Tag Archives: product review

This Post Is {Pea}Nuts

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We got home from Philadelphia after midnight on Monday and Tuesday morning definitely felt a little rough.  I had clinical practice all day so I had to solider through, but I became pretty much worthless the minute I got home.  Same story this evening.  However, I promise that if you make it through this post there will be two tasty peanut-y recipes waiting for you at the end!

Caffeine was a necessity Tuesday morning.  My friend and I shared this Silk Dark Chocolate Pure Almond milk in our coffees.

My other hospital eats included… An Apple Cinnamon GoGo Squeez.

An Enjoy Life Rice Milk Chocolate bar.

And a KIND Almond & Apricot Bar.

The KIND bar was the best.  The name only references almonds and apricots but the base was pure coconut!  It reminded me of a macaroon.  I bought another one at the store today and I’m pretty jazzed about it.

When I got home I had a serving of Cascadian Farms Dark Chocolate Almond Granola with Blue Diamond Almond/Coconut Milk and fresh blackberries.

Plus a serving of Rice Divine Mud Pie Ice Cream with peanuts on top.

My 2nd tasting of this ice cream left me with the same impression as my first; it’s awesome.

Dinner was awesomely quick and easy.

A microwaveable Punjab Eggplant dish from Trader Joe’s (I ate the whole package),

with a serving of pita chips for crunch.

I ate another serving’s worth of chip crumbles straight from the bag.

Wednesday’s meals were even better than Tuesday’s, but they did get off to a late start.  I’ll skip a long story about my unsuccessful breakfast and just say that I didn’t get to eat today until I got home from school.  And I got home after class, lab, and several hours working on a group project.

I was hungry as hell and thrilled that my dinner plans could come together in under 15 minutes.

I updated my Easy Peasy Peanut Noodles recipe (shared at the end of this post) and was pleased with the results.

If we call that my “3pm breakfast,” then the food I ate from the hot bar while we were grocery shopping was lunch.

Farro with mushroom and spinach,

and sautéed green beans.

Both were quite tasty.  This may have been the first time I’ve ever eaten farro and I enjoyed how creamy it was.

Dinner was snacks and beer.  I got out my food processor for some peanut grinding took several taste tests at every stage of peanut butter production.

This honey roasted peanut butter comes together in a snap but it is one of Adam’s favorite things that I make (recipe is shared below).  I also made Webster some pupsicles; if I have to clean the food processor I’m going to make sure I really use it first!  <– let’s be real; I’ve never cleaned the food processor, Adam always does it

We split a Wolaver’s Pumpkin Ale that was the perfect blend of sweet and spice.

Then we started a Dogfish Head Punkin Ale that I didn’t enjoy and passed off to Adam.

You would not even believe how many pumpkin beers I still have left!

As promised, recipes…

Easy Peasy Peanut Noodles, serves 2

  • 4 oz dry linguine
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 2 cups frozen broccoli
  • 2 tsp canola oil
  • 4 Tbsp peanut butter
  • 2 Tbsp tamari
  • 2 Tbsp  rice vinegar
  • 2.5 tsp sugar
  • (optional) dash red pepper flakes
  • (optional) 1-2 Tbsp peanuts
  1. In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, tamari, vinegar, sugar, and red pepper flakes if using.  You may want to microwave the bowl for 30 seconds or so to help loosen the peanut butter.
  2. Cook pasta according to package directions.  When 5 minutes of cooking time remain, add frozen veggies to the boiling water and stir.  Drain and set aside when pasta is finished.
  3. Once pasta is cooked, heat canola oil in a large pan over medium heat.  Add cooked pasta and veggies to the pan.  Cook 3 – 5 minutes, until the noodles start to get a bit crispy.
  4. Pour sauce over pasta and toss to combine.  Continue cooking for 5 – 7 minutes, until desired consistency is reached.  My family likes to cook it until the sauce starts to form a crust on the pasta, but this dish is ready to serve as soon as everything is tossed together.
  5. Serve and top with peanuts if desired.

Honey Roasted Peanut Butter

  • 1 lb honey roasted peanuts (I highly recommend Trader Joe’s if you can get them)
  • 2 Tbsp canola oil
  • 2 Tbsp honey
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  1. Put peanuts into food processor and process 1 – 3 minutes until mostly smooth.
  2. Add remaining ingredients and process until fully combined.

Feeling Blue

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My pain pills (which I think I don’t need any more, yay!) have made my appetite all sorts of wonky these past two days.  And some life stuff has made me super cranky.  I hate feeling like I have to post when I’m in a bad mood, but so many of the things I ate (of the very many things I ate!) have been winners that I want the post for my own memory.  This will be detail-light though.

