…I am so tired I forgot to title this post originally

by Emily

So I already told you guys the good news. More on that later, I’m too tired right now to be excited. I don’t know why I’ve been so exhausted lately – other than, you know, working really hard at my internship and continuing to get in bed after midnight even though up I’m at 6 – but this evening it hit me really hard. I went to work all day, did a quick grocery trip, then had a major meltdown. The husband is the kindest man on the planet and he ran out and got us calzones for a late dinner. We are eating now (and watching “Chopped!”) and then I’m going to pour myself into bed.

Packed breakfast for work. Cinnamon Apple GoGo Squeez.

Coconut Chia Bar. <– very nice, the coconut flavor was great

Muller low-fat Greek yogurt with honeyed apricot.

Lunch from the Co-op hot bar. I was hurrying to photograph because I was on the floor at work and I did not get a good picture.

A salad base – spinach and romaine with red pepper, cherry tomato, and maple vinaigrette – topped with corn relish and a jalopeño cheddar turkey burger.

Post-meltdown fuel. We shared a buffalo chicken stromboli and a cheese calzone.

Mmmmmn! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

11Feb2013

And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

by Emily

My mom texted to check on me after I didn’t post last night, but I promise I wasn’t snowed in/buried alive/on a bender – I’ve just been busy! Monday wasn’t quite as crazy as Sunday, but I am getting this post up early before night class so I have some tiny chance of painting my nails this evening. If I miss another holiday colors polish opportunity I will be so sad.

Sunday I ate this Tandoor Chef Vegetable Pad Thai for breakfast.

Not traditional “morning food,” but one of the best frozen entrées ever. It is a little calorie-dense at 490kcal a package, but the texture and flavor makes it taste like a splurge and not a sad frozen dinner.

I tried to take a cup of my latest impulse purchase to work with me, but ended up passing Adam my glass after one sip.

I love Silk’s almond milks but I think I am just not a soy milk girl; this had such a strong aftertaste to me. Thankfully the husband enjoys it so our carton won’t go to waste.

Adam and Webster picked me up from work, and we got this box from the co-op hot bar on the way home.

Vegan “cheesy” pasta and 3 stuffed grape leaves, shared 70-30 my favor.

We also split this Opal apple.

It is fun to try new varieties, but we probably won’t get this one again for the increased price versus “regular” apples.

I was tired from work, and really didn’t want to go to the gym, so I bribed myself with this Justin’s Chocolate Almond Butter packet.

That stuff is just chocolate frosting, I swear!

At the gym, I finished my first week of CT10k workouts. 4 minutes walking/1 minute running, x 8. Except I shouldn’t listen to Fiona Apple while I run because I’m obsessed; I ended up running for 10 minutes straight in the middle of my workout.

Dinner was all over the place, but the components were all good. A handful of baby carrots.

Pizza crusts stolen from the husband.

A bit of Chocolove Currants and Almonds in Dark Chocolate.

Who knew I loved currants? They definitely helped break up the intensity of the bar.

Finally, we made tasty smoothies.

Thai young coconut, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, and a bit of brown sugar.

Adam has recently decided that he is obsessed with Thai young coconuts, so expect to see more of these. Especially since our coconut was so exciting – it was pink!

Apparently it’s a common variation relating to the varied levels of phenol found in the coconuts.

Today I grabbed a Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar for breakfast.

I attended a workshop on TPN in the morning so I got to eat in the hospital rather than my car, which was nice.

Lunch was another tasty black-eyed pea salad.

Black eyed peas with bread and butter corn, green pepper, smoked almonds, and green Tabasco. I made a big batch so my lunch for the next two days is already packed.

With a serving of the dark chocolate for dessert.

And when I got home I ate a pear.

I took care of a few things for school when I got home from the hospital, and sudddenly I was starving.

Dinner was pretty lame, but I’m in a hurry trying to get to school so I can finish some reading before class.

