Burgers and Boba

by Emily

I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day. We got the holiday off, which meant I had time to go on a date with the husband and catch up on school-work.

I started my day with a 0% lemon Oikos.

I was so thrilled to see the new Oikos flavors on our shelves! This was smooth and creamy with just a bit of tart flavor. I have the pineapple variety waiting for me in the fridge as well.

Plus the last of my Chameleon Cold Brew with skim milk and ice.

I’m not sure if it’s because I used a bigger ratio of coffee:milk today or if it’s an effect of the bottle sitting open for a week, but today’s cup was more bitter than my previous ones. Nonetheless, I’m still very sad to see the coffee go. I’ve marked it on the 9/23 week’s list in advance to celebrate the end of my retainers.

When we walked around the park a few weeks back, both Adam and I had a major hankering for a zoo trip. After running an errand this morning, we decided we should take advantage of the husband’s rare day off and go for it.

We were disconcerted by the wrap-around-three-blocks line,

but quickly got over it when we found out that Tops was offering special $1 admission for the day.

Score! They were hosting a few games on the premises as well and I won this cup of Mike and Ike’s.

I ate half during our visit and think that the sugar helped me make it through the heat.

We saw so many animals!

My favorite reptile is the Dab Lizard and I was thrilled to catch a glimpse of one today.

Do you have a favorite reptile.

I packed a big bottle of water in my purse but rocking jeans was a big mistake; I was dripping the minute we stepped out of the car.

Since a mid-day shower was required anyway, I tried my hand at this 4-minute workout –

Holy crap! I was basically dying by the end. The husband and I have decided to do it 3x/week. 4-minutes is always doable.

Lunch was sushi from Wegman’s.

Pssst, Buffalo peeps, this another item with money off from the student coupon packet.

This afternoon, I finally did something with these purchases from our trip to Toronto’s Koreatown.

Taro milk tea + rainbow boba = mmmmmmn!

It was too much fun (and a cross-off on a birthday list goal!) to have made these items from scratch.

I spent most of my evening hard at work, but did find time to make a great dinner.

Roasted green beans,

and a Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burger.

I ate mine on an onion roll with extra sauerkraut, Swiss, and 1000 island dressing.

Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burgers, serves 6

lb 94% fat-free ground turkey meat
1 cup sauerkraut, squeezed to remove as much liquid as possible
1 large egg
1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
1.5 tsp dried caraway seeds
3 (1 oz)-slices Swiss cheese
2 Tbsp thousand island dressing

Slice cheese into quarters; you should end up with twelve 1inch x 1inch squares.
Place meat, sauerkraut, egg, breadcrumbs, and caraway seeds in a large bowl. Use your hands to mix until well combined.
Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, divide the meat mixture evenly into twelve 1/4-cup portions. Flatten six of the portions into patties.
Place 1 tsp thousand island dressing and two cheese squares in the center of each flattened patty. Top with remaining portions, pressing on the edges to “seal” the patties.
Place a greased grill-pan over medium-high heat. Cook burgers until browned and fully cooked through; 5-8 minutes on each side.

I’m off to join Adam and Webster on a walk!

Are you a reuben sandwich fan?

28Aug2012

Hot Dog!

by Emily

2nd day of the semester was a success! I promise I’ll stop counting them soon though.

I started my day with a smoothie for the walk to school. 1 scoop bourbon vanilla protein powder, ~1.5 cups Silk Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk, medium frozen banana, and ~2 cups frozen blueberries.

My smoothie matched my shoes! Actually, it matched my whole outfit.

I found this great loose-fitting racer-back tank in a dressy fabric at the Gap outlet this summer and bought it in all three available colors.

I got to wear jeans because we were on campus for clinical orientation today. Tuesdays and Thursdays for the rest of the semester we’ll spend 8 hours a day in clinic, aka practicing our skills out in the field for our internship hours. Today we met with instructors, filled out paperwork, and spent several hours practicing calculations. <– I remember more than I thought, yay!

I packed this vegan tortilla soup for lunch.

