Tag Archives: popcorn

The Best Laid Plans

by

I guess Friday the 13th ended up getting the best of me after all!  The best laid plans don’t always work out.  That’s especially true if you and your husband are terrible at time management and plan to leave at a time that’s too late and then don’t even get out the door on time!

We did get our fun lunch though.

Lloyd’s Taco Truck is Buffalo’s first and only food truck, you know we had to check it out!

I ordered a chicken taco, which was pretty good.

I wish I had gone with beans instead of chicken for my protein, but whatever the white cheese was it was delicious, and the shredded cabbage was nice and crunchy.

We also ordered a churro with cinnamon sugar.

Yuck city.  It was waaaaay too fried and we ended up throwing it away after a few bites.  Lloyd’s wait-time wouldn’t have been worth it in another city, but if you are in Buffalo I’d still say give it a shot; just don’t order the churros!

The day didn’t really improve from there.  The plan was supposed to be taco truck – post office – mall/seeing Bridesmaids- crossing training at the gym – party with some school people.  We ended up running so behind that we had to see a different movie and moved the post office to the end of the day.  Of course, we got to the post office just as the doors were closing in our faces!  In the end we had to scrap the gym and the party too.  And the movie we ended up seeing (that we should have skipped all together because it’s timing is what threw off everything else) was terrible.  <– skip “Thor”

But I guess it wasn’t all bad.  We did get a free small popcorn at the movies.

Do you belong to your theatre’s loyalty program?  Adam and I have gotten so many free tickets and snack items over the years, we love it.

And since my evening was suddenly free, when Adam went to meet friends for a game of tennis I ended up going with him to take a long walk around Delaware Park.  Walking isn’t the best use of cross-training time, but it’s better than nothing.  I walked 3.5 miles around the park.  It was fun to do the loops at a slower pace; the park has done lots of landscaping for Spring and it runs along one side of the zoo so there is a lot to see.

Blooms and buffalos definitely helped to put me in a better mood.

I ate an everything-style Bagel Thin with two slices of 2% colby cheese before we left,

and I drank half of this Arizona Virgin Pina Colada while we were out.

But I couldn’t get it together for dinner.  We stayed up way too late on Thursday and I was pretty zonked out.  <– It’s possible that when Adam and his friends switched courts at the last minute and he asked me to drive myself the last 2 blocks to the park I started to sob uncontrollably  

When we got home from the park I curled up in a filthy little ball for a much-needed nap!  Thank goodness Adam backed me into the shower with a chair before we went to bed.

The plan this morning was supposed to be breakfast then a trip to the Farmer’s Market.  But the skies looked like rain so we hurried out without food.  Too bad we still didn’t beat the clouds.

There wasn’t a lot at the market yet anyways 😦 

I did grab a three-cheese and caramelized onion focaccia to split with the husband for breakfast.

We shared a grande iced America with skim milk from Starbucks so we could eat at one of their dry (and dark!) tables.

A few notes – I love going on mini-dates with my husband.  Thank goodness it’s stopped raining now; I still need to get to the darn post office!  I need more food!

So I’m off.  Assume that I successfully made it to the post office and the grocery store, otherwise tonight’s post is going to be another cranky-pants one!

Confessions Post III

by

Click here to read Confessions part I and II.

Confession #1 – When I blogged last night about eating popcorn I actually hadn’t eaten the popcorn yet.  I definitely went ahead and ate three mini bags.  Also, whenever I make popcorn I sprinkle it with sugar.

Confession #2 – Even though I knew I had to get up early to write my presentation, I stayed up until 1:30 in the morning watching “Scrubs” reruns with Adam.

Confession #3 – Even though I knew I had to write my presentation, I started my morning by reorganizing all of my materials from the last semester.

Confession #4 – I get inappropriately flustered when I’m in the office supplies aisle.  I don’t like to shop for clothing as much as normal women, so office supplies are my shoes.

Confession #5 – I was a teacher for 2 years but having to do a presentation as a student still makes me nervous.

Is there anything you’d like to confession today?

