Dinner with Outstanding in the Field

by Emily

Tonight was amazing! I am so sorry for another lame post, I truely truely am. I get so excited about food but I have so much to say that it is too much and I’m exhausted.

Dinner was put on by Outstanding in the Field (a very locavore, farm to table, excited about sustainability organization) and was held at Greenleaf Warehouses. The setting was legit a warehouse, I love industrial/fashionable settings.

You can just go ahead and multiply this glass of vino by 3.

And I had 1 shrimp crisp,

and a whipped tuna cracker.

Dinner was family style, so we got to serve ourselves. First was a pickled veggie plate Ahi tonnato on pain de mie with gochukaura and parsley.

I loved how spicy everything was.

Next was soup Mushroom dashi, maitake, shimeji, enoki mushrooms.

It was very similar to a miso but the mushrooms had an insanely lemon taste. This was the only thing I didn’t love.

Then they brought out udon noodles with fresh calamari Udon, grilled Monterey calamari in a browned butter ponzu reduction, cucumber, kaiware, frisee & yellow pear tomato with chojang & sesame vinaigrette.

I was very nervous about it but Jenna convinced me to try a taste.

So glad I did! I actually really liked the calamari but the soba noodles were the best, very doughy and raw. Plus the dish had a good spice kick.

Then came salmon and mushroom risotto Salmon baked with dashikombu, fried garlic and Japanesse curry powder / Mushroom risotto with koshihikari rice, crispy maitake mushrooms.

I don’t know why I took such a tiny serving, but it was delicious. I love love loved the curry powder.

There was oxtail, but I obviously ignored it, and then came out a platter of brussels sprouts Roasted brussels sprouts, ponzu fried garlic, guanciale, bonito flakes. Jenna told me there was short rib in them, so I resisted. But brussels sprouts are in my top five all time food favorites, so I finally said f’ it and ate one. Delish. Then the waitress came by, and said “vegetarian.” So I loaded up a plate.

So.Fricking.Fantastic. They tasted like McDonald’s fries, which sounds awful but was just amazing. However, apparently, so not vegetarian. They definitly had pork in them. Which makes me quite sad 😦

Finally, dessert. Ah dessert Koshihikari rice pudding, cookie crumble, and warren pear.

I love rice pudding, but the pear, oh the pear! I had a bite of pear at the farmer’s market this morning and I’ve been telling people all day that it was seriously the best thing I’ve eaten out here. The dessert was from the same farm!!! I was in heaven.

Before we headed out they did Foodbuzz awards which was a lot of fun. I definitly congratualate some very deserving winners!

A bus ride later, Camile and I walked the mile back to our hotel for the last time. On the way home I just might have seen a 7-11 and shrieked at the top of my lungs. Bosenberry and cola, oh yeah.

Even more exciting? Getting in bed now! Tomorrow morning there is a goodbye breakfast and then I fly all day long and get back home at midnight! I have a big test on Monday so I’m not sure what the posting situation will be. I hope everyone else’s weekend ends well!!

Challenge Balance – $31.71

1Nov2009

Happy 80th Nana!

by Emily

Hello, hello, hello! Sorry to skip out for the weekend but I had a fabulous time. I flew to Ohio (with a bunch of other family members) to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday. We did party/family time all weekend, which meant TONS of cake! I missed the husband a lot but I had a great time, my family is so funny! This post won’t be as detailed, due to length, and if you get too bored skip to the bottom to find the winners of the Zevia contest.

Friday we had to get up nice and early to make it to the airport for my 6:35am flight. I was hungry when I got to the airport but it seemed early and I knew I would sleep my first flight so I decided to wait.

On my layover I got egg and cheese on a cheddar jalopeno bagel.

It was very tasty but I dropped half on the floor so I only ate half of it.

I was so excited when I finally got in to the Dayton airport!

My mom and grandma picked me up and we drove over to Tipp City to do some shopping (also the location of my grandmother’s surprise party!). We saw all sorts of fun things.

