Tag Archives: smoothie

Use Your Noggin

by

Hello, hello!  The days I’m excited to blog are always the same days I’m utterly exhausted.  Go figure.  Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors but also a 9+ hour day at work.  Instead of posting last night I had a total tantrum and passed out fully dressed… so here is a 2-day recap.

Remember when I said “Saturday was a symphony of holiday flavors”?  You know, like five seconds ago.  Well, my day went eggnog –> candy cane –> gingerbread; bam!

Nog based overnight oats for breakfast.

DSC03979

I put 1/4 cup oats, 1/2 cup Silk Soy Nog, and 1 Tbsp chia seeds in the fridge overnight, then Saturday morning I added 1 sliced banana and a big dash of Christmas sprinkles.

DSC03982

So festive and delicious.  Also, holy frick, I love chia seeds so much.

My candy cane came in the form of a Peppermint Stick Clif Bar during work.

DSC03975

This is Clif’s best seasonal flavor by far.  The bar has the perfect amount of peppermint.

Gingerbread was a cupcake surprise from the husband.

DSC03987

He had an appointment near Fairy Cakes in the afternoon and he brought me home a gingerbread stout cupcake with cream cheese icing.

DSC03991

It was ridiculous good, maybe the best cupcake I’ve ever had!  The cake had a great ratio of spice to sweet and was so fluffy and moist.  I shared one big bite with Adam but downed the rest with gusto.

The rest of the day’s eats were out of season, but still good.  From fall I borrowed an apple and a Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale.

DSC03996

DSC04004

I split the beer with Adam and ate the apple on my own.

I guess nachos are actually appropriate for any season, right?

DSC04002

Adam and I shared a tray, straight from the oven.  We topped scoop-style tortilla chips with roasted brocoli and green pepper, Newman’s Own Pineapple Salsa, and Cabot Reserve Aged Cheddar.

DSC03998

We loved them.  He was a little iffy on roasted brocoli as a nacho topping but it was delicious.  And I was worried about that type of cheese versus a regular cheddar, but that ended up being perfect too.  And the pineapple salsa is hands-down the best jarred salsa I’ve ever had.

Blah, blah, blah, and then I started having a fit and had to go to bed.  I didn’t get anywhere near enough sleep during the weeks Adam was gone and I’m still really freaking tired.

Sunday was a super hungry day and I ate a ton of crap.  A brunch of sorts, was low-fat coffee yogurt with honey roasted peanuts and honey,

DSC04008

a few pieces of toffee candy from home,

DSC04011

and several handfuls (about 3 servings or 250 calories worth) of dried turkey.

DSC04013

During work I drank a Starbucks Vanilla Doubleshot.

DSC03977

Working with crowds of Christmas shoppers is exhausting but also really rewarding.  Five different people today thanked me effusively for my help and that was a really good feeling.  Actually, one super hot guy told another customer that I was fantastic and I about died!

Adam picked me up after work for a fun treat.

DSC04025

Bubble tea from Gin Gin!  Best bubble tea I’ve ever had, and I’ve tried a lot.  I got a medium red bean milk tea with regular and popping boba (the purple one is Adam’s taro).

DSC04021

We both swooned over how good they were and finished our drinks in the car long before we made it home.  And we called my mom on speaker on the drive and drove her crazy scraping through our ice for errant tapiocas!

Dinner was pizza.

DSC04027

And we shared a beer.

DSC04029

We were gearing up for a long night of baking.

DSC04036

I’m giving my co-workers all pies for Christmas and we are not even close to finished still.  Sorry, husband!

We made smoothies mid-baking for strength.  Frozen strawberries and blackberries blended with So Delicious Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk.

DSC04032

And I’ve done a little nibbling while we baked.

I have a holiday breakfast with work tomorrow and then I’m spending Christmas Eve on the couch with Adam.  I have two days off in a row for the holiday and I am so excited to spend them with my boys!

DSC04031

Did you give any handmade gifts this season?

{Part Of} Tuesday {In Advance}

by

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.

Final Day In Philly

by

My final day in Philly was delicious.  I was on my own while Adam took an 8 hour practical exam so I walked, ate, and read.  It was perfection.  I had to park the car in an all-day spot to save money but since I love to walk I was able to explore a large area on foot.

The Reading Terminal Market didn’t have as many vegan options as I’d hoped.  In fact, we learned on Sunday that the vegan cheese steak place was temporarily closed which was a good thing because it gave me a day to deal with my massive disappointment.  There were plenty of fun things to look at though.

