The Last Three Days

by Emily

The last three days have been great. Summer school is over! I’m a senior! (again!) We went to Ohio! Yep, I wasn’t blogging because the summer of weekend fun has officially begun. Let’s back up to Friday morning first.

I stayed up late on Thursday (Adam was studying and I was doing nothing) so waking up was rough. Somehow I did manage to get out of bed and make it to the gym. And then I did strength training! I walked on the treadmill for 7 minutes to warm up and then spent 30 minutes rotating though a cycle of strength machines plus stretch moves on the mat.

Since I actually did weights work it seemed like the perfect time for the Honey Core Power protein drink I bought on sale.

It was fine, not great, but 26 grams of protein in a few minutes is nothing to sneeze at.

To celebrate our last day, our teacher brought in garden chili.

I had a bowl topped with cheddar,

and another glass of lemon sweet tea.

When the day was over a few friends and I celebrated on our own. First we grabbed the dog,

and then we walked to Dolci,

for bourbon cinnamon gelato.

Eeeeee, this tasted so good! The cinnamon was pretty subdued and it had the best texture, almost airy.

Then Adam and I were in the car for weekend #1 of summer fun.

I packed us leftovers for dinner.

Buffalo Chicken Baked Pasta.

We both agreed that this dish is one of best things I make.

Saturday morning I managed to sleep until 11:30 …on the living room floor …while people screamed at the top of their lungs playing Battleship! Tired much?

For lunch I did my best to pick and choose a meal from McDonald’s.

Two packs of apple slices,

and a fruit and yogurt parfait.

Plus a (mini) S’more Monster Cookie for dessert.

I thing I like these cookies even better when they are regular sized.

We spent the afternoon at our niece’s dance recital. There were kids of all ages, including a class of three-year olds twirling around in giant tutus. And now my ovaries hurt!

Dinner was re-dic-u-lous.

Salad with honey mustard dressing.

French fries. With butter for the …

Crab legs!

All you could eat. Apparently I could eat five clusters. And then I was very, very full.

Though not too full for candy at the movies a few hours later.

We saw Prometheus and I do not recommend it. The “Alien” nerds on all of the forums were right, the characters are dumb and I didn’t care what happened to them.

The parents made us all breakfast this morning before we had to hit the road. I had a glass of skim milk,

and a pancake (with butter and syrup) and fresh fruit.

The opposite of fresh, Adam and I snacked on this cookies and cream Chex Mix on the road.

I ate ~2 serving’s worth.

We had to stop at the mall on the way home to get the husband new sandals so we got froyo too.

I got a tiny bit of tart yogurt with tons of fruit and popping boba.

We we’ve been home about an hour and I’ve already eaten two of the Hawaiian rolls that Adam brought home.

Clearly it’s time to rustle up dinner! See ya tomorrow.

19Jun2012

Early Mornings

by Emily

Two 5 am wake ups in a row make me a grumpy girl. But you’ve gotta do what you gotta do; particularly if you haven’t been doing what you have to do!

Monday morning the alarm rang at 5, I was up at 5:10, and I was finished working by 8. I even had time for breakfast.

A 0% Plain Oikos Greek Yogurt with 1 cup of Erewhon Cocoa Crispy Brown Rice Cereal, a sliced nectarine and a tsp of honey.

Adam will have eaten all of the cereal (which was bought with a free coupon from HLS) before I can pour another bowl, but this combo was great.

We went on a tour of the Meals and Wheels facility for class. They make more than 1,600 meals a day at the site we visited! The size of the kitchen equipment was insane.

The weather was warm enough to skip a cardigan and cool enough not to sweat like a river so it was the perfect opportunity to rock my frilly sleeved top.

That shirt is so fun.

Lunch was fun too, but also a failure.

The Strawberry Push Pop was great (duh!).

But they reformulated the Cool Mint Chocolate Clif Bar and I’m not a fan any more. It had a strange aftertaste and I ended up throwing it out halfway though.

The great pear made up for it though.

I swear that it tasted like vanilla!

I also bought an iced Americano with skim milk.

– – apparently I didn’t photograph that – –

We stayed at school later than usual and even with my coffee I was off the charts cranky by the time I got home. Thankfully I had this face waiting for me to get home and take it on a walk.

Don’t mind if I do, Webster.

