Eggstra Special

This is an extra-special post – it’s the first one I’ve managed to get up all week!

I had a giant presentation to give on Tuesday, an important quiz on Wednesday, and on Monday the dog had another series of 2 am seizures.  Yay.  <– sarcasm

Since the start of this rotation all of my classmates have reported getting to bed by/before 10pm but I’ve stubbornly, stupidly stayed up until at least 12.  I’d been doing ok, but my weeks of lost sleep and this week’s trifecta of late nights hit me hard on Wednesday.  I wandered around in a daze all day yesterday and then hurried home and got into bed at the record-breaking hour of: 7pm!  I got up for an hour or so around 9pm, but went back to bed for an amazing 10 hours total!!!

I felt much better today.  So of course I’m staying up late.  What can I say, I’m an idiot.

After that long introduction, let’s do this quickly…  Coffee at the hospital.

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Dark roast with french vanilla creamer.  The sweetened creamer is not a habit I want to get into, but while I’m somewhere without milk it is fun.

I had cafeteria pizza for lunch, but I didn’t think about taking a picture until after my plate was bare.  Whoops.

Plus candy.

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And when I got home I had this bowl of goodness.

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A serving of Liz Lemon Froyo, a Dannon Oikos Toasted Coconut Vanilla Greek Yogurt, sliced mango, and fresh blackberries.

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It was yumtastic.

For this evening’s fun, we dyed Easter eggs.

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Except that it wasn’t fun at all.

Because my “hard-boiled” eggs were raw.  And we were all hungry.

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But they were pretty, and Adam salvaged a few by breaking the partially cooked eggs into a skillet and making us dinner.

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We had fried eggs,

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with white toast with Earth Balance.

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And big salads – baby spinach, pink salt, cucumber, cherry tomatoes, feta cheese, and homemade maple vinaigrette (1 tsp sweet hot mustard, 2 Tbsp maple syrup, 2 Tbsp rice vinegar; shaken and split into two portions).

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With quinoa dark chocolate for dessert.

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Goodnight, Webster!

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I Forgot A Title Again!

It is problematically late, but tomorrow’s exhaustion will definitely be worth it.  I spent the first half of the day cuddling in bed with husband.  Literally, the first half.  It was fabulous.  Then we went to lunch and ran a few errands, and I spent the remainder of my day working on a giant project for my internship.  I am 100% finished with it, wahoo!

Brunch from Pano’s.

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Chicken slavaki wrap,

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with french fries.

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I ate half of each.  I’d been craving french fries like crazy but the sandwich wasn’t as exciting.  Not bad, but I’m just not that into chicken; the feta made it.

Iced coffee with Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk and sugar.

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The coffee was salted caramel flavored from Wegmans and it was yummy.  I have a little bit of my cup left and I’m looking forward to it for breakfast.

A giant bowl of Lays’ Chicken and Waffle Chips.

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This finalist flavor was pretty good; the flavor was definitely “chicken.”  Embarrassing sidenote – I was talking with Adam about the dog and I heard “I usually just shake my bag of chips at him,” come out of my mouth.  The juxtaposition of usually with my bag of chips may have been my come-to-Jesus moment about how fat I’m getting.

At least nibbling does help me focus on work; I am 80% more productive with food next to my laptop.  Final snack plate.

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Honeycrisp apple,

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with ~1/2 serving of Alter Ego Quinoa Dark Chocolate.

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The chocolate was fun.  I’m excited to have Adam try some because he adores quinoa.

Dinner was a bit of a failure.  I sautéed frozen carrots and Wegman’s Japanese Stir Fry mix with a packet of Naysoya Shirataki Fettuccine in canola oil, then tossed in a serving of my peanut sauce and let it get nice and crispy.

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Sauce was great.  Veggies were great.  “Noodles” were slimy and terrible.  I ate ~half then gave a bite to Adam who promptly spit his chewed-up mouthful back in my bowl.

It was bedtime two hours ago is time for bed!

Coconut Chocolate Lavender

Howdy!  I have not been following my sleep schedule – – at all – – but I can say that today was quite productive.  Every item on my list is now to-done!

The dog has been getting in and out of bed all night long recently and between that and my usually fitful sleep, mornings have felt very difficult this week.  I barely had time to make it to work today so I had to take breakfast with me on the walk.  This Wegman’s Bean and Cheese Burrito was good but not great.

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Something about the flavor and texture made me long for a beverage, and I ended up exploding pinto beans all down the front of my winter coat.

I ate a Honeycrisp apple mid-morning.

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Then I spent the rest of my day holed up in the basement like a retail hermit.  We got in tons of tons of shipments on Monday and I opened and priced 99% of them today.

