Tag Archives: cheese

Gourmet On The Go

by

We’re back in Buffalo!  We made it home without losing any limbs or luggage and managed to eat only healthy, delicious meals; I call that a winner travel day!

To start the morning my aunt took me to Atwaters, a local bakery her neighbor owns, to buy a loaf of bread and some provisions for our drive.

I also picked up an iced coffee with skim milk.

Adam and I hung out with my family as long as we could (my cousin just got back from study abroad in Costa Rica and had amazing pictures!) but soon it was time to hit the road.

You know we couldn’t leave Baltimore without self-serving one more frozen yogurt.

I got a mix of cookies and cream and taro yogurt topped with strawberries, bananas, Oreo, sprinkles, and rainbow jelly.

The rainbow jelly took my joy over the top, although now I’m going to be missing froyo and bubble tea!

Typically vacation food goes downhill once you get into the car, but today we were ready and we kept things gourmet.  I bought this Tofu Bahn Mi at Atwaters in the morning and it ended up being the perfect brunch.

Bahn Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich made with pickled veggies.  Typically it is very spicy but this one was pretty mild (my only complaint).

Lunch was also a sandwich, but not just any sandwich.

Bee’s Knees Honey Peanut Butter (good), homemade strawberry jam (better), and Dakota bread (best).

Best damn pb & j I’ve ever had!  I’m seriously amazed by how good this bread is each time I eat it.

We were pretty well prepared but sadly I spent the last few hours in the car dying of hunger.  Adam had a huge bag of m&m’s that made the whole car smell like chocolate and it was all I could do not to pour them down my throat.  I managed to wait, but once I picked up our dinner on the way home I could not keep my hand out of the bag of chips.

Many many (way too many) chips were consumed this evening.

We are out of veggies, actually we are out of everything, so I picked up rice bowls from Moe’s for dinner.

My bowl was rice, black beans, tofu, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions, sautéed green peppers, lettuce, cheese, corn salsa, and cilantro.

I scarfed that bad boy.

Time to unpack!

Get Your Grillz On

by

After my walk this morning I was ready for a good breakfast.

A 2% Mango Chobani yogurt topped with banana and strawberries,

plus a thin slice of Dakota toasted and drizzled with honey.

Great Harvest bread is sort of indescribably good; I’m not sure what we’ll do when this loaf runs out!

Plans for the day included a trip to the aquarium.

This is my crabby face.

Crabby faces are quickly solved by trips to froyo places.

I self-served cheesecake/chocolate/cookies and cream topped with kiwi, strawberries, coconut, sprinkles, and rainbow jelly (<– like what’s in bubble tea, so fun!).

What in the world are Adam and I going to do when we get back to Buffalo?!

Evening snacks included more guacamole,

and more bread dipped in oil.

I promise that our dinner was lovely and delicious, but unfortunately my pictures are all a little dark.  We made pizzas on the grill!

That was my creation – pesto, buffalo mozzarella, shredded mozzarella, and lump crab meat.  The best combo of the night was my uncle’s – pesto, buffalo mozzarella, basil, sun-dried tomatoes, and strawberries!

Here were my pieces; for reference, each piece was slightly smaller than the size of a playing card.

So good.  My cousin also grilled up some peaches,

which were fantastic paired with yesterday’s dessert spread.

We’ve been eating like kings on this vacation.

What’s your favorite thing to cook on the grill?

Tired Travel

by

Hello from Charlottesville!  The last 48 hours have been a total whirlwind, but a little sleep deprivation is definitely worth the family time. 

Yesterday afternoon we had to finish packing, and Adam had to shave, and we had to drop his car off, and the clock ticked ominously as it got later and later.  By the time we actually hit the road it was after 6pm and we knew it was going to be a long night.

We dinnered on sandwiches from home as we drove.

I assembled Nature’s Pride bread, Applegate Farms Organic Roasted Turkey slices, 2% Swiss cheese, and honey mustard; wrapped in tin foil for easy road munching.

Adam and I also split a Starbucks Double Shot drink.

Caffeine was a very good idea (and it continued to be good all today as well) since we pulled into my in-laws’ house at 4:30 in the morning!!  I’m not sure how we managed to be so chipper for our 9:30 wake up call, but I think that vacation excitement always overrules lack of sleep.  I can’t even tell you how crazy the drive was though, between the thunderstorms and the fog we were pretty sure we were driving through the apocalypse.

Breakfast called for carbs, protein, and bacon.  Half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese,

1 scrambled egg,

and 2 slices of turkey bacon.

Moving was not as bad as I was anticipating at all (it probably helped that I was responsible for packing up the pantry and not carrying the couch!), especially since my brother-in-law drove down to help as well.  At some point in the afternoon I was sent into town for packing supplies and Starbucks for my mother-in-law; I grabbed a grande iced nonfat latte for myself.

Lunch was one of those random simple meals that ended up being extra delicious.

This veggie pizza was something my MIL found in the freezer section and it was so dang good; she was worried that the crust started to burn but it was crispy and crunchy in the best possible way.

