Choco-Cherry Love

by Emily

I’ve been skipping breakfast on most of the early mornings of my internship without incident, but today I ran into issues. After a week of eating breakfast – giant, glorious, egg studded breakfasts – my body rebelled at today’s sudden fast. I spent the first hour of my morning light-headed and nauseous, crossing my fingers that I wouldn’t pass out while reading charts. Yuck.

All that is to say, I drank a regular sugar Pepsi for breakfast (I felt better almost immediately!), after breaking out in a very embarrassing cold sweat while talking with a doctor. No photo because I was in a hurry to get back to work.

Lunch was nutritionally lame as well; I ran out of time to pack food this morning.

At least the hospital cafeteria has good pizza.

When I got home this afternoon I made myself a Choco-Cherry Smoothie.

1 heaping cup frozen sweet dark cherries // 1.5 heaping Tbsp Navita’s chocolate Protein Smoothie Mixer // 1 Tbsp U-Bet chocolate syrup // ~1 cup Silk Vanilla Unsweetened Almond Milk.

It had so much potential but sadly my smoothie had absolutely no flavor. It was basically ice water! I’m not sure where I went wrong, but I drank the whole thing any way to get in the nutrients.

I spent my afternoon working on my thesis for the history class I’m taking this semester. I am not enjoying having to write an actual paper; it’s been awhile! I am hoping to plug away over the next two weeks though and get it done a little bit early so I can get it off of my mind.

I ate baby carrots with blue cheese while I worked.

The perfect snack.

I spent the evening in night class. We talked about the Holocaust today, which felt like a throw-back to my first time in college. Did you know – when I thought about getting my Masters in English I planned on writing my thesis on Holocaust literature?

Then I hurried home to squeeze in a few episodes of “Battlestar Galactica.” I enjoyed a sliced banana with peanut butter while I wrote this post.

I’ve decided I’d rather paint my nails – a gorgeous, sparkly pink! – than eat a grown-up dinner, so that’s all she wrote.

Can you skip meals or does it make you too queasy?

25Feb2013

Day One Of Thirty? {Again}

by Emily

Complaints first – The chance for 8-hours of sleep passed before I even started this post. All of my end of internship assignments are due on Friday and I’m freaking out. I ate two snacks after dinner and I am still flipping hungry.

Complaints aside, it wasn’t a bad day. We got lots (and lots) of shipments at work so I was nice and busy.

The morning started with smoothies.

For two: 1 Thai young coconut, ~1 cup frozen blue/blackberries, 1 medium frozen banana, and 2 Tbsp Hey Shuga! <– don’t forget, you still have another ~hour to enter my giveaway!

I didn’t have a lot of time for lunch so I kept it simple. A Garuka Bar (from my yumvelope).

The sweet peanut butter coating was addictively good; I planned on snacking on it throughout a task but every time I tried to walk away I took another bite instead!

I also had a Fage 0% Greek Yogurt with Cinnamon Apple Raisins.

The flavor isn’t listed on the Fage website and I’ve only seen it at Target. The apple compote was good, but nothing can really compare to the pure decadence of the honey and strawberry flavors.

I only had an hour between work and night class so Adam and I cashed in a coupon for Subway for dinner.

6 inch turkey with lettuce, tomato, green pepper, banana pepper, red onion, and honey mustard on Italian herb and cheese bread.

I knew my sandwich wouldn’t quite fill me up and I shared this peanut butter spoon with Webster when I got home.

Then I also had a plate of baby carrots with the last of some smoked gouda spread.

And a bag of Smart Fries.

I ended up dipping my “fries” in yellow mustard. And then I had a big glass of water; methinks I’m a bit dehydrated!

11Feb2013

And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

by Emily

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.

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.

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.

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

We also split this Opal apple.

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.

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.

Pizza crusts stolen from the husband.

A bit of Chocolove Currants and Almonds in Dark Chocolate.

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

Finally, we made tasty smoothies.

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

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!

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.

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.

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.

And when I got home I ate a pear.

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.

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

A box of Health is Wealth Asian Spring Rolls,

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

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.

6Feb2013

Breakfast In A Jar And Dinner On The Lam

by Emily

Adding in exercise is making blogging very tricky this week. When you leave for the gym at 9pm, all you want to do when you get home is sleep. Especially if you have to run errands at Target on your way home from the gym. Especially if you were too busy all evening to eat dinner.