I never did have time for lunch at work (I kept my packed food in the fridge for an easy lunch tomorrow!) and I ended up doing double dinners.  First was Wegman’s hot bar on a mini-date with the husband.

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Wok-seared veggies,

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and chicken dumplings and chicken salad.

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Adam and I are obsessed with the dumplings’ dipping sauce and the combination of the sauce stirred into my chicken salad was the bomb.com.  <– legit, it tasted so good that was the first expression that popped into my head!

I also ate a big bag of Easter candies from the bulk bins and gave myself a stomach-ache.

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A little pain was worth it, the sugar rush totally helped me through the remainder of my internship journaling.  Minus breaks for making food and eating food, I chugged away for the remainder of the evening.

Our home dinner was vegetable fried rice.

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In the wok (for 2) –

  • 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil
  • ~1 heaping cup peas
  • ~1 heaping cup roasted broccoli
  • ~1.5 cups leftover brown rice
  • 1 Tbsp tamari
  • 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
  • 1.5 Tbsp fish sauce
  • 1 Tbsp Sriracha
  • 3 large eggs

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The dish had the potential to be great, but it was way too salty.  It’s been awhile since I’ve used fish sauce and I forgot what a sodium-punch it packs.  I ate a little less than 2/3 of my plate.

Dessert was a giant, delicious cookie.

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Coconut Chocolate Lavender Cookies = this recipe for single serve cookies plus 1 tsp minced culinary lavender and chopped Sweetriot 70% dark kickin’ coconut chocolate subbed in for chocolate chips.

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We were both big fans of the big cookies and big taste.

The winner of my Hey Shuga! giveaway is:

contest winner

(#1) Jenny, shoot me an e-mail with your mailing address.

The Sunday Scurry

I’m in a quandary: I want to blog because yesterday I started my “30 days of blogging” challenge again, but I want to get off the computer so I can hang out with my boys.  I didn’t say it was a large quandary.  I’ll just keep this quick.

Leftover pineapple crisp (from my Slow Cooker Desserts cookbook).

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Ritz crackers with white bean truffle dip.

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A lunchtime snack plate.

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Honeycrisp.

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Crunchy peanut butter.

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1 serving of Sweetriot 70% Dark Chocolate with Kickin’ Coconut*.

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Co-op hot bar after work.  Fried seitan, cucumber salad, and peanut noodles.

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Homemade Thai curry for dinner.

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Green curry and light coconut milk with a bit of tamari and rice vinegar.  Nasoya Black Soybean Tofu Plus** fried in coconut oil.  Tons of broccoli and a can of straw mushrooms.  Cashews.  Tasty Bite Thai Lime Rice.

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My boys.

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*the chocolate was out of this world; it had all the healthiness of dark but the creaminess of milk chocolate

**Adam and I both want to buy this tofu again; we didn’t press it but it still stayed firm and got nice and crunchy, plus it had a good, different flavor

Don’t forget to enter my cookbook giveaway.

And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

My mom texted to check on me after I didn’t post last night, but I promise I wasn’t snowed in/buried alive/on a bender – I’ve just been busy!  Monday wasn’t quite as crazy as Sunday, but I am getting this post up early before night class so I have some tiny chance of painting my nails this evening.  If I miss another holiday colors polish opportunity I will be so sad.

Sunday I ate this Tandoor Chef Vegetable Pad Thai for breakfast.

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Not traditional “morning food,” but one of the best frozen entrées ever.  It is a little calorie-dense at 490kcal a package, but the texture and flavor makes it taste like a splurge and not a sad frozen dinner.

I tried to take a cup of my latest impulse purchase to work with me, but ended up passing Adam my glass after one sip.

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I love Silk’s almond milks but I think I am just not a soy milk girl; this had such a strong aftertaste to me.  Thankfully the husband enjoys it so our carton won’t go to waste.

Adam and Webster picked me up from work, and we got this box from the co-op hot bar on the way home.

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Vegan “cheesy” pasta and 3 stuffed grape leaves, shared 70-30 my favor.

We also split this Opal apple.

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It is fun to try new varieties, but we probably won’t get this one again for the increased price versus “regular” apples.

I was tired from work, and really didn’t want to go to the gym, so I bribed myself with this Justin’s Chocolate Almond Butter packet.

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That stuff is just chocolate frosting, I swear!

At the gym, I finished my first week of CT10k workouts.  4 minutes walking/1 minute running, x 8.  Except I shouldn’t listen to Fiona Apple while I run because I’m obsessed; I ended up running for 10 minutes straight in the middle of my workout.

Dinner was all over the place, but the components were all good.  A handful of baby carrots.

