The Buzz

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.

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I pan-heated two chicken apple maple sausages.

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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.

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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,

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

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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.

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

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  • 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.

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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 🙂

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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.

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True Facts

1. If you are having a migraine, a sure-fire way of not curing it is to bend down to get a yogurt and bash your head on the fridge.

2. Partly because of the headache, but mostly because it was identical to the night before and tonight, I did not do a dinner post yesterday.  Here is today’s leftovers for dinner photo –

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3. This morning I did not hit my head when I got out a yogurt for breakfast, I also didn’t hit my wallet too hard either – this yogurt was on sale for 40cents.

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4. I applied for waitressing jobs today, so we’ll see how that goes.  While I was out I bought a turkey sandwich for lunch.

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5. The second half of my lunch was a replay of the best smoothies ever

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6. This was a super lame post and I apologize to my readers, I do love you guys!

Tell me some true facts from your day!

back 2 skool, yayz!

School has officially started!  There was something very satisfying about being a student today and not a teacher like the last two years.  Of course I’m sad that I can only take one course this semester, but I’m very happy to start chipping away at my long list of prerequisite requirements; I’m on my way!

I woke up around 7:30 today when Adam left for school and got to work creating my half marathon training schedule.  Then I had to actually implement it – I did 2miles on the treadmilll.  With warm up/cool down it was ultimately 2.3miles in 24minutes.  Afterwards I did abs (100reps) and stretching, bringing my total to 34minutes, 330calories.

I got a little behind schedule, so after a shower I had to rush to my hospital volunteering shift.  I’ll be doing 10-2 every Monday.  I walked to the bank on my way home, and at 2:40 I had yet to eat anything for the day.  I knew my first meal had to be something special.

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I hated the flavor, but liked the texture of this PB Gnu Bar, so I knew it was the perfect way to add fiber to this bowl.

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  • Oikos Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt
  • 1.5t Crofter’s Organic Superfruit Asia Spread
  • 1.5t TJ’s Sunbutter
  • Peanut Butter Gnu Bar

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The only problem now is that I want to eat this for every meal for the rest of my life!  The mix of sunbutter and greek yogurt truly might be the best thing on earth!

While I drooled over my bowl I got myself ready for the new school year – I printed out all the online materials, organized them and my Chemistry for Dummiesnotes into a binder, and made a google calendar of important assignment dates.  I finished up my work with a small plate of crackers and the last of the homemade french onion dip.

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Adam was a sweetheart and drove me to my first class.  Mondays and Wednesdays class will be from 6:30-7:50, and on Thursday it’s 5:00-8:50.  The class seems ok so far, but I know it will be challenging for me.  The professor said that in order to achieve success most students study at least 7-10hours a week.

When we got home we took a walk to the post office and stopped at the gas station because my hormones have made me very angry that there’s been no candy in the house.  I stalked up and Adam bought an ice-cream Snickers.

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He must be the nicest bear in the world, because he gave me a big bite!

For dinner I did leftovers and a quick salad.

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I prefer noodles cold so I ate my portion straight from the container.  Note: I also ate 4big bites before I could manage to take a picture.

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My salad was organic spring mix lettuce, Newman’s Own Asian Sesame Salad Spritzer, Newman’s Own Organic Dried Apples, and chunks of leftover party cheese.

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To drink I had my plain Ooba sample.

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We watched Bones while I ate and for dessert I tucked into my new candy stash – Sprees.

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I realize this isn’t exactly a health food, but I do love that a whole package has less than 200calories.

Now it is a late late bedtime, clearly I have to skip tv time on class nights!  See you in the am.

Did you ever take chemistry?  How did you do?  I was a 4.0 student in high school until I took chemistry, so I am understandably a little freaked out!

Jordan Catalano

It’s been a long day and I am watching Jordan Catalano and Angela Chase decide whether or not to have sex so this will be a quickie (ha) post!

For breakfast I ate a Cliff Mojo Bar on the walk to volunteering.

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Today was my last 6hour shift, next week I do 4hours each Monday.  There was employee appreciation bbq in the cafeteria which meant not a lot of choices for me.

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I ate half of the macaroni and ate the chicken out of the bun with a fork.

When I got home it’s possible I got in a screaming match with my husband.  Just a poss ability though, it’s not like my husband is a first year med student under tons of pressure or I don’t know what to do with my life and am freaking out.  And if we did fight, we might have made up with Arby’s five-for-five and “My So-Called Life,” which is how I ended up with this –

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Jamocha shake and Diet Dr. Pepper.

