Weekly Wrap-Up; By The Day

Hey there, long time no see!  Sadly I think a once a week post will be the norm for the next two weeks as well; we are on the move!

We don’t actually officially leave Buffalo until the end of the month, but due to some monetary/logistical/fmylife complications we are moving the most difficult way possible – in little spurts.  Adam has had to be in the city several time this month so we’ve been packing up our stuff by the carload and moving it to my in-laws’ place.  Once we finally get into our new apartment (days after Adam has started work!!) we’ll pick everything up in a truck for the final move.

Two fun facts about our shit-show of a move –

  1. We had to do the bulk of our packing last night so the duffle bag of clothes sitting next to me will be all I have to wear for the next three weeks.  Also, we have no pots, pans, or kitchen appliances.  Next week’s wrap-up will showcase a lot of restaurant meals!
  2. Since we couldn’t rent a truck for this direction, we are only taking what fits in five carloads (three in a Vibe and two in a Corolla).  We’ve had to say “bye, bye” to a lot of stuff, which has been very cathartic.

On to the food!

I was too busy to capture all of my meals (I worked most days, though I did find time to watch the entire first season of Longmire!) but I did manage a photo of at least one meal on most days.  I was a bit under the weather this week and I spent the entirety of Thursday in bed, eating pretzels.

Monday, Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield

One of our favorite couples recently had twin baby girls so we brought them over a couple of meals.

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Buffalo Chicken Baked Pasta, Mac and Three Cheese Cups, and salad with all the fixin’s (parmesan, buckwheat groats, chopped green pepper, and toasted pecans).

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We stayed for dinner so we could meet the girls.

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The were so freaking cute; we’ve decided not to spawn until after the husband’s first year of residency and the babies made me want to rethink about that decision!

When we got home I tried one of the Lindt Hello Bars for dessert.

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I tried Strawberry Cheesecake and in addition to being adorable it was delicious.

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It had the perfect amount of tang to offset the sweetness, bits of crunch that I believe were caramelized sugar, and you got a nice portion for the calories.  I tried the Cookies and Cream bar another day and liked that as well.

Tuesday, Thai Day

I stir-fried some leftover white rice with peas and carrots.

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I made it extra eggy – two large eggs for one portion – and it was perfect for breakfast.

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Stir-fried rice is one of the dishes I find the easiest to make; it always tastes good.

I did Thai for dinner as well.  Some friends and I met up after work to try Taste of Siam, a new spot right across from my job.

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My Pad Kee Mao got bonus points for being super spicy, but there was way too much liquid and the broad rice noodles weren’t very pillowy.  My friends loved their fried rice and curry though.  If we were staying in our apartment I’m sure I would have gotten take-out there, but overall I didn’t think it was very good.

We got drinks before dinner and afterwards we did a throw-back for dessert.

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Do you remember Chupa Chups?!  My strawberry sundae pop was delicious; if I spot them again I will definitely buy more.

Wednesday, Similar to a Reuben

I cannot for the life of me remember what I ate this day beyond lunch; probably pizza!  This sandwich made for a fine mid-day meal.

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Applegate Farms sliced turkey, Cabot 75% reduced-fat sharp cheddar, thousand island dressing, and saurkraut on white-whole-wheat bread cooked in a skillet with butter.

Friday, Feel Better Froyo

In the morning I met up with friends for breakfast at Sweetness 7.

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I got a turkey and caramelized onion quiche,

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and a hibiscus lemonade.

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Both were very bland, sadly, and the service/ordering system seemed off.  Instead of calling out drinks or putting them with the food, they just plopped them on a tucked away, back counter.  And I tried to get a coffee at their other location this morning and the service was so bad there that I left without ordering!  I’m not sure what the deal is, but I loved Sweetness 7 so I hope they’re not on a downward slope.

After breakfast I ran some errands (my cell phone was broken again!), grabbed lunch, and headed to work.  I felt fine in the morning, but as the afternoon wore on I felt sicker and sicker.  I ended up throwing up at work!!  Boo!  I rallied afterwards and stuck out my shift, but it was not a fun time.

