Tag Archives: cheese

Vacation At Home

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Some people find that having visitors is stressful, but I think it gives you a great opportunity to be a tourist in your own city.  It does help that my visitors are my (funny, easy-going) parents and they pay for everything!  When you have guests it’s like you get to take a vacation at home because they force you to view your city with fresh eyes.

Let me tell you though, vacationing at home can be exhausting! We’ve been falling into bed after 1 am every night and this post is two days in one because I just couldn’t make myself sit down at the computer before bed last night.  Even with double content I’ve got to keep this quick because otherwise it’ll be another post-1 am bedtime and my parents leave early tomorrow.

Tuesday morning started with a very unvacation-like trip to the orthodontist.  But then I took my parents to breakfast at Sweetness 7 Cafe.

S7C is a totally adorable coffee and crepes place; I plan on bringing a good book and camping out for the day eating crepes very soon.

I ordered an iced black tea,

and my parents and I split 2 crepes 3 ways.

Kiss Me I’m Irish – plain crepes with syrup and a cracked fried egg in the center.

Irish Blessing – caramelized fresh apples with melted brie.

Apparently we went Irish for breakfast, and the choice served us well.  I don’t have much experience for comparison but these are the best crepes I’ve ever had; so eggy!

After breakfast we walked a third of the loop around Delaware Park so my parents could see the Buffalos.

I continued to get my sweat on by taking advantage of their hotel gym while they got ready for the day.  30 minutes on the elliptical at random level 6.  It was amazing to have access to a tv at the gym, especially because I was the only one in there and I could control the remote.

Our next activity was a trip to the Albright Knox Gallery.

I wanted to snap a picture of practically everything, but I controlled myself and stuck to a few favorites.

The first day with a new set of retainers is always super painful so I went with a liquid lunch.

A Vega Vanilla-Almonde Shake and Go Smoothie packet that I grabbed from the co-op on a whim.  The flavor was good but not great, and this didn’t do an awesome job of sating my hunger, but I was definitely pleased with this –

And it’s just as well that I was left a bit hungry, because my best meal of the year was coming for dinner.  Don’t let the pictures fool you (why are restaurants always so darn dark?!), Scotch and Sirloin is basically a must-go!  I never would have ventured there if it hadn’t been for Groupon, but I am so glad that I crossed my fingers and bought the deal.

Adam and I split a bowl of crab bisque to start.

I also got a plate from the salad bar.

Romaine with mushrooms, artichokes, cucumber and French dressing.  Plus a slice of the best bread I’ve had since Great Harvest, super duper doughy.

For dinner my dad and I split the two best things on the menu: Fried shrimp,

and the double lobster tail with drawn butter.

Like butter dipped in butter!  We were so impressed with this meal, I can’t even tell you.  I ended up eating three fried shrimp,

most of one lobster tail,

and all of the veggies.

For dessert we ended up at a candy shop on Elmwood with an ice cream counter.

I went with Ciao Bella Gelato, a half scoop each of key lime pie and malted milk ball flavors.

Fashion note – How cute is the back of this shirt?!

I actually bought this years ago in college but it has a strange, unflattering band around the waist so I’d worn it maybe once or twice.  I can’t believe it took me so long to think of pairing it with a high-waisted skirt.

We sat outside of The Spot to eat our ice cream and I also drank a small, non-fat, iced Chai.

– – – Insert time (not enough!) to sleep. – – –

I picked my parents up bright and early this morning for breakfast at Panos.  I got the 2-2-2; french toast, sunny side up eggs, and hash browns.

I ended up eating one egg, 1 piece (1 half slice) of french toast, and all of my potatoes.  The amount of leftover food was a little annoying considering I ate exactly the portion of the 1-1-1 – from the kids’ menu – that they wouldn’t let me order.  However, after taking a bite of my dad’s blueberry pancakes I decided that Pano’s can do no wrong and a little wasted food isn’t a big deal.

Coffee #1 of the day was a tall iced coffee with skim milk from Starbucks.

Did I mention that I’m exhausted?

My parents are sleeping at our apartment tonight so I took advantage of their gym one last time before they checked out.  10 minutes of walking on the treadmill and 30 minutes on the elliptical.  I also carried both of my parents’ suitcases up our three flights of stairs and I’d like to count that as strength training!

Our big activity for the last vacation day was a long walk down Elmwood.  We stopped in to basically every store and I definitely discovered a few hidden gems.

Mid-afternoon we grabbed lunch from the Globe Market.

1/4 lb each peanut noodles and Thai vegetable salad.

Meh.  It wasn’t terrible but I’m honestly not a big fan of Globe.

