Three Days Into Your Trip

Hello from Ohio.  I know I  haven’t blogged in a few days, these old folks are keeping me busy!

Adam had to stay in Buffalo (he’s going to be a doctor so we don’t feel bad for him, though we do miss him!) but Tuesday morning my mom, dad, and I logged 8 hours in the car.  After some tearful goodbyes, of course.

I did brunch on the road.  Rockstar.

Sandwich – turkey, sandwich thin, pepperjack.

Coffee with skim milk and three sugars.

We split a lavender cookie my parents brought from Canada.  The base was marzipan and the almond lavender combo was divine.

And finally, we made a pit stop at a gas station with the best soda fountain of all time –

I made a giant Coke Zero with Strawberry Fanta and was in heaven.

My grandma fed us a ridiculously tasty dinner.

Swiss Chicken,

fried mushrooms,

fresh corn,

and fruit salad.

Everything was amazing.  I went back for a few more ‘shrooms and half a cob more as well.

Pineapple upside-down cake for dessert.

And then I passed out in a food coma.

Wednesday morning I ate more fruit salad for breakfast.  Topped with boozy whipped cream!

Plus half a banana.

And coffee with skim milk.

Lunch was this fun honey lemonade.

And a turkey sandwich.

Toasted English muffin with thick sliced turkey, peach jam, and pimento cheese.

We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesdays.  Salad bar for everyone.

I ordered the Asian BBQ Salmon with grilled green beans for dinner.

Good, but my green beans are better!

And now I’m thinking about breakfast.

P.S. Hi, husband!!! We miss you bunches!

Yoga Not YOLO

I hate #yolo.  Every time I see those four letters my brain screams “do you mean ‘carpe diem,’ asshat?”  And you say it when you are doing something dumb.  People who get “carpe diem” tattoos usually do so with purpose and intend to live with purpose.  When people post “YOLO” facebook status updates it generally means they’re an idiot.  Also, this is the funniest thing ever –

Ok, rant’s over, I promise.  I actually had a really good day 🙂

I got to go to yoga!  Adam bought me a 2-month unlimited hot yoga Groupon for Valentine’s Day and I’m finally cashing in.  My goal (my intention) is to go three times a week for the next two months, minus the week I’m in Ohio with my parents.  Today I did a 75 minute flow class.  I’ve never tried flow before, and I wasn’t very good, but I loved it.

“I had to run errands at school after yoga so I decided to make it a cardio day as well” …I breezily say as if I work out all of the time!  I did today though.  40 minutes on the stationary bike at level 10 random.

On my walk to school between yoga and the gym I refueled with a Vanilla Stinger Waffle.

Oh my goodness was it good!  I thought it was going to be some sort of chew and it ended up being a cookie!

And I did feel great during my 2nd workout.  I totally bought more of these at the store today.

When I got home I made this strange but genius drink.

1 cup of cold (double bagged) red velvet cake tea with 1 cup of fat-free chocolate milk.  Adam and I both were big fans of this combo.

I did a couple of errands at school and I kept the productivity going all afternoon.  My most exciting to-done was signing up for malpractice insurance.  We are going to have our very own patients this year so we need to cover ourselves legally.  Thankfully student insurance is pretty cheap and it is fun to start to feel official.

My final errand was grocery shopping.  I got lunch from Wegman’s hot bar.

A jalapeño popper and a bit of macaroni,

and veggies.

We haven’t gotten hot bar in a while and sadly this didn’t thrill me the way it used it.

Along with the essentials, I bought a box of Fiber One Chocolate Chip Cookies on sale.

Super meh, but they were very cheap so I’m glad I tried.  The texture was way to cakey.  They will be good for throwing into my purse before work or class, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be buying more when I finish the six that came with this box.

I also bought chips at the store.

Buffalo and blue cheese ruffled chips.  I took one bite and knew that they were going to be dinner.  So I pushed back our planned meal and bought some dip.

Too much fun.  Adam randomly ate a ton of food at 5 pm so he didn’t need dinner anyway.

I did try to feel healthy by eating two plums for dessert though.

And I probably won’t do leftovers for dinner tomorrow!

What are your thoughts on #yolo?

I Sure Don’t Act Like I’m Almost 27

Did you know it’s my birthday in a week?  That’s right, I turn 27 on the 24th.

On one hand I don’t feel like it’s been a year since my last birthday and on the other I can’t wait for it to get here.  I’m just so sick of myself lately!  I talk to myself in my head like a crazy person like JD and in the past month I’ve head-said “when am I going to grow up?” at least a million times.

