Tag Archives: restaurant food

I Can’t Operate Machinery

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It’s Friday-Friday-Friday!  It’s been a long and fruitful day around these parts.  I did too much yesterday though, and I was definitely paying for it this morning – I got out of bed at 7 but only made it as far as the couch!

Thankfully by the time my one class came around I was able to make it to campus.  Walking to campus sucked, but it meant I got an opportunity to copy/photocopy all of my missed notes from various friends.  Well not all, music is kind of a lost cause!  And I got the good news that our Biochem test is pushed back, so I only have one exam next week 🙂

Walking back from campus in the hail (ouch!) wasn’t fun either, but I made it to Elmwood and got a nice set of work done.  I nibbled while I worked, first a black bean burrito from Elmwood Taco and Sub.

My hand’s there to show size.  It was sort of a strange burrito – just a tortilla with plain black beans and a slice of cheese – but it ended up being perfect for my sick stomach.

Next I walked over to Starbucks for a plain iced black tea with honey.

The honey worked about as well as you’d imagine it would it an iced drink, but it was a nice idea in theory.

I ordered after 2 so I got to choose a mini treat for free.

Note – I thought the box was so cute I actually brought it home!

I went with the salted caramel bar.

Divine!  I told Adam later that this was in my top 10 tasted cookie bars.

I cranked out some good notecards (I’m only halfway done though, missing nutrition classes is hard) and then the husband picked me up around 5:30.  Then we headed to Walgreens where I caved and finally bought some Niquil.  I’m not anti-medicine, we’re just too poor to buy any; but my coughing was driving Adam made so we bit the bullet.  I took some just before starting this post, we’ll have to see if I pass out mid-way!

I waited until after preparing dinner to dose myself in any case.

Roasted asparagus.

Sidenote – this is Adam’s favorite veggie, probably actually his favorite food, period.  If you know a veggie hater have them try roasted asparagus!

Reubens  <–swoon–>

On two thin slices of rye went Applegate Farms Organic Chicken, two slices of 2% swiss, a handful of sauerkraut, and a serving of 1000 island dressing.  Then we sandwiched and pressed in the George Foreman Grill.

So good!  Reubens, whether turkey or chicken or tempeh, or sauerkraut or cole slaw, always rock my socks.

And Zzzzzzzzzz…..

Do you take medication when you’re sick?  Why or why night?

Let There Be Light

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Okay, so I didn’t really do much work today either!  At least in the study sense, we did tackle some to-dos.  Really today was like my Friday, and the next two days are my weekend and my cram-like-crazy study days!

We had to tackle all sorts of not so fun stuff this morning, like filling our FAFSA and dropping stuff off at Goodwill.  My throat was feeling kind of funky so I never really got hungry for breakfast.  I did snag this grape leave from Adam’s leftovers.

And the husband and I split this Ring Pop.

There’s something wrong with my retainers (again, ugh!) so they’re out until Tuesday and it seemed like the perfect time to enjoy this leftover Valentine’s sweet.

Our next set of errands took us up to the Barnes and Nobel on Niagara Blvd, were we just happened to also pull over here –

There’s kind of a deficit of good Thai in Buffalo, so when we spotted Jasmine Thai we just couldn’t resist!

After a few quick modifications, Adam and I ordered our two favorite dishes to split.  Cashew Tofu,

and Pad See Eiw (with steamed tofu and without the egg).

Yuuuuuum.

True story?  I groaned every – single – time I took a bite of the broad rice noodles.  They are just so fricking delicious!  Chewy foods are my favorite and these are the ultimate doughy chew.

My only complaint about Jasmine Thai is that both of our meals were way too light on veggies.  Thankfully I took care of that by eating leftover sesame green beans in the car like a weirdo.

My throat still felt funny all afternoon so we postponed our dinner plans and I made myself a bowl of something creamy, cool, and sweet –

Banana Soft Serve.  Into the food processor went 1.5 frozen bananas, 2 Tbsp shredded coconut, 2 Tbsp honey roasted peanuts, and 1 Tbsp real maple syrup.

