Tag Archives: rice

Sunday Disposition

by

Welcome, weekend warriors!

No Saturday post because I spent most of the day moping around the house.  Little was accomplished, though I did get the laundry done.

I got so sick of myself that I made damn sure to have fun today.  And I’ve been thinking positive thoughts about the upcoming week as well.  I want to make sure my last 8 days before summer school are as productive/relaxing/fun/healthy as possible.

We got this morning off to a tasty/healthy start with sludge smoothies to go.

Enjoyed out of repurposed jars instead of fancy stemware because we were on a family walk.

In the blend were unmeasured amounts of frozen banana, frozen blackberries, frozen spinach, and oj.

Plus a piece of rye bread with strawberry jam and Smart Balance Light when we got home.

Our new jam is the store-brand version of Crofter’s (ie organic and with no added sugar) and sadly it’s not very good.

Lunch was consumed out of hand.  A slice of pizza (now you see what we did on Saturday!),

a Cara Cara orange,

and half of this package of mint m&m’s.

I’ve never been a huge m&m person but these mint ones are fantasmic.  Perhaps because they are dark chocolate?  They are one of the few (the only?!) desserts that actually tastes better to me in small quantities.

We walked to dinner and surreptitiously enjoyed Black Jack Colas along the way.

We went on a sushi date.

Kunis has been on our “Buffalo: Go To” list for months and I’m glad we finally gave it a shot because it was great and we’ll definitely be back.

I ordered three small plates to make up my meal.  First, Wakame Salad.

Seasoned and dressed seaweed, with sesame and chili flakes.  I’ve been trying to get Adam to taste seaweed salad for years and now that he finally did he’s officially obsessed (we stopped at the co-op on the way home because he was hoping to find more!).  I will say that Kuni’s version was one of the best I’ve ever had.  But – the photo isn’t deceiving you, it was a ridiculously small portion.

My soup course was a bowl of Udon.

Thick white flour noodles in a light broth, topped with sweetened tofu, wakame and scallions.  At $3.75 this huge bowl was a steal.  The sweet tofu wasn’t my favorite but the slightly sweet and sour broth was great.

Finally, a veggie roll.

It had asparagus, mushroom, and some pickled vegetable that I’m not remembering.  Be forewarned – the wasabi at Kunis is fresh!  I gobbed it on the way I usually do and my first bite almost killed me.  It wasn’t necessarily spicy – in fact we both noticed that this wasabi put no spice on your tongue and was strangely sour – but a bunch of it stuck to the roof of my mouth and I started choking and breaking out in a cold sweat.  Adam said my face was BRIGHT red!

We had a great walk home; Kuni’s is just far enough away to be fun.  My dinner was good but on the smaller side and my mouth didn’t feel done so I ate a mug of cereal when we got home.

1 cup of Honey Nut Shredded Wheat with skim milk.  Aaaaand, scene.

Epic Meal Time

by

I’m not talking about the Epic Meal Time, though those guys are awesome.

Muscles Glasses is a hottie.

I’m talking about yesterday’s meals.  They were literally epic (you’ll see).

Breakfast was more nonexistent than epic, because I stayed in bed reading a book until the last possible minute.  When I was utterly distraught over finishing Kathy Reichs’ Temperance Brennan series my mom bought me the first book in several murder mystery lines.  Yesterday I was finishing up Tess Gerritsen’s The Surgeon.  It wasn’t terrible – I loved the way she switched point of view with each chapter from a different character’s perception – but I don’t plan on reading any more of hers.  I actually have the latest TB book now but I’m making myself wait to savor it.

I had to be out of bed and out the door at a specific time because my friend Hillary and I were presenting our research on Ginkgo Biloba at a poster presentation.

Last major assignment of the semester, done!

After I changed out of my suit Adam and I went to lunch.  We took a nice walk down Elmwood (a little over a mile) to Nickle City Cheese & Mercantile, an adorable new cheese shop.

The space looks great and they carry all sorts of cool lines that I’ve read about and wanted to try.

Adam and I got lunch and had a picnic outside.

