Tag Archives: potato

Mallrat

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Second suitor: if we were making whoopee–

What’s whoopee?

Um, you know, if we were being intimate–

What? Like f**king?

The above is one of my favorite quotes from one of my favorite movies, “Mallrats.”  If you have yet to see that 1995 classic I urge you to put it on your to-do list.  That movie is all sorts of fabulous.

I thought of the quote today because I spent my afternoon wandering aimlessly around the mall.  I wasn’t there to shop, I wasn’t there to work, I was just there.  (<– movie tagline)

Backing up to this morning, I discovered that two wrongs can make a right.  The fact that I woke up after 10am made it way less weird that I started my “morning” by popping a Rolo pretzel bite into my mouth.

One of the boys brought the bites to Poker last night, thanks Patrick and Michelle!  I’d be feeling slightly more grateful if said poker game hadn’t run past 1am, but what can you do?

I continued the theme with a Zone Perfect Cashew Pretzel Bar for breakfast.

We were in the car because Webster has chewed through every single one of his toys in record time and we needed to make an emergency run to PetSmart.

Then Adam and a friend went to see a movie and I joined them for a trip to the mall! “Mission Impossible #2,458” took a little over 2 hours so I had plenty of time to mall-walk.  I didn’t snap any pictures, but I do have a couple of take-away tips:

  1. The samples at The Gourmet Chef are out of control while they roll out new products for the new year.  I didn’t snap any pictures for stealth’s sake, but I ate at least a mini meal’s worth.
  2. Bath and Body Works is having a gigantic sale right now.  I snagged some great smelling hand soaps for less than $3 a pop.

After my loop, I settled in with a book for lunch.  Lunch’s location was an unexpected bonus – Five Guys!!!

Five Guys’ fries make the top 20 list of things I miss most about living in Brooklyn.  They did not disappoint today either.  Squishy yet crispy, a proper amount of salt, and with the option of endless bottles of malt vinegar.

I ordered a medium but that bag was basically stuffed to the brim!  I didn’t finish them all, but I did a good enough job to make myself a little ill.  Totally worth it.

I also got a veggie sandwich.

The veggie option is basically just a hamburger bun with any/all of the available toppings.  You can also get it with cheese.  I ordered mine with mayo, lettuce, tomato, sautéed onions and mushrooms, and jalapenos that I eventually admitted defeat to and peeled off.

I passed the lunch hour munching and reading (my fourth Kathy Reichs book this week) and it was just great.  This afternoon brought more of the same, only this time the dog read with me.

Love him!

Dinner was easy.

A salad of Romaine, chopped celery, tomato, and 1.5 Tbsp of peanut sauce, topped with some leftover chicken (cooked in the crockpot with a gooseberry sauce from back home, then shredded).

And an onion roll with a bit of SmartBalance Light.

We watched the impossibly sad returning episode of “Grey’s” while we ate.

And I ate a Pep Bar (the British/Canadian version of a York Peppermint Patty) for dessert.

Now I’m looking forward to cuddling with the husband and catching up on Private Practice and Modern Family as well, with big bowls of popcorn in our laps.

five questions for Friday

  1. Have you seen “Mallrats” yet?  Favorite scene?
  2. Ever been to a Five Guys?
  3. What do you dip your fries in?
  4. Do you partake in store samples?
  5. Have you read any of Kathy Reich’s books?

Wednesday – Thursday, Still On The Move

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Hello again from another location, this time Ohio.  Once we get home from here we have a day trip to Toronto and then I’m staying put until the end of break!

Wednesday

Yesterday was Adam’s and my 4-year wedding anniversary, aka our 9-year anniversary of being together!!!  It’s crazy to think that we’ve shared so much of our lives.  Sappy sidenote – I am grateful every day that I get to spend with my husband.  I am so thankful that the man I love is handsome and funny in addition to being intelligent and kind. </sap>

I had an early morning orthodontist appointment and we had to do a grocery restock and then we reunited with another man I love.

I sort of want to get those pictures framed.

