Tag Archives: vegan

Sunday Disposition

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Welcome, weekend warriors!

No Saturday post because I spent most of the day moping around the house.  Little was accomplished, though I did get the laundry done.

I got so sick of myself that I made damn sure to have fun today.  And I’ve been thinking positive thoughts about the upcoming week as well.  I want to make sure my last 8 days before summer school are as productive/relaxing/fun/healthy as possible.

We got this morning off to a tasty/healthy start with sludge smoothies to go.

Enjoyed out of repurposed jars instead of fancy stemware because we were on a family walk.

In the blend were unmeasured amounts of frozen banana, frozen blackberries, frozen spinach, and oj.

Plus a piece of rye bread with strawberry jam and Smart Balance Light when we got home.

Our new jam is the store-brand version of Crofter’s (ie organic and with no added sugar) and sadly it’s not very good.

Lunch was consumed out of hand.  A slice of pizza (now you see what we did on Saturday!),

a Cara Cara orange,

and half of this package of mint m&m’s.

I’ve never been a huge m&m person but these mint ones are fantasmic.  Perhaps because they are dark chocolate?  They are one of the few (the only?!) desserts that actually tastes better to me in small quantities.

We walked to dinner and surreptitiously enjoyed Black Jack Colas along the way.

We went on a sushi date.

Kunis has been on our “Buffalo: Go To” list for months and I’m glad we finally gave it a shot because it was great and we’ll definitely be back.

I ordered three small plates to make up my meal.  First, Wakame Salad.

Seasoned and dressed seaweed, with sesame and chili flakes.  I’ve been trying to get Adam to taste seaweed salad for years and now that he finally did he’s officially obsessed (we stopped at the co-op on the way home because he was hoping to find more!).  I will say that Kuni’s version was one of the best I’ve ever had.  But – the photo isn’t deceiving you, it was a ridiculously small portion.

My soup course was a bowl of Udon.

Thick white flour noodles in a light broth, topped with sweetened tofu, wakame and scallions.  At $3.75 this huge bowl was a steal.  The sweet tofu wasn’t my favorite but the slightly sweet and sour broth was great.

Finally, a veggie roll.

It had asparagus, mushroom, and some pickled vegetable that I’m not remembering.  Be forewarned – the wasabi at Kunis is fresh!  I gobbed it on the way I usually do and my first bite almost killed me.  It wasn’t necessarily spicy – in fact we both noticed that this wasabi put no spice on your tongue and was strangely sour – but a bunch of it stuck to the roof of my mouth and I started choking and breaking out in a cold sweat.  Adam said my face was BRIGHT red!

We had a great walk home; Kuni’s is just far enough away to be fun.  My dinner was good but on the smaller side and my mouth didn’t feel done so I ate a mug of cereal when we got home.

1 cup of Honey Nut Shredded Wheat with skim milk.  Aaaaand, scene.

Three Dessert Sunday

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The weekend is over and I didn’t catch up on any sleep, aaaahh!  After our late night (cough, 4:30, cough cough) I was thrilled to wake up to a pre-made breakfast.  Overnight oats in a jar.

In a pb jar with just a little peanut butter left (approximately 2 Tbsp) I combined 1/4 cup of oats, 1/4 cup Silk Unsweetened Almond Milk, and a caramel Oikos.

It was delicious.  And I have another round of OIAJ planned for tomorrow too, woot.

Lunch was leftovers.

They weren’t mine but they were good.

My mom got this cucumber salad as the side with her meal at Lagerhaus 95.

This afternoon I had a shift at work and an errand to run so I was thrilled when I came home to dinner already made.

Adam made tuna mac (cheap mac and cheese with spinach, edamame, and tuna stirred in).

I added more veggies (edamame and peas) and cheese (a few cubes of sharp cheddar) to my serving.

It was good but box mac and cheese is always disappointingly bland.

Then came desserts.  Yes, sssssss; there were three.  First was a Jell-o ‘Smores Pudding cup.

Meh.  I thought it would be more exciting than it was.  But Adam loved it, and now I’m inspired to make a better, homemade version soon.

Second was apple dippers.

A green apple dipped in a heaping Tbsp each Crunchy Biscoff and Dark Chocolate Dreams peanut butter.

