Tag Archives: citrus

David Boreanaz Is A Hottie

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I am really trying to stick to my daily blogging goal, BUT I am tired and cranky.  I guess it is serendipitous that I didn’t eat much today and thus can keep this quick.  I shouldn’t have gone to bed so late last night, but we had a new “Bones” to watch!  Hodgins and Booth were both really flipping hot in the last episode.  When David Boreanaz’ character made a certain face after he took a certain shot (I don’t want to spoil it for any readers who haven’t watched yet) I was basically fanning myself!

To be fair, I’ve been tired and cranky since the moment the day begin.  After Adam and I finished hanging out I stayed up past midnight last night doing absolutely nothing).  And I didn’t pack lunch.  Thanks to those bad choices, I headed to the hospital today without breakfast of lunch.

Breakfast I had to skip, but I did find lunch in the cafeteria.

gumbo

Pickens were slim, but I came up with a small bowl of chicken gumbo.

When I got home, I made myself this frozen meal.

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Not my favorite, though to be fair, the sauce exploded all over my microwave so maybe I didn’t get the full effect.  It was way too rice \-heavy; even in my hungry state I still left some on my plate.

I also snagged three caramels from a box my parents sent.

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[Mom – yum!  What were those?  Homemade?]

I would have scrounged for more food, but I had evening plans with a friend.  We went to a $3 showing of Vedgucated.  While we both agreed with a lot of the ideals, neither of us were fans of the movie.  The science was really weak.

When I got home I ate a minneola.

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And then I wrote this post.

And that’s all she wrote!

P.S. I also packed lunch.  And I’m planning on going to bed as soon as I get a quick shower.  Tomorrow’s forecast is looking much less cranky.

P.P.S.  Confession: I did also find time this afternoon to watch the last ever episode of Private Practice.

P.P.S.S.  Confession:  I cried.

Have you seen Vedguated yet?  Thoughts?

Weak-Sauce Weak Tea

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Did you know that I started my internship a week before the semester officially begins?  The pediatric hospital I’m working with is in high demand and these dates were the only ones that worked for them.  This is awesome because it means that I have a random free week in the middle of the semester.  But it’s a little tricky because I haven’t gotten a ton of guidance; the meeting to review the expectations for our self-selected internships isn’t until next Monday!

The lack of guidance, coupled with my sub-clinical OCD, creates a few problems.  For example, I know that we have to keep a journal that will help provide documentation to show what we did with our internship hours.  I do not know exactly what is supposed to go in that journal.  For now I’m recording every single freaking thing.  Not surprisingly, journaling is taking forever.  I worked most of the evening and have to wake up early tomorrow to get back at it.

As predicted, today’s lunch was delicious and filling.  When I got home I snacked on a leftover Alexia Artisan Sweet Potato Roll with Smart Balance Light.

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The rolls were even better leftover; they stayed very soft.

Also a Fig with Orange Zest Chobani Bite with 1/3 cup KIND Maple Walnut Clusters with Chia & Quinoa.

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The granola was knock-your-socks-off good!  I sampled some at FNCE and knew I had to buy a some immediately.  Now Adam loves it too and I am predicting a fight as the bag gets lighter.

I drank a mug of tea with skim milk and sugar to warm up while I worked.

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I so want to love tea but the cups I brew at home are too weak!  I basically make (milky sweet) dirty water.  This was 6 oz of water, microwaved for 90 seconds + 2 bags of Republic of Tea Red Velvet Tea steeped for 6 minutes.  Where am I going wrong?!

Thank God Tasty Bite for a quick dinner.

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I sautéed 2 pints of mushrooms in butter and evoo then tossed the packet of Vegetable Korma into the hot skillet.  Split between two bowls, on top of a serving of Jasmine Rice each.

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This is not a meal that photographs well (at all!), but it was damn tasty.  Plus healthy and quick enough for a busy night.

I was still hungry after dinner (we’ve decided that we have temporarily ruined our stomachs with our out-of-control portion sizes and that we will probably just have to spend a few weeks being a bit hungry) so Adam and I split a minneola.

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Gotta love citrus in the winter time!

Please help!  Do you have any tea brewing tips for me?

Happy Hanukkah!

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I know I’m a day late on the holiday wishes but 2nd-out-of-8 is not so bad.