And lame doesn’t mean it didn’t taste good!

A box of Health is Wealth Asian Spring Rolls,

with a dipping sauce of chunky peanut butter and Smart Balance Light.

Mmmmmmn!

P.S. – You can still win! Comment on this post before midnight for a chance to win a copy of the “Petite Treats” cookbook.

22Jan2013

Weak-Sauce Weak Tea

by Emily

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Gotta love citrus in the winter time!

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

7Jan2013

A Giveaway: Taste of Treme

by Emily

Today was souptastic. And now I realize that I kind of hate soup; good to know. But the day was fun.

We went on a double date to the Buffalo Soupfest. Adam and I split a buffalo chicken wing soup,

a lobster bisque,

and a beer and cheese soup (with a pretzel on top!).

And I ate this corn and poblano chowder all on my own.

The last one was my favorite, we all found the others to be too thick. Even though we didn’t love the soup, it was great to spend time with friends.

I did love the cookie dough ice cream I ate in the car on the way home.

Yum!

We snacked on some very yummy crab rangoon (from the freezer section at Target) in the afternoon.

I had 8.

…skipping dinner until later because it ties into the giveaway… We were still hungry after our early dinner, so we split a grilled cheese.

Yellow mustard and miracle whip on toasted sandwiches take things to a new level.

We also shared cookies.

The sandwich was better.

Back to dinner.. We made two recipes from my new cookbook, A Taste of Treme: Creole, Cajun, and Soul Food from New Orlean’s Famous Neighborhood of Jazz by Todd-Michael St. Pierre (currently available on Amazon).

Our meal was quite tasty.

Robertson Street Green Onion Soup,

and Shannon’s Cheese Straws.

The soup was pretty good and the cheese straws were fantastic. I did lots of nibbling while we finished cooking the soup.

Sooooo cheesy and good.

Both recipes were quick and easy and we loved how clear the directions were. I flipped through the whole cookbook while choosing recipes and was impressed with the clarity of everything. Plus, several version of roux, Batiste Family Bread Puddin’ with Praline Rum Sauce, and Believe Dat Bananas Foster? You know this is a killer cookbook. Which is why I’m offering a book to one of you.

For a chance to win a copy of Taste of Treme, leave a comment on this post by noon on Thursday, January 10th.

Note – I was sent the Taste of Treme cookbook for free to review. All opinions are my own.

21Dec2012

It’s Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas

by Emily

We are four days away and it is starting to snow! We might have a white Christmas after all. Also, the world didn’t end today; yay.

Sorry I missed a post last night (after going on and on about how I was “back,” natch) but I was still running errands as the clock neared midnight. Two crazy days in a row are over and I’m ready to recap.

Thursday’s brunch included two of my best savory recipes.

A Nacho Turkey Burger topped with some Citrus Guacamole.

We even toasted our buns (in a hot skillet with a bit of Smart Balance Light) so the meal felt extra fancy.

I also had a deeelicious drink; 1 cup each Chameleon Cold Brew coffee and eggnog.

I know it’s cold out for iced coffee but I couldn’t resist the chance to pair my favorite coffee with my favorite winter flavor.

I worked 9+ hours and was sooooooo hungry when I got off. I would have loved to go straight home for dinner but we had errands to run so I ended up getting Moe’s instead.

But who would complain about Moe’s?

I got a naked burrito (aka a cheaper rice bowl) with rice, black beans, sautéed onions, green peppers, and mushrooms, lettuce, corn salsa, cilantro, guacamole, and sour cream.

Plus chips with queso.

I ate all of the queso, 2/3 of the chips, and 3/4 of the bowl.

When we finally made it home (more than 12 hours after I left!) there were presents from both sets of parents.

My mom sent us homemade toffee.

It was the perfect bedtime snack.

Friday I started with a salad. Romaine topped with 1.5 chopped turkey burgers, shredded cheese, a dollop of guacamole, buckwheat groats, and honey mustard dressing (I accidentally used way too much dressing and it was kind of gross, boo).

