Coconut Chocolate Lavender

by Emily

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.

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.

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.

Wok-seared veggies,

and chicken dumplings and chicken salad.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

The winner of my Hey Shuga! giveaway is:

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

17Feb2013

The Sunday Scurry

by Emily

I’m in a quandary: I want to blog because yesterday I started my “30 days of blogging” challenge again, but I want to get off the computer so I can hang out with my boys. I didn’t say it was a large quandary. I’ll just keep this quick.

Leftover pineapple crisp (from my Slow Cooker Desserts cookbook).

Ritz crackers with white bean truffle dip.

A lunchtime snack plate.

Honeycrisp.

Crunchy peanut butter.

1 serving of Sweetriot 70% Dark Chocolate with Kickin’ Coconut*.

Co-op hot bar after work. Fried seitan, cucumber salad, and peanut noodles.

Homemade Thai curry for dinner.

Green curry and light coconut milk with a bit of tamari and rice vinegar. Nasoya Black Soybean Tofu Plus** fried in coconut oil. Tons of broccoli and a can of straw mushrooms. Cashews. Tasty Bite Thai Lime Rice.

My boys.

*the chocolate was out of this world; it had all the healthiness of dark but the creaminess of milk chocolate

**Adam and I both want to buy this tofu again; we didn’t press it but it still stayed firm and got nice and crunchy, plus it had a good, different flavor

Don’t forget to enter my cookbook giveaway.

16Feb2013

Kool And The Gang

by Emily

Q: Do you know what these two things have in common?

A: I used the Kool Aid to (re)dye my hair!

I never captured it in a photo, but over the last week or so I lost 90% of my purple and was left with a lot of white/grey streaks. Since I don’t have an appointment to go back to brown for another two weeks, this wasn’t exactly a good thing. So last night the husband helped me sit with my head in a bowl of concentrated Kool Aid.

It was windy today!

I’ve still got some white but overall it looks much better. We’ll have to see how long the color lasts. I used to dye my highlights with Kool Aid in high school and I remember getting at least a couple of weeks out of it.

The hair photos were taken on my way to work. I woke up this morning feeling a bit under the weather; I had a fever and I was super achy all over. Adam fed me an aspirin and I stayed in bed until the last possible second. I’m feeling much better now {knock on wood}. And thankfully I was only working a partial shift.

I skipped breakfast for bed and was very excited about food when I got home this afternoon.

1/3 cup of Nature’s Path Coconut Chia Granola with Naked Vanilla Oat Milk and tons of chopped dapple plum and nectarine.

Plus lots of tea. A cup of Revolution Tea Lavender Earl Grey,

and a cup of chai with 1 tsp honey an hour or so later.

I carried the lavender theme over to my snack as well.

My mom got these floral candies from a student whose parents are from Japan.

My dad says they all taste like peach, but I swear the ones I tried had subtle differences.

We spent a long-ish time on errands this evening and I got a small plate of hot bar to keep from getting too cranky.

Maple cinnamon roasted sweet potatoes plus sautéed veggies and 3 pieces of General Tso tofu. It’s been ages since we’ve roasted sweet potato fries and we definitely need to make them again soon.

Dinner didn’t take very long to prepare once we got home, but it sure was good.

I had 1.5 servings of Wegman’s Don’t Be a Chicken Meatless Nuggets dipped in honey.

They were great, far more enjoyable than I ever find chicken nuggets to be.

I made use a hot spinach salad for our veggie component.

(recipe to follow) We loved it. The spinach was super creamy and there was such a good mix of textures.

Dinner didn’t really fill me up though, and I ate some Smart Fries while I wrote this post.

Much better.

Hot Spinach Salad, serves 2

1 Tbsp Earth Balance vegan butter
1 pint white mushrooms, roughly chopped
2 pinches salt
3 heaping cups raw baby spinach
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup smoked almonds
1 Tbsp evoo
2 heaping Tbsp vegan sour cream

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, brown mushrooms with butter and salt.
Add spinach to mushrooms, tossing until greens are completely wilted.
Add remaining ingredients to pan and cook 1 more minute, stirring regularly.

I hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Have you ever dyed your hair with Kool Aid?

