Bloody {Mary} Sunday

by Emily

My big plans of knocking off some school work didn’t come to fruition, but I did manage to do some day drinking. That’s a better use of time really, isn’t it?

I started the morning with this bowl of absolute incredibleness.

Dannon Oikos Cafe Latte Greek Yogurt, 1/2 serving Nature’s Path Coconut Chia Granola, fresh blackberries, 1 tsp honey, 2 Tbsp coconut butter.

Oh my goodness, you guys, the coconut butter. I have been reading Kath talk about coconut butter acting as a magic shell for years but I never quite knew what she meant. It was amazing.

I also snacked on (approximately 2 servings each) BBQ Pop Chips with reduced-fat french onion dip.

If I had known I was going to have chips with dinner I might have done a veggie-based snack instead, but at that point I planned on having soup! Sidenote – did you know that Pop Chips has a new ketchup flavor?! I’m pretty sure that sounds terrible.

I spent my afternoon at work. The weather has finally gotten the memo that it’s Spring so lots of people were out and about.

At the end of my shift some friends stopped by to invite me to Blue Monk. They were having a Bloody Mary special, with celery, hot sauce, tomato, etc infused vodkas.

A girl from our program sweetly got us a 2nd round so I ended up having two.

Bloody Marys make me crave stick-to-your-ribs food so instead of soup I ended up with Moe’s for dinner. A rice bowl – rice / black beans/ sautéed onion / mushroom / green pepper / cheese / sour cream / guacamole / corn salsa.

Plus chips with queso.

Apparently there’s always room for chips.

Do ketchup flavored chips sound good to you?

2Apr2013

No Talk Tuesday

by Emily

Tomorrow includes the last quiz of this semester. Quick, how many mg of cholesterol in 3 oz of dark meat turkey?

A: 72 mg.

P.S. Alter Ego makes the best flipping chocolate, the Dark Coconut Toffee bar blew my mind.

26Mar2013

Charleston, Day 1 And 2

by Emily

Hello from the South! I’m blogging in a spring-ish 50-something degrees (it’s better than Buffalo!). Actually, I’m blogging from Adam’s computer this trip, so I’ve got to keep things quick. We are having a terrific, delicious time.

Breakfast day 1 – brunch at the famous Hominy Grill.

I got a(n extra spicy) bloody mary.

And a bowl of she crab soup.

Charleston is famous for its she crab soup; this bowl was super creamy and loaded with pieces of crab. I adore anything with sherry.

We ordered a piece of buttermilk pie for the table.

But it was much drier and less custard-y than we were hoping so we all just took a small taste.

It was a rainy first day so we did lots of inside and driving activities. We got in some good sight-seeing and scoped out a few spots to hit up during the rest of our trip.

One of our stops was Whole Foods for stocking up on goodies. <– chocolate coconut butter packets, it’s good to have you back in my life!

There was froyo next door.

I didn’t really love any of the flavor offerings so I got a small cup of cheesecake yogurt with tons of popping boba.

Can’t go wrong with boba.

We went to Hyman’s Seafood for dinner and they brought us complimentary hush puppies.

Best hush puppies ever; they had the perfect amount of sweetness.

We also started with fried pickles.

Lots of fried food in that dinner. I got french fries as my side,

with steamed shrimp.

Every component of my meal ended up smothered in tartar and cocktail sauce. I’m a girl who loves her condiments.

I was exhausted by the end of the day and crashed into bed hard. Let’s pretend it was the 20 minute stationary bike ride I started the day with, and not the heavy dinner!

Day 2 we skipped the gym and slept in. Instead I made it a healthy morning by starting my day with an apple.

Then we headed to Bakehouse for breakfast.

The offerings were as delicious as the space was adorable. The cookies and bars looks amazing but the closest we came to them was splitting a caramel marshmallow.

I also did a toasted marshmallow cappuccino.

Adam and I shared breakfast.

We had a mixed berry scone.

And a piece of Greek turkey strata.

It was a great breakfast.

We spent our second day exploring on foot. King Street and Meeting Street provided lots to look at.

We even got to see dolphins!

I couldn’t get a picture to save my life, but we saw lots of waving flippers and even a mama/baby combo.