And this was the best (only?) watermelon I’ve tasted all summer.

The melon was supposed to be dessert but my MIL and I found ourselves stuck at Wendy’s while the moving truck was returned and Frostys were calling our names.  The new Caramel Apple Parfait looked too good not to try.

Oh my gosh guys, props to Wendy’s because this was delicious!  I only ate ~ 1/3 because I didn’t want to overdo it before dinner but I was seriously impressed.  The caramel had great mouth feel and the right balance of sweet and salty.

Adam and I stayed in town after the moving was done so we could have Fathers’ Day dinner at my FIL’s favorite restaurant.  Clearly it was a day of hot work because I drained my beer before it even occurred to me to snap a picture.

This might be the first time I’ve tried a Shock Top and I was surprised by how much I liked it, light and refreshing.

I also nibbled on a complimentary cheesy biscuit.

Think of the biscuits from Red Lobster, but better.

Sagebrush isn’t the type of restaurant that I typically love but my dinner ended up being amazing.

I ordered a side of the veggie medley (without butter)

and a side of sweet potato casserole

to go with my Mountain Trout.

Trout!  This was my first time trying trout and I think it might be my new favorite fish, it was so buttery.  The menu said flash grilled but I’m pretty sure this was fried.  I scraped off the skin but other than that I cleaned my plate.

After dinner we had another late, rainy drive.  I bought this huge (half-sweet) coffee for the road.

I hope the caffeine doesn’t keep me awake but traveling makes my stomach upset and I was hoping coffee would help me feel better.

Tomorrow we’re spending the day exploring Charlottesville and then driving to DC in the evening.  My best friend just texted to let me know that her apartment doesn’t have internet so my posting schedule might be a little off.

Can anyone recommend any “must go” spots in Charlottesville or DC?  Other than frozen yogurt we don’t have much on the agenda!

Comfort Food Fusion

by

When I tried the honey mustard chips yesterday I didn’t love them for snacking but I knew they’d work great as a component in a larger dish.  Like say, tuna melt nachos.

I saw a reader suggestion for a similar idea in an Everyday with Rachel Ray a few months back and I’m so glad I finally tried it.  Blending these two classic comfort foods only made them better.

I piled 1.5 oz of Lays Honey Mustard Chips with 2/3 a can’s worth of tuna salad (made with Miracle Whip and pickle relish) and 1/4 cup of shredded parmesan.  After a 8minute spin in a 400* oven I had a win-worthy dish.

This would have been even more amazing with my honey mustard tuna salad, but I didn’t think that Adam would eat those leftovers.

This dish made me think about other comfort foods we serve together: fries with chilli, Oreos in milkshakes, pizza in egg rolls; I wonder which epic combinations we’ve yet to think of.

My side dish was supposed to be a plum, but this is what I got when I cut mine in half.

I don’t know what that spongey stuff is but it didn’t look appetizing.  I’m taking a walk to the Co-op later this afternoon, hopefully I can get in some fruit then because we are clean out here.

Which two comfort foods would you like to try together?

Rebel Without A Cause

by

My productivity came to a sudden halt this afternoon when my body remembered that I put it to bed at 5am and rebelled.  And it rebelled hard, the closest I came to a workout was belly laughing at “That 70’s Show.”

Afternoon snacks included mini candy,

mini (coconut) milk,

and a white chocolate toffee cookie.

When it was 8:30 and dinner was still just a thought we decided to get rice bowls from Moe’s instead.

This bowl included:

  • rice (I asked for less than they usually give)
  • black beans
  • chicken
  • grilled mushrooms
  • cheese
  • sour cream
  • corn salsa
  • lettuce
  • olives
  • cilantro

It was delicious, though I did end up picking around most of the chicken.

Which saved me room for chips with queso.

I guess I’ve just got an extra big to-do list for tomorrow!

Work Hard, Party Harder

by

It was a slower shift (ie not as much $) but I had a good day at work today.  Plus, this happened –

Apparently I work with the boyfriend of a blog reader; Hi, Katie G!!

One of my friends was hosting a (girls only!) party tonight so I stopped at the Co-op after work to pick up some chips and dip.  I bought this raspberry lemonade for the walk home.

It was meh; I ended up giving the 2nd half to Adam.

I had enough time between work and fun to get hungry so while I whipped up Adam’s dinner I ate his leftover corn from yesterday.

What kind of a freak doesn’t like corn on the cob?!

I ended up making dinner out of party foods.

I stuck heavily with green grapes and 7-layer dip.

I didn’t want to do any drinking because I have a hot busy day planned tomorrow (walking to/through the Allentwon Art Festival) but I did drink some sugar-free iced tea out of a glass with a fun charm.

The party was pretty intimate and we ended up talking a lot about health stuff, which you know I loved.  I realized tonight that I actually know a few things about nutrition!  I can’t even tell you how exciting it was to be able to answer (simple) questions about my future profession; it felt like something finally clicked between me and Dietetics.