Honeycrisp.

Rockstar Juiced.

Winter outfit.

My downgraded hand bandage.

Organic Rice Divine Mud Pie Ice Cream (1 cup).  This stuff was ah-mazing.  The texture was reminiscent of Italian Ice and peanut butter-chocolate is always a winning combo.  I especially liked the cookie pieces.

A healthy lunch.

Roasted green beans dipped in ketchup,

and Cilantro Lime Bean Burgers with Citrus Guacamole.

An entire bag of bbq Popchips for dinner.

Melted peanut butter with powdered sugar and good cocoa.  This snack is ridiculous good but also just ridiculous.  I need to quit cold turkey.

Chocolate dipped coconut Luna Bar.

Happy Tot Blueberry, Apple, and Purple Carrot squeeze pouch (FNCE sample).

Vegan almond joy.

Supplement sampling at clinic.  Not vegan but also not optional.

Veggie sub – lettuce, tomato, red pepper, jalopeño, banana pepper, pickles, and yellow mustard – from the hospital cafeteria.

Amy’s vegan mac and cheese.

Honey roasted peanuts.  By the by, honey is still on the table, so to speak, this Vegan Month.

Tempeh Brown Rice Casserole.

P.S. I am so flipping nervous about what election results we are going to wake up to tomorrow.  Anyone else?

Roasted Spiced Pumpkin Seed Recipe and Recap

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I have a giant disaster of a test tomorrow and I should not be posting right now.  At all.  But I ate so many good things.  And I made a successful recipe.  How can I not share?

I decided to compromise by just sharing a few things.  And the recipe.

Here we go…

First, a sad story.  I haven’t studied for tomorrow’s giant test because I’m demoralized.  You see, on Monday our teacher took a quick poll to see how many people were feeling good about the exam.  Then she asked how we’d feel about the exam if it was on Monday.  There was a marked difference in answers, obviously.  She told us that if we could come to a unanimous agreement she would move the exam to Monday.  We voted three times, and the end result?  One person wouldn’t budge.  So after all of our hopes were raised, they were cruelly dashed.  And that’s why I’m demoralized.

Now, a funny story.  The weather here was insane on Monday (though obviously quite mild compared to the rest of New York) and we only had a handful of customers during my shift at work.  To keep busy, my boss asked us to set up some demo products.  How do you like my jewelry box?

Next, a little food.  I’ll limit myself to 3 things out of the millions of bites I’ve taken the past two days.  (<– my eating has been a little out of control lately)

1. I do not like the Spiced Pumpkin Pie Clif Bar.  It’s too spicy and gaggy.  I dislike it year after year, and still I keep buying it every fall.  It just looks so damn seasonal when it’s there on the shelf!

2.  The cowboy cookies at Lexington Co-op are amazing.

3. But the co-op’s crazy feta dip is even better.  I don’t even really like feta all that much and I’ve still eaten two containers of it over the past 48 hours!

Vegan Month is going to be painful.  And necessary…

Finally, a recipe.

This was my first-ever time roasting my own pumpkin seeds and they turned out so well!  The roasted seeds were nice and crunchy and I think my spice combinations worked out.  I brought some in to school and shared with classmates who all gave high marks.  Both flavors were good but I think the sweet ones are my favorite.

seed roasting procedure

  1. After your pumpkin has been gutted, pull as many seeds free from the flesh as you can.  Soak the seeds in a large bowl of water to help remove any clinging stringy bits.
  2. Spread seeds on baking sheets and store overnight in your oven (keep it turned off!) so that they dry completly.
  3. Spray dried seeds with baking spray so that they are completly coated, then sprinkle liberally with selected spice blend.
  4. Bake at 350* for 25 – 30 minutes.

my savory spice mix

  • salt
  • onion powder
  • garlic powder

my sweet spice mix

  • cinnamon
  • sugar
  • pumpkin pie spice

Have you ever roasted your own pumpkin seeds?  What is your favorite way to season them?

**My heart goes out to all of those who were affected by Sandy.  Hurricanes and NYC have both been a major part of my life so watching the news coverage this evening was devestating.  My thoughts are with you.**

Past and Future

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Wow; long time no blog!  It’s been a week, which feels crazy.  Last weekend, Adam was out-of-town on interviews and since I didn’t want to broadcast that all over the internet I kept mum.  Then the week was a busy disaster.  One night I came home from work and got straight into bed at 8:20.  One night I drank too many pumpkin beers and got a little drunk.  One night I was out late working on a group project.  And last night the dog threw up and then when we went to clean up I threw up.  Good times.