I started my day with packet of Spiru-Tein S’mores protein powder shaken with 1 cup of Naked Vanilla Oat Milk.

I was pretty amazed that the powder was vegan (minus honey which I’m not worrying about for the Vegan 20 Day Challenge). It wasn’t the best tasting thing I’ve ever had, but I was impressed with how thick it got. I shook it up in a recycled jar, making this a very easy to-go breakfast.

I’m having a good week at the hospital; it’s starting to feel like I’m hitting my stride. If there is one thing I’ve learned so far from this rotation it’s this – I knew absolutely nothing about pediatric nutrition.

Lunch was a pear.

A yummy sandwich of 5 grain tempeh on a Sandwich Thin with yellow mustard and Smart Balance Light.

And the other half of my rice milk chocolate bar.

When Adam got home this afternoon he helped me crack open this guy…

I may have had to eat over my work, but I still had a great afternoon snack.

Adam and I shared the Thai young coconut in smoothie form.

With frozen banana, peach, and blueberries too.

And fancy bread with Smart Balance Light on the side.

I’m glad I had a big snack, because journaling took so long that I never had time to make dinner.

I did make it to the gym though. 30 minutes on the elliptical at level 6 random. Certainly not the most intense workout ever, but a far cry better than what I wanted to do (sit on the couch).

And now all I want to do is go to bed!

22Jan2013

Peachy Bean

by Emily

Since I didn’t have time for breakfast yesterday, I made myself get up even earlier today. 6:40, ouch! <– yes, I know for most people that’s not actually early

Rounds start earlier today though so I need to leave the house earlier than yesterday too. Make breakfast, eat breakfast, post breakfast, leave earlier?… I’ll keep this quick!

A smoothie for breakfast.

Into the blender (for 2):

2 cups Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
~2 cups frozen peaches
3 scoops Tera’s Whey Bourbon Vanilla Organic Whey Protein

Like peach pie. Sort of. If peach pie had too much protein powder in it and tasted like chemicals.

I forced most of it down so I won’t be hungry all morning.

what i’ll be having for lunch…

Today’s lunch is going to be amazing, I’m sure of it. I’m bringing back my new favorite salad. There is healthy stuff on the bottom, I swear.

Black eyed peas + chopped green pepper + chopped Kerrygold Vintage Dubliner + smoked almonds + green Tabasco.

Clifford the Big Red Pear.

Milk and dark toffee candy. More on that in a minute.

I’ll see you after I finish my 2nd day of dietetic internship!

p.s. My word-play in the title is making me want to experiment with putting fresh peaches into barbecue baked beans.

back to the candy…

The toffees were actually part of a sample from SurprisesByMail.com. Note – I received the sample free of charge to review. All opinions are my own.

Here was the info I received from the company:

SurprisesByMail.com offers a variety of gift boxes filled with your choice of goodies, a perfect gift for anyone this Valentine’s Day, from mom to a significant other. Pick out your Valentine’s favorite treats; from sweets, to chocolates, fudge, baked goods, nuts, dried fruit, pretzels and more. Boxes can be customized even further with personal messages and images. Available in four affordable box options.

And here is what I got:

Two different boxes, one with dark chocolate nonpareils and another with a candy assortment (milk and dark chocolate covered Oreos, toffees, caramels, and some buckeyes).

Pros: the packaging was cute and fun, both candies felt high-quality and were very tasty, and the site has a good variety of options that are fairly priced.

Cons: though it is cute, the multiple layers of packaging are pretty wasteful; I wish that the service was a bit greener.

Have you ever gotten any mailer gifts? My mom got me two subscriptions for Christmas; one to Birchbox (loving it!) and other to a natural snacks company.

12Jan2013

Cashews, Coffee, And Curry

by Emily

First things first, I need to announce my Taste of Treme Giveaway winner –

Jordan, let me know how the cookbook stacks up against Abita’s! And please e-mail me with your mailing address. Congrats!

I apologize for not posting the results sooner; we have had a rough couple of days around here. Webster has been having seizures.

So far (that we know of) he had one Friday morning and another at 4:30 a.m. last night. I ran him to the vet in hysterics on Friday and she said that there could be a variety of causes but that seizures are not all that uncommon in dogs his size and that she wasn’t too worried. We are waiting for some lab results and I will be sure to keep y’all updated as we learn more.

