Tag Archives: bar

Presenting ..

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I had an important test today (it didn’t go well, but that’s another story) so I got up early to do some studying at Starbucks.  Just as I was about to head out, Adam called.  He’d left his pager at home and needed me to wait for him.  At first I was annoyed; I needed every minute of studying I could get.  But then I realized that he had a pager because he’s going to be a doctor, and that’s amazing.  So I got over it.

When I finally did get to Starbucks at 6am I got myself a gingerbread latte.

Actually, I ordered a plain non-fat latte and added 1 Tbsp of gingerbread syrup from home.

Shhh.

When I left at 7:30 I did buy an actual fancy drink though, a short, non-fat, salted caramel hot chocolate.

The flavors in this feel very complex and gourmet for a coffee joint, but it’s pretty rich so the short size is perfect.

I also ate some leftover fruit salad.

Then I failed took my test, got myself in a tizzy applying for several jobs and internships, and did my group presentation on cultural food patterns.  Our country was Ireland so we all dressed in green.

We also brought in Irish soda bread for the class to try.

In addition to my slice I ate a Peppermint Stick Clif Bar.

This flavor was good, but not great like I was hoping it would be.

After class I had so much nervous energy I needed to burn off that I actually went to the gym!  30 minutes on the elliptical, level 6 random.

I got home at 3:30 and had to unpack, shower, change, and eat dinner before my 4:15 orthodontist appointment, so this meal was quick but good.

My amazing turkey sandwich was 2 slices of toasted rye with cranberry relish, 2 slices of Applegate Farms roasted turkey, and 1 oz of reduced fat cream cheese.

Cream cheese on a sandwich is where it’s at.

I also had a pile of roasted green beans on the side.

I had less than 8 minutes to shovel my food in and this still tasted good!  And I’m glad I did an earliest bird dinner because my teeth don’t feel like chomping with my new retainer set.

Webster and I are going to take a walk down Elmwood to pick up a friend and then she’s coming back here so we can work on yet another presentation.  Exam week won’t be fun, but I still going to be so relieved when we have our last class of the semester on Thursday!

Which “fancy drink” are you going to Starbucks for this winter?

Hello, Bob

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So, this morning I looked like this –

and now I look like this –

I like it, I think!

I always sort of hate my hair whenever I get it chopped, but I’ve gone short several times now so apparently that’s not holding me back!  I ended up having 14 inches to give to Locks of Love, which is great.

A friend and I went during a long break between classes and it was fun to see people’s reactions when we got back.  “Wait, didn’t you have a pony-tail this morning?!?”  I surprised Adam too.  He picked me up from school and his mouth fell open when I walked out to the car!

BC (before the cut) I ate half of this Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar for breakfast.

And AC (after the cut) I bought a great green juice.

This was blend of spinach, kale, carrot, and cucumber; from a new spot just blocks from my apartment.

This was so good, and “only” $4.  I predict I’ll be there more often than I can afford!

Adam picked me up after school so we could make a quick grocery trip.  We each picked something from the cookie bar for funsies before we did boring stuff like toilet paper.

I chose cinnamon nut rugala and I’m now on the hunt for a rugala recipe to make at home.

While I was fixing Adam’s dinner I snacked on some canned pineapple over 1% cottage cheese.

My dinner was supposed to be some of Monday’s “leftovers,” leftover.

A heaping bowl of pasta, shredded chicken, and tons of peas, topped with parmesan, cranberry relish, and a drizzle of evoo.

I love this bowl so much more than I do anything I eat on Thanksgiving.  But I got up to do something halfway through and when I came back there was a dog face in my bowl!  Webster’s sort of an asshole.

Instead I ate this Smart Ones Brocoli and Cheddar Roasted Potatoes.

Not as good as the dinner I shared with the dog, but not as bad as it looks either.

Have you ever given to Locks of Love?  If you have long hair – how many times have you gone short?

Best Ever

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It’s a good thing I decided not to blog after dinner yesterday because we ended up staying out for drinks!  It was a late, fun night.

We started our evening with dinner at Las Culebrinas, Adam’s favorite Cuban place on the planet.  They have rolls with the best garlic butter.

We also ordered some appetizers to share.

