It’s F-F-F-Freezing!

Actually, that title’s a lie, my thermostat says it’s 65*.  But I feel pretty darn cold!  Right now (according to the thermostat and my phone) it’s 65* in here and 51* out there.  This leads to a couple of thoughts –

  • If I’m so cold in here, how the heck am I going to feel when I have to go outside?  And when I walk home from class at 9pm?!?
  • How much longer are we going to be able to push back putting on the heat?
  • Can I really wait until Sunday to switch out our summer and winter clothing?
  • Should we sign up for the October 30th 5k, or will the weather not permit the wearing of fun costumes?Th

My numb feet told me it was a good time to open up the Blueberry Cream Coffee I got on super sale at Wegman’s.

The flavor was good, although not at all blueberry.  Sadly, I didn’t realize until post-brewing that we are out of skim milk.  My Silk Almond Milk curdled 😦

I only managed a few sips of the mug and I still got a caffeine headache!  (Btw – my Orgo Lab tonight actually deals with decaffination.)

My tasty leftovers lunch made the headache seem like not such a big deal.

A big slice (~1.5servings) of Wegman’s Veggie Pizza, with ranch.

We got this we a free coupon for dinner last night and we pretty impressed; the quality was great for frozen pizza.  The veggies included peppers, broccoli, and black olives.  My only complaint is that I would have like MORE veggies on the pizza.

What at what date/temperature do you turn your heat on?

My Goodness My Guiness

I hope you’ve already entered my giveaway, because I’m going to rave about the nuts now 😉  Just to remind you; Sahale Snacks sent me these products to celebrate the fact that 2oz bags of Sahale Snacks are now being sold at Seattle’s Best Coffee.  I am a fan of the company because the ingredients are always real and the nutritionals are excellent (duh, they are just nuts!).

I couldn’t eat lunch today because of the door maintainance debacle, so I grabbed a mixed baggie of all three varieties to eat during Orgo.

I just want to say, in general, that whomever came up with the idea to throw cheese into the mix should probably get a medal!  Perhaps one carved into a blog of cheese….

Barbeque Almonds with Mild Chipotle + Ranch

These had a good amount of spice, I think too much on an almond would be overwhelming; they had a bit of sweetness that helped to balance them out.

Tuscan Almonds with Parmesan + Herbs

This kind tasted the most cheesey.  The coating was thicker, and gave them a candied nuts texture.  These were the husband’s favorite – he described the flavor as robust.

Southwest Cashews with Chili + Cheddar

This kind was my favorite, probably because it used cashews.  These were definitely the spiciest.

After Orgo and Anatomy classes were finished I headed to the library for an hour and then to the Anatomy Lab for a 2hour review session.  Our big exam on Thursday includes skeletons, cat muscles, and sheep brains; all of which were out for us to review this afternoon.  I didn’t leave until after 6 and I’m finally feeling a bit more at ease, although still pretty darn nervous!

The nuts held me over for a long time, but from 12:30 – 6:30 they did not!  I grabbed 1.5 Butterscotch Pumpkin cookies the minute I walked in the apartment.

By the way, Adam is pretty picky about “strange” desserts and he loved these.  He took some to school today and said his friends were fans as well.  If you’ve been eyeing Rachel’s recipe, make it!

For dinner we made Mushroom and Provolone Patty Melts from Cooking Light.

We followed the recipe pretty closely, but made a few changes –

  • we used 94% lean turkey meat instead of sirloin
  • we subbed white button mushrooms for cremini
  • ate the topping in 2 servings (doubling the amount)
  • I ate my melt deconstructed, with the bread on the side

We used Guinness for our dark beer which was a nice touch, but overall the recipe was pretty flavorless.  Honestly, my favorite part was the side (2servings) of Simply Rustic Bread from Pilsberry (I had a free coupon from BlogHer).

I was starving all evening so I did a lot of snacking while we cooked.

I’ve got an early morning tomorrow, and tons of studying to be fresh for, good night!

What is your favorite kind of nuts?  I’d probably go with cashews or brazil nuts.

Two Down, Three to Go

I’m 2/5 done with hell week!  I got a B(ish) on my 100 test – booooo – and probably a 100% on my 110 quiz.  Right now I’m poised for a D (or less!) on the next three so I can’t talk.

Breakfast was a layer of Yoplait Honey Vanilla Greek Yogurt,

topped with smoothie – strawberries, water, coconut water, and Original Amazing Meal (free sample, very nice, basically flavorless but added a bit of tang),

topped with gingerbread granola –

Good.

I actually made a breakfast that was good, but I couldn’t finish it because of a rain incident.

Energy drink before test 1.

Southwest Flatbread Sandwich from library cafe (corn, beans, cheese, chicken).

