Tag Archives: cheese

This Is A Morning

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I said I’d blog in the morning, I just didn’t say which morning.

As promised, Adam came home Saturday night with a feast.

We split some waffle fries,

and I ate half of this spicy bean enchillada.

In the morning we took a long walk (he pooped!),

and picked up an iced tea from Starbucks.

Then came home and made breakfast.

I had turkey bacon,

two eggs with spicy corn relish scrambled in,

and a Bagel Thin with Smart Balance Lite and Crofters Organic Grape Spread.

My plan for the afternoon was supposed to be a 3 mile run.  But then this happened –

So then this happened –

Webster makes spending the afternoon at home so much more exciting.  As do brownies.

These S’mores Brownies are definitely in the top ten list of things I’ve baked!

I think I actually like them better than traditional s’mores!

We did take a few walks, which turned into mud baths, which turned into Webster’s first real bath.  Eeee, wet dachshunds are so cute; I will have to remember to take a picture next time.

I had dinner/drinks plans at 8:00 which felt late so I did some afternoon snacking.  Baby carrots dipped in blue cheese dressing.

Half a matzoh sheet with extra sharp cheddar melted on top.

A mug of Candy Cane Lane with skim milk.

And 1 serving of Trolli Soda Poppers.

The snacking did the trick and before I knew it I was at Bar Louie with my friends.  I know it’s sort of a breakfast drink, but the extra spicy bloody mary was calling my name.

It was spicy and delicious, but I was a little put off by the freaking sandwich Bar Louie stuck in the top of it –

I don’t eat meat!  I did eat a small plate of the appetizers we shared.

I’m so happy that I ended up with such a great group in my year for Dietetics.  I didn’t get home until after 12 and I will admit to feeling a bit cranky this morning.

I’m starving and I assume Webster’s chewing on my bookshelves to tell me that he’s bored, so we’re off to take a long walk.  This will be my first day home alone with the puppy, wish me luck!

Family and Froyo

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As you can probably guess from the title, we had a good Saturday. Of course Saturday got off to a ruff start when our neighbor’s dog parked from 1-2 am. No not a peep from Webster, he doesn’t bark, seriously. He did get us up at 4:30 for a quick pee walk though; good thing he’s so cute!

When we got up for real around 8 we took Webster on longer, 50 minute (round trip) walk to the lake.

He got a break in the middle while I tackled these –

I can tell you that there are 41 steps there because I counted while I ran up and down them. Actually, I walked down and sprinted up for 15 minutes of cardio, gasp, gasp! Good thing I had such a nice view.

I made some sludge for breakfast.

1 frozen banana, ~ 3/4 cup frozen spinach, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, and ~ 1 cup So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk.

The flavor combo was good but the spinach didn’t blend all the way and I don’t like chewable smoothies! Sort of like chewable vitamins, which I swallowed whole for months before my parents realized I could switch to big girl vitamins.

After a quick shower we got on the road to Ohio for our niece’s sixth birthday party. Adam’s entire family made it for the festivities and I’m so grateful that our friends agreed to puppy-sit for the day so we could go.

Also exciting? They have froyo in their town!!!

I got ~ 1/2 cup of cake batter and dulce de leche swirl, topped with butterfinger, skore, coconut, sprinkles, and hot fudge.

Gah, froyo, we need you in Buffalo!

Sidenote – remember how I said I wish I was more preppy?  This outfit is like what would happen if that ambition threw up all over me.

It’s hard to top self-serve, but we had a wonderful time at the party. We don’t get to see Adam’s family (or mine) as much as we’d like.

I lunched on party food.

Fruit salad with tasty mango,

part of a turkey sandwich with l, t, m, and c (mayo and cheese),

and a small slice of pizza.

After presents and singing, we also had cake.

I split that piece with the husband; cake – Adam, icing – Emily.

A loooooong (not really, but it sure felt like it!) car ride later and we were kissing Webster.  He actually hasn’t pooped since we picked him up yesterday and I’m getting sort of worried.  He has one more day to drop some kids off at the pool before I’m calling the emergency vet.

It was after 9:30 when we got home and I might have had a bit of a mini meltdown about how hungry I was.  The situation was not helped by our exhausted puppy making us feel too guilty to use the microwave.  The situation was helped greatly by Adam’s announcement that his mom slipped him money for dinner.  He’s out picking up a feast while I blog.  Recap to come in the morning.

Does your town have self-serve froyo?