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Pizza crusts stolen from the husband.

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A bit of Chocolove Currants and Almonds in Dark Chocolate.

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Who knew I loved currants?  They definitely helped break up the intensity of the bar.

Finally, we made tasty smoothies.

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Thai young coconut, frozen banana, frozen blueberries, and a bit of brown sugar.

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Adam has recently decided that he is obsessed with Thai young coconuts, so expect to see more of these.  Especially since our coconut was so exciting – it was pink!

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Apparently it’s a common variation relating to the varied levels of phenol found in the coconuts.

Today I grabbed a Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar for breakfast.

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I attended a workshop on TPN in the morning so I got to eat in the hospital rather than my car, which was nice.

Lunch was another tasty black-eyed pea salad.

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Black eyed peas with bread and butter corn, green pepper, smoked almonds, and green Tabasco.  I made a big batch so my lunch for the next two days is already packed.

With a serving of the dark chocolate for dessert.

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And when I got home I ate a pear.

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I took care of a few things for school when I got home from the hospital, and sudddenly I was starving.

Dinner was pretty lame, but I’m in a hurry trying to get to school so I can finish some reading before class.

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And lame doesn’t mean it didn’t taste good!

A box of Health is Wealth Asian Spring Rolls,

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with a dipping sauce of chunky peanut butter and Smart Balance Light.

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Mmmmmmn!

P.S. – You can still win!  Comment on this post before midnight for a chance to win a copy of the “Petite Treats” cookbook.

Last Friday Night

I spent Friday night getting a little drunk.  Mind you, not so drunk that I would actually want to listen to Katy Perry’s “Last Friday Night.”  We did watch some bad stand up comedy on Netflix though.  <– Tim Minchin, not as funny as this joke would lead you to believe.  (It’s so dirty, don’t click, Nana!)

Yesterday, Bitchtastic

Friday morning started with a Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar on the way to the hospital.

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I had plans for a morning gym session but when I saw the weather report I decided to sleep in instead.  We got really lucky here, the snow was annoying but not anything dangerous.

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I had a nice day at the hospital in spite of the weather.  I got to chart on several interesting patients and had a little more practice with doing pediatric TPN orders.  I love the nutrition support aspect of dietetics but children are really different from what I’ve done with adults.

Lunch was a simple salad.

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Chopped green pepper and cucumber with evoo, Sriracha, and some salty peanuts.

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What a winning combination!

Plus a GoGo Squeez Cinnamon Applesauce packet.

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Great on the go, but not as amazing as the pile of fruit I had when I got home.

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Underneath my mounds of blue and blackberries was Naked Vanilla Oat Milk, a little honey, and 1/4 cup each All Bran Bran Buds and Nature’s Path Coconut Chia Granola.

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So flipping good.  And it was a good thing I got in a healthy snack because my responsible food choices took a downhill turn during the rest of the evening.

I blame the Bitch Bubbly.

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A girlfriend came over and she, Adam, and I drank the bottle in mimosas.

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The sparkling wine was pretty bad, but our next round was fantastic –

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Sips Lavender Lemondrop Sparkling Cocktails!  This was so fun, and quite delicious.  I described it to my coworker today as “Kate Spade’s Four Loco.”  I would definitely buy them again.

But maybe I’d eat dinner first next time.  My evening meal ended up being… A slice of bread with Smart Balance Light,

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and a huge bowl of popcorn with melted Earth Balance.

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Major thanks to the husband for making me two bowls of popcorn; I spilled that first one within a matter of minutes!

Fashion Friday

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Today, Tofutastic

Saturday’s meals were a little healthier.  Still very tasty though.

For breakfast, Adam and I split a great pb & j.

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With a pear on the side.

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I worked today, but only a half shift, so I had time to get lunch from Wegman’s hot bar.  Some tofu and veggies in mushroom dashi with two pieces of inari.

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I did lots of Googling, and as far as I could tell mushroom dashi is just mushroom stock, so I’m still not sure what that yummy sauce was.

We made tofu for dinner too.

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A bed of cabbage —a bag of “Asian Slaw” mix cooked with a bit of Earth Balance with caramelized onions tossed in towards the end— topped with walnuts —cooked in a skillet with salt and sugar— and tofu —super firm tofu cooked in the skillet we used for the onions, finished with a sauce of tamari, rice vinegar, sesame oil, Sriracha, honey, and orange juice.

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I was glad I added the nuts at the last-minute to help break up the texture.  The flavors were spot on though.

I had Goody Good Stuff Tropical Fruit for dessert.

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Adorable, and much firmer than the other varieties.

Was your area hit with this weekend’s crazy weather?