11Feb2013

And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

by Emily

My mom texted to check on me after I didn’t post last night, but I promise I wasn’t snowed in/buried alive/on a bender – I’ve just been busy! Monday wasn’t quite as crazy as Sunday, but I am getting this post up early before night class so I have some tiny chance of painting my nails this evening. If I miss another holiday colors polish opportunity I will be so sad.

Sunday I ate this Tandoor Chef Vegetable Pad Thai for breakfast.

Not traditional “morning food,” but one of the best frozen entrées ever. It is a little calorie-dense at 490kcal a package, but the texture and flavor makes it taste like a splurge and not a sad frozen dinner.

I tried to take a cup of my latest impulse purchase to work with me, but ended up passing Adam my glass after one sip.

I love Silk’s almond milks but I think I am just not a soy milk girl; this had such a strong aftertaste to me. Thankfully the husband enjoys it so our carton won’t go to waste.

Adam and Webster picked me up from work, and we got this box from the co-op hot bar on the way home.

Vegan “cheesy” pasta and 3 stuffed grape leaves, shared 70-30 my favor.

We also split this Opal apple.

It is fun to try new varieties, but we probably won’t get this one again for the increased price versus “regular” apples.

I was tired from work, and really didn’t want to go to the gym, so I bribed myself with this Justin’s Chocolate Almond Butter packet.

That stuff is just chocolate frosting, I swear!

At the gym, I finished my first week of CT10k workouts. 4 minutes walking/1 minute running, x 8. Except I shouldn’t listen to Fiona Apple while I run because I’m obsessed; I ended up running for 10 minutes straight in the middle of my workout.

Dinner was all over the place, but the components were all good. A handful of baby carrots.

Pizza crusts stolen from the husband.

A bit of Chocolove Currants and Almonds in Dark Chocolate.

Who knew I loved currants? They definitely helped break up the intensity of the bar.

Finally, we made tasty smoothies.

Thai young coconut, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, and a bit of brown sugar.

Adam has recently decided that he is obsessed with Thai young coconuts, so expect to see more of these. Especially since our coconut was so exciting – it was pink!

Apparently it’s a common variation relating to the varied levels of phenol found in the coconuts.

Today I grabbed a Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar for breakfast.

I attended a workshop on TPN in the morning so I got to eat in the hospital rather than my car, which was nice.

Lunch was another tasty black-eyed pea salad.

Black eyed peas with bread and butter corn, green pepper, smoked almonds, and green Tabasco. I made a big batch so my lunch for the next two days is already packed.

With a serving of the dark chocolate for dessert.

And when I got home I ate a pear.

I took care of a few things for school when I got home from the hospital, and sudddenly I was starving.

Dinner was pretty lame, but I’m in a hurry trying to get to school so I can finish some reading before class.

And lame doesn’t mean it didn’t taste good!

A box of Health is Wealth Asian Spring Rolls,

with a dipping sauce of chunky peanut butter and Smart Balance Light.

Mmmmmmn!

P.S. – You can still win! Comment on this post before midnight for a chance to win a copy of the “Petite Treats” cookbook.

10Feb2013

Last Friday Night

by Emily

I spent Friday night getting a little drunk. Mind you, not so drunk that I would actually want to listen to Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night.” We did watch some bad stand up comedy on Netflix though. <– Tim Minchin, not as funny as this joke would lead you to believe. (It’s so dirty, don’t click, Nana!)

Yesterday, Bitchtastic

Friday morning started with a Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar on the way to the hospital.

I had plans for a morning gym session but when I saw the weather report I decided to sleep in instead. We got really lucky here, the snow was annoying but not anything dangerous.

I had a nice day at the hospital in spite of the weather. I got to chart on several interesting patients and had a little more practice with doing pediatric TPN orders. I love the nutrition support aspect of dietetics but children are really different from what I’ve done with adults.

Lunch was a simple salad.

Chopped green pepper and cucumber with evoo, Sriracha, and some salty peanuts.

What a winning combination!

Plus a GoGo Squeez Cinnamon Applesauce packet.

Great on the go, but not as amazing as the pile of fruit I had when I got home.

Underneath my mounds of blue and blackberries was Naked Vanilla Oat Milk, a little honey, and 1/4 cup each All Bran Bran Buds and Nature’s Path Coconut Chia Granola.

So flipping good. And it was a good thing I got in a healthy snack because my responsible food choices took a downhill turn during the rest of the evening.

I blame the Bitch Bubbly.

