My legs have been feeling pretty good, but this afternoon 2nd day hunger hit me hard! I didn’t plan on eating while I was out of the house, so I left my camera at home to charge, but by the time I got to the grocery store at 5:30 I knew I couldn’t wait any longer. Thank goodness for cell phone cameras and thank goodness for hot bar.
That’s my usual mix. It’s hard to see portion sizes in the photos but that’s ~2/3 of what I usually get, it wasn’t supposed to be dinner.
I also impulse-bought this So Delicious Chocolate Coconut Milk from the fridge by the register.
It was pretty good.
I ate my Co-op candy bar before I went to the mall and it was fricking amazing.
That white stuff tasted like pillowy, marshmallowy nougat! I “mmmmn’d” my whole way through.
I threw together dinner fairly quickly but it ended up being a good meal.
Salad – arugula, green bell pepper, cucumber, and poppy seed dressing.
I made this salmon patty recipe, but subbed green onions for shallots because our shallots were moldy. <– what is happening in this house?!
Plus Adam and I split a cheddar cheese bialy.
Best part of the meal, hands down.
No one is entering my recent giveaways, boo. I would really appreciate some feedback on why/how I suck. There’s another one tomorrow, please let me know what I could do to make it better!
Gregory Maguire is one of my favorite authors, and Wicked is actually my all-time favorite book. I tend to read mostly memoirs and non-fiction, but Maguire’s adult fairy tales are totally my jam! I don’t love all of the changes that the play makes to the story, but the added hilarity definitely allow me to overlook them. Adam loved the show as well, which was the most exciting thing at all for me.
We bought ourselves a champagne before the show started,
and nibbled on some Smarties during intermission.
It was a glorious date night, thanks Mom and Dad!
This morning’s breakfast was centered around trying out a new vegan yogurt find, Amande is made from cultured almond milk.
I tried the coconut flavor today, atop a sliced banana and topped with a dollop of Smuckers Natural PB with Honey and a sprinkle of shredded coconut.
I didn’t love love the yogurt (nothing can top the tang and thickness of Greek), but I thought it was the best vegan alternative I’ve ever tried. I wouldn’t buy it regularly, but I am looking forward to trying the strawberry flavor in my fridge. The bowl was pretty good,
though I have to admit, I was missing my usual crunchy/sweet nut addition.
I had to head to school a bit early because I was meeting with a professor about a project and I needed to go grovel at the financial aid office as well. Part of the reason I have been feeling wicked is because I have NOT been keeping on top of my work! <– more on that in a minute
Lunch was all about the leftovers; a piece of corn bread,
and a serving of steamed spinach,
topped with maple turkey sloppy joes.
The “sauce” mixed with the spinach was divine; I’m never eating ‘joes on a bun again!
I also snagged a few bites of free cotton candy from the student union.
Boo-yah for free spun sugar!
I mentioned feeling wicked above, and I think I put that shame to good use. After classes ended today I headed to the dietetics lab (computers and silence) with a friend and hunkered down there until after 8pm! I finished a ton of work and I’m on such a roll that I’m planning on making it a late night of studying. The goal is a 12-1am bedtime alternating 30minutes of tv with 45+ minutes of studying.
We grabbed lattes – medium, non-fat, half pumps of almond rocca syrup –
before the study session but dinner never really happened. My stomach has been feeling off all day, hurting and bloated, so nothing ever sounded appealing. I’ll probably grab a snack at some point this evening and I’ll just blog about it in the morning.
Have you ever seen (or read) Wicked? What’s your favorite Broadway show?
Welcome, May! You haven’t quite warmed up to us yet, but you allowed me a glorious run around Delaware Park with the husband, so I think I’m going to like you.
The half marathon plan called for 4 miles this morning, so we set out through our neighborhood for a loop around the park and back. Runs like this are when I’d kill for a Garmin; MapMyRun isn’t 100% accurate when you’re not going in a straight line. To the best of my knowledge, we ran 4 miles, in 48 minutes. That’s crazy slow, but I ran the entire time so I’m feeling proud of myself! We finished with a short walk around the ‘hood to bring our workout to 1 hour.
Then I came home and got into bed. The run didn’t really tire me out (my legs feel great!), but we’ve been staying up way too late watching “Scrubs” lately. Running knocks my hunger back anyways, so I gladly showered and fell into bed without breakfast.