Cookie Sunday

Cookie Sunday, could that be a thing now please?  I had two today.  But everything else was healthy.  Now that we are trying to not be fat-fat-fatties we gotta keep things balanced.

Breakfast bowl.

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The final serving of KIND maple granola (booo!  We need more asap!) with chopped peach and plum and Lifeway coconut chia kefir.

Tortellini salad from the co-op.

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I split a cookie with Adam at the grocery store.

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Yes, we were back at the store, I’m unable to do my shopping in any less than twenty trips a week.

Dinner was great.

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Buffalo chicken nuggets (I have a recipe for you below) with blue cheese for dipping,

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sautéed mushrooms,

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and roasted broccoli.

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I made us cookies for dessert.

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no. 2 pencil’s single serve cookies (recipe actual makes 2 cookies) are genius, but I crunched the numbers and they have 360 calories each – not an everyday treat.  But they were perfect for Cookie Sunday.  <– is it a thing yet?

Buffalo Chicken Nuggets, serves 4

  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
  • 1 cup buffalo wing sauce
  • 1 cup cornmeal
  • 1/4 cup cornstarch
  • 2-3 Tbsp oil
  1. Put chicken pieces into a Tupperware and cover with buffalo sauce.  Marinate at least 4 hours.
  2. Combine cornmeal and cornstarch in a large ziplock baggie.  Add marinated chicken, seal bag, and shake until chicken is evenly coated.
  3. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large pan over medium heat, add remaining oil to the pan as needed.
  4. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, place chicken in pan, cover, and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked through.
  5. Transfer cooked chicken to a plate covered with paper towels to rest before serving.

My Pictures Went “Poof!”

I’m over the hump!  Three days in a row of full-time interning, cooking meals, and generally being an adult.  And the thought of adding in workouts next week only slightly makes me want to order a pizza and eat it in bed.

[[[Updated to add – I typed my introduction as I was editing today’s photos.  Only when I moved forward to write the next paragraph did I realize that I somehow deleted all of my dinner photos.  {frick! frick! frick!} It is a good thing that I started this post in a chipper mood.]]]

Today was delicious!  Breakfast had two tasty components.

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A big glass of Lifeway Lowfat Coconut Chia Kefir.

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Yumtastic, this variety is the best kefir I’ve ever had!  Sometimes kefir has a bit of a sour aftertaste to it but this flavor had none of that.  The coconut flavor was pretty subtle so I think this would appeal to you even if you’re not loco for coco(nut).

With a big bowl of (microwaved frozen) peaches topped with 1 tsp brown sugar, 1/3 cup KIND Maple Walnut Clusters with Chia & Quinoa, and a splash of skim milk.

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Yesterday’s gross protein smoothie may not have tasted like peach cobbler, but this sure did.

It was a good day at the hospital.  I’m still mostly observing but I got to discuss some pretty interesting patients.  My cases today included eating disorders, ketogenic diets for seizure disorders, and failure to thrive.  So far this experience has really cemented my desire to go into clinical practice when I graduate.

I did get up early to journal, and then I worked through lunch, but I’ve finally taken a chunk out of that project.  There is  still a lot to do tomorrow but tonight I managed to just have down time.  And I did get to eat lunch while I worked.  A big Pink Lady.

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Some Skinny Cow peanut butter chocolates.

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And I packed us both tuna salad sandwiches.

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We split a can of tuna with Miracle Whip, pickle relish, and tons of red onion.

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And then I had to chew gum to deal with my horrendous tuna/onion breath.

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Worth it.

Afternoon snacks included 3 oz of trail mix eaten in the car.

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And a strawberry milk tea with popping and tapioca boba from Gin Gin.

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I’ve been raving about the double bubbles at Gin Gin for months and today I finally got to take a similarly obsessed friend to experience the wonder.  I’ll have you all know that she too dug through her ice to snag all the boba!

As you know, I don’t have any pictures of dinner.  {grrrrrr}  Thankfully the meal didn’t photograph all that beautifully anyway.  We sautéed linguine, evoo, a bag of frozen veggies (green beans, broccoli, onions, mushroom, and red pepper), 2 eggs, and peanut sauce until crispy and delicious.  We each had a large bowl and loved every bite.

My new fun thing is to be starving an hour after dinner each day.  I’m not going to fight it, but I am trying to stick to mostly healthy(ish) snacks to deal with my hunger.  Today’s 4th meal was a yogurt bowl.

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Fage 2% Plain Greek yogurt topped honey and a half serving of granola.  A little more sugary than I’m hoping for every day, but the bowl was luscious and it did fill me up.

Are you a kefir fan?