Supplemented with a cheese stick I got at an info table in the quad.

Sadly it took my friends and I for-ev-er to find a table and by the time I finished waking back and forth from two buildings with my hot soup it didn’t really appeal to me any more. I ate half, plus all of the cheese stick and a Diet Pepsi from the vending machine. Note – this set the trend apparently because every meal thereafter was also unsuccessful!

After class was over 2 friends and I set out on a mini journey. We stopped at Anna’s house along the way for sunscreen, then walked a little over a mile to Delish to try out the East Park Pops.

The pops are made from scratch from local ingredients. My mango pineapple contained only mango, pineapple, and fresh lime juice, no added sugar.

It all sounded really promising but unfortunately we just weren’t fans. The pops were way too hard and icy and we all threw ours out a quarter or so through. Janessa and I had been planning this excursion since summer so we were sad it didn’t pan out, but Delish’s new Black Rock location is adorable and we do want to go back for coffees soon.

We ended up having (tall, skim) iced caramel macchiatos from Wegman’s as our treat instead.

Buffalo students – Wegman’s is giving out their awesome student coupon books this week and our coffees were a dollar off.

We spotted jalapeño poppers on the hot bar and two of us went for one of those as well. (Don’t worry, my friend is going to reuse that plastic container so we didn’t totally waste it.)

This was another idea that was better in theory, the poppers had cheese instead of cream cheese and I threw half of mine out.

Dinner was hot dogs –

Not that kind of hot dog! Though, Webster, if you don’t stop eating my stuff I might consider it. Adam and I regularly joke about taking a bite out of his meaty thighs.

This kind of hot dog –

I put two Applegate Farms turkey hot dogs on a bun, piled high with sauerkraut, relish, and ketchup. The dog was devoured with gusto but its accompaniments were pretty “meh.”

Roasted asparagus that was undercooked and tasted terrible.

I choked down half.

Smokey Maple Baked Beans that were good but not what I was craving right before I went to a yoga class.

I ate 3/4 of those.

Thankfully I had a great workout to make up for my lackluster meal: a 90 minute hot yoga class. I was worried about making it through a 90-minute class (I haven’t exactly been making the most of my unlimited yoga pass!), but it ended up being great. The 90-minute session is almost easier than the 60-minute one because you do the same poses with more repetition so you have time to practice them.

All that stands between me and bed is a shower and 15 minutes of reviewing DNA with the husband. I turned in too late last night and felt it in the morning so I’m trying to hurry.

What was the last food that you were excited for and then disappointed by?

27Aug2012

Stir-Fried Soup

by Emily

I made it through the first day of a new semester! I forgot what day it was and pressed snooze a couple of times this morning, but I did manage to make it to the gym for a quick workout.

25 minutes on the elliptical, level 6 random.

I cut it close but the husband offered to drive me this morning (both walking and driving myself eat up 30 minutes) so I had time to shower and grab breakfast to go. A Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar,

and an iced coffee with skim milk.

It wasn’t just any iced coffee. Do you remember when I blogged about wanting to try Chameleon Cold-Brew Coffee? They now sell it at Wegman’s!

It was even better than I had imagined. Smooth, not at all bitter, and I swear with the skim milk I tasted hints of chocolate?!

I breakfasted during my first class and the caffeine boost was much-appreciated. This semester is going to be hard. I’m only taking a few classes (the minimum number of credits versus having to petition to take extra credits almost ever other semester) but there is a ton of work and the concepts are all higher level.

Good thing I got some work done in the break between classes and my shift at work. I also made lunch.

A salad of romaine, flax, light honey mustard dressing, a little shredded gruyere, and a crumbled slice of turkey bacon.

Plus apple dippers.

A sliced Pink Crispin,

with a melted mix of peanut butter, Biscoff, and Heath bits, ~ 1 Tbsp of each.

Delish!

I worked from 2 -7 and then came home and wandered around all evening in a tired, sore-backed haze. That is not going to be able to happen as the semester progresses. But overall I think I did a good job of getting things done today.