We had a Sprecher Cherry Cola,

Mac and cheese with gouda,

and a grilled cheese of pimento cheese on pumpernickel with red onion.

Everything was great, but the pimento cheese didn’t have as much flavor as I was hoping for.  We definitely plan on going back for fancy cheese.

On the walk home we stopped at the neighborhood candy store for mint M&M’s.

They are one of my favorites but I was feeling pretty satisfied from lunch so I only ate half of them.

The rest of our afternoon was spent running the rest of our weekend errands.  Many took us to the mall.

Our final errand was at Cold Stone (legit!) where Adam and I split a kid’s chocolate frozen yogurt with butterfinger.

I like that Cold Stone has an option with less than 200 calories per small serving but this tasted a little “empty” somehow.

For dinner we went on a fancy date night!  We had an amazing Groupon for Epic Restaurant and Lounge.

They brought us bread with oil to start.

And Adam ordered the Filet Sliders – with house-made sea salt and vinegar potato chips and smoked gouda fondue as an appetizer.

I ate a few chips dipped in the fondue and it was awesome.

Per usual, we did some sharing with dinner.  I got the Grilled Rock Lobster Tail  – with lemon and asparagus barley risotto drizzled with a garlic shallot butter and brocoli rabe.

He got the Cedar Plank Salmon – maple candied carrots, fresh arugula, smoked gouda mashed potatoes.

Gahhhh!  Everything was sooooo good!  Adam’s favorite bite was the lobster tail and my favorites were the broccoli rabe and the fatty end of Adam’s salmon.  It was a great meal and a great time.

We extended the fun with Monkey Bread for dessert.

Oh, and we ordered a bottle of Prosecco with our meal.

Which is why you’re getting this post in the morning 😉

Double Sushi Day

by

Hello from yesterday!  I had a good evening (mostly) but didn’t get a chance to post until today.  My clinic hours went well; it is always great to get a chance to talk with professionals in my field.  The RD I was with yesterday owns her own private practice and she had lots of great advice.  She also helped talk me down a bit about next summer’s certification exam.

As I headed out the door around 4 pm yesterday I was so hungry I thought I might have a fit.  I knew we had plans to grab an early dinner before the health fair but I also knew that I might drive off the road if I didn’t get something to eat.  I ended up taking a Mint Chocolate Chip Luna Protein bar from the cabinet.

Yuck City!  This is the 2nd flavor I’ve tried from that line and both bars had an awful “fake protein” taste to them.  I love Luna but I think I’ll stick to their normal line.  I was so hungry that I did eat the whole thing though.

I was glad that I choked down the bar because dinner ended up being pretty lame.  We stopped at Wegmans for hot bar but there wasn’t much time and I panicked and grabbed my 2nd serving of sushi for the day.  A Thai sweet potato roll with brown rice.

With a (half decaf) coffee with skim milk and two sugars.

While we were at the health fair another RD who was doing a cooking demo brought me over a small plate of her black bean dip.

It was good and our table was nicely situated to watch her work.  She does the cooking classes at Tops Grocery, a job I would love to have some day.

The health fair wrapped at 9pm and as I was driving home I felt like I was going to burst out of the seatbelt because my stomach was so full.  I had to drive home to pick up Adam and then we ran to the store for a quick errand (he accidentally took my cottage cheese container for lunch instead of his leftovers!) and by the time we were home for good I was practically in tears.  I don’t know whether it was the protein bar, the decaf coffee, or the double dose of sushi rice but my stomach was super bloated and painful.  Ugh!  I felt so sick that I brushed my teeth and then jumped straight into bed.

Thankfully today I’m feeling good.  I even started my morning with a run.  1.2 miles in ~12 minutes.  I left my keys with the husband so I only had time for one loop but then I went back and grabbed the dog for a quick walk.  Followed by a short session of strength and stretch moves.  I’m hungry!

All Hail

by

It’s always nice when your routine gets shaken up. Tuesday means today was a clinic day, but the private practice rd I was placed with asked if I’d like to come in in the evening to help with a health fair and I happily agreed. A later clinic time meant I could switch up the rest of my day too. I took advantage of the time and made a traditional breakfast.

