I know that this recipe has been on my blog for a while, but it is so flipping good that I had to highlight it again. Just look at the text Adam sent me after he tasted the burgers the other day –
The main thing that sucks about having a tiny, unknown blog is that people don’t see/make all of the recipes that I think are amazing. I promise, I’m a much better recipe creator than I am writer and photographer! So this post is my plea to you – try these jalopeño popper burgers for yourself. They are meaty and cheesy and just a little spicy.
My favorite way to eat them is on a bun with a little bit of Miracle Whip to cut the heat.
Jalopeño Popper Burgers, serves 6
P.S. Another burger plea; I entered a contest that I’m not going to win. If you could like and repin my Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burger recipe on Pinterest it would mean the world to me.
I have got to stop falling asleep without blogging! Some days (many days) are crazy and boring and I skip posting. Other days are crazy and delicious and make me want to blog. But two crazy and delicious days in a row makes for one loooooong recap!
Breakfast was all about the FNCE samples. Gross was the Strawberry Del Monte Squeezable fruit.
There was a flavor there that I just didn’t care for. Almost savory?!
Great was the Jamba Juice Fruit-i-licious Probiotic Trail Mix (I ate the whole bag, or 2 servings).
It had tons of fruit and nuts and just enough chocolate to be fun.
I planned on making dinner before I went to work so I made a quick trip to the store on my way home from school. Coffee with skim milk to warm me up when I got home.
Archer Farms’ Cinnamon Vanilla Nut is the best flavor I’ve ever gotten from Target.
My lunch snack was a sweet tasting plate.
A sliced banana with crunchy honey pb,
and half of a Theo Bread and Chocolate Bar.
I love this bar! Normally 70% would be a little dark for me but the saltiness of the bread really brings out the sweet in the chocolate.
I also ate a 100-calorie bag of kettle corn.
I managed to get dinner made, but not with much time to spare; I ate on the walk to work!
Roasted green beans,
and a turkey burger on a bun with sharp cheddar and Miracle Whip.
I’m going to stay cryptic and just say “burger” because this recipe was so tasty that it warrants its own separate post tomorrow. I know most people scan these long recaps and I do NOT want this burger recipe to get lost!
After work, I ate a slice of turkey while I packed Adam’s lunch.
And that was it. It was quite lucky that I ate dinner for lunch because otherwise I would have gone to bed hungry.
I got my flu shot Sunday morning. PSA – Flu shots save lives. Even if you aren’t worried about the flu, you should get the shot because it helps protect the people around you. That said, I am having a major adverse reaction to my flu shot!
I couldn’t get a picture that really shows anything (it is surprisingly tricky to photograph your upper arm), but imagine a giant, raised, red area around my injection site. It itches like crazy and is making me insane. Adam didn’t see my reaction until Monday night but as soon as he did he fed me an allergy med and put me in bed.
When I say that Adam “put me in bed” on Monday night, it is worth mentioning that he let me pass out teeth unbrushed, jeans still on, and alarm clock unset! I managed to make it to school on time but I was very confused this morning!
There wasn’t much time for breakfast so I grabbed a Chocolate Zico Coconut Water,
and an Odwalla Chocolate Almond Coconut Chewy Nut Bar (a FNCE sample).
Dee-lish-us! The bar immediately moved to my “top five bars” list (now that Balance Bars aren’t good there is a major hole to fill!). It tasted like real food, really tasty real food.
We were on campus today so I also got to cash in a free coffee card at the book store.
3 shots of espresso with tons of vanilla sugar and skim milk. And then I twitched wildly for the rest of the day…
Instead of clinical practice at the hospital, today we had an intensive lecture on enteral and parenteral nutrition – i.e. feeding through a tube into the GI tract or through a vein. It is insanely complicated but at least I think the calculations are a ton of fun. I’m certainly not the smartest person in our program (not by a long shot!) but when we do any sort of math I’m usually the first person in the room to finish. Who knew as I struggled through 9th grade pre-calculus that I’d grow up to get all tingly over formulas?!