I even pre-made some of the components for tomorrow’s dinner. I snacked on a serving of Barbara’s Baked Cheese Puffs while I cooked.

They were an impulse buy at the co-op that paid off; didn’t tasted “baked” at all.

Dinner didn’t happen until 9:30 but it was worth the wait. Super worth it. Did you make my Thai-Inspired Coconut Peanut Soup yet? I hope so, because if you did you are halfway done with this killer spin on it – Stir-Fried Soup!

Stir-Fried Soup, serves 1

1 Tbsp evoo
1 oz cashews
1 serving Thai-Inspired Coconut Peanut Soup
4 dashes Sriracha
1 large egg

Heat the oil in a large skillet over high heat. Toss in cashews and toast. Add soup leftovers and Sriracha and saute, stirring occasionally, until crispy. Scramble in egg. Serve and swoon.

It was the tastiest thing I’ve eaten in weeks, I swear to God.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve done with leftovers?

25Aug2012

Sunday To Go

by Emily

One day to go before the fall semester begins. I wish today could have been full of adventure, but sadly I worked, errand-ran, and ate a lackluster dinner. Ho-hum but part of the time was spent with the husband so it wasn’t terrible.

I did not get in bed last night as planned. In fact, I stayed up past the boys leaving and the husband falling asleep. Today I am le tired and the bags under my eyes are gigantic. I hope to get in bed nice and early on Sunday because it’s bad enough to go back to school fatter, I hardly need to look worn down too. At least my hair is finally growing out of its awkward stage!

In spite of the sleepiness, I did manage to make breakfast before work.

Plain fat-free yogurt topped with 1 Tbsp ground flax, 1 Tbsp maple syrup, and some canned tropical fruit mix.

I was glad to have eaten because work was pretty crazy; the Elmwood Arts Festival is this weekend so there were lots of people wandering in.

I plan on checking out the festival tomorrow and today I did snag a $1 orange San Pellegrino.

I saved my fair-food eating for tomorrow and packed a sandwich for lunch.

A Sandwich Thin with 2 slices of turkey, a slice of pepperjack, and strawberry jam. Plus a Raspberry Fields Honest Tea to drink.

I probably should have gone with coffee instead because I was dead on my feet by the time my shift was over. Also, ready to gnaw off my arm. I bought a giant slice of cheese pizza (folded and eaten New York style) on the walk home.

I shared ~ 1/4 with Adam which was a true testament of love. Dinner was fair away and not awesome and I ended up very pleased with this impulse purchase.

We ran errands this evening, including a purchase of ink that has left me crossing my fingers that the printer was out of ink and not actually broken. I’m too tired to check now but printing is early on my agenda tomorrow.

On our grocery errand (which was stupid because we have to go back tomorrow too) I bought a fun-size peanut butter Snickers.

I only ate half; apparently they aren’t very good.

Dinner wasn’t good either. Well, parts of it were. For example, my low-fat (because it was made with skim milk and low-fat froyo) chocolate coffee milkshake was pretty tasty.

1.5 thumbs up, Lake Effect Diner.

And I was so pleased to see this on the menu –

It encouraged me to order non-vegeterian, in the form of a Chicken Souvlaki Wrap.

“Grilled marinated chicken breast, shredded lettuce, green bell pepper, black olives, diced tomato, crumbled feta cheese and Greek Dressing in a grilled herb wrap.”

I added cucumber and pepperoncini to mine, a good idea since otherwise the sandwich would have been completely tasteless.

The feta was bland and it probably would have helped it there had actually been Greek dressing on the wrap. I only ate half and left feeling pretty unsatisfied.

I shouldn’t even complain though because my meal was at least edible. Adam’s bacon and sausage were burnt to a crisp and his “sunny side up” eggs were cooked through. Yucky. Lake Effect, we thought you had such potential!

Speaking of potential, I’m not going to live up to mine at yoga tomorrow morning if I don’t get in bed this instant. Good night!

