And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

by Emily

My mom texted to check on me after I didn’t post last night, but I promise I wasn’t snowed in/buried alive/on a bender – I’ve just been busy! Monday wasn’t quite as crazy as Sunday, but I am getting this post up early before night class so I have some tiny chance of painting my nails this evening. If I miss another holiday colors polish opportunity I will be so sad.

Sunday I ate this Tandoor Chef Vegetable Pad Thai for breakfast.

Not traditional “morning food,” but one of the best frozen entrées ever. It is a little calorie-dense at 490kcal a package, but the texture and flavor makes it taste like a splurge and not a sad frozen dinner.

I tried to take a cup of my latest impulse purchase to work with me, but ended up passing Adam my glass after one sip.

I love Silk’s almond milks but I think I am just not a soy milk girl; this had such a strong aftertaste to me. Thankfully the husband enjoys it so our carton won’t go to waste.

Adam and Webster picked me up from work, and we got this box from the co-op hot bar on the way home.

Vegan “cheesy” pasta and 3 stuffed grape leaves, shared 70-30 my favor.

We also split this Opal apple.

It is fun to try new varieties, but we probably won’t get this one again for the increased price versus “regular” apples.

I was tired from work, and really didn’t want to go to the gym, so I bribed myself with this Justin’s Chocolate Almond Butter packet.

That stuff is just chocolate frosting, I swear!

At the gym, I finished my first week of CT10k workouts. 4 minutes walking/1 minute running, x 8. Except I shouldn’t listen to Fiona Apple while I run because I’m obsessed; I ended up running for 10 minutes straight in the middle of my workout.

Dinner was all over the place, but the components were all good. A handful of baby carrots.

Pizza crusts stolen from the husband.

A bit of Chocolove Currants and Almonds in Dark Chocolate.

Who knew I loved currants? They definitely helped break up the intensity of the bar.

Finally, we made tasty smoothies.

Thai young coconut, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, and a bit of brown sugar.

Adam has recently decided that he is obsessed with Thai young coconuts, so expect to see more of these. Especially since our coconut was so exciting – it was pink!

Apparently it’s a common variation relating to the varied levels of phenol found in the coconuts.

Today I grabbed a Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar for breakfast.

I attended a workshop on TPN in the morning so I got to eat in the hospital rather than my car, which was nice.

Lunch was another tasty black-eyed pea salad.

Black eyed peas with bread and butter corn, green pepper, smoked almonds, and green Tabasco. I made a big batch so my lunch for the next two days is already packed.

With a serving of the dark chocolate for dessert.

And when I got home I ate a pear.

I took care of a few things for school when I got home from the hospital, and sudddenly I was starving.

Dinner was pretty lame, but I’m in a hurry trying to get to school so I can finish some reading before class.

And lame doesn’t mean it didn’t taste good!

A box of Health is Wealth Asian Spring Rolls,

with a dipping sauce of chunky peanut butter and Smart Balance Light.

Mmmmmmn!

P.S. – You can still win! Comment on this post before midnight for a chance to win a copy of the “Petite Treats” cookbook.

6Feb2013

Breakfast In A Jar And Dinner On The Lam

by Emily

Adding in exercise is making blogging very tricky this week. When you leave for the gym at 9pm, all you want to do when you get home is sleep. Especially if you have to run errands at Target on your way home from the gym. Especially if you were too busy all evening to eat dinner.

I started my day with packet of Spiru-Tein S’mores protein powder shaken with 1 cup of Naked Vanilla Oat Milk.

I was pretty amazed that the powder was vegan (minus honey which I’m not worrying about for the Vegan 20 Day Challenge). It wasn’t the best tasting thing I’ve ever had, but I was impressed with how thick it got. I shook it up in a recycled jar, making this a very easy to-go breakfast.

I’m having a good week at the hospital; it’s starting to feel like I’m hitting my stride. If there is one thing I’ve learned so far from this rotation it’s this – I knew absolutely nothing about pediatric nutrition.

Lunch was a pear.

A yummy sandwich of 5 grain tempeh on a Sandwich Thin with yellow mustard and Smart Balance Light.

And the other half of my rice milk chocolate bar.