Pizza Powered

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As planned, we ordered a pie from Just Pizza last night and it was fabulous.

We got a Laura’s Old Fashioned – “The way our Mother used to make it. Made with Extra Thick Dough, a special Sweet Pizza Sauce (fresh sliced Onions in the sauce), Mozzarella & Romano Cheese, topped with Mushrooms.”

Not so fabulous was the way I felt after eating 5 slices this size.

Fat, ill, and irritated with myself for noting getting up an eating a salad.  On the plus side though, it’s sort of like Adam and I were carbo-loading for our run this morning!  If nothing else, our glycogen stores were nice and prepared.

Actually we were prepped all around, this is the run I got to test out my new shoes on.

I’m 90% sure I like them, but I’m going to run in them once more to be sure since my most recent pair sucked so badly.

I also tested out my new favorite shirt;

handmade by ME at last week’s tie dye party.

I think it’s pretty darn cute.

It was a good run to feel cute on, because I was mostly feeling like a jackass that I haven’t worked out all summer.  My planned 3.5 miles were tough.  We had two 1.75 mile loops around Delaware Park and I’m just glad I finished.  I had to take a few walking breaks, but I made sure to run for a least five minutes each time and walk for no more than 2 minutes at a time.  3.5 miles in 40 minutes and 20 seconds.  Followed by a 10 minute walk.

The rest of the agenda was shower ~ ice ~ grocery ~ clean the dirty apartment ~ dinner.  Thankfully our grocery trip was made much more exciting by our plan to sit in the cafe for a few hours so Adam could study.  I got cozy reading Nancy.

Sidenote – I am completely and utterly obsessed with the Nancy Drew books.

And got exciting lunch from the hot bar.

In an effort to save a bit of money, we also supplemented with salads from home.

In the end my meal ended up being arugula topped with carrots, 2 Tbsp of wheat germ, 1/4 cup of roasted chick peas, and 2 Tbsp of tarragon vinaigrette.

Plus roasted veggies, chili garlic eggplant, and veggies picked out of the cashew chicken,

and a few pieces of pineapple and berries.

Delish.  I read my first Nancy and munched and was in absolute bliss.

Unfortunately, the grocery took longer than anticipated and once I added in a last-minute walk to the co-op and the task of packing Adam’s lunches, I plain ran out of time to clean the house.  Tomorrow.  And at least I’m a good wife.

Adam has one rice bowl for each day of the work week.  And I took a good many nibbles that escaped the camera while I cooked.

I also made dinner.

Polenta that turned into a fairly intimidating, but tasty solid,

and huevos rancheros inspired tacos.

I scrambled 5 eggs (with skim milk, salt, and pepper) into sautéed chopped onions and green pepper, and then stuffed them into blue corn taco shells with a bit of sharp cheddar.  I served Adam and myself 3/5 and 2/5 accordingly.

Dessert was 2/3 to 1/3 in my favor though.

A gigantic cowboy cookie I picked up at the co-op.

My entire right side of my body has ached ever since yesterday’s tennis game, so I’m going to go curl up with a book.

What You Should Be Watching This Summer

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Good morning!  Did anyone else have pizza for breakfast this morning too?

Well, I had a version of my pizza eggs.  I sautéed a few tablespoons of black olives in a bit of butter, then scrambled in 2 eggs, 1 oz of Cabot 50% reduced fat white cheddar, and 1/4 cup of marinara sauce.

These were ridiculous good.  The olives made the eggs almost meaty and the dish as a whole really does taste like pizza.  Actually, it tastes even better than pizza!

I had a mug of Candy Cane Lane as well.  I added a splash of skim milk after I snapped this shot.

Not quite the iced tea I’ve been pining after, but still good.  Using two tea bags in 1.5 cups of water seemed to give me the perfect flavor, though my tea bags are pretty old.

It was a lovely meal, enjoyed while catching up on tv.

I don’t have cable (we watch online, most everything is available on Hulu) so when the internet gave me problems earlier this week I was cut off from my entertainment.

What You Should Be Watching This Summer

Even without cable, I think my summer spent unemployed and on the couch makes me uniquely qualified to recommend some summer programming to you guys.  Here are the summer shows I can’t get enough of:

Rizzoli and Isles

Starring Angie Harmon as a police detective and Sasha Alexander as her medical examiner.  Think Dr. Sayron from “Bones” with Catherine Willows from “CSI.”  This show, while a bit cheesy at times, is totally addictive.  It probably helps that both police detective and medical examiner have both been on my “maybe jobs” list for years.

