Tag Archives: avocado

Yesterday – Brunch and Book Club

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Sunday was a great day; a busy, friend-packed, fun day.  I spent breakfast with the medical school crowd, lunch with the husband, and dinner with my dietetics friends.  I had not one spare minute for blogging but I wanted to play catch-up now since I ate so many great things.

As I said, we spent Sunday morning with some of the medical school crowd.  Adam’s friend and his boyfriend invited us all over for a homemade brunch.

In spite of my Prosecco-filled Saturday, I started my morning with a hibiscus mimosa.

I smothered this whole wheat waffle in maple syrup.

The waffle was amazing; it was so airy that it actually melted in your mouth!

I also had several bites of chips and guacamole.

It was great getting to sit and catch up.

Adam and I spent the afternoon blissfully watching Stargate: Atlantis.

Snacky foods were eaten for lunch.  Tons and tons of snacky foods.

Kettle corn (I polished off that entire trough for a shockingly low 400 calories) and Crab Chips (2 servings) that were delightfully spicy.

That night I went over to my friend Anna’s house for gossip and snacks club book club.  Here’s part of the spread.

I brought over two new dishes that turned out great, Jalapeño Popper Rolls and S’mores Dip.

Be on the lookout for those recipes to be shared over the next two days.

Here was my dinner plate.

Grapes, a jalapeño popper roll, Wegman’s marathon bread with guacamole, and a slice of Greek quesadilla.  I also ate many more grapes and several scoops of s’mores dip.

To drink, I had a sprite with vanilla vodka.

It was a surprisingly good combination and probably to blame for my eating the final jalapeño popper roll when I got home.

After a great Sunday, I woke up this morning feeling a little bit off.  I hit snooze on my alarm for a solid hour and a half before I decided to turn it off and just let my body tell me when it was done sleeping.  I stayed in bed until it was practically time to leave for class (!!) and I feel great now.  But I didn’t eat breakfast and my morning run will have to be completed this evening.

I ate lunch in class and it was fabulous.

3 oz of bread and butter pickle slices,

baby carrots,

and the other half of my dark chocolate mint m&m’s from Saturday.

I’ve been working on the blog since I got home from school (yikes!) and I had a snack while I wrote.

Golden delicious apple slices with 2 oz of melted s’mores dip.  I aimed for mainly carbs rather than protein and fat because I’m heading on my make-up run as soon as I’m done here.

And I’ll be done just as soon as I make two interwebs fashion notes.  1, I got my outfit idea for today from Pinterest.  The inspiration –

My attempt –

I think I did ok!

2, Do you like my nail polish?

It’s “a-taupe the space needle” and I wished for it here.  When we were all in Ohio for the funeral my aunt bought it for my cousin’s girlfriend and she didn’t like it so it was gifted to me.  It’s darker than I was expecting but I’m a fan.

Where do you get your fashion inspiration?

All Hail

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It’s always nice when your routine gets shaken up. Tuesday means today was a clinic day, but the private practice rd I was placed with asked if I’d like to come in in the evening to help with a health fair and I happily agreed. A later clinic time meant I could switch up the rest of my day too. I took advantage of the time and made a traditional breakfast.

Eggs!  I sautéed ~ 1/2 cup each chopped okra and spinach in 1/2 Tbsp butter, a sprinkle of salt, and a drizzle of Sriracha. Then I scrambled in 2 large eggs and a chopped cheese stick.

Plus a sliced apple on the side.

I was glad for something warm because the apartment was far from toasty. I checked the thermostat before we turned the heat back on last night and the temperature inside was 63*! My walk to school was freezing and culminated in hail as I reached the building!

The walk home was warmer since I took advantage of my switched schedule and went to the gym after stats. 40 minutes on the stationary bike at random, level 6.

I also had lunch with a friend while I was on campus.  She switched out of Dietetics a few months back and I don’t get to see her as often so it was nice to hang.  I grabbed a grilled tofu roll from the cafeteria sushi place.

It was a little bland; I used up all of my wasabi before I was halfway through.

When I got home I also had the last of the Sahale Snacks glazed almonds.

And this cherry cola hard candy.

