Tag Archives: cheese

Sandwich, Pocket, And Bagel Thins {Giveaway}

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I love carbs.  A lot.  A lot, a lot, actually.  But when it comes to sandwiches, I usually prefer to let my chosen filling shine.  That’s why I always order my burgers sans bun.  And why Sandwich Thins and Bagel Thins are pretty much the only bread products I’ll use to pack my lunches.  And it doesn’t hurt that the Thins are compact with a good chew (I hate fluffy bread for sandwiches).  So when I was offered an opportunity to share the love with you guys, I jumped on it!

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disclaimer –

I was sent coupons for free products, product information, and a $25 gift card in exchange for doing this review.  I was also given the opportunity to host a giveaway.  I was not provided further compensation for this post.  As always, all opinions are my own.

about the products –

[click on the links embedded within the headings to be redirected the official pages]

pocket and sandwich thins

Arnold®, Brownberry® and Oroweat® Products

All Arnold®, Brownberry® and Oroweat® Sandwich Thins® Rolls are cholesterol-free foods, containing zero grams of Trans Fat and no high fructose corn syrup.

Arnold®, Brownberry® and Oroweat® Sandwich Thins® Rolls

  • Weight Watchers®: 3 PointsPlus Value®
  • Flavors: 100% Whole Wheat, Healthy Multi-grain, Honey Wheat, Flax & Fiber

Arnold®, Brownberry® and Oroweat® Pocket Thins® Flatbread

  • Weight Watchers : 3 PointsPlus Value®
  • Flavors: 100% Whole Wheat, Healthy Multi-grain

bagel thins

Thomas’® Bagel Thins® Bagels

All Bagel Thins® are 110 calories, cholesterol-free, low in fat and contain zero grams of Trans Fat

  •  Weight Watchers®: 3 PointsPlus Value®
  • Flavors: Plain, 100% Whole Wheat, Cinnamon Raisin and Everything

my experience –

[click on the embedded links to be redirected to the recipe pages]

Along with my free coupons for the Thins, I was sent a $25 gift card so I could buy the additional ingredients for a recipe of my choice.  Here are the recipes that Weight Watchers® created for Sandwich Thins®.  And here are the recipes that Thomas’®  created for their Bagel Thins®.

I decided to make the Gouda, Ham, and Apple Bagel Thins® Sandwich.

gouda, ham, and apple, bagel thins sandwich

I substituted turkey for ham and used an Everything flavored bagel but otherwise followed the recipe.

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DSC08522DSC08526DSC08540DSC08544DSC08551The end result was delicious!  I loved how well the cool, crisp apple went with the warm, gooey sandwich.  I usually only think to pair produce with Brie and the Gouda was a nice spin.

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your chance to win {giveaway} –

We are offering you guys the chance to try the recipes for yourself.  One winner will receive coupons for free product and a $25 Visa gift card.  To enter – leave a comment on this post by 4 pm EST on Thursday, March 13th.

Weekly Wrap-Up; Under / The Weather / Is Still Too Cold

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If you couldn’t guess from the title, my complaints this week are: a) it’s too cold outside and b) I’ve caught a cold.  A.1 would be holy plastic, Batman, I’ve eaten a lot of packaged foods this week!

I’ve been eating {tons of junk} but not photographing so this will be a quick recap.  Thankfully speed helps keep my complaining in check!

breakfast

And I started my Monday off so well.

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Smoothie  = Coco Café Vanilla Coconut Water Latte, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, and a scoop of peanut butter.

Tuesday went downhill.

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Bagel with {tons of} cream cheese from a truck on my way to work.

And this morning I admitted defeat and got a giant latte with an extra shot of espresso.  Sidenote – I want to try the vanilla macchiato at Starbucks ASAP.

lunch

Monday.

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GoPicnic Box.

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And a Cara Cara.

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Readers who live within a feasible distance of Trader Joe’s – go get thee a bag of Cara Cara Oranges this very minute!  They are sweet, seedless, and rocking my face off.

