Tuesday Afternoon – Thursday Afternoon

by Emily

My family’s Christmas Eve party is tonight and we’ve got lots of setting up to do so this will have to be kept quick.

Tuesday Afternoon….

After my last post Adam and I set out for some exercise. We ran on the waterfront downtown together. We did walk/run intervals for 40minutes. I’m not sure exactly how far we ran but I burnt 450calories.

Adam and my parents made chili for dinner (which I’m really not a fan off, unless it’s from ED&BV) so I pieced a few things together. Like a smoothie –

1/2 cup low fat cottage cheese, 1/2 cup pineapple, 1 small banana, splash milk, squeeze honey. Topped with nutmeg.

My mom also reheated me a slice of pizza from the freezer, Adam ate all of my half from the other day so it was just plain cheese.

We went out for drinks with some friends but I was the driver so I stuck to diet coke. We stayed out past 1 though, so we were a little sleepy the next day! 😉

Wednesday…

Our plan was to go study at our favorite coffee shop, but due to our late start and some unexpected traffic it just didn’t work out. I was planning on blogging too, but I forgot my camera cord, doh! We did get tasty sandwiches to eat in the car while we ran errands with my mom though!

I got a whole wheat wrap with sweet potato, goat cheese, spinach, and spicy hummus, YUM.

I was feeling really sick later in the afternoon (NOT because of the sandwich, spicy food does NOT seem to affect my stomach) so Adam made me this yummy tasting plate.

Thankfully I rallied in time for dinner. Adam and I cooked for my parents and grandparents, who are down visiting as well.

Adam made a Real Simple recipe for roasted red pepper turkey meatloaf,

and I roasted up some okra and green beans.

My mom provided dessert –

A teensy sliver of rum cake a parent brought her,

and a peppermint chocolate cookie.

I ate a snowball a little later too.

And a cup of Eggnog’n Tea.

And then we went out drinking way too late for the second night! Good times were had by all, but I did stick to diet coke again.

Thursday Morning….

I think the no-booze rule saved me last night because I was able to get up this morning and go for a run! I did ~ 45minutes/490 calories, and ~3miles. I did my pt when I got home before I dove into this –

holy food am I glad I can find the pineapple Chiobani down here!

Although I was probably most excited about this Carebear spoon I dug up!

Now as soon as we leave the library we are heading home to prep for the party. There won’t really be dinner or lunch today, more like lots of snacking on really tasty things. 🙂

I probably won’t be posting again until after this weekend, so to all my readers who celebrate – Merry Christmas!

2Dec2009

Kicking Off the Season

by Emily

Let’s see – my house is decorated, I’ve had lots of good tidings and cheer, I’m super busy and stressed – yep, it feels like the holidays! Due both to some good news and a few mishaps today was jam-packed.

I am one of those people who gets really (really really really) into holidays. I manage to keep my purchasing under control, but I’ve had my red and green outfits outlined for weeks! Part of my excitement involves keeping each holiday carefully guarded and away from the other holidays. I do NOT wear red with green outside of December, I won’t drink eggnog ’till there’s snow on the ground, and I do my damnedest to stay away from Christmas music the day after Thanksgiving.

Today was not only December 1st, it was also the day of our first snowfall in Buffalo, a near perfect time for holiday decorating. So after I got a few to dos of lesser importance out of the way (registering for classes, calling for pt) decorate I did.

[Thanks for the package mommy!] Bring on the Jingle Bells! I even – accidentally – included some snazz in today’s outfit.

Don’t worry, the overall effect was less than elvish.

Why the yoga pants in the snow you ask? Because I managed to book my first physical therapy appointment! Fortunately I called right after a cancellation and they were able to squeeze me right in. I was a bit rushed so I made breakfast to go –

1cup frozen blackberries, Dannon Lite and Fit Blackberry Yogurt, 1/2 scoop Chocolate Amazing Grass, and about a 1/2 cup of water to ease the blending along.

Physical therapy (pt from now on) was everything I could have ever dreamed of! My doctor was knowledgeable and understanding, and more importantly he says my half in March shouldn’t be a problem! He watched me walk and twisted my ankles and it took about two seconds for him to see the problem. I have tendonitis in my right shin. Most likely from a bad sprain I got in high school, but also because I walk and stand like a duck.

The doctor gave me pt moves to start doing at home and I have the green light to elliptisize and start doing cardio again. I’m getting on the treadmill at his office on Thursday and will figure out the running situation from there. For now the assumption is that I will go twice a week for pt for the next month or so. My fingers are double crossed that I can start running again this Friday!

The excitement was majorly lessened on the drive home. What should have been a 30minute trip to meet Katie for coffee took 2+ hours. Ugh. I did get to stop at the post office on the way – and picked up some fun – and I did finally make it for coffee.