This next photo doesn’t look like “dinner,” but after my tough day it was exactly what I needed.

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Froyo!  Super delicious froyo with peanut butter, marshmallow, chocolate pretzels, and other amazing things.  I cannot believe that right as I leave Buffalo two self-serve froyo locations have appeared on my block!  Though not having immediate access to it the last three years did probably save me many pounds and dollars.

Saturday, I Like to Move it Move it

Yesterday was ridiculous; y’all would not even believe how much we got done.  But not a single fruit or veggetable was eaten that day…

Black bean nachos from ETS.

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Melonhead beer (like Pumpkinhead) from Shipyard.

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It was super juicy and refreshing; just what I needed as we packed late into the night.

Sunday, Finish the Fridge

For breakfast today, I made us a Finish Up the Fridge Fritatta.

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9 large eggs / .5 cup shredded parmesan / 1 cup thawed and drained frozen spinach / pinch salt / pinch paprika

Mix, pour in a greased pie pan, and bake 35 – 40 minutes at 375 degrees Farenheit.

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I had my slice with a piece of rosemary bread from Wegman’s bakery.

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It was a great way to start the week!

What was the most difficult move your family has even done?

Winner Dinners

I thought it would be fun to share a few of our more successful dinners from the past week.  Working every day has meant that my lunches have been lame, but somehow my increased work schedule hasn’t killed my dinner motivation yet.  There have been some great breakfasts and snacks too (example – we tried the very famous Paula’s Doughnuts for the first time the other day) but my camera hasn’t been handy for those!

~Smoked herring salad with soft pretzels.

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I bought these Smoked Herring Kipper Fillets from Trader Joe’s on my last trip to Ohio and they were flipping delicious.  I’ve been having a hard time with animal proteins lately (the texture has been throwing me) but these were so smokey good that they went down easily.

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For the salad Adam and I split the can, mashed with mayo, pink salt, and green pepper and carrots shredded with the finest side of our grater.

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The pretzels were consumed with a copious amount of yellow mustard.  We also had pudding for dessert but I didn’t take a picture because we ate it straight from the mixing bowl.

~Hot dogs with ketchup and kraut.

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We had our dogs a day later than planned, on Tuesday, because I ended up spending Memorial Day in bed.  Literally the whole day; we brought in the laptop and became newly obsessed with both “Arrested Development” and “Fringe.”  This meal was worth the wait though.

Applegate Farms turkey hot dogs topped with ketchup and sauerkraut,

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served with roasted asparagus and a new Ruffle’s product called Crispy Cheese Fries.

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The “fries” were about as good as you’d expect (not very) but the turkey hot dogs were amazing.  I did not grow up eating hot dogs so there’s no nostalgia here, but I found this meal to be very pleasing.

~Turkey reubens with roasted broccoli.

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We had to use up the rest of the sauerkraut from the hot dogs and what better way to use it than on toasty turkey reubens?  Wegman’s bakery rye topped with 1000 island dressing, sliced turkey, slices of provolone (Adam hates Swiss), and sauerkraut, then pressed the sandwiches in our George Foreman grill.

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Plus roasted broccoli on the side.

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Tonight’s dinner is going to be a, much less healthy, plate of cheesy fries.  I’m off to get them out of the oven now!

Charleston, Day 1 And 2

Hello from the South!  I’m blogging in a spring-ish 50-something degrees (it’s better than Buffalo!).  Actually, I’m blogging from Adam’s computer this trip, so I’ve got to keep things quick.  We are having a terrific, delicious time.

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Breakfast day 1 – brunch at the famous Hominy Grill.

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I got a(n extra spicy) bloody mary.

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And a bowl of she crab soup.

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Charleston is famous for its she crab soup; this bowl was super creamy and loaded with pieces of crab.  I adore anything with sherry.

We ordered a piece of buttermilk pie for the table.

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But it was much drier and less custard-y than we were hoping so we all just took a small taste.

It was a rainy first day so we did lots of inside and driving activities.  We got in some good sight-seeing and scoped out a few spots to hit up during the rest of our trip.

