Tag Archives: beans

Squashing My To-Do List

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When Adam and I were miserable, teaching in New York, we would escape in entertainment.  I genuinely believe that “Scrubs” saved our sanity (and our marriage!) during our first year.  During our second year, things had gotten much easier but they were still much harder than we had ever imagined.  On Sunday nights, when none of our plans for the week were complete and things felt hopeless because even after we stayed up all night writing them we’d still never get to teach the damn plans, one of us would say it – “Do you want to see what’s playing at the movies?“

Something was always playing.  And if there hadn’t been I’m pretty sure we would have convinced ourselves that something from the previous week was worth rewatching.  Our studio apartment was on the corner of 2nd Avenue and the movie theatre – a fabulous revamped spot with a galaxy of stars sewn into the carpet and classic movie posters lining the walls – was on the corner of 13th.  Those eleven blocks, and every single store and restaurant along the way, are forever etched into my memory.  No matter how we felt before the decision to see a movie, that walk always felt hopeful.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

But times have changed.  Now I’m in a Dietetics program (that I quit my job career to join), and letting Adam talk me into seeing “Paranormal Activity 2” (I hate scary movies) at 9:10 on a Tuesday night is just a bad idea (a really bad idea).  But that’s what I was doing yesterday!

Thankfully, today I really did get it together and I managed to take care of my to-do list.  My eats were nothing if not unorthodox and I can’t help but credit that in my success at actually taking care of business.  Should I have chocolate for breakfast every day?

Because that’s what I did today.  I let Adam gobble up most of the homemade pb cups, but this one was special.  A layer of chocolate and a layer of butterscotch, sandwiching a layer of crunchy peanut butter?  Oh yeah!

Breakfast’s dessert was significantly healthier.

Yesterday I roasted this delightful orange acorn squash with a teeny bit of honey and salt.

And today all I had to do was reheat and mash with a bit of Smart Balance Light.

Sort of like mashed potatoes, but a thousand times better.

For lunch I crunched through Anatomy with a bag of baby carrots and sliced Empire apple.

Btw – after the curves I scored an 89 on the Orgo test and a 74 on Anatomy.  I need to step up my Anatomy game for the remainder of the semester (I do, however, have a 96% as my Anatomy Lab current class average!).

Adam came to study with me between classes and Orgo lab and generously shared a few bites of pizza with me.

When I realized that I was actually considering punching him in the face and trying to make a break for it with the pizza I deemed it time for an early dinner.

Huuuuuge chicken burrito.

We took a quick walk around the ‘hood on the way home (glorious!), so 4 hours after my burrito I had dinner, part 2.

Low fat plain yogurt topped with 1/4 cup gingerbread granola, 2tsp maple syrup, a sliced plum, and a sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut.

I need to remember this combo in December, it felt very ‘visions of sugar plums.’

Maybe you’ve noticed my lack of gym time?  My plan/goal is to smash my to-do list over the next 4 days.  Whether I succeed or I fail in that endeavour, I’m returning to the gym come Monday!

Do you ever escape in entertainment?  How often do you go to see a movie?

Mexican x Dos

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A few things need to be said to preface this post –

  1. Today was carbtastic!
  2. You are not seeing double; my lunch and dinner pretty much were identical.  In retrospect, I think I was just so excited about dinner that my fried brian jumped the gun at lunch.
  3. I just finished taking a midterm and I have tests in Anatomy and Orgo on Friday.
  4. I promise this blog will stop sucking (or will at least suck less) when said tests are finished.

Breakfast (1), Cliff Spooky ‘Smores Z-Bar.

This was my first time with this flavor and I thought it was pretty great.  The flavor was marshmellow-y without being too sweet.  Not very filling though, which leads to (2) – a cinnamon raisin bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

I also bought an iced tea.  The vat of coconut cocoa iced tea had been tempting me for days so I finally caved.

Whoops! Where do I think I am, Brooklyn?!  Of course this was pre-sweetened!  Sometimes I forget that BSC is the mecca of all things unhealthy, and also making things that should be healthy into things that are unhealthy.  You guys know that I love all foods sugar laden, but tea is one of the few things that I think should not be sweet.  I took a sip and then dumped it in the trash.

Something that should be sweet is candy!  Like candy corn.

During the 2hour anatomy review session I also snacked on this cucumber.

I went straight from class, to class, to a review session and by the time I was heading home at 1 I figured I should just buy lunch on the way so I could focus on my midterm.  Enter nachos.

I stopped at a ‘fresh fast food’ Mexican place that we don’t usually frequent on the way home and I figured I should try an old favorite.  I was pretty impressed – these were cheesey without being too cheesey (ahem, the jalapeno nachos from my year on the couch!), and packed with beans.  I felt healthy(ish!) rather than sick after eating them.