Delicious.  You can’t go wrong with either of those dips.

Finally, I ate four Dove Coconut Cream Eggs.

Perfect!  My mom bought me these for Easter with strict instructions not to open them until next Sunday but they are already mostly gone, whoops.

What Easter candy are you most excited for?

One In The Hand…

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…is worth two the in the bush.  Or $1 if you’re holding a silver dollar.  Or a quick blurb if you’re reading this post.  What I’m trying to say is, pictures in this blog post will be accompanied by a quick blurb.  I’m tired.

Our larders are bare and as I said, I’m tired, so today’s meals were tricky.  My food consumption was very strange, fairly processed, and eaten entire by hand (minus two dishes by chopstick).  I ate small bits consistently throughout the day and that seemed to work.  It wasn’t the healthiest day of all time but for this day I’m pretty proud of how I did.

A Cappuccino Lara Bar.

Always a favorite.  I’m amazed every time I eat this at how well they managed to balance the coffee flavor so that it’s not too intense.

The final two Buttered Rum Raisin Cookies.

So sad to see these good, they are for sure in my top five recipes list.

Note – I also had a large handful of unphotographed Reese’s Pieces.  We used them for a problem in Statistics and then were allowed to nibble.

Trader Joe’s Wasabi Roasted Seaweed Snack.

This was good but super spicy; I was crying before I was even halfway through.  Crunchy, spicy, and a bit strange means this was something I loved; I really wish I had bought more.  And for 30 calories you were snacking for a long while, definitely a volume food.

A Pepsi Next.

This 60 calorie soda is Pepsi’s answer to Coke Zero.  Sadly I wasn’t a fan, it tasted too much like regular Pepsi to me (duh, Emily!).  If you enjoy regular soda but want to cut back on calories you should probably check it out.  I wish they would make a regular soda that simply contained less sugar, rather using fake sugars.  I love the flavor of diet but know that I could do without the chemicals.

A Mango Passion & Banana Buddy Fruit packet.

I love these so much!  One pack equals one serving of fruit and the blend was delicious.

A mini pretzel bagel with some of the leftover cheese from last night’s cheese plate.

It’s hard to go wrong with the pretzel and smoked Gouda combo.  Eating these side-by-side rather than sandwich style felt gloriously simple.

A So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk box.

Meh, I prefer the Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.  I like the idea a vegan milk box though and I’ve had this product in chocolate in the past and enjoyed it more.

Dinner was eaten by chopstick and gets no blurb.  Seaweed salad and a brown rice veggie sushi roll.

What can I really say about that?

But dessert?  Oh my gosh, dessert.  A Trader Joe’s Dark Chocolate Bar filled with Speculoos Cookie Spread.

Why didn’t I buy more of these?!  I am kicking myself now.  The chocolate was creamy and a little bit bitter, the filling was sweet and gritty, and I was basically swooning.  I actually did buy two bars but I gave one to a friend who’s similar obsessed with Biscoff and I’m feeling pretty darn generous right about now.  But I do, at least, have a jar of TJ’s Cookie Butter waiting for me.

What was the best thing you ate today?

Miles To Go Before I Sleep

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Technically the miles were already traveled but sleep somehow feels very far and very urgent!  I had some great bites today but I’m going to keep my descriptions quick in favor of bed.

Breakfast – cereal mix with vanilla almond milk.

Coffee – Highlander Grog from Winans (<– my favorite coffee ever) with a shot of toasted marshmallow syrup and skim milk.

The cup was giant but my mom and I shared.

It was sad to say goodbye to my grandparents but the weather got quite cold and the safety of the car felt nice.  It was a gorgeous day though.

Lunch – A mini pretzel bagel with blue cheese pecan spread.

Plus an apple that escaped the camera.

Favorite thing ever – froyo!

I got a small cup of plain tart topped with mini marshmallows, lots of fruit, sprinkles and an insane amount of marshmallow cream.

It was a marshmallow day, I almost ordered a s’mores milkshake with dinner.

Several hours later when we pulled into Buffalo I also ate this cookie dough bite from Winans.

It is restaurant week here and we went to SoHo Burger Bar for dinner.

The lighting was bad but the deal was good.

