Weekly Wrap-Up; My Apartment Is Packed But I’m Still Here

by Emily

I know this is a short “week,” but my laptop has been out sick since last Friday and I’m excited to have her back.

The days since I last posted have been crazy; moving requires a lot of work! And since we had to pack up so early I’ve been living out of a duffle bag in my own apartment. The food situation has been pretty ridiculous. Also, I said a lot of goodbyes this week and they all involved alcohol. The dog has been judging me.

Breakfasts

Cinnamon Pecan Special K with skim milk.

I’m glad that cereal is so tasty, because it was one of the only foods left in the house.

The day I tried to go without cereal (and use up some odds and ends) I ended up with… skim milk, ~2 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk, and malted milk powder.

It wasn’t bad, but I won’t be making it a regular breakfast either.

(Non-alcoholic) Drinks

Not so good, was the Honeysuckle Pear Drink Chia.

The flavor combo had such potential, but I would not have purchased it if I had noticed that it contained stevia and monk fruit extract. You know what is already sweet? Honeysuckle and pear juice. Why not just leave the ingredients at that rather than adding (the terrible flavor of) sugar-free sweeteners?

Very good, was the Honest Fizz Orange Pop.

I realize there is stevia in this one that I’m not complaining about, but this was delicious. The flavor was a perfect match to Crush Orange Soda, just a tiny bit less sicky-sweet. I will definitely look for it again.

Flipping amazing, was the Cucumber Melon Polar Seltzer.

If you see this – buy it! It smelled so much like a watermelon! My co-worker tasted it and we both agreed that it was the best seltzer we’d ever had.

Lunches and Dinners

Like I said, pickings were slim, so dinner was either brinner – aka breakfast for dinner – or food from a restaurant.

The last slice of Finish the Fridge Frittata with a white nectarine.

I was loving nectarines earlier this summer but lately I haven’t had much luck getting one that isn’t squishy.

The best “yogurt” bowl I’ve ever made. Frozen blackberries microwaved with a little sugar on the bottom, Chobani 2% Banana Greek Yogurt and low-fat cottage cheese in the middle, and granola on top.

I was heartbroken when I realized I couldn’t make another one of these bowls until after we finish moving.

On Monday, a friend and I drove up to visit to friends who relocated to Rochester after graduation. We had a really nice day, including lunch at Aladdin’s.

My spread was the vegetarian combo. I chose Dolmades, Babaganoush, and Spanikopita.

The food was amazing and we got to sit right along the canal, so the view was too.

On Tuesday, my sweet coworkers took me out for an early goodbye dinner. We started the evening at Cantina Loco. I didn’t really enjoy my first experience at Cantina Loco but I am very glad that my coworker knew enough to drag me back. Everything was delicious, especially the pitchers of margaritas.

And the Nachos Locos.

They were covered in pork but I was a trooper and picked it off because the nachos were just that good.

For dinner I ordered the California Fish Taco – Crisp Fried Fish, Cabbage Slaw,
Pickled Onion, Spicy Sauce.

Delicious!

We went to Founding Fathers afterwards and I am kicking myself for not going sooner. Great bartender, great drinks, and apparently great free popcorn that I somehow didn’t notice. Among other things, we had a shot that was basically a liquified snickerdoodle!

The bartender asked trivia questions all night, which I loved. I even gave him two new questions to add to his rotation. What do you call this “?!” punctuation mark? [Answer at the end of this post]

One night I got a spicy cajun quesadilla from The Spot.

The prices are a little high, but the Spot’s food is quite good.

Last night’s dinner was my final slice of Zetti’s.

My white broccoli pizza was delicious, a good way to finish out my Zetti’s addiction!

See you next week!

Answer – an interrobang

23Mar2013

South Carolina

by Emily

After a long day of travel, we are in Charleston! Our spring break matched up with my parents’ so we met up for a few days of fun. I’ve never been to Charleston before and I am very excited to explore.

Our flight wasn’t until 4 pm so we had a nice easy morning to pack and say goodbye to the dog. I made a sweet bowl for breakfast.

0% plain Greek yogurt, 1% large curd cottage cheese, sliced plum, fresh blackberries, and maple syrup.

We were a bit rushed in the afternoon (you know I waited until the last second to get ready!) so I saved lunch for the airport. Cherry tomatoes and baby carrots dipped in Greek yogurt asiago artichoke dip.

Plus cheese popchips shared with the husband.

And the last serving of quinoa dark chocolate for dessert.

Our flights were stupid (I hate Delta) and we ended up with a lengthy layover in Atlanta. We took advantage of the time and took a nice looooong walk. The movement was great, but then unfortunately I cut it too close to buy food-food.

Cheetos and a peanut butter strawberry KIND bar (and free pretzels), dinner of champions.

And now we’re here. Wheee!

