Tag Archives: vegan

Spiders and Schweddy Balls

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Success!  I started my day with success.  In spite of not getting to bed quite on time last night I successfully managed my first morning workout today!  I was worried things were getting off track when the world’s largest spider was on my car door (seriously) but I kept it together.  Sure killing the spider calling Adam and crying did eat into my time a bit, but I still got in a good workout.

35 minutes on the elliptical; random level 6.  Followed by a super quick strength/stretch session.  <– what that means to me, by the way, is generally 50 crunches, 40 other abs moves, 3 sets of toe touching, and a 1-minute plank ending with a downward dog.

I left the gym at 6:57 and had time to drive home, shower/dress, get my stuff together, drive back to school, park, and walk to class for 8 am.  The gym opens at 6am so if the spiders leave me alone I can get in a decent workout most mornings.

This morning, “get my stuff together” included making a giant iced coffee.

4 cups of cold coffee, 2 Tbsp English Toffee Syrup, and a big splash of Silk Plain Almond Milk. 

The almond milk takes coffee to whole new level; it is sooo thick!  (twss)

I also packed myself some plums to munch on during my 4-hour class.

1 black plum and 1 dapple plucot; sliced for easy mid-class eating.

My breakfast held me over until noon, especially because I find coffee to be very filling, but I did make lunch a three-parter when I got home.

Course 1 was chicken salad.

I tossed together shredded chicken, a few grapes, and 2 Tbsp 0% Plain Fage, 1 Tbsp sour cream, and 1.5 Tbsp pickle relish.

I don’t mind mayo but it’s fun to branch out; the greek yogurt sour cream combo did a great job as a binder.

I also ate a serving of these chips but my camera was dead so no picture.

Course 2 was a green apple with peanut butter.

That unappetizing looking stuff is actually Peanut Butter Company’s Dark Chocolate Dreams.

I used to love PB&Co when I lived in the city and I was super excited to find a 170-calorie pack in my book store.

And the awesome looking plate actually came home from my grandma’s house last weekend.

My great-great-grandmother painted these by hand!

My peanut butter sparked my sweet tooth because my final course was dessert.

I made myself a small serving of Ben and Jerry’s Schweddy Balls ice cream with 2 tsp of Heath crumbles on top.

I would probably like this ice cream even if it tasted like cardboard because the reference to one of SNL’s best skits is just too good!  Thankfully it’s also delicious; the rum flavor is nice and mellow and the malt balls are still crunchy.

What’s your all-time favorite SNL sketch?  I think mine might be Baldwin’s other win, “Canteen Boy.”

If At First You Don’t Succeed

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I’m 0-for-2 in my efforts to hit the gym before school.  On Monday I had those weird nightmares and I wasn’t well-rested.  Last night I got in bed at 10:30 (it should have been closer to 9:30) and then the dog woke me up at 3am and I couldn’t fall back to sleep.  I turned off the alarm this morning but I was more determined than ever to make this work.  I’m not working out tomorrow and Thursday’s plan is a longer session, but I’m going to give it all I’ve got on Friday morning.  I guess I’m in the second stage of if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.  For now, I’m going to make an effort to go to bed early the next two nights to prepare.

At least staying at home gave me time to make a healthy breakfast.

For two servings, I blended 2 cups of frozen strawberries, 2 scoops of chocolate protein powder, 1 cup of unsweetened So Delicious coconut milk, and 1 cup of green tea.

The addition of the green tea gave our smoothies a totally unique flavor.  I like what the protein powder does for the texture (and the protein content, duh!) but I don’t love how chalky it makes things taste.  Any suggestions?

I drank my smoothie on the walk to campus but halfway through my 4 hour class I was devouring half a tin of Altoids.  I think I’ll need to bring a snack for my extra long classes from now own.

Fueled by Altoids, I headed to the gym after class.  45 minutes on the elliptical at random, level 6.  I put in the time on the elliptical but I didn’t really put in the effort, my brain and body were both ready for lunch!  At least I finished my session with some quick strength and stretching moves.

I’d like to say I ate as soon as I stopped sweating, but sadly the dog crushed my soul by eating his pee pad first.  Between the walk home, discipline, and taking a shower, I didn’t actually sit down to lunch until almost 4pm!

At least it was worth the wait.  The same combo as Sunday night, a serving of bbq kale and beans topped with tons of Parmesan, Sriracha, and a dollop of 0% Plain Fage.

For dessert I tried this can of horchata de leche I found at the grocery store.

The taste nice and cinnamony but I did miss the chew factor of regular horchata.

