Tag Archives: greens

Still Searching for ‘Rita

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Did you have a successful Saturday?  Ours was sort of a wash.  I did my to-do’s and had some fun with the husband but I also felt sick and spent many hours curled up in bed.  I guess I’m just glad I was awake long enough to do what I needed to do.

For breakfast the husband took me to the new juice bar he spotted.

Code Blu was a win!  Cute space and good juice.

*Hulk smash*

I got an “@Green.com” – spinach, kale, parsley, romaine, cucumber, celery, lemon, and apple.

Delicious!  I liked how much it tasted like a lemonade.  And there was combo on the menu with kale and watermelon so we’ll definitely be back.

We didn’t grocery shop at all for this week (only soda, cottage cheese, and fruit for Adam were purchased) so our errands were very quick but I was still complaining of hunger by the time we were done.  I ate this handful of peanut m&m’s to try to stave off more whining.

Bletch; these only led to more complaining; why do they have such a terrible aftertaste?

When I woke up this morning the only thing I could think of was margaritas.  I don’t even like tequilla so it was an odd craving but it was a strong one.  Unfortunately none of the Mexican restaurants nearby were open for lunch (sidenote – I am flipping out over Cantina Loco‘s menu, I need to go there immediately).  Then I remembered the free appetizer coupon I had for TGIFriday’s.  I knew the margarita wouldn’t be the best ever, but I figured it was better than nothing.

Nothing would have been better.  Adam and I split this skinny margarita and neither of us were fans.

The only redeeming thing I can say is that it had only 120 calories so at least I didn’t waste a meal’s worth of calories on the worst drink I’ve ever had.  The sweetness level was sickening.  Now I need to keep trying until I find a margarita that quenches my craving; I’m up to the task!

With our free appetizer coupon we got an order of pretzel sticks with beer cheese.

Beer cheese and pretzels are both always good things. 

I ate 1.5 pretzels with cheese.  We took one pretzel home for later but we probably should have just split it because the rest of lunch was a bust.

We split a cranberry jalapeño turkey reuben, no butter on the bread.

I loved this sandwich when I attended the tasting a few weeks back, but I couldn’t even finish my half today.  It was too spicy and totally tasteless all at the same time.

I did eat most of my side salad with balsamic though.

Our meal came with dessert for only a dollar more so we took a chance on the “Oreo Madness.”

Yuck again.  Adam actually ate most of it but I was unimpressed, and I’m the one who loves Oreos.

By the time we got home I was totally ill, a fact for which I blame the skinny sour mix in the margaritas.  Not my best idea.  But after a much-needed nap we pulled it together and switched out our closets and spring cleaned the storage containers.  Go us!

Dinner ended up being a bag of popcorn.

No complaints there!

Some Shrink, Some Grow

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Here is what our afternoon looked like –

While I was studying I ate a mini bag of kettle corn.

And I ate a cheese stick when we got back from our walk.

I made Adam’s dinner this afternoon and my meal was quick to assemble this evening.  Earlier this week I cooked a big pot of lasagna noodles and all I had to do today was chop them up and the base of my meal was complete.

I gave the chopped noodles a quick stir-fry with 1 Tbsp canola oil, 2 cups frozen spinach, and 4 oz cream goat cheese.  Half of the finished product went into a tupperware for tomorrow and the other half went into my belly.

It was a great meal, but I sort of hate how tiny greens get when cooked.

You know what grows with heat?

Marshmallows, the opposite of spinach in every way!  They look funny because I microwaved them with a bit of cookie butter.  This might be my new favorite dessert.

It’s a busy day tomorrow but we are deeply enjoying our Stargate: Atlantis marathon; I’m hoping to strike the right balance of fun and function with a 1am bedtime.  Catch you in the a.m.!

Beer Baby Belly

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Friday’s here!  There is lots to do this weekend to make up for missing last week but weekend time is always good.  Today lots of food was eaten to make up for missing ….. who am I kidding?  I never miss a meal!

Breakfast was a white chocolate macadamia Clif Bar.

Lunch was pizza-pizza.  Double because I had double slices!  I had to stay at school after class for a group project and by the time I headed home at 2 I was ravenous.  I stopped at Zetti’s for two gigantic slices.

Bbq chicken and veggie.  The veggie slice was loaded with vegetables; broccoli, spinach, and several types of peppers.  I was full to the brim afterwards, mostly with cheese, but at least I got in some solid servings of vegetables.

This evening I went to a baby shower.

It was my first ever shower experience other than the one for my wedding.  I can’t even tell you all of the cute shower ideas I spotted, it was like Pinterest come to life!

