Last night’s meal must have gotten in my head because all I could think about for breakfast was a quesadilla.
A whole wheat tortilla, loaded with 2Tbsp of 2% sharp cheddar, and pressed on the George Foreman.
I sliced up a Gala apple too.
Apples are a breakfast food!
But I suppose dessert isn’t a breakfast thing…
Meh, I march to my own beat.
At least once a week I put “smoothies!” on our meal plan for breakfast. I would say the ratio of smoothies made to smoothies listed is something like 1:10. Why am I such a sucker for the allure of morning smoothies?! They sound so refreshing and tasty, but I never actually have time to make one, leaving me breakfastless and cranky.
Thankfully today I packed a pretty breakfast-y lunch, so I pulled that out a few hours early.
A berry flavored Revolution Foods squeeze packet,
and a 2% Mango Chobani.
With a small coffee (that large cup is half full) with two creamers.
I loved the new fruit packet flavor (on sale at Buffalo Tops!) but I wasn’t thrilled by the new-to-me Chobani. I was expecting to love it because Pineapple is so good, but the texture just seemed strange to me.
Speaking of fruit, we had a fun lab today – finding the ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) content of different food items. It was an interesting lab; always nice to practice something that actually relates to my profession. P.S. Tang has .023mg of vitamin C per mL.
I was a busy bee after lab, with work to complete, a trip to the health center, a date with the gym, and finally an impromptu lunch date with Adam. I was at the health center for a required physical before I begin working in the hospitals during the Coordinated Program next year. After I get a PPD test next week there will be nothing between me and clinical work!
Next up was the gym. I’m not going to lie to you guys, this visit was hard! I did interval sets on the treadmill, 1minute walking/3minutes jogging. I hit 3miles just around my 9th set. With a quick cool down for a total of 3.25miles and 35minutes.
Since I ate my lunch for breakfast, I made an impromptu lunch date with the husband. Adam was my savior and drove my drippingly sweaty self home for a much-needed shower. We set a timer as I got out of the car (he had to sit out in front of the house) and getting upstairs, undressed, showered, ready to go, and back downstairs took me 11minutes and 5seconds. And I even made an outfit change!
Go speedy!
Yes, that picture is at Wegmans. Yes, we do have a hot bar problem!
I know we should try someplace new, but we love all the options and the price is right. I’d much rather take a bunch of little different bites than have one choice in bulk. Today I got a random mix of tofu, chicken, and slaw,
with pretty much every kind of roasted veggie.
The veggies were fantabulous as usual, but I ended up leaving behind most of the other side; my slaw had ham in it!
It was great to spend some mid-day time with Adam, and even better to get to head back to school with some yogurt pretzels to munch on during my night class.
Having a snack definitely made the time go faster.
In no time at all we were home eating burritos.
It helped that I pre-made the filling yesterday so the burritos came together in a cinch.
We topped whole wheat tortillas with sautéed mushrooms and onions, black beans, corn relish, sliced jalopenos, and some shredded 2% sharp cheddar.
Then we pressed them in the George Foreman like what we see them do at Moe’s.
Plus a side of scoops tortilla chips with spicy salsa for authenticity.
Perhaps I should have saved this meal for May 5th?
And since I’m a bottomless pit, I’ve got a mug waiting for dessert.
I stirred hot cocoa mix into some 0% Plain Oikos, then topped with brownie crumbles and toasted coconut. I haven’t tasted it yet, but I can pretty well guess that it’s going to be amazing.
I hope this means I’m all set up for sweet dreams! But first, some reruns of “Iron Chef” on Hulu.
How often do you make smoothies? How often do you purchase them out?
No post yesterday, I was busy at the orthodontist getting a new retainer. Unsurprisingly, losing my ability to snack without dealing with mouthgear or to freely sip diet coke all day put me in a sour mood. It didn’t help that my orthodontist accidentally sliced open the side of my lip, the effect of which is twofold – 1) I look like the Joker; 2) I’m not even wearing the retainers today because I can’t open my damn mouth!
