Tag Archives: sandwich

Off The Road

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I made it!  I was a little nervous about driving 7 hours by myself but it ended up being ok.  Of course I’d rather drive with Adam, but it’s nice to know that I can do it by myself.  Caffeine helped.  A sugar-free Red Bull was brought from home.

I also brought lunch so I wouldn’t have to stop.  Cheese and jam sandwich.

That’s 2 slices of Dakota topped with 2 oz of 50% reduced fat white cheddar and Crofters Concord Grape Spread.

And a baggie of carrots.

I did stop once to pee and I grabbed a half sweet coffee for the 2nd half of the trip.

And then I was there!  My dad took me to rent a bike as soon as I arrived (there’s a path near my grandparents’ house that we’re going to use this weekend) and we went out for a short ride.

Soon enough it was time for dinner.

Baked asparagus,

breaded baked chicken,

a rice mixture,

caprese salad,

and fruit on the side.

After dinner I took my grandpa to a local baseball game and then the whole family ended up meeting for ice cream.

That’s a small twist with marshmallow.

And now it’s bed time.

Pride of Lions

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I am so proud of my husband.  He begins his 3rd year of medical school tomorrow and I’m sure he’ll kick as much ass at clinical as he did his first two years of school!  The soon-to-be-3rd-years had a celebratory ceremony today and Adam was in charge of the opening/closing remarks.  <– this is why his parents are in town

Before the festivities began, I took my in-laws out to brunch.

I had a bogo coupon for Moe’s so that’s where we went.  What?  Mexican food can be brunch.

I got another rice bowl.

Rice, black beans, tofu, green pepper, onion, mushrooms, lettuce, cilantro, cheese, and corn salsa.

And chips with a side of queso.

I ate about 2/3 of everything and it was delicious.  I love how healthy Moe’s is, but I will admit that it’s got me hankering for some cheesy, crunchy, greasy, authentic Mexican food.

Adam did a great job at the ceremony, sometimes I can’t believe that the handsome, funny, well-spoken medical student belongs to me!

Afterwards we cheers’d at Pearl Street Brewery.

I was drinking a Blue Eyed Blueberry Blonde.

My beer was nice and refreshing, with just a few hints of fruit.  I love that Pearl Street microbrews on site.  Whenever a beer is described as blonde I know I’m bound to like it; I also enjoy dark beers (Guinness, Turbo Dog…) but I hate IPAs.

Along with my beer I ordered a turkey reuben.

Not on the menu, but they’ll sub turkey for corned beef if you ask nicely.

It was delicious but so filling that I could only handle half.  I left my chips only completely though; who eats chips when their husband’s meal comes with wedge fries?!

Yum!  My favorite fries are the big, squishy ones.

Once we got my in-laws on the road we had to run a few errands.  I’m actually going on another trip in just a few days so we had to get the husband stocked with a few groceries.  I grabbed a white chocolate toffee cookie while we were at the store.

I’m going to get off the computer now so that I can spend Adam’s last free night (ever!) hanging out, but know that I will be enjoying a big bowl of peanut brittle ice cream later this evening!

Gourmet On The Go

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We’re back in Buffalo!  We made it home without losing any limbs or luggage and managed to eat only healthy, delicious meals; I call that a winner travel day!

To start the morning my aunt took me to Atwaters, a local bakery her neighbor owns, to buy a loaf of bread and some provisions for our drive.

I also picked up an iced coffee with skim milk.

Adam and I hung out with my family as long as we could (my cousin just got back from study abroad in Costa Rica and had amazing pictures!) but soon it was time to hit the road.

You know we couldn’t leave Baltimore without self-serving one more frozen yogurt.

I got a mix of cookies and cream and taro yogurt topped with strawberries, bananas, Oreo, sprinkles, and rainbow jelly.

The rainbow jelly took my joy over the top, although now I’m going to be missing froyo and bubble tea!