When I was done with the Sleeping Beauty routine I made myself a glass of hazelnut cocoa,
and some baby carrots.
And we just finished a Southern feast of a dinner –
I ate my spinach in the ‘joe juice and it was so good! I definitely took an extra large serving of everything. A great meal all around.
We ate the early dinner because we are headed to Shea’s Theatre to take in a show. I am beyond excited! My parents bought us tickets for Easter and we are seeing one of my favorites.
For funsies, see if you can guess the show from my hints –
No one could accuse me of being a gold-digger. I started dating Adam when we were still in high school. I will stay with him through countless years of undergrad, Teach for America, medical school, residency, and grunt work before he becomes a wealthy doctor (my Jewish grandma would be so proud!). But sometimes, like when he calls me in a tizzy, shouting “the radio says there’s a BOGO special at Medieval Times!,” I close my eyes and think “he’s going to be rich someday.”
And then I open them, and get busy buying tickets to Medieval Times and mapping out the drive to Toronto. And I feel so lucky to get to spend 4 hours in the car with my funny, handsome husband, who also happens to be a total dork.
Seriously though, Adam has wanted to go to Medieval Times since he watched “Cable Guy,” and I was thrilled to help his dream come true.
First though, we had to clean up from the poker party and get in a grocery trip. While we were at Wegman’s we picked up hot bar for the road.
I grabbed a random spread, including several veggies plucked from their meat dish counterparts (think chicken and mushrooms, not beef and broccoli).
In total, I ended up with kale, carrots, mushrooms, celery, broccoli, butternut squash, and green beans.
I don’t have any pictures of the show (the mood lighting was a little rough on my food photos as well), but I did take a few shots around the castle.
We had a great time walking around, although the blatant commercialism was a little frustrating; it would have been nice to see an exhibit that wasn’t trying to sell us something.
The show was a lot of fun though, packing with jousting and ceremony. The best part was definitely the horses though. And dinner was surprisingly good. No silverware, metal plates, and huge pieces of meat –
None for me though, I actually pre-ordered the vegetarian meal (which p.s., was even tastier!). We started with tomato bisque,
and garlic bread,
both of which were only ok.
And then my meal blew me out of the water.
Hummus with pita chips, rice pilaf, and a grilled veggie skewer (I got a fork!), all of which were delicious.
Dessert was an apple tart.
It was good, but I only took a few bites because I knew Adam and I were going to share some Canada candy on the car ride home.
Smarties make the drive go so much faster!
We were served dinner at 5, so unsurprisingly I was ready for a snack when we got home. I snacked on spinach and artichoke dip with a serving of chips while I blogged.
I don’t think we’d ever go back (holy price tag, Batman!!), but it was a pretty fabulous day!
10pm is not technically late, but it feels late, and there’s really no good reason I’m not in bed already so I’ll keep this quick.
We had to take our cars in to a shop this morning (nothing big, just yearly brake, oil, and other things I’m sure I don’t know because I’m such a girl) so we brought them both at once and made an event of it. Drive in, walk 8 blocks to Starbucks, study, walk back, drive home. While we studied I made sure to hydrate and caffeinate.
That is a big bottle, but it looks extra big because my non-fat latte is a short, not a tall. Did you know that all the locations in America carry short cups, they just don’t advertise them?
We had movie plans with friends so it was a quick turnaround once we made it home. I snacked on baby carrots on the drive.
The husband and I were both a little irritable at the thought of watching a movie without lunch but thankfully(?!) Adam got the time wrong anyways and we had an extra hour or so to kill at the mall. We ended up going to Jack Astors for lunch.
The husband and I split the Crispy Honey Sesame Chicken. This was chicken with carrots, green onions, snow peas, red peppers, and bean sprouts in what was billed as a Thai-honey sauce.
The chicken was tasty and the veggies were good, but the sauce ended up tasting like bad American-Chinese food. We cleared the plate though.
We also split some Reese’s Pieces at the movies.
Sucker Punch, by the way. The movie was visually stunning and the musical score was fantastic, but the plot was soooo slow.
Things took a bit of a downward turn from there productivity-wise, but honestly any day I spend with the husband is a good one. I made a major dinner fail.
