Exam Eating

by Emily

Sunday’s 3pm Spot coffee was a terrible mistake. I got less than three hours of sleep that night! It made Monday morning’s 6 am Starbucks coffee an absolute necessity.

That’s a tall, non-fat, eggnog latte and it was fabulous! And I ate a Green Dragon apple (also fabulous) while I read through my notes.

My morning snack was from my #simplesurvivalkit.

A serving of Food Should Taste Good Chocolate Tortilla Chips to scoop up green salsa.

I had time to go home between my exam (went well-ish!) and work so I made myself a delicious plate of eggs for lunch.

At that point I still thought I was making a healthy dinner so I kept my eggs simple with no veggies. Just 5 chopped slices of turkey – just regular old honey roasted like for sandwiches – cooked in 1 Tbsp Earth Balance with 2 eggs and Cabot’s Sharp Cheddar Light Cheese scrambled in.

They were amazing; I’m having a total love affair with eggs recently.

I brought a Hint Blackberry Fizz with me for my 8.5 hour shift.

The Fizz was good, but it didn’t pack the caffeine-punch that I desperately needed.

At one point during my shift I was so tired that I was in an actual daze! On three different occasions I wanted to call Adam to bring me something and I had to really crank up my brain to work through why that didn’t make sense. <– he was out-of-town

I ended up using the work Keurig to make an extra-strength coffee with cream and sugar.

I stopped at the Co-op for food the minute I got off of work.

I shoved that Orzo Greek Salad into my face while walking around 7-11. Classy.

I had to run another errand on the way home from work and I called my parents to tell them I was home safely and suddenly it was 11 pm. I was exhausted and cranky and so hungry I felt like I was going to pull my hair out if I didn’t get food into my mouth immediately.

I ended up eating a bunch of crap and staying up too late but not studying. Of course. Homemade nachos that I ate so quickly I think even Webster was a little disgusted.

That’s 2-ish servings of Nacho Cheese Tortilla PopChips microwaved with cheese.

I bought the chips with a sweet free coupon that PopChips sent me and sadly I don’t think I like the tortilla version as much as the originals. Something about the texture feels off to me. To be fair, PopChips are amazing so the standard was set high.

Plus Tandoor Chef Vegetable Pad Thai,

and a bowl of melted pb with cocoa powder.

I wish I could tell you that today has been better on the fruit and veggies front but sadly that’s not true. This is definitely a week of exam eating.

Breakfast of champions.

Plus this Boston Cream Pie Seltzer that I thought would be amazing but ended up getting passed to a friend after one sip because it made me gag.

I have adored Polar this year though and one bad flavor won’t turn me off. I am very excited about the Pear Vanilla I bought with it. And I am crossing my fingers and toes that the Eggnog flavor with be out again in time for Christmas.

Starting at 7:40 I had two very frustrating meetings on campus. I don’t know if I get to graduate or not (getting a 2nd degree vs. just taking the classes needed to sit for the RD exam), I don’t really understand what I need to have done for next semester, and I have lots more to do before Thursday.

I took a walk home to clear my head and got Subway for lunch. A 6-inch tuna sub with lots of red onions.

Do you have a Subway rewards card yet? Because my sandwich was free!

And I’ve got a healthy dinner waiting for me in the fridge…

Or just “a dinner.” I’m blogging my winner of a dinner in advance because I have to go back to school for another meeting at 2:00 and then tomorrow morning I have two final exams that are going to crush me.

Plus this afternoon I am taking a study break to do something crazy. There is a hint in this post. Can you guess???

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!

7Dec2012

Finals Frustration

by Emily

I really wanted to post the last few days but I was upset about a bunch of things that I couldn’t put on the blog. Today was the official end of the semester and the only word I can come up with to describe this day was “eventful.” I’m still angry and disappointed about things I can’t talk about but I think that the pictures of today’s eats actually paint a pretty accurate portrait of today’s mood all on their own.

At clinic…

While studying at a coffee shop…

{note – that latte was made with *chocolate chip cookie* flavored syrup!}

On a trip to the mall…

After the day’s third and final catastrophe…

I work 20+ hours this weekend and then have a giant cumulative exam on Monday. Ugh.

I’ve clearly whined enough; would you like to vent about anything? I’d love to listen.

2Dec2012

Friday-Saturday Frenzy

by Emily

I worked 9.5 hours on both Friday and Saturday, so the weekend has felt a little frenzied. Basically ever single thing I ate was on the go, covered in cheese, or both! Quickly, because I have to get up tomorrow and study for my giant exam before work…

Friday morning on the walk to school, an apple.

