Tag Archives: coconut

Fresh Fage French Onion Dip

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I did not end up watching tv last night but I didn’t go to bed for hours either.  I also did not eat my coconut butter snack.

Instead I had it for breakfast.

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The Artisana Cacao Bliss packet was delicious!  The taste and texture reminded me of crumbly chocolate frosting.  Plus it was super filling.  I have two more of the packets and I’m very much looking forward to them.  And yes, that is a soda in the back of the picture; breakfast didn’t happen until near noon.  As it always goes the day after a migraine, my eats were all over the place today.

I got up late in a daze, made some important school calls, and then rushed out of the house to run time-sensitive errands.  By the time I made my way to Wegman’s it was after 4:00 and I was starving.  Hot bar to the rescue.

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Asian wokery veggies, watermelon, and pineapple.

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A little bit of sweet and sour pineapple chili chicken plus a Thai chicken spring roll.

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And I snagged these adorable cupcake gummies from the bulk bins.

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They were like little vanilla-berry pillows.

Dinner round 1 was a taco salad.

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A romaine base topped with chopped green pepper, black beans, a handful of crushed Beanitos, chopped Cabot 50% light sharp cheddar, and a big scoop of Wegman’s pineapple salsa.

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I gave my bowl a 30 second nuke in the microwave a few bites in and it made it even better.  I think I prefer Wegman’s version of the pineapple salsa to Newman’s Own’s; the sweetness and the spice are both a little less intense.

Dinner round 2 was lightened up chips and dip.

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2 servings of ruffles,

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and a bowl of Fresh Fage French Onion Dip.

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I’ve been craving french onion dip (with freshly caramelized onions!) for days so I decided to try my hand a lighter version.  I included the recipe for the dip at the bottom of this post.  It was really delicious!

Dessert was a mini pack of strawberry-filled koala cookies and a serving of Skinny Cow Peanut Butter Cream Filled Chocolates.

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Both were good, but I have got to cut back on the sugar.  I have been soooooo hungry this week and it’s driving me crazy.

Adam has been out-of-town the past few days and he gets back tonight = yay!!!!!  We have two fun days planned this weekend and I can’t wait.

Fresh Fage French Onion Dip, serves 1-2 (Or more, if you’re into smaller – i.e. 2-3 Tbsp – servings.  For 1-2 people this recipe makes a large enough bowl of dip to really scoop your chips into.)

  1. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add butter and oil to heated pan.  When butter is completely melted, stir in the onion and pinch of salt.  Cook 5 – 7 minutes until onions caramelize, stirring occasionally.  Remove caramelized onions from heat and let cool for 1 – 3 minutes before adding to yogurt.
  2. Place yogurt in a large bowl.  Add onions, Worcestershire, onion powder, and remaining salt and stir until well-combined.  Serve with carrot sticks or ruffled chips.

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What is your favorite kind of dip?  I’m a buffalo chicken dip girl myself, gotta embrace the homeland!

3 > 2

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I am working my way through a migraine and I want to hurry to bed with a magazine.  An episode of “30 Rock” may or may not happen first though…

Yesterday was the worst day of the year (hardy har; see what I did there? it’s not really hyperbole because there have only been three days).  I was cranky and out-of-control-hungry all day long and the only things I managed to do were stuff my face and sulk.  I vowed that the 3rd would be better than the 2nd, and even with my migraine today was a good day.  Woop.

I did start with a good breakfast.

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1 serving of Cascadian Farm Berry Cobbler Granola topped with 2 handfuls of blueberries and blackberries, a sprinkle of toasted coconut, and Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

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This is the breakfast that’s grrrrrrreat!

I brought my 2nd aloe drink from Aloic to work with me.

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Super refreshing.

For lunch I packed some old beans.  They were jolly good.  <– are you slapping your knee yet?  3/4 cup black-eyed peas with a big handful of chopped green pepper, a small handful of smoked almonds, and 1 oz-ish chopped Kerrygold vintage cheddar; seasoned with salt and a few dashes of green Tabasco.