I ended up with a turkey burger with jalapeño compote and a side of chips and a pickle.

I ate 100% of my pickle, 75% of my burger, 50% of my bun, 25% of my chips, and 5% of the compote.  Plus several truffle oil tater tots.

The included dessert was a sundae that I let the husband have to himself.

Even with the lame last course I still highly recommend stopping in a SBB during restaurant week.

Locals – where should we go for our next restaurant week stop?

I Have To Grudgingly Admit

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… I love, love, loved The Hunger Games!  We are reading it for book club and I’d been resisting, but I got in bed with it last night at 11 and couldn’t stop reading until I was done!  My late night meant I missed my run this morning but it was still totally worth it.  I need to get my hands on the next two books asap.

Breakfast was a bowl of cereal (a mix) with vanilla almond milk.

Plus a pear.

We ran around all afternoon, including a trip to the mecca.

Squeee!  I didn’t buy even a tenth of what I wanted but still came away with a few goodies, including this Zico Chocolate Coconut Water.

I wasn’t sure what to expect but I think this might be my new favorite thing.  The taste sort of reminded me of a chocolate egg cream.  I hope this becomes available in Buffalo soon!

Our meals for the day were eaten at chains, but both were good.  Lunch came from Panera Bread.

I got a soup and salad combo.  A half serving of brocoli cheddar soup.

And a half Thai chopped chicken salad.

With an apple as my side.

And part of a cookie to finish.

I made it through the drive back to the house but then my late night hit me hard and I ended up taking an afternoon nap.  I’m still feeling pretty tired and my mom and I have another 7-hour drive home tomorrow so I’ve got to get to bed early tonight (as in the minute I publish this post!).

Dinner was at Red Lobster.

I started with a side salad with balsamic vinegar on the side,

and of course a cheddar biscuit.

The salad was watery so I ignored it in favor of the biscuit which was delicious (of course!).

I did another combination for my main meal.

The stuffed flounder – which wasn’t as good as my meal last night at Outback,

and coconut shrimp – which came with tasty piña colada sauce.

I wasn’t expecting to get such a platter of food!  I managed half of the fish and 4 of the shrimp, plus all of my side of cole slaw.

All that’s left to eat is sugar plums!

Challenge Check Ins

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February – Vegan Month Challenge

I’m not going to do the traditional recap; frankly, I’m not sure what to say.  This was our least successful vegan challenge to date.  We just weren’t in the right frame of mind to take on the challenge that month.  I was in a cooking rut and a perpetual bad mood.  But the one thing I know I can’t blame our failure on is lack of tasty vegan options.  The successful part of the challenge was the great new vegan recipes I’ve added to my repertoire.  Here are some of my new favorites –

Berry Better Than Spaghetti

Mushroom Umami Pasta Sauce

Peanut Butter Banana Pretzel Pie

Smokey Maple Baked Beans

Tempeh Brown Rice Casserole

Tropical Tapioca Pudding

And if you’re interested in my other vegan options, check out my newest recipe page!

March – “March Back Home,” No Take-out Challenge

March Back Home March is very similar to No Take-out ‘Tober.  Basically, our (crappy, unhealthy, expensive) food purchases have been out of control lately and we want to rein them back in.  Here are the rules –

  • no Wegman’s hot bar, period
  • no take-out; meals that are not cooked at home must be eaten in the restaurant setting
  • two predetermined restaurant meals are allowed per week
  • Adam is allowed to purchase a maximum of two coffees per week (at the hospital)
  • Emily is allowed to purchase a maximum of one drink per week; coffee, soda, juice or otherwise
  • the last week of March the rules won’t apply because my mom will be visiting for spring break!!!

I’m excited to get back in the kitchen.

March Came Marching In

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Hello, from a new month!  My March came marching in; I have a feeling that this is going to be a good month.  But even if the rest of the March sucks, I’ve been more productive just today than I was all of February!

After my morning post, I headed to school for Statistics.  We have our first test next week; I’ve had a firm grasp on all of the material so far but I can’t help but be a little nervous.  Next  I picked up my carpool buddies and we drove to the hospital for clinic.  Funny sidenote – we couldn’t find street parking and the one spot we saw that was too short but would have been fine if the front car had pulled up a bit more … was behind the husband’s car!  I could have moved the offending vehicle but I don’t have the key to Adam’s car on my key chain!