I bought it at Cracker Barrel in Ohio and was worried I would love it and want more but after consumption I’m glad I only bought one.  Not bad, but not the flavor I was looking for.  Besides, anytime I have a hard candy I end up chomping it ten seconds in.

I’m not sure what the exact plan is for tonight but I’m hoping to get home in time to read a book.  See ya later!

Loop De Loop

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I’m going to apologize in advance just in case this post makes no sense.  I’m tired, and sick, and pretty damn loopy.

After my run and cookie consumption I started the day cautiously optimistic that I would keep feeling good.

To eat in class I packed a green pear,

and a 2% Pineapple Siggi’s.

I loved the 2% fat content of this yogurt but the pineapple was pretty weak.  There was no pineapple flavor and the pieces of fruit were few and far between.  But the yogurt itself was wonderful.  I enjoy the original Siggi’s and the 2% variety was a little sweeter and the texture very creamy and less stiff.

Adam was done at the hospital around the same time I finished my classes so I walked home to meet him for a date before work.  I’m not even gonna lie – he took me to dinner at my school’s food court and it was the best damn date I’ve ever been on.  I love spending time with the husband so much!  First we stopped in at Ashker’s for smoothies since we have a Groupon.

I can’t remember my exact selection but I know that it had a few fruits, carrots, and ginger.

It would have been fantastic except that I forgot that I freaking hate ginger.  The texture was spot on but it was just way too spicy for me.  I could only drink a third or so but the husband happily finished off the rest.

Then we walked back to campus.  I work in the basement of a dorm building so Adam clearly couldn’t hang out with me but I’m a total creeper so the simple fact that he was in the same building as me was exciting.

We were both starving (like gnaw your own arm off starving) so we hit up the food court and ended up discovering a new, totally adorable, perfectly priced “asian” kiosk.  We split a Vietnamese coffee for 99 cents.

And I got a tasty lobster roll.

It was good!

We are bottomless pits so we got pizza too.  $4 for two slices packed with toppings; apparently college food courts are the place to go for a cheap date!

My veggie slice came with banana peppers, roasted red peppers, and black olives.

Tonight was my last shift at work (the calling sessions only last for a month) and I was sad to say goodbye.  Of course there are people who are total jerks to tele-fund-raisers but most people were really nice!  I had several older alumni sweetly tell me that they loved talking to me.  I’ll miss it!

I’m not sure anyone will miss me after tonight though; today’s sickness levels hit their peak mid-shift and I basically hacked up a lung in the corner all evening.  By the time I met Adam I could barely talk.  The loopiness had set in at that point so it’s possible I also told bad jokes and laughed like a hyena the whole walk home but I can’t really blame that on the sickness.

But it definitely was my sore throat that demanded a strawberry milkshake.

Mmmmn, if I could set up a constant stream of icy beverage down my throat that would be excellent.

I had to stay up to set up my class schedule for next semester (I can register tomorrow morning) but now it’s clearly time for bed.  So goodnight!

One In The Hand…

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…is worth two the in the bush.  Or $1 if you’re holding a silver dollar.  Or a quick blurb if you’re reading this post.  What I’m trying to say is, pictures in this blog post will be accompanied by a quick blurb.  I’m tired.

Our larders are bare and as I said, I’m tired, so today’s meals were tricky.  My food consumption was very strange, fairly processed, and eaten entire by hand (minus two dishes by chopstick).  I ate small bits consistently throughout the day and that seemed to work.  It wasn’t the healthiest day of all time but for this day I’m pretty proud of how I did.

A Cappuccino Lara Bar.

Always a favorite.  I’m amazed every time I eat this at how well they managed to balance the coffee flavor so that it’s not too intense.

The final two Buttered Rum Raisin Cookies.

So sad to see these good, they are for sure in my top five recipes list.

Note – I also had a large handful of unphotographed Reese’s Pieces.  We used them for a problem in Statistics and then were allowed to nibble.

Trader Joe’s Wasabi Roasted Seaweed Snack.

This was good but super spicy; I was crying before I was even halfway through.  Crunchy, spicy, and a bit strange means this was something I loved; I really wish I had bought more.  And for 30 calories you were snacking for a long while, definitely a volume food.

