Tag Archives: mango

Weekly Wrap-Up; I Survived!

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I survived my first week of full-time work!  Well, almost; I’ve still got to get through today.  And I am very excited to hit the couch as soon as I get home.  TV, how I’ve missed you!  {Random Note – “Mom” on CBS?  So flipping good.  I laugh out loud over and over again.  Also “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” randomly got really good too.  It seemed like a train wreck at first but they’ve pulled it together; it’s another llol situation.}

I do plan on sharing a bit more about work as time goes on.  And I’ll definitely post a picture of my office (I have an office!) once I get it all set-up.  I have some work outfits at the start of this post though, and I’ll try to keep that going.

Last week’s eats were fairly boring, but I’m proud of how (relatively) healthy I managed to keep things.  And I even captured 95% of what went in my mouth on film.  What you don’t see is the snacking I did before dinner every night while I packed my lunch.  Also there was coffee.  So, so much coffee.

fashion friday

New navy, polka dot top from the Loft.

DSC06235I didn’t realize how similar day 2’s look was to day 1.

DSC06265My mom got me this mint cardigan on her trip to Amsterdam.

DSC06286I wish my pictures were clearer so you could see details like this fun neckline.

DSC06318And Friday’s look will get looped to next week.

breakfast

As of now I’m eating on my train ride so things have to be portable.  Sticky Bun Larabar Uber.

DSC06224Still not my favorite flavor, but I liked it better than the first time I tried it.

Pecan Pie Clif Bar.

DSC06252Such a fun seasonal flavor.  I really hated the gingerbread and spiced pumpkin ones, but this was delicious.

Super smoothie.

DSC06308Frozen strawberries with plain Greek yogurt and chocolate peppermint soy milk.  Adam and I love this blend.

lunch

Lots of repetition here but I changed up little details to keep things interesting.  Turkey sandwich round 1.

DSC06204A Sandwich Thin with Applegate Smoked Turkey, Crofter’s Grape, and a TJ’s goat cheese medallion.

DSC06206With a cameo apple.

DSC06208And a baggie of Angie’s Iced Gingerbread Kettle Corn.

DSC06212The husband and I both love this popcorn; not too sweet or spicy.  It’s not on their website but I found my bag at Target.

Butternut squash round 1.

DSC06241Roasted butternut squash with chopped spinach and craisins with WF’s Korean BBQ Sauce on top.

DSC06242On the side,

DSC06247DSC06248another cameo apple and a baggie of Salty Pepper Somersaults.

Turkey sandwich round 2.  This time with a slice of light havarti, banana peppers, and a bit of Miracle Whip.

DSC06267Plus a pair of tangerines.

DSC06271And Twix Gingerbread.

DSC06274This meal was the week’s winning lunch.

Butternut squash round 2.

DSC06290With TJ’s Champagne Pear Vinaigrette in place of bbq sauce.

DSC06292And a side of tasty mango.

DSC06294The flavors here were good but this meal was a little too mushy overall.

dinner

These are all single girl dinners; I was on my own every night this week.  Adam had a week straight of night shifts and with my new schedule we literally saw each other for less than 30 minutes a day.  I miss him!

Soup night.

DSC06257My box of pumpkin soup from TJ’s was terrible.

DSC06259It was weirdly sweet and I ended up throwing out the majority of my bowl.  My side made up for it though.

DSC06262The last of the tortilla chips with fancy cheese microwaved on top.

Sandwich night.

DSC06278My sandwich was a little burnt, but oh-so-good.  I mashed together a can of Smoked Trout with Miracle Whip and smoked paprika and then put it between two pieces of gingerbread swirl bread with a slice of light havarti and cooked the whole thing in a pan with a little butter.

DSC06280With a giant pile of kale chips on the side.

DSC06285The smokey-sweet combo on my sandwich was amazing.

Egg night.

