Tag Archives: smoothie

Stone Soup

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Long time no blog.  I’m glad to be back, but my days away were glor-i-ous!  I spent 70% of Monday – Wednesday curled up in bed.  I ate pizza and lots of chocolate.  I watched the first season of “Flashpoint.”  And I read five (250+ page) murder-mystery novels.  Like I said, glorious.

Back-in-the-world-Thursday started with a trip to the gym.  40 minutes on the stationary bike at level 7 random.  Followed by stretching that was not enough because my right hip has been killing me all afternoon.

I ate half of this NuGo Dark Chocolate Pretzel with Sea Salt bar on the walk home.

Summer is the only time when I could drive to the gym and park, but why get in a car when I can walk?  If I’m not in a time-crunch I’d rather move my legs.  And Buffalo State’s recent landscaping makes it a lovely walk indeed.

The 2nd half of breakfast used my new favorite smoothie ingredient.

This Vanilla Chai Vega was stupid good.  I haven’t had a chai latte in forever and I feel an iced one in my immediate future.  For my smoothie I blended the Vega packet with 1 cup of Silk Vanilla Almond Milk and a large frozen banana.

It didn’t taste green and the 15 grams of protein kept me full all morning.

I hurried through errands – Lexington Co-op, Goodwill, Wegmans – so I could meet a friend for a walking date this afternoon.  I picked her up on Elmwood and we set off for the (new) Buffalo Cakery.

I brought Adam a cupcake but went with ice cream myself.  A small cup of candied apple and salted caramel.

Sadly the flavors weren’t great together and I had to throw out my cup halfway through when things got melty.  The 4 miles of walking were hot-hot-hot but also just what I needed.

I cooled down with a Tusker when I got home.

And I was glad for ac this evening because my meal was hot and spicy.  I borrowed components from the rest of the week’s dinners for a stone soup of sorts.

In a small pot, I heated up 1 tsp chipotle oil.  I sautéed ~1.5 cups chopped bok choy and 2 sliced green onions with the juice from half a lime and 1 Tbsp fish sauce.  I added ~1 cup frozen corn and 1.5 cups chicken broth then covered and boiled for 5 minutes.  Then I took of the lid and stirred in 1 large egg, juice from another lime, and a big squeeze of Sriracha.

The end result was an odd mash-up of Thai and Mexican flavors but it worked.

I should have made dinner bigger though because it ended up being a 2 dessert evening.  The last Tbsp of so of Biscoff, straight from the jar.

And 5 marshmallows and 1 Tbsp chocolate chips, microwaved until gooey.

Tasty, but I would have been better off with an extra egg in my soup.

I’m off to watch more “Flashpoint,” but hopefully not for too long; we’ve been up past 2 am every day this week and I’m hoping to break that pattern.  Night!

Soup and Sandwiches

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It’s almost 11, I haven’t showered, and our house-sitter gets here at 4am tomorrow.  Whoops?

My retainers are killing my mouth so today was pretty boring.  I hope I feel better enough in the next 24 hours that I can enjoy some salt water taffy this weekend.

I overslept and missed my cool-weather window this morning and had to workout at the gym.  Instead of being annoyed about the trip I made it into an experience.  Leisurely walk to get coffee, sip on my walk to school, then gym it.  The coffee came from 7-11.

Half French vanilla coffee (unsweetened) and half vanilla bean cappuccino (sweet).  Delicious!

My workout was good too.  I did 10 sets of 2 minutes running/3 minutes walking on the treadmill.  50 minutes and 3.9 miles.  Plus a quick session of stretching and strength moves.

Lunch was a cold slice of cheese pizza.

I got some really good news while I was at school and almost had ice cream to celebrate but something about being in a bathing suit in 24 hours made it less appealing 😉

Wonder of wonders, I got my packing done in the afternoon.

Usually I wait until the middle of the night so this felt like a huge accomplishment.

Dinner made use of this Rothschild Roasted Red Pepper & Onion Dip.

For two, I mixed the 3.75 oz jar with 4 oz of shredded sharp cheddar and a big dollop of Miracle Whip.  I spread my mock pimento cheese on 4 slices of whole grain bread and then pan-fried our sandwiches in a bit of butter.

With bowls of Imagine Light in Sodium Creamy Garden Tomato Soup.

We dipped our grilled cheeses into the soup.

Growing up in the Caribbean, this was a meal combination I’ve actually never had before!

Aching mouth or not, I knew that my day was far too light in fruits and veggies so I made us after-dinner smoothies.

Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, chocolate whey protein powder, and frozen raspberries and spinach.

It tasted about as good as it looked (i.e. not very) but it was an easy way to get in some nutrients.

I should probably get to bed!

Summer Weekend Excitement

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Tomorrow’s the last day of summer school!  It’s also the weekend, as well as the start of 8 weekends in a row of fun/important things.  Starting with this weekend –

  1. We are driving to Ohio to see our niece in a dance recital and stay in Adam’s brother’s new house.
  2. We are flying to the Outer Banks for a vacation with my in-laws.
  3. I’m going on a wine tour with a group of friends.
  4. The Italian Festival is happening.
  5. Adam is taking a really big, important exam.  (And then I celebrate my 27th birthday a few days later.)
  6. My parents are coming to visit.
  7. I’ll be in Ohio visiting my grandma with my parents.
  8. We will be celebrating the 1-year anniversary of Webster’s Buyday.

It’s going to be an amazing summer!  I just have to get through one more day of school first.  I can’t really complain about today though, as we did two fun things.

Early things.  I had to be at my friend’s apartment to carpool at 7:30.  I tried to make a smoothie for an easy breakfast but it didn’t quite work out.

I blended 1.5 cups Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, 1 Tbsp chia seeds, and 1.5 cups frozen strawberries.  Sounds good right?  Not even close.  The texture was there but the smoothie just tasted like watered down milk.  I ended up throwing it out after a few sips.

We started early because our class was taking a tour of the Clinton Bailey Farmers’ Market.

Our next fun activity took us to the kitchen lab.  We practice quantity cooking and made ourselves lunch!

There were more than two dishes but this was all that appealed to me.  Pasta with garlic and spinach,

and a really amazing salad with strawberries, blue cheese, and candied pecans.

Plus sweet tea with lemon and orange to drink.

One group made several batches of cookies and there’s no ac so it was boiling in that kitchen.

When I got home in the afternoon I made myself a glorious snack.

A sliced Gala with 2 heaping Tbsp melted Biscoff Spread.

I shared a few bites of apple with the dog but the only one licking the Biscoff bowl was me!

I tried to take Webster on a walk/run but the husband was at home so it didn’t work.  I adore that dog but sometimes his obsession with the husband is a drag.  If we walk him together he’s perfect.  If Adam is at school and I walk him he’s perfect.  But if Adam is at home and the dog knows Adam is at home, if I try to walk him he sits and tugs as we head away from the house and pulls me off of my feet when we head back.  Ugh.

I got so irritated with the dog the I ended up dropping him back home and going off angrily for a run.  A run-run.

1 mile-ish running + 3 minutes walking + 1 mile-ish running.  2.4 miles and 24:30 minutes.

I am pretty damn proud of maintaining a 10 minute mile pace in spite of the walking, but I am so not ready for run-running.  This basically killed me.  I need to stick with my run/walking plan for a while longer (and more consistently!).

Afterward I walked a bit more.. to the Co-op for a Blue Monkey Coconut Water.

I was soaked by the end of my run and this seemed like the best way to rehydrate.  Plus it was tasty.

Adam and I split a mango.

I’ve officially decided that mangos make my “top three” list for favorite fruits.  I also like cookie dough.

I took 2 – 3 cookies’ worth of nibbles while baking tonight.  I’m making Mini (aka regular cookie-sized) S’mores Monster Cookies.  Not the best dinner, but it worked; I got plenty of veggies at lunch.

Any excitement on your agenda for the summer?

Bike Then Bar

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Today was the first day of class and I still managed to get in a morning workout!

Bike Or Bar, the new spinning gym on Elmwood, offers a free trial class to all newbies. A friend and I decided to try it out with 6am spin.  I was worried that the wake-up would be brutal but I was so excited that it was ok.  I used to hate spinning so my expectations weren’t very high but I ended up loving it!  The intervals were a lot of fun.  The instructor had great energy and I enjoyed the modern music.  A mega plus is that the space is set up to mimic a bar; with the dimmed lighting, strobe lights, and loud music I didn’t feel on display like I do in stark white gyms.  I can’t afford another membership right now but if we had more money I would definitely go back!  60 minute spin class.

The real morning excitement was getting to pick Webster up from boarding.

The vet’s office was closed for the holiday and the apartment has felt empty without him the past two days.

Breakfast was a green pear,

and a Banana Foster Lara Bar Uber.

