Tag Archives: turkey

On Both Hands

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On one hand, I want to try to keep posting speedy tonight because I’m interrupting tv time with Adam.  On the other, I ate some mind-blowingly amazing things today and I want to talk about them.  What to do, what to do?

I started my morning with a Sweet Tango apple.

I ate it during my walk to school and the crunching, munching, strolling, sun-rising combo was just perfect.

Though not as perfect as the 2nd half of my breakfast.  I bring you, my new all-time favorite sandwich.

The 2nd half of yesterday’s cheddar jalapeno bialey, with 2 slices of Applegate Farms Smoked Turkey, and a schmear of Crofter’s Organic Grape Spread.

Spicy plus savory plus sweet rocks my world.

Not food but also pretty exciting, I packed this Herban Essentials Lavender Towlette to wipe my hands with after my sandwich.

The smell rocked my face off and I felt uber-classy.  Confession  – my mom bought me this bag years ago and I’ve been hoarding them because I think they’re so special.

We did an interesting case study in class today but I’ll save time by not talking about it.  I just say this – you can only help someone who wants to help themself.

We went down to the lab after class to deal with the chili sale leftovers and I snagged a m&m brownie cookie.

Lunch was free too; I went to a club meeting that provided sub sandwiches.

I got half a turkey (with lettuce, tomato, and a slice of swiss) which I topped with lots of yellow mustard and a few chips.

When I got home I made myself something exciting for dessert.

That is “rice” pudding made with chia seeds.  I topped my bowl with a splash of maple syrup and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

It was amazing I pinky swear to share the recipe with y’all tomorrow but I’m going to save time by skipping that now.

Adam and I actually got next week’s grocery shopping done this afternoon.  It’s going to be a busy weekend and we want to get as much done ahead of time as we can.

Dinner was easy and quick, vegetarian tacos.

We mashed 2/3 of a can of pinto beans, spread them on small tortillas, topped with a bit of sharp cheddar, a handful of sautéed cabbage, and some sliced avocado.

This meal needed a dose of crunch and/or spice, but other than that it was perfect.

I also polished off a lot of this rosemary with olive oil and sea salt loaf.

Like a LOT, a lot.  4 big slices dipped in evoo and shoved into my face.  ‘Twas amazing.  I’m not quite sure what I think I’m carbo-loading for but I will say that I really wanted french fries too and at least had the good sense not to go get them!

Spicy plus sweet; gimme or gag me?

Fruit In My Purse, In My Chocolate

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I should NOT be blogging right now but I needed a study break!  Tomorrow is going to suck; I’ll leave it at that.

Breakfast was grabbed quickly but ended up being good.  A Revolution Foods Organic Berry MashUp.

I’ve seen some chatter on the internet about how lame it is for grown women to eat “baby food” but all I have to say to that is – sorry you don’t know what’s good?  These are delicious and if you can find another way for me to stick a half cup of berries straight into my purse, I’m all ears.

Plus a sample box of Cascadian Farms Dark Chocolate Almond Granola from HLS.

This was so crunchy and tasty that I actually snapped a picture on my phone to remind myself to buy more!

Since you can already see my warm jacket peeking out from those pictures I’ll admit defeat and show you bundled up look –

It was in the low 30’s today, there could have been snow!  There’s even another shirt on under that top layer (which was Adam’s!).

Not to worry, no one could see that I was wearing stripes + stripes + plaid, that layer was purely for bundling.

Towards the end of our 4-hour class our instructor took us on a field trip across campus to see some of the research posters being presented by faculty from across the disciplines.  We got out of class early and they had food, score!

Fruit,

veg (that brown stuff is a hummus based sauce),

bit of pasta salad and a turkey sandwich with chipotle mayo.

The photos make everything look a bit bigger than it was in real life, this was a smallish lunch.  Good thing I supplemented it with Combos.

I’m having a Combos thing this week, so sue me.

The hours of 12 – 3 were spent hard at studying with some friends in a computer lab.

So. Much. Material!!!

Cherry cordials when I got home.

If this evening goes like I think it’s going to I suspect this will not be the only dessert I have today…

Adrenaline and Glucose

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11 days of freedom!  That is, I have 11 days until I have another test or major assignment on my schedule.  Woo-who; good thing I’ve got all that tv to watch 😉

Last night was, shall we say, eventful.  Just before bed we killed the largest spider I’ve ever seen and it sent adrenaline coursing through my veins.  <– Seriously, “woodlouse spider,” Google if you dare.  Then Webster got sick at 2:30 in the morning and none of us really ever went back to sleep after that.  I made a vet appointment for the dog and a giant coffee for myself.