Eggs!  I sautéed ~ 1/2 cup each chopped okra and spinach in 1/2 Tbsp butter, a sprinkle of salt, and a drizzle of Sriracha. Then I scrambled in 2 large eggs and a chopped cheese stick.

Plus a sliced apple on the side.

I was glad for something warm because the apartment was far from toasty. I checked the thermostat before we turned the heat back on last night and the temperature inside was 63*! My walk to school was freezing and culminated in hail as I reached the building!

The walk home was warmer since I took advantage of my switched schedule and went to the gym after stats. 40 minutes on the stationary bike at random, level 6.

I also had lunch with a friend while I was on campus.  She switched out of Dietetics a few months back and I don’t get to see her as often so it was nice to hang.  I grabbed a grilled tofu roll from the cafeteria sushi place.

It was a little bland; I used up all of my wasabi before I was halfway through.

When I got home I also had the last of the Sahale Snacks glazed almonds.

And this cherry cola hard candy.

I bought it at Cracker Barrel in Ohio and was worried I would love it and want more but after consumption I’m glad I only bought one.  Not bad, but not the flavor I was looking for.  Besides, anytime I have a hard candy I end up chomping it ten seconds in.

I’m not sure what the exact plan is for tonight but I’m hoping to get home in time to read a book.  See ya later!

I’m Relleno

by

Hello from Ohio.  We’re not here for a happy reason but I’m happy we made it here safely.

We stayed up late catching up on TV last night and I got hungry again.  I served myself a big bowl of cereal with skim milk; Cheerios and some raisin/bran/crunch thing.

I had breakfast food for my late-night snack and dinner food for breakfast.

A grilled cheese with Cabot 50% Reduced Sharp Cheddar and Sriracha mayo,

and a sliced honey crisp.

This meal was great but my next bite was terrible.  I stole a piece of Adam’s chicken bites from McDonalds –

Ewwwwwww!  So fried tasting and gross.

My dad flew into Buffalo this afternoon and we picked him up at the airport and headed off on our road trip.  Since we had a “road-guest” we stopped for an actual dinner.

Torero’s served us some damn fine Mexican food!  Pretty healthy too!  Here was my plate –

Black beans,

rice,

and the Vegi-chiladas.  “Steamed carrots, mushrooms, broccoli, yellow squash and zucchini rolled into two flour tortillas, topped with our salsa Mazatlán and garnished with Monterrey Jack cheese.  Served with sour cream, lettuce, and tomatoes.”

I ordered my enchiladas sans cheese because I also had a chile relleno waiting for me on my dad’s plate.

Stuffed peppers are usually my favorite Mexican dish but this guy was a little too fried for me.  I ended up eating about a third of everything, except I ate 1.25 tortillas and every single bite of vegetable.

I ate two Samoa Jumbles in the car for dessert.

Still good.

Where is your favorite road trip stop?

Loop De Loop

by

I’m going to apologize in advance just in case this post makes no sense.  I’m tired, and sick, and pretty damn loopy.

After my run and cookie consumption I started the day cautiously optimistic that I would keep feeling good.

To eat in class I packed a green pear,

and a 2% Pineapple Siggi’s.

I loved the 2% fat content of this yogurt but the pineapple was pretty weak.  There was no pineapple flavor and the pieces of fruit were few and far between.  But the yogurt itself was wonderful.  I enjoy the original Siggi’s and the 2% variety was a little sweeter and the texture very creamy and less stiff.

Adam was done at the hospital around the same time I finished my classes so I walked home to meet him for a date before work.  I’m not even gonna lie – he took me to dinner at my school’s food court and it was the best damn date I’ve ever been on.  I love spending time with the husband so much!  First we stopped in at Ashker’s for smoothies since we have a Groupon.

I can’t remember my exact selection but I know that it had a few fruits, carrots, and ginger.

It would have been fantastic except that I forgot that I freaking hate ginger.  The texture was spot on but it was just way too spicy for me.  I could only drink a third or so but the husband happily finished off the rest.