Since I had trouble finding breakfast I went straight to dessert (and stayed there pretty much all day!).

Bubble tea for breakfast?  Why not.

This was a red mango tea with strawberry popping bubbles.  It was the best tea of the trip, popping boba is just so flipping good.

I spent some time at Au Bon Pain with the latest Kathy Reichs book and sipped a coffee with soy milk.

By the by, Reichs’ latest book was great.

Then froyo happened.

I have no regrets.  Vegan Challenge or not, Emily Wax does not walk past self-serve eggnog frozen yogurt.  I wanted to feel guilty, but this ended up being the best bowl I’ve ever had.  Eggnog yogurt and cream cheese yogurt (even better than the eggnog!!) topped with salty peanuts, shredded coconut, caramel, and butterscotch chips.

Ridiculous.  And now I have to spend the rest of my days searching for more cream cheese froyo.

The rest of lunch needed to be a little healthier – enter a green smoothie.  Almond milk, banana, kale, and cacao.

I did a “design your own elixir” and was very pleased with my combination.

We needed to get on the road quickly after Adam’s exam so we headed to Whole Foods again for dinner.

Bbq seitan, collard greens, curry “chicken” salad, sesame seaweed, garlic pasta, and wheat berry salad.

Plus a vegan cookies and cream cupcake was split for dessert.

We did 50/50 but I got 100% of the frosting and Adam got 100% of the cake.

I also grabbed a coco libre coconut water + chia raspberry lemonade for the car.

It was awesome.  I love chia drinks and this was the best I’ve ever had.

The rest of my car snacks (for the 8+ hour trip!) were decidedly less healthy.

I wasn’t even hungry by the end but I had to keep eating to stay awake and I woke up the next morning with a stomach ache.  No matter, nothing was going to take away from how wonderful our Philly visit was.

All in all, we had a fantastic trip!

Hello, Hello, Goodbye, Goodbye

by

Hello, reader.  I was AWOL yesterday because I had the beginnings of a migraine and put myself to bed at 4 in the afternoon!  Not fun.

Also, Hello to Vegan Month!  I desperately needed to go to store, so yesterday I had to make do with the vegan things around the house.  And of course I was insanely hungry all afternoon.  <– bad timing

Breakfast was a super tasty pumpkin smoothie.

1 cup Blue Diamond Unsweetened Vanilla Almond/Coconut Milk Blend, ~1 cup canned pumpkin, 1 frozen banana, 2 Tbsp maple syrup, and a big shake of pumpkin pie spice.

I did lots of snacking when I got home from clinic.  2 oz of roasted pumpkin seeds,

a giant Honeycrisp with tons of melted Biscoff,

a (FNCE sample) bag of Food Should Taste Good Olive Chips,

and a big bowl of cereal.

Then I put myself to bed with a migraine.  I had a paper due this morning so unfortunately Adam had to wake me up at 10pm so I could write it.

I ate a veggie sub from Subway – lettuce, tomato, green pepper, cucumber, pickles, red onion, and bbq sauce – while I worked.

Breakfast was the last of the pumpkin seeds,

and a green pear.

I got lunch at Wegman’s during my massive shopping trip.

Veggie goyza,

and inari.

I ate half of both then brought the rest home to Adam.  We both loved the inari!

And I ate this candy bar – like a vegan Snickers – while I blogged.

Goodbye to my belly button ring.

I’ve had it in since I was 15 (12 years!!!!!!!!!) and am so sad that it is gone now.  But I’m having a minor surgery this afternoon and they told me I had to take it out.

Also, Goodbye to you guys for a bit.  The minor surgery is on my hand and I sure I will not be up for typing this evening.  I’ll “see” you later this weekend.  Wish me luck!

Three Fruits And A Lie

by

I love long weekends; I’ve had to remind myself all day that it’s actually Wednesday!  I work five days next week so I’ll take any bit of easiness that I can get.

I had a fun and fancy(-free!) smoothie for breakfast.  Taro milk powder, frozen blueberries, and Blue Diamond Almond/Coconut Milk Blend.

Sitting on top of ……can you see them?

Rainbow boba!  I made extra on Monday and these were a fun weekday morning treat.  Unfortunately the boba were too big for my straw and I ended up throwing out half my smoothie once I got to class, but it was a fun idea in theory!