A Pepsi Next.

This 60 calorie soda is Pepsi’s answer to Coke Zero.  Sadly I wasn’t a fan, it tasted too much like regular Pepsi to me (duh, Emily!).  If you enjoy regular soda but want to cut back on calories you should probably check it out.  I wish they would make a regular soda that simply contained less sugar, rather using fake sugars.  I love the flavor of diet but know that I could do without the chemicals.

A Mango Passion & Banana Buddy Fruit packet.

I love these so much!  One pack equals one serving of fruit and the blend was delicious.

A mini pretzel bagel with some of the leftover cheese from last night’s cheese plate.

It’s hard to go wrong with the pretzel and smoked Gouda combo.  Eating these side-by-side rather than sandwich style felt gloriously simple.

A So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk box.

Meh, I prefer the Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.  I like the idea a vegan milk box though and I’ve had this product in chocolate in the past and enjoyed it more.

Dinner was eaten by chopstick and gets no blurb.  Seaweed salad and a brown rice veggie sushi roll.

What can I really say about that?

But dessert?  Oh my gosh, dessert.  A Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Bar filled with Speculoos Cookie Spread.

Why didn’t I buy more of these?!  I am kicking myself now.  The chocolate was creamy and a little bit bitter, the filling was sweet and gritty, and I was basically swooning.  I actually did buy two bars but I gave one to a friend who’s similar obsessed with Biscoff and I’m feeling pretty darn generous right about now.  But I do, at least, have a jar of TJ’s Cookie Butter waiting for me.

What was the best thing you ate today?

My Meal At T.G.I.Friday’s

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Disclaimer – I was given the opportunity to sample the new menu at TGIF free of charge.  As always, my thoughts are my own.

The other day I had the opportunity to try the new menu at T.G.I.Friday’s.    The new menu is currently out in Buffalo, Minneapolis, and Denver and a group of local bloggers were given the opportunity to come and taste some of the new dishes.  I brought my friend Kim along and we had a really great time.

There is a T.G.I.Friday’s across the street from campus at UMiami and there was a year in undergrad when Adam and I were going pretty much weekly.  I’d get the pecan crusted chicken salad, every single time.  But it’s been awhile and I’ve not had very good luck with chains locally.  I have to be honest that when the offer came in I wasn’t expecting to be all that impressed.  But here’s the thing – everything we tried was great!  Like, everything.  And I realize that those dishes were being put out specifically to serve to a group of local food bloggers, but I was impressed enough that I plan on going back on my own.

You can read about the items here so I’m not going to waste your time by regurgitating the menu.  Instead, I’ll share a few of my thoughts.  We had the opportunity to ask questions and I did my best to ensure that vegetarian dishes were truely vegetarian.  I loved how many options were available for non-meat eaters.  There were also some good-looking beef dishes added to the menu, but since I didn’t taste them myself I’m not going to comment on them.

Peach Sweet Tea.

This was made with peach puree, agave, and black tea.  I’m not the hugest sweet tea fan but this wasn’t too-too sweet and you could taste that the peaches were not fake.

Heavenly Hummus Dip

The hummus was made with roasted red pepper paste which gave a nice layer of flavor under the tahini.  It was topped with goat cheese crumbles which is not a combo I would have expected.  The flavor was good, but very garlicy so be aware if that’s not your thing.  We were told that the hummus is made fresh every day.  It was served fresh with pita toasts that seemed very fresh as well.

Warm Pretzels with Beer Cheese Dipping Sauce

This was my favorite appetizer (duh!).  I know that not everyone is as obsessed with movie theatre pretzel bites as I am, but I promise this app feels fancier than that.  The pretzels are supremely soft and they are brushed with a basil butter that gives them this great, unidentifiable taste (I had to ask).  The beer cheese sauce wasn’t gritty or too sour.  Ask for no bacon on top if you don’t eat pork.  They recently changed from cooking the sauce with bacon to sprinkling it on top so that this accommodation could be made.

Ahi Tuna with Avocado Crisps

I took a bite of this expecting to spit it out and ended up eating the entire thing.  Seared ahi tuna is served on top of tortilla crisps with Sriracha, guacamole, lemon vinaigrette, and a fresh jalapeño.  The blend of flavors and textures really helped me get over the fact that I was eating raw fish.  I loved the fresh jalapeño on top; it gave great crunch and the guacamole helped to mellow out the heat.

