Tag Archives: salad

Mid-Fray Update

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I have time for a post, can you believe it!?!  The food is all prepared and the house is cleaned, all that’s left is getting dressed so I figured I might as well stop in and share some recipes.

I drove Adam to school this morning so we had to be out of the house at 7:30.  My alarm broke and his didn’t go off until 7:20 leading to this outfit –

Yep, I slapped Uggs on my pajamas and called it a go.

During our drive I drank this purple Rockstar for an energy boost.

And that’s all I’ve eaten since then.  All day.  I did some nibbling while I made dessert but other than that I’ve kept my hands out of the food.  All I’ll say is this: thank goodness for Rockstar!

Tonight’s surprise party is going to be tiny, but very well stocked with food and booze 🙂  In addition to the rum, vodka, etc. we have around the house I bought three kinds of Christmas beer.

Appetizers:  buffalo chicken dip with Food Should Taste Good Olive Chips and Sociable crackers; devilled eggs.

Dinner: salad with red and green peppers; garlic bread; vegetable lasagna.

Dessert: ‘smores pie.

This party is about Adam, not me.  I choose things that he liked and made them the way he likes, without healthy substitutions.  I didn’t cut back the cheese (there is LOT of cheese in this menu) or use plain yogurt in place of mayo.  I did buy low fat or fat free versions of most everything.  Also, as usual, nothing has trans fat; Adam doesn’t eat it either.

Buffalo Chicken Dip  I got this recipe from Tina’s blog.

I basically followed it except that I don’t have a slow cooker, so after the stove top I put mine in a small casserole dish and baked for 20minutes, uncovered, at 250*.  Also, I used fat free and 1/3 less fat cream cheeses.

Devilled Eggs

  • 7 large eggs
  • 2 T Miracle Whip Lite
  • 1 t mustard (I used Jack Daniels)
  • ½ t olive juice
  • 7 pimento stuffed olives, cut in half
  • paprika 
  1. Hard boil the eggs.  When they are finished, run them under cold water for 1-2 minutes.
  2. Carefully peel and discard shells.
  3. Cut each egg in half lengthwise, dumping the yolks into a small bowl.
  4. Mash yolk with a fork.  Add mayo, mustard, and olive juice to the bowl; mash to combine.
  5. Spoon a bit of the yolk mixture into each egg half.
  6. Top with an olive half and a sprinkle of paprika (I only put paprika on half).

Salad

For the salad I bought two bags of mixed lettuce and four bell peppers (two red, two green).  I chopped up the peppers and tossed.  I’m setting out the bowl with a variety of dressings.

Garlic Bread

All you need is a loaf of Italian bread, SmartBalance Light, and garlic powder.  Cut the loaf into slices.  Spread each slice with butter and sprinkle with garlic powder.  Reform into a loaf and wrap tightly with tinfoil.  Warm in oven for the last 10minutes of cooking time of whatever you’re serving it with.

Veggie Lasagna  This is Adam’s mom’s recipe, but I’m writing it with the several changes I made.

  • package lasagna noodles (you need 10noodles)
  • 15oz fat free ricotta cheese
  • ¼ lb parmesan cheese, shredded.  Reserve half
  • 16oz part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
  • ½ cup fat free cottage cheese
  • 3 eggs, lightly beaten
  • ¼ t salt
  • ¼ t pepper
  • 1 T oregano
  • 1 T garlic powder
  • 16oz frozen chopped spinach, thawed and strained
  • ½ cup shredded carrots
  • jar spaghetti sauce (I used garlic flavored) 
  1. Preheat the oven to 400*.
  2. Cook the noodles according to package directions, for half the time instructed.  Add evoo to water before boiling.
  3. Drain noodles and lay flat.
  4. Combine cheese, eggs, and seasonings in a large bowl.
  5. Brush a thin layer of sauce on the bottom of the pan.
  6. Put down a layer of pasta, followed by half the spinach, then all the carrots, then half the cheese mixture, then a thin layer of sauce.  It’s easiest to put the cheese and sauce layers down in small spoonfuls and then spread with your fingers.
  7. Repeat layers again – pasta, spinach, cheese, red sauce.  Top with the reserved parmesan cheese.
  8. Bake uncovered for 25-35minutes, or until set and lightly golden.
  9. Allow to stand for 5-10 minutes before serving.

‘Smores Pie.

Click the link above.

