Speaking of school, sorry for the quick post but the dork in me just can’t resist setting up my binders and getting to bed early!
What was the tastiest thing you ate this weekend?
*Updated to add – The husband just offered to make me eggs and (turkey)bacon; guess I’m staying up a little longer 😀
Today has been one of those perfect days where Buffalo felt like a fabulous place to live and all was right with the world! It didn’t exactly have the smoothest start though, our fail dinner was like the gift that kept on giving (and giving and giving). I don’t want to fully blame Wine Thief, because I did help myself to way too many of the husband’s salt and vinegar chips, but I spent my midnight throwing up and cursing date night. Thankfully my super Saturday has all but canceled out fail Friday to restore the balance. 90% of the day has been walking, so that’s pretty much my perfect day right there 🙂
We started our morning with a mega-tour of my new campus. I start class on Monday so I needed to figure out exactly how long it would take me to walk to school (~35minutes) and where all my classes were located. Adam and I had a fun time exploring my new digs.
Here’s where I’ll be taking Organic Chemistry –
From there I walked over to the Elmwood Art Festival. Is there anything more wonderful than a good street festival? I think not.
After taking in the sites, I also took in some tasty treats. Fresh squeezed maple lemonade.
Peanut butter popsicle dipped in dark chocolate.
Plus a new cereal bowl that I’m sooooo excited about (I’ll show it off later). I actually went home for a spell and then came back with the husband. On our final loop I picked up some kettle corn,
which was the perfect snack for my next activity – the movies! The husband had to go to the lab so I decided to go solo to “The Switch.” We are big movie talkers so I packed plenty of snacks to keep myself occupied alone. A smaller portion of my fair kettle corn.
I probably could have eaten the whole thing, but I definitely didn’t need too! What’s in the cooler?
A Ginger Root Beer Zevia sample,
and some frozen lemonade.
My kettle corn was sweet and crunchy, my lemonade tasted like summer, and my Zevia had a great kick – it was the perfect movie meal! The movie was a win itself; Aniston and Bateman were the perfect foil and the plot was sweet and funny. Eating Chalk recommends it!
Now I’ve got to get going on dinner.
What was the last fair, festival, etc, you had the pleasure of attending?
My agenda so far today has been one in which any 6.5 year old would be thrilled to take part! Popsicles, kids’ meals, nary a vegetable in sight; who wants to come over and Skip-It with me?
First, I dressed like a watermelon. If you’ve noticed that I often seem watermelon-y in hue, yes I’ve noticed, but those colors make me happy!
Next I walked over to the local bookstore to meet up with the Diary of a Wimpy Kid promotional truck that just happened to be giving away free goodies.
Is there really anything more fabulous than a grape popsicle?
Katie couldn’t get out of work in time for the ice cream so we made a lunch date instead. I had yet another free $5 off so to Moe’s we went. Kid’s meal quesadilla? Heck yes!
With a side of chips with queso dip.
And an oatmeal cookie.
Not only does Moe’s keep giving me coupons and letting me order off the kids’ menu, but they also always let me upgrade my diet coke to a large free of charge; I think I’m going to move in!
What was the last thing you did that made you feel like a kid again?
It’s almost Friday! Weekends have been pretty much meaningless to me this past unemployed year, but now that I’m starting back to school next Monday they are exciting again.
I spent forever running errands today because parking was ridiculous everywhere I went. Also helping orphans catching up on “Make it or Break it.” I managed to make time for some amazing meals though; I’m seriously excited about every single thing I ate today.
Chicken Enchilada Suiza Lean Cuisine.
Frozen meal win, this was delicious. A chicken enchilada with cheesy sauce,
and a pile of rice that got mushed around in the cheese sauce.
With an Orange Zevia (free sample).
I’m usually not one for orange sodas but this guy was totally thirst quenching.
Also, a mini bag of kettle corn.
I spent some time wifing it up in the kitchen, baking some chocolate chip cookies for the husband. I stole a tiny one.
I would have eaten more, but I had already stashed 2T of dough away into the freezer for something amazing. Keep reading…
Dinner was kinda off the hook.
Think tasty leftovers x10billion. I topped a bed of roasted green beans with 1cup of corn, a serving of shredded bbq chicken, and some homemade bbq sauce.