DSC06300Two eggs scrambled with evoo, frozen roasted corn, chopped jalopeño, sugar, and Sriracha.

DSC06307Another kale pile.

DSC06303With popcorn.

DSC06296For the whole grains, of course.

Fun night.  Yesterday I met up with a friend who works in Park Slope for dinner.  I had some time to kill before she got off so I walked a ton (my feet are still killing me!) and got the best cup of frozen yogurt.

DSC06312Eggnog and praline yogurts with pralines, toffee, and malt balls.  Fan-freaking-tastic!

Then we went to Song for Thai food.

DSC06315My “Spicy Noodles” weren’t spicy at all, but they were nice and chewy and I came home with leftovers for lunch.  It was great to see a friend on a “school night.”

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my coffee giveaway.  You’ve got until 2 pm Saturday to comment.

Weekend Wrap-Up, Tres Días

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This weekend was nice and quiet, with an emphasis on the nice.  We kept things very low-key, with one day of errands and one day around the house, but had a nice time just being with each other.  I’m not saying we didn’t bicker {oh gosh, did we ever!} but we did really enjoy one another’s company.

On Saturday, we went on the best, most ridiculous, dinner date to the Cheesecake Factory.  I started out not being able to take pictures but by the end of the meal I didn’t even want to take pictures because it would have distracted from my time with the husband.  Sidenote – am I just getting old or do they keep it really dark in there?!  We were making each other laugh so hard.  We shared several things and came home with tons upon tons of leftovers.  Dessert (our second (third?!) of the day) was the best part.  The waitress came over to tell us about a s’mores cheesecake with ganache and toasted marshmallow fluff and I interrupted to say that we were exploding, but by the time she got back with the bill Adam ordered us a slice!  Ridiculous.  And delicious.

Here are some of the bites that I did manage to photograph…

Fall flavors yogurt bowl.

DSC053260% plain Fage topped with pumpkin butter, toasted pecans, and a drizzle of maple syrup.

DSC05329Fage is so nice and creamy.

Tropical trip yogurt bowl.

DSC05360Muller Pineapple Passion Fruit Greek Corner topped with half a banana and some chopped mango.

DSC05361I am very excited about the mango left in the fridge.

Brinner, aka breakfast for dinner.

DSC05336Potatoes, sliced and roasted in pink salt, dried rosemary, and olive oil.

DSC05343For the eggs; frozen spinach cooked in chicken broth with eggs scrambled in – eggs whisked with low-fat sour cream and smoked paprika – and a 2% Mexican 4-cheese blend tossed in towards the end.

DSC05346Lately I’ve been loving adding something creamy like cottage cheese or sour cream to my scrambled eggs.

Pumpkin beer.

DSC05334Sam Adam’s Fat Jack Double Pumpkin.

DSC05333Unfortunately I haven’t been loving the pumpkin brews this season; they all start to taste a sour to me a few sips in.  Adam got the lion’s share of this bottle.

Ice cream. Ben & Jerry Chocolate Peppermint Crunch.

DSC05348I bought this to make a milkshake for the husband with but I ate several bowls of it this weekend.  The chocolate is so dark and the mint swirl is just like the inside of a Jr Mint.

Tres Leches!!

DSC05349From the Buttercooky Bakery.  They served it with fruit on top and a layer of dulce de leche in the middle.

DSC05353Tres Leches is both of our number one favorite dessert (usually we prefer different sweet things, though I have gotten him sucked into my s’mores obsession).

Hot bar from Whole Foods.

DSC05324I did roasted broccoli, a small scoop of Cesar salad, a big scoop of kale salad, and two fried plantains for dessert.

DSC05318With a fancy bottled drink.  Plan Tea Organic Black Tea with Vanilla and Basil.

DSC05323The tea made this meal feel extra special!

Cheese plate.

DSC05365We each had our own.  Adam got asparagus and matzoh with his basics and my extras were green beans and persimmon. Honeycrisp.