Gym was not as good as usual; I started to run and was so exhausted that I just couldn’t.  I wasn’t about to waste a workout outfit though, I pulled up some Bio notes to distract myself and did some incline walking –

  • 5minute walking warm up
  • 5minutes jogging
  • 20minutes incline walking
  • 3minute cool down

2.07miles.

Pickle.

Serving of crackers with salsa.

Dinner, dipped in ranch.

Roasted yellow beans,

disappointing okra (it was so fibrous I couldn’t chew it!  I only choked down 1),

pizza thin, i.e. an Arnold’s WW Sandwich Thin with marinara and part-skim mozzarella.

Ice-cream sandwich for dessert.

I took this handful of the husband’s peanut M&M’s.  Then I put all but 4 back because I had just had an ice-cream sandwich and M&M’s aren’t even that exciting.

I have an Anatomy exam tomorrow, holy God.

How’s your week going?  Want to fill me in on any blogland gossip I’ve been missing?

My Achy Breaky Head

Ugh.  I had a strange, achy/heavy head feeling all day; which I’m sure was made worse by my crappy food choices.  I didn’t work out.  I’m not ready for any of my tests; probably because I didn’t study enough.  Ughs all around.

Jimmy Dean French Toast Griddler.  (p.s. these have just 210calories and 2g of saturated fat)

A huge honeycrisp apple topped with melted part-skim mozzarella and honey.  Win!

Popcorn, popcorn, popcorn.

A mini sandwich cookie that was the best thing I’ve ever eaten, seriously.

Buffalo chicken pizza (with ranch).

Adam and I made a huge pile of Dove chocolate wrapper.

Pleeeeeease, think smart thoughts for me tomorrow!

Good Vibes, Good Vibes

This has got to be another quick post; this week hasn’t even started yet and I already can’t wait ’til it’s over!  Today was busy, busy, busy, busy, busy (said in the magician-voice from Frosty the Snowman).  I will note that I let myself get too hungry this afternoon and ended up eating way too much; I’ll have to be careful not to let that happen again during “hell week.”

I wanted to eat breakfast on the walk to campus so I made a smoothie to go.

This was a serving of frozen Goya soursop pulp, a medium frozen banana, and a 1/2cup each coconut water and Silk Almond Milk.

It was creamy and nice, but much sweeter than I wanted (who am I?!), so I shared a lot with Adam.

We worked on campus all afternoon and I ended up getting lunch from the food aisle in the bookstore.

Amid the rows of chips I was able to find this Spicy Thai Tuna Medley.

Yum!  I never buy these because I can’t justify the cost, but the flavor is great.

I took a break mid-afternoon to hit up the gym before I left campus.  35minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  I took a long walk home to stretch out and stopped by the co-op to pick up a few things.

Then I worked.  (And worked and worked and worked.) It was a busy day but all of my homework for next week is complete, which means I can just focus on my exams.  Amid lab reports I ate this mini mint chip ice cream.

I probably should have made time for some veggies.  We went to the grocery store at 9pm and by the time we got home I was starving!  I dug into a nice big pickle.

And then opened up a box of French Toast Griddlers.

I tried these at BlogHer and was so obsessed with them that the rep gave me some free coupons.  Remind me after this week is over to tell you guys more about them.

I should have stopped there.  A mini bag of chips.

A serving of crackers with part-skim mozzarella melted on top (I love how this looks so much more decadent than it actually is!).

And a thing of Hi-Chews.

by the way

I knew that I was going to have a tough week, but apparently I’m sending break-down vibes to my belongings as well!  One of my favorite tops came out of the dryer with a big hole and this morning my i-pod broke.  I can’t bring it in to the store for at least another week and if it’s unfixable we can’t afford to replace it for years.  I’m so disappointed!  But it’s a good karmic reminder that I need to keep my cool this week.

Wonky WordPress

I’m blogging after midnight on a Friday and I haven’t gone out or done any drinking; what is wrong with this picture?!?!  [Actually, you can subtract 30ish minutes from this post time-stamp because WordPress was being redonkulous]

I got in bed before 10pm again yesterday and could still barely peel myself out of bed; who’s going to tell my body about next week’s all-nighters?!  I have 9am class on Friday so I did at least manage to eat before I left the house.

Brown Cow 0% Vanilla Greek Yogurt (A 99cent find I was quick pleased with, although the texture was a bit thin.) with a strawberry honey straw.

In between my 1st and 2nd class I worked on Orgo with a friend.  And had a minor breakdown when I realized how little I know.  I also drank a big cup of coffee with skim milk. :::imagine a cup of coffee here; as I said, WordPress is insane:::  And snacked on some celery I took home from food lab.

