Tag Archives: soup

I Have To Grudgingly Admit

by

… I love, love, loved The Hunger Games!  We are reading it for book club and I’d been resisting, but I got in bed with it last night at 11 and couldn’t stop reading until I was done!  My late night meant I missed my run this morning but it was still totally worth it.  I need to get my hands on the next two books asap.

Breakfast was a bowl of cereal (a mix) with vanilla almond milk.

Plus a pear.

We ran around all afternoon, including a trip to the mecca.

Squeee!  I didn’t buy even a tenth of what I wanted but still came away with a few goodies, including this Zico Chocolate Coconut Water.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I think this might be my new favorite thing.  The taste sort of reminded me of a chocolate egg cream.  I hope this becomes available in Buffalo soon!

Our meals for the day were eaten at chains, but both were good.  Lunch came from Panera Bread.

I got a soup and salad combo.  A half serving of brocoli cheddar soup.

And a half Thai chopped chicken salad.

With an apple as my side.

And part of a cookie to finish.

I made it through the drive back to the house but then my late night hit me hard and I ended up taking an afternoon nap.  I’m still feeling pretty tired and my mom and I have another 7-hour drive home tomorrow so I’ve got to get to bed early tonight (as in the minute I publish this post!).

Dinner was at Red Lobster.

I started with a side salad with balsamic vinegar on the side,

and of course a cheddar biscuit.

The salad was watery so I ignored it in favor of the biscuit which was delicious (of course!).

I did another combination for my main meal.

The stuffed flounder – which wasn’t as good as my meal last night at Outback,

and coconut shrimp – which came with tasty piña colada sauce.

I wasn’t expecting to get such a platter of food!  I managed half of the fish and 4 of the shrimp, plus all of my side of cole slaw.

All that’s left to eat is sugar plums!

Resolutions Check In: February

by

Last night – I didn’t finish my work, but I did make a big dent.  We were up until midnight but it was only 8pm when I realized that dinner wasn’t going to cover it.  I started with a bowl of coconut barley (cooked in coconut milk with shredded coconut stirred in) with pb sauce.

But there was something off about the texture so instead I moved on to pizza.

Lots of pizza.  What?  It was the last hours of Vegan Month, on a leap year!  Plus we’d already cheated anyway.  This was our least successful Vegan Month to date.

This morning – was the start of successful month.  I blame coffee.

That’s a leftover cup (+ish) of Wegman’s Espresso Roast (<– love!) with 1 Tbsp English Toffee Syrup and 5 Tbsp Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.  I’m not done with my work, not even close, but I made another big dent.

Breakfast was soup.

Dr. McDougall’s Pad Thai Noodle Soup.

Not Pad Thai in the slightest (the flavor seemed more Spanish than Thai), but the texture and flavor were quite tasty.  It badly needed peanuts but sadly we don’t have any.

Happy March’ing everyone!

Resolutions Check In: February

2 months down.  February was not quite as successful as January.  I want to blame the Vegan Challenge, but honestly we failed at that too.  The good thing is that I feel more than ready to put my head down and work the rest of the year.

1. Workout a minimum of three times per week.

Fail.  I have no excuse, but I can only do better.

2. Continue to read at least one book a month, for a minimum total of 30 books this year.

10. 206 Bones – Kathy Reichs

11. Firefly Lane – Kristin Hannah

12. Spider Bones – Kathy Reichs

Win.  3 books read this month for a total of 12 this year.  I’ve officially read every Temperance Brennan book currently available.

3. Put the time and effort into my school work that I can be proud of each week.

Middling.  I’m still on top of things but I slacked and I’m not necessarily proud of myself.

4. Continue working on being a positive person.

Fail/Win.  I decided in January that I needed to make more specific goals for each month so for February I said – “every time I get so mad I want to yell at Adam, I have to do three push-ups first.  And then I can yell!”  I only ended up doing push-ups once.  I forgot about them the times I was mad, but I did get mad a lot less often this month.

For March – stop eating take-out!  I’ll talk about this more later but getting creative in the kitchen helps keep me happy (and healthy!) so it’s a good goal for addressing positivity.

Moss No More

by

Hello again, long time no see!  After a solid month of basically being a sloth, today was my first productive day in a long time and it felt good.

