Tag Archives: smoothie

Liver Spots

by

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
  1. Preheat the oven to 450*.  Foil and spray a baking sheet.
  2. Empty bean cans into a colander and rinse thoroughly – this is a heart healthy step, reduce your sodium intake.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. Using your hands, form 12 patties out of the bean mixture.
  6. 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!

Pineapple Paradise

by

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.

DSC00358

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.

DSC00357

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.

DSC00359

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?

Pumpkin Pick-Up

by

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.

DSC00345

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.

DSC00346

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.

Tastes of Fall

by

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,

DSC00325

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!

DSC00326

The husband got a fancy shmancy hot chocolate.

DSC00327

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.

DSC00328

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.

DSC00329

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.

DSC00330

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

DSC00333

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.

DSC00334

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.

DSC00336

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

DSC00337

And then finally it was time for dessert!

DSC00338

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

DSC00340

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?

Random

by

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.

DSC00284

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.

DSC00285

DSC00286

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

DSC00288

And I snacked on a Healthy Hazel Boomi Bar sample.

DSC00287

I’ll be back after class this evening.

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

Borrowed

by

I made it to campus in time to print off my materials and reschedule a study session with my chemistry friend.  Class went well, we got out 10minutes early which is always exciting 🙂

When I got home the husband and I did a photo shoot to show off our new produce.

DSC00254

Check out our funny sized apples!  The small one is called a “Mini,” but that pregnant Kate Gossling of an apple is actually just a Honeycrisp.

DSC00255

Adam and I split the biggie (in fact he did lots of sharing tonight, thanks hubby!), I ate my portion on a salad.

DSC00256

It was quite a good salad, it had arugula, chopped apple, shredded carrots, a few peanuts and ~1T of Adam’s creamy italian salad dressing.

DSC00257

I ate dinner in courses, each item alone, but it all added up to be a great meal.

After the salad was a tropical smoothie.

DSC00260

~1/2C Goya passionfruit pulp, ~1C frozen tropical fruit blend, ~1/2C oj.  It was tasty, but a little too tart, I only drank about 2/3 of it.

Next Adam was the sweetest bear ever and shared 2 chicken nuggets with me.

DSC00259

And finally I ate some roasted butternut squash.

DSC00261

I spritzed it with evoo; sprinkled with salt, pepper, cinnamon, and nutmeg; and roasted for 20minutes at 475*.

Actually, finally was dessert.  I prepped this Chocolate Peanut Butter Quick Bread my mom sent awhile ago while I drank my smoothie.

DSC00258

I did a lot of spoon-licking while I made it, but I saved room for a small piece.

DSC00262

It was good, chocolate bread with gooey peanut butter chips.

I’m heading to bed so I can get up early tomorrow.  This week is off to a good start!

What foods do you like to “borrow” from your significant other?  In general Adam’s food choices are a little less healthy than mine, but I usually don’t have any junk-envy.  However, those frozen chicken nuggets are to die for!

True Facts

by

1. If you are having a migraine, a sure-fire way of not curing it is to bend down to get a yogurt and bash your head on the fridge.

2. Partly because of the headache, but mostly because it was identical to the night before and tonight, I did not do a dinner post yesterday.  Here is today’s leftovers for dinner photo –

DSC00023

DSC00024

3. This morning I did not hit my head when I got out a yogurt for breakfast, I also didn’t hit my wallet too hard either – this yogurt was on sale for 40cents.

DSC00017

DSC00018

4. I applied for waitressing jobs today, so we’ll see how that goes.  While I was out I bought a turkey sandwich for lunch.

DSC00020

DSC00021

5. The second half of my lunch was a replay of the best smoothies ever –

DSC00022

6. This was a super lame post and I apologize to my readers, I do love you guys!

Tell me some true facts from your day!

Smooth Talker

by

There were some dryer issues and we ended up waiting at the apartment a little longer than planned.  Not an issue though, and we enjoyed the best smoothies ever.  The secret was this Naysoya Smoothie Starter.

HPIM4395

How have I not bought this before?!  It gave the smoothies the perfect thickness, and had the best aftertaste.  The smoothies were more than ready for their close-up.

HPIM4396

For 2 portions I used –

  • 1C Naysoya Smoothie Starter, Vanilla
  • 2frozen bananas
  • 3/4C frozen strawberries
  • splash So Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk

I enjoyed mine in one of our lovely new Guinness cups.

HPIM4397

Now, fingers crossed, we should be off in the next 10minutes.  Can’t wait to see what the wings festival entails!

What do you use to thicken your smoothies?  Usually I’m all about just liquid/frozen fruit, but this was pretty fabulous.  I never ever use protein powders.