Weekly Wrap-Up; By The Day

Hey there, long time no see!  Sadly I think a once a week post will be the norm for the next two weeks as well; we are on the move!

We don’t actually officially leave Buffalo until the end of the month, but due to some monetary/logistical/fmylife complications we are moving the most difficult way possible – in little spurts.  Adam has had to be in the city several time this month so we’ve been packing up our stuff by the carload and moving it to my in-laws’ place.  Once we finally get into our new apartment (days after Adam has started work!!) we’ll pick everything up in a truck for the final move.

Two fun facts about our shit-show of a move –

  1. We had to do the bulk of our packing last night so the duffle bag of clothes sitting next to me will be all I have to wear for the next three weeks.  Also, we have no pots, pans, or kitchen appliances.  Next week’s wrap-up will showcase a lot of restaurant meals!
  2. Since we couldn’t rent a truck for this direction, we are only taking what fits in five carloads (three in a Vibe and two in a Corolla).  We’ve had to say “bye, bye” to a lot of stuff, which has been very cathartic.

On to the food!

I was too busy to capture all of my meals (I worked most days, though I did find time to watch the entire first season of Longmire!) but I did manage a photo of at least one meal on most days.  I was a bit under the weather this week and I spent the entirety of Thursday in bed, eating pretzels.

Monday, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield

One of our favorite couples recently had twin baby girls so we brought them over a couple of meals.

DSC02497

Buffalo Chicken Baked Pasta, Mac and Three Cheese Cups, and salad with all the fixin’s (parmesan, buckwheat groats, chopped green pepper, and toasted pecans).

DSC02498

We stayed for dinner so we could meet the girls.

DSC02500

The were so freaking cute; we’ve decided not to spawn until after the husband’s first year of residency and the babies made me want to rethink about that decision!

When we got home I tried one of the Lindt Hello Bars for dessert.

lindt

I tried Strawberry Cheesecake and in addition to being adorable it was delicious.

DSC02503

It had the perfect amount of tang to offset the sweetness, bits of crunch that I believe were caramelized sugar, and you got a nice portion for the calories.  I tried the Cookies and Cream bar another day and liked that as well.

Tuesday, Thai Day

I stir-fried some leftover white rice with peas and carrots.

DSC02513

I made it extra eggy – two large eggs for one portion – and it was perfect for breakfast.

DSC02518

Stir-fried rice is one of the dishes I find the easiest to make; it always tastes good.

I did Thai for dinner as well.  Some friends and I met up after work to try Taste of Siam, a new spot right across from my job.

DSC02520

My Pad Kee Mao got bonus points for being super spicy, but there was way too much liquid and the broad rice noodles weren’t very pillowy.  My friends loved their fried rice and curry though.  If we were staying in our apartment I’m sure I would have gotten take-out there, but overall I didn’t think it was very good.

We got drinks before dinner and afterwards we did a throw-back for dessert.

DSC02511

Do you remember Chupa Chups?!  My strawberry sundae pop was delicious; if I spot them again I will definitely buy more.

Wednesday, Similar to a Reuben

I cannot for the life of me remember what I ate this day beyond lunch; probably pizza!  This sandwich made for a fine mid-day meal.

DSC02527

Applegate Farms sliced turkey, Cabot 75% reduced-fat sharp cheddar, thousand island dressing, and saurkraut on white-whole-wheat bread cooked in a skillet with butter.

Friday, Feel Better Froyo

In the morning I met up with friends for breakfast at Sweetness 7.

DSC02528

I got a turkey and caramelized onion quiche,

DSC02530

and a hibiscus lemonade.

DSC02533

Both were very bland, sadly, and the service/ordering system seemed off.  Instead of calling out drinks or putting them with the food, they just plopped them on a tucked away, back counter.  And I tried to get a coffee at their other location this morning and the service was so bad there that I left without ordering!  I’m not sure what the deal is, but I loved Sweetness 7 so I hope they’re not on a downward slope.

After breakfast I ran some errands (my cell phone was broken again!), grabbed lunch, and headed to work.  I felt fine in the morning, but as the afternoon wore on I felt sicker and sicker.  I ended up throwing up at work!!  Boo!  I rallied afterwards and stuck out my shift, but it was not a fun time.

This next photo doesn’t look like “dinner,” but after my tough day it was exactly what I needed.

