Tag Archives: peppers

Midnight’s Dinner

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I had a lot to say about today, but now it’s clear – like, blogging at 1 am on a school night clear – that I’ll have to keep it quick.  It’s funny how the longest days have the shortest posts!

I slept through yoga (boo!) but also got to then sleep in a bit (yay!) because I had the morning at home.  Our clinical experiences this semester are divided up into three sections, two are in the hospitals and the final rotation is community, i.e. basically almost everything an RD does outside of the hospital.  I’m in community first.  During this rotation we have site placements some days and “free time” other days to work on a very long list of community-oriented assignments.  Among other things, we have to complete a case study on creating a wellness program and pick a nutrition topic on which to generate a variety of informational media.  Long story short, one of the required mediums is a bulletin board in the Dietetics’ building hallway.  Today I worked on the case study and the bulletin board.

But first I ate breakfast.

3 servings (I was finishing the box) of Cinnamon Pecan Special K with Blue Diamond Coconut/Almond Milk and chopped plum and nectarine.

It was a hungry morning; before I left the house I also ate a handful of honey roasted peanuts,

and leftovers.

The last Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burger on the last onion roll with 1000 island dressing.

At 11:30 I walked to meet a friend and we spent the next 7 straight hours at school working on the case study.  It is now complete.  Phew!

We did take a quick break in the afternoon for sushi.

My veggie sushi was pretty bland without wasabi (I swear it was in every package except the one I picked up!) but you couldn’t beat the price.

We spent the rest of the evening running around between three stores to find the supplies for our bulletin boards.  Why, oh why doesn’t Buffalo have a teacher supply store?!

My friend dropped me off just before 9pm and I trudged (my heavy laptop was still in my bag) down Elmwood to buy Adam a candy bar as a reward for his long day.  Oh yeah, he still wasn’t home.

I trudged back home, completed another assignment, and finally Adam called at 11pm to tell me that he was home but he had contact dermatitis from the scrub soap and we needed to go to the pharmacy.  Yay.

When we did finally get home we had to go right back out so the dog could take a very late, much-needed walk.  Sidenote – All the people without dogs and husbands were out partying because it’s Thursday and I joked with the dog about how he was out on the town.  I told him he was ….. wait for it ….. a dogutante.  <– I’m hysterically funny and also maybe a little punch-drunk with tiredness.

During our ridiculous walk I purchased a Subway sandwich which I ate while I completed yet another assignment and wrote this post.

6-inch turkey with lettuce, tomato, green pepper, red onion, pickles, cucumber, and a tiny bit of creamy chipotle sauce.

Post’s done, time for bed!

P.S. Gratuitous dog pictures –

Stir-Fried Soup

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I made it through the first day of a new semester!  I forgot what day it was and pressed snooze a couple of times this morning, but I did manage to make it to the gym for a quick workout.

25 minutes on the elliptical, level 6 random.

I cut it close but the husband offered to drive me this morning (both walking and driving myself eat up 30 minutes) so I had time to shower and grab breakfast to go.  A Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar,

and an iced coffee with skim milk.

It wasn’t just any iced coffee.  Do you remember when I blogged about wanting to try Chameleon Cold-Brew Coffee?  They now sell it at Wegman’s!

It was even better than I had imagined.  Smooth, not at all bitter, and I swear with the skim milk I tasted hints of chocolate?!

I breakfasted during my first class and the caffeine boost was much-appreciated.  This semester is going to be hard.  I’m only taking a few classes (the minimum number of credits versus having to petition to take extra credits almost ever other semester) but there is a ton of work and the concepts are all higher level.

Good thing I got some work done in the break between classes and my shift at work.  I also made lunch.

A salad of romaine, flax, light honey mustard dressing, a little shredded gruyere, and a crumbled slice of turkey bacon.

Plus apple dippers.

A sliced Pink Crispin,

with a melted mix of peanut butter, Biscoff, and Heath bits, ~ 1 Tbsp of each.

Delish!

I worked from 2 -7 and then came home and wandered around all evening in a tired, sore-backed haze.  That is not going to be able to happen as the semester progresses.  But overall I think I did a good job of getting things done today.

I even pre-made some of the components for tomorrow’s dinner.  I snacked on a serving of Barbara’s Baked Cheese Puffs while I cooked.

They were an impulse buy at the co-op that paid off; didn’t tasted “baked” at all.

Dinner didn’t happen until 9:30 but it was worth the wait.  Super worth it.  Did you make my Thai-Inspired Coconut Peanut Soup yet?  I hope so, because if you did you are halfway done with this killer spin on it – Stir-Fried Soup!

Stir-Fried Soup, serves 1

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Toss in cashews and toast.  Add soup leftovers and Sriracha and saute, stirring occasionally, until crispy.  Scramble in egg.  Serve and swoon.