Breakfast was restricted to something I could eat with a straw –
Leftover vanilla coffee, maple syrup, Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, and lots of ice.
I couldn’t figure out what to pack for lunch, so I ended up ordering a nice flat quesadilla.
The Taco Bell workers were surprisingly accommodating and agreed to add all of their veggies (lettuce, tomato, and onions) to my cheese quesadilla.
I could only manage to eat half of it though, and even that took me 45minutes!
By the time my second nutrition class was over I was hungry and cranky. In a not-so-nutritious move, I ended up carefully shoving chicken fingers and fries into my sore mouth.
My plan was to hit the gym between my afternoon class and Music, but a research presentation crisis took me to the library instead. Just as well, since my greasy platter of food left me wanting to throw up anyway.
But I surprised myself by making it to the gym after my night class. Normally my motivation wanes as the day goes on, but I knew I needed the mood-boosting effects. It helped that he let us out of class an hour early! I did 20 (difficult) minutes of jogging on the treadmill, followed by a quick cool down, for a total of 25minutes and 2.4miles.
When I finally got home at 9pm, I needed to spend some time in the kitchen, prepping for Adam’s lunch and tomorrow’s dinner. I also had a few school loose ends to tie up for tomorrow, pushing this post even later. As soon as I realized my early bedtime was shot, I begged Adam to take me to 7-11 for a diet pop, where this happened –
Cherry/Coke slushies make me giddy!
Now as soon as I hit publish I can’t wait to get showered and get in bed!
What is your slushie flavor (combo) of choice?
Minus starting any homework yet, my afternoon has gone according to plan. Class – gym – nachos – Missing. Once you add a shower and doing the dishes into that list I don’t feel too bad that I’m a bit behind schedule.
I’m not sure that pushing the gym back to after class will be a regular thing; when we got there today all of the ellipticals were occupied. Not a big deal, but I don’t like to run two days in a row. I still ended up having a good workout –
By the time I got home and got myself and the dishes clean, it was after 3o’clock and I was just sitting down for lunch. Good thing I made a lunch worth waiting for –
2 oz of corn chips + 2 oz of extra sharp cheddar + a big handful of arugula + black beans + jalopenos
+ tomatillo salsa stolen from Moes + Oikos 0% plain Greek yogurt
Oh baby!
I swear I can’t taste the difference in the 50% reduced cheese when eaten on salads (so why not eat one with a little less fat?!), but for melting full fat is the way to go. This dish blew the other day’s baked nachos out of the water.
If things go according to plan again, we’ve got a fun(ish) evening planned. Hope everyone has a great afternoon!
What are your nacho topping must-haves? I always go with black beans and jalopenos are essential.
I was gone last night, but the blog was not forgotten! Actually, what didn’t happen was dinner 😦 Our plan was to get Wegman’s hot bar then do some grocery shopping, but unfortunately my class ran until the very last minute and by the time we reached Wegman’s the hot bar was bare. When we finished getting groceries – Adam’s hosting poker night this weekend so this was a quick but essential trip – it was almost 10 and I determined bedtime made more sense than dinner.
Thank goodness I had it together enough to make breakfast before we left this morning.
Sludge smoothies for all!
For two smoothies I blended –
Yumtastic! The way our mornings have been running this year smoothies have seemed impossible, but they really are one of my favorite breakfasts.
Adam dropped me off at campus and once I swallowed my sludge I headed to the gym. Unfortunately I forgot my water bottle, and I’d look a little funny rehydrating with my sludge, so I ended up buying a G2.
I managed to get in a nice treadmill workout before my Biochem lab; 20minutes of jogging with a short warm up and cool down.
I still had to pause the machine to die a couple of times, but my overall running speed was faster than last time.
Lab went by quickly and easily, I finished off an assignment in the break, and then I headed to a final meeting for the service club I’m a part of. Easy peasy. And lunch was good.
A salad base of arugula with 1oz of 50% reduced sharp cheddar and black beans,
topped with 1oz of crunched up tortilla chips and Stubbs bbq sauce.
