Tag Archives: veggies

Pasta Perils

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Good news!  I scored an A on my take-home final, which means I ended up with an A in that nutrition course.  Ever better news – I ended the semester with a B in Organic Chemistry; whoop whoop!

We’ll call it “celebratory,” but it was mostly hungry, I did some snacking before dinner.  A cinnamon double chocolate brownie.

A Pumpkin Ale from Buffalo Bill’s Brewery, split with the husband.

And a pickle.

Dinner was based around this Suddenly Salad Basic Pasta box (free from BlogHer).

However, the seasoning packet was very sodium heavy, so we threw it out and just used the pasta.

Instead we seasoned the noodles with Smart Balance Light and some Kernal Seasons.

We also stirred in frozen artichoke hearts and green beans during the last few minutes of boiling.

The mixture ended up being very good.

So good in fact, that you should picture this bowl times two because I ended up going back for seconds!  Actually, I’m still pretty hungry, which is irritating; this is why we don’t eat much pasta.

One exam (and a presentation) to go!

What’s your favorite pasta topping? 

No Complaints About the Food

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Today was – – – tiresome?  It wasn’t a terrible day, but I certainly have a lot of complaints about it!  I woke up to the realization that I’m getting sick, I felt sick all day, we were so busy all day that I couldn’t study for Monday’s two finals, and in the midst of not studying I found out that I got a B in my Anatomy Lab…  Boo.

One thing I have no complaints about is breakfast.

Kath‘s oat smoothies are genius!  And my holiday twist was pretty darn smart too 😉  This was a leftover serving of oatmeal, 1 frozen banana, and 2/3cup Silk Soy Nog, with a healthy shake of nutmeg.

Mmm-mmn!  The nutmeg totally took it to Christmas morning.  So did these pepermint flavored Now and Laters.

And then I was out of the house for the rest of the day.  We had lots of errands and doctors appointments, all of which moved like molasses.  Adam has a birthday tomorrow (25!) and I’ve got an idiopathic bone lesion.  Fun.

Lunch from Wegman’s salad bar was a bright spot.

But since I didn’t eat “lunch” until 4pm my hunger was so out of control that this barely filled me up.

A slice of buffalo chicken pizza was soon to follow.

Not gonna lie, this slice of pizza was not cooked and I went ahead and ate it anyway.

Adam headed to a coffee spot to study after the grocery, but I knew my best course of action was to get myself into my pjs and tuck into a large bowl of vanilla bean with caramel sauce.

Yep.  I’ll be on the couch if you need me!

Be A Good Friend, To The Gym

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To talk about today, let me go back to the beginning – yesterday.  Be forwarned though, this is a long(ish) post.

  • I did not meet my 10pm bedtime goal yesterday (boo) 
  • because I stayed up and had Adam re-teach me the functions of the atria and ventricles (yay)
  • which meant we overslept this morning and I didn’t have time for breakfast (boo)
  • but which also means that I have smoothie ingredients set up for tomorrow (yay)

Ok, enough of that, boo. (yay?)

I didn’t have my exciting breakfast, but thankfully I did have a baggie of dried hibiscus, Sahale Snacks Valdosta Pecans, and some Kashi H2H.

I also bought a coffee from a stand in the science building.

That coffee had two mini creamers and two sugar packets in it.  Guess how fresh and tasty that coffee was?

Burnt or not, the coffee did fuel me through my final Anatomy practical.  It didn’t go very well, but I’m done with the semester, and that’s a good thing.

I also had part of a group project in Food Lab today.  Our main assignment for this nutrition class was a cultural meal project.  We had to choose a culture; write a written report about its history, food staples, common meals, etc; cook a traditional meal for our lab; and do a presentation.  The presentation is my last day of finals and the meal was today!

My group chose the Virgin Islands (where I’m from!).  We prepared dumb bread (made with shredded coconut) with callaloo (stew with pumpkin, spinach, and coconut milk), pates (fried dough stuffed with spiced meat), and key lime pie.

I couldn’t actually taste everything we made (the pates were beef) but I think everything turned out delicious!

The rest of the lab – Puerto Rico, Mexico, Poland, and Greece – made tasty offerings as well.

Here’s my plate, and my dessert plate.  With a glass of punch my instructor made to celebrate our last day.

Everything was soooo filling, I couldn’t actually finish either of those plates.  I ended up taking so much food home that Adam actually had to come to campus with the car to pick it up!

Guys, I can’t even tell you how much I wanted to get in that car!  It was 20* out, I’d been on my feet for hours… But I’d made a date with the treadmill, and I couldn’t break it!  Sidenote – people always talk about how you need to ‘be a friend to yourself’ to be healthy.  That’s nice and all, but I think you need to be a good friend to the gym (Jim) –

  1. Never bail on plans with him at the last minute.
  2. Always bring a stiff drink!  (H2O)
  3. Don’t let your mind wander too much when you’re together.
  4. Have fun together.