It was the tastiest thing I’ve eaten in weeks, I swear to God.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve done with leftovers?

Bok To School

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I’m heading back to school tomorrow (eek!) and I finally remember all my education on the importance of vegetables.  Better late than never!  All of my meals today included a veggie and two of them centered around bok choy (“bok to school,” hyuck, hyuck).  Tomorrow I should probably work on including some fruits.

I did not get right into bed last night – and the neighbor’s dumbass friends ringing our doorbell at 4 am didn’t help my sleep either – but I did make it to yoga this morning.  A 60 minute hot yoga class.

Breakfast made use of our bok choy gratin leftovers.

I scrambled a big serving into two eggs along with a few dashes of green Tabasco.

Hidden inside the eggs, this casserole actually wasn’t half bad.

Our afternoon entertainment was a walk through the Elmwood Art Festival.

We saw a few cool pieces but my main goal was lunch and I sadly didn’t see any food that appealed to me.  I ended up eating at the hot bar when we went to the grocery.

Wok-seared veggies that were the best I’ve ever had from the hot bar,

two pieces of sweet and sour chicken,

and a few grapes for dessert.

I also ate this fun-size pack of Sugar Babies while we were out and about.

I nibbled on a half serving of Special K Savory Herb Crackers while I made dinner.

Dinner was homemade soup.

Thai-Inspired Coconut Peanut Soup, serves 4 (vegan)

  • 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • 2 Thai hot peppers, finely chopped
  • 15 oz can stir-fry mushrooms
  • 4 heaping cups baby bok choy
  • 13.6 oz can light coconut milk
  • 16 oz vegetable broth
  • 6 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
  • 2 cups black rice vermicelli, broken in half
  • lime juice (optional)
  • Sriracha (optional)
  1. Heat sesame oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Add green pepper to pot and cook 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
  3. Add green onions and Thai pepper and cook another 2 minutes.
  4. Add mushrooms and bok choy and cook another 2 minutes.
  5. Stir in coconut milk and broth and bring to a boil.
  6. Stir in peanut butter and vermicelli and boil an additional 7 minutes.
  7. Top bowls with lime juice and Sriracha to taste.

We are both looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.

Also consumed, was an Honest Tea Honey Green Tea.

I’m down to the last bottle from my Honest Tea shipment and I definitly plan on buying more with my own money when they’re gone.

I’m hoping to paint my nails (both sets!) before bed; gotta go!

Sunday To Go

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One day to go before the fall semester begins.  I wish today could have been full of adventure, but sadly I worked, errand-ran, and ate a lackluster dinner.  Ho-hum but part of the time was spent with the husband so it wasn’t terrible.

I did not get in bed last night as planned.  In fact, I stayed up past the boys leaving and the husband falling asleep.  Today I am le tired and the bags under my eyes are gigantic.  I hope to get in bed nice and early on Sunday because it’s bad enough to go back to school fatter, I hardly need to look worn down too.  At least my hair is finally growing out of its awkward stage!

In spite of the sleepiness, I did manage to make breakfast before work.

Plain fat-free yogurt topped with 1 Tbsp ground flax, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, and some canned tropical fruit mix.

I was glad to have eaten because work was pretty crazy; the Elmwood Arts Festival is this weekend so there were lots of people wandering in.

I plan on checking out the festival tomorrow and today I did snag a $1 orange San Pellegrino.

I saved my fair-food eating for tomorrow and packed a sandwich for lunch.

A Sandwich Thin with 2 slices of turkey, a slice of pepperjack, and strawberry jam.  Plus a Raspberry Fields Honest Tea to drink.

I probably should have gone with coffee instead because I was dead on my feet by the time my shift was over.  Also, ready to gnaw off my arm.  I bought a giant slice of cheese pizza (folded and eaten New York style) on the walk home.

I shared ~ 1/4 with Adam which was a true testament of love.  Dinner was fair away and not awesome and I ended up very pleased with this impulse purchase.

We ran errands this evening, including a purchase of ink that has left me crossing my fingers that the printer was out of ink and not actually broken.  I’m too tired to check now but printing is early on my agenda tomorrow.

On our grocery errand (which was stupid because we have to go back tomorrow too) I bought a fun-size peanut butter Snickers.

I only ate half; apparently they aren’t very good.

Dinner wasn’t good either.  Well, parts of it were.  For example, my low-fat (because it was made with skim milk and low-fat froyo) chocolate coffee milkshake was pretty tasty.

1.5 thumbs up, Lake Effect Diner.

And I was so pleased to see this on the menu –

It encouraged me to order non-vegeterian, in the form of a Chicken Souvlaki Wrap.

“Grilled marinated chicken breast, shredded lettuce, green bell pepper, black olives, diced tomato, crumbled feta cheese and Greek Dressing in a grilled herb wrap.”

