Tag Archives: cheese

I Never Regret a Workout

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The snow did not stop.  In fact, it snowed sideways my entire walk to school.  I went to campus early to hand in a portfolio and all my before class studying time was wasted drying off.

When I got out of class this afternoon I was so tired that I sat on a bench for 30minutes just staring into space.  The last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym.

I told myself I could switch our meal plan so I didn’t have to cook dinner.

I told myself I could just eat cheese for dinner.

I told myself I didn’t have to walk home from school.

That last one was the ticket.  25minutes (2.5miles) on the treadmill later and Adam was picking me up and heading to Moe’s.  Quesadila with corn salsa and chips with queso dip.

My cheesy dinner was good, but even better was the feeling of accomplishment.  I never regret a workout.

However, I didn’t do a gosh darn thing this evening and I do have some regrets about that.  Goodnight!

Another Day, Another State

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Now we’re in Pennsylvania for Thanksgiving # 2 with the husband’s family.  We’re only here two days so I’m keeping my computer time quick to maximize family time.

My grandma made us a final feast for breakfast before we left this morning.

Scrambled eggs with turkey sausage,

and french toast casserole (cinnamon raisin bread, brown sugar, butter, rum, etc).

We hit the road pretty early, because we had a very important detour –

Trader Joe’s!  We didn’t actually do much stocking up (we mostly went to get some things for my parents) but it was fun just to be there.  On the way out Adam spotted a Joseph A. Banks and managed to cash in on a great Black Friday sale – $499 coat for $99!  He needs a new coat desperately and I had no idea how we were going to afford one so I’m stocked that we found such a good deal!

We had a 7hour drive so most of our meals were eaten in the car.  Freeze dried apples for a snack.

And Taco Bell chicken enchilada burrito for lunch.

We got to have dinner in the house though.

Sliced apple from my snack bag,

and a turkey sloppy joe.

Adam fed me a Lindt truffle for dessert but it missed my camera.  Something bit my face(!!) and I’m having a bit of an allergic reaction – I’m allergic to their cats as well – so please think unswollen thoughts for me!

*Check back tomorrow for Applegate Farms giveaway winners.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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I hope everyone enjoyed their turkeys/tofurkeys and had a good day of family time!

We had a great holiday.  We ate with a family friend who hosted the big meal at noon; it seemed a little odd to eat that early, but it was nice to have the rest of the day free.

Adam and I actually started off our day with a little activity; my grandparents live right off of a path so we walked over for a run.  We covered 2miles total (in the rain!) and had a lot of fun.

We kept breakfast small because of our early meal.

A mixed bowl of Frosted Flakes and Blueberry Special K with berries,

and a small glass of oj.

Before I show you my lunch (Thanksgiving) plate, I should probably prewarn you – I hate Thanksgiving!  I like the idea of being thankful and getting together with loved ones, but for all the foods I love, I pretty much hate the traditional Turkey Day fare.  Which I suppose works out because I’m the only one who never leaves the meal feeling stuffed!

Sweet potato casserole, a roll, a deviled egg, marshmallow salad, corn casserole, and a bunch of green beans.  Sans turkey, gravy, and mashed potatoes I managed to put together a pretty good meal 🙂

The dessert table was gorgeous, but my pumpkin love affair doesn’t extend to pie!

I did eat a Halloween reject when we got home though.

In the afternoon we took my grandma to see “Love and Other Drugs.”  It was funny and sweet, but *disclaimer* basically just one long sex scene!  So, um, don’t take your grandma 😉 (she enjoyed it!)

Dinner’s feast was much more my scene.

Leftover salad from yesterday,

roasted red pepper and tomato soup,

and the best grilled cheese I’ve ever eaten.

Seriously.  Pumpernickel rye bread spread with honey mustard, topped with 2 slices of extra sharp cheddar and spicy pickles, grilled on a skillet with a bit of butter. 

Oh.my.god!

Dessert was a small slice of coffee cake.

Not gonna lie, I cut this slice out from the middle of the cake so I could get that big chunk of topping!

Good family, good food, good day.

Don’t forget, you have one more day to enter my giveaway.

Tastes Like the Holidays

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Hello from Ohio!  The drive was long, but I genuinely love every moment I get to spend with the husband so the six+ hours flew by!  We’ve been having a great time with my family since we got here; not to make you jealous, but I kind of have the best grandparents ever 😉

Before we piled into the car we tried to make up our lack of sleep by stopping by Starbucks for some red cups.

