Tag Archives: booze

Past and Future

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Wow; long time no blog!  It’s been a week, which feels crazy.  Last weekend, Adam was out-of-town on interviews and since I didn’t want to broadcast that all over the internet I kept mum.  Then the week was a busy disaster.  One night I came home from work and got straight into bed at 8:20.  One night I drank too many pumpkin beers and got a little drunk.  One night I was out late working on a group project.  And last night the dog threw up and then when we went to clean up I threw up.  Good times.

The Past: Some Things Worth Highlighting from the Last Week

Annie Chun’s Spicy Chicken Ramen.

This soup came together in a snap and it felt fairly authentic.  It was spicy without making you want to run for the gallon of milk.

Another apple-cereal bowl.

This winner creation had steamed (aka microwaved) Honeycrisp apple with Special K Vanilla Pecan, All Bran Bran Buds, honey roasted peanuts, tons of cinnamon, and skim milk.

The new gelato place on Elmwood has pumpkin.

It was good, but the coconut half was even better.

These two pumpkin beers get two thumbs up.

The Long Trail was good, the Saranac was great.

The Potato Chip chocolate bar from Chuao is ridiculous.

Such a perfect melody of salty and sweet!  And the crispiness was fun too.  Now I want to try all of the other flavors!

Arby’s is selling a Peppermint Stick Swirl Shake.

If you like candy canes (who doesn’t?!) you’ll love it.

Mr. Pizza sells a veggie pie that is great.

It was packed with veggies, including green olives!

The Future: A Vegan Challenge in November

Yep, starting next week I’ll begin my annual 1-month vegan challenge.  One of my IRL friends agreed to do it with me and I’d love to have some of my internet friends join as well.  Think about it???

Food Fun At FNCE In Philly

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I’m home!  If you didn’t know, I spent the past five days in Philadelphia attending the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics’ (AND) Food and Nutrition Conference and Expo (FNCE); alphabet soup, much?!

I went with two fabulous friends and we had a great time.  Our days were packed (I need a vacation from this vacation!) and I am very glad I made the decision in advance not to blog.  In fact, I’m barely going to do a recap.

I would love to talk about the sessions I attended, and all of the things that I learned, but I have homework to catch up on, a shift at work this evening, and a huge test on Friday, so I doubt it’s going to happen.

I do have a few shots of some of the fun food though.

Amazing (2nd only to my favorite place in Brooklyn) eggplant pizza that we had the first night when we stayed with one of my friends from high school.

Taro milk bubble tea.

Hot, spiked, apple cider from a street fair.  We also had pumpkin beer and apple pie shots; we were drinking seasonally this trip.

The expo –

My swag –

It was amazing/ridiculous and my friends and I ended up offering a bag of food to a man I saw digging in a trash can as we were walking from the conference to our car.

Pumpkin pie frozen yogurt.

The best espresso I’ve ever had.

Sidenote – I drank my coffee holding back tears.  We went to eat a vegan cheese-steak on our last day in town and found out that the place was out of seitan!

The Chobani bar at the expo was hands-down the best part.

This Strawberry FrozFruit was a very close second.  My favorite thing in high school was the coconut version.

And a final treat at home – tiny chocolate hamburgers that I brought back for the husband.

Who’s hungry?!

Hello, Pumpkin Month!

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I realize that open season on pumpkin began a few days ago, but work with me here.  My first day of the month was so fabulous that I couldn’t skip blogging it, even if a few days have passed.

I did, however, have my giant (soul-crushing) exam that morning so I started my day with a coffee energy drink from the vending machines.

But then I moved on to the juiciest, crunchiest, crispiest Jazz apple of the year.

Once home, I put the first wave into the fridge.

And made myself a salad.

– romaine topped with a heaping Tbsp each ground flax, buckwheat groats, and peanut sauce –

And soup.

– seaweed ramen –

I picked up a short, non-fat pumpkin spice latte on my walk to work.

Adam met me at the end of my shift and we walked over to Blue Monk so I could get the beer I’ve been coveting since September.

Southern Tier’s Pumpking!

It is sweet and squashy and smells like the best dessert you’ll ever eat.  <– which is funny because I actually hate pumpkin pie

And then I was wasted because apparently I’m a light-weight like no other.  In spite of my obnoxiously loud giggles, we forged ahead and got food too.

An appetizer of marinated olives and pickled veggies with sourdough bread.

I ate ~25%.

And we split the veggie burger.

– Artichoke and chickpea patty with fresh tomato jam, cilantro aioli, on a whole wheat bun and sweet potato fries –

I ate 50%, minus most of my bun.

On the walk home we stopped at Spot for fallish desserts.

My caramel apple cupcake was old and stale (I ate ~33%), but it was still a fabulous end to the evening.

….