I’d love to tell you that I’ve been in a flurry of studying, but in fact I worked almost 22 hours between Friday and Saturday.  I am exhausted, cranky, and not as prepared for tomorrow’s exam as I’d like.  But it is what it is and I’m just glad I have a job.

Some Friday/Saturday Highlights

I made another round of eggs with seitan.

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And had a mug cookie both days.

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Also pizza both days…

I had my first Starbucks red cup.

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A gingerbread latte (I didn’t love it!) while forcing myself to study with a friend after work.

What I Was Up To Today (Sunday)

Other than oversleeping and wasting some time in the morning, today was nice and productive.  Apparently my body just doesn’t want to study before noon!

I was excited to try this Oro Blanco for breakfast.

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Whenever I spot something I haven’t heard of before at the grocery store I just have to buy it.  Adam and I used to love Ugli fruit when we lived in the city and I was hoping this would be similar.

The Oro Blanco had a very thick layer of skin and pith like the Ugli fruit, but the flavor was not my favorite.

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It was bitter in a way that made my stomach hurt and I ended up throwing it out after three segments.

Instead I split a Mike’s bagel sandwich with a friend.

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The Mike’s sandwich is a bagel topped with cream cheese, provolone, and a fried egg.  It is amazing and ridiculous.

We spent almost six hours at The Spot so the sandwich was only the first of three orders.  I also had an iced coffee with skim milk.

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And shared a slice of cheesecake (with a pretzel crust and chocolate ganache!) with a friend.

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I just have to say – thank goodness for my great groups of friends or I would not have accomplished a damn thing today!  We went through the notes as a group and it was so helpful.  Not that I’m feeling all that great about a comprehensive exam in one of the hardest classes I’ve ever taken!

I snacked on baby carrots with blue cheese dressing when I got home.

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Plus a Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale.

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I have 3 pumpkin beers left over from October and I need to drink them before their out-of-season-ness drives me crazy.

I went to my freezer to get a little festive for 2nd night of Hanukkah dinner.

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3 cheese blintzes from Manischewitz.

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Frozen carrot slices and brocoli baked in 1 Tbsp Smart Balance, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, and salt.

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Both of the dinner components were very tasty.  I bought a bunch of frozen vegetables on my last grocery trip and I’m actually looking forward to using them.  And I have half a box of blintzes left that for which I need to purchase sour cream.

Dessert was very unnecessary, but also fun.

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Biscoff Buddies!  I have a special version of “puppy chow” in the works and since I’ve never actually made puppy chow before, I wanted to do a trial run with a single serving batch.

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For this version I used: 3/4 cup honey squares, 1 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips, 2 Tbsp Biscoff spread, and 1 Tbsp powdered sugar.

Who else thinks I shouldn’t be blogging at midnight when I have a giant exam at 7:40 am?  Whoops!

I’m Typing With One Hand…

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…so I’ll keep this short.  Speaking of keeping things, Adam will have to keep me, my surgery went off without a hitch!

It wasn’t a big deal – I just had a benign keratosis removed from the back of my hand – but they sure were dramatic about it.

I had to wear a gown, and get wheeled into the OR.  And look at my giant bandage –

they called it a “sympathy cast!”  I’ll have my stitches in for ten days and then I’ll be right as rain.  But unfortunatly they told me that I’m not allowed to work out while my stitches are in.  I know I haven’t been working out anyway but I really was excited to start again!  Ten days…

They told me to take it easy after surgery but I actually had to head over to a friend’s house to work on a group project.  At least I got some Moe’s out of the deal.

I got a naked burrito (aka a less expensive rice bowl) with black beans, lettuce, green pepper, onion, mushroom, corn salsa, and guacamole.

Delicious.  Moe’s is a great option for Vegan Month.

Resting up didn’t happen the rest of the weekend either, I worked both Saturday and Sunday.  Saturday morning was rough (on top of everything else we started an hour earlier than usual), but at least my shirt matched my bandage!

I ate an apple on the walk to work.

And a drank a Rockstar to help keep myself awake in spite of my pain medication.

My medication makes me feel pretty funny – nauseous and tired and all sorts of loopy – so I never ended up getting lunch at work.

Dinner was a buffalo seitan wrap from the co-op.

Plus a roasted potato.

Those fries are cut so nicely because the husband did it for me.  He’s been so nice helping me while I fumble around!