Once he recovers he seems to be in good spirits but both episodes were pretty scary for me, especially because Adam has been out-of-town. It is a bad feeling to see someone you love out of control and not be able to help. Both times I just petted him and gave him kisses until it was over.

I had my sights set on a hot yoga class this morning but it just didn’t feel right to go, instead I stayed in bed an hour longer with the little man in my arms. I’m glad to spend time with him but I do need to get myself to a class asap. I have been to a grand total of 1 class during my unlimited two months; if I don’t get my act together over the next two weeks it will mean that I paid $75 for a single yoga session, yikes!

Once we got up, the dog and I did have a successful day. Lots and lots of cleaning was done. And I made homemade cashew milk.

How Sweet Eats’ Vanilla Cashew Milk was good, but probably not worth the time committment to ever make again. I’m glad I got to experience it once though.

I did a lot of taste testing while I made the cashew milk and then I took advantage of the dirtied blender and made a big smoothie for breakfast.

Midmorning we put on our sweaters and took a walk.

Webster is ultra-super-mega cute in his gray sweater and he got several compliments today.

Lunch was spread across some afternoon snacking. An apple.

An Almond & Apricot Kind Bar.

A Nutffles Red Velevt Truffle. (just 25 cents at 7-11)

A plate of baby carrots dipped in pineapple salsa.

And finally, I did some baking with the “pulp” from the cashew milk.

After I got out all of the liquid, I spread what I could salvage on a baking sheet and dried it in the oven at 200* for 20 minutes. Then I mixed up the cashew meal and baked it macaroon-style {vanilla extract, egg white, sugar}.

They were far better than I was expecting and I ended up having 4. I am very anxious for Adam to try them because he loves coconut macaroons and I think these were even tastier.

Basically all I’ve done over break is sit on the couch and eat junk (by the way, my pants currently don’t fit: oh crap, oh crap, oh crap!) so tonight’s dinner felt extra fancy and healthy.

I reeeeeeeeeally want to cook dinners like a grown-up this semester so I need to get back into the habit before school starts on the 21st. This meal was a good place to start.

Roasted asparagus.

White rice leftovers – from Chinese take-out I ordered on Friday 70% because I didn’t want to leave the dog to get food and 30% because I wanted someone to deliver diet soda to me in the apartment.

Green Curry Fritters from Cooking Light.

I was really impressed with this recipe; such a fun combination of flavors! I did make a few changes, all of which I suggest you follow my lead on if you make the recipe –

substituted turkey for chicken (am I the only one who greatly prefers ground turkey to chicken?!)
used an entire bunch of green onions, whites and greens
substituted nayo for canola mayo
used 2 Tbsp green curry paste
skipped the sesame oil
substituted 2 Tbsp of tamari for the soy sauce
substituted 1 heaping tsp Sriracha for the sambal oelek
substituted 1 tsp galangal paste for ground ginger
substituted coconut oil for canola oil
sized my patties to yield 10 instead of 12

Adam should be home in a couple of hours and tomorrow we are actually getting a visit from my Maryland aunt and one of my cousins! I haven’t seen that set of family in far too long and I could not be more excited.

Now the dog is curled up at my feet and I’m about to pour a cup of tea and make myself finally organize my school materials from last semester.

Everyone please give your pets a big smooch for me.

8Jan2013

Keeping Time

by Emily

Here is a highlights post for Monday and Tuesday… I think… Adam and I stayed up past 3am several days in a row and I’ve been slightly confused about time ever since. Case in point: I spent Friday rushing around to accommodate the post office’s reduced Saturday hours. Then Saturday night I took a Sunday night pill.

And I really must be losing my mind because yesterday I went to the gym. And I want to go back again tomorrow!

{highlights}

We ate a lot (a lot!) of good food the last few days, here were the really great bites –

Pizza and salad. Romaine with black beans, groats, green pepper and peanut sauce. Pizza Hut’s extra cheese for the win.

Pecan turtle tart from the co-op.

A sweet snack plate; aka 2 green dragon apples, melted pb and Biscoff for dipping, and the last of the cheese straws.

A killer chocolate banana smoothie.

A few notes on the smoothie – it was made with a Smoothie Mixer that I was sent to sample.