Typically vacation food goes downhill once you get into the car, but today we were ready and we kept things gourmet.  I bought this Tofu Bahn Mi at Atwaters in the morning and it ended up being the perfect brunch.

Bahn Mi is a Vietnamese sandwich made with pickled veggies.  Typically it is very spicy but this one was pretty mild (my only complaint).

Lunch was also a sandwich, but not just any sandwich.

Bee’s Knees Honey Peanut Butter (good), homemade strawberry jam (better), and Dakota bread (best).

Best damn pb & j I’ve ever had!  I’m seriously amazed by how good this bread is each time I eat it.

We were pretty well prepared but sadly I spent the last few hours in the car dying of hunger.  Adam had a huge bag of m&m’s that made the whole car smell like chocolate and it was all I could do not to pour them down my throat.  I managed to wait, but once I picked up our dinner on the way home I could not keep my hand out of the bag of chips.

Many many (way too many) chips were consumed this evening.

We are out of veggies, actually we are out of everything, so I picked up rice bowls from Moe’s for dinner.

My bowl was rice, black beans, tofu, sautéed mushrooms, sautéed onions, sautéed green peppers, lettuce, cheese, corn salsa, and cilantro.

I scarfed that bad boy.

Time to unpack!

Walk It Out, II

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Apparently I’ve used this title before…  I don’t think I knew what “a lot” of walking was when I wrote that post; Adam and I (who love love love to walk) wore ourselves out this vacation!  I’m glad we’ve gotten in the incidental exercise though, we need the walking piece to make up for our eating.  It’s definitely been a vacation week!

After breakfast on Tuesday Adam and I dropped my laptop back at the apartment and headed into the city.

Our main destination for the day was the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

We saw all sorts of amazing things but my favorite exhibit by far was “Written in Bone: Forensic Files of 17th Century Chesapeake.”  They recently discovered the burial site for the first settlers of Jamestown and using modern forensics were able to piece together a picture of how those settlers lived and died.  The exhibit was half American history and half forensic anthropology; I loved it!  If you are in DC in the near future I highly recommend you check it out.

We expanded our minds all morning, but unfortunately our stomachs stayed empty.  Failing to plan is planning to fail, particularly when you are visiting expensive museum food courts.  I did delight in seeing all sorts of these though –

and Adam and I split the Luna protein bar I had in my purse.

Even without breakfast or lunch, our next stop was obvious.

FroZenYo!  If my memory is correct, I served myself red velvet, cookies and cream, cheesecake, and tart yogurt topped with kiwi, strawberries, candied nuts, pb, hot fudge, and sprinkles.

It was ridiculous good.  Frozen yogurt was the high point of my day, but Adam was most excited for dinner.

First though we met my best friend for a drink (pink lemonade and Stoli),

and then an iced coffee for our long metro ride.

Finally we arrived at Adam’s heaven our destination.

Chrisfield Seafood has been an institution in DC (technically Maryland) since the 40’s, and it was a big part of my family vacations as a child.  I didn’t actually eat any seafood as a child so Chrisfield’s magic was lost on me, but this time I was ready!

Portions note – I ate about 1/3 of everything shown here; it was a rich meal but I kept it fairly healthy by not stuffing myself silly.  If you do go to Chrisfields (and you should!) and plan on going crazy, I still recommend that you not fill up on bread because your dinner will be worth the wait.

Adam and Nikki ordered a pitcher of Red Hook Ale ($8!), apparently it turns you into a creeper,

but I still enjoyed a small glass.

When we sat down we were served bread,

and a plate of the necessary accoutrements.

Then we sat, and waited, and drooled and plates went by us.  Finally it was our turn to dig in.

When I called my father for menu advice (I wanted to maximize the opportunity now that I finally like seafood) he told me to order either the crab-stuffed flounder or crab-stuffed shrimp.  But when I got to the restaurant the lobster tail was calling me.  Thankfully I found my perfect meal, The Broiled Combo – lobster tail,

stuffed shrimp,

stuffed flounder.

