Tag Archives: cheese

Walk It Out

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Happy Memorial Day Weekend, readers!  The holiday doesn’t mean much to me (I didn’t even know tomorrow was Memorial Day until a few hours ago; I was so confused the last two days at work when my manager said we were ‘slower than usual because of the holiday weekend’) but I imagine it’s exciting to those of you with real jobs.

Since I hadn’t eaten since 3pm yesterday I made sure to fuel up with a big Granny Smith Apple and a packet of Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter before we set out this morning.

It’s funny that the Justin’s website referenced the fact that most other choc-hazelnut spreads have more sugar than frosting, because the flavor and texture of this goodness totally made me think of frosting!

I ran yesterday on my off day and I felt pretty sore from work so I decided to do a long walk today.  Adam and I headed to Delaware Park for an hour of walking while I quizzed him on pharm. questions.  We walked ~ 2miles.

After a super quick shower I met up with my friend Katie for lunch and ended up walking another ~2miles in the process.  Our final destination was JP Bullfeathers for brunch.

I ordered two poached eggs, cooked dry.

Which came with  a side of fruit,

and rye toast (I ate 2 half slices).

Dipping thick toast into drippy egg yolks might be my favorite restaurant food sensation.  Poached eggs are the perfect dish in my eyes (dippy yolks but much healthier than fried eggs because not cooked with any sort of oil) but I can’t get them right at home so they are the perfect restaurant food for me.

Katie and I also split a side of sweet potato fries, which were sadly sort of awful.

Soggy fries aside, it was nice to get out and about and to see Katie.  I also grabbed a cup of coffee and a Lindt truffle for dessert.

This afternoon Adam and I decided to split a slice of buffalo chicken pizza.

I realize we eat this pizza a lot (it’s possible we fall into food ruts, Wegman’s hot bar much?!) but it’s something we both love.  Plus, at least we always split it!  However, it’s after 6pm and we’ve both determined that we’re really not hungry for dinner so perhaps we should have skipped it today!

We’re going to take another (short) walk and see how we feel about dinner when we get back.  Either way, I have a fun dessert recipe I plan on posting (and eating!) this evening.  See you then!

What is your favorite food to order while dining at restaurants?

It Got Away

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Hello, hello!  I swear that I didn’t skip my post/giveaway this morning because I was sulking; the day just got away from me!  First things first though, thank you so much to all of you who offered me advice in the last post.  I blog for me (and my mom and grandma!), but I also blog for you guys, and I always want to do my best.

I mentioned that the day got away from me, and if I’m honest, it started getting away from me last night.  When Adam got in bed at 10pm I so wanted to be the type of person who got in with him and got a good night sleep.  But that’s not who I am.  I’m the type of person that stays up until 2am watching Missing.  I’m also the type of person who eats the last banana split cupcake at 2am.

That’s just me.

I actually woke up raring to go this morning (probably nerves) but I ended up skipping my planned 4-miler anyways because my knee feels funky again.  I’m hoping to double up on cardio tomorrow to make up for the lost day, fingers crossed!

Today was my first training day at work and since I was going to be busy through lunch I knew I needed a big, hearty breakfast.

Yum and yum.

I sautéed a crumbled salmon patty with three tablespoons of spicy corn relish and when I started to get a good char I scrambled in two eggs and ~ 1oz of extra sharp cheddar.

I’m in love with this dish.  I haven’t eaten the corn relish “raw” yet, but it is so darn good in eggs.

I also ate a 0% Fage with soursop.

Which, thankfully, pushed me to enough food to get me through the lunch rush.

— Insert 11 – 2:30 training at the newest restaurant on Elmwood. —

When I got home I had time to split this taffy candy with Adam,

before we had to head to his dentist appointment.  <– ironic, right?

I obviously didn’t have to go, but I’m co-dependent, so I ignored my growling belly and hopped in the car.  I brought a chocolate dipped coconut Luna Bar,

but I had to split it with Adam because it’s too darn good not to share.  Tastes just like a Girl Scout Samosa, I swear!