The husband’s laptop broke recently and we’ve had to spend a lot of time and money (more than we can spare of both!) at the mall getting it fixed. The silver lining is that there’s froyo at the mall.

I got coconut and plain tart topped with lots of fruit and popping boba.

We ate grape leaves (two each) as an appetizer of sorts.

And had casserole leftovers with evoo and white cheddar for dinner.

When we ate this dish the first day I sort of hated it, but the taste has gotten significantly better with each serving.

I sat and stared at my computer for a while last night but I knew I wasn’t going to make any headway. Around 10 I determined that my best bet was to set another alarm for 5 and get myself to bed.

I slept, I got up (30 minutes later than planned), I worked, I finished, I’m ready. But since my presentation is on dress code and personal hygiene I should probably go shower and gussy up!

5Jun2012

Off Plan

by Emily

Adam was on call last night and sleeping by myself did not go as well as planned. To start, the dog and I stayed up until 1 am painting my nails and watching “Drive Me Crazy.” And it didn’t seem like I was sleeping poorly but when the alarm went off this morning I wanted to punch it in the face. I knew by the first snooze that I needed to update my workout and breakfast plans.

Instead of a run, I did 10 minutes of strength and stretch moves. Not gonna lie though, I don’t think I could have done more than 10 minutes even if I’d had the time!

Instead of a yogurt bowl at home I took breakfast to-go. A Naked Green Machine that Adam brought me home from the hospital.

And an Apple Turnover Larabar Uber.

The bar was tasty though a bit stickier than I’d like. The flavor wasn’t really apple, instead it was chock-full of raisins.

Lunch was simple but good.

Roasted broccoli,

topped with Makhani sauce.

With Junior Mints (Canada style!) for dessert.

When I got home from class I snacked on mango slices.

Yuuuuuum! We almost never buy mango (and Adam has to cut it for me when we do!) but it is the perfect blend of tart and tangy.

Plus bread with olive oil.

And a small slice of pizza.

It was less than a dollar but it wasn’t very good and I shouldn’t have eaten it no matter how hungry I was.

I had homemade soup planned for dinner but then the husband ate a bunch of food and came home stuffed. I moved the soup to tomorrow and instead I got a $6 fish taco for dinner.

This was more enjoyable than the soup would have been anyhow!

Did you follow your meal plan for dinner this evening?

4Jun2012

What A Weekend!

by Emily

The title exclamation is supposed to be aggregated, not excited. What a weekend, indeed. Nothing major went down (I always try to remember that in the big picture we are so, so blessed) but there was lots of stress. First the dog got sick and then my car battery died. And ~~worst of all~~, Adam spilled my entire large fountain diet soda with ice.

Now the dog seems to be feeling better and $120-later my car is feeling better too. Phew! Plus I found out that I passed my ServSafe exam with a 98%, i.e. only 1 question missed out of 80.

I didn’t have it together enough this morning for breakfast – instead I took a much-needed shower! – but I did pack snacks that I nibbled throughout the school day. An Apple Strawberry GoGo Squeez packet.

A mini box of raisins.

2 servings of Cheez-It Bigs.

And a packet of Artisana Raw Pecan Butter.

I ate the pecan butter on the cheez-its but it was sort of watery so the combination was only okay. The homemade pecan butter I used in my Gluten-free Cowboy Oaties had a lot more flavor.

The day continued to look up when we got out of school early and I came home and ate something delicious.

The recipe will be posted by tomorrow, pinky swear.

I also ate a small piece of bread with honey.

Then I went out for a wog. (<– I stole that from A Healthy Slice of Life and it is my new favorite slang!) 9 sets of 2 minutes running / 3 minutes walking for 45 minutes and 4 miles.

Next I spent some time in the kitchen. Here’s dinner.

I put 1 lb of chicken breasts in the crock pot this morning (8 hours on low) and this evening we shredded the cooked chicken and tossed it with a mix of Makhani sauce and Stubbs BBQ Sauce.

The liquid I put in the crock pot with the chicken was the reserved juices from our roasted whole chicken and I like to feel like it added a little somethin’-somethin’.

My meat was served on a pile of warm cole slaw.

I put cole slaw veggies, apple cider vinegar, and a bit of sugar in my wok and cooked until softened. Then I tossed in some Miracle Whip and raisins. The end result was a little too tangy from the vinegar but not terrible.

