Tag Archives: okra

Courageous

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Hello, hello!  I’m not sure how it’s become Thursday, but it all feels very sudden.  Probably because I haven’t had a whole lot on my agenda this week.  I’m excited to have a bunch of to-do’s to tackle in the remaining month before school.

I didn’t make dinner (or blog) last night because I got hit with another migraine.  I don’t get them all the often any more but when I am struck it seems to happen in sets.  I took medicine in time to still have an evening, but our dinner plans were ruined.  Instead we got take-out.

That’s a buffalo chicken sub and french fries from Jim’s Steak-Out.

I also ate half of a Rollo McFlurry, but the pic is on Adam’s cell phone and he’s not home.  I’ve been obsessing over these ever since I saw them advertised last month, but it ended up only being ok.  I love caramel, but vanilla ice cream just doesn’t do it for me.

Fast-forward to this morning when I enjoyed a bowl of Fiber Plus Caramel Pecan Crunch with skim milk.

For lunch I decided to try these Soy Boy Okra Courage Burgers I’ve had in my freezer for months.

I tried mine toasted, on a bun with a slice of sharp cheddar and a drizzle of ketchup.

I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either.  The nutrition stats (130 calories and 13 grams of protein per patty) are great but the flavor didn’t blow my mind.  I think I’d like to try one on something less bready before I make an official decision.

I did love pile of roasted green beans I had on the side.

It’s official: roasted green beans win the Emily’s Favorite Veggie award.  I’m also in love this new plate I got at Anthropologie on my birthday.

I’m keeping the afternoon low-key (ie watching tons of “Charmed”), but at some point I am going to finish making my #tgfa cookie balls so I can mail them out to the winner tomorrow.  I’d also like to make that dinner, but let’s not write anything in stone! 😀

What is your favorite veggie?  Roasted green beans top my list, but eaten straight-up I’m obsessed with baby carrots.

Almost Off

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I’ve got one more shift at work tonight and then I’m off for the next three days; wahoo!  Today basically has felt like a day off anyways since I’ve got laundry to put away and some things to clean and I’ve successfully ignored it all.  I also skipped the gym so I could give my knee one more day’s rest before I run 5 miles tomorrow.

Adam and I both had nightmares last night that effected our sleep and when we rolled out of bed after 10:30 this morning I was nightmarishly hungry.  Enter a crunchy bowl of cereal with cool skim milk.

We’ve got a Wegman’s brand crunchy oatmeal cereal and Cinnamon Pecan Special K and I had a serving of each.

I don’t eat a lot of cereal but sometimes it sounds so good.

I also noshed on a big pile of baby carrots with blue cheese.

There was only one serving of food left for dinner tonight (we went to town on those sloppy joes yesterday!) so I left it for Adam and walked to the Co-op to pick up hot bar.

Curry chicken salad, tofu with okra, bbq temph, southwestern baked yams,

cashew broccoli salad, grape leaves.

For dessert I made the “punch” that I’ve been dreaming about ever since I had a sip at an event a few months ago.

Vanilla ice cream with orange juice and Sprite.

Frothy!

What is your favorite kind of punch?

STT; Wednesday Afternoon – Thursday Afternoon

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As predicted, yesterday afternoon was spent on a swim workout. My mom dropped Adam and me off at Morningstar beach for an hour. We had fun, but also got in a good workout. Adam would swim a distance away from me and then I would swim as hard as I could until I reached him. Repeat.

For dinner we refurbished pad thai leftovers.

Stir-fried with extra veggies – okra, carrot, broccoli, celery – and egg.

We also went to see The Fighter. I got in some fruit with apple slices as a movie snack.

And there was German chocolate cake waiting when we got home.

I had a (big) slice with a glass of skim milk.

Yum, good job mom!

For breakfast this morning I mashed a small banana with cinnamon, and spread it on two mini buns with almond butter.

Made quite the tasty little sandwich set.

The wind has been crazy recently so we spent the morning hiking around The Point and watching the waves crash.

I’ve snacked on a bag of cheez-its,

and split a gingerbread Clif bar with Adam.

Now (after this quick stop at school) the whole family is going for a long walk downtown.  The plan tonight is a belated anniversary dinner, and then tomorrow we fly on home.

STT; Sunday Afternoon – 3rd Anniversary

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Sunday afternoon, after a quick trip home for provisions, we headed to the movies. We saw a matinée of True Grit, which I just loved. Cowboy movies are so not my thing, but somehow I knew this one would just rock my socks. The story line was funny and touching and I loved the vocabulary.

