Happy 80th Nana!

by Emily

Hello, hello, hello! Sorry to skip out for the weekend but I had a fabulous time. I flew to Ohio (with a bunch of other family members) to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday. We did party/family time all weekend, which meant TONS of cake! I missed the husband a lot but I had a great time, my family is so funny! This post won’t be as detailed, due to length, and if you get too bored skip to the bottom to find the winners of the Zevia contest.

Friday we had to get up nice and early to make it to the airport for my 6:35am flight. I was hungry when I got to the airport but it seemed early and I knew I would sleep my first flight so I decided to wait.

On my layover I got egg and cheese on a cheddar jalopeno bagel.

It was very tasty but I dropped half on the floor so I only ate half of it.

I was so excited when I finally got in to the Dayton airport!

My mom and grandma picked me up and we drove over to Tipp City to do some shopping (also the location of my grandmother’s surprise party!). We saw all sorts of fun things.

Nana (grandma) was impossible to get to her surprise party, she kept insisting the chosen restaurant was too nice, too slow, etc. I finally had to pretend I was going to pee my pants if we didn’t at least go in to the restroom! When she saw all of her friends she was so surprised she cried!

My mom and my aunt (who flew up with my mom a few days earlier than me) did such a good job planning and decorating!

We did a party lunch at Coldwater Cafe and it was very nice. I got a bloody mary to drink.

And for lunch I split – more halfs! – a turkey pannini (with artichoke spread and cheese) with my mom.

I ignored the chips but the sandwich was great.

My grandmother cried when she opened her presents and again when they brought in the cake!

I am not really a chocolate cake fan so I took a small bite and then packed up the rest to bring home to Paps (grandpa). I also packed up all the bread from the table baskets. My family teased me but they are either going to use it again, ewww, or throw it out, wasteful.

We got to go home long enough to pick up my grandpa and then we – me, my mom, my aunt, my grandparents, and the dog – squeezed into the car for a long drive to Toledo where my uncle lives. I seriously can not handle how funny my family is, we had such a good time!!

We were running late when we got there so we had a quick dinner from Wendy’s. I got a baked potato with broccoli and cheese.

I also ate one of my pumpkin cheesecake cupcake/muffins, so good!

My uncle is a high school football coach so we went to watch his team. It was their last game of the season, against their biggest rival, and they whooped them, so it was a lot of fun. My uncle had the marching band play happy birthday to Nana and she cried again!

After the game we went to a ‘end of season’ party my uncle was throwing for the other coaches. I had a small vodka and coke,

and a small slice of pizza.

And then there was more cake and more tears!

Quite a night was had by all 🙂

For Saturday breakfast I had an English muffin with homemade strawberry jam and scrambled eggs.

We spent the morning having family time before we headed to another birthday party, this one for my cousin’s baby! Lunch was buffet style at the party.

Cheesy potatoes,

fruit,

and veggies.

And of course more cake – I just ate the icing off this piece.

Over the course of the party I sipped a beer

and had a good time hanging with my mommy and grandma.

My mom, aunt, and I (all Virgin Islanders) walked to and from the party because it was so exciting to be cold! It was sad saying goodbye to my cousins but then the six of us packed back into the car and headed back to my grandparents’ house. More uproarious fun was had, including the hilarious/horrifying realization that my grandmother – who was driving – talks with her hands a lot!

It was Halloween, so I broke out some fancy chocolate I bought for the occasion.

We all had a small piece.

When we got home we had to rush to get dressed before meeting my grandparents’ best friends for dinner. It was a great last meal. I had a bloody mary again, to which I added a ton of Siracha and sizzled my mouth off!

My grandmother shared her side salad with me,

and she and Rose gave me their martini olives.

They are both amazing and both happen to read the blog, hi guys!

I also had a small piece of bread.

I was torn on ordering but when the waitress said unlimited toppings on the flat bread pizza I was sold! I asked for roasted red pepper, green peppers, red onions, caramelized onions, tomato, spinach, and mushrooms.

Mmmn. I ate 3/5 pieces.

It was another late night and I think we left my grandparents thoroughly exhausted!

This morning my mom and I both had 6:50 flights so it was another early trip to the airport. Goodbyes were easy; I see my grandparents for Turkey Day and my mommy and aunt for Christmas!