Whether due to hunger or exhaustion or increased physical activity, hunger hit me hard this afternoon. We ran a bunch of random errands and during that time Adam and I split some new flavors of candy,

and I drank a chocolate milk.

Dinner at Chester’s Cajun Grill was a meal Adam and I had been looking forward to ever since we tried the Smoked Bourbon Chicken Sandwich at the Taste of Buffalo.  Of course we had to get the sandwich.

It wasn’t good!!  I can’t even tell you how said this made us.  It wasn’t terrible, but we could only rate it a 5/10 and the sandwich we tried at the festival was a 9.5/10.  I ate most of my meal but only because I was hungry; even the fries were pretty tasteless.

Thank goodness we had good company.  We ended our evening with a final trip to the Spot to sit and talk; we are going to miss my parents so much when they fly home tomorrow!  Coffee #2 – a grande, iced Americano with skim milk and two sugars – was actually consumed at 11 pm so I could make it through this post.

And I’m done; phew!

Tantrum Take Out

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This afternoon I microwaved two mini corn tortillas with 2 slices of sharp cheddar to make a quick quesadilla.

I also made a Coke float.

My decadent snack had just under 500 calories, perfect to make up for missing breakfast.

Plus, so tasty!

When Adam got home this evening we laid down on the bed so he could tel me about his day, and promptly fell asleep.  I woke up disoriented with a headache to boot.  I had a mini tantrum and our planned dinner got scrapped in favor of Chinese food.

I ordered a pint of vegetable Chow Fun,

and a pint of vegetarian General Tso’s chicken.

I hope they’re good!

What’s your go-to take out dinner when you’re having a tantrum?

Tastes So Good Makes A Grown Man Cry

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It’s summer!  I know that’s been official for a while, but the tasty produce available here has me absolutely convinced.

I know it’s late afternoon, and not morning, but my first meal of the day was not eaten until after 1pm because apparently I’m having a lazy day.  I also know that it’s Thursday, not Wednesday.  We got some news yesterday and I took the day off of blogging in lieu of family time.  And speaking of family time, my parents are coming this weekend!

Ok, enough segues, lunch.

1.5 oz of Cabot 50% reduced white cheddar cheese and a schmear of Crofter’s grape fruit spread on sourdough.  Jam and cheese make the perfect sandwich combo.

For dessert, a huge bowl of local cherries from the co-op.

As I said, summer is here!

Yes, I Want Quesadillas

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Tonight’s dinner inspiration came from Katie at Yes, I Want Cake.  Layered quesadillas.

YIWC also inspires me to poke holes in all our condoms but Adam says we should have jobs before we have our own adorable baby.  I guess I’ll stick with copying dinner.  Katie’s quesadillas were triple deckers but I went with two layers with extra cheese.

Here’s the breakdown of our ‘dillas –

Plus homemade guacamole.

We made the guac with mashed avocado, mayan onion, tomato, and salt and pepper; it was delicious.  In fact the whole meal was great.

Thanks for the idea, Katie!

Earlier this afternoon, the husband made me a Coke float.

So good.  The adorable glass is from the bar I worked at back home, complete with a drink recipe.

And now I’m actually heading out for another drink, this time coffee.  My friend Katie (the one from last night, not the dinner inspiration with the adorable baby) is moving soon so I’m trying to see her as much as possible.  We are meeting at the Spot before she leaves for a trip tomorrow.

Grog Not Groggy

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After my run this morning I joined my parents for an hour and a half bike ride.  I burnt the crap out of my forearms yesterday so I ended up biking in 85* weather in this –

Worth it.  We rode all around the path and over some gorgeous bridges.  I so wish I’d had my camera but I couldn’t figure out a place to put it.

We came home for a refreshing breakfast.

0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt with a strawberry honey straw, blueberries, peach, and Great Harvest granola.

I have maybe a half serving of granola left and my heart is breaking.

Getting lunch was not my strong suit today and I will admit that I was a little cranky this afternoon.  We did do some fun things though, like explore a neat farmer’s market.

I grabbed an iced coffee from a stand at the market.

But traded iced in for hot as soon as I saw this –

Grog style coffee?!  With a little skim milk.

I swear it did taste like buttered rum!

We also traveled to the mecca.

I bought sushi (spicy and regular brown rice California rolls) for lunch but I only ate three pieces.

Yucky City, way too much (mushy) rice.  If I had been closer to the store I would have returned it but I was eating on the car ride home.

I split these Sunkist gems with my dad for dessert.

Yum City.

My grumbling tummy was very happy when dinner was served.

Side salad with peas, radishes, spicy ranch, and dill cheese curds.

Corn on the cob so tasty it blew the corn I bought in Buffalo out of the water.

And quesadilla with sautéed onions and peppers, turkey sausage, shredded chicken, and colby and sharp cheddar cheese.

