Doorknob Ankle Cold

by Emily

Whew, vacation’s not over yet; Adam’s parents are here for a visit! We spent the day running around with them and it was nice to be the one showing off the city for a change.

Before our visitors arrived, Adam and I set out for the farmers’ market. We didn’t find any produce we wanted but it was basically a menagerie down there. Here’s a llama –

there’s a llama –

(and another little llama, fuzzy llama, funny llama, llama llama,) duck!

That song will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day. (Remember this one??)

While we were out we snagged breakfast, straw-style.

Organic 3 Cafe is great about letting you customize your juice orders. This was spinach, carrot, cucumber, kale.

I also grabbed a half-sweet coffee from Wilson Farms.

Soon enough, my in-laws were here and we all headed to Tokyo Shanghai Bistro for lunch.

That’s the a la carte tomago (egg custard nigiri) I shared with my mother-in-law.

The lunch specials (only $6!) came with steamed rice and a cup of soup, I went with hot and sour.

For my main order I got the garlic eggplant with extra veggies.

I’ve been craving garlic eggplant for forever and this totally hit the spot. It was a little bit spicy but not super sweet or fried tasting.

After lunch we took a movie break and headed to the theatre to see Mr. Popper’s Penguins. The movie was a lot better than I was expecting, it was great to see Jim Carrey actually act (not just make crazy faces). My favorite character was definitely Pippi.

We wanted to cash in a Groupon for dinner so we drove out to Hamburg to the Buffalo Street Grill.

The husband and I had trouble deciding so we ended up sharing two dishes.

Tortellinni with portobello mushrooms and pesto,

and grouper topped with crab, brie, and roasted red peppers,

which came with french fries,

and a squash medley.

The veggies were seriously delicious, the best side I’ve had in a restaurant all year!

Finally, we took the parents to Anderson’s for frozen yogurt.

I got a baby twist with marshmallow topping.

Mmmmn.

After we said goodnight to my in-laws, Adam and I took a walk to pick up a few things at the Co-op. It might be 90* in DC but it’s in the 60’s here; we were so cold we ended up sharing a cinnamon dolce steamer from Starbucks to warm up!

A steamer is just steamed skim milk with 1.5 pumps of syrup, but it did the trick getting us through our walk.

Adam is making the opening and closing remarks at a medical school ceremony tomorrow so we’ve got to get to bed and get him his beauty rest!

20Jun2011

Tour de Charlottesville

by Emily

Adam and I had an amazing day walking around Charlottesville and seeing what the city had to offer.

I’m not sure where the next few years will take us, but we both decided that we could love living in Charlottesville!

We bunked at the Red Roof Inn last night, which was conveniently located on the edge of UVA.

This morning we were prepared to face hotel coffee since I was a smart cookie yesterday and nabbed a few shelf-stable creamers from the gas station.

Still not great, but doable.

For breakfast we headed to Brodos for bagels. Adam and I split a toasted poppy seed with strawberry cream cheese.

So chewy! Adam actually didn’t love it, but I told him that all great bagels pack chew.

Next on the agenda was Shenandoah Joes for iced coffee with skim milk.

Good coffee, good bagels, good breakfast.

Adam and I spent the day walking around and exploring downtown. We actually walked 1.5 miles in the wrong direction when we first left the hotel so we did some extra exploring!

The high point of the day was definitely our stop at Sweet Frog.

Adam and I both decided that we are never living in a city without froyo again!

We ended our visit with two car-worthy destinations: Great Harvest and Whole Foods. Adam and I left GH with a fantastic loaf of bread (Adam’s already eaten 3 slices!) and a sample bag of granola that Kath kindly shared.

Holy clusters batman! Best granola ever, I got a bite of honey/saltiness that knocked my socks off.

Whole Foods didn’t actually have any of the products I had quested for, but they did have hot bar for lunch,

and tables outside for us to picnic at.

I ended up with a southern style feast – pulled chicken, collard greens, green beans, and bbq beans.

Plus watermelon that Adam and I split for dessert.

Yep, we’re ready to move to Charlottesville 😉

After a quick drive into DC now I’m blogging from a Starbucks while we wait for my best friend to get off of work. The vacation continues!

14Jun2011

Sweet and Sour

by Emily

I made Adam a batch of pulled bbq chicken almost a week ago and I’ve been thinking about making a sweet and sour bbq chicken sandwich ever since. Start by spreading apricot preserves on a sesame bun.

Then lay down your chicken (cooked on low in the crock pot for 8 hours then shredded and topped with homemade bbq sauce – tomato sauce, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, and ketchup).