Fried plantain with shrimp in red sauce and mozzarella sticks.

For dinner I got Mahi Mahi crusted in corn flakes and topped with a honey mustard sauce.

It was a little too fried for me but the sauce was so good.

And it came with a side salad with great dressing.

We did lots of sharing (though no one went near Adam’s beef because he was moaning so loudly – and whispering sweet nothings to his chocolate flan – and we were all a little afraid).  I ended up eating the equivalent of 3/4 of my plate.

Afterwards we walked around Coconut Grove for some more people watching.  And somehow ended up at Uncle Moe’s for drinks.  Like the Cow Tipper.

Here’s a shot with my hand for size comparison.

My mom and I split this one, obviously.  It was tasty, but not as strong as it sounds.

Which is good, because I was feeling good this morning.  I decided to skip the hotel breakfast, which was lackluster yesterday, and get in a quick gym trip instead.  15 minutes on the treadmill for a bit over a mile.

I ate my stolen pear for breakfast.

Along with a NuGo Dark bar packed from home.

And we stopped by our old favorite Thai place for a bubble tea smoothie.

Strawberry coconut smoothie with bobba.

So freaking good!

Plus a few peppermints for freshness.

Amid the day’s exploration we also spent some time at the mall. I know shopping seems like a strange vacation activity, but my parents live on an island so it’s more exploratory for them than the beach. My dad shared a pretzel with me while we were there.

I ate about x2 what’s pictured. We were practically frozen so I also bought an earl grey with steamed skim milk.

A few stops later, and we were at my favorite place on the planet.

Where I made the biggest cup of froyo I’ve ever eaten.

Everything chocolate and caramel, smothered in marshmallow.

Heaven. Pure heaven.

And the evening only got better. The plan was to go to Joe’s Stone Crab, but a 2-hour wait scared us away. The disappointment was very serendipitous, because we ended up having a best ever dinner at Joe’s less formal take-away spot next door. You ordered your food at a counter and brought it to the booth yourself and it ended up being just perfect.

To start, Adam and I split a seafood bisque.

It was creamy and tangy with big chunks of fish.

Then the four of us split an order of stone crab.

Stone crab is like the best crab you’ve ever had, on steroids. It is meaty, yet tender and buttery.

I got most of two claws, dipped in butter and mustard.

I drank a spicy bloody Mary with my food but I was too excited about the crab to remember to photograph before a few sips in.

For the rest of the meal, my mom and I split two sandwiches.

The shrimp po boy and the lobster Reuben.

The po boy was good, though I mostly ate the shrimp out of the bun, dipped in remoulade.

The Reuben was out of this world. Everything that’s good about a Reuben but with the added amazingness of lobster.

Everyone kept laughing at me for chewing with my eyes closed but I just couldn’t help it. The big pieces of meat were absolutely perfect.

I thought I couldn’t be happier, but then Adam bought me this t-Rex juice container.

Best trip souvenir ever.

My favorite activity in any city is bike riding, and for the hour after dinner that’s just what we did.

It was so much fun, though our times in the sand basically left my thighs burning! Then we spent another hour walking down the club strip on South Beach for the ultimate people watching. It was the best vacation day ever.  The best.

He’s Back!

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No, not me (I’m a she if you didn’t know!), my computer!

He’s back from the place that drained my wallet Best Buy’s Geek Squad and feeling better than ever.  I’m glad to have a working computer again, though I did learn a few things in his absence –

  1. If it’s not Google-_________, WordPress, Slate, Hotmail, or another of the select few, I’m not opening it on my laptop.  That’s what fancy cell phones and school accounts are for.
  2. I need want to spend more time away from the computer.

How much of your free time would you say you spend staring at a screen (tv, computer, or cell phone)?

I spent 7:30 am – 9:30 pm out of the house and my eats today were decidedly pathetic.  Cheese, and carbs, and hey I did the best I could on the run!

Breakfast, consumed during a break in class #1, was a leftover serving of mac ‘n cheese.

And lunch, consumed during the break between class #2 and 3, was a Cookie Dough Balance Bar.

And after all my raving over how this bar is my favorite thing ever, I’m pretty sure they’ve changed the recipe!  This was overly chemical and just not good.  What gives?!?  I don’t even know how I’m going to break the news to Adam.