Everything is prepped, but the lasagna, dip, and bread still need to go into the oven as it gets closer to party time.  I’m a little bit nervous, this is literally the first time I’ve ever made most of these recipes!  I hope that Adam likes everything and that he’s surprised.  I’ll be back tonight with a recap.

What dish do you take to parties?  Do you have a special one for the holidays?

An Early Thanksgiving

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I’m too stuffed to be sad!  I have so much to talk about in this post and I’m so excited (and so drunk) that I know things will be left out.

This afternoon I picked up the husband and we headed to my imaging appointment.  We were in the waiting room forever so I ended up snacking on an Apricot Pumpkin Prana Bar.

Good.  And the good – but not surprising – news is that I don’t have a blood clot.  Unfortunately, this meant I didn’t really get more information.  I don’t know how I feel about the doctor who saw me yesterday so I actually made another appointment, this time with a sports medicine doctor, for Monday.  Sadly, I decided to push back training one more time, so that I will have still been on a break when I meet with this new doctor.  😦

When we got home I started packing and one of Adam’s friend’s came over to hang out.  He gave the buffalo blue bean patties a rave review!

Once he left it was time to get gussied for date night.

When I introduced the Thanksgiving Challenge I warned you guys that we had a dinner out pre-planned, a reward for a check from my old job.  Tonight was the night.

We went to Juniper, a place on Elmwood that serves 100% local food.  Nothing comes from more than 50miles away.  Their menu changes seasonally, and the entire concept has had me in a tizzy for months.  Our date did not disappoint!  For starters, I was in love with the ambiance.

I even loved the look (and labeling!) of the menu!  [i. porridge / ii. relish / iii. bird’s work / iv. aristology / v. fixations]

I actually don’t like Turkey Day food all that much (gasp) and this ended up being my mini-Thanksgiving.  We ate so much food!  I am beyond sad that my camera isn’t better, because my shots aren’t that great.  It feels imperative that y’all understand how fabulous this was!

I started the evening with a glass of Dr. L, reisling.

Yums, I thought I wasn’t a wine drinker but I really really enjoy reislings.  Wine hits me pretty hard though, halfway through dinner I was definitely nearing wasted.  Adam got a beer made with Kona Coffee that was pretty kick ass as well.

And soon homemade foccacia and evoo were delivered to the table.

I ate the piece shown x2, dipped in oil.

The husband went soup and salad for his appetizer route.  romaine ‘taco white anchovy, oven dried tomato salsa, peccorino.

I only took a small bite but it wasn’t really my thing.

mushroom pearls miso, ginger, barley.

This soup was fabulous.  I only took a few bites because I knew he loved it but it was so nice and meaty!

For my appetizer I went slightly less traditional, bobo’s not wings eggplant tempura, vitamin f, grilled celery.

Ohmyfrickinggod!  This rocked my socks.  I would eat chicken wings every meal if the chicken wing part of the equation didn’t slightly skeeve me out, so this was perfection.  This appetizer made the top three list of best things I’ve ever eaten.  It was spicy and crunchy and perfect.  I demolished it.

For entrees Adam got the chicken little poussin, chevre, rosemary smokies, fig jam.

Delish.  The meat was super succulent and the fig jam was as good as you would imagine.  Adam said his favorite component of the evening was the dark meat of his chicken.  He ate every single scrap of meat he could find, and even did the wishbone with me!

I won!  I wouldn’t have mattered though, I definitely have everything I could wish for.

I ordered the ponzu salmon bok choy, forbidden rice, pickled lime.

I was pretty stuffed at this point so I only ate about 1/3 of mine.  I asked for my fish well done and I thought it was cooked perfectly.  The lime flavor on the veggies was out of this world.

Honestly though, the best thing on the table wasn’t even the entrees.  It was this random bowl of roasted squash.

Holy frick!!!!!  This is literally the best thing I’ve ever eaten.  When I took my first bite I made Adam stop talking for a minute so I could just sit there.

We were pretty stuffed at this point but we knew we had to try dessert.  Adam got the chocolate ‘bomb.’

I know this sounds crazy from a food lover, but I really don’t like chocolate cake!  I took a small nibble, and I could tell it was good, but it just wasn’t my thing.  He loved it though.  It had Grand Marnier and candied orange peel on top.  The homemade lavender chocolate ice cream was ridiculous.

I went with my favorite, trio of creme brule vanilla bean, cinnamon, pumpkin.

