Tag Archives: tuna

Driving Dilemma

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We love our neighborhood – a quiet side street off of Elmwood, the “cool” strip in Buffalo – but the parking situation here is a bummer.  There’s not a lot of parking space to begin with and then the city further restricts residents by only allowing use of one side of the street from 9-5 on weekdays.  In the end it’s really not something I can complain about though because we generally end up parking 2 blocks away from our apartment at most and often snag spots right out front.  What I can complain about (and do at length) is the fact that parking switches from left MTW to right RF.  Which means that if you wake up at 8:50 thinking that it’s Wednesday when it’s actually Thursday you’re out $30.  $60 if you have two cars to worry about.

During the school year – when Adam and I have long-houred internships at different hospitals – having two cars will be a godsend.  But in the summer – when we barely drive the one car, let alone two – it’s all we can do to remember to move the cars and they become a big, costly annoyance.  I try to put “move the cars!!!” in my day planner but since I often don’t check my planner until after 9am this has proved less than helpful.  What has proved effective lately though is coupling the task moving the cars with another activity.  If there’s one thing I’ll never forgot to look forward to it’s a date with Adam!

For example, this morning we set our alarms for 8:20 8:40 8:50 and moved the cars before setting out on a walk to get coffee.

We ended up with no tickets, plus (half sweet) coffee as a bonus!

I waited to enjoy my hot coffee until I got home to the ac, and paired it with the rest of my breakfast spread.

A crisp, local apple,

and Greek Gods Fig yogurt.

Yum x 100!  If you still haven’t tried Greek Gods then you totally need to get on that.

Coffee always makes me super full, which helped lunch to get pushed back later and later into the afternoon.  When a coworker called at noon I ended up picking up an extra daytime shift at work tomorrow which meant we needed to switch around some of our lunch and dinner meal plans.  The end result of all this is that it was 2:30, I hadn’t eaten lunch, and I needed to go to the store before I could make dinner.

I’d been craving garlic eggplant all morning – actually I’ve been craving that dish ever since I saw it on the table across from ours at Tokyo Shanghai – so I told myself that if Wegman’s had it on their hot bar then I’d buy lunch there.  I haven’t seen garlic eggplant at Wegman’s in months, but apparently crossing your fingers works!

I got a big scoop of garlic eggplant alongside veggies picked out from various containers,

and a few big pieces of sweet and sour chicken.

So fun to find exactly what I was craving right on that day; usually I whine to the husband about tastes I’m looking forward to for days!

No matter how satisfying and tasty though, waiting too long for lunch always means I’m hungrier all afternoon.  We had a good array of snacks to pick from; baby carrots with blue cheese,

a white chocolate and toffee cookie from Wegman’s cookie bar,

and when I made another batch of pumpkin muffins I ate a mini muffin with Smart Balance Light.

I’m glad I didn’t snack too much because dinner was amazing.

The dinner idea that I just couldn’t wait for was tuna salad Reubens.

We made tuna salad with 1000 Island Dressing and pickle relish, then pressed sandwiches with sauerkraut and 2% Swiss cheese.

We picked up a loaf of blue cheese and cracked pepper bread from Wegman’s bakery today and it totally took the sandwiches over the top.

With roasted broccoli,

and ears of fresh corn.

This dinner was so worth making the kitchen hot and steamy! 

How many cars does your household own?  How often do you drive to your final destination (as opposed to walking or using public transportation)?

My Friends, Ben and Jerry

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I know I said I was excited about blogging again, but I was more excited about sharing dinner with my friends in less than ideal table lighting.

I met up with a group of girlfriends from school and we had a great time playing summer catch-up.  I ordered a tuna melt (sourdough, no butter; with cheddar cheese).

I ate half and then brought the rest home to the husband.

Such a random diner order but it definitely hit the spot.  Sidenote – once I occurred to me to ask for no butter on my bread I started enjoying restaurant sandwiches 80% more.

Adam and I are spending the rest of the evening watching “That 70’s Show” with our new best friends.

I know, I know; it’s totally time for us to stop splitting a pint of ice-cream like that’s normal healthy behavior, but Maple Blondie?!

What’s your favorite flavor from Ben and Jerry’s?  Bonaroo Buzz is topping the charts for me, but I’ll let you know in the morning if Maple Blondie edges it out!

I’ll Mail Your Package

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You guys won’t even believe it; when I got to the post office it was closed!!!  Apparently the 1:30 closing time listed online referred to the p.o. boxes, the actual office had closed before I even left the house.  Just as I felt steam about to come out of my ears a postal worker told me about another location with longer hours.  The post office where I finally had success is actually much closer to my house, so it was a win in the end.

While I was out and about I snacked on a blueberry muffin Lara Bar,

the rest of my Arizona,

and .1 lbs of yogurt pretzels.

My stomach was growling and as I hungrily grocery shopped all I could think of was eating french fries and catching up on Grey’s.  So when I got home, that’s what I did.

If you consider my cheesy show choices, it’s almost like those were cheese fries…hyuck, hyuck.

Adam and I tried to eat this peppermint candy my mom sent us from Carnival food fair,

but we waited too long and sadly it was all squishy.