I used the last of most of the ingredients, trying to make a mini pizza with sharp cheddar and an egg on top. First I had a cooked pizza with a raw egg on top. Then I had a cooked egg with a burnt hockey puck on the bottom. I didn’t even take a picture it was such a disaster.
But, good news – when dinner fails you can finally go get that ice cream you’ve been waiting for.
A kid-sized mint ice cream with Oreo from ColdStone.
Mint ice cream is my favorite, but only when it’s green 🙂
Maybe I should eat some fruit tomorrow?! We really did try to get me real dinner, but 40 frustrating minutes in the car later determined that Buffalo isn’t exactly a mecca of healthy take-out and I was better off just going to bed.
So I better get going to bed!
Did you know about the short, aka the”real” small, from Starbucks? What size do you normally order in coffee?
The good news? Several $100 later, I’ve got my computer back! The bad news? I’ve got a major case of the grumps. I’ll try to keep this quick.
I haven’t been to the gym in a week. I’ve also been cranky for a week. I think that is solid scientific evidence that I’m happier when I workout 🙂 In the interest of considering all the data, I should also mention that I haven’t been going because my knee hurts and it’s possible I’m also cranky because I’m pissed about my knee. <– that is extra-strength ironic, you’ll see why in a minute.
First, a breakfast that didn’t make me cranky.
I didn’t want to use banana so instead I beefed up my normal stove-top oats (1/3 cup oats, 1/2 cup each water and So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk) with 1.5 Tbsp of chia seeds and 2 tsp dark brown sugar.
I topped my chewy-in-the-best-way-ever creation with Trader Joe’s Sun Butter.
Sooo good.
Then I walked to school for lab. And I slipped on the ice. And fell. Into a puddle.
Yeah, I don’t even really know what else to say about that. I was angry and soaking wet and I wrenched my already hurt knee and bashed my ‘good’ knee into the sidewalk. And as the day went on I realized my back also is killing me. Hence the trip to Grumpsville.
After lab I walked home, gingerly, and took advantage of the Subway $5 Footlong promotion along the way.
I ate half today, and have the other half leftover for tomorrow.
I got the veggie sub with lettuce, tomato, spinach, red onion, green peppers, cucumber, black olives, and pickles. I added a little Stubbs BBQ Sauce when I got home.
Delish. Also another sandwich that did not miss the cheese.
I also got a large diet coke with ice and dipped pretzels into it.
Heaven.
And then I ate this thing of cashews.
Unfortunately the sandwich and massive snack attack didn’t take care of my other complaint – I was hungry, all day long. Pretty much all day when I wasn’t complaining about my back I was frantic with hunger; Adam thinks I’m a joy to be with. I took unphotographed nibbles of pretty much every item in the fridge (chickpeas leftovers, potatoes, peanut butter…).
Happy Sidenote – I was recently sent some Arnold’s 100% Whole Wheat Flax and Fiber Sandwich Thins to sample. [I like them a lot] The husband is obsessed with them! Look at his lunch –
When we got the last-minute call about my computer (yay) we headed out, scrapping our dinner plans and opting for Moe’s instead.
I housed this veggie burrito with rice, pinto beans, sautéed mushrooms and onions, guacamole, and black olives.
I actually still have an assignment to do tonight (and of course I still have to complain about it) so I’ve got to go. You’ll miss my cheery disposition 🙂
I may have been a cheerleader, but I just don’t follow football. Even the Super Bowl. There, I said it! Adam and I are pretty much on the same page about everything. But he cares about the Super Bowl a little bit, and that’s a whole lot more than I do.
We were on the same page with breakfast this morning though.
I whipped us up a batch of smoothies, 1 part frozen strawberries to 1 part chocolate peppermint stick soy milk.
We needed a sipable breakfast because we were busy moving around giving the house a deep clean. I don’t want to tell you how long it’s been since I scrubbed the stove (um, never!), but it took me a good 20minutes to get the burners clean.
Once we were no longer living in squalor, we headed to Wegman’s for lunch.
Fruits,
and veggies,
plus a sandwich from home.
I split a pita and filled my half with Tribe Roasted Garlic Hummus, green pepper, and cucumber slices.
It was a nice lunch, and it fueled us through a weekly grocery trip amongst the horde of people who somehow forgot that today was the Super Bowl. I don’t want to judge, but were those people all afraid that their carts of chips and beer would spoil if they bought them more than an hour before their parties?!?
