Tag Archives: restaurant food

More Sleep More Hunger

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Apparently my body didn’t get enough sleep or food the other day because it demanded more of both in large quantities.  Good thing it’s the weekend and I had time to indulge in both.

Adam and I actually got out of bed at 8 am this morning but when the dog got back into bed we thought we’d cuddle with him, just for a minute.  4 hours later it was noon and we were waking up for lunch.

Adam made chicken salad my favorite way; shredded chicken with grapes, walnuts, and Miracle Whip.

Grapes totally make chicken salad.  But apparently this didn’t fuel us that well because we totally went back to sleep until 2:30!

When we got up and set out on errands I was starving.  We stopped at Tim Hortons on the way to Goodwill for a caramel apple cider.  On Friday I was bemoaning the pumpkin options I can’t try until Pumpkin Month (aka October) and my friend Kim convinced me that September should be all about apples.  Another theme?  I’ll take that challenge!

That happy face was before I actually tasted the cider sadly, yuck city.  It tasted like it was made with fake apple flavoring.

I chucked my cider after 1 sip but I did eat 2/3 of this filled maple doughnut.

This was a very out-of-character thing for me to eat but I was low on options and we were running late for our afternoon activity.

The Bison Ballpark Brew Bash is a craft beer tasting event whose proceeds benefit Cystic Fibrosis research.

We got our tickets 50% off with Groupon so it wasn’t a big deal that I didn’t end up drinking that much.  I ended up taking a few sips of a few things and calling it a day.

Buffalo Brew Pub’s Oktoberfest.

I don’t really remember this one; not bad but not my style.  I drank ~1oz.

Ithica Beer Co’s Smoked Porter.

Eek, not my thing at all; one sip was enough for me!  The smoked flavor was almost meaty, I imagine drinking a full one of these would feel like eating a meal.

Rohrbach’s Brewing Company’s Vanilla Porter.

For a porter the flavor was nice and light and I liked the vanilla scent.  ~1.5oz.

Post Road’s Pumpkin Ale.

Ewwww.  The smell of this was good but it was way too sour for me, I was sad that I even took one sip.

Six Point Brewery’s Sweet Action Cream Ale.

Yum!  This had a great light fizz and almost orange-y undertones.  I drank 95% of my pour happily.

Shipyard Pumpkinhead Ale.

Now this is what pumpkin brews should taste like!  The smell was pumpkin pie and the taste was pure pumpkin.  I am definitely going to be on the lookout for a bottle of this before October Pumpkin Month.

I ended the day with Heineken Light.

I know most people who drink craft beer would call this a low note, but don’t hate, I love Heineken Light.  The flavor is mild enough that it’s sort of like drinking water, but the brewery is quality enough that it’s not like drinking dirty water (my thoughts on Bud, Miller, and Blue Lights).

The most exciting taste of the day was this soft pretzel – covered with mustard – that I split with the husband.

We took the train to the event but ended up walking back to our car in Allentown afterwards.  When we lived in Allentown I used to walk down to The Spot all the time and it was great to do some Delaware ambling again.

Adam and I were both still starving when we got home and we weren’t quite sure what to do with our evening.  Thankfully our friends Patrick and Michelle had just headed to dinner and invited us to come along.  We ended up at Gin Gin for Chinese food.  They had bobba!

I got a taro milk tea with tapioca.

I got the chicken and eggplant in garlic sauce with rice.

I also took several bites of the table’s order of bok choy.

The food was good but my meal was pretty heavy so I started feeling sick before I felt full.  I ate about half of my food and boxed the rest up for Adam’s lunch this week.

Finishing out my day with dessert, I split these Panda Yummies with Adam,

and ate a mini sundae whilst watching “That ’70’s Show” and blogging.

Today’s been fun, hopefully tomorrow will be productive!

Fillo Me Up

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When Adam got home at 3 o’clock (two hours late, I might add) we realized that neither of us and had eaten all day and we were both starving.  Waiting for dinner wasn’t an option because of our stomachs, eating at home wasn’t at options because of our pantry, and grabbing food close by wasn’t an option because we’re growing tired of Elmwood take-out.  To the internets!

I found a Groupon for Mississippi Mudds that we could buy and use this afternoon so we headed out.

The food was cheap and sounded good so we were excited to try something new.

Adam and I got a spread to share and headed to the roof for a meal with a view.

Problem # 1 – The complete and total bee infestation at Mississippi Mudds scared us back inside in a matter of minutes.  Problem # 2 – The food was freaking bad.

I ordered the seafood salad sandwich.