This dish is reason alone to own a food processor.  Buy one, try it, and then go tell Gena she’s a genius.

The rest of dinner is going to be a bag of this goodness –

Wondering about that strange picture?  Adam built me a light box!!!!

The inside (backdrop) won’t be done until later but I am so appreciative.  Between my lack of skill, my cheap camera, and our house’s awful lighting, there have just been too many factors working against my pictures.  Hopefully soon I can get a couple of nice shots 🙂

Blogging readers – do you have/use a light box?  What kind of camera do you currently use?

Day One of Four

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There are several reasons why I didn’t post yesterday, some good and some bad.

  1. We determined that I am injured badly enough from my fall that I should continue to take a few days away from the gym.  Aka, my ticket out of Grumpsville hasn’t arrived yet.
  2. The popcorn I had for lunch was not exciting, and I later found out that it wasn’t vegan either!  Sidenote – why does the ingredients list need to be split?  I didn’t realize “natural flavors” meant “milk proteins” until after I’d (finished) looked at the other side of the bag.
  3. My dinner was exciting, and vegan, but since it was part of a review I agreed to do for a new recipes app I couldn’t share the recipes with you guys.  Telling you in retrospect that I had home-made Asian-style slaw and sesame green beans with spring rolls is mean, but showing you the tasty pictures too would have been just cruel.

I technically have a four-day weekend (my school canceled classes on Monday and Tuesday) but since I have two tests and two quizzes next week, today was my last day to really relax.  I made the most of it.

We slept in and hung out all morning, then picked up a quick meal from the Co-op hot bar.

I got vegan mac and cheese, cilantro baked tofu, falafel, and a few pieces of Cajun sweet potato.

Everything was good, and I liked the pasta for what it was, but Adam and I both agreed that “mac and cheese” was a pretty generous label.

I also randomly included an orange cream soda with lunch.

My afternoon snacks included a serving of Newman’s Own Pretzel Rods.

Dipped in Cherry Coke Zero, of course.

And a Liz Lovely Lemon Coconut Cookie.

Adam (who has a normal weekend) was at the lab until late so we decided to cash in a Groupon and try out a new place for dinner.  Acropolis, a Greek place a few blocks from our apartment, had a 50% off Groupon going that I picked up a few months ago.  Tonight was the night.

Tonight was also the night for silly faces.

The lighting was terrible, assume that all the food was 20% better than it looks.  Actually, the lighting was great when we walked in but the minute we sat down they put on the awful “mood” lighting.  I hate dim restaurants.  Even before I had a food blog, who wants to eat in the dark?!

We ended up ordering a bunch of appetizers and sharing.

The only vegan things on the menu all happened to be the only things on the menu we were interested in, so I’m glad we picked this month to try it out.

I ate my fair share of grape leaves,

baba ganoush,

and lavash and pita bread.

The pita was the best I’ve ever had!  So nice to go on a date with the husband.

Now I’m supposed to be in bed, but the dog in the apartment below us is going crazy.  Instead I’m sipping on this Bolthouse Farms Vanilla Chia drink, and trying to think calm thoughts.

Good night (hopefully!).

Slipping into Grumpsville

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The good news?  Several $100 later, I’ve got my computer back!  The bad news?  I’ve got a major case of the grumps.  I’ll try to keep this quick.

I haven’t been to the gym in a week.  I’ve also been cranky for a week.  I think that is solid scientific evidence that I’m happier when I workout 🙂  In the interest of considering all the data, I should also mention that I haven’t been going because my knee hurts and it’s possible I’m also cranky because I’m pissed about my knee.  <– that is extra-strength ironic, you’ll see why in a minute.

First, a breakfast that didn’t make me cranky.

I didn’t want to use banana so instead I beefed up my normal stove-top oats (1/3 cup oats, 1/2 cup each water and So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk) with 1.5 Tbsp of chia seeds and 2 tsp dark brown sugar.

