Tag Archives: sweet

My Goodness My Guiness

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I hope you’ve already entered my giveaway, because I’m going to rave about the nuts now 😉  Just to remind you; Sahale Snacks sent me these products to celebrate the fact that 2oz bags of Sahale Snacks are now being sold at Seattle’s Best Coffee.  I am a fan of the company because the ingredients are always real and the nutritionals are excellent (duh, they are just nuts!).

I couldn’t eat lunch today because of the door maintainance debacle, so I grabbed a mixed baggie of all three varieties to eat during Orgo.

I just want to say, in general, that whomever came up with the idea to throw cheese into the mix should probably get a medal!  Perhaps one carved into a blog of cheese….

Barbeque Almonds with Mild Chipotle + Ranch

These had a good amount of spice, I think too much on an almond would be overwhelming; they had a bit of sweetness that helped to balance them out.

Tuscan Almonds with Parmesan + Herbs

This kind tasted the most cheesey.  The coating was thicker, and gave them a candied nuts texture.  These were the husband’s favorite – he described the flavor as robust.

Southwest Cashews with Chili + Cheddar

This kind was my favorite, probably because it used cashews.  These were definitely the spiciest.

After Orgo and Anatomy classes were finished I headed to the library for an hour and then to the Anatomy Lab for a 2hour review session.  Our big exam on Thursday includes skeletons, cat muscles, and sheep brains; all of which were out for us to review this afternoon.  I didn’t leave until after 6 and I’m finally feeling a bit more at ease, although still pretty darn nervous!

The nuts held me over for a long time, but from 12:30 – 6:30 they did not!  I grabbed 1.5 Butterscotch Pumpkin cookies the minute I walked in the apartment.

By the way, Adam is pretty picky about “strange” desserts and he loved these.  He took some to school today and said his friends were fans as well.  If you’ve been eyeing Rachel’s recipe, make it!

For dinner we made Mushroom and Provolone Patty Melts from Cooking Light.

We followed the recipe pretty closely, but made a few changes –

  • we used 94% lean turkey meat instead of sirloin
  • we subbed white button mushrooms for cremini
  • ate the topping in 2 servings (doubling the amount)
  • I ate my melt deconstructed, with the bread on the side

We used Guinness for our dark beer which was a nice touch, but overall the recipe was pretty flavorless.  Honestly, my favorite part was the side (2servings) of Simply Rustic Bread from Pilsberry (I had a free coupon from BlogHer).

I was starving all evening so I did a lot of snacking while we cooked.

I’ve got an early morning tomorrow, and tons of studying to be fresh for, good night!

What is your favorite kind of nuts?  I’d probably go with cashews or brazil nuts.

Scotty Doesn’t Know

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We had an impromptu date night tonight; the husband called up another couple on a whim and invited them over for dinner and “Eurotrip” watching.  Actually, Michelle was feeling sick, but the boys and I whipped up a pretty good meal as a threesome!  (maybe we got in the cramming position…..clearly I’m still a bit delirious!)

Before that though, we made a few trips and finished all of our grocery shopping for the week.  Hunger final hit while in Target so I grabbed a single serving pita chips and red pepper hummus from the cafe.

De-lish-us!  I am continually impressed by Target. 

For dinner I made Chicken Cutlets with Fig Compote (recipe from Family Circle),

Adam made some roasted sweet potatoes,

and Patrick made a side salad.

We did good!  I took small servings because my cold has made my appetite all wonky.

And I still couldn’t even finish what I took, I left ~1-2bites of everything.

I didn’t actually fit in a stretch session, but we got in a pretty good workout of side-splitting laughter!  “Eurotrip” is one of my favorite movies; “here’s a fun fact – you made with your sister man!”  Actually, in order, my favorites are –

  1. Super Troopers
  2. Eurotrip
  3. The Hangover
  4. Knocked Up

I’m a bit of a guy in my entertainment choices 😉

We’ll say I worked up an appetite chuckling, because I did find room for dessert!

I’ve been waiting to make Rachel’s Pumpkin Butterscotch Cookies since I bookmarked them months ago!

Mmmmn, you can’t go wrong with pumpkin and butterscotch and the texture of these was awesomely cakey.

Tomorrow morning I’ve got to get up early to go to a 5k Heart Walk, yikes!  I’m going as part of a service group I joined so I can’t bow out, let’s hope I’m feeling healthy in the morning.

Be honest, did I get “Scotty Doesn’t Know” stuck in your head?

My Achy Breaky Head

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Ugh.  I had a strange, achy/heavy head feeling all day; which I’m sure was made worse by my crappy food choices.  I didn’t work out.  I’m not ready for any of my tests; probably because I didn’t study enough.  Ughs all around.

Jimmy Dean French Toast Griddler.  (p.s. these have just 210calories and 2g of saturated fat)

A huge honeycrisp apple topped with melted part-skim mozzarella and honey.  Win!

Popcorn, popcorn, popcorn.

A mini sandwich cookie that was the best thing I’ve ever eaten, seriously.

Buffalo chicken pizza (with ranch).

