends so I’ll try keep this recap short.

I started my birthday early in the morning with yoga.

60 minutes of hot yoga.

Adam’s birthday gift to me was a run (he is a million times faster than me so going at my pace is a gift), so I refueled in between workouts at home.  A Honey Stinger Waffle at home,

and a G2 consumed during our run.

We did 8 sets of 2:00 minutes running / 3:00 minutes walking; 40 minutes and 3.3 miles.

And then I opened my birthday present from my parents.

They sent a few things, the best of which was this little covered wagon.

Read this post if you don’t get it.

And then I painted birthday nails.

And Adam took me to the mall.  I bought underwear.  Apparently I’ve reached the age where I buy myself the lame gift.  But we also stopped at DQ.

Frozen peanut butter hot chocolate, you complete me.

And then I went to work.  On my birthday.  Because I’m old.  Actually it was no big deal; I was glad to have something to fill my day while all of my friends were working.  When I got done at 7:30 a friend picked me up at work at the fun began.

First we went to Starbucks where I spent the cost of a tall iced coffee with skim milk to learn that they no longer give free birthday drinks.

Then we headed to Mixology, a favorite bar.

And then I was drunk.  Really.  Drinking after a day of no solid food was a bad idea.  I had a cake vodka with club soda.

A root beer vodka with club soda.

And two mini drinks that the bartender kindly served us when he learned it was my birthday.

My friends and I had a great time and it was the perfect way to ring in a new year.

I made it to the apartment door before calling Adam to threaten bodily harm if I wasn’t fed immediately.  We got me this small bag of chips.

And I shoveled in 75% of this “garbage” calzone – macaroni, onions, mustard, hot sauce, cheddar, and chicken – in a matter of minutes.

It’s possible that I passed out – fully dressed, without retainers or brushing my teeth, snoring – minutes after that, but who can really say?

I got my Wednesday off to a much healthier start.

Green juice from Ashkers.  I customized my order and ended up with kale, spinach, cucumber and carrot.

It was delicious.

For a more conventional hangover cure, Adam and I split a bagel.

A toasted everything with lox cream cheese.

It was delicious as well.

For lunch we shared sushi.

Half each of a philly crab roll and a shrimp tempura roll.

He got an extra piece of the tempura roll and I got all of the wasabi.  He even shared his seaweed salad with me.

For our afternoon fun we took the dog to the park for a long walk and session of ball throwing.  He was ridiculously cute but I somehow deleted all of the photos I took (which might have made me cry a bit).

Dinner was a great salad.

Romaine topped with Jazz apple, sharp cheddar, buckwheat groats, and peanut sauce.

I ate extra cheese and apple in addition to what went on the salad.

Plus buttered toast.

And two biiig spoonfuls of chocolate hazelnut butter for dessert.

This post took so long to write that the 3rd day of 27 has begun.  Off to bed I go!

A Friday Saturday Secret

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I don’t always like to blog about things right away, but it seems like it’s time to share that…. I got a job!  I will be working part-time at a local toy store from now until my internship schedule makes it impossible.  And I’ve actually been working since Tuesday!

It is freaking fabulous to be employed again but I’m not gonna lie, being on my feet all day is rough.  I haven’t worked out all week and today was the first day I was able to cook dinner after a shift.  I’ve done retail before, and been a waitress and a teacher, but I guess that three years of full-time schooling (sitting) has left me weak.  It doesn’t help that I am ridiculously out of shape.  My aching back is going to give me some major motivation to work on my ab muscles.

Friday morning began with a dermatologist appointment and I ate a to-go breakfast in the car.

An Apple Cinnamon GoGo Squeez.

A White Chocolate Macadamia LUNA Bar.

And a pack of Skinny Cow Milk Chocolate Dreamy Clusters.

Those products were all linked because I’m recommending that you try them all.  Good reviews all around.

I got a good review at the doctor’s office too – the husband’s and my skin checks were in the clear, figuratively speaking.  I’m going to have to see a surgeon about the (benign but painful and ugly) bump on my hand but the dermatologist did say it’ll probably be fully covered by insurance.

I had a mug of hot chocolate before heading to work.

Seven hours later I was ravenous and ready to head home.  I got hot bar from the co-op and finished the entire box on my walk!

Chicken salads,

cucumber and kale salads.