When Adam got home this afternoon he helped me crack open this guy…

I may have had to eat over my work, but I still had a great afternoon snack.

Adam and I shared the Thai young coconut in smoothie form.

With frozen banana, peach, and blueberries too.

And fancy bread with Smart Balance Light on the side.

I’m glad I had a big snack, because journaling took so long that I never had time to make dinner.

I did make it to the gym though. 30 minutes on the elliptical at level 6 random. Certainly not the most intense workout ever, but a far cry better than what I wanted to do (sit on the couch).

And now all I want to do is go to bed!

4Feb2013

All Over The Place

by Emily

I’ve been all over the place the past two days, figuratively speaking. Literally, I’ve been in Buffalo, at work or in my apartment. Influencing the craziness of my eats? I started a 20 Day Vegan Challenge on Sunday, I was so hungry yesterday I thought I might actually eat a horse if one happened to gallop near me, and today I woke up far under the weather. What can you do?

Sunday was fairly ridiculous. In spite of being vegan and staying home from the Super Bowl party I definitely still managed to match the rest of America’s Super Bowl Sunday caloric intake.

Banana Bread Lara Bar.

Chips.

Summer roll from the co-op.

Fancy bread with olive oil, x2.5.

Vegan almond joy bar.

Gummies.

If my summer roll hadn’t been packed with veggies I probably would have had to turn in my diploma!

Then I got into bed at 9:30 pm Sunday night and barely made it out by 7:15 today. I don’t seem to be sick with any typical flu-like symptoms {knock on wood} but I am tired beyond reason. I swear to God I didn’t spend Super Bowl Sunday eating chicken wings and getting wasted, but when I woke up this morning I felt like I was drunk! It took me 10 minutes to really figure out where I was and I stayed in a haze for most the morning. And super embarrassingly, I almost passed out in the ICU during rounds! Hopefully no one else noticed but the RD I was with said I got very pale for a few minutes.

I grabbed a (non-diet) Dr. Pepper during a quick break and that helped get my blood sugar back up.

Lunch was a simple salad – romaine, raw veggies, pickled beans, and low-fat raspberry vinaigrette.

And I had a bowl of cereal when I got home. A serving of Nature’s Path Coconut Chia Granola topped with blackberries and Simpli Vanilla Naked Oat Milk.

The granola was some of the best I’ve ever had!

It held up in the milk without being too hard and it was loaded with big pieces of coconut.

I ate half of this Enjoy Life Ricemilk Chocolate bar while I did some history reading.

And kept dinner simple with an Annie Chun’s Korean Kimchi Soup Bowl.

I still had some reading to do for class so I needed to keep things quick.

Don’t ask me how I managed to drag myself to the gym after my night class, but I did. I am hoping to start up with the Couch to 10k program again. Today was 1 minute running/4 minutes walking, x 8. Except a great song came on and I ended up just running the last five minutes.

I was starving when I got home so I ate a slice of bread with Smart Balance Light while I packed our lunches.

All that stands between me and bed is a shower!

Did you watch the Super Bowl? What’d you snack on during the game?

3Feb2013

na na na na na na na na BANANA

by Emily

It’s time for another two-day post. Shhhhhh, don’t tell my mom!

The past 48 hours have been full of Bananas, but nary a vegetable has been seen. Things haven’t technically been that busy, but it’s hard to post when you basically die into bed.

My last post left off at lunch. After I finished up at the hospital for the day, I came home to decorate my cupcakes for book club.

Book club may have been hit hard by sickness and weather advisories this week, but that didn’t mean that the three of us who still got together didn’t deserve banana split cupcakes!

Banana Split Cupcakes, makes 12

Yield: 12 cupcakes; Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large bananas, well mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts
12 Tbsp hot fudge sauce
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 oz vanilla bean ice cream, fully melted
maraschino cherries
rainbow sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Line a cupcake tray with 12 paper liners.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
In a large bowl combine mashed banana, white sugar, egg, and melted butter. Stir to combine, then fold in flour mixture and mix just until smooth. Fold in walnuts.
Fill each cupcake liner halfway with batter. Spoon 1 Tbsp fudge sauce into each cup. Top with remaining batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow cupcakes to completely cool before icing.
While cupcakes are cooling, use an electric mixer to beat together softened butter, powdered sugar, and melted ice-cream. (This icing will keep best if stored in the fridge rather than at room temperature).
Ice cupcakes then top with cherries and sprinkles as desired.