Finally, top with bread and butter pickles.

Sweet, sour, and delicious.

I paired my sandwich with a simple side salad of spring mix lettuce, dried cranberries, walnuts, and poppy-seed dressing.

I also sprinkled a little bit of salt onto my salad and I swear it made a huge difference!

It was a nice little lunch.

I’m surprised I was even hungry after my late breakfast, but I’m heading to the gym in a bit and I didn’t want my stomach to be growling.

On the agenda for the rest of the day?

the gym (finally!)
a mini grocery trip
doing the dishes
making another batch of bug repellant
fun dinner

11Jun2011

Allentown Art Festival

by Emily

I’m sticking with the “work hard, play harder” theme since today’s agenda included only a trip to the Allentown Art Festival and an evening shift at work tonight. I had my day of fun, and now I’m heading to work at 4.

I stayed up way too late last night like a crazy person and I was definitely dragging this morning. I didn’t wake up until after 10 and after taking care of some to-dos I needed to head out without eating breakfast. I knew today was the perfect day for some portable nutrition –

On my walk down Elmwood I stopped in at Organic 3 Cafe‘s newest location.

It looked great inside and the staff were all super friendly.

They let me customize the Go Green drink and I ended up with a blend of apple, carrot, cucumber, spinach, and kale.

Perfection! I felt a million times more awake after I drank this, I’ve been missing green juice so much living in Buffalo.

I continued down Elmwood until it was time to cross over to Delaware and into the festival.

There wasn’t as much I liked as last year but I did spot a few fun things.

And I even bought something!

A mug (not this exact one).

I also bought a bunny dog (brown sugar grilled carrots in a hot dog bun),

and a fresh-squeezed lemonade.

This wasn’t the frozen lemonade I’ve been pining for but it was refreshing. I believe that there is frozen lemonade at a stand at the mall, so I’ll have to do some shopping to fill that craving.

I did squash another craving though.

Adam used the word “marshmallow” at least 15 times in a conversation yesterday and I thought I was going to die if I didn’t eat a rice krispies treat. I stopped at the Co-op my way home today for a chocolate covered one.

Craving killed, all though it did get my wheels turning about baking these at home soon.

I’ve been really taking it easy workout-wise because I’m trying to give my knee a break, so it was great to get some movement in today. All total I walked ~4.5 miles getting to and around the festival. I even got in some weights since I thought it was a good idea to buy a 6-pack when I was still a mile from my apartment.

All that movement got me hungry for dinner, but I’ll have to blog it later because I backed myself into a corner timewise. Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

1Jun2011

Here, Here!

by Emily

It’s here, it’s here; I’m so glad to finally be writing this dinner post! This specific meal has been on our meal plan for the longest time and I have kept pushing it back again and again.

One day we went out for sushi instead of cooking.

The next day we went out for Thai food instead of cooking.

Yesterday I read a book instead of cooking.

Today I was ready to get back in the kitchen. First I had to get my gym on though. I didn’t leave the house until near 10am (a solid 19 hours since yesterday’s lame dinner) so I split a Cliff Bar with Adam as I headed out.

Then I hit up the elliptical for a nice workout, with no leg pain! 45 minutes on the elliptical (included warm up and cool down) at level 6 random; with lots of sprint intervals. Followed bya quick round of strength and stretching. Sometimes it’s annoying that the gym is a 30+ minute walk away (it’s towards the back of campus), but it is nice that I’m forced to walk it out after every workout.

Once home I got to cooking, fueled by a chocolate protein smoothie.

For two (mine is the slightly larger one) – 1 frozen banana, 6 ice cubes, 1 packet of chocolate protein powder, 1/2 packet hot chocolate mix, and 1 cup of skim milk.

It was tasty and filling, but maybe a little too filling because it sort of gave me a tummy-ache.

On the cooking agenda were: These pumpkin muffins.

I halved the recipe and skipped the sugar on top.

A sauce recipe I’ve been mulling over for weeks, 1000 Island BBQ Sauce.

Recipe included at the bottom of this post.

Plus turkey sloppy joes made with the bbq sauce.

And steamed kale and zucchini sauteed in the bbq sauce.

All of the above made for a tasty dinner.

The sauce was sweet and tangy and perfect for joes and veggies.

1000 Island BBQ Sauce, yields ~ 2 cups

1 can tomato sauce, 8 oz
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2 Tbsp molasses
2 Tbsp dark brown sugar
3 Tbsp ketchup
2/3 cup sweet pickle relish
1/3 cup Miracle Whip or reduced fat mayo

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes until beginning to thicken. Store refrigerated.