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One of our stops was Whole Foods for stocking up on goodies.  <– chocolate coconut butter packets, it’s good to have you back in my life!

There was froyo next door.

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I didn’t really love any of the flavor offerings so I got a small cup of cheesecake yogurt with tons of popping boba.

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Can’t go wrong with boba.

We went to Hyman’s Seafood for dinner and they brought us complimentary hush puppies.

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Best hush puppies ever; they had the perfect amount of sweetness.

We also started with fried pickles.

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Lots of fried food in that dinner.  I got french fries as my side,

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with steamed shrimp.

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Every component of my meal ended up smothered in tartar and cocktail sauce.  I’m a girl who loves her condiments.

I was exhausted by the end of the day and crashed into bed hard.  Let’s pretend it was the 20 minute stationary bike ride I started the day with, and not the heavy dinner!

Day 2 we skipped the gym and slept in.  Instead I made it a healthy morning by starting my day with an apple.

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Then we headed to Bakehouse for breakfast.

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The offerings were as delicious as the space was adorable.  The cookies and bars looks amazing but the closest we came to them was splitting a caramel marshmallow.

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I also did a toasted marshmallow cappuccino.

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Adam and I shared breakfast.

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We had a mixed berry scone.

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And a piece of Greek turkey strata.

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It was a great breakfast.

We spent our second day exploring on foot.  King Street and Meeting Street provided lots to look at.

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We even got to see dolphins!

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I couldn’t get a picture to save my life, but we saw lots of waving flippers and even a mama/baby combo.

Tastes from the day included…. Praline,

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a drop of the spiciest hot sauce available (I stuck a toothpick in it and touched it to my tongue; I honestly didn’t think it was that hot!),

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honey,

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an Earl Grey macaron (<– squeeee!),

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a KIND bar,

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and some watermelon Zots from one of the many old-time candy stores.

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All good, but I am definitely a lunch eater; when we got back to the hotel to change for dinner I was starving.  Enter the perfect snack –

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Diet coke and Cacao Bliss?  Yes please!

But I sure was glad I saved room for dinner.  We had an incredible Southern meal at Magnolias.

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Bread with ridiculous cream cheese herb butter came when we sat down.

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And we ordered a pimento cheese plate to start.

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Sadly, the cheese wasn’t quite as sharp as I was hoping for, but everyone else at the table loved it.  Pimento cheese was at the top of my to-do list for the Southern vacation though, so I hope to try again tomorrow.

I ordered a Bellini to drink (champagne/peach nectar/and a touch of grenadine),

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but ended up swapping with Adam halfway through for his vodka/creme de cassis/pineapple juice martini.

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For dinner I went with the “Fresh, Local, and Vegetarian.”  You can’t go wrong with a name like that!

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Sautéed spinach, fresh corn salad, roasted carrots, fried green tomatoes with jalopeño pimento cheese, and mashed potatoes.

We were too stuffed for dessert, though the menu listed a cream cheese pecan brownie with white chocolate ice cream that I’ll probably be dreaming about!

In fact, I’d like to be dreaming now; goodnight!

Have you ever been to Charleston?  Is there anything we just can’t miss on our last day?

…I am so tired I forgot to title this post originally

So I already told you guys the good news.  More on that later, I’m too tired right now to be excited.  I don’t know why I’ve been so exhausted lately – other than, you know, working really hard at my internship and continuing to get in bed after midnight even though up I’m at 6 – but this evening it hit me really hard.  I went to work all day, did a quick grocery trip, then had a major meltdown.  The husband is the kindest man on the planet and he ran out and got us calzones for a late dinner.  We are eating now (and watching “Chopped!”) and then I’m going to pour myself into bed.

Packed breakfast for work.  Cinnamon Apple GoGo Squeez.

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Coconut Chia Bar.  <– very nice, the coconut flavor was great

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Muller low-fat Greek yogurt with honeyed apricot.

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Lunch from the Co-op hot bar.  I was hurrying to photograph because I was on the floor at work and I did not get a good picture.

