Tag Archives: blue cheese

Road To The Outback

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Hello from Ohio!  I left my boys back in Buffalo and I’m missing them like crazy but I’m having a great time here with my grandparents and mom.

The drive takes 7 hours so our morning started early with Starbucks.

A venti skinny cinnamon dolce iced latte.

I packed my mom and myself sandwiches for the road.

Mine was a cinnamon raisin Bagel Thin with Laughing Cow light french onion cheese and Applegate Farms turkey bologna.

Tasty and easy to eat one-handed.

When we got to Ohio I had a Dove chocolate,

and a Buttered Rum Raisin Cookie.

The afternoon was spent visiting with my grandpa and driving around (I can’t believe they got me back in the car!).

My grandma chose Outback Steakhouse for dinner and I ended up having a great meal.  I got a blue cheese pecan chopped salad to start.

And the tilapia with lump crab meat.

“Tilapia crowned with crab stuffing, pure lump crab meat and sliced mushrooms, finished with a drizzle of light lemon butter Chablis sauce.”

It was served with mixed veggies.

The seafood was all amazing.  Butter sauce requested on the side.

I left about half of the tilapia but devoured the crab.  Yum!

Our evening ended with a trip to the store (my parents stock up on products like batteries and razors when they are in the states) where I snagged this bag of jelly bellys.

I guess I have a kids’ palate because the flavors were right up my alley.  The watermelon was my favorite.

What is your favorite jelly bean flavor?

Spring Break Has Begun!

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Actually it began yesterday, but I didn’t get a chance to blog until today.  I don’t have any big spring break-y plans, but it’s always enjoyable to get some time off.  My mom is coming to visit next week for her spring break though and we are driving over to Ohio to visit my grandparents.

Yesterday morning I walked to school in just pants and a long sleeve T-shirt (spring came just in time for its break!) and ate breakfast during class.  A GoGo Squeez Apple Strawberry pouch,

and a Peanut Butter Pretzel Mojo Bar.

Both were good and the combo of salty and sweet was great.

For lunch I had a Simply Asia Spicy Mongolian Noodle Bowl.

I guess it was the morning of packaged foods?

Other than the sodium content (which is something I don’t really worry about within my diet) the nutritionals on these bowls are pretty good and they allow you to get food in a hurry when you’re hungry.  1g of saturated fat and 13g of protein in under 3 minutes?  I’ll take it!

The afternoon included an unsuccessful baking attempt.

My goal was Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes with Bailey’s Buttercream for a St. Paddy’s Day treat.  But I hate chocolate cake and I really hate Bailey’s Irish Cream so it actually wasn’t too big of a loss.

Since we won’t be telefundraising over break I volunteered to work the final shift last night.  I drank a ProBugs Strawnana Split Kefir on the walk back to campus.

Work went well and at 8:30 it was officially the start of spring break!

Adam and I cashed in a meal out (and a Living Social deal) for dinner at Lagerhaus 95.

There, I drank water at a German beer house like a total loser.

We had an amazing meal and are planning on going back next week with my mom.  Adam and I split three things to maximize tastes.  We started with the Camembert Fondue – Franziskaner infused camembert wheel / crisp apple slices / crusty sesame bread.

Fondue is Adam’s and my favorite dish to share at new restaurants and this one did not disappoint.  The Camembert was served on top of sautéed sweet onions and the flavor mix was magical.

Next we had the special, a Crab cake Sandwich.  It was served with vinegary cole slaw and crisp green apples on a brioche bun.

I hate crab cakes that are full of breadcrumbs and this guy was super meaty and perfect.  The bun was almost sweet which was an interesting contrast.  It came with a trough side of clam chowder that Adam devoured.

Finally we had the Truffled Wild Mushroom Panini – Haus blend of fresh wild mushrooms / white truffle oil / cippolini onions / fresh arugula / gorgonzola / pressed on foccocia.