I packed a baggie of baby carrots,

and bought some Jordan Almonds at the theatre.

We did a quick and easy dinner when we got home.

Baked okra with ketchup,

cole slaw,

and two mini buns (split), toasted and topped with leftover spinach dip.

Plus dessert.

One of our guy friends was flying out Monday afternoon, so we met him that morning for brunch.

A few other friends came along and it was great to catch up with everyone.

I ordered a mahi mahi sandwich with a side of cole slaw.

Delish!  Mahi mahi is my favorite kind of fish, so light and flakey.

I left my bun, but devoured everything else.

Dessert (clearly I’m on vacation, who really needs lunch dessert?!?) came at home in the form of 7-layer bar.

Around 4 – we are really watching our sun exposure – Adam and I got in an afternoon workout. We headed to the beach, and amid the frolicing did 30ish minutes of hard swimming.

We met up with visiting family friends for dinner. I wasn’t feeling confident about the healthiness of the meal, so I supplemented with some baby veggies before dinner.

Good thing, because pizza was dinner. I ended up with a shrimp scampi slice,

and a bbq chicken slice.

Adam and I also split a Caesar salad with extra veggies.

And I had a piece of homemade toffee when we got home.

Today (the 28th) is our 3rd wedding anniversary!!! We’ve celebrated by spending the day doing things we both love. Like starting the morning with a run… We got in an hour+ workout that included a bit of walking, 2 miles of running, and the mile uphill walk home. Between today’s run and yesterday’s swim, both of our legs are pretty sore!

Next on the agenda was lunch at our favorite restaurant.

Plus some time sipping coffee and reading.

I ordered a Vietnamese Latte (sweetened with condensed milk),

and Adam and I split the spicy sweet potato wrap (with spinach and rosemary goat cheese).

We’re unsure of the agenda tonight – there’s a party we might skip – but all I really need is an evening with the (3year’s old) husband!

A Pre-(Impromptu)Party Post

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Ooof!  So far we have packed this winter vacation full of fun.  I’ve been AWOP (<–away without posting) so I’d love to give you guys a full recap, but frankly, we’ve got a party to throw!  Yes, the party is tonight, and yes, it was planned, um, today.

Yesterday evening we took my in-laws out to dinner at Pearl Street.  (No you didn’t miss a lunch post, I just didn’t eat lunch.)  I ordered a turkey reuben.

There isn’t actually a turkey reuben on the menu, but PS is fabulous so when I asked to sub turkey for corned beef they happily complied.

With cole slaw on the side.

We had some time to kill so we headed to Starbucks where I ordered a short, skim, salted caramel hot chocolate.

Then we headed to see….. The Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra!

No photography was allowed during the show, but I promise you it was as aesthetically pleasing as it was easy on the ear.  I didn’t recognize all of the music but the show closed with scores from “The Nutcracker” and “Messiah” and everything was wonderful.

During intermission, the husband and I split a cranberry juice with champagne.

Fast-forward to a morning that came way too quickly, and the husband and I were out the door to see his parents off.

We were out and about too early for Target, so while we waited for paper plates and napkins to become available we stopped into Bagel Jays to split a rye bagel with lox spread.

Delish!  The rye bagel was a pretty exciting concept.

During the fray I did take time to cash in a Groupon for a mani/pedicure.

And to grab lunch from the Wegman’s hot bar.

But then it was back to work!

We’ve got things mostly done now, so I took a break for blogging and dinner.

The other half of my turkey reuben was delicious.

But this microwaved frozen okra was not.

Even spicy paprika couldn’t save it.  I forced down half to get in my greens, but this was slime city.

And now I’m looking forward to seasonal beer, mint chocolate cake balls, and hot pepper peach cheese-ball!

Dinner from Across the Pond

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Guess what I was doing this evening?!?!

Heck yeah, baby!  When Adam and I heard that Bill Nye (The Science Guy) would be speaking at my campus tonight we jumped at the chance to go.

“Bill Nye” was assigned homework watching for science class several times when I was in school.  He is definitely a childhood icon for me.  His talk fit into a series about sustainability and climate change; it was amazing.  He was intelligent, captivating, and funny, and I was pretty much star-struck.

Before we could go to the show I had an afternoon of classes and studying.  By the end of tonight I will have at least 100 notecards for tomorrow’s test!  While I worked, Adam brought me home a cookie.