Also half a honeycrisp with 1 Tbsp each peanut butter and Biscoff spread, melted.

And I drank a Guava Rockstar Punched at work.

<– yum

I have the best bosses on earth and they surprised us with pizza for dinner mid-shift! It was too exciting. I had a a veggie slice and a buffalo chicken slice.

Mr. Pizza has the best crust in Buffalo.

And I won this candy bar.

When I got home I made myself eat fruits and veggies first though. A handful of baby carrots.

An ambrosia apple.

And finally my tasty snack.

1 serving of Green and Black’s Toffee Milk Chocolate Bar,

and a cup of eggnog mixed with Silk Soy Nog.

Topped with a sprinkle of nutmeg.

Finally, some general updates –

My hair – I’m still leaving the tub purple after every shower and my new hair is a bit lighter than the original photo I showed you guys. I will have to have Adam snap a picture the next time I’m home during good light.
Christmas – we are not going to visit any family, boo. But Adam and I are going to have our first ever Christmas with just the two of us; it’s time that our little family started to develop some of our own traditions!

If you celebrate, where are you spending Christmas this year? Do you and your significant other have any of your own holiday traditions?

18Nov2012

Weekend Whoops

by Emily

My weekend was full of eating oopsies. I accidentally ate something that wasn’t vegan. I didn’t get near enough fruits and veggies. I took pictures on the go that don’t look very pretty. And on both Saturday and Sunday I didn’t eat all day and ended up buying food at night (and eating far too much of it).

Saturday I worked from 10 – 6 and since I woke up at 9:25 breakfast wasn’t an option. We have officially moved into the Christmas shopping season and there was not a minute during my shift when I had time to eat. As soon as I was off all I could think of was food. He is what I ate, on the walk home! An apple from home.

And vegan stuffing,

and half a peanut butter rice krispie treat from the co-op.

All on the walk home. Sidenote – I gave the dog a bite of the rice krispie treat and he spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out how to get more. He’s peanut butter fiend!

Dinner was purchased with a Groupon to Lone Star Fajita Grill.

A guaco taco (sans cheese) with veggies, guacamole, and sprouts,

and a pile of chips with more guacamole.

I made it through dinner without breaking the challenge (Tex-Mex without cheese or sour cream?!) but ran into trouble with dessert. I ate the Justin’s Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from my Simple Survival Kit package.

If you read “MILK CHOCOLATE peanut butter cups” and knew where I ran into trouble then you are quicker than I; it wasn’t until I finished eating that it occured to me that the cups weren’t vegan. After choosing to cheat on the Vegan Challenge several times already this month it is frustrating to mess up due to a stupid oversight.

I also ate the last two servings of Angie’s Kettle Corn straight from the bag.

Then I got into bed and slept for 11 straight hours. It was glorious!

But even with a good night’s sleep I still didn’t have it together to eat before work. I ended up eating co-op food on the walk home for the 2nd night in a row.

Chicken fried seitan, bbq tempeh, corn and kidney bean salad, and a stuffed grape leave. The picture is terrible but I was more concerned with shoving the food into my face than photographing it!

The food highlight of the weekend was this delicious bowl of cereal.

1.5 servings of Honey Nut Chex with a serving of honey roasted peanuts, fresh raspberries, and Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

I had to go to campus at 7:00 for a final meeting for a group project. This is the assignment that has been ruining the past month’s evenings; I’m so glad to be done with it.

A late take-out dinner from Vasilis Express.

A dolmas wrap (more grape leaves!) and fries. I ate 95% of that plate and I kind of still want to throw up. Too heavy!

What was your last edible oops?

12Nov2012

Farmicia in Philadelphia

by Emily

Our trip has been fantabulous thus far! We had a wonderful time catching up with family and then we got to do some Philadelphia exploring. My favorite things to do in a city are walk-walk-walk, people-watch, and eat and that is what we spent yesterday doing.