A girlfriend came over and she, Adam, and I drank the bottle in mimosas.

The sparkling wine was pretty bad, but our next round was fantastic –

Sips Lavender Lemondrop Sparkling Cocktails! This was so fun, and quite delicious. I described it to my coworker today as “Kate Spade’s Four Loco.” I would definitely buy them again.

But maybe I’d eat dinner first next time. My evening meal ended up being… A slice of bread with Smart Balance Light,

and a huge bowl of popcorn with melted Earth Balance.

Major thanks to the husband for making me two bowls of popcorn; I spilled that first one within a matter of minutes!

Fashion Friday

Today, Tofutastic

Saturday’s meals were a little healthier. Still very tasty though.

For breakfast, Adam and I split a great pb & j.

With a pear on the side.

I worked today, but only a half shift, so I had time to get lunch from Wegman’s hot bar. Some tofu and veggies in mushroom dashi with two pieces of inari.

I did lots of Googling, and as far as I could tell mushroom dashi is just mushroom stock, so I’m still not sure what that yummy sauce was.

We made tofu for dinner too.

A bed of cabbage —a bag of “Asian Slaw” mix cooked with a bit of Earth Balance with caramelized onions tossed in towards the end— topped with walnuts —cooked in a skillet with salt and sugar— and tofu —super firm tofu cooked in the skillet we used for the onions, finished with a sauce of tamari, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Sriracha, honey, and orange juice.

I was glad I added the nuts at the last-minute to help break up the texture. The flavors were spot on though.

I had Goody Good Stuff Tropical Fruit for dessert.

Adorable, and much firmer than the other varieties.

Was your area hit with this weekend’s crazy weather?

27Jan2013

Cookie Sunday

by Emily

Cookie Sunday, could that be a thing now please? I had two today. But everything else was healthy. Now that we are trying to not be fat-fat-fatties we gotta keep things balanced.

Breakfast bowl.

The final serving of KIND maple granola (booo! We need more asap!) with chopped peach and plum and Lifeway coconut chia kefir.

Tortellini salad from the co-op.

I split a cookie with Adam at the grocery store.

Yes, we were back at the store, I’m unable to do my shopping in any less than twenty trips a week.

Dinner was great.

Buffalo chicken nuggets (I have a recipe for you below) with blue cheese for dipping,

sautéed mushrooms,

and roasted broccoli.

I made us cookies for dessert.

no. 2 pencil’s single serve cookies (recipe actual makes 2 cookies) are genius, but I crunched the numbers and they have 360 calories each – not an everyday treat. But they were perfect for Cookie Sunday. <– is it a thing yet?

Buffalo Chicken Nuggets, serves 4

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cup buffalo wing sauce
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup cornstarch
2-3 Tbsp oil

Put chicken pieces into a Tupperware and cover with buffalo sauce. Marinate at least 4 hours.
Combine cornmeal and cornstarch in a large ziplock baggie. Add marinated chicken, seal bag, and shake until chicken is evenly coated.
Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large pan over medium heat, add remaining oil to the pan as needed.
Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, place chicken in pan, cover, and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked through.
Transfer cooked chicken to a plate covered with paper towels to rest before serving.

23Jan2013

My Pictures Went “Poof!”

by Emily

I’m over the hump! Three days in a row of full-time interning, cooking meals, and generally being an adult. And the thought of adding in workouts next week only slightly makes me want to order a pizza and eat it in bed.

[[[Updated to add – I typed my introduction as I was editing today’s photos. Only when I moved forward to write the next paragraph did I realize that I somehow deleted all of my dinner photos. {frick! frick! frick!} It is a good thing that I started this post in a chipper mood.]]]

Today was delicious! Breakfast had two tasty components.

A big glass of Lifeway Lowfat Coconut Chia Kefir.

Yumtastic, this variety is the best kefir I’ve ever had! Sometimes kefir has a bit of a sour aftertaste to it but this flavor had none of that. The coconut flavor was pretty subtle so I think this would appeal to you even if you’re not loco for coco(nut).

With a big bowl of (microwaved frozen) peaches topped with 1 tsp brown sugar, 1/3 cup KIND Maple Walnut Clusters with Chia & Quinoa, and a splash of skim milk.

Yesterday’s gross protein smoothie may not have tasted like peach cobbler, but this sure did.