And then Tuesday was my first clinic day at the hospital and it was ridiculous and I ate all of my meals on the go, with no camera, the end.

Yesterday I, Today I, Tomorrow I

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I’m almost done with my Study Hell Week!  Almost because I have one test to go on Monday that is going to eat my whole weekend.

I Enjoyed –

Mingling with local RDs at a meet & greet.

The free wine at a fancy hotel didn’t hurt.

I Discovered –

If you order a burrito “naked” at Moes, you end up with a slightly small, slightly cheaper rice bowl.

She even offered to add romaine lettuce to my base.

I Got Too Much –

Food! The following were all consumed en mass:

The only way I could stay awake was to keep eating, so I was popping bags of popcorn like they were Tic Tacs!

I Didn’t Get Enough –

Sleep.  At all.  Like, I’m going to die.  9 hours total over Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night.  Yikes!  The more tired I got, the slower I moved and the longer things look and it just snowballed out of control.

Today I –

Got my free large (blue cup!) coffee from 7-11

and tried to pretend like I wasn’t still asleep.

Then I gave a major presentation and took a Microbiology exam, all within a 2 hour span!  My presentation was on a study that looked at the effect of fat supplementation in an enteral diet for the early stages of sepsis.  It went very well.  My Microbio exam was on god-knows what and didn’t go quite as well.

Now I’m off to eat something with nutrients!

Crazy Cakes

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Crazy-cakes is one of my favorite expressions and for the post title I’m using it both figuratively and literally.  It is crazy stupid that I’m blogging at 1:30 a.m. on a Sunday.  Things have been crazy busy and the next two weeks are only going to get crazier.  Finally, I fulfilled a birthday list goal and made a crazy good cake.

The past few days have been crazy on the healthy living front but I want to blog them because I don’t live a healthy living blog, I live my life.  And in my life 90% of what I’ve consumed in the past week has been pizza.  I’ve decided that attempting to work out over the next week would actually be unhealthy because I’m already getting so little sleep (my planner is workout-free until October 10th).  I’m super stressed and not doing the best job of balancing school work with too many hours at my job.  But again, this is my life.

As I prewrote these posts in my head I had a lot to say, but now that it’s been 4 days since I last blogged I think we shall go WIAW-style for the recaps.  Note – there is no recap from Thursday because I took the day off from everything, took no pictures, caught up on “Awkward” and “Covert Affairs,” and ate pizza and Chinese food for dinner.  It was both necessary and delightful.

The Next 2 Weeks

  1. (9/26)  3 homework assignments are due
  2. (9/27)  the 4 major assignments from my community clinical rotation are due
  3. (9/28)  I’m presenting a journal article for my research methods class.  It is a 25 minute Powerpoint presentation and it makes up a large percentage of our grade.
  4. (9/28)  we have our first Microbiology test
  5. (10/1)  we have our first MNT test <– it is going to be so difficult that our teacher recommended that we all quit our jobs if we can
  6. (10/6)  two friends and I are driving to Philly for 4 days for a professional conference  <– fun, but also holy frick, when am I going to pack?!

Friday

Breakfast on the walk to school.  Zico Chocolate Coconut Water.

Muller Blueberry Bliss Frut Up.

Blueberry Bliss Luna Bar.

China Breakfast Tea with skim milk and a pb-chocolate magic straw while at work.

A See’s candy that my bosses brought us back from their trip to California.  (I had never tried See’s before and now I am a fast fan; soooo creamy!)

A caramel apple non-fat latte as I geared up for a late night.  (Cafe Aroma, Buffalo peeps.)

Wegman’s frozen cheese pizza and a sad salad of romaine and 1000 island dressing.

Cake!

One of my goals for my 27th year was to bake a cake from scratch.  I figured I’d only do this once, so I wanted a recipe that was delicious but didn’t call for cake flour.  After much pondering and Googling, I settled on this Hummingbird Cake recipe from Serious Eats.

If you’ve never had Hummingbird Cake before (I hadn’t!), it is a yellow cake with chopped pecans, crushed pineapple, and mashed banana in the batter that is frosted with cream cheese icing.  This combination of ingredients ends up being amazing.

I made the following changes to the recipe and they all worked out –

  • light brown sugar instead of dark brown
  • low-fat buttermilk
  • canola oil instead of vegetable oil
  • 1/3-reduced fat cream cheese

I baked the three cakes when I got home from work on Friday night.  This activity, of course, included a sprint to purchase more eggs at the co-op 10 minutes before it closed.

Then Saturday morning I layered and frosted helped Adam frost the cake.

His surgeon’s hands came in very handy.

It ended up being a big success!

I brought the cake to book club and it got two-thumbs up all around.  If I ever have to make another cake in the future I will definitely think of hummingbirds.