I topped my chewy-in-the-best-way-ever creation with Trader Joe’s Sun Butter.

Sooo good.

Then I walked to school for lab.  And I slipped on the ice.  And fell.  Into a puddle.

Yeah, I don’t even really know what else to say about that.  I was angry and soaking wet and I wrenched my already hurt knee and bashed my ‘good’ knee into the sidewalk.  And as the day went on I realized my back also is killing me.  Hence the trip to Grumpsville.

After lab I walked home, gingerly, and took advantage of the Subway $5 Footlong promotion along the way.

I ate half today, and have the other half leftover for tomorrow.

I got the veggie sub with lettuce, tomato, spinach, red onion, green peppers, cucumber, black olives, and pickles.  I added a little Stubbs BBQ Sauce when I got home.

Delish.  Also another sandwich that did not miss the cheese.

I also got a large diet coke with ice and dipped pretzels into it.

Heaven.

And then I ate this thing of cashews.

Unfortunately the sandwich and massive snack attack didn’t take care of my other complaint – I was hungry, all day long.  Pretty much all day when I wasn’t complaining about my back I was frantic with hunger; Adam thinks I’m a joy to be with.  I took unphotographed nibbles of pretty much every item in the fridge (chickpeas leftovers, potatoes, peanut butter…).

Happy Sidenote – I was recently sent some Arnold’s 100% Whole Wheat Flax and Fiber Sandwich Thins to sample.  [I like them a lot]  The husband is obsessed with them!  Look at his lunch –

When we got the last-minute call about my computer (yay) we headed out, scrapping our dinner plans and opting for Moe’s instead.

I housed this veggie burrito with rice, pinto beans, sautéed mushrooms and onions, guacamole, and black olives.

I actually still have an assignment to do tonight (and of course I still have to complain about it) so I’ve got to go.  You’ll miss my cheery disposition 🙂

Have you ever slipped on the ice?

<3 <3 <3 <3

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Every moment spent on the computer I’m not cuddling with my valentine, so I’ll keep this quick.  Especially since I wasn’t the only one with a surprise to give today –

Lunch today was 7-Layer Casserole leftovers.

This recipe just got better and better as it sat.

My quiz went ok, but it was a busy busy day.  We had “fancy” dinner plans originally, but when I saw how much work I had to do in the evening we decided to do take-out instead.

In addition to a ton of chips, I also had a vegetarian burrito.

A little bit of rice, plus black beans, sautéed onions and mushrooms, corn salsa, guacamole, and cilantro.

Yum, yum.

And for dessert, we tried out Mama’s Peas Vegan Blizzards.

We layered in a vegan Snickers-style bar, and added some pink food coloring for the holiday.

Festive, festive.  P.S. Two hints – 1) make this recipe but 2) cut the measurements in half, we didn’t even come close to eating our portions.

Now we’re off to do couple things, and that totally doesn’t mean what you think it does!  You’ll see tomorrow….

Happy Valentine’s Day!

Wonderful World of the Weekend

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Welcome to the wonderful world of the weekend!  <– said in the voice of the cryogenic lab workers from Futurama

We had a lazy, hazy summer winter day around these parts.  Light on the responsibilities and heavy on the tv reruns and being cozy. 

Not my healthiest day of eating – I needed more produce – but everything was delicious.  Like the Moe’s takeout we grabbed for brunch.

I got a junior burrito, stuffed with rice, black beans, corn salsa, lettuce, mushrooms, cilantro, guacamole, and black olives.

It came with a ton of tortilla chips…..

and I ate them all; whoops!

For dessert I tried out the single-serve cookie dough recipe I’ve seen floating around the web.

The chocolate pieces were a chopped up serving of this Chocolove Almonds and Sea Salt in Dark Chocolate.

So satisfying and delicious, and vegan to boot (butter = Earth Balance).

Yums all around.