I know I’ve posted the recipe before but since almost nobody reads my blog, nobody has made the cupcakes yet. And that is really unfortunate because they are one of the best things I’ve ever made. I may not write a popular blog but I can write a damn good recipe!

I actually ended up eating my serving the minute it was decorated.

Then while my friends ate cupcakes I munched on BBQ Smart Fries.

But first we grabbed a quick and easy dinner at Wegman’s.

I got spicy crawfish chips,

and a brown rice California roll with a side of spicy mayo.

Then the three of us came back to my place for cupcakes (and Smart Fries!) and a movie. We watched “The Perfect Family” on Netflix and all loved it. Emily Deschanel was great as always and the entire film was surprisingly funny and smart.

I send my friends home with all of the cupcakes (except for two saved for Adam who was out-of-town the past few days) and when my sweet tooth called a few hours later I made an amazing yogurt banana split. An Almond Coco Loco Chobani Flip topped with sliced banana, hot fudge sauce, a big scoop of ice cream frosting, and a cherry on top.

Maybe the best bowl of “ice cream” I’ve ever had. The combination of tastes was amazing, and you better believe I ate another big scoop of frosting straight from the container! This Flip was a billion times better than the key lime one; the coconut yogurt was perfection.

I only had to work a half shift today so once Adam got home we got to spend the entire day hanging out. He’s traveled a lot this year and I’ve really missed him. Speaking of which, I’m going to rush through Saturday’s (pathetic) eats so I can get back to snuggling.

Pomegranate Black Tea KeVita. Have you entered my giveaway yet?

Mac and cheese from the co-op hot bar.

2% Chobani Banana topped with sliced plums.

Buffalo chicken pizza with blue cheese and baby carrots.

And a giant bowl of popcorn with melted butter.

My popcorn bowl was actually too big for me and I couldn’t finish it…. who am I???

P.S. This is what’s happening beside me right now –

29Jan2013

The First Of The Last

by Emily

{Technically speaking} today was the first day of my last semester of undergrad! Yays! Instead of the hospital, I spent my day on campus for orientation. It was also the first day of my night class.

Orientation was definitely not as exciting as my days at the hospital. Cue medium non-fat latte.

Caffeine gave me the jitters though; I should have just waited for the adrenaline to kick in once we learned how busy this semester is going to be! On top of full-time internship hours there are many projects to be done. I’m the only person in my program who is taking a non-major class (my night class is a history to fulfill my final graduation requirement) this semester and balancing everything is going to be pretty nerve-wracking.

I spent my lunch break running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get all of my campus tasks done (applying for graduation, registering my history class as pass/fail, buying books). When I did finally get to my sandwich it was worth the wait.

Sandwich thin with 2 slices of turkey, tons of pickled jalopeño, 50% reduced-fat sharp cheddar, and mango jelly (made by my aunt’s mother-in-law from St. Thomian mangos!!).

Plus a package of sesame seaweed,

and a 100-calorie milk chocolate bar.

I was starving when I got home and I snacked on a Tbsp of peanut butter,

and a cup of tea with skim milk and sugar.

You guys are geniuses – I actually heated the water (3 minutes versus 90 seconds in the microwave) and my tea was much stronger! I still didn’t love this cup but I think the tea itself was to blame (a pumpkin chai sample).

I did an easy, early dinner before I had to head back to campus for my history class. Leftover roasted brocoli with marinara sauce.

And a Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake meal.

I also snacked on these milk coffee candies during class.

He let us out early for our first day and so far I have no complaints.

Well, just one complaint – why the heck didn’t I get in bed already?!

8Jan2013

Keeping Time

by Emily

Here is a highlights post for Monday and Tuesday… I think… Adam and I stayed up past 3am several days in a row and I’ve been slightly confused about time ever since. Case in point: I spent Friday rushing around to accommodate the post office’s reduced Saturday hours. Then Saturday night I took a Sunday night pill.

