Status Updates

by Emily

Location: Back in Buffalo. It was an all day affair getting here from Ohio though. Between late starts, terrible weather, bad conditions, and detour to see the town that the husband grew up in, we’ve been in the car all day.

Puppy Cuteness: 100%.

My grandparents’ dog is named Cocoa because she looks like a mug of hot chocolate with marshmallows on her feet!

Health: 98% better, but still sick. I’m a bit congested and still have my cough, and I’m still not quite feeling like myself.

Growth: the adorable Easter egg planters sprouted another couple of inches overnight!

Food Rations: Poor.

Things started off well. We had breakfast with my grandparents before we hit the road.

My grandma made quesadillas with scrambled eggs, salsa, and turkey sausage.

We also had leftover fruit salad.

Then, bodies and car fueled, it was time to start our journey.

Our first detour was to Trader Joes. We picked up a few fun items, including this yogurt honey peanut Balance Bar I snacked on while on the road.

Flavor favorite, second only to cookie dough.

My stomach never felt up to a road food lunch, but I did steal a few bites of this Choco Taco.

Plus I bought a coffee (half regular half sweet English toffee cappuccino).

Several hours later I was starving, and so glad to find the perfectly crisp apple my grandma gave me.

Crunch!

The plan at that point was clearing to get dinner, but somehow it kept getting later and later and no food was available. When we rolled into Buffalo after midnight we knew it was better just to skip it. Speaking of which, I should get in bed!!!

How late does it have to be for you to decide just to skip dinner?

29Mar2011

In the Nutritional Know

by Emily

Hello, hello. I want to tell you guys that I’ve got to hurry because of family time, but really I need to go finish making notecards! Don’t worry, we got plenty of fun time in as well.

Our vacation theme of mini mishaps continued – we wanted to work out on the great path behind my grandparents’ house, but Adam left our bag of running gear at home! In keeping with my pessimistic optimism, I’m going to assume that means that I’m still too sick to run and it’s good that I couldn’t.

I wasn’t hungry for breakfast, but I did snag a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.

The whole family (grandparents, mom, husband, me) piled in the car for lunch at a neat spot in Troy.

The Bakehouse was right up my alley; adorable, lots of offerings, and freshly baked bread!

I went with a half soup/sandwich combo for lunch.

A cup of turkey corn chowder,

with half a sandwich of turkey, aged swiss, cole slaw, and thousand island dressing on pumpernickel.

I only ate about half of the soup, because it was a little creamy for me, but the sandwich was perfection! The reuben – sauerkraut + cole slaw is my absolute favorite.

Actually, my absolute favorite used to be the English toffee bars sold at Starbucks. They were removed from the menu a while back and I’ve been in mourning ever since. The Bakehouse had the exact replica –

Split four ways.

OMG! I love love love this bar, crunchy toffee inside a chewy blondie!

I cleansed my palate with some Hubba Bubba Bubble Tape.

We’re fancy like that.

We did some antiquing (Zzzz), and also made it to a matinée of “The Lincoln Lawyer.” I feel like the opening wasn’t given a lot of fanfare (I only heard about the movie because I’m obsessed with Michaela Conlin), but the movie was so good! The perfect mix of funny, touching, and tense. I highly recommend.

We headed to Applebees afterward for dinner. Chain restaurants aren’t exactly my speed, so I ordered using the nutritional info as my guide. Looking for entres 500 calories or less led me to the Teriyaki Shrimp Pasta (440 calories).

This was actually very good! Whole wheat pasta, teriyaki sauce, and grilled shrimp with broccoli, red bell pepper, water chestnuts, carrots, bok choy, mushrooms, and sugar snap peas.

I pretty much ignored the pasta, but I devoured my shrimp and veggies.

I tried to keep dinner light because I knew we were heading to George’s (<– Dairy Queen without the franchising) after dinner.

I ended up with a small snow storm (blizzard) with butterfingers and reeses cups.

I planned on sharing with Adam, but um, yeah…

We’re headed back to Buffalo tomorrow, with a few fun stops along the way.

If a restaurant offers nutritional info do you utilize it? How much does the info affect your ordering?