Gah!  Indescribable.  I don’t know how I managed to let Adam split this with me.  I was most excited for the cinnamon, but pumpkin ended up being out of this world.  This was another moment when I just had to sit in silence.

I honestly can’t describe how much I enjoyed this meal.  I must have thanked Adam 20times during dinner for putting up with my out of control joy!  I was in love with everything in my mouth.  I felt so thankful.

Now that we are home I need to finish packing quickly and get to bed.  The plan is to leave before 7am tomorrow and I do not want to be a sleepy driver.  I will hopefully be doing regular posts this weekend but depending on the internet situation there may just be a big recap.  Whatever may happen, I hope all my readers and their families have a fabulous Thanksgiving.

What is your favorite restaurant?  I loved everything about Juniper – the decorations, the flavors, and the ideals.  The only other place I feel so strongly about is Serendipity in New York City.

Soup, Salad, Samples

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Lunch was eaten in stages.  First, a full cartoon of Dr. McDougall’s Minestrone Soup.

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It was good, but a bit brothy.

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I had a Zevia Twist along the side.

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Second, was a fantabulous salad.

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This salad was socks-rocking; lettuce base, shredded carrot, lite blue cheese dressing, dried fig, chopped pear.

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Back in Action Jackson

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My fabulous weekend (fueled by lots of booze) left me not so fabulously dazed.  Jet-lag doesn’t even describe it, more like rocket-lagged!  Unfortunately my Chemistry test preparation this afternoon paid the highest price.

I was exhausted when I went to bed last night (after 1:30!) so I told myself I could sleep in as long as I wanted.  I got out of bed at 11, and it’s possible I should have stayed in until noon.  Even sitting on the couch in a daze wore me out 🙂 

I need manage to cobble together some lunch out of the husband’s leftovers from this weekend.

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I steamed 3oz of broccoli in the microwave, then added 1/2C cooked quinoa, 1/2T worchestire, a few dashes chipotle tabasco, and 3T low fat mozzarella.

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I rounded things out with a candy sample from my Foodbuzz swag.

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The packaging was lovely and the carrot cake goodies inside were even better.  They were nice and chewy.  The serving was the whole box (3) but I ate two and left one for the husband.

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I realized I was going to eat more candy if I stayed at home, and was getting nothing done anyways, so it was time to head to school.  I got dressed in my ‘I worked in New York City” duds,

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and even pulled out the big guns.

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Sadly, none of this helped me to do any studying this afternoon.  I went to the library to print of the class notes and ended up doing more dazed sitting until it was time for the test.  Shockingly, I think the test went really well!  I felt very confident and I’m excited to get my grade back.

During class I snacked on my last 18 Rabbits bar, Haute Diggity Date.

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This is my last taste of SF until my swag box gets here from Fed-Ex.

I got home at 8:30 and got started on dinner.  Someone commented last week that it is hard to eat well on a budget, so I give you the main component of tonight’s dinner –

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and in fact, this would have been a twofer meal with leftovers had I not dropped half of it on the floor 😦

But drop I did, so I will give the recipe for a two-serving portion – Cauliflower Patties

  • 1/2 lb cauliflower, chopped
  • 1/2 C flour
  • 1/8 t curry powder
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 egg
  • 2T lemon juice
  • 1T evoo
  1. Steam cauliflower.
  2. Pour cooked cauliflower into a blender/food processor and pulse, stopping occasionally to stir, until cauliflower is uniformly crumbly.
  3. Pour into a medium mixing bowl and add everything but evoo. 
  4. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan over medium high heat.
  5. Mash cauliflower mixture together and form into 8 small patties.
  6. Cook patties on stovetop in two batches, about 2minutes per side.

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I served mine on top of a lettuce base, drizzled with 1T light blue cheese dressing.

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Delish!  I also shared a Zevia with the pilgrims.

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On the agenda for the rest of the evening?  A trip to Wendy’s to redeem some frosty coupons, couch cuddling and an episode of Bones, and a bit of unpacking.  Tomorrow I’m going to school with the husband in the morning so I’m not sure what the posting situation will be.  Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite!

What have you made into patties?  I’m a fan of pretty much any veggie/meat in patty form, in fact, we are having something similar for dinner tomorrow!

Home Again Home Again

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I’m sorry to do another quickie (that’s what HE said, ba-zing!) but I have a test tomorrow and my flight didn’t get in until midnight.