A quick note on the bar – this was a free blog sample.  Lara Bar sent me the flavors from their new Uber line to try out.

The Uber line is supposed to be sweet and salty with big pieces of fruit and nut.  It delivered!  Just look at this texture –

There were lots of nuts and big chunks of chewy banana.  The flavor was salty and just a little sweet and you couldn’t taste the date at all (the only thing I dislike about regular Lara Bars is the overwhelming date flavor).  I can’t wait to try the other three flavors.

When we were at spin class Janessa gave me the awesome news that class didn’t start until 9 am today.  We took advantage of the extra time and went to Dunkin for coffee.

I’m not really sure why the woman gave me so much milk.  I got a large latte with skim milk and coconut/cinnamon syrup.  ‘Twas good.  And fun to have done spinning and coffee before 9am.

Summer school is going to suck.  That’s all I’ll say about that for now.

For lunch I packed a turkey sandwich.  Applegate Farms Smoked Turkey, French Onion Light Laughing Cow, and a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin.

Baby carrots.

And some dark chocolate mint m&m’s.

After school I made my final trek to the Sprint Store.  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned all of my visits but I’ve had to take my phone in three times over the past two weeks.  This was the last time every because today I picked up my *new* phone.  And since I had to come in so many times before the waived all fees and it was free!

I sat at Panera setting up my phone (my new phone! for the final time!) and ate a chocolate croissant.

It was surprisingly good.  Chocolate croissants are a favorite food that I almost never eat.

When dinner time rolled around I did some hardcore wife-ing.  I roasted a whole chicken!

I followed a recipe from Kitchen Counter Cooking School and it was easy as pie chicken.  We started with a 3 lb 8 oz free-range bird.  I made a mixture of butter, lemon juice, and fresh rosemary that I rubbed under and on top of the skin.  Then I stuffed the inner cavity with the juiced lemons and a few bulbs of garlic.  Baked at 425* for 1 hr 15 minutes with occasional basting.

It turned out wonderfully!

I ate a chicken thigh sans skin.

With sides of roasted zucchini,

and sliced carrots cooked in brown sugar and butter.

It was a winner of a dinner.

Though not that appropriate for the weather.  Bring on the chilled salads and gazpacho.

Smoothies for dessert helped us to cool back down.

For two, I blended – 1.75 cups Silk Vanilla Almond Milk, .25 cup frozen blueberries, 1 large frozen banana, 3 Tbsp malted milk powder, and 1/2 Tbsp almond extract.

It was a good mix.  I need to remember my almond extract more often.

See you for hump day.

Double Day, Double Shower, Double Shot

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The two-days-in-one post is because I passed out – on the couch, fully dressed – before I could blog last night.

Backing up to yesterday afternoon… I decided to eat a snack at home before I went on my errands.  A mini bag of popcorn; I believe it was butter flavored because it didn’t taste like kettle corn but I got a big pack with both and the bags aren’t labeled and it drives me crazy.

I started a book while I munched and that meant that errands never happened because once you pick up the last book of the HungerGames trilogy you don’t put it down until it’s done.  <– true story  After love-love-loving the first book I was actually pretty disappointed by the ending of the series.  I don’t want to give anything away here, but I would love to discuss it more in the comments.  I personally was very surprised by some of the choices the author made toward the end.

People who read the Hunger Games trilogy – what did you think of the last book????

While I read I also took alternating bites of a Honeycrisp apple and the last of the Cookie Butter (~1 Tbsp?).

So good.  I prefer the original Biscoff spread to the TJ’s stuff but I was sad to see it go since I won’t be able to purchase it again for a long time.

Dinner was supposed to be quick and easy.

I made an attempt at mozzarella sticks by cutting up string cheese, dipping the pieces in egg white and panko, and baking at 400*.

Nothing like the original (which I actually don’t really care for) but tasty in their own way.

The main dinner component was supposed to be soup.  I served Adam and myself each 2 servings of Imagine’s Organic Creamy Brocoli Soup.

Not a fan.  I want to mention that Adam liked it and ate his whole bowl.  I took two bites and the 2nd bite was only because I really hate to waste food.  When I bought it I thought the texture was going to be thick.  Thin soups, outside of broth with stuff in it, totally set off my gag reflex.

I ended up going to Mezza for take-out for dinner.

It was frustrating to waste the money but my meal was quite tasty.

I got the Chicken Shawarma.

Grilled chicken on a grilled pita with garlic spread, cole slaw, tomatoes, pickles, and tahini sauce.  It was great, especially the cole slaw and pickles, but I’d ask for it without garlic sauce next time because my breath was ridiculous.

