Tag Archives: smoothie

Nightmare Before Christmas

by

There was no blog post yesterday because I was so exhausted that I bumbled around all day without really doing anything!  We set our alarms for 8am and at 10:00 the husband was shaking me awake and I had no recollection of turning off the alarms.  Finally the husband remembered – after I told him I couldnt’ study because I was too tired to lift my arms – that I had such a bad nightmare on Saturday night that my moaning and flailing woke him up.  I don’t remember that either, but he told me I looked pretty pitiful.

When I got up today, the idyllic scene outside my window was like something out of one of my nightmares –

Yes, it’s gorgeous.  But – that’s the kind of snow you make cocoa and cuddle by the fireplace in, not the kind of snow you walk 30minutes through to Organic Chemistry!

But after Sunday’s #fail I was determined to make the best of today; even though I woke up at 9:30!  I started my day with some good stretching.  Not gonna lie, then I started my day with this (after brushing my teeth of course!) –

Sorry I’m not sorry (thanks, Rachel), Cherry Coke Zero is my version of the dog with a barrel around its neck.

Then I dressed for battle.

I take the dull out of bundling! (Say that out loud for me, pretty please?)

Oh yes, those are children’s snow boots.

Even my boots couldn’t fully save my trek though, it sort of sucked 😦  When I lived in Brooklyn and everyone walked it was kind of fun, but here, where I’m the only one in the snow, it’s a bit embarrassing.  At least I never really felt cold, probably because I got so sweaty; galumphing is a good workout!

I got to school early to pick up a portfolio (100%, booyah!) and then used the space before class to try to make up yesterday’s lost study time.  While I worked I snacked on a serving of Kugel.

I also drank a medium skim gingerbread latte (half pumps) and got distracted talking with a friend.

During Anatomy (87% with the curve on Friday’s test, booyah!) I slurped down a Revolution Foods Fruit Mash-Up.

As soon as classes were over, and I confirmed with the husband that he could pick me up from school, I got my study on.  I’m disappointed in myself that I screwed around so much it took me until after 7 to finish my notecards.  I’m proud of myself that when I was done at 7 I headed to the gym anyways!

I took my notecards on the elliptical – 35minutes, random, level 6.

We got home close to 9:00 and I’m pretty proud of the dinner I pulled together – fruits, veggies, and dessert!  First was a green purple monster.

This bad boy was a blend of frozen spinach, frozen blueberries, orange juice, Silk Almond Milk, and honey.

I gave the husband the extra and he loved it as well (although his did have a little extra sugar blended into it!).

Next up was a taste of the South.

I randomly picked up this can of Hoppin’ John when it was on sale a few weeks ago.  I’ve never eaten (heard of) Hoppin John before so I pretty much stuck with the directions on the can –

I did a 1/2 batch (one can) topped with Applegate Farms turkey bacon, Sriracha, and a little brown sugar.

I portioned half of it into a bowl, and tried something new.

Pretty good, who knew I liked black-eyed peas?!

Dessert was “new” as well, but there was never any question about liking it.

Oh. My. God.

This, my friends, is a (half)-batch of Jenna’s Caramel Sauce.

Well, that’s what’s left of the batch after Adam and I got to it.  It has a deep, decadent flavor and is sweet and rich.  Make it, make it, make it, make it!

Eaten drizzled (liberally) over a small bowl of vanilla ice-cream with lots of sliced strawberries.

Really it was just an excuse to eat some strawberries 😉

Yum!  Quite a pleasing dinner indeed.

Now I’ve got to hurry to shower so I can get to bed like a girl with an important test tomorrow.

Have you ever tried (heard of) Hoppin’ John?

Just Like Jamba

by

We got into bed after 1 a.m. last night so this morning was a little painful. Luckily I knew just the thing to get us through.