And I really must be losing my mind because yesterday I went to the gym. And I want to go back again tomorrow!

{highlights}

We ate a lot (a lot!) of good food the last few days, here were the really great bites –

Pizza and salad. Romaine with black beans, groats, green pepper and peanut sauce. Pizza Hut’s extra cheese for the win.

Pecan turtle tart from the co-op.

A sweet snack plate; aka 2 green dragon apples, melted pb and Biscoff for dipping, and the last of the cheese straws.

A killer chocolate banana smoothie.

A few notes on the smoothie – it was made with a Smoothie Mixer that I was sent to sample.

Nativas Naturals joined forces with William Sonoma to create a new line of organic superfood smoothie blends. From WS –

The Antioxidants Smoothie Mixer is a sweet-tangy blend of organic superfruits including goji, acai, pomegranate, camu and blueberry. These superfruits contain an abundance of antioxidants. We suggest mixing this gluten-free blend with frozen berries, mango, orange juice and honey.

The Omega-3 Smoothie Mixer is a fruity blend that combines three fiber-rich sprouted seeds and grains (chia, flax and brown rice) with cranberries. The gluten-free blend provides a plentiful supply of plant-based essential fatty acids (Omega 3, 6 and 9). Julie Morris, our Executive Chef, likes to mix it with frozen berries, yogurt, almond milk, honey and vanilla.

The rich, chocolaty Protein Smoothie Mixer features three of the most nutrient-dense superfoods in the world (hemp, cacao and maca) and a delicious low-glycemic natural sweetener from Peru (lucuma). This kosher blended powder is a nourishing source of protein and omegas, as well as antioxidants found in the feel-good cacao. Blend this gluten-free Smoothie Mixer with a banana, peanut butter, non-milk of your choice and honey.

I received an e-mail offering me a chance to try one of the blends and I chose the protein one because I know that my breakfasts could use a little more protein for staying power.

I decided to the blend in a simple smoothie first – Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, frozen bananas, Protein Smoothie Mixer, and a bit of honey. Adam and I both thought that the smoothies were great. The powder blends in easily and gives the smoothie a nice hint of chocolate. I took a few sips from the blender before I added the honey (which was mostly for Adam’s benefit) and determined that I would not normally feel the need to sweeten it. Two thumbs up! Let’s be real though, the smoothie was good, but it was nowhere near as awesome as my new cup.

❤

Do you ever get confused about what day it is? I’m almost looking forward to going back to school just so I’ll have some clue of what’s happening around me!

1Jan2013

Hello, 2013

by Emily

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great first day. I started my year the best way possible – a long morning in bed with my husband and dog and an afternoon spent cleaning every trace of 2012 away from the apartment. He vacuumed and put away Christmas decorations and I organized and put away the Christmas presents. I also did some electronics cleaning; my cell phone, bookmarks, and google reader are sparkling. I even cleaned up my desktop.

Tomorrow I just have to organize my school stuff from last semester. I’ve got to start getting ready for the next (last!) semester; I go back to school in 20 days!

We started our day with smoothies for a late breakfast.

For two: 1.5 cups Silk Soy, 1.5 frozen bananas, 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, and 1 Tbsp coconut oil went into the blender.

It was yummy! I got the coconut oil idea from Jenna Marbles and I think it was a good addition.

Lunch came in snack plate form. Roasted green beans.

And a sweet plate.

Sliced honeycrisp,

smoked almonds,

and the last cherry cheesecake brownie.

The mouthfuls with almond and brownie were great. I am not going to post the brownie recipe because it is cobbled together from a few sources but I am working on something similar that should be amazing.

I also had a small coffee – with lots of skim milk and vanilla sugar – when we went to Wegmans in the afternoon.

We may have made a grocery trip, but dinner was still pieced together from random things left in the fridge. Thankfully, it ended up being delicious.

Cornmeal crusted tofu.

I marinated pieces of 3/4 of a block of extra-firm tofu in Stubbs BBQ sauce all afternoon and then tossed the pieces in cornmeal (aka raw polenta) and corn starch and sautéed them in a bit of canola oil. We loved them, the crust was perfection! I dipped mine in honey.

Roasted asparagus.