12Mar2013

Shades Of White

by Emily

My 2nd day as a soon-to-be surgeon’s wife was good but busy. I have a gigantic quiz tomorrow and we have to score at least a 90% on it to remain in our program. <– yikes!

No breakfast again. I do have some bars in my cabinet but the mornings are my busiest hours and I don’t remember to eat and even if I did I wouldn’t have the time. Instead I just really enjoy my lunch.

On today’s menu – a (2 Tbsp of) chunky peanut butter and (2 slices of) turkey bacon sandwich (Thin).

A green pear.

And a package of seaweed snacks.

I also grabbed a coffee.

A mix of regular and decaf with hazelnut creamer. I started adding a scoop of ice to my cups – after watching a classmate do it the other day and being impressed with her genius – and it makes my coffees so much more enjoyable. I definitely prefer my “hot” beverages luke-warm.

In the afternoon I snacked on a scoop of 1% cottage cheese with half of a Liberte coconut yogurt and a sprinkle of shredded coconut.

I realize the picture doesn’t really show any of that though; my camera doesn’t do shades of white.

<– Sidenote: I’ve decided that my first foray into fiction is going to be a book titled 50 Shades of White, the pendulum swing from 50 Shades of Grey. It will be 500 pages of a waspy couple having missionary-style sex and peeing with the door closed. You’d read that, right? 😀

Other afternoon snacks included a handful of tortilla chips,

and a stolen square of Adam’s Godiva Milk Chocolate Salted Caramel Bar.

I wanted to snack after dinner too, but it’s better that I didn’t because I already ate enough today. Sometimes nibbling helps me focus on studying but our pantry is looking ruff…

Don’t worry, our dinner was better than that joke.

I had a handful of Terra Thai Basil Curry Vegetable Chips.

A pile of roasted green beans.

And 2 turkey egg cups.

{Inspired by this recipe} We put two slices of turkey inside each of our muffin tin cups / filled the bottoms of chopped sautéed mushrooms and green onions and shredded cheese / topped each cup with an egg / then baked for 30ish minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.

I spent the rest of the evening cramming and I’ve got to get back to it. Tomorrow’s quiz is on the macro- and micronutrient values for the serving sizes per food group for a diabetic and renal diet. Lots and lots of numbers to know; we can’t all lay around on the job…!

10Dec2012

Happy Hanukkah!

by Emily

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.

And had a mug cookie both days.

Also pizza both days…

I had my first Starbucks red cup.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

Plus a Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale.

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.

3 cheese blintzes from Manischewitz.

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

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.

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.

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!

1Nov2012

Webster’s First Halloween

by Emily

You can tell that this post was a terrible decision since it’s 2 o’clock in the morning. I’ll try to keep it quick.

You can tell that tomorrow is the first day of Vegan Month because I managed to eat two yogurts, buffalo chicken pizza, cheesecake, and a milkshake.

You can tell that it’s Halloween since I pulled out ~~all of the stops~~ some of the stops.

Black and orange outside clothing.

Black and orange inside clothing.

And earrings that look like candy corn.

Plus, my exam this morning was positively spooky! 😦

Before the exam, I got up and had breakfast. A big bowl of Liberte Coconut Yogurt plus 1% large curd cottage cheese.

Plus coffee with skim milk.

When I got home – my exam went ok, my quiz went not ok, our lab activity took forever – I had more yogurt. Apple Cinnamon 0% Chobani with honey roasted peanuts and a drizzle of honey.

I ran a few errands the afternoon. The most exciting was the orthodontist appointment; not only am I cleared for 12 more weeks of nights only, but I won a contest!

$30 to Best Buy. I was so excited, I never win anything!

Lunch was pizza.

I tried to really think about the foods that were going to tempt me during November. A buffalo chicken slice from Zetti’s,

with baby carrots and blue cheese for dipping.

Halloween candies for dessert.

Then it was time to dress my favorite dog up in his first costume. We went meta this year…

A hot dog in a hot dog costume!

Webster was flipping adorable – several cars honked and gave us thumbs up! – but it was cold and wet and he was so mad at me by the time we got home!

Thankfully Adam’s arrival (he was away on an interview the past two days) cheered us both up. He came bearing cheesecake!

That was literally the best slice of cheesecake I’ve ever tasted but I already had my sights set on something else so I took a few bites and left the rest for the husband.

My plan for dessert? Pumpkin Coffee Caramel Chocolate Milkshakes!

Ben and Jerry’s Caramel Coffee Buzz blended with skim milk and pureed pumpkin (with chocolate syrup on the glass). It was delicious and just what I needed to power through the last two hours of working on a final project. The perfect way to end my dairy consumption for the month.

Happy Halloween!!