DSC05375TJ’s Cheddar and Gruyere Mélange Cheese.

DSC05367Alter Eco Dark Velvet Truffle.

DSC05384Roasted green beans.

DSC05378And a nice, mushy persimmon.

DSC05381I really liked the flavor of the flesh (I’ve tried an unripe persimmon and it sucks all of the moisture out of your mouth), but I’m still not sure whether or not I was supposed to eat the hard skin.  I picked it off with my fingernails but it didn’t make for the nicest eating experience.

Next weekend my in-laws are coming for their first LI visit!  I just hope we have some nice week days in between.

Weekly Wrap-Up; Cheesetastic

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This week’s eats were all about the cheese and carbs {see also: several servings of unpictured pizza and popcorn}.  I’m missing many of the day-time meals but I managed to capture every single dinner for a change.

breakfast

Apple and honey french toast for Rosh Hashanah.

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I soaked a slice of Trader Joe’s sourdough in 1 large egg, a splash of milk, vanilla extract, and some cinnamon maple sugar and then cooked it in 3/4 Tbsp butter.  After my toast was frenched, I tossed a chopped Pink Lady apple in the rest of the Tbsp of butter with a little more cinnamon maple sugar.  Then I topped my french toast with my cooked apples and drizzled the whole thing with honey.

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Delish.

Tropical smoothie courtesy of the husband.

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He said Thai young coconut, frozen mango and banana, lime juice, and sweetened condensed milk all went in the blender.

On the weekend we ate eggs as a family.

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For two, I scrambled together 4 large eggs with salt, pepper, 1 slice of 2% provolone, and a big scoop of 2% cottage cheese.

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Cottage cheese is my favorite scrambled egg addition; normally it tastes very sweet to me but in eggs it is so cheesy!

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Plus toast with Strawberry Crofter’s on the side.

lunch

Leftover mac and cheese that I attempted to stir-fry.

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I reheated the mac in canola oil with soy sauce, rice vinegar, and Sriracha and then scrambled in an egg.  I’m not sure this dish really worked.

This next one looks like a “snack” picture, but I did in fact drink giant coffees for lunch two days this week.  I had several errands that ended up running long.

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The one pictured was a clover-brew of their Hawaiian blend, which was fantastic.  And yesterday I cashed in a drink freebie so I went big – venti non-fat iced latte with an extra shot of espresso and 2 shots of salted caramel(!!).

snack

Microwave mug cookie.

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Number 2 Pencil is basically a single-serve cookie genius.

Milk drink.

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This was a China Town find.  ‘Twas very thick and sweet.

ZICO latte.

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This flavor might even be better than their chocolate coconut water.

Sourdough with Smart Balance Light.

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If I’m eating bread with butter (versus jam) I almost never toast it, for some reason I prefer my buttered bread raw.

Froyo.

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Another snack that was on repeat this week.

dinner

You already saw our vegan mac and cheese.

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Served with roasted green bean fries for our green.

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We ate our fries right off of the baking sheet, like animals.  We don’t have a dishwasher and plates are annoying to wash, damn it.

Salad and casserole night.

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Adam said that my Cheesy Eggplant Bake is my best recipe, and that’s really saying something because I even cut back on the cheese this time.

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Served with side salads.

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Romaine lettuce blend, hemp hearts, cucumber, TJ’s peanut dressing, and Iberico cheese.

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The dressing did NOT go with the rest of the salad but it was all we had.

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The cheese was from this TJ’s pack that fancied up our whole week.

Kale nachos.

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A kale chip base topped with broccoli, roasted corn, and melted cheese.

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This was one of my better ideas.

Pizza on a quesadilla.

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Inspired by Jenna’s idea, but particularly this comment.

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I made quesadillas with flour tortillas and TJ’s reduced-fat Mexican cheese blend.  Then topped them with Tj’s fat-free refried beans, ground turkey (99% fat-free, cooked with taco seasoning), sliced orange bell pepper, and manchego cheese.

