Tag Archives: apple

Start of Sandwich Week

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Some bloggers have their dinner posts up before I even eat dinner, how do they do it?!?  We’re on a pretty late schedule here, but it works well for us.

That Paula Red apple was mealy and sad, I traded it off to the husband (he liked it!).  Instead I ate a Crispin apple with a spoonful of peanut butter.

My night class got out super early today, and I completed the online quiz and walked home all before 7; score!  I celebrated with a small piece of pumpkin chocolate chip square.

Btw – the husband has demolished these bars, almost all of them are gone!  He took a container to school today and said all of his classmates freaked out about them as well.

Now, on to sandwich week……

Since it’s already Tuesday into the week, I decided to start things off with a bang.  What’s that?

Oh, nothing.  Just homemade from scratch mayonnaise!

It took team work, and more time than predicted, but in the end we were victorious; go us!  I used the recipe from Katherine Darling’s Under the Table – which is an amazing book in general, I highly recommend it – but you could easily Google a recipe.

The sandwich vehicle for the mayo was Buffalo chicken subs, which came together in a snap.

I slow-cooked chicken breasts in a bit of broth for 8hours on low today and then shredded the meat with two forks.  Then I doused two servings worth in Buffalo sauce.  Next we stirred crumbled blue cheese into two portions of mayo.  Finally we spooned and spread that fantasticness onto split rolls.  Perfection.

Seriously, I can’t even handle this picture.

This was way healthier than a fried chicken sandwich and much much tastier!  Speaking of health, as I told Adam – “I dont’ care that we forgot the asparagus, I’ll be damned if I’m serving blue cheese and mayo but no veggie!”  So we made a quick side of microwaved kale.

Very, very not good.  But I choked it down for the nutrients.

All together, even with bitter, chewy kale, the meal averaged out to be fantastic.

A fabulous start to Sandwich Week.

Do you eat mayo or does it skeeve you out?  Have you ever made your own mayo?  In general I’m not a big fan; I’ll eat Miracle Whip in tuna and chicken salads, but I prefer mustard varieties.  I was pretty jazzed about it tonight though 🙂

I Like the Other Kind of Shot Better

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Whoops, guess I do have time for a lunch post!  I decided that since I’m staying for lab tomorrow 12 straight hours on campus today was a bit much….so I went home!  Plus my arm was sore, but more on that in a minute.

Breakfast was the last of my samples from Zone Perfect,

Peanut Butter Cookie Dough Bar.  I’ll say it again, Yuuuuum!  I was not expecting to fall in love with these, but I totally did; if I see them at Wegmans more will be purchased.  The texture was very pleasing and the pb flavor was perfect.  It was just sweet enough.

I had some time after Library (I always get out early because the assignments are pretty basic) and I manged to get the Orgo notes I missed yesterday copied.  I hate missing class 😡

110’s lecture today was all about MILK.  We learned all about cooking milk, the nutrient properties of milk, and how milk is made into cheese(s), cream, buttermilk, etc.  Nothing about ice cream though now that I think about it.  The lecture was pretty fascinating; I learned a lot more about homogenization and pasteurization.

Pasteurization – or ultrapasteurization which cooks at the highest temp for the shortest time and has the least impact on flavor – is used to kill pathogenic bacteria.  Basically, it takes away all of the bacteria that can make us sick.  The bacteria that lead to spoilage are not affected, which is why you have to refrigerate milk.  Evaporated milk and dry milk powder are processed in a  different way that allows them to be stored for a longer time.

Homogenization doesn’t deal with bacteria – which is why non-homogenized milk is not illegal in most of the US like raw milk is.  Milk is ~ 87% water, and homogenization is the process that keeps the milk solids from separating out.  In the olden days milk bottles had a thicker layer of fat (cream) at the top due to the separation as they sat.  If you are making your own cheese you have to use nonhomogenized milk.

Interesting stuff!

After class I decided to be a responsible adult and get my flu shot for the season.

I think it’s also a responsible adult thing to reward yourself for a sore arm; cinnamon bun latte anyone?

This actually didn’t have a strong flavor (it wasn’t sweet at all), but the scent was delectable!  I sat in the coffee shop near my house and sipped while reading Orgo.

Then I came home and ate my final serving of pumpkin pasta leftovers for lunch.

This stuff just gets better and better as it sits!

I have to get back to Orgo, but I’m going to much on this Paula Red apple while I study –

I have my night class from 4:30 to 7:40 tonight, but I’m hoping we get out early so I can kick of Sandwich Week.

Have you gotten your seasonal flu shot yet?  Do you get a flu shot each year?

Frozen Feet

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Has everyone done the Friday dance?  I’m sure glad for the weekend!  I actually have a ton to do the next few days so I made sure to include some relaxation in today’s plan.