Adam and I spent our anniversary doing our favorite things – namely tons of eating good food and cuddling on the couch watching good tv.  A big, made from scratch breakfast felt downright gourmet.

For the eggs, we went to the deli and requested two, 1/4 inch-thick slices of honey roasted turkey.

We chopped them up and sautéed them in a bit of butter, then scrambled in 4 large eggs.

Out of control delicious.  I quit eating most meat (mammals) before I had gotten to try everything and I suspect that I would really enjoy ham.

We also had hash browns made with white potatoes, onion, red bell pepper, 2 Tbsp of butter, and 2 tsp of chipotle oil.

Adam bought me some fourth year gifts for our anniversary.

A book with a sweet inscription, persimmons for fruit and rugelach for flour (substituted for flour because we were going out-of-town).

I’ve been picking up the persimmons and deciding that they were too expensive to splurge on for weeks at the grocery, so they were such a nice surprise.  We split part of one persimmon but decided that it wasn’t ripe enough yet.

Adam was careful to buy squishy ones because once in the city, before we knew better, we tried to eat an unripe persimmon and about died when all the moisture was sucked from our mouths!  This one had a good flavor but was still a little cotton-mouthy.  So we washed it away with rugelach.

The snack was perfect to bring us into lunch.

I had an Applegate Farms Turkey Bologna sandwich on half a cheddar jalapeno bialey with a little bit of Miracle Whip.

Plus a huge pile of roasted green beans.

Adam hates jalapeno but knew I’d like that bialey more than the others and I gave him the half with more cheese, so we both compromised in the name of love.

It would have been easy and fun to go out for a romantic dinner, so I’m extra proud of us that we stayed home and cooked together instead.

I started by steam-sauteing 3 chopped zucchini in a bit of chicken stock.  Then I finished them off with 1 Tbsp of evoo and this packet of Garlic Gold I got in my HLS swag.

I was expecting to adore the Garlic Gold after all the love it got in the healthy living blog community, but we found it to be pretty “meh.”

We set the cooked zucchini aside and while Adam boiled 3 servings of pasta I made a roux with 2 Tbsp of butter, 2 Tbsp of flour, and 1 Tbsp of milk.  Into that, I whisked 1 cup of skim milk and 1/2 cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese.  Once the sauce came together all we had to do was toss it with the cooked squash and pasta.

We topped our bowls with a bit of panko and more cheese.

Dinner was great, definitely as good as anything we would have gotten in a restaurant.  This was on the healthy side, but now I am absolutely going to make a similar sauce and use it in oozey, gooey mac and cheese.

We stayed up later than planned watching “That 70’s Show,” which was good for anniversary fun but bad for me working out this morning.  I can’t do anything active here in Ohio and I’m worried that all my vacation workout momentum will be for naught.

Thursday

Today was a day of many meals.  Due in parts to time of the month and restlessness from 7 hours in the car.  And we got junky food too; a healthy living blog no-no but an unavoidable part of existing in the real world.

Chicken biscuit from Chick-fill-a.

The leftover serving of dinner.

A juicy pear.

Animal crackers split with Adam (70/30 his favor).

Mid-way we got to stop for froyo.

I got eggnog and toffee mocha yogurts, topped with candy bar pieces and some marshmallow topping.

Alas both of my flavors were too spicy and I ended up throwing most of mine away.  It was a sad day indeed.

But hundreds of miles later we found a Sonic and I ordered a diet coke with strawberry that totally made up for it.

Adam and I also split fries and chicken tenders.

Good thing my grandma served a lateish dinner, huh?

Webster was a perfect angel for 95% of the drive.

We even got to take him in to meet my grandpa this afternoon.  I like it when all the men in my life are well-acquainted.

Per usual, my grandma made a great dinner.

Side salad,

cooked spinach with feta and cherry tomatoes,

truffle mac and cheese to make up for Adam not having any on Christmas,

and italian breaded chicken, 

which I only could eat a few bites of because I felt like food was coming out of my ears.