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With roasted kale on the side.

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I told you this was a cheesy week!

fun

We put up a photo wall.

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An assortment of pictures from college (round 1) to now, “framed” with washi tape.

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It may not be perfect, but we love it.  And it was so nice to add a pop of color to our drab living room.

We saw a racoon in our parking lot.

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This may be the first little bandit I’ve actually seen in person, which is funny because I’m completely obsessed with them.

We went on a three-hour bike ride in Central Park.

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Bike riding in the park may just be my favorite activity.  I’ve chosen it for my birthday several times now.

Happy Monday, everyone!

Weekly Wrap-Up; A Trip To Ohio

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Last week was quite a good one for me.  I passed my Registration Exam and then flew to Ohio to visit my grandma.  Good times all around!  It was also a busy week, so please excuse the many gaps in my reporting (for example, my grandma served me dessert at least twice a day, every day of my visit and I think I managed to snap a photo of just one sweet bite).

Dietetics students – feel free to leave a comment/shoot me an e-mail if you’d like some more details on the studying process for the exam.  Otherwise, here we go…

Breakfasts

{1} A tropical smoothie.

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I blended up frozen mano chunks, oj, and Müller low-fat Greek yogurt with honeyed apricot.

{2} Berry topped cereal.

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Kashi Honey Puffs and Nature’s Path Bran flakes with unsweetened vanilla almond milk, blueberries, nectarine, and a sprinkle of sugar.

{3} Yogurt bowl day one.

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Chobani 2% Apricot Greek Yogurt topped with sliced banana and red plum.  Not only did a find a few good, new flavors of yogurt while in Ohio, but these plums were the best (read: juicy without being drippy and nice and sweet) I’ve ever had.  The apricot flavored Chobani was nice as well.

{4} Yogurt bowl day two.

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 Liberté Peach and Passionfruit Non-fat Greek Yogurt topped with more fantastic red plum.  Liberté makes Greek yogurt now?!  My heart practically leapt out of my chest.

Lunches

Lots of meals out in this category, much fun was had.

{1} California Pizza Kitchen, Queens.

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Adam, ever the traditionalist, shared a slice of his Roasted Garlic and Chicken Pizza with me.  The pizza was yummy, but I went with a salad.

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CPK’s Thai Crunch Salad is a thing of wonders, the edamame, peanuts, and wonton strips give it great crunch.  And that giant plate was a half portion!  Adam and I both ate some at lunch and then there was enough leftover for him to eat the next day as well.  This meal was actually eaten the day before my exam.  The husband quizzed me a bit over our meal but largely I took things easy that day; either you know it or you don’t!

{2} Bareburger, then 16 Handles, Long Island.

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After I passed my exam, a very sleepy husband took me out to celebrate.  He worked all night, then came home and drove me to my test, so it was perfect to go somewhere that loved bears for lunch (my nickname for him is Bear).

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Bareburger is a NY chain that focuses on organic, humanely sourced foods.  Their meat options include wild boar, elk, and ostrich!  I went “boring” with a turkey burger.

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The Maui Wowie (sans bun) was far from boring; it was topped with smoked mozzarella, turkey bacon, grilled pineapple, fried onions, fire-roasted red pepper, and buttermilk ranch.

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It was freaking delicious and we want to go back again {and again, and again!}.

You can’t celebrate without froyo.

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We went to 16 Handles afterward and rocked my face off.  The topping options were out of this world.

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I got pecan praline yogurt (!!!) topped with Coney Island Crunch trail mix and bananas foster banana chips!  Re-dic-u-lous.

{3} Bakehouse, then Jenni’s Splendid Ice Cream, Troy.

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Bakehouse is a fantastic bakery and cafe in Ohio.  My grandma took me there the minute I stepped off the plan and we enjoyed a scrumptious lunch.