In between lunch and dinner, insert a group meeting, an hour spent writing my personal reflection on the Chili Sale, a trip to the mall in torrential downpour to pick up my computer, and three-hour shift at work.

Unsurprisingly, dinner came from the frozen section.

A Newman’s Own White Pizza, purchased with a free coupon from the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program.

I ate my single serving on a too-big plate so that we could reuse the plate for Adam’s big serving and save a dish.

Soooo good.  The portion didn’t feel very big but it was less about being unsatisfied and more about really wanting to keep eating the delicious flav-a.  If I’m not going deep dish, I want my crust to be crispy and this definitely delivered.  The cheese had a great sour, tang to it that I couldn’t get enough of and the red sauce wasn’t missed at all.

For my side I tried to recreate Saturday’s salad.

Romaine base topped with crumbled blue cheese, chopped Gala apple, groats, and Wegman’s Yogurt Casaer Dressing.

It was very good, but I realized too late that dressing with honey and vinegar probably would have taken it over the top.

Dessert was two coffee malt cookies.

I’m going to be up half the night chipping away at schoolwork and it’s likely I will continue to do some snacking.  I’ll update in the morning as need be.  Good night!

Too Busy For A Saturday

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Oh man.  I’ve been “on” for 14 hours straight so please forgive me if this post is “off.”  I spent several hours on campus this afternoon and I’ll spend most of tomorrow there as well so I’m warning you in advance that Sunday’s recap will be cranky!

Today’s plan included three main objectives –

  1. Attend a training at school.
  2. Get all the shopping for Chili Sale cooking completed.
  3. Bake amazing muffins to help thank classmates for coming into school on a Sunday.

The training was actually for a job, thank goodness.  A short-term one though; I’m going to spend the next month working as a caller for the Buffalo State College alumni donation effort.  10 – 2pm today was spent in training sessions for the upcoming first week of work.

I didn’t have much time in the morning (I was trying to maximize sleep!) so I packed this NuGo Organic Double Dark Chocolate Bar for breakfast.

The NuGo people knew what they were doing when they stuck these samples in our HLS bags; every bar of theirs I’ve tried I plan on buying for myself!  This wasn’t as good as Balance Bar Cookie Dough (what is?!), but I liked the crunch and chewiness of the inside and the chocolate coating was sweet without being too sweet for breakfast.

I bought a sandwich for lunch on our break.

This was a book store cafe paninni with pesto, roasted tomatoes, and mozzarella.

Plus an Earl Grey with skim milk.

When I left campus at 2 I headed straight to the store to meet up with some classmates in the Chili Sale group.  We had to go to Wegmans, then BJs, then back to Wegmans again, but I think we are ready for tomorrow.

I bought a coffee with skim milk while we shopped.

And very happily accepted this chocolate sample with my beverage.

Guylian shells are my favorite chocolate candy of all time and they are pretty pricy so this 2-piece freebie put a huge smile on my face.

That smile was promptly wiped off as our hunt for dinner turned into an epic journey.  I got the first half of my work schedule for the week and it required some meal plan switching so we decided to go out.  But we don’t have much (any?!) money right now so we agonize over how we spend it.  Nothing is good enough to justify the expense and the dining options in Buffalo just aren’t that good to begin with.  Adam and I wasted a good hour driving around from vetoed, to closed, to 40 minute wait-listed.  We finally ended up at JP Bullfeathers and decided just to split two of the cheaper options.

I ate 2/3 of the Julius Caesar;

a salad with sun-dried tomato Caesar dressing topped with crab and rock shrimp salad.

Plus 1 triangle of Adam’s grilled avocado quesadilla,

which had cheddar, jack cheese, and roasted poblanos.

Mine was better 😉

Dinner wasn’t as filling as I would have hoped though.  I did a few nibbles whilst baking, plus I noshed on this bag of Combos.

These weren’t bad but I think my thing is finally over.

When we got home around 9, we finally got to baking.

I don’t have the time (or energy) to tell you about these muffins now, but I promise to blog the recipe soon because it’s a good ‘un!

Thank you to my amazing husband for playing medical intern to my lead surgeon (ie holding bowls, laying out supplies, and wiping my brow); without whom my baking project would probably still be underway.