BBQ sauce on salad is where it’s at! Seriously kids, try this.
Adam came to pick me up and we headed to Moes to get him lunch – I packed him a salad too but forgot to pack him dressing or a fork, whoops! – where I stole a few of his chips.
Now we’re home for what looks like a fun and easy afternoon 🙂
How often do you skip dinner; once a week, once a month, never? Why do you skip it?
After it’s auspicious start, my day continued to run enjoyably. Definitely not a Monday’s Monday!
The weather was (mostly) fine, I got an 82% on last week’s big test (lower than I’d like, but 10points higher than the last one), and there were lots of delicious eats. Like lunch –
Into 2 Tbsp of Smuckers Natural Peanut Butter with Honey,
I dipped baby carrots,
and a Fuji apple.
Oh man, this apple! It was beyond sweet and crunchy, best apple I’ve had yet this year!
Not quite enough food though apparently, because my stomach growled all through my second afternoon class. I’ve got another big, important test on Wednesday and I needed to be note-taking not dreaming of dinner! Sidenote – when I get bored in class I totally work on my meal plan for the upcoming month; there are always so many new recipes I’m excited about.
The day felt like Spring instead of Winter – finally! – but by the afternoon the wind was howling. It was loud enough that my teacher had to pause a few times because she couldn’t talk over the nose. Thankfully one of my friends graciously offered to drive me home, so I didn’t have to worry about blowing away.
I was blown away however (ha!), by my tasty dinner.
What better way to get in your greens than with homemade veggie nachos?
I piled corn chips with 50% reduced sharp cheddar, fresh arugula, black beans, and canned jalapeno, then baked at 450* for 10minutes.
Plus plain 0% Oikos and green salsa for dipping.
The salsa was stolen on a Moe’s run and it totally made the nachos. I would love to find green salsa that I could purchase like a not-a-creeper, but our store only sells one kind and it is way too spicy for us.
I ended with a fun dessert, clotted cream fudge.
I don’t have a better picture because the wrapping was a little intense, but I ate half of the box, aka too many servings. We bought this on a whim but it was great; it tasted sort of like extra soft caramels.
two questions for a good Monday
So there’s thing 1 and thing 2. Thing 1 – we just got home after our second 9+ hour car trip in two days and I’m too tired to be clever. Thing 2 – due to inclement weather (nearby tornadoes!) we spent much of the weekend without power and my pictures are pretty dark and awful. But, here’s the thing – part of the reason I write this blog is as a food diary (accountability). Sometimes I feel so silly when I’m writing a post that isn’t funny or chockfull of useful ideas or amazing recipes, but I have to remember that I do this for me too. So, feel free to skip this weekend’s recap, or settle in for a food log post.
Friday
I made Adam and myself a huge iced coffee to split on the road.
Coffee + Silk Vanilla Almond Milk + maple syrup.
I also packed a sandwich for breakfast.
Sandwich Thin + Applegate Farms organic sliced chicken + a Light Laughing Cow.
I was randomly starving five minutes later and spent the rest of the day complaining about how hungry I was. Enter an early lunch from Sheetz. Cole slaw,
and a turkey sandwich, with cheddar, honey mustard, lettuce, and tomato, on a pretzel bun.
Bletch x2! Normally I’m really impressed by Sheetz, but this time not so much.
However, Adam and I did split some Reeses Minister that were freaking life changing!
When we saw them again at another gas station we even bought some to bring home.
When we got to Virginia, before a tornado(!!) knocked out the power, there was dinner waiting for us.
Salad,
chips,
and grapes.
Then we spent the night playing cards in the dark.
Saturday
I skipped breakfast in lieu of cuddling up to my books, but made time for a last lunch.
More salad,
a small slice of cheese pizza,
three shrimp with cocktail sauce,
and strawberries and melon.
I also had a cinnamon brownie (we baked them Thursday night to bring down) and some Ruffled for dessert.