For reasons explained in the next post, I packed my own breakfast. A banana from my grandmother’s house,

and a seasonal Pumpkin Spice Cliff Bar from home.

My flights were all blissfully uneventful. I was very excited to see the husband at the airport. Apparently he went to a Halloween party last night so I’ll have to track down some pictures of his costume. He made himself spaghetti this weekend so I had a big bowl of that (doctored with mozarella and red pepper flakes) while I wrote this monster post.

My fingers are exhausted, it is definitely time to say Goodbye! I will “see” you all this evening, hope everyone else had a good weekend!

Zevia Winners

I used a random integer generator to choose the winners.

Runners Up who receive a mixed six pack

(#18) Annalene – i actually have tried Zevia before & I have to say that while they may take some time to getting used to the flavor after the initial drink or 2 these are actually quite good! my favorite is the lemon lime
(#5) Jenny – I would love to try the all-natural diet sodas. I work the night shift, and am obsessed with my diet Pepsi….but always feel guilty about the weird ingredients and colorings.
(#17) Erin – I really want to try this stuff since I love the occasional diet coke.
(#2) Holly – I’d love to win – this soda has been all over blogs and I’ve never tried it!
(#14) Erin– Zevia sounds great!

Grand Prize Winner who receives a mixed case

(#9) Molly – Sounds good!

Winners – shoot me an e-mail (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) by Tuesday morning to claim your prize!

15Oct2009

Savory Instead of Sweet

by Emily

Hello, lunch-eaters! My morning has gone well; it looks like the notecards won’t be finished until tomorrow but my labs are totally up to date. My pumpkin pudding smoothie held me over well but I did snack on a bowl of red grapes while I worked.

By noon it was time for lunch. When I received a Nature’s Pride sample as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program I actually was sent two loaves. I seem to hardly ever eat bread and I was worried that Adam would move too slowly and we’d develop a mold problem, so into the freezer one loaf went. Once we were ready for more bread we simply moved the loaf down to the fridge and gave it a few hours to defrost. This is a good solution if you find a bread(product) sale at your grocery store too.

bread

With 12 Grain I made a yummy french toast, so I knew that would be good for 100% Whole Wheat as well. But I was feeling adventurous. Which led to…….

savory french toast! I sanwiched sliced turkey, Crofter’s North American Superfruit Spread and dijon mustard between two slices of Nature’s Pride Whole Wheat. Then I dipped the ‘wich in a mixture of egg/.5C chicken broth. I cooked it for ~3minutes on each side in a pan with .5T Smart Balance Light. Finally it got topped off with maple syrup, Chipotle Tabasco, and squeeze cheese.

Mmmn. I loved this mess mix of flavors! Next time I would leave off the sqeeze cheese (which I mostly ate around anyway), but we had it and it looked fun. I doused it with hot sauce the the spice/egginess combo was perfection.

I am watching an episode of “Mercy” while I eat my lunch and then it’s back to work. I think I will cook dinner before I leave for class, but I’ll post it this evening. All that really matters is that I remember my lab goggles!

Have you ever tried savory french toast? What’d you think? {I realize this is similar to a Monte Cristo}

12Oct2009

Healthy Cheese Eggs

by Emily

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.

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.

It was a good start the week breakfast.

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?

6Oct2009

Mish Mash Meal

by Emily

Fabulous day alert! After so many weeks of being a lazy blob I am seriously relishing my productivity. Post office, studying, dinner; check, check, check! Plus I rocked two of my grandma’s old necklaces which always makes me happy.

The line at the post office was redonculous, but a very sweet package from my mommy was a nice reward at the end. Lots of excitement ensued; I got a bunch of magazines, new book,

a baggie of my favorite candy of all time ever (I ate one of these without photographing), fruit gels,

and a P.E. T-shirt from my old high school!

After my not ‘rain nor snow’ing I met up with a friend from Chemistry to study. We got in a solid 5 hours! As much as we accomplished, I didn’t do so hot on the practice tests so I know I have my work cut out for me this week.

I got home around 8:30 and got right to dinner. My goal was to use up leftovers, frozen food, and my Annie Chun’s sample.

The end result was seriously socks rocking! I was in absolute heaven eating this plate.