Quick and Dirty

by

I’m back!  Well, sort of; I’ve got a final exam and an important presentation tomorrow but then I will officially be done with this year of school.  Done with the relentless bad mood.  Done with the only time for once-a-day recaps.  Done with the boring, detail-free posts.  But I’ve got to do one last quick and dirty post tonight.  <– not that I’m working on my presentation yet, it’s just that this is cutting into my “Chicago Code”

As predicted this morning started off with a workout.  I hit up the gym with my notecards for some cramming and cross-training.  I walked (at varying inclines) on the treadmill for 1 hour and 3.5 miles.  Followed by strength/stretching.

Also as predicted, coffee.

A big splash of Silk Vanilla Almond Milk and 16oz of the good stuff.  Buffalo natives – if you are near a Wilson Farms do yourself a favor and buy a cup of the ‘Jamaican Me Crazy’ coffee.  With hints of coconut it is so good, almost sweet!

I did not predict that I would manage to pull together such a cute outfit on this busy day.

The spring wardrobe is sooo much easier than winterwear!

I munched on a yogurt honey peanut Balance Bar on my walk to school.

And then it was down to business.  We had a final exam and a comprehensive exam (covering two courses) today so I met a group of friends for a serious 5-hour cram session.  I’m honesty not sure how I did on the exams – it’s like my mind was Men In Black-style blanked the minute I put down my pencil – but lunch was a winner.

Dinner was another leftover serving of Buffalo Wing Pasta, which gets better and better as it sits.

Plus two mini bags of popcorn with Smart Balance Light. [insert picture here]  <– or just pretend that you know what a bowl of popcorn looks like

I’m definitely going to eat popcorn every day until the box is gone, and it’s running out quickly.  Just like I’m running out quickly on this post… ba-dum-ching!

Time Crunch Tuesday

by

I’m not going to tell you about my day.  I’m definitely not going to tell you about how hideously unprepared I am for my two important tests tomorrow.  I am going to stick to my blog-everything-for-30-days goal.  Photo details only to follow…

An everything style Bagel Thin with a slice of 2% Colby cheese.

A small white hot chocolate made with skim milk.

Apple dippers.

A GoGo Squeez applesauce pouch.

A Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar.  (Oh God, this was good.  It tasted like a Samoa!)

A dulce de leche Skinny Cow mini ice cream.

2 mini bags of popcorn with Smart Balance Light.

Leftover Buffalo Wing Baked Pasta,

with baby carrots,

and a pickle.

A frozen coffee.

Workout = 3 mile run down Elmwood, 28:40.  No stops, yay!

Done and done.

They’re Fake

by

This has got to be a quick one because exam #1 is tomorrow and I am soooo not ready.  I spent most of the day at school with Adam, but sadly my concentration was lacking.

Lunch wasn’t lacking though.  I threw together the ingredient dream team for our sandwiches.

White Arnold’s Sandwich Thins, organic turkey bologna, Laughing Cow Light French Onion Cheese, and a smear of maple jelly.

With a crunchy pear on the side.

And Adam and I split my 2nd sample from Sweet and Salty Zone Perfect Bars for dessert.

Cashew Pretzel was even tastier than the trail mix bar.  There were loads of pretzels and they were still perfectly crunchy.  I definitely recommend buying these bad boys if you see them.  At 200 calories it was perfect for sharing.

My hunger hit when I got home and it hit hard.  Thankfully I’ve got a husband who’s always willing to split mini ice creams with me.

I also made a bowl of popcorn (with melted Smart Balance Light).

I’m still hungry if you can believe it, so I’m off to make dinner.  Tonight’s recipe is going to be a good one!

They Can’t All Be Winners

by

It wasn’t my most succesful day.  I had a crappy run, I didn’t do a lick of school work, I have not been drinking enough h2o, we’re up too late yet again…

Let’s look at some of the things that went right –

  • a crappy run is still a run, AND my knee doesn’t even hurt 😀
  • even though it’s late, I’m sticking to my 30-day blog everything goal
  • I’m feeling super fortunate about having the best mommy on the planet  <– fact

I started my morning with a we-suck-at-bedtime inspired Big Gulp.

That’s coffee from Wilson Farms with some Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.