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I had a cup of gazpacho,

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and we split a Vegetarian Sandwich.

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Cheesy-good was definitely the theme of this visit.

We digested by walking around and looking at Troy’s newest sculpture installations.

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They were sooooo realistic, my grandma definitely tricked me a few times into thinking we were heading towards real people.

Then we went for Winan’s for dessert because…

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they sell little containers of Jeni’s ice cream!

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The black coffee flavor was perfection.  I’ve been reading rave reviews of Jeni’s in magazines and blogs for years and now I totally get the hype.

{4} First Watch, Dayton.

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I had never heard of First Watch – a breakfast/lunch only spot – before but they served up quite a fine half salad/half sandwich combo for lunch.

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The Santa Fe Salad was nice and spicy (and also flipping loaded with chicken, no one person would possibly want that much on one salad),

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and any place that serves turkey reubans along the traditionals wins my heart.

{5} My grandma’s kitchen, finally a home-cooked lunch.

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A bit of avocado, a cob of my spicy, cheesy baked corn,

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and chicken salad.

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Nana’s chicken salad – made with mayo, sliced grapes, and toasted pecans – is one of my all-time favorite dishes.

Drinks and Snacks

{1} Mango Hi-Chew.

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I am just too glad to be back in the city where there are Hi-Chews at every corner store.  Mango was nice and juicy, but I won’t be satisfied until I find the yogurt flavor I used to love.

{2} Trader Joe’s Roasted Seaweed Snack.

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My seaweed consumption has gone way down now that I’m not packing lunches for school so this was a nice treat.

{3} Maple-Glazed Pecan and Sea Salt KIND Bar.

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My bar consumption is also on the decline, but this flavor was by far the best KIND bar I’ve ever had.

{4} Bourganel’s Nougat Beer.

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A friend took me to Bierkfraft – an awesome bar/beer merchant in Park Slope – to celebrate my new credentials and we discovered our new favorite thing.

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I grabbed this Bourganel Beer Nougat on a whim (always try to drink booze that tastes like dessert, that’s my motto) and it was out of control.  Normally I leave a lot behind when I drink a beer, but this bottle was drained before it could even get warm.  My friend adored it as well; we ended up buying a second bottle to split after our first round!

{5} Kahlua Ready-to-Drink White Russian.

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I have looked for these bottles all summer after spotting one in a magazine and I finally hit pay dirt in Ohio!

Dinners

{1} Sushi.

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The night before my exam, I got take-out from A-Chiban.  Mango-inari, fish tempura, and a veggie roll.

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The mango was slimy and terrible, but everything else was good.

{2} Spicy.

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Spicy, cajun shrimp over angel hair,

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with tossed salad and citrus green beans.

{3} Casserole.

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Cucumber and tomato salad, cornmeal-breaded baked summer squash,

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and creamy chicken casserole.

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Among the ingredient list for the casserole were swiss cheese, white wine, and stuffing.  My grandma is an amazing cook.

{4} Plane food.

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My kiku apple was crunchy and sweet, and the leftover chicken salad served on cranberry poppy-seed bread made for an amazing sandwich.

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My sandwich was on the small side, but not to worry, I bought chips (um, and pizza) at the airport!

Do you have a favorite dish that a certain family member will always prepare for you?

Weekly Wrap-Up; By The Book

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This week I’m going to do some book reviews.

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Full disclosure – I was not paid to write this post but all three of the books were sent to me free of charge to review.  As always, all opinions are my own.

Book 1 – Austrian Desserts: Over 400 Cakes, Pastries, Strudels, Tortes and Candies by Toni Mörwald and Christopher Wagner

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Overall Thoughts:  I am thrilled to add this to my collection; I love a nice weighty cookbook!  This book is packed with recipes, divided neatly into sections like “Cake, Tarts, Schnitten, and Strudel;” “Cookies and Candies;” and “Ice Cream, Sorbet, Granita, and Parfaits.”  I don’t have any background in Austrian baking, but the recipes are written in such a clear, straightforward way that I would feel confident tackling any of them.  There are a few history blurbs but overall the writing is to the point, which I appreciate.  The color photographs are gorgeous.

