Super Saturday > Fail Friday

Today has been one of those perfect days where Buffalo felt like a fabulous place to live and all was right with the world!  It didn’t exactly have the smoothest start though, our fail dinner was like the gift that kept on giving (and giving and giving).  I don’t want to fully blame Wine Thief, because I did help myself to way too many of the husband’s salt and vinegar chips, but I spent my midnight throwing up and cursing date night.  Thankfully my super Saturday has all but canceled out fail Friday to restore the balance.  90% of the day has been walking, so that’s pretty much my perfect day right there 🙂

We started our morning with a mega-tour of my new campus.  I start class on Monday so I needed to figure out exactly how long it would take me to walk to school (~35minutes) and where all my classes were located.  Adam and I had a fun time exploring my new digs.

Here’s where I’ll be taking Organic Chemistry –

From there I walked over to the Elmwood Art Festival.  Is there anything more wonderful than a good street festival?  I think not.

After taking in the sites, I also took in some tasty treats.  Fresh squeezed maple lemonade.

Peanut butter popsicle dipped in dark chocolate.

Plus a new cereal bowl that I’m sooooo excited about (I’ll show it off later).  I actually went home for a spell and then came back with the husband.  On our final loop I picked up some kettle corn,

which was the perfect snack for my next activity – the movies!  The husband had to go to the lab so I decided to go solo to “The Switch.”  We are big movie talkers so I packed plenty of snacks to keep myself occupied alone.  A smaller portion of my fair kettle corn.

I probably could have eaten the whole thing, but I definitely didn’t need too!  What’s in the cooler?

A Ginger Root Beer Zevia sample,

and some frozen lemonade.

My kettle corn was sweet and crunchy, my lemonade tasted like summer, and my Zevia had a great kick – it was the perfect movie meal!  The movie was a win itself; Aniston and Bateman were the perfect foil and the plot was sweet and funny.  Eating Chalk recommends it!

Now I’ve got to get going on dinner.

What was the last fair, festival, etc, you had the pleasure of attending?

I Envy No Man

It’s almost Friday!  Weekends have been pretty much meaningless to me this past unemployed year, but now that I’m starting back to school next Monday they are exciting again.

I spent forever running errands today because parking was ridiculous everywhere I went.  Also helping orphans catching up on “Make it or Break it.”  I managed to make time for some amazing meals though; I’m seriously excited about every single thing I ate today.

Chicken Enchilada Suiza Lean Cuisine.

Frozen meal win, this was delicious.  A chicken enchilada with cheesy sauce,

and a pile of rice that got mushed around in the cheese sauce.

With an Orange Zevia (free sample).

I’m usually not one for orange sodas but this guy was totally thirst quenching.

Also, a mini bag of kettle corn.

I spent some time wifing it up in the kitchen, baking some chocolate chip cookies for the husband.  I stole a tiny one.

I would have eaten more, but I had already stashed 2T of dough away into the freezer for something amazing.  Keep reading…

Dinner was kinda off the hook.

Think tasty leftovers x10billion.  I topped a bed of roasted green beans with 1cup of corn, a serving of shredded bbq chicken, and some homemade bbq sauce.

Shredded chicken, corn, and roasted green beans are all pretty big favorites of mine and together they were unstoppable!  The balance of spicy-salty-sweet was perfect here.

But nothing was topping dessert.

I’ve had food-processor-envy all year, but tonight I envied no man; tonight, I got to make Gena’s famous banana soft-serve!

Only my batch was extra fabulous because it also had frozen cookie dough blended in.

This bowl was 2frozen bananas and 2.5T frozen cookie dough.  Swoon!

Have you gotten to try banana soft serve yet?  Thoughts?

Around the Globe

I was hanging around the house this afternoon, checking some e-mails, eating some popcorn,

getting half-dressed for the gym and trying to decide whether to head there or pick up my stuff at the tailor first.  When Katie g-chatted me about lunch who was I to say no?  Even if it meant I ended up going out in public in this –

A running skirt for running errands?  Not a good look for me!  Although I ended up doing so much walking that I was almost glad not to be sweating in my jeans.

Globe Market is conveniently located between our two apartments so we decided to meet up there.  I’d never been before so I thought I’d sample the menu with a half sandwich/soup combo.

Vegan gazpacho.

Green apple and brie sandwich.