Class went well.  I got the good news that the assignment I completed a week early was done correctly (booyah!).  My M/W nutrition class is on MNT, aka medical nutrition therapy, and right now we are learning all about oncology.  Our class is covering nutrition for cancer patients as well as cancer-preventative diets, and it is all fascinating.  FYI – Low fruit and vegetable intake is associated with twice the risk of cancer for all sites except the prostate.  Brocoli specifically, has a dose dependant relationship with your cancer risk.

I hung around campus a bit and had lunch with Holly.  It was so great to catch up!  (H, we need to get a picture next time!)  It’s fun to relive my first year in the program.  I packed an apple,

and a leftover Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burger on a Sandwich Thin with 1000 island dressing.

I think I actually like the burgers even better cold!

I did some printing and ran an errand on Elmwood and now I’m settled at home.  We are eating dinner early tonight (I’m submitting my post to something so I’m crossing my fingers for semi-decent pictures) but I did have a few snacks.  A slice of 2% provolone cheese,

and a spoon of Biscoff Spread.

That was the last of the jar; so sad!

My agenda for the rest of the day includes my dinner post, a hot yoga class, a 4-minute workout, and hopefully an hour or two of studying.

FOR FUNSIES – Meghann’s lunch post ended with some super fun “Three Truths and a Lie.”  I adore that game so I’m going to post my 4 “facts” here as well:

  1. I learned how to drive on the left side of the road in an American-style car.
  2. I’ve both skydived and flown a plane.
  3. I got my first tattoo when I was 17.
  4. I swam with sharks for my 20th birthday.

Can you guess which one’s my lie??  Post yours in the comments and let’s all try to guess!

Hot Dog!

by

2nd day of the semester was a success!  I promise I’ll stop counting them soon though.

I started my day with a smoothie for the walk to school.  1 scoop bourbon vanilla protein powder, ~1.5 cups Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, medium frozen banana, and ~2 cups frozen blueberries.

My smoothie matched my shoes!  Actually, it matched my whole outfit.

I found this great loose-fitting racer-back tank in a dressy fabric at the Gap outlet this summer and bought it in all three available colors.

I got to wear jeans because we were on campus for clinical orientation today.  Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of the semester we’ll spend 8 hours a day in clinic, aka practicing our skills out in the field for our internship hours.  Today we met with instructors, filled out paperwork, and spent several hours practicing calculations.  <– I remember more than I thought, yay!

I packed this vegan tortilla soup for lunch.

Supplemented with a cheese stick I got at an info table in the quad.

Sadly it took my friends and I for-ev-er to find a table and by the time I finished waking back and forth from two buildings with my hot soup it didn’t really appeal to me any more.  I ate half, plus all of the cheese stick and a Diet Pepsi from the vending machine.  Note – this set the trend apparently because every meal thereafter was also unsuccessful!

After class was over 2 friends and I set out on a mini journey.  We stopped at Anna’s house along the way for sunscreen, then walked a little over a mile to Delish to try out the East Park Pops.

The pops are made from scratch from local ingredients.  My mango pineapple contained only mango, pineapple, and fresh lime juice, no added sugar.

It all sounded really promising but unfortunately we just weren’t fans.  The pops were way too hard and icy and we all threw ours out a quarter or so through.  Janessa and I had been planning this excursion since summer so we were sad it didn’t pan out, but Delish’s new Black Rock location is adorable and we do want to go back for coffees soon.

We ended up having (tall, skim) iced caramel macchiatos from Wegman’s as our treat instead.

Buffalo students – Wegman’s is giving out their awesome student coupon books this week and our coffees were a dollar off.

We spotted jalapeño poppers on the hot bar and two of us went for one of those as well.  (Don’t worry, my friend is going to reuse that plastic container so we didn’t totally waste it.)

This was another idea that was better in theory, the poppers had cheese instead of cream cheese and I threw half of mine out.

Dinner was hot dogs –

Not that kind of hot dog!  Though, Webster, if you don’t stop eating my stuff I might consider it.  Adam and I regularly joke about taking a bite out of his meaty thighs.

This kind of hot dog –

I put two Applegate Farms turkey hot dogs on a bun, piled high with sauerkraut, relish, and ketchup.  The dog was devoured with gusto but its accompaniments were pretty “meh.”

Roasted asparagus that was undercooked and tasted terrible.

I choked down half.

Smokey Maple Baked Beans that were good but not what I was craving right before I went to a yoga class.

I ate 3/4 of those.