The party included a sit-down dinner.

Side salad, mixed vegetables, and a bit of stuffing.  I wasn’t feeling the heavier stuff after my huge lunch.

I did grab a few handfuls of blue-for-boy candy though.

And a Michelob Ultra.

Thirst quenching because it’s basically water 🙂

I got home a bit before 9 and Adam and I took a gloriously long walk down Elmwood.  A bit over two miles which isn’t really long but ate up some time due to ambling.

We stopped at the Village Beer Merchant at the halfway point and split a beer of the root variety.

I ❤ Abita, even its nonalcoholic varieties.  I have a six-pack of Abita Strawberry in my office waiting for the summer to come.

How many baby showers have you attended?

Thursday and Friday

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What I’ve Eaten –

What I’ve Been Up To –

  • School has been exciting.  Yesterday I hung out at a pediatric endocrine clinic and today we had a guest lecture from a leading renal dietitian.
  • I’m still sick.  Super sick.  Boo.
  • Also, remember when I said this – “[Adam] was sick last week, I’m sick this week; as long as the dog is healthy next week it’s all good.”?  I jinxed us.  The dog has a massive eye infection and was dropped off at the vet this afternoon.  My poor baby!
  • We are heading to Ohio tomorrow evening.  We’re spending a few days with family and then coming home on Tuesday after the funeral.

What I’m Thankful For –

  • I had an amazing grandpa in my life until I was 26 years old.
  • My teachers are all being great about helping me make up the exams/clinic hours I’m missing to attend the funeral.
  • My dad is flying to Buffalo and driving to Ohio with us.

Humbolt Fog

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Last night’s sleep session was a disaster.  Usually my sleep issues are related to falling asleep but lately if I get woken up I can’t fall back to sleep either.  The dog woke us up in the middle of the night and it took me at least another hour of tossing and turning to get back to rest.  The husband brought home some sort of bug from the hospital and my throat was killing me.

I overslept today and the morning was rushed but I managed to do what I needed to do, mostly.  I was heading to the gym after 9 am so sticking with my monthly goal I ate a small breakfast before I left.  A few sips of strawberry Powerade Zero,

and a half of a Vanilla Almond Luna Bar.

I didn’t have much time at the gym but something was better than nothing.  20 minutes on the elliptical at random level 7.

After a quick walk home and an even quicker shower I made a Lemon Cookie Smoothie for breakfast.

The last time I made it was apparently a dark and stormy night and I wanted a chance to get some better less awful photographs for the recipe page.

It probably wasn’t my best use of time though; I made it halfway through my smoothie before I had to throw it away and rush out the door.  I didn’t have time to pack lunch and having half a smoothie digesting in my stomach just made my hunger stronger all afternoon.

I got out of clinic a bit early and when I spotted a Manhattan Bagel on the drive home it felt like an oasis in the desert.

I was eating the chips that came with my meal before I was even out of the parking lot.

But chips only seemed to anger the beast (aka my stomach) and I ended up eating my bagel on the ride home!

Eating while driving is sort of nice because instead of dreading red lights you can use them to shove food into your face.  And my bagel was quite enjoyable; I got a veggie sandwich on a rye bagel.

Red onion, lettuce, tomato, banana peppers, veggie cream cheese, and a little bit of chipotle mayo.  I thought the veggies were pretty weak but the bagel was super chewy and good.

I had my 2nd to last shift at work this evening and then I came home to an easy salad dinner.

I needed a vehicle for a veggie, a fruit, and this amazing looking cheese, and salad fit the bill.

This Cypress Grove Humbolt Fog Chevre was delicious.  Sadly the blue cheese and goat cheese were in layers and not the hybrid mixture I was hoping for, but both were quite tasty.

Along with chunk of cheese I had romaine lettuce, groats, chopped honey crisp apple, and Stubbs BBQ Sauce for dressing.

Those ingredients sound strange together but it worked.

I’ll see y’all in the am for some running and some baking!

Commercially Yours

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Does it feel like a Thursday to anyone else?  My brain just cannot accept that it’s Monday!  The husband thought it was later in the week too so I’m not alone.

Monday’s lunch was munched in class.  A pink lady apple,

a caramel Oikos,

and a giant iced coffee (coffee, Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk, English toffee syrup).

After class I had a group work meeting and then it was off to work.  My job only lasts for a few more days and I’m definitely going to miss the experience (and $!) when it’s over.

The husband is the man you wish your man would be (is anyone else still in love with the Old Spice commercials?!) so he not only picked me up from school but had dinner waiting when I got home.