The Past: Some Things Worth Highlighting from the Last Week

Annie Chun’s Spicy Chicken Ramen.

This soup came together in a snap and it felt fairly authentic.  It was spicy without making you want to run for the gallon of milk.

Another apple-cereal bowl.

This winner creation had steamed (aka microwaved) Honeycrisp apple with Special K Vanilla Pecan, All Bran Bran Buds, honey roasted peanuts, tons of cinnamon, and skim milk.

The new gelato place on Elmwood has pumpkin.

It was good, but the coconut half was even better.

These two pumpkin beers get two thumbs up.

The Long Trail was good, the Saranac was great.

The Potato Chip chocolate bar from Chuao is ridiculous.

Such a perfect melody of salty and sweet!  And the crispiness was fun too.  Now I want to try all of the other flavors!

Arby’s is selling a Peppermint Stick Swirl Shake.

If you like candy canes (who doesn’t?!) you’ll love it.

Mr. Pizza sells a veggie pie that is great.

It was packed with veggies, including green olives!

The Future: A Vegan Challenge in November

Yep, starting next week I’ll begin my annual 1-month vegan challenge.  One of my IRL friends agreed to do it with me and I’d love to have some of my internet friends join as well.  Think about it???

Bread In Chocolate, Mystery Burgers, And Thickened Pepsi

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I have got to stop falling asleep without blogging!  Some days (many days) are crazy and boring and I skip posting.  Other days are crazy and delicious and make me want to blog.  But two crazy and delicious days in a row makes for one loooooong recap!

Monday

Breakfast was all about the FNCE samples.  Gross was the Strawberry Del Monte Squeezable fruit.

There was a flavor there that I just didn’t care for.  Almost savory?!

Great was the Jamba Juice Fruit-i-licious Probiotic Trail Mix (I ate the whole bag, or 2 servings).

It had tons of fruit and nuts and just enough chocolate to be fun.

I planned on making dinner before I went to work so I made a quick trip to the store on my way home from school.  Coffee with skim milk to warm me up when I got home.

Archer Farms’ Cinnamon Vanilla Nut is the best flavor I’ve ever gotten from Target.

My lunch snack was a sweet tasting plate.

A sliced banana with crunchy honey pb,

and half of a Theo Bread and Chocolate Bar.

I love this bar!  Normally 70% would be a little dark for me but the saltiness of the bread really brings out the sweet in the chocolate.

I also ate a 100-calorie bag of kettle corn.

I managed to get dinner made, but not with much time to spare; I ate on the walk to work!

Roasted green beans,

and a turkey burger on a bun with sharp cheddar and Miracle Whip.

I’m going to stay cryptic and just say “burger” because this recipe was so tasty that it warrants its own separate post tomorrow.  I know most people scan these long recaps and I do NOT want this burger recipe to get lost!

After work, I ate a slice of turkey while I packed Adam’s lunch.

And that was it.  It was quite lucky that I ate dinner for lunch because otherwise I would have gone to bed hungry.

I got my flu shot Sunday morning.  PSA – Flu shots save lives.  Even if you aren’t worried about the flu, you should get the shot because it helps protect the people around you.  That said, I am having a major adverse reaction to my flu shot!

I couldn’t get a picture that really shows anything (it is surprisingly tricky to photograph your upper arm), but imagine a giant, raised, red area around my injection site.  It itches like crazy and is making me insane.  Adam didn’t see my reaction until Monday night but as soon as he did he fed me an allergy med and put me in bed.

Tuesday

When I say that Adam “put me in bed” on Monday night, it is worth mentioning that he let me pass out teeth unbrushed, jeans still on, and alarm clock unset!  I managed to make it to school on time but I was very confused this morning!

There wasn’t much time for breakfast so I grabbed a Chocolate Zico Coconut Water,

and an Odwalla Chocolate Almond Coconut Chewy Nut Bar (a FNCE sample).

Dee-lish-us!  The bar immediately moved to my “top five bars” list (now that Balance Bars aren’t good there is a major hole to fill!).  It tasted like real food, really tasty real food.

We were on campus today so I also got to cash in a free coffee card at the book store.

3 shots of espresso with tons of vanilla sugar and skim milk.  And then I twitched wildly for the rest of the day…

Instead of clinical practice at the hospital, today we had an intensive lecture on enteral and parenteral nutrition – i.e. feeding through a tube into the GI tract or through a vein.  It is insanely complicated but at least I think the calculations are a ton of fun.  I’m certainly not the smartest person in our program (not by a long shot!) but when we do any sort of math I’m usually the first person in the room to finish.  Who knew as I struggled through 9th grade pre-calculus that I’d grow up to get all tingly over formulas?!