I did manage to catch up on some sleep this morning.  Thank goodness for Daylight Savings.  Even with the extra hour, all I managed to accomplish today was a shift at work and switching out my summer and winter wardrobe.

Breakfast was an amazing bowl of cereal.  Blackberries with cinnamon sugar, 1 serving each All Bran Bran Buds and Cascadian Farm Dark Chocolate Almond Granola, and Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond/Coconut Milk.

I had the granola from the HLS and have wanted more ever since!

A very late lunch was purchased at the co-op after work.  Broccoli salad and vegan mac and cheese with veggies.

The mac was so tasty that I almost made Adam walk back and get me more!

Instead I was basically stoned on pain meds all evening and was a total weirdo.  Dinner just didn’t happen, though I did eat multiple desserts.

A bowl of melted peanut butter with powdered sugar and cocoa powder.

A Cara Cara Orange.

And a few pieces of primrose oil old fashioned candies.

It’s been a weird day.

Chocolate, Croissants, Coffee, and Cuddling

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As my title indicates, it’s been a damn good day!  This is the most time I’ve gotten to spend with the husband in weeks.  Other than my short, 4-hour shift at work, we spent the whole day together.  There was studying I could have done, and I certainly could have eaten healthier food, but I’m calling today a raging success!

We started our morning by sampling last night’s baking efforts.

My Pumpkin Double Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins earn two giant thumbs up.

Next we perfected my drinking chocolate recipe.

Two more thumbs!  I’ll be sharing that recipe on Halloween.

And finally, we settled in for croissants, coffee, “Chopped,” and cuddling.

I had a Wegman’s chocolate croissant,

and a small mug of coffee (cinnamon vanilla nut, brewed with ground cinnamon) with skim milk and sugar.

When we were at the store picking up croissants we snagged pimento cheese samples.

The cheese spread was only ok, but the baguette they served it on was perfection.

Lunch foods were a Cara Cara orange,

and baby carrots with blue cheese dressing.

I should have eaten more food and less chocolate because I was very hungry when I got out of work.  Co-op salads were consumed on the car ride home to stave off hunger and get in some veggies.  Ramen cabbage crunch,

and 5 bean and feta salad.

I had about half of each and handed the rest off to Adam.

A friend was coming over and we had to clean up our hovel, so dinner was snacky.  1.5 oz of smoked almonds with 1.5 Tbsp butterscotch chips,

and (2) 100-calorie bags of kettle corn with 2 Tbsp of melted butter.

I’m definitely not minding the vegan challenge as an excuse to eat up all of the cheese and butter!

While our friend was over, the three of us split this Crispin hard cider.

The Saint wasn’t quite as good as the honeycrisp variety, but it still got good reviews all around.  Not too sweet or sour.

Adam and I finished up the day with bbq and buffalo chicken pizza (from Zetti’s) while we got our Halloween movie on.

“Once Bitten,” aka the 80’s-fabulous vampire movie that was Jim Carrey’s first starring role.  OB always reminds me of my friend Lana Winter and is one of my favorite films for Halloween.

We did something super fun while our friend was over but I’m going to tell you tomorrow because I have to get into bed this very minute.  Good night!

Have you ever seen “Once Bitten?”

New To Us

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Today was fun!  I love having visitors because it forces you to explore your own town.  We went to several new-to-us spots today and quite enjoyed them all.

Breakfast at Lake Effect Diner.

I’ve put off going for years but now we’ll be going back, soon.  I loved seeing this on the menu –

but I actually went with a vegan choice.

Vegan Burger – “house prepared veggie burger with blend of navy beans, barley, oats, vegetables, herbs, and accented with toasted sunflower seeds.”

I ate every bite, sans bun, topped with ketchup and red onion.

I also ate several bites from my dad’s turkey sausage.

I loved that menu was loaded with vegan, vegetarian, and poultry substitute options.

Lunch was consumed at the mall.  A piece of pretzel with tons of mustard.

Self-serve froyo, duh.

A little tart froyo, a lot of popping boba.

Plus an orange in the car.

Our main afternoon entertainment was wine tasting.

We went to Schulze, Niagara Landing, and A Gust of Sun and had many tasty pours.

We broke mid-tour to look at Lake Ontario.

Then finished up with a champagne toast.

Adam and I shared at several places so I think I drank a little less than last time.

We ate dinner at AcQua, which was good but not as good as it could/should have been.  Bread with butter to start.

x2.