Another fun part of the day? A rep from Nestle came in and showed us some different products. We got to taste thickened water and thickened diet pepsi (honey consistency) –
Their commercial thickener is just xantham gum – like I used to use in my smoothies! – plus a few preservatives.
Also fun was the longer lunch period that let my friends and me go to Wegman’s.
I hadn’t packed food so this was very serendipitous.
Buffalo chicken chowder,
and a green veggie brown rice sushi roll with spicy mayo on the side for dipping.
Between buffalo sauce soup, spicy mayo dipping, and the wasabi that I slathered on top of my sushi, this lunch left me sweating!
I stole a fun sized candy bar from my friend for dessert.
Ignore my sandals, and note that I bundled up today for Fall.
Fall is here exhibit b – tea with skim milk and cinnamon sugar.
Fall is here exhibit c – the apple crumble candle I burned while I studied.
Fall is here exhibit isn’t she done with this gag yet?! – an apple crumble yogurt bowl.
This is another dish I plan on making often. A 0% Plain Greek yogurt topped with cooked apple (a chopped Sweet Tango microwaved for 2 minutes with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 2 tsp agave) and crumble (KIND Oats and Honey Clusters granola, a FNCE sample).
The rest of dinner was a random assortment of snacks while I studied. A chocolate chip cookie dough mini Larabar (FNCE sample).
A mini tortilla with 2 slices of Applegate Farms Honey Maple Turkey and melted sharp cheddar.
Cold, leftover green beans for veggie needs.
And a 100-calorie bag of kettle corn.
As I said, looooong! Like hot-dog-dog long.
Have you ever had an adverse reaction to the flu shot?
I’m blogging a two-day recap from a blanket nest with a killer migraine, so please excuse any typos. I was hoping to be back on a “normal” blog schedule by now, but I’m not sure that’ll ever happen this semester!
Going back to yesterday… Wonder of wonders, I made it to the gym! 20 minutes on the elliptical; random level 6. The machine was out of water so I drank a fruit punch g2 while I worked.
It was embarrassing to have so much fuel for such a short workout but I ended up being very thankful that I had it. I guzzled most of it during my workout, then refilled the bottle with water and drank all of that on the drive home. I guess I came back from Philly a little dehydrated.
From my trip to the gym, I came back short on time. Thank goodness Adam had the day off yesterday; he drove me to school and packed my breakfast. FNCE expo samples were heavily featured. An iced coffee with skim milk.
A mini apple pie Larabar.
An apple it its true form.
And a serving of Cheddar Cheese Beanitos.
I was a big fan of the (pinto bean and flax-seed) chips. They were nice and crunchy with just a touch of spice.
I’m also a big fan of things working out in the lab. Look at what I made in Microbiology – spread plates and pour plates!
Adam’s undergrad degree was in Microbiology Immunology and sometimes it is downright embarrassing to show him my class-work!
I had several to-do’s after lab, but I made it home in time to make dinner before work. My mid-day meal was pretty lame. 2 small corn tortillas microwaved with ~1/4 cup shredded cheese.
Plus a 2% Fage with Peach.
And the last two Buttered Rum Raisin Cookies from the batch I brought my friend.
We are getting in all of our Christmas stock now and work was more like a workout; I carried boxes up and down the stairs for my most my shift. I was very glad to have dinner already finished when I got home.
Green Tuna Enchiladas; serves 4-6
Dinner did not fill me up like I was hoping. I ate a huge spoonful of Skippy Natural Super Chunk with Honey; aka the very best peanut butter ever.
And I had dessert. I am working on a hot chocolate recipe so I’m not going to share the ingredients now, but I will tell you that this batch included a serving of Caramel Apple Milky Ways for funsies.
It was ridiculous good. Ridiculous.
Moving on to Tuesday… Today had a productive start but has steadily gone downhill. I had a difficult time getting out of my warm bed and ended up eating breakfast on the walk from my car to the hospital. A Sweet Tango apple,
and a Full Moon Brownie Z-Bar, which I actually hated.
I couldn’t put my finger on what the problem was specifically, but the taste of the bar was not good to me.
