Pizza Powered

As planned, we ordered a pie from Just Pizza last night and it was fabulous.

We got a Laura’s Old Fashioned – “The way our Mother used to make it. Made with Extra Thick Dough, a special Sweet Pizza Sauce (fresh sliced Onions in the sauce), Mozzarella & Romano Cheese, topped with Mushrooms.”

Not so fabulous was the way I felt after eating 5 slices this size.

Fat, ill, and irritated with myself for noting getting up an eating a salad.  On the plus side though, it’s sort of like Adam and I were carbo-loading for our run this morning!  If nothing else, our glycogen stores were nice and prepared.

Actually we were prepped all around, this is the run I got to test out my new shoes on.

I’m 90% sure I like them, but I’m going to run in them once more to be sure since my most recent pair sucked so badly.

I also tested out my new favorite shirt;

handmade by ME at last week’s tie dye party.

I think it’s pretty darn cute.

It was a good run to feel cute on, because I was mostly feeling like a jackass that I haven’t worked out all summer.  My planned 3.5 miles were tough.  We had two 1.75 mile loops around Delaware Park and I’m just glad I finished.  I had to take a few walking breaks, but I made sure to run for a least five minutes each time and walk for no more than 2 minutes at a time.  3.5 miles in 40 minutes and 20 seconds.  Followed by a 10 minute walk.

The rest of the agenda was shower ~ ice ~ grocery ~ clean the dirty apartment ~ dinner.  Thankfully our grocery trip was made much more exciting by our plan to sit in the cafe for a few hours so Adam could study.  I got cozy reading Nancy.

Sidenote – I am completely and utterly obsessed with the Nancy Drew books.

And got exciting lunch from the hot bar.

In an effort to save a bit of money, we also supplemented with salads from home.

In the end my meal ended up being arugula topped with carrots, 2 Tbsp of wheat germ, 1/4 cup of roasted chick peas, and 2 Tbsp of tarragon vinaigrette.

Plus roasted veggies, chili garlic eggplant, and veggies picked out of the cashew chicken,

and a few pieces of pineapple and berries.

Delish.  I read my first Nancy and munched and was in absolute bliss.

Unfortunately, the grocery took longer than anticipated and once I added in a last-minute walk to the co-op and the task of packing Adam’s lunches, I plain ran out of time to clean the house.  Tomorrow.  And at least I’m a good wife.

Adam has one rice bowl for each day of the work week.  And I took a good many nibbles that escaped the camera while I cooked.

I also made dinner.

Polenta that turned into a fairly intimidating, but tasty solid,

and huevos rancheros inspired tacos.

I scrambled 5 eggs (with skim milk, salt, and pepper) into sautéed chopped onions and green pepper, and then stuffed them into blue corn taco shells with a bit of sharp cheddar.  I served Adam and myself 3/5 and 2/5 accordingly.

Dessert was 2/3 to 1/3 in my favor though.

A gigantic cowboy cookie I picked up at the co-op.

My entire right side of my body has ached ever since yesterday’s tennis game, so I’m going to go curl up with a book.

Horribly Hilarious

Just as needed, today was much more low-key than the first two days of my parents’ visit.  Adam was at school all day so my mom and dad and I did some shopping, ate take-out at home, and saw a movie.  It was just what the doctor my sore feet and back ordered.

For breakfast I ate the newest Clif Bar, Coconut Chocolate Chip.

I doesn’t taste like a samosa like the chocolate dipped coconut Luna Bar, but it was still pretty darn tasty.  Just enough sweet to be fun but not sickening.

My parents and I were at the mall for-ev-er, and I ended up making a lunch snack out of samples from the kitchen supply store.

Normally I’d be upset about not getting a more substantial lunch (or breakfast!), but I knew I had the filling meal coming for dinner.

Can you beat Moe’s rice bowls?  I submit that you cannot.  Rice, blacks beans, sautéed mushrooms and green peppers, corn salsa, lettuce, cheese, and cilantro.

Also amazing were the (serving’s worth of) chips I grabbed from the communal bag.

I loved getting to introduce my dad to Moe’s, you just can’t help but love it.

You can totally help but love this Eat More candy bar I bought in Canada this weekend.

I’m not even going to say what that looks like.

I took two (icky) bites and passed it off to the rest of the family to try.  Just as well, I was much more excited about my movie candy.

Gummi cola bottles!  To be accurate, gummi cola bottles, cherry gummi cola bottles, and sour gummi cola bottles; multiple varieties for the win!

The movie was also a good idea, we saw “Horrible Bosses” and all four of us loved it!  John Francis Dailey (Dr. Sweets of “Bones”) is a great actor but he can co-write one hell of a screenplay too.  The movie was dirty and guffaw-inducing, just my style.

Have you ever had a horrible boss? You didn’t kill them did you?!

Grog Not Groggy

After my run this morning I joined my parents for an hour and a half bike ride.  I burnt the crap out of my forearms yesterday so I ended up biking in 85* weather in this –

Worth it.  We rode all around the path and over some gorgeous bridges.  I so wish I’d had my camera but I couldn’t figure out a place to put it.

