Tag Archives: berries

Great News

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I hope everyone is having a great Monday.  Mine has been full of all sorts of good news so far –

  • I got a 95% on the final and ended up with an A- in Anthropology
  • I finished my first set of Chemistry classes with an A in 102
  • My leg hasn’t hurt for the 3rd day in a row (more on what that means below)
  • Our plans are all set to visit Adam’s brother this weekend

As you might guess, I’m in a pretty good mood 😀  And all good days start with good breakfasts.

Stonyfield Blueberry Fat Free Yogurt with All-Bran Wheat Flakes (my final sample box) and fresh blackberries.

I’m going to be volunteering again for the next three weeks, so after breakfast I headed off to the hospital.  It felt so good to be back I ended up staying long over my time-commitment.

My late lunch was a veggie sensation.

I finally got to try the Nut-Butter Crusted Parsnip Fries blogworld has been raving about.

I tossed 1.5cups of peeled and chopped ‘snips in 2T of SunButter, then sprinkled them with salt and baked at 400* for 30minutes.  Here is the original recipe.  Angela was right, they are life-changing; I want to eat this every day!

I also had 1/2 cup of vegetarian baked beans.

Eat More Veggies Tip # 1 – Don’t be afraid to test their versatility, most veggies can go savory or sweet.

Eat More Veggies Tip # 2 – Canned veggies are just as healthy, and because they are non-perishable to easy to always have them on hand.

While I wait for lunch to digest, I will tell what about what I consider to be the best news of all: I can run again!!!!!  My doctor told me that my leg wouldn’t stop hurting until the fracture was fully healed, so 3 days without pain should mean I’m good to go.  I want to be able to keep running, so I’m going to be VERY careful.  i.e. –

  • icing as much as possible
  • stretching every day
  • working on leg strength training 3x a week
  • never running 2 days in a row
  • taking things really really slowly.  This first week I’m only going to let myself run for 5minutes.  And I’m not going to cross-train either until I’m sure I’m really healed.

So in just a bit I’ll be off to the gym, so exciting!  I’ll let you know how it goes over dinner.

Veggies eaten so far today:  2cups

Gotten any good news lately you’d like to share?  Brag away!

A Second Go

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I can’t really talk about it on the blog, but there are a few things going on right now that I’m really frustrated about.  Which I wouldn’t mention at all, except that I’m pretty sure my irritation has something to do with why I started my morning with a HUGE spoonful of Biscoff Spread.  Just putting that out there…

Now, breakfast!  Last time I tried oats in a jar I was left underwhelmed.  But every blogger can’t be wrong, so I decided to give it another go.  To give the trial a fair shake, I changed my methods up as well.  This time I used a jar with more than just a few scrapings of sunbutter.

Last night I poured 1/3cup oats and 1/2cup skim milk into the jar, and this morning I stirred in 1/4cup Stonyfield Low Fat Strawberry Yogurt; OvernightOIAJ!

I also topped my bowl jar off with 1/2cup of fresh strawberries.

The verdict?  They were right!   How can this not be good?

I’m not sure what today will bring, this weekend is pretty free.  I had a fun project on the agenda but I might put it off and catch up on tv, whilst sulking of course.

What was the very first thing you ate this morning?  I killed that Biscoff spoon before I even brushed my teeth 🙂

Fruit eaten so far today: .5cup

Like Swallowing Barbed Wire

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This is my final post.  It’s likely Adam and I will both be dead by morning.  You’ll see……  Also, I’m keeping this quick because I’m blogging mid-couch time.

For the husband’s main course I made him something fabulous looking out of leftovers – chicken, bacon, condensed mushroom soup, broccoli.

I also baked up the last three slices of bacon for myself.

It was the protein of my dinner!

For Adam’s side and my main course our plan was to try something new – baby artichoke hearts.

They took forever to make, because we peeled them, and cut off the thorny tips, and cut out the fuzzy thistle.  While we worked I got in my fruits for the day –

1 frozen banana, 1/2 cup frozen blackberries, 1cup calcium + vitamin d oj, and 1t xanthan gum all went into the blender for a fantastically purple smoothie.

And much, much, much later dinner came out of the oven.

Roasted artichokes and potatoes with evoo and salt.