Locals, are you attending the art festival this year? Did you eat anything I just have to try tomorrow?

21Aug2012

Awkwardly Awesome

by Emily

Hello again. We had a family crisis this weekend so I was away from the blog, but now it’s all good and I’m all back. Also we squeezed in a party and watched the dog squeeze his face into the last of my milkshake.

Obviously there were good part to the weekend too.

I had lunch for breakfast today.

Baby carrots,

some Libby’s Tropical Fruit Salad,

and a sandwich.

Turkey, pepperjack cheese, and tons of pickles on a sandwich thin.

Lunch for lunch was a salad.

Romaine topped with peanut sauce, nutritional yeast, buckwheat groats, and sliced Crispin Pink apple.

With Honest Tea Half and Half to drink,

and Cookie Butter Fudge (x2) for dessert.

Oh yes I did! Recipe is coming tomorrow.

I started watching the first season of “Awkward” online while I ate. I loved it! Might be my new favorite show. I watched while I wrote this post too, which is why it took so damn long!

I worked until 7pm today and was stupid tired when I got home. Dinner seemed impossible and I ended up getting hot bar at the co-op at 9:30. Vegan “cheesy” broccoli and orzo, an Asian cabbage salad, and some maple roasted tofu and veggies.

I know the picture is gross but it was all delicious and I felt fortunate to have skipped my planned dinner.

Six Hershey’s Simple Pleasures for dessert.

I plan on going to bed as soon as this episode of Awkward is over. I also plan on going to yoga at 7am. The 2nd plan is totally dependant on the first; we’ll see what happens.

Have you been watching Awkward?

15Aug2012

Buffalo Blue Cheese Black Bean Burgers, From Yesterday

by Emily

The past 24 hours have been odd but gratifying. Mostly because I’ve done odd but gratifying things, like frying up a batch of bacon yesterday at 5:30 in the morning.

I ate three hot slices of turkey bacon and they were delicious. And now you know our wonderful reason for having bacon in the house.

I ate a bagelwich with my bacon.

A Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin with two slices of turkey and 1 oz sharp cheddar.

In addition to bacon and breakfast before 8 am, I also cleaned the kitchen, registered for a conference, made a batch of pupsicles, and worked out.

1 hour hot yoga class. I love how even if you’re not very good at yoga it’s still a nice workout. P.S. Wanna know why girls who do yoga are so skinny? For safety. My boobs practically smoother me to death in rabbit pose!

After yoga I walked the little man.

We’ve had him more than a year now and I’m still amazed by how well he stops at cross-walks.

Pre-lunch snack was a plate of pickle slices.

And dessert first, since I had to make a last-minute trip to the store for a forgotten ingredient.

Trader Joe’s cookie butter dark chocolate bar, does that even need a description?! Though I will say that I freaking adore the little bites of crunch embedded throughout the bar.

An epic journey of three stores in my sweaty yoga clothes later, we had panko. And shortly after that, lunch.

Roasted green beans,

and Buffalo Blue Bean Burgers.

(recipe included at the bottom of this post)

In the afternoon I worked. It was a good shift, I actually worked several hours by myself for the first time. It’s always fun when someone trusts you to hold down the fort.

But then on the walk home I got a migraine. I didn’t take my medicine in time and I ended up being down for the count the whole evening. I curled up in a fetal position on the couch and Adam brought me to bed at 10. Unfortunately by then my head felt better and my stomach was twisting with hunger pains. I probably should have gotten up and eaten but instead I flopped around for several hours before falling asleep.

When I got up this morning cereal was the last thing on my mind; I wanted savory and lots of it.

This salad fit the bill.

With the bites I took while I filled my bowl, this salad contained: a romaine base, 2 Tbsp light honey mustard dressing, 1 oz gorgonzola crumbles, 2 oz honey roasted peanuts, 2 slices turkey bacon, and 1 chopped Crispin Pink apple.

With a Green Dragon Tea from Honest Tea for drinking.

I also ate the last serving of Maple Pancake and Bacon Ice Cream.