When I had to spend time on campus contesting a credit waiver instead of going home before work, a juice.

I made a custom blend – kale, spinach, carrot, and apple.

Lunch at work, delicious co-op hot bar. Chicken paprikash and smoked gouda mac and peas.

Late night dinner while I waited for my husband to get home from the airport, a giant plate of nachos with black beans and olives.

Saturday morning at work, a rosemary olive scone. Apparently I loved olives this weekend.

“Lunch” at 5pm during a busy shift, a Katie’s Food Stash Bar and half a veggie and hummus wrap.

On a 9pm grocery trip, December candy.

A late dinner that was worth the wait – eggs and hash browns.

For two – a pint of mushrooms browned in 1 Tbsp Earth Balance, 1.5 cups spinach with 1 Tbsp evoo, salt, 2 eggs; scramble.

For two – 2 small potatoes and 1 red onion cooked in 1 Tbsp evoo and 1 Tbsp Earth Balance; salt, garlic powder, spicy paprika.

An impulse buy at the store, I got sucked in because the box was only $1.50. It was pretty good.

While catching up on tv, my boys are the cutest.

Good night!

30Nov2012

The Best Thing Ever

by Emily

Howdy! It ~~was bedtime hours ago~~ is bedtime but I’m bubbling over with good cheer so I wanted to blog. Spread the love and all that.

Note 1 relates to note 2. Note 1 – Please ignore my crazy hair and old lady scarf and focus in on how fabulous my giant puffy sleeves are.

Love them! I bought this top back in my teacher days and it always made me feel like a professional city lady.

Note 2 – I got to Google Video Chat with Adam tonight and it was the best thing ever.

My husband is the most handsome man on the planet! And me…. well, I’ve got my great sleeves.

Adam has been/will be traveling a lot for interview this year and suggesting that we use the video chat today is the smartest thing he’s ever done. I can’t even tell you how good it was to see and hear him while we said goodnight. And this best thing ever is actually a silver lining on what seemed like a terrible situation. You see, yesterday Adam broke his cell phone. And if he’d had his phone with him on his trip today we wouldn’t have been on Google Chat at all. The money and time we are going to lose fixing it and the hassle of Adam having to navigate a new city tomorrow sans phone all pale in comparison to how wonderful it was to video chat this evening. <–silver lining

Don’t get me wrong, all of the travel has been/will be hard. A lot of his interview dates are right on top of one another and they make our busy schedule even more hectic. For example – he got to the apartment at 2am this morning and was heading to the airport by 6am. This meant I got 3 hours of sleep last night. Ugh.

It was a double pizza day. Making a smoothie meant getting out of bed five minutes earlier so instead I breakfasted on the cheese slice Adam brought me from our favorite pizza place in Brooklyn.

Amazing and also a bit sickening.

Clinic went well today, even though I was tired. In the morning I partnered with another student to chart on a tube feed and in the afternoon I shadowed a RD on the renal transplant floor.

Lunch was a mix of food from home and $2 spent at the salad bar with our great nutrition department discount. A ‘Thanksgiving leftovers’ sandwich of sliced turkey, homemade cranberry sauce, and cream cheese on a Sandwich Thin.

Plus Food Should Taste Good Sweet Potato Chips.

And salad bar with cherry tomato, cucumber, carrot, red onion, and honey mustard dressing.

I always have to really talk myself into salad at home but when I’m out and about it tastes so good!

Dinner was round two of pizza since I was stuck on campus working on a group project.

A buffalo chicken slice that was nowhere near as good as Zetti’s. And I dropped a greasy piece of chicken on my nice pants. I clearly should have gone with another salad instead!

Finally, I ate 2 oz of chocolate covered kettle corn nuts while I puttered around the house this evening.

They are good, but not as good as they were inside cookies.

How do you stay close to your loved ones when you are physically far away?

20Nov2012

{Part Of} Tuesday {In Advance}

by Emily

Hi there! A computer issue is going to keep me from blogging Tuesday night and all day Wednesday so I wanted to get a quickie post up today. This content is coming to you from the past (ooooooooohh!) so it’s possible that I’ll miss some unplanned bites. I don’t plan on recapping, I just wanted to get up an outline of sorts.

Breakfast: A mint chocolate strawberry shake; don’t question the combo, it just works. 1 heaping cup of frozen strawberries blended with 1.5 cups So Delicious Chocolate Mint Coconut Milk.

Lunch: We have clinic in the morning and an internship meeting in the afternoon and I’m hoping for time to grab veggie sushi at Wegman’s in between.