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A salad base – spinach and romaine with red pepper, cherry tomato, and maple vinaigrette – topped with corn relish and a jalopeño cheddar turkey burger.

Post-meltdown fuel.  We shared a buffalo chicken stromboli and a cheese calzone.

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Mmmmmn!  Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz!

Shades Of White

My 2nd day as a soon-to-be surgeon’s wife was good but busy.  I have a gigantic quiz tomorrow and we have to score at least a 90% on it to remain in our program.  <– yikes!

No breakfast again.  I do have some bars in my cabinet but the mornings are my busiest hours and I don’t remember to eat and even if I did I wouldn’t have the time.  Instead I just really enjoy my lunch.

On today’s menu – a (2 Tbsp of) chunky peanut butter and (2 slices of) turkey bacon sandwich (Thin).

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A green pear.

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And a package of seaweed snacks.

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I also grabbed a coffee.

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A mix of regular and decaf with hazelnut creamer.  I started adding a scoop of ice to my cups – after watching a classmate do it the other day and being impressed with her genius – and it makes my coffees so much more enjoyable.  I definitely prefer my “hot” beverages luke-warm.

In the afternoon I snacked on a scoop of 1% cottage cheese with half of a Liberte coconut yogurt and a sprinkle of shredded coconut.

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I realize the picture doesn’t really show any of that though; my camera doesn’t do shades of white.

<– Sidenote:  I’ve decided that my first foray into fiction is going to be a book titled 50 Shades of White, the pendulum swing from 50 Shades of Grey.  It will be 500 pages of a waspy couple having missionary-style sex and peeing with the door closed.  You’d read that, right?  😀

Other afternoon snacks included a handful of tortilla chips,

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and a stolen square of Adam’s Godiva Milk Chocolate Salted Caramel Bar.

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I wanted to snack after dinner too, but it’s better that I didn’t because I already ate enough today.  Sometimes nibbling helps me focus on studying but our pantry is looking ruff…

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Don’t worry, our dinner was better than that joke.

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I had a handful of Terra Thai Basil Curry Vegetable Chips.

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A pile of roasted green beans.

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And 2 turkey egg cups.

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{Inspired by this recipe}  We put two slices of turkey inside each of our muffin tin cups / filled the bottoms of chopped sautéed mushrooms and green onions and shredded cheese / topped each cup with an egg / then baked for 30ish minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees.

I spent the rest of the evening cramming and I’ve got to get back to it.  Tomorrow’s quiz is on the macro- and micronutrient values for the serving sizes per food group for a diabetic and renal diet.  Lots and lots of numbers to know; we can’t all lay around on the job…!

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Almost Spring And Almost Celebrating

Today has been just fantastic, one of those days that reminds me how happy I am with my life.  I felt totally blessed.

First, lunch.  I was too busy for breakfast but I did have a nice noon-time meal.  Dannon Oikos Cafe Latte Greek Yogurt.  So smooth and creamy, and the flavor was better than any other coffee yogurt I’ve ever had.

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Cascadian Farm Crunchy Oats & Honey Granola Bar.

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GoGo Squeez Cinnamon Applesauce.

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’twas a good lunch.

But the news I got just before lunch was even better – Adam is going to be a surgeon!  Ok, so it wasn’t surprising news, but it was good to have things confirmed.  Today is the first half of Match Day and on Friday we’ll learn where (and if) we’re going to move.  So exciting!  I opened the e-mail and burst into tears, right there on the Neuro floor.  Apparently I’ve been a little bit stressed.  But I can’t stress enough, how proud I am of my husband!!!

I got home before him this afternoon so I got him a few congratulation gifts.

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I may have stolen a few bites.  2 dumplings,

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and 2 big bites of frosting.

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Yum!

And I got more good news this evening – my night class was canceled!  This meant I had free time to celebrate the real news with Adam.  The past two days have basically been Spring so we took a long walk up Elmwood, in sandals natch.

