Treat Upon Treat

by Emily

Is it okay if I start every post this week with “phew?” Having visitors is the best kind of exhausting fun. Especially exhausting if those visitors are my parents and we aren’t just counting the hours until they leave! My mom, dad, Adam and I always have the best time exploring. Adam and I aren’t technically on vacation, but we sure ate like we were.

My eyes shut way past 1 am last night and picking my parents up this morning felt like a total feat. Iced coffee (Wegman’s version of Jamaican Me Crazy, with skim milk) was necessary.

I also split a poppy seed bagel with cream cheese with my dad.

Wegman’s bakery never fails to impress; the bagels were the freshest of fresh and this was so chewy and good.

I made dinner at our apartment tonight and I took my parents on the tour de Wegmans while we picked up the necessary provisions. When you live on St. Thomas, stateside grocery stores are seriously exciting.

I ate an apple en route to our main activity for the day,

the outlet mall! Niagara has the best outlet mall ever, with deals from Coach and Juicy Couture to Banana Republic and J. Crew. We stuck more with the 2nd two, since Adam and I were on a mission to get (affordable) professional clothing for this year. We both will be working in the hospitals and we both need to step up our wardrobes from last year. I’ll have to take pictures of my outfits on internship days this semester, apparently I’m making this the year of grey pants!

We stopped by the Lindt outlet and we all picked a piece of candy to try.

I went with this guy, who was stuffed with hazelnut cream and marzipan.

Around lunch-time I took a few bites of my parents’ Teriyaki chicken from the food court.

But I had my eye on another prize.

A Ben and Jerry’s location?! With several “scoop shop only” flavors?! Gah! I got a kid’s cup with Coffee, Coffee, Buzz, Buzz and Coconut 7-Layer Bar.

Ah-mazing. Our freezer makes everything that isn’t single-serve icy and crappy and it was so exciting to get ice-cream that was “fresh.” I gleefully told Adam (several times) that it was like Ben and Jerry’s fresh off the vine! Sidenote – when I say things like that sometimes I can see Adam grimace in physical pain over how fat and dorky I am.

Our next stop was to Hertel Ave to check out the Italian Festival.

So fun. And a lot bigger than I was expecting; it felt like we just kept walking. We saw several fun treats,

but headed home for food since dinner was already in the crock-pot. I made my parents pulled chicken with my 1000 Island BBQ Sauce,

corn on the cob,

and tossed salad with romaine, walnuts, baby carrots, and sun-dried tomatoes.

Such a yummy summer meal.

These pulled chicken sandwiches (with homemade bbq sauce natch!) are my favorite thing we make.

I topped my side salad with Newman’s Own Lite Caesar dressing and wheat germ.

I grew up eating wheat germ on salad and I think I need to get back in the habit, it makes the best topper.

We were all stuffed after dinner so we took a walk before dessert. I drank a Moroccan Mint iced tea from The Spot but I forgot my camera and my glass was sucked dry before we got home. However, if you are at The Spot this summer definitely get the Moroccan Mint, just brewed and served over ice it actually tastes sweet.

Not as sweet as goodies from the Italian Festival though.

I ate the butt end of a delicious eclair.

What a way to end the day!

Adam has school tomorrow so my parents and I might have a more low-key day. We’ll still have fun on our own of course, but maybe I can give my feet a rest.

4Jul2011

Happy 4th of July

by Emily

America the beautiful.

Adam and I had a great July 4th, I hope you guys and your families did as well.

Apparently my husband is a bad influence; I was dressed in running clothes when he pulled me back into bed this morning! It got too hot outside to run so instead we ate leftovers on the couch.

Cheesecake Factory’s spicy cashew chicken might actually be better the 2nd day.

We had to grocery shopping this afternoon and I snacked on an (American as apple pie) apple along the way.

Like my red, white, and blue? Being able to dress in theme colors is my favorite part of any holiday.

We celebrated Adam’s day off for the holiday with our favorite activity – a nice long walk. Midway we split a Sprecher Orange Cream Soda.

Soon enough it was time for red, white, and dinner.

Blue corn tortillas, filled with crumbled tofu cooked in red enchilada sauce, topped with (white) sour cream.

We used this Frontera red chile enchilada sauce and it ended up being pretty flavorless, boo.

Plus some roasted brussels sprouts.

Sadly it was a kind of meh dinner overall.

Normally this wouldn’t have been near enough food for me but thankfully we did a lot of baking today, and I did lots and lots of nibbling!