Special K Red Berries with skim milk.

Picture a small vegan pecan pumpkin blondie here too; I couldn’t take a photo because I ate it during my timed online midterm.

Dinner came courtesy of Foodbuzz, as well as my recent crock pot obsession.  Let me explain.  As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program I was sent a sample of this Pace Picante Sauce.

We’ve been loving stewed chicken in the crock pot lately, so why not salsa stewed chicken?!  Soooo simple – 1lb of chicken in the crock pot, a jar of salsa dumped on top, 8hours on low, shred with 2 forks.  Note – the spice level (for a medium) in this sauce is perfect, and I like the level of chunkiness.  Two thumbs up.

Easy peasy, and in a few more short steps we had a fabulous dinner.

Oven roasted butternut squash and broccoli,

sautéed chopped green peppers and onions,

shredded sharp cheddar,

salsa stewed chicken,

dollop of Daisy store-brand reduced fat sour cream.

Fabulous.  Made even more fabulous when finished with the addition of Terra Blues Chips.

Fabulous x 10.

What’s your go-to order for American-Mexican food?  Burritos, enchilladas, or do nachos feed your soul?

Going on Walkabout

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Walk to The Spot

Katie and I were supposed to meet this morning for breakfast and a study session,

but we spent most of our time talking, whoops!

We did manage the breakfast part though.  A grande iced (it was so warm here today!) coffee with skim milk,

and a thing of artichoke and spinach humus.

I know that humus is a strange breakfast but it sounded so good I just couldn’t pass it up!

Unfortunately the flavor was too garlicy for my taste buds, but it was nice to get some veggies into my morning.  I finished about half each of the humus and the bread sticks.

Walk to school

I had a busy time on campus today – a meeting, two classes, and another meeting, all back to back.  I snacked on a small vegan pumpkin pecan blondie before my first meeting.

And during Anatomy I ate this Balance Pure Cherry Pecan Bar.

I was a little unsure about the flavor – I got it on super sale at Wegmans – but I ended up being a fan.  It wasn’t as amazing as the cookie dough variety, but it also wasn’t as caloric and had fewer grams of saturated fat.

School fun facts – 1. They recently discovered taste buds in our lungs.  2. I did such a good job on my Orgo homework (rewriting the class notes) that he gave me extra-credit points!

Walk to Wegmans

I knew I needed to get in a couple hours of solid concentration with my Orgo notes, so I headed to the Wegmans’ Cafe to study.  And to get a tasty dinner.

Veggies, veggies, everywhere,

and green beans and chicken and eggplant in garlic sauce.

Since I was alone, and therefore wasn’t sharing a drink with the husband, I decided to try this fun looking drink.

I don’t know if it tasted exactly like chai OR cola, but the flavor had a nice spice and wasn’t too sweet.

Walk Get picked up and drive home

I covered more than 2 miles just in transit today, but canceling my run was Adam this evening wasn’t an option.  We ran one mile out and walked one mile back, with a very exciting destination in the middle –

One morning few weeks ago, I was taking a walk and talking on the phone with my mom when I spotted that window display…..and I made such a loud exclamation of glee that the owner (who was in his car outside) asked me if I’d like him to open up the shop specially for me!  Excited much?  I told him I could contain myself, but my mom told me that for my ‘fall gift’ (yes, she’s crazy) I could go charge a couple of pumpkin brews.

Nice!  We are very excited about our selection.

A sampling of pumpkin/seasonal beers,

a Root beer from Abita (one of my top 3 favorite beer companies),

and a few Tuskers, our new favorite beer that is almost impossible to find in Buffalo! 

The Village Beer Merchant is awesome about having a great selection of things that are absent elsewhere in Buffalo, and the employees are all super nice and helpful.

Adam had to crack open a Tusker the minute we got home, and he saved a few swigs in the bottle for me.

Ahhhh.

What is your favorite type of beer?  I actually don’t like beer that much, but I have three obsessions – 21st Amendment, Hell or High Watermelon; Abita, particularly the strawberry and winter brews; and Tusker.

Two Down, Three to Go

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I’m 2/5 done with hell week!  I got a B(ish) on my 100 test – booooo – and probably a 100% on my 110 quiz.  Right now I’m poised for a D (or less!) on the next three so I can’t talk.

Breakfast was a layer of Yoplait Honey Vanilla Greek Yogurt,

topped with smoothie – strawberries, water, coconut water, and Original Amazing Meal (free sample, very nice, basically flavorless but added a bit of tang),

topped with gingerbread granola –

Good.

