Tag Archives: cottage cheese

Nibble While You Work, da da da da da da da

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It was another fabulous Spring day!  Sorry for another late post, but it was a busy day too.  I had 8am lab this morning so I packed up breakfast last night.

Cottage cheese and berries in a pre-fab to-go cup.  Last night I topped the last ~1.5serving of cottage cheese with some frozen berries and left it to defrost in the fridge.

This morning I just had to grab and go.

We did a qualitative analysis – a series of tests on an unknown sample to determine what its chemical components are – in lab today and it was actually a lot of fun.  The real fun came when the husband picked me up; we spent a fabulous afternoon exploring.

We dropped the car off for breaks/oil/tires and slowly wandered downtown on the walk home.  We saw several pretty things,

discovered an exciting candy store,

and we got a few fun things to go, like this candy bar I won’t be tasting –

and the husband bought a candy Tiffany’s box.  For $1.50 it was made of white and milk chocolate and stuffed with hazelnuts.

My bite –

(If you are wondering why MY Tiffany’s wedding ring isn’t on my damn finger in the picture it’s because I don’t wear jewelry to labs in which we use strong acids and strong bases)

Later we stopped in at Pearl Street for lunch.  Pearl Street makes microbrews in-house and is a ton of fun.  I love their glass options –

I went with a Split (10 oz) of the seasonal raspberry brew.

And for lunch I ordered the Fresh Apple and Pear Salad.

Apples and pears sautéed in rum and brown sugar served over mixed greens and topped with toasted pecans and fresh goat cheese.

I had brown sugar rum vinaigrette on the side.  However, the salad was so packed and tasty that I went with the fork dip method of adding dressing, rather than dumping it on.  So yummy!  I snagged a few of Adam’s fries and they were pretty tasty as well.

Not gonna lie though, the big diet coke we picked up on the walk home was my favorite part of lunch 😀

All total we walked ~2miles in beautiful weather and it was an absolutely perfect afternoon.

Once we got home, I spent a couple hours working on Anthropology.  I was having a major snack attack; sometimes nibbling on something helps me to keep my focus, but I’m not sure you can call these snacks brain food.  Pb M&Ms (these are gone now, thank God),

and a vegan blondie I brought home from ‘Snice.

We had gym plans but our “long” walk left my leg feeling like today was not the day to brave the gym stairs, and I’m in a bit of a funky mood so making dinner didn’t sound fun.  So now we have plans to shower, eat popcorn, and cuddle up in front of Buffy.  Sounds like the perfect evening to follow a perfect day.

Do you snack while you work?  Does it improve your focus or serve as a distraction?

Eating Like I’m on Vacation

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It’s been a good day of family fun.  Sadly I had a ton of school work to do so a lot of my time was spent with my nose buried in a book.  I managed to sneak in a few a few strength training exercises as well; I packed a resistance band for just that purpose.

For breakfast I arranged a little bowl.

4oz of 2% cottage cheese, medium sliced banana, Multigrain Cheerios.

And for lunch I roasted up a huge plate of veggies.

Broccoli and cauliflower.

I made some for my sister-in-law too; she’d never tried roasted veggies before and she ended up loving them.  I guess I’m influencing all sorts of people!

I dipped my hand into this two or three times as well!

We ended up going to an all you can eat Chinese buffet for dinner.  I’m not the biggest buffet fan and this one was seriously lacking in veggies but I made do.  I ge that people want to eat crap (and I ate my fair share of it), but I don’t understand having such a variety of food and not managing to squeeze in a single veggie!  I was glad I ate a produce-heavy lunch.

Plate 1 –

I ate all of the (not so good) green beans and half of the chicken.

Plate 2 = a bunch of fried stuff.  I’m not sure why the camera randomly ate this picture, I guess my Sony likes crab rangoon.

Plate 3 –

My favorite!  I was mmmning and yumming through this whole plate of fruit.

There were some tasty looking desserts but we planned to go to Rita’s after dinner.

I’ve been so excited about trying to find one of these because the menu is a lot like Jeramiah’s in Orlando and the husband totally came through and spotted one today.  I got a small gelati; mint chip italian ice and twist custard.

So good, I was basically swooning.

Everyone else is eyeing the board games but I have a ton more work to get through tomorrow so I think I’ll turn in soon.  Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

What’s your feeling on buffets?

Slopped on Bagels and Secret Buffalo

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Hi y’all, sorry for the late post!  It’s been a long (but good[ish]) day.  Adam and I stayed up way too late watching tv last night.  Catching up on “Modern Family” was amazing, but oversleeping this morning meant I didn’t have time to pack up like I’d planned.  At least I found at outfit that thrilled me –

My new blue chinos ($18, love love loved the Orlando outlet malls!) feel like Spring!

I drove the husband to school because I had an 8am coffee date with my friend Kate; “Free Pastry Day” at Starbucks was just too good to pass up.