Then we walked back to campus.  I work in the basement of a dorm building so Adam clearly couldn’t hang out with me but I’m a total creeper so the simple fact that he was in the same building as me was exciting.

We were both starving (like gnaw your own arm off starving) so we hit up the food court and ended up discovering a new, totally adorable, perfectly priced “asian” kiosk.  We split a Vietnamese coffee for 99 cents.

And I got a tasty lobster roll.

It was good!

We are bottomless pits so we got pizza too.  $4 for two slices packed with toppings; apparently college food courts are the place to go for a cheap date!

My veggie slice came with banana peppers, roasted red peppers, and black olives.

Tonight was my last shift at work (the calling sessions only last for a month) and I was sad to say goodbye.  Of course there are people who are total jerks to tele-fund-raisers but most people were really nice!  I had several older alumni sweetly tell me that they loved talking to me.  I’ll miss it!

I’m not sure anyone will miss me after tonight though; today’s sickness levels hit their peak mid-shift and I basically hacked up a lung in the corner all evening.  By the time I met Adam I could barely talk.  The loopiness had set in at that point so it’s possible I also told bad jokes and laughed like a hyena the whole walk home but I can’t really blame that on the sickness.

But it definitely was my sore throat that demanded a strawberry milkshake.

Mmmmn, if I could set up a constant stream of icy beverage down my throat that would be excellent.

I had to stay up to set up my class schedule for next semester (I can register tomorrow morning) but now it’s clearly time for bed.  So goodnight!

Resoultions Check In: March

by

Hello, weekend!  Another week ends and another visitor rolls into town, my brother-in-law is with us until Sunday afternoon (whee!).  But the fun began before he even arrived.

First, not fun – I didn’t post yesterday because I was so tired I felt practically brainless.  I made it through school, and a meeting, and a night shift at work, but when I walked out into the snow at 9pm I burst into tears and proceeded to cry the whole way home!  I knew it was insane but I just couldn’t stop.  On the drive I even said aloud through my tears, “you are crazy cakes, cut it out before you get pulled over.”  Then I came home to the boys playing poker and I stayed up until midnight watching terrible made-for-tv movies and eating Easter candy.  We have our final week of work coming up but I am going to do my damndest to catch up on sleep this next week.

Now, fun – we got to go indoor rock climbing this morning.

We bought a Groupon with another couple and even though Michelle and Patrick made Adam and me look like fat losers we all had a great time.

We were there for two hours before all four of us cried uncle.  I was terrible, weak and flailing, but I loved every minute of it.  I want to focus on arms for the next few months and then go back and try again.

We were near the “good” Wegmans so we stopped on the way home for lunch and grocery shopping.

Fried food abounded but I managed to put together a healthy lunch.  Chicken pot stickers.

Asian style veggies, brussels sprouts, butternut squash.

Pineapple, watermelon, and grapes.

And then we shopped and I didn’t buy Ben and Jerry’s because they didn’t have the new Greek yogurt flavors and I’ve decided that next week I’m going to buy like a million flavors of B&J’s so my freezer is full of choices.

After decorating my blog with run-on sentences (see above) I decorated the apartment for Easter (see below).

I can’t wait until we live in a grown-up house and I can really decorate for holidays.  The main thing holding me back now is the lack of storage space for decorations.

For dinner we broadened my brother-in-law’s horizons and took him to the Indian place.  He’s a fan!  Adam and I split a mango lassi.

And we had paneer pakora (fried cheese) to start.

I ate what’s shown plus another half piece with sauce.

For my main meal I ordered extra-spicy chicken vindaloo which came with rice and a side of veggies.

Here were my servings –

I also ate all of the veggies minus the potatoes and a small piece of stolen naan.

After dinner the boys dropped me off at home alone.  The reason my BIL came into town this weekend was to see The Wrath of the Titans with Adam.  The plan was for me to stay home and get some work done but instead I took a freezing walk and made Katie’s Chocolate Toffee Pretzels.

But the night’s not over yet; I may do some work or drink a beer or both!