Dinner: A sandwich thin with cilantro mayo and tofu roasted with maple and soy. Half of the seaweed flavored potato chips from China Town in Philly. Half of the Little Duck Organics Apple and Banana Tiny Fruits from my #simplesurvivalkit package.

You might want to check back Wednesday morning… it’s possible I’ve prescheduled a giveaway post as well.

18Nov2012

Weekend Whoops

by Emily

My weekend was full of eating oopsies. I accidentally ate something that wasn’t vegan. I didn’t get near enough fruits and veggies. I took pictures on the go that don’t look very pretty. And on both Saturday and Sunday I didn’t eat all day and ended up buying food at night (and eating far too much of it).

Saturday I worked from 10 – 6 and since I woke up at 9:25 breakfast wasn’t an option. We have officially moved into the Christmas shopping season and there was not a minute during my shift when I had time to eat. As soon as I was off all I could think of was food. He is what I ate, on the walk home! An apple from home.

And vegan stuffing,

and half a peanut butter rice krispie treat from the co-op.

All on the walk home. Sidenote – I gave the dog a bite of the rice krispie treat and he spent the rest of the evening trying to figure out how to get more. He’s peanut butter fiend!

Dinner was purchased with a Groupon to Lone Star Fajita Grill.

A guaco taco (sans cheese) with veggies, guacamole, and sprouts,

and a pile of chips with more guacamole.

I made it through dinner without breaking the challenge (Tex-Mex without cheese or sour cream?!) but ran into trouble with dessert. I ate the Justin’s Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups from my Simple Survival Kit package.

If you read “MILK CHOCOLATE peanut butter cups” and knew where I ran into trouble then you are quicker than I; it wasn’t until I finished eating that it occured to me that the cups weren’t vegan. After choosing to cheat on the Vegan Challenge several times already this month it is frustrating to mess up due to a stupid oversight.

I also ate the last two servings of Angie’s Kettle Corn straight from the bag.

Then I got into bed and slept for 11 straight hours. It was glorious!

But even with a good night’s sleep I still didn’t have it together to eat before work. I ended up eating co-op food on the walk home for the 2nd night in a row.

Chicken fried seitan, bbq tempeh, corn and kidney bean salad, and a stuffed grape leave. The picture is terrible but I was more concerned with shoving the food into my face than photographing it!

The food highlight of the weekend was this delicious bowl of cereal.

1.5 servings of Honey Nut Chex with a serving of honey roasted peanuts, fresh raspberries, and Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk.

I had to go to campus at 7:00 for a final meeting for a group project. This is the assignment that has been ruining the past month’s evenings; I’m so glad to be done with it.

A late take-out dinner from Vasilis Express.

A dolmas wrap (more grape leaves!) and fries. I ate 95% of that plate and I kind of still want to throw up. Too heavy!

What was your last edible oops?

10Nov2012

Vegan Visit

by Emily

A road trip is not an easy time for a restricted diet, but with a combination of preparation and an understanding family I made it work.

I made sitting in the car for six hours work by dressing in comfy-cute clothing.

Plus my driving moccasins.

<– name that show!

Food from home was for breakfast. A sandwich of tempeh, Smart Balance, and strawberry jam (a killer combination) on a Sandwich Thin.

A small apple.

A piece of leftover Halloween candy.

And a sugar-free Red Bull from a gas stop.

I have been seriously tired lately; I need to make sleep a priority next week or I should basically just buy stock in energy drinks.

For lunch I was jazzed to spot a Sheetz.

I had a medium soy milk latte with marshmallow syrup.

I’m doubtful that the syrup was actually vegan but I’m taking a loose approach to the challenge on this trip. The coffee was delicious with tons of foamed milk and I was glad I got it, vegan or not.

Plus a veggie burrito.

This was not delicious. I made myself eat half so I wouldn’t be too hungry for dinner but if there had been other options I probably would have tossed the whole thing.

For dinner we got Italian food with my in-laws. P.S. We are staying with Adam’s sister and her husband and getting to spend time with my two nieces is making my ovaries hurt; they are so flipping cute!

A piece of bruschetta to start.

The waitress was very nice about bringing me new tomatoes when the first batch came out sprinkled with cheese.

And two slices of veggie pizza (sans cheese) for dinner.

Healthy, vegan, and tasty; I’ll take it.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: sandwich

Exam Eating

Happy Hanukkah!

Some Friday/Saturday Highlights

What I Was Up To Today (Sunday)

Finals Frustration

Friday-Saturday Frenzy

The Best Thing Ever

{Part Of} Tuesday {In Advance}

Weekend Whoops

Vegan Visit