That’s Godiva Pecan Turtle Coffee (a foodbuzz sample) with Plain Silk Almond Milk and ice.  Delish, thought it did mean that my jumpiness continued.

I ate brunch around my breaks in class.  A red pear.

Plus a sandwich.

2 slices of Rudi’s Honey Sweet Whole Wheat, with Trader Joe’s mango butter, 2 slices of Applegate Farms Herb Turkey, and a slice of 2% Swiss.

Not that great but at least it kept me fueled.  Especially because your brain needs 130 grams of CHO a day to function!

My exam went pretty well, I think.  There were a few areas of confusion (on material we were told was not going to be on the exam!) but overall I felt like I knew my stuff.

I never really mind exams; it’s fun to see how much I know, or don’t know!  Plus I’m a speed tester so I always finish with time to spare.  Having an exam today meant I was released an hour earlier than usual, which is great because I’m on page 21 of The Help and book club is tonight!  Gotta get reading!

My Exam Was On A Low Carb Diet

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{This post was started last night.}

One three-hour review session probably wasn’t enough, but at least I don’t think I failed today’s exam.  And I handed in my paper too so now it’s two down, one to go for this week; phew!  I did make one really silly (really embarrassing!) mistake that is going to cost me a lot of points.  I was thinking adult DRIs for CHO but fixating on percentages for CHO in the DASH diet and ended up saying that older adults require only 55-65 grams of carbohydrates each day!  <– Carbs are the primary energy source for brain function and the RDA is 130 grams/day!

I think I needed more coffee.

That’s ice, Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee, Plain Silk Almond Milk, and a big splash of English Toffee Syrup.  I tasted before sweetening and sadly I don’t think I like the Godiva Pumpkin Spice Coffee outside of pumpkin latte oatmeal.  Too much spice for me.  I brought the rest of the bag in to my friend Kim and she’s going to report back.

Here was the rest of breakfast.

A 2% Fage with Strawberry.

And a Berries GoMega Superfood Bar that Odwalla sent me to try.

I didn’t care for the bar and only ended up eating two small bites.  My negative review is for a positive reason though – this tasted like a berry muffin!  It’s just that I don’t like muffins all that much.  I shared with a friend who confirmed my muffin assessment.  We did admire that it provided 25% percent daily value of your Folate and Calcium and 50% daily value for Vitamin E for only 210 calories.  If you are a muffin person I recommend it.

Lunch was a bagel sandwich that I recommend to everyone.

Cinnamon Raisin Bagel Thin + Applegate Farms Honey Maple Turkey + reduced fat pumpkin cream cheese (mine is from Einstein’s Bagel Bros) = Yum!

I’ll be honest and admit that this could have used a slice of cheese, but other than that it was pure perfection.

I brought in the rest of the Ghirardelli dark chocolate (a Foodbuzz sample) to share with the girls as study fuel.

One piece was enough for me.

And before I knew it – mostly because I was thinking too hard to look at the clock – my exam was done and one final class stood between me and freedom!

In this case, freedom meant beer.

Adam and I split this Blue Moon Harvest Pumpkin Ale 40/60 his favor.  Tasting note – not bad, but not really pumpkin-y either.

And I drank this Dogfish Head Punkin Ale all by myself.

I really did taste pumpkin, brown sugar, allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg.  And beer!  This is my favorite pumpkin brew so far this season (2nd would be Shock Top’s pumpkin).

Notes – I hadn’t had much to eat, I was tired, I’m a lightweight.  Those notes are important because what I did next was get drunk and go to bed at 8:30 pm!  Haha, I’m sure I needed the sleep.

I’m feeling well-rested now, which is awesome because I’ve got to do some serious learning for tomorrow’s exam.  Hope everyone is having a good week!

Cruciferous Cooked In Cider

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This afternoon I decided to forget the fancy coffee for the sake of my wallet and find something to snack on at home instead.  Hello, cookie box!  I went with a buttercream frosted cinnamon pumpkin cookie.

Yum!  The cookie was cakey with great aftertastes of pumpkin and the frosting was thick!  We are loving Cheryl’s especially because they include a nutrition panel on each cookie and don’t contain trans fat.

Thank you for the Halloween gift, in-laws!

I also ate a red plum on our way to store.

We only needed to pick up a few things but I’m glad we went because we ended up finding lots of Monday afternoon deals, including 50% off Justin’s almond butter.