With a small turtle blizzard for dessert.

I’ve been pretty well fed this vacation.  Nonetheless, I can’t wait to go home to my husband tomorrow and hear about his first week back at school!

My Aching Ischium

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Ow!

I wish I could blog more about today but it’s after midnight and I am just so tired!  Time to keep things cursory.

I started my morning with a version of my new favorite breakfast.

Great Harvest granola (essential!) with berries, 0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt, and a blue raspberry honey stick.

Delicious, and totally fun looking.

Then my parents and I headed out for a 3 hour bike ride.  Hence the aching sit-bones!  My plan was to run but my leg is sore (from accelerating of all things) and I think I ended up getting a better workout anyways.

After our three hour ride a big lunch was key.

It doesn’t look like much but that’s a vegetarian rice bowl from the burrito place down the street.  Rice, black beans, creamy hot sauce, tomatoes, corn salsa, guacamole, lettuce, cheese and pineapple.

It was a totally ridiculously delicious combination of flavors.

I also had this light Arnold Palmer.

We ran some fun errands this afternoon including a little farmers’ market,

and then headed to dinner at Beppo Uno.

I started with a side Cesar salad,

and ordered the baked zitti for dinner.

I can’t believe my nacho-obsessed self can even say this but it was a little too cheesy for me!

I only took a few bites but gulped down my shockingly good garlic bread,

and a slice of my mom’s shrimp and pesto pizza.

I guess I’m carbo-loading for tomorrow’s bike ride?!

I’m blogging so late because my parents and I went to see a 9:20 showing of “Bad Teacher.”  <– Cameron Diaz meh, Jason Segel hubba hubba!

Off The Road

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I made it!  I was a little nervous about driving 7 hours by myself but it ended up being ok.  Of course I’d rather drive with Adam, but it’s nice to know that I can do it by myself.  Caffeine helped.  A sugar-free Red Bull was brought from home.

I also brought lunch so I wouldn’t have to stop.  Cheese and jam sandwich.

That’s 2 slices of Dakota topped with 2 oz of 50% reduced fat white cheddar and Crofters Concord Grape Spread.

And a baggie of carrots.

I did stop once to pee and I grabbed a half sweet coffee for the 2nd half of the trip.

And then I was there!  My dad took me to rent a bike as soon as I arrived (there’s a path near my grandparents’ house that we’re going to use this weekend) and we went out for a short ride.

Soon enough it was time for dinner.

Baked asparagus,

breaded baked chicken,

a rice mixture,

caprese salad,

and fruit on the side.

After dinner I took my grandpa to a local baseball game and then the whole family ended up meeting for ice cream.

That’s a small twist with marshmallow.

And now it’s bed time.

Pride of Lions

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I am so proud of my husband.  He begins his 3rd year of medical school tomorrow and I’m sure he’ll kick as much ass at clinical as he did his first two years of school!  The soon-to-be-3rd-years had a celebratory ceremony today and Adam was in charge of the opening/closing remarks.  <– this is why his parents are in town

Before the festivities began, I took my in-laws out to brunch.

I had a bogo coupon for Moe’s so that’s where we went.  What?  Mexican food can be brunch.

I got another rice bowl.

Rice, black beans, tofu, green pepper, onion, mushrooms, lettuce, cilantro, cheese, and corn salsa.

And chips with a side of queso.

I ate about 2/3 of everything and it was delicious.  I love how healthy Moe’s is, but I will admit that it’s got me hankering for some cheesy, crunchy, greasy, authentic Mexican food.

Adam did a great job at the ceremony, sometimes I can’t believe that the handsome, funny, well-spoken medical student belongs to me!

Afterwards we cheers’d at Pearl Street Brewery.

I was drinking a Blue Eyed Blueberry Blonde.

My beer was nice and refreshing, with just a few hints of fruit.  I love that Pearl Street microbrews on site.  Whenever a beer is described as blonde I know I’m bound to like it; I also enjoy dark beers (Guinness, Turbo Dog…) but I hate IPAs.

Along with my beer I ordered a turkey reuben.

Not on the menu, but they’ll sub turkey for corned beef if you ask nicely.

It was delicious but so filling that I could only handle half.  I left my chips only completely though; who eats chips when their husband’s meal comes with wedge fries?!

Yum!  My favorite fries are the big, squishy ones.

Once we got my in-laws on the road we had to run a few errands.  I’m actually going on another trip in just a few days so we had to get the husband stocked with a few groceries.  I grabbed a white chocolate toffee cookie while we were at the store.

I’m going to get off the computer now so that I can spend Adam’s last free night (ever!) hanging out, but know that I will be enjoying a big bowl of peanut brittle ice cream later this evening!