A salad of Romaine topped with groats, raisins, ground flax, and Newman’s Own Light Caesar dressing.

And a serving of California Pizza Kitchen’s BBQ Recipe Chicken frozen pizza.

CPK is my favorite chain of all time and this pizza was no slouch.  “White meat chicken with a spicy-sweet barbecue sauce, red onions, cilantro, and smoked gouda and mozzarella cheeses over [their] famous crispy thin crust.”

The flavors were great, but the serving did feel a little small.  I’m going to try to go to bed soon instead of eating more though.  I have a few e-mails to send for clinic and then hopefully I’ll be off to slumber.

What is your favorite commercial?  Mine is Burger King’s Angry Whopper commercial (see below) because it reminds me of the “Broodwich” episode of Aqua Teen Hunger Force.

Three Dessert Sunday

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The weekend is over and I didn’t catch up on any sleep, aaaahh!  After our late night (cough, 4:30, cough cough) I was thrilled to wake up to a pre-made breakfast.  Overnight oats in a jar.

In a pb jar with just a little peanut butter left (approximately 2 Tbsp) I combined 1/4 cup of oats, 1/4 cup Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk, and a caramel Oikos.

It was delicious.  And I have another round of OIAJ planned for tomorrow too, woot.

Lunch was leftovers.

They weren’t mine but they were good.

My mom got this cucumber salad as the side with her meal at Lagerhaus 95.

This afternoon I had a shift at work and an errand to run so I was thrilled when I came home to dinner already made.

Adam made tuna mac (cheap mac and cheese with spinach, edamame, and tuna stirred in).

I added more veggies (edamame and peas) and cheese (a few cubes of sharp cheddar) to my serving.

It was good but box mac and cheese is always disappointingly bland.

Then came desserts.  Yes, sssssss; there were three.  First was a Jell-o ‘Smores Pudding cup.

Meh.  I thought it would be more exciting than it was.  But Adam loved it, and now I’m inspired to make a better, homemade version soon.

Second was apple dippers.

A green apple dipped in a heaping Tbsp each Crunchy Biscoff and Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.

Delicious.  You can’t go wrong with either of those dips.

Finally, I ate four Dove Coconut Cream Eggs.

Perfect!  My mom bought me these for Easter with strict instructions not to open them until next Sunday but they are already mostly gone, whoops.

What Easter candy are you most excited for?

Bad News Bakers

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Have you ever had a string of fails in the kitchen?

I’m starting to seriously question my baking ability.  First, there was the Guinness cupcakes fail (apparently you can’t add beer to cake batter like the diet coke cake trick).  Then this weekend I learned this – adding strawberry pie filling to peanut butter cookie dough does not make pb & j cookies.  But as I told Adam as he was scraping an entire bowl of cookie dough into the trash, if I don’t at least try then I’ll never learn.

I was hoping to have a fun smoothie recipe to share today but I learned from that too.  Instead I had to turn to leftovers for breakfast.

This casserole was a fun mix of brown rice, shredded chicken, spinach, celery, toasted pecans, and fig butter.

Plus I had fruit and yogurt on the side.   Plain Siggi’s with blackberries, yellow plucot, and maple syrup.

It was a good meal.

And it’s always good to get a healthy start after several days of popcorn!

I took an extra long walk this afternoon.  Two friends from school came over and we took Webster on several loops of the neighborhood.  One of the girls recently switched majors and it was a great to get the chance to catch up with her.  Unfortunately now I have a huge painful blister on one of my toes; I can barely walk!

When I got back I ate a big spoonful (~2 Tbsp) of my new favorite thing.

Now that Wegman’s sells Crunchy Biscoff Spread my life is complete.

Lunch looked similar to breakfast, but had a flavor profile that was all its own.

I mashed roasted butternut squash with Miracle Whip, stirred in brown rice and roasted, shredded zucchini, and topped with some chopped 50% reduced fat cheddar.

Some people live without microwaves, how do they get things melty?

Dinner was melty too, but from the oven.  I roasted a sandwich thin with turkey, more reduced fat cheddar, and six (6!!) pickle slices.

Plus a pile of roasted green beans.

It’s not the first time I’ve had that meal this month and I don’t expect it to be the last.

In spite of my foot, the weather was too nice for me to not go another short walk with the husband.  We split a Push Up from the convenience store.

It felt like being 8 again!

Adam has a late start tomorrow and I’m on spring break so we plan on watching Stargate: Atlantis late into the night.  Woot!

P.S. I was gone yesterday because I got some frustrating news at my “final” orthodontist appointment – I’m back in retainers for three weeks.  Ugh!  So yesterday I was sulking and eating soft things.