DSC02536

Froyo!  Super delicious froyo with peanut butter, marshmallow, chocolate pretzels, and other amazing things.  I cannot believe that right as I leave Buffalo two self-serve froyo locations have appeared on my block!  Though not having immediate access to it the last three years did probably save me many pounds and dollars.

Saturday, I Like to Move it Move it

Yesterday was ridiculous; y’all would not even believe how much we got done.  But not a single fruit or veggetable was eaten that day…

Black bean nachos from ETS.

DSC02547

Melonhead beer (like Pumpkinhead) from Shipyard.

DSC02543

It was super juicy and refreshing; just what I needed as we packed late into the night.

Sunday, Finish the Fridge

For breakfast today, I made us a Finish Up the Fridge Fritatta.

DSC02549

9 large eggs / .5 cup shredded parmesan / 1 cup thawed and drained frozen spinach / pinch salt / pinch paprika

Mix, pour in a greased pie pan, and bake 35 – 40 minutes at 375 degrees Farenheit.

DSC02553

I had my slice with a piece of rosemary bread from Wegman’s bakery.

DSC02556

It was a great way to start the week!

What was the most difficult move your family has even done?

Easter Brunch

I hope everyone had a hoppy Easter!  Our day was quite nice; tasty food, nice weather, and tons of tv.

Adam’s parents sent us $ in lieu of an Easter basket so I got to go to brunch with my handsome husband.

DSC01834

DSC01837

He took me to Left Bank, a spot he’s been to with friends (working weekends means I usually have to skip brunch, boo!) and was dying to share.

DSC01829

DSC01831

DSC01833

The space was gorgeous and the menu had lots of offer.  Plus, they brought yummy lemon poppy-seed bread.

DSC01842

Adam ordered a mimosa while I went with an extra-spicy bloody mary,

DSC01839

but we were on the same page when it came to food.

DSC01844

We both ordered the Seafood Benedict,

DSC01848

crab cakes topped with poached eggs and [citrus] hollandaise.  <– I asked for regular hollandaise, served on the side please!

The dish came with sides of fruit and hash browns and was quite good.

DSC01850

I saved one of my crab cakes for Adam but devoured my eggs.

DSC01851

Meals where you soak up yolks are my very favorite!

The rest of our day was gloriously low-key.  We knew we were going to hunker down on the couch, so we made sure to take the dog on a quick walk first.  I got an iced, non-fat, caramel macchiato on the way home.

DSC01855

Why yes, I did ask for extra caramel – it was Easter dammit and no one bought me any candy!

Minus a few hours spent on a take-home exam, we spent the rest of the day screaming at the characters on “Battlestar Galactica.”  My food totally fit the tv marathon vibe…  Chips.

DSC01856

Leftover buffalo chicken mac and cheese.  (recipe’s coming this week, promise!)

DSC01860

And no-bake brownie batter.  (recipe’s coming as soon as I work out the kinks!)

DSC01857

Readers who grew up with the whole bunny thing; do you still get an Easter basket?

Me Eat Food

We are 36ish hours away from finding out where we are going to live for the next 5ish years, so clearly I can’t think about anything else.  I’m not even going to try to make this coherent.  Food good.  Me eat food.

I skipped breakfast and packed too light of a lunch and my poor planning for the first half of the day left me starving for the 2nd half.  Whoops.  At least my protein-light mid-day meal was tasty.  Leftover turkey egg cup filling (sautéed mushrooms with green onion and shredded cheese),

DSC01296

which I topped with some sweet seaweed snack.

DSC01301

It was a good combination.  Plus 70% dark chocolate.

DSC01304

On a positive note – I aced my quiz.  101%!

I show you dinner first, since most of my food consumption was in snack form.

DSC01344

Cheese tortellini (about 1.5 servings) with green pepper, Kerrygold Skellig cheese (a sweet cheddar), and Tarragon vinaigrette.

DSC01346

Before dinner I had… A pear.

DSC01322

Jalopeño poppers and bread and butter pickles,

DSC01327

a handful of chips x2,

DSC01324

and a slice of turkey.

DSC01333

And after dinner I had more chips and cheese.

DSC01347

I was going to have a cookie too but then I got distracted looking at apartments …. in 5 different cities.

Poor Puppy

I had a few silly things to complain about, but the dog had another seizure today so that kind of all pales in comparison.  He’s doing ok now but we are going to have to meet with the vet soon and possibly rethink our strategy.