Kath’s honey crunch peanut butter –

My newest invention that’s bound to be the new big thing (I’ll tell you more tomorrow) –

4th of July cupcakes –

The cupcakes were simple white cupcakes with vanilla frosting, turned festive when dyed red, white, and blue and swirled together.

So fun!

Also fun? We’re watching “Newsies” this evening!

19Jun2011

Tired Travel

by Emily

Hello from Charlottesville! The last 48 hours have been a total whirlwind, but a little sleep deprivation is definitely worth the family time.

Yesterday afternoon we had to finish packing, and Adam had to shave, and we had to drop his car off, and the clock ticked ominously as it got later and later. By the time we actually hit the road it was after 6pm and we knew it was going to be a long night.

We dinnered on sandwiches from home as we drove.

I assembled Nature’s Pride bread, Applegate Farms Organic Roasted Turkey slices, 2% Swiss cheese, and honey mustard; wrapped in tin foil for easy road munching.

Adam and I also split a Starbucks Double Shot drink.

Caffeine was a very good idea (and it continued to be good all today as well) since we pulled into my in-laws’ house at 4:30 in the morning!! I’m not sure how we managed to be so chipper for our 9:30 wake up call, but I think that vacation excitement always overrules lack of sleep. I can’t even tell you how crazy the drive was though, between the thunderstorms and the fog we were pretty sure we were driving through the apocalypse.

Breakfast called for carbs, protein, and bacon. Half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese,

1 scrambled egg,

and 2 slices of turkey bacon.

Moving was not as bad as I was anticipating at all (it probably helped that I was responsible for packing up the pantry and not carrying the couch!), especially since my brother-in-law drove down to help as well. At some point in the afternoon I was sent into town for packing supplies and Starbucks for my mother-in-law; I grabbed a grande iced nonfat latte for myself.

Lunch was one of those random simple meals that ended up being extra delicious.

This veggie pizza was something my MIL found in the freezer section and it was so dang good; she was worried that the crust started to burn but it was crispy and crunchy in the best possible way.

And this was the best (only?) watermelon I’ve tasted all summer.

The melon was supposed to be dessert but my MIL and I found ourselves stuck at Wendy’s while the moving truck was returned and Frostys were calling our names. The new Caramel Apple Parfait looked too good not to try.

Oh my gosh guys, props to Wendy’s because this was delicious! I only ate ~ 1/3 because I didn’t want to overdo it before dinner but I was seriously impressed. The caramel had great mouth feel and the right balance of sweet and salty.

Adam and I stayed in town after the moving was done so we could have Fathers’ Day dinner at my FIL’s favorite restaurant. Clearly it was a day of hot work because I drained my beer before it even occurred to me to snap a picture.

This might be the first time I’ve tried a Shock Top and I was surprised by how much I liked it, light and refreshing.

I also nibbled on a complimentary cheesy biscuit.

Think of the biscuits from Red Lobster, but better.

Sagebrush isn’t the type of restaurant that I typically love but my dinner ended up being amazing.

I ordered a side of the veggie medley (without butter)

and a side of sweet potato casserole

to go with my Mountain Trout.

Trout! This was my first time trying trout and I think it might be my new favorite fish, it was so buttery. The menu said flash grilled but I’m pretty sure this was fried. I scraped off the skin but other than that I cleaned my plate.

After dinner we had another late, rainy drive. I bought this huge (half-sweet) coffee for the road.

I hope the caffeine doesn’t keep me awake but traveling makes my stomach upset and I was hoping coffee would help me feel better.

Tomorrow we’re spending the day exploring Charlottesville and then driving to DC in the evening. My best friend just texted to let me know that her apartment doesn’t have internet so my posting schedule might be a little off.

Can anyone recommend any “must go” spots in Charlottesville or DC? Other than frozen yogurt we don’t have much on the agenda!

9Jun2011

Driving Dilemma

by Emily

We love our neighborhood – a quiet side street off of Elmwood, the “cool” strip in Buffalo – but the parking situation here is a bummer. There’s not a lot of parking space to begin with and then the city further restricts residents by only allowing use of one side of the street from 9-5 on weekdays. In the end it’s really not something I can complain about though because we generally end up parking 2 blocks away from our apartment at most and often snag spots right out front. What I can complain about (and do at length) is the fact that parking switches from left MTW to right RF. Which means that if you wake up at 8:50 thinking that it’s Wednesday when it’s actually Thursday you’re out $30. $60 if you have two cars to worry about.