My morning was a little too relaxed; leaving my warm bed feels bad, but running around like a headless chicken trying not to be late feels worse!  After I went to the trouble of buying a banana last night I couldn’t even get it together to make breakfast this morning.  Also, 30minute walk in 40* weather, not a sandals time.  Who knew!  😉  At least my tortured toes gave me a good excuse to buy a coffee before class.

A medium skim latte with sugar-free English toffee syrup. 

We had a guest speaker this morning who works in pediatric nutrition; she was fascinating!  The teacher of my Friday course is super energetic and excited about Dietetics and the speakers she brings in have all been just as enthusiastic.  They make me really excited about my future career!

After class I met up with my group; we have a poster presentation on November 19th and we are already 2/3 of the way finished.  I had ~ an hour between our meeting and Orgo so I made the best use of the time possible – I went to the gym!

I told you guys if I take a day off it turns into a month!  I had been going regularly (and loving it!) and after my I’m sick/I have 5 tests/OMG week I haven’t been in 16 days.  I know that I feel 100% better when I’m working out regularly so I’m going to try really hard to make sure I stick with it.  I didn’t have a ton of time today so I tried to use it wisely on the treadmill –

  • 5minute warm up (walking)
  • 20minutes running
  • 3minute cool down (walking)

In my 28minutes I covered 2.58miles, not terrible!  I’m actually running a 5k in a couple of weeks so hopefully that will keep me motivated.

I didn’t ever get it together to get food so I bought myself a Lemon Lime G-2 post gym.

It kept me hydrated but by the time Anatomy started my hunger had zapped my energy.  My class notes today are baaaaad.

A freezing, sideways raining walk home later, and I was heating up a Chicken Enchillada Suiza Lean Cuisine.

I needed some time to reheat while I refueled so Adam and I caught up on a bit of tv.  Has anyone seen the most recent CSI: Las Vegas?  Terrifying!  I also snacked on some Halloween candies,

a small handful of Southwest Cashews from Sahale Snacks,

and the last honey vanilla caramel apple.

The granny smith was the best yet!  I really, really, really recommend trying these.

Then it was time for business, we got out our fall decorations and finally switched out our summer and winter wardrobes.  My toes were oh so glad to see my Uggs!

Before catching up on “Bones” (love) we did find time to make a pretty snazzy dinner.

That’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage from Rachael Ray 30 Minute Meals.

We basically followed the recipe, although we used a bit less meat and pasta than called for.  Actually, we didn’t use meat at all; I couldn’t find any turkey sausage without pork casing so instead I swapped in some Gimmie Lean vegan meat substitute.

We also used the big can of local canned pumpkin I bought when I was panicking over the possible Libby’s shortage.

The flavor was spot on, but the texture wasn’t quite as velvety as the good stuff.

But the dish was still damn tasty.

This is one of the recipes Adam and I used to make all of the time when we were living in Brooklyn, it’s an old favorite.

I still have to shower and make our grocery list before bed, but I’m hoping to turn in before 11.  Amid a heap of homework, I signed up to volunteer at a health fair tomorrow.  What’s on your agenda for the weekend?

Life As I Know It

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It’s been a rather fun day, especially for a Thursday!  We’ve managed to pack in a lot of good times.  Plus, look at the sun rise I woke up to today:

Not quite as impressive foodwise; I’m not sure how I managed to get so completely out of food!  We actually made a special banana stop this evening so I could make myself oatmeal (a real breakfast) tomorrow!

I did the best I could with breakfast today though.

I knew I didn’t have time for lunch between classes so I tried to make a bowl that would hold me over for the long run.  0% Plain Oikos, maple syrup, homemade pb, peanuts, shredded coconut, and craisins.

Filling, and actually a very tasty combo of flavors.

I got some good news in Anatomy, an A+ on last week’s practical exam!  And in between classes I finished all of my work for tomorrow, which meant I had time to play later on.

Food lab today was all about veggies.  My group experimented with the effects of cooking techniques.  Did you know – if you want your broccoli to look extra green and appetizing you should use cooking water that’s a bit alkali (baking soda).  If you cook it in an acidic medium (with vinegar) you’ll end up with a very unappetizing olive-green shade.  I didn’t sample any of our experiments, but I did take some tastes of the dishes the other groups made.

Adam came to pick me up from school because of the rain, and we took a spontaneous trip to the movies!  You know we split a medium popcorn 😉

We saw “Life as You Know it,” which I’ve been jazzed about for months.  Normally I hate chick flicks but something about Katherine Hiegel makes me unable to resist!  The movie was adorable, very touching but with a lot of funny moments as well.  I give it two thumbs up!