I actually made a breakfast that was good, but I couldn’t finish it because of a rain incident.

Energy drink before test 1.

Southwest Flatbread Sandwich from library cafe (corn, beans, cheese, chicken).

Gym was not as good as usual; I started to run and was so exhausted that I just couldn’t.  I wasn’t about to waste a workout outfit though, I pulled up some Bio notes to distract myself and did some incline walking –

  • 5minute walking warm up
  • 5minutes jogging
  • 20minutes incline walking
  • 3minute cool down

2.07miles.

Pickle.

Serving of crackers with salsa.

Dinner, dipped in ranch.

Roasted yellow beans,

disappointing okra (it was so fibrous I couldn’t chew it!  I only choked down 1),

pizza thin, i.e. an Arnold’s WW Sandwich Thin with marinara and part-skim mozzarella.

Ice-cream sandwich for dessert.

I took this handful of the husband’s peanut M&M’s.  Then I put all but 4 back because I had just had an ice-cream sandwich and M&M’s aren’t even that exciting.

I have an Anatomy exam tomorrow, holy God.

How’s your week going?  Want to fill me in on any blogland gossip I’ve been missing?

A Lesson Learned

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Today has been insane, and it’s still going!  I’m going to be up very late tonight; I’m never doing nothing on a weekend again; “oh my god! oh my god! oh my god!” I’ll leave it at that.

For lunch I dug into my Naan Pizza sample stash from Tandoor Chef.

Spinach and Paneer Cheese.

Here is the ingredient list,

and the nutritional panel,

both of which checked out positively.  The fact that these pizzas are packed with real foods is definitely what keeps them from tasting frozen.  In fact, the taste was divine!

I burnt the crust last time, but now that I know my oven is set too high and lowered the temperature accordingly I was rewarded with perfect crust; it had great chew and was just crisp enough.  There was just the right amount of red sauce and its tang complimented the paneer cheese.  This was pretty plain, a child would probably enjoy it, but still had a great degree of interest.

I ate the entire pizza (technically two servings) and that ended up being just right.  I needed some extra lunch calories since my “breakfast” was coffee, but it wasn’t too much cheese and this didn’t leave me feeling heavy at all.  I was perfectly full and awake for Orgo and Anatomy class.

I had a bit of a quandary about how to divide my time this afternoon – study or gym?  I have three medium assignments and big presentation due tomorrow so I knew I needed to work.  But along the same vein I can’t go to the gym tomorrow (I have classes, with breaks, from 8am – 8pm) so I wanted to work out.  I ended up deciding to work out, even though I didn’t really have time, but to push the timing back.  Adam met me on campus after class and we spent a few hours studying together. 

I had to organize some e-mails when I got home so I got in a small serving of carbs before my run.

That’s a Van’s pancake (1/2 of a serving) topped with Smart Balance and Crofter’s strawberry.

Running with Adam was wonderful, he definitely pushes me to go faster than I do on my own.  We kept it casual, the husband says we ran ~2miles but I have no idea what our time was; we ran the whole time and the pace felt pretty good though.  We finished things up with a short walk, and some stretching.

Dinner was speedy, tasty, and healthy.

I put some of the (best ever) chilli leftovers on a bed of steamed dinosaur kale.

The kale was pretty bitter, but it felt good to pack in the nutrients.  I totally save the bites with sharp cheddar in them for last 😉

I’m going to be up past midnight (ack!) but if I do any snacking I’ll put in the morning post.  Wish me luck!

Was it the healthiest decision to honor my workout today, or should I have tried for an earlier bedtime instead?  What do you prioritize over exercise?

I Might Just Move to Iowa

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Yeeeeesh today has seemed long!  I felt tired when I left my Anatomy lecture at 3, let alone when I walked into Chem Lab at 6pm.  Today I am thankful that –

  1. My group managed to finish up our melting point lab early and get out of there at 8pm.
  2. We cooked tonight’s dinner last night!

I am not thankful that it’s nearing the end of the month and my hunger monster attacked late this afternoon.  I packed myself a sliced plum as a snack.

Nah-uh.  You guys, I can’t even begin to describe how hungry I was; it felt like my stomach was going to implode.  I grabbed a Sabra To-Go pack,

and that barely made a dent.  I had a few hours between classes in which I was supposed to do my anatomy reading, but instead I clutched my stomach. 

Finally I found a cinnamon raisin bagel at the coffee shop (I ate half, toasted, plain) and that seemed to quiet the beast.

Fast forward four hours and it was time for dinner.

Iowa Girl Eat’s Chicken Chili.  Kristen is a genius!  Her recipe has minimal meat with black beans and baked beans(!), the combo is to die for!  I topped mine with shredded sharp cheddar.

