The Super What?

I may have been a cheerleader, but I just don’t follow football.  Even the Super Bowl.  There, I said it!  Adam and I are pretty much on the same page about everything.  But he cares about the Super Bowl a little bit, and that’s a whole lot more than I do.

We were on the same page with breakfast this morning though.

I whipped us up a batch of smoothies, 1 part frozen strawberries to 1 part chocolate peppermint stick soy milk.

We needed a sipable breakfast because we were busy moving around giving the house a deep clean.  I don’t want to tell you how long it’s been since I scrubbed the stove (um, never!), but it took me a good 20minutes to get the burners clean.

Once we were no longer living in squalor, we headed to Wegman’s for lunch.

Fruits,

and veggies,

plus a sandwich from home.

I split a pita and filled my half with Tribe Roasted Garlic Hummus, green pepper, and cucumber slices.

It was a nice lunch, and it fueled us through a weekly grocery trip amongst the horde of people who somehow forgot that today was the Super Bowl.  I don’t want to judge, but were those people all afraid that their carts of chips and beer would spoil if they bought them more than an hour before their parties?!?

I’m home alone tonight, Adam cared just enough about the game to head over to a house with cable.  I did send him off with party food though.

Spinach and Artichoke Hummus

  • 15.5 oz can chick peas, drained
  • 14 oz can quartered artichoke hearts in brine, drained
  • 3/4 cup frozen spinach
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp plus 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1/2 cup salted soy nuts
  • salt and pepper to taste
  1. Heat tsp oil in a skillet over medium-low.  Add garlic and saute until just beginning to brown, 1-2minutes, stirring occasionally.
  2. Add spinach to the pan and cook until completely thawed.  Remove pan from heat and set aside.
  3. Place chick peas in bowl of food processor and pulse until smooth.
  4. Add artichoke hearts to the processor and continue pulsing until smoothie, scraping down the sides as needed.
  5. Working in ~ 1/2 cup batches, add spinach and garlic to processor and pulse until smooth.
  6. Pulse in soy nuts and Tbsp oil, until mixture is well-combined.  Note – the soy nuts will add a chunky texture to the hummus, if you prefer a smoother end product then you will need to start but processing the nuts first.
  7. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

I stayed home doing girly things, like cleaning out the food processor, baking tomorrow’s lunch, then cleaning out the food processor again.  It’s a good thing I took many cooking bites, because after the send round of blade cleaning I decided I was not going to make dinner.

Really, it doesn’t come up that often that I have dinner by my lonesome, so why not revel in the situation and make myself a batch of single serve cookie dough for dinner?

Yeah, yeah, I had this yesterday too.  But this was different, this was peanut butter single-serve cookie dough.

  1. Using a fork, mash together 1 Tbsp Smart Balance Light and 2 Tbsp chunky peanut butter.
  2. Mash in 3 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp sugar.
  3. Pour in a splash of Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk and mix well.
  4. Place in the freezer for 30minutes, stirring occasionally.
  5. Top with a serving of chopped up Chocolove bar.
  6. Eat with a spoon, moaning occasionally.

Do you watch the Super Bowl?  Who were you cheering for today?

Seriously, have you tried the single-serve cookie dough thing yet?

Scheduled

Hello, future readers, it’s Emily from the past!  In order to share my lunch before I get home at dinner-time I pre-scheduled this post.

Speaking of scheduling, here’s a look at my life this semester –

Hours-wise this should be a bit easier than the fall, but most of my classes are slated to be pretty difficult, so it’s going to be a busy semester.

Today’s plan is to eat lunch between my two nutrion classes, in between dropping of an important application, fingers crossed!

I’ve got a sliced up cucumber,

and a leftover serving of last night’s wonder pizza.

As I munched happily last night I told the husband that this (bbq chicken caramelized onions and gouda) pizza is a 7-out-of-10 on the pizza scale, but a 9.5-out-of-10 on the homemade pizza scale!

I’ve got plans to hit the gym after my last class (finally!) and then this evening should be nice and relaxing since Tuesdays are school-free!  See ya this evening!

The 24 Hour Post

In order to tell today’s tale I have to start with last night’s.  Adam went out to play poker with the boys until all hours of the night and I stayed at home and watched the first half of several tv shows (seriously, how can “Chuck” be so bad?!?).  I sent him with cookies and everyone raved about them, by the way.

Around 1 o’clock in the morning I sidled up to another bowl of pasta, with some chopped up sharp cheddar and turkey pepperoni added into the mix.

Delicious, and serendipitous because we woke up too late for breakfast.  A middle of the night meal can count as the morning’s breakfast, can it not?

Today, in the day time, I did make myself an orange julius, but other than that I wasn’t quite able to get a handle on at home food.

Tangy and creamy all at once makes me a happy sipper.