I added cucumber and pepperoncini to mine, a good idea since otherwise the sandwich would have been completely tasteless.

The feta was bland and it probably would have helped it there had actually been Greek dressing on the wrap.  I only ate half and left feeling pretty unsatisfied.

I shouldn’t even complain though because my meal was at least edible.  Adam’s bacon and sausage were burnt to a crisp and his “sunny side up” eggs were cooked through.  Yucky.  Lake Effect, we thought you had such potential!

Speaking of potential, I’m not going to live up to mine at yoga tomorrow morning if I don’t get in bed this instant.  Good night!

Locals, are you attending the art festival this year?  Did you eat anything I just have to try tomorrow?

Every Now And Then…

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… I keep it together.

You thought I was going to say “fall apart.” I did too, that’s why this is a half day post. I was planning to write (title: “What’s The Plural Of Crisis?) about why I wouldn’t be posting this week, but then I realized – I really didn’t want to fall apart. A lot of nonsense has gone down this week, and I’m totally nervous about school next week, but sometimes it feels good to keep it together.

Some good stuff happened in the days you missed too. I met with a friend who recently became a mommy for a walk around Delaware Park with her and the baby . They were both doing awesome and my must-get-knocked-up fervor was renewed.  I baked malted toffee blondies and brought them to a friend’s birthday celebration.  I watched more “Awkward.”

Today I worked.  Afterward Adam picked me up for an awesome date night.  We parked in Allentown and walked to the subway.  We stopped along the way for green juice.

I got a glorious mix of collard greens, spinach, kale, watermelon, and mango.

I pulled it together before went to work but my juice mix could have cheered anyone up.

We subwayed it to the canal for our date; a free Matt Nathanson concert.

We ran into friends that we haven’t gotten to see much this summer so even though we didn’t know many songs we still had a great time.  The only ones I could sing along with were “Laid” and a random White Snake cover.

A friend who couldn’t make it tonight gave me her booze tickets so we scored free drinks.

I had half of that Jack Daniels Lynchburg Lemonade before passing it off to Adam in favor of a Labat Blue Light with Lime.

Drinking in the grass with friends and free music?  Awesome.

After we journeyed home we had pizza for a late dinner.

Adam and I split three (big) slices; bbq chicken, buffalo chicken, and veggie.

I’m feeling very full, pretty tired, and much better!

What do you do to regain control if you feel like you’re about to wallow?

Curry And Lemongrass, Too

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The past 48 hours haven’t been all that exciting, but they have been busy.  Work, fun, then work.  No working out, unfortunately.  I’m not even going to attempt a workout before my early shift tomorrow either.  I do have big goals for next week though, because I’m hoping to get myself started on a healthy schedule (re: bedtime, working out, and cooking dinner) in the week before school starts.

Thursday’s breakfast was a yogurt bowl.

Note – I’ve eaten a LOT of yogurt the past two days, be prepared.

This bowl was Wegman’s Low Fat Honey Yogurt topped with sliced yellow plucot and white nectarine and 1 Tbsp ground flax.

It was so good I did a similar breakfast the next day and plan on buying more of the honey yogurt asap.

I spent Thursday morning curled up on the couch with a Patricia Cornwell novel.  I’m hoping to blog quickly to get in bed with that same novel!  Reading and eating made for my perfect morning.

I took a reading break to walk the dog and snagged this white chocolate macadamia cookie from the co-op.

I should have made time for a real lunch instead of a cookie because I was starving by the end of my shift.

I had evening plans with friends and knew I would be too cranky to function so we stopped at Code Blue for juice along the way.

My customized drink included kale, spinach, collard greens, carrot, and watermelon.  So tasty and the fun ingredients were very exciting to try.

And it didn’t matter that we stopped for juice because our plans were a total bust.  We’ve been excited about seeing Salt-n-Pepa for a month but it just didn’t pan out.  The line was three times longer than the amount of people let in.  Boo!  But we did catch a few lines of “Let’s Talk About Sex.”

I got home late and had pizza for dinner.

1.5 (big) slices total.  Buffalo and bbq chicken flavored.

I spent the night by myself because the husband had 24-hour call (more like 32 hour call!) and the dog and I slept very fitfully on the couch.

Today’s breakfast was a repeat of Friday’s.

Wegman’s Plain Fat-Free Yogurt, sliced white nectarine and yellow plucot, and 1 heaping Tbsp each ground flax and Biscoff spread.

Then more yogurt for lunch.  Coffee with a honey stick and honey-roasted peanuts.

The honey + peanut + coffee yogurt combo is a childhood favorite of mine.

At work I drank a Big Gulp of diet pop and split this bag of mini Rolos with my co-worker.