Another fun part of the day? A rep from Nestle came in and showed us some different products.  We got to taste thickened water and thickened diet pepsi (honey consistency) –

Their commercial thickener is just xantham gum – like I used to use in my smoothies! – plus a few preservatives.

Also fun was the longer lunch period that let my friends and me go to Wegman’s.

I hadn’t packed food so this was very serendipitous.

Buffalo chicken chowder,

and a green veggie brown rice sushi roll with spicy mayo on the side for dipping.

Between buffalo sauce soup, spicy mayo dipping, and the wasabi that I slathered on top of my sushi, this lunch left me sweating!

I stole a fun sized candy bar from my friend for dessert.

Ignore my sandals, and note that I bundled up today for Fall.

Fall is here exhibit b – tea with skim milk and cinnamon sugar.

Fall is here exhibit c – the apple crumble candle I burned while I studied.

Fall is here exhibit isn’t she done with this gag yet?! – an apple crumble yogurt bowl.

This is another dish I plan on making often.  A 0% Plain Greek yogurt topped with cooked apple (a chopped Sweet Tango microwaved for 2 minutes with 1/2 tsp cinnamon and 2 tsp agave) and crumble (KIND Oats and Honey Clusters granola, a FNCE sample).

The rest of dinner was a random assortment of snacks while I studied.  A chocolate chip cookie dough mini Larabar (FNCE sample).

A mini tortilla with 2 slices of Applegate Farms Honey Maple Turkey and melted sharp cheddar.

Cold, leftover green beans for veggie needs.

And a 100-calorie bag of kettle corn.

As I said, looooong!  Like hot-dog-dog long.

Have you ever had an adverse reaction to the flu shot?

It’s 10-11-12!

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I’m blogging a two-day recap from a blanket nest with a killer migraine, so please excuse any typos.  I was hoping to be back on a “normal” blog schedule by now, but I’m not sure that’ll ever happen this semester!

Going back to yesterday… Wonder of wonders, I made it to the gym!  20 minutes on the elliptical; random level 6.  The machine was out of water so I drank a fruit punch g2 while I worked.

It was embarrassing to have so much fuel for such a short workout but I ended up being very thankful that I had it.  I guzzled most of it during my workout, then refilled the bottle with water and drank all of that on the drive home.  I guess I came back from Philly a little dehydrated.

From my trip to the gym, I came back short on time.  Thank goodness Adam had the day off yesterday; he drove me to school and packed my breakfast.  FNCE expo samples were heavily featured.  An iced coffee with skim milk.

A mini apple pie Larabar.

An apple it its true form.

And a serving of Cheddar Cheese Beanitos.

I was a big fan of the (pinto bean and flax-seed) chips.  They were nice and crunchy with just a touch of spice.

I’m also a big fan of things working out in the lab.  Look at what I made in Microbiology – spread plates and pour plates!

Adam’s undergrad degree was in Microbiology Immunology and sometimes it is downright embarrassing to show him my class-work!

I had several to-do’s after lab, but I made it home in time to make dinner before work.  My mid-day meal was pretty lame.  2 small corn tortillas microwaved with ~1/4 cup shredded cheese.

Plus a 2% Fage with Peach.

And the last two Buttered Rum Raisin Cookies from the batch I brought my friend.

We are getting in all of our Christmas stock now and work was more like a workout; I carried boxes up and down the stairs for my most my shift.  I was very glad to have dinner already finished when I got home.

Green Tuna Enchiladas; serves 4-6

  • 1 tsp 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
  • 12 small corn tortillas
  • 4 Tbsp light half and half
  • 3/4 cup reduced-fat shredded taco or Mexican-style cheese
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  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 8×11 inch casserole, seam-side down.  Too keep tortillas from cracking and breaking, it is helpful to cover them with a damp paper towel and microwave for 30 seconds.
  5. In a separate bowl, stir together the last cup of salsa with half and half.  Spoon mixture over enchiladas.
  6. Sprinkle cheese evenly over casserole and bake 20 minutes.

Dinner did not fill me up like I was hoping.  I ate a huge spoonful of Skippy Natural Super Chunk with Honey; aka the very best peanut butter ever.

And I had dessert.  I am working on a hot chocolate recipe so I’m not going to share the ingredients now, but I will tell you that this batch included a serving of Caramel Apple Milky Ways for funsies.

It was ridiculous good.  Ridiculous.