Dinner included hot dogs, baked beans, and apple cider stewed cabbage – the fall fantasy meal!

The baked beans were a vegetarian Wegman’s brand, I had a half cup with 2 chopped Applegate Farms Uncured Turkey Hot Dogs.

The beans were only ok but I think the hot dogs were good, it’s been so long since I’ve had one I can’t really remember them!

Since I was eating my dog via beans I nibbled on a bun with Smart Balance Light while I cooked dinner.

I’m glad I kept these components separate because I had a bite of Adam’s bunned dog and was underwhelmed.

The apple cider stewed cabbage was overwhelmingly fantastic though.  I cooked 1 lb of coleslaw mix (chopped cabbage and carrots) in 2 cups of fresh apple cider until tender.  Then strained off the liquid and sautéed with salt and 4 Tbsp of butter until crispy and almost burnt.

Ah-mazing!  I ate my entire huge pile.  I wasn’t planning on using that much butter but I let what I had out get too hot and it ended up being such a tasty mistake.

It was quite the good dinner.

What’s not good is how much I have to do before my tests.  The plan is to stay up another hour or so, then get up early(ish) to continue to work.  I have a bunch of errands to run tomorrow afternoon and I’d like to be on the review/paper-writing portion of my to-do’s at that point.  Wish me luck!

Fun fact – cruciferous veggies include (among others) horseradish, kale, collard greens, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, bok choy, and mustard seeds!

The Circle Of Life

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“From the day we arrive on the planet

And, blinking step into the sun

There’s more to see than can ever be seen

More to do than can ever be done

There’s far too much to take in here

More to find than can ever be found

But the sun rolling high

Through the sapphire sky

Keeps great and small on the endless round

It’s the Circle of Life”

I just can’t stop singing!  It’s possible I’ve hummed straight through my day.  Other than “Aladdin,” “The Lion King” was the Disney movie with my favorite music.

Backing up to where we left off yesterday, I spent some time (not enough) with these –

I popcorned while I studied.

I hated it.

Plus 100 calories worth of Ghirardelli Midnight Reverie 86% chocolate topped with a smear of Biscoff spread.

Adam was in surgery until late so the meet-up plan involved friends picking me up and all of us getting together with Adam whenever he could make it.  The husband had told me to be ready at 5:45 so a bit after 4 I took Webster out on a long walk.  We were heading home around 5 when I got a call from our friend Patrick – “Eithan said to tell you he’s running late, they’ll probably get you around 5:30.”  5:30 you say?  Whoops! 

Thankfully I’d already showered in the morning so I didn’t take all that long to gussy.  I even managed heels and mascara.

Ready on time, we set off to Pearl Street Grill and Brewery for dinner before the show.  Thankfully, Adam got out early enough to meet us for dinner so we did a little sharing.  I ordered the Gobbler (turkey burger) with a side salad subbed instead of fries for veg.

I was not expecting such a large plate of greens though!  In the end I ate ~ 1/3 of the husband’s chicken fingers and fries,

all of the salad (with brown sugar rum vinaigrette!),

and 2-3 bites of the turkey burger.

Adam was more than happy to take care of the rest for me.  We were with a great group of friends – 2 couples of regulars plus another 2 couples who were friends of friends – so even dinner was fun.

Getting to the theatre was a bit of an ordeal – it’s possible all of the girls had to sprint 2 blocks in high heels! – but all that really matters is we made it.  This was my first time seeing “The Lion King” and I thought it was great.  Knowing the music from the movie and being able to sing along (silently!) definitely helped to keep me engaged.  My favorite part of the show was actually the visual appeal; the costumes for the elephants and giraffes were truly breathtaking.  I’m so glad we had the opportunity to go.  Though now Adam and I are desperate to see the movie to hear the songs again!

It wasn’t the earliest bedtime and my 6am alarm felt a little … rough.  Thankfully I thought ahead so all I had to do was put on shoes, grab my bags, hop in the car, and stumble to the gym.  My notecards and I spent some time on the treadmill, more for a wake up and study review than workout purposes.  2 miles walked, 35 minutes.  A quick change and face wipe bath later and I was ready for my exam.

Before the test I ate this White Chocolate Macadamia Chewy Nut Bar Odwalla sent me to sample.

This was sweet, but not too sweet, and a little bit nutty.  I couldn’t savor it the way I would have liked because our test was about to begin, but it did hold me over well through the morning.  210 calories and 2 grams of saturated fat for 25% each daily value of calcium and folate (<– important for baby making).  The white chocolate macadamia flavor will be hitting stores this month; look for it!