Great sounding concept right?  We loosely followed a recipe from Cooking Light, very closely following the artichoke instructions.  Not so much.  The potatoes were fantastic but the artichoke hearts were difficult to choke down.  I abandoned my plate halfway through, although I did eat another 2 servings of potato.

Now the husband and I are both clutching our stomachs in pain.   😦  We are going to cuddle and cry on the couch until bedtime.  A big bowl of popcorn will probably be involved as well, because I’m still hungry and because I feel like my stomach wants me to scrape it out.

Have you ever cooked baby artichokes?  What on earth did we do wrong?

Fruit eaten today: 2.5cups

Berries for Breakfast

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Hump Day’s breakfast was again courtesy of a send-away free sample of cereal.  This time from Kashi.

I combined 1 Stonyfield Black Cherry Fat Free Yogurt, 1/2cup fresh raspberries and strawberries, and the sample box of Kashi Go Lean Crisp Toasted Berry Crumble for breakfast.

With a stewed tamarind spoon.

The cereal was my least favorite from Kashi (although still good) but the mix of flavors in the bowl was perfection.

By the way, when I got up this morning I got myself into a sports bra and some yoga pants so I am exercise-ready all day long.  I have a lot of to-dos today (some phone calls, studying for tomorrow’s final) and my plan is to break up every hour or so of work with 5-10minutes of strength training.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that I can start running next week, but even more important than starting is being able to keep running injury-free.  Save a few swim workouts, I’ve basically not worked out in two months, and that’s ok.  My physical therapy would have been counterproductive with my injury and I let myself get a little depressed about the whole situation. 

But if I want to be a runner instead of someone who loves running from the couch I need to get myself in shape.  Which means doing my physical therapy every day, stretching every day, and doing abs/leg strength work at least 3 times a week.  So, if you see me go  a couple of days without mentioning a work out, please remind me!

Fruit eaten so far today: 1/2cup

Ah-Mazing!

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Every single thing I’ve eaten this evening has been amazing!!!  I feel like all I’ve done the last hour is “Mmmn” and “Ahh!”

First off, dinner.

Asparagus cooked in clementine oil.  I poured the oil in a skillet over medium high heat, added the asparagus and put a lid on it.  10minutes later the asparagus was perfectly steamed and charred.

Along side bacon, ranch, and chicken mac and cheese.

No words.

The Bacon, Ranch, and Chicken Mac and Cheese was a recipe from Cooking Light.  My changes –

  • subbed in 4 slices of 99% lean turkey bacon
  • added 1T of butter, and a bit more flour as well
  • skipped the dill and the salt

Next time I think I would substitute sharp cheddar in as well, I like my cheese with a little more bite.

After dinner I realized I hadn’t hit my daily fruit goal.  So I opened the gates to heaven with the world’s best dessert.

Stonyfield Fat Free Chocolate Underground Yogurt with 1/2 a banana and 1/2cup raspberries.  The “cherry” on top?

Biscoff spoon!  I’m not sure I could be much more contented.

Eat More Fruit Tip # 4 – I’m not going to recommend eating fruit for dessert (how sad!), but fruit can be delicious incorporated into dessert.  Fresh berries on ice-cream, a banana spread with Nutella, the sky’s the limit.

We have Buffy watching on the agenda and an early bedtime.  I realized that I’ve yet to study for my Anthro final on Thursday, whoops!  So I guess that’s the plan for tomorrow.

What’s your favorite kind of mac and cheese?  It’s not something I would eat all the time, but West Indian style mac and cheese tops anything I’ve ever had stateside.  It’s not runny at all and it has a super thick crust baked on top.  Some of my favorite childhood memories involve getting mac and cheese from the grocery store deli and eating it in the car on the way home.

Fruit eaten today:  2cups

What’s Your Dream Kitchen?

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What items would you place in your dream kitchen?

  •  bar furniture?
  • a beer tap?
  • a grill pan?
  • something so exciting I haven’t even thought of it yet?

I’m really not one for jealousy, but the blogworld does bring out a bit of the green monster in me.  I may be very satisfied with my own fabulous life, but I want a food processor to make banana soft serve in damnit!  And I want a juicer, but mostly I just want to move back to a city that has juice bars!