Nana (grandma) was impossible to get to her surprise party, she kept insisting the chosen restaurant was too nice, too slow, etc. I finally had to pretend I was going to pee my pants if we didn’t at least go in to the restroom! When she saw all of her friends she was so surprised she cried!

My mom and my aunt (who flew up with my mom a few days earlier than me) did such a good job planning and decorating!

We did a party lunch at Coldwater Cafe and it was very nice. I got a bloody mary to drink.

And for lunch I split – more halfs! – a turkey pannini (with artichoke spread and cheese) with my mom.

I ignored the chips but the sandwich was great.

My grandmother cried when she opened her presents and again when they brought in the cake!

I am not really a chocolate cake fan so I took a small bite and then packed up the rest to bring home to Paps (grandpa). I also packed up all the bread from the table baskets. My family teased me but they are either going to use it again, ewww, or throw it out, wasteful.

We got to go home long enough to pick up my grandpa and then we – me, my mom, my aunt, my grandparents, and the dog – squeezed into the car for a long drive to Toledo where my uncle lives. I seriously can not handle how funny my family is, we had such a good time!!

We were running late when we got there so we had a quick dinner from Wendy’s. I got a baked potato with broccoli and cheese.

I also ate one of my pumpkin cheesecake cupcake/muffins, so good!

My uncle is a high school football coach so we went to watch his team. It was their last game of the season, against their biggest rival, and they whooped them, so it was a lot of fun. My uncle had the marching band play happy birthday to Nana and she cried again!

After the game we went to a ‘end of season’ party my uncle was throwing for the other coaches. I had a small vodka and coke,

and a small slice of pizza.

And then there was more cake and more tears!

Quite a night was had by all 🙂

For Saturday breakfast I had an English muffin with homemade strawberry jam and scrambled eggs.

We spent the morning having family time before we headed to another birthday party, this one for my cousin’s baby! Lunch was buffet style at the party.

Cheesy potatoes,

fruit,

and veggies.

And of course more cake – I just ate the icing off this piece.

Over the course of the party I sipped a beer

and had a good time hanging with my mommy and grandma.

My mom, aunt, and I (all Virgin Islanders) walked to and from the party because it was so exciting to be cold! It was sad saying goodbye to my cousins but then the six of us packed back into the car and headed back to my grandparents’ house. More uproarious fun was had, including the hilarious/horrifying realization that my grandmother – who was driving – talks with her hands a lot!

It was Halloween, so I broke out some fancy chocolate I bought for the occasion.

We all had a small piece.

When we got home we had to rush to get dressed before meeting my grandparents’ best friends for dinner. It was a great last meal. I had a bloody mary again, to which I added a ton of Siracha and sizzled my mouth off!

My grandmother shared her side salad with me,

and she and Rose gave me their martini olives.

They are both amazing and both happen to read the blog, hi guys!

I also had a small piece of bread.

I was torn on ordering but when the waitress said unlimited toppings on the flat bread pizza I was sold! I asked for roasted red pepper, green peppers, red onions, caramelized onions, tomato, spinach, and mushrooms.

Mmmn. I ate 3/5 pieces.

It was another late night and I think we left my grandparents thoroughly exhausted!

This morning my mom and I both had 6:50 flights so it was another early trip to the airport. Goodbyes were easy; I see my grandparents for Turkey Day and my mommy and aunt for Christmas!

For reasons explained in the next post, I packed my own breakfast. A banana from my grandmother’s house,

and a seasonal Pumpkin Spice Cliff Bar from home.

My flights were all blissfully uneventful. I was very excited to see the husband at the airport. Apparently he went to a Halloween party last night so I’ll have to track down some pictures of his costume. He made himself spaghetti this weekend so I had a big bowl of that (doctored with mozarella and red pepper flakes) while I wrote this monster post.

My fingers are exhausted, it is definitely time to say Goodbye! I will “see” you all this evening, hope everyone else had a good weekend!

Zevia Winners

I used a random integer generator to choose the winners.