22Jul2012

The Last Three Days I’ve Been…

by Emily

…all over the place! Figuratively speaking. I don’t know where my head is but my meals have been less than impressive; lots of junk food, not a lot of veggies, and I keep forgetting to eat breakfast. Adam was preparing for an important exam and between that, getting used to working, and obsessing over some new books, I’ve felt a little crazy. It is what it is.

Friday

This was a no breakfast day. And I didn’t manage to pack lunch before work either. I ended up grabbing a mix of co-op salad bar.

Cucumber salad, farro salad, vegan pasta salad, and a few dolmas.

Plus a Sweet Leaf Sweet Tea.

When I got home I had chip and dip leftovers.

Plain low-fat yogurt with banana slices and a drizzle of sweetened condensed milk.

And a giant bowl of frosted flakes with skim milk.

I guess I didn’t have it together for dinner either.

Saturday

I ate breakfast! Cottage cheese stirred into a Liberte Coconut Yogurt.

But I packed the stupidest lunch of all time.

A Plum Kids Strawberry Lemonade Yogurt Mashup,

and a Fiber One cookie.

Supplemented with an iced Earl Grey with skim milk.

And the last of my chips and dip when I got home.

Saturday morning Adam took the biggest, 8+ hour, most important exam he’ll take in his entire life (seriously, he’s done nothing but study the past month) so we went out for a celebratory dinner with another couple that night.

I made a small plate from the communal cheese board.

And drank a (giant?!) glass of riesling.

For dinner I ordered the pesto spatzle.

I loved the idea of the innovative pesto (romaine! pistachio! mint!) but sadly didn’t enjoy the execution. You know that I can throw down with some heavy food but this dish was missing some desperately needed acid to cut through the richness. I ate a few bites and figured that my chip appetizer would keep me from starving 😉

Sunday

I started my morning with Harvest Bay Coconut Water,

and chicken salad.

Plus a shake shared with the husband.

(Thank you birthday freebie coupons!)

Mid-day I headed to yoga. 60 minute hot yoga class. Love love loved it. This was definitely the high point of the last few days.

Then we had more ice cream; I can’t resist the allure of birthday freebies.

That’s a kid’s size vanilla frozen yogurt with reeses pb cup and cookie dough.

Veggies, chicken, and macaroni were consumed on a shopping trip.

Plus a mug of cocoa at home.

It was delicious but unnecessary. As I wrote up this recap I was fairly disgusted by the amount of sugar (and chips!) I ate over the past three days.

Around 7:00 we hunkered down in the kitchen for a mega cooking session. Three dishes were on the agenda – tonight’s dinner, tomorrow’s dinner, and tuna casserole to freeze for Adam for the week I’m in Ohio. Two out of three worked out. After spending a lot of time making Janetha’s cauliflower crust pizza I covered it in marinara that turned out to be covered in mold.

Uggggh! Adam threw out our dinner and I threw a fit on the floor. I took a giant bite of marinara sauce before I spotted the mold so a lot of histrionic gagging went down.

Then a bunch of other shit happened and many hours later I ate nachos for dinner.

The end.

11Jul2012

Monday Tuesday

by Emily

The post title is supposed to reference yesterday’s, and the fact that I am finding myself completely unable to write a blog post. I just feel like I have a case of bloggers’ block. There are two upcoming posts that I’ve promised to do and I am practically incapable of getting them done. Both are on my to-do list for tomorrow and for today I’ll keep it quick.

Breakfast was a total success.

I stirred together Wegman’s Vanilla on the Bottom Super Yogurt with a biiiig dollop of 1% small curd cottage cheese. Then I topped with sliced plum, sliced nectarine, and a chopped up cookie dough truffle.

I needed something that would keep me full through the early afternoon and this did the trick.

Lunch was snacky. A GoGo Squeez Apple Strawberry pouch.

And a Peanut Honey Pretzel Luna Bar.

The first time I tried this bar I didn’t know my socks off but today I was much more impressed. I could really taste each flavor; the peanuts, honey, and pretzels somehow all managed to stand out from within the mix of flavors.

Dinner was cheesy chicken and rice.

Plus 2 servings of potato chips (bacon cheddar, but not really, these were still vegetarian) a few hours later.

And that’s all she wrote (ha!).

10Jul2012

Mac And Three Cheese Muffins

by Emily

I don’t recall my parents ever making mac and cheese at home, but when I was growing up baked mac and cheese from the grocery store was my favorite comfort food. West Indian mac and cheese is different from what you are usually served stateside. Back home it is always baked in a casserole (with a thick layer of cheese on top!); you would never serve West Indian mac and cheese with a spoon. Most of the mac and cheese recipes I’ve created have the same sturdiness to them, though I have cut back a bit on the cheese. This rendition is lighter (but definitely not light) and served in muffin form.