Adam and I made a huge pile of Dove chocolate wrapper.

Pleeeeeease, think smart thoughts for me tomorrow!

Good Vibes, Good Vibes

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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.

More of a Mountain than a Hump

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It has been a day!  I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it on the blog yet, but I have 4 exams next week so things are a little crazy.  Additionally, I’ve picked up a short-term volunteering stint with the Dietetics department at a local hospital.  Anyways, today was a bit insane.

I got into bed with a magazine at 8pm last night, and was asleep by 9:30, but my 6:50 alarm still felt pretty harsh.  That’s 9hours of sleep!!!  I guess I really was exhausted yesterday.

I didn’t have time to make breakfast but I did grab a coffee when I got from the hospital.

Equal parts house roast, sweetened English toffee cappuccino, and 2% milk.  If they had skim milk this would be my perfect cup of coffee.

I worked typing up the policy binder and creating a handout for diabetics on the clear liquid diet from 8-11.  Fact – Diabetics on the clear liquid diet are not encouraged to have sugar-free drinks, but should in fact consume 200 grams of carbohydrate throughout the day.  I am going back to work again on Monday.  It’s too bad that I can’t shadow someone in the department, but I’m glad for any exposure I can get.

The husband dropped me off at the hospital in the morning, and the department head looked at me like I was crazy when I said I was going to walk to campus.  That decision was twofold though – parking at the hospital is terrible, and my walk served as a workout since I can’t go to the gym on Wednesdays.  Hospital –> campus is a little further than 2.5miles, and the weather was perfect for a walk!

I had a short break before my first class so I snacked on this serving of Honey Nut Cheerios [stolen from the buffet last weekend].

After Orgo and Anatomy were over I sat and completed my Lab work.  I’m halfway done with next week’s work and since I’ll be busy with tests that is very helpful.  I couldn’t bring a sandwich or anything because of how long I was out of the house, so I packed this single serving of Caramel Cashew Trail Mix to munch on.

Target, I love you; this stuff is so good!  I would never purchase a big bag though, because there is no way I could keep my hand out of it and one serving packs 320calories 😀

I also ate this Clif Fruit Twist [left out the house by Camile].

I arrived at lab at 5:40 and I didn’t leave until 9pm, yikes!  We were working with molecule models and it was very time intensive.  Our new TA starts every lab off with a lesson, and even though it keeps us longer, I love it because it’s another opportunity to learn the (difficult!) subject.

Adam came to get me at 9, we drove a friend from lab home, and then we went on a short walk to get him chocolate milk.  All of which = no time for dinner.  Two thumbs down!

Honestly, it’s so late that I’m not even hungry.  Normally I don’t think skipping meals is a good thing but I know that I’ve been having crazy hunger cycles and since I honored my hunger and ate a ton a few weeks ago it seems like a good idea to honor my lack of hunger and not force it now.  Everything will even out.

Do you ever force yourself to eat when you aren’t hungry?  What’s your reasoning?

P.S.  If you haven’t yet, I’d love it if you’d vote for me for Project Food Blog.

He’s Just Like Garfield

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I did not get enough work done today!  I got behind from my “free” weekend last week and I’m still making work up, and I have 4 exams next week so things are feeling a little crazy.  But I did something so that feels good.  Progress, people!

This morning we sent the in-laws off with a hearty breakfast from Panos.

I ordered “The Fix,” which was Two eggs, scrambled with Feta, in a grilled Pita, served with homefries.  I made some adjustments – mozzarella subbed in for feta, plus broccoli and spinach.

I forgot to ask for no butter on my pita so I ended up taking a few sandwich bites and then eating the insides out.  I left a lot of my huge pile of hash browns as well.

I think we sent them off full!  I wrote my blog address down for my m-i-l so she might start stopping by (hi Barb!).

I spent the morning studying – and internet time killing 😦 – at home.  The last of the 7-layer bar was calling me.

I cut it up into little pieces for ease in eating without crumming on my Orgo book.

Around 3 the husband came home from the lab and we drove over to my campus so I could go to the gym.  My knees have been feeling off so I decided to do a nice low-impact treadmill run.

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

I covered 2.53miles.  I finished with a super quick stretch, the gym was closing as I left!

Adam and I studied in the library for a couple of hours – although, again, I got distracted by the internet; gleesh!  I packed some plums and a Babybel Light to snack on.

I also opened this Turtle candy bar my in-laws brought me.

I ate 1.5 and gave the rest to the husband.

I should not have wasted any more time, but when we got home and Adam asked if I wanted to go for a walk my answer was “of course!”  We didn’t have any destination in mind so we ended up visiting the store kitties.

The “store kitties” are two cats that live in a clothing shop on Elmwood, the husband is obsessed with them.  They are ginormous; one has huge paws and is just a big cat, and the other is a total fatty. 

Sidenote 1 – Adam and I have been talking for weeks about baking a lasagna just so we can take a picture of it with the fat cat.  Sidenote 2 – when we lived in Park Slope there was a store puppy, a french bulldog that visited a shop 13 blocks from our apartment.  We walked those 13 blocks at least 3 times a week so we could go in and be total dog creepers.

