Tag Archives: pasta

My Aching Ischium

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Ow!

I wish I could blog more about today but it’s after midnight and I am just so tired!  Time to keep things cursory.

I started my morning with a version of my new favorite breakfast.

Great Harvest granola (essential!) with berries, 0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt, and a blue raspberry honey stick.

Delicious, and totally fun looking.

Then my parents and I headed out for a 3 hour bike ride.  Hence the aching sit-bones!  My plan was to run but my leg is sore (from accelerating of all things) and I think I ended up getting a better workout anyways.

After our three hour ride a big lunch was key.

It doesn’t look like much but that’s a vegetarian rice bowl from the burrito place down the street.  Rice, black beans, creamy hot sauce, tomatoes, corn salsa, guacamole, lettuce, cheese and pineapple.

It was a totally ridiculously delicious combination of flavors.

I also had this light Arnold Palmer.

We ran some fun errands this afternoon including a little farmers’ market,

and then headed to dinner at Beppo Uno.

I started with a side Cesar salad,

and ordered the baked zitti for dinner.

I can’t believe my nacho-obsessed self can even say this but it was a little too cheesy for me!

I only took a few bites but gulped down my shockingly good garlic bread,

and a slice of my mom’s shrimp and pesto pizza.

I guess I’m carbo-loading for tomorrow’s bike ride?!

I’m blogging so late because my parents and I went to see a 9:20 showing of “Bad Teacher.”  <– Cameron Diaz meh, Jason Segel hubba hubba!

Doorknob Ankle Cold

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Whew, vacation’s not over yet; Adam’s parents are here for a visit!  We spent the day running around with them and it was nice to be the one showing off the city for a change.

Before our visitors arrived, Adam and I set out for the farmers’ market.  We didn’t find any produce we wanted but it was basically a menagerie down there.  Here’s a llama –

there’s a llama –

(and another little llama, fuzzy llama, funny llama, llama llama,) duck!

That song will be stuck in your head for the rest of the day.  (Remember this one??)

While we were out we snagged breakfast, straw-style.

Organic 3 Cafe is great about letting you customize your juice orders.  This was spinach, carrot, cucumber, kale.

I also grabbed a half-sweet coffee from Wilson Farms.

Soon enough, my in-laws were here and we all headed to Tokyo Shanghai Bistro for lunch.

That’s the a la carte tomago (egg custard nigiri) I shared with my mother-in-law.

The lunch specials (only $6!) came with steamed rice and a cup of soup, I went with hot and sour.

For my main order I got the garlic eggplant with extra veggies.

I’ve been craving garlic eggplant for forever and this totally hit the spot.  It was a little bit spicy but not super sweet or fried tasting.

After lunch we took a movie break and headed to the theatre to see Mr. Popper’s Penguins.  The movie was a lot better than I was expecting, it was great to see Jim Carrey actually act (not just make crazy faces).  My favorite character was definitely Pippi.

We wanted to cash in a Groupon for dinner so we drove out to Hamburg to the Buffalo Street Grill. 

The husband and I had trouble deciding so we ended up sharing two dishes.

Tortellinni with portobello mushrooms and pesto,

and grouper topped with crab, brie, and roasted red peppers,

which came with french fries,

and a squash medley.

The veggies were seriously delicious, the best side I’ve had in a restaurant all year!

Finally, we took the parents to Anderson’s for frozen yogurt.

I got a baby twist with marshmallow topping.

Mmmmn.

After we said goodnight to my in-laws, Adam and I took a walk to pick up a few things at the Co-op.  It might be 90* in DC but it’s in the 60’s here; we were so cold we ended up sharing a cinnamon dolce steamer from Starbucks to warm up!

A steamer is just steamed skim milk with 1.5 pumps of syrup, but it did the trick getting us through our walk.

Adam is making the opening and closing remarks at a medical school ceremony tomorrow so we’ve got to get to bed and get him his beauty rest!

Tears of Joy

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Hello from the nation’s capitol!  DC is one of my favorite cities (2nd to New York, of course) and it feels good to get back here for a visit.

Yesterday afternoon my best friend got off of work just in time for dinner.  Adam and I had one request: Thai food!  She happily delivered.

Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum.  Guys this was what I’ve been dreaming about!  Ever since my spicy Thai food fail last week I’ve been a woman obsessed.

I ordered the Vegetarian Drunken Noodles with extra veggies, made Thai spicy.  They delivered times two: tons of veggies to make my body healthy and tons of spice to make my soul healthy.

The spice got me a bit teary eyed, but I think they were just tears of joy!