Fueled by my awesome shake, I tackled tons of to-dos.  Laundry,

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meal planning/coupon organizing/list making,

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recycling our paper,

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While we were being green I drank so chocolate Amazing Grass with So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk,

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and around 9 we finally broke for dinner.

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I know it looks like swamp, but Moo Shu Stoup left-overs rocked my socks.

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I stopped 80% of the way through though, so I could have a threesome (is anyone else as amused as I am by the punny sex references as I am?) with a couple whose child could rule the world.

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Purely Decadent Dairy Free Peanut Butter Zig Zag and South America Crofter’s Superfruit Spread. oh.my.god.

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The ice-cream had chunks of chocolate and peanut butter and the spread had maqui and passionfruit.  They were both samples, and they will both be purchased when I run out!

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Gah!

We are finishing up our 90’s TV marathon, sweet dreams folk.

Did you watch My So-Called Life growing up?  I really liked it as a kid but now I am obsessed!

Am I Awake?

Thanks so much for all the half marathon support guys!  I am very excited and nervous but since I’m not starting training until September I am trying not to obsess about it until then 🙂

I was running too late to post this morning but I did manage to make breakfast for myself and the hubby.  Just barely though, my dreams have been throwing me off!  All this week I’ve been having very realistic dreams that then confuse me when I wake up.  Today I dreamed 3 times in a a row (in such realistic detail that it was like watching freakin Food Network) that I was cooking eggs; I ended up oversleeping.  And then when I got up I made eggs.

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For 2 servings I used 4whites and 1 whole egg, 1t evoo, and ~2/3C chopped broccoli.  I was proud of myself for using leftovers (broccoli from our AnTEAoxident pasta and egg whites from our homemade ice cream) but I went wrong somewhere because I barely made any.  I ended up giving part of my (small) portion to Adam so he had enough to eat.

I got to the hospital for volunteering early so I got a frozen coffee to make up for the eggs.

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This wasn’t the healthiest of choices (although it sort of was, which was disappointing for a hospital cafe) but I was majorly craving frozen coffee and it hit the spot.

Today was my first day on my actual placement for the next three weeks of volunteering – dialysis.  I learned a few interesting things but the ward was really slow today so there wasn’t much of me to do.  I hope I’m not having to stand around as much tomorrow.

For lunch I used my voucher to get a slice of white pizza with black olives.

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Delish!  The only way it could have tasted better is if the olives were green, which I’ve discovered is the best pizza topping ever.

When I got home I realized another positive to having volunteering being my only responsibility for the next few weeks: this gets to be my uniform once I get home at 2:30 –

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Fun fact – I was wearing these pajama pants (which actually used to belong to Adam) on Christmas morning when Adam proposed to me!

On the agenda for this evening is a short run, a super low-key dinner, and a fun project.  Adam has another “first week” event tonight so I’ll be on my own.  See ya later alligators!

Have you ever volunteered?  What did you do?  I volunteered at a hospital in Brooklyn last year and in high school I did most of my 40required hours at the animal shelter.

Leftovers and Virgins

I was feeling a little off last night and that carried over because I was still exhausted when I woke up…. at noon!  It’s ok though, here was the view out of my window at 1pm –

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It’s normal now but the weather was crazy for a little bit, we are going to have to get lots and lots of lamps this winter!

Adam and I took advantage of the inhospitable outside and watched “40 Year Old Virgin.”  I ate my Cheesecake Factory leftovers, spicy cashew chicken, while we vegged.

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I also ate a mug of our homemade mint cookies and cream ice-cream.

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So now it’s 3 and the weather has cleared up.  Tomorrow is Adam’s first day of medical school and my first day of volunteering.  I’m not sure where the afternoon will take us but I’m sure it will be fun!

Do you like raunchy movies or chick flicks?  My husband loves chick flicks, for which I tease him mercilessly, but I like raunchy comedies.  “Knocked Up” is pretty much my favorite movie of all time but I also love “Forgetting Sarah Marshall.”

Sweet, Spicy, Sesame, Tangy

After the morning my day got pretty crazy; I’m glad I got my work-out in early!  Before my shower I scarfed the other 2/3 of my Cliff Bar.

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This had too much sugar to be a regular choice but it was very tasty.