28May2011

That Sounds Dirty

by Emily

My shift last night went great, but when I got home to bed that’s when it felt like the real work began**. I’ve been having a terrible time sleeping lately and it’s driving me crazy. I’ve always struggled with bouts of insomnia, but I’m fairly certain this week’s sleeping difficulties are tied to skipping the gym. Even though I was tired (obviously), and it’s technically a free day in my training plan (the whole week has been “free” apparently), it was pretty easy to convince myself to work out this morning once I made the no gym = no sleep connection .

Once I got the husband up**, we were off for a 9am run. We ran 2 miles down Elmwood and back for a 4 mile run. 4 miles in 44:53. Yikes, holy skipped training days, Batman!

After a quick shower and a date with some ice** we retraced our running steps so I could pick up a few things at the Farmer’s Market and Co-op. The Farmer’s Market was a gigantic puddle, but we had more luck on the rest of our stops.

We split a grande (non-fat, half syrup) iced caramel macchiato.

And bought some brunch from the Co-op.

I knew my dinner was going to be veggie-heavy so I loaded up on protein. Pad Thai noodles,

mango cashew curry chicken salad,

waldorf chicken salad,

and pea and radish salad. That stuff in the corner was Adam’s tofu.

We ate at a table outside in the sun and it was glorious.

The real excitement came at dessert though, they have my new favorite candy bars back in stock! Adam and I split one for funsies when we got home.

Mmmmmn! <– things that make you go oh god, yes!**

I spent some time cleaning the apartment this afternoon, balanced with time spent curled up with a few magazines, and then it was time for lunch/dinner.

I had a neon eggplant and some purple kale (yay, colors!) to use up and the first place my mind went was honey sesame eggplant.

First I saute/steamed the eggplant and kale in a bit of sesame oil and water. Next I tossed the veggies with a mix of tamari, rice vinegar, and honey. Finally I topped them with some crunchy sesame seeds.

Not my most amazing combination ever, but good enough and at least it was quick.**

Gotta get in your veggies!

I’ve got one more shift at work tonight and then I’ve got the day off tomorrow, yippie. I’m off to be a working girl**.

**that sounds dirty

21May2011

Pretty Good

by Emily

Hello there; I hope everyone’s having a nice weekend. It’s been a good Saturday around here, I spent lots of time with the husband, I got to take a few walks, and I received some good news I’ll be sharing later.

Our plan this morning was to cash in a Groupon for brunch, so to kill time while the restaurant opened I headed out to the Farmer’s Market and the Co-op.

While I was up on that end of Elmwood I stopped in at Wilson Farms for my new favorite coffee.

Half Jamaican Me Crazy Coffee (regular) and half Jamaican Me Crazy Cappuccino (sweetened).

Adam and I also drove over to the lake to check out the crazy fog.

Spooky!

Then it was time for brunch at Empire Grill.

But apparently brunch is only a Sunday thing, boo. And the bad news didn’t stop there, Adam and I hated our ~~brunch~~ lunch order. I really don’t want the blame the restaurant (the food wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either), we just made really bad order choices for our preferences.

We split a Blue Point Toasted Ale,

the Caribbean Shrimp and Mango Salad with mixed greens, mango viniagrette marinated jumbo shrimp, black bean and pineapple salsa and a mango viniagrette,

and the California Turkey Wrap with coleslaw, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, onions and a chipolte aioli.

I sort of hate raw spinach and I hate wraps so, again, it wasn’t really the restaurant’s fault. Nonetheless, I ended up eating basically nothing for brunch.

Thank goodness for Banana Split Cupcakes!

Amid chowing down on two cupcakes, Adam and I took a trek to the post office and got to enjoy almost 2 miles of walking and talking, win!

Random sidenote (super random when you consider that this isn’t even a new top) – how awesome is it that this shirt has a bustle?!

I had fancy plans for dinner, but when Scrubs reruns are on you never turn down pizza.

Adam and I split another Buffalo chicken slice,

along with a big pile of baby carrots.

Yep, pretty good for a Saturday!

10May2011

Time Crunch Tuesday

by Emily

I’m not going to tell you about my day. I’m definitely not going to tell you about how hideously unprepared I am for my two important tests tomorrow. I am going to stick to my blog-everything-for-30-days goal. Photo details only to follow…

An everything style Bagel Thin with a slice of 2% Colby cheese.