I ate my fair share of junk on Saturday unfortunately. I don’t mind digging into desserts or snacks at all, but I prefer to nosh only on unhealthy things that I love, and I feel like I sort of just grazed.
In the afternoon we did get to go out for a short but nice walk with my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and niece.
I even ran several sprints with my niece, it’s so much fun getting little kids to be active.
We went out to dinner, where multiple peanuts we cracked.
Sagebrush is a steakhouse, but fortunately there was some chicken on the menu as well.
I started with a cheddar biscuit,
and a side salad with peanut vinaigrette.
Dinner was grilled chicken,
with bbq sauce,
and broccoli.
We stopped for gas on the way home and I grabbed a (half sweetened) coffee.
I also snacked on some Easter candy,
and this plate of chips x2.
Sunday
My in-laws whipped up breakfast before we had to hit the road.
Scrambled eggs, strawberries, and half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese.
I also ate an apple with cheese in the car,
and a medium plain coffee.
We sang along with the radio, listened to recordings of Adam’s lectures, and reviewed my music reading all afternoon. Then, according to plan we pulled into Grove City at 4:45 and grabbed a late lunch/ early dinner at Primanti Brother’s.
Adam grew up eating there and I’ve seen it on the Food Network so we were pretty excited.
I ordered the turkey and provolone cheese sandwich, which came piled with Cole slaw and French fries!
The bread was boring (and abandoned halfway through), but the slaw and fries were perfectly vinegary. I’d probably never want one again, but it was fun to try.
But the fun was just beginning. There was an outlet mall across the street so Adam suggested we take advantage of the great weather (75*) and walk around a bit. First, I love to walk with the husband. Second, we snagged a Silpat on sale.
And then I literally started hyperventilating with excitement… we spotted a self-serve froyo place!!!
You guys, I can’t even tell you! I got original tart and sugar-free praline, topped with hot fudge, marshmallow, butterfinger, strawberries, and a cherry.
This is the kind of “junk” I feel 100% good about eating.
I’m pretty sure I swooped the whole rest of the drive home.
We stopped for a mini grocery run at Wegmans, and also grabbed some Chinese food (which I’m just not going to blog); our early dinner was a bit too early 😉
If you have a blog, how much of its purpose is food log vs. fun?
I was sooo hungry all afternoon, it was a total I-would-gnaw-my-own-arm-off-if-I-could situation. I guess cookies don’t make good lunches?? Nah!!! But still, my hunger was so ridiculous that it totally distracted my from my work and now I really don’t know what to do tomorrow to fix it. Cheese and bread!*
*”Cheese and bread” is a common exclamation in St. Thomas, where I grew up. It can express any strong emotion, frustration or surprise for example. I guess it’s sort of analogous to the Midwestern “golly gee whiz!”
Cheese and bread is also what I ate as a snack this afternoon.
That mess that looks like a smashed turtle (eww!) is actually a Sandwich Thin with 2oz of Cabot’s 50% reduced extra sharp cheddar melted on it.
It was tasty, but clearly not enough as I attacked this gigantic spoon of peanut butter next.
Thankfully Adam got home earlier than expected and I could start prepping dinner at 5:30.
I roasted up some broccoli,
and threw this Trader Joe’s purchase into the oven as well.
The Mandarin Orange Chicken did not disappoint.
The flavor and texture were spot on for (good) Chinese take out, and each serving had only 190 calories and 1.5 grams of saturated fat (I ate ~1.5 servings).
Overall it was a satisfying dinner. But can you ever be too satisfied for dessert?
Even when you ate dessert for lunch, the answer to that question is still no! Especially when it’s the best candy bar on earth. These Cadbury Crunchie bars might be my new favorite thing.
I’m not sure how tomorrow is going to play out, but we are heading to VA at some point in the morning; we’ll be down there all weekend visiting my in-laws. Unfortunately there is no internet available to me, so I’ll probably have to do a recap when we get back. Maybe a short phone post or two for fun?
What’s a strange but fun expression from where you grew up?
Eating Chalk 