Our apartment is seriously foodless, so when we picked up my banana we also swung by Moe’s for a quesadilla.

I ate my fair share of chips too.

And a honey vanilla caramel apple.

Have you made these yet?  Do it!

Now we are watching “Nightmare Before Christmas.”  Adam’s been trying to get me to see if for years and I’m actually totally loving it.  Hope you all have *sweet* dreams!

A Few Highlights

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Between a dying camera battery and an unshakable bad mood I couldn’t quite get it together to blog today.  I’ll just share some highlights….

For breakfast I tried out the Zone Perfect Oatmeal Raisin Cookie Dough bar.

It wasn’t as good as Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough (because really what is?) but it held its own.  The texture was pure cookie dough and the inclusion of raisins was a lot of fun.  The flavor wasn’t too sweet and this didn’t have any sort of chemical taste at all.  Plus, this variety is a bit lighter at 170calories and 1.5grams of saturated fat.

Lunch was a sad-sack of a Buffalo chicken sandwich.

Highlight of the day was a honey vanilla caramel apple.

I linked to the recipe yesterday, but I’m going to do it again (click me!) because it’s so crucial that you make this.  Seriously.

 What is your prefered color of highlighter?  I’m a purple girl myself.

Pour Some Sugar On Me

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I’ve had that ubiquitous Def Leppard track stuck in my head all weekend.  Around midnight on Saturday I even requested it be added to the party playlist!  And “Pour Some Sugar on Me” is a fitting anthem for this evening as I’m currently buzzing from a major sugar high.

Let’s cover dinner first shall we?

The tofu I was pressing earlier was cooked up this evening into my fabulous Coco Loco Tofu.  If you haven’t tried this recipe yet I highly recommend it; it’s the dish that got the husband hooked on tofu!

We used the remaining coconut marinade to cook down a big batch of kale.

The creamy (coconut), tangy (rice vinegar) sauce was the perfect complement to the kale.  Sometimes I hate how much greens cook down though; I swear that is a big serving of veggies!

I was ravenous while we were cooking dinner so I made myself a tiny bowl of 0% Plain Oikos with homemade chocolate pb, Crofter’s strawberry spread, and a pinch of shredded coconut.

Tasty, but ruined my appetite for the main event; I ended up only eating 2/3 of my tofu and sharing the rest.

I worked up an appetite for dessert stirring, stirring, stirring in the kitchen.  40minutes later I was rewarded with caramel apples!

I pulled a recipe from Everyday with Rachael Ray for Honey-Vanilla Caramel Apples.  I decided to make a half batch of apples (Adam won’t eat any) and save the rest of the caramel for other means. 

Granny Smith, Paula Red, Crispin.

I haven’t tasted an actual apple yet because I made myself too sick on caramel, but I can already tell you that this recipe is a keeper!  The honey vanilla caramel is divine and it was easy as pie to make.  There is a fabulous deep roasted flavor that makes it addictive; there was a lot of this –


Healthy dinner, check; most of my school work up to date, check; satisfied sweet tooth, check plus!

Caramel, candied, or naked, how do you prefer your apples?

Random Sampling

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There are two things you need to know about today going into this post – 1. It was an all over the place day; 2. It was chockfull of samples. Edited to add – whoops, make that three things – 3. I’m in a terrible, corny joke mood!  

Before I start I want to address the samples.  “Hello, Samples, how are you?”  Ok, ok, bad joke!  I just wanted to say that I respect my readers (you guys!) and try to give you the content you deserve (bad jokes aside), and I hope that this blog never feels like a commercial.  That said; I think part of my job as a food blogger – especially a healthy food blogger who also relies on a high volume of packaged foods – is to try, discuss, and introduce new and tasty products.  I hope you know that I would never sugarcoat a product that contains too much sugar (hyuck, hyuck), and that I always share my true opinion.  If I seem like I really like something, it’s because I do, not because I’m trying to impress a company.  And if it seems like I really, really like something, it’s because I’m kind of overeager and I’m pretty much always jazzed about something! 😀

All of that is to say that I started my morning with a sample.

Other than my diet soda addiction, I tend to shy away from “diet” products, so when Zone Perfect contacted me I figured it would be for a product that I should turn down because I wouldn’t purchase it on my own.  Then I realized that the products were cookie dough protein bars and all bets were off!  The bars came in a cookie jar (too cute!) –

And the packaging was adorable.

I decided to start with the Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough flavor; could it stack up to Balance Cookie Dough Bars (my very favorite product of all time)?