My final kitchen effort was chicken stock.

Homemade Chicken Stock, yields 3 quarts

bones from 1 roasted chicken, stripped mostly clean
2 sprigs rosemary
1 cup chopped carrot (or baby carrots)
3 cloves garlic
3 quarts cold water

Preheat oven to 425 degrees Farenheit. Roast bones 45 minutes.
Place roasted bones, rosemary, carrot, and garlic in a large stock pot and cover with cold water.
Place pot over high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for 3 hours.

A few notes – Roasting the bones really helps to bring out their flavor. Please be sure to cool your stock safely if not using right away. You have two hours to bring it down to 70* and an additional 4 hours to get it down to 41* before you put it in the fridge. Transfer the stock into smaller containers and place the containers in an ice bath, stirring regularly. ServSafe at work, baby!

Have you ever made your own stock?

2Jun2012

Rested Recap

by Emily

Hey there! It’s been a busy few days so I’m having to do a multi-day recap post here. Thankfully I don’t have too too much to say. It’s been fun though.

Thursday I did breakfast to go.

The last of a jar of crunchy pb (~ 1-2 Tbsp) filled with a 0% strawberry Greek yogurt, 1/4 cup of raw oats, and 1/4 cup of Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.

Lunch was roasted broccoli with peanut sauce.

This combo was delicious, even cold.

And some gummi cola bottles.

The amount shown there is about 1/2 of what I brought back from Canada; I should have bought more!

When I got home Adam and a nice surprise for me –

The hospital he’s doing his current rotation at has a great cafeteria that sells our favorite pizza in Buffalo (legit!).

And then I fell asleep at 5pm. I was feeling super tired throughout the day and the minute I sat down on the couch I was done for. I slept from 5 – 10, got up to get ready for bed, and went back to sleep!

Don’t worry, I more than made up for any missed dinner calories on Friday. The amount of junk I ate was so disgusting that it ended up being almost impressive! Everything was delicious (duh!) but I think my body would appreciate a few more veggies.

It was National Donut Day and I had to partake.

That donut was rich I couldn’t even finish it. I’m just not a donut girl, my consumption for the year is officially over 🙂

But sweet coffee? Dont’ mind if I do.

I got a large Black Cocoa iced coffee with skim milk. Adam got this (Men in Black!) special the other day and I was so good I had to have one of my own. The lady who served us told me they were only making them through this week so taste one while you can.

Lunch was fresh-cut pineapple,

and a Cherry Cobbler Larabar Uber.

It was good but not as tasty as Bananas Foster. Again, lots of big nuts and almost no date flavor. And the cherries were tart and sweet. Somehow it didn’t have quite enough flavor though.

School went really well on Friday. I am ServSafe certified, woot!

Some friends and I celebrated after class. Bloody Mary at Pano’s.

x2. And then I was drunk.

I also took them to check out Nickel City Cheese and Mercantile. In addition to having great stock the owners are fantastic. My friends bought an aged cheddar and a gouda each and the man behind the counter had us do lots of swoon-worthy tasting. I also brought home a treat for Adam.

He brought a treat for me too!

I happily ate that slice but then I had to tell him to stop bringing me pizza so I don’t get fat…ter.

Then we tried my treats. A blue cheese and dark chocolate and goat cheese honey milk truffle!

We took one bite of each but I think I was a bigger fan than Adam. They were a little strange but sooooo good. The creaminess of goat cheese makes a perfect truffle center.

We had a gift certificate to use so we went on a dinner date to Romeo and Juliet’s Cafe.

I started with bread; one slice with garlic and a second with butter.

And for my meal I ordered the Baked Eggplant Parmigiana.

Oh. My. God. I left the pasta to the side (who eats pasta when there are layers of eggplant and cheese available?!), shared a few cherished bites with Adam, and then demolished the rest.

We took dessert to go.

That ball was a peanut butter mousse with chocolate ganache. Ridiculous.

I wanted to post last night but unfortunately I passed out then as well. The dog has been shedding a lot more recently (this is our first June with him) and I may be the tiniest bit allergic to him.

So now it’s Saturday. I’ve eaten a bowl of Maple Brown Sugar Mini Wheats with Silk Vanilla Almond Milk,

and I’m ready to conquer the day. Conquer may mean errands or may mean tv, we shall see.