We came home for a refreshing breakfast.

0% Plain Greek Gods Yogurt with a strawberry honey straw, blueberries, peach, and Great Harvest granola.

I have maybe a half serving of granola left and my heart is breaking.

Getting lunch was not my strong suit today and I will admit that I was a little cranky this afternoon.  We did do some fun things though, like explore a neat farmer’s market.

I grabbed an iced coffee from a stand at the market.

But traded iced in for hot as soon as I saw this –

Grog style coffee?!  With a little skim milk.

I swear it did taste like buttered rum!

We also traveled to the mecca.

I bought sushi (spicy and regular brown rice California rolls) for lunch but I only ate three pieces.

Yucky City, way too much (mushy) rice.  If I had been closer to the store I would have returned it but I was eating on the car ride home.

I split these Sunkist gems with my dad for dessert.

Yum City.

My grumbling tummy was very happy when dinner was served.

Side salad with peas, radishes, spicy ranch, and dill cheese curds.

Corn on the cob so tasty it blew the corn I bought in Buffalo out of the water.

And quesadilla with sautéed onions and peppers, turkey sausage, shredded chicken, and colby and sharp cheddar cheese.

With a small turtle blizzard for dessert.

I’ve been pretty well fed this vacation.  Nonetheless, I can’t wait to go home to my husband tomorrow and hear about his first week back at school!

My Aching Ischium

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!

Pride of Lions

I am so proud of my husband.  He begins his 3rd year of medical school tomorrow and I’m sure he’ll kick as much ass at clinical as he did his first two years of school!  The soon-to-be-3rd-years had a celebratory ceremony today and Adam was in charge of the opening/closing remarks.  <– this is why his parents are in town

Before the festivities began, I took my in-laws out to brunch.

I had a bogo coupon for Moe’s so that’s where we went.  What?  Mexican food can be brunch.

I got another rice bowl.

Rice, black beans, tofu, green pepper, onion, mushrooms, lettuce, cilantro, cheese, and corn salsa.

And chips with a side of queso.

I ate about 2/3 of everything and it was delicious.  I love how healthy Moe’s is, but I will admit that it’s got me hankering for some cheesy, crunchy, greasy, authentic Mexican food.

Adam did a great job at the ceremony, sometimes I can’t believe that the handsome, funny, well-spoken medical student belongs to me!

Afterwards we cheers’d at Pearl Street Brewery.

I was drinking a Blue Eyed Blueberry Blonde.

My beer was nice and refreshing, with just a few hints of fruit.  I love that Pearl Street microbrews on site.  Whenever a beer is described as blonde I know I’m bound to like it; I also enjoy dark beers (Guinness, Turbo Dog…) but I hate IPAs.

Along with my beer I ordered a turkey reuben.

Not on the menu, but they’ll sub turkey for corned beef if you ask nicely.

It was delicious but so filling that I could only handle half.  I left my chips only completely though; who eats chips when their husband’s meal comes with wedge fries?!

Yum!  My favorite fries are the big, squishy ones.

Once we got my in-laws on the road we had to run a few errands.  I’m actually going on another trip in just a few days so we had to get the husband stocked with a few groceries.  I grabbed a white chocolate toffee cookie while we were at the store.

I’m going to get off the computer now so that I can spend Adam’s last free night (ever!) hanging out, but know that I will be enjoying a big bowl of peanut brittle ice cream later this evening!

Gourmet On The Go

We’re back in Buffalo!  We made it home without losing any limbs or luggage and managed to eat only healthy, delicious meals; I call that a winner travel day!

To start the morning my aunt took me to Atwaters, a local bakery her neighbor owns, to buy a loaf of bread and some provisions for our drive.

I also picked up an iced coffee with skim milk.

Adam and I hung out with my family as long as we could (my cousin just got back from study abroad in Costa Rica and had amazing pictures!) but soon it was time to hit the road.

You know we couldn’t leave Baltimore without self-serving one more frozen yogurt.

I got a mix of cookies and cream and taro yogurt topped with strawberries, bananas, Oreo, sprinkles, and rainbow jelly.

The rainbow jelly took my joy over the top, although now I’m going to be missing froyo and bubble tea!

Typically vacation food goes downhill once you get into the car, but today we were ready and we kept things gourmet.  I bought this Tofu Bahn Mi at Atwaters in the morning and it ended up being the perfect brunch.

Bahn Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich made with pickled veggies.  Typically it is very spicy but this one was pretty mild (my only complaint).

Lunch was also a sandwich, but not just any sandwich.

Bee’s Knees Honey Peanut Butter (good), homemade strawberry jam (better), and Dakota bread (best).

Best damn pb & j I’ve ever had!  I’m seriously amazed by how good this bread is each time I eat it.

We were pretty well prepared but sadly I spent the last few hours in the car dying of hunger.  Adam had a huge bag of m&m’s that made the whole car smell like chocolate and it was all I could do not to pour them down my throat.  I managed to wait, but once I picked up our dinner on the way home I could not keep my hand out of the bag of chips.

Many many (way too many) chips were consumed this evening.