I ordered the shrimp and scallop scampi for my meal.

I gave away 80% of my scallops and packed up 80% of my pasta for Adam’s lunch but adored the giant shrimp (dipped in cocktail sauce).

Dessert was the best thing going.

I ate half each of the last four macarons.

Pistachio, maple and apple, chocolate hazelnut caramel, and strawberry with marshmallow.  A delicious way to end the evening!

Bike Then Bar

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Today was the first day of class and I still managed to get in a morning workout!

Bike Or Bar, the new spinning gym on Elmwood, offers a free trial class to all newbies. A friend and I decided to try it out with 6am spin.  I was worried that the wake-up would be brutal but I was so excited that it was ok.  I used to hate spinning so my expectations weren’t very high but I ended up loving it!  The intervals were a lot of fun.  The instructor had great energy and I enjoyed the modern music.  A mega plus is that the space is set up to mimic a bar; with the dimmed lighting, strobe lights, and loud music I didn’t feel on display like I do in stark white gyms.  I can’t afford another membership right now but if we had more money I would definitely go back!  60 minute spin class.

The real morning excitement was getting to pick Webster up from boarding.

The vet’s office was closed for the holiday and the apartment has felt empty without him the past two days.

Breakfast was a green pear,

and a Banana Foster Lara Bar Uber.

A quick note on the bar – this was a free blog sample.  Lara Bar sent me the flavors from their new Uber line to try out.

The Uber line is supposed to be sweet and salty with big pieces of fruit and nut.  It delivered!  Just look at this texture –

There were lots of nuts and big chunks of chewy banana.  The flavor was salty and just a little sweet and you couldn’t taste the date at all (the only thing I dislike about regular Lara Bars is the overwhelming date flavor).  I can’t wait to try the other three flavors.

When we were at spin class Janessa gave me the awesome news that class didn’t start until 9 am today.  We took advantage of the extra time and went to Dunkin for coffee.

I’m not really sure why the woman gave me so much milk.  I got a large latte with skim milk and coconut/cinnamon syrup.  ‘Twas good.  And fun to have done spinning and coffee before 9am.

Summer school is going to suck.  That’s all I’ll say about that for now.

For lunch I packed a turkey sandwich.  Applegate Farms Smoked Turkey, French Onion Light Laughing Cow, and a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin.

Baby carrots.

And some dark chocolate mint m&m’s.

After school I made my final trek to the Sprint Store.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned all of my visits but I’ve had to take my phone in three times over the past two weeks.  This was the last time every because today I picked up my *new* phone.  And since I had to come in so many times before the waived all fees and it was free!

I sat at Panera setting up my phone (my new phone! for the final time!) and ate a chocolate croissant.

It was surprisingly good.  Chocolate croissants are a favorite food that I almost never eat.

When dinner time rolled around I did some hardcore wife-ing.  I roasted a whole chicken!

I followed a recipe from Kitchen Counter Cooking School and it was easy as pie chicken.  We started with a 3 lb 8 oz free-range bird.  I made a mixture of butter, lemon juice, and fresh rosemary that I rubbed under and on top of the skin.  Then I stuffed the inner cavity with the juiced lemons and a few bulbs of garlic.  Baked at 425* for 1 hr 15 minutes with occasional basting.

It turned out wonderfully!

I ate a chicken thigh sans skin.

With sides of roasted zucchini,

and sliced carrots cooked in brown sugar and butter.

It was a winner of a dinner.

Though not that appropriate for the weather.  Bring on the chilled salads and gazpacho.

Smoothies for dessert helped us to cool back down.

For two, I blended – 1.75 cups Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, .25 cup frozen blueberries, 1 large frozen banana, 3 Tbsp malted milk powder, and 1/2 Tbsp almond extract.

It was a good mix.  I need to remember my almond extract more often.

See you for hump day.

Our Trip To Toronto

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The past weekend was so much fun!  We’ve decided it was our best couple vacation to date.  We weren’t expecting to get to go on a trip this summer but a Living Social deal popped up and it was just too good to turn down.  Our voucher included a one night hotel stay, dinner, and tickets to a movie.  We filled in the rest of our time with lots of exploring.  It was fabulous!

Our Saturday did get off to a bit of a late start; we had a tragedy Friday night.