Everything was great,but this was the best dish of the night, hands down.  Adam doesn’t have a sense of smell and I was dying the whole meal that he couldn’t experience the scent coming off the truffled mushrooms.  The earthiness with the creamy gorgonzola – which was far creamier than any other gorgonzola I’ve tried – was great.

The panini came with a side salad that was also impressive.

There were several herbs, I couldn’t identify which ones, mixed into the lettuce and it had the most unique flavor.  The honey mustard champagne vinaigrette (unpictured) was nice too.

Overall we had an amazing experience at Lagerhaus 95 and I can’t wait to go back!

Sometimes great flavors seem to make you even hungrier for more and Adam and I stopped on the way home for a box of chocolates.

I ate half of every flavor, or two servings.  A little excessive because they weren’t even that good but I kept thinking each flavor would be better.

This morning I tried a Chobani 2% Passion Fruit Yogurt.

So good, my favorite Chobani yet!  I love passion fruit in general but this one had the perfect balance of sour and sweet.  If you’ve never eaten a passion fruit before the crunchy seeds might seem a little strange but I promise it’s worth a try.

Now I’ve got to shower and then I’m off to get my green on and make a trip to the grocery store.  Are you wearing green today?

After Lunch Mints

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It’s Friday!  My sleep total for the last 2 days is still only at about 8 hours but somehow I managed to make it to the gym this morning.  I didn’t get up quite on time, but I made it. I did have to cut my workout a bit short to make it back to campus on time for class, but I figured it was better than skipping it entirely (<– what would have happened if I had tried to wait and go after class).

8 sets of 3 minutes running / 2 minutes walking.  42 minutes and 3.5 miles with cool down.

I had to skip breakfast too, but it was worth it.  Besides, I was busy doing important things like shrouding myself in pinks and purples instead of drying my hair.

When I did finally get “breakfast” at noon I stuck with the color theme.

Those two chopped plucots are perched on a bowl of Wegman’s Low-fat Honey Yogurt.

The gratuitous dog picture means I approve!  The yogurt’s texture was creamy and good and the flavor was pure honey.

The bowl was delicious.

Lunch was better though.  I bet you know what I had.

2 Buffalo Chicken Cupcakes.

Ah-mazing.  I hope with all of my heart that y’all will try that recipe at home.

I also had a salad.  Romaine topped with peanut sauce, green onions, shredded carrots, and dry roasted peanuts.

The green onions were a fun addition.

Dessert happened too.

This recipe wasn’t on my baking roster, but it was a necessary last-minute addition.  My friend Kim unwrapped a piece of gum in class today and at first I thought the wrapper was an Andes Mint.  That was it.

I made a half recipe of our favorite brownies with Andes mints layered in the middle.  I had three smallish ones.

Amazing as well.

And I wasn’t done in the kitchen yet.  I’m going to be out of the house all day tomorrow so I whipped up lunch in advance.

A random mishmash of unmeasured amounts of – spaghetti, linguine, shredded chicken, skim milk, medium buffalo sauce, reduced fat cream cheese, mozzarella, cheddar, blue cheese, spinach, brocoli, and peas.  I had a few bites and it was very good; I’m looking forward to lunch tomorrow.

I’m also looking forward to bed!  I’m still not really tired, but I can tell that sleep is going to feel good.  The plan for dinner is a frozen meal and a beer and then I hope to turn in early.

Pick your poison – Junior Mints, York Patties, or Andes?

Buffalo Chicken Cupcakes

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I don’t want to be disingenuous.  Before those readers who have been scouring the globe for a savory cupcake get too excited, I should mention that these are really buffalo chicken muffins.  But they do have blue cheese cream cheese frosting.  And a muffin is just a cupcake without its hat, ya know?

These muffins cupcakes also come with a back story.  During Vegan Month there was a Super Bowl.  The last time I cared about football was when I was a cheerleader in high school so the game doesn’t mean much to me, but I do think the opportunity for themed foods can be fun.  The Friday before the game, my teacher was laughing in class that she knew more about the snacks available for Sunday than she did about the teams that were playing.  Then she frowned and said she’d even seen a commercial for chicken wing cupcakes.  The rest of the class shook their heads disapprovingly and laughed, like “oh, those silly fat Americans.”  Meanwhile, I was furiously writing in my planner –

Make buffalo chicken cupcakes with blue cheese frosting!

