Tag Archives: veggies

Crazy Cakes

by

Crazy-cakes is one of my favorite expressions and for the post title I’m using it both figuratively and literally.  It is crazy stupid that I’m blogging at 1:30 a.m. on a Sunday.  Things have been crazy busy and the next two weeks are only going to get crazier.  Finally, I fulfilled a birthday list goal and made a crazy good cake.

The past few days have been crazy on the healthy living front but I want to blog them because I don’t live a healthy living blog, I live my life.  And in my life 90% of what I’ve consumed in the past week has been pizza.  I’ve decided that attempting to work out over the next week would actually be unhealthy because I’m already getting so little sleep (my planner is workout-free until October 10th).  I’m super stressed and not doing the best job of balancing school work with too many hours at my job.  But again, this is my life.

As I prewrote these posts in my head I had a lot to say, but now that it’s been 4 days since I last blogged I think we shall go WIAW-style for the recaps.  Note – there is no recap from Thursday because I took the day off from everything, took no pictures, caught up on “Awkward” and “Covert Affairs,” and ate pizza and Chinese food for dinner.  It was both necessary and delightful.

The Next 2 Weeks

  1. (9/26)  3 homework assignments are due
  2. (9/27)  the 4 major assignments from my community clinical rotation are due
  3. (9/28)  I’m presenting a journal article for my research methods class.  It is a 25 minute Powerpoint presentation and it makes up a large percentage of our grade.
  4. (9/28)  we have our first Microbiology test
  5. (10/1)  we have our first MNT test <– it is going to be so difficult that our teacher recommended that we all quit our jobs if we can
  6. (10/6)  two friends and I are driving to Philly for 4 days for a professional conference  <– fun, but also holy frick, when am I going to pack?!

Friday

Breakfast on the walk to school.  Zico Chocolate Coconut Water.

Muller Blueberry Bliss Frut Up.

Blueberry Bliss Luna Bar.

China Breakfast Tea with skim milk and a pb-chocolate magic straw while at work.

A See’s candy that my bosses brought us back from their trip to California.  (I had never tried See’s before and now I am a fast fan; soooo creamy!)

A caramel apple non-fat latte as I geared up for a late night.  (Cafe Aroma, Buffalo peeps.)

Wegman’s frozen cheese pizza and a sad salad of romaine and 1000 island dressing.

Cake!

One of my goals for my 27th year was to bake a cake from scratch.  I figured I’d only do this once, so I wanted a recipe that was delicious but didn’t call for cake flour.  After much pondering and Googling, I settled on this Hummingbird Cake recipe from Serious Eats.

If you’ve never had Hummingbird Cake before (I hadn’t!), it is a yellow cake with chopped pecans, crushed pineapple, and mashed banana in the batter that is frosted with cream cheese icing.  This combination of ingredients ends up being amazing.

I made the following changes to the recipe and they all worked out –

  • light brown sugar instead of dark brown
  • low-fat buttermilk
  • canola oil instead of vegetable oil
  • 1/3-reduced fat cream cheese

I baked the three cakes when I got home from work on Friday night.  This activity, of course, included a sprint to purchase more eggs at the co-op 10 minutes before it closed.

Then Saturday morning I layered and frosted helped Adam frost the cake.

His surgeon’s hands came in very handy.

It ended up being a big success!

I brought the cake to book club and it got two-thumbs up all around.  If I ever have to make another cake in the future I will definitely think of hummingbirds.

Both of my book club offers were pineapple-based, because I also made my Tropical Fruit White Sangria.

This batch was made with –

  • 2 cups chopped pineapple
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 cup Cruzan Guava Rum
  • 1 bottle Rosebud Gold (a local sweet white wine)
  • 10 oz lemon seltzer water

Saturday

Eaten before my 10 am shift at work because I had been up since 5:00 frosting and studying.  Leftover bbq chicken pizza and sliced apple.

Popcorn with Smart Balance Light.

A Zevia Cola at work.

A pizza bagel on my break.  (The Spot uses the very best tasting marinara sauce; it is super zesty.)

My friend picked me up from work and I immediately guzzled two giant glasses of sangria instead of helping her set up.

Book club food, a slice of cheese quesadilla with guacamole and mango salsa, plus two toasts with shrimp dip.

A slice of cake.