We were cutting Webster’s nails and Adam did two of them too short and he bled.  The worst part was that he is such a good boy – and was so focused on the treat in my hand – that he just sat there and we didn’t know there was a problem until there was blood dripping down my leg.

He mostly seemed fine, but I cried.  Thank goodness we board him at the vet so he was well looked after while we were gone.  He was due for a stool sample and vaccine too so the timing was great.

But we did miss him like crazy!

Once we were on the road I snacked on a Cara Cara orange.

Plus a Rockstar Relax I bought along the way.

I’ll just warn you in advance, my allergies make my throat hurt and I basically did nothing but drink all weekend.  I think the final count was eight beverages, not including the giant water bottle I carried around in my purse.

Before we knew it, we had reached Toronto!

We settled in at our hotel.

Then we spent hours exploring the Asian section of town.

We saw so many neat things and we walked for-ev-er.  Plus we ate tons of good food.  The first order of business was bubble tea.

Adam and I split this taro milk tea with boba.

Mmmmn!

Then we split a sugar cane juice.

We both grew up with sugar cane – me in St. Thomas and Adam on vacations in Hawaii – so this was familiar and fun.

Totally new to us was this cool shop where you went around with tongs and picked out items to put on a tray.  Then you paid and they packaged your selection to go.

We got a chicken bun and a pork bun.  I ate half of mine.

And Adam and I split this taro pastry.

So pretty!

We split these gummi moo cows from a candy shop.

We stopped in at a David’s Tea.

I got an iced (unsweetened) Cream of Earl Grey and it was very tasty.

I’ve wanted to order some of their flavors for forever (birthday cake! ice cream cake! buttered rum!) so it was great to try it out.

Our lunch spot was selected because I liked the windows.

It ended up being a pho restaurant.

We went all out and ordered two milkshakes.

Jackfruit and durian!!

Trying durian is on my life list so this was super exciting.  The shakes ended up being made with powder instead of the real deal but it was fun to get an idea of the flavor.  I only drank a quarter or so of each but they were nice to have when my meal got spicy.

My order was sautéed mixed vegetables with tofu and vermicelli.

Which I proceeded to douse in Sriracha.

I mean douse.  I covered the dish just like this twice more and I didn’t even eat the whole meal.

Gaaaaah; it was so flipping good!

Our exploration took us almost 5 miles.  When we went to shower we both needed thirty minutes to lay on the bed with our feet up!

Our evening plans were decided by our Living Social deal, which included dinner and a movie.  Dinner was from a pre-fixe menu at the hotel’s restaurant.  We were not expecting it to be very good and we were not surprised.  But you can’t beat free.

The complimentary bread was wonderful.

But it went downhill from there.

I ordered the Caesar salad to start.

The menu said that it came with shaved parmigiano reggiano and authentic anchovy dressing but it was definitely canned cheese and bottled dressing.  The one plus was that the dressing came on the side.  I ate 3/4.

My main meal was pasta.  “Smoked chicken/charred sweet bell peppers/black olives/toasted pine nuts/shaved parmigiano reggiano/extra virgin olive oil and basil pesto.”

I ate 1/3.

We were fairly disenchanted at that point so we took dessert to go.

Meyer lemon cheesecake with huckleberry jam, chantilly cream, and seasonal berries.  That I finished.

For our movie we selected “The Five Year Engagement.”  It was pretty cute.  I stole a few handfuls of Adam’s Crazy Core Skittles while we watched.

It was fun to walk to and from the movie but by the time we were back at the hotel I was done with exploring and more than ready for bed!

After a good night’s sleep we woke up on Sunday raring to go.

Our 2nd day was a shorter version of our first; walking and eating.  This time we explored Bloor Street.

We were planning on going to Menchies (duh!) when we spotted a new froyo spot further down the street.

Yogurty’s was fantabulous!

I got espresso and coconut frozen yogurts topped candy bits, coconut, cocoa syrup, sprinkles and a cherry.

We both thought it was the best self-serve froyo we’ve ever had.

I also had a final bubble tea.

A black milk tea with boba.

And when we spotted one of these fancy machines you know we had to try it out.

My diet cherry coke was only ok but the process was cool.  And diet pop is always a good way to end a vacation.  After a bit more exploring we drove back home.  You already saw the rest of the day.

Self-serve froyo?  Bubble tea?  Lots of walking?  Trying new foods?  Check, check, check, and check; it was a wonderful trip!