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The mix of flavors and textures in this quick salad was so tasty and satisfying.  Definitely a dish I need to recreate when I’m packing lunches for my big girl job for the rest of the year my life.

*no photograph available* I ate at least 10 mini candy canes during my shift and gave myself the worst sore throat.  It was a slow day and I didn’t get much sleep so sugar was the only way I could stay awake.  Terrible.

And I’m just now realizing that the massive sugar intake is probably what led to my migraine.  Goddamnit.

I was already starting to feel off when I headed home from work so I picked up a slice of Buffalo chicken pizza for dinner.

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With blue cheese, plus a mound of baby carrots from home.

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I really could have split that giant slice with Adam (that is in fact 1 Zetti’s slice cut in half, not two normal-size slices) but he’s not here and I have no self-control so I ate the whole thing!

I’m also going to eat this packet of Artisana Cacao Bliss for dessert.

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I’ll have to let you know how it is in the morning.  I tried to heat it up a little and took things too far so now I’m waiting for it to resolidify.

Hope everyone has a good night!

Hello, 2013

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Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great first day.  I started my year the best way possible – a long morning in bed with my husband and dog and an afternoon spent cleaning every trace of 2012 away from the apartment.  He vacuumed and put away Christmas decorations and I organized and put away the Christmas presents.  I also did some electronics cleaning; my cell phone, bookmarks, and google reader are sparkling.  I even cleaned up my desktop.

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Tomorrow I just have to organize my school stuff from last semester.  I’ve got to start getting ready for the next (last!) semester; I go back to school in 20 days!

We started our day with smoothies for a late breakfast.

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For two: 1.5 cups Silk Soy, 1.5 frozen bananas, 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, and 1 Tbsp coconut oil went into the blender.

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It was yummy!  I got the coconut oil idea from Jenna Marbles and I think it was a good addition.

Lunch came in snack plate form.  Roasted green beans.

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And a sweet plate.

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Sliced honeycrisp,

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smoked almonds,

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and the last cherry cheesecake brownie.

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The mouthfuls with almond and brownie were great.  I am not going to post the brownie recipe because it is cobbled together from a few sources but I am working on something similar that should be amazing.

I also had a small coffee – with lots of skim milk and vanilla sugar – when we went to Wegmans in the afternoon.

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We may have made a grocery trip, but dinner was still pieced together from random things left in the fridge.  Thankfully, it ended up being delicious.

Cornmeal crusted tofu.

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I marinated pieces of 3/4 of a block of extra-firm tofu in Stubbs BBQ sauce all afternoon and then tossed the pieces in cornmeal (aka raw polenta) and corn starch and sautéed them in a bit of canola oil.  We loved them, the crust was perfection!  I dipped mine in honey.

Roasted asparagus.

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With cooking spray, salt, and a bit of lemon.

Lucky quinoa salad.

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I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa, tossed it with 1 cup of canned black-eyed peas {for New Year’s luck!}, the leftover bbq sauce from the tofu, and some chopped green pepper.  It was like a quick and dirty hoppin’ john.

For dessert we opened up the chocolate cream biscuit cookies we bought at Vineeta.

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One serving each and I’m excited to eat the last three tomorrow.  They were quite good.

How’d you spend the first day of 2013?

New Favorite Things For 12/12/12

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Hello, hello, hello!  Did everyone take a moment to appreciate today’s day?  I had lots of things to appreciate today.  Here are three:

1. Being done with finals for the semester.

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2. The gorgeous cashmere infinity scarf (squeee!) that my aunt and uncle sent me for Hanukkah.

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3. I may have won some money in a contest… I’m not getting excited until I’m sure it’s for real though.

On to the day’s recap.  Why yes, I was up at 4:45 am drinking a 20 calorie grape Rockstar.  {it was delicious}

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You see, I have this mental problem where the night before two important final exams I spend 4 hours getting my hair dyed, 1 hour on Pinterest, and 2 hours watching Jim Gaffigan on InstantWatch.  Genius.

My food consumption as a whole was low in nutrients but I definitely covered things on the calorie front.  Plus everything was ridiculously delicious.  Plus technically I’m still exam eating.

For breakfast, an overly juicy red pear.