28May2012

Memorial Day BBQ And Tropical Fruit White Sangria

by Emily

Happy Memorial Day!

We started our day with a workout. We also started our day late because I was up until 4 am writing my Canada recap, but that’s another story. Once we were out of bed we did 10 sets of 1:30 running/3:30 walking. The same route as the other day, but this time I sprinted for the last 20 – 40 seconds of each run. My sprint is the husband’s jog, but what can you do? 50 minutes and 4.2 miles. I covered .3 miles more than the last time I did this workout!

I didn’t have time for breakfast because I was frantically baking, but that’s not a bad problem to have. We went to a bbq this afternoon and came bearing gifts of Tropical Fruit White Sangria and S’mores Monster Cookies. I’m typing the cookie recipe up to post tomorrow and the sangria recipe is at the end of this post.

I will mention now that the sangria was damn delicious.

I had two big glasses over the course of the afternoon.

It went down like water but it really packed a wallop; Michelle ended up having to lie down!

Our friends Ethan and Hannah invited us and another couple over for a backyard bbq.

The weather was perfect! We got hot and sweaty playing badminton.

And Ethan was a master behind the grill. I followed Patrick’s lead and topped my chicken sausage with bbq chips.

Plus onions and ketchup.

I also had a skewer of pineapple, green pepper, and chicken that Michelle marinated with some Asian flavors.

Watermelon balls.

And a S’mores Monster Cookie.

Mmmn! Everyone gave the cookies two thumbs up and Adam and I came home with an empty container.

When the fun was over I finally got down to business and set up my binders from last semester.

That has been on my to-do list since the first day of vacation! Better late than never?

Dinner was a veggie affair.

Roasted green beans.

Plus a hash of sorts. Made with 1 Tbsp butter, 1 yellow onion, ~ 1 cup of sliced okra, a 6 oz potato, several glugs of apple cider vinegar, a few dashes of Green Tabasco, and ~ 1 tsp each brown sugar and smoked paprika.

The “hash” ended up tasting exactly like I wanted it to! I love the tang of vinegar with potatoes.

And I had a tiny bowl of mint chip for dessert.

Summer school starts tomorrow and I’m meeting a friend to workout beforehand (at 6am!) so I’ve got to get to bed. Hope everyone else had a good day.

Tropical Fruit White Sangria, serves 6 – 8

4 cups sliced fresh pineapple
1/4 cup granulated sugar
750 mL bottle Riesling
1 cup Cruzan Guava Rum
20 oz lemon lime soda

Place pineapple in a large pitcher. Pour in sugar and muddle with a large wooden spoon.
Add wine and rum and let sit for 24 hours.
Pour in soda just before serving.

28May2012

Our Trip To Toronto

by Emily

The past weekend was so much fun! We’ve decided it was our best couple vacation to date. We weren’t expecting to get to go on a trip this summer but a Living Social deal popped up and it was just too good to turn down. Our voucher included a one night hotel stay, dinner, and tickets to a movie. We filled in the rest of our time with lots of exploring. It was fabulous!

Our Saturday did get off to a bit of a late start; we had a tragedy Friday night.

We were cutting Webster’s nails and Adam did two of them too short and he bled. The worst part was that he is such a good boy – and was so focused on the treat in my hand – that he just sat there and we didn’t know there was a problem until there was blood dripping down my leg.

He mostly seemed fine, but I cried. Thank goodness we board him at the vet so he was well looked after while we were gone. He was due for a stool sample and vaccine too so the timing was great.

But we did miss him like crazy!

Once we were on the road I snacked on a Cara Cara orange.

Plus a Rockstar Relax I bought along the way.

I’ll just warn you in advance, my allergies make my throat hurt and I basically did nothing but drink all weekend. I think the final count was eight beverages, not including the giant water bottle I carried around in my purse.

Before we knew it, we had reached Toronto!

We settled in at our hotel.

Then we spent hours exploring the Asian section of town.

We saw so many neat things and we walked for-ev-er. Plus we ate tons of good food. The first order of business was bubble tea.

Adam and I split this taro milk tea with boba.

Mmmmn!

Then we split a sugar cane juice.

We both grew up with sugar cane – me in St. Thomas and Adam on vacations in Hawaii – so this was familiar and fun.

Totally new to us was this cool shop where you went around with tongs and picked out items to put on a tray. Then you paid and they packaged your selection to go.