That stuff was ridiculous good. Pretty please go make it and see for yourself.

I’m actually about to eat another small dessert now too. It’s a recipe I’m working on though, so no pictures for now. Hope everyone else is having a sweet day!

Buffalo Blue Bean Burgers, serves 4 – 6

(2) 15.5oz cans reduced-sodium black beans
1/2 cup, plus 2 Tbsp buffalo wing sauce
2 large eggs
1 cup panko bread crumbs
3/4 cup gorgonzola cheese crumbles

Preheat the oven to 450*. Foil and spray 2 baking sheets.
Empty bean cans into a colander and rinse thoroughly – this is a heart healthy step that helps to further reduce the sodium in this recipe.
Pour rinsed beans and 2 cups wing sauce into a blender and puree. If you have a rickety blender you may want to do this in two batches.
Empty blender into a large mixing bowl. Add rest of wing sauce and eggs and stir. Stir in panko and cheese.
Using your hands, form 12 patties out of the bean mixture.
Put patties on prepared sheets and bake for 20 minutes. It is not necessary to flip the patties during baking.

14Aug2012

Breakfast For Dessert

by Emily

What does this look like to you –

If you said chocolate chip ice cream, you’d be wrong.

If you said the inside of a cannolli, you’d be wrong.

If you said I don’t know, just tell me already, you’d be impatient. Slow down man, we’re cool.

If you said delicious, delectable, strange but I can’t stop eating it, you’d be technically correct, though not quite giving me the answer I’m looking for.

Maple Pancake and Bacon Ice Cream? Ding, ding, ding!

Omg, guys, omg. This ice cream is like breakfast in a bowl, on steroids. You can taste each component – pancakes, maple syrup, and bacon – individually but they also blend together perfectly. The sweet and salty pops of candied bacon are so freaking good! It might be the best ice cream I’ve ever had and that means a lot coming from the girl who ate about a million pints of Ben and Jerry’s last summer.

Maple Pancake and Bacon Ice Cream, yields 1 pint

5 slices turkey bacon
3 tsp brown sugar
5 large egg yolks, lightly beaten
2 heaping Tbsp boxed pancake mix
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup skim milk

Preheat oven to 400*. Fill a large bowl with ice and water and place a medium-sized, heat-safe bowl down inside the bath.
Lay bacon on a lightly sprayed baking sheet and bake for 10 minutes. Sprinkle slices evenly with brown sugar and return to oven for 10 – 15 more minutes, until candied. Watch the bacon carefully the last few minutes to ensure that the sugar does not burn.
Remove bacon from the oven and set aside. Once cool, break into small pieces with your fingers.
Stir maple syrup and pancake mix into the egg yolks.
Bring heavy cream and skim milk to a light simmer in a saucepan over medium-high heat.
Slowly stream half of the hot cream into the egg yolk mixture, whisking steadily to ensure that the eggs don’t cook. Then carefully stream and whisk the yolks and cream mixture back into the cream still in the sauce pan on the stove.
Continue to cook the custard over medium-low heat until slightly thickened. Take care that the mixture does not boil.
Pour custard into the bowl in the ice bath. Stir until cooled.
Pour cooled custard into the bowl of your ice cream machine and freeze according to manufacture’s instructions.
Remove chilled ice cream and use a spatula to fold in candied bacon. Freeze in an air-tight container for at least 2 hours before serving.

What is the strangest flavor of ice cream you’ve ever tasted?

13Aug2012

Happy Buyday, Webster!

by Emily

One year ago yesterday, we brought home a little dog.

We are still totally smitten!

To celebrate his buyday, we made the morning all about Webster. He started his day with chick-on chick-on.

He also had some sirloin with bacon and potato wet food but he scarfed it so fast that my pictures were a blur.

Then we went to the beach so he could dig. Dachshunds are bred badger hunters and they are instinctual diggers. The dog digs at the bed, the couch, and the dirty clothes bin constantly, but take him to the beach where he can dig without impediment and he mostly eats sand.