And so I did.

Buffalo Chicken Cupcakes

Yield: 9 cupcakes; Prep Time: 10 minutes; Cook Time: 15 – 20 minutes

  • 6.5 oz box cornbread/muffin mix
  • ingredients required for cornbread (this will vary based on the brand you use, see the package for details)
  • 1 cup shredded chicken
  • 1/4 cup buffalo wing sauce
  • 8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, softened
  • 4 Tbsp butter, melted
  • 1 cup blue cheese crumbles
  1. Line 9 cupcake tin with paper liners.  Preheat oven (to the specific temperature for your cornbread mix) and prepare corn muffin batter as instructed by package.
  2. Stir shredded chicken and wing sauce into batter.
  3. Spoon batter into prepared liners and bake according to package instructions.
  4. For frosting – Combine cream cheese, butter, and blue cheese in a medium bowl and cream with an electric mixer.
  5. Be sure cupcakes have cooled completely before frosting.

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!

I’m Sure Immortals Was Great

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It feels good to be back!  It will feel even better to actually have my computer back, but I’ll take what I can get.  I will admit that it’s felt a little freeing not having a computer this past week.  Sure, I still check my e-mail on my phone every 10 minutes, but not being tethered to a seat reminded me of how much the old me hated sitting in one place for hours, even in front of  a computer.  Something to think about.

I spent yesterday cooking and Adam spent the morning cleaning.  I like having company because it makes us pretend to live like adults!  While he worked, I munched on a simple but delicious sandwich.

Half a jalapeno cheddar bialey with 2 slices of Applegate Farms Honey Maple Turkey and a thick schmear of Crofter’s Organic Grape Spread.

I know I say it every time, but the spicy + sweet combo makes my world.

My brother-in-law got into town around noon so we took him to lunch at JP Bullfeathers.  We were sat in the downstairs “wine cellar” area, which was fun.

It was in the 40’s at that point so I relished a warm lunch.

I got a cup of jalapeno corn chowder which I was thrilled to see contained lots of whole kernels of corn.

And an order of garlic bread which I was sad to see was topped with cheese.  Who puts cheese on garlic bread?  I ate three pieces nonetheless.

The lunch as a whole was very heavy and it left me feeling full but not satisfied, if that makes sense.

I had to leave the boys to head in to work.  They went to Blue Monk while I was gone, a trip that required me to have to drive them to the movies later, ahem.  I actually walked from school over to Blue Monk to pick them up on foot first.  It was a nice walk, made even nicer by the purchasing of green juice from O3.

I made my own mix instead of ordering off of the menu, but I believe that what I ended up with was spinach, celery, cucumber, and carrot.

I had no desire to see “Immortals” so I stayed home and did some work.  I knew the dinner plan was pizza so I made sure to eat a nice salad when I got home.

A spinach bed with chopped apple, crumbled blue cheese, groats, and Wegman’s Yogurt Casaer dressing on top.

I’m not sure the salad will make me any less hungry for pizza, but I’m glad I at least got in some produce first.

I also ate a serving of Lindt truffles.

And as soon as I pick up the movie-goers it will be pizza time!  I’m not going to blog again today so the husband can have his computer, but assume I’ll have 1-3 slices of the good stuff.

I will see you all again (phew!) tomorrow.

Tasty/Slow

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Hello there.  Long time no see.

Between going to work on Friday night and eating an unphotographable lunch via food lab, it was just too difficult to blog yesterday.  But apparently it was quite easy for me to stay up until 1:30 am watching tv with the husband.  (Sidenote – how freaking off-the-charts fabulous was the newest “Bones” episode?!?!)  I was the walking dead all day today.

My morning actually had an early start because I had an 8:30 am volunteering commitment.  I had to pick up a friend on the way there, and shower before I faced the public, so my alarm felt super early.  But I was done and picking the husband up for a fun lunch date before I knew it.