Runners Up who receive a mixed six pack

(#18) Annalene – i actually have tried Zevia before & I have to say that while they may take some time to getting used to the flavor after the initial drink or 2 these are actually quite good! my favorite is the lemon lime
(#5) Jenny – I would love to try the all-natural diet sodas. I work the night shift, and am obsessed with my diet Pepsi….but always feel guilty about the weird ingredients and colorings.
(#17) Erin – I really want to try this stuff since I love the occasional diet coke.
(#2) Holly – I’d love to win – this soda has been all over blogs and I’ve never tried it!
(#14) Erin– Zevia sounds great!

Grand Prize Winner who receives a mixed case

(#9) Molly – Sounds good!

Winners – shoot me an e-mail (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) by Tuesday morning to claim your prize!

19Oct2009

$2.99

by Emily

Good afternoon! Volunteering went well, and now I’m making a quick stop in at home before I head to campus. I have materials to print, so I have to go early, and I figure if I go super early maybe I’ll get some work done. I have a quiz this Thursday so this will be a busy week.

For lunch I decided to try the salad bar.

I was worried about spending more than my voucher so I only took a little food. However, the total ended up being $2.99, guess I should have gotten a little more! I had a little bit of pasta salad,

tuna salad with artichoke hearts,

and spring mix lettuce with carrots, peas, black olives, hot sauce, blue cheese crumbles, and vinegarette.

After volunteering I hit up the hospital coffee stand for a great pumpkin latte.

Mmmn. I love seasonal things!

I’m off to campus!

What is your favorite October food? Mine is pumpkin lattes or my pumpkin pie smoothies.

11Oct2009

Tastes of Fall

by Emily

Another productive day, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the streak continues! Plus, I’ve full-force started eating “October food,” another trend I hope to continue 🙂 After my breakfast post I attempted to do a little work, but Adam and I realized we were way too distracting to each other at home,

so we packed up our stuff and went to a coffee shop to work!

All my diet soda talk in the last post got me craving one, so that’s what I had!

The husband got a fancy shmancy hot chocolate.

We were at The Spot, so you know I wanted a Mike’s Sandwich, but when I thought about all the food fun I had planned at home I decided to resist. We studied for 4hours and I got a huge chunk of Chemistry work done.

On the way home I had the husband drop me at the gym. It was not so fabulous. My foot still hurts and my calves were really really tight. I really need to talk to a professional about strength-building/stretching exercises for my calves, knees, and hips. In the end I did 2.83 miles on the treadmill, and tons of stretching, for 36minutes and 361 calories.

After my shower we closet swapped our summer stuff for winter duds. Folks, we need to go shopping. I have almost no winter wardrobe. In NYC I dressed inappropriately and just dealt with being cold and uncomfortable, but that is not going to fly here in Buffalo (I’ll die!). We scheduled in a big mall trip for next weekend – p.s. we budgeted for this already.

Then, the foodie fun began! I made my first pumpkin pie through a straw of the season.

1/2C 2C “>Stoneyfield Farms Lowfat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt, 1C pumpkin puree, 1T maple syrup, 1/2C skim milk, dash cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.

So good!

While I was drinking “pie,” I started baking pie! I made a Maple Spice Pie from one of my favorite cookbooks, Pie, Pie, Pie: Easy Homemade Favorites, by John Phillip Carroll. I used a Wholly Wholesome Organic Whole Wheat Pie Shell.

Small blip, apparently you need maple syrup for a maple pie, who knew?!

After an emergency run to the store things were back on track. It had to set, so I started dinner before diving into dessert. This combo came (basically) from the September issue of Health (recipe here). Tofu and eggplant with cabbage over soba noodles.

I swapped tamari and worchestire (sp?) for miso and sesame seeds for sesame oil, but other than that I followed the recipe. It was wonderful, I loved the soba noodles and the texture of the tofu was great.

I had more pumpkin alongside dinner, Wolaver’s Organic Will Steven’s Pumpkin Ale.

And then finally it was time for dessert!

The pie was good, but super messy. The inside tasted like caramel apples to me!

I took a huge slice and actually made myself a bit sick 😦 Now it is time for bed, I’ve got to get my sleep if I want another productive day!