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and an Iced Gingerbread Clif Bar.

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This flavor verges on being too spicy but then the sweet, juicy raisins pull it back from the brink.

I had exams from 7:40 to 11:00 and a shift at work from 12:00 to 8:30 and in between a friend took me to the grocery store because I don’t have a car.  <– it’s a long, sad story and I’m hoping my almost 2 week streak of car-less-ness will be over by this weekend

At work I had a 0% Fage with Honey.

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And a Coco Cafe that I bought on a whim at the co-op.

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Holy frick you guys, the coffee was so good.  It was the kind of good – creamy and sweet with a caffeine kick – that almost hurts because you are enjoying yourself so much.  By the time I finished drinking the Coco Cafe I’m sure my coworkers were more than ready for me to stop gushing about my new favorite thing.

<– hold on to your hats, I have another new favorite thing still to come in this very post.  Yes, you can have multiple favorite things.  That’s a thing.

After work I took the dog on a long walk and it become another night where I came home so hungry I thought I was going to have a fit.  Microwave “nachos” on the last 1.5 servings of Nacho Cheese Tortilla PopChips fit the bill.

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Um, and then I had another plate but with Food Should Taste Good Chocolate Tortilla Chips.

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I know that isn’t the healthiest dinner on the planet but, you guys, the cheese.  The cheese.  Both plates were made with Kerrygold’s Vintage Dubliner and it rocked my freaking face off.

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The Vintage Dubliner was super nutty and it had these amazing pieces of crispiness spread throughout.  Plus it melted perfectly.  It is my new favorite cheese.  P.S. I found it at Wegmans if you want to have a new favorite cheese too.

I realize that this post was pretty packed with enthusiasm but I’m deliriously tired happy so I’m good with it.

What is your new favorite thing?

Finals Frustration

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I really wanted to post the last few days but I was upset about a bunch of things that I couldn’t put on the blog.  Today was the official end of the semester and the only word I can come up with to describe this day was “eventful.”  I’m still angry and disappointed about things I can’t talk about but I think that the pictures of today’s eats actually paint a pretty accurate portrait of today’s mood all on their own.

At clinic…

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While studying at a coffee shop…

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{note – that latte was made with *chocolate chip cookie* flavored syrup!}

On a trip to the mall…

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After the day’s third and final catastrophe…

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I work 20+ hours this weekend and then have a giant cumulative exam on Monday.  Ugh.

I’ve clearly whined enough; would you like to vent about anything?  I’d love to listen.

Friday-Saturday Frenzy

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I worked 9.5 hours on both Friday and Saturday, so the weekend has felt a little frenzied.  Basically ever single thing I ate was on the go, covered in cheese, or both!  Quickly, because I have to get up tomorrow and study for my giant exam before work…

Friday morning on the walk to school, an apple.

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When I had to spend time on campus contesting a credit waiver instead of going home before work, a juice.

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I made a custom blend – kale, spinach, carrot, and apple.

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Lunch at work, delicious co-op hot bar.  Chicken paprikash and smoked gouda mac and peas.

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Late night dinner while I waited for my husband to get home from the airport, a giant plate of nachos with black beans and olives.

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Saturday morning at work, a rosemary olive scone.  Apparently I loved olives this weekend.

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“Lunch” at 5pm during a busy shift, a Katie’s Food Stash Bar and half a veggie and hummus wrap.

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On a 9pm grocery trip, December candy.

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A late dinner that was worth the wait – eggs and hash browns.

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For two – a pint of mushrooms browned in 1 Tbsp Earth Balance, 1.5 cups spinach with 1 Tbsp evoo, salt, 2 eggs; scramble.

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For two – 2 small potatoes and 1 red onion cooked in 1 Tbsp evoo and 1 Tbsp Earth Balance; salt, garlic powder, spicy paprika.

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An impulse buy at the store, I got sucked in because the box was only $1.50.  It was pretty good.

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While catching up on tv, my boys are the cutest.

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Good night!