Adam and I headed to Starbucks this morning so I could blog but we’re having some difficulty with breakfast.  Knowing this city I think I’ll manage to find something good soon.  The plans for the day include the Natural History Museum, so I’m off to get my learn on!

What’s your prefered spice level – Thai spicy, American spicy, or no spice at all?

Which Resulted In…

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I crossed off all of my to-do’s (I still have to clean the stove but I know that it’ll get done before bed) and I even made a quick run out to Wegmans and Target; bam!  Very accomplished feeling although there were some unintended results…

My trip to the store pushed dinner back later, which resulted in a grumbly tummy, which resulted in an impulse buy, which resulted in me eating 2 servings of Lays Honey Mustard Chips before dinner.

I actually picked up this same bag the other day and then put it back but when I was at the store again with “free” money (we get $ for recycling our cans/bottles) I just couldn’t resist.  Sadly they were oddly spicy and not as good as I was imagining.

The chips did give me the ability to make dinner without a distracted stomach, and I ended up making an amazing meal.

That, my friends, is a heaping bowl of pasta.

This quick and easy dish was randomly chosen but everything ended up coming together perfectly.  For 4 servings, served on top of rigatoni, I combined –

Healthy, filling, and vegan to boot!

That Sounds Dirty

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My shift last night went great, but when I got home to bed that’s when it felt like the real work began**.  I’ve been having a terrible time sleeping lately and it’s driving me crazy.  I’ve always struggled with bouts of insomnia, but I’m fairly certain this week’s sleeping difficulties are tied to skipping the gym.  Even though I was tired (obviously), and it’s technically a free day in my training plan (the whole week has been “free” apparently), it was pretty easy to convince myself to work out this morning once I made the no gym = no sleep connection .

Once I got the husband up**, we were off for a 9am run.  We ran 2 miles down Elmwood and back for a 4 mile run.  4 miles in 44:53. Yikes, holy skipped training days, Batman!

After a quick shower and a date with some ice** we retraced our running steps so I could pick up a few things at the Farmer’s Market and Co-op.  The Farmer’s Market was a gigantic puddle, but we had more luck on the rest of our stops.

We split a grande (non-fat, half syrup) iced caramel macchiato.

And bought some brunch from the Co-op.

I knew my dinner was going to be veggie-heavy so I loaded up on protein.  Pad Thai noodles,

mango cashew curry chicken salad,

waldorf chicken salad,

and pea and radish salad.  That stuff in the corner was Adam’s tofu.

We ate at a table outside in the sun and it was glorious.

The real excitement came at dessert though, they have my new favorite candy bars back in stock!  Adam and I split one for funsies when we got home.

Mmmmmn!  <– things that make you go oh god, yes!**

I spent some time cleaning the apartment this afternoon, balanced with time spent curled up with a few magazines, and then it was time for lunch/dinner.

I had a neon eggplant and some purple kale (yay, colors!) to use up and the first place my mind went was honey sesame eggplant.

First I saute/steamed the eggplant and kale in a bit of sesame oil and water.  Next I tossed the veggies with a mix of tamari, rice vinegar, and honey.  Finally I topped them with some crunchy sesame seeds.

Not my most amazing combination ever, but good enough and at least it was quick.**

Gotta get in your veggies!

I’ve got one more shift at work tonight and then I’ve got the day off tomorrow, yippie.  I’m off to be a working girl**.

**that sounds dirty

Wake Me Up Buttercup

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I’m afraid Adam thinks that if he drives me crazy from tiredness I’ll lose my mind and buy him that x-box he’s been putting on his Christmas list for years.  Not gonna happen husband! 

We haven’t been getting enough sleep and I was so tired yesterday that I took not one, but two naps!  I had big dreams (ha!) of going to bed early but Adam told me at the last minute that he had to attend an event some friends were hosting.  Then he called me every hour after 9pm to tell me that he would be coming home an hour later than his last call.  When he did finally get home we both had a terrible time sleeping, which was made worse by the fact that it was so cold he had to get up to get the comforter we thought it was time to put away.  May what?!

I could tell that I was tired as soon as I finished breakfast, and by the time Adam dropped me off at the gym I thought I was going to die.  I actually sat in the locker room for 30minutes, willing myself to move.  True story.  Once I did find the motivation, I ended up having a good workout!