Moving on to Tuesday… Today had a productive start but has steadily gone downhill.  I had a difficult time getting out of my warm bed and ended up eating breakfast on the walk from my car to the hospital.  A Sweet Tango apple,

and a Full Moon Brownie Z-Bar, which I actually hated.

I couldn’t put my finger on what the problem was specifically, but the taste of the bar was not good to me.

Today was my busiest day at clinic yet.  I had a patient on my own in the morning, then worked on another in a group later in the afternoon.  We had our first practice with tube-feeds today and it was both fascinating and frustrating.  We’ve learned a lot in school but it’s all been in isolation; in the real world conditions overlap.  For example*, you might have a patient in End Stage Renal Disease that has increased protein needs for wound healing and is also a Diabetic. *just an example, this wasn’t a specific patient that we worked with today

Also, my friend Janessa and I offered to turn-key some of what we learned at FNCE, so we did a short presentation on ketogenic diets for epilepsy.  The group had to stay late so that we could present and I love them all for still being interested in what we had to say.

I ate a late lunch during my afternoon errands.  Vegan pecan cornbread stuffing from the co-op.

Buffalo peeps – run to the co-op to get some of this stuffing, it had the perfect blend of flavors and textures.

Then hot bar at Wegman’s while I ran through my notes before shopping.

I did three types of vegetable stir-fry.

I am glad that I got in veggies and time studying, because both were in short supply when I got home.  Minutes after walking in the door, I got an immense migraine.  It came on much more quickly than they usually do and made me unbelievably nauseous.

Adam brought home pizza for dinner and I ate a big plate once I was able to get out of bed.

Now I have to go try to study for tomorrow’s giant exam.  <– so screwed

What is your favorite store-bought peanut butter?

All I Need Is Popcorn

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I had to work this afternoon but I did manage to get in some nutrients first.  Cereal and milk (cereal and milk, cereal and milk!) for a late breakfast.

That’s 1 serving each Vanilla Almond Special K and All Bran Bran Buds with sliced plum and nectarine and Tempt Vanilla Hemp Milk.

I did co-op hot bar for a late lunch.

A tiny bit of bbq seitan, 1 stuffed grape leave, and 2 kinds of massaged kale salads.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, fruits and vegetables are so good!!

That’s not to say that I’m not still excited about junk.  Like this caramel apple cookie from the giant box my mother-in-law sent.

Or some of the Chocolove Salted Peanut Milk Chocolate Bar I bought for Adam.

Holy frick; guys, this tasted just like Cadbury’s Fruit and Nut chocolate bars from my childhood.  I loved it and definitely plan on buying more.

Something else I’m excited about?  I got to leave work early!  I pretty much look like a** and my bosses told me to go home early and get some sleep.  Instead of sleeping I’m staying up late to watch tv, but the extra time with the husband and dog feels precious.

Dinner was an Asian-style feast.

This baked sweet and sour chicken with sweet and sour sauce from Wegman’s,

roasted broccoli,

and Adam and I split a serving of Annie Chun’s Sprouted Brown Sticky Rice.

Everything was delicious!  The chicken recipe is a keeper (not exactly healthy but much healthier than the traditional) and the rice acheived perfect texture in 90 seconds.

My thoughts on tv?  Bones was touching, Grey’s was ridiculously sad, and New Girl seems like it is going to be awesome.  All that’s left to do is pop a bowl of ‘corn.

Yesterday I, Today I, Tomorrow I

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I’m almost done with my Study Hell Week!  Almost because I have one test to go on Monday that is going to eat my whole weekend.

I Enjoyed –

Mingling with local RDs at a meet & greet.

The free wine at a fancy hotel didn’t hurt.

I Discovered –

If you order a burrito “naked” at Moes, you end up with a slightly small, slightly cheaper rice bowl.

She even offered to add romaine lettuce to my base.

I Got Too Much –

Food! The following were all consumed en mass:

The only way I could stay awake was to keep eating, so I was popping bags of popcorn like they were Tic Tacs!

I Didn’t Get Enough –

Sleep.  At all.  Like, I’m going to die.  9 hours total over Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday night.  Yikes!  The more tired I got, the slower I moved and the longer things look and it just snowballed out of control.

Today I –

Got my free large (blue cup!) coffee from 7-11

and tried to pretend like I wasn’t still asleep.

Then I gave a major presentation and took a Microbiology exam, all within a 2 hour span!  My presentation was on a study that looked at the effect of fat supplementation in an enteral diet for the early stages of sepsis.  It went very well.  My Microbio exam was on god-knows what and didn’t go quite as well.

Now I’m off to eat something with nutrients!