Froyo Flavors Playbook

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The husband was out of town on an interview yesterday so I ate a single lady dinner of cookies and popcorn.  Then I ate a big bowl of cereal (with melted peanut butter and vanilla almond milk!) in bed.  <– Shhhhh, Adam would be so mad.

Speaking of skipping posts, exam week is coming and I am flipping out.  I want to try to keep up blogging, since it’s not like I use every last minute of my time studying anyway, but I’m not sure how that will work out.  Exams are in 13 days!  I honestly thought that we had another week and didn’t realize how close they were until I checked my planner in the middle of class and gave myself a heart attack.

Anyway.  When I wasn’t freaking out, I also ate breakfast in class.  A Chobani Honey Banana Flip.

That yogurt is my favorite Chobani product.  The bananas add the perfect amount of texture and sweetness to lighten up the Greek yogurt.

I also had an apple.

And a Target Candy Cane Chewy Cocoa Granola Bar in between class 1 and 2.

I had to hang around campus after lab to work in the computer lab and I ended up buying these Sea Salt Smart Fries as a snack from the book store.

This was my 2nd time trying the Smart Fries and I think I can officially say that I like them.  The texture is a little like a packing peanut but I mean that in the nicest way possible!  They are really satisfying to crunch through and you get a big serving (~65 pieces) for 110 calories.

I had a run errands this afternoon (you might notice that I didn’t actually do any exam studying today) and got a small container from the salad bar around 5:00.  A lettuce mix with some dressing (I don’t remember the flavor but it was sadly really bad) topped with cucumbers, cider glazed carrots, roasted brussels sprouts, and a giant scoop of chicken salad.

The chicken salad scoop was about half as mayo-y as it looks and two times as big as it looks.

I actually just got home a little while ago because I was out with friends.  We wanted to go see “Silver Linings Playbook” and it is only showing in one random theatre here so we made an excursion of it.  An exciting stop along the way…

FroYo Culture had their holiday flavors out!

I got gingerbread, eggnog, and Heath yogurts with crumbled gingerbread, Heath bits, shredded coconut, x-mas m&m’s, and marshmallow sauce.

Too exciting!  The gingerbread flavor was actually too spicy for me but the eggnog was perfect.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be going back to Willaimsville before the season is over.

The movie was worth the drive as well.  All three of us loved it.  The plot was a nice mix of funny, wrenching, and sweet.  Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, and Robert DeNiro were all amazing.  And there’s even a Julia Stiles cameo.  We laughed on the way home that it was funny to watch Julia Stiles play a support role in a dance movie.  <– “Save the Last Dance” still remains a favorite of mine.

And I ate a serving of Sun Chips while I wrote this post.

Food-food instead of snack-food would probably be a good thing tomorrow!

Did you see SLP?  Thoughts??

It’s December, Apparently

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Don’t worry, it’s not time to change your calendars; it’s only December in Emily Land.  You see, the other the day at the store I just couldn’t wait.

And today I did something really crazy.

I know that looks more mushy than crazy, but those overnight oats are made with So Delicious Coconut Milk Nog!  Nog in November? Who am I?!

My breakfast was so good it was worth breaking holiday timelines.  1/3 cup raw oats, 2/3 cup vegan nog, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds sat overnight.  This morning I topped it off with a sliced banana, nutmeg, and a little more nog.  Dee-lish-us!

Lunch was more on season with a Thanksgiving classic.

I made cranberry sauce from scratch yesterday!  I used this recipe and it came out great.  Today I ate a bowl with sweet and salty peanuts.

Plus the rest of my peanut butter rice krispie treat from the other day.  {where the heck did this picture go?!}  Maybe a little too much sugar for lunch?  I was buzzing at work.

Speaking of work, I came home from my shift with a present for Adam and myself.

I’ve been eyeing Ghost Blitz for weeks and there was only one box left today so I bought it!  We had such a good time playing this evening.

Adam and I shared a box of Thai spring rolls (with homemade spicy peanut sauce) while we played.

Round two was homemade veggie burgers.  I topped mine with honey mustard.

And the tie-breaker (Adam won!) was 2 servings of Sweet Potato Chips from Food Should Taste Good.

I should have been in bed 3 hours ago.  Boo!