Tag Archives: vegan

Getting the Grade

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I’ve got to keep this quick because of tomorrow’s big Anatomy Lab practical, so let’s cover the important things first –

1. I did not need to fret about the weather nearly as much; in fact, I was a little bit hot on my walk home!

2. How cute are these new shoes????

My mom has good taste!  Although the back of my left heel got rubbed completely raw and now I’m limping 😦  (Yes, Mom, I will wear socks instead of bare feet next time!)

In between classes I snacked on this Primal Strips vegan jerky.

Orgo lab took forever, and by the time I limped home it was already 9pm.  Thankfully Adam had already put my dinner in the oven.  I snacked on a small plate of Halloween candies while I waited.

Yuuum.  I love the light brown ones, they taste like caramel!  Eaten with the funny Halloween card my grandma sent me –

Finally my dinner – an acorn squash – got done roasting in the oven.

We cooked it face down at 350* for 30minutes, then flipped and cooked another 20minutes.  During the flip I filled the cavities with Newman’s Own Organic Raisins, Sahale Snacks BBQ Almonds and Tuscan Almonds (last day to enter the giveaway), and a drizzle of real maple syrup.

I also ate a Jimmy Dean turkey patty french toast sandwich thing.

The husband and I studied Anatomy while we ate, and now I’ve got to shower and get to bed!

Before I forget; all of my grades from hell week are back.  Dun, dun, dun!  100 exam – 91%; 110 quiz – 80% (I’m contesting this though); Anatomy exam – 90% after the curve; Anatomy quiz – 90something% after the curve; Orgo exam – 65% (before the curve).  Not terrible, but nothing to get excited about either.

Signs of the Season

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Friday, Friday, Friday!  But that’s not all I’m excited about.

Adam left first today and when he called to tell me he was cold I had one thought – “Blazer!”

Some people are excited about the first Pumpkin Spice Latte (don’t get me wrong, I am too, but October is the pumpkin month!), I’m jazzed about the first blazer of the season.

I’m not ready to give in to fall yet though, I’m still rocking the Reefs and my breakfast felt pretty summery.

A serving of Kashi H2H topped with a chopped nectarine and Silk Almond Milk.

Here’s what I’ll be eating for lunch –

Turkey, Laughing Cow, Sandwich Thin.  Yes, that is an entire cucumber in the bag, and I am happy to see you 😉

What is your favorite sign of fall?

When in Random

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I’ve been all over the map today so this post is going to seem a little random.  I didn’t get much any schoolwork done but I did have a lot of fun – lunch at the Co-op with Katie, hanging out with the husband, and a trip with a group of friends to the Buffalo Wing Festival.  It’s sort of essential that I get a good night’s sleep and rock out my work tomorrow so I’ll keep this quick.  Bare minimum description in 3, 2, 1…

This small banana chocolate bar was 33cents at the grocery store.

It was super light and tasted like airy banana cream pie.

Co-op hot bar lunch (for reference, this was the small box, about the size of a novel).

Buffalo-style tempeh,

cashew noodles,

a stuffed grape leaf,

and some pasta with delicious homemade ricotta and marinara.

I also bought the best Hello Dolly (7-layer bar) I’ve ever freaking tasted!

The wing festival was super crowded and really poorly organized (boo) but we had a good time hanging out with the other couples at least.  I only got to sample a few wings, Hawaiian, smoked, and Guinness bbq.

You can assume I ate about half of that; when it gets to close to the bone I get squeamish and Adam finishes them for me.

Crackers with smoked gouda spread, split with the husband.

Yogurt mix bowl – Vanilla 0% Siggi, a chopped peach, cinnamon chips, and tons of cinnamon.

For dinner we cooked up some pizza.

Tandoor Chef caught wind of how obsessed I am with their Pad Thai and graciously sent me some Naan Pizza samples.  I was more than happy to do a review, I think Tandoor Chef products are amazing!  A lot of their offerings are vegan, it is by far the most authentic “ethnic” food I can get in Buffalo, and everything tastes so fresh you have to check the box to remember that it was frozen!  Tonight we tried the Margherita Naan Pizza,

and the Cilantro Pesto Naan Pizza.

Check out the nutritional stats –

Reasonable amount of sodium and saturated fat for a good dose of protein.  I think that a full pizza (as opposed to a half) is a more realistic serving size though.  That makes it a little calorie-dense, but since the ingredient list is just “real” food it’s ok.

Adam and I each tried half of each flavor (he ate some of my crusts though).

Even though our crazy oven caused us to burn them we were still big fans.  The tomatoes on the Margherita tasted fresh and juicy and the cilantro pesto had a great spice kick to it.

I’m getting in bed now, but I’ll probably play Word Feud with Adam for a bit before sleeping.  Good night!