I’m off to take the monster on a walk and build back up my appetite for our tasty dinner.

When do you usually workout?

How to do use protein powder to make it less chalky?

Back to School Like Rodney Dangerfield

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Today was my first day back in school and it looks like my semester is off to a good start.  Thank goodness too because I was so nervous yesterday that I actually had a teacher nightmare last night!  In my dream I must have quit my program because I had just accepted a job as a teacher.  It was my first day at the new school and I realized that I didn’t have any lesson plans done!!!  I was also freaking out about what to wear (apparently my school had some sort of strange all red dress code) and the whole thing was just fraught with tension.  Thankfully my real day of school as a student went much more smoothly.

I drank some Candy Cane Lane tea with skim milk on my walk to school.

I was a little nervous about giving myself enough time to walk to class so I did breakfast in my first class.

The Coconut Chocolate Chip Clif Bar flavor is so good.  I ate half of the bar and I’m saving the rest for later; my stomach just wasn’t hungry that early in the morning.

I had another class and then a break just in time for lunch.  I am going to post my class schedule but I’m waiting until next week so I’m sure it’s correct.  Lunch was simple but tasty.  Leftover bbq kale and beans, topped with Tofurky kielbasa.

Plus a GoGo Squeeze applesauce packet and a packet of raisins.

This good combination held me over through one more class and a trip to the gym.

My goal for this semester is actually to go to the gym before my classes (which start at 8 M-F) but I figured I’d try that out a night I actually got some good sleep.  My 2pm session on the treadmill went fine though.

I did a 2 minute warm up followed by a “run” that ended up requiring a LOT of walking.  I’d prefer to take fewer breaks but considering that I basically took the summer off exercise I’m happy with any level of fitness.  Including my warm up and all of my walking breaks, I ran 4 miles in 44 minutes 40 seconds.

Now I’m home for the day and I need to go take Webster on a walk.  He was such a big boy on his first day all alone!

You Want S’more Puppy Pictures

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What a beeee-U-tea-full day for a walk!

I met blog reader/friend Katy for a walk down Bird Island Pier.  We walked for an hour and a half and covered somewhere around 4 miles.  We even got to go under the Peace Bridge!

So fun; I highly recommend heading out there if you’re in Buffalo.

Afterwards I came home for a quick walk with my boys; my tootsies are a little tired now!  Before I met up with Katy this afternoon I opened up this bag of Lays Garden Tomato and Basil chips from my HLS swag bag.

I love the Caroline BBQ variety that is part of the same line but I wasn’t really a fan of this flavor, too much tomato.  I knew I could get something better later so I abandoned the bag 5 chips in.  I’m glad I waited because my stomach started growling after my walks, but too early for dinner, and I split a slice of buffalo chicken pizza with Adam.

The picture is just of my half a slice, by the way; Zetti’s gives you a sort of ridiculous good deal with their ginormous slices.

I did have a swag bag win this afternoon too though, I drank this Lavender Mint Water during our walk.

Yum!  I couldn’t really taste the lavender but there was the slightest hint of mint (not overwhelming at all)  and it was amazing.

Insert several hours of blog browsing (me) and napping (husband) and then it was time for dinner.

Kielbasa, sautéed cabbage, hash browned potatoes; it’s like my Polish ancestors were right at the table with us!

First I cooked sliced Tofurkey Kielbasa Polish-Style Meatless Sausage in a skillet until it was nice and toasty,

then I used the same skillet to saute some cole slaw mix with a little bit of butter and apple cider vinegar,

then finally I sautéed some sliced potatoes (which I precooked a bit in the microwave first) with garlic, onions, and a lotta bit of butter.

This meal was so hearty and satisfying. 

The combo was maybe a little strange for a summer night, but I will have to bookmark this post for the long winter. 

more puppy pictures

I think Webster is a great name for a little brown dachshund – particularly when we get him a Frenchie friend named Miriam in the future – but lately Adam’s been saying we should have called Webs S’more.  He has a chocolate-brown back, a graham cracker tan belly, and this spot on his chest that we call his marshmallow.

Adorable!

Healthy Living Summit 2011 Mega Recap

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This post is going to be huge, so there are a few facts I want to establish before I begin –

* The Healthy Living Summit (HLS) was fabulous and I had a wonderfully fun time.  However, since I didn’t have internet all weekend this is going to be a monster post and I’m not going to include as many details as I’d like.

* I met and hung out with some amazing people.  So many, in fact, that I think it makes the most sense for me not to link back to anyone.