Necessary back story ahead:  A classmate’s family owns a great local restaurant (Romeo and Juliet’s).  Their restaurant generously provided the cookies and bread that we sold as sides during the Chili Sale.  The bread was mini rolls made of panettone dough and it was completely fabulous.  The taste was like a very elevated King’s Hawaiian Roll.  Adam loves Hawaiian Rolls.  After we all raved about the rolls, our classmate told us that R&J’s also makes them for a local restaurant that centers their sandwiches around that bread.  There were leftovers after the sale and we all were thrilled to take some home.  On Thursday I brought home 10 mini rolls.  Adam got home around 4pm that day.  By 5pm all 10 rolls were gone.  Last night, when Adam picked me up from work he brought me a cannoli.  “Because [he] knew [I] wanted to try one.”  Upon further pressing, I found out that the cannoli was from R&J’s.  Because he went to see if they had more rolls.  (They did not.)

So long story long, today we dined at the restaurant that centers its sandwiches around R&J’s epic buns.

SoHo Bar had this funky, industrial vibe to it that we loved.

I took Adam as a surprise and while he was excited to be getting a lunch date, he had no idea why we were there.

(e) Read the menu.

(a) The salads look good.

(e) Look at the burgers.

(a) The meat is provided by Johnny’s Meats?

Sometime I think it’s a good thing he’s so book smart!  But once I pointed out the only sentence on the menu he had yet to read aloud, he was thrilled.

Adam went with a classic burger on an amazing bun, and I got a #4 combo so we could try multiple menu categories.

I had the turkey burger, with lettuce, tomato, pickles, and red onion.

Plus I requested some cranberry chutney to add on too.

The sour of the chutney and pickles went so well with the sweetness of the bun.

Adam and I split my fries, which came in an adorable mini fryer basket.

And finally we split a spiked shake (2/3 to 1/3, his favor).

We went with a Kentucky Caramel, Woodford Reserve Bourbon, vanilla ice cream, caramel ice cream, caramel sauce.

The bourbon-caramel combo was pairing perfection.

We continued our date with a long walk around the mall and it was the perfect afternoon.  At 2:30 I had to go to work but it was a short 2-hour shift that flew by quickly.  Plus, I was the ‘top earner’ yesterday and I went home today with a $5 gift card! 

My $ was promptly spent on snacks for the husband.  I carried a jumbo tub of movie-butter popcorn for many aisles through Target before I decided I’d probably ultimately be happier not consuming 5-bazillion calories before dinner.  Instead I ate the 2nd serving of Chia “Rice” Pudding.

Still tasty, but calorically dwarfed by the popcorn and packed with omega-3 fatty acids.

It was delicious straight out of the fridge, topped with cinnamon, and I highly recommend trying it yourself.

I don’t recommend dinner.

Don’t get me wrong, the flavors were amazing. 

But not 60+ minutes in the kitchen amazing.

for 2, quickly written but slowly cooked

  1. Place 3 oz prepared whole-wheat spaghetti in the bottom of two bowls (6oz total, 3oz each).
  2. In a large pan, working in three separate batches, use chicken broth to steam 6 oz fresh spinach, 1 small graffiti eggplant, and 22 large frozen shrimp.  Split between bowls.  Use the same pan for every step in the recipe to allow the flavors to build.
  3. Cook 2 slices Applegate Farms Turkey Bacon.  Chop and set aside.
  4. Heat 2 tsp evoo in the pan over medium heat.  Add 2 chopped shallots and 3 chopped cloves of garlic.  Cook until translucent.
  5. Add 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour and cook 1 minute.
  6. Stir in 1/4 cup chicken broth.  Add 1/2 cup water and 1/2 cup light cream and continue to stir.
  7. Return chopped bacon to pan.  Add 1/4 cup crumbled blue cheese and cook until melted.  Pour sauce on top of veggies and pasta.

The sauce was fantasmic but I needed a bigger pan because cooking each layer separately took up waaaaay too much time.  My favorite part was the bacon, which I stole a slice of during prep.