I spent four hours shadowing an RD who does nutrition counseling for some of the local public schools.  Such a neat job!  I got to sit in on several sessions, including one with a parent.  I had a great time learning more about another new job possibility, but I have to admit that being back in a public school setting did make me miss my teaching days.  Actually, lately I’ve been thinking a lot about teaching.  I’m not sure where I’ll end up at this point, but I do know that I have to finish this degree before anything else happens!

I did have time to eat before I left, but when I got home Adam and I split this persimmon.

This anniversary gift was finally ripe.  We scooped the flesh out with a spoon.

Very tasty, though not quite $5 tasty.  I’m glad I got to try this guy as a present.

I also had a salad for greens.

A romaine base topped with peanut sauce, craisins, and buckwheat groats.

And I did a bit of nibbling while I cooked up dinner.

Tonight’s meal was a blog-inspired affair!

Olive oil crackers from Yes I Want Cake.

Sweet Chicken Chili from Iowa Girl Eats topped with a bit of parmesan.

Those girls are so good, both recipes were delicious.

I’ve made the chili many times in the past (even the beef chili from the chili sale was inspired by the recipe) and I am so glad that I decided to be brave and try the crackers.  They had the perfect balance of crunch and chew!

After dinner I cuddled up to this bag of popcorn.

And now the kitchen is officially closed for the night and my retainers are in.  I’m off to paint my nails!

How many different types of jobs have you held?  If you’re a career-switcher, do you ever miss your old gig?

My list at this point includes editor, retail worker/cashier, ice cream scooper, waitress, note-taker, and teacher.

STT; Thursday Afternoon – Saturday Morning

by

It’s a busy day (the day before Christmas!) but I just couldn’t bear not sharing (pictures of all, descriptions of few) what I’ve been up to!

Thursday

Thursday afternoon, my mom treated me to lunch at Pesce, a newish Italian spot. We split the two things that sounded best. A spinach salad with craisins, candied pecans and goat cheese,

and a (fried) bbq chicken flat bread.

The husband has been calling about missing me and asking for pictures, so – Hi, husband!

Do you like my new top?

For dinner my parents and I headed to Victor’s Hideout for some good local cuisine.

Our plates came with plantains, fungi, sweet potato, rice and beans, and salad.

Plus I ate a roll with butter.

Here, my dad and I split two plates.  He got the fried shrimp,

And I got ole wife, a local whitefish.

Head on, scrape the meat off the bones… It was intense but tasty.

That evening I headed over to the apartment (bachelor pad) of two high school friends who just moved in together. 4 of us from a regular group were there together and it was fun to do some reminiscing. Adrien served me a tasty vodka-soda-lemon thing at some point.

But I stuck to one drink because I was driving (on the left … in the rain … without traffic signals because half the island didn’t have power). My mom did text around 1:30 to see if I was dead, which I thought was sweet.

Friday

Friday morning I may have overslept. I missed my gym window too, which was annoying. But I got up in time for breakfast.

That bowl was 1 egg, 2 whites, ~3 oz leftover spicy chicken, a handful of shredded cabbage, 1 Tbsp butter, and 2 Tbsp cocktail sauce. I’m not even going to attempt to describe it.

Brunch was Christmas in a convenience package.

A gingerbread Clif bar that I took one bite of and then trashed in horror.

And an eggnog Nutrament that I swooned over.

Plus I got a chaispresso (chai, espresso, 2% milk) during afternoon errands.

Friday night my parents hosted a Hanukkah party!

It was great getting to see everyone, and it was extra great that my uncle made his (best ever) latkes.

I took many appetizers bites. I actually did take a photo of every single one, so I’m going to consolidate them grid style –

My cousin made matzoh ball soup.

Here is my dinner plate –

Salad, noodle kugel, and a tiny bit of salmon.

And my mom made “Crack Pie” (of Momofuku fame) for dessert.

Tiny slices because it was basically a pie of caramel in an oatmeal cookie crust.

Saturday

This morning I had my mom drive me to school so I could run some laps on the field.  I have no idea of distance, but I jogged 20 minutes straight; plus a quick, walking warm up and cool down.  I am not in running shape at all so it was interesting to see a workout out in the wind!

And I’d like to wish a very Merry Christmas tomorrow to all of my readers who celebrate!