I also had a jalapeño cheddar bialey in the afternoon (with a slice of pepperjack).

Adam requested Thai food for dinner and since he came home from a 32 hour shift and did the laundry, Thai food it was.

I got veggie Pad See Eiw.  The husband ordered and we forgot to say “extra veggies” for me so I was pleasantly surprised to see my plate chockfull of the green stuff.

From Sun Restaurant, by the way.  The noodles get a 10-out-of-10 but the sauce only got a 5.

Ben and Jerry’s for dessert.

Coffee Caramel Buzz.  Better than Bonaroo Buzz but not as good as Schweddy Balls.  <– I have officially eaten too much ice cream!

TJ, Totally Jazzed

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The past few days have been a ton of fun.  I’ve done a lot of eating!

Yesterday morning I got started on one of my 27 things.

I knit a few things as a kid and it seemed to come back to me pretty quickly.  My grandma has had to help with a couple of disasters though.

I had yogurt for breakfast and moved on to another kind of yogurt for lunch.

Self-serve for the win. I did a mix of desserty flavors topped with all of the chocolate, peanut butter, and caramel things.

‘Twas good, but whenever I go crazy decadent I always realize that I like my plain tart with fruit and boba the best.

Our Friday activity was The Greene.  We went for shopping, walking, and people watching.  And eating. We got Turkish for dinner at Pasha Grill.

They gave us delicious bread with sun-dried tomato oil for dipping.  My piece, x2.

I should have held off on the basket because I ended up needing bread with my dinner as well.

I ordered the cold appetizer sampler as my entrée.  [clockwise]

  • Hummus – pureed chick peas with a hint of garlic, tahini, fresh lemon juice, and olive oil. 
  • Pilaki – pinto beans with carrots, green peppers, and diced potatoes in a light tomato and olive oil sauce.
  • Tabuli – cracked wheat tossed with tomatoes, sweet onions, fresh peppers, parsley, lemon juice, and olive oil.
  • Haydari – thickened homemade yogurt with fresh dill, mint, garlic, and walnut.
  • Eggplant with tomato sauce.
  • Babaganush – smoked eggplant puree flavored with tahini, olive oil, and garlic. 
  • Ezme – finely chopped tomatoes, onions, walnuts, and hot peppers, mixed in olive oil and herbs.
  • Dolmasi – grape leaves stuffed with rice, pine nuts, raisins, and flavorful herbs.

Delicious, delicious, delicious!  The babaganous and ezme were my favorites.  I did a pretty good job on my meal too.

Plus 3 more pieces of bread for dipping.  My only complaint about the dish is that it didn’t come with pita bread.

Iced Vanilla Rooibos Latte for dessert.

Plus a small square of chocolate,

and tastes of nougat that my parents brought from Canada.

End scene.

I started today with a 1 hour bike ride with my parents.

I had a small plate of food at home to tide me over.

Baby carrots,

and pretzel bread with beer cheese.

Then I ate my way through our day’s destinations.

A giant diet pop with strawberries at Sonic.

Fun stop #1 was the 2nd Street Market.

I got an arepa with cheese, black beans, and plantain.

I’ve always wanted to try an arepa so this was fun, but a little too “bready” for me; I left the bottom half of my corn cake behind.

Then I spotted Sweet P’s and my mom and I split a sea salt caramel popsicle.

Yuuuum!

Fun stop #2 was Trader Joe’s.

We loaded up a cart and I also got some brown rice sushi for the road.

TJ’s has some of the best packaged food ever but their sushi always has too much rice.  I ate half and saved the rest for later.

Dinner was an insane summer feast.

Cantaloupe,

my grandma’s delicious chicken salad (she always makes it with toasted pecans and grapes and this time she added dried cranberries),

unfried green tomatoes,

and buttered corn on the cob.

I mmmmmmmmmn’d my way through the whole meal but the corn practically killed me!

I had a big cup of Heath Bar ice cream for dessert.

Good as well, duh.

Tomorrow is our last day of family time and then on Monday we hit the road.  I’m sad to be leaving my grandma but glad to be returning to my boys.

EWT

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Eats:

Starbucks White Chocolate Energy Double Shot.

A strawberry shake (made with fresh strawberries!) split with my dad.

A rice bowl.  Brown rice, black beans, chicken, sautéed onion and pepper, lettuce, corn salsa, spicy sauce.

Pasta dinner.

Salad.

Whole-wheat spaghetti with marinara, ground chicken, peppers, and mushrooms.

Bread with butter.

2% Fage with Strawberry for breakfast this morning.

Workouts:

1 hour bike ride – lots of gliding but on a high gear – both Thursday night and Friday morning.  My butt is soooo sore!

Thoughts:

I miss my boys like crazy.  My grandma’s dog sits on the top of the couch just like Webster.

Finally, a message to my husband –