Covert Affairs

Piper Perabo (of “Coyote Wild” fame) stars as a new CIA agent.  Think Booth from “Bones” but in the competing agency and with a vagina.  Plus Christopher Gorham plays a very (very, very) cute agent who happens to be blind.

Rookie Blue

Another cop show, but this time the focus is on the rookies.  I know it sounds like it’s been done before, but this version is pretty darn funny.  I originally started watching because one of the main characters was the star of “Stick It” (what?), but the plot line is funny and sweet enough that I’ve kept with it.

Yes I have a thing for cop dramas, why do you ask?

What shows can’t you get enough of this summer?

Stick The Finish

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I stuck the finish!  I continued my first day in weeks as a healthy, productive human being by whipping up a tasty, nutritious dinner.  Back off, Martha.

Earlier in the afternoon Adam and I took a quick walk down Elmwood.  We were both feeling twitchy and needed a chance to stretch our legs.  Walking was good for our extra energy, and splitting a Java Twix Bar was good for our souls.

It’s been years since I’ve eaten a traditional Twix, but man this was good.  The coffee undertones totally made it.

When we got home it was time to slave over a hot stove whirring food processor.  Just kidding, this recipe came together in a flash.  Meet your new go-to pesto:

Healthy Spinach Pesto, yields 11 ounces

  • 8 cups fresh baby spinach
  • 4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
  • 2/3 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  1. Working in small batches, pulse spinach and oil in a food processor until.  Be sure to process until smooth, don’t stop when you’ve reached the grass cuttings consistency.
  2. Add parmesan and pine nuts and continue to process until well-combined.
  3. Can be stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

I love pesto, but store-bought varieties are anything but low-calorie and basil is so darn expensive that it’s not exactly cheap to make at home.  I’ve been curious about trying a spinach based pesto for a while and I think this totally worked.  The flavor is rich and nutty and not at all “healthy.”  Tastes can be deceiving though, here are the nutrition stats I calculated for a 1 oz serving –

I wanted to test the recipe in a dish I already knew was good so I turned to my Pesto Pasta Casserole.

I doubled the recipe, and switched penne for spirals but other than I stuck with the original.

And it’s official, we love this new pesto!

If when you make it yourself I recommend trying out my Pesto Pasta Casserole too.  It’s about the simplest recipe ever – just bake together pasta, pesto, arugula, and mushrooms – and it tastes delicious.  Make it, make it, make it!

What’s your favorite way to eat pesto?  I’m a big fan of cheeseless pizza with pesto and chicken.

Pizza Party

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We had a mini pizza party for dinner but the rest of the day was sort of … strange.  I had a teaching nightmare last night and it left me feeling funky.  I basically never have nightmares, like ever, unless they are about teaching.  In fact, other than night-terrors that I had as a really young child, I had never even had a nightmare before I became a teacher.  I don’t get them often now, but when I do I’m always in a rowdy classroom (or fighting with Adam!).

I have no idea where my nightmare came from, maybe anxiety about going back to school or churning thoughts from not being that busy recently.  I’d like to pin it on “No Strings Attached,” but I guess being the worst movie ever (seriously) still doesn’t make it to blame for my bad dreams.

Breakfast was mocha(ish) smoothies.

For two, I blended – 2 packets of instant coffee, 2 scoops of chocolate whey protein powder, 1 frozen banana, 7 ice cubes, and 1.5 cups of skim milk.

Bleck; I’m not sure what was off about these but something sure was!  I drank about half and then passed the rest to Adam, the human trash compactor.

My snack to make up for breakfast was trail mix.

That bag was actually half spicy mix and half sweet mix; I like to mix things up.

Lunch was veggies from the hot bar,

and a buffalo chicken slice from Zettis.

Dinner was actually more pizza, ie (or ige!) Iowa Girl Eats Homemade Pizza Rolls.

Kristen wrote another recipe winner!  For our filling we chopped together spinach, mushrooms, extra sharp cheddar, black olives, and marinara sauce.

Pizza perfection.

Plus a side of roasted green beans.

At least I won’t be having nightmares about dinner.

Do you ever get nightmares about your job (or jobs past)?

Goodbye, Katie

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Today was bittersweet.  I did fun things, but I had to say goodbye to my friend Katie.  This goodbye was doubly sad because it stinks that friends keep leaving and because Katie was the very first friend I made in Buffalo!