We took a nice walk around Elmwood in the evening, and worked up an appetite for dinner.

That’s tuna salad with lots of red onion,

and half a slice of buffalo chicken pizza with blue cheese dressing.

Perfect food for watching Bones, which made me cry, p.s.

With a serving of Raisin Bran Extra for dessert.

See you tomorrow for a long(ish) run!

They Can’t All Be Winners

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It wasn’t my most succesful day.  I had a crappy run, I didn’t do a lick of school work, I have not been drinking enough h2o, we’re up too late yet again…

Let’s look at some of the things that went right –

  • a crappy run is still a run, AND my knee doesn’t even hurt 😀
  • even though it’s late, I’m sticking to my 30-day blog everything goal
  • I’m feeling super fortunate about having the best mommy on the planet  <– fact

I started my morning with a we-suck-at-bedtime inspired Big Gulp.

That’s coffee from Wilson Farms with some Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.

I skipped the sweetener because this was supposed to be my pre-run fuel.  B-A-D, bad idea!  I stopped to pee not once, not twice, but three times during my 5 mile run!

My knee felt good when I woke up this morning (and all day yesterday) so I felt ready to tackle my training plan’s scheduled 5-miler.  The husband and I headed to Delaware Park to complete 3 laps around the ~1.75 mile loop.  My knee felt fine the entire time but my endurance was a horse of a different color.  Guys, I can’t even tell you how many times I had to stop during this run 😦  All total, I did 5.25 miles in 51 minutes.  I turned off my watch during all my breaks (I would just stop at stretch, not cover any distance) so I don’t know how long the entire start to finish time was, but I do know that each loop took me 17 minutes.  Yay for not slowing down!

And yay for still no knee pain; knock on wood!  I did ice my knee when I got home.

But ice water in a plastic baggie was a terrible idea so that didn’t last very long.  Some bags of frozen peas are on my grocery list for next week.

Somehow I decided that 5 miles at a 10-minute-mile pace was enough of a workout that I needed to sit on the couch the rest of the day.  Boo for being a loser!  Throughout the afternoon I ate popcorn – there are two mini bags in that bowl,

a Smart Ones Tuna Noodle Gratin frozen meal,

and a Skinny Cow Caramel Cone mini ice cream.

How on earth do they pack so much goodness into 170 calories?!?  That flavor was ridiculous good.

Our one accomplishment of the day was finally switching out our summer and winter wardrobes.  I’ve had that task on my to-do list for almost a month but Buffalo’s reluctance to enter spring kept it from feeling urgent.  Adam’s glad we put it off; the whole process took for-ev-a!  By the time we were done it was after 9pm and we ended up going out to dinner at Panos.

Sidenote 1 – we did not give up on our eat-in-more goal already, the meal was actually a gift for me from my mother-in-law, who clearly does not get the spirit of the holiday.  Sidenote 2 – not to worry, we’re not as clueless as we seem, we did buy both sets of moms nice gifts too.

I ordered the blackened chicken Caesar salad with roasted veggies and smoked gouda.

I shared 90% of my chicken with the husband, and dove into his fries in return.

‘Twas a great date night meal!

What was the best thing about your weekend?

Biochem Makes Bad Bloggers

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I’ll leave the correlation between fences and good neighbors to Robert Frost, but in my experience Biochem makes bad bloggers.  Especially Biochem exams one has not adequately prepared for!

Yesterday’s post was sacrificed to a cramming session.  Unfortunately, the cramming session was then sacrificed to a orthodontist appointment and subsequent headache.  You can’t win ’em all!  Our teacher is very, very kind, so I probably ended up with a B anyways.  Sidenote – I swear I’m usually not such a terrible student, my (22day!!) sickness is really taking its toll.

I am blogging today though, with pictures and everything, but there’s the problem of not having much to blog.  My involuntary breakfast ban continues, but I did get coffee.

A grande non-fat latte with almond roca syrup (2pumps instead of 5).

I was hungry for lunch – my brain used up all my glucose on the exam – but I hadn’t done a great job of packing.  I brought a Revolution Foods tropical fruit packet.

And the newest Fage, 0% with Mango and Guanabana.

Oh. My. God.  Did you know that Gaunabana is the formal name for Soursop, my favorite fruit of all time that I almost never see outside of the Caribbean?!?  When I was saw the flavor at Wegmans I was so excited I bought two right away (and did a fairly embarrassing dance in the aisle!).  It was divine! 

Yogurt perfection aside, I hadn’t packed enough food!  Thankfully the vending machines in the Dietetics building are stocked with mostly healthy things, so I was able to get this packet of tuna salad and crackers.

It was a little strange – I don’t usually add water chestnuts to my tuna salad – but it did the trick of holding me over through my last nutrition class.

I spent my break between classes working on my lab assignments and watching the snow pile outside.  Then, wonder of wonders, my night class so cancelled!

Eeeeeee!

I came straight home (the husband picked me up) and dove face first into a plate of Granny Smith apple with a serving of Smuckers Natural PB with Honey.

Then we got started on dinner. 