I don’t have a photo of the Sedona Black Bean Burger but I wanted to mention it because it was amazing.  It’s a black bean burger topped with chipotle mayo, avocado, and great thick-sliced pickles.  The burger had a nice texture and held together perfectly and the sandwich had just the right amount of spice.  This felt nice and meaty but is actually a good vegetarian option (it’s not vegan because egg whites are used in the bean patties).

Grilled Vegetable Dagwood

I should say right now that the three sandwich options were my three favorites.  This sandwich was fantasmic and Kim and I both made ourselves a little sick because we just couldn’t stop taking bites of it. Two pieces of extra-soft pita were stuffed with spinach, goat cheese, roasted veggies (eggplant!), and mango chutney.  You never see mango chutney on American menus and it really adds a lot of flavor to any dish.

Turkey Cranberry Rueben

What, what?!  It’s a Rueban… and it’s made with turkey so I don’t have to request a menu change… and it has cranberries?  Sign me up!  Actually the cranberry component was in cranberry jalapeño slaw and cranberry jalapeño thousand island dressing, which is even better.  I liked that it had a Goldilocks amount of turkey on it (not too little or too much) but I do recommend requesting that it be grilled without butter.

Victory Garden Pasta

Whole wheat penne with veggies (brocoli, mushrooms, olives! and more) and goat cheese in a lemon sauce.  If you request no goat cheese this one would be vegan.  The pasta was not my cup of tea but that’s just my taste preference because it was Kim’s favorite.  I love the throwback name.

Overall, I was very impressed the amount and variety of veggies that made it onto the new menu.  And I like that the prices are still pretty low in spite of some “fancier” additions, i.e. avocado and goat cheese.  It’s sort of awkward to write a review that doesn’t say anything bad because I think my readers will assume that I’m lying, but I promise that my experience was genuinely just a good one.  If you get try the new menu for yourself please let me know what you think!

What is your favorite chain restaurant?

Weekend Woot-dates

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Did everyone have a good weekend?  I didn’t get much work done, but the food and fun categories were filled to the brim!  We are starting another take-out reduction challenge and we definitely made the most of purchased meals this weekend 😉

Saturday morning I got up and went for a run!

The gym wasn’t open yet so I did my CT10k workout out in the wild at Delaware Park.  I forgot my watch at home and ended up having to count to 150 in my head as I switched from walking to running intervals.  I’m not sure how accurate I was but it was a great way to keep my thoughts occupied.  All total I did 4 miles in 53 minutes.  The wind was out of control and it ended up being a resistance workout of sorts; it was actually super fun to keep pushing through.

I drank the 2nd half of my G2 during my run.

And then I had a big iced coffee with English toffee syrup and Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk in the car.

In the car because we were heading to Toronto!

Last month I promised Adam all-you-can-eat sushi as a reward for participating in vegan month.  We failed at vegan month (recap post to come), but I figured he still deserved his reward for trying, especially since our fails were mostly due to my fat/laziness and not his lack of committment.  My parents sent us $ for Valentine’s that perfectly covered the cost of our fun international date, so off we went.

Lunch was delicious, way too many bites to even attempt to recap.  Adam and I did a lot of sharing, but the spread below shows everything I at least tasted.  Adam had many, many, other bites that I didn’t photograph.

Yum!  I’m still a little stuffed just thinking about it.  But we did find room for dessert.

Thank goodness, because this was actually the best cup of froyo I’ve ever had.  I thought I was going to die from a happiness overload.

A small serving of tart plain yogurt topped with fruit, sprinkles, and a huuuuuuge pile of popping boba.

I was grinning wider and wider with every bite.

After our drive home and an extreme shopping session at Wegmans, I did end up with room for a late dinner.

On that plate was a buffalo chicken sub with blue cheese and an order of fries.  Devoured.

Sunday has been spent on the couch.  Adam is starting a new project this week, in addition to the general being a med student craziness, and we took full advantage of today’s free hours for cuddling and sci-fi.