Another seasonal must, my first red cup!

A tall nonfat eggnog latte. I snacked on a Coconut Acai Prana Bar alongside my coffee.

And Katie and I had lots of good chatting. 🙂

Afterwards I picked up Adam and we drove to Wegmans for some kitchen restocking. Did you miss my Thanksgiving Challenge Recap? I had big plans to cook a fancy dinner tonight, but my 2hours of fun on the highway ate up that time. Adam ended up going to a study session until 10:30 anyways so it was for the best. Instead we got salad bar.

Oh how I’ve missed Wegman’s salad bar! My excitement was bigger than my stomach, I left several bites of everything on my plate. And it was pretty clear from my choices that I’m not over the brussels sprouts I was planning on making with dinner!

Curried chicken salad,

barley with brussels and pumpkin seeds,

roasted brussels sprouts and blanched broccoli,

small mac and cheese square.

Normally I would demolish the mac and leave veggies but I was proud of myself for leaving an even amount of everything today.

Adam had to rush out as soon as we got home with the groceries so fridge duty fell entirely to me. Once I put everything away and cleaned up the kitchen I actually worked up another appetite! I broke into two purchases that I dreamed about all November –

My onion bagel with reduced fat onion chive cream cheese was everything I’d been thinking of!

While I ate I worked on my Chemistry homework. And then I kept working long after. Class is getting hard! I have a quiz this Thursday that I am in no way ready for and I’m getting a little nervous.

It’s after 11 and I stil have my pt exercises and a shower so I’ve got to scadaddle. Visions of sugar plums kids!

What’s your holiday celebration mo? Have you started on Christmas/Hanukkah/Kwanza yet this year? We don’t have any Hanukkah decorations per se, but I usually don’t but the menorah out until it’s time to light it.

25Nov2009

Road Tripped

by Emily

We are in Ohio! My grandmother’s internet isn’t the best and it’s been a long day so I won’t be able to be as detailed as I would like. It’s been a good day though 🙂

We got up at 6:30 this morning and were out the door before 7am. The trip was 400+ miles so we had to get an early start. I packed up food for the road, a la Thanksgiving Challenge, threw on a sweatshirt and split.

I had some am amazing grass – 1banana, 1scoop grass, big pour skim milk, 8 ice cubes, blender.

I was so proud of the husband for drinking some too!

A few hours later I ate a yummy leftovers sandwich.

1.5 buffalo blue bean patties on toasted bread with honey and jack daniels mustard.

We split the driving fairly evenly – 2hours Adam, 2hours me, 2hours Adam. The switches were a nice excuse for pee and diet soda breaks!

When we got in to Piqua my grandparents had a great lunch ready for us.

Carrot and dill soup was delicious.

And the two-cheese grilled cheese were so nice and gooey.

There were also spicy bread and butter pickles and sunchips on the table.

I ate more chips throughout the day than was a good idea!

To drink I had half of Adam’s holiday Coke,

and I split a lime beer with my grandmother.

For dessert I had a cherry cordial from the box of candy we brought as our hostess gift.

We had a great time hanging out with my grandparents. We played Euchre and my grandpa bought us all fun lotto cards!

I didn’t win, but it was nice to dream.

My aunt and uncle drove up this evening and we all had a great dinner together (more soup and sandwiches!).

The soup was white chicken chili,

and the sandwiches were pulled chicken – I think we are done with chicken for a bit!

I also had one delicious deviled egg.

Dessert was homemade old fashioned cream pie.

It was awesome, but the crust was store-bought so I just scraped out the filling.

Plus coffee with 2% milk.

Look at their adorable sugar bowl!

Now it’s almost 10 and I would love to get in bed! Overall it’s been a fabulous (filling) day! My grandmother is such a good cook and it’s so great to be with family.

What do you usually pack for road trips?

23Nov2009

Liver Spots

by Emily

There were all sorts of goods and bads today but I’ll try to focus on the goods. Like, for example, the fact that it’s Turkey Day week!

I went ’80’s style when I got dressed today, all I needed was my old Doc Martin boots!

Now that I live in Buffalo I wear sandals every day, but when I was growing up in the Caribbean I went through an intense Doc Martin phase. I guess I like anything that’s out of season!

I was in desperate need of greens/fruits so I made a smoothie for the road.

1C frozen blackberries, a scoop of Chocolate Amazing Grass, and some skim milk. I loved how purple it got!

I arrived at school really early so I walked around with Adam for a bit before heading to my appointment.