I knew that there was a chance of the fake crab mix but this was basically egg salad!  I ate about 1/3 before giving up.  Plus, even with my small serving I was left completely nauseous which means I’m probably sensitive to one of the preservatives in the fake crab mixture.  <– yet another reason it’s better to eat whole foods

Adam and I also split the sweet potato fries with honey and butter (on the side).

I imagine it’s hard to produce a product that is both undercooked and burnt but they managed.  The fries were cold too, which was pretty much the final straw for us.  We’d give Mississippi Mudds a 1.5/10; the only positive was that we used a Groupon so we only had to pay 50%.

So in spite of our efforts to branch out, the bulk of lunch ended up coming from our old standby.  Wegman’s hot bar can basically do no wrong.  I got a broccoli mixture and a cauliflower mixture, plus some apple cider sweet and sour chicken.

Still cheap, but now healthy and delicious!

I have a less busy weekend with time for school work so I spent my afternoon watching tv instead of studying.  I’m typically not an emotional eater (I eat junk because it makes me happy, not because I’m sad) but I will admit that the full glass of Arnold Palmer the dog spilled on the couch did push me towards the this mint chocolate chip swirl cupcake.

I ate the top half of the cake with icing, because that’s the good part anyways.

The husband and I weren’t hungry again for dinner until pretty late in the evening so we wanted something quick.  Thank you HLS swag bag, for the mini fillo shells.

Our final meal was “Strawberry Fields” themed.

We baked the mini fillo shells with chunky peanut butter, diced strawberries, and a sprinkle of brown sugar.

I ate 6 (technically two servings for 90 calories total) and the pb&j feel was perfect.

On the side we had salads with leftover diced strawberries.

Also romaine lettuce, roasted buckwheat groats, crumbled blue cheese, and Newman’s Own Light Caesar Dressing.

Cheese plus fruit (particularly blue or goat cheese with any type of berry) is a combo that never fails.

Fellow HLS attendees; what did you do with your fillo shells?

Uncomfortably Full

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I love long weekends! And long weekends with trips are especially fun. It was great to visit with my grandparents, I don’t get to see them as often as I’d like.

Before we hit the road this morning we ate a final fancy breakfast.

Chicken sausage,

egg casserole leftovers, which I ate cold to my husband and grandma’s duress,

and a banana.

We were not as well provisioned for this trip as we were on Saturday. I did the best I could but still arrived home hungry. A low-fat string cheese,

and a Muscle Milk Light bar.

Yeeetch! I took two bites and decided I’d rather go hungry. At least with the dog we stop more often and I grabbed what I really wanted a bit later, candy.

I’ve been badly wanting Twizzlers for a few weeks and after a serving that craving was satisfied.

Webster slept most of our journey which meant I had time to finish the book I started on the drive over.

Hands of My Father is a memoir about a hearing boy’s childhood with two deaf parents. New addition to my top list of book favorites! I had to hold my breath to keep from crying at least once a chapter and I laughed just as often. The setting of a Jewish neighborhood in Brooklyn post Depression lent itself to some good stories.

When we did get home I spent my evening making chili.  And weighing chili, and pricing servings…

This was for a class assignment, and it was beef to boot so I couldn’t even taste it!  Instead Adam and I got take out for dinner.

Tuna melt on sourdough (no butter on the bread) with cheddar cheese and a side of fries.

Plus a slice of carrot cake.

Umm, plus the last two chocolates.

Can we so uncomfortably full?

Serendipitous Stop

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Hello from Ohio!  I’m so glad we had this long weekend so I had the chance to get over to visit my grandparents.  My grandpa is in the hospital at the moment unfortunately, but we’ll get to visit a bit and we’re hanging out with my grandma until Monday.

I went to bed at 3am last night this morning and my alarm went off at 7am so you know I turned to coffee.

Adam and I shared this cup, with a small splash of English Toffee syrup and a big splash of skim milk.

Webster had an appointment to get his booster shots so we headed to the vet’s office on the way out of town.  Adam took him alone for the first visit while I was at HLS and I was so impressed today with how brave he was.

He was a total champ on the car road too.  Most of the trip was spent like this,

or like this.

And he drank water out of a glass in the cup holder like a little traveler!

When we weren’t fawning over how cute the dog is, we were eating.  I didn’t get a chance to pack lunch for myself and I got very lucky with a serendipitous stop.  I was hungry and thirsty when I spotted a Chipotle so I asked Adam to pull over,

and then we realized that we were only 2 miles from froyo!

Booyah!  You’ve seen my froyo face, but here is my “froyo and Chipotle?!?” face –

self taken in the bathroom mirror because even I have a little shame.

We actually ate our froyo first.

