Tag Archives: veggies

By The Magazine

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Last day of school before a 5 day break, what what?!!  I was actually super busy all afternoon but something about not having to go to class tomorrow just made the whole day feel 100% fun.

I rolled over to look at the time this morning and it was already 7:15.  It’s possible my alarm didn’t beep, but more likely that I turned it off in my sleep.  Breakfast was on the go, and rushed.  A perfect pear,

and this Orgain Iced Cafe Mocha protein drink.

I bought the drink on super-sale at the Co-op and it wasn’t really what I was expecting.  It wasn’t thick or sweet at all, which would normally be nice but was strange when I was expecting the opposite.  But the nutrients did a good job of filling in my morning.

And then we had cake.

I’ll tell you again, that my classmates all loved the crock-pot cake.  Even if you don’t win my giveaway I suggest making it at home.

Amid afternoon activities, lunch was eaten in parts.  First, a strange-sounding yogurt bowl.

Activia Selects French Pineapple yogurt with canned pumpkin and shredded coconut.

I know that combination sounds strange, but it was pretty good.  Pumpkin Colada?

Plus a bag of popcorn.

And a Biscoff spoon.

I’ve had this jar of Biscoff open for more than a month now and I’m sort of not sure how there’s still any left.

Dinner was Tomato-Vodka Soup and Scones, both magazine recipe finds.

The Tomato-Vodka Soup was from Everyday with Rachael Ray.

I skipped the spices and rim rub, only used half of the vodka, and substituted light for heavy cream.

The Easy Scone recipe was from Woman’s Day.

I used light cream instead of heavy again, but otherwise left this one alone.

Both were delicious.

But I’m not the hugest tomato soup fan (I made this for the husband mostly) so I left behind the 2nd half of my bowl.  Instead I ate a 2nd scone.

With Smart Balance Light and honey.

P.S. Don’t forget to enter my Duncan Hines giveaway.

Delirious Dinner

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I’m going to go ahead and apologize in advance for the plethora of typos that will most likely pepper this post.  Between my 4+ hour sleep deficit and wracking my brain all day for answers to two major tests, I’m a bit off my game.  And the husband was on a 24-hour shift last night and he’s wrecked as well.  Our joint delirium made for an interesting afternoon.

But first, lunch.

Despite appearances, that’s not a yogurt.

It’s also not a 6oz container but a big guy, stocked with last night’s roasted dinner leftovers.

These were still good cold, but I had to shovel them in at 10am which felt a little odd.

I want to think my tests went well, but honestly I’m not sure I even remember.  Thanksgiving break is going to be all about catching up on sleep.

When I finished my make-up exam at 3, I picked up the husband so we could do a quick grocery restock.  My gnawing hunger led me to the gingerbread men.

Such a good idea.  Adam ate his buttons, and thought this was so funny he made me snap a picture.

I told you we’re tired.

Except that tired is the understatement of the century.  Between bad luck, Adam’s distraction, and my complete and utter confusion at life, we went to three different grocery stores and somehow ended up with nothing more than a bag of pears to show for it.  Frick.

Some complaining, more confusion, and lots of aimless driving later, and we managed to end up at a Chinese buffet for dinner.

We were totally drawn in by the bubble tea.

Adam and I split this Taro one.

The food wasn’t necessarily good, but it certainly wasn’t bad either.  Not healthy at all and a miserable lack of vegetables, but overall we had a nice dinner.

Green beans, baked salmon, 2 stuffed mushrooms, and a crab rangoon.

Sushi, chicken with broccoli, and some cheesy crab salad that blew my freaking mind.  It was so rich I couldn’t even eat all of what’s shown but I was seriously in heaven.

Tiramisu, pineapple, glazed banana, pudding, coconut gelatin.

I had lost steam by dessert and shared .25 – .5 of this with Adam, but I did devour the coconut jell-o.

I love buffets because getting to try little bits of lots of things makes my soul happy.  If I could find a buffet with actual healthy options I think my heart would explode with joy.

And sleep in 3, 2, 1 …

How do you feel about buffets?  What dish do you always look for on the line?