I heated chipotle pepper oil over medium high heat. Added 2 chopped Apple Maple Sausages (I froze these a few months ago) and 2 big handfuls spinach/arugula and a small handful shredded carrot. Next I added leftover roasted butternut squash from yesterday and 1/2 of the black pearl rice. Then I stirred in a splash each of soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame seeds. Finally I broke in 1egg and stirred.

I couldn’t get over how good this was! What a mix of flavors and textures, lots of sweet/savory which I love.

For dessert I tried some of my new candies.

They were good, but the Sunkist ones are the best.

We started watching “Glory Road” while we ate and I’m enjoying it. See you tomorrow!

Have you made any good mish-mash meals lately?

18Sep2009

I Might As Well Be Working Undercover…

by Emily

…because I am wired! But more on that later.

So last night the fun just kept going! About an hour after we ate I threw up 😦 I get really bad gas sometimes (upper stomach, not like farting, ew!), especially after eating junky food, and occasionally I will burp 8million times and throw up. Plus, when I took of my shoe (normally I would be rocking sandals but sneakers are required for lab) we figured out why my foot was hurting so badly; in addition to the sore spots my ring toe is messed up. I dropped a trash can on my foot the other day and my toe was swollen, bright red, and unable to bend! It looks better today, although I still can’t bend it, so I’m hoping to be fine in time for a run tomorrow.

In spite of our “fun” night I woke up around 8:45 and took care of some business calls. Budget still has not paid us for the mattress that they ruined! Then around 10:30 I headed down the street to the coffee house.

I think I’m developing an obsession for egg and cheese bagels.

This was much calmer than the last one, but still quite tasty. Plain bagel, provolone cheese, 1 egg.

I drank a Cherry CokeZero with it (don’t judge me!). And a few hours later I broke for a housemade chocolate chip cookie and a nonfat latte.

I studied at the coffee shop for about 3hours total before Adam came home from school. On my walk hobble home I stopped at the gas station for another coffee (I told you, I’ve really been craving it).

I got Cinnamon Bun, to which I added skim milk when I got home. This finally hit the spot! I love flavored coffee (like flavored beans, not like syrups) and the gas station had lots of yummy looking flavors (snickerdoodle, blueberry crisp!) so I think I’ll be back there soon.

Now that I’m all hopped up on caffeine I’m going to continue my chemistry studying and head to the gym for some strength training around 5. We are meeting some friends for dinner tonight so I have a lot to get done still this afternoon.

What is your favorite flavor of coffee?

17Sep2009

Huevos Rancheros

by Emily

Skipping dinner last night left me ravenous this morning! I knew I needed to remedy that with a big plate of stick-to-your-ribs food.

It was like Huevos Rancheros, but better!

Chop 2 maple chicken apple sausages, heat in a skillet.
Add 1T SmartBalance Light and 1/2black beans, season with salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, stir together 2eggs with a splash of skim milk and a sprinkle chili powder.
Add eggs to skillet and cook through.
At the last minute, add 2oz chopped cheddar.
Remove from pan and top with 2dashes Chipotle Tabasco and 1-2T salsa.

‘Twas good!

The reason I am up so early (for me) is because today is busy busy. I have a doctors appointment at 9:30 (to deal with my ridiculous foot worts that are still there!!!) and then I have my first lab today! It is supposed to run from 5-8:50 but we are taking a safety test, not doing a lab experiment, so I hope we get out early. The doctor’s office is near campus so I’m going to go straight to school from there, it will be a loooong day. I’m going to buy lunch at school and I packed a snack. Have a great day!

What is your favorite way to eat eggs? I adore sunny side up with bread for dipping, but lately I’ve been all about salsa on everything.

14Sep2009

The Buzz

by Emily

Good afternoon all! I hope everyone is having a painless Monday. As you know, I didn’t go to bed until after 2 last night, but once in bed I didn’t fall asleep until after 3! I don’t know how on earth I managed to wake up at 9am but I think my excitement over breakfast was a factor.

I pan-heated two chicken apple maple sausages.

And put my leftover oven-roasted root veggies into eggs. I heated 1T SmartBalance Light in a pan, heated the turnips and parsnips, cracked in two eggs, scrambled, and added a small handful of sharp cheddar at the end.

Very tasty! I will officially say that turnips and parsnips (and whole okra) are a success, they will be entering the regular line up!