I got a tall, skinny (i.e. small, nonfat and sugarfree) cinnamon dolce latte,

and a low-fat banana chocolate chip coffee cake.

I wanted to like the pastry, I really did, but it just tasted “diet.”  I prefer diet sodas to regular but anything else, yetch!  I ate about half of it so that I’d have something in my belly for breakfast.

Katie went to class around 9 and I ended up working on my Chemistry lab instead of reading; my mind just did not want to study for today’s test!  My desire for a good breakfast (and a need for caffeine to study with) fueled my lunch selection from the cafeteria.

Huge diet coke and a blueberry bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

I don’t want to complain, because the bagel was delicious and the cream cheese had real strawberries in it, but “deli-prepared” bagels always piss me off.  The cream cheese on my bagel was literally less than half of the amount the man wanted to put on.  Why?  Slopping on 3+ tablespoons of cream cheese is wasteful, unnecessary, and unhealthy.  I don’t understand why stores do this but I always make sure I ask for ‘half of what you usually use.’

My Anthro test went less than well, let’s just leave it at that.  Since I did poorly on both of my recent tests I know that I need to buckle down for the rest of the semester.  In fact, in between my test and my 2nd class I got right to work on the reading for the next class 🙂

After class (6:30) I had to pick up the husband, finish my lab, and un/pack my stuff for tomorrow.  I ate a small snack while I worked; pineapple and low fat cottage cheese.

Then, finally it was time to make dinner.

Buffao Chicken Baked Pasta.  I wish I could share the recipe with you guys but it’s my entry to a contest.  It was delicious though.

I’m going to do a quick quick (5-10minute) strength/stretch session and then I’ve got to hop in the shower.  I have a pilates video in my plan for tomorrow and I’m so excited!  Tomorrow will be another late(ish) post, I’ve got 8am lab and then a doctor’s appointment.  Cross your fingers for me that I’m actually able to schedule my bone scan.

What restaurant practices piss you off?

Sleepy Sunday

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We overslept (what else is new?!?) so waking up was a stressful, frustrating affair; but I tried to make breakfast as soothing as possible.

A serving of leftover carrot cake pancakes,

with 1/3cup 1% cottage cheese topped with a honey tangerine.

I’m loving all the citrus options lately!

I’ve got to get cracking, see you for lunch.

What is your favorite kind of citrus?  I enjoyed the Ugli fruit a lot just because it was so unique, but clementines top my list due to their lack of seeds.

P.S. Check out this girl’s first giveaway!

We’re All Winners

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I’ve had such an exciting assortment of eats this afternoon!  And the husband came home earlier than usual and watched the newest Bones episode with me!  It’s been a good day all around 🙂

And I have some good news for some lucky giveaway winners –

Holly, Emily, Ashley, and Brandi; send me your info please and congrats.

This morning I finished off the rest of my coffee, chilled with skim.

I’d like to think it was the extra caffeine that gave me the energy to power through the business calls I had to make.  Or maybe it was the thought of my thrilling lunch.

Nom, nom, nom, nom 😀

If I had breakfast with Tina I did lunch with Janetha!  1/2 cup 1% cottage cheese, 1/4 cup Cedar’s Chick Pea Salad, and a few shakes Kernel Seasons Ranch.

This was a super tasty combo, thanks for the idea Janetha!

Next I had one of my favorite combos.

2/3 of a Crispin apple with sun butter.

And if that was one of the favorites this next combo is my absolute all time favorite.

Cedar’s pita chips with Garlic and Chive Feta Spread.  Words cannot describe how much I love this!

Post lunch my sweet tooth hit me hard.  I was dying to run across the street and get a cookie but somehow I resisted.  At 150 calories this Dannon Caramel yogurt was a much more sensible choice.

And topped with 1.5t each toasted walnuts and cinnamon chips it was pretty darn delicious.

The plan this evening is gym, reading (magazines for sure but hopefully some homework too), and a homemade dinner.  See you later!

What has been the most exciting part of your Friday?

Tuesday Afternoon – Thursday Afternoon

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My family’s Christmas Eve party is tonight and we’ve got lots of setting up to do so this will have to be kept quick.

Tuesday Afternoon….

After my last post Adam and I set out for some exercise.  We ran on the waterfront downtown together.  We did walk/run intervals for 40minutes.  I’m not sure exactly how far we ran but I burnt 450calories.

Adam and my parents made chili for dinner (which I’m really not a fan off, unless it’s from ED&BV) so I pieced a few things together.  Like a smoothie –

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 small banana, splash milk, squeeze honey.  Topped with nutmeg.

My mom also reheated me a slice of pizza from the freezer, Adam ate all of my half from the other day so it was just plain cheese.