My meal came with cole slaw and french fries as well.

O.M.G.  I think if I’d actually tasted the food as a child I would have been a seafood convert a lot earlier!  My favorite was actually the stuffed flounder, but the husband was more than happy to take over eating my lobster tail.

Stuffed to the gills (ha!) we slept very well that night.

Wednesday morning was spent walking around Georgetown.  Wandering down M Street is my favorite thing to do in DC!  Adam and I actually ended up at an old New York favorite for brunch, Serendipity 3.

I went with a favorite order too, The Summer Bries.

An open-faced turkey sandwich with apples, cranberry mayo, and brie cheese.

My bread was sort of burnt but I ate 2/3 before passing it off to the husband.

I’m glad I saved room, because we discovered a brand new favorite for dessert – Mr. Yogato!

I couldn’t serve myself, but the shop was so cute that it was worth the change.  I ended up with a small original tart yogurt with banana, coconut, and sprinkles.

Did you think I was kidding when I said we’d get froyo every day? 🙂

Guys, the walk back to pick up our stuff was brutal.  It was in the high 90’s and I was carrying my backpack with the laptop and it was just crazy.  Adam actually got so overheated he started to get light-headed!  Thankfully he felt faint right in front of a Walgreens and we could run in for provisions.  I drank 2 liters of water in under an hour!

Once we were back to our car it was time to head to our final destination: Baltimore.  We probably should have eaten lunch first though because as we sat in rush hour traffic we got pretty cranky.  I ended up digging into my packed stash and eating a serving’s worth of honey mustard chip crumbles,

and tons of (craisin, peanut, chocolate chip) trail mix.

When we finally got here my aunt and cousin had a great healthy spread for us to dig into.  Tortilla chips with homemade guacamole,

hummus with fresh veggies from the farmer’s market,

and this huge bowl of cherries that I basically dominated.

Plus a small pour (x 1.5) of sauvignon blanc.

For the protein portion of the meal my aunt grilled up some delicious Indian spiced chicken with yogurt and mint sauces.

It was so tasty I went back for a second piece (that’s a side plate).

Finally, dessert.

My aunt is quite the hostess.  There was dulce de leche Ben and Jerry’s and salted caramel gelato,

plus No Pudge Fudge Brownies and berry crumb bars (the blueberry crumb bar recipe from Bon Appetit made with raspberries and blackberries).

I was so stuffed I ended up leaving one bite of each piece on my plate!

And bringing this super long post full circle, I woke up at 6:30 this morning to go on a walk with my aunt.  She walks a 40 minute loop around her neighborhood most mornings so I happily joined her.  Even after our miles of city walking yesterday it felt good to get up and get my legs moving.

And now it’s time for breakfast!

Tired Travel

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Hello from Charlottesville!  The last 48 hours have been a total whirlwind, but a little sleep deprivation is definitely worth the family time. 

Yesterday afternoon we had to finish packing, and Adam had to shave, and we had to drop his car off, and the clock ticked ominously as it got later and later.  By the time we actually hit the road it was after 6pm and we knew it was going to be a long night.

We dinnered on sandwiches from home as we drove.

I assembled Nature’s Pride bread, Applegate Farms Organic Roasted Turkey slices, 2% Swiss cheese, and honey mustard; wrapped in tin foil for easy road munching.

Adam and I also split a Starbucks Double Shot drink.

Caffeine was a very good idea (and it continued to be good all today as well) since we pulled into my in-laws’ house at 4:30 in the morning!!  I’m not sure how we managed to be so chipper for our 9:30 wake up call, but I think that vacation excitement always overrules lack of sleep.  I can’t even tell you how crazy the drive was though, between the thunderstorms and the fog we were pretty sure we were driving through the apocalypse.