27Mar2011

You and Me Baby Ain’t Nothing But Mammals

by Emily

We head to Ohio tomorrow, and my mom comes to visit on Wednesday, so we woke up early to deal with our squalor. Actually, Adam woke up early to clean the house. I woke up at 9 to Adam’s amazement that I could sleep through the vacuum cleaner!

Once I did welcome morning, I started my morning with some fantabuous iced coffee.

Yesterday afternoon I bought a cup of caramel flavored coffee from a gas station, and brought it home to the fridge. This morning I mixed it with 1tsp maple syrup, Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, and ice.

Delicious! The almond milk has the best texture for iced coffee, it makes it so thick! When I’m back to retainers in a few weeks I won’t be able to have coffee ever, so I’m trying to enjoy it was much as I can.

The food part of breakfast was pretty fun too –

A Pink Lady apple dipped in the last of the marshmallow icing.

Holy yum this was a good idea!

Our next idea wasn’t necessarily good, but it was necessary… a trip to the zoo!

I bought a Groupon months ago (thinking that by April it’d be, ya know, Spring) that was set to expire so we bundled up and headed out. There wasn’t a lot to see because of the weather, but I did spend 20minutes or so mooning at the polar bears.

Awwww! My nickname for Adam is ice bear (German for polar bear).

On the way out we spotted a neat crepe place – we’re coming back next week with my mom! – and Mustachios.

Apparently Adam has been excited about taking me to Mustachios?!? We ended up coming home with two slices of cheese pizza.

We also hit up the hot bar to get in some veggies.

I got steamed broccoli, glazed mushrooms and carrots, sesame kale, white beans and escarole, and scooped a bunch of veggies and cashews from the cashew chicken.

It was a random but good lunch.

After my month of illness (I’m still coughing by the way), any meal with veggies is a good one.

Later in the afternoon I snacked on matzah with melted extra sharp cheddar.

I also did a bunch of nibbling, raw pasta, marshmallow topping, butter toffee almonds… No photographs, just informing you guys that my appetite is back 🙂

Dinner was quick and tasty.

I boiled up the last of the spinach and three cheese ravioli, adding a few big handfuls of arugula to the pot at the last minute. I topped my bowl with buttermilk blue cheese crumbles and a drizzle of honey.

Then we had single-serve ice cream for dessert.

We each at half and then switched flavors halfway through. Those single-serves are the best idea ever, the texture is so creamy!

I’ve still got to shower, pack, and do some school work… better hop to it!

What’s your favorite zoo animal? The cutest thing we saw today was the Egyptian Dabb Lizard. I pretty much love any creature with a big belly; Seth Rogan crush anyone?!

24Mar2011

Breaks and Body Farms

by Emily

Today has been chock-full of excitement! Well, nerdy excitement; I’m feeling pretty jazzed.

First off, did you know that my spring break starts tomorrow? Of course you didn’t, I’ve been so busy being sick that I haven’t had time to get excited about it. Well I’m excited now! Here are some of the fun happenings –

March 26th – April 3rd: Adam and I both are on spring break
March 28th – 30th: we are heading to Ohio to visit my grandparents, and my mommy will be there too!
March 30th – April 2nd: my mom will be spending her spring break in Buffalo with us
also, on April 9th we are heading to VA to visit my in-laws

I have a lot of school work to do over break (being sick for three weeks will do that), but it’s going to be great!

I wasn’t hungry again this morning, but I was starving as soon as I got to campus so I think breakfast might be back. As soon as lab was over I dove into lunch, including a killer sandwich combination.

An Arnold’s Sandwich Thin with sliced turkey, maple jelly, and…

Queso Fresco and Chipotle Laughing Cow Light. The spicy and sweet made for a fantasmic combination.

With baby carrots on the side.

I ate with a group of friends and then we spent the rest of the afternoon banging out a bunch of pre-break work. I took an online midterm, finished 2 weeks worth of lab work, and started studying for an upcoming nutrition exam.

I was hanging out on campus waiting for piece of excitement #2 – attending a forensic anthropology speaker series. I spent 4:30 – 6:00pm Listening to Rebecca Taylor from University of Tennessee’s “Body Farm” talk about their studies in human decomposition. Eeeeeeee! We learned about adipocere, and skin slippage, and animal scavenging.