After dinner, Nana and Adam worked on a 750-piece puzzle while I wrote this monster post.  I hate all these super long posts I’ve been writing lately!  I know none of my readers are interesting in scrolling for hours, but since I use my blog as a journal I don’t want to skip days that are so great.  I promise to get back to a less annoying schedule once I’m home for good.

Merry Christmas In St. Thomas

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I hope everyone is continuing to have happy holiday season!  I know that booze and beaches don’t feel very winter-holiday festive to most of my readers, but to me they feel like home.  We’ve done lots of traditional food and family this year too.  If Adam had been home this would have been my perfect Christmas!

Christmas Eve

Saturday morning, after my run, we met up with my aunt and cousins (the visiting set) for breakfast at Barefoot Buddha.  I got an iced coffee with Silk soy milk.

Barefoot Buddha is my favorite restaurant in St. Thomas (I ate the Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich on the morning of my wedding!) and our meal did not disappoint.  My mom and I split two sandwiches so we could get lots of flavor.

The wrap special had tons of veggies, sesame tofu, and a peanut sauce.

And the Bigfoot Bagel Sandwich had egg, turkey, turkey bacon, cream cheese, and a chipotle aioli.

Yum and yum.

The day was spent on holiday preparations and I ate a handful of carrots at one point for some crunchy energy.

Then it was time to celebrate.

My family has thrown a big (tequila shot flowing) Christmas Eve party for as long as I can remember and it felt a little strange not to have one this year.  But the visiting family came over for dinner and then a big group met for drinks at the Island Time Pub and it was nice in a new way.

We had Hanukkah dinner leftovers for dinner.

Salad,

a little bit each of pineapple chili salmon and sour cream dill salmon,

and more potato latkes.

I also had a 7-layer bar and a small slice of “crack pie” before we headed out.

Then I had a great time getting to drink and chat with a bunch of family and friends.  O-bomb shot,

black and coke,

jack and ginger.

Funny, I did not end up running Christmas morning 🙂

Christmas

Christmas with my parents was perfect, though Adam was very missed.

Great minds think alike – my mother and I ended up buying each other the same doxie pen!

While we unwrapped I had a coffee with eggnog,

and a cherry cordial straight from my stocking.

Then our visiting family came over for breakfast.

Turkey sausage,

egg and cheese casserole,

half a mini bagel with cream cheese,

and a piece of 7-layer bar.

Plus a piece of sour candy cane my cousins brought me later.

Then Christmas afternoon was spent on the water.

Fun fact – here is a (far away) shot of the beach where Adam and I got married!

A Christmas tradition is to spend the day in “Christmas Cove.”  There were 40+ boats all connected together but I never did get a good shot.

The crystal light-vodka-whatever I was handed may have had something to do with that.

Is there anything more perfect than Christmas at the beach?

After we washed off the salt, everyone went to my (St. Thomas based) aunt and uncle’s house for Christmas dinner.

Before we headed over I made myself a plate of apple slices and latkes,

but the combination of booze and sun must have hit me hard because I hit the fruit and cheese spread like there was no tomorrow.

Everyone was (lovingly) teasing me about the blog so I did manage to take a picture of every single (9!) cracker/cheese bite!

But I did keep my dinner plate simple.  One thing for health and one thing for fun.

A big pile of salad,

and a big pile of truffle mac and cheese.

The husband is going to be so very jealous; last year he finished off three plates of that macaroni!

After a long-long day we just had to squeeze in one more piece of festivity, so my mom and female cousins and I went out for girly embarrassing drinks.

That’s a virgin pina colada, and even sans alcohol it was a little too much for me.  Merry Christmas indeed!

Monday

Today is my last day on island, so I made sure to get an early start.  My amazing mother drove me to school before 8 so I could get in final run on the field.  ~1 +ish mile ran.  I forgot my sunscreen so I kept it short.  Now as soon as I get some party pictures e-mailed I’m off to soak up as much family time as I can.

Do you Christmas/Hanukkah traditions include any beach time?

