Tag Archives: peppers

Greens, Beans, and Time Machines

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I am officially caught up with school and ready to take my final exam tomorrow 🙂 I’ve definitely disliked being blog-neglectful, I can’t wait to get back into a schedule after the move is over.  For now, even though I love you it’s got to be another quickie (TWSS!).

 Breakfast/lunch were sort of spread out in three courses throughout the morning and afternoon.  I managed to get enough to eat, but consume in shifts that allowed me to study.  #1 A big bowl of fresh watermelon chunks.

#2 A serving of Barbara’s Shredded Oats topped with Silk Almond Milk and blueberries.

By the by, I hear a lot of people talking about binging on cereal and if you are one of those folks I highly recommend this stuff.  It is not very tasty dry from the box but fantasmic with some Silk Almond Milk.

#3 A long overdue green monster; 1frozen banana, 1cup frozen spinach, 1cup calcium + vitamin d oj.

When Adam got home this evening we played hookey from moving and instead took a long walk.  Our long walk was supposed to be an hour or so, to the ice cream store and back.  Instead we fell into a pointless fight and spent hours huffing and crying (who me?  I’m not stressed about moving!).  Don’t pointless fights just feel like you accidentally fell into some sort of time machine?  It’s like you can’t even believe how late it is when it’s over.  We did make it to the ice cream store eventually, but they were closed.  So instead we split a slice of melty pizza to hold us over for late dinner.

The husband had chicken to use up and I made myself a Mexican bowl of sorts.

Into the skillet went 2tsp evoo, chopped shallot, a small chopped potato, half of a chopped green pepper, black beans, 1egg and 2egg whites, 2T shredded cheddar, salt and tons of paprika.

I also had some green bean fries on the side.

It is late late late, Futurama–> bed –> goodnight!

Do you ever have pointless fights with your SO or do you bottle up your emotions and save them for times that actually count?

P.S. I also enjoyed a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Lara Bar, yum!

Fake It ‘Till You Make It

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This morning wasn’t a particularly good morning.  My alarm didn’t go off and I stubbed my toe.  But it felt like a good morning, because I said it had to be.  If you tell yourself you’re in a good mood and put a smile on your face, pretty soon you’ll actually feel like smiling.

I wanted to get my incidental exercise on today (2.5mile walk home) so I had the husband drop me off at school this morning.  When he gives me a ride it also means I’m at school 1.5hours early so I brought breakfast to eat on campus.  I think I redefined the word breakfast today though 🙂

Blueberries with a drizzle of honey and unsweetened shredded coconut.

A sliced red bell pepper with a serving of beet humus.

And some apricots from Peeled Snacks.

The apricots were supposed to be a snack for later but I was sooooo hungry.  I don’t know why my morning hunger has been so substantial recently.

Class went well today; fyi – I’ve scored a 90-100% on every one of the daily quizes thus far!  Not so exciting was the fact that our Monday test was moved up to tomorrow.  I only got a B+ on the last exam and I was looking forward to having the weekend to study.

I stopped at the Spot on Elmwood during the walk home and squeezed in some studying then.  I also managed to find some tasty vegan options for lunch.  Carrot and ginger soup,

and a (dry) sundried tomato bagel.

Lunch ended up being really, really good.  The soup was spicy and sweet and had huge tasty chunks of carrot.

Once I finished the walk home I got dinner in the crock-pot (we can’t eat until almost 8!) and now I’ve got to get started on some cleaning.  And find time to study for tomorrow.  But I’m doing it with a smile.

Does the ‘fake it ’till you make it’ philosophy work for you?

Hitting the Dessert

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Thanks for all the support on my weight gain post, you guys are the best!  However, not one of you commented on the Cartman tie-in, apparently your senses of humor are a little more mature than mine?

Since today was my last day of volunteering I made full use of my lunch voucher and got a slice of the awesome cafeteria pizza.

I rounded it out with veggies at home.

Kale chips,

and part of a red bell pepper and baby carrots,

dipped into some homemade 1000island dressing (1T miracle whip, 1T ketchup, 2T pickle relish).

It ended up being quite the good lunch.

And a serving of Theo Bread and Chocolate bar for dessert.