* I snapped a photo of every piece of food that went into my mouth but I wasn’t so good on people or places; I was too busy enjoying those things to photograph them.

Okey doke, let’s start from the beginning…

So, this happened exactly halfway between Buffalo and Philly –

Usually a picture of a flat tire would be followed by many four letter words but the only one I could think of was l-u-c-k.  My trip to Philly was greasy, two hours longer than planned and completely exhausting, but I actually started crying because I felt so grateful.  The things I am thankful for –

  • It rained 70% of my trip but not a drop fell during the two hours I was standing on the side of the road changing my tire.
  • My tire blew on a small side road and not when I was going 70 mph on the highway.
  • I was able to take off the nuts and jack up the car all by myself, and if the tire hadn’t been completely rusted to the axle I probably could have done the entire thing myself like a total badass.
  • The nicest man on earth not only stopped to help me out, but drove back to his house for the sledgehammer it took to get my tire off.
  • The nice man gave me directions to his nice friends’ body shop, where they replaced my tire and fixed me up for only $20.

Isn’t the world amazing?  Before the whole debacle I drank a guava Rockstar for breakfast,

and afterwards I shakily ate the half turkey sandwich with cheese and cranberry mayo that I packed from the Co-op. 

And I made it (with aching forearms) to Philly with time to shower and change before the HLS cocktail party.

The drinks, provided by Drink Chia, were super tasty.

This cocktail was a mix (I believe) of Drink Chia, strawberries, and vodka.  It tasted sort of like a bubble tea with mini bobba!

The food was pretty good as well.

I had a corn and crab fritter, a piece of pretzel crusted chicken, a few small bites, plus another piece of the chicken.

Everything was tasty but there wasn’t quite enough sustenance for dinner so a few of us ended up in the hotel restaurant for a late night snack.

I went with the s’mores mousse shooter.

Plus I scarfed up one of the Lindt truffles they brought with the bill.

It was a sweet end to the first day.

The next morning (Saturday) we were up bright and early for breakfast.  Cereal with skim milk,

an Oikos drinkable yogurt with a juicy plum – sidenote, I feel like I had food dripping down my face this whole weekend! –

and a much-needed coffee.

Around this point I realized I probably should be snapping more pictures like a good blogger.

Though I did snag a shot of me with two of my roomies.

I didn’t love the Quaker Smashbar provided on the snack break so I only ate half of it.

But I did love the RD Quaker provided as the key-note speaker.  She wrote a book on being a flexatarian and I loved her points about embracing plants more than avoiding meats.  In fact, all of the sessions were pretty darn informative and inspirational.

Before I knew it, it was time for lunch.

Side salad for greens,

quinoa salad, which had some sort of acid component that took it over the top,

and half a tofu sandwich on Great Harvest bread, squeal!

For dessert I grabbed a milk chocolate crunch Attune probiotic bar.

I had no idea these would be so delicious!  I was very excited to see some coupons in my swag bag.

After the sessions we went to do some city exploring.

Here are all my roomates,

and here is the Liberty Bell.

I’m glad we sight-saw in the way that we did, because our travels took us to Farmacia for dinner.

Yum, seriously just yum x 1000.  The wait staff was so sweet and accommodating of our 12-person party, the space was adorable, and the food was delicious.

I was ravenous and I think my heart actually skipped a beat when this bread and herbed butter were brought to the table.

I ate this slice times two.

Since it was a vacation I went with a John Daly to drink.

Sweet tea vodka and fresh squeezed lemonade, yes please!  A few people sipped my drink and we all agreed it was the best Arnold Palmer ever.

And then came the food.  Which was basically ridiculous.

I ordered the sweet corn and risotto croquettes.  Which came with garden veggie ratatouille,

and sautéed spinach that blew my mind.  It must have been the butter sauce that was floating on my plate.

The spinach was the best thing I ate all weekend, but the croquettes were perfect too; crunchy and creamy all at the same time.  I ate 1.5 croquettes and all of my veggies and was basically in heaven.

You know I have to get self-serve froyo if I’m in a new city.

I got peanut butter, cream cheese (!!), and tart, topped with all the berries, caramel sauce, and sprinkles.

Fueled by sugar, a group of us stayed up until practically 3am!  Normally a 3 am bedtime and 8 am Sunday workout would feel brutal, but I think I was too excited to be tired.  I don’t have any pictures, but I did participate in the HLS 5k.  A huge group walked/ran around the city including the Rocky steps.

When we got back it was time for oatmeal.

Topped with flax, cinnamon, and walnuts.

I also had about a billion mugs of Tazo Earl Grey tea with skim milk.