There’s nothing I don’t love about holiday flavors/decorations at Starbucks!  This was an Awake Tea Latte with skim milk and 1 pump of gingerbread syrup.

On our 1st stop I picked up a small string cheese.

And our 2nd gas stop lead us here –

Would the husband and I like to split a small, low-fat, eggnog milkshake with local ingredients?  Yes, please!

This was so good!  No offense Starbucks red cups, but this is how you start the holiday season off right!

We arrived at my grandparents’ house after lunch so I held myself over to dinner with an apple from my snack bag and a couple dark chocolate covered pretzels.

I made up a big batch of deviled eggs (our contribution to tomorrow’s meal) and snacked on an egg and an olive while I worked.

I also had several other nibbles that escaped the camera.

For dinner my grandma whipped up a feast.

Huge, tasty, healthy; we are treated like royalty here!

Salads with toasted walnuts, blue cheese, pear, and homemade cranberry dressing.

Chicken pot pie casserole with a puff pastry top (stuffed with broccoli, red pepper, onion, and water chestnuts).

And brussels sprouts with butter, lemon, and capers.

My grandma is an amazing cook and Adam and I couldn’t stop raving about how delicious everything was.  I only stopped myself from taking seconds because I had already seen the dessert.

Oh yes, there was dessert.

Crumb topped apple pie with homemade butterscotch sauce.

Holy god.  I left behind my crust (I hate crust) but other than that I practically licked my plate clean!

And then we spent the rest of the evening getting trounced in Euchre.  ‘Twas fun.

We are heading to bed “early,” because I actually have to get up and work on Orgo tomorrow.  Boo.  Hope everyone has a happy holiday!

What food tastes like the holidays to you?

Six A.M. Wake-Up What?

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It’s almost midnight and I’m just now blogging dinner, clearly my evening and early bedtime all got a bit off-track.  I’ll say that it’s been an interesting night and leave it at that 🙂

I actually STILL have to pack(!!) so I’ll keep this quick.  Dinner –

A quesadilla with spicy grilled chicken.

End scene.

I’m not sure of my posting situation over the holiday (my grandparents’ internet is pretty slow), but I’ll try to post at least once a day.  I hope everyone has a great holiday!

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Applegate Farms giveaway!

Be Still, My Heart

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I ended up not going to the gym today, I didn’t want to risk the shower.  I don’t know whether or not we can get hot water when the power is off, but I didn’t want to find out on a sweaty day 😉

I did, however, get in enough movement that I don’t feel guilty about missing the gym (Who am I kidding?  I never feel guilty, that’s how I let weeks go by between visits!).  I walked so much today that my feet actually started to hurt, and that’s a real feat for me!

  • home to school
  • school to home
  • home back to school
  • school to Wegman’s
  • Wegman’s to the Co-op
  • and finally home

My excitement over that much walking time is why I’m trying to calm my heart.  Although I’m glad it’s not too still, I needed him beating for Anatomy today!  We did EKGs in lab and it was actually a lot of fun (aka I’m a nerd).  First we checked my heart rate reclining (70beats per minute), then again after I sprinted up and down the stairs for a few minutes (113beats per minute).

Lab let out early, which is why I had time to make the mid-day trip home.  I couldn’t actually eat any lunch (I couldn’t open my fridge because of the power situation), but I did have a nice snack.

Sahale Snacks Valdosta pecans with cranberries, black pepper and orange zest.  Yum!  These tasted exactly like candied nuts, even though they have way less sugar.  I actually opened these on Tuesday and it was all I could do not to eat them all before I got a chance to blog about them!

I also had a macaroon.

I imagine those wouldn’t keep for too long, but 3 days later they are still damn good!

Food lab today was about grains and starches; my group made saffron rice pilaf, bulgur salad, and creamed toast with asparagus and eggs.  And you’ll notice none of those dishes made it onto my plate….

Hey, we did a good job, those items just weren’t my cup of tea!  I probably ate about 3/4 of what’s shown there, as I said, somethings were better than others.

After class I made my groceries trek to pick up a few items, which left me leaving the co-op at 5pm, starving.  Vegan Thai tapioca pudding to the rescue –

I’m sorry I don’t have a better picture, but I actually ate this on the walk home!  I can’t even begin to describe how good this stuff is – chewy and sticky in the most amazing way.  Be still my heart.

I also had a spoon (x2) of crunchy pb when I got home.

Served alongside a nice portion of heat; thank goodness our power is back on!

Dinner was simple simple, boxed mac and cheese gussied up with broccoli, 1oz of sharp cheddar, and a sprinkle of Sriracha.

