Use Your Noggin

by Emily

Hello, hello! The days I’m excited to blog are always the same days I’m utterly exhausted. Go figure. Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors but also a 9+ hour day at work. Instead of posting last night I had a total tantrum and passed out fully dressed… so here is a 2-day recap.

Remember when I said “Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors”? You know, like five seconds ago. Well, my day went eggnog –> candy cane –> gingerbread; bam!

Nog based overnight oats for breakfast.

I put 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup Silk Soy Nog, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds in the fridge overnight, then Saturday morning I added 1 sliced banana and a big dash of Christmas sprinkles.

So festive and delicious. Also, holy frick, I love chia seeds so much.

My candy cane came in the form of a Peppermint Stick Clif Bar during work.

This is Clif’s best seasonal flavor by far. The bar has the perfect amount of peppermint.

Gingerbread was a cupcake surprise from the husband.

He had an appointment near Fairy Cakes in the afternoon and he brought me home a gingerbread stout cupcake with cream cheese icing.

It was ridiculous good, maybe the best cupcake I’ve ever had! The cake had a great ratio of spice to sweet and was so fluffy and moist. I shared one big bite with Adam but downed the rest with gusto.

The rest of the day’s eats were out of season, but still good. From fall I borrowed an apple and a Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale.

I split the beer with Adam and ate the apple on my own.

I guess nachos are actually appropriate for any season, right?

Adam and I shared a tray, straight from the oven. We topped scoop-style tortilla chips with roasted brocoli and green pepper, Newman’s Own Pineapple Salsa, and Cabot Reserve Aged Cheddar.

We loved them. He was a little iffy on roasted brocoli as a nacho topping but it was delicious. And I was worried about that type of cheese versus a regular cheddar, but that ended up being perfect too. And the pineapple salsa is hands-down the best jarred salsa I’ve ever had.

Blah, blah, blah, and then I started having a fit and had to go to bed. I didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep during the weeks Adam was gone and I’m still really freaking tired.

Sunday was a super hungry day and I ate a ton ~~of crap~~. A brunch of sorts, was low-fat coffee yogurt with honey roasted peanuts and honey,

a few pieces of toffee candy from home,

and several handfuls (about 3 servings or 250 calories worth) of dried turkey.

During work I drank a Starbucks Vanilla Doubleshot.

Working with crowds of Christmas shoppers is exhausting but also really rewarding. Five different people today thanked me effusively for my help and that was a really good feeling. Actually, one super hot guy told another customer that I was fantastic and I about died!

Adam picked me up after work for a fun treat.

Bubble tea from Gin Gin! Best bubble tea I’ve ever had, and I’ve tried a lot. I got a medium red bean milk tea with regular and popping boba (the purple one is Adam’s taro).

We both swooned over how good they were and finished our drinks in the car long before we made it home. And we called my mom on speaker on the drive and drove her crazy scraping through our ice for errant tapiocas!

Dinner was pizza.

And we shared a beer.

We were gearing up for a long night of baking.

I’m giving my co-workers all pies for Christmas and we are not even close to finished still. Sorry, husband!

We made smoothies mid-baking for strength. Frozen strawberries and blackberries blended with So Delicious Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk.

And I’ve done a little nibbling while we baked.

I have a holiday breakfast with work tomorrow and then I’m spending Christmas Eve on the couch with Adam. I have two days off in a row for the holiday and I am so excited to spend them with my boys!

Did you give any handmade gifts this season?

10Dec2012

Happy Hanukkah!

by Emily

I know I’m a day late on the holiday wishes but 2nd-out-of-8 is not so bad.

I’d love to tell you that I’ve been in a flurry of studying, but in fact I worked almost 22 hours between Friday and Saturday. I am exhausted, cranky, and not as prepared for tomorrow’s exam as I’d like. But it is what it is and I’m just glad I have a job.

Some Friday/Saturday Highlights

I made another round of eggs with seitan.

And had a mug cookie both days.

Also pizza both days…

I had my first Starbucks red cup.

A gingerbread latte (I didn’t love it!) while forcing myself to study with a friend after work.