I am completely obsessed (I stole a few packets from breakfast!) and need to buy this asap.

After the festivities wrapped, a group of us did some more exploring around Philly.

This is what happens when you give bloggers a group photo-op –

For lunch we sought out Philly cheese steaks.  I found success at the Basic 4 Vegetarian Snack Bar.

This monster was vegan, but there is basically no way that the traditional meat sandwich could be better.

I left a lot of the bread, but gobbled up the “meat” which was crunchy in the most pleasing way.  Such a great way to end the weekend!

Around 2 I made my final goodbyes and headed out.  Though I did stop at Whole Foods for an Argo Tea Mojitea for the road.

It was very tasty, but my next two drinks were much more telling.  A grande white mocha coconut frappuccino with 2 extra shots of espresso.

And a huge diet pop with a splash of cherry coke.

Can you say exhausted?!  But I made it home in one piece and had a wonderful weekend to boot!

Did you attend HLS?  What’d you think?

Meet Webster

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Webster is 4 months old.  He is a red dappled dachshund.  He stole our hearts.

It won’t be easy, or cheap, adding a puppy to our lives but I’m sure it will be worth it.

Side note – we want to get a French Bulldog named Merriam next.

I’m going to keep my eats recap short, who would sit on the computer when there’s a puppy to pet?!  This afternoon I ate a bowl of H2Omelon chunks.

And for dinner we threw together an Asian-inspired bowl.

Cabbage, which I saute-steamed with some rice vinegar,

topped with roasted tofu and zucchini that I tossed in a skillet with peanut sauce.

Such a delicious mix, you can’t go wrong with peanut sauce.

This meal was out of this world delicious.  The tofu gets spongy and amazing if you bake long enough and the peanut sauce forms an amazing crust.

Our friends Patrick and Michelle came over to meet the new addition and it was a great evening all around.

other exciting things –

  • we are going to Ohio tomorrow for our niece’s birthday party
  • I’m going to Philly next weekend for the Healthy Living Summit!

Courageous

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Hello, hello!  I’m not sure how it’s become Thursday, but it all feels very sudden.  Probably because I haven’t had a whole lot on my agenda this week.  I’m excited to have a bunch of to-do’s to tackle in the remaining month before school.

I didn’t make dinner (or blog) last night because I got hit with another migraine.  I don’t get them all the often any more but when I am struck it seems to happen in sets.  I took medicine in time to still have an evening, but our dinner plans were ruined.  Instead we got take-out.

That’s a buffalo chicken sub and french fries from Jim’s Steak-Out.

I also ate half of a Rollo McFlurry, but the pic is on Adam’s cell phone and he’s not home.  I’ve been obsessing over these ever since I saw them advertised last month, but it ended up only being ok.  I love caramel, but vanilla ice cream just doesn’t do it for me.

Fast-forward to this morning when I enjoyed a bowl of Fiber Plus Caramel Pecan Crunch with skim milk.

For lunch I decided to try these Soy Boy Okra Courage Burgers I’ve had in my freezer for months.

I tried mine toasted, on a bun with a slice of sharp cheddar and a drizzle of ketchup.

I didn’t love it, but I didn’t hate it either.  The nutrition stats (130 calories and 13 grams of protein per patty) are great but the flavor didn’t blow my mind.  I think I’d like to try one on something less bready before I make an official decision.

I did love pile of roasted green beans I had on the side.

It’s official: roasted green beans win the Emily’s Favorite Veggie award.  I’m also in love this new plate I got at Anthropologie on my birthday.

I’m keeping the afternoon low-key (ie watching tons of “Charmed”), but at some point I am going to finish making my #tgfa cookie balls so I can mail them out to the winner tomorrow.  I’d also like to make that dinner, but let’s not write anything in stone! 😀

What is your favorite veggie?  Roasted green beans top my list, but eaten straight-up I’m obsessed with baby carrots.

Tantrum Take Out

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This afternoon I microwaved two mini corn tortillas with 2 slices of sharp cheddar to make a quick quesadilla.

I also made a Coke float.

My decadent snack had just under 500 calories, perfect to make up for missing breakfast.

Plus, so tasty!

When Adam got home this evening we laid down on the bed so he could tel me about his day, and promptly fell asleep.  I woke up disoriented with a headache to boot.  I had a mini tantrum and our planned dinner got scrapped in favor of Chinese food.

I ordered a pint of vegetable Chow Fun,

and a pint of vegetarian General Tso’s chicken.

I hope they’re good!

What’s your go-to take out dinner when you’re having a tantrum?