I also had a bag of Pretzel M&Ms while I worked on my recipe binder.

Once the husband got home at 7 I got dinner in the oven before heading to the gym.  Note – I did some snacking while I cooked (1handful of chips, 1/2handful of cheese, and 2spoonfuls of filling).

If I’ve said it once I’ll say it a million times (sorry!) being able to move again feels great!  I will never take fitness for granted again.  I had a few twinges in my leg today so I did keep it easy though.  25minutes on the elliptical at level 5.  Followed by 10minutes of arms/abs/stretching when I got home.

By the time I got out of the shower dinner was looking pretty darn tasty.

The recipe comes from Everyday with Rachael Ray, Chicken Salsa Verde Bake.  It is definitely NOT terribly healthy, but it’s the last thing I’ll cook before Vegan Month so I went all out for the husband.  You can click the link (recipe name) for the recipe but here were my changes –

  • I boiled the chicken instead of pan cooking it
  • I used 1.5lbs of meat and subbed in a 15oz can of black beans to fill in the rest of the protein
  • I used low-sodium beans
  • I subbed in shalots for the onion
  • I used low-fat sour cream

It’s calorie-dense, but very filling and delicious.  A good mix of creamy yet crunchy and tangy and spicy yet creamy.

I ate half a red pear alongside my portion.

Dinner = done.

Hope everyone else is having a *sweet* start to their week!

What is your favorite South Park episode?

On The Road Again

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We had a nice drive to visit the in-laws this afternoon and even made it to Ohio in time for dinner!  We split driving responsibilities 60/40 because I have the best husband in the world.  While he drove I ate some fresh mango,

and part of a cheese stick.

And while I drove Adam shared a few of his Pretzel M&M’s with me.

These are new variety and they are go-oood!  I love chocolate pretzel confections and this might be the best kind I’ve ever tried.  The consistency was like a whopper and it was a good balance of salty and sweet.

Once we got to Ohio we met the in-laws for dinner at Adam’s favorite Mexican place.  I went with an order of veggie fajitas.

Astonishingly my meal was pretty healthy; lots of veggies.  I wrapped 4 tortillas around broccoli, mushrooms, peppers, and onions and beans and guacamole.

It’s likely I’ll do some snacking this evening, but I’ll update later if when that happens.

Veggies eaten today: 2.5cups.

What is your order from the local Mexican joint?  I adore chile relanos but they aren’t the healthiest, I try to at least always get something with lots of veggies.

P.S. Iowa Girl is giving away some Cascadian Farms goodies.

Nightmares and Dream Recipes

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Let me get my whining out of the way so I can get on to the good stuff:  my leg hurts / I’m not getting my to-dos done and I’m going to fall behind in school / I felt exhausted and awful all day.

I actually did get into bed before 10pm last night, a first of its kind achievement for me.  However, then I had another first – a nightmare!  I used to have night-terrors when I was really young, but this was my first ever bad dream that I could remember.  Basically, I went to the fertility doctor and found out I couldn’t have babies with the husband.  I was telling my dream-mom how helpless I felt when I woke up in the middle of the night in tears!  I don’t even know where in my psyche this came from, the husband and I don’t have babies on our radar (I’m not even taking folic acid yet!).

The good stuff –

Today’s outfit sort of thrills me –

Stripes, high-waist, and pockets; oh my!

Understated but green bowl aside, breakfast was pretty thrilling as well.

I topped the last of the Fage (~1/2cup) with 1 cup (frozen, defrosted) berries and 3 heaping spoonfuls of lemon curd.

My, oh my this was good 😀

My busy sit/stare agenda filled up all my lunch making time, and I ended up grabbing a mango mix1 to go.

I ended up not loving the flavor and giving half of it to Adam.  To quell my rumbling tummy I ended up buying a Slim Fast Cookie Dough Bar.

It was tasty, but I have about a trillion bars in my cabinet at home; I need to make carrying one in my purse a habit.

Later during my second class I snacked on some yummy dried fruit.

Kiwis and hibiscus, my favorites.

When we got home the husband whipped up some deviled eggs.

He was super generous (deviled eggs are pretty much his favorite) and let me share one.

I also did some unphotographed nibbling while I cooked dinner.  Which was fricking fabulous by the way.