Fun fact #1 – my leg hurts like crazy. Fun fact # 2 – according to the RN at the health center I have a varicose vein! It’s not a terrible one, and at this stage my insurance won’t cover removal. They are hereditary and my teaching career (on my feet nonstop from 7-5) is a big factor, as well as my years as a waitress. She said I need to wear support hose and supportive shoes, but wouldn’t give me information about how long that would need to happen. If a month or so will ‘fix’ me then I’m all for it, but if it’s a rest of my life thing I’d rather keep with my sandals and just have the surgery when it gets worse. I have an imaging appointment tomorrow to make sure I don’t have a blood clot and I’ll get more information then.

I’m not going to lie, it’s a good thing Adam drove me to class because I bawled all the way there. I’m able to put up with a lot of pain, but having a yucky old lady problem pisses me off! I don’t want to wear support hose! I sort of lost it. I think things will be better once I get more information tomorrow.

The good news is that physical activity can’t make it worse. I try to be very careful of injury (that’s why I took time off when the leg pain started) because I would never want to permanently side-line myself. However, I am ridiculously stubborn and am pretty good with putting up with pain. I decided last week that I would always stop running if I would cause permanent injury by not taking a break, but that if I could safely run through the pain I would do so. Therefore, 7 out of 10 leg pain be damned, half marathon training is back on!!

I recomposed myself once I got to campus, but definitely bought this bag of Jalapeno Cheddar Cheetos to ease my sorrows.

($1, Challenge Balance – $79.24 ) I ate about half the bag – go me for not just downing the whole thing.

At 6 I got more good news when Caroline showed up with her laptop, class was cancelled! Adam was already at the gym with a friend so she offered to take me home. We made a pit-stop at the mall (shopping for her bf) so that was fun.

Dinner was more good news. Delicious, all around! The first course was Dr. McDougall’s Soup.

Adam had Roasted Red Pepper and Tomato and I had Chunky Tomato.

I almost never eat ‘mater soup but I love it.

The second/main course was my newest creation.

Buffalo Blue Bean Patties, serves 4

2 15.5oz cans black beans we use low sodium
1/2 cup, plus 2T buffalo wing sauce we used the sauce from Anchor Bar, the birthplace of Buffalo wings
2 eggs
1 cup bread crumbs
3/4 cup gorgonzola cheese crumbles
salt and pepper, to season

Preheat the oven to 450*. Foil and spray a baking sheet.
Empty bean cans into a colander and rinse thoroughly – this is a heart healthy step, reduce your sodium intake.
Pour beans and 2 cups wing sauce into a blender and puree. If you have a rickety blender you may want to do this in two batches.
Empty blender into a large mixing bowl. Add rest of wing sauce and eggs, stir. Add bread crumbs, stir. Add cheese and fork to combine.
Using your hands, form 12 patties out of the bean mixture.
Put patties on prepared sheet and bake for 20minutes, it is not necessary to flip them during baking.

I ate mine with the sad remains of our ketchup (that’s a small plate).

Man they were good! I don’t want to toot my own horn, but this was such a good idea! They were also very filling, I ended up only eating 2.5.

You what what else is a good idea? The big bowl of popcorn I’m about to make! Yes, I used up the big bag of ‘corn my in-laws brought me just last month!

Have a good night folks!

What makes you feel old? I’m 24, I’m not cool with the idea of support hose! Teenage entertainment makes me feel old too, shows like “Gossip Girl” just make me uncomfortable!

16Oct2009

Pineapple Paradise

by Emily

It’s Friday! I don’t really have a work week, but the weekend is still exciting. Today I’m trying to pretend I’m somewhere tropical and that the forecast isn’t calling for rain and snow!

I set my alarm for 5:30 this morning and went to the gym for a (terrible) run. My calves hurt so badly, I don’t know what the problem is?!?! I mostly did 2/1minute run/walk intervals but sometimes I doubled up the running and/or the walking. I kept having to stop to stretch. In the end I did 60minutes and 5.3miles. I did lots of stretching afterwards, for a total of 655 calories.

I came home to shower, sent the husband off to school, and got started on breakfast. This was when the tropical fantasy began……Breakfast was all about devoring Sponge Bob’s home eating pineapple. I made an amazing smoothie.

1 frozen banana, heaping cup fresh pineapple, splash oj. I think maybe I prefer smoothies with some fresh (i.e. not frozen) fruit, the texture of this was great.

Alongside I had pineapple in bar from – a Pineapple Ginger bar from Boomi.

I had been putting off eating this sample because ginger skeeves me out sometimes but it ended up being great.

The two pineapples went together quite well.

Today should be pretty uneventful. I have a lot of work I want to get done, but nothing is a rush. Adam and I have super low-key plans for tonight, the highlight of which should be grocery shopping. I hope everyone else has a good last day of the week day!