During the school year – when Adam and I have long-houred internships at different hospitals – having two cars will be a godsend. But in the summer – when we barely drive the one car, let alone two – it’s all we can do to remember to move the cars and they become a big, costly annoyance. I try to put “move the cars!!!” in my day planner but since I often don’t check my planner until after 9am this has proved less than helpful. What has proved effective lately though is coupling the task moving the cars with another activity. If there’s one thing I’ll never forgot to look forward to it’s a date with Adam!

For example, this morning we set our alarms for ~~8:20~~ ~~8:40~~ 8:50 and moved the cars before setting out on a walk to get coffee.

We ended up with no tickets, plus (half sweet) coffee as a bonus!

I waited to enjoy my hot coffee until I got home to the ac, and paired it with the rest of my breakfast spread.

A crisp, local apple,

and Greek Gods Fig yogurt.

Yum x 100! If you still haven’t tried Greek Gods then you totally need to get on that.

Coffee always makes me super full, which helped lunch to get pushed back later and later into the afternoon. When a coworker called at noon I ended up picking up an extra daytime shift at work tomorrow which meant we needed to switch around some of our lunch and dinner meal plans. The end result of all this is that it was 2:30, I hadn’t eaten lunch, and I needed to go to the store before I could make dinner.

I’d been craving garlic eggplant all morning – actually I’ve been craving that dish ever since I saw it on the table across from ours at Tokyo Shanghai – so I told myself that if Wegman’s had it on their hot bar then I’d buy lunch there. I haven’t seen garlic eggplant at Wegman’s in months, but apparently crossing your fingers works!

I got a big scoop of garlic eggplant alongside veggies picked out from various containers,

and a few big pieces of sweet and sour chicken.

So fun to find exactly what I was craving right on that day; usually I whine to the husband about tastes I’m looking forward to for days!

No matter how satisfying and tasty though, waiting too long for lunch always means I’m hungrier all afternoon. We had a good array of snacks to pick from; baby carrots with blue cheese,

a white chocolate and toffee cookie from Wegman’s cookie bar,

and when I made another batch of pumpkin muffins I ate a mini muffin with Smart Balance Light.

I’m glad I didn’t snack too much because dinner was amazing.

The dinner idea that I just couldn’t wait for was tuna salad Reubens.

We made tuna salad with 1000 Island Dressing and pickle relish, then pressed sandwiches with sauerkraut and 2% Swiss cheese.

We picked up a loaf of blue cheese and cracked pepper bread from Wegman’s bakery today and it totally took the sandwiches over the top.

With roasted broccoli,

and ears of fresh corn.

This dinner was so worth making the kitchen hot and steamy!

How many cars does your household own? How often do you drive to your final destination (as opposed to walking or using public transportation)?

29May2011

Walk It Out

by Emily

Happy Memorial Day Weekend, readers! The holiday doesn’t mean much to me (I didn’t even know tomorrow was Memorial Day until a few hours ago; I was so confused the last two days at work when my manager said we were ‘slower than usual because of the holiday weekend’) but I imagine it’s exciting to those of you with real jobs.

Since I hadn’t eaten since 3pm yesterday I made sure to fuel up with a big Granny Smith Apple and a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter before we set out this morning.

It’s funny that the Justin’s website referenced the fact that most other choc-hazelnut spreads have more sugar than frosting, because the flavor and texture of this goodness totally made me think of frosting!

I ran yesterday on my off day and I felt pretty sore from work so I decided to do a long walk today. Adam and I headed to Delaware Park for an hour of walking while I quizzed him on pharm. questions. We walked ~ 2miles.

After a super quick shower I met up with my friend Katie for lunch and ended up walking another ~2miles in the process. Our final destination was JP Bullfeathers for brunch.

I ordered two poached eggs, cooked dry.

Which came with a side of fruit,

and rye toast (I ate 2 half slices).

Dipping thick toast into drippy egg yolks might be my favorite restaurant food sensation. Poached eggs are the perfect dish in my eyes (dippy yolks but much healthier than fried eggs because not cooked with any sort of oil) but I can’t get them right at home so they are the perfect restaurant food for me.

Katie and I also split a side of sweet potato fries, which were sadly sort of awful.

Soggy fries aside, it was nice to get out and about and to see Katie. I also grabbed a cup of coffee and a Lindt truffle for dessert.

This afternoon Adam and I decided to split a slice of buffalo chicken pizza.