With A Cherry On Top

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Man, oh man!  I was at school for 12+ hours today.  2 of my meals came out of vending machines.  0 of my photos are attractive.  Basically if you look at the numbers this post is going to suck. 

Breakfast from three angles, none of which are pretty.

Basically I put Plain Silk Almond Milk, chia seeds, and a chopped nectarine into a jar in the fridge and let the mixture thicken overnight.  It was pretty good.  I’ve got a fun idea for a chia seed recipes that I’ve had running through my head for the past week.

When I ate in class I topped the mixture with this granola sample from HLS.

I also packed an Oldwalla Dark Chocolate Chip Walnut Fiber Bar, also from HLS.

This tasted good but breakfast did not hold me over at all.  Midway through our 4 hour class I ran to the vending machine and bought these peanut butter crackers.

If I had known what lunch and dinner were going to look like I probably would have done something different.

Class got out at noon and I had an advising appointment at 1:30 and a club event at 6:30 so I figured I’d stay on campus and study and go to the gym.  Not only did I not ever get to the gym, I’m still 10 pages of notes away from being done with my notecards!  Somehow everyone in my class is shocked by how much material is going to be on Friday’s exam!

Honey Mustard Pretzels and Peanut M&Ms, vending machine dinner of champions.

And when I got to the event this evening I made myself a small plate of snacks.

Our club advisor actually got us all together to watch a movie for funsies.  She picked “The Gods Must Be Crazy II” which I ended up loving.  It was cute, touching, and 80’s humor funny.  Plus part of the storyline centered around the San/Bushmen of the Kalahari and I’m obsessed with them.

When I dragged myself back to my car (12 hours later!) I discovered a ticket on my windshield!  It was for my expired car registration (another really frustrating story) which pisses me off because I don’t see why the campus police have authority over anything other than parking permit issues.  I’m going to argue it tomorrow but I came home in a sour mood.

And then Adam met me at the door with candy!!!!!

I mentioned this weekend that I’m one of the few people who really likes cherry cordials and he surprised me with a box of them.

So good.  He’s the best.

I may not have made it to the gym but when we took the dog on a quick walk I sprinted a few blocks with him, so I’m going to call it good.  At least I made a little use of the sports bra I’ve been rocking all day!

Have you ever seen “The Gods Must Be Crazy?”

Cherry cordials; love ’em or hate ’em?

Food Bank Blog

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Hello, there!  I think I got a little bit too much sleep last night because I was definitely feeling a bit off today (two beers does not equal a hangover).  Things got a bit dicey this afternoon but now I’m feeling good and ready to tackle some studying for tomorrow’s scary exam.

Getting up my blog post this morning meant I ran out of time to pack food, not a good thing since I drank my dinner.  I grabbed this Pro Bar on my way out the door since I figured it sort of had enough calories to count for lunch and breakfast.

It did not, but more on that in a minute.  I am done with Pro Bars either way though.  For one, holy saturated fat!  I know most of it comes from the healthy nut source but still.  For two, every single flavor I’ve tried has tasted exactly the same.  And they all have chocolate chips in them regardless of if that fits the flavor or not.

We spent our four-hour class working on case studies dealing with pediatric nutrition.  Case studies are always fun, but a little scary too because soon we will have to be doing this stuff with real patients.  My group’s dealt with obesity-related sleep apnea.  The 24 hour recall portion was sooo frustrating; think 10-year-old girl eating 2 breakfast burritos, 2 bologna cheese sandwiches, fried chicken, mashed potatoes, 42 ounces of pop and sweet tea, a coffee (?!) with a 1/4 cup of half and half, and more in the span of a day.

After class I spent two hours volunteering at the campus food bank.  I didn’t know about it until I signed up, but apparently my school has a food bank set up for low-income students who run out of food/money at the end of the semester.  A group of us went to sort donations by food group and expiration date and then make bags with 2-days worth of food for students to come pick up.  The selection was a little frustrating – we made 60 bags but only had 6 cans of fruit – but I am glad to know that BSC does offer a service like that.  Plus it was a lot of fun; I love organizing!