Recipe:  Sour Ice Cream with Lime

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Recipe Reflections:  With just three ingredients – low-fat sour cream, simple syrup, and fresh lime – this is the easiest ice cream I’ve ever made.  But the ease didn’t make it any less tasty.  Sweet and sour were perfectly balance here and the mouthfeel was nice and creamy with no ice crystals.  I cut the recipe in half without incident.

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What I Want to Make Next:  Lavender Ice Cream, Plum Kolach, and Buttermilk Mousse with Honey.

Book 2 – CopyKat.com’s Dining Out at Home Cookbook 2, by Stephanie Manley

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Overall Thoughts:  This is the 2nd book from CopyKat.com that seeks to recreate recipes from popular restaurants.  There are recipes inspired by more than 60 restaurants, including Starbucks, Sonic, and Cheesecake Factory.  The book is divided into sections by types of foods, i.e. “Drinks,” “Appetizers,” “Desserts,” and so on.  I don’t really eat at most of the restaurants featured here, but if your family regularly eats out at (popular chain) restaurants and is looking to cut back this book would be a great starting point.  There are no photographs but you don’t need them as a starting point anyway because the dishes are all things you’ve seen before (that’s the point!).

Recipe 1:  (Panera Bread) Broccoli Cheese Soup

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Recipe 1 Reflections:  I’ve never tried the original, but we flipping loved this recipe.  The soup was sooo thick and perfectly creamy but without being too heavy.  The flavor was astonishingly “meaty,” and the vegetables all reached the perfect texture – soft but not mushy.  I used fat-free half & half instead of full-fat and I recommend this substitution.  Adam and I both thought this was the best soup we’ve ever made.  I cut the recipe in half without incident.

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Recipe 2:  (Cajun Cafe) Bourbon Chicken Tofu

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Recipe 2 Reflections:  I went with chicken instead of tofu here but feel like I still got a good idea of the recipe.  This wasn’t bad, certainly, but we did not enjoy it as much as the soup.  The sauce got very salty if you let it reduce too long, and we had already subbed in low-sodium soy sauce.

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What I Want to Make Next:  (The Melting Pot) Wisconsin Trio Fondue, (P.F. Chang’s) Lettuce Wraps, and (Red Lobster) Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

Book 3 –The No-Cook, No-Bake Cookbook: 101 Delicious Recipes for When It’s Too Hot to Cook, by Matt Kadey

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Overall Thoughts:  This cookbook has 101 oven-free recipes and includes color photographs of 80 of them.  It’s divided into four sections – “Breakfast and Brunch,” “Starters and Sides,” “Main Dishes,” and “Desserts.”  I really appreciated how healthy all of the recipes in this cookbook were.  Usually I make substitutions to lower fat, calories, or sodium when I cook, but I couldn’t find a single recipe in this book that it seemed necessary to alter (for health reasons that is, I did make some pantry-related substitutions).

Recipe 1:  Mango Fool

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Recipe 1 Reflections:  I’ve never eaten a Fool before, but this basically ended up being flavored Greek yogurt.  The ginger and orange juice definitely helped boost the mango flavor into something extra-special.  This took about a minute to come together, and I plan on making it again.

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Recipe 2:  Avocado Fruit Salad

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Recipe Reflections 2:  My fruit all looks a little pink because I had to substitute frozen berries when my blackberries caught a case of mold.  I also subbed  almonds for walnuts.  I can’t say that I loved the savoriness of the avocado, but I did enjoy it more than I was expecting too.  The overall blend of textures and flavors was fantastic; this felt very fresh and zingy.

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What I Want to Make Next:  Machta Mango Shake, Cucumber Seaweed Salad, and Tex-Mex Chipotle Beans.