I had a BlogHer coupon for Pilsbury Simply French Bread – no trans fat, preservatives, etc – so Adam cooked that up for us.  —A quick aside: we bought an over thermometer because we have been burning everything and now know that our oven is a good 200* off.  Joy.  That’s another thing to deal with tomorrow.—

All together.

I am so ready for bed!

What are you thankful for today?

***Updated to add – the beast returned!  I ate another slice of bread, a mini fudge brownie ice cream, two squares of chocolate, and I’m only stopping because I have to go to sleep.  Damn you hunger!

Locked and Loaded

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It’s been a full day and my to do list’s not even close to empty!  Thank goodness it’s mostly stuff I enjoy.

Tuesday is my 8am class (library) day so an at home breakfast was not going to happen.  Instead I packed some healthy snacks to eat in between classes.  A Blueberry Crisp Cliff Bar,

and a local apple.

We learned about amino acids and proteins in NTR 100 today and it was totally fascinating.  Did you know that only animal protein sources can provide a “complete protein?”  Vegetable sources don’t have the correct ratio of the essential amino acids.  However, through “complementary proteins” vegetarians can get what they need.  For example, beans and rice are a complimentary protein.  I’m obviously not vegetarian, but we do eat a lot of meatless meals so it’s definitely something to think about.

After class I headed over to the gym.  It’s a 30minute walk from my apartment (1hour roundtrip) so gyming it in the morning this year is just not realistic; instead I’m trying to make my workout part of my on-campus time.  This weekend I picked up a pretty pink lock –

and today I brought a bag full of gym essentials – sports bras, socks, shoes, outfits, scrunchies, water bottle – to store on campus.

Today’s workout was 30minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.

Adam could even give me a ride home so I didn’t have to walk in the sun, yay!  We had some business to take care of so I replenished with coconut water while I waited for lunch.

Lunch-lunch was a package of Allergaroo Chili Mac.

I ‘beefed it up’ by stirring in 4oz of frozen peas.

Yum.  This packet was still part of my shipment of free samples but I think the chili mac is fantasmic, I’ll definitely buy more with my own $.

I’m still looking for a fruit-dairy component to lunch so I’ll probably have a study snack in a bit, I’ll update the post if I do.

Dinner’s gonna be exciting…..

***Updated to add -I found my dairy-fruit (+ sweet!) snack.
I started with an Oikos free sample, 0% strawberry.
 
I don’t know why I was expecting this to be flavored yogurt, but I was a bit surprised to find plain with jam on the bottom.  In the end I loved it though; it was the perfect amount of sweet!
 
I topped my yogurt with a sliced black plum, a sliced plucot, and part of a crumbled cookie.
I definitely did not need the cookie (this was really sweet), but I had to throw out the last of the burnt granola and I had my heart set on something crumbly!
Do you have a locker at your gym?  Do you bring your stuff for the day or keep a bag stocked at the gym?

Age Math

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Eeek!  All sorts of excitement in the lunch post.  I did not supplement breakfast.  I did snag a small dark chocolate from my BlogHer swag,

but I refuse to file that as breakfast.

Then I was sprinting out of the house because I found out I could pick up this beauty –

I earned a new phone rebate more than a month ago and I have been patiently waiting driving Adam crazy waiting for my new phone to come in!  I’m not that important (at all) but it’s still exciting to be able to check my e-mail on the go!

I’m also a genius (just a bit) so I wanted to share my great idea with you; when I borrowed Adam’s phone in NY I discovered that the old standard I-Pod cases fit the EVOO perfectly –

My phone is protected, it looks cute as all get out, I didn’t have to buy a new case, and I repurposed an old case that would have gone in the trash!

Speaking of dorky and phone related updates…

I resisted for months when my friends begged me to try g-mail and that ended up being a good decision, so I figured I should cave on the Twitter issue too.  I have no idea what the heck I’m doing on there so pretty please go follow me so I don’t feel like such a dork?

While I was out and about I took a phone survey with Moe’s and earned myself a free lunch, love that place!  I got a Moo Moo Mr. Cow –

Moooo, I ordered my baby burrito with rice, black beans, tofu, corn salsa, and cucumbers.

I asked for just a few chips (I proved last night I can’t resist them!) and got some guacamole as my side.

Since I ordered off the children’s menu I also got a cookie, white chocolate macadamia.

I bring in coupons like I’m 70 and order a kid’s meal like I’m 7; does that average out to 25?

Can you help me with twitter?

  1. What the frick is a hashtag?
  2. How does the whole @specific_person thing work?