What fall foods have you enjoyed this year?

23Sep2009

Crossing My Fingers and Toes

by Emily

I actually got in bed before 10pm last night, but when we wake up 8bazillion times a night you kind of are tired no matter when you go to bed! I wouldn’t have mattered when I woke up today though, I let my sadness over my foot kind of take over my whole day. Not good, Emily, not good.

For breakfast I made 0% Fage with a heaping teaspoon TJ’s Sun Butter.

And lunch made tasty tasty use of leftovers (and made leftovers for tomorrow!).

I chopped up cooked lasagna noodles and stir fried them with broccoli, carrots, seitan, evoo, soy sauce, and chipotle oil. It was super tasty, but I don’t think I like seitan as much as I once did. I used this package from West Soy, and it just tasted a little off.

All in all the plate was still pretty good though.

Adam came home early from school (a class was canceled because of a big test this week) and we watched “Boogeyman” together. It was a strange movie, but the eating of 4squares of this greatly upped my enjoyment.

I got to school in time to print off class notes and purchase a stuffed buffalo for my niece. We are visiting Adam’s brother in Ohio this weekend. I also gave Jamba Juice a second chance.

Much better. When I got home from class I supplemented “dinner” with these pretzels.

Tomorrow is a big day, I have my first lab, my first quiz, and hopefully my first day back at the gym. Wish me luck!

What are you crossing your fingers for this week?

21Sep2009

Tuna Lasagna and 3.14

by Emily

Howdy there! I left the apartment and made it to the pharmacy (across many many a highway) unscathed 🙂 I was so proud of myself I bought a fountain diet coke from Subway as a reward! I reached school around 4:30, which meant I had 2ish hours to study before class. I still understand everything but I did stay for a while after class to ask a question.

When I got home I made some Chocolate Amazing Grass with skim milk.

Adam put the dinner I prepared this afternoon into the oven and it was ready when I got home.

(That’s a small plate portion) Tuna Salad Lasagna Stacks from Rachel Ray magazine. Here’ s a link to the recipe.

It was pretty good, but I saved room for dessert.

Tyler Pie was a success, the husband has been enjoying it. It is nice and custard-like.

I’m hoping to shower and get to bed pretty quickly because I have tons of schoolwork to do tomorrow. I’m going to head to a coffee shop to study so I won’t be posting until lunch. Please keep your fingers crossed for me that I can go to the gym tomorrow.

Do you ever use food as a reward? I don’t use “food” per se (and I am strongly against doing this with children), but a diet coke? Hells yeah! P.S. Whenever I get a fountain soda I always add a shot of cherry coke for funsies.

21Sep2009

Peanut Butter, Pasta, and Peace

by Emily

I’m back! I’m still pretty pissed about my foot, but at least I am calm about it now. It’s not just that my foot hurts, it’s mostly that the hurting is making me unable to walk normally, which is making my knee and hip really hurt. Even if I ignore the pain I physically can’t make myself walk normally and I’m worried that once I can run again I’ll have messed up my hip or knee. Argh! I’m going to take one more day off and then attempt to go to the gym tomorrow.

Moving on. I didn’t sleep well last night (shocking right?!) so I slept in until 9 and then got up and got organized for volunteering. I ate a PB&J Lara Bar on the walk to the hospital.

I love this flavor! When I put my shoes on at home I seemed ok, but by the time I was a block away I knew it wasn’t going to happen. My ward (dialysis) didn’t have anything seated for me to do so I offered to help in the volunteer office. I spent an hour or so on the telephone helping people get appointments for free heart health screenings. There wasn’t much else for me to do so I got home much earlier than usual.

I took advantage of the found time to make dinner for tonight.

I have night class, so Adam can just throw this in the oven when it’s time for him to eat.

Then I got started on noon eats. For lunch I made my Easy Peasy Peanut Noodles (click the link for the recipe).

I used a Justin’s pb packet and added baby arugula and shredded carrots.

Delish. I love reheating pasta in a pan so it gets all nice and crispy.