It’s funny, because I actually received some amazing things as wedding gifts – can we say bright yellow KitchenMaid stand mixer?!  I actually own a food processor already, but due to the size of our apartments most of our cool wedding gifts still live in my childhood bedroom.  Which means my parents occasionally use them (fondue party!) and I find myself getting jealous of my own stuff!

No matter the generosity of my wedding attendants, I would always want more kitchen stuff.  I pour through Crate and Barrel catalogs the way most women look at shoes.  Here are some of the things I would own in my current dream kitchen –

  • a spiralizer
  • a vitamix
  • a sodastream
  • a slow cooker
  • a juicer
  • a grill
  • a scantily dressed man to help with the dishes kidding!

Well, CSN Stores sent me an e-mail and offered to make some of my dreams come true.  I got to choose my very own dream kitchen item to review in the upcoming weeks.  Adam weighed in heavily on this decision, and he we choose to go with the slow cooker.

Enough dreaming, it’s almost noon!, time to get down to the nitty gritty.  My breakfast post is late because my morning is running late; I woke up feeling queasy and light-headed so I decided I was better off going back to bed.  The three boys who ate pizza with me all feel fine and I’m a bit more sturdy  now after breakfast so maybe I was just hungry?!?

“What did this magical elixir breakfast contain,” you ask?

Stonyfield Low-Fat Strawberry yogurt, 1/2cup fresh raspberries, and a package of All-Bran Bran Buds.

The All-Bran was actually a sample I sent away for in the mail and it was ridiculously tasty.  I’m pretty sure I’m going to buy some once my cereal cabinet thins out a bit.

Speaking of things that are ridiculously good….. Buy. This.

The husband has a deep obsession with Biscoff cookies (he asks for so many extra when we fly Delta that the stewardesses always think he’s adorable and I die of embarrassment) and I’m deeply obsessed with the husband, so when I found out they made Biscoff cookie spread I ordered some up.  It ended up being a gift to both of us because this stuff is amazing.  I absolutely had a spoonful before making breakfast today.

What is your favorite spread that isn’t peanut butter?  I think before yesterday I would have said Nutella, but there is no competing against Biscoff now!

Fruit eaten so far today:  1/2cup

Fridge Traffic JAM

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It’s officially the first work-week of May!  Where has this year gone?!?  For that matter, where has today gone, it’s all felt a little rushed.

Adam and I both had another lackluster sleep last night 😦  Isn’t it just the worst feeling to toss and turn when you’d like to be resting up?  The morning felt like it came way too quickly and the snooze buttons were pressed several times.  I had to drive the husband to school so I could use the car to run errands, so I rushed out the door with him.  How happy am I that it’s finally throw on a sundress season?

I was a little irritated to have to go to the post office when I hadn’t even eaten breakfast but it ended up being a good thing because my parents send me an amazing package!  It was Carnival in St. Thomas last week and they sent me all sorts of goodies –

I packed the soursop jam away into cabinet before I could even look at it.  I have a problem –

Seriously, Emily?  6 open jars of fruit spreads!

However, I tore into the stewed tamarind immediately.

A few spoonfuls in I managed to stop myself and actually assemble breakfast.

Stonyfield plain fat-free yogurt with stewed tamarind and 1/2cup raspberries.

I couldn’t get over how pretty it was and the taste combination was amazing!

Eat More Fruit Tip # 1 – Instead of buying “fruit on the bottom” yogurts, make your own!  Plain fat free yogurt with berries and fruit spread stirred in has less sugar than the ones you buy at the store, and is a whole lot tastier too!

Lunch was pretty gorgeous as well.

Eat More Fruit Tip # 2 – Smoothies are a very tasty way to eat your fruits, just be sure not to add too many high-calorie/sugar additives.

I had a whole slew of annoying phone calls to make and the morning slipped away while I was on the phone.  By the time I was headed out the door I was already late so I made myself a to-go smoothie for lunch.  1 small frozen banana, 1/2cup frozen blackberries, 1cup calcium + vitamin d oj, and 1/2t xanthan gum.

The smoothie was supposed to be swim fuel but sadly that didn’t pan out.  When I got to the pool all of the lanes were full and I was too late picking up Adam to wait. 