Breakfast called for carbs, protein, and bacon.  Half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese,

1 scrambled egg,

and 2 slices of turkey bacon.

Moving was not as bad as I was anticipating at all (it probably helped that I was responsible for packing up the pantry and not carrying the couch!), especially since my brother-in-law drove down to help as well.  At some point in the afternoon I was sent into town for packing supplies and Starbucks for my mother-in-law; I grabbed a grande iced nonfat latte for myself.

Lunch was one of those random simple meals that ended up being extra delicious.

This veggie pizza was something my MIL found in the freezer section and it was so dang good; she was worried that the crust started to burn but it was crispy and crunchy in the best possible way.

And this was the best (only?) watermelon I’ve tasted all summer.

The melon was supposed to be dessert but my MIL and I found ourselves stuck at Wendy’s while the moving truck was returned and Frostys were calling our names.  The new Caramel Apple Parfait looked too good not to try.

Oh my gosh guys, props to Wendy’s because this was delicious!  I only ate ~ 1/3 because I didn’t want to overdo it before dinner but I was seriously impressed.  The caramel had great mouth feel and the right balance of sweet and salty.

Adam and I stayed in town after the moving was done so we could have Fathers’ Day dinner at my FIL’s favorite restaurant.  Clearly it was a day of hot work because I drained my beer before it even occurred to me to snap a picture.

This might be the first time I’ve tried a Shock Top and I was surprised by how much I liked it, light and refreshing.

I also nibbled on a complimentary cheesy biscuit.

Think of the biscuits from Red Lobster, but better.

Sagebrush isn’t the type of restaurant that I typically love but my dinner ended up being amazing.

I ordered a side of the veggie medley (without butter)

and a side of sweet potato casserole

to go with my Mountain Trout.

Trout!  This was my first time trying trout and I think it might be my new favorite fish, it was so buttery.  The menu said flash grilled but I’m pretty sure this was fried.  I scraped off the skin but other than that I cleaned my plate.

After dinner we had another late, rainy drive.  I bought this huge (half-sweet) coffee for the road.

I hope the caffeine doesn’t keep me awake but traveling makes my stomach upset and I was hoping coffee would help me feel better.

Tomorrow we’re spending the day exploring Charlottesville and then driving to DC in the evening.  My best friend just texted to let me know that her apartment doesn’t have internet so my posting schedule might be a little off.

Can anyone recommend any “must go” spots in Charlottesville or DC?  Other than frozen yogurt we don’t have much on the agenda!

Sweet and Sour

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I made Adam a batch of pulled bbq chicken almost a week ago and I’ve been thinking about making a sweet and sour bbq chicken sandwich ever since.  Start by spreading apricot preserves on a sesame bun.

Then lay down your chicken (cooked on low in the crock pot for 8 hours then shredded and topped with homemade bbq sauce – tomato sauce, molasses, brown sugar, vinegar, and ketchup).

Finally, top with bread and butter pickles.

Sweet, sour, and delicious.

I paired my sandwich with a simple side salad of spring mix lettuce, dried cranberries, walnuts, and poppy-seed dressing.

I also sprinkled a little bit of salt onto my salad and I swear it made a huge difference!

It was a nice little lunch.

I’m surprised I was even hungry after my late breakfast, but I’m heading to the gym in a bit and I didn’t want my stomach to be growling.

On the agenda for the rest of the day?

  • the gym (finally!)
  • a mini grocery trip
  • doing the dishes
  • making another batch of bug repellant
  • fun dinner

Driving Dilemma

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We love our neighborhood – a quiet side street off of Elmwood, the “cool” strip in Buffalo – but the parking situation here is a bummer.  There’s not a lot of parking space to begin with and then the city further restricts residents by only allowing use of one side of the street from 9-5 on weekdays.  In the end it’s really not something I can complain about though because we generally end up parking 2 blocks away from our apartment at most and often snag spots right out front.  What I can complain about (and do at length) is the fact that parking switches from left MTW to right RF.  Which means that if you wake up at 8:50 thinking that it’s Wednesday when it’s actually Thursday you’re out $30.  $60 if you have two cars to worry about.