Dinner was a cinch when we got home because my m-i-l brought us all sorts of home cooked goodness.

Rosemary chicken (just to note, I only ate one of those two pieces, I don’t think I’m a fan of chicken thighs),

with roasted potatoes.

All we had to do was pan-steam some Red Russian Kale, finished off with a bit of sesame oil.

I dipped every component in ketchup 🙂

This meal felt very hardy.

Now I’m already late for my goal bedtime and I’ve still got to shower; I’m off!

Do you have any “store animals” in your neighborhood?

New Fish, Blue Fish

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For dinner tonight we took Adam’s parents to the new sushi spot that just opened on Elmwood, Blue Fin.

My camera was dying and the lighting was low, so please excuse my poor photography.  The meal was delicious; I got one healthy roll and one fun roll.

For health, I ordered a California hand roll.

Hand rolls are my favorite sushi order, I love the texture of the nori.

For fun I ordered a roll to split with Adam.  This bad boy had asparagus, cream cheese, white fish, massago, eel sauce, spicy mayo, and tempura; I believe it was called the Blue Mountain Roll.

It was a great mix of flavors and textures, but very heavy; if you are ordering sushi to be healthy please be aware that rolls with cream cheese are neither traditional nor low-calorie.  They are tasty though!  I ate three pieces.

We were given chocolate with the bill.

We took the in-laws to Delish for local ice cream after dinner.  It was too cold outside for that to appeal to me, but I did pick up an adorable mini casserole dish!

They were on sale and I’ve been wanting one forever.

My mother-in-law is amazing; she was in the kitchen all day yesterday and she brought us pounds (literally!) of tasty foods.  She actually brought so much we can’t eat it all this week!  I portioned out the chilli into baggies in one cup servings and have them on a cookie sheet in the freezer.

That’s how I deal with all soup/soft leftovers, once they are frozen they are a cinch to stack and store.

I did a little bit of school work when we got home and I snacked on a snickerdoodle from my m-i-l.

I didn’t actually eat much real food today so I probably should have skipped the cookie; I’m learning.  We’ve got breakfast plans at 7 tomorrow so I’ve got to get to bed.  Sweet dreams all.

What is your favorite sushi order?

When It Rains…

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…it pours!  Today was dark, rainy, and cold, which totally set the gloom and doom scene for this frustrating day.  At one point it seemed like everything that could go wrong would.  My pants got soaked, my bag was so heavy my right arm started to fall asleep, I didn’t do well on my quiz, I’m frustrated by the cat muscle lab, I forgot my lunch…  But eventually the sun came out (metaphorically of course, it stayed grey here all day) and things started to work out.  I can easily find a silver lining in most of today’s mishaps.

When I got to campus this morning I bought a small coffee – with 2 creamers because there was no skim milk – to sip while I did my last-minute review. 

I quizzed with a friend and we both felt pretty confident.  By the time I headed into lab there were only about 5 words out of the 200 that I didn’t know – – – and 3 of them were on my version of the quiz!  Since the quiz was only 12 questions that is a lot, arrrgh.  It is frustrating to know so much of the material and still earn a poor grade.

I was pretty irritated with myself when I realized I forgot my lunch, but I ended up getting a surprisingly good lunch from Taco Bell in the food court.

I got the Ranchero Chicken Soft Tacos (it comes with 2) and they were fresh and tasty.

We had to sample what we made in Food Prep Lab today but most of the items were red meat so I ended up only taking a small bite of muffin.  I’m not sure whether or not I’ll be able to take photos in lab, but the amount of food each week will be so small it doesn’t really matter if it goes undocumented.

I attended the introductory meeting of Roteract (a service club I’m joining) and then headed to the gym.  It doesn’t matter what the weather looks like outside, a workout always makes me feel good!  I did 30 minutes on the elliptical, random, level 6; followed with a few minutes of strength/stretch.  After I carried all of my stuff home I set out with Adam for a walk to the Co-op.  I don’t think anything feels better after a gym session than stretching my legs out with a walk. 

I have a philosophy statement due tomorrow so I worked on that most of the evening.  I hate those types of assignments – half of the reason I didn’t go to graduate school was because I didn’t want to write a personal statement! – but I think I did a pretty good job in the end.  FYI on the schoolfront – I got a 100% on my extra credit presentation and my Orgo teacher called me out in class to say I did a good job on my homework notes; go me!

I had a small handful of dried hibiscus and a chocolate-covered fig when I got home.

The rest of dinner was a little bit small.

I wanted to make chips out of the local Red Russian Kale I got at the farmers’ market, but those turned out like this –

The green bean fries were much more appetizing.

Honestly, dinner was pretty much an afterthought anyways, all of my thoughts were on this –

Oh yes, a 7-Layer bar from the co-op; be still my heart. 

I’m going to take a quick shower and then eat it in bed with a magazine, Heaven!

What’s the weather been like in your area?  Summer still?  Fall-like?  Or did you have gloom and doom like me?