Drunkenly eaten at midnight, my 3rd serving of pizza for the day and carrots with french onion yogurt dip.

Sunday

Homemade cole slaw.

A slice of cake.

A See’s candy at work.

Dinner while grocery shopping.  Sweet and sour chicken plus wok-seared veggies.  (This was randomly really tasty and the best hot bar meal I’ve had in a while.)

A medium, non-fat (no whipped cream) Apple Steamer during our class study-session at The Spot.

Baby carrots and french onion yogurt dip while I wrote this post.

An Important Question

Don’t you think that the dog sort of likes like Oprah when he sits with his arms crossed like this?

Crazy Week Was Crazy

by

Phew, am I glad that’s over!  Ha!  Not really; this week was crazy but the year is bound to only get crazier.  And I didn’t even have that much going on with school last week.  I did, however, work every single free day.  Also, the husband’s residency applications went out today.  <– giant stressball

Here’s what’s been going on:

  • I haven’t blogged since Wednesday
  • I didn’t work out a single time last week (insert major sad face here)
  • I didn’t do any enough school-work
  • I worked my butt of at work-work
  • I put in a lot of hours helping the husband to finalize his application and edit his personal statement
  • I had to videotape myself giving the husband a nutrition education (it was hilarious)
  • I didn’t eat anywhere near enough the past few days and I’ve been out of control cranky
  • I went to the co-op and stocked up on organic ramen so I never have to skip so many meals again (I was truly that busy)

I don’t have time to do a proper recap but I have taken a photo of every food item that’s passed my lips so I am damn well going to blog them!

Thursday

My clinical group toured the food bank as part of our community rotation.  I car-pooled with a friend and we used a BOGO coupon for iced coffees with skim milk along the way.

We discovered that Got Milk’s Magic Milk Chocolate Peanut Butter Straws turn iced coffee into something magical.

So flipping good!

We spent the 2nd half of our food bank visit sorting tomatoes.  It was nice to help out but I had to squelch some major throwing urges.

Lunch was plain yogurt with 2 Tbsp flax and chopped plum and nectarine.

Dinner was Jenna’s Baked Polenta with Mushrooms, Gorgonzola Cheese, and Tomato Sauce.

I made a bunch of changes but the basic recipe was still hers.  My updates –

  • made 4 servings
  • 1 cup of polenta (cooked without butter)
  • 2 pints mushrooms (sautéed in 1 Tbsp butter 1st)
  • 1.5 cups marinara
  • 1 cup gorgonzola
  • cooked 20 minutes

It was really, really good!

Friday

I ate a strange lunch-breakfast in class.  A 2 slices of Applegate Farms turkey on a Sandwich Thin with yellow mustard and 2% colby sandwich.

Roasted seaweed.

An apple.

And apple month candy.

This didn’t fill me up at all and I ate lunch an hour later.  And by ate I mean shoved into my face in under two minutes.  A Wegman’s Low-fat Honey Yogurt.

A Fiber One cookie.

And a Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter squeeze packet.

That Justin’s isn’t even like Nutella, it is frosting!!

Baked polenta leftovers for dinner.

Plus leftover pizza dipped in 1000 island dressing an hour later because I was still hungry.

Saturday

…was ridiculous.  0% Chocolate Oikos.

A plum.

A Honey Low-fat Yogurt with Banana Chobani Flip.

This product is so new that it’s not even on their website but I sure hope they keep making it.  The mashed banana was strangely delicious.

However – I ate all three of those items at work.  And then I didn’t eat anything else all day.  My day went – get up. work, work, work.  edit Adam’s applications.  bed.  He may have slept on the couch.

Sunday

Two breakfasts to make up for yesterday’s lack of calories.  1 serving of Special K Vanilla Almond in Blue Diamond’s almond/coconut milk blend.

Chopped plum and apricot on top of a strawberry 0% Oikos.

Nature’s Path Apple Pie Crunch Plus Chia Bar.

I only bought this because I was having an Apple Month frenzy, but I actually loved it.  The bars were crunchy without being too crumbly and the apple spice flavor was subtle.  Plus, 3 grams each protein and fiber.

I bought a Raaw Passion Fruit Wheatgrass drink at work.

I used to love Jamba’s oj and wheatgrass shots with a passion (ha!) and I adore passion fruit so this was the perfect thing for me.  If the co-op keeps stocking them I will certainly buy one again.