Tuesday.

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An herb and garlic tuna packet scooped with TJ’s popped chips.

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With more Cara Cara love.

Wednesday I felt so bad I actually called into work.  I slept for most of the day and then hit the bed hard again by 10 pm that night.  Boo.

Thursday.

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A ranch tuna packet stirred into a mac and cheese cup.

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DSC08475Tuna was good, the macaroni was disgusting.  The Cara Cara was fantastic, obviously.

junk

Please note – this post only shows a small sampling of the truly massive amount of junk I’ve been eating lately.  Speaking of which… I have these {ridiculously delicious, like seriously out of control good} pretzel bites on the train at least twice a week.

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That habit needs to die, immediately.

I’ve also developed a pretty hardcore Good & Plenty obsession this week.

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As far as candy goes, this is hardly the worst because you get a very satisfying serving for 180 calories and no fat.  But as far as being a healthy adult goes, I need to stop eating so much freaking candy.

Chocolate covered pretzels are also candy.

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I actually ate these for dinner one night, but that was too depressing so I put them under this category instead.  I am clearly struggling with being a grown-up during the weeks when Adam’s working nights and I’m left to my own devices.

dinner

I ate cereal (and/or candy) for dinner most nights this week but did get in two nights of people food.  Like leftover pizza.

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Topped with chicken, caramelized onions, and bbq sauce.

And last night Adam had business in the city so he swung by Brooklyn to pick me up from work for Date Night!  Swoon!!  We got in a freezing but enjoyable 2 mile walk, stopping along the way to split a green juice.

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Kale/collards/romaine/cucumber/celery/parsley/green apple/lime.

Then we had a wonderful dinner at Calexico.

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DSC08484We wandered into it by chance after our first choice for dinner didn’t work out and I am so glad that we found it.  We can’t wait to go back for margaritas and nachos.

For dinner last night, I did the black bean taco – guacamole, pico de gallo, cotija cheese, and “crack sauce.”

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Plus the veggie special – fried brussels sprouts in chili and peanut salsa.

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The food was fresh, inventive, and perfectly seasoned.  I know my pictures were dark and blurry, but I was afraid if I didn’t blog this meal I would forget about it and I definitely want to remember this place.  Calexico will be a repeat spot!

What bad habit do you need to start being more of a grown-up about?

Weekend Wrap-Up; Purple Hair Don’t Care

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It’s been a fun weekend.  On Saturday I did this again –

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Welcome back, purple hair, I’d missed you.

Things have been pretty low-key since I last posted.  Adam has an insane schedule for the next month and I was trying to soak up as much time with him as I could.

Plus we were pretty productive – we spent Saturday buying him 2 of the 3 pairs of shoes he desperately needs (new running shoes, comfortable shoes for the hospital, and days off shoes).  We even made a trip to the gym.  I spent 30 minutes on the treadmill, doing some half-hearted running intervals and incline walking.  I can’t go back for a few days – I can’t wash my hair until the color sets so I don’t want to sweat – but it was a good start.

Here is some of what I did on the food front…

breakfast

Iced Americano with fat-free chocolate milk.

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Still obsessed.

Baked oatmeal with maple and pecans for Sunday brunch.

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I loosely followed this recipe.  I cut back on the sugar and used candied pecans.

lunch

Thursday I had packed a lunch, but then when I went into the cafeteria to buy a drink the special called to me.

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My baked potato with cheese sauce, broccoli, onions, and pickled jalopeños was delicious.  Not as filling as I’d hoped though, I ended up buying a snack later that afternoon.

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Friday my abandoned lunch from the day before was already in my office.

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Quaker Summer Berry Oatmeal,

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topped with Big Slice Cinnamon French Toast Kettle Cooked Apples.

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The apples were delicious, their texture was perfect.  I went to Target that very day to buy more.  Coincidentally, the oat bowls were on sale and I got more of those too.

snacks

Iced coffee from Café Dada.