I was a good friend today 🙂  I wanted to do a longer (time/distance) run today so I decided to do some intervals:

  • 1 minute walking, 2 minutes running, 1 walking, 3 running, 1 walking, 5 running

I repeated that circuit x3, then follow it up with a 6 minute cool down walk.  45 minutes, 4.11 miles.  And I talked to my parents on the walk home, so the cold didn’t feel that bad.

Can you believe I’m not even done posting for the day?  I still have to eat dinner!

What would you add to my list?  How are you a good friend to the gym?

Nog Makes It Nice

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I love egg nog.  Like, a lot.  If I wasn’t so obsessed with keeping holidays within their “slots” I’d probably drink it year round.  But then there’s also that whole ‘fitting into my pants’ issue.  Which is what makes this product so amazing.

Silk Soy Nog.  95% as tasty as the original, and the nutritional stats are 95% better than the original.

It is so fabulously tasty, and healthfully low-fat that it even works well as a breakfast staple.  Overnight oats anyone?

Soy nog overnight oats are so good that I’ve basically stopped eating regular o.n.o. the rest of the year!

Yesterday evening I stirred together 1/3cup oatmeal and 2/3cup Silk Soy Nog and put them in the fridge overnight.  This morning I stirred in 1 Low Fat Vanilla Stonyfield and a dash of nutmeg.  Topped with holiday sprinkles, of course!

Packed into a go-cup for the car.

I ate in transit so I could cram for my test once I got to school.  I think I did pretty well, ~B, there were a few questions on there that we had not covered at all in class so that was frustrating.

My schedule today was class – break – meetings – break – evening class.  I used my first break to study for my upcoming Anatomy practical.  Fueled by Reese’s Pieces.

ET made me do it!  I ate about half of this bag, or approximately 1.5servings.

Just in case you aren’t sure that I’m a dork, I have to show you that I was taking my notes with a peppermint scented red and green striped pen –

‘Tis the season!

My meeting concerned the application process for the program I’m applying to (due the first week of the spring semester) and gave me major anxiety.  I have a lot to do over Christmas break.

My plan for the second break was to get a veggie sub and study for Orgo.  Unfortunately, I didn’t realize that “a little bbq sauce, please” was code for “please dip my entire sandwich in sauce, thereby making it impossible to eat and work at the same time.”

That messy monster contained green pepper, red onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, pepperjack, and bbq sauce.

Sidenote on the sandwich – what I really wanted was an enchilada burrito from Taco Bell.  I hate most fast food but, not gonna lie, I sort of love Taco Bell.  But I recently realized that just because Taco Bell isn’t McDonalds (eww), doesn’t mean that their chickens are any tortured.  If I only buy “humane” meat to cook at home then I shouldn’t eat “evil” meat just because I’m not at home.  Obviously there are road trips and restaurants and other people’s houses, but I should probably be done with Taco Bell 😦

My night class went quickly, and then I came home to a quick but random dinner.

Actually, we were both starving, so while we cooked the husband and I split a quicksadilla (that’s a tortilla with sharp cheddar microwaved in it).

When I was at my grandparent’s house for Turkey Day, they served the tastiest brussels sprout dish.  I wrote down the recipe – by Cat Cora for a magazine – to make again when we got home.

3 lbs brussels sprouts
1 Tbsp plus 1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 cup unsalted butter
2 Tbsp lemon juice
4 Tbsp capers

Prepare brussels sprouts by peeling off the outside leaves and cutting off the steam.  Using a paring knife, mark the core where the stem was with an X.  Cut the sprouts in half.
In a 4-qt saucepan, bring 2 quarts of water to a boil.  Season with 1 Tbsp salt.  Blanch sprouts for 10minutes or until fork-tender.
In a 10-inch saute pan, brown the butter and add sprouts.  Cook over medium-high heat until caramelized, 10minutes.
Remove from the heat and add the capers and lemon juice.  Season with remaining salt.
Serves 8.  Per serving: 130calories, 5g protein…

I have to warn you about my entrée – it tasted better than it looked.

There was a serving each left of kugel and hoppin’ john…

…so I put them together!

The sweet and spicy mix was actually very tasty.

I’m almost definitely going to have a repeat of last night’s dessert (vanilla ice-cream with strawberries and homemade caramel sauce) but I have a few assignments to tackle so I’m going to say “goodbye” to blogland now and switch into work-mode.  See you in the am!

***Via random integer generator, the winner of my OhNuts! giveaway is #8 –

Yvonne, please e-mail me (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) so I can get you your prize!

Waiting for Harvest, Waiting for Vengence

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It’s been quite the productive Saturday; I decorated the apartment, ran a bunch of errands, made (TWO) great dinner(s), and even got some studying done for Tuesday’s Nutrition test.

Our errands – just post office, Target, Wegmans – took hours; the holiday crowds are out!  We ended up picking up lunch from the hot bar when I declared myself too hungry to shop.

Everything on that plate was delicious!

Once we were home long enough to warm up, we bundled back up and headed to Starbucks so I could get a salted caramel hot chocolate to sip while I studied.