I skipped the sweetener because this was supposed to be my pre-run fuel.  B-A-D, bad idea!  I stopped to pee not once, not twice, but three times during my 5 mile run!

My knee felt good when I woke up this morning (and all day yesterday) so I felt ready to tackle my training plan’s scheduled 5-miler.  The husband and I headed to Delaware Park to complete 3 laps around the ~1.75 mile loop.  My knee felt fine the entire time but my endurance was a horse of a different color.  Guys, I can’t even tell you how many times I had to stop during this run 😦  All total, I did 5.25 miles in 51 minutes.  I turned off my watch during all my breaks (I would just stop at stretch, not cover any distance) so I don’t know how long the entire start to finish time was, but I do know that each loop took me 17 minutes.  Yay for not slowing down!

And yay for still no knee pain; knock on wood!  I did ice my knee when I got home.

But ice water in a plastic baggie was a terrible idea so that didn’t last very long.  Some bags of frozen peas are on my grocery list for next week.

Somehow I decided that 5 miles at a 10-minute-mile pace was enough of a workout that I needed to sit on the couch the rest of the day.  Boo for being a loser!  Throughout the afternoon I ate popcorn – there are two mini bags in that bowl,

a Smart Ones Tuna Noodle Gratin frozen meal,

and a Skinny Cow Caramel Cone mini ice cream.

How on earth do they pack so much goodness into 170 calories?!?  That flavor was ridiculous good.

Our one accomplishment of the day was finally switching out our summer and winter wardrobes.  I’ve had that task on my to-do list for almost a month but Buffalo’s reluctance to enter spring kept it from feeling urgent.  Adam’s glad we put it off; the whole process took for-ev-a!  By the time we were done it was after 9pm and we ended up going out to dinner at Panos.

Sidenote 1 – we did not give up on our eat-in-more goal already, the meal was actually a gift for me from my mother-in-law, who clearly does not get the spirit of the holiday.  Sidenote 2 – not to worry, we’re not as clueless as we seem, we did buy both sets of moms nice gifts too.

I ordered the blackened chicken Caesar salad with roasted veggies and smoked gouda.

I shared 90% of my chicken with the husband, and dove into his fries in return.

‘Twas a great date night meal!

What was the best thing about your weekend?

Are My Hoisin The Club?!

by

Forget about what Rebecca Black says, Saturday is where it’s at!  We didn’t even do anything all that exciting today – studying, grocery shopping, easy dinner – it just was a good day.

Since I’m ridiculous about meals on the weekend I went with lunch – snack – dinner rather than breakfast – lunch – dinner.  Besides, lunch for breakfast means you get in more veggies.

Yes, that is Wegman’s hot bar.  Yes, I’m aware we have a problem.

Fruits (pineapple, berries, strawberries, watermelon),

Veggies (avocado, squash, mushrooms, carrots, brussels sprouts, broccoli),

and a mini crustless Quiche (with tomato and artichoke heart).

Adam and I split a Zone Perfect Sweet & Salty Trail Mix Bar for dessert.

The kind folks at ZP sent me some samples of their new Sweet and Salty line since they knew how much I adored their Cookie Dough stuff.  Adam and I agreed that the bar was good, but not as good as the cookie dough ones.  There was a great peanut butter flavor spread throughout it, and the bar lived up to its sweet and salty name.  I’m looking forward to trying the other variety.

In addition to being repetitive and crazy, constant hot bar isn’t cheap!  Adam has to purchase lots of random snacks and coffees this summer (he’s off for 2 months to study for a major exam and focuses better in public venues) so we need to save our pennies where we can.  I tried to do an extra good job of stocking up on groceries this week; I’d rather spend a little more money at the store and save some money not going out for random things throughout the week.

One of my have-snacks-in-the-house-stop-buying-nachos-damn-it purchases was a 10ct box of mini 100-calorie popcorns, and one of those bags ended up being my afternoon snack.

I also grabbed a (sweetened) cappuccino from Wilson Farms.

Looking back at this post, it seems like I had more than enough to eat today, but you know I couldn’t keep my hand out of the cashews while I cooked dinner!