Around 3 we headed to the mall on a whim, and took in a showing of “The Dilemma.”  Not ground-breaking, but certainly a cute movie.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t more jazzed about my movie snack than the actual picture though.

A glorious mix of gummi cola bottles, sour gummi cola bottles, and cherry sour gummi cola bottles.  The gummi cola bottle genre is my very favorite kind of candy; probably why I was able to take down a 1/2 pound’s worth 😉

While we were out we called some friends on another whim, and ended up with a big group dinner at the Cheesecake Factory.  It was great to catch up with people, particularly since I haven’t really been leaving the house the last week!

I had a slice of sourdough. (Why is CF always so darn dark?)

And my favorite salad of all time for dinner.

The fresh vegetable salad – asparagus, green beans, tomato, cucumber, roasted beets, apple, edamame, radicchio, romaine, and white cheddar – with a side of spicy peanut vinaigrette.

It’s insane to me that this monster is an appetizer salad, I’ve got more than half of it left, sitting in the fridge for tomorrow!  I did help myself to many (unphotographed) bites of the husbands spicy cashew chicken as well.

Ok movie, good food, great friends; what more could a girl want?

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Updated to add – yeah, I totally finished off that salad!

Some More Than Others

Some parts of this afternoon were more successful than others.  For example, I did not realize that the gym was already closed for MLK weekend.  And since I wasn’t gyming it, I had a hard time convincing myself to go to school just for my errands.  Tuesday?  Seriously though, I know that not working out the last two weeks was a terrible idea, and my goal for the weekend is to jump back into strength-training.

Lunch was neutral, leaning toward successful.

Lean Cuisine Roasted Garlic Chicken, with sliced cucumber on the side.

This frozen meal had a disturbing amount of saturated fat for only 170calories, but also an impressive amount of protein and potassium.

Typically I would supplement a 170calorie lunch with more than cucumber.  But typically I don’t have this for dessert.

I haven’t tasted the finished product yet, but I’m hoping this baking project sets the bar for success this evening.

ThanksGiveaway

I am thankful –

  • that my busy days really aren’t all that busy in the big scheme of things
  • for my family (and getting to see my grandparents and in-laws this weekend)
  • for my husband
  • for my health
  • for a 2nd season of “Modern Family”
  • for Cherry Coke Zero
  • that there are so many things I’m thankful for that I could probably keep this list going for pages; I am blessed

Today has been a busy day (in the little scheme of things).  My to-do’s have been taking longer than expected and I’ve been running around.  I packed a sliced cucumber to munch on in class and it was a great stress reliever.

Though I have to imagine that my seat-mates were stressed wondering why I was being so crunchy and drippy, sorry guys!

I didn’t get to pick up Adam until 1pm and by the time we got back to our apartment is was after 2:00 and I was starving.  I calmed my growling stomach with a 2% Pineapple Chobani while I put lunch in the oven.

I ended up with feast of dippable delights (all roasted in the oven) –

Green beans,

a small potato,

and some chicken strips,

with ketchup and homemade honey mustard.

The chicken strips were a free sample from Applegate Farms.  They heard me raving about their turkey bacon (so good that I don’t have to miss a thing about not eating mammals and the only kind of “fake” bacon that Adam will eat) and offered me a chance to try another product.

The strips were delicious.  They cook nice and crispy (I oven-baked) and had a nice buttery aftertaste to them.  Plus I approve of the ingredient list and nutritional stats.

And they said I could share the wealth with you guys!

Three readers will win a $1-off coupon for any Applegate Farms product.  All you have to do to win is leave a comment on this post letting me know what you are thankful for.  Giveaway closes Friday (11/26) at noon and winners will be chosen via random integer generator.

Switcharoo

If the shoe fits, wear it – today I am a flip-flopper.  (Omg, can we talk about how rife with puns that introduction was?! Love it!)

I flipped my breakfast and lunch, I flipped my schedule, and I can predict that I’ll flip out at the husband if he hasn’t put the freaking toilet paper roll up by the time I get home from class.  (Sidenote – I’m fairly sure Adam thinks there is some sort of mystical toilet paper fairy, as he seems completely unaware that regular old humans can get a new roll on the dispenser.)

My bedtime goal was a flop last night; I didn’t get in bed until after 12:00 and I tossed and turned most of the night.  The good news is that I’m extra motivated to try again today.  The bad news is that I was too much of a zombie to make breakfast this morning.  And wouldn’t you know it, I woke up extra hungry today!  Thankfully I packed my lunch yesterday.  Cucumber slices for breakfast, why not?

I also had some Garden of Eatin’ Blue Chips,

and a cheese and jam sandwich (Crofter’s Strawberry and Cabot’s 50% Reduced White Cheddar on Arnold’s WW Sandwich Thin).

Normally the fact that I devoured my lunch before noon would be an issue, but all of my afternoon engagements ended early so I was able to flip my schedule and come home before my night class.