I had big plans to work out this morning and instead I stayed up past 2:30 reading a book.  And then when I got up at 10 I was almost late to work because I stayed in bed to keep reading.  I love that I’m an obsessive reader, I don’t want to ever change that about myself, but I wish I didn’t always feel like I’m not taking care of business.

I have a great life so no year is really ever a bad year, but 26 was definitely not one of my better years.  I didn’t cook and clean to my full potential.  I didn’t maintain my relationship with the husband to my full potential.  I didn’t work out to my full potential basically at all.  I didn’t do schoolwork to my full potential.  I didn’t blog to my full potential.  And when I try to think “just what the hell was I doing all year??” I have no answer.  I’m tired of feeling complacent!!!

Basically, tl;dr – I’m looking forward to living up to my potential as a 27-year-old.  And living up to my full potential during the next week, because almost-27-year-olds don’t need to wait for some magical start date to clean their apartments.

Now that I’ve ranted, this will actually be a short post.  I put in a new retainer last night and that put a major crimp in today’s eating.  I brushed my teeth this morning and then kept my retainer in full-time until 7:30.  When I left work I had a sore mouth and a growling stomach.  F’real Coffee Frozen Cappuccino to the rescue.

It wasn’t very good but it met all of my current needs (cold, soft, has calories) so I drank it.

Adam made me a bowl of green grapes when I got home.

And I made myself a big plate of eggs for dinner.

Into my skillet went –

  • 1 tsp evoo
  • ~ 1 cup frozen corn
  • big handful baby spinach
  • 2 sliced green onions
  • 2 sprinkles salt
  • 4 dashes Green Tabasco
  • 2 large eggs

Thankfully my eggs were easy to chew and tasty to boot.

I had an Abita Strawberry with dinner.

I’m going to read in bed again but I’m also going to ask Adam to slap the book out of my hands at midnight so I can make it to the gym in the morning.

Rate your current year; has it been one of your best or one of your worst?

Monday Monday

Uggh; how does “late” come so quickly every night?!  It’s not good, not good at all.  I had a whole list of to-do’s for today and the only one that got checked off was working out.  30 minutes on the stationary bike at level 7 random.

I didn’t even manage to cook today and since I was super hungry things got snacky real quick.  Here’s the recap – Lunch.

Soup.

Plus bread ends with Smart Balance Light.

Desserts.

A mac cup.

Bread with melted cheddar and olive oil.

A big bowl of fresh cherries.

Dinner ended up being seconds thirds on both the bread and the cherries.  I plan on grabbing something else before bad too, probably a bowl of cereal.  Sometimes you just have to do what you can!

I Swallowed (A Wine Tasting Recap)

What a fun day!  It included booze, friends, and cookies, so you know it was a winner.  I didn’t do the best job photographing but today was one of those days when it is more important to live it than blog it.  I guess that’s true for all days really!

I have no excuse for the past two days because I think blogging a recap would have been my most exciting event, sadly.  I was lazy not busy.  But I do have two new recipes to share this week.  Two recipes for two days seems fair.

We had to do a major cleaning job on the apartment this morning but we did find time for a dog walk.  Breakfast on the go.

Adam and I split this Mango Noosa Yoghurt (there are two servings per package) and we were both big fans.  So thick and creamy!

I read up on the company and I really like their policies.  I just wish the ‘gurt was available in low-fat.

Today my friends and I cashed in a big group Living Social deal and hopped in two town-cars for a winery tour.  We got picked up at my place so every one came up for some sweet treats first.

We had (unphotographed) “virgin mimosas” of oj and vanilla club soda and I baked two treats.  How Sweet Eats’ Chocolate Drenched Coconut Oatmeal Squares.

And cookie dough truffles (recipes is one of the two promised for this week).

Both were big hits!  HSE is basically a genius; I subbed in unsweetened coconut but otherwise I left her recipe alone.  Adam complained about helping me bake on Saturday night but after he tasted the goods he shot me death-eyes when I tried to send friends home with leftovers!  I ate two of each all total for the day.

Then we were off for three hours of wine tasting.

We hit up three wineries, all of which had a great selection.  Between the seven of us there was a large range of preferences.  Rachel likes super dry and I like super sweet so the two of us ended up swapping glasses a couple of times.  I don’t really drink wine so it was nice to have little tastes to see what I like; I even tried a couple of reds!  The craziest ones were Schulze Wines’ crackling sweets.

I especially liked Niagara Landing’s Rosebud line and even came home with a bottle.

And I paid $2.50 extra at one spot for this mini glass of ice wine.

All total I had 13 tastes and I didn’t spit once!  I probably should have though, it wasn’t an insane amount of alcohol but all 13 were sweet and I felt pretty sick by the time I got home.