Lemon Chicken Fricassee with Biscuit Topping from Rachael Ray.

We followed the recipe except –

  • substituting olive oil for shortening
  • substituting chicken breasts for thighs
  • using a frozen peas and carrots mix that also had lima beans, corn, and green beans
  • using some packaged frozen biscuits rather than making them

It was ok.  Only ok.  Adam said 6 out of 10, I said I won’t be eating any of the leftovers.

Plus a side salad.

Arugula topped with leftover roasted butternut squash, craisins, buttermilk blue cheese, and Newman’s Own Lite Raspberry and Walnut Dressing.

The salad was tasty at least.

The meal might not have been very good, but the entertainment was; season 5 of Futurama is finally on Netflix Instant Watch!

Did/do you watch Futurama?

Happy St. Patrick’s Day

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I hope all my readers are out enjoying green beer and Irish car bombs!  No booze for me at the moment.  Anyone who really knows me can tell I’m sick just by looking at me today –

It’s a holiday with a theme color and my nails aren’t painted?!?!

Sickness be damned though, it’s a freaking holiday, I kept 90% of what I ate today green!  Well sort of, I didn’t eat breakfast and I didn’t pack lunch so this non-green tuna packet was kind of a necessity for lunch.

I have no taste buds at the moment, but I’ve had the spicy thai chili variety before and it’s quite tasty.

I sipped on a Green Superfood packet from Amazing Grass after lunch.

And ate a GoGo Squeez applesauce during my break.  <– fruit in a pouch rocks my socks

In the hours between my two classes I totally completed a huge assignment that’s not due for another few weeks; whoop, whoop!

During my late class I snacked on some green jelly beans,

and dried kiwi.

Yuuuuuum.  If you ever see dried kiwi at your stores, buy it!  The chew is perfect and the little seeds pop with the best crunch.

Dinner was tasty and on theme.

We stirred turnip greens into a box of mac and cheese.

Then topped them with poached hard-boiled eggs.

CSN Stores gave me this microwave egg poacher to try,

we haven’t gotten the method quite down yet, but the eggs were tasty and quick at least.

To combat my dead taste-buds I added 1oz of extra sharp cheddar and some sprinkles of Sriracha to my bowl.

Delicious!

How did you celebrate St. Patty’s day this year?

I Got Curried Away

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My friends over at Tandoor Chef asked me to let you guys know about their Get Curried Away with Tandoor Chef campaign.  Their products are all ridiculous good, so why wouldn’t I?  All you have to do is enter the contest before January 31st and you can be entered to win a years worth of products!  I entered, and so should you.

Even if I don’t win, I should be thanking them, because the contest title inspired this tasty lunch.

Actually first it inspired a Marco Polo-esque trek for the necessary provisions,

then came lunch.

Curried tuna salad!

I mixed up half a can of tuna, some Miracle Whip, 3 Tbsp of raisins, and a healthy shake of sweet curry powder.

With half a Sandwich Thin (toasted with Smart Balance Light),

and carrots roasted with honey and balsamic vinegar.

For dessert I ate this candy bar I picked up along the spice route.

Mr. Big was actually deceptively not that big (it wasn’t small, but it wasn’t as large as it look is my point), it was filled with this great airy wafer candy.

I’ve got a class at 4 and then the only plan for the evening is dinner.  See ya!

Pizza for Breakfast and Presents for Dinner

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I’ve got to cover breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks, so hang in for a longish post.  Thank goodness I don’t do things like work out or leave the house, there’d just be too much to say!

Breakfast (late breakfast) was one of my favorites, Pizza Eggs.

Eggland’s Best scrambled up with turkey pepperoni, sharp cheddar, and marinara sauce.  To die for.

Making it even better, I’ve discovered the best way ever to scramble – leave the yolks set (almost like you are making fried eggs) and scramble just the whites.  Then, at the last minute, scramble in the yolks.  Allowing the components to cook apart for a while takes eggs to a whole ‘nother level!

Lunch covered another favorite technique, my new favorite for tuna salad.

I call this “Last Date Tuna Salad;” my regular recipe – canned tuna, miracle whip, and tons of pickle relish – taken over the edge with the addition of lots and lots of chopped red onion.  Try it, you’ll thank me, just don’t kiss anyone right after lunch!

Aside my salad was a piece of ciabatta bread, toasted and buttered.

It was a smelly tasty lunch.

I had to eat a peppermint stick to slay my breath before the husband came home!

I also nibbled through the last two cookies this afternoon.

Remind me how I haven’t made every last one of Jenna’s recipes yet?

Then came dinner.

My generous parents know we’re too poor for healthy seafood (and I’m too much of a girl for sardines), so they gifted us with “charge some salmon to the credit card one night, and marinade it in the maple dill dressing from your stocking” for Christmas. <– Yes, this was a stocking gift; and yes, they’re a little crazy.

Alongside we roasted up some asparagus,

and mini yellow potatoes.

And then there was snack.  For dessert we sampled a new flavor of Pop Chips.

Think early bedtime thoughts for me please; tomorrow I’m going to try to get up and be a real girl, maybe I’ll even leave the couch house!