Before I had to bed I’ll leave you with this factoid – Dietitians recommend that everyone take a multivitamin (or prenatal vit if you are a woman of child-bearing age) and that women also take a calcium supplement.  One of the reasons that a multi alone can’t cover your calcium needs is because it would be size prohibitive – a multivitamin with enough calcium would be a big horse pill that would be difficult to take.

That Which Shall Not Be Blogged

by

Blogging lunch is hard because of not blogging yesterday.  Blogging breakfast was impossible because I slept through it, but that’s another story!

I did eat lunch though, and it requires that I go back to what I did 24 hours ago.  Which was go on a date to the Spot with Adam to get a Funghi Pizza before work.

Mozzarella cheese with an assortment of roasted and fresh mushrooms finished with extra virgin truffle oil drizzle.

I ate the leftovers today for lunch.

Delicious, especially when I dipped the crusts in my Cherry Coke Zero.

Yesterday before work I also did some baking,  Jenna’s sunflower butter cookies.

I forgot to flatten the first trays with a fork before baking (what? I’ve never made peanut butter cookies before!) and the cookie balls that resulted were nice and doughy on the inside.

I ate two small ones for dessert with lunch today.

Also good with Cherry Coke Zero!

I realize that this was a lame quick post, but I’ve gotta say that I’m enjoying blogging again after my short break.  I really enjoy being a (mostly)-three-meals-a-day blogger, rather than a once in a while poster.

Bloggers – what percentage of your meals do you blog?  Readers – do you prefer all-of-the-time bloggers, or once that post just snippets.

Bad Decisions Brew Bad Outcomes

by

I’m going to be honest from the start: this is a fairly whiney post.  In fact, I’ve got a pretty fun recipe post coming this evening (hopefully!) so you may want to just wait.  If you’re still here, I’ll tell you that I’ve been in a rotten mood for the past 24 hours.  It’s been a very frustrating day, not without a few high points though.

I’ll be honest; yesterday afternoon when we went to the Co-op what I really wanted was nachos.  I talked myself out of them in the interest of attempting to actually be healthy this summer, but it was a big mental battle.  <– I shared the play by plays with the husband too, fun for him.  So when I was hungry within 5 minutes of arriving at work yesterday (the hot bar wasn’t very good) I had some regret about my choice.  It doesn’t help that my workplace serves some amazing looking nachos that make me green with envy every time I serve them.

Anyway, I was at work getting hungrier and hungrier, when we had a terrible string of customers that made me question humanity.  Sidenote:  to the woman who requested a private room for a birthday party, brought in her own cake for me to serve, received amazing service, and then tipped me $20 on a $245 bill – I hope someone punches you in the face.  I’m thinking about doing a mini-post on tipping actually, would anyone be interested in that?

As my mood got worse and worse, I knew nachos were the answer.  When I got cut 20 minutes early (ie before the kitchen was closed) I knew it was a sign from the cheese gods.  Nachos.

I realize that bad lighting / the to-go container / the fact that these had to sit and wait for me to finish work makes these look less appetizing than they could, but let me assure you these were a high point of the day!

The nachos were ridiculous good.  Housemade chips with poblano peppers, mango salsa, and smoked gouda?  Heck yes!

I brought the nachos home to share with the husband but I ended up housing 80% of them myself.  Unfortunately, and unsurprisingly, consuming that much smoked gouda made me sick to my stomach.  Totally worth it, but this combined with my bad mood did keep me up past 3am.  When I did finally get in bed the husband tells me that I thrashed about and made noise all night.

I didn’t get out of bed until 10am this morning and after sending a few e-mails I realized that I was a) still in a terrible mood, and b) still exhausted.  Back to bed I went.

I got up around 3 with the goal of cashing in on free donut day at Dunkin, and getting in my 5miler.  I ordered a small iced coffee with skim milk,

and got a free Boston Cream donut out of the deal.

Goal #1, check.

Goal #2 = massive fail.  Probably in part because I fueled for the gym with a freaking donut.  Probably also in part because my sleep schedule is that of a college student or a crazy person and I’m in fact a 25-year-old sane person.  I got to the gym, suited up, bought a Gatorade, then got on the treadmill and died.  I was too tired to physically make myself run in the proper form.  I couldnt’ even walk at a pace about 3.2 miles per hour.  It was ridiculous.

I’m so mad at myself!  I realized from the start that I might not be able to actually do the half (especially when my knee started hurting) but I didn’t realize that it would have anything to do with being lazy with my training plan.  What has my problem been the last few weeks?!  As I yelled at myself I did at least come to two realizations –

  1. I need to do better at the grocery store so that there aren’t so many mornings where there’s nothing healthy in the house for me to eat.  Even without sleep, my gym trip would have gone better if I was properly fueled.
  2. I have to get serious about sleeping like an adult.  When Adam’s working at the hospital our hours will be crazy and there’s nothing I can do about it, but right now I have control over the situation.  I don’t get out of work that late, if I came home and went to bed it’d be all good.  But instead I come home and get sucked into the computer/tv and am tired and frustrated all the next day; not good!

What’s a bad decision you’ve made lately?  What can you do to help yourself in the future?