This Is A Morning

by Emily

I said I’d blog in the morning, I just didn’t say which morning.

As promised, Adam came home Saturday night with a feast.

We split some waffle fries,

and I ate half of this spicy bean enchillada.

In the morning we took a long walk (he pooped!),

and picked up an iced tea from Starbucks.

Then came home and made breakfast.

I had turkey bacon,

two eggs with spicy corn relish scrambled in,

and a Bagel Thin with Smart Balance Lite and Crofters Organic Grape Spread.

My plan for the afternoon was supposed to be a 3 mile run. But then this happened –

So then this happened –

Webster makes spending the afternoon at home so much more exciting. As do brownies.

These S’mores Brownies are definitely in the top ten list of things I’ve baked!

I think I actually like them better than traditional s’mores!

We did take a few walks, which turned into mud baths, which turned into Webster’s first real bath. Eeee, wet dachshunds are so cute; I will have to remember to take a picture next time.

I had dinner/drinks plans at 8:00 which felt late so I did some afternoon snacking. Baby carrots dipped in blue cheese dressing.

Half a matzoh sheet with extra sharp cheddar melted on top.

A mug of Candy Cane Lane with skim milk.

And 1 serving of Trolli Soda Poppers.

The snacking did the trick and before I knew it I was at Bar Louie with my friends. I know it’s sort of a breakfast drink, but the extra spicy bloody mary was calling my name.

It was spicy and delicious, but I was a little put off by the freaking sandwich Bar Louie stuck in the top of it –

I don’t eat meat! I did eat a small plate of the appetizers we shared.

I’m so happy that I ended up with such a great group in my year for Dietetics. I didn’t get home until after 12 and I will admit to feeling a bit cranky this morning.

I’m starving and I assume Webster’s chewing on my bookshelves to tell me that he’s bored, so we’re off to take a long walk. This will be my first day home alone with the puppy, wish me luck!

7Aug2011

Pizza Powered

by Emily

As planned, we ordered a pie from Just Pizza last night and it was fabulous.

We got a Laura’s Old Fashioned – “The way our Mother used to make it. Made with Extra Thick Dough, a special Sweet Pizza Sauce (fresh sliced Onions in the sauce), Mozzarella & Romano Cheese, topped with Mushrooms.”

Not so fabulous was the way I felt after eating 5 slices this size.

Fat, ill, and irritated with myself for noting getting up an eating a salad. On the plus side though, it’s sort of like Adam and I were carbo-loading for our run this morning! If nothing else, our glycogen stores were nice and prepared.

Actually we were prepped all around, this is the run I got to test out my new shoes on.

I’m 90% sure I like them, but I’m going to run in them once more to be sure since my most recent pair sucked so badly.

I also tested out my new favorite shirt;

handmade by ME at last week’s tie dye party.

I think it’s pretty darn cute.

It was a good run to feel cute on, because I was mostly feeling like a jackass that I haven’t worked out all summer. My planned 3.5 miles were tough. We had two 1.75 mile loops around Delaware Park and I’m just glad I finished. I had to take a few walking breaks, but I made sure to run for a least five minutes each time and walk for no more than 2 minutes at a time. 3.5 miles in 40 minutes and 20 seconds. Followed by a 10 minute walk.

The rest of the agenda was shower ~ ice ~ grocery ~ clean the dirty apartment ~ dinner. Thankfully our grocery trip was made much more exciting by our plan to sit in the cafe for a few hours so Adam could study. I got cozy reading Nancy.

Sidenote – I am completely and utterly obsessed with the Nancy Drew books.

And got exciting lunch from the hot bar.

In an effort to save a bit of money, we also supplemented with salads from home.

In the end my meal ended up being arugula topped with carrots, 2 Tbsp of wheat germ, 1/4 cup of roasted chick peas, and 2 Tbsp of tarragon vinaigrette.

Plus roasted veggies, chili garlic eggplant, and veggies picked out of the cashew chicken,

and a few pieces of pineapple and berries.

Delish. I read my first Nancy and munched and was in absolute bliss.

Unfortunately, the grocery took longer than anticipated and once I added in a last-minute walk to the co-op and the task of packing Adam’s lunches, I plain ran out of time to clean the house. Tomorrow. And at least I’m a good wife.