STT; Wednesday Afternoon – Thursday Morning

by

Wednesday

Yesterday afternoon I made another stop at the gym; woot!  I hopped on the treadmill for 9 sets of 2 minutes running/2 minutes walking.  36 minutes and 3 miles.  I’m going to need to make myself do some strength training soon, but for now I’m taking baby steps.  Plus, my legs got sore enough that I decided to make Thursday a day off.

After a shower, I was heading downtown for a mini-meet up my old school was hosting.  I hate going to things like that by myself; I am seriously the worst with faces.  I love getting to catch up with people but if I’m not with a friend to tell me who people are then it feels more stressful than fun.  Thankfully (ha!) there really was no one I knew there, just a bunch of younger kids.  I met up with one friend from my class and we quickly fled in seach of dinner.

Crystal – a high school friend that I am thrilled is visiting the same time as I – and I headed over to Benny Iguanas, the new location of a sushi place that was very popular back in the day.  I started with a tofu/veggies miso soup.

And got a cucumber-avocado roll for my meal.

The catching up was better than the food, but the meal wasn’t terrible.

Thursday

I started this morning with dessert.

Plus a little of this –

And some of this –

The holiday season just isn’t complete without some “Carebears Nutcracker.”  Though it’s possible that I “borrowed” that DVD from a Blockbusters in Brooklyn 3 years ago!

I also had breakfast.

A 2% Pineapple Chobani with a sliced banana.

And now I’m heading to lunch with my mom, hopefully for more sushi!

How do you feel about high school reunions?

Best Ever

by

It’s a good thing I decided not to blog after dinner yesterday because we ended up staying out for drinks!  It was a late, fun night.

We started our evening with dinner at Las Culebrinas, Adam’s favorite Cuban place on the planet.  They have rolls with the best garlic butter.

We also ordered some appetizers to share.

Fried plantain with shrimp in red sauce and mozzarella sticks.

For dinner I got Mahi Mahi crusted in corn flakes and topped with a honey mustard sauce.

It was a little too fried for me but the sauce was so good.

And it came with a side salad with great dressing.

We did lots of sharing (though no one went near Adam’s beef because he was moaning so loudly – and whispering sweet nothings to his chocolate flan – and we were all a little afraid).  I ended up eating the equivalent of 3/4 of my plate.

Afterwards we walked around Coconut Grove for some more people watching.  And somehow ended up at Uncle Moe’s for drinks.  Like the Cow Tipper.

Here’s a shot with my hand for size comparison.

My mom and I split this one, obviously.  It was tasty, but not as strong as it sounds.

Which is good, because I was feeling good this morning.  I decided to skip the hotel breakfast, which was lackluster yesterday, and get in a quick gym trip instead.  15 minutes on the treadmill for a bit over a mile.

I ate my stolen pear for breakfast.

Along with a NuGo Dark bar packed from home.

And we stopped by our old favorite Thai place for a bubble tea smoothie.

Strawberry coconut smoothie with bobba.

So freaking good!

Plus a few peppermints for freshness.

Amid the day’s exploration we also spent some time at the mall. I know shopping seems like a strange vacation activity, but my parents live on an island so it’s more exploratory for them than the beach. My dad shared a pretzel with me while we were there.

I ate about x2 what’s pictured. We were practically frozen so I also bought an earl grey with steamed skim milk.

A few stops later, and we were at my favorite place on the planet.

Where I made the biggest cup of froyo I’ve ever eaten.

Everything chocolate and caramel, smothered in marshmallow.

Heaven. Pure heaven.

And the evening only got better. The plan was to go to Joe’s Stone Crab, but a 2-hour wait scared us away. The disappointment was very serendipitous, because we ended up having a best ever dinner at Joe’s less formal take-away spot next door. You ordered your food at a counter and brought it to the booth yourself and it ended up being just perfect.

To start, Adam and I split a seafood bisque.

It was creamy and tangy with big chunks of fish.

Then the four of us split an order of stone crab.

Stone crab is like the best crab you’ve ever had, on steroids. It is meaty, yet tender and buttery.

I got most of two claws, dipped in butter and mustard.

I drank a spicy bloody Mary with my food but I was too excited about the crab to remember to photograph before a few sips in.

For the rest of the meal, my mom and I split two sandwiches.

The shrimp po boy and the lobster Reuben.