When we were in undergrad at UMiami, Adam and I developed a Jamba Juice obsession. I grew up on an island, we had rum huts, not smoothie shops! I poured through websites about the “underground” flavors (white gummi bear anyone?) and knew the calorie counts for my five favorite orders by heart, but my favorite were the holiday offerings.

Pumpkin was pretty good (my Pumpkin Pie Through a Straw is better though), but December was where it’s at. One year there was a mint strawberry smoothie that rocked my world and then disappeared forever. I know the combo sounds a little funky, but it’s magical. I check the website every holiday season but I’ve yet to see its return.

So when this West Soy Chocolate Peppermint Soy Beverage popped up on my grocery shelves (I actually bought this in October, but that’s another story) I had a delicious idea.

Mint chocolate strawberry smoothies.

For two (Adam loved his as well) I blended 2cups frozen strawberries, 2 cups chocolate peppermint soy milk and 1 vanilla Chobani.

A little sweet, healthy, and a lot magical.

During class I smacked on 2 servings of Sahale Snacks Valdosta Pecans,

and whilst cramming studying I also had a Cliff Spiced Pumpkin Pie bar.

A lunch with the perfect amount of fun and siety to get my through to my anatomy exam.

I also took my notecards on a trip to the gym.  I needed to be able to read the entire time, so I kept my workout low-impact but lengthy.

  • 35minutes on the elliptical, level 4
  • 25minutes on the treadmill, walking on an incline

I had a shocking amount of focus; I think the gym will have to be my new study spot for finals!

Then I took my Anatomy exam (ok, but not as good as I hoped), met with my Orgo teacher about my failing exam, and walked home in the cold. 

It’s time for a (much needed) shower and some (much needed) fun!

Do you live near a Jamba Juice?  What’s your favorite order?

Save the Second Bowl

by

We had a great Halloween last evening, cozy and creepy, exactly as it should be.  Sitting on the couch, eating nachos, watching “Hocus Pocus;” pretty much perfect!  But I guess that holiday’s over…

Smashing pumpkins sans Billy Corgan aside, my excitement level was high this morning.  I knew in advance, breakfast was going to be good.

For the most part I tend not to follow blogland trends.  My cabinet is not stocked with chia seeds and I’ve yet to find the obsession allure of almond butter.  But when Kath describes something as “oat batter” I know it’s time to get on-board.

My smoothie contained

  • the 2nd serving of yesterday’s oats
  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • a splash of vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • ~1/2 cup skim milk

In addition to being tasty, this kept me full so long that I didn’t even want to eat lunch before I headed to class!  That’s not to say I wasn’t starving when I got home at 3:30 😉

I made myself a snack plate very quickly.

A sliced apple,

and 1.5 servings of Sahale Snacks Sing Buri Cashews.

I also ate a serving of these Pillsbury Sweet Moment Caramel Chocolate bites (free via coupon from BlogHer).

I wasn’t expecting to be a fan, but these were pretty good.  You know how sometimes cheap cakes have that granular sugar mouthfeel?  I know a lot of people find that gross, but I love it.  Anyway, these had that.

On a more serious note, I want to remind you to take care of your health.

In order to keep your boobs safe, I’ll give you a close-up of mine –

My mom sent me this “Save 2nd Base” shirt from a fundraiser she attended a few weeks back.  I sported it to school today, and I just wanted to remind my readers that you (or a loved one) should be feeling you up each month, for safety!  Just don’t try to give me a pink ribbon…

Did you get to watch Hocus Pocus this year?

Hot Bar Makes the World Go ‘Round

by

Today was Study Saturday, sort of.  We were up waaaaaaay too late last night, and it shifted the whole day back.  At this point I am at least all caught up and ready to begin studying for my two tests next week.

We puttered around the house a bit in the morning and I made myself a Pumpkin Pie Through a Straw.

We didn’t have a lot of pumpkin leftover so I ended up having to add some ice for filler, which made it less tasty than usual but still pretty fricking tasty!