Do you like to cook straight from recipes or do you prefer to wing it in the kitchen?  Where do you tend to get your recipes – cookbooks, food blogs, or family and friends?

Fun In Fruit

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The title says it pretty well, I just wanted to post about a few fun fruit-based things I’ve brought home lately.  Half I’ve tasted and half I haven’t, but I’m excited about them all.

Unless otherwise noted*, products were purchased with my own money and I was not compensated for posting about them; I just wanted to share.

1. Outshine Coconut Waters with Banana popsicles. {tried – pretty good}

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Allergies have been killing my throat for weeks and I bought these on a whim the other day.  They were nowhere near as satisfying as the rainbow sherbet I ended up with later, but they are a good summer treat.  They don’t have a ton of flavor, but each bar has only 60 calories and they are nice to cool down with.

2. Cherimoya fruit.  {excited to try}

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Adam and I love to try new produce when it pops up and I’ve heard cherimoyas described as “custard apples” so I knew we had to try this one, $7 price tag and all.  Unfortunately I got a little too excited and stored it in the fridge before I read that they are supposed to stay at room-temperature until they are ripe.  Whenever it is actually ready to eat I’ll be sure to let you guys know what we think!

3. Synergy Mystic Mango Kombucha.  {tried – flipping amazing}

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Oh my goodness, guys, this stuff is the official “sweet nectar of the gods.”  The texture was so thick and perfect on my throat.  Mystic mango is from GT’s “Enlightened Synergy” line, so maybe that’s the difference, but the flavor was much less vinegar-based than the Kombuchas I’ve had in the past.  This was pure mango.  A bottle has 100 calories total and is very satisfying.

4. Larabar’s new ALT line.*  {excited to try}

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NOTE:  These bars were sent to me by Larabar free of charge so I could try their new line.  I was not compensated for posting, but I do plan on sharing my thoughts as I taste through the line.

From the company:  “ALT, the Alternative Protein Bar™, is the first-ever bar with added protein from LÄRABAR! Many bar brands use soy or whey protein, but ALT uses an alternative protein source: peas. Vegan, gluten free, dairy free, and non-GMO, ALT also uses a wrapper that is 31% renewable.”

The line comes in Cinnamon Apple Crisp, Lemon Pound Cake, Peanut Butter Cookie, and Pumpkin Pie.  The bars have 10 grams of protein each and each flavor has between 210 and 240 calories.

Eggstra Special

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This is an extra-special post – it’s the first one I’ve managed to get up all week!

I had a giant presentation to give on Tuesday, an important quiz on Wednesday, and on Monday the dog had another series of 2 am seizures.  Yay.  <– sarcasm

Since the start of this rotation all of my classmates have reported getting to bed by/before 10pm but I’ve stubbornly, stupidly stayed up until at least 12.  I’d been doing ok, but my weeks of lost sleep and this week’s trifecta of late nights hit me hard on Wednesday.  I wandered around in a daze all day yesterday and then hurried home and got into bed at the record-breaking hour of: 7pm!  I got up for an hour or so around 9pm, but went back to bed for an amazing 10 hours total!!!

I felt much better today.  So of course I’m staying up late.  What can I say, I’m an idiot.

After that long introduction, let’s do this quickly…  Coffee at the hospital.

coffee

Dark roast with french vanilla creamer.  The sweetened creamer is not a habit I want to get into, but while I’m somewhere without milk it is fun.

I had cafeteria pizza for lunch, but I didn’t think about taking a picture until after my plate was bare.  Whoops.

Plus candy.

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And when I got home I had this bowl of goodness.

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A serving of Liz Lemon Froyo, a Dannon Oikos Toasted Coconut Vanilla Greek Yogurt, sliced mango, and fresh blackberries.

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It was yumtastic.

For this evening’s fun, we dyed Easter eggs.

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Except that it wasn’t fun at all.