We hung out with my in-laws until around noon and then headed into the city. Sidenote – to family members who have traveled with me before, you would not believe how relaxed I’ve been about our itinerary; I’ve gotten much better at playing things by ear.

I ate an apple and an Air Head in the morning.

I was super carsick on the drive in, but managed to rally for our first stop – Whole Foods hot bar for lunch.

I so miss living in a city with a WF! We each bought a few small things but overall managed to contain ourselves. From the hot bar I got kale, spinach, and two varieties of vegan “chicken.”

Everything was delicious but my stomach was still feeling off so I only managed about half of my food. The husband, on the other hand, got crab and artichoke rice and loaded baked potato soup and practically licked his plates clean!

We spent some time just walking around and have both decided we would love to live in Philly, it’s too bad it’s not on our list of possibilities for residency.

One neighborhood was covered in gorgeous mosaics.

<– can you spot Adam in the last picture??

Our next stop was Little Baby’s for ice cream.

We tasted the pizza flavor (not vegan) which was astonishingly realistic and I ended up going with a scoop of the vegan sweet potato with burnt marshmallow.

This was the best texture I’ve ever found in a vegan ice cream! The flavor was a little too spot on though, I don’t really want to lick spoonfuls of sweet potato for dessert, so I passed the 2nd half to Adam. He got the caramel cardamom (not vegan) and was in heaven. If I ever get to go back (I hope so!) I’m getting the coffee toffee (with Blue Bottle coffee) and the vegan speculoos.

The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around China Town. We bought several fun things at markets. And you know I got bubble tea.

Passion fruit black tea with boba. I will most definitely be getting another today.

We didn’t run up the Rocky stairs or go to the Edgar Allen Poe house, but we did manage to walk past the Liberty Bell on our way to dinner.

I like to take in the culinary sights.

Dinner was a meal I’ve waited one and a half years for…

Farmicia! I’ve wanted to go back ever since my first trip to Philly.

I agonized over the drink menu (St. Germain? The drink with lavender essence? The drink with hibiscus essence?!) and ended up going with the Elation.

Prosecco with rose essence and fresh berries. It was perfect. Though I did steal the savory components from Adam’s martini.

Rosemary and olive oil bread.

Adam ate his pumpernickel with herbed butter and I was a little jealous.

For my entrée, I went with the same meal was I did on my first visit. Why mess with what works?

Corn Risotto Croquettes ratatouille, sautéed spinach, basil-parsley salsa verde.

Yuuuuuuuuuum! I had to close my eyes and swoon after several bites. The veggies were just as good as I remembered and the croquettes were out of this world. So serendipitous that the dish I loved the first time was vegan. I decided over this meal that my favorite flavor is “butteriness.” Not butter, because there was none used in these buttery croquettes, but butteriness.

Adam gave the meal a 9/10 and said it was the best food he’d had in quite a while. I concur!

I ate strawberry lime mentos for dessert.

We didn’t see our hotel for the first time until almost 9pm, so we were glad that it worked out. The room was fancy in a strange way, like the honeymoon suite at a pay by the hour motel.

But the bed was comfy and Adam got a good night’s sleep.

Today he is taking an 8 hour practical exam that you don’t become a doctor without passing. I know he’ll do great, but lets still keep our fingers crossed. I set myself up at a table in the Reading Terminal Market and plan on spending the day reading. And eating!

What is the strangest flavor of ice cream you’ve ever eaten? Pizza definitely tops my list!

4Nov2012

I’m Typing With One Hand…

by Emily

…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.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: corn

…I am so tired I forgot to title this post originally

And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

Weak-Sauce Weak Tea

A Giveaway: Taste of Treme

Note – I was sent the Taste of Treme cookbook for free to review. All opinions are my own.

It’s Begining To Look A Lot Like Christmas

Weekend Whoops

Farmicia in Philadelphia

I’m Typing With One Hand…