My sandwich came with a side of fries.

I ate them all but really I should have skipped them; I already ate cheese sticks!  Then I passed out on the couch.

Today started with a run.  I did ten sets of 1:30 running and 3:30 walking for 50 minutes and 3.9 miles.  Then I took shower #1.

I didn’t have time between my workout and my first errand to make food which sucked because once I left the house I was gone for hours.  I had an appointment to get the oil changed on Adam’s car and then I had to go to the tailor and the Sprint store (Monday’s errands).

I dropped off the car and spent the 40-minute wait taking a great walk.

I made a pit stop for coffee and then kept moving.  A Vietnamese latte from Sweetness_7 Cafe.

After the tailor (I need to learn how to hem my own pants!) I headed back to the Sprint store.  I had to leave my phone with them for another hour but I think that it is finally officially fixed.

While I waited for my phone I grabbed lunch at Cheeburger Cheeburger.

I felt a little strange all by myself but I had a book in my purse to keep me company.

I ordered a turkey burger with cole slaw, pickles, onions, and jalopeños.

It was a good combination of toppings, if I do say so myself!  I moved the bun to the side right away but other than that I ate every last bite.

Shot of espresso #2 (not literally but just go with it) was consumed when the husband got home and we shared a frozen coffee.  I blended up a packet of Starbucks Caramel Via, a scoop of chocolate whey protein powder, 2 cups of skim milk, ~2 Tbsp English Toffee syrup, and lots of ice.

So darn good.  We split it but both kept yanking the cup back from one another.  The English Toffee syrup is something I’ve been trying to get Adam to taste for forever (like the wakame) and he loved it!

Shower #2 was due to workout #2; the husband and I headed to the tennis courts.  I’m pretty good at serving and pretty terrible volleying but he’s hoping to get me to playing shape by the end of the summer.  Right now it’s an extra good workout with all of the running for lost balls.  We “played” for one hour.

We were very hungry for dinner and thankfully it ended up being delicious.

Pretty too!  When I make an especially beautiful plate of food I’m so sad not to have the photography skills to properly capture it.

Roasted zucchini.

~ 2/3 cup cooked brown rice.

An egg.

But not just any egg.

A soft-boiled egg!  (Thanks for the recipe, Jenna!)

And then I smothered the whole bowl in Sriracha.

The end.

Plus two small cookies from Romeo and Juliet’s Cafe for dessert.

A thumbprint and a fig cookie.  I brought Adam home a box from the event last Thursday and apparently he won’t eat the fig ones so they’re mine.

Whew, that was a long post!

Sunday Disposition

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Welcome, weekend warriors!

No Saturday post because I spent most of the day moping around the house.  Little was accomplished, though I did get the laundry done.

I got so sick of myself that I made damn sure to have fun today.  And I’ve been thinking positive thoughts about the upcoming week as well.  I want to make sure my last 8 days before summer school are as productive/relaxing/fun/healthy as possible.

We got this morning off to a tasty/healthy start with sludge smoothies to go.

Enjoyed out of repurposed jars instead of fancy stemware because we were on a family walk.

In the blend were unmeasured amounts of frozen banana, frozen blackberries, frozen spinach, and oj.

Plus a piece of rye bread with strawberry jam and Smart Balance Light when we got home.

Our new jam is the store-brand version of Crofter’s (ie organic and with no added sugar) and sadly it’s not very good.

Lunch was consumed out of hand.  A slice of pizza (now you see what we did on Saturday!),

a Cara Cara orange,

and half of this package of mint m&m’s.

I’ve never been a huge m&m person but these mint ones are fantasmic.  Perhaps because they are dark chocolate?  They are one of the few (the only?!) desserts that actually tastes better to me in small quantities.

We walked to dinner and surreptitiously enjoyed Black Jack Colas along the way.

We went on a sushi date.

Kunis has been on our “Buffalo: Go To” list for months and I’m glad we finally gave it a shot because it was great and we’ll definitely be back.

I ordered three small plates to make up my meal.  First, Wakame Salad.

Seasoned and dressed seaweed, with sesame and chili flakes.  I’ve been trying to get Adam to taste seaweed salad for years and now that he finally did he’s officially obsessed (we stopped at the co-op on the way home because he was hoping to find more!).  I will say that Kuni’s version was one of the best I’ve ever had.  But – the photo isn’t deceiving you, it was a ridiculously small portion.