We are out of veggies, actually we are out of everything, so I picked up rice bowls from Moe’s for dinner.

My bowl was rice, black beans, tofu, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions, sautéed green peppers, lettuce, cheese, corn salsa, and cilantro.

I scarfed that bad boy.

Time to unpack!

What A Nightmare

Late breakfast post to the contrary, we actually woke up nice and early today.  I was having a nightmare and I yowled so loudly that it woke us both up!  That alone is weird, but the “big bad” of the nightmare is even stranger. 

In my dream I was going somewhere and as I was getting ready to leave in the morning I didn’t have time to pack lunch.  Adam and I were running behind and I was going to buy lunch on our way but then we left too late and it wasn’t going to fit the schedule.  Then dream Adam and I got in a huge fight because he didn’t understand how we had time at first but then ten minutes later it was too late.  The yowl that woke us up was actually me yelling at him in my dream!  Strangest yet most realistic nightmare ever.

Once I was out of bed I headed to the gym for a quickie workout.  30 minutes on the elliptical; random level 6.  Followed by a fast strength/stretch session.  It felt good to get sweaty again!  I had to keep it quick because on campus I also had a meeting to procure health insurance for next year and a date with the library to check out some books for our upcoming road trip.  Done and done.

Breakfast had its highs and its lows.  Beverages were the high point.

Homemade frozen coffee is so much better than anything you can buy at a coffee shop!  For 2 I blended 2 cups of coffee, 1/2 cup Silk Light Vanilla Soy Milk, 7 ice cubes, and 3 Tbsp of sugar.

Sadly food was a low point.  We had an onion, some garlic, and a green bell pepper to use up so I decided to make eggs.

Getting everything prepped was glorious; now that I know to use a big knife, chopping veggies is my favorite cathartic activity.

But even though the veggies were lovingly sautéed (and perfectly chopped!) they just didn’t come together with the eggs to make something that tasted good.

I finished my two eggs worth, but it was more about eating the protein and veggies than enjoying the taste.

Do you remember your dreams?  Are they usually realistic or fantastical?

Boarding Time

I started my morning with a shot of the Orange Dream Machine knock-off I made Adam.

He takes the Step I Board Exam on Saturday so we are testing out different breakfasts to find the perfect one for test morning.  This is a big-time important exam so he needs a breakfast that leaves him full and doesn’t make him have to go pee.  We’re also making sure he eats the perfect night-before dinner.  It’s the little things people!

The Step I Board Exam is similar to the MCAT exam, but more important and taken after your 2nd year of medical school.  Your Board score basically determines the rest of your career so, no pressure Adam!  Taking the exam also marks the “end” of your 2nd year of medical school.  The 3rd and 4th years you leave the classroom for rotations in different clerkships, ie hands-on experience.  In 3rd and 4th of medical school Adam’s schedule will be similar to what’s coming during residency – basically I’m becoming a single mom to Levinson.

Since Adam is taking his exam this Saturday, we have exactly one week of freedom before he starts back for his 3rd year of school (Adam is hosting a student clinician ceremony the Saturday before school starts).  Since I’m not dramatic at all, I’m calling this “the last week of our marriage.”  To celebrate/spend as much time together as possible, I took the week off of work and we are going on vacation!

  • 1 day in VA helping my in-laws move
  • 1 day exploring Charlottesville (a lot of programs on Adam’s list are at UVA)
  • 2 days in DC visiting my best friend from high school
  • 2 days in Maryland visiting family

It’s going to be a whirlwind and lots of driving but we are so looking forward to it!

Apparently I’ve also been looking forward to bed, because that’s where I spent my entire day!  I stayed up until 3 am last night because I have some sort of mental problem and then I napped the day away.  I did finally get up around 4 because I needed to make the husband dinner.  I nibbled on more mini candy bars while I cooked.

I wasn’t eating dinner at home because I had a date with Katie.  She’s moving at the end of the summer so hopefully we will get in a lot of meet ups before then.  We went to Saigon Cafe and split a spring roll for an appetizer.

I ordered the Spicy Rainbow – an assortment of vegetables stir fried with basil leaves in a hot sweet basil sauce, with white rice.

The dish is marked with two stars (= extra spicy) on the menu and I asked the waiter for “Thai spicy” and he grimaced like my face was going to fall off.  After the grimace, but before tasting my food, I ordered Thai Iced Tea to combat the spice.

No dice spice.  The veggies were good, but this wasn’t even close to being a little spicy, let alone Thai spicy.  So disappointing!

I ate about 2/3 of my food but after this and last week’s bland meal I’m going to take the hint and stop going to Saigon Cafe.  Can any Buffalo readers recommend a local Thai spot that actually brings the spice???

After dinner we took a nice walk down Elmwood, stopping for Ciao Bella gelato.

Key lime pie and dulce de leche for the win.

I actually walked Katie all the way back to her apartment where she loaned me some books so … I could get in bed early and read!  Be back in the am!

What time is your bed time usually?  What’s the stupidest reason you’ve stayed up too late recently?  I think reruns of Food Network Star takes the cake for me.