What’s your take on hot wings?

McRoad Trip

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Our drive took extra long due to some fun, fun traffic but we made it safely to Ohio.  All the road trips we took the last year have definitely reinforced how in sync the husband and I are; no matter how many hours we spend in the car we always find something to talk about.  The great thing about being in similar fields – medical school and dietetics – is that we always have things to teach each other.  I know that Adam is smart but whenever he talks about medical issues I am always amazed with his passion.  End sap.

We needed some car trip caffeine so we decided to cash in some McDonald’s coupons I picked up at BlogHer.

McCafe Frappes, he went with mocha and I went with caramel.

We were expecting them to be too sweet but it ended up being a total love affair.  We both agreed that they tasted like Starbucks frappaccinos, but better!  The caramel and mocha flavors didn’t taste artificial and the coffee taste totally came through.  I asked for mine without whipped cream and it ended up having 480calories.

When we finally reached Ohio we did the family thing (and bedtime, eek!) before deciding that 9pm was getting to be a pretty late dinner.  Our in-laws food situation was a bit sparse so we headed to the grocery store to stock up on essentials.  I stopped by the freezer section for dinner.

I’ve tried the Kashi Mayan Harvest before (during vegan month) but I ended up being surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

Even frozen the plantains had a great sweetness and texture.  The sauce and the quinoa compliment them perfectly.

I also grabbed a single serving bag of Dirty Chips.

I love kettle style chips, the folded up ones are my favorite.

What is your favorite road trip conversation starter?  Adam and I alway seem to talk about sustanability and humane farming practices.

I Am NYC Homesick

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I had an amazing time at BlogHer, but it’s always great to be back to reliable internet home!  I hate to rush through a recap of a good time, but it’s after midnight and I did miss my husband!

If Thursday night was a healthy living fail, Friday night was a blogger fail – I forgot my camera!  We attended an art gallery at BlogHer and then walked down to Lexington Ave for some fabulous Thai food.  I stuffed myself silly 🙂  When Camile e-mails me her photos I’ll post some up later.

Saturday morning there was a long lull between breakfast and the first session so we decided to walk over ‘late’ and just pick up breakfast along the way.  I got a bagel with egg and turkey bacon, no cheese,

and a Zico coconut water.

Everything was super tasty but I knew the expo hall had samples waiting so I stuck with half of my bagel.

Later in the morning I sampled a new “dessert” line from Yoplait.

So good, I can’t wait until these come to Buffalo.

Lunch was vastly improved over the first day as well.

A bean salad with yellow raisins,

green beans,

and a small piece of salmon.

For dessert I grabbed a Jello Mousse Cup, also good.

Later in the afternoon I also snagged a blondie,

and a baggie of apple slices.

At 5, Camile and I met up with a group of bloggers for some green juice and a power walk.

[thanks for the group shots, Kath!]

I went with spinach, parsley, carrot.

I’ve been missing green juice like crazy since we moved to Buffalo, so this hit the spot!

We walked around Central Park for an hour or so, then hightailed it back to our hotel so we had time to make it back to converge with the group for dinner.

We went to Eatery, which was wonderful.

I ordered the Adobe Salad, which came with grilled chicken, smoked bacon, jack cheese, blue tortillas, black beans, buttermilk dressing, and honey chipotle dressing.

The honey chipotle was out of this world.  I ate about half of my salad in total.

We spent some time at the BlogHer Gala (mostly people watching and marveling at the mommy bloggers boogieing down) and then made the long walk back to our hotel.  To say we were delighted to find a Pinkberry mid-trip would be an understatement.

Just yum.

I got a small original (tart) froyo, topped with yogurt chips, coconut, and praline crunch.

OMG.

This morning Yelp turned up a brunch spot right down the road with tons of rave reviews, Penelope.  It was set up like a country kitchen and the eclectic touches abounded (the coffee cups didn’t match!).

It was too freaking adorable.

And my brunch was out of control.

FBLT – fakin’ bacon, avocado, lettuce, and tomato with black pepper balsamic mayo, served on sourdough with homemade french fries.

Delicious.  The mayo put it over the top.  It was monstrous too; I only ate a couple of fries but I still could only down 3/4 of the sandwich.

On the way out we stopped by the killer dessert case,

and 7.5hours in the car later I was splitting a peanut butter blondie with Adam.

During that 7.5hours I also consumed a Rockstar.

Camile had read about JP Bullfeathers on my blog and requested that for dinner.  I don’t know what is up with me and chicken fingers lately but I went with the buffalo chicken sub.

With blue cheese for dipping, duh.