I love anthropology, particularly forensic anthropology. Did you know that if I wasn’t invested with having kids with the husband I’d probably be off pursuing a degree in Anthropology?! I’m fascinated by the subject and would love to help work on applying our knowledge of osteology to crime scenes (think Brennan from “Bones”).

I continued the glee when I got home, with Smarties!

Adam and I split the box.

And then I got started on an exciting new dinner creation –

Ravioli Lasagna, serves 4 (loosely inspired by something I spotted in Everyday with Rachael Ray) –

10-12 oz package refrigerated ravioli (we used a spinach and three cheese variety)
4 cups (packed) fresh baby arugula
2 cup marinara sauce
1 cup reduced fat shredded mozzarella cheese

Preheat the oven to 350*. Lightly grease an 8x8inch casserole dish with cooking spray.
Place half of the ravioli in a neat, even layer in the bottom of your casserole dish. Top ravioli with 2 cups arugula. Top arugula with 1 cup marinara sauce, spreading evenly with a spoon.
Repeat layers once more. Top with mozzarella cheese.
Bake for 45minutes, until browned and bubbly.

I’m not actually that huge of a lasagna fan, so it’s too time-intensive for me to ever want to prepare. Plus, it’s expensive, the one I made for the husband’s 21st surprise party cost an arm and a leg.

This new lasagna was quick and cheap, but still cheesy!

Three questions for Thursday –

What subject, that is not related to your career, thrills you?
Smarties or M&M’s, pick your poison?
Are you a lasagna fan? Do you cook it often?

21Mar2011

Measure It Monday

by Emily

It’s hard to measure where I am in my sickness because my symptoms keep changing. I feel much more perky but my congestion and seal-cough continue. I would say I’m 2-3 days from well? Hopefully!

One vestige of deathly sickness that remains is my complete and total lack of interest in breakfast. As a future RD I know the morning meal is important, but I just can’t make myself eat it right now. I did get a big coffee when I got to campus though.

Grande nonfat latte with 1 pump of Irish Cream syrup, delicious.

As foretold, lunch was dinner’s twin. A serving of Newman’s Own 4 Cheese Pizza,

and roasted green beans.

Plus some fruit snacks my mom sent during the break between classes.

We’re learning about breast-feeding in my Nutrition Throughout the Life-cycle class and it is so interesting! The benefits of breast vs. bottle are immeasurable, even more vast than I had previously thought. Plus we are exploring (just a bit) the socioeconomic factors that come into play. Fascinating!

Random sidenote – I walked to and from school today in jeans and Adam’s sweatshirt, no coat! Boo-yah. The temperature is set to drop again tomorrow but I’m getting very excited about spring.

While prepping dinner I snacked on (an exact) serving of Popcorners.

Do you measure out things like chips, or just eat from the bag? I only put my hand in a bag of chips if I’m planning on eating the entire thing, which I sometimes do! Otherwise I always use my food scale to measure out a serving. When it comes to snack foods like chips, the difference between 1-2 servings in satiety and satisfaction is nill, but the caloric difference can be huge.

Dinner was quick and easy but so tasty and wonderful.

Only 4 ingredients and no measuring required.

Goat cheese tortellini, butter toffee almonds, cubed butternut squash, and balsamic vinegar.

Cook the pasta as directed.

Roast the squash. Actually, roast the squash, get nowhere, and finish it off in pan with a bit of butter.

Reduce the vinegar.

Combine everything (plus nuts) and fall in love.

This was perfect; a little savory and a little sweet. Plus, you really can’t go wrong with goat cheese.

I made myself a broiled grapefruit for dessert.

But then I discovered that I hate grapefruit. Oh well, at least I know.

Instead I had a cupcake.

Not just a cupcake though. I just took the picture to show you guys how cute and perfect it was.

Instead I crumbled it over a Stonyfield 0% Chocolate Underground Yogurt,

for a much less cute, much more delicious treat.

Say it with me – “Mmmmmn!”

What sort of foods do you measure? Do you use cups/spoons or a food scale? I measure cheese, snack items, cereal, peanut butter and maple syrup. Plus a few other things I’m sure I’m forgetting.