I realize we eat this pizza a lot (it’s possible we fall into food ruts, Wegman’s hot bar much?!) but it’s something we both love. Plus, at least we always split it! However, it’s after 6pm and we’ve both determined that we’re really not hungry for dinner so perhaps we should have skipped it today!

We’re going to take another (short) walk and see how we feel about dinner when we get back. Either way, I have a fun dessert recipe I plan on posting (and eating!) this evening. See you then!

What is your favorite food to order while dining at restaurants?

23May2011

American As Apple Pie

by Emily

I know rationally that it’s summer, but the 50* lows this week have me all confused.

So confused, that I put fall on a plate for breakfast.

Or I guess you could blame this combo on the complete and utter lack of food in our house.

Let’s just call it patriotism.

Whatever the reason, I was definitely channeling apple pie with these waffles.

I topped a serving of Van’s Vitamin Boost Waffles with a thick slice of extra sharp cheddar cheese and stewed apple (a Macintosh apple microwaved with cinnamon, agave syrup, and a bit of water).

I highly considered throwing on a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream (or at least some ice cream frosting) but I managed to resist.

In awesome news, I may have found a summer job. Since I don’t know my schedule yet I can’t make our meal plan, but I am going to head to the Co-op in a minute to pick up a few staples. Mostly I just want to walk out my legs (knee especially, fingers crossed!) after last night’s 7-miler. I’ve also got a stroll around the mall planned for after lunch.

to enter to win today’s (Applegate Farms $-off coupons) giveaway:

Tweet the following – “Go to http://eatingchalk.com before 6pm to enter @EmilyWax’s @ApplegateFarms giveaway.”

If you don’t have a Twitter account you may Facebook it, but leave a comment on this post to let me know that you’ve done so.

12May2011

A Victory Lap

by Emily

I’m free, I’m free; now I’m really free! I’m finally done with school for the year and it feels go-oood! I’m sure I scared some of my more studious readers this morning, but I did save myself enough time to get my presentation perfectly prepped.

I had a final exam at 10am so I didn’t leave myself time for breakfast, but I did grab a coffee with skim milk when I got to school.

There were lots of happy-go-lucky feelings when we finished our final; I was the only one in my group of friends who still had to present so they were officially finished with school at noon. Our friend Rachel brought in goodies and we had a little mini celebration.

Peanut butter chocolate no-bakes,

and sangria!

I had a packed lunch from home too, a final serving of Buffalo Wing Baked Pasta,

and an applesauce GoGo Squeeze.

Then, lisp-inducing retainers far far away from my mouth, I headed off to my final presentation of the semester. I won’t actually get my grade until the next school year, but I think it went really well. I was composed, I got in all the important points, I know my PowerPoint was perfect (I met with my teacher a few weeks ago to perfect it)… My voice was definitely shaking, but you can’t win ’em all!

When the clock hit 3:30 and we realized the year was officially done there was some serious excitement. After a quick trip back home I went with a group of friends to immediately sell back our textbooks. Why wait, ya know? While we were out and about we took advantage of the Starbucks half-off frappuccino happy hour.

I ordered a tall coffee coconut frappuccino.

Pretty darn good. Celebratory even.

We had some trouble getting motivated when I got home, but some pretzels and hummus helped to fuel us up.

I ate about a serving of each.

Around 7:30 Adam and I finally headed out for a victory lap. We went down to the path at Delaware Park for two 1.75 mile laps. I ran my clock the entire time (even during a few walking breaks) and in total I did 3.5 miles in 34:50. We drove home and then took a long stroll around Elmwood.

My knee feels funny again but I’m crossing my fingers and icing.

I was stuck on the kitchen floor for 30minutes so I directed Adam through dinner from there. I had him bring me the Sharpies too so I could make the birthday card for our niece.

By the time my masterpiece was complete, so was dinner.

We roasted up some white asparagus.

It was meh, a little watery and bitter, nothing like its green cousin.

Plus some Trader Joe’s orange-style chicken,

which was fabulous. I wish we lived in a real city where I had the option of picking up more of this!

Now I’d like to stay up late on a night when it’s not a terrible idea 😀

10May2011

Time Crunch Tuesday

by Emily

I’m not going to tell you about my day. I’m definitely not going to tell you about how hideously unprepared I am for my two important tests tomorrow. I am going to stick to my blog-everything-for-30-days goal. Photo details only to follow…

An everything style Bagel Thin with a slice of 2% Colby cheese.