I ended up with a ton of food.  Sadly I wasn’t that impressed with any of it though.  The gazpacho was ok, but it was practically tasteless compared with the bowl Benji served me the other day.  And the apples in my sandwich tasted like they were rotten!  The best part of my meal was actually the bread that come with my soup, airy and delicious!  I left behind a lot of food –

It was good to catch up with Katie though.

A fun story from my teacher days – On one of our many professional development days a workshop let out early.  This meant that we had to stay on school campus but didn’t have anything specific to do.  The nicest facility in the school was the basketball court so someone suggested a game of Around the World.  I have to mention here that I worked in a rough neighborhood and my job was pretty intense – most of the staff consisted of very large black men.  I actually was the only caucasian female employed by the school the two years I worked there.  I did not win that game of Around the World, not by a longshot, but I did hold my own.  The look on some of my fellow teachers’ faces when they realized they just got schooled by a little white girl in a mini skirt (it was a no student day)?  Priceless.

Activia Desserts for Dessert

I wasn’t in the mood for breakfast this morning, but I was all about the pizza pizza!

I roasted up some broccoli, put it on a single-serving crust with marinara, and topped it with 2% sharp cheddar.

Mmmn, broccoli and sharp cheddar made the perfect pizza combo.

A bit later I snacked on some sliced green apple and a few pretzels (way to finish the whole bag before I got any, Adam!).

And for dessert, Activia Desserts.

I buy Activia for the husband because he has some tummy issues and it seems to really help.  I usually just stick to Greek yogurt but the Strawberry Cheesecake flavor sounded so divine that I had to try it.  Good decision; the cheesecake flavor was spot on, nothing like the “cheesecake” fat free yogurts I’ve tried in the past that just scream artificial sweetener.  This was creamy and sweet and pleasantly thick for regular yogurt.  All for 140calories, I think I’m  a fan.  If you’d like to try some yourself go here for a $1 off coupon.

We’ve got a tasty dinner planned, but I’ve got my eye on a mini bag of kettle corn in the meantime.

*Update to Add – I’m going for it, mini bag of kettle corn here I come!

Chutney Sounds Like a Stripper Name

Just as predicted – dinner, tv, workout, cleaning.  Actually, no technical workout, but the husband and I did take a 2nd walk.  It is definitely long past time to get in an official sweat session.  The past week has been filled with walking (enough to consider exercise) but I’d like to ramp it up a bit.

Dinner took leftovers and turned them into something beautiful.

The 2nd half of my curried chickpea and potato burrito was a little soggy, but otherwise none the worse for the wear.

And it took me all of 5minutes to saute some frozen veggies; okra, corn, and green beans.  I’m from the school of thought that nothing doesn’t go with a sprinkle of salt and spicy paprika.

A healthy, easy, tasty dinner.

Improved exponentially by the addition of chutney, the one must-have on my grocery list today.

FYI – chutney is a stewed fruit spread common in Caribbean cuisine.  I’ve seen it made with mangos, cilantro, and apricots, and (in my opinion) the tastiest varieties always involve tamarind.

During the tv portion of the evening (“Rizzoli and Isles,” I’m becoming a fan, I think) I also had a bowl of popcorn.

Today was the husband’s 1st day back to school (um, *good luck!* belatedly) so we are trying to turn in early so we can attempt to establish some sort of healthy sleep pattern.  Goodnight all!

Have you ever tried chutney?

Five Words or Less

In NYC, Yippie!  But yawn….

Caffine to drive = skim latte.

Mike’s split with Camile, yum.

WW Foccacia, egg, cream/cheese.

BlogHer reception, vodka diet coke.

Big movie popcorn bites = dinner.

Dinner for Schmucks was hilarious!

Give me 5 words to describe your day.

Grump Grump Galumph

I feel like all I managed to do today is eat a bunch of junk.  I certainly didn’t manage to find my good cheer.  Or a clever, interesting blog post.  This is definitely one of those days that I would usually just not document but I’m making a bigger effort (25th birthday goal) to post everything.

Jordan almonds, x2.

Fruit slices.

Lunch was inspired by two things; my desire to use these adorable squash I picked up at the Farmer’s Market,

and my need to recreate my favorite Subway sandwich.  Those two goals came together nicely.

I roasted the squash,

and combined half a can of tuna with miracle whip and pickle relish, on a soft bun, topped with tons of red onion.