Adam has one rice bowl for each day of the work week. And I took a good many nibbles that escaped the camera while I cooked.

I also made dinner.

Polenta that turned into a fairly intimidating, but tasty solid,

and huevos rancheros inspired tacos.

I scrambled 5 eggs (with skim milk, salt, and pepper) into sautéed chopped onions and green pepper, and then stuffed them into blue corn taco shells with a bit of sharp cheddar. I served Adam and myself 3/5 and 2/5 accordingly.

Dessert was 2/3 to 1/3 in my favor though.

A gigantic cowboy cookie I picked up at the co-op.

My entire right side of my body has ached ever since yesterday’s tennis game, so I’m going to go curl up with a book.

27Jul2011

Bed Time Bungle

by Emily

I’ve been slathering sunscreen and popping my vitamins ever since I turned 26, but I’m still figuring out that whole bedtime thing. Last night I stayed up way too late watching Charmed. Like, way, way too late. And my ability to control my popcorn consumption suffered as a result.

I was too tired for proper photography, but not too hungry to force me to eat a proper meal. My eats for the day so far include – Wasabi peas.

Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Hummus with Pretzels.

A lemonade that sadly tasted like dirty syrup.

And two packs of Shark Bites.

Guess I should go gourmet for dinner, huh?

26Jul2011

Easy Eats

by Emily

I accomplished so much yesterday that today was actually a bit boring. I’ll take it though. And I’ll definitely take the fact that I had to skip today’s workout because my abs were so sore from yesterday’s 90 minute hot yoga session. Whoop!

Breakfast was easy and summer-y.

1.5 servings of cinnamon Puffins, .5 serving of oats and honey Bear Naked Granola (which is like a Tbsp, seriously?!), chopped plum and white apricot, and skim milk.

For a mid-morning snack I measured out 2 servings of the peanut brittle popcorn my in-laws gave me for my birthday.

This stuff might be dangerous.

Lunch looked borning.

But looks can be deciving. That’s not pb & j.

That’s a mini kaiser roll topped with Nutty Guys honey roasted peanut butter, crushed up honey wheat pretzels, and a drizzle of honey.

And what goes with a peanut butter (pretzel, honey) sandwich better than milk?

In my fabulous new glass from Anthropologie.

Milk also goes well with cookies.

But those aren’t for me (though I did eat a few cookie’s worth of dough!), I baked them up for The Great Fundraising Act.

Instead of cookies, Adam and I snacked on hummus this afternoon.

Not just any hummus though, Sabra Roasted Pine Nut Hummus that I got to try for free as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers’ Program.

Usually I’m too cheap to buy hummus because you can make it easily at home, but I think it’s time to update my policy! Adam and I both thought this was delicious; creamy with a great roasted flavor. The pine nut was a great new twist, though Adam thought it wasn’t as zesty as the garlic variety we used to buy. Plus at 80 calories per 2 Tbsp serving it’s a nutritional steal.

I ate my serving(s) with some baby carrots.

Keeping up the easy eats theme of the day, dinner was leftovers.

I piled the steamed collard greens, millet, and baingan bharta into one bowl, topped with tons of Sriracha.

Easy, like your mother. Ba dum ching!

18Jul2011

Horribly Hilarious

by Emily

Just as needed, today was much more low-key than the first two days of my parents’ visit. Adam was at school all day so my mom and dad and I did some shopping, ate take-out at home, and saw a movie. It was just what ~~the doctor~~ my sore feet and back ordered.

For breakfast I ate the newest Clif Bar, Coconut Chocolate Chip.

I doesn’t taste like a samosa like the chocolate dipped coconut Luna Bar, but it was still pretty darn tasty. Just enough sweet to be fun but not sickening.

My parents and I were at the mall for-ev-er, and I ended up making a lunch snack out of samples from the kitchen supply store.

Normally I’d be upset about not getting a more substantial lunch (or breakfast!), but I knew I had the filling meal coming for dinner.

Can you beat Moe’s rice bowls? I submit that you cannot. Rice, blacks beans, sautéed mushrooms and green peppers, corn salsa, lettuce, cheese, and cilantro.

Also amazing were the (serving’s worth of) chips I grabbed from the communal bag.

I loved getting to introduce my dad to Moe’s, you just can’t help but love it.

You can totally help but love this Eat More candy bar I bought in Canada this weekend.