I’m home alone tonight, Adam cared just enough about the game to head over to a house with cable. I did send him off with party food though.
14 oz can quartered artichoke hearts in brine, drained
3/4 cup frozen spinach
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp plus 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup salted soy nuts
salt and pepper to taste
Heat tsp oil in a skillet over medium-low. Add garlic and saute until just beginning to brown, 1-2minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add spinach to the pan and cook until completely thawed. Remove pan from heat and set aside.
Place chick peas in bowl of food processor and pulse until smooth.
Add artichoke hearts to the processor and continue pulsing until smoothie, scraping down the sides as needed.
Working in ~ 1/2 cup batches, add spinach and garlic to processor and pulse until smooth.
Pulse in soy nuts and Tbsp oil, until mixture is well-combined. Note – the soy nuts will add a chunky texture to the hummus, if you prefer a smoother end product then you will need to start but processing the nuts first.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
I stayed home doing girly things, like cleaning out the food processor, baking tomorrow’s lunch, then cleaning out the food processor again. It’s a good thing I took many cooking bites, because after the send round of blade cleaning I decided I was not going to make dinner.
Really, it doesn’t come up that often that I have dinner by my lonesome, so why not revel in the situation and make myself a batch of single serve cookie dough for dinner?
Yeah, yeah, I had this yesterday too. But this was different, this was peanut butter single-serve cookie dough.
Using a fork, mash together 1 Tbsp Smart Balance Light and 2 Tbsp chunky peanut butter.
Mash in 3 Tbsp flour and 2 Tbsp sugar.
Pour in a splash of Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk and mix well.
Place in the freezer for 30minutes, stirring occasionally.
Top with a serving of chopped up Chocolove bar.
Eat with a spoon, moaning occasionally.
Do you watch the Super Bowl? Who were you cheering for today?
Seriously, have you tried the single-serve cookie dough thing yet?
Thursdays are when I have my earliest class, which means they are also my latest wake-up school days. Makes no sense? I’ve decided on MWF (class starts at 11) that I’ll have Adam drop me off at the gym on his way to school so I can work out/come home and shower/walk back to school for classes. But Thursday class starts at 9:25 (and there’s no time for all that) so I can wake up on my own and walk straight to class.
Except today all my plans went out the window because the snow was basically up to my waist. Whoops! I had to hurry-scurry to get in the car with Adam, which meant all of my breakfast and lunch bubbles were quickly burst.
The positive side is that I got to squeeze in my workout before my lab. I did another quick (too quick) treadmill session – warm up + 1.5mile running (14:13) + cool down – 21minutes and 1.85miles.
The negative side is that breakfast ended up being of the not-of-champions variety.
I grabbed the Cliff Builder’s Bar because it was vegan, full of protein, and most importantly sold in the only kiosk without a line.
I gave up on eating the Cliff Builder’s Bar after two bites because it was tasteless and way to tough for my aching teeth.
Better luck next time? I brought the rest of the bar home for Adam and I’m sure he’ll love it because he’s silly.
Unfortunately I had a club meeting on campus at 12:15, so I couldn’t get home to a proper meal until that was over. Then I had to finish/e-mail an assignment before I could let myself eat. I wasn’t about to add ‘shower off the gym grime’ to my wait-time, so you better believe I ate lunch like this –
Before anyone asks – Why yes, I did think the appropriate response to sweaty gym hair was a pair of pony tails.
They’re a pair of ponies, not pig tails. Pig tails come out the sides, the end.
I made up for lost time by rocking my own world with a three-course lunch.
Course 1 – Salad.
I topped a bed of spring mix lettuce with chopped pear, green pepper, radish sprouts, and poppy-seed dressing.
For some reason the gluten free version is the only vegan macaroni Amy’s makes (the soy cheese version has milk proteins in it).
This wasn’t ridiculous good like the dairy one, but it was still pretty darn good.
Course 3 – Dessert.
Banana soft serve (1.5 frozen bananas, food processed with a splash of Vanilla Silk Soy Milk until delicious) topped with crushed pretzels and these adorable vegan marshmallows.
Soooo good. BSS is where it’s at!
It took forever to eat my epic lunch, so I should probably get down to work!
Eating Chalk 