Thankfully I had a great workout to make up for my lackluster meal: a 90 minute hot yoga class.  I was worried about making it through a 90-minute class (I haven’t exactly been making the most of my unlimited yoga pass!), but it ended up being great.  The 90-minute session is almost easier than the 60-minute one because you do the same poses with more repetition so you have time to practice them.

All that stands between me and bed is a shower and 15 minutes of reviewing DNA with the husband.  I turned in too late last night and felt it in the morning so I’m trying to hurry.

What was the last food that you were excited for and then disappointed by?

A Midsummer Night’s Date

by

So I did, in fact, sleep through yoga.  I suck.  I have two weeks until school and then I’ve got class at 8 am five days a week so I need to seriously work on my getting out of bed skills!

Breakfast was a big pink smoothie.

Into the blender went 1.5 cups Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, a heaping 1/2 cup frozen strawberries, a heaping Tbsp pb, and 2 scoops of Tera’s Whey Organic Bourbon Vanilla Whey Protein Powder.

My smoothie tasted like a vanilla pb & j!

I also had 2 oz of the wasabi snack mix my parents brought.

I spent what was left of my late morning cooking dinner.  This quart of heirloom tomatoes played a big role.

I also finally used this Kelapo Coconut Oil sample that I got last summer at HLS.

And tri-color quinoa from last summer’s trip to Trader Joes.

The dog is afraid of the oven and this meal kept the oven and stove-top on for a solid hour and scared him deep into the back of the closet.

What a scaredy cat dog!

The end result was worth it.

Here are the general specs if you want to recreate it, for 4 servings –

  • 1 cup quinoa, cooked according to package instructions
  • 1 quart tomatoes, roasted
  • 2 large zucchini, sliced and roasted
  • 2 pints sliced mushrooms, sautéed in 2 Tbsp butter
  • 14 oz extra-firm tofu, drained and pressed and sautéed in 1 Tbsp coconut oil with seasoning of choice
  • sauce of choice (I topped my bowl with 2 Tbsp pesto)

The photos are actually of Adam’s bowl since my dinner looked like this –

I ate to-go because the husband picked me up from work and we walked straight to Shakespeare in Delaware Park.

We only caught half of “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” (I got out of work late and Adam has a strict bedtime) but we enjoyed what we saw.

We shared these cola gummis for dessert while we watched.

Buffalonians, have you seen any Shakespeare in the park this summer?

Chicken Chicken

by

Please note – if you were my dog you would read that title as “chick-ON chick-ON,” since that is what we say whenever we feed him chicken.

Not a lot has gone down in the two days since I left Ohio, but there were a few highlights.  I did get to eat lots of chips and several large diet sodas.

Our drive back to Buffalo and my parents’ flight home went off without a hitch.

My dad drove the whole way home for me and I finished knitting my scarf!!!

The fine people at Honest Tea noticed that I can’t help but buy a beverage whenever I walk past the co-op and sent me a few new flavors to try.

I got a new retainer, hopefully my last new retainer ever.  *fingers crossed*

We had to take the dog to the vet to get a cyst on his tail lanced and it was the grossest/coolest thing ever.

Poor baby!

The vet trip actually happened today and it’s a good thing that went well because it was pretty much all I accomplished today.  I didn’t get much sleep at my grandma’s house (I was on the couch and there was cable) and I stayed up too late again last night and crashed hard today.

I did manage a good, late breakfast.

Oh, Green Monster, I love you so.  My original recipe is still my favorite.  1 frozen banana + 1 cup frozen spinach + 1 cup oj.

So green good.

I also ate half (aka 1 serving) of this Honey Noosa Yoghurt.

I got lunch from the hot bar while I was grocery shopping (hey, that’s an accomplishment!).

Two types of chicken,

plus roasted veggies.

I tried to get a skinny caramel macchiato as an afternoon snack but I ended up throwing it out after a few sips.

This drink was one of the most disgusting things I’ve ever tasted.  It was super sour, but like there was something wrong with the coffee, not the milk.  And I used part of a birthday gift card so it was extra sad.

Dinner was more chick-ON.

Baby carrots,

honey mustard for dipping (Ken’s Lite and it was very good, if you’re wondering),

and two servings of Wegman’s chicken nuggets.

I’ve been wanting nuggets for days and these hit the spot.

Tomorrow’s plans include not sleeping through yoga, medicating the dog, a shift at work, and a fun nighttime event with the husband.

What is your favorite sauce for nugget dipping?