Black and White cookies are my very favorite, but I wasn’t feeling the chocolate today for some reason.  I did devour all of the white though 😉

My dinner tonight left me feeling very British. 

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker Program, and I had received a bottle of Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce to review.

As soon as I got the package I knew I needed to buy an eggplant.  Here’s an eat your veggies tip – You are just a few simple steps away from food perfection!  Chop up an eggplant, pan-steam it until it’s nice and soft, then saute with some Worcestershire sauce.  The eggplant turns into perfect pillows and the flavor is pure umami.

Tonight I did half a small eggplant and a handful of chopped okra with Worcestershire and marinara.

Yum!  I know this doesn’t look very pretty, but it truly is one of my favorite meals.

To round out the ‘across the pond’ feel I served my meal with this can of Heinz Curry Beanz that caught my eye at the grocery store.

The ingredients list was just too interesting to pass up –

Sadly, I wasn’t the hugest fan.  I left most of it on my plate, but it was fun to try.

Now I’ve got to get my head out of England, and out of space, and back into reality for my HUGE exam tomorrow.  I will be up very late, and tomorrow’s post will probably be very late, but YOU might want to stop by in the morning for a giveaway 😀

Did you watch “Bill Nye the Science Guy” while you were growing up?

The Farmers’ Market Feeds My Soul

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What better way to announce my Zevia giveaway winner than to toast one in her honor?

Caitlin (commenter #5), this Zevia Cola’s for you!

By the way, after you e-mail me your address so I can get your prize sent off, I suggest drinking the Cola flavor first.  Cola is hands-down the best Zevia out there; it doesn’t taste diet at all, but the flavor isn’t exactly “Coke” either, much earthier.  There is almost a coffee note to it.

This morning the weather was wonderful and I took a nice walk to the Co-op and the farmers’ market.  Look at my bounty of local goodies –

I’m most excited about the plethora of peppers,

I ended up with two purple, one lime, and a pimento!

The only fail was breakfast; I planned on getting something to eat at the farmer’s market but there were so many tasty things to choose from that I got overwhelmed and ended up with nothing 😉 Instead I had a fat-free raspberry lemonade yogurt when I got home.

I finished up my grocery trip at Wegman’s.  We had a coupon, so I got myself a small iced coffee.

– With skim milk and sugar-free caramel syrup. –

I’ll cop to my lunch being a little strange, if you’ll promise to try it yourself anyway!

I pan cooked chopped eggplant, broccoli and okra in a big splash of chicken broth, then finished it off with ~1/2T of evoo.  Then I added 2t of mango chutney to the skillet, along with 2T each raisins and peanuts.

I know it sounds odd, but I swear that the flavors work.  It’d be great with a bit of spice too.

I’ve got a TON of schoolwork to do this long weekend but we have some fun planned in for tomorrow too.  And a dinner on the agenda for tonight that I’m totally jazzed about.  See you then!

~*~*~ It’s time for some shameless self-promotion!

1) Check out my mini guest post at Iowa Girl Eats.

2) I’m throwing my hat into the ring for Project Food Blog!  Actually, I’m thinking about resigning before it even begins, but check out my profile anyways!

3) Are you following me on Twitter?

Chutney Sounds Like a Stripper Name

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Just as predicted – dinner, tv, workout, cleaning.  Actually, no technical workout, but the husband and I did take a 2nd walk.  It is definitely long past time to get in an official sweat session.  The past week has been filled with walking (enough to consider exercise) but I’d like to ramp it up a bit.

Dinner took leftovers and turned them into something beautiful.

The 2nd half of my curried chickpea and potato burrito was a little soggy, but otherwise none the worse for the wear.

And it took me all of 5minutes to saute some frozen veggies; okra, corn, and green beans.  I’m from the school of thought that nothing doesn’t go with a sprinkle of salt and spicy paprika.

A healthy, easy, tasty dinner.

Improved exponentially by the addition of chutney, the one must-have on my grocery list today.

FYI – chutney is a stewed fruit spread common in Caribbean cuisine.  I’ve seen it made with mangos, cilantro, and apricots, and (in my opinion) the tastiest varieties always involve tamarind.

During the tv portion of the evening (“Rizzoli and Isles,” I’m becoming a fan, I think) I also had a bowl of popcorn.

Today was the husband’s 1st day back to school (um, *good luck!* belatedly) so we are trying to turn in early so we can attempt to establish some sort of healthy sleep pattern.  Goodnight all!

Have you ever tried chutney?