They were fun to eat and I found them to be nice and filling. I went with a trio of cheeses – sharp cheddar, parmesan, and low-fat cottage cheese. The cottage cheese gave a great flavor while upping the protein and lowering the fat; a three muffin serving has less than 500 calories.

I shared a bite with Webster the other day and I’ve been calling him “The Mac Doggy” ever since. Divorce would be imminent if Adam didn’t think these muffins were so darn tasty.

Mac and Three Cheese Muffins, serves 4 – 6

2 cups dry macaroni noodles
1 cup low-fat cottage cheese
1 cup shredded parmesan cheese
4 oz sharp cheddar, shredded
3 large eggs
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp nutmeg

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Lightly spray a 12-cup muffin tin with baking spray.
In a large pot, cook macaroni al dente according to package directions. Then drain and return to pot. It is best to rinse out the pot with cool water first so that the cooked pasta doesn’t stick.
Add the remaining ingredients to the cooked macaroni and stir well to combine.
Portion macaroni mixture evenly into the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 30 minutes.

18May2012

Mungry

by Emily

I don’t know what my deal is but lately I’ve been so freaking hungry. Yesterday I was uncomfortable with hunger all day long. And I wasn’t in a dessert mood at all but we don’t have much food in the house and I ended up eating sweets all afternoon. Ugh.

I did do my best to make a healthy, filling lunch.

I sautéed ~ 1 cup of sliced okra in 1/2 Tbsp butter and a pinch of salt. Meanwhile I whisked together 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup 2% cottage cheese, and 2 oz of Cabot’s 50% reduced-fat sharp cheddar. Then I scrambled my mixture in with the okra.

I didn’t know how the cottage cheese would turn out in the eggs but I ended up loving it. The end result wasn’t watery at all, just super creamy and cheesy. I now know that cottage cheese is a tasty way to add more volume and protein to my eggs.

But sadly my filling lunch wasn’t filling at all. Nothing is filling when your stomach is being a beast. I also had …

A spoonful of cookie butter, x2.

A packet of Gushers.

A Magnum Double Caramel Ice Cream Bar.

And the last ~1/2 serving of Butterfingers Bites.

Not gonna lie, I was still hungry after all that too. It was funny because I watched “Kitchen Nightmares” all afternoon and that show is a total appetite killer!

I ended up not even eating dinner because I left the house on a last-minute invite and didn’t get home until past Adam’s bedtime. A classmate’s restaurant was running a booth at a local wine event and I volunteered to help out.

I got to chat with all sorts of people and it was a lot of fun. Plus, I got a small plate of cookies and two tastes of wine out of the deal.

And my friend and I got our picture on a big local website.

I need to make some uglier friends!

My plans for today do include lunch with Holly this afternoon, should include cleaning, and must include catching up on the “Grey’s” and “Private Practice” finales.

Do you ever have insatiable bouts of hunger? And more importantly – do you say “hungry mungry?”

15May2012

Networking and Notworking

by Emily

I wasn’t quite the productivity machine I was hoping to be, but I did take off that gross brown nail polish. Baby steps.

I didn’t eat definitive meals today, more like equally spaced random snacks. Bowl o’ berries.

2% cottage cheese and Siggi’s 2% Coconut Skyr Yogurt topped with blueberries and maple syrup.

The syrup was supposed to be a light drizzle but with my newly opened bottle it ended up being more of a drenching.

Kettle corn.

Magnum Double Caramel Ice Cream Bar.

Tuna salad.

Adam and I split a can’s worth of tuna with Miracle Whip and pickle relish.

I had an everything matzoh on the side for crunch.

My final snack was a glass of Low-fat Birthday Cake Kefir.

I showed a picture of the bottle yesterday and promised to share more. The Kefir is from Lifeway and it is flipping delicious.

The flavor isn’t exactly cake but it is pleasant. Every flavor of Kefir I’ve tried from Lifeway has been the perfect balance of sweet over sour but not so sweet that it hurts your throat. There are 170 calories per 8 oz and it is definitely more filling and satisfying than a glass of milk.

My evening was spent at the Buffalo Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders for an informational session put on by the local dietetics association. I toured the center last summer on my own but it was good to see some familiar faces from my outpatient rotations. I’m not sure whether or not we’ll stay in the area after graduation but it’s always good to do some networking.

How important is networking in your profession?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: cottage cheese

Weekly Wrap-Up; My Apartment Is Packed But I’m Still Here

Breakfasts

(Non-alcoholic) Drinks

Lunches and Dinners

See you next week!

South Carolina

Shades Of White

Happy Hanukkah!

Some Friday/Saturday Highlights

What I Was Up To Today (Sunday)

Webster’s First Halloween

The Last Three Days I’ve Been…

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Monday Tuesday

Mac And Three Cheese Muffins

Mungry

Networking and Notworking