Around 11 we packed up our stuff and headed to Wegmans cafe for a study session.  Between our hot bar obsession and the fact the booths are perfect study session size, Wegmans is the perfect spot.  And we were jazzed to see that they had Halloween decorations up and employees dressed in costume!

Not gonna lie, lunch was still the most exciting part.

I got a random mish-mash of little bites.  Steamed broccoli and brussels sprouts,

wok seared veggies, bbq tofu, and sesame chicken and shrimp.

Full-bellied, we got a lot of studying done.  Except for the two hours we wasted on an intense conversation about the social construct of gender roles/child care/alimony.  <– dorks!

We got our weekly grocery trip in before we came home.  I had to spend a certain amount of $ in the bulk bins to use a coupon so I filled a baggie with assorted chocolates.

And downed them the minute we walked in the house 🙂  Think chocolate covered peanuts, pretzels, sponge candy…

On the agenda for tonight is a tasty, saucy (<–puns) dinner that’s my entry into a certain fun contest…..

Fright Night

by

This Saturday has felt very holiday-esque. Technically, it was a holiday –

but I was feeling more Haloweenie. Perhaps because this has been looping through my head all day?

The husband was right, I am now a total “Nightmare Before Christmas” addict!

The day actually started rather early for a Saturday; I signed up to volunteer at a local health fair today and my shift started at 8am. Milkshake for breakfast? Don’t mind if I do.

I made my first pumpkin pie through a straw of the season. Just look at that perfect pumpkin pudding color –

I was pretty jazzed about it, clearly.

My volunteer shift was nice and easy, mostly stuffing gift bags and greeting people.  A lot of the other volunteers bailed so I ended up getting some one on one time with the president of the club; she is a senior in the program I hope to get into so it was great to hear her advice.

Pretty soon the husband picked me up and we headed to the cafe in Wegmans to get our study on. And our lunch on.

Scoop of buffalo and curry chicken salads,

and some green beans and roasted veggies.

I was still feeling super hungry after lunch but I didn’t want to waste any more time eating so instead I bought a coffee.

Half regular and half decaf pumpkin pie with skim milk.

We got a couple solid hours of work done too. And the grocery shopping too. Get excited about my dinner posts next week – I’m doing “Sandwich Week” and it’s going to be a lot of fun.

Not so fun? Our apartment is a frigid 64*. I drank a honey vanilla chamomile tea to warm up while I studied.

We had pumpkin pasta leftovers for dinner.

I swear, this stuff is even more amazing the 2nd day.

We ate an early dinner because just after 6 we piled into the car. We had season tickets to Darien Lake Amusement Park and today was the last night of Fright Night.

Adam and I ate a Divine milk chocolate hazelnut bar during the drive.

And I snacked on a serving of Halloween jujus while we explored the “horror.”

(Please excuse the terrible cell phone photos) There wasn’t a lot to it, but Fright Night ended up being a lot of fun.

Our favorite was the haunted house; I don’t scare easily, but they definitely startled me a bunch of times.

The real fun though was the 20minutes we wasted in the parking lot looking for our car 😉

Have you been to any haunted houses this season?

Two Down, Three to Go

by

I’m 2/5 done with hell week!  I got a B(ish) on my 100 test – booooo – and probably a 100% on my 110 quiz.  Right now I’m poised for a D (or less!) on the next three so I can’t talk.

Breakfast was a layer of Yoplait Honey Vanilla Greek Yogurt,

topped with smoothie – strawberries, water, coconut water, and Original Amazing Meal (free sample, very nice, basically flavorless but added a bit of tang),

topped with gingerbread granola –

Good.

I actually made a breakfast that was good, but I couldn’t finish it because of a rain incident.

Energy drink before test 1.

Southwest Flatbread Sandwich from library cafe (corn, beans, cheese, chicken).