It’s a good thing I ate in-transit because I passed out the minute I got home.  Actually, I got in a giant fight with the husband and then passed out, but it’s not polite to blog about that.  My tired back may be making me a bit cranky.

I had an earlier shift this morning so Adam made a date of walking me to work.  We stopped at the farmers’ market for breakfast along the way.

That toasted pecan caramel scone from Chow Chocolat‘s booth was goo-ood.  With a Lori’s Lemon Honest Tea.

I also ate this baggie of grapes right when I got to work.

I slept without my retainers last night (I passed out before I could get them in!) so I skipped lunch today to keep them in for a longer period.  By the time my 8-hour shift was over I was ready to eat.

We had to run some errands when Adam picked me up and I ended up buying the cheapest – most embarrassing – snack I could find at Target.

They actually weren’t bad.  And I’d like to think they helped give me the energy to cook dinner today.

On the menu was Tom Kah Gai Soup.

I followed the recipe (mostly) from Quick and Easy Thai and found success.

I actually didn’t love-love it because this chicken coconut soup isn’t my favorite, but Adam said several times that this was the best thing I’ve ever made!

I gave part of my portion to the husband (he finished almost the entire batch!) and ended up grabbing a turkey sandwich as well.

Applegate Farm’s Roasted Turkey with Laughing Cow Garden Vegetable Cream Cheese and pepperjack cheese on a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin.

My dessert was a treat that Adam made me this afternoon.  I bought a ton of berries on sale last week so he dipped me three chocolate-covered strawberries.

Thanks, husband.

Two questions for two days’ worth of posts –

  1. How often (if ever) do you get a skin cancer check?
  2. What is your favorite kind of soup?

 

Monday Tuesday

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The post title is supposed to reference yesterday’s, and the fact that I am finding myself completely unable to write a blog post.  I just feel like I have a case of bloggers’ block.  There are two upcoming posts that I’ve promised to do and I am practically incapable of getting them done.  Both are on my to-do list for tomorrow and for today I’ll keep it quick.

Breakfast was a total success.

I stirred together Wegman’s Vanilla on the Bottom Super Yogurt with a biiiig dollop of 1% small curd cottage cheese.  Then I topped with sliced plum, sliced nectarine, and a chopped up cookie dough truffle.

I needed something that would keep me full through the early afternoon and this did the trick.

Lunch was snacky.  A GoGo Squeez Apple Strawberry pouch.

And a Peanut Honey Pretzel Luna Bar.

The first time I tried this bar I didn’t know my socks off but today I was much more impressed.  I could really taste each flavor; the peanuts, honey, and pretzels somehow all managed to stand out from within the mix of flavors.

Dinner was cheesy chicken and rice.

Plus 2 servings of potato chips (bacon cheddar, but not really, these were still vegetarian) a few hours later.

And that’s all she wrote (ha!).

The Last Three Days

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The last three days have been great. Summer school is over! I’m a senior! (again!) We went to Ohio! Yep, I wasn’t blogging because the summer of weekend fun has officially begun. Let’s back up to Friday morning first.

I stayed up late on Thursday (Adam was studying and I was doing nothing) so waking up was rough. Somehow I did manage to get out of bed and make it to the gym. And then I did strength training! I walked on the treadmill for 7 minutes to warm up and then spent 30 minutes rotating though a cycle of strength machines plus stretch moves on the mat.

Since I actually did weights work it seemed like the perfect time for the Honey Core Power protein drink I bought on sale.

It was fine, not great, but 26 grams of protein in a few minutes is nothing to sneeze at.

To celebrate our last day, our teacher brought in garden chili.

I had a bowl topped with cheddar,

and another glass of lemon sweet tea.

When the day was over a few friends and I celebrated on our own. First we grabbed the dog,

and then we walked to Dolci,

for bourbon cinnamon gelato.

Eeeeee, this tasted so good! The cinnamon was pretty subdued and it had the best texture, almost airy.

Then Adam and I were in the car for weekend #1 of summer fun.

I packed us leftovers for dinner.

Buffalo Chicken Baked Pasta.

We both agreed that this dish is one of best things I make.

Saturday morning I managed to sleep until 11:30 …on the living room floor …while people screamed at the top of their lungs playing Battleship! Tired much?

For lunch I did my best to pick and choose a meal from McDonald’s.

Two packs of apple slices,

and a fruit and yogurt parfait.

Plus a (mini) S’more Monster Cookie for dessert.

I thing I like these cookies even better when they are regular sized.