What I Was Up To Today (Sunday)

Other than oversleeping and wasting some time in the morning, today was nice and productive. Apparently my body just doesn’t want to study before noon!

I was excited to try this Oro Blanco for breakfast.

Whenever I spot something I haven’t heard of before at the grocery store I just have to buy it. Adam and I used to love Ugli fruit when we lived in the city and I was hoping this would be similar.

The Oro Blanco had a very thick layer of skin and pith like the Ugli fruit, but the flavor was not my favorite.

It was bitter in a way that made my stomach hurt and I ended up throwing it out after three segments.

Instead I split a Mike’s bagel sandwich with a friend.

The Mike’s sandwich is a bagel topped with cream cheese, provolone, and a fried egg. It is amazing and ridiculous.

We spent almost six hours at The Spot so the sandwich was only the first of three orders. I also had an iced coffee with skim milk.

And shared a slice of cheesecake (with a pretzel crust and chocolate ganache!) with a friend.

I just have to say – thank goodness for my great groups of friends or I would not have accomplished a damn thing today! We went through the notes as a group and it was so helpful. Not that I’m feeling all that great about a comprehensive exam in one of the hardest classes I’ve ever taken!

I snacked on baby carrots with blue cheese dressing when I got home.

Plus a Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale.

I have 3 pumpkin beers left over from October and I need to drink them before their out-of-season-ness drives me crazy.

I went to my freezer to get a little festive for 2nd night of Hanukkah dinner.

3 cheese blintzes from Manischewitz.

Frozen carrot slices and brocoli baked in 1 Tbsp Smart Balance, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, and salt.

Both of the dinner components were very tasty. I bought a bunch of frozen vegetables on my last grocery trip and I’m actually looking forward to using them. And I have half a box of blintzes left that for which I need to purchase sour cream.

Dessert was very unnecessary, but also fun.

Biscoff Buddies! I have a special version of “puppy chow” in the works and since I’ve never actually made puppy chow before, I wanted to do a trial run with a single serving batch.

For this version I used: 3/4 cup honey squares, 1 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips, 2 Tbsp Biscoff spread, and 1 Tbsp powdered sugar.

Who else thinks I shouldn’t be blogging at midnight when I have a giant exam at 7:40 am? Whoops!

27Nov2012

Cook Book, Cookies, Chicago Fire

by Emily

It’s felt like forever since I’ve blogged. Thankfully (ha!) I was starving all day and ate a ton of food so I have lots to post about.

First things first – I need to announce the cook book giveaway winner.

Congrats Turn Towards the Sun, shoot me an e-mail (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) with your mailing address!

Breakfast was consumed during class but photographed in Adam’s car. I waited until 6 am to will myself out of bed to finish writing a paper and was running behind. Actually, I would have been fine but then I had to cuddle the dog before I took my shower and I ended up needed Adam to drop me off. Thanks, husband!

A Wegman’s low-fat pumpkin pie yogurt that I was very impressed with. The texture was perfect and the taste was so good I’ll consider continuing to eat this flavor in December!

An Iced Oatmeal Cookie Z-Bar (FNCE sample).

The 2nd half of this Chuao Honeycomb Bar.

Adam continued to be the nicest husband ever, and he walked the dog to pick me up after classes. I love those boys so much!

I also love leftover pizza for lunch.

1 cheese slice,

with carrots and blue cheese dressing.

Plus batter bites for dessert.

I’m going to share the recipe tomorrow and here is my endorsement: I ate four and a half cookies today!!

Work went well. We extended our hours for the holiday season which means my shifts are all an hour(+) longer but it wasn’t too painful. I drank a cup of (Keurig) hot chocolate while at work but didn’t photograph it for obvious reasons.

Dinner was a serving of Seven Layer Casserole.

The recipe’s vegan but you don’t need a challenge to try it; it’s delicious!

Apparently that all wasn’t enough food because I also ate a bag of SmartPop while I caught up on “Chicago Fire.”

Are you watching Chicago Fire? Thoughts??