No Sleep Makes Strange Cravings

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Hello, hello. It’s been a long time (48+ hours!) since I’ve posted and it’s felt even longer. It’s been a crazy couple of days. My meals since I last blogged have been anything but impressive, but it kind of made me want to post all the more since I’m trying to put it all out there. I will add the disclaimer though that this is a *do not as I do* post 😉

I didn’t tell y’all last time, for obvious security reasons, but Monday was Adam’s 1st 24-hour shift at the hospital. It went very well, but I’m still glad that he’ll get to sleep at home most nights this year! I was tired, he was tired, the dog was tired.

<– That’s the scene I walked in on Tuesday afternoon. Swoon.

I had a ton of schoolwork to catch up on and was worried about sleeping without Adam so I pulled a bit of a 24-hour shift myself and only slept 2 hours on Tuesday night. <– this was a terrible idea, but more on that in a minute. I studied mostly standing at the mantle, which was lovely, and had a civilized midnight snack of tea with skim milk and dark chocolates.

Since I packed lunch before my all-nighter, Tuesday’s meals got off to a good start. I mixed together a Stonyfield 0% Chocolate Underground Yogurt with pumpkin puree and the end result was pretty amazing.

I also packed some citrus.

I ended up eating just the tangerine and giving away the orange.

And I bought a coffee – with tons of skim milk and a sprinkle of cinnamon – during a break in class.

Brunch was tasty, but not very filling, so when I came home to my sleeping family I stole a slice of Adam’s Newman’s Own White Pizza.

I also ate this fruit packet.

Wednesday (today) involved a major test and a major paper, so working on practically zero sleep Adam and I knew to grab hot bar for dinner Tuesday night.

An Indian dish and some tofu,

veggies,

which included some “Asian” Brussels sprouts that we so wildly good I almost drove back to Wegman’s to buy more!

I also snacked on a bowl of pretzels and coffee & cream malted milk balls.

And then the evening took a turn South. It’s possible I had a full-scale meltdown and confirmed that I’m now too old to pull all-nighters. Writing my paper involved such dramatic sobbing that I had to reprint a copy of my article because I got it wet with tears. Pathetic, I know.

When I did wrap things up, around 2am, we both celebrated with bowls of Lucky Charms.

Thanks for the cereal, husband, and for loving me in spite of me!

Tuesday I was too tired to be tired (if that makes sense) but today I felt every single missed hour of sleep. Meet breakfast –

And lunch –

Why, yes, classmate wondering why I’m photographing two bags of combos at 10am, I do write a healthy living blog.

But my paper was turned in and my test was at least passed, so today wasn’t a total fail. All I wanted to do at 4:30 when class finished was go home and sleep, but instead I headed to work. Tonight was my final shift which was actually sort of sad. I suppose I won’t miss random strangers calling me an asshole and hanging up, but the whole getting paid thing was nice.

When I got out at 9, I picked up Adam so we could fulfill the strangest food craving I’ll ever have – a McDonald’s Fillet-O-Fish Sandwich.

I hate McDonald’s. I’ve never even tasted this sandwich before. But for some reason I was smelling it all afternoon and it was driving me crazy.

This wasn’t even good (I was right, McDonald’s is gross) but at least I can move forward now.

P.S. I still have to shower (it’s after midnight) and tomorrow I have to *start* studying for Friday’s giant test so if you think tonight’s post was whiney and/or incoherent you probably should wait to read again until this weekend!

Have you ever craved a food that you’ve never tasted before?

Smoothie, Sandwich, Stir Fry

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Y’all will not even believe what I did this morning … Started my day with a trip to the gym!  It wasn’t a long visit – 25 minutes on the elliptical, level 6 random – but after my month+ hiatus it felt good to be back.  Now I need to hurry to bed so there’s a possibility of me making it back to the gym tomorrow!

I didn’t have much time when I got home, but between showering and peeling the dog off of my boots I managed to make Adam and myself tasty smoothies.

The secret ingredient was MANGO.

I’ve been eyeing that can of sweetened mango pulp at Wegmans for months.  I’d been resisting, but once I remembered that we had some frozen peaches to use up I finally bit.  For two servings I blended –

  • 1 cup mango pulp
  • ~ 1 cup frozen peaches
  • ~ 1 cup Stonyfield Plain Fat-free Yogurt
  • ~ 1 Tbsp honey

They were delicious.