Because my “hard-boiled” eggs were raw.  And we were all hungry.

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But they were pretty, and Adam salvaged a few by breaking the partially cooked eggs into a skillet and making us dinner.

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We had fried eggs,

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with white toast with Earth Balance.

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And big salads – baby spinach, pink salt, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and homemade maple vinaigrette (1 tsp sweet hot mustard, 2 Tbsp maple syrup, 2 Tbsp rice vinegar; shaken and split into two portions).

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With quinoa dark chocolate for dessert.

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Goodnight, Webster!

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Hot Dog!

by

2nd day of the semester was a success!  I promise I’ll stop counting them soon though.

I started my day with a smoothie for the walk to school.  1 scoop bourbon vanilla protein powder, ~1.5 cups Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, medium frozen banana, and ~2 cups frozen blueberries.

My smoothie matched my shoes!  Actually, it matched my whole outfit.

I found this great loose-fitting racer-back tank in a dressy fabric at the Gap outlet this summer and bought it in all three available colors.

I got to wear jeans because we were on campus for clinical orientation today.  Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of the semester we’ll spend 8 hours a day in clinic, aka practicing our skills out in the field for our internship hours.  Today we met with instructors, filled out paperwork, and spent several hours practicing calculations.  <– I remember more than I thought, yay!

I packed this vegan tortilla soup for lunch.

Supplemented with a cheese stick I got at an info table in the quad.

Sadly it took my friends and I for-ev-er to find a table and by the time I finished waking back and forth from two buildings with my hot soup it didn’t really appeal to me any more.  I ate half, plus all of the cheese stick and a Diet Pepsi from the vending machine.  Note – this set the trend apparently because every meal thereafter was also unsuccessful!

After class was over 2 friends and I set out on a mini journey.  We stopped at Anna’s house along the way for sunscreen, then walked a little over a mile to Delish to try out the East Park Pops.

The pops are made from scratch from local ingredients.  My mango pineapple contained only mango, pineapple, and fresh lime juice, no added sugar.

It all sounded really promising but unfortunately we just weren’t fans.  The pops were way too hard and icy and we all threw ours out a quarter or so through.  Janessa and I had been planning this excursion since summer so we were sad it didn’t pan out, but Delish’s new Black Rock location is adorable and we do want to go back for coffees soon.

We ended up having (tall, skim) iced caramel macchiatos from Wegman’s as our treat instead.

Buffalo students – Wegman’s is giving out their awesome student coupon books this week and our coffees were a dollar off.

We spotted jalapeño poppers on the hot bar and two of us went for one of those as well.  (Don’t worry, my friend is going to reuse that plastic container so we didn’t totally waste it.)

This was another idea that was better in theory, the poppers had cheese instead of cream cheese and I threw half of mine out.

Dinner was hot dogs –

Not that kind of hot dog!  Though, Webster, if you don’t stop eating my stuff I might consider it.  Adam and I regularly joke about taking a bite out of his meaty thighs.

This kind of hot dog –

I put two Applegate Farms turkey hot dogs on a bun, piled high with sauerkraut, relish, and ketchup.  The dog was devoured with gusto but its accompaniments were pretty “meh.”

Roasted asparagus that was undercooked and tasted terrible.

I choked down half.

Smokey Maple Baked Beans that were good but not what I was craving right before I went to a yoga class.

I ate 3/4 of those.

Thankfully I had a great workout to make up for my lackluster meal: a 90 minute hot yoga class.  I was worried about making it through a 90-minute class (I haven’t exactly been making the most of my unlimited yoga pass!), but it ended up being great.  The 90-minute session is almost easier than the 60-minute one because you do the same poses with more repetition so you have time to practice them.

All that stands between me and bed is a shower and 15 minutes of reviewing DNA with the husband.  I turned in too late last night and felt it in the morning so I’m trying to hurry.

What was the last food that you were excited for and then disappointed by?