17Nov2012

Happy Happy Joy Joy

by Emily

Thursday was more crappy than happy. The list of low-lights includes being so freaking tired all day because I still haven’t caught up on sleep, eating pizza for dinner (so stress eating, so not vegan), having my stitches be difficult to remove because the office was asstastic about making a follow-up appointment, and having to work on a group project until bedtime.

If you weren’t paying close attention to that list of complaints, you may have missed yesterday’s highlight: I got my stitches removed!

My hand is officially free. And gross. But Adam bought me a bubble tea for being brave.

I got a strawberry bubble tea at Gin Gin and they gave me normal boba with multiple flavors of popping boba as well. Best bubble tea I’ve had in years!

Friday was the happy, happy, joy, joy day. I just woke up happy. Several good things did happen today, but I swear that I was excited to begin with.

The fact that I was dressed in a very “Emily” outfit did put me in a good frame of mind.

And all of my meals were incredibly tasty. Breakfast was a tasting plates of sorts in class. A serving of Angie’s Sweet and Salty kettle corn.

An apple.

And a roasted seaweed snack.

I washed down my snacks with a can of Cherry Coke Zero that was randomly the best soda I’ve ever had. I’m not sure exactly how it was different than usual but I swear the formula must have been “off” for this can’s batch because it was amazing.

A tall soy creme brulee coffee was consumed for warmth and caffeine on my walk home.

I only had time to switch out my bags between school and work which could have put a damper on my mood (especially because I didn’t have time to eat!) but then I came home to this –

A #simplesurvivalkit packed with goodies from some of my favorite brands: Food Should Taste Good, Justin’s, Larabar, Little Ducks Organics, SmartWool, Sprout Wellness Basics, and Teatulia. Not only are my taste buds excited about the goodies, the package itself made me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I am so incredibly grateful and touched!

Work went well; we got an insane shipment of packages and the time flew by. Before I knew it I was home for dinner.

I wasn’t expecting much from this meal but I ended up loving it. I sautéed sliced mushrooms, green peppers, and sweet onions in Earth Balance and salt and served them on top of basmati rice with Sriracha and Nayo stirred in.

I shoveled in my bowl in about a minute and adored every bite!

More group project work went down from 9 -11 (pm!!) and I shared a Pumpkin Shock Top with a friend while we worked.

I planned on getting into the pumpkin Blue Moon too but I’m basically the walking ~~dead~~ asleep at this point so I’m glad I stuck with half a beer.

I hope everyone else had a happy, happy, joy, joy day too! Or if not, please enjoy your weekend!

15Nov2012

This Post Is {Pea}Nuts

by Emily

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

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.
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.
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.
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.
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

Put peanuts into food processor and process 1 – 3 minutes until mostly smooth.
Add remaining ingredients and process until fully combined.

2Nov2012

Hello, Hello, Goodbye, Goodbye

by Emily

Hello, reader. I was AWOL yesterday because I had the beginnings of a migraine and put myself to bed at 4 in the afternoon! Not fun.

Also, Hello to Vegan Month! I desperately needed to go to store, so yesterday I had to make do with the vegan things around the house. And of course I was insanely hungry all afternoon. <– bad timing

Breakfast was a super tasty pumpkin smoothie.

1 cup Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond/Coconut Milk Blend, ~1 cup canned pumpkin, 1 frozen banana, 2 Tbsp maple syrup, and a big shake of pumpkin pie spice.

I did lots of snacking when I got home from clinic. 2 oz of roasted pumpkin seeds,

a giant Honeycrisp with tons of melted Biscoff,

a (FNCE sample) bag of Food Should Taste Good Olive Chips,

and a big bowl of cereal.

Then I put myself to bed with a migraine. I had a paper due this morning so unfortunately Adam had to wake me up at 10pm so I could write it.

I ate a veggie sub from Subway – lettuce, tomato, green pepper, cucumber, pickles, red onion, and bbq sauce – while I worked.

Breakfast was the last of the pumpkin seeds,

and a green pear.

I got lunch at Wegman’s during my massive shopping trip.

Veggie goyza,

and inari.

I ate half of both then brought the rest home to Adam. We both loved the inari!

And I ate this candy bar – like a vegan Snickers – while I blogged.