Both of my book club offers were pineapple-based, because I also made my Tropical Fruit White Sangria.

This batch was made with –

  • 2 cups chopped pineapple
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup Cruzan Guava Rum
  • 1 bottle Rosebud Gold (a local sweet white wine)
  • 10 oz lemon seltzer water

Saturday

Eaten before my 10 am shift at work because I had been up since 5:00 frosting and studying.  Leftover bbq chicken pizza and sliced apple.

Popcorn with Smart Balance Light.

A Zevia Cola at work.

A pizza bagel on my break.  (The Spot uses the very best tasting marinara sauce; it is super zesty.)

My friend picked me up from work and I immediately guzzled two giant glasses of sangria instead of helping her set up.

Book club food, a slice of cheese quesadilla with guacamole and mango salsa, plus two toasts with shrimp dip.

A slice of cake.

Drunkenly eaten at midnight, my 3rd serving of pizza for the day and carrots with french onion yogurt dip.

Sunday

Homemade cole slaw.

A slice of cake.

A See’s candy at work.

Dinner while grocery shopping.  Sweet and sour chicken plus wok-seared veggies.  (This was randomly really tasty and the best hot bar meal I’ve had in a while.)

A medium, non-fat (no whipped cream) Apple Steamer during our class study-session at The Spot.

Baby carrots and french onion yogurt dip while I wrote this post.

An Important Question

Don’t you think that the dog sort of likes like Oprah when he sits with his arms crossed like this?

Appletastic

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Today was a much better day!  Mostly because I accomplished tons and ate a healthy and amazing tasting dinner.  Also, I’m a little drunk.

Yesterday wasn’t the best day and it was clear from my post that I was a little depressed.  Several of you commented on my consumption of Halloween candy pre-Pumpkin Month and all I can say is “it won’t happen again.”  I’m so ashamed!  🙂

For breakfast I packed a sandwich to eat in class.  A slice of 2% colby and 2 slices of Applegate Farms turkey bacon on a toasted Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin.

It was a little dry but oh-so-tasty.

Plus the last serving of my caramel apple sugar babies.

These guys win as my #1 favorite Apple Month candy.  But eating them at 9am did make me a little sick.

I got a ton accomplished this morning, between a break in class and the time after my Micro lab, I polished off several school to-do’s.  I am way (way, way, way, way, way) behind on studying but it felt good to make a dent.

Then I went to a orthodontist appointment.  My last full-time-retainer-wearing orthodontist appointment!

I screamed when I heard the good news and scared the crap out of my orthodontist.  Then I told him I was going to go swish coffee.

I didn’t actually get any coffee because I had another appointment, but I am looking forward to leisurely sipping through my morning class for the rest of the semester.  It’s also worth mentioning that I didn’t have time for coffee or lunch.  <– remember that when I remind you that I’m drunk a minute from now

My 2nd appointment dealt with a recall on my car.  It turned out I did have the defective part and I was very glad that I could get it fixed for free.  I guess when I called them “stupid errands” yesterday I spoke too soon!

I worked at The Spot for an hour or so before I headed home.  Then I made us an appletastic dinner, complete with on-theme booze.

Adam and I split this Crispin Honey Crisp Hard Apple Cider while we cooked.

Delicious!

The “soft” cider was even more amazing though; we also took swigs of this Red Jacket Fuji Apple Cider.

It was so perfectly sweet!  We loved it.  And it helped make dinner amazing.

  1. I melted 1.5 Tbsp butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Then I sautéed 1 pint sliced mushrooms and 1 small chopped Sweet Mayan Onion, with a sprinkle of salt.
  2. Next I added 4 cups cole slaw mix and 1 cup apple cider and cooked until the cabbage was soft.
  3. I removed the veggies from the pan, added another 1/2 Tbsp butter and 8 oz sliced Naysoya Super-firm Sprouted Tofu.
  4. I cooked the tofu until crispy in 1 tsp apple cider vinegar, 1 tsp maple syrup, and a sprinkle of salt, then put it on top of the cabbage.

Soooooooo good.  The veggies were sweet and savory and the tofu had the best texture.  That ‘fu is going to be my go-to from now on.

Now I’m off to hopefully kill my buzz with popcorn.

If I can get myself together, I’m going to try to bang out another hour or so of work tonight.

Do you have any ciders, hard or otherwise, to recommend?

Candied Bacon Pancakes

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I know that title drew you in, but a lot of stuff happened before the pancakes; it’s been two days!  It’s only Tuesday, but am allowed to say that this week sucks?  I still haven’t worked out (in fact, I slept through my last unlimited yoga class this morning and I’m so sad), I started reviewing class notes for upcoming tests and realized that I’m starting three weeks too late, and I’m in a terrible mood.  I wish I had a day to catch up but instead I had to go to stupid meetings and tomorrow I have to go on even stupider errands.  Bah!