It was a good day at the hospital. I’m still mostly observing but I got to discuss some pretty interesting patients. My cases today included eating disorders, ketogenic diets for seizure disorders, and failure to thrive. So far this experience has really cemented my desire to go into clinical practice when I graduate.

I did get up early to journal, and then I worked through lunch, but I’ve finally taken a chunk out of that project. There is still a lot to do tomorrow but tonight I managed to just have down time. And I did get to eat lunch while I worked. A big Pink Lady.

Some Skinny Cow peanut butter chocolates.

And I packed us both tuna salad sandwiches.

We split a can of tuna with Miracle Whip, pickle relish, and tons of red onion.

And then I had to chew gum to deal with my horrendous tuna/onion breath.

Worth it.

Afternoon snacks included 3 oz of trail mix eaten in the car.

And a strawberry milk tea with popping and tapioca boba from Gin Gin.

I’ve been raving about the double bubbles at Gin Gin for months and today I finally got to take a similarly obsessed friend to experience the wonder. I’ll have you all know that she too dug through her ice to snag all the boba!

As you know, I don’t have any pictures of dinner. {grrrrrr} Thankfully the meal didn’t photograph all that beautifully anyway. We sautéed linguine, evoo, a bag of frozen veggies (green beans, broccoli, onions, mushroom, and red pepper), 2 eggs, and peanut sauce until crispy and delicious. We each had a large bowl and loved every bite.

My new fun thing is to be starving an hour after dinner each day. I’m not going to fight it, but I am trying to stick to mostly healthy(ish) snacks to deal with my hunger. Today’s 4th meal was a yogurt bowl.

Fage 2% Plain Greek yogurt topped honey and a half serving of granola. A little more sugary than I’m hoping for every day, but the bowl was luscious and it did fill me up.

Are you a kefir fan?

22Jan2013

Weak-Sauce Weak Tea

by Emily

Did you know that I started my internship a week before the semester officially begins? The pediatric hospital I’m working with is in high demand and these dates were the only ones that worked for them. This is awesome because it means that I have a random free week in the middle of the semester. But it’s a little tricky because I haven’t gotten a ton of guidance; the meeting to review the expectations for our self-selected internships isn’t until next Monday!

The lack of guidance, coupled with my sub-clinical OCD, creates a few problems. For example, I know that we have to keep a journal that will help provide documentation to show what we did with our internship hours. I do not know exactly what is supposed to go in that journal. For now I’m recording every single freaking thing. Not surprisingly, journaling is taking forever. I worked most of the evening and have to wake up early tomorrow to get back at it.

As predicted, today’s lunch was delicious and filling. When I got home I snacked on a leftover Alexia Artisan Sweet Potato Roll with Smart Balance Light.

The rolls were even better leftover; they stayed very soft.

Also a Fig with Orange Zest Chobani Bite with 1/3 cup KIND Maple Walnut Clusters with Chia & Quinoa.

The granola was knock-your-socks-off good! I sampled some at FNCE and knew I had to buy a some immediately. Now Adam loves it too and I am predicting a fight as the bag gets lighter.

I drank a mug of tea with skim milk and sugar to warm up while I worked.

I so want to love tea but the cups I brew at home are too weak! I basically make (milky sweet) dirty water. This was 6 oz of water, microwaved for 90 seconds + 2 bags of Republic of Tea Red Velvet Tea steeped for 6 minutes. Where am I going wrong?!

Thank ~~God~~ Tasty Bite for a quick dinner.

I sautéed 2 pints of mushrooms in butter and evoo then tossed the packet of Vegetable Korma into the hot skillet. Split between two bowls, on top of a serving of Jasmine Rice each.

This is not a meal that photographs well (at all!), but it was damn tasty. Plus healthy and quick enough for a busy night.

I was still hungry after dinner (we’ve decided that we have temporarily ruined our stomachs with our out-of-control portion sizes and that we will probably just have to spend a few weeks being a bit hungry) so Adam and I split a minneola.

Gotta love citrus in the winter time!

Please help! Do you have any tea brewing tips for me?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: mushroom

Coconut Chocolate Lavender

The Sunday Scurry

Kool And The Gang

And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

Last Friday Night

Yesterday, Bitchtastic

Fashion Friday

Today, Tofutastic

Cookie Sunday

My Pictures Went “Poof!”

Weak-Sauce Weak Tea