I ate a mac and cheese muffin (the 2nd recipe),

and then crashed hard on the couch.

When I forced myself up two hours later I knew there was no way I would be cooking the soup on my meal plan.  Instead we went to Moe’s.

My vegetarian burrito had rice, black beans, sautéed mushrooms/peppers/onions, cheese, corn salsa, and guacamole.  It was just what I needed.

I’m feeling loads better now.  But I am hoping to turn in early because I’ve got a busy to-do list for tomorrow.

Have you ever been to a wine tasting?  Did you spit?

Stone Soup

Long time no blog.  I’m glad to be back, but my days away were glor-i-ous!  I spent 70% of Monday – Wednesday curled up in bed.  I ate pizza and lots of chocolate.  I watched the first season of “Flashpoint.”  And I read five (250+ page) murder-mystery novels.  Like I said, glorious.

Back-in-the-world-Thursday started with a trip to the gym.  40 minutes on the stationary bike at level 7 random.  Followed by stretching that was not enough because my right hip has been killing me all afternoon.

I ate half of this NuGo Dark Chocolate Pretzel with Sea Salt bar on the walk home.

Summer is the only time when I could drive to the gym and park, but why get in a car when I can walk?  If I’m not in a time-crunch I’d rather move my legs.  And Buffalo State’s recent landscaping makes it a lovely walk indeed.

The 2nd half of breakfast used my new favorite smoothie ingredient.

This Vanilla Chai Vega was stupid good.  I haven’t had a chai latte in forever and I feel an iced one in my immediate future.  For my smoothie I blended the Vega packet with 1 cup of Silk Vanilla Almond Milk and a large frozen banana.

It didn’t taste green and the 15 grams of protein kept me full all morning.

I hurried through errands – Lexington Co-op, Goodwill, Wegmans – so I could meet a friend for a walking date this afternoon.  I picked her up on Elmwood and we set off for the (new) Buffalo Cakery.

I brought Adam a cupcake but went with ice cream myself.  A small cup of candied apple and salted caramel.

Sadly the flavors weren’t great together and I had to throw out my cup halfway through when things got melty.  The 4 miles of walking were hot-hot-hot but also just what I needed.

I cooled down with a Tusker when I got home.

And I was glad for ac this evening because my meal was hot and spicy.  I borrowed components from the rest of the week’s dinners for a stone soup of sorts.

In a small pot, I heated up 1 tsp chipotle oil.  I sautéed ~1.5 cups chopped bok choy and 2 sliced green onions with the juice from half a lime and 1 Tbsp fish sauce.  I added ~1 cup frozen corn and 1.5 cups chicken broth then covered and boiled for 5 minutes.  Then I took of the lid and stirred in 1 large egg, juice from another lime, and a big squeeze of Sriracha.

The end result was an odd mash-up of Thai and Mexican flavors but it worked.

I should have made dinner bigger though because it ended up being a 2 dessert evening.  The last Tbsp of so of Biscoff, straight from the jar.

And 5 marshmallows and 1 Tbsp chocolate chips, microwaved until gooey.

Tasty, but I would have been better off with an extra egg in my soup.

I’m off to watch more “Flashpoint,” but hopefully not for too long; we’ve been up past 2 am every day this week and I’m hoping to break that pattern.  Night!

Father’s Day

Did everyone have a happy end to their weekend?  Things have been quiet around these parts, mostly because the husband caught a summer cold.  Poor boy!

I did get up at 6 am to start my book club recipe but then I spent half the day napping to make up for it.  And we did start our second morning (at 10am!) with a quick Fur-Fathers’ Day walk.

I love those guys.

The tree outside of our house is sprouting cherries!!!!

Would it be crazy to eat them?

Brunch was a veggie scramble.  I cooked chopped poblano and broccoli into four eggs (split between the two of us).

Plain yogurt and creamy mushroom soup were also in the mix.

I rounded out my meal with some tasting as I spent my afternoon in the kitchen.  A puppy treat and a people treat were made and I’ll be sharing the recipes this week.

I’m not feeling so hot either and cooking was basically my only accomplishment this weekend.  I spent half my day moping because I’m just so tired of myself.  It would have been too flipping easy to get my stuff done in advance and instead I’m waking up early tomorrow to plough through things last-minute.

We had salads in the afternoon.

Romaine topped with 2 Tbsp of Wegman’s peanut sauce and 1 Tbsp each buckwheat groats, tamari almonds, flax, and white cheddar.

It was really good.

I stocked Adam up with leftovers and I ate dinner at book club.