Shredded chicken, corn, and roasted green beans are all pretty big favorites of mine and together they were unstoppable! The balance of spicy-salty-sweet was perfect here.
But nothing was topping dessert.
I’ve had food-processor-envy all year, but tonight I envied no man; tonight, I got to make Gena’s famous banana soft-serve!
Only my batch was extra fabulous because it also had frozen cookie dough blended in.
This bowl was 2frozen bananas and 2.5T frozen cookie dough. Swoon!
Have you gotten to try banana soft serve yet? Thoughts?
Howdy-ho! I hope all my readers had a good transition back to the work week. It’s been a strange but satisfying day around here.
Not gonna lie, I definitely ate a Breyer’s Cookie Dough ice cream sandwich for breakfast.
Healthy living blogger fail, but a big “happy living blogger” win (thanks, Heather!). And (thanks, Rachel) sorry, I’m not sorry. It was only 160calories, it made me wickedly happy, and I felt full and satisfied all morning.
I spent my morning doing blog work and getting some house things organized; I start school in exactly a week and I want to make sure everything is squared away.
Around 1pm it looked like rain outside so I hurried to get my running shoes on. Normally rain wouldn’t thrill me, but today it meant I could go for a mid-day run without overheating or sunburning. I did fuel up first though. Coconut water,
and 1/3 a serving of Wonka Apple Fruit Chews as a really ghetto attempt at Clif Blocks.
Apparently this was the perfect fuel combo because I had a great run! I kept it quick (as in short, not speedy) but fabulous. 1.92miles in 19.25minutes. A couple of notes – 1. Usually I’ve been taking walking breaks but today I ran the entire time minus three stops: a cross-walk, a dachshund petting, a sports bra adjustment. 2. All of my various leg injuries felt a-ok; but I spent some time stretching afterwards just in case. 3. Running makes me so fricking happy!
In the afternoon I got a very special box from my parents.
Heck yes! We got the food processor and the stand mixer as wedding gifts almost three years ago, but this is our first apartment that they’ll fit in. Actually, they technically still don’t fit as they’ll be residing in the office, but the siren song of homemade pesto was just too strong.
I also stopped by campus to pick up my textbooks.
This was an expensive yet exciting purchase.
I had another $5-off coupon at Moe’s so I made dinner out of a kids’ meal. Quick sidenote – I absolutely adore restaurants that will let me order off the kids’ menu!
I got the mini masterpiece, a kid’s quesadilla with cheddar and corn salsa. As Caitlin would say, it was epic.
Also a side of chips with queso, sour cream, and pico.
I was actually not hungry at all, but my day was begging for some veggies so I rounded things out with a bowl of cole slaw.
No measuring, but I used cole slaw veggie mix, plain yogurt, rice vinegar, raisins, and a sprinkle of sugar. Don’t the raisins sort of remind you of lions stalking prey in the tall grass of the Sahara?
Just me? 😀
What was the last thing you ate that made you deliriously happy? No pot brownie answers please, that’s a cop out!
When I was still living in Brooklyn, Missy wrote a post about an incredible burger place she frequented. The menu was huge and you could choose as many things as you wanted from a long list of toppings. But it was in Queens, and no one goes to Queens unless they live there, so I put it out of my mind. Until today…
Wonder of wonders, Buffalo hosts something exciting: Cheeburger Cheeburger!
The location was small but the 50’s style decorations totally set the mood.
Plus the hostess offered to take my picture with the giant cheeseburger so it was pretty much a love affair from then on.
We were having dinner with Adam’s friend from the lab and her husband, so I was trying to pretend that I was cool, but who wouldn’t geek out at the sight of this –
It was all downhill from there, I actually clapped my hands when my shake was brought to the table.
I went with a half order (I forgot to request skim milk, boo) of amaretto, marshmallow, oreo.
Yuuuuuuuuuuum! I agonized over the choices but I think this was a pretty good combination. The amaretto flavor was pretty heavy though, when we go back again I might just get unadulterated marshmallow.