A coconut mini macaroon with cinnamon cream cheese filling made its way into my mouth the minute I got in the apartment.

Followed closely by a coconut oat no-bake.

But then I did make some grown up food for lunch.

This was the best tuna salad I’ve ever made, true story!  I threw some onion in and it took this over the top.

1 can tuna (flaked with a fork) + 1/6 Sweet Mayan Onion (diced) + 3 Tbsp pickle relish + 2 Tbsp Miracle Whip + sprinkle paprika = taste sensation + kicking breath

On the side I had a sliced apple and some Club crackers I stole from the husband.

I’ve got to hurry back to campus for my night class, we have class plus a quiz and I hope both end quickly so I can get home and make dinner and my bedtime goals.  By the way – I got back my last two Nutrition tests; 100% (yay) and 85% (boo).

In other (good) news…. I sent Adam to school with two big containers of cookies and everyone loved them!

What do you put in your tuna salad?

10 Days

 Our sleep schedule has been out of control lately, and that’s unhealthy for body, mind, and spirit.  In order to get back on track Adam and I made a pact to go to bed as early as possible (whether that’s 8pm some days or 11pm other days) for the next 10 days.  I’m excited to do something healthy for myself, but that does mean this has to be a quick post; go, go, go!

I stayed up so late with the boys last night (3am?!!) that I actually got hungry again!  I ended up pulling out the yogurt that was planned for my car snack as a late-night munch.  Liberte Strawberry.

This stuff is just so decadent and amazing.  The flavor and texture were spot on with 2% Fage with Strawberry; if you want the Greek yogurt experience this is the closest non-Greek gets.  Sadly this is not low-fat, and the 9grams of saturated fat (and 24grams of sugar) mean I can’t eat it as much as I’d like.

This morning felt like it came pretty early 😉  We headed out to one last breakfast with the family before we hit the road.  They took us to the restaurant inside Buehlers.  I was starving (probably actually tired) so I decided to go with the breakfast burrito.

With sauce on the side and fruit subbed for hash browns.

We were pretty impressed.

Even more impressive was the actual grocery store, we did a quick loop for road snacks and ended up finding all sorts of goodies we can’t get in Buffalo.  We ended up piecing together a very tasty lunch, all pieces split 50:50.  1st, Odwalla Pumpkin Protein.

Yuuuuum!  I was obsessed with this drink in Brooklyn, it’s perfectly sweet and creamy.

2nd, Stoneyfield Mango and Honey Fat Free yogurt.

This was actually not that good, sadly, it had almost no flavor and was oddly viscous.

And for dessert, Godiva Dark Chocolate with Extra Dark Ganache.

Pretty gourmet for a road trip if you ask me.

We got back into Buffalo around 6 and I’ve been running around ever since; lots of unpacking and getting of groceries.  While I was out I picked up dinner from the Co-op.

Thai cucumber salad and sweet ginger tofu.

Tasty, tasty.

And 1, 2, 3, Bedtime!

What time do you usually get in bed?

Monte Cristo Monday Creation

Sorry for going all MIA this weekend, my internet/computer was being slow and I just couldn’t bear it!  I did not get enough school work done, but I did manage to have a lot of (non-tech)fun –

And I infused some fun into this Monday morning in the form of flavored coffee.

Normally I eschew all this Christmas until December 1st, but Gingerbread and Eggnog coffees in November just felt right.  I had a few cups of gingerbread this morning, with lots of skim milk and a little sugar.

Most of my morning was spent study-study-studying.  I have a HUGE test tomorrow!  I did take time to make an exciting breakfast/lunch though.  I was inspired by the Nature’s Pride bread sample I received through the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s Program.

We decided to try Honey Wheat first (review of Oatmeal is pending).

As soon as I got the bread I knew what I wanted to make – a recreation of the French Toast Monte Cristo I got in Boston a few years ago.

Crisp but chewy, eggy and cheesy, savory and sweet; I’ve been long overdue in having this again.

I spread two slices of Nature’s Pride Honey Wheat with Crofter’s Strawberry Spread,

added 2oz of Cabots 50% reduced fat white cheddar and a few slices of turkey,

dipped in a beaten Eggland’s Best egg, and pan-fried in 1Tbsp Smart Balance Light.

Oh my gosh.

Chewy.  Crisp.  Eggy.  Cheesy.  Savory yet sweet.  Perfection.

This sandwich (if you use the low-fat varieties I used) has ~500calories, perfect for 2-meals-in-1 brunch.  And if I made any changes it would honestly be to healthy this up – there was almost a little too much cheesiness and fried goldenness going on.

I also had a cucumber with ranch dip.

The study-study-study is going to be most of my day, but we do having something super nerdy fun on the agenda for this evening…..

Have you tried any sandwiches french toasted?