I have class from 6:30-7:50 tonight but I’ve got to leave before 3:30 so I can go to the pharmacy to pick up my foot medicine. We have our first chemistry quiz (and our first lab!) this week so I’ve got lots of studying to squeeze in today. I’m glad dinner is done with 🙂

There are three reasons for the end of this post: 1) Caitlin’s brilliance this morning reminded me, 2) I’ve been planning on posting some inspiration ever since I found out that today is The International Day of Peace, 3) my attitude has been pretty negative lately, I would like to put out some positivity. That said, here is a list of some of my favorite quotes –

“A man is what he thinks about all day.” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” ~Edmund Burke

“People who are sensible about love are incapable of it.” ~Douglas Yates

“In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life – it goes on.” ~Robert Frost (I actually have part of this one engraved on the back of my i-pod)

“This one step – choosing a goal and sticking to it – changes everything.” ~Scott Reed

“Life consists not in holding good cards, but in playing those you hold well.” ~Josh Billings

“For all the sad words of tongue and pen, the saddest are those ‘it might have been.'” ~John Greenleaf Whittier

What is your favorite quote?

20Sep2009

Peppers and Pie

by Emily

My biggest accomplishment this afternoon was getting rid of my headache, but that’s actually a pretty big accomplishment in my book! I finished GhostWorld and I can officially say I’m not a fan 😦

After crappy movie hour I finally did my kitchen to-do’s. I pre-made pasta for lunches this week, made dinner, and…..I made a pie!

Tyler Pie to be exact. I can’t give you the recipe, but it is from Pie, Pie, Pie; Easy Homemade Favorites by John Phillip Carroll. I’ve made things from this book throughout the years and I highly recommend it. Here is the description he gives in the book –

Incredible as it sounds, in the past, it was not uncommon to christen foods, particularly desserts, after political figures. Named for the 10th president of the United States, John Tyler of Virginia, this pie has its heritage in the South. Though the ingredients are simple, the pie has a caramel-like flavor and a smooth texture that combine to give it a soothing quality. It is a suitable for breakfast as it is after a good meal.

More on that later though, dinner was a success! I pulled the recipe completely from my head and it ended up being great 🙂

Stuffed Peppers, serves 4

5oz ww penne pasta
1C chopped broccoli
1T evoo
8oz 99% lean ground turkey
1/2C marinara sauce
4oz log goat cheese
4 peppers, any color (we used red, yellow, and orange)
1/4 shredded cheese (we used 2% cheddar)

Cook pasta, following box directions. In the last 3-5minutes of cooking stir in broccoli. Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, preheat oven to 475*. Cut the tops off of the peppers. Using a spoon, scoop out the pith and seeds, careful not to break the bottoms of the peppers.
Put pot back on stove, turn heat down to medium and heat evoo. Add turkey meat and cook for 2-3minutes. Pour in marinara sauce and finish cooking meat through. Remove from heat.
Add pasta and broccoli back to pot, along with goat cheese, and stir to mix.
Spoon pasta into peppers. Split cheese ontop of the peppers. Place peppers on a foiled cookie sheet.
Bake for 15minutes.

Notes on the recipe –

* Think anti-Sir-Mix-A lot with the peppers, get ones with flat bottoms (i.e. they will stand alone)

*I did not do this, but I highly recommend preheating the peppers for 5-10minutes

* Each serving has ~400calories

Our peppers were pretty small so I ate some filling on the side.

I took too much though, I ended up leaving most of the extra filling. I needed room in my belly for pie!

It was pretty good, it had a nice eggy taste to it. I got some free coupons for Wholly Wholesome products so I used one of their pie crusts.

We watched “The Open Window” while we ate, which was also a strange movie. And now it is late, and bedtime. Nighty night!

Do you bake?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: pasta

Dinner with Outstanding in the Field

Happy 80th Nana!

Zevia Winners

$2.99

Tastes of Fall

Crossing My Fingers and Toes

Tuna Lasagna and 3.14

Peanut Butter, Pasta, and Peace

Peppers and Pie