Tastes from the day included…. Praline,

a drop of the spiciest hot sauce available (I stuck a toothpick in it and touched it to my tongue; I honestly didn’t think it was that hot!),

honey,

an Earl Grey macaron (<– squeeee!),

a KIND bar,

and some watermelon Zots from one of the many old-time candy stores.

All good, but I am definitely a lunch eater; when we got back to the hotel to change for dinner I was starving. Enter the perfect snack –

Diet coke and Cacao Bliss? Yes please!

But I sure was glad I saved room for dinner. We had an incredible Southern meal at Magnolias.

Bread with ridiculous cream cheese herb butter came when we sat down.

And we ordered a pimento cheese plate to start.

Sadly, the cheese wasn’t quite as sharp as I was hoping for, but everyone else at the table loved it. Pimento cheese was at the top of my to-do list for the Southern vacation though, so I hope to try again tomorrow.

I ordered a Bellini to drink (champagne/peach nectar/and a touch of grenadine),

but ended up swapping with Adam halfway through for his vodka/creme de cassis/pineapple juice martini.

For dinner I went with the “Fresh, Local, and Vegetarian.” You can’t go wrong with a name like that!

Sautéed spinach, fresh corn salad, roasted carrots, fried green tomatoes with jalopeño pimento cheese, and mashed potatoes.

We were too stuffed for dessert, though the menu listed a cream cheese pecan brownie with white chocolate ice cream that I’ll probably be dreaming about!

In fact, I’d like to be dreaming now; goodnight!

Have you ever been to Charleston? Is there anything we just can’t miss on our last day?

16Mar2013

…I am so tired I forgot to title this post originally

by Emily

So I already told you guys the good news. More on that later, I’m too tired right now to be excited. I don’t know why I’ve been so exhausted lately – other than, you know, working really hard at my internship and continuing to get in bed after midnight even though up I’m at 6 – but this evening it hit me really hard. I went to work all day, did a quick grocery trip, then had a major meltdown. The husband is the kindest man on the planet and he ran out and got us calzones for a late dinner. We are eating now (and watching “Chopped!”) and then I’m going to pour myself into bed.

Packed breakfast for work. Cinnamon Apple GoGo Squeez.

Coconut Chia Bar. <– very nice, the coconut flavor was great

Muller low-fat Greek yogurt with honeyed apricot.

Lunch from the Co-op hot bar. I was hurrying to photograph because I was on the floor at work and I did not get a good picture.

A salad base – spinach and romaine with red pepper, cherry tomato, and maple vinaigrette – topped with corn relish and a jalopeño cheddar turkey burger.

Post-meltdown fuel. We shared a buffalo chicken stromboli and a cheese calzone.

Mmmmmn! Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

13Mar2013

Me Eat Food

by Emily

We are 36ish hours away from finding out where we are going to live for the next 5ish years, so clearly I can’t think about anything else. I’m not even going to try to make this coherent. Food good. Me eat food.

I skipped breakfast and packed too light of a lunch and my poor planning for the first half of the day left me starving for the 2nd half. Whoops. At least my protein-light mid-day meal was tasty. Leftover turkey egg cup filling (sautéed mushrooms with green onion and shredded cheese),

which I topped with some sweet seaweed snack.

It was a good combination. Plus 70% dark chocolate.

On a positive note – I aced my quiz. 101%!

I show you dinner first, since most of my food consumption was in snack form.

Cheese tortellini (about 1.5 servings) with green pepper, Kerrygold Skellig cheese (a sweet cheddar), and Tarragon vinaigrette.

Before dinner I had… A pear.

Jalopeño poppers and bread and butter pickles,

a handful of chips x2,

and a slice of turkey.

And after dinner I had more chips and cheese.

I was going to have a cookie too but then I got distracted looking at apartments …. in 5 different cities.

7Mar2013

An Alarming Morning

by Emily

So… My alarm didn’t go off this morning. I woke up naturally, 5 minutes after I was supposed to have been taking my coat off at the hospital.

Eeeeek! It was a stressful morning. And I may not have brushed my teeth yet today (don’t worry, I chugged mouthwash!) but I did have a good shift at the hospital. I worked on some really interesting patients and managed to get all of my work done on time, in spite of my late start. <– real talk though, I was only a little bit late; I’m basically a master at speedy dressing. I even looked sort of cute!