Yesterday, I had a 0% Plain Oikos with a honey stick for breakfast.

Plus a Mott’s Caramel Hot Spiced Cider.

This appears to be another product so new that it’s not on the website.  It was also the start of an appletastic lunch.

Nature’s Path Apple Pie Crunch Chia Plus Bar (I’m loving these; my favorite parts is definitely the chia seeds),

GoGo Squeez Cinnamon Applesauce Packet,

and Apple Month candies.

Plus more candy in the form of a serving of Caramel Apple Sugar Babies when I got home from work.

They were the best Apple Month Candy yet!

Also when I got home from work, I had a total meltdown and Adam saved the day dinner by remembering our Living Social deal to SoHo Burger.

There was actually some nonsense with the deal and I’m pretty annoyed with SoHo Burger as a business, but the food was good and I need to get to bed soon so nevermind.

Adam and I split a Gimme Smore Spiked Shake.  (I ate 45%)  Chocolate fudge, roasted marshmallow, graham crackers, vanilla ice cream, Bacardi Select Dark Rum.

And an order of the Truffle Tater Tots.  (I ate 30%)  New twist on classic house made tater tots seasoned with truffle oil, parmesan cheese and parsley.

For my meal I did a burger and a salad.

A side Caesar (I ate everything but the croutons),

and a “naked,” aka without a bun, Turkey Burger.  (I ate 95%)  8oz fresh organic turkey breast topped with brie cheese and cranberry chutney.

We shared our leftover burger bites with the dog when we got home and he was very happy to see us indeed.

I got in bed the minute we got home.  Literally; I gave the dog his treats and then handed the husband my dress from under the covers!  And then I stayed there through my alarm clock and didn’t get up until I was an hour late this morning.  And I’m still tired.

Coffee with skim milk and a pb-chocolate magic straw was clearly how I needed to start my day.

Then I had a dipping plate.

2 servings of baby carrots,

in 3 servings (for only 150 calories!) of Cedar’s French Onion Yogurt Dip.

The dip was tangy, creamy, and delicious, and yet another product not found on the company’s website.  <– what is up with that lately?!

And a Butterfinger Pumpkin.

Speaking of unhealthy (but delicious) things, I impulse-bought lunch while I was making a much-needed grocery trip this afternoon.  Mac and cheese and sweet and sour chicken.  I didn’t have my camera and I can’t get the phone photo to format so you’ll just have to take my word that it was ridiculously unhealthy.

Speaking again of stupid but tasty purchases – I bought two more pumpkin beers!

Dinner was a two-course breakfast affair.  First, eggs.

Spinach and bok choy cooked in evoo and salt with eggs with light half & half and crumbled blue cheese.

Then candied bacon pancakes with a little maple syrup.

That picture wasn’t worth the wait, was it?

First First Friday In Allentown

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You know how I got into bed way too late last night?  Well I stayed up an hour even later pinning desserts.

For reals.  Stupid, but have you discovered Serious Eats yet?  It could have been the 2 am browsing, but I’m officially a giant fan.  Fun aesthetic, beautiful pictures, delicious recipes and reviews.

This morning was rough but I woke up by “snoozing” on Twitter in bed and that helped me ease into the day.  Congratulations, Kath and Matt!

I ate breakfast on the walk to school.

My Müller Splendid Strawberry Früt Up yogurt was, in fact, splendid.  It’s a strawberry mousse on top of regular yogurt (as in not Greek) and the yogurt was ridiculously, delightfully thick.  It felt like a total treat – a real treat, like pudding, not like when people try to say that fruit is dessert – and was only 140 calories.

My classes went well (I didn’t fall asleep once, I swear!) and before I knew it I was walking to work.  Sidenote – I work every day except for my clinic days (T/R) from now through next Sunday and I’m a little anxious to see how that’s all going to go down.

Lunch was packed for work.

An apple,

and a Raw Revolution Chocolate Coconut Bar.

It was good I didn’t bring more because I barely had time to eat that, there were lots of boxes today.

Adam meet me on foot at the end of my shift and we headed out to cross off another birthday list item.

This was our first First Friday and we both had a great time.  I’m sad I couldn’t take art pictures because we saw some great stuff.  I did manage to take quick snaps of my bites though.

Mostly cheese and its accompaniments, plus a small pour of wine.  And we went to one open house that was giving out free popsicles.

All in all it was a fabulous time.

However – working 7+ hours and then walking 4.5+ miles was a little too much for my feet.  I whimpered the last five blocks or so getting home.  My 4-minute workout plans are out of the question and even though I’m starving I’d rather skip dinner than have to walk somewhere to get it.  Boo.

Does your town do any type of First Friday event?