Tag Archives: sandwich

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!

Southern Style

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The other day when I made the 1000 Island BBQ Sauce I knew I’d need to think of a good way to use it.  Adam and I put our heads together and we decided that bbq pulled chicken sandwiches would be the way to go.  This morning I put some chicken in the crockpot, and this evening we took a quick walk to pick up some key supplies.

I also munched on some Dirty BBQ Chips on the walk to get myself in the mood.

Once home it was easy as pie to shred the chicken, toss with the bbq sauce, and place on a bun with thin sliced red onion and bread and butter pickle slices.

Tasted as good as pie too.

On the side I cooked up some shredded brussels sprouts with black truffle oil and browned butter.

Divine!  Please do try out the recipe, it turns brussels sprouts into a whole new vegetable.

This is exactly the kind of meal I look forward to on a summer day.

Easy, tasty, and healthy.

We watched “That 70’s Show” while we ate; we recently discovered it on Netflix Instant Watch and I’m falling in love with it all over again.

Soon enough, it was time for dessert.

Southern Coke Sundaes.  I’ve been turning this idea about in my head for a few weeks and it tasted just as good as I’d imagined.  The recipe is a play on the southern tradition of dumping salted peanuts into bottles of Coke.  When my mom told me she did that as a kid I was skeptical, but sundae-style it totally works!

Did you (or your parents) ever put peanuts in Coke?

Pretty Good

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Hello there; I hope everyone’s having a nice weekend.  It’s been a good Saturday around here, I spent lots of time with the husband, I got to take a few walks, and I received some good news I’ll be sharing later.

Our plan this morning was to cash in a Groupon for brunch, so to kill time while the restaurant opened I headed out to the Farmer’s Market and the Co-op.

While I was up on that end of Elmwood I stopped in at Wilson Farms for my new favorite coffee.

Half Jamaican Me Crazy Coffee (regular) and half Jamaican Me Crazy Cappuccino (sweetened).

Adam and I also drove over to the lake to check out the crazy fog.

Spooky!

Then it was time for brunch at Empire Grill.

But apparently brunch is only a Sunday thing, boo.  And the bad news didn’t stop there, Adam and I hated our brunch lunch order.  I really don’t want the blame the restaurant (the food wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible either), we just made really bad order choices for our preferences.

We split a Blue Point Toasted Ale,

the Caribbean Shrimp and Mango Salad with mixed greens, mango viniagrette marinated jumbo shrimp, black bean and pineapple salsa and a mango viniagrette,

and the California Turkey Wrap with coleslaw, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, onions and a chipolte aioli.

I sort of hate raw spinach and I hate wraps so, again, it wasn’t really the restaurant’s fault.  Nonetheless, I ended up eating basically nothing for brunch.

Thank goodness for Banana Split Cupcakes!

Amid chowing down on two cupcakes, Adam and I took a trek to the post office and got to enjoy almost 2 miles of walking and talking, win!

Random sidenote (super random when you consider that this isn’t even a new top) – how awesome is it that this shirt has a bustle?!

I had fancy plans for dinner, but when Scrubs reruns are on you never turn down pizza.

Adam and I split another Buffalo chicken slice,

along with a big pile of baby carrots.

Yep, pretty good for a Saturday!

They’re Fake

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This has got to be a quick one because exam #1 is tomorrow and I am soooo not ready.  I spent most of the day at school with Adam, but sadly my concentration was lacking.

Lunch wasn’t lacking though.  I threw together the ingredient dream team for our sandwiches.

White Arnold’s Sandwich Thins, organic turkey bologna, Laughing Cow Light French Onion Cheese, and a smear of maple jelly.

With a crunchy pear on the side.

And Adam and I split my 2nd sample from Sweet and Salty Zone Perfect Bars for dessert.

Cashew Pretzel was even tastier than the trail mix bar.  There were loads of pretzels and they were still perfectly crunchy.  I definitely recommend buying these bad boys if you see them.  At 200 calories it was perfect for sharing.

My hunger hit when I got home and it hit hard.  Thankfully I’ve got a husband who’s always willing to split mini ice creams with me.

I also made a bowl of popcorn (with melted Smart Balance Light).

I’m still hungry if you can believe it, so I’m off to make dinner.  Tonight’s recipe is going to be a good one!

A Food Log Food Blog

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So there’s thing 1 and thing 2. Thing 1 – we just got home after our second 9+ hour car trip in two days and I’m too tired to be clever. Thing 2 – due to inclement weather (nearby tornadoes!) we spent much of the weekend without power and my pictures are pretty dark and awful. But, here’s the thing – part of the reason I write this blog is as a food diary (accountability). Sometimes I feel so silly when I’m writing a post that isn’t funny or chockfull of useful ideas or amazing recipes, but I have to remember that I do this for me too. So, feel free to skip this weekend’s recap, or settle in for a food log post.

Friday

I made Adam and myself a huge iced coffee to split on the road.

Coffee + Silk Vanilla Almond Milk + maple syrup.

I also packed a sandwich for breakfast.

Sandwich Thin + Applegate Farms organic sliced chicken + a Light Laughing Cow.

I was randomly starving five minutes later and spent the rest of the day complaining about how hungry I was. Enter an early lunch from Sheetz. Cole slaw,

and a turkey sandwich, with cheddar, honey mustard, lettuce, and tomato, on a pretzel bun.

Bletch x2! Normally I’m really impressed by Sheetz, but this time not so much.

However, Adam and I did split some Reeses Minister that were freaking life changing!

When we saw them again at another gas station we even bought some to bring home.

When we got to Virginia, before a tornado(!!) knocked out the power, there was dinner waiting for us.