How do you like to make your smoothies? Frozen fruit or fresh? Ice? Do you use any powders or packets?

15Oct2009

Pumpkin Pick-Up

by Emily

I’m back, sorry for being flakey! I’ve been feeling under the weather this week, as well as under-motivated. I would say three days were enough though, it is time to snap back 🙂

I got up at 7 this morning and took a nice leisurely shower to start off my day. Breakfast was all about Pumpkin Pie Through a Straw.

For this one I did 1C pumpkin puree, 1T maple syrup, 1/2C skim milk, 1serving plain fatfree Oikos, and a dash pumpkin pie spice. It is super filling, and less than 300calories. If you plan on making this yourself be warned – it is more like pudding than a smoothie.

I took a break from studying to write this post but now I’ve got to get back. I’ve got lots of things I hope to accomplish today:

finish 2 sets of post-lab work
write my pre-lab for today
make 2 sets notecards for my quiz next week
eat up some of the fruit that’s all over the fridge
make dinner
recitation/lab at 5-8:50

Have you had your first pumpkin of the season yet? How did you enjoy it? I’m looking forward to a pumpkin spice latte.

11Oct2009

Tastes of Fall

by Emily

Another productive day, I’m keeping my fingers crossed that the streak continues! Plus, I’ve full-force started eating “October food,” another trend I hope to continue 🙂 After my breakfast post I attempted to do a little work, but Adam and I realized we were way too distracting to each other at home,

so we packed up our stuff and went to a coffee shop to work!

All my diet soda talk in the last post got me craving one, so that’s what I had!

The husband got a fancy shmancy hot chocolate.

We were at The Spot, so you know I wanted a Mike’s Sandwich, but when I thought about all the food fun I had planned at home I decided to resist. We studied for 4hours and I got a huge chunk of Chemistry work done.

On the way home I had the husband drop me at the gym. It was not so fabulous. My foot still hurts and my calves were really really tight. I really need to talk to a professional about strength-building/stretching exercises for my calves, knees, and hips. In the end I did 2.83 miles on the treadmill, and tons of stretching, for 36minutes and 361 calories.

After my shower we closet swapped our summer stuff for winter duds. Folks, we need to go shopping. I have almost no winter wardrobe. In NYC I dressed inappropriately and just dealt with being cold and uncomfortable, but that is not going to fly here in Buffalo (I’ll die!). We scheduled in a big mall trip for next weekend – p.s. we budgeted for this already.

Then, the foodie fun began! I made my first pumpkin pie through a straw of the season.

1/2C 2C “>Stoneyfield Farms Lowfat Vanilla Frozen Yogurt, 1C pumpkin puree, 1T maple syrup, 1/2C skim milk, dash cinnamon and pumpkin pie spice.

So good!

While I was drinking “pie,” I started baking pie! I made a Maple Spice Pie from one of my favorite cookbooks, Pie, Pie, Pie: Easy Homemade Favorites, by John Phillip Carroll. I used a Wholly Wholesome Organic Whole Wheat Pie Shell.

Small blip, apparently you need maple syrup for a maple pie, who knew?!

After an emergency run to the store things were back on track. It had to set, so I started dinner before diving into dessert. This combo came (basically) from the September issue of Health (recipe here). Tofu and eggplant with cabbage over soba noodles.

I swapped tamari and worchestire (sp?) for miso and sesame seeds for sesame oil, but other than that I followed the recipe. It was wonderful, I loved the soba noodles and the texture of the tofu was great.

I had more pumpkin alongside dinner, Wolaver’s Organic Will Steven’s Pumpkin Ale.

And then finally it was time for dessert!

The pie was good, but super messy. The inside tasted like caramel apples to me!

I took a huge slice and actually made myself a bit sick 😦 Now it is time for bed, I’ve got to get my sleep if I want another productive day!

What fall foods have you enjoyed this year?

7Oct2009

Random

by Emily

I have not gotten near enough done today (unless you count the huge stack of magazines I powered through as an accomplishment) so this post needs to be quick. All of my food choices have been unbelievably random today.

“Breakfast” was the last serving of Food Should Taste Good Lime Chips.

For lunch I followed last night’s theme and did some more using up. The last Flat Out wrapped around the last Boca Spicy Chik’n Patty, with lettuce, carrots, cheese, and buffalo sauce.

For fruit I made a smoothie – 1C passionfruit pulp, 1 fat free plain Oikos, big splash oj, drizzle honey.

And I snacked on a Healthy Hazel Boomi Bar sample.

I’ll be back after class this evening.

Tell me one random thing about yourself. I’ll go first – My middle name is Helen.

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: smoothie

Tuesday Afternoon – Thursday Afternoon