I had a bit of tuna salad that I ate straight from the bowl and it also got a big dose of red onion.

Altogether it was a tasty, filling lunch.

Nerds.

This popcorn gets irritatingly burnt.  I turned it off even before the popping stopped and it still was smoking.

This Lindt Ice Coffee candy bar was also disappointing, it had a strange sour taste that made me want to rinse out my mouth.

I misread my crockpot dinner directions and ended up with a major time fail.  Dinner came from a local spot down the street.  A buffalo chicken sandwich,

and some of these –

Ugh.

What is something that makes you giggle even when you are in a bad mood?

48hours of Fun

Aaaargh!  Two (FULL) days worth to recap?  I actually debated not writing this post but I’ve blogged every single eat since my 25th birthday and I’d like to keep that streak going.  I’m keeping this one pretty dry though.

-~-Sunday-~-   We did lots of sharing so my photos are more of a basic representation than a spot on accurate one.

We started with breakfast from Pano’s.

I ordered the Artichoke Omlette, which came with fresh spinach, artichoke hearts, and a a touch of basil pesto.  I also requested that they add broccoli and only use half cheese, pepperjack, i.e. there is cheese on the top but not the middle.

With some hasbrowns,

and a slice of sourdough.

Delicious, but I couldn’t come close to finishing; we packed up the second half for the husband. 

By the way – our leftover situation this week was ridiculous, at one point our fridge had 8 to-go boxes in it!!!

We spent a looooong time at a nearby outlet mall, which was tiring but amazing.  At some point I ate this baggie of dried fruit (kiwi, apricot, hibiscus).

And we had to at least get appetizers at Cozumel’s.

Complimentary chips and salsa,

Maryland Blue Crab and Avocado Handrolls.

I love how Cozumel’s has healthified Mexican food; the rolls were not fried, contained no creaminess or cheese, were stuffed with sprouts, and were totally tasty.

My plate –

Dinner ended up being a bit of a fiasco, everything closes on Sunday here!  We drove around for hours looking for a place and the husband’s new phone came in totally handy.  In the end we headed to Jack Astor’s, which was the perfect choice.

We shared lobster and crab dip as an appetizer.

For my meal I ordered the chicken fajitas, which came with cheese, sour cream, onions and peppers, lettuce, salsa, and smokey bbq sauce.

I never order fajitas but assembling my own meal was totally fun.  I ate two fajitas and then packed the rest up to add to our to-go boxes.

-~-Monday-~-   We had to get up super early to take my parents to the airport (boo!) so Adam and I stopped at a bagel place on the way home and got a tomato pesto bagel with salmon shmear to share.

We also split the leftovers of my omlet from Sunday.

It was actually a pretty great breakfast.

I was starving (all day, it was insanely annoying) so I also finished off the rest of my chicken fingers from the other night.

The husband headed to work and I passed out.  I didn’t wake up until around 1 and then I spent the rest of the day sneezing.  It was out of control, I sneezed at least 50times yesterday!  I don’t know what allergy flared up but I felt like death warmed over and even had to skip a friend’s birthday party last night because I couldn’t control all the snot running down my face (gross, sorry!)!

Mid sneezes and tissues I did find time to eat a bunch of crap.  Strawberry yogurt bar from Lindt.

This came from the outlet store and rocked my socks.  It was a single serving (love) and was creamy, and tangy, and crunchy, and perfect.

A piece of whatever this is –

my parents brought it; sort of tastes like a dried crepe with sesame seeds?

An entire bag of chips!

A small piece of banana bread with Smart Balance Light.

Dinner was at least healthy (and epic).

I topped a small bed of lightly dressed spinach with roasted yellow beets,

purple tomatoes,

crumbled goat cheese,

and candied pecans.

OMG!

The combo was out of this world, yellow beets are 10x better than regular ones.

Oh, and I also had a bowl of SmartPop kettle corn.

-~-Today-~-   I’m not sure what the day holds.  I have a terrible case of grumpies for some reason.  I have a dinner I’m excited about cooking and a trip to the gym is definitely in order because I haven’t worked out in 2 days.  We shall see….

48hour recap = 4 reader questions

  1. Have you ever tried beets?  Yellow beets?
  2. What is your favorite appetizer to order at a restaurant?
  3. What is your favorite flavor of Lindt truffle?
  4. Are you attending BlogHer this weekend?