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My taste buds are even more ready for Spring than my feet.  We wanted to get take-out so we could go home and watch “The Nanny” and I had the hardest time choosing food because I had to have something fresh.  I couldn’t stand the thought of cheddar, popcorn or runny eggs, my usual favorites!

I ended up getting a green juice for our walk.

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And bringing a salad from Ashker’s home.

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I added banana peppers, tomatoes, and kalmata olives to the Roasted Turkey, Apple, Walnut Salad; which also came with spring mix, feta, craisins, and Vidalia onion dressing.  It was exactly what I’d been craving.

Dessert was something amazing.

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I’ve been stalking local freezers for weeks and I squealed with joy when I finally spotted Ben and Jerry’s Liz Lemon Greek Frozen Yogurt last night.

Three things you should know:

  1. I adore both lemon and lavender in dessert
  2. I have a legit problem with Ben and Jerry’s ice creams
  3. I recently decided that Liz Lemon is my spirit tv character

I had 1.5 servings and loved every bite.

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Buffalo people – I found my pint at the Elmwood Tops.

Have a great night!

Loaded

I’ve made it halfway through the first week of this rotation and I only sort of want to nap for a million years.  The teachers have warned us for years that this is the placement that makes everyone get in bed at 9 pm.  I’m crazy, so I’m still staying up ’til midnight, but I’m definitely tired!

I’ve been eating breakfast at the hospital but I need to figure out a new system because the cost of bars is going to add up.  This one was a free sample at least.

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And tasty too.  Cascadian Farm Crunchy Peanut Butter Granola Bar.

Lunch was more black-eyed pea salad (beans, green pepper, cheese, smoked almonds).

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The Talenti gelato pint made an awesome leftovers container; gotta love that screw-on lid.

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Plus a pear.

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I skipped the dark chocolate today because I knew we were planning a big dinner.

Of course, then I decided to get a milkshake on the way home.

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You have to do a yearly Shamrock Shake!  This was so good.

I also had a bagel thin with smoked salmon cream cheese when I got home.

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I’ve been so hungry today, I want to say it was yesterday’s workout but let’s be real, I only did 4 miles.

Dinner was fantastic; loaded baked potatoes for the win.

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Toppings included turkey bacon, mushrooms cooked in turkey bacon drippings, Smart Balance Light, shredded cheese, and green onions.

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We were both practically licking our plates.

And I had a Toasted Onion Sea Snax while we watched The Nanny.

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Love that show!  We’ve got two more episodes to go and then I’ve got to get to bed.  Good night!

Day One Of Thirty? {Again}

Complaints first – The chance for 8-hours of sleep passed before I even started this post.  All of my end of internship assignments are due on Friday and I’m freaking out.  I ate two snacks after dinner and I am still flipping hungry.

Complaints aside, it wasn’t a bad day.  We got lots (and lots) of shipments at work so I was nice and busy.

The morning started with smoothies.

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For two: 1 Thai young coconut, ~1 cup frozen blue/blackberries, 1 medium frozen banana, and 2 Tbsp Hey Shuga!  <– don’t forget, you still have another ~hour to enter my giveaway!

I didn’t have a lot of time for lunch so I kept it simple.  A Garuka Bar (from my yumvelope).

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The sweet peanut butter coating was addictively good; I planned on snacking on it throughout a task but every time I tried to walk away I took another bite instead!

I also had a Fage 0% Greek Yogurt with Cinnamon Apple Raisins.

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The flavor isn’t listed on the Fage website and I’ve only seen it at Target.  The apple compote was good, but nothing can really compare to the pure decadence of the honey and strawberry flavors.

I only had an hour between work and night class so Adam and I cashed in a coupon for Subway for dinner.

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6 inch turkey with lettuce, tomato, green pepper, banana pepper, red onion, and honey mustard on Italian herb and cheese bread.

I knew my sandwich wouldn’t quite fill me up and I shared this peanut butter spoon with Webster when I got home.

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Then I also had a plate of baby carrots with the last of some smoked gouda spread.

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And a bag of Smart Fries.

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I ended up dipping my “fries” in yellow mustard.  And then I had a big glass of water; methinks I’m a bit dehydrated!