What was not so fun was my lack of planning coming back to bite me mid-afternoon.  We were at the food bank until a little after 2pm.  By 1pm all I had eaten for the past 24 hours was 2 beers and a Pro Bar.  I had a killer migraine and several people mentioned that I was starting to slur my words.  Not fun!

No Take-out ‘Tober was painful today.  On the walk home I swear I was thinking about Pad Thai so hard I could taste it.  But I stuck to my guns, and I ended up eating exactly what I was craving.

I’m Starving And Cranky, Flavor and Protein Packed Pasta Toss, serves 1, all measurements approximate

  • 1 cup cooked pasta
  • 1 cup chopped carrots
  • 1 cup chopped celery
  • 3 splashes chicken broth
  • 1 tsp sesame oil
  • 2 Tbsp chunky peanut butter
  • 1 Tbsp tamari
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1 dash Sriracha
  • 1 large egg
  1. In a large skillet, cook veggies in broth until liquid is gone and veggies are adequately softened.
  2. Meanwhile, whisk together peanut butter through Sriracha (microwave to soften if need be).
  3. Add pasta and sesame oil to pan, toss, and cook until crispy and browned.
  4. Pour peanut sauce over veggies and pasta.  Cook 2-3 minutes.
  5. Scramble in egg.

So. Flipping. Good.

Rice noodles would have been an itsy bit better but I used what I had on hand which was this pasta sample from the Healthy Living Summit.

I tried a bite plain and give it two thumbs up.

Two questions –

  1. Does/did your school have a food bank?
  2. Did anyone end up deciding to do No Take-out ‘Tober along with us?!

My Exam Was On A Low Carb Diet

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{This post was started last night.}

One three-hour review session probably wasn’t enough, but at least I don’t think I failed today’s exam.  And I handed in my paper too so now it’s two down, one to go for this week; phew!  I did make one really silly (really embarrassing!) mistake that is going to cost me a lot of points.  I was thinking adult DRIs for CHO but fixating on percentages for CHO in the DASH diet and ended up saying that older adults require only 55-65 grams of carbohydrates each day!  <– Carbs are the primary energy source for brain function and the RDA is 130 grams/day!

I think I needed more coffee.

That’s ice, Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee, Plain Silk Almond Milk, and a big splash of English Toffee Syrup.  I tasted before sweetening and sadly I don’t think I like the Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee outside of pumpkin latte oatmeal.  Too much spice for me.  I brought the rest of the bag in to my friend Kim and she’s going to report back.

Here was the rest of breakfast.

A 2% Fage with Strawberry.

And a Berries GoMega Superfood Bar that Odwalla sent me to try.

I didn’t care for the bar and only ended up eating two small bites.  My negative review is for a positive reason though – this tasted like a berry muffin!  It’s just that I don’t like muffins all that much.  I shared with a friend who confirmed my muffin assessment.  We did admire that it provided 25% percent daily value of your Folate and Calcium and 50% daily value for Vitamin E for only 210 calories.  If you are a muffin person I recommend it.

Lunch was a bagel sandwich that I recommend to everyone.

Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin + Applegate Farms Honey Maple Turkey + reduced fat pumpkin cream cheese (mine is from Einstein’s Bagel Bros) = Yum!

I’ll be honest and admit that this could have used a slice of cheese, but other than that it was pure perfection.

I brought in the rest of the Ghirardelli dark chocolate (a Foodbuzz sample) to share with the girls as study fuel.

One piece was enough for me.

And before I knew it – mostly because I was thinking too hard to look at the clock – my exam was done and one final class stood between me and freedom!

In this case, freedom meant beer.

Adam and I split this Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale 40/60 his favor.  Tasting note – not bad, but not really pumpkin-y either.

And I drank this Dogfish Head Punkin Ale all by myself.

I really did taste pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg.  And beer!  This is my favorite pumpkin brew so far this season (2nd would be Shock Top’s pumpkin).

Notes – I hadn’t had much to eat, I was tired, I’m a lightweight.  Those notes are important because what I did next was get drunk and go to bed at 8:30 pm!  Haha, I’m sure I needed the sleep.

I’m feeling well-rested now, which is awesome because I’ve got to do some serious learning for tomorrow’s exam.  Hope everyone is having a good week!