Unfortunately, I let myself get waaaay too hungry and my food choices have gone a little downhill.  I got a good balance of veggies and protein in my Wegman’s hot bar,

but I shoveled it into my face the minute we got back to the car!

I also bought a pecan pie bar from the Co-op.

I can’t even tell you how much self-control it took not to eat this in the car too.

And now (as soon as I hit publish) I’m going to eat some popcorn.  Boo-yah.  Clearly I need a more effective way of dealing with lunches on work days.

Just for funsies; what are some of your favorite blogs to follow?

American As Apple Pie

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I know rationally that it’s summer, but the 50* lows this week have me all confused.

So confused, that I put fall on a plate for breakfast.

Or I guess you could blame this combo on the complete and utter lack of food in our house.

Let’s just call it patriotism.

Whatever the reason, I was definitely channeling apple pie with these waffles.

I topped a serving of Van’s Vitamin Boost Waffles with a thick slice of extra sharp cheddar cheese and stewed apple (a Macintosh apple microwaved with cinnamon, agave syrup, and a bit of water).

I highly considered throwing on a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream (or at least some ice cream frosting) but I managed to resist.

In awesome news, I may have found a summer job.  Since I don’t know my schedule yet I can’t make our meal plan, but I am going to head to the Co-op in a minute to pick up a few staples.  Mostly I just want to walk out my legs (knee especially, fingers crossed!) after last night’s 7-miler.  I’ve also got a stroll around the mall planned for after lunch.

to enter to win today’s (Applegate Farms $-off coupons) giveaway:

Tweet the following – “Go to http://eatingchalk.com before 6pm to enter @EmilyWax’s @ApplegateFarms giveaway.”

If you don’t have a Twitter account you may Facebook it, but leave a comment on this post to let me know that you’ve done so.

Give Me Fuel Give Me Fire

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Today’s lesson: fueling.  Can we just call this a ‘what not to do’ lesson?

When I woke up I was sooo tired (we’ve been staying up way too late catching up on Scrubs) that I convinced myself it would be better to push my run back to the afternoon.  That’d be great and all, except that I am a way better morning exerciser.  Especially except the fact that I can run at 9am after downing just a Goo, but by 5pm I need to have actually eaten food and that was a little tricky.  Two different loaves of bread simultaneously sprouted mold yesterday and if our cupboards had a fuel gauge it’d be reading empty.

I ate a few spoonfuls of ice cream frosting (yuuuuum),

and a slice of swiss cheese,

but then it seemed like I probably should find food food.

But by the time I’d walked a block away from the house it started to pour, which is how I ended up convincing myself that (an entire tray of) nachos would make awesome running fuel.

Also, I had a cupcake.

Too cute not to be a good idea!

Adam came home earlier than expected this afternoon and as we hung out it got later and later and myplanned  7-mile run seemed harder and harder.  Which is why nachos actually do make awesome pre-run fuel: I felt like such a fat idiot that I was extra motivated to get out there!  Go me?

I headed to Delaware Park for four 1.75 mile loops.  7 miles in 1 hour and 15 minutes.  <– that time is especially sad when you consider that I stopped every loop to stretch/drink and I paused my clock for the breaks.  Maybe I do need to relook at my fueling.

I didn’t get done with my run until after 9pm so I ended up just skipping dinner.  <– don’t do as I do

This was a strange post. Also, clearly I’ve stayed up too late watching Scrubs again.

Pretty Good

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Hello there; I hope everyone’s having a nice weekend.  It’s been a good Saturday around here, I spent lots of time with the husband, I got to take a few walks, and I received some good news I’ll be sharing later.

Our plan this morning was to cash in a Groupon for brunch, so to kill time while the restaurant opened I headed out to the Farmer’s Market and the Co-op.

While I was up on that end of Elmwood I stopped in at Wilson Farms for my new favorite coffee.