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Yum x infinity.  I salivate when I think about this coffee.

Adam and I split a rocky nut Snickers.

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The marshmallow layer is crazy.

More sugar.

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We are both completely obsessed with these Juicy Bears.  They are so juicy!

dinner

A fancy Friday dinner.

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Salad – arugula with yogurt blue cheese dressing, shredded carrot, and Emmy’s Blueberry Cashew Super Cereal.

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With groats, raisins, cashews, and dried blueberries the cereal really seems like more of a salad topper anyway.  Plus a reject piece of too small chicken from our new favorite recipe.

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Mediterranean Stuffed Chicken, serves 2 – 4

4 oz light feta cheese

  • 2 Tbsp capers
  • 10 queen sized pimento-stuffed green olives
  • medium lemon, juiced and zest (reserve both juice and zest)
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 2 Tbsp smoked brown sugar
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Farenheit.  Prepare a baking dish with cooking spray.
  2. Place feta, capers, olives, and lemon zest into the bowl of your food processor.  Pulse until well-combined and no large chunks remain.
  3. Using a serrated knife, slice into the side of each chicken breast until you are a quarter-inch from the other side.  Basically you want to be able to open the breasts like little books.
  4. Open the chicken breasts and place into the baking dish.  Spread filling mixture onto one side of each breast, then close the “books.”  Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the chicken, then drizzle with lemon.
  5. Place baking dish into the oven and bake 40 – 45 minutes, until chicken is cooked through.

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Saturday’s dinner was less exciting.  More salad.

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Arugula with carrots, blue cheese, sliced green olives, crumbled feta, and flax.

Plus eggs cooked with pizza sauce, more arugula and olives, and shredded Parmesan.

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The olives seemed like a really good idea but in the end their juiciness was not appreciated in the eggs.

Last night I ate pizza for dinner.

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Thank you, cheese, for being you!

Have you ever dyed your hair a crazy color?

Weekish Wrap-Up

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The title is sort of a pun!  Because this post is pretty weak.  Get it??

I’ve been all over the place with my posting schedule lately but it just feels right.  Especially this two-day “week” because I’ve been total snack monster so I’ve eaten a full post’s worth of food.  Here we go…

Cold-brew coffee with low-fat chocolate milk.

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Oh, I noticed you admiring my nails {just go with it}, here’s a better shot –

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I know they aren’t perfect – and I cleaned up the edges a bit after that photo – but I was so flipping proud to have managed them at all.  My hands have made me happy all week.

Onto pictures you’ve actually asked for… welcome to my office at work!

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It is never as messy as my hair is in that picture {yikes!}.

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I haven’t done much decorating, but I have a few touches to make it feel like home (mostly reminders of Webster).

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But back to my mocha, that did not make me happy.  I bought a jug of chocolate milk and made a week’s worth of coffee… but I used the butter rum flavored coffee from Target and ultimately it is just too nasty to drink.  I ended up throwing out my whole batch!

I had this Dannon pecan drinkable yogurt on the train.

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I was really impressed with how creamy it was.

Work lunch.

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An apple,

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and leftover shrimp pad thai from the weekend.

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I still can’t believe we were able to make it taste so good/authentic.

Another lunch.  This one not nearly as photogenic.

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Pumpernickel with miracle whip, grape jam, banana peppers, sharp cheddar, and smoked turkey.

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A red pear.

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And a mini Honeycomb chocolate from Chuao.

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Snacks at work: Lots of tea from my Numi samples.

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Haribo liquid center fruit gummi candies.

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And a bag of Somersaults.

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Snacks at home: A packet of tuna salad.

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A ridiculous peanut butter fudge mug cake.

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And a mini Firecracker Chocolate from Chuao.

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I don’t know how they keep the pop rocks so fresh when they’re enrobed in chocolate but this bar had crackle!

