Tastes of Fall

Another productive day, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the streak continues!  Plus, I’ve full-force started eating “October food,” another trend I hope to continue 🙂  After my breakfast post I attempted to do a  little work, but Adam and I realized we were way too distracting to each other at home,

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so we packed up our stuff and went to a coffee shop to work!

All my diet soda talk in the last post got me craving one, so that’s what I had!

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The husband got a fancy shmancy hot chocolate.

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We were at The Spot, so you know I wanted a Mike’s Sandwich, but when I thought about all the food fun I had planned at home I decided to resist.  We studied for 4hours and I got a huge chunk of Chemistry work done. 

On the way home I had the husband drop me at the gym.  It was not so fabulous.  My foot still hurts and my calves were really really tight.  I really need to talk to a professional about strength-building/stretching exercises for my calves, knees, and hips.  In the end I did 2.83 miles on the treadmill, and tons of stretching, for 36minutes and 361 calories.

After my shower we closet swapped our summer stuff for winter duds.  Folks, we need to go shopping.  I have almost no winter wardrobe.  In NYC I dressed inappropriately and just dealt with being cold and uncomfortable, but that is not going to fly here in Buffalo (I’ll die!).  We scheduled in a big mall trip for next weekend – p.s. we budgeted for this already.

Then, the foodie fun began!  I made my first pumpkin pie through a straw of the season.

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1/2C 2C “>Stoneyfield Farms Lowfat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt, 1C pumpkin puree, 1T maple syrup, 1/2C skim milk, dash cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.

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So good!

While I was drinking “pie,” I started baking pie!  I made a Maple Spice Pie from one of my favorite cookbooks, Pie, Pie, Pie: Easy Homemade Favorites, by John Phillip Carroll.  I used a Wholly Wholesome Organic Whole Wheat Pie Shell.

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Small blip, apparently you need maple syrup for a maple pie, who knew?!

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After an emergency run to the store things were back on track.  It had to set, so I started dinner before diving into dessert.  This combo came (basically) from the September issue of Health (recipe here).  Tofu and eggplant with cabbage over soba noodles.

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I swapped tamari and worchestire (sp?) for miso and sesame seeds for sesame oil, but other than that I followed the recipe.  It was wonderful, I loved the soba noodles and the texture of the tofu was great.

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I had more pumpkin alongside dinner, Wolaver’s Organic Will Steven’s Pumpkin Ale.

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And then finally it was time for dessert!

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The pie was good, but super messy.  The inside tasted like caramel apples to me!

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I took a huge slice and actually made myself a bit sick  😦  Now it is time for bed, I’ve got to get my sleep if I want another productive day!

What fall foods have you enjoyed this year?

Sunday Joes

This afternoon Adam I decided that ice-cream was in order so we headed off in search.  We found a local spot on Elmwood that had Cioa Bella gelato, so you know I was all over that.

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I had a small cup of key lime pie, yums!  I said at least 4x whilst eating how good it was.  The store was super-cute, I’m glad we found it.

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On his way home, Adam dropped me off at The Spot to do some studying.  I ate lunch #2 while I was there.

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Iced Americano with skim milk (they call it “skinny moo” on the dispenser which makes me smile),

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and a whole wheat black bean and cheese quesadilla.

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I liked the ww tortillas and the insides included some sort of spicy tomato so it ended up being pretty great.  I ate all of the salad, none of the toppings, and half of the quesadilla.

I studied from 2:45 – 5:15, so I ended up also getting an iced tea.

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Cinnamon Plum, might be my new favorite!

Once I got home I continued my Chemistry organization. 

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I already created a GoogleCalendar, but now that I have this todoist  list of due dates I feel fully ready.  When I was in undergrad I wasn’t aware of these online organization applications, but now I am planning on taking full advantage of them.  Seeing everything in black and white in front of me is the only way for me to truly feel comfortable.

Work finished, we got started on dinner.  I did a Rachael Ray recipe, from “The Big Orange Book,” Hot Wing Sloppy Joes.

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Apparently 30minutes only applies if your stove isn’t half broken!!! 😦  It was still good though.

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On the side I got to cook my new original eggplants!

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These white ones seemed so odd to me, but they are the original item, and the reason why the veggie is called an eggplant.  I sliced, sprayed with evoo, sprinkled with nutmeg and chili powder, and roasted them for 30minutes at 450*.

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And since I ate a bun for brunch I ate my ‘joes with a serving of Scoops tortilla chips.

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Delish.

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We drove to Target to pick up a few supplies for Adam, and now we are finishing up a Bones episode.  My goal is bedtime before 11 because I am hope hope hoping I actually get up early to study.  I have volunteering in the middle of the day tomorrow and if I don’t study first I feel like I’ll run out of time.  G’night.

Do you like sloppy joes?  One time when I was a kid, before I stopped eating red meat, I tasted them and fell in love!  My mom makes them pretty well with turkey meat and Rachael Ray has several ‘joe adaptation recipes that I’m excited about.