My next course of action was to do some planning for my classes next year – I am attending a university in Buffalo as a non-degree seeking student so that I can complete some prerequisite courses for PA and RD programs.  The plan is to work part-time, volunteer (which I still need to figure out), and take classes.  As a non-degree I can’t officially register for classes until August 1st.  Well, when I went to look at the course offerings today to make a rough schedule I found out that almost every class I need is already full; by August 1st I doubt I will be able to enroll in anything!  I wigged out and cried for a good 10minutes before the husband convinced me that I just had to suck it up.  If I can’t take classes in the fall it will suck and I’ll be sad but I don’t have any control over that situation.  If I can’t take any courses I will have to work full-time, which will help us save money, and get my nutritionist certification, which I am interested in and excited about.  I’m scared that this could push back my loooooong journey towards a new career but I’ve got to roll with the punches.

After I pulled myself together I ate 1/2 of this (small) container of stir fry leftovers.

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Then we packed up our cart and headed to the post office.  The postal service in this (expensive!) neighborhood is shockingly bad, I’ve never been in when there wasn’t a line out the door.  Whether rain, snow, sleet, or long waits, nothing could stop our errands so we prevailed.

During the trip I drank this My Smoothie juice box.

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I knocked out two servings of fruit with this, woot!

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Finally, it was time to head to *bucks to get my study on.  I went with economics to choose my snack –

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an iced coffee (I added my own skim milk) and a rice-crispie bar were my cheapest choice at $4 and 300calories.  I studied from 3 – 7 straight, another woot!

My husband is the nicest man on earth so he did my laundry for me while I was studying, when I got home all I had to do was fold and hang 🙂  Post-laundry I started watching a riveting episode of Bones, I am so hooked on that show!  I paused during a commercial to eat a Yoplait Light and Fit strawberry shortcake yogurt.

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I’m not going to be able to afford Fage and Oikos as much next year (Greek yogurt doesn’t really fit into a budget unless you find a sale) but I think I’ll be a-ok with all these Yoplait Light varieties.

During a later commercial I ate my green veggie from dinner as an appetizer – Spicy Sesame Beans.

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I had a bag of mixed beans and carrots in my freezer that I heated in a skillet with a little evoo.  I topped my portion with a dab more evoo, some wasabi sesame seeds, and some red pepper flakes.

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Spicy spicy!

After my socks were fully rocked off by Bones we got started on dinner.  I received a package from Nakano with coupons and recipes yesterday so I used that for inspiration.

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I will say though, my chicken recipe was clearly all mine own – Apple Pretzel Chicken, 3servings

  • 1/2C Stonewall Kitchen caramel apple butter
  • 3T Nanako rice vinegar
  • 1C Newman’s Own Mighty Mini Pretzels, crushed
  • 1lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into tenders
  1. Preheat oven to 375* and prep a baking sheet with foil and spray.
  2. Mix apple butter and vinegar in a low bowl and pour pretzel crumbs into another low bowl.
  3. Drudge chicken through wet and then dry bowls.
  4. Cook for 30minutes.

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I took a pretty small portion but it was delish, the perfect mix of salty and sweet!

For my side dish I tried to follow a recipe a little bit,

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but still but a pretty big twist on it.  Not only was I missing several ingredients, the original recipe called for (regular) potatoes with the skins peeled off.  I never follow that step in any recipe, why would I spend cooking time making something less healthy by peeling away fiber?  What I ended up with was Tangy Stovetop Sweet Potatoes, 2servings

  • 1large sweet potato, cubed  [note, I think I actually used a yam but that didn’t fit with my title alliteration]
  • 1/3C Nanako rice vinegar
  • 3T water
  1. Heat 2T evoo over medium heat in a skillet.
  2. Add potato cubes to the pan and cook for 5-7minutes, stirring occasionally and scraping up and brown bits.
  3. Season with salt and paprika.
  4. Pour vinegar and water into the pan and cook until all the liquid is gone.

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Yums!  Here was my plate:

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Before you get all judgey about the expanse of brown, remember that I ate my greens as an appetizer 🙂

My internet is ridiculous so this post took forever but there are still some to-dos left on the list for the night – 1) brush my teeth asap so I can put my retainers in to get some of the intense pain out of the way before sleep time (my braces experience was so ridiculous I can’t even get into it, but suffice to say I stopped sleeping in my retainers in college and now my perfect teeth are going crooked).  2) tuck into my stack of magazines……I didn’t say they weren’t fun to dos!  Sweet dreams all.

Do you ever peel fruits or veggies?  Why or why not?  Other than kiwis – which many bloggers actually down fur and all – I enjoy the tasty fiber whenever it’s available.