Tag Archives: blue cheese

Ending Sandwich Week with a Full Court Press

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Okey doke; It’s Friday night, I have a Modern Family and CSI to catch up on, and a husband waiting on the couch!

I had a ton of reading to do today before class so breakfast at home was a no-show.  I did however get all my reading done, and I learned a lot about nutritive and nonnutritive sweeteners (with and without calories).  Because knowledge is power – The ADA says that

  • There is no definitive link between obesity and sweeteners alone
  • Your body knows no difference between sugars; an apple or a soda, the sugars are all processed the same (that’s not to say that the fiber, and nutrient piece doesn’t matter)
  • There is no proven link between sweeteners and hyperactivity in children,
  • but there is some evidence that suggests a link to depression
  • Stevia has yet to be approved by the FDA

I had just a few minutes after class to pick up my portfolio project (100%) and grab food before heading to a group meeting.

PB&J wasn’t the healthiest option, but it was the cheapest, and not the unhealthiest.

Hours later, when I got out of Anatomy all I could think about was going home.  I was hungry, tired, and cold and the last thing I wanted to do was go work out.  But I told myself if I went to the gym I could buy a cookie, so I did!

We are actually running in a 5k next weekend (what, another race I’m not prepared for!?!?) so I’m trying to be gentle to my legs this week; expect to see a lot of walking breaks on the treadmill.  Today’s workout was all about the intervals –

5minutes walking, 1 running, 1w, 2r, 1w, 3r, 1w, 4r, 1w, 5r, 1w, 5r, 5w.  So, 15minutes walking, 20minutes running, 35minute workout.

Adam picked me up from the gym and we spent forever driving around, accomplishing nothing.  Sometimes it’s nice just to be together.  Plus, we split some chewy Starbursts.

When we got home it was more than time for a salad.

I topped a bed of dressed spinach with craisins, blue cheese, and some almonds from Sahale Snacks.

Divine.

Since it’s the last day of Sandwich Week I decided to go out with a bang –

or a press rather; paninis!

Step 1 – Spread some thin sliced sourdough with dijon mustard and hot pepper peach preserves (or any kind of preserve really, you just want to give it a bit of sweet).

Step 2 – Add a few pieces of thin-sliced turkey.

Step 3 – Crumble on some blue cheese.

Step 4 – Top the cheese with some thinly sliced pear.

Finally – close and press.

This sandwich was fantabulous!  The texture of paninis always drives me wild and the combo of flavors was perfect; a bit spicy, a bit sweet, and bit salty.

Make this at home!  Send me pictures!

We’re going to go find a fountain diet coke and then cuddle up on the couch.  Have a great Friday night!

Start of Sandwich Week

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Some bloggers have their dinner posts up before I even eat dinner, how do they do it?!?  We’re on a pretty late schedule here, but it works well for us.

That Paula Red apple was mealy and sad, I traded it off to the husband (he liked it!).  Instead I ate a Crispin apple with a spoonful of peanut butter.

My night class got out super early today, and I completed the online quiz and walked home all before 7; score!  I celebrated with a small piece of pumpkin chocolate chip square.

Btw – the husband has demolished these bars, almost all of them are gone!  He took a container to school today and said all of his classmates freaked out about them as well.

Now, on to sandwich week……

Since it’s already Tuesday into the week, I decided to start things off with a bang.  What’s that?

Oh, nothing.  Just homemade from scratch mayonnaise!

It took team work, and more time than predicted, but in the end we were victorious; go us!  I used the recipe from Katherine Darling’s Under the Table – which is an amazing book in general, I highly recommend it – but you could easily Google a recipe.

The sandwich vehicle for the mayo was Buffalo chicken subs, which came together in a snap.

I slow-cooked chicken breasts in a bit of broth for 8hours on low today and then shredded the meat with two forks.  Then I doused two servings worth in Buffalo sauce.  Next we stirred crumbled blue cheese into two portions of mayo.  Finally we spooned and spread that fantasticness onto split rolls.  Perfection.

Seriously, I can’t even handle this picture.

This was way healthier than a fried chicken sandwich and much much tastier!  Speaking of health, as I told Adam – “I dont’ care that we forgot the asparagus, I’ll be damned if I’m serving blue cheese and mayo but no veggie!”  So we made a quick side of microwaved kale.

Very, very not good.  But I choked it down for the nutrients.

All together, even with bitter, chewy kale, the meal averaged out to be fantastic.

A fabulous start to Sandwich Week.

Do you eat mayo or does it skeeve you out?  Have you ever made your own mayo?  In general I’m not a big fan; I’ll eat Miracle Whip in tuna and chicken salads, but I prefer mustard varieties.  I was pretty jazzed about it tonight though 🙂

Baking and Buddies

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I did not work out today (I told you I can’t take a day off, 1 has turned into 4, eek!) but I did manage to do a ton of creating.  I feel like I’ve spent the whole day mixing and stirring, and that’s a fabulous feeling!