Today was my busiest day at clinic yet. I had a patient on my own in the morning, then worked on another in a group later in the afternoon. We had our first practice with tube-feeds today and it was both fascinating and frustrating. We’ve learned a lot in school but it’s all been in isolation; in the real world conditions overlap. For example*, you might have a patient in End Stage Renal Disease that has increased protein needs for wound healing and is also a Diabetic. *just an example, this wasn’t a specific patient that we worked with today
Also, my friend Janessa and I offered to turn-key some of what we learned at FNCE, so we did a short presentation on ketogenic diets for epilepsy. The group had to stay late so that we could present and I love them all for still being interested in what we had to say.
I ate a late lunch during my afternoon errands. Vegan pecan cornbread stuffing from the co-op.
Buffalo peeps – run to the co-op to get some of this stuffing, it had the perfect blend of flavors and textures.
Then hot bar at Wegman’s while I ran through my notes before shopping.
I did three types of vegetable stir-fry.
I am glad that I got in veggies and time studying, because both were in short supply when I got home. Minutes after walking in the door, I got an immense migraine. It came on much more quickly than they usually do and made me unbelievably nauseous.
Adam brought home pizza for dinner and I ate a big plate once I was able to get out of bed.
Now I have to go try to study for tomorrow’s giant exam. <– so screwed
What is your favorite store-bought peanut butter?
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?!
In less than 12 hours, I’ll be headed to Philly! Guess I should be getting in bed, huh? Between clinic, packing, and baking what felt like a million things, it was a busy day.
Food at the hospital. GoGo Squeez cinnamon applesauce packet and a vanilla Stinger waffle.
1 serving of Vanilla Almond Special K with Tempt vanilla hemp milk, chopped plum and nectarine, and 1.5 Tbsp chunky honey peanut butter.
Taste-test #1; look for the recipe on Monday.
Here’s a hint –
Taste-test #2; look for the post on Tuesday.
Taste-test #3; my Buttered Rum Raisin Cookies.
Actually, I “tested” two cookies. Adam and I have decided that these cookies are the best I’ve ever made! My friends and I are staying with a high school friend of mine for a night before the conference starts and I’m saying “thank you” with a big box of cookies.
Grocery store sample.
Adam and I split this plate of carbs and veggies (lasagna, mac and cheese, kale, tofu, and broccoli).
I ended up mostly sticking with the greens. I realized two bites in that the “vegetarian lasagna” was loaded with pork!!!! So sad; but on the plus side we got our food comped so Adam ate for free.
I tried again with pizza plate for dinner.
Veggie slice, buffalo chicken roll up, baby carrots, and blue cheese for dipping.
When was the least time you ate something you didn’t mean to?
Oh boy! I don’t have a lot to show for today because the whole day was crazy. I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off from 7 am to midnight. Going out-of-town for five days will make your to-do list a little insane. And I haven’t even started to pack; mostly I was taking care of school errands.
Breakfast was an energy drink during class.
And I drank 4oz of Chamaeleon Cold Brew coffee over ice with skim milk and a chocolate pb magic straw on my walk to work.
Solid food didn’t happen until dinner; I was honestly too busy to eat all day!
Thankfully dinner was fun, filling, and a line through my to do list birthday goal list. Adam came into the store just before we closed and told me to hurry because he had a surprise for me. My bosses guessed a new puppy (if only!), I figured it would be something pumpkin flavored, and my co-worker had her money on booze.
None of the above. He hurried me over to Delaware Park because he had spotted Lloyd’s Taco Truck and knew a food truck visit was on my list.
Thanks, honey!
I ordered the Tricked Out Nachos and was not disappointed.
White corn chips served with salsa roja, homemade Lloyd queso, chimichurri sour cream, brined jalapeños and pickled red onions, topped with stewed black beans.
Even with a day’s worth of hunger I couldn’t quite finish that monster serving!
For dessert we split the Puddin’ Cup.
Rich chocolate puddin’, dulce de leche caramel, and pumpkin seed brittle.
I guess I got my pumpkin after all!
Are you a food truck fan? What’s the tastiest item you’ve gotten on the go?
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.
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.
Eating Chalk 