I hate to add cheese to mac and cheese but this was a 33cent store brand box and the flavor just wasn’t cutting it.

Much better.

Now I’ve got to make like a banana and split; I have a huge presentation tomorrow morning and I’ve got to go rehearse.  Note – actually first we are returning some cans for cash and using it to buy candy….but then I’ll rehearse!

Switcharoo

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If the shoe fits, wear it – today I am a flip-flopper.  (Omg, can we talk about how rife with puns that introduction was?! Love it!)

I flipped my breakfast and lunch, I flipped my schedule, and I can predict that I’ll flip out at the husband if he hasn’t put the freaking toilet paper roll up by the time I get home from class.  (Sidenote – I’m fairly sure Adam thinks there is some sort of mystical toilet paper fairy, as he seems completely unaware that regular old humans can get a new roll on the dispenser.)

My bedtime goal was a flop last night; I didn’t get in bed until after 12:00 and I tossed and turned most of the night.  The good news is that I’m extra motivated to try again today.  The bad news is that I was too much of a zombie to make breakfast this morning.  And wouldn’t you know it, I woke up extra hungry today!  Thankfully I packed my lunch yesterday.  Cucumber slices for breakfast, why not?

I also had some Garden of Eatin’ Blue Chips,

and a cheese and jam sandwich (Crofter’s Strawberry and Cabot’s 50% Reduced White Cheddar on Arnold’s WW Sandwich Thin).

Normally the fact that I devoured my lunch before noon would be an issue, but all of my afternoon engagements ended early so I was able to flip my schedule and come home before my night class.

A coconut mini macaroon with cinnamon cream cheese filling made its way into my mouth the minute I got in the apartment.

Followed closely by a coconut oat no-bake.

But then I did make some grown up food for lunch.

This was the best tuna salad I’ve ever made, true story!  I threw some onion in and it took this over the top.

1 can tuna (flaked with a fork) + 1/6 Sweet Mayan Onion (diced) + 3 Tbsp pickle relish + 2 Tbsp Miracle Whip + sprinkle paprika = taste sensation + kicking breath

On the side I had a sliced apple and some Club crackers I stole from the husband.

I’ve got to hurry back to campus for my night class, we have class plus a quiz and I hope both end quickly so I can get home and make dinner and my bedtime goals.  By the way – I got back my last two Nutrition tests; 100% (yay) and 85% (boo).

In other (good) news…. I sent Adam to school with two big containers of cookies and everyone loved them!

What do you put in your tuna salad?

Plug, Plug, Plug

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Is everyone having a good weekend?  In spite of my vacation status I was actually super busy working all day, plugging away at my homework.  I got a lot accomplished, but that’s not to say I didn’t have some fun too 😀

For breakfast I dug into the oatmeal packet stash I brought with me.

This wasn’t all that filling, but thankfully we ate on my niece’s schedule so lunch and dinner both came a bit earlier than usual.

After breakfast we all headed to the Y to watch my niece’s cheerleading practice; it was a ton of fun to watch the little girls be active.  The lunch choice was less exciting, more fast food.  I went with another grilled southwest chicken salad.

This just wasn’t as thrilling the second day in a row, I ended up leaving more leftovers than usual.

Normally I would be totally bummed to have to have McDonald’s twice in 2 days, but this definitely helped to soothe my pain –

You better believe Adam and I both spent some time on the jungle gym with our niece!

Honestly, all that crouching and climbing actually felt like a pretty good workout!

The fun continued with some bowling, but I had to pass in favor of being an uber-nerd…

Don’t judge the girl on her laptop in the bowling alley, I completed an important assignment!

Dinner took us to Adam’s favorite Mexican place on the planet.  I’m less of a fan because the vegetarian options are lacking but he was so excited that it was worth it.  I ate my fair share of chips and salsa.

And for my meal my vegetarian plate came with 1 chile relano, 1 cheese enchilada, and rice and beans.

It was basically a big plate of cheese.  Yum/yuck!  I demolished my chile relano but let the husband take home 1/2 of my enchilada and 2/3 of my beans and rice.

Normally I’d been all junked out after that dinner but Michael found me jalapeno poppers with cream cheese and there’s no way I was passing that action up.

Soooo worth my months’ long obsession with getting my hands on cream cheese jalapeno poppers!

I completed all of my assignments for one of my classes, I got to run around with my niece, and I got some ccjp; ’twas a great day 😀

What’s the strangest place you’ve ever worked?  Shock me- bowling alley, poolside, a wedding?!