We spent the afternoon at our niece’s dance recital. There were kids of all ages, including a class of three-year olds twirling around in giant tutus. And now my ovaries hurt!

Dinner was re-dic-u-lous.

Salad with honey mustard dressing.

French fries. With butter for the …

Crab legs!

All you could eat. Apparently I could eat five clusters. And then I was very, very full.

Though not too full for candy at the movies a few hours later.

We saw Prometheus and I do not recommend it. The “Alien” nerds on all of the forums were right, the characters are dumb and I didn’t care what happened to them.

The parents made us all breakfast this morning before we had to hit the road. I had a glass of skim milk,

and a pancake (with butter and syrup) and fresh fruit.

The opposite of fresh, Adam and I snacked on this cookies and cream Chex Mix on the road.

I ate ~2 serving’s worth.

We had to stop at the mall on the way home to get the husband new sandals so we got froyo too.

I got a tiny bit of tart yogurt with tons of fruit and popping boba.

We we’ve been home about an hour and I’ve already eaten two of the Hawaiian rolls that Adam brought home.

Clearly it’s time to rustle up dinner!  See ya tomorrow.

Summer Weekend Excitement

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Tomorrow’s the last day of summer school!  It’s also the weekend, as well as the start of 8 weekends in a row of fun/important things.  Starting with this weekend –

  1. We are driving to Ohio to see our niece in a dance recital and stay in Adam’s brother’s new house.
  2. We are flying to the Outer Banks for a vacation with my in-laws.
  3. I’m going on a wine tour with a group of friends.
  4. The Italian Festival is happening.
  5. Adam is taking a really big, important exam.  (And then I celebrate my 27th birthday a few days later.)
  6. My parents are coming to visit.
  7. I’ll be in Ohio visiting my grandma with my parents.
  8. We will be celebrating the 1-year anniversary of Webster’s Buyday.

It’s going to be an amazing summer!  I just have to get through one more day of school first.  I can’t really complain about today though, as we did two fun things.

Early things.  I had to be at my friend’s apartment to carpool at 7:30.  I tried to make a smoothie for an easy breakfast but it didn’t quite work out.

I blended 1.5 cups Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, and 1.5 cups frozen strawberries.  Sounds good right?  Not even close.  The texture was there but the smoothie just tasted like watered down milk.  I ended up throwing it out after a few sips.

We started early because our class was taking a tour of the Clinton Bailey Farmers’ Market.

Our next fun activity took us to the kitchen lab.  We practice quantity cooking and made ourselves lunch!

There were more than two dishes but this was all that appealed to me.  Pasta with garlic and spinach,

and a really amazing salad with strawberries, blue cheese, and candied pecans.

Plus sweet tea with lemon and orange to drink.

One group made several batches of cookies and there’s no ac so it was boiling in that kitchen.

When I got home in the afternoon I made myself a glorious snack.

A sliced Gala with 2 heaping Tbsp melted Biscoff Spread.

I shared a few bites of apple with the dog but the only one licking the Biscoff bowl was me!

I tried to take Webster on a walk/run but the husband was at home so it didn’t work.  I adore that dog but sometimes his obsession with the husband is a drag.  If we walk him together he’s perfect.  If Adam is at school and I walk him he’s perfect.  But if Adam is at home and the dog knows Adam is at home, if I try to walk him he sits and tugs as we head away from the house and pulls me off of my feet when we head back.  Ugh.

I got so irritated with the dog the I ended up dropping him back home and going off angrily for a run.  A run-run.

1 mile-ish running + 3 minutes walking + 1 mile-ish running.  2.4 miles and 24:30 minutes.

I am pretty damn proud of maintaining a 10 minute mile pace in spite of the walking, but I am so not ready for run-running.  This basically killed me.  I need to stick with my run/walking plan for a while longer (and more consistently!).

Afterward I walked a bit more.. to the Co-op for a Blue Monkey Coconut Water.

I was soaked by the end of my run and this seemed like the best way to rehydrate.  Plus it was tasty.

Adam and I split a mango.

I’ve officially decided that mangos make my “top three” list for favorite fruits.  I also like cookie dough.

I took 2 – 3 cookies’ worth of nibbles while baking tonight.  I’m making Mini (aka regular cookie-sized) S’mores Monster Cookies.  Not the best dinner, but it worked; I got plenty of veggies at lunch.

Any excitement on your agenda for the summer?