Adam handed me three gummi mice this afternoon.  (His nickname for me is Mouse.)

We had to videotape our interview when I got home from work and it ate up most of the afternoon.  More time was spent giggling than recording!

We split take-out from Vasilis Express for dinner.

A Chicken Souvlaki Wrap,

plus Greek Fries, aka fries smothered in Greek dressing and feta.

When we went to pick up our food we spotted this –

And we had ice cream before dinner (Turkey Hill Double Dunker).

It was mocha ice cream with crunchy cookie and cookie dough and it was ridiculous.

I had my class review at The Spot this evening so I had another iced coffee with skim milk and a magic straw.  I didn’t manage to photograph but I imagine most of you can use your imaginations.

The end?

This post was terrible.  Much too long, poorly written, and exceptionally boring.  I apologize for making you read my food diary.  The end.

One Meal Sunday

by

We are a third of the way through September; holy frick!  Today was not a relaxing Sunday, but I would still qualify it as a good one.

I was afraid that soreness from last night’s rocking climbing would impede my 60 minute hot yoga class this morning, but it was actually one of my best practices.  Staying in bed late this morning to get a full 8 hours definitely helped.  My unlimited pass expires in a week and I am devastated about it.  Though I’m excited to spend the next month getting back to cardio and running.

After my calming class the rest of the morning was crazy.  So crazy, in fact, that I didn’t have time for breakfast or lunch before work.  My first meal of the day ended up being at 6pm.  At least my growling stomach was prettily shrouded?

Thanks for the new dress, Mommy!  p.s. I have no idea what is happening with my face in that picture, I swear to God my left check isn’t swollen in real life.

I worked until 4:30 and had a meeting for school at 7:30 so Adam and I got dinner at Spicy Thai in between.  We’d been before and found it to be ok, not the best Thai in Buffalo but not the worst either, so when a Groupon popped up we jumped on it.  Sadly today’s meal was not all that good and I don’t think we’ll be going back again.  <– I don’t have a ton of time to post right now so I’m just going to leave it at that.

Crab rangoon to start.

We tried to split two dishes,

but I hated Adam’s cashew chicken and only ate four mushrooms’ worth.

I found my Pad See Eiw with extra vegetables to be too sweet but the noodles had good texture and I ate about 75% of the dish, including every last speck of green.

We had black sticky rice with coconut pudding for dessert.

That dish was actually very tasty and we were quite glad we tried it even after our meals were disappointing.

My meeting was at The Spot and I ordered a coffee with skim milk and four sugars.

Our MNT teacher has graciously offered to meet each Sunday to go over questions since the class material is pretty tricky.

That’s all she wrote!

Rocking Around The Clock

by

The upcoming week is going to be busy, busy, busy and apparently today was the start of the craziness.  It’s not a good feeling to leave the house at 8:10 on a Saturday and already be running behind!

While running errands I did stop in at Dunkin Donuts to use a coupon I had for iced coffee.

With skim milk and toasted almond syrup.  The barista (are they still called baristas if it’s Dunkin?) gave me a giant sheet of new, exciting coupons so I’ll probably be back in the near future.

After running errands I ran to work (literally) in the pouring rain.  I packed a Oikos Low-fat Pineappe Greek Yogurt for breakfast.

Holy crap, it was good!  I couldn’t stop mmmmmning.  It was so thick, creamy, and sweet that it almost reminded me of a piña colada.

Adam ate my last serving of eggplant (jerk!) so I got co-op hot bar for lunch.

1 falafel, sesame cashew noodle salad with tons of veggies, 2 grape leaves, and some chicken salad.  The veggies in the noodles and the almonds in the chicken were my favorite bites.

When I got home from work, Adam and two of our friends were on the couch watching a movie.  Patrick and Michelle brought pizza!

I had a veggie slice,

plus a simple salad of romaine, flax, and lite honey mustard dressing.

Buffalo people – the pizza was from Mister Pizza and it was great.  The crust was somehow both thick and crispy and it was loaded with vegetables.

Our friends were over because we had purchased a Groupon together…

for rock climbing!  We climbed for two hours and it was exhausting and so much fun.