STT; Thursday Afternoon – Saturday Morning

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It’s a busy day (the day before Christmas!) but I just couldn’t bear not sharing (pictures of all, descriptions of few) what I’ve been up to!

Thursday

Thursday afternoon, my mom treated me to lunch at Pesce, a newish Italian spot. We split the two things that sounded best. A spinach salad with craisins, candied pecans and goat cheese,

and a (fried) bbq chicken flat bread.

The husband has been calling about missing me and asking for pictures, so – Hi, husband!

Do you like my new top?

For dinner my parents and I headed to Victor’s Hideout for some good local cuisine.

Our plates came with plantains, fungi, sweet potato, rice and beans, and salad.

Plus I ate a roll with butter.

Here, my dad and I split two plates.  He got the fried shrimp,

And I got ole wife, a local whitefish.

Head on, scrape the meat off the bones… It was intense but tasty.

That evening I headed over to the apartment (bachelor pad) of two high school friends who just moved in together. 4 of us from a regular group were there together and it was fun to do some reminiscing. Adrien served me a tasty vodka-soda-lemon thing at some point.

But I stuck to one drink because I was driving (on the left … in the rain … without traffic signals because half the island didn’t have power). My mom did text around 1:30 to see if I was dead, which I thought was sweet.

Friday

Friday morning I may have overslept. I missed my gym window too, which was annoying. But I got up in time for breakfast.

That bowl was 1 egg, 2 whites, ~3 oz leftover spicy chicken, a handful of shredded cabbage, 1 Tbsp butter, and 2 Tbsp cocktail sauce. I’m not even going to attempt to describe it.

Brunch was Christmas in a convenience package.

A gingerbread Clif bar that I took one bite of and then trashed in horror.

And an eggnog Nutrament that I swooned over.

Plus I got a chaispresso (chai, espresso, 2% milk) during afternoon errands.

Friday night my parents hosted a Hanukkah party!

It was great getting to see everyone, and it was extra great that my uncle made his (best ever) latkes.

I took many appetizers bites. I actually did take a photo of every single one, so I’m going to consolidate them grid style –

My cousin made matzoh ball soup.

Here is my dinner plate –

Salad, noodle kugel, and a tiny bit of salmon.

And my mom made “Crack Pie” (of Momofuku fame) for dessert.

Tiny slices because it was basically a pie of caramel in an oatmeal cookie crust.

Saturday

This morning I had my mom drive me to school so I could run some laps on the field.  I have no idea of distance, but I jogged 20 minutes straight; plus a quick, walking warm up and cool down.  I am not in running shape at all so it was interesting to see a workout out in the wind!

And I’d like to wish a very Merry Christmas tomorrow to all of my readers who celebrate!

Ingrid and I

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It’s been a back-and-forth sort of day.  My travels included –

  • home to school
  • school to the WNY Food bank (in a friend’s car)
  • WNYFB to the Broadway Market (carpool)
  • Broadway Market back to school (carpool)
  • school to the post office
  • post office to Wegmans
  • Wegmans to Batavia!
  • Batavia back home
  • home back to school
  • and finally school back to home

Whew!  Way too many miles for my poor little gas tank.

For our last class of the semester, my coordinated program group took a field trip.  We donated the money we earned from the Chili Sale to the Food Bank of Western New York, so we went there today to take a tour and give them our check in person.  The tour was fascinating; a staggering amount of food (1.5 – 2 million pounds) is moved through the food bank each month.

I ate this Stonyfield yogurt drink on my first drive to school,

and these grapes during the drive to the food bank.

I also packed an Oatmeal Cranberry Pecan Cookie for everyone in the car.

Good reviews all around!

Our next stop was the Broadway Market.

It was fun to see, but I doubt I’d go back.

One of my classmates bought a fig cookie from one of the stands a shared a bite with me.

Shockingly for me, I actually found this to be too sweet.  But the sprinkles were fun.

When we got back to school I had time to print of the last of my notes for final exams before I was off on errands.  I stopped at Wegman’s at 12:30 for a 15-minute lunch.