I’m not even going to say what that looks like.

I took two (icky) bites and passed it off to the rest of the family to try. Just as well, I was much more excited about my movie candy.

Gummi cola bottles! To be accurate, gummi cola bottles, cherry gummi cola bottles, and sour gummi cola bottles; multiple varieties for the win!

The movie was also a good idea, we saw “Horrible Bosses” and all four of us loved it! John Francis Dailey (Dr. Sweets of “Bones”) is a great actor but he can co-write one hell of a screenplay too. The movie was dirty and guffaw-inducing, just my style.

Have you ever had a horrible boss? You didn’t kill them did you?!

12Jul2011

Yes, I Want Quesadillas

by Emily

Tonight’s dinner inspiration came from Katie at Yes, I Want Cake. Layered quesadillas.

YIWC also inspires me to poke holes in all our condoms but Adam says we should have jobs before we have our own adorable baby. I guess I’ll stick with copying dinner. Katie’s quesadillas were triple deckers but I went with two layers with extra cheese.

Here’s the breakdown of our ‘dillas –

Plus homemade guacamole.

We made the guac with mashed avocado, mayan onion, tomato, and salt and pepper; it was delicious. In fact the whole meal was great.

Thanks for the idea, Katie!

Earlier this afternoon, the husband made me a Coke float.

So good. The adorable glass is from the bar I worked at back home, complete with a drink recipe.

And now I’m actually heading out for another drink, this time coffee. My friend Katie (the one from last night, not the dinner inspiration with the adorable baby) is moving soon so I’m trying to see her as much as possible. We are meeting at the Spot before she leaves for a trip tomorrow.

12Jul2011

My Fellow American

by Emily

My back hurts in a bad way, but my legs are arms are super sore in a good way; I’m not sure if it was the running or the yoga, but I’ll take it! Unfortunately my back is just sore enough that I decided to forgo all exercise today. I sat on the couch instead. I did make a sweet i-tunes playlist for the gym tomorrow though.

Since I wasn’t leaving the house, lunch got lame in a hurry. Several servings of Chip’ins popcorn chips,

were used to shovel 80% of jar of salsa.

Good thing the entire jar only has 300 calories, huh? I’m counting it as a nice big serving of veggies.

Speaking of things eaten straight from the jar, my reason for living has returned.

I mean that Adam came home early, duh. Did you think I was talking about the Biscoff spread? Noooooo…

I’ve eaten half the jar in spoonfuls over the last week, but thankfully I bought two jars. Look at the price my dad and I found this stuff for at the grocery in Ohio –

Booyah!

On a more serious note (and there are few things more serious than Biscoff spread), I want to share a video that was sent to me from the site My Fellow American. Here is a snippet from the e-mail Elizabeth sent me about the site and its purpose

As you know, America has always been a melting pot, but in the post-9/11 world the environment can be downright hostile. Recent mosque protests and congressional hearings on American Muslims are all unfortunate examples of a rising tide of fear. This climate of suspicion towards our fellow Americans compromises the great values that our country was founded upon. We’ve put together a 2 minute film in response that I believe you and the readers of Eating Chalk will be interested in sharing, watching, and discussing.

As a former resident of Brooklyn (and a permanent New Yorker in my heart), I obviously have strong feelings about the tragedy that took place on September 11th. However, I try to let the good part of my heart guide me through the world, not the hurt parts. I find it discouraging that some Americans allow the actions of a select few to taint their perception of an entire religious culture. You can’t fight hate with more hate. I think the short video compiled by My Fellow American makes that point eloquently.

1Jul2011

My Aching Ischium

by Emily

Ow!

I wish I could blog more about today but it’s after midnight and I am just so tired! Time to keep things cursory.

I started my morning with a version of my new favorite breakfast.

Great Harvest granola (essential!) with berries, 0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt, and a blue raspberry honey stick.

Delicious, and totally fun looking.

Then my parents and I headed out for a 3 hour bike ride. Hence the aching sit-bones! My plan was to run but my leg is sore (from accelerating of all things) and I think I ended up getting a better workout anyways.

After our three hour ride a big lunch was key.

It doesn’t look like much but that’s a vegetarian rice bowl from the burrito place down the street. Rice, black beans, creamy hot sauce, tomatoes, corn salsa, guacamole, lettuce, cheese and pineapple.