Half Jamaican Me Crazy Coffee (regular) and half Jamaican Me Crazy Cappuccino (sweetened).

Adam and I also drove over to the lake to check out the crazy fog.

Spooky!

Then it was time for brunch at Empire Grill.

But apparently brunch is only a Sunday thing, boo.  And the bad news didn’t stop there, Adam and I hated our brunch lunch order.  I really don’t want the blame the restaurant (the food wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either), we just made really bad order choices for our preferences.

We split a Blue Point Toasted Ale,

the Caribbean Shrimp and Mango Salad with mixed greens, mango viniagrette marinated jumbo shrimp, black bean and pineapple salsa and a mango viniagrette,

and the California Turkey Wrap with coleslaw, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, onions and a chipolte aioli.

I sort of hate raw spinach and I hate wraps so, again, it wasn’t really the restaurant’s fault.  Nonetheless, I ended up eating basically nothing for brunch.

Thank goodness for Banana Split Cupcakes!

Amid chowing down on two cupcakes, Adam and I took a trek to the post office and got to enjoy almost 2 miles of walking and talking, win!

Random sidenote (super random when you consider that this isn’t even a new top) – how awesome is it that this shirt has a bustle?!

I had fancy plans for dinner, but when Scrubs reruns are on you never turn down pizza.

Adam and I split another Buffalo chicken slice,

along with a big pile of baby carrots.

Yep, pretty good for a Saturday!

Summer On A Plate

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I knocked off most of my to-do’s by 7:30 and was ready to get to work on an extra-extraordinary dinner!  Getting back into the kitchen helped me to feel like myself again; I can’t wait to use my extra time this summer cooking.  And in spite of the still-crummy weather outside, this dinner tasted like summer!

We started by attempting to make onion rings for an appetizer.

We loosely followed this recipe and after some difficulty and a few scary oil incidents, Adam and I ended up with a nice plate to share –

I would pretty much never order onion rings in a restaurant, but it was defintely fun to make them at home.

Dinner was summer on a plate.

Corn on the cob.

We placed our shucked corn in a big pot with enough water to float, then covered the pot and brought the water to a boil for 5 minutes.  Followed by a quick roll in the butter.

Roasted asparagus.

35 minutes at 450*, with a bit of cooking spray and salt.

The veggies were pretty perfect, but the real winner was the burgers.

My newest genius creation, Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burgers. 

We served our burgers on onion rolls and topped them with more cheese and dressing, because we are reuben fanatics!

Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burgers, serves 6

  • 1 lb 94% fat-free ground turkey meat
  • 1 cup sauerkraut, carefully squeezed to remove as much liquid as possible
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1.5 tsp dried caraway seeds
  • 3 (1 oz)-slices Swiss cheese
  • 2 Tbsp thousand island dressing
  1. Slice cheese into quarters; you should end up with twelve 1inch x 1inch squares.
  2. Place meat, sauerkraut, egg, breadcrumbs, and caraway seeds in a large bowl.  Use your hands to mix until well combined.
  3. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, divide the meat mixture evenly into twelve 1/4-cup portions.  Flatten six of the portions into patties.
  4. Place 1 tsp thousand island dressing and two cheese squares in the center of each flattened patty.  Top with remaining portions, pressing on the edges to “seal” the patties.
  5. Place a greased grill-pan over medium-high heat.  Cook burgers until browned and fully cooked through; 5-8 minutes on each side.

If I could get my hands on some watermelon I think I’d be pushed right over the edge.

What foods taste like summer to you?

I’ll Mail Your Package

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You guys won’t even believe it; when I got to the post office it was closed!!!  Apparently the 1:30 closing time listed online referred to the p.o. boxes, the actual office had closed before I even left the house.  Just as I felt steam about to come out of my ears a postal worker told me about another location with longer hours.  The post office where I finally had success is actually much closer to my house, so it was a win in the end.

While I was out and about I snacked on a blueberry muffin Lara Bar,

the rest of my Arizona,

and .1 lbs of yogurt pretzels.