I clearly didn’t eat breakfast, but I did manage to grab my packed lunch out of the fridge. More black-eyed pea salad.

A new variety of apple.

And a half serving of dark chocolate.

I had a little more chocolate after work too, in the form of a caramel marshmallow egg.

The Cadbury eggs have nothing on this guy.

Dinner ended up being a slice of buffalo chicken pizza (that’s actually a half slice, I split with Adam) with baby carrots and blue cheese.

So good. This was actually just supposed to be a snack but I never could motivate myself back up off the couch again. I guess that means today’s workout will have to be a Friday affair.

When was the last time your alarm let you down?

6Mar2013

Loaded

by Emily

I’ve made it halfway through the first week of this rotation and I only sort of want to nap for a million years. The teachers have warned us for years that this is the placement that makes everyone get in bed at 9 pm. I’m crazy, so I’m still staying up ’til midnight, but I’m definitely tired!

I’ve been eating breakfast at the hospital but I need to figure out a new system because the cost of bars is going to add up. This one was a free sample at least.

And tasty too. Cascadian Farm Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bar.

Lunch was more black-eyed pea salad (beans, green pepper, cheese, smoked almonds).

The Talenti gelato pint made an awesome leftovers container; gotta love that screw-on lid.

Plus a pear.

I skipped the dark chocolate today because I knew we were planning a big dinner.

Of course, then I decided to get a milkshake on the way home.

You have to do a yearly Shamrock Shake! This was so good.

I also had a bagel thin with smoked salmon cream cheese when I got home.

I’ve been so hungry today, I want to say it was yesterday’s workout but let’s be real, I only did 4 miles.

Dinner was fantastic; loaded baked potatoes for the win.

Toppings included turkey bacon, mushrooms cooked in turkey bacon drippings, Smart Balance Light, shredded cheese, and green onions.

We were both practically licking our plates.

And I had a Toasted Onion Sea Snax while we watched The Nanny.

Love that show! We’ve got two more episodes to go and then I’ve got to get to bed. Good night!

5Mar2013

Cider House Run

by Emily

Let me apologize in advance for what is sure to be a post riddled with typos. I’ll do my best, but I can’t make any promises. I’m two days in and I’m going to have to agree with my friends who were in the previous rotation – this placement is exhausting.

Breakfast was a Pirouette Cinnamon Pecan Barre.

This bar was in my Yumvelope shipment. The ingredient list is great – dates, walnuts, pecans, agave nectar, hemp seed, rolled oats, hemp protein, ground flax-seed,brown rice protein, vanilla, cinnamon, sea salt, peanuts – but I wasn’t a big fan of the final flavor; too much date.

Plus hospital coffee with 2% milk.

We get free soda and coffee at this hospital so expect to see a lot of caffeine breaks!

Lunch was an easy assortment. A Pear Chobani.

A Honeycrisp apple.

And 70% dark chocolate.

I also packed this blue algae nut butter packet but I threw it out one lick in.

Much too gaggy.

At the end of the day, Adam texted me that he and a friend were at a bar near our house so I met them for a quick drink.

The McKenzie’s Seasonal Reserve Hard Cider was great. It had notes of cinnamon that were quite tasty.

I headed straight from Cole’s to meet my friend for a gym visit. I’m back to the Couch to 10k plan, right where I left off, though obviously I’ve got to stick with it this time. 2 minutes of running/3 minutes of walking, x 10. I am fat, I am out of shape, I was still a little drunk – my workout was so flipping hard!

In spite of my extreme tiredness and Adam’s messing up our meal plan by eating while I was at the gym, I managed to cobble together a good dinner. I was worried about not having enough to eat, but I think I ultimately went a bit overboard!

My favorite black-eyed pea salad,

green beans with shredded parmesan,

and 1.5 servings of Wegman’s vegan “chicken” nuggets with sweet and sour sauce.

Everything was delicious. Those nuggets are awesome.

Have you ever done the inebriated workout?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: peppers

Bloody {Mary} Sunday

No Talk Tuesday

Charleston, Day 1 And 2

…I am so tired I forgot to title this post originally

Me Eat Food

An Alarming Morning

Loaded

Cider House Run