I’m going to be totally honest with you guys and cop to the fact that made my dinner selections before we even got there. I read the menu like a novel (it’s practically that long!) and hemmed and hawed in front of my laptop in the privacy of my own living room. My indecision is embarrassing enough at a normal restaurant, going to Cheeburger Cheeburger unprepared would have been disastrous.
I think I did a pretty good job of ordering in the end.
If nothing else I certainly took advantage of their ‘as many toppings as you like’ policy! I went with a turkey burger patty on a salad with the following toppings –
And by the time I was done with my shake and burger I was so full that I could only manage 3 little bites of my salad!
Worth it. We packed up the salad for Adam’s lunch tomorrow and I thought that the turkey burger was divine so it all worked out. I practically had to be rolled out of there though.
My goal bedtime is 11pm, ready – set – go!
If you went to Cheeburger Cheeburger what toppings would you order for your burger/salad?
Eeek! All sorts of excitement in the lunch post. I did not supplement breakfast. I did snag a small dark chocolate from my BlogHer swag,
but I refuse to file that as breakfast.
Then I was sprinting out of the house because I found out I could pick up this beauty –
I earned a new phone rebate more than a month ago and I have been patiently waiting driving Adam crazy waiting for my new phone to come in! I’m not that important (at all) but it’s still exciting to be able to check my e-mail on the go!
I’m also a genius (just a bit) so I wanted to share my great idea with you; when I borrowed Adam’s phone in NY I discovered that the old standard I-Pod cases fit the EVOO perfectly –
My phone is protected, it looks cute as all get out, I didn’t have to buy a new case, and I repurposed an old case that would have gone in the trash!
Speaking of dorky and phone related updates…
I resisted for months when my friends begged me to try g-mail and that ended up being a good decision, so I figured I should cave on the Twitter issue too. I have no idea what the heck I’m doing on there so pretty please go follow me so I don’t feel like such a dork?
While I was out and about I took a phone survey with Moe’s and earned myself a free lunch, love that place! I got a Moo Moo Mr. Cow –
Moooo, I ordered my baby burrito with rice, black beans, tofu, corn salsa, and cucumbers.
I asked for just a few chips (I proved last night I can’t resist them!) and got some guacamole as my side.
Since I ordered off the children’s menu I also got a cookie, white chocolate macadamia.
I bring in coupons like I’m 70 and order a kid’s meal like I’m 7; does that average out to 25?
Can you help me with twitter?
After our family time weekend it was great to spend the evening with the husband, just the two of us. We even had a three course meal, Emily and Adam style.
First course, a big plate of green bean fries.
This is my favorite veggie to roast! Tonight’s plate got a sprinkle of onion powder pre-oven that took it over the top. My favorite are the crinkly ones, just like french fries!
Second course, shrimp and lobster ravioli with garlic butter sauce.
I’d love to have you think I was a good enough wife to have whipped this up on my own, but in reality it was a Buitoni sample I got to try via the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program.
This was from their Complete Meal for Two line. The ravioli and garlic butter sauce cook in the time it takes to boil water so I didn’t have high expectations but I ended up being very impressed. This was the quickest, easiest meal but it tasted restaurant quality. The sauce was rich without being too heavy and I thought it was well seasoned. The ravioli were stuffed full and I found huge meaty chunks of shrimp and lobster. Plus, at 500calories a serving I found my portion to be very filling, probably from the 21grams of protein. My only complaint with the dish is that it had 49%! of your daily sodium. Adam and I both have good to low blood pressure so this is ok for an occasional indulgence for us, but be careful if you are watching your sodium levels.
Dessert.
Breyer’s Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough sandwiches. I saw the box on sale today and just couldn’t resist. I adore ice cream cookie sandwiches but I had a random allergic reaction to a Chipwich in college so I haven’t had one in years. No reaction tonight, unless you count the exclamation of utter bliss! For 160calories I was blown away at how generous the portion was.
The cookies were chewy but not at all soggy and the filling tasted like vanilla froyo. The cookie dough pieces took it to a new level. Full disclosure – I actually ate my dessert before dinner 😀
What was the last “fancy date meal” you prepared? I feel like I tend to make “girl food,” but bacon mac and cheese is on the menu for tomorrow so we’ll see if I can’t make the husband swoon yet!