My test went alright, not great but not terribly either.  The subjects covered included the clear liquid diet, parenteral feeding, and Latin roots for medical terms, among other things, so no matter how the test went I know it’s all material I will be seeing again. 

I had time for a quick break and then it was on to class #2 and a group presentation.  Our non-nutritive sweeteners group had to present our findings from the last test lab as well as information on the options available to our future clients.  We were the very first group to go which was a little nerve-wracking but the TA said we did a good job.  We also did our 2nd set of sampling today, this time with commercially made products. 

The class had to analyze original and sugar-free versions of cola, yogurt, ice-cream, jell-o, and chocolate syrup.  Normally we can just take small tastes in lab but since I’ll have to write up a report for this one I needed to take really good notes which meant eating all of the samples, even the nasty ones.  And most of them were nasty.  <– Word to the wise – don’t even waste your time with Hershey’s sugar-free chocolate syrup, yuck city. 

Since I didn’t have time to photograph everything I ate (which ended up having to be a lot) I gave myself the afternoon off from blogging as well.  I will note though, that lunch included many handfuls of salty nuts and a big bag of chips to help balance out all that sweet!  And other than eating and dog walking I didn’t accomplish a blessed thing.  We have two huge exams and a paper due next week and I needed some time for tv watching before my long-weekend study session begins.

Dinner was similarly low-key.

The Tandoor Chef veggie Pad Thai is seriously better than most of the Thai available in Buffalo.

Yums.

On my extra-sweet day, check out what arrived in the mail –

Adam’s mom sent us a haul of cookies!  It’s taking a lot of self-control but we are going to wait until the coffee caramel is finished before having at them.  And on that note, we are off to have sundaes!

Which sugar-free products do you use?  Do you prefer the taste or are you diabetic/looking to cut calories?

Red Fish, Blue Fish, Green Dog?

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If I start this post by saying I haven’t been very productive today, will that be too predictable?!  I’m in a cold-weather/program-frustration/lack-of-exercise induced rut!  But I’m making a commitment to going to bed early and pushing my way out of it tomorrow.

At least all of my eats today were tasty.  Like my in-class breakfast trio.

Wegman’s Plain 0% Greek Yogurt (which is quite good and can hold its own against the big brands; though it is more similar to Chobani than Fage as it is less thick),

Fiber One Honey Squares Cereal sample (this had a gross fake-sweetener aftertaste – Sucralose was on the ingredient list – but was very filling for 80 calories),

and a honey stick.

Since my trio only had about 200 calories or so, I supplemented breakfast with a Banana Nut Bar that Odwalla generously sent me to try out.

Love!  I actually tried this in college (the first time!) and loved it then too.  220 calories, .5 grams of saturated fat, 5 grams of fiber and 4 grams of protein.  Plus it packs good amounts of many vitamins, including 25% daily value each of calcium and folate and 50% vitamin e.  The bar is chewy and a bit crumbly, just like banana bread!  I shared bites with two classmates who agreed that this was the best fake (<– aka not literally just a banana) banana flavor ever.

My breakfasts held me over nicely too; I had to run several errands after class and I didn’t get to eat lunch until close to 2:30.  Actually, my breakfasts held me over well until around 1, and then I was cranky.  I went frozen meal quick for lunch.

Another Lean Cuisine win, Chicken Enchilada Suiza.

I supplemented this meal with popcorn.

There’s always room for Jell-O popcorn.

I took the doggy on a long walk this afternoon (that’s productive!) and before I knew it the husband was home and it was time for dinner.

No matter what little tweaks you make to the ingredients, turkey Reubens are always good!

This guy was GH sourdough bread, 1000 island dressing, sauerkraut 2 slices of Applegate Farms Honey and Maple Turkey, and 2 slices of 2% Swiss.  I ate at least another slice worth’s of bread in nibbles, Great Harvest is seriously the best.

With roasted green beans on the side.

A winner of a dinner.

Blue Fish, Red Fish, Green Dog?

Calling all pet owners, we could use some advice.  How do you clean up after your dog while staying green? 

Adam and I pride ourselves on being pretty environmentally friendly but Webster seems to have doubled our plastic and paper consumption.  Since he is home by himself for long stretches of time (and since he is a small dog with a small bladder in a third floor apartment) he has to do about 50% of his “business” inside the apartment.  When he’s not out on a walk, he “goes” on pee pads.