Goodbye to my belly button ring.

I’ve had it in since I was 15 (12 years!!!!!!!!!) and am so sad that it is gone now. But I’m having a minor surgery this afternoon and they told me I had to take it out.

Also, Goodbye to you guys for a bit. The minor surgery is on my hand and I sure I will not be up for typing this evening. I’ll “see” you later this weekend. Wish me luck!

1Nov2012

Webster’s First Halloween

by Emily

You can tell that this post was a terrible decision since it’s 2 o’clock in the morning. I’ll try to keep it quick.

You can tell that tomorrow is the first day of Vegan Month because I managed to eat two yogurts, buffalo chicken pizza, cheesecake, and a milkshake.

You can tell that it’s Halloween since I pulled out ~~all of the stops~~ some of the stops.

Black and orange outside clothing.

Black and orange inside clothing.

And earrings that look like candy corn.

Plus, my exam this morning was positively spooky! 😦

Before the exam, I got up and had breakfast. A big bowl of Liberte Coconut Yogurt plus 1% large curd cottage cheese.

Plus coffee with skim milk.

When I got home – my exam went ok, my quiz went not ok, our lab activity took forever – I had more yogurt. Apple Cinnamon 0% Chobani with honey roasted peanuts and a drizzle of honey.

I ran a few errands the afternoon. The most exciting was the orthodontist appointment; not only am I cleared for 12 more weeks of nights only, but I won a contest!

$30 to Best Buy. I was so excited, I never win anything!

Lunch was pizza.

I tried to really think about the foods that were going to tempt me during November. A buffalo chicken slice from Zetti’s,

with baby carrots and blue cheese for dipping.

Halloween candies for dessert.

Then it was time to dress my favorite dog up in his first costume. We went meta this year…

A hot dog in a hot dog costume!

Webster was flipping adorable – several cars honked and gave us thumbs up! – but it was cold and wet and he was so mad at me by the time we got home!

Thankfully Adam’s arrival (he was away on an interview the past two days) cheered us both up. He came bearing cheesecake!

That was literally the best slice of cheesecake I’ve ever tasted but I already had my sights set on something else so I took a few bites and left the rest for the husband.

My plan for dessert? Pumpkin Coffee Caramel Chocolate Milkshakes!

Ben and Jerry’s Caramel Coffee Buzz blended with skim milk and pureed pumpkin (with chocolate syrup on the glass). It was delicious and just what I needed to power through the last two hours of working on a final project. The perfect way to end my dairy consumption for the month.

Happy Halloween!!

31Oct2012

Drink Your Chocolate For Halloween

by Emily

Because you won’t have enough sweet stuff this Halloween, here’s a recipe to help you drink your chocolate too.

Do you know how hard it is to get a good picture of hot chocolate?

Very. This stuff was perfectly sweet and velvety thick, but that doesn’t come through in photographs. At least not with my camera and my skills.

The sweetness is nicely balanced by the vanilla and the salt. And using real chocolate instead of just cocoa powder makes it gloriously thick. FYI – I made a few versions of this recipe with mini candy bars (Caramel Apple Milky Way, etc…) subbed in for the chocolate chips and they were ridiculous good. Something to think about for your leftover candy.

Drinking Chocolate, serves 2

2 cups skim milk
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
4 Tbsp semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp salt

Bring milk to a simmer in a small saucepan over low heat. Keep a watchful eye on the heat, you never want the milk to go above a simmer.
Whisk remaining ingredients into milk. Cook 1 -2 minutes until well-combined, whisking constantly.

P.S. In need of a Halloween goodie that you can put on a plate? I remade my Pumpkin Double Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins recently and highly recommend them!

What are you doing to celebrate Halloween this year?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: pumpkin

Use Your Noggin

Happy Hanukkah!

Some Friday/Saturday Highlights

What I Was Up To Today (Sunday)

Cook Book, Cookies, Chicago Fire

Happy Happy Joy Joy

This Post Is {Pea}Nuts

Hello, Hello, Goodbye, Goodbye

Webster’s First Halloween

Drink Your Chocolate For Halloween