I wish breakfast had been a bit more filling though, because lunch was a long time coming.  I had to get through three classes and a group meeting first.  Since I decided to stay on campus until my shift at work I ended up having to buy food in the bookstore coffee shop.

I know that sandwich looks divine, but I sort of hated it.  I ordered the (pre-made, then toasted) turkey with cheddar and chipotle mayo and regretted it every bite.  There was way too much turkey, way too much cheese, and the cheese had a gross plastic texture.

I ate 2/3 of it, sadly.  Normally, my rule is that I do not eat anything that I don’t a) love or b) need for nutrients; but I was stuck, starving, and not about to drop down more cash for something else.

I should have just gone home anyways because between tiredness and hunger I didn’t get a damn thing done.  I actually curled up with my backpack and took a nap; shhhhh!

After a good shift at work, I came home to stir fry veggies for dinner.

No pasta or egg this time, just veggies, since my massive sandwich gave me a dose of carbs and protein.

The vegetables are always my favorite part anyways.  (Have you tried my riceless stir-fried rice?)

What should I make with the rest of my mango pulp?

Fall Back Into An Hour

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Did everyone remember to reset the clocks for today?  I’m thrilled with DLS this year, it’s been entirely too dark the past few mornings.  Though it does stink to be out-of-sync with my parents again; we don’t change the clocks back home so they’ll be an hour ahead of me all winter.

I needed that extra hour today too.  I had a 10:30 group meeting and I’m not sure I would have made it on time at “real” 10:30.  My friends Janessa, Kim, and I worked on our cultural food project at the Elmwood SPoT from 10:30 to 2.  I bought breakfast to eat while we worked.

A giant fruit cup.

There was honeydew, watermelon, and pineapple in there and I gladly paid $3 for it.

An everything bagel with veggie cream cheese.

This was ok but I’m not sure why they used so much cream cheese.  I scrapped some off after the photo and I ended up losing a lot of the veggies.

And an iced coffee with lots of skim milk.

Iced because we sat at a table in front of a big window and were fricking boiling.

At least the warmer weather meant we could take the dog on a longer walk this afternoon.  We even took him off his leash on the block near our house so he could practice being a “free-range” puppy.

I ate this Stonyfield 0% Chocolate Underground when I got home.

Served in my ice-cream cone bowl because it was eaten as a dessert.  I topped the yogurt with a Tbsp each butterscotch chips and shredded coconut.

Butterscotch chips are way better in yogurt than chocolate because they don’t harden as much in the cold.

Since I’m working from 6-9 tonight we ate an early afternoon dinner.

It was the early bird special, stir-fry style!

Into our wok went:

  • chopped broccoli
  • cole slaw mix cabbage and carrots
  • canned straw mushrooms (<– love!)
  • canned water chestnuts
  • smidge of hoisin sauce
  • 5 Tbsp stir fry sauce

Underneath my serving of veggies was 3oz of cooked whole wheat spaghetti that I reheated in a pan with 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil and a large egg.

It was a very tasty and satisfying dinner.

It feels a little strange to blog before work, but since 9 o’clock will feel like 10pm I doubt I’ll want to eat anything when I get home.  If I decide to snack I’ll update.

Finish this sentence – “With my extra hour today I …..”

Like Buttah

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For how crazy this month is going to be, my week has been good.  I got over the hump today just fine.  No gym time today unfortunately but it’s not like that unhealthy habit is a change from the norm 😉

Breakfast was unorthodox (there was a unpictured 8am Cherry Coke Zero too!) but enjoyable.

A baggie of pretzels dipped in yellow mustard.  I’ve been having the strangest, strongest craving for yellow mustard lately; I see a lot more of this snack in my future.

I actually had to leave campus during my mid-day break today.  I had to run to the orthodontist and the grocery store.  Somehow I found myself home with enough time to make a downright gourmet lunch.

This meal was healthy and delicious, and it made me feel like such a grown-up!

Sardine Mushroom Tomato Pasta Sauce (click here for recipe!).

I was having bread as my side so I ate my serving over just a bit of mini rigatoni.

Amazing.  The sauce ended up so buttery!  When you cook sardines and mushrooms this way they both turn to butter (plus there was some butter in the recipe, duh).