I went to Orgo (and felt my blood pressure rise just a bit more), and then Anatomy (little higher), and then got the most ridiculous e-mail ever about our lab homework for next week and sort of lost it.  I AM SO ANGRY!  I’ll leave it at that.

Adam actually met me at school to study and I wasted a good 45minutes spazzing out at him about next week.  And then I realized something crucial – complaining doesn’t change the situation.  So I got to work.  We stayed at school until 7:30, but I am done with my homework for Monday.  I ended up grabbing dinner from the food court when I realized I wouldn’t be escaping campus as soon as I’d planned.

A Crunchwrap Supreme, with chicken, from Taco Bell.

Actually, we left school at 7:30 so we could get to UPS before it closed.  Then we went back.  I had to pick up my gym bag and do my printing; we didn’t really leave school until 9:30.

When we got home we had to put some laundry in …… and then we went for a run.  It felt a little crazy, but I made a committment to get back into shape, so I’m going to do the damn thing.  ~2miles/21minutes.  I did a quick strength/stretch when we got home, and it felt good.

Bedtime, no?

When is the craziest time you’ve ever worked out?

An Afternoon Giveaway

This is going to be a quick post, but I wanted to give y’all time to win!

Today’s been a bit crazy, but I found out some major good news about an issue with my program (via a 1.5hour meeting I didn’t have time for!) so I’m happy.  I had my 8am library class today, so I packed a Chocolate Bumble Bar to nibble between classes.

I’ve liked every BB I’ve ever tried, but this flavor is definitely a new favorite!  It was sweet in the most pleasant way, sort of like cocoa mixed with honey?!

I attended a “Welcome to the Dietetics Department” lunch this afternoon.

Fruits,

veggies,

small slice of cheese pizza.

You’d be surprised how “normal” the food is at dietetics events; the last one was just cookies and pretzels.

I snuck in a visit to the gym after my meeting.  35minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  Followed by a few minutes of strength/stretching.  I can’t believe how long I went without working out last year; I think I’d be going insane with school if it wasn’t for the gym!

I just got home a few minutes ago and I’ve already housed this Yoplait Greek Strawberry Yogurt.

I tried a Yoplait Greek at Kristen’s house a few months ago when I was in Orlando for my half marathon, but I hadn’t seen them available in Buffalo until last week.  While I finally found them here so I scooped some up (with my own money, fyi).  A Yoplait rep contacted me to say she saw them on the blog, and I thought of you guys!  I feel like a lot of people wouldn’t think of Yoplait because it’s not one of the “traditional” Greek brands, but it’s actually a really good product.  Additionally, I feel like this stuff could be “Gateway Greek,” for people who haven’t made the leap yet; the strawberry one is actually strawberry flavored rather than plain with fruit on the bottom.  The rep was more than happy to send me so coupons, and that’s where you guys come in!

Want to try some Yoplait Greek yogurt?  I will be picking two readers (randomly) to receive a free coupon.  All you have to do is vote for me for Foodbuzz’s Project Food Blog.  Then take a screen shot of the voting page and send it to me at emilyhwaxATgmail.com.  You have until noon on Thursday, good luck!

Holiday Dinner

Today was an auspicious date – National Cheeseburger Day.

Or was that Cheeburger?

Cheeburger, Cheeburger seemed like the perfect spot to celebrate such an event.  Adam and I were both a little underwhelmed by the food (and service!) quality this evening, but the menu process is a lot of fun and his parents had a really good time.

I ordered the turkey burger platter for dinner, mostly because I needed to get in some veggies in the form of a side salad.

I split with Adam and served him most of the cheese, 90% of the balsamic vinegar, and all of the croutons.  Here is what I ate –

I actually looked at the menu ahead of time this afternoon, and the husband was so proud when I ordered my milkshake without a choices anxiety attack.

That’s a half-serving shake, cinnamon bun and marshmallow flavored, with skim milk substituted in.

The burger toppings were a bit more of a struggle.  I looked like I was cramming for the SAT when the waitress came to the table, but I ended up putting together something good.  Here is the platter –

My turkey burger,

which came topped with….

cheddar cheese, peanut butter, and jalapenos!  The rest of the table couldn’t believe my order but I thought the combination was great.  The different kinds of saltiness worked together well and the creaminess of the pb kept the peppers from being too spicy.  I ate two bites with the bun before I scrapped it, but I finished every last bite of the turkey patty and toppings.

Along with the side salad the platter also came with fries, which came with a side of creamy horseradish sauce.

I planned on eating 1 or 2 and sharing the rest, but no one else wanted any and when the piece de resistance came to the table I knew I was beat.

Nothing beats french fries drenched in malt vinegar.  I ended up eating about 1/3 of them.  All in all, especially given the location, I think I kept things pretty healthy.  Could have been better, but could have been worse too.

By the way; I just did this –

Wish us luck!