My soup course was a bowl of Udon.

Thick white flour noodles in a light broth, topped with sweetened tofu, wakame and scallions.  At $3.75 this huge bowl was a steal.  The sweet tofu wasn’t my favorite but the slightly sweet and sour broth was great.

Finally, a veggie roll.

It had asparagus, mushroom, and some pickled vegetable that I’m not remembering.  Be forewarned – the wasabi at Kunis is fresh!  I gobbed it on the way I usually do and my first bite almost killed me.  It wasn’t necessarily spicy – in fact we both noticed that this wasabi put no spice on your tongue and was strangely sour – but a bunch of it stuck to the roof of my mouth and I started choking and breaking out in a cold sweat.  Adam said my face was BRIGHT red!

We had a great walk home; Kuni’s is just far enough away to be fun.  My dinner was good but on the smaller side and my mouth didn’t feel done so I ate a mug of cereal when we got home.

1 cup of Honey Nut Shredded Wheat with skim milk.  Aaaaand, scene.

Banana Coffee Buzz

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I needed to start chipping away at my to-do list so I made sure that my breakfast included caffeine.

Into my smoothie went 1 packet of Starbucks Via, 1 frozen banana, lots of ice, and 2 cups of skim milk.

I doubled my milk because our carton is close to going bad but my smoothie ended up being so big that I threw some of that out instead.

At least I tried.  And breakfast gave me a big kick out the door to run errands.

  • I paid for my text-book for summer school
  • I purchased a summer parking pass
  • I scheduled multiple doctors’ appointments
  • I took two items to the tailor for alterations
  • I got a new battery and charger for my cell phone

My Sprint Store errand took almost an hour but it was totally worth it; thanks to phone insurance and a really nice worker, the visit cost me nothing!  And now I’ve finally got a working cell phone again.

“New” phone in hand, I went next door to Panera to set up my settings, calendar, etc.

I ate an Asiago cheese bagel with honey walnut cream cheese while I fiddled.

And I ate a sliced cucumber with salt when I got home.

I sort of forgot about cucumbers the last few months but they are one of my favorite snacks.

Adam’s on call tonight so I’m on my lonesome and I’m hoping to keep whittling down my to-do list.  See you for dinner.

The Semester Is Winding Down

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The semester is winding down.  Classes finished today and I’ve got a week of exams standing between me and summer.  Of course, I only have two weeks of freedom before summer school starts, but I’ll take what I can get.

I’ve been having the hardest time getting out of bed in the morning and today was not the day that broke the streak.  I’ll need to treat my two free weeks like a bedtime boot camp or I’m going to be hurting during summer school.  I ran out of time to workout so instead I drove the dog with me while I parked the car and then walked him home from school.

It was nice to take him somewhere new, though I wish he would have found a better place to do his business than the middle of the quad!

I did a quick outfit change at home and then I was walking back to school, breakfast in hand.

This smoothie combo is a winner!  1.5 Tbsp chia seeds, 1 cup of lemonade, and 1 cup of frozen strawberries.

Frozen strawberry lemonade can’t be beat and the chia seeds give it a nice hit of omega-3s.

I had less time this morning because my statistics teacher let me come in early to check over the homework.  All of my assignments are now in (a week early) and I finished today’s practice test and checked my answers (all correct!) before class was half over so I’m feeling good for the final.

Lunch was eaten in the car on the way to my last clinic observation of the semester.  Bagelwiches are a nice, one-handed item.

I had a Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin with jalapeño cream cheese and Applegate Farms’ Smoked Turkey.

Plus an Empire apple.

My last day of clinic went great.  I did another outpatient observation and I’m pretty much convinced I want to do outpatient when I grow up.  I love the amount of interaction RDs get with their outpatient clients!  While I was there we saw three patients, two type 2 diabetics and a GI issue.  Getting an hour (+) with each of them was great; it seems like they all took a lot away from their appointments.

My last night class went well and suddenly, I was free!  I didn’t have much time to workout; once I made it home and changed I could only get one loop around the block before it got dark.  It was just was well though, I’m not sure I had a 2nd loop in me!  1.2 miles in 10:55.  <– that’s more than a minute faster than any of my previous times!!

Dinner was easy peasy leftovers.

Bow tie pasta and roasted zucchini with peasy pesto, drizzled with 1 Tbsp evoo.

I’ve never been so glad to see a bowl of pasta in my life.  The only thing I’m more excited about is getting my head on a pillow.