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.

He also ran around free like a madman and seemed to have an absolutely fantastic time.

He certainly wore himself out for the car-ride home.

I love that dog!

Some other highlights from Sunday included…. Waking up at 8 am to make homemade ice cream.

I’m sharing the recipe on Tuesday and all I’ll tell you for now is that the flavor was such a good idea.

Going out for bbq for a belated birthday lunch with my in-laws.

And having a friend come over so that we could finally watch The Help. We didn’t like the movie as much as the book!

Do you celebrate buydays with your pets?

5Aug2012

Cootie Catcher Sunday

by Emily

Today was all about family fun time. My uncle, aunt, and cousin (and her adorable children!!) came over for the day to visit.

I had a great time playing with the two little girls. Not even gonna lie, I loved getting a chance to color again.

And I even remembered how to make cootie catchers.

When can I have babies?!

I stayed up late knitting and slept through breakfast but I was ready for lunch.

I made an amazing grilled cheese out of rye bread, provolone, pimento cheese, and thick-sliced turkey.

Plus fruit salad on the side.

Chocolate for dessert.

Our last dinner continued the streak of tasty meals.

Salad with green goddess dressing,

and a serve-yourself main dish. I put brown rice, celery, onion, cherry tomato, pineapple, coconut, cheese, and chicken gravy on my plate.

With a light Arnold Palmer to drink.

We ended our last evening with a final hour bike ride.

It was the best ride yet because we spotted deer –

We saw the fawn nurse! Too cool. I wish you had been there to see them, Adam!

Tomorrow we drive back to Buffalo and early the next morning my parents fly home. I’m planning in advance on not blogging tomorrow. You can assume I’ll drink a giant diet pop and eat chips if I can find some good ones. See you in Buffalo.

2Aug2012

Three Days Into Your Trip

by Emily

Hello from Ohio. I know I haven’t blogged in a few days, these old folks are keeping me busy!

Adam had to stay in Buffalo (he’s going to be a doctor so we don’t feel bad for him, though we do miss him!) but Tuesday morning my mom, dad, and I logged 8 hours in the car. After some tearful goodbyes, of course.

I did brunch on the road. Rockstar.

Sandwich – turkey, sandwich thin, pepperjack.

Coffee with skim milk and three sugars.

We split a lavender cookie my parents brought from Canada. The base was marzipan and the almond lavender combo was divine.

And finally, we made a pit stop at a gas station with the best soda fountain of all time –

I made a giant Coke Zero with Strawberry Fanta and was in heaven.

My grandma fed us a ridiculously tasty dinner.

Swiss Chicken,

fried mushrooms,

fresh corn,

and fruit salad.

Everything was amazing. I went back for a few more ‘shrooms and half a cob more as well.

Pineapple upside-down cake for dessert.

And then I passed out in a food coma.

Wednesday morning I ate more fruit salad for breakfast. Topped with boozy whipped cream!

Plus half a banana.

And coffee with skim milk.

Lunch was this fun honey lemonade.

And a turkey sandwich.

Toasted English muffin with thick sliced turkey, peach jam, and pimento cheese.

We ate dinner at Ruby Tuesdays. Salad bar for everyone.

I ordered the Asian BBQ Salmon with grilled green beans for dinner.

Good, but my green beans are better!

And now I’m thinking about breakfast.

P.S. Hi, husband!!! We miss you bunches!

29Jul2012

New To Us

by Emily

Today was fun! I love having visitors because it forces you to explore your own town. We went to several new-to-us spots today and quite enjoyed them all.

Breakfast at Lake Effect Diner.