This year has been a total bust in the workout department but I actually felt like I did a little better this time than I did the last time I tried.  I mastered one fairly hard wall (ie not a kid’s wall!) and I was so proud of myself when I made it to the top.  At one point my arms and legs were so wide I was practically into a split.  <– bad ass

I’m going to make myself do a 4-minute workout and then I’m going to go pass out.  Good night!

Midnight’s Dinner

by

I had a lot to say about today, but now it’s clear – like, blogging at 1 am on a school night clear – that I’ll have to keep it quick.  It’s funny how the longest days have the shortest posts!

I slept through yoga (boo!) but also got to then sleep in a bit (yay!) because I had the morning at home.  Our clinical experiences this semester are divided up into three sections, two are in the hospitals and the final rotation is community, i.e. basically almost everything an RD does outside of the hospital.  I’m in community first.  During this rotation we have site placements some days and “free time” other days to work on a very long list of community-oriented assignments.  Among other things, we have to complete a case study on creating a wellness program and pick a nutrition topic on which to generate a variety of informational media.  Long story short, one of the required mediums is a bulletin board in the Dietetics’ building hallway.  Today I worked on the case study and the bulletin board.

But first I ate breakfast.

3 servings (I was finishing the box) of Cinnamon Pecan Special K with Blue Diamond Coconut/Almond Milk and chopped plum and nectarine.

It was a hungry morning; before I left the house I also ate a handful of honey roasted peanuts,

and leftovers.

The last Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burger on the last onion roll with 1000 island dressing.

At 11:30 I walked to meet a friend and we spent the next 7 straight hours at school working on the case study.  It is now complete.  Phew!

We did take a quick break in the afternoon for sushi.

My veggie sushi was pretty bland without wasabi (I swear it was in every package except the one I picked up!) but you couldn’t beat the price.

We spent the rest of the evening running around between three stores to find the supplies for our bulletin boards.  Why, oh why doesn’t Buffalo have a teacher supply store?!

My friend dropped me off just before 9pm and I trudged (my heavy laptop was still in my bag) down Elmwood to buy Adam a candy bar as a reward for his long day.  Oh yeah, he still wasn’t home.

I trudged back home, completed another assignment, and finally Adam called at 11pm to tell me that he was home but he had contact dermatitis from the scrub soap and we needed to go to the pharmacy.  Yay.

When we did finally get home we had to go right back out so the dog could take a very late, much-needed walk.  Sidenote – All the people without dogs and husbands were out partying because it’s Thursday and I joked with the dog about how he was out on the town.  I told him he was ….. wait for it ….. a dogutante.  <– I’m hysterically funny and also maybe a little punch-drunk with tiredness.

During our ridiculous walk I purchased a Subway sandwich which I ate while I completed yet another assignment and wrote this post.

6-inch turkey with lettuce, tomato, green pepper, red onion, pickles, cucumber, and a tiny bit of creamy chipotle sauce.

Post’s done, time for bed!

P.S. Gratuitous dog pictures –

Burgers and Boba

by

I hope everyone had a nice Labor Day.  We got the holiday off, which meant I had time to go on a date with the husband and catch up on school-work.

I started my day with a 0% lemon Oikos.

I was so thrilled to see the new Oikos flavors on our shelves!  This was smooth and creamy with just a bit of tart flavor.  I have the pineapple variety waiting for me in the fridge as well.

Plus the last of my Chameleon Cold Brew with skim milk and ice.

I’m not sure if it’s because I used a bigger ratio of coffee:milk today or if it’s an effect of the bottle sitting open for a week, but today’s cup was more bitter than my previous ones.  Nonetheless, I’m still very sad to see the coffee go.  I’ve marked it on the 9/23 week’s list in advance to celebrate the end of my retainers.

When we walked around the park a few weeks back, both Adam and I had a major hankering for a zoo trip.  After running an errand this morning, we decided we should take advantage of the husband’s rare day off and go for it.

We were disconcerted by the wrap-around-three-blocks line,

but quickly got over it when we found out that Tops was offering special $1 admission for the day.

Score!  They were hosting a few games on the premises as well and I won this cup of Mike and Ike’s.

I ate half during our visit and think that the sugar helped me make it through the heat.

We saw so many animals!

My favorite reptile is the Dab Lizard and I was thrilled to catch a glimpse of one today.

Do you have a favorite reptile.

I packed a big bottle of water in my purse but rocking jeans was a big mistake; I was dripping the minute we stepped out of the car.