Food, that wasn’t very good.

I had two different types of brussels sprouts and both were basically raw.  Plus the German Potato Salad (on the right) ended up being more cheese than potatoes.  I’m not saying it wasn’t tasty, but I am saying it wasn’t healthy.

And a coffee with skim milk and two sugars that I dumped down the front of my shirt while driving on the highway.

I’ve had better lunches.

I was driving out to Batavia – 50 minutes each way – for a job interview.  They won’t know for a few weeks and a lot of other (more qualified) people have applied, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

My long drive was made exponentially more pleasant thanks the new-to-me Ingrid Michaelson CD my friend Kim burned for me.

I loved it!  The sound reminded me a lot of Regina Spektor’s 2nd album, Far.  And there were several songs that I had previously enjoyed but not recognized as Michaelson’s.  Her song “Snowfall” has been my favorite Christmas (or anytime!) song since I heard it on Bones last year. 

How gorgeous is that?

I had enough time before my final event to run home to take a quick shower and make Adam and I the world’s fluffiest smoothie.

For two – combine 1 cup skim milk, 3/4 cup h2o, 3 Tbsp malted milk powder, and 1 scoop chocolate whey protein.  Blend for far too long and you get chocolate malted air.

That big glass literally felt like nothing was in it, but at least it tasted good!  And my 150 calorie serving was surprisingly filling.  Oh the power of protein.

I was back on campus because my friend Janessa and I volunteered to run a nutrition table at the relaxation fair our college was putting on.

We were there two hours and were very pleased to see many students take an interest in our table.

I snagged a popcorn bag from a neighboring snack table,

which sparked the craving for this snack when I got home.

I’ve actually been munching my way through the bag while I typed this post!  Plus two unphotographed cookies that snuck in after I hooked up the camera.

Are you an Ingrid Michaelson fan?  How about Regina Spektor?

I Was Told There’d Be Book Club

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Book club was a success!  And Adam got off of his shift early and got to spend the afternoon with me, so it was a great day all-around.

I got up early to do some final cleaning (when people come over I like to pretend that we’re not slobs) and snacked on a bag of popcorn and a slice of 2% provolone while I worked.

I also did some major 2-for-me-and-1-for-the-bowl-ing while I prepped the fruit salad.

At 10 my friends arrived and we feasted.

We may not have really talked about the book (I Was Told There’d Be Cake) but at least we had some good eats!

My plate had potatoes,

fruit salad,

cheesy baked eggs,

and a crepe (so cool!) with Biscoff spread on the inside.

We also made hibiscus mimosas.

It was all great fun.  No people pictures though because we suck at remembering to take them.  I always have my camera with me (duh) so I need to do a better job at snapping candids.

We book clubbed until after 3pm and then my cultural meal pattern group and I baked some Irish soda bread to bring to our presentation tomorrow.  By the time they left I was starving again and my study motivation was seriously waning.  But I have an important cumulative exam – spanning two semesters and material from 2 courses – tomorrow.  What to do, what to do?

Somehow the husband and I decided that the solution was to go out to dinner and study at the table while other people prepared our food!

We went to an all-you-can-eat sushi spot that has a longish wait between courses and it was actually perfect.  I’m not prepared for tomorrow by any means, but I got a lot more done than I would have at home.

I also ate a lot.  I just plain don’t have time to break the pictures down, but here’s a shot of what I ate.

Wow!  Highlights included edamame, tamago (sweet egg) sushi, and tempura zucchini.

And we stopped at Wegmans for a candy cane for dessert.

Sweet dreams!

Hello, Bob

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So, this morning I looked like this –

and now I look like this –

I like it, I think!

I always sort of hate my hair whenever I get it chopped, but I’ve gone short several times now so apparently that’s not holding me back!  I ended up having 14 inches to give to Locks of Love, which is great.

A friend and I went during a long break between classes and it was fun to see people’s reactions when we got back.  “Wait, didn’t you have a pony-tail this morning?!?”  I surprised Adam too.  He picked me up from school and his mouth fell open when I walked out to the car!