Last night’s dinner was rice noodles with bean sprouts and tons of broccoli cooked in peanut sauce.

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Normally this is one of our favorite meals but this dinner felt very meh.

And that’s all she wrote! I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their week!

Weekend Wrap-Up; Winter’s Gone And I’m Not Sad

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Winter is not gone for good, obviously, but it took a much-appreciated hiatus this weekend.  It was so warm yesterday that we could walk the dog without coats!

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Oh spring, you cannot come soon enough.

Stream of consciousness style, here is some of what I ate this weekend…

Thursday’s lunch.

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The new Key Lime 2% Fage is so ridiculously good.  I stopped on my way home that same day to buy more!

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Plus a Lady Alice apple.

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And a Strawberry Lemonade Cascade Ice.

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I bought the drink with my own money after enjoying my samples, but something in this reeeeeally made my stomach hurt so I probably won’t be buying it again.

Friday’s lunch was a delicious sandwich of 1 slice of pumpernickel topped with Miracle Whip, fancy blue cheese, banana peppers, and Applegate Farms Roasted Turkey.

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Plus an emmy’s dark cacao macaroon – my new favorite flavor.

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And a pear.

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The Somersaults you see in the background were swapped out for this Double Shot.

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My coffee obsession accepts all forms.

We blended up a final round of our favorite smoothie.

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That was the last of our chocolate peppermint soy milk until next holiday season.

I ate a bowl of sugar cereal(s).

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Kid’s aren’t all wrong, this was fricking delicious.

I dipped sliced green apple in a blend of melted peanut butter and dark chocolate sauce.

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I love green apples when paired with something sweet or cheesy but the thought of eating one all on its lonesome makes my lips purse up.

I tried another evolution juice.

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The Essential Greens with Lime was much, much better than the variety I threw out the other day.  Still can’t hold a candle to fresh juice though.

I ate a ton of ice cream.

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The Ben and Jerry’s Cores are out of control.  We’ve tried blondie salted caramel and chocolate hazelnut and both were great.  Adam actually liked them more than I did, which says a lot because he claims not be into ice cream.

A friend and I met up at Bierkraft and shared this cider.

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It didn’t taste like maple at all, sadly.  But it packed some kick, apparently, because we went out for burgers afterward and it didn’t occur to me to snap a picture until there was only one bite left on my plate.

I got an easy dinner from Trader Joe’s after I went grocery shopping at 8 pm on Saturday.

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Along with my salad – which was delicious – I had cheesy bread.  Aka a baguette baked with butter and sharp cheddar.

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That was more delicious than the salad.  Obviously.

We made shrimp Pad Thai.  And it was good!!!

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First, we had to turn this –

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into this –

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Making tamarind paste “from scratch” felt super badass, just fyi.  And it was very essential to getting a good sauce.

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Basically just rice noodles, carrots, bean sprouts, shrimp, eggs, and this sauce, cooked in canola oil and topped with lime, scallion, and crushed peanut.

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It tasted legit!  I can’t even tell you how proud I was.

Last night our dinner plans fell through and we ended up with turkey burger take-out from Bare Burger.

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Not the original plan but certainly nothing to complain about.  Mine had turkey bacon, peppers, fried onions, and smoked cheese.

Have you ever made Pad Thai at home?  How’d it turn out?

Weekly Wrap-Up; Out Of Order

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A Sunday – Wednesday post?  Why not!  I’m a little out of sorts this week because I’ve been (just slightly) under the weather.  Thankfully it hasn’t been too bad, but I’ve had: the sniffles; difficulty speaking as much as I need to at work; and insane, crushing exhaustion.  I seem to be on the upswing though, and I’m posting today as a hopeful symbolic fresh week.

Thanks to my sore throat, I’ve been loving the tea.  Earl Gray with skim milk and lots of honey.

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Black tea with ginseng and honey from Arizona.

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And I even tried some juice.