We went out for drinks with some friends but I was the driver so I stuck to diet coke.  We stayed out past 1 though, so we were a little sleepy the next day! 😉

Wednesday…

Our plan was to go study at our favorite coffee shop, but due to our late start and some unexpected traffic it just didn’t work out.  I was planning on blogging too, but I forgot my camera cord, doh!  We did get tasty sandwiches to eat in the car while we ran errands with my mom though!

I got a whole wheat wrap with sweet potato, goat cheese, spinach, and spicy hummus, YUM.

I was feeling really sick later in the afternoon (NOT because of the sandwich, spicy food does NOT seem to affect my stomach) so Adam made me this yummy tasting plate.

Thankfully I rallied in time for dinner.  Adam and I cooked for my parents and grandparents, who are down visiting as well.

Adam made a Real Simple recipe for roasted red pepper turkey meatloaf,

and I roasted up some okra and green beans.

My mom provided dessert –

A teensy sliver of rum cake a parent brought her,

and a peppermint chocolate cookie.

I ate a snowball a little later too.

And a cup of Eggnog’n Tea.

And then we went out drinking way too late for the second night!  Good times were had by all, but I did stick to diet coke again.

Thursday Morning….

I think the no-booze rule saved me last night because I was able to get up this morning and go for a run!  I did ~ 45minutes/490 calories, and ~3miles.  I did my pt when I got home before I dove into this –

holy food am I glad I can find the pineapple Chiobani down here!

Although I was probably most excited about this Carebear spoon I dug up!

Now as soon as we leave the library we are heading home to prep for the party.  There won’t really be dinner or lunch today, more like lots of snacking on really tasty things.  🙂

I probably won’t be posting again until after this weekend, so to all my readers who celebrate – Merry Christmas!

Dreams of Root Vegetables

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Whew, Tuesday is almost over!  My meeting went well, I still have no idea which career path I’ll choose but it is exciting to learn about the options.  After my meeting I swung by the house to pick up the husband, who graciously offered to go along on my printing/mailing resume errands.

True Story – while we were driving he got annoyed that I don’t know what I want to do and said – “You’ll never know what you want to do.  Next thing I’ll know you’ll want to be a turnip!  Do you need to go back to school to be a turnip!?!”  And now he has called me Turnip for the rest of the day.  Holy cow I love my funny husband!

On our way home – resumes successfully mailed, hopefully I will be substituting at some point – we stopped in The Spot for coffee.

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I got a small  Chaider; steamed apple cider and chai tea.  Mmn, fall!  I actually think I’m going to head back to the Spot to work tomorrow, I haven’t been getting much done at home 😦

I was feeling sick with hunger when we got home so I got a snack while I worked on my lab (which I can not do without help, boo!).

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A bumped log,

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with Granny Smith slices with cinnamon caramel apple dip.

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I had a coupon for the dip and you know I’m a sucker for all foods fall.

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After struggling with Chemistry for forever I moved on to making dinner.  On the meal plan was a recipe from the November “Everyday with Rachael Ray” ‘lightened up’ moussaka.

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I can’t share the recipe but if you bought the magazine and are planning to try it here are the changes I made:

  • used 99% lean ground turkey instead of beef
  • skipped the food processor and used low fat whipped cottage cheese
  • used half graffiti eggplants
  • add 1/2 pint mushrooms

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We actually got busy and didn’t even eat dinner so I’ll have to review the recipe tomorrow!  I have a busy day planned tomorrow – no room for headaches! – so don’t be surprised if I don’t post until dinner.  Night!

Don’t forget to enter my Zevia giveaway!

Healthy Cheese Eggs

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Morning Monday!  I know most people have to go to work (I wish I was going to work!) but I feel much better now that the sun is up.  Even though Adam and I tend to stay up pretty late day to day, there are times when we are tired that we both get completely punch-drunk.  Last night was one of those times for sure.  It was only midnight when we were getting ready for bed but we were both shrieking laughing and bouncing around all over the place!  We’ve had a few similar experiences throughout the years, one time we stayed up all night before a flight and we laughed so hard I peed my pants!!!  That is actually one of my favorite memories 🙂

This morning pie was on the brain.  Maybe because I totally took two bites straight from the pan when I got to the kitchen?  But mostly because the recipe had called for 4 egg yolks and I had 4 whites leftovers to use.  I put the eggs to work for breakfast.

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Along with the whites I stirred in 4T of fat free whipped cottage cheese, and seasoned with salt and paprika.  Then I cooked it all in 1t of Smart Balance Light over medium-high heat.  It was pretty yummy, Adam came up with the egg/cottage cheese idea yesterday and I think it works out while.

Alongside I had some fresh cut pineapple.

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It was a good start the week breakfast.

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I’m heading to the hospital for volunteering now.  And I’m going to campus early to see if I can get some help with the lab report (I’m trying to write one for the lab I missed).  I hope everyone’s work week is off to a good start!

What sort of things have you put in eggs?