I stuck with a theme and got a small cup of low-fat mint froyo topped with snowcaps, crumbled Andes, Oreos, and fudge sauce.

Swoon.

Then I ate my Chipotle rice bowl in the car.

They let me do a small scoop of rice topped with black beans, fajita veggies, corn salsa, mild salsa, and a tiny sprinkle of cheese.

I topped the whole thing off myself with TONS of green Tabasco.  Double swoon.

Other snacks included part of this apple which got warm and gross,

and this baggie of snacks (yogurt pretzels!) from my grandparents’ house.

We made it to Ohio in pretty good time and got to spend an hour visiting with my grandpa before coming home to a gourmet dinner.

I swear eating with my grandma makes you feel like you’re at a hotel!

Homemade cole slaw,

a slice of foccacia,

roasted asparagus,

and enchilada casserole.

I only left a bite or two on my plate but I definitely made room for dessert.

Homemade chocolate pie.  I scraped my crust off for Adam (crust is to filling like cake is to icing) but practically licked the rest of my plate clean.

The filling of this was like chewable pudding, so good!

I am stuffed, exhausted, and ready for bed.

In The Zone

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My plans for the evening got a little thrown off when I decided to go to the gym come hell or high water.  And my plans for dinner got a little thrown off when Adam ate himself sick snacking while he waited for me.  Everything worked out in the end though.

I was in the study zone this afternoon, working until 6pm before I decided to head to the gym.  Side note – we have a ton of busy work assignments this semester so don’t expect me to do well or anything just because I’m working a lot!  The gym was quick and easy, 30 minutes on the elliptical at random level 6.  I had to stay up super late studying because I went (obviously, you guys see the timestamp!) but I’m glad I got in some movement before our 7-hour drive tomorrow.

I had to go buy notecards and we walked around Elmwood trying to feed me for a while and it got pretty late.  At least I discovered a new favorite when I ended up in front of Zonies.

I split with Adam but gave the larger half to myself (that’s a small plate).

The owner was super nice and let me combine two different calzones in one; they make each order fresh.  I got the eggplant parmesan (baked eggplant, mozzarella, marinara) with spinach and broccoli added in.

The bread was nice and doughy, the marinara was zesty, and they provided me with veggies; I call that a new favorite.

I also bought this Tazo black tea and mixed it with lemonade we had in the fridge for an Arnold Palmer.

We had to wash the dog, and I still have to wash myself!, and by the time I finished with all of the work I planned it was pretty darn late!

Speaking of school, my goal is to read over all my class notes (and make notecards where needed) at the end of every week.  Since I’m doing that, I thought it’d be fun to compile some of the more interesting things I’ve learned each week to share with you guys.  Welcome to –

Fun Fact Fridays

  • Iatrogenic is a term that means inadvertently induced by medical treatment.
  • The preventative and traditional approaches to health involve reducing risk factors before disease occurs or after symptoms appear, but the wellness approach involves positive lifestyle choices that enhance physical and mental well-being.
  • Food Processing is the largest manufacturing industry in the US.
  • In the 1800’s “smouch,” made of dried ash leaves, was routinely added to tea leaves to extend the food profits and supply.  Pea flour or mustard husks (aka “pepper dust”) were also added to pepper.
  • Probiotics naturally live in our guts but need regular replenishing.  Want to replenish yours?  Stonyfield contains four more active cultures than other yogurt brands.

P.S. Can any one who’s ever seen Eurotrip hear the phrase fun facts without thinking of this quote?  “Here’s a fun fact – you made out with your sister, dude!”

Thai in a Tizzy

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I did take the dog (who was batshit crazy all afternoon) on that walk as planned. I also super productively knocked out some preemptive to dos. But then, in a moment of extreme efficiency, I was knocked out by a sudden migraine. Thankfully I took medicine quickly enough that I was fine in an hour, but my dinner motivation was squelched.

Good thing we had lots to celebrate – some personal good news, a new school year for me, and the start of a new rotation for Adam – it was the perfect night for Thai food.

My friend Kate said that Orchid Thai was her favorite Thai in Buffalo so I put it on the top of my list. Way to go Katie, this was one of my best meals in Buffalo.

We shared an order of the vegetarian spring rolls with sweet and sour sauce to start.

For my dinner I order the tofu Pad Kee Mao, extra veggies and Thai spicy.

O.M.G! Lots of good veggies; plump, chewy broad rice noodles; and I finally (finally!) found a spot in Buffalo that understands the meaning of”4-star spicy.”

I ate half of my meal and was basically quivering with delight. I can’t wait to dig into my leftovers for lunch this week!

Since it was a celebration and all, we ordered dessert. Coconut and taro custard.