During the school year – when Adam and I have long-houred internships at different hospitals – having two cars will be a godsend.  But in the summer – when we barely drive the one car, let alone two – it’s all we can do to remember to move the cars and they become a big, costly annoyance.  I try to put “move the cars!!!” in my day planner but since I often don’t check my planner until after 9am this has proved less than helpful.  What has proved effective lately though is coupling the task moving the cars with another activity.  If there’s one thing I’ll never forgot to look forward to it’s a date with Adam!

For example, this morning we set our alarms for 8:20 8:40 8:50 and moved the cars before setting out on a walk to get coffee.

We ended up with no tickets, plus (half sweet) coffee as a bonus!

I waited to enjoy my hot coffee until I got home to the ac, and paired it with the rest of my breakfast spread.

A crisp, local apple,

and Greek Gods Fig yogurt.

Yum x 100!  If you still haven’t tried Greek Gods then you totally need to get on that.

Coffee always makes me super full, which helped lunch to get pushed back later and later into the afternoon.  When a coworker called at noon I ended up picking up an extra daytime shift at work tomorrow which meant we needed to switch around some of our lunch and dinner meal plans.  The end result of all this is that it was 2:30, I hadn’t eaten lunch, and I needed to go to the store before I could make dinner.

I’d been craving garlic eggplant all morning – actually I’ve been craving that dish ever since I saw it on the table across from ours at Tokyo Shanghai – so I told myself that if Wegman’s had it on their hot bar then I’d buy lunch there.  I haven’t seen garlic eggplant at Wegman’s in months, but apparently crossing your fingers works!

I got a big scoop of garlic eggplant alongside veggies picked out from various containers,

and a few big pieces of sweet and sour chicken.

So fun to find exactly what I was craving right on that day; usually I whine to the husband about tastes I’m looking forward to for days!

No matter how satisfying and tasty though, waiting too long for lunch always means I’m hungrier all afternoon.  We had a good array of snacks to pick from; baby carrots with blue cheese,

a white chocolate and toffee cookie from Wegman’s cookie bar,

and when I made another batch of pumpkin muffins I ate a mini muffin with Smart Balance Light.

I’m glad I didn’t snack too much because dinner was amazing.

The dinner idea that I just couldn’t wait for was tuna salad Reubens.

We made tuna salad with 1000 Island Dressing and pickle relish, then pressed sandwiches with sauerkraut and 2% Swiss cheese.

We picked up a loaf of blue cheese and cracked pepper bread from Wegman’s bakery today and it totally took the sandwiches over the top.

With roasted broccoli,

and ears of fresh corn.

This dinner was so worth making the kitchen hot and steamy! 

How many cars does your household own?  How often do you drive to your final destination (as opposed to walking or using public transportation)?

My Friends, Ben and Jerry

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I know I said I was excited about blogging again, but I was more excited about sharing dinner with my friends in less than ideal table lighting.

I met up with a group of girlfriends from school and we had a great time playing summer catch-up.  I ordered a tuna melt (sourdough, no butter; with cheddar cheese).

I ate half and then brought the rest home to the husband.

Such a random diner order but it definitely hit the spot.  Sidenote – once I occurred to me to ask for no butter on my bread I started enjoying restaurant sandwiches 80% more.

Adam and I are spending the rest of the evening watching “That 70’s Show” with our new best friends.

I know, I know; it’s totally time for us to stop splitting a pint of ice-cream like that’s normal healthy behavior, but Maple Blondie?!

What’s your favorite flavor from Ben and Jerry’s?  Bonaroo Buzz is topping the charts for me, but I’ll let you know in the morning if Maple Blondie edges it out!