With cooking spray, salt, and a bit of lemon.

Lucky quinoa salad.

I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa, tossed it with 1 cup of canned black-eyed peas {for New Year’s luck!}, the leftover bbq sauce from the tofu, and some chopped green pepper. It was like a quick and dirty hoppin’ john.

For dessert we opened up the chocolate cream biscuit cookies we bought at Vineeta.

One serving each and I’m excited to eat the last three tomorrow. They were quite good.

How’d you spend the first day of 2013?

24Dec2012

Use Your Noggin

by Emily

Hello, hello! The days I’m excited to blog are always the same days I’m utterly exhausted. Go figure. Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors but also a 9+ hour day at work. Instead of posting last night I had a total tantrum and passed out fully dressed… so here is a 2-day recap.

Remember when I said “Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors”? You know, like five seconds ago. Well, my day went eggnog –> candy cane –> gingerbread; bam!

Nog based overnight oats for breakfast.

I put 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup Silk Soy Nog, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds in the fridge overnight, then Saturday morning I added 1 sliced banana and a big dash of Christmas sprinkles.

So festive and delicious. Also, holy frick, I love chia seeds so much.

My candy cane came in the form of a Peppermint Stick Clif Bar during work.

This is Clif’s best seasonal flavor by far. The bar has the perfect amount of peppermint.

Gingerbread was a cupcake surprise from the husband.

He had an appointment near Fairy Cakes in the afternoon and he brought me home a gingerbread stout cupcake with cream cheese icing.

It was ridiculous good, maybe the best cupcake I’ve ever had! The cake had a great ratio of spice to sweet and was so fluffy and moist. I shared one big bite with Adam but downed the rest with gusto.

The rest of the day’s eats were out of season, but still good. From fall I borrowed an apple and a Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale.

I split the beer with Adam and ate the apple on my own.

I guess nachos are actually appropriate for any season, right?

Adam and I shared a tray, straight from the oven. We topped scoop-style tortilla chips with roasted brocoli and green pepper, Newman’s Own Pineapple Salsa, and Cabot Reserve Aged Cheddar.

We loved them. He was a little iffy on roasted brocoli as a nacho topping but it was delicious. And I was worried about that type of cheese versus a regular cheddar, but that ended up being perfect too. And the pineapple salsa is hands-down the best jarred salsa I’ve ever had.

Blah, blah, blah, and then I started having a fit and had to go to bed. I didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep during the weeks Adam was gone and I’m still really freaking tired.

Sunday was a super hungry day and I ate a ton ~~of crap~~. A brunch of sorts, was low-fat coffee yogurt with honey roasted peanuts and honey,

a few pieces of toffee candy from home,

and several handfuls (about 3 servings or 250 calories worth) of dried turkey.

During work I drank a Starbucks Vanilla Doubleshot.

Working with crowds of Christmas shoppers is exhausting but also really rewarding. Five different people today thanked me effusively for my help and that was a really good feeling. Actually, one super hot guy told another customer that I was fantastic and I about died!

Adam picked me up after work for a fun treat.

Bubble tea from Gin Gin! Best bubble tea I’ve ever had, and I’ve tried a lot. I got a medium red bean milk tea with regular and popping boba (the purple one is Adam’s taro).

We both swooned over how good they were and finished our drinks in the car long before we made it home. And we called my mom on speaker on the drive and drove her crazy scraping through our ice for errant tapiocas!

Dinner was pizza.

And we shared a beer.

We were gearing up for a long night of baking.

I’m giving my co-workers all pies for Christmas and we are not even close to finished still. Sorry, husband!

We made smoothies mid-baking for strength. Frozen strawberries and blackberries blended with So Delicious Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk.

And I’ve done a little nibbling while we baked.

I have a holiday breakfast with work tomorrow and then I’m spending Christmas Eve on the couch with Adam. I have two days off in a row for the holiday and I am so excited to spend them with my boys!

Did you give any handmade gifts this season?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: banana

And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

Breakfast In A Jar And Dinner On The Lam

All Over The Place

na na na na na na na na BANANA

The First Of The Last

Keeping Time

{highlights}

Hello, 2013

Use Your Noggin