This morning Camile and I walked down to Pier 39 to see the sea lions one more time.

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I think I’m in love!

After a quick shower and pack-up we made our way over to Café Lulu for a goodbye brunch. They had a make your own bloody mary bar!

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I also had some pear and frisee salad,

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and a bit of soufflé.

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It was a good breakfast.

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On my first flight I ate a KIND Plus bar,

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and a serving of veggie chips from Oh! Nuts,

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and a Cliff Mojo Bar.

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It was a five hour flight!

I had a quick layover, during which I spotted a Freshens. Not getting some wasn’t an option.

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Small cup of fat free pecan praline, so worth the $3.59 and lack of real dinner.

Now I’ve got to get some Zzzzzs so I can hope not to fail my Chem test tomorrow. I had a fabulous time this weekend, San Francisco was great and it really was a joy to connect with the other bloggers. I met so many people who I deeply respect and had many good conversations. Thanks Foodbuzz!

Challenge Balance – $35.30

Happy 80th Nana!

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Hello, hello, hello!  Sorry to skip out for the weekend but I had a fabulous time.  I flew to Ohio (with a bunch of other family members) to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday.  We did party/family time all weekend, which meant TONS of cake!  I missed the husband a lot but I had a great time, my family is so funny!  This post won’t be as detailed, due to length, and if you get too bored skip to the bottom to find the winners of the Zevia contest.

Friday we had to get up nice and early to make it to the airport for my 6:35am flight.  I was hungry when I got to the airport but it seemed early and I knew I would sleep my first flight so I decided to wait.

On my layover I got egg and cheese on a cheddar jalopeno bagel.

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It was very tasty but I dropped half on the floor so I only ate half of it.

I was so excited when I finally got in to the Dayton airport!

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My mom and grandma picked me up and we drove over to Tipp City to do some shopping (also the location of my grandmother’s surprise party!).  We saw all sorts of fun things.

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Nana (grandma)  was impossible to get to her surprise party, she kept insisting the chosen restaurant was too nice, too slow, etc.  I finally had to pretend I was going to pee my pants if we didn’t at least go in to the restroom!  When she saw all of her friends she was so surprised she cried!

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My mom and my aunt (who flew up with my mom a few days earlier than me) did such a good job planning and decorating!

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We did a party lunch at Coldwater Cafe and it was very nice.  I got a bloody mary to drink.

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And for lunch I split – more halfs! – a turkey pannini (with artichoke spread and cheese) with my mom.

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I ignored the chips but the sandwich was great.

My grandmother cried when she opened her presents and again when they brought in the cake!

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I am not really a chocolate cake fan so I took a small bite and then packed up the rest to bring home to Paps (grandpa).  I also packed up all the bread from the table baskets.  My family teased me but they are either going to use it again, ewww, or throw it out, wasteful.

We got to go home long enough to pick up my grandpa and then we – me, my mom, my aunt, my grandparents, and the dog – squeezed into the car for a long drive to Toledo where my uncle lives.  I seriously can not handle how funny my family is, we had such a good time!!

We were running late when we got there so we had a quick dinner from Wendy’s.  I got a baked potato with broccoli and cheese.

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I also ate one of my pumpkin cheesecake cupcake/muffins, so good!

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My uncle is a high school football coach so we went to watch his team.  It was their last game of the season, against their biggest rival, and they whooped them, so it was a lot of fun.  My uncle had the marching band play happy birthday to Nana and she cried again!

After the game we went to a ‘end of season’ party my uncle was throwing for the other coaches.  I had a small vodka and coke,

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and a small slice of pizza.

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And then there was more cake and more tears!

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Quite a night was had by all 🙂

For Saturday breakfast I had an English muffin with homemade strawberry jam and scrambled eggs.

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We spent the morning having family time before we headed to another birthday party, this one for my cousin’s baby!  Lunch was buffet style at the party.

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Cheesy potatoes,

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fruit,

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and veggies.

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And of course more cake – I just ate the icing off this piece. 

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Over the course of the party I sipped a beer

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and had a good time hanging with my mommy and grandma.

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My mom, aunt, and I (all Virgin Islanders) walked to and from the party because it was so exciting to be cold!  It was sad saying goodbye to my cousins but then the six of us packed back into the car and headed back to my grandparents’ house.  More uproarious fun was had, including the hilarious/horrifying realization that my grandmother – who was driving – talks with her hands a lot!