My stomach was growling and as I hungrily grocery shopped all I could think of was eating french fries and catching up on Grey’s.  So when I got home, that’s what I did.

If you consider my cheesy show choices, it’s almost like those were cheese fries…hyuck, hyuck.

Adam and I tried to eat this peppermint candy my mom sent us from Carnival food fair,

but we waited too long and sadly it was all squishy.

We took a nice walk around Elmwood in the evening, and worked up an appetite for dinner.

That’s tuna salad with lots of red onion,

and half a slice of buffalo chicken pizza with blue cheese dressing.

Perfect food for watching Bones, which made me cry, p.s.

With a serving of Raisin Bran Extra for dessert.

See you tomorrow for a long(ish) run!

The Best Laid Plans

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I guess Friday the 13th ended up getting the best of me after all!  The best laid plans don’t always work out.  That’s especially true if you and your husband are terrible at time management and plan to leave at a time that’s too late and then don’t even get out the door on time!

We did get our fun lunch though.

Lloyd’s Taco Truck is Buffalo’s first and only food truck, you know we had to check it out!

I ordered a chicken taco, which was pretty good.

I wish I had gone with beans instead of chicken for my protein, but whatever the white cheese was it was delicious, and the shredded cabbage was nice and crunchy.

We also ordered a churro with cinnamon sugar.

Yuck city.  It was waaaaay too fried and we ended up throwing it away after a few bites.  Lloyd’s wait-time wouldn’t have been worth it in another city, but if you are in Buffalo I’d still say give it a shot; just don’t order the churros!

The day didn’t really improve from there.  The plan was supposed to be taco truck – post office – mall/seeing Bridesmaids- crossing training at the gym – party with some school people.  We ended up running so behind that we had to see a different movie and moved the post office to the end of the day.  Of course, we got to the post office just as the doors were closing in our faces!  In the end we had to scrap the gym and the party too.  And the movie we ended up seeing (that we should have skipped all together because it’s timing is what threw off everything else) was terrible.  <– skip “Thor”

But I guess it wasn’t all bad.  We did get a free small popcorn at the movies.

Do you belong to your theatre’s loyalty program?  Adam and I have gotten so many free tickets and snack items over the years, we love it.

And since my evening was suddenly free, when Adam went to meet friends for a game of tennis I ended up going with him to take a long walk around Delaware Park.  Walking isn’t the best use of cross-training time, but it’s better than nothing.  I walked 3.5 miles around the park.  It was fun to do the loops at a slower pace; the park has done lots of landscaping for Spring and it runs along one side of the zoo so there is a lot to see.

Blooms and buffalos definitely helped to put me in a better mood.

I ate an everything-style Bagel Thin with two slices of 2% colby cheese before we left,

and I drank half of this Arizona Virgin Pina Colada while we were out.

But I couldn’t get it together for dinner.  We stayed up way too late on Thursday and I was pretty zonked out.  <– It’s possible that when Adam and his friends switched courts at the last minute and he asked me to drive myself the last 2 blocks to the park I started to sob uncontrollably  

When we got home from the park I curled up in a filthy little ball for a much-needed nap!  Thank goodness Adam backed me into the shower with a chair before we went to bed.

The plan this morning was supposed to be breakfast then a trip to the Farmer’s Market.  But the skies looked like rain so we hurried out without food.  Too bad we still didn’t beat the clouds.

There wasn’t a lot at the market yet anyways 😦 

I did grab a three-cheese and caramelized onion focaccia to split with the husband for breakfast.

We shared a grande iced America with skim milk from Starbucks so we could eat at one of their dry (and dark!) tables.

A few notes – I love going on mini-dates with my husband.  Thank goodness it’s stopped raining now; I still need to get to the darn post office!  I need more food!

So I’m off.  Assume that I successfully made it to the post office and the grocery store, otherwise tonight’s post is going to be another cranky-pants one!