Green Tuna Enchiladas (click here for the recipe link), serves 4.

  • 1 T evoo
  • 1 medium green bell pepper, finely chopped
  • 1 medium red onion, finely chopped
  • 2 10 oz cans tuna
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 cup green tomatillo salsa
  • 8 small corn tortillas
  • 3T half and half
  • 3/4 cup shredded taco cheese (montery jack would work well too)
  1. Preheat the oven to 350*.  Heat evoo in a large pan over medium heat.
  2. Add onion and peppers to oil and brown, about 7 minutes.
  3. Add tuna and 1/2 cup salsa to veggies and cook 2 more minutes.  Remove from heat.
  4. Spoon 2 T filling into each tortilla and place into a 8x11inch casserole, seam-side down.* **
  5. In a separate bowl, stir together last cup of salsa with half and half.  Spoon mixture over enchiladas.
  6. Sprinkle cheese evenly over casserole and bake 20minutes.

* Too keep tortillas from cracking and breaking, it is helpful to cover them with a damp paper towel and microwave for 30seconds.

** If you have extra filling it would go deliciously stuffed into a pita sandwich

I paired my serving with a batch of kale chips,

for a tasty, tasty dinner.

Speaking of tasty things –

I wanted to let you guys know that my recipes for Italian Style Gumbo and Buffalo Chicken Baked Pasta have also been posted (click the names for recipe links).  Seriously, those two dishes were the best things I’ve ever made!  Please, please get the recipes and try them yourselves, they are dreams come true.

I’ve got lots of lab work due tomorrow so I’m going to make like a banana and split.

Do you ever make up your own recipes or do you tend to do things by the book?  A lot of my creations are ideas from magazines that I’ve seriously altered; usually made healthier and/or spicier.

Salad as an Eraser

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I needed a bigger breakfast, I was so hungry mid-morning I made some less than stellar choices.  It’s crazy how hungry you can get sitting on your butt all day; when I’m active and busy I’m satisfied with much less food.

That’s said, I’ll never apologize for popcorn.

Sprinkled with Kernel Season’s Sour Cream and Onion.

And then I had this.

“This” would be a serving of pretzels with 2T of semi-sweet chocolate chips melted on top.

Eaten with chopsticks of course.

The Reese’s tree is the point at which I probably needed to just say no.

But then I brought things back around with my “real lunch,” a nice healthy salad.

Made with some very tasty components – layer of lettuce,

chopped green bell pepper,

baby corn,

1T babaganoush,

the best dressing on earth (seriously, buy this!),

and a little bit of cheddar.

All added up to a tasty dish.

I’ve got some school work to do this afternoon and I’m hoping to balance long enough to prepare dinner tonight.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dreading my eventual shower, but I’ll probably try to squeeze in a bit of strength training beforehand.

Do you find your hunger increases with or inversely to your activity level?

That’s What HE Said

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Shortly after my last post, I enjoyed one of these –

Usually I wouldn’t boast about a pre-10am diet soda, but what I’m really showing off is the straw.

My mom bought me these reusable straws, with their own pouch!, for Christmas.  Now I can be green while slurping my favorite chemicals! 

I drink everything (water, milk, iced-coffe, soda) through a straw so this is a great area for me to look into reducing waste.  The straw didn’t feel too strange and I loved how cute it looked.  When I use regular straws I chew on the tips which the husband hates (wow, that got dirty in a hurry!) so maybe these will cure me of that habit.

Either way, the caffeine must have inspired genius because I had a great lunch.

I started with these Johnsonville Turkey and Cheddar Sausages.

I melted 1/2t Smart Balance Light over medium-high heat and then added 1/3 of a chopped green pepper and two chopped sausages to the pan.

Once everything was nice and browned I sprinkled on some Kernel Seasons Ranch seasoning.

Finally I topped the bowl with hot and chunky salsa.

Delish!  I really really liked the sausages, they had the best smokey flavor and the cheese gave a nice kick without being too goopy.

For dessert I had a 2% Pineapple Chiobani.

Buffalo Residents – Price Right on Elmwood currently has these for 99cents!

And now it’s off to the old chopping block, yikes!  I’ll be back for a tearful post this evening!