Since a mid-day shower was required anyway, I tried my hand at this 4-minute workout –

Holy crap!  I was basically dying by the end.  The husband and I have decided to do it 3x/week.  4-minutes is always doable.

Lunch was sushi from Wegman’s.

Pssst, Buffalo peeps, this another item with money off from the student coupon packet.

This afternoon, I finally did something with these purchases from our trip to Toronto’s Koreatown.

Taro milk tea + rainbow boba = mmmmmmn!

It was too much fun (and a cross-off on a birthday list goal!) to have made these items from scratch.

I spent most of my evening hard at work, but did find time to make a great dinner.

Roasted green beans,

and a Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burger.

I ate mine on an onion roll with extra sauerkraut, Swiss, and 1000 island dressing.

Reuben Stuffed Turkey Burgers, serves 6

  •  lb 94% fat-free ground turkey meat
  • 1 cup sauerkraut, squeezed to remove as much liquid as possible
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1.5 tsp dried caraway seeds
  • 3 (1 oz)-slices Swiss cheese
  • 2 Tbsp thousand island dressing
  1. Slice cheese into quarters; you should end up with twelve 1inch x 1inch squares.
  2. Place meat, sauerkraut, egg, breadcrumbs, and caraway seeds in a large bowl.  Use your hands to mix until well combined.
  3. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup, divide the meat mixture evenly into twelve 1/4-cup portions.  Flatten six of the portions into patties.
  4. Place 1 tsp thousand island dressing and two cheese squares in the center of each flattened patty.  Top with remaining portions, pressing on the edges to “seal” the patties.
  5. Place a greased grill-pan over medium-high heat.  Cook burgers until browned and fully cooked through; 5-8 minutes on each side.

I’m off to join Adam and Webster on a walk!

Are you a reuben sandwich fan?

Bok To School

by

I’m heading back to school tomorrow (eek!) and I finally remember all my education on the importance of vegetables.  Better late than never!  All of my meals today included a veggie and two of them centered around bok choy (“bok to school,” hyuck, hyuck).  Tomorrow I should probably work on including some fruits.

I did not get right into bed last night – and the neighbor’s dumbass friends ringing our doorbell at 4 am didn’t help my sleep either – but I did make it to yoga this morning.  A 60 minute hot yoga class.

Breakfast made use of our bok choy gratin leftovers.

I scrambled a big serving into two eggs along with a few dashes of green Tabasco.

Hidden inside the eggs, this casserole actually wasn’t half bad.

Our afternoon entertainment was a walk through the Elmwood Art Festival.

We saw a few cool pieces but my main goal was lunch and I sadly didn’t see any food that appealed to me.  I ended up eating at the hot bar when we went to the grocery.

Wok-seared veggies that were the best I’ve ever had from the hot bar,

two pieces of sweet and sour chicken,

and a few grapes for dessert.

I also ate this fun-size pack of Sugar Babies while we were out and about.

I nibbled on a half serving of Special K Savory Herb Crackers while I made dinner.

Dinner was homemade soup.

Thai-Inspired Coconut Peanut Soup, serves 4 (vegan)

  • 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
  • medium green bell pepper, thinly sliced
  • 3 green onions, sliced
  • 2 Thai hot peppers, finely chopped
  • 15 oz can stir-fry mushrooms
  • 4 heaping cups baby bok choy
  • 13.6 oz can light coconut milk
  • 16 oz vegetable broth
  • 6 Tbsp creamy peanut butter
  • 2 cups black rice vermicelli, broken in half
  • lime juice (optional)
  • Sriracha (optional)
  1. Heat sesame oil in a large pot over medium-high heat.
  2. Add green pepper to pot and cook 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
  3. Add green onions and Thai pepper and cook another 2 minutes.
  4. Add mushrooms and bok choy and cook another 2 minutes.
  5. Stir in coconut milk and broth and bring to a boil.
  6. Stir in peanut butter and vermicelli and boil an additional 7 minutes.
  7. Top bowls with lime juice and Sriracha to taste.

We are both looking forward to leftovers tomorrow.

Also consumed, was an Honest Tea Honey Green Tea.

I’m down to the last bottle from my Honest Tea shipment and I definitly plan on buying more with my own money when they’re gone.

I’m hoping to paint my nails (both sets!) before bed; gotta go!

Sunday To Go

by

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?