I missed a few days in my training plan earlier this week so I wanted to get in both 30 minutes of cross-training and 3 miles of running.  I figured the best way to go was a circuit –

  1. 10 minute warm up on the treadmill
  2. 10 minutes on the elliptical, level 6 random
  3. run 1 mile on the treadmill
  4. 10 minutes on the elliptical
  5. run 1 mile on the treadmill
  6. 10 minutes on the elliptical
  7. run 1 mile on the treadmill
  8. 10 minute cool down on the treadmill

With transitions and stretching in between sets, that’s 1 hour and 35 minutes of cardio.

And now I’m feeling 100% more awake, I love how exercise does that!  I did keep it simple and easy for lunch though.  A Smart Ones Mini Rigatoni with Vodka Cream Sauce,

that I beefed up with some roasted yellow squash.

It ended up feeling like a pretty fancy meal.

The pasta was nothing special (though not bad!) but roasted squash is one of my favorites.

On the agenda for the rest of the afternoon is a low-key dinner with Adam, and a baking project that I’m super excited about.

Don’t forget to enter today’s giveaway!!

Time Crunch Tuesday

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I’m not going to tell you about my day.  I’m definitely not going to tell you about how hideously unprepared I am for my two important tests tomorrow.  I am going to stick to my blog-everything-for-30-days goal.  Photo details only to follow…

An everything style Bagel Thin with a slice of 2% Colby cheese.

A small white hot chocolate made with skim milk.

Apple dippers.

A GoGo Squeez applesauce pouch.

A Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar.  (Oh God, this was good.  It tasted like a Samoa!)

A dulce de leche Skinny Cow mini ice cream.

2 mini bags of popcorn with Smart Balance Light.

Leftover Buffalo Wing Baked Pasta,

with baby carrots,

and a pickle.

A frozen coffee.

Workout = 3 mile run down Elmwood, 28:40.  No stops, yay!

Done and done.

Buffalo, Take Me To San Fransisco

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This post is my entry into a contest that will hopefully take me to San Fransisco for the 2011 Foodbuzz Blogger Festival.  The Tyson Grilled and Ready Chicken was provided as a free sample via the Foodbuzz Tastemakers’ Program.

I moved to Buffalo after spending two years in the best place on earth.  That’s Brooklyn, NYC, if you’re not sure.  Before that I was born and raised in St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands, and attended college in Miami, Florida.  The places you call “destinations” I call home.  What could Buffalo have to offer me?

For one thing, my new home is the birthplace of Buffalo chicken wings.

Which have spawned Buffalo sandwiches, Buffalo shrimp, Buffalo tacos, and most importantly, Buffalo chicken dip.

When I took my first bite of Buffalo chicken dip – supremely spicy and dotted with pockets of creamy cheese – I knew I’d found my new home.

No matter how nice your home may be, it’s ok to have a little wanderlust!  When I attended the very first Foodbuzz Blogger Festival in 2009, it was one of the best weekends of my life.

I fell in love, with the bloggers, the city, and the food!  I was heartbroken when we had to tighten our purse strings this fall and financial constraints kept me from attending the festival a 2nd year.  So that’s why I’m hoping to win a trip to this year’s event.

It’s not just about winning though, not that winning’s ever bad; the winner of the contest will have an opportunity to cook their dish for the crowd at the festival.  People don’t think of Buffalo as a foodie hotspot (I know I sure didn’t!), but I’m proud of my town.  I want the opportunity to share my city’s namesake flavor.

Buffalo Wing Baked Pasta, serves 8

  • 22 oz bag Tyson Grilled and Ready Chicken Breast Strips
  • 14.5 oz whole wheat rotini pasta
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 cup medium heat Buffalo wing sauce (I recommend Anchor Bar’s!)
  • 16 oz Neufchatel cheese (1/3 less fat cream cheese), softened
  • 1/2 cup reduced fat blue cheese dressing
  • 10 cups fresh spinach
  • 1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
  1. Cook pasta al dente according to box directions.  Drain finished pasta and return it to the pot (remove from heat when pasta is finished).  Preheat the oven to 450 degrees Farenheit.
  2. Heat frozen chicken strips in a nonstick skillet on medium heat for 3 – 5 minutes or until warm.  Add 1/2 cup Buffalo wing sauce to chicken and continue to cook for one minute.
  3. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.  Reduce heat to medium-low.
  4. Combine cream cheese, blue cheese dressing, and remaining 1 cup Buffalo wing sauce in the pan.  Heat until melted, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.
  5. Pour sauce over pasta.  Add chicken and spinach to the pot and stir well to combine.
  6. Spread pasta mixture into a greased 9×13 inch casserole dish.  Top evenly with cheese.
  7. Bake 8 – 11 minutes, until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

I ate my serving with carrots and celery, because that’s how we serve Buffalo chicken dip.

What dish is your town famous for?