Gym was not as good as usual; I started to run and was so exhausted that I just couldn’t.  I wasn’t about to waste a workout outfit though, I pulled up some Bio notes to distract myself and did some incline walking –

  • 5minute walking warm up
  • 5minutes jogging
  • 20minutes incline walking
  • 3minute cool down

2.07miles.

Pickle.

Serving of crackers with salsa.

Dinner, dipped in ranch.

Roasted yellow beans,

disappointing okra (it was so fibrous I couldn’t chew it!  I only choked down 1),

pizza thin, i.e. an Arnold’s WW Sandwich Thin with marinara and part-skim mozzarella.

Ice-cream sandwich for dessert.

I took this handful of the husband’s peanut M&M’s.  Then I put all but 4 back because I had just had an ice-cream sandwich and M&M’s aren’t even that exciting.

I have an Anatomy exam tomorrow, holy God.

How’s your week going?  Want to fill me in on any blogland gossip I’ve been missing?

Good Vibes, Good Vibes

by

This has got to be another quick post; this week hasn’t even started yet and I already can’t wait ’til it’s over!  Today was busy, busy, busy, busy, busy (said in the magician-voice from Frosty the Snowman).  I will note that I let myself get too hungry this afternoon and ended up eating way too much; I’ll have to be careful not to let that happen again during “hell week.”

I wanted to eat breakfast on the walk to campus so I made a smoothie to go.

This was a serving of frozen Goya soursop pulp, a medium frozen banana, and a 1/2cup each coconut water and Silk Almond Milk.

It was creamy and nice, but much sweeter than I wanted (who am I?!), so I shared a lot with Adam.

We worked on campus all afternoon and I ended up getting lunch from the food aisle in the bookstore.

Amid the rows of chips I was able to find this Spicy Thai Tuna Medley.

Yum!  I never buy these because I can’t justify the cost, but the flavor is great.

I took a break mid-afternoon to hit up the gym before I left campus.  35minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6.  I took a long walk home to stretch out and stopped by the co-op to pick up a few things.

Then I worked.  (And worked and worked and worked.) It was a busy day but all of my homework for next week is complete, which means I can just focus on my exams.  Amid lab reports I ate this mini mint chip ice cream.

I probably should have made time for some veggies.  We went to the grocery store at 9pm and by the time we got home I was starving!  I dug into a nice big pickle.

And then opened up a box of French Toast Griddlers.

I tried these at BlogHer and was so obsessed with them that the rep gave me some free coupons.  Remind me after this week is over to tell you guys more about them.

I should have stopped there.  A mini bag of chips.

A serving of crackers with part-skim mozzarella melted on top (I love how this looks so much more decadent than it actually is!).

And a thing of Hi-Chews.

by the way

I knew that I was going to have a tough week, but apparently I’m sending break-down vibes to my belongings as well!  One of my favorite tops came out of the dryer with a big hole and this morning my i-pod broke.  I can’t bring it in to the store for at least another week and if it’s unfixable we can’t afford to replace it for years.  I’m so disappointed!  But it’s a good karmic reminder that I need to keep my cool this week.

The Dog Ate My Homework

by

A few facts about this morning –

  1. I got into bed (not even asleep, just into bed) after 12:45 last night
  2. my alarm rang at 6:20 this morning
  3. the husband is driving me to school for my 8am class and then I am staying on campus until my classes are all finished at 7:40

Those facts define what I need from this morning’s breakfast –

  1. energy (caffeine, sugar)
  2. staying power (protein)

And those facts and needs basically are just there as excuses to explain what I put into the blender for my smoothie this morning –

  • a small frozen banana
  • leftover (vanilla cinnamon nut) coffee
  • Brown Cow 0% plain Greek yogurt
  • 2T Hershey’s chocolate syrup with added calcium
  • ice

Did I also mention I’m tired?

It actually wasn’t bad!

By the way, if you want to see something funny I suggest you stop by the blog around noon!

What is the strangest thing you’ve ever put into a smoothie?