We whipped up a simple stir fry that ended up being delicious.

The inspiration for the dish was the 2 unopened bags of spinach that were starting to go bad, but these guys were the real stars –

Step-by-step, serves 3-4.

Heat 1 Tbsp evoo in a large pan or wok over medium-high heat.  Add 10 cups of raw baby spinach.

Cover and cook until wilted.

Add 1 15 oz can baby corn, 1 15 oz can stir fry mushrooms,

5 green onions, sliced, and 2/3 cup salted cashews.

Top with 4 Tbsp Hoisin sauce and continue to cook.

In a small bowl on the side, whisk together 3 large eggs.

Make a hole in the veggie mixture and pour eggs into it.

Cook until starting to slightly scramble then toss to combine.  Continue to cook stir-fry until desire doneness is reached.

Delicious.

I topped my bowl with Sriracha,

and Adam added some baked tofu to his.

I stole a few pieces of tofu and they were so tasty I’m planning on making them again soon so I can share the recipe with you guys.

When I’m feeling unsatisfied after dinner a yogurt bowl for dessert is always the answer.

This one centered around a Dannon Light and Fit Caramel yogurt.

I almost never eat fake-sugar yogurts (if I’m not eating Greek I’m buying Stonyfield because it is humanely sourced) but this guy was pretty fantastic.  Topped with unsweetened shredded coconut, the last of the butter toffee almonds, and a few butterscotch chips.

Sweet dreams, readers!

Measure It Monday

by

It’s hard to measure where I am in my sickness because my symptoms keep changing.  I feel much more perky but my congestion and seal-cough continue.  I would say I’m 2-3 days from well?  Hopefully!

One vestige of deathly sickness that remains is my complete and total lack of interest in breakfast.  As a future RD I know the morning meal is important, but I just can’t make myself eat it right now.  I did get a big coffee when I got to campus though.

Grande nonfat latte with 1 pump of Irish Cream syrup, delicious.

As foretold, lunch was dinner’s twin.  A serving of Newman’s Own 4 Cheese Pizza,

and roasted green beans.

Plus some fruit snacks my mom sent during the break between classes.

We’re learning about breast-feeding in my Nutrition Throughout the Life-cycle class and it is so interesting!  The benefits of breast vs. bottle are immeasurable, even more vast than I had previously thought.  Plus we are exploring (just a bit) the socioeconomic factors that come into play.  Fascinating!

Random sidenote – I walked to and from school today in jeans and Adam’s sweatshirt, no coat!  Boo-yah.  The temperature is set to drop again tomorrow but I’m getting very excited about spring.

While prepping dinner I snacked on (an exact) serving of Popcorners.

Do you measure out things like chips, or just eat from the bag?  I only put my hand in a bag of chips if I’m planning on eating the entire thing, which I sometimes do!  Otherwise I always use my food scale to measure out a serving.  When it comes to snack foods like chips, the difference between 1-2 servings in satiety and satisfaction is nill, but the caloric difference can be huge.

Dinner was quick and easy but so tasty and wonderful.

Only 4 ingredients and no measuring required.

Goat cheese tortellini, butter toffee almonds, cubed butternut squash, and balsamic vinegar.

Cook the pasta as directed.

Roast the squash.  Actually, roast the squash, get nowhere, and finish it off in pan with a bit of butter.

Reduce the vinegar.

Combine everything (plus nuts) and fall in love.

This was perfect; a little savory and a little sweet.  Plus, you really can’t go wrong with goat cheese.

I made myself a broiled grapefruit for dessert.

But then I discovered that I hate grapefruit.  Oh well, at least I know.

Instead I had a cupcake.

Not just a cupcake though.  I just took the picture to show you guys how cute and perfect it was.

Instead I crumbled it over a Stonyfield 0% Chocolate Underground Yogurt,

for a much less cute, much more delicious treat.

Say it with me – “Mmmmmn!”

What sort of foods do you measure?  Do you use cups/spoons or a food scale?  I measure cheese, snack items, cereal, peanut butter and maple syrup.  Plus a few other things I’m sure I’m forgetting.