Resolutions Check In: March

Um.  Meh?  Not a good month.  But on the plus side I did identify a few things that are holding me back.

1. Workout a minimum of three times per week.

Fail.  Total fail.  I have an old issue with my foot that has been a problem lately and my foot hurts and it’s numb and it’s scary but really that’s no excuse.  I did my typical routine of “Oh, I can’t run?  Guess I better sit on my ass and do nothing.”  I think, thankfully, that I can run again now though.  My specific goal for April is to workout every Monday of this month.  I need to get my weeks off to a better start.

2. Continue to read at least one book a month, for a minimum total of 30 books this year.

13. The Hunger Games – Suzanne Collins

Win.  I wish I had read more but I fulfilled the minimum and I’m well on my way to 30 books this year.  Plus I adored The Hunger Games.

3. Put the time and effort into my school work that I can be proud of each week.

Pass.  I got a 98% on my stats test and I scored well above the average on my other exams.  But I haven’t been working ahead as much as I’d like.

4. Continue working on being a positive person.

Pass.  My specific goal was the March Back Home No Take-out Challenge.  We met our goal but we only did the challenge for three weeks which isn’t all that impressive.  For April – eat breakfast every day.  I know how important breakfast is but lately it’s been eating lost in the shuffle.  I’ll be happier and healthier if I at least shove half a Lara Bar into my backpack.

One In The Hand…

by

…is worth two the in the bush.  Or $1 if you’re holding a silver dollar.  Or a quick blurb if you’re reading this post.  What I’m trying to say is, pictures in this blog post will be accompanied by a quick blurb.  I’m tired.

Our larders are bare and as I said, I’m tired, so today’s meals were tricky.  My food consumption was very strange, fairly processed, and eaten entire by hand (minus two dishes by chopstick).  I ate small bits consistently throughout the day and that seemed to work.  It wasn’t the healthiest day of all time but for this day I’m pretty proud of how I did.

A Cappuccino Lara Bar.

Always a favorite.  I’m amazed every time I eat this at how well they managed to balance the coffee flavor so that it’s not too intense.

The final two Buttered Rum Raisin Cookies.

So sad to see these good, they are for sure in my top five recipes list.

Note – I also had a large handful of unphotographed Reese’s Pieces.  We used them for a problem in Statistics and then were allowed to nibble.

Trader Joe’s Wasabi Roasted Seaweed Snack.

This was good but super spicy; I was crying before I was even halfway through.  Crunchy, spicy, and a bit strange means this was something I loved; I really wish I had bought more.  And for 30 calories you were snacking for a long while, definitely a volume food.

A Pepsi Next.

This 60 calorie soda is Pepsi’s answer to Coke Zero.  Sadly I wasn’t a fan, it tasted too much like regular Pepsi to me (duh, Emily!).  If you enjoy regular soda but want to cut back on calories you should probably check it out.  I wish they would make a regular soda that simply contained less sugar, rather using fake sugars.  I love the flavor of diet but know that I could do without the chemicals.

A Mango Passion & Banana Buddy Fruit packet.

I love these so much!  One pack equals one serving of fruit and the blend was delicious.

A mini pretzel bagel with some of the leftover cheese from last night’s cheese plate.

It’s hard to go wrong with the pretzel and smoked Gouda combo.  Eating these side-by-side rather than sandwich style felt gloriously simple.

A So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk box.

Meh, I prefer the Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.  I like the idea a vegan milk box though and I’ve had this product in chocolate in the past and enjoyed it more.

Dinner was eaten by chopstick and gets no blurb.  Seaweed salad and a brown rice veggie sushi roll.

What can I really say about that?

But dessert?  Oh my gosh, dessert.  A Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Bar filled with Speculoos Cookie Spread.

Why didn’t I buy more of these?!  I am kicking myself now.  The chocolate was creamy and a little bit bitter, the filling was sweet and gritty, and I was basically swooning.  I actually did buy two bars but I gave one to a friend who’s similar obsessed with Biscoff and I’m feeling pretty darn generous right about now.  But I do, at least, have a jar of TJ’s Cookie Butter waiting for me.

What was the best thing you ate today?