I don’t feel bad about using these because they are basically unavoidable and we have him reuse each one two or three times.  However, being the asshole that he is, only about 2/3 of his going takes place on the pee pads.  The rest of his business goes on the floor.  Number 2 requires a baggie and Clorox wipe (don’t worry, we use a different brand without harsh chemicals, I’m just too lazy to look up the name of them) and number 1 requires several paper towels and wipe.  I’ve thought about using paper towels for pick-up at home (wasting more paper but conserving plastic), but on walks we have to use a baggie.

For the past few months we’ve been leaving our reusable bags at home and reusing the plastic bags we take home from the grocery.  This is the cheapest solution but Adam and I both felt badly about how wasteful it was.  When we ran out of baggies and were forced into purchasing some I think we both were a little relieved (and we’ll go back to reusable bags for groceries).  In fact, one of my errands today was purchasing these –

These Green Bone bags are biodegradable and made from cornstarch.

So that’s an improvement but I’m still hoping to find a better solution.

Pet owners, how do you take good care of your furry friends while still taking care of the planet?

Blog Reading for Cultural Expansion

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I was not very productive today.  Just ask the homework that has to be done this weekend and the run that has to be done tomorrow!  But I cuddled with my puppy, had a good class at school, and got my teeth fixed; so the day wasn’t a total wash.

It’s possible I even started the day off in poor form.  I had to give a presentation in class today so I headed in early.  Sidenote – don’t you love my semi-professional outfit?  I felt like fall!

On my drive to school I realized (for the first time in three weeks of making the same drive) that I pass a Wilson Farms.  WF has my favorite coffee so I knew a stop was in order.  Unfortunately I just kept acting dippier.  First, I got a pumpkin spice latte when it is still apple month!  Next, I walked past at least five signs proclaiming “free 16 ounce coffees for all,” and poured, and paid for, a 20 ounce coffee.  Frick!  The cashier thought I was nuts. 

At least it was delicious.  I did half pumpkin spice coffee (unsweet) and half pumpkin spice cappuccino (sweet) and it was perfection.

And minus my caffeine shakes, our presentation went great.  The class all had to evaluate each other and Janessa and I got nothing but good reviews.  It helps when you bribe them with food!

That’s marble halvah (a sweet, sesame based treat) that we brought in to showcase as one of the foods from our Jewish Food Habits presentation.  A few people found the aftertaste to be strange, but most of the class loved it.  Halvah is one of my very favorite sweets and I ate at least two servings.

During our 10:30 break I also wandered over to the campus Freshens for a smoothie.

I ordered the Maui Mango (Mango, Strawberries, Bananas, Passion Fruit, Juice Blend & Booster) but I think they gave me the wrong cup because all I could taste was peaches.

It wasn’t very good and probably ended up only drinking about half.  I looked up the nutritional info which stated ~300 calories per smoothie, so I still can’t figure out why it was so disgustingly sweet.

Our class today was a lot of fun.  In addition to Judaism there were presentations on 7th Day Adventist, Mormon, Greek Orthodox, Native American, Alaskan, and Rastafarian food selection and restrictions.  I didn’t really learn anything new, but it was all fun info to revisit.  It’s always interesting to me how much cultural background knowledge I seem to have compared to my friends (who know all sorts of things about other subjects that I know nothing about).  I’m not sure if it’s from my interest in Anthropology or from the diverse places I’ve gotten to live.  I grew up with Rastafarians and have read a lot about Native American cultures but my exposure to Mormons has been through blog friends.  Reading blogs has definitely been a factor in introducing me to new things!

Lunch was easy and soft to chew.

I don’t eat a ton of “diet food,” but I actually really enjoy some Lean Cuisine flavors.  The Roasted Turkey is a favorite.

Confession?  The stuffing in there is actually my very favorite of all the stuffings (homemade included) I’ve ever tried!

I also took several soft bites of Biscoff straight from the jar for dessert.

After my teeth were fixed I could finally move on to foods with chew and crunch factor for dinner.

Mango, pineapple, tiny piece of watermelon.

Udon noodles, a veggie eggroll, and more veggies – including some very tasty bok choy – hidden on the bottom.

Note – when I made this plate I still thought I was running or I probably wouldn’t have gone quite so heavy on the carbs.  But then in rolled a big storm and out rolled not being a big fatty.  At least I’m excited to get tackling my to-do’s tomorrow!

Mormon, 7th Day Adventist, Native American, or Rastafarian – do you follow any bloggers who have these backgrounds?