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Ugh, couldn’t do it.  I’m not a big (fruit) juice person anyway but this stuff was terrible.

Other things I didn’t like this week included..  A cinnamon dolce latte that was fully flavored because I forgot to ask for “half syrup,”

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and emmy’s chai spice macaroons.

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Both were too cinnamon-y for my tastes.

We also had a terrible meal at a burger place in Astoria.

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My turkey burger was fine, but nothing to write home about, but the Fruity Pebbles milkshake we attempted to share – aka the entire reason we were excited about the restaurant – was horrendous.  No flavor and very soggy.

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We had much more success at home!

Like the croissant ‘wich I recreated from my brunch at Penelope’s.

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A split croissant topped with scrambled eggs {cooked with red and green peppers and light sour cream}, maple bacon tempeh, and sharp cheddar.

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Just as good as the original.  Adam liked his too.

We also made some turkey bacon carbonara with whole wheat linguine.

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Recipe from Cooking Light.

Here’s the only lunch I managed to pack for work (other days I had total junk from the cafeteria).

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Leftover tempeh with sharp cheddar on pumpernickel.

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Seaweed.

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Leftover bell pepper slices.

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And a minneola.

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For dessert this week we continued to adore emmy’s dark chocolate sauce.

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And this combination of strawberry and cola gummies wasn’t bad either.

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Either together, of course.

Is anyone else fighting a winter cold?

Wrap-Up; Will You Be My Valentine?

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Hi there!

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Long time no blog.

I know I’ve bitched blogged about this before, but Adam’s schedule is killing me.  And he’s on a particularly busy rotation as of last week – with an insane commute – and I’m kind of losing my mind.  So I apologize for missing a post, but I just didn’t have writing in me.  I also missed many photo opportunities this week.  However, my valentine and I did have some great moments, so, in no particular order, is some of what I did capture…

emmy’s

Emmy’s recently stepped up their efforts to be environmentally and socially conscious and they sent me a box of samples to help spread the news.

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From the company – Emmy’s Organics is a 100% vegan and gluten-free food company that prides itself on the quality, creativity & sustainability of the products it offers. The company uses only the finest non-GMO ingredients in everything produced. All packaging is made from biodegradable and earth-friendly materials. All goods produced are made in a vegan & gluten-free kitchen. For more information visit emmysorganics.com.

I opened, and devoured, the mint chip macaroons pretty much the second I got the box.

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And the dark chocolate sauce was stellar on coffee ice cream.

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The texture was wonderfully thick and smooth.

work lunches

Yogurt day.

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Yogurt topped with fresh blackberries and a crumbled macaroon.  The macaroon was coconut vanilla, my favorite flavor thus far.

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And the yogurt was Greek God’s Honey Salted Caramel.

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That stuff is crazy thick and the smell is out of control.

Boxed to go.

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Minneola,

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Crisp Apple Cascade Ice that I bought with my own money because I enjoyed my sample flavors so much,

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and a go picnic box.

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I got a bunch of these on sale the other day and I’m pretty excited about them.

Cereal and milk.

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An apple and a chocolate chili macaroon – the first flavor I didn’t care for, way too spicy.  And blueberry cashew super cereal which was loaded with buckwheat groats and dried fruit.

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I bought a milk cartoon from the cafeteria.

new things

Birthday Cake M&M’s.

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Meh.  The flavored m&m’s, while exciting, are all way too sweet.

Lady Alice apple.

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Sweet!  The flavor is sweet instead of tart and the skin feels so much like an apricot.

Rockin’ Nut Road Snickers.

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Sweet!  The marshmallow was great.

pizza pizza

Isn’t homemade pizza just the best?

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We topped Trader Joe’s garlic and herb dough with pizza sauce, light mozzarella, sliced green olives, and tons of sautéed mushrooms.

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Green olives are my favorite topping.

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Morton’s birthday

The Morton Salt girl celebrates her 100th birthday this year and the company sent me a giant tin stuffed with goodies to celebrate.