Regardless, it’s been a long day and just want to go to bed.  Keeping this quick…

Kit’s Organic Chocolate Almond Coconut Bar.

DSC01156

Pear.

DSC01133

Honey wheat Sandwich Thin with white bean truffle spread and tempeh.  (I ate the tempeh raw and I am officially never doing that again – I am still sooooo bloated and sick.)

DSC01130

1/2 serving Green and Black 70% Dark Chocolate.

DSC01135

Dannon Oikos Cafe Latte Greek Yogurt with Cascadian Farm Dark Chocolate Almond Granola.  Both are heavenly and the combo was fantastic.

DSC01160

Leftover stir-fry.  The last 2 servings each of roasted broccoli, white basmati rice, and copycat CF spicy cashew chicken went into a skillet with 1 tsp sesame oil and 2 large eggs.

DSC01166

DSC01161

Ridiculous cookie.

DSC01169

Please go give your pets a big smooch for me.

And We’re Off!

Today was officially my first day off (from both school and work) since January 20th!  42 days straight!!!  I didn’t even work full shifts for most of those days but it was still nice to have 24 hours all to myself for a change.

We didn’t do anything all that exciting with our newfound free-time but it still felt pretty damn nice.  We did a major grocery trip, started watching Battlestar Galactica (please tell me that the episodes are faster paced than the movie?!), and Adam currently has the guys over for poker.

Breakfast was a bowl of peanut butter and bananas, squared.

DSC01104

2% Banana Chobani Greek Yogurt topped with a sliced banana, 1 tsp of melted peanut butter and 1 crumbled Cascadian Farm Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bar.

DSC01099

So flipping good.

Lunch was even better.

DSC01114

I took enough Pho home last night for Adam and I to both have lunch with the leftovers.  I beefed mine up with some roasted broccoli and a soft-boiled egg.  Plus more Sriracha, of course.

DSC01118

The entire bowl was delicious and the egg yolk melting into the broth was so amazing that it almost made me cry.

For dessert we shared this plate of samples.

DSC01109

Oh Nuts! offered to send me their Passover Cake & Cookie Sampler and I happily accepted.

DSC01105

Neither of us liked the brownie piece (too dry) but we thought that the jam in the sandwich cookie and raspberry jelly roll was nice.  By the by, everything was gluten-free and kosher.

I also had an Adora calcium disk.

DSC01110

I am going to try to remember to take one every day for the next while, but I probably won’t blog about it again.

Dinner ended up being a (giant!) container of hot bar.

DSC01120

A little bit of mac and cheese and brussels sprouts and a bunch of chicken.  Apparently I was in the mood for protein.

I made the poker players some Mac and Three Cheese Cups but they were gone before I could snag one.  That’s a good sign!

What’s your longest run without a day off?

Coconut Chocolate Lavender

Howdy!  I have not been following my sleep schedule – – at all – – but I can say that today was quite productive.  Every item on my list is now to-done!

The dog has been getting in and out of bed all night long recently and between that and my usually fitful sleep, mornings have felt very difficult this week.  I barely had time to make it to work today so I had to take breakfast with me on the walk.  This Wegman’s Bean and Cheese Burrito was good but not great.

DSC01023

Something about the flavor and texture made me long for a beverage, and I ended up exploding pinto beans all down the front of my winter coat.

I ate a Honeycrisp apple mid-morning.

DSC01025

Then I spent the rest of my day holed up in the basement like a retail hermit.  We got in tons of tons of shipments on Monday and I opened and priced 99% of them today.

I never did have time for lunch at work (I kept my packed food in the fridge for an easy lunch tomorrow!) and I ended up doing double dinners.  First was Wegman’s hot bar on a mini-date with the husband.

DSC01031

Wok-seared veggies,

DSC01034

and chicken dumplings and chicken salad.

DSC01036

Adam and I are obsessed with the dumplings’ dipping sauce and the combination of the sauce stirred into my chicken salad was the bomb.com.  <– legit, it tasted so good that was the first expression that popped into my head!

I also ate a big bag of Easter candies from the bulk bins and gave myself a stomach-ache.

DSC01038

A little pain was worth it, the sugar rush totally helped me through the remainder of my internship journaling.  Minus breaks for making food and eating food, I chugged away for the remainder of the evening.