First I whipped up a batch of natural spider repellant.

It’s h2o and lemon essential oil combined in an old spray bottle.  I went spritz-crazy all over the house.  I’ll let you know if it actually does any repelling.

Next I cooked up a batch of Maple Coconut Granola.

I used Kath’s recipe but substituted unsweetened shredded coconut for pecans.

Then I tried my first smoothie in a bowl!

First I put a Siggi’s Vanilla in the bottom of my bowl.

Next came my smoothie.

I mixed 1cup frozen strawberries, a packet of Chocolate Infusion Amazing Meal, and water.

This was my first smoothie using water as the liquid and I still adored the Chocolate Amazing Meal!  It wasn’t too grassy or too sweet but it totally helped to fill me up.  No weird graininess either.

Finally I topped my SIAB with 1/4 cup of my new granola.

Delectable!

I think smoothies via spoon instead of straw will definitely be the new thing in this house.

I may not have done any exercise, but my blender sure got a workout!  Next it had to tackle hummus.

I don’t have exact measurements, but I blended up chick peas, evoo, balsamic vinegar, salt, and water.

I wanted fresh hummus for lunch, but I also wanted … purple?

I ended up creating a pretty plate.

Purple bell peppers,

purple cherry tomatoes,

a dollop of hummus,

and some pita pieces; a take-home from dinner with my parents the other day.

Lunch was good, but nothing could top my afternoon snack.  I’ll give you a hint…

I cobbled together a couple recipes and my memories of Oko in Brooklyn to create Honey Greek Frozen Yogurt.

I didn’t have any fresh fruit (the horror) but enjoyed this bowl sans toppings just fine!

Make.This.  The texture is a tad bit softer than regular ice cream and the flavor is unlike anything I’ve ever tasted.  There is a bit of tang and a bit of sweet, but the olive oil totally comes through at the same time.  Click here for the link to my recipe.

Dinner was also a winner, and I’d say that even if it didn’t rhyme.

Chicken with figs and blue cheese (follow the link to the recipe, you can click to enlarge).

Soon I’ve got to head to the airport to pick up my friend Camile!  She’s flying in today and then tomorrow we are driving to NYC for BlogHer.  So excited!  The only sad this is that our friend Kristen was supposed to be meeting us in Buffalo on Sunday but due to some personal issues her trip got canceled.  I’m feeling a bit down about the breakdown of our trio visit, so indulge me in a little reminiscing?

Our senior year in college –

My 2007 visit to Miami –

Their 2007 visit to NYC –

My 2008 visit to Miami –

Their 2008 visit to NYC –

Their visit to STT –

My most recent visit to Orlando –

Do you keep in touch with any of your college friends?

The Devil Went Down to Georgia…

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We have internet!  And I cooked dinner in my oven!  A banner night all around 🙂

On my walk home this afternoon I realize that it had been 6hours since breakfast and was going to be another 4 until dinner, definitely time for lunch!  I made a stop into Subway.

I got a 6inch tuna salad sub with oil and vinegar and red onions.  I think the combo of tuna salad and red onions is just to die for!

I got a meal (hello, fountain diet soda!) so I also got some Baked Lays.

I took me a while to get hungry but once I was I got HUNGRY!  I also ate a serving of Goldfish,

and two cookies (yes in my Goldfish bowl, we have a tiny dishwasher I can’t be dirtying things left and right!).

Thankfully I was still hungry for dinner because dinner was a freaking masterpiece!

Every single component was through the roof tasty and the combination all together rocked my socks.  Plus, you know any meatless meal that the husband raves about is a winner.

My Buffalo Blue Bean Burgers,

Unfried Green Tomatoes from Cooking Light,

and 2 deviled eggs, recipe below.

Made for quite the pleasing meal.

The husband is obsessed with deviled eggs and since I won a year’s worth of Eggland’s Best it’s hard to turn down his request.  Tonight I tried out a new recipe that I thought up at the bar at Cheesecake Factory the other night;

Dirty Martini Deviled Eggs

  • 1 dozen large eggs
  • 2T olive brine
  • 2.5T blue cheese crumbles
  • 2T mayo
  • 6 pimento stuffed olives, halved
  1. Hard boil your eggs.  My method is to place the eggs in water in a big pan, bring to a boil, then turn off the heat and cover for 15minutes.  If you run cool water over the eggs when the time is up they will be easier to peel.
  2. Peel eggs and slice in half lengthwise.
  3. Dump yolks into a medium bowl and mash together with brine, blue cheese, and mayo.
  4. Spoon the yolk mixture back into the whites and top each egg with an olive half.

I’ve got my 2nd shower of the day and I’ve promised my pack-mule of a mover husband a back massage.  Then it’s off to bed so I can hopefully make it to an early morning tomorrow.

Deviled eggs; like ’em, love ’em, or hate ’em?

P.S. I apologize for the brain worm title, I’ll be singing that song all night too!