It took me until 7pm to get the energy to get off my butt, but I did finally decide to go to the gym.  Good thing too, I got it together just in time to get in a short workout before the gym closed.  I ran 1.5 miles in 13:40 (my last 1.5 was 14:13, whoop!), with cool down 18 minutes, 1.75 miles.  Plus a few planks.

My run killed my appetite, so I bought a Naked juice for dinner.

But it was waaaay too tangy for me so I passed it off to the husband (don’t worry, he loved it).

Instead I had some Amazing Grass Kidz Chocolate SuperFood shook with 8oz of Silk Vanilla Soy Milk.

Not gonna lie, I shook in a glug of maple syrup and served it over ice to make things feel a bit more festive.

Have you tried the single-serve cookie dough recipe yet?

Friday Night Frozen Yuuuums

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I did the Friday shuffle!  In fact I shuffled right on through to bedtime!

After class I walked down Elmwood to meet up for lunch with Katie at Wasabi.

I’d like to tell you I ordered a hot water to drink because I’m so mature and healthy, but really it was more of a Japanese waitresses cannot understand me when I’ve got retainers in my mouth thing.

I ordered the lunch special which came with a miso soup (not always vegetarian, fyi, though this one was),

and two sushi rolls.

I got a cucumber and asparagus roll,

and a tempura sweet potato roll.

We had a great lunch and spent a long time catching up.

Then I headed to the Spot to get my study on.  I ordered a grande soy latte with two shots of amaretto syrup.

But then I discovered that drinking hot coffee with retainers in is disgusting and threw it out.

Caffeinated or not, I managed to get all of my notecards for the week done, phew!

Adam and I didn’t both didn’t get home until after 7, so all plans of a fancy dinner flew out the window.  Thank goodness I had the best frozen meal on earth on standby.

The Tandoor Chef Veggie Pad Thai is ridiculous tasty and vegan to boot.

Yuuuuuuum!  It’s nothing like nyc, but this is literally the best Thai food I can get in Buffalo.

I also had some unsweetened applesauce topped with red hots and simply sweet granola.

Can I say “yuuuuuuuuum” again?

Any exciting plans for the weekend?

Matching Meals

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There was no Saturday post because I just couldn’t figure out the logistics of it.  Two things were happening yesterday – I was starving and my teeth were killing me.  This meant I started 80 different food items, then gummed at them pathetically before moving on.  I just didn’t know how to blog it without saying “I ate two bites of this, and three bites of that..” a million times.

But today, today was definitely worth blogging.  The husband and I ate matching meals all day!  That’s not to say he didn’t eat several things that I didn’t (or that he was particularly excited about this) but for the most part our meals were twins.

We started our day with hot chocolate.

Made stove-top style with skim milk, sugar, and Green and Black cocoa powder.

I’ve been loving the cocoa lately, and this homemade version might have been my best cup yet.

We also had yogurts.

I ate the Liberte, 0% Strawberry.

The Liberte yogurts are sooooo rich and creamy but they generally have a lot of saturated fat so I was thrilled to find this 0% one.

Then we had matching lunch plates.

Leftover mini cheesy meatloafs with roasted sweet potato fries.

This meatloaf was good the first day, but it definitely got better after sitting in the fridge.

We watched some “X-Files” while we ate, then headed to my campus to get some schoolwork done.  I hit up the gym while we were there. A quick treadmill work out – warm up + run 1mile (9.10) + incline walking – 2.5miles and 35minutes. Followed by a quick stretch and a few planks.

For dinner we went to Cheesecake Factory to use up the last of our Christmas gift certificates.

We shared an order of avocado egg rolls.

If by shared you mean split 1-5 and include Adam growling at me while I ate my one.

Our dinner plates weren’t exactly identical, but we did share many bites.  I ordered my favorite, the fresh vegetable appetizer salad,

and Adam got the spicy cashew chicken.

We had a lot of fun sharing, and we’ve both got lunch leftovers for tomorrow!

Plus we split a cookie dough cheesecake for dessert!

Would you ever be interested in seeing a day of Adam’s meals?