I started my morning with a delicious sounding yogurt bowl.

  • 1/4 cup Stonyfield Plain Fat-Free Yogurt
  • 1/4 cup fat-free ricotta
  • 1/8 cup roasted buckwheat groats
  • 1 Tbsp key lime curd

Sadly, in spite of the decadent sounding ingredients, the components of this bowl didn’t come together very well.  I didn’t realize that the roasted buckwheat would taste quite so roasty.

Since it was Katie’s last day in Buffalo we met up for a final lunch date.

I’ve been dying to try Romeo and Juliet’s and I’m glad I got to go with Katie.

I’m also glad that our meal was delicious, since the cafe is owned by a girl I go to school with and I’d hate to have to say bad things.  We ate outside and the lighting sort of killed my pictures, but I promise this was one of the best meals I’ve eaten in Buffalo!

The complementary bread was nice and doughy.

And the eggplant parmigiana was the best I’ve ever had (seriously).

It was baked instead of fried and you could totally tell.  The eggplant was perfectly velvety and the sauce was rich and slightly sweet.  I was pretty much in heaven.

I brought Adam the 2nd half of my meal and he agreed that Romeo and Juliet’s must be one of the very best spots in Buffalo.

For dessert, Katie and I hit up new spot #2, Grumpy’s Ice Cream.

I got a cookie dough and heath bar flurry with chocolate custard.

Meh.  It was nice to spend time with Katie, but I won’t be going back.

Once I got dropped off back home, I spent the rest of the day with Adam.  By foot and by car we ran several errands, including two loops up and down Elmwood.  My afternoon snacks included an unsweetened lemonade iced tea from Starbucks,

and some Nerds.

Sometime during our 2nd trip down Elmwood we decided to stop at Blockbusters and make it a movie night.

“How To Train Your Dragon” is one of our very favorite movies and “No Strings Attached” is one I’ve been curious about for months.

I kept dinner simple while we started our first movie.  Roasted green beans and an everything bagel with Smart Balance Light.

Dinner was on the small side because I’m going to dig into a HUGE bowl of popcorn as soon as I hit publish.  Have a great night!

Cheesy Peasy

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This afternoon I got my Great Fundraising Act contribution ready for mailing tomorrow.

Would you like to see what hand-rolling 30+ sugar cookie balls does to your palms?

Ouch!  But at least it makes it ok for me to get caught red-handed having a reward for my hard work.

Sugar cookie frosting sandwich, x2.

My snack embodied sweet, so dinner was savory.

Cheesy Peasy Garlic Pasta (recipe available here and included at the end of this post).

Plus a side of roasted asparagus.

I was so excited about the creation of this recipe – which totally achieved the thick, cheesy sauce I was shooting for – but unfortunately it didn’t really fill me up.  I wasn’t sure if I was really hungry or residually hungry though, so I decided to wait a bit before refilling my plate.  Adam had a volunteering commitment in our neighborhood so I walked with him to deliver a cookie sandwich to the friend he was meeting (hi, Patrick!).

When my stomach was still grumbly mid-walk I decided to stop by the co-op for some protein.  Waldorf chicken salad fit the bill.

It filled me up and pleased my taste buds, yum!  If you haven’t tried grapes in chicken salad yet you don’t know what you’re missing.

Cheesy Peasy Garlic Pasta, serves 4

  • 8 oz uncooked rigatoni
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 6 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
  • 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tbsp reduced fat cream cheese
  • 1 cup skim milk
  • 4 oz extra sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 2 Tbsp fat-free ricotta
  1. Cook pasta al dente according to box directions.  In the last three minutes of cooking time, add frozen peas to the boiling water.  Drain peas and pasta and set aside.
  2. While pasta is cooking, heat evoo in a large pan over medium-high heat.
  3. Add garlic to the oil and saute for 2 minutes; remove from pan and set aside.
  4. Add flour and cream cheese to the pan and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
  5. Add milk to the roux mixture and cook 3 more minutes, stirring constantly until thickened.  Don’t worry if your mixture still is lumpy at this stage.
  6. Reduce heat to low and stir in cheddar cheese and ricotta.  When the sauce has fully mixed and achieved a smooth texture, remove the pan from the heat.
  7. Add pasta, peas, and cooked garlic to the sauce in the pan; toss to combine.
  8. Season with salt and pepper to taste and serve with a vegetable.