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In 2014 they are introducing the industry’s first Garlic Sea Salt as well as gourmet-style grinders for sea salt, roasted garlic sea salt, and black peppercorn.  Also, be on the look out for a brand facelift and these limited edition birthday packages.

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Manhattan meals

We had brunch at Empire Biscuit that rocked our faces off.

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Best biscuits ever! My (all butter, aka no lard) biscuit was topped with pimento cheese and black grape jam.

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And to drink we split an iced Blue Bottle coffee.

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Good God, I love Blue Bottle so much!

Another amazing, local coffee was espresso with skim milk from The Bean.

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P.S. That was one of 4 coffees I had that afternoon.  My coffee addiction is still raging.

Puddin’, from Puddin’.

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Adam and I shared coffee pudding and dulce de leche pudding with salted caramel sauce.

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This stuff was insanely rich but so good.  We recommended Puddin’ to the family that took our table at Empire Biscuit and we ended up all showing up for dessert at the same time!  They loved it too.

Dinner with a Groupon at S’mac.

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We shared the Buffalo Chicken and the Parisienne – Creamy Brie, roasted figs, roasted shiitake mushrooms, and fresh rosemary.

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The crusts were the best part of both.  Adam is very jazzed about our leftovers.

What’d you do to celebrate Valentine’s this year?

Weekly Wrap-Up; Lonely Island

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Let’s be honest – being married to a surgical resident sucks.  Don’t get me wrong, I am proud of Adam that he’s such a smartypants and I love that he gets the opportunity to do something meaningful that excites him, but if I had my druthers I think we would both be beach bums working together at a part-time job somewhere.

We don’t have any time now.  After 11 years together (and 6 years of marriage) we somehow still really like each other so living as two ships passing in the night, as I said, sucks.

It’s not great for blog content either.  Adam was on night shifts all this week and I was home alone which meant I ate cereal and/or popcorn most days.  Not a ton of healthy living to share!  And it didn’t help that when I pulled up my photos  to write this post half of them were horrendous and were promptly deleted.  Here is what I do have to share…

Work lunch 1.

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Fresh mango,

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and a Passion Fruit Noosa.

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This was the first time I had ever tried passion fruit not in juice form.  I liked the crunchy seeds!

Work lunch 2.

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Peach Noosa,

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topped with fresh blueberries,

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and Linwood Ground Flax Seed with Cocoa, Strawberries,  and Blueberries.

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The flax was part of a box of samples I recently received to review.

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It was quite good; you couldn’t taste the berries but it had a nice hint of chocolate.  I keep meaning to bring flax back into my life so the samples came at a great time.

Pink smoothie.

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Chocolate peppermint soy milk with frozen strawberries.  Adam is obsessed with this combination.  The only plus to nights is that he is home with me in the morning for breakfast.

Zing Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Bar.

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This didn’t have the best texture but it did a great job of keeping me full.

Gummi Koalas.

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These are Adam’s favorites but they couldn’t hold a candle to my new obsession with Haribo Juicy Bears.

Blissinger’s Dulce de Leche with Sea Salt bar.

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Yuck!  Way too salty.  I’m hoping that the husband ends up liking it because it was quite expensive and I could only eat one square.

Santa Fe Salsa Somersaults.

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This one I have no complaints about 🙂

Oven baked fries.

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With evoo, truffle salt, and dried rosemary from my grandma’s garden.

Iowa Girl Eats’ Chicken Chili topped with extra-sharp cheddar, low-fat sour cream, and pickled jalopeños.

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I skipped the brown sugar, doubled the onion, and added some liquid smoke.  Adam loooooved this, and he says he hates chili.

Leftover chili stuffed in a baked potato.

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With more cheese, sour cream, and jalopeños, and roasted broccoli on the side(s).  This was cheesy amazing.  We need to make baked potatoes more often.

Do you feel like you get enough time with your significant other or does work get in the way?