We didn’t actually read a book this month but it was good to get together and talk (and eat!)

I had bruschetta, cheesy artichoke dip, and strawberry guacamole with blue chips.

A small glass of wine.

Roasted veggie enchillada.

And (messy, tasty) pie.

(Recipe’s coming by Tuesday)

P.S. I love you Daddy!!

Zombies Don’t Feel So Fresh

Hello, hello!  No post yesterday due technical difficulties.  P.S. “technical difficulties” is a fancy way of saying “I’m an idiot and when I plugged in my camera I somehow deleted all of my pictures.”

That wasn’t even the stupidest thing I did all afternoon.  We were eating M&M’s on the couch and I didn’t realize that I had spilled a handful until I saw the dog licking them.  I picked them up immediately (because chocolate and dogs don’t mix) but we have no idea what I did with them next.  We finally determined that I must have eaten them.  That’s right, I basically took food out of the dog’s mouth and ate it.  Yum.

Yesterday was a disaster any way.  We did not run.  We did eat nachos.  Like, ridiculous nachos; they were almost too cheesy.  Oh, and I fell asleep on the couch at 5pm again.  I don’t know what my deal is lately but I’m so tired I feel like a zombie!  I seem to be a little bit allergic to the dog but overall this has been my best summer ever as far as allergies go.  And while summer school is easy I don’t feel like I’m not doing enough and I’m certainly not doing too much.  I don’t know why I feel so tired all of the time.

For breakfast a Roasted Nut Roll Larabar Uber was packed.

The last of my Uber line samples, this flavor is my 2nd favorite after Bananas Foster.  The mix of nuts included almonds, pecans, peanuts and macadamia nuts.  It tasted almost like one of those pecan roll candies with the white stuff in the center!

I should mention that the husband was the one who sweetly did the breakfast packing.  Unfortunately I requested an apple to go with my bar and he provided a rock-hard nectarine instead.  No fruit for me.

Lunch was a very special feast.

One of our classmates owns the famous, local restaurant Romeo and Juliet’s Cafe and she brought us in a spread.

I had veggie pizza,

a stuffed pepper,

and salad.

And then I couldn’t help going back for a 2nd slice of pizza.

The stuff on the side is honey mustard dressing and house-made red pepper flake mayo.  I dipped my crust in the sauces and was in absolute heaven.

She brought in dessert too.

I finally ate my first cannoli!  Loved it!

I bought espresso to drink with my dessert like a real Italian.

A double shot with tons of skim milk and a few shakes of vanilla sugar.

Continuing the excitement, we watched a movie in class this afternoon (it was appropriate, it was a food movie!).  Fresh is a documentary that examines the pros and cons of organic versus factory farming and looks at our country’s food system as a whole.  A lot of cool people took part in it, including Michael Pollan and Joel Salatin.  We all really enjoyed the movie and I highly recommend that you check it out.  None of the information was really new to me but it was a great reminder that I need to do a better job of sticking with my principles when we go out to eat.  Adam and I only purchase humanely raised meat to cook at home and ideally that is the only type of meat I ever want to consume.

Even more exciting, we got the news that we are getting the day off tomorrow.  I am going to go to the mall with some friends and I couldn’t be more jazzed.  <– honestly, I clapped my hands and squealed when someone suggested it and I have no idea why because I’m not even going to be buying anything

I had big plans to make up yesterday’s run this afternoon and it just didn’t happen.  Actually, I got up and dressed in running clothes this morning (shoes, sports bra, everything) and made it as far as the couch.  I thought I would be able to redeem myself after class but I was dreading the run.  Every time I got up to go I just felt sad.  I need to do a better job of pushing through and working out more consistently (more in general!) but I love running so much that I hate to do it when I’m not going to enjoy it.

I did finally make that soup though.

Tex-Mex Chicken Soup from Cooking Light.  It was very good but not great.  I was mostly to blame for leaving out important ingredients.

my (mostly stupid) changes to the recipe

  • used 1/2 Tbsp less evoo
  • subbed green bell pepper instead of red (do you have any idea how expensive red pepper are?!)
  • subbed pickled jalapeño
  • skipped the cumin, cilantro, and queso (again, $)
  • skipped the tomato
  • used homemade shredded chicken and stock

I liked the spice level, especially with the pops of sweet corn.

I know this sounds strange, but I think I would have liked it better without the chicken!

Also this happened.

Yuck.

Finally, a product update – Smoke and Ashes from China Glaze’s Capitol Colours line (as seen in this post) has a great slate color but it chips like crazy.

Do not recommend.

Wow, that was a long post!

Have you seen “Fresh” yet?  What did you think?