This was good, but I guess we don’t love the egginess to custard, this was a little too savory for desert to me. Nonetheless we ate 2/3 of it.

Please excuse the blurry pictures because the lighting was low, but I promise that our plates looked as appetizing as they tasted. Buffalo foodies, Orchid Thai gets two thumbs up from me!

Craving Meat

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A man blogger can not live on bread popcorn alone, so I did make myself a lunch lunch around 2:30.

A toasted Bagel Thin with spinach, artichoke, hummus dip,

and a handful of baby carrots.

I also at a Rocky Road mini ice cream.

Clearly I’m on a mini ice cream kick lately.  I’m just going with it.

I had some plans for dinner – plans I tell you, plans dammit! – but then Adam called.  No he didn’t get home late this time, and I’ve decided that from now on I’m just going to cook dinner as scheduled and not wait anyway.  But when he did get home on time we would need to find the recipe for, purchase the ingredients for, and then bake coffee cakes.  For tomorrow morning.  Gosh darn it, husband!

I shouldn’t really complain though, he mostly did the cakes by himself and I got a dinner out on the town out of the deal.

We went to JP Bullfeathers, because I like their stoic looking bear statue.

After my carb-filled day I was ready for some meat. 

The Cowboy Burger from JP Bullfeathers is a turkey burger with bbq rub, melted cheddar, bbq sauce, and jalopeno poppers on top.  It came with a side of cole slaw.

The cole slaw was only ok (I ate it for the veggies) but the burger was fantastic and exactly what I was craving.  I pushed the bun to the side but otherwise it was devoured.  Meghann blogged about needing a meat fix too so maybe there was something in the water at HLS!

Sidenote – I almost never crave meat meat.  When I say I’m craving meat I typically mean turkey.  I’ve never in my life had a craving for lamb or pork.  Since I stopped eating mammals 13 years ago I crave a juicy burger once or twice a year but other than that I’m generally grossed out by the idea.

How often do you crave meat?  Are you an omnivore or a veg-head?

Sweetness

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It is important to note – 2 hours changing a tire + 2 long drives in pouring rain + 2 late nights staying up talking in your hotel + 3 anxiety inducing days of talking to new people = a very tired Emily.  I like to call other people out when they’re being bat shit crazy, so I’m going to cop to the fact that I had a total meltdown this evening.  Lots of sulking and several tears later, I think I’ll try to keep this post quick.

I knew my monster recap was going to take a little time so I got up bright and early (7:40) with Adam to get working.  I had brunch plans with friends at 11 and I didn’t want to eat breakfast so I made myself a mug of Starbucks hot chocolate (stolen from HLS breakfast).

I finished my post just in time for a final meet up with friends before we head back to school.

Sweetness_7 Cafe is only .9 miles from our apartment so I decided to walk and bring the little dude with me.

This was the first time Kim or Anna have seen Webster and of course he totally stole their hearts.  Sweetness_7 was very sweet about letting me have the puppy on their porch and I was so glad I brought him.  Though it was a little hard to eat with him squirming in my lap.

For lunch I ordered the # 6 without mayo.

A turkey, mozzarella, tomato and caramelized onion panini,

with a simple greens side salad.

I usually forget to add it at home but there was salt on my salad and that definitely elevated it.  My sandwich was good too, nice and melty.  My stomach was feeling funny though (I think from being so tired!) so I ate exactly half and brought the rest home to Adam.

It’s so cool out it is actually cold, so I got to order a hot drink.

I asked for black tea with steamed skim milk and when the barista said “like a London fog?” I just nodded.  Upon close sipping it seemed as if the drink had been sweetened (though steamed milk does taste sweet?!) so now I need to Google London Fog.

Apropos of nothing, I’m going to show you my outfit because I think my new dress is so cute.

This was a J.Crew sale birthday score and the bubble hem makes my heart happy.

I spent my afternoon running errands and getting more and more exhausted.  I tried to hit the ground running from my trip and took care of the bank, post office, tailor, and grocery.  I was starving from my small lunch so I picked up hot bar around 5:30.

Ratatouille plus a few random veggies,

and broccoli macaroni and cheese that was totally swoon worthy.

The broccoli was cooked into the sauce and there was cheese nestled in its nooks and crannies!

Just as the meltdown began I also ate all of the toppings off of this mini sundae.

And end scene on my self-control.  We did manage to take Webster on another long walk, but dinner never happened because I just couldn’t deal with it.  I’m not sure if Adam was hungry or not but I think he’d rather just not deal with me.  And on that note, I’d be silly not to hop into bed!

Do you know what a “London Fog” is?