After breakfast I hurried to the hospital for my 4hour volunteering shift. At 20’clock I clocked out and apparently became a cereal magnet. I used my lunch voucher to buy some granola and skim milk to eat later this week,

and when I got home I found a Kashi coupon and sample in the mail.

You can click here to get your own sample, I said “surprise me!”

In spite of its abundance, I knew that cereal was not going to cut it for lunch. I spent most of my volunteering time delivering blood and medicine, which means I took the stairs a ton! (when I am taking patients places I obviously only take the elevator) I decided to give Flat Outs a try with another sandwich.

I know it looks unassuming, but he’s just being modest.

1 Flat Out
homemade honey mustard (1T dijon mustard, 1t honey)
6 thin slices turkey
~1/2C shredded carrot

This was very satisfying. I still found the wrap a bit chalky but overall the taste combo was fantabulous. I totally only ended my lunch with almond butter straight into my mouth for the protein.

It was 100% the 6g of protein in the packet, not that it was maple flavored almond butter, and certainly not that I like squeezing it straight into my mouth 🙂

I am feeling very lucky to have received Justin’s samples, 2 thumbs up!

In just a bit I am going to head out to campus. Class isn’t until 6:30 but I need to print off the class notes and pick up some forms. Dinner will be something thrown together because Adam claimed the tofu leftovers, but I am planning on doing some baking tonight!

Foodbuzz Excitement

I couldn’t wait to tell you guys about the excitement I mentioned yesterday – it’s official, my friend Camile and I will be attending the Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in November!!! We booked our tickets and hotel room yesterday and we are both so excited! Do you know anyone else who is attending?

Also, I forgot to mention before, but one of my photos was featured on the main page of Foodbuzz the other day. It’s clearly not a big deal, but the husband was so proud of me he took a screenshot.

foodbuzz

29Aug2009

Balls, of Meat

by Emily

Extra to-do’s are done, dinner was made from scratch, it’s been a good day! This morning was not much of a success. I wanted to do chemistry review – one last ditch effort before class starts on Monday – so I rode to school with Adam to study at the South Campus library. We got to school before it opened so I hung around the med school lobby and ate my snack.

HPIM4334

My baggie was about 2servings and very tasty.

Once the library did open at 8 I put in a valiant two hours of day-dreaming before I accepted that I was too cold and hungry to focus. I trekked in search of a cafeteria, success.

HPIM4341

My egg/cheese bagel and coffee were just what I needed. I studied in the cafeteria until I was halfway through with my coffee. I should mention, the coffee machine was one of those push button thingies, and I ended up with English Toffee Cappuccino. It was very syrupy and halfway through I basically had diabetes.

I trekked again, bought a diet soda to clear my head (don’t judge me!) and went back to the libary for some actual studyingcompletely worthless blog reading.

It wasn’t until 12:30 that I finally had some success! I went for coffee with a blog reader/R.D student at UB (hi, Katie!). I got to ask questions about the program and catch up on blog gossip, it was great. We ended up sitting at Starbucks for hours! While we were there I had a more successful snack.

HPIM4342

Unsweetened iced coffee with skim milk and a KIND bar.

I didn’t get home until after 5, and then Adam and I headed out on errands. We spent forever at Target. Among other things, I replaced my devious Sigg,

HPIM4344

and we bought a new blender, woo!

HPIM4345

Before we could head home we had to hit up a wine store too.

HPIM4343

We are having a small get-together tomorrow, the theme of which is wine and cheese.

Somehow at 9pm I managed to force myself to cook dinner. While I worked I ate two farmers’ market plums for energy.

HPIM4346

We made Giada De Laurentiis’ meatballs, from her Everyday Italian cookbook. I only had a small serving,

HPIM4347

but it was frickin delicious! Hands-down the best turkey meatballs I’ve ever had, I’m sorry I can’t post the recipe.

HPIM4348

Dinner was great, and “My So-Called Life” was even better 🙂 We will be very busy tomorrow (in addition to our get-together set up we have to get our car registered) so I probably won’t be posting again until the evening. See you then!

What is your favorite ground meat, for balls form? My favorite is extra-lean turkey.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: eggs

Happy 80th Nana!

Zevia Winners

Savory Instead of Sweet

Healthy Cheese Eggs

Mish Mash Meal

I Might As Well Be Working Undercover…

Huevos Rancheros

The Buzz

Foodbuzz Excitement

Balls, of Meat