I did venture outside for brunch though.  My old friend Katie was back in town for a visit!

That sort of fun calls for a Bloody Mary, extra spicy.

Finding a Sunday brunch spot without a 45 minute wait took some doing, but we ended up having a great meal at Panos.

I got the kid’s meal 1-1-1.  A sunny side up egg, a pancake, and hash browns.  Then I smothered everything in syrup.

Every bite was delicious and I seriously considered licking my plate clean!

During the afternoon I ate a bowl of Malted Heath Bar Toffee Blondie 2-Ingredient Ice Cream.

x2.  That stuff is ridiculous good.

Adam had an evening meeting so I pushed back our dinner plans and ordered Chinese.  Told you I was taking advantage of my last days with take-out!  Once our food gets here we are watching our last ever episode of Stargate: Universe and eating crab rangoons.  Yippee!

Are you a sci-fi tv fan?  Did you watch any of the Stargates?

By The Clock

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Thank you, Thursday, for being fabulous in a strange and wonderful way.  I was in a good mood all day.  I was busy with easy to do tasks, I had simple but tasty meals, and little bonuses kept popping up.

8:00 – Wake up with Adam still in bed.  He had a study day before an exam and I got to start my morning making a pile with him and the dog.

9:00 – Quick meeting with my Statistics teacher.  All of the homework I’ve done so far has been correct!  Plus she let me sit in on an earlier class session to accommodate a change in clinic schedule for the afternoon.

9:20 – Eat a Cappuccino Lara Bar for breakfast.

This is my favorite flavor LB for sure.  It’s not too strongly coffeed and it’s less date-y than other flavors.

11:00 – See the husband mid-day (squee!!!) when he graciously offers to drive me to UB for the lecture I’m attending.

12:00 – Attend a 1 hour lecture on diabetes mellitus and pharmacology.  We didn’t learn much that we can actually put into clinical practice, but it was a fascinating topic.

13:00  – Stop into Jimmy Johns for a large fountain soda – diet coke with a shot of cherry coke – with ice.  Swoon.

14:00 – Lunch.

My Seven Layer Casserole was the #2 best thing to come out of last year’s vegan month (and I’m making numero uno this weekend!).  It is packed full of veggies but tastes like a big mouthful of tortilla chips.  True Story – the reason we went to Moe’s on Tuesday was so I could take home the free chips for this recipe.

16:30 – Finish the writing assignment (due this evening, whoops) that’s been buzzing around my head all month.

18:00 – Dinner in class.

Holy frick, this sandwich, holy frick.  It’s simple, just a Sandwich Thin with mustard, SmartBalance Light, and raw tempeh, but it blew my mind.  The perfect combo of flavors.

Plus a baggie of roasted green beans.

These are actually sort of embarrassing to eat in class because they are squishy and you end up having to cram them in your mouth.  I own it though.

19:30 – We get dismissed from class 30 minutes early!

20:30 – Blog.

21:00 – (planned) read magazines in bed.  <– heaven

What was the best hour of your day?

Free Means It’s Extra Romantic

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Did everyone have a good day of flowers and chocolate boxes shaped like hearts?  Let me just tell you, there is almost nothing I wouldn’t do right now for a box of chocolates!  We are exactly halfway through Vegan Month today and I foresee a big candy purchase come March 1st.

Clinical practice went well today, I think my red shirt must have made me seem extra confident.  I worked ahead on our assignments for the semester and when I finished screening my assigned patient our teacher actually threw an emergency screening my way.  It stinks to have to do an extra set of SOAP notes but I felt really good that she trusted me to take on something extra.

I had a free coupon so our romantic Valentine’s Day dinner was … Moe’s!

In addition to (way too many of those) chips, I got a veggie burrito.

Inside was a little bit of rice, pinto beans, grilled mushrooms, lettuce, corn salsa, pickled jalapeños, and lots of guacamole.

It ended up being maybe the best burrito I’ve ever had.  I was thrilled to take a closer look at the toppings menu and discover pickled jalapeños as an option.  I think my dream burrito would be mahi-mahi, cabbage, pineapple, pickled jalapeños, and some sort of cheese.

What would be in your dream burrito?