The swim no-go is especially annoying because I don’t want to swim, I want to run, and I can do that any where.  My hopeful date to start running again is May 10th and I’m getting a little nervous because my leg still hurts.  The doctor said it would hurt up until it was healed (and then I could get moving again) but I’m so afraid that the 10th with come and go and I’ll still be stuck.  I’m so eager to run again that it physically hurts when I see other people out on a job.  I made get-well wishes on several of these today.

What would you wish on a dandelion for?

Fruit eaten so far today:  3cups

Late Night, Lady Business

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I realize it’s a bit ridiculous that I’m blogging – let alone awake – at 1am, but I’m hoping this well serve as a ‘final shut down’ activity for my brain.  We got home late and I got into a homework productivity groove that I didn’t want to abandon for sleep.  After a solid 3weeks of slacking in my classes I’m ready to dive into the books again 🙂

I abhor when bloggers discuss their lady business online, but I need to mention mine to address the hungry beast issue.  I was starving again today.  After the 8th-million time I mentioned this to the husband he expressed some concern; both for my health and my ever-expanding-ass.  When I defended my hunger (No, it’s not just that I think it’s funny to see whether or not you’ll still love me if I get fat.  Yes I’m really really hungry.  No I really ate people food today, not just popcorn.  No I don’t have kidney disorder, stop being such a medical student!) I realized we had the same conversation last month.  And roughly the same time the month before that.  So, the point of that rambling paragraph was to share my hypothesis that my hunger spike is related to my cycle.  And now I’m ending the lady business discussion.

Breakfast was 1cup Kashi H2H with fresh raspberries.

I added a couple shakes from our cinnamon-sugar duck to keep things interesting.

And yes, I did use skim milk, I just wanted to snap a dry shot first.

Within 20minutes of breakfast I ate a salt water taffy.

<begin day-long snackage here>  And the last serving of TJ’s Gummy Tummies.

And the last of the lemon curd (~2-3T) with some Biscoffs.

The lemon + gingersnap combo sort of rocks my socks, I have several awesome dessert recipes whirling ’round my head.

I picked the husband up before class and stopped at Starbucks in an attempt to go green(x2).

For Tax Day Starbucks was giving free coffee to anyone who brought in their own mug.

Great idea in theory, not so great in practice – I spat out my one and only sip more quickly than you can imagine.  I am usually not a Starbucks hater but this was nasty bitter.  Thankfully the amazing array of snacks now available at the counter more than makes up for bad free coffee.  I snagged a package of Sahale BBQ Almonds to eat during Anthro.

Mmmn.  I adore Sahale Snacks, I haven’t bought them in ages but I mentally added them to next week’s grocery list upon my first tasty bite.

In between classes I ran some errands around campus with the husband.  Our travels to the copy shop led to the discovery of an adorable Japanese spot.

Bubble tea on campus?!?!  I’m not sure if it’s a good or a bad thing that I didn’t know about this until my 2nd to last week at UB!

Almond flavored milk tea with bobba = huge smile from Emily. 

I’m not really sure if it was lunch or dinner, but at 5pm I split a $5 Footlong with the husband.

My half, tuna with provolone.  Not the healthiest option from Subway by far, but the husband is kind of obsessed with them and they are pretty darn tasty.  Plus they are pretty much the only thing I really eat with mayo and I have one maybe once every few months.

I also snacked on a HUGE marshmallow dream (i.e. rice krispies from Starbucks) bar during Chemistry but it had to go unphotographed.  The boys near me were being rude and loud and I felt bad pulling out a camera with the professor staring at my section.

The reason for our late homecoming is that we had to head to the mall after class.  The husband has a strange obsession with dorky sports (he used to be a championship ping-pong player!) and we had to hit up Dicks so he could buy a myriad of rackets.  I don’t think the man has touched a basketball since high school but he now plays ping-pong, tennis, and squash on a weekly basis!

During my monster homework session (10pm – 1am) I snacked on a big bowl of fresh-cut pineapple.

And that’s all she wrote, sweet dreams folks!

*Note* I hate these long posts and my goal (at least for this weekend) is to go back to 3-a-days.  However, I’ll be at the hospital most of tomorrow for my bone scan so don’t expect to hear from me.  But do wish me luck!  🙂