And a cheddar jalapeno bialey.

It was amazing as always but I ran out of time so half of what’s pictured was actually saved for later.

I didn’t want to risk a full parking lot so I left my car and home and headed back to campus on foot.  I have not been walking to school as much this semester and the post-lunch stroll felt glorious.

I had an attune milk chocolate crisp probiotic bar for dessert.

This was another HLS sample that I plan on buying again.  I don’t necessarily need the probiotics but the taste was much better than most American “mockolate” candy bars.

I had a … challenging day at school (I’ll leave it at that), then a nice shift at work, and before I knew it 9pm had arrived and the husband was picking me up.  We are enjoying a rare day in the 50’s so we took advantage of the weather and took a quick walk when we got home.  Holding hands skin-to-skin (as in no gloves, which I call “claw condoms,” by the way) outside in November is rare privilege here!

I’m going to go ahead and skip dinner tonight.  Bedtime sounds so much more necessary than food right now!

Do you have any nicknames for your winterwear?  What do you call your gloves, hat, and scarf?

Cheesy Baked Eggplant Casserole

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Full disclosure – all brand name products in this post were provided by Newman’s Own and the Foodbuzz Tastemakers Program.  They also sent a Flip Cam for video-shooting.

The eggplant turned out perfectly.  (there’s a written copy of the recipe at the bottom of the post)

It was cheesy and rich and comforting.  The eggplant turns to *butter* (in flavor and texture) when you bake it like this!

We ate our servings with nice side salads.

An Italian Blend lettuce bag base topped with groats and 2 Tbsp of Newman’s Own Family Recipe Italian Dressing.

The dressing was a little more caloric than I usually prefer to use (130 calories for 2 Tbsp) but the flavor was great.  It was oily in a very pleasing way.

Speaking of oil, we were feeling a little unsatisfied after dinner so we drove to Wegman’s for a loaf of Garlic Tuscan Bread.

Confession – we used up our grocery money for the week already so we recycled our cans on this trip for the $!

We dipped our hunks in olive oil with spices and all was right with the world.

It’s almost Halloween!

I may not be dressing up this year but I’m still excited.

Cheesy Baked Eggplant Casserole, serves 4

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Farenheit.
  2. Layer eggplant and tomato sauce into an 8×8 inch casserole dish; placing tomato sauce as the bottom and top layer.  You’ll most likely end up with three even layers of eggplant if your eggplant was sliced thinly enough.
  3. Bake 40 minutes. 
  4. Remove from oven, top evenly with cheese, and return to oven for 10 additional minutes, until cheese is melted and beginning to brown.

Way Too Busy For A Sunday

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Hi, all; hope everyone else had a relaxing Sunday!  My day has been busy and stressful, but cooking for the Chili Sale went even more smoothly than we could have hoped so I’m not going to complain.

I have some amazing, funny, hard-working classmates.

We made almost 200 servings of chili today!  100 beef and 75 vegetarian.  There was a lot to do, and all of the measurements were based on my math so I was pretty nervous, but we got it all done and finished just under our time goal.

I was too busy to eat breakfast but I did sip on this half-sweet, pumpkin spice latte throughout the day.

Plus a slice of veggie pizza that our instructor bought us for lunch.

A classmate whose family owns a local restaurant brought us fancy cookies.

I planned on eating half a jack-o-lantern but I got distracted by stirring and ended up only tasting a bite or two.

When I got home I made up for lost sugar by eating a small square of this chocolate-cheesecake bar I baked up with leftover muffin batters.

Did I mention what type of muffins they were yet?  Pumpkin Double Chocolate Chip Cheesecake Muffins!  Oh yes.  I’m posting the recipe some time tomorrow and I urge you all to copy it down.  I brought most of the mufins to school today and my classmates all gave them rave reviews.

Other afternoon snacks included a slice of 2% provolone cheese,

and this fruity yogurt bowl.

I topped some Fat-free Plain Stonyfield yogurt with TJ’s mango butter and a handful of (sweetened!) shredded coconut; the bowl was quite tasty.

I needed to be well-fueled because my main to-do this afternoon was shooting a fun video for my dinner post.  I’ll see y’all then!