The po boy was good, though I mostly ate the shrimp out of the bun, dipped in remoulade.

The Reuben was out of this world. Everything that’s good about a Reuben but with the added amazingness of lobster.

Everyone kept laughing at me for chewing with my eyes closed but I just couldn’t help it. The big pieces of meat were absolutely perfect.

I thought I couldn’t be happier, but then Adam bought me this t-Rex juice container.

Best trip souvenir ever.

My favorite activity in any city is bike riding, and for the hour after dinner that’s just what we did.

It was so much fun, though our times in the sand basically left my thighs burning! Then we spent another hour walking down the club strip on South Beach for the ultimate people watching. It was the best vacation day ever.  The best.

By The Magazine

by

Last day of school before a 5 day break, what what?!!  I was actually super busy all afternoon but something about not having to go to class tomorrow just made the whole day feel 100% fun.

I rolled over to look at the time this morning and it was already 7:15.  It’s possible my alarm didn’t beep, but more likely that I turned it off in my sleep.  Breakfast was on the go, and rushed.  A perfect pear,

and this Orgain Iced Cafe Mocha protein drink.

I bought the drink on super-sale at the Co-op and it wasn’t really what I was expecting.  It wasn’t thick or sweet at all, which would normally be nice but was strange when I was expecting the opposite.  But the nutrients did a good job of filling in my morning.

And then we had cake.

I’ll tell you again, that my classmates all loved the crock-pot cake.  Even if you don’t win my giveaway I suggest making it at home.

Amid afternoon activities, lunch was eaten in parts.  First, a strange-sounding yogurt bowl.

Activia Selects French Pineapple yogurt with canned pumpkin and shredded coconut.

I know that combination sounds strange, but it was pretty good.  Pumpkin Colada?

Plus a bag of popcorn.

And a Biscoff spoon.

I’ve had this jar of Biscoff open for more than a month now and I’m sort of not sure how there’s still any left.

Dinner was Tomato-Vodka Soup and Scones, both magazine recipe finds.

The Tomato-Vodka Soup was from Everyday with Rachael Ray.

I skipped the spices and rim rub, only used half of the vodka, and substituted light for heavy cream.

The Easy Scone recipe was from Woman’s Day.

I used light cream instead of heavy again, but otherwise left this one alone.

Both were delicious.

But I’m not the hugest tomato soup fan (I made this for the husband mostly) so I left behind the 2nd half of my bowl.  Instead I ate a 2nd scone.

With Smart Balance Light and honey.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Duncan Hines giveaway.

Yay, Buffet!

by

It was a good weekend end.  It’s been great having my brother-in-law in town for a quick visit.  I managed to have a good balance of work/schoolwork/and fun today too.

We started our morning with smoothies.

1.5 cups of mango puree, 1.5 Tbsp honey, 1.5 cups frozen peaches, and 1 container of Stonyfield Mango and Honey Low-fat Yogurt; split three ways.

This was the last of the mango puree but I definitely plan on purchasing more soon.

My smoothie made me shiver, so I made a cup of tea to warm up with.

2 bags of red velvet tea steeped in skim milk.  It was tasty, but the dog snuck his snout in halfway through so I had to abandon it.  I moved on to pizza leftovers instead.

Atop notecard making.  Holy crap do I ever still have a lot to do before Wednesday’s exam!

I did take a mid-day study break to go to Brawler’s Deli with the boys for lunch.  Their portion sizes are ridiculous; check out this half of Adam’s sandwich!?!

My meal was healthier, but equally big.

A side salad with a bit of balsamic and spicy mustard on top,

a cup of gouda beer soup,

and Adam’s side of cole slaw.

I ate all of the cole slaw, 3/4 of the salad, and 2/3 of the soup, when the game reached halftime and the Pearl Street Staff set out a huge (free!) buffet.  Score!

I took some fruit, carrots, and spinach and buffalo chicken dips with chips.  All tasty.

After my brother-in-law left, Adam and I spent the afternoon hanging out until I had to go to work.  Dinner had to be simple since my shift started at 6, mac and cheese leftover from last week.

Plus some amazing cookies (recipe’s coming tomorrow) when I got home.

Also plus 2 servings (?!) of Lindt truffles that were eaten on the couch and out of reach of the camera.  Whoops.

It’s going to be a busy week, I’ve got to get to bed!