I ate a Chocolate Dipped Coconut Luna Bar at the hospital.

I know I say it every time, but I still can’t get over home much this bar tastes like a samoa.  Speaking of which, there’s a samoa recipe I dreamed up during Vegan Month that I can’t wait to share with y’all!  I seriously rub my hands together like an evil villan every time I think about it.

Clinic went well, I had my first patient at the new hospital today.  He was being discharged as I went up to the floor so I didn’t get to do much, but I got to look through the chart and ask a few questions.  This hospital doesn’t have a screening/assessment form like the last one so I created my own and our instructor liked it so much she told me to make copies for everyone.  We don’t get to do a whole lot yet so getting praise for even the littlest things is still exciting.  And even more exciting was getting out early, woot.

I planned on working out after night class but I knew that would be a major drag so I took advantage of the extra time and hurried to the gym before class.  The CT10k workout for today called for 10 intervals of 2:30 walking/2:30 running (25 minutes total each), but I didn’t have quit enough time so I had to reconfigure.  I ended up doing 8 intervals of 3 minutes walking/5 minutes running (15 minutes walking and 25 minutes running total).  3.5 miles and 40 minutes.  First workout in two weeks?  Done!

Night class went well because we got out of that early too!  Found time is the best time.  We finished so quickly that I even got to eat my packed dinner at home.

In the repurposed jar is 1 serving of leftover Tempeh Brown Rice Casserole.

I pulled dessert from the freezer too; I finally got to try my Jordan Almond Cookies!

They were great, I wish I’d saved more for myself.

With my found time, I finally finished my notecards for tomorrow’s exam.  Better late than never?  I probably should go review those, huh?

How many cars does your family have?  If you are a multi-vehicle family, do you carry a set of your significant other’s keys with you?

Resolutions Check In: February

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Last night – I didn’t finish my work, but I did make a big dent.  We were up until midnight but it was only 8pm when I realized that dinner wasn’t going to cover it.  I started with a bowl of coconut barley (cooked in coconut milk with shredded coconut stirred in) with pb sauce.

But there was something off about the texture so instead I moved on to pizza.

Lots of pizza.  What?  It was the last hours of Vegan Month, on a leap year!  Plus we’d already cheated anyway.  This was our least successful Vegan Month to date.

This morning – was the start of successful month.  I blame coffee.

That’s a leftover cup (+ish) of Wegman’s Espresso Roast (<– love!) with 1 Tbsp English Toffee Syrup and 5 Tbsp Silk Vanilla Almond Milk.  I’m not done with my work, not even close, but I made another big dent.

Breakfast was soup.

Dr. McDougall’s Pad Thai Noodle Soup.

Not Pad Thai in the slightest (the flavor seemed more Spanish than Thai), but the texture and flavor were quite tasty.  It badly needed peanuts but sadly we don’t have any.

Happy March’ing everyone!

Resolutions Check In: February

2 months down.  February was not quite as successful as January.  I want to blame the Vegan Challenge, but honestly we failed at that too.  The good thing is that I feel more than ready to put my head down and work the rest of the year.

1. Workout a minimum of three times per week.

Fail.  I have no excuse, but I can only do better.

2. Continue to read at least one book a month, for a minimum total of 30 books this year.

10. 206 Bones – Kathy Reichs

11. Firefly Lane – Kristin Hannah

12. Spider Bones – Kathy Reichs

Win.  3 books read this month for a total of 12 this year.  I’ve officially read every Temperance Brennan book currently available.

3. Put the time and effort into my school work that I can be proud of each week.

Middling.  I’m still on top of things but I slacked and I’m not necessarily proud of myself.

4. Continue working on being a positive person.

Fail/Win.  I decided in January that I needed to make more specific goals for each month so for February I said – “every time I get so mad I want to yell at Adam, I have to do three push-ups first.  And then I can yell!”  I only ended up doing push-ups once.  I forgot about them the times I was mad, but I did get mad a lot less often this month.

For March – stop eating take-out!  I’ll talk about this more later but getting creative in the kitchen helps keep me happy (and healthy!) so it’s a good goal for addressing positivity.