Salad,

chips,

and grapes.

Then we spent the night playing cards in the dark.

Saturday

I skipped breakfast in lieu of cuddling up to my books, but made time for a last lunch.

More salad,

a small slice of cheese pizza,

three shrimp with cocktail sauce,

and strawberries and melon.

I also had a cinnamon brownie (we baked them Thursday night to bring down) and some Ruffled for dessert.

I ate my fair share of junk on Saturday unfortunately. I don’t mind digging into desserts or snacks at all, but I prefer to nosh only on unhealthy things that I love, and I feel like I sort of just grazed.

In the afternoon we did get to go out for a short but nice walk with my father-in-law, brother-in-law, and niece.

I even ran several sprints with my niece, it’s so much fun getting little kids to be active.

We went out to dinner, where multiple peanuts we cracked.

Sagebrush is a steakhouse, but fortunately there was some chicken on the menu as well.

I started with a cheddar biscuit,

and a side salad with peanut vinaigrette.

Dinner was grilled chicken,

with bbq sauce,

and broccoli.

We stopped for gas on the way home and I grabbed a (half sweetened) coffee.

I also snacked on some Easter candy,

and this plate of chips x2.

Sunday

My in-laws whipped up breakfast before we had to hit the road.

Scrambled eggs, strawberries, and half a bagel with strawberry cream cheese.

I also ate an apple with cheese in the car,

and a medium plain coffee.

We sang along with the radio, listened to recordings of Adam’s lectures, and reviewed my music reading all afternoon. Then, according to plan we pulled into Grove City at 4:45 and grabbed a late lunch/ early dinner at Primanti Brother’s.

Adam grew up eating there and I’ve seen it on the Food Network so we were pretty excited.

I ordered the turkey and provolone cheese sandwich, which came piled with Cole slaw and French fries!

The bread was boring (and abandoned halfway through), but the slaw and fries were perfectly vinegary. I’d probably never want one again, but it was fun to try.

But the fun was just beginning. There was an outlet mall across the street so Adam suggested we take advantage of the great weather (75*) and walk around a bit. First, I love to walk with the husband. Second, we snagged a Silpat on sale.

And then I literally started hyperventilating with excitement… we spotted a self-serve froyo place!!!

You guys, I can’t even tell you! I got original tart and sugar-free praline, topped with hot fudge, marshmallow, butterfinger, strawberries, and a cherry.

This is the kind of “junk” I feel 100% good about eating.

I’m pretty sure I swooped the whole rest of the drive home.

We stopped for a mini grocery run at Wegmans, and also grabbed some Chinese food (which I’m just not going to blog); our early dinner was a bit too early 😉

If you have a blog, how much of its purpose is food log vs. fun?

Keep on Truckin’

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Another morning, another run in with a truck, or at least that’s what it felt like!  Even though I have a huge test tomorrow, and a meeting scheduled with my department head, the snooze button was definitely pressed!  Adam caught my cold and was too sick to go to his first class so thankfully(?!) he was able to drive me to campus for my meeting later.

I’m not sure what my mega-exhaustion is about, but since I’ve got a slew of important tests between now and next Friday I’m not going to push it.  Returning to the gym would be nice, but after more than a month off, another week really doesn’t make a difference.  Instead I’ve decided to make this week all about strength and stretch moves.  A decision that led me to meet with my department head dressed like this –

I’ve always got the time/energy for at least 10minutes total a day!  Here’s what I accomplished throughout this afternoon (reps) –

After coffee, of course.

Yesterday I grabbed a cup of (unsweetened) butter toffee flavored coffee from the gas station, and this morning I mixed it with Silk Vanilla Almond Milk and maple syrup over ice.

After my housekeeping trip to campus – my schedule next semester looks crazy!  I register on Thursday so please keep your fingers crossed for me – I baked up a plate of green bean fries.

Baked green beans are where it’s at!

You’ll never believe me if you don’t try for yourself, but they’re better than french fries.

I also had a yogurt bowl.

The base was Target brand Archer Farms Fat Free Honey Almond Yogurt.

The Thick and Creamy line is just like Greek, but I wish I’d tasted before I went ahead and bought two, fake-sugar taste city.

Thankfully my toppings made up for it.

A sliced banana, a sprinkle of cinnamon, and some honey roasted peanuts.

Honey roasted peanuts are basically addictive.

I had several handfuls straight from the bag.

Those handfuls didn’t stop my ever-growing hunger though.  Usually we don’t eat dinner before 8pm, but tonight I was ready at 5!  We started with salads –

Studies show that eating a salad before dinner can help you to eat less overall.

This salad was dressed delectably, in a mix of the last of the Stubbs BBQ sauce shaken with a splash of buttermilk.

Other toppings – on a baby arugula base – included dried cranberries and buttermilk blue cheese crumbles.

I think a bbq sauce salad will have to be a repeat in this week’s meal plan.

The main meal was a pretty fantastic idea as well.

Making pressed sandwiches on our George Foreman grill has been our “thing” this year, and this one included roasted asparagus!

Also 1000 island dressing, 99% lean sliced turkey, and 2oz of 50% reduced extra-sharp cheddar.

On cranberry poppy seed bread from a loaf my grandma bought us at The Bakehouse last week.

It was a pretty fantastic sandwich.

But it still didn’t quite squelch my hunger.  Enter 1/2 an Arnold’s Sandwich Thin, topped with pb, marshmallow topping, and chocolate chips for dessert.

Squelched!

And, um, I should probably be sleeping instead of blogging, so – see ya!

What is your favorite type of peanut?  (honey roasted, candied, red skin…)