Our home dinner was vegetable fried rice.

DSC01040

In the wok (for 2) –

  • 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
  • ~1 heaping cup peas
  • ~1 heaping cup roasted broccoli
  • ~1.5 cups leftover brown rice
  • 1 Tbsp tamari
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1.5 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Sriracha
  • 3 large eggs

DSC01042

The dish had the potential to be great, but it was way too salty.  It’s been awhile since I’ve used fish sauce and I forgot what a sodium-punch it packs.  I ate a little less than 2/3 of my plate.

Dessert was a giant, delicious cookie.

DSC01047

Coconut Chocolate Lavender Cookies = this recipe for single serve cookies plus 1 tsp minced culinary lavender and chopped Sweetriot 70% dark kickin’ coconut chocolate subbed in for chocolate chips.

DSC01045

We were both big fans of the big cookies and big taste.

The winner of my Hey Shuga! giveaway is:

contest winner

(#1) Jenny, shoot me an e-mail with your mailing address.

Asian Carbs

The title describes every single thing I ate today!  At least I managed to cover a good spread of the continent – Thailand, Japan, and India.

Adam wasn’t excited enough about my Pad Kee Mao leftovers, so I ate them myself for breakfast.

DSC00880

DSC00881

Amazing.  Broad rice noodles (when cooked in a Thai dish and super spicy) are my favorite food.

I rounded out the meal with a spoon of peanut butter.

DSC00883

I left a little bit behind for the dog and he was on Cloud 9.

Lunch was spicy avocado Inari.

DSC00884

Yes, contrary to popular Adam’s belief, that orange stuff in mayonnaise-based.  But when you husband sweetly delivers you lunch at work you don’t turn it down just because you’re doing a silly challenge.

We used a groupon at India Gate for dinner.

DSC00885

I got Chana Bhatura.

DSC00889

I ate half of my chickpeas, with rice.  And 1.5+ of my fried dough.  I tried to eat less but half the times Adam went to take a bite I ended up snatching it away from him!

DSC00890

The flavor was very similar to the Johnny Cake I grew up eating and I was having a total taste memory.

Adam is in bed (he got under the covers at 8:45!) and I should be there too but I have a mental problem that keeps me from making healthy sleep decisions so instead I’ll probably get some dessert and watch Law and Order: SVU.

P.S. I picked a winner for my Slow Cooker Desserts giveaway – (#1)

winner

Cori, e-mail me with your mailing address so I can get your prize sent out!

The First Of The Last

{Technically speaking} today was the first day of my last semester of undergrad!  Yays!  Instead of the hospital, I spent my day on campus for orientation.  It was also the first day of my night class.

Orientation was definitely not as exciting as my days at the hospital.  Cue medium non-fat latte.

DSC00309

Caffeine gave me the jitters though; I should have just waited for the adrenaline to kick in once we learned how busy this semester is going to be!  On top of full-time internship hours there are many projects to be done.  I’m the only person in my program who is taking a non-major class (my night class is a history to fulfill my final graduation requirement) this semester and balancing everything is going to be pretty nerve-wracking.

I spent my lunch break running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to get all of my campus tasks done (applying for graduation, registering my history class as pass/fail, buying books).  When I did finally get to my sandwich it was worth the wait.

DSC00280

Sandwich thin with 2 slices of turkey, tons of pickled jalopeño, 50% reduced-fat sharp cheddar, and mango jelly (made by my aunt’s mother-in-law from St. Thomian mangos!!).

DSC00277

Plus a package of sesame seaweed,

DSC00286

and a 100-calorie milk chocolate bar.

DSC00288

I was starving when I got home and I snacked on a Tbsp of peanut butter,

DSC00317

and a cup of tea with skim milk and sugar.

DSC00332

You guys are geniuses – I actually heated the water (3 minutes versus 90 seconds in the microwave) and my tea was much stronger!  I still didn’t love this cup but I think the tea itself was to blame (a pumpkin chai sample).

I did an easy, early dinner before I had to head back to campus for my history class.  Leftover roasted brocoli with marinara sauce.

DSC00333

And a Kashi Mayan Harvest Bake meal.

DSC00335

DSC00337

I also snacked on these milk coffee candies during class.

DSC00327

He let us out early for our first day and so far I have no complaints.

Well, just one complaint – why the heck didn’t I get in bed already?!