I spent the rest of the evening showing the husband my swag.  Oh gosh, you guys, the swag!  I’ve decided I have a mildly unattractive level of excitement about the freebie coupons.  Could be a problem.

Do you have a favorite brunch spot in your neighborhood?

Watermelon in a Smoothie and Beans in Some Soup

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I hate doing all these drive-by posts but things have just been so busy.  A little rush is worth it though, it was wonderful getting to meet our new niece.

We got in the car around 10 this morning and I was thrilled to see a Sheetz where we could buy fresh food in time for lunch.

I got a chicken burrito with fire roasted tomatoes, rice and beans, colby cheese, diced tomatoes, lettuce, green peppers, diced onion, and salsa.

And ate an apple packed from home on the side.

We pulled back into Buffalo around 5:30 and I immediately got to work unpacking and heading to the grocery store.  Once I was home for good, the husband helped me whip up some delicious soup.  More specifically, White Bean Consomme with Almond Milk, from SELF magazine.

I ate a serving of Salt and Pepper Sommersalts on the side.

It ended up being the perfect quick meal.

I also made a huge smoothie to drink.

Tons of frozen watermelon chunks blended with a Simply Raspberry Lemonade.

Pink!

We didn’t finished dinner until 9:30 but I knew I’d be happiest if I got in some sort of a workout.  10minutes of stretching and strength moves later, my day is complete and I’m on my way to shower and sleep.

What is the most unusual application of watermelon you’ve tried this summer?

Dinner at the Dollhouse

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I think I actually did pretty well on my test 🙂  But the amount of work to be done in the next three days is frankly a bit scary.  I’m decompressing before my nose hits the grindstone by watching Dollhouse with the husband.

Did you catch my vegan challenge recap?  This breakfast is so tasty that even though it’s vegan it’s the only thing I wanted.

A serving of Van’s Buckwheat with Berries waffles with my Berry Breakfast Topping.

I used Silk Almond Milk, a peach and some blueberries in my topping.  It is just so good!  Like at how juicy and big the berries get –

The rest of my day was decidedly UNvegan.

While we were out getting his new phone the husband bought me Coldstone.  I went with a kid’s size Oreo filling ice-cream with a Reeces Peanut Butter Cup mashed in.

It was the perfect amount, I’m so glad they let me get a kids instead of the “small.”

We still haven’t gone to the grocery store since our roadtrip, so dinner came courtesy of the bar downstairs.

My turkey grill had turkey, tomatoes, jack cheese, and 1000island dressing on sourdough; no butter on the bread.  With fries.

If I’m getting fat it’ll be on french fries please, not soggy fried bread; don’t be afraid to request modifications when ordering in a restaurant.  I was a bitter waitress for years but I never minded when people championed for their health.

What modifications do you make to restaurant orders?  I usually just throw away the bread, but when I plan on eating it I ask for no butter.  I also ask for things like Hollandaise sauce on the side.

Vegan Challenge Recap

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Howdy, again!  Thank you for being patient with all these blogging-free days.  My online class has been as hard (if not harder!) as I was expecting.  The fact that I’m in catch-up mode (I had to print out all the hand outs, write up my profile, etc) is definitely adding to the stress though; once I’m on top of things this weekend everything will run more smoothly.  I actually have my first exam today, so no food post now, but I wanted to do a Vegan Challenge Recap.

Overall, the last month was very satisfying.  I will straight up admit that yesterday (June 30th) dinner was a big cheesy plate of jalapeno nachos!  Amazingly, it was the first time all month I even wanted anything that wasn’t vegan.  I had several people ask me over the course of  month what foods I was missing, and the honest answer was nothing.  Vegan foods can be easy, tasty, and satisfying.

Will I be permanently changing my eating style then?  No.  I still believe the things I said in my Challenge Introduction Post –

  • Eating many vegan meals each week contributes to a healthy diet.
  • Vegan cooking and baking can be fun and satisfying.
  • Veganism is kind to our planet and can be a great way to conserve energy.
  • The current industrialized dairy and meat industries are immoral (even though in theory consuming meat and dairy is not) and the best way to vote is with my wallet.

But I also believe these things as well –

  • I personally feel healthier when I am eating some animal products (especially Greek yogurt, eggs, and lean fowl).
  • Going out to dinner is a lot easier and more enjoyable, especially in Buffalo, when your diet is less restricted.
  • I enjoy foods like eggs and Greek yogurt.  And even though I didn’t really miss them during June, I don’t want to cut them out of my life forever. 
  • I don’t drink a lot of cow’s milk, but soy milk in iced coffee just isn’t the same.
  • We are going to be broke as hell next year and not using my year’s worth of free eggs just isn’t an option.

 For all my ‘traditional’ readers – have you ever done a vegan challenge?  What were your final impressions?