Yum.

And I must smell like bacon, because look at how the dog has insisted on sitting all evening –

It’s sort of making my life.  Plus we watched “Crazy/Beautiful” while we ate and it’s one of my favorite movies so I’m pretty blissed out in general.  Hope everyone else is having a good weekend!

Blood From A Stone

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I stayed up until past 1:30 last night!  I didn’t really get much work done but I did have fun eavesdropping on the boys’ funny poker smack talk.  I planned on staying in bed for 8 hours but the husband got up with the dog and lured me from under the covers with farmers’ market trips and coffee.

He made me a warm to-go mug with Silk Almond Milk and English Toffee Syrup.

We bought a few things at the market but we did some giving too.  Adam gives blood regularly and when he spotted the donation truck we popped in.  I’ve never been able to give blood because my veins are tiny and wimpy – the last two times I’ve had to have blood taken for blood panels I had veins in both arms popped!  One time I tried to give in college and the man meanly told me he wouldn’t be able to do it without a children’s needle and that I should work out more!  But guess what I did today –

Booyah, I’m finally a blood donor!  They had to (carefully) use a vein in a sort of odd placement – Adam said it was probably a branch of the cephalic vein – but I managed to produce a full pint!  I think being a donor is really important, I’d also like to donate marrow in the future, and I am so excited to finally join the ranks of big kids who give blood.

When we got home I made a fantabulously tasty cereal bowl.

A serving of Barbara’s Vanilla Almond Shredded Wheat topped with a sliced plum, a sliced plucot, and more almond milk.

This combination of flavors and textures may actually be my favorite thing ever; the types of sweetness play off of each other so well.

I did a tiny bit of work in the morning and then Adam and I had errands to run.  Our fridge was basically empty, which lead me to one of my more “creative” concoctions.

The last Tbsp of light sour cream with the last Tbsp of blue cheese crumbles, a few capers, and a dash of A-1 Steak Sauce.  Spread on top of a Bagel Thin.

I actually thought the end result wasn’t bad, but Adam was in love with it so I ended up sharing most of the bagel with him.

I also ate this big bunch of grapes.

And this 2 oz mix of yogurt covered raisins, peanuts, and pretzels.

I needed more of a lunch though because I thought I was going to pass out from hunger by the time we got home. Thankfully we had 7pm plans so there was an excuse to have an early bird’s 5 o’clock dinner.

I am pretty much done with Saigon Cafe because their “Thai spicy” is apparently my mild and bland, but we had a Groupon so I gave it one last shot.  Crisp tofu to start.

Deep fried tofu with peanut sauce, it’s hard to go wrong.

I ate four pieces of tofu with sauce.

For my meal I ordered the tofu tamarind, Thai spicy, with extra veggies.

What exactly would this dish have looked like without the extra veggies?!?

And, I’m done. Saigon Cafe does ok noodles dishes but their meals are always disappointing. I ate about half of my dish with two bites of rice and two stolen bites of Adam’s Pad Thai.

It was a double Groupon night and our main activity was Art By You.

They provide the materials and a quick lesson and you provide the talent, or not.

I went from this,

to this,

to this.

Let’s just say I’m artistically challenged! I had a great time though!

Adam thought it was fun too, and it was great to do something artsy with him.

We weren’t ready for the fun to end so now we’re cuddling on the couch and watching “That ’70’s Show.”  I’ve been hungry all day so I did dinner take 2 from Moe’s.

That’s a kid’s quesadilla with corn salsa, plus chips with queso dip.  I also snagged most of the husband’s chips too.

I’d like to say that I’m done but Adam put a frozen pizza in the oven and I’m pretty sure I’ll end up having some.  I’m putting away the camera for now though.  I’ll end with my favorite shot of the day.  Whenever we leave him alone too long Webster gets into our reusable bags like an asshole.  When we got home this evening he was stuck in one of them and wearing it like a cape.

I thought Adam and I were going to die laughing!

Have you ever donated blood?