Nativas Naturals joined forces with William Sonoma to create a new line of organic superfood smoothie blends. From WS –

The Antioxidants Smoothie Mixer is a sweet-tangy blend of organic superfruits including goji, acai, pomegranate, camu and blueberry. These superfruits contain an abundance of antioxidants. We suggest mixing this gluten-free blend with frozen berries, mango, orange juice and honey.

The Omega-3 Smoothie Mixer is a fruity blend that combines three fiber-rich sprouted seeds and grains (chia, flax and brown rice) with cranberries. The gluten-free blend provides a plentiful supply of plant-based essential fatty acids (Omega 3, 6 and 9). Julie Morris, our Executive Chef, likes to mix it with frozen berries, yogurt, almond milk, honey and vanilla.

The rich, chocolaty Protein Smoothie Mixer features three of the most nutrient-dense superfoods in the world (hemp, cacao and maca) and a delicious low-glycemic natural sweetener from Peru (lucuma). This kosher blended powder is a nourishing source of protein and omegas, as well as antioxidants found in the feel-good cacao. Blend this gluten-free Smoothie Mixer with a banana, peanut butter, non-milk of your choice and honey.

I received an e-mail offering me a chance to try one of the blends and I chose the protein one because I know that my breakfasts could use a little more protein for staying power.

I decided to the blend in a simple smoothie first – Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, frozen bananas, Protein Smoothie Mixer, and a bit of honey. Adam and I both thought that the smoothies were great. The powder blends in easily and gives the smoothie a nice hint of chocolate. I took a few sips from the blender before I added the honey (which was mostly for Adam’s benefit) and determined that I would not normally feel the need to sweeten it. Two thumbs up! Let’s be real though, the smoothie was good, but it was nowhere near as awesome as my new cup.

❤

Do you ever get confused about what day it is? I’m almost looking forward to going back to school just so I’ll have some clue of what’s happening around me!

1Jan2013

Hello, 2013

by Emily

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a great first day. I started my year the best way possible – a long morning in bed with my husband and dog and an afternoon spent cleaning every trace of 2012 away from the apartment. He vacuumed and put away Christmas decorations and I organized and put away the Christmas presents. I also did some electronics cleaning; my cell phone, bookmarks, and google reader are sparkling. I even cleaned up my desktop.

Tomorrow I just have to organize my school stuff from last semester. I’ve got to start getting ready for the next (last!) semester; I go back to school in 20 days!

We started our day with smoothies for a late breakfast.

For two: 1.5 cups Silk Soy, 1.5 frozen bananas, 1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut, and 1 Tbsp coconut oil went into the blender.

It was yummy! I got the coconut oil idea from Jenna Marbles and I think it was a good addition.

Lunch came in snack plate form. Roasted green beans.

And a sweet plate.

Sliced honeycrisp,

smoked almonds,

and the last cherry cheesecake brownie.

The mouthfuls with almond and brownie were great. I am not going to post the brownie recipe because it is cobbled together from a few sources but I am working on something similar that should be amazing.

I also had a small coffee – with lots of skim milk and vanilla sugar – when we went to Wegmans in the afternoon.

We may have made a grocery trip, but dinner was still pieced together from random things left in the fridge. Thankfully, it ended up being delicious.

Cornmeal crusted tofu.

I marinated pieces of 3/4 of a block of extra-firm tofu in Stubbs BBQ sauce all afternoon and then tossed the pieces in cornmeal (aka raw polenta) and corn starch and sautéed them in a bit of canola oil. We loved them, the crust was perfection! I dipped mine in honey.

Roasted asparagus.

With cooking spray, salt, and a bit of lemon.

Lucky quinoa salad.

I cooked 1/2 cup of quinoa, tossed it with 1 cup of canned black-eyed peas {for New Year’s luck!}, the leftover bbq sauce from the tofu, and some chopped green pepper. It was like a quick and dirty hoppin’ john.

For dessert we opened up the chocolate cream biscuit cookies we bought at Vineeta.

One serving each and I’m excited to eat the last three tomorrow. They were quite good.

How’d you spend the first day of 2013?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: smoothie

Choco-Cherry Love

Day One Of Thirty? {Again}

And A Class To Go Before I Sleep

Breakfast In A Jar And Dinner On The Lam

Peachy Bean

what i’ll be having for lunch…

back to the candy…

Cashews, Coffee, And Curry

Keeping Time

{highlights}

Hello, 2013