It was Halloween, so I broke out some fancy chocolate I bought for the occasion.

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We all had a small piece.

When we got home we had to rush to get dressed before meeting my grandparents’ best friends for dinner.  It was  a great last meal.  I had a bloody mary again, to which I added a ton of Siracha and sizzled my mouth off!

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My grandmother shared her side salad with me,

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and she and Rose gave me their martini olives.

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They are both amazing and both happen to read the blog, hi guys!

I also had a small piece of bread.

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I was torn on ordering but when the waitress said unlimited toppings on the flat bread pizza I was sold!  I asked for roasted red pepper, green peppers, red onions, caramelized onions, tomato, spinach, and mushrooms.

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Mmmn.  I ate 3/5 pieces.

It was another late night and I think we left my grandparents thoroughly exhausted!

This morning my mom and I both had 6:50 flights so it was another early trip to the airport.  Goodbyes were easy; I see my grandparents for Turkey Day and my mommy and aunt for Christmas!

For reasons explained in the next post, I packed my own breakfast.  A banana from my grandmother’s house,

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and a seasonal Pumpkin Spice Cliff Bar from home.

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My flights were all blissfully uneventful.  I was very excited to see the husband at the airport.  Apparently he went to a Halloween party last night so I’ll have to track down some pictures of his costume.  He made himself spaghetti this weekend so I had a big bowl of that (doctored with mozarella and red pepper flakes) while I wrote this monster post.

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My fingers are exhausted, it is definitely time to say Goodbye!  I will “see” you all this evening, hope everyone else had a good weekend!

Zevia Winners

I used a random integer generator to choose the winners.

Runners Up who receive a mixed six pack

  1. (#18) Annalene – i actually have tried Zevia before & I have to say that while they may take some time to getting used to the flavor after the initial drink or 2 these are actually quite good! my favorite is the lemon lime
  2. (#5) Jenny – I would love to try the all-natural diet sodas. I work the night shift, and am obsessed with my diet Pepsi….but always feel guilty about the weird ingredients and colorings.
  3. (#17) Erin – I really want to try this stuff since I love the occasional diet coke.
  4. (#2) Holly – I’d love to win – this soda has been all over blogs and I’ve never tried it!
  5. (#14) Erin– Zevia sounds great!

Grand Prize Winner who receives a mixed case

  1. (#9) Molly – Sounds good!

Winners – shoot me an e-mail (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) by Tuesday morning to claim your prize!

$2.99

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Good afternoon! Volunteering went well, and now I’m making a quick stop in at home before I head to campus.  I have materials to print, so I have to go early, and I figure if I go super early maybe I’ll get some work done.  I have a quiz this Thursday so this will be a busy week.

For lunch I decided to try the salad bar.

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I was worried about spending more than my voucher so I only took a little food.  However, the total ended up being $2.99, guess I should have gotten a little more!  I had a little bit of pasta salad,

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tuna salad with artichoke hearts,

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and spring mix lettuce with carrots, peas, black olives, hot sauce, blue cheese crumbles, and vinegarette.

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After volunteering I hit up the hospital coffee stand for a great pumpkin latte.

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Mmmn.  I love seasonal things!

I’m off to campus!

What is your favorite October food?  Mine is pumpkin lattes or my pumpkin pie smoothies.

Burst Your Bubble

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I was losing my motivation after the last post – I was hungry and distracted and I could feel myself spacing out.  However, my test is this Friday so I distracted myself with a piece of gum and buckled down.

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I chipped away at the reading I’m behind on and have almost finished all of my notecards for the material on the test.

Lunch was another taco salad, I’m still not sick of these!  I would like to say I put the bowl beside my work and took ladylike bites, but that happened for all of 30seconds before the shoveling began 🙂

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  • lettuce base
  • ~1/2C black beans
  • ~2T 2% colby jack
  • heap hot/chunky salsa
  • 1serving Lime Food Should Taste Good Chips

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Mmmmn.  I also snacked on one serving of roasted peanuts.

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I’ve got to rush off again, I’m heading to the post office and then meeting a study buddy at the Spot.  See you for dinner!

What is your favorite flavor of gum?  I was actually going to cry when I found out that Cherry Coke Bubblicious had been discontinued!  In general I don’t chew a lot of gum (Trident White once every few months) but in high school I chomped constantly!