20Mar2011

Sweet Sore First Day of Spring Sunday

by Emily

Can I tell you guys how sore my legs are?! Moving around involves lots of lurching and waddling. My longest runs before I got sick were about 2miles so the 5k was long comparatively. Speaking of tired things, I kept us up past 3am the last few nights with my coughing, so we’ve both been a little tired. The cure for that was a nice long, college-style sleep-in until noon.

When we did get up we had some errands to run that took us towards Wegman’s hot bar.

I got a nice mix of veggies,

and a few pieces of sweet and sour chicken.

I also snacked on a Crunchie Bar for dessert.

More candy from England (via Canada), this honey sponge candy is so crunchy and good!

Dinner was easy-peasy, and cheesey.

4-cheesey! Newman’s Own Four Cheese Pizza.

I was sent a free coupon for the pizza through the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.

The cheese mix was tasty, but the crust was a little bit squishy.

I ate my serving with some roasted green beans.

It ended up being a tasty meal,

which is good, because I’ve packed the exact thing for lunch tomorrow!

In sweet Sunday spirit, we also made cupcakes.

Healthy Chocolate Cupcakes with Marshmallow Topping. The recipe came from Shape magazine.

I followed the recipe exactly for a change, except that I made 16 cupcakes instead of throwing some of the batter out. <– Seriously the stupidest instruction I’ve ever read; why on earth would you instruct readers to throw out part of the batter? Just say the recipe makes 16 servings instead of 12. And even with “extra” cupcakes we still had frosting left over, making it even stupider!

Stupid recipe or not, it was a stupendous recipe. The frosting tasted exactly like marshmallow topping!

I enjoyed one cupcake for dessert. I was going to have another, but chocolate cupcakes don’t really throw me, so instead I ate a pinch bowl of icing.

Perfection.

What did you do to celebrate the first day of spring (today)?

19Mar2011

Dumb or Determined

by Emily

When I got up this morning I had a dilemma – in spite of not eating much yesterday I still wasn’t hungry. BUT, I was about to do something really dumb that would require energy. What’s a food I’ll eat even when I’m not hungry? Oh yeah, cheese!

I made an epic grilled cheese sandwich. Rye bread with Thousand Island dressing, 1 oz of extra sharp cheddar, and 1 oz of 2% shredded mozzarella. I started out with two pieces of bread, but when I burned the daylights out of one side I ended up scraping off the cheese and folding the other piece in half.

It was epic, eaten on the walk to my really dumb idea.

Where were we walking to? The Bengal 5k race at my school!

Let me explain – when the club I’m in mentioned the race a few weeks ago, it was supposed to fall during my half marathon training. The entry fee was a pricy $25 (which is really steep when you factor in Adam wanting to run it too), but it went towards a scholarship fund and the nice, flat race course looked fun. But then as I passed the two-week mark of being sick, I wasn’t sure what to do.

Here’s the thing you have to understand (pardon my S-words); no matter how Sick I am, I will always be more Stubborn and Stupid. Stubborn enough that I’m not going to skip a $25 race, and stupid enough that I’ll decide to run instead walk once I get there.

So it wasn’t easy, but I ran the entire 3.1miles without stopping. And I might be more of a dumb-ass than a bad-ass, but I’m pretty proud of myself for not giving up.

We crossed the finish line at 35minutes on the nose (Adam ran/crawled with me like a saint). I was crazy slow, but I ran the entire time, and when an annoying old man joked about passing me at the end I even managed to sprint the last .1! Sidenote – my sprint at the end was actually the fastest I’ve ever crossed a finish line; there is definitely something to the whole pacing yourself business.

We’ve got strange but fun plans for lunch and dinner, I hope everyone is having a good Saturday!

17Mar2011

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

by Emily

I hope all my readers are out enjoying green beer and Irish car bombs! No booze for me at the moment. Anyone who really knows me can tell I’m sick just by looking at me today –

It’s a holiday with a theme color and my nails aren’t painted?!?!

Sickness be damned though, it’s a freaking holiday, I kept 90% of what I ate today green! Well sort of, I didn’t eat breakfast and I didn’t pack lunch so this non-green tuna packet was kind of a necessity for lunch.