Yes!  I’m not going to diss BCDB’s by moving them to 2nd place (not a chance), but I’m pretty sure these firmly tie for my new favorite!  The flavor was mild but the texture was exactly like cookie dough.  The fact that there were chocolate chunks (instead of chocolate coating) made the experience seem 100% real.  I sort of felt like a naughty baker all through breakfast!  Are they healthy?  The short answer is, it depends.  Obviously all protein bars have more chemicals (and saturated fat) than a plate of waffles or scrambled eggs.  But tastewise this would make eggs its b***h.  If you don’t currently eat protein bars, I wouldn’t suggest throwing out your real food to buy these.  But if you do, then stock up immediately because these are amazing.  Note – I’m only taking CCCD here, I’ll let you know when I try the other flavors.

The reason I was eating an on-the-go breakfast in the first place is because I had to be at school at before 8am to meet with a teacher.  Afterwards I did some final studying and then I headed off to the big scary Anatomy Lab practical exam.  Phew, glad that’s over!  I dont’ think I got an A, but I did alright; and I’m very proud of how much I learned.

In between classes I did more errand running related to my transfer credits.  Please cross your fingers for me that it’s all sorted out soon.  I also finished a big chunk of work for a project, freeing up my afternoon.

Today’s Food Lab is one we’ve all been looking forward to for weeks – fruit!

There were triffles, crumbles, crisps, and an awesome variety of fresh fruits (papaya, mango, horn melon..).  My group made applesauce; it was delicious and I’m hoping to remake it at home soon.

I ran a few errands around Elmwood this afternoon and then Adam set off to multiple mail locations.  I got a fun box from Sahale Snacks that you’ll be seeing soon.  Also, Random Integer Generator picked #9,

congrats Monica!  E-mail me (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) with your address and phone # so I can get you your prize.

I also got a fun mystery box!  When I was at BlogHer I had a long talk with the Terra Chips guys about how much I loved Blue, and I was thrilled to find this in the mail today!

Thanks Terra Chips!  We immediately tore the bag open and I had this handful x 3.

They are just regular potato chips but they taste so amazing!  The chips are extra thick and crunchy and the husband and I are both obsessed with them.

Next we headed to the mall where I confirmed the death of my i-pod, tear.  It wasn’t all bad though, I did have a coupon (I am on the mailing list to basically everything) for Aunt Annie’s Pretzels.

Jalapeno and Cheddar Pretzel?  Yes, please!

Cheesey and spicy and awesome and about a billionth of the calories of the jalapeno cheddar nachos I scarfed all last year (I looked it up, the pretzel has 300calories).  I ate a little bit more than half.

Finally, we made the evening a full-fledged date and headed to the movies.

We’ve been dying to see “Easy A” for weeks and I’m so glad we caught it while it was still in the theatres!  If you get a chance, see it!  The movie was funny and touching at the same time and the music and casting were awesome.  The dialogue was amazing and Adam and I pretty much want to grow up to be the main character’s parents.

I crunched my way through the movie with some prepacked snacks; a Gala apple,

and a cucumber.

We rounded out the date with a walk around the neighborhood when we got home.  Two things – 1) I am so glad I married someone who loves to walk with me; 2) I am so ready to go to the gym tomorrow!

When we got home I finished up dinner with a final sample of the day.

Special K Red Berries cereal now has more fiber, and I was sent a sample as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers’ Program.  Nutritional – 

I poured myself a heaping 1cup serving with skim milk.

Fab-u-lous!  I dont’ know why I don’t eat cereal more often, I’m always in love with it when I do.  It’s been a long time since I’ve bought Special K, but I’m putting it back on my  grocery list.  The flakes were just sweet enough and they kept their crunch, even through a long soak while I unpacked my binder.  Plus (especially for 110calories!) I found that a serving really filled me up.

In summary – 1) Today was a lot of fun; 2) I think this post just goes to show that it is possible to eat a healthy diet….in a hurry…..while still having a lot of fun (although my veggie consumption today was pretty sad!).

Have you seen “Easy A” yet?  (No, why the heck not?!)  What’d you think?

My Achy Breaky Head

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Ugh.  I had a strange, achy/heavy head feeling all day; which I’m sure was made worse by my crappy food choices.  I didn’t work out.  I’m not ready for any of my tests; probably because I didn’t study enough.  Ughs all around.

Jimmy Dean French Toast Griddler.  (p.s. these have just 210calories and 2g of saturated fat)

A huge honeycrisp apple topped with melted part-skim mozzarella and honey.  Win!

Popcorn, popcorn, popcorn.

A mini sandwich cookie that was the best thing I’ve ever eaten, seriously.

Buffalo chicken pizza (with ranch).

Adam and I made a huge pile of Dove chocolate wrapper.

Pleeeeeease, think smart thoughts for me tomorrow!