BC (before the cut) I ate half of this Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar for breakfast.

And AC (after the cut) I bought a great green juice.

This was blend of spinach, kale, carrot, and cucumber; from a new spot just blocks from my apartment.

This was so good, and “only” $4.  I predict I’ll be there more often than I can afford!

Adam picked me up after school so we could make a quick grocery trip.  We each picked something from the cookie bar for funsies before we did boring stuff like toilet paper.

I chose cinnamon nut rugala and I’m now on the hunt for a rugala recipe to make at home.

While I was fixing Adam’s dinner I snacked on some canned pineapple over 1% cottage cheese.

My dinner was supposed to be some of Monday’s “leftovers,” leftover.

A heaping bowl of pasta, shredded chicken, and tons of peas, topped with parmesan, cranberry relish, and a drizzle of evoo.

I love this bowl so much more than I do anything I eat on Thanksgiving.  But I got up to do something halfway through and when I came back there was a dog face in my bowl!  Webster’s sort of an asshole.

Instead I ate this Smart Ones Brocoli and Cheddar Roasted Potatoes.

Not as good as the dinner I shared with the dog, but not as bad as it looks either.

Have you ever given to Locks of Love?  If you have long hair – how many times have you gone short?

Happy Thanksgiving

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We’re in Miami!

Can I just say, how little I did I manage to pack for two people for four days?

And that’s with the husband’s giant boy clothes taking up extra space.

Our day of travel went smoothly, minus my yogurt (in a perfect peanut butter jar!) getting tossed at security. We slept though the first flight and then spent three hours walking around the Chicago airport.

We got a strange 8am meal, splitting a Baja chicken burrito from Burrito Beach.

I asked for chicken, red rice, black beans, corn, cheese, sour cream, and roasted veggies.

Supplemented with a tangerine packed from home.

I was pleased with the job I did packing food for this trip.

(Adam also had a downright gourmet salad in my backpack.)

I ate a sandwich – Applegate Farms Turkey Bologna, Crofter’s Grape Spread, everything Bagel Thin – on flight number two.

Plus Peanut M&Ms bought from the airport.

I also started reading the all time funniest book ever on the plane.

Clearly Webster liked it too.  I laughed aloud so many times I’m sure our seatmates were thinking of muzzling me.

Before we knew it, we were on the ground and hugging my parents at the gate.  We are so freaking excited to be with them (especially in Miami!).

Our first stop was a nice walking tour of our old haunt, the U!

So fun to see how the campus had changed in little ways.  I will admit to becoming a bit nostalgic when we walked past the building where I took all of my English classes.  Plus it’s fun that Adam and I got to date here for four years.

Our next stop made my heart sing.

Self-serve froyo is high on my list of things to be thankful for!  I did keep the serving small though (we were about to head out to a nice Turkey Day dinner!); dolche de leche and taro froyo with fruit, a smidge of marshmallow, sprinkles, and lots of popping bobba.

If we manage to sneak in a froyo every day of the visit I think this will end up being the best vacation ever.

For dinner we headed to the Chart House.

The shirt that Adam has on here is actually the one he got married in!!!

I started my meal with a Blue Moon.

And a really great roll with butter.

And for dinner I went traditional.

Sliced roast turkey,

cornbread stuffing,

mashed potatoes,

cranberry relish,

and creamed spinach.

The spinach was soooo good, but overall I probably ordered the wrong thing since I actually hate most Thanksgiving foods.  I only ate a 1/3 or so of my plate; but at least I won’t have regrets about “missing”anything, and Adam is thrilled with his plate of leftovers.

My meal came with pecan pie.

But there wasn’t a preference issue that kept me from eating this, the pie was just plain nasty.  Store-bought (crappy store-bought) pie, Chart House?  You can do better.

But what really matters on Thanksgiving is family, and I got to spend the day with my three favorite people.  And I hope all of you, Americans or otherwise, got to spend the day with your nearest and dearest too.