We got a chicken bun and a pork bun. I ate half of mine.

And Adam and I split this taro pastry.

So pretty!

We split these gummi moo cows from a candy shop.

We stopped in at a David’s Tea.

I got an iced (unsweetened) Cream of Earl Grey and it was very tasty.

I’ve wanted to order some of their flavors for forever (birthday cake! ice cream cake! buttered rum!) so it was great to try it out.

Our lunch spot was selected because I liked the windows.

It ended up being a pho restaurant.

We went all out and ordered two milkshakes.

Jackfruit and durian!!

Trying durian is on my life list so this was super exciting. The shakes ended up being made with powder instead of the real deal but it was fun to get an idea of the flavor. I only drank a quarter or so of each but they were nice to have when my meal got spicy.

My order was sautéed mixed vegetables with tofu and vermicelli.

Which I proceeded to douse in Sriracha.

I mean douse. I covered the dish just like this twice more and I didn’t even eat the whole meal.

Gaaaaah; it was so flipping good!

Our exploration took us almost 5 miles. When we went to shower we both needed thirty minutes to lay on the bed with our feet up!

Our evening plans were decided by our Living Social deal, which included dinner and a movie. Dinner was from a pre-fixe menu at the hotel’s restaurant. We were not expecting it to be very good and we were not surprised. But you can’t beat free.

The complimentary bread was wonderful.

But it went downhill from there.

I ordered the Caesar salad to start.

The menu said that it came with shaved parmigiano reggiano and authentic anchovy dressing but it was definitely canned cheese and bottled dressing. The one plus was that the dressing came on the side. I ate 3/4.

My main meal was pasta. “Smoked chicken/charred sweet bell peppers/black olives/toasted pine nuts/shaved parmigiano reggiano/extra virgin olive oil and basil pesto.”

I ate 1/3.

We were fairly disenchanted at that point so we took dessert to go.

Meyer lemon cheesecake with huckleberry jam, chantilly cream, and seasonal berries. That I finished.

For our movie we selected “The Five Year Engagement.” It was pretty cute. I stole a few handfuls of Adam’s Crazy Core Skittles while we watched.

It was fun to walk to and from the movie but by the time we were back at the hotel I was done with exploring and more than ready for bed!

After a good night’s sleep we woke up on Sunday raring to go.

Our 2nd day was a shorter version of our first; walking and eating. This time we explored Bloor Street.

We were planning on going to Menchies (duh!) when we spotted a new froyo spot further down the street.

Yogurty’s was fantabulous!

I got espresso and coconut frozen yogurts topped candy bits, coconut, cocoa syrup, sprinkles and a cherry.

We both thought it was the best self-serve froyo we’ve ever had.

I also had a final bubble tea.

A black milk tea with boba.

And when we spotted one of these fancy machines you know we had to try it out.

My diet cherry coke was only ok but the process was cool. And diet pop is always a good way to end a vacation. After a bit more exploring we drove back home. You already saw the rest of the day.

Self-serve froyo? Bubble tea? Lots of walking? Trying new foods? Check, check, check, and check; it was a wonderful trip!

28May2012

We’re Home From Toronto!

by Emily

Did you know we were away? I hope not, I tried to keep that under my hat. We found a great deal for hotel/dinner/a movie on Living Social so we took a quick trip. After two glorious days of mini-vacation now we’re home again!

We actually got back to Buffalo this afternoon but the day’s been packed and I’m just now sitting down. I’m going to do a mega vacation recap tomorrow, so for today I’ll stick with things consumed on US soil.

Like the medium Americano with skim milk and two sugars that Adam and I split just minutes after crossing the border.

For some reason I’d been craving milk and coffee all weekend and this hit the spot.

We also split a pack of Snyder’s Bacon Cheddar Pretzel Pieces.

They were okay, but basically tasteless compared with the honey mustard ones.

On a healthier note, I drank this sludge.

It was actually delicious. I mixed this pack of Amazing Grass GREENSuperFood into orange juice and a bit of Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.

I got the idea from the way Jamba Juice used to sell wheatgrass.

Most of the afternoon was spent on errands but I did sneak in a stroll. We did a ton of walking this weekend but my legs wanted to stretch out after ride home. Plus, I spotted this from the car and I really needed to check it out –