Delicious!  But even though I gave myself a sugar headache, I still had a weird, growly hunger.  I ended up having a few random snacks while I waited for/cooked dinner.  Like a latke straight from the fridge,

and half a tortilla with melted sharp cheddar.

Dinner was quick to prepare, but the 45minute cook time is when I required my snacks.  It was worth it.

Another family recipe attempt, this time Noodle Kugel (recipe at the end of the post).

I only made a half recipe; when Adam saw cottage cheese and raisins go into the casserole dish he told me lighting the menorah would be the extent of his Jewish traditions for the day.  Hence, dinner # 2.

Did you know we have an Aero Garden in our fire-place?

I should say had.

We harvested!

And I used the basils to make Adam some tasty homemade pesto for dinner.

My dinner was better though.

Kugel is sweet in a way that still feels like dinner and the crispy noodles on the top are the best.

My side dish was pretty rocking too.  I shredded two leftover latkes, mixed them with 2/3 cup of peas, and topped with the end of the cranberry sauce and a dollop of light sour cream.

The combination was to die for and the fact that I ended up with Christmas colors was a happy accident.

Quite the fantastic dinner if I do say so myself!

Noodle Kugel

  • 12-16 oz. wide egg noodles – cook, drain, run cold water over

 Mix the following ingredients, and then mix in the noodles:

  • 8 oz. sour cream
  • 8 oz. cottage cheese
  • 1 ¼ C yellow raisins
  • 1 stick melted butter
  • 3 eggs
  • ¾ C sugar
  • 1 t vanilla
  • 1 t cinnamon

 9 x 12 greased casserole; sprinkle cinnamon/sugar on top (diagonal rows); cook 45 min. at 350*

We Liked Them a Latke

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This has been the perfect sort of evening; exactly what I need before another week of tests!  My night was spent in the kitchen, with my husband, cooking and eating good foods.  We moved from cooking to couching (cuddling) and the whole affair was pretty blissful.

I was famished when I got out of the shower; nuts for lunch pack a caloric punch, but they don’t hold me over as long as I would expect.  Since we knew dinner would take a while to prepare we decided to go with dessert first.  My aunt and uncle sent us this box of fancy chocolates for Hanukkah.

Milk and dark chocolate dipped orange peel, almonds, hazelnuts, and biscuit pieces.

I ate a handful and was in heaven; you can tell this stuff is good!

I also ate a candy cane white chocolate coated pretzel from my Sweet Treats Basket.

Yum!  White chocolate dipped candy cane anything is pretty awesome but the pretzel was especially fresh and tasty.

Dinner was a labor of love, but it was so worth it.

Latkes, homemade applesauce, and roasted veggies.  We spent a long time in the kitchen, but had a lot of fun and the end products were amazing.  Recipes at the end of the post.

The roasted veggies were leftover from Thanksgiving.

We wanted to try our hand at latkes for Hanukkah this year so we turned to my uncle’s famed recipe.  My uncle Brian makes the best latkes on earth, seriously, and following his recipe I think ours turned out pretty great.

We kept things top-notch and made our own apple sauce as well (latkes are traditionally eaten with sour cream and/or applesauce).

The applesauce recipe came from my food lab, my group was assigned it one week and it turned out so well I knew I wanted to make it again.  We didn’t have a cinnamon stick to cook in so instead I topped my bowl with red hots.

That was better anyways!

Such a pleasing meal. 

I portioned out a small bowl of candy for dessert dessert, and told myself that the kitchen is “closed.” 

Hope everyone else had a great Friday!

Best Potato Latkes

  •  5 med. to lg. Idaho potatoes
  • 2 eggs (slightly beaten)
  • 2 tbsp. matzoh meal (or breadcrumbs)
  • 1 lg. or 2 med. onions
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • vegetable oil and butter for frying
  1. Peel potatoes and place in a bowl of cold water.
  2. Finely grate half the potatoes and then more coarsely grate the other half, put in colander and completely drain off liquid.  You want to really press all of the liquid out, persistence pays off.
  3. Finely grate onion and mix with potatoes. Add eggs, salt, pepper and matzoh meal and mix well.
  4. Heat  oil in a large skillet. (Add some butter for flavor.) Drop by heaping tablespoonful into hot oil (draining off any excess liquid). Flatten with spatula and fry on both sides until crisp and golden brown.
  5. Remove to paper towel to drain and keep warm until all latkes are done.

Serve with sour cream and applesauce.  These freeze very well; can be made ahead and frozen and then heated up in hot oven.

Applesauce

  • 2lbs cooking apples
  • 1cup water
  • 6″ cinnamon stick
  • 1/2cup sugar
  1. Core and peel apples.  Cut into quarters.
  2. Place apples in a large pot; pour water over.  Add cinnamon and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; cover and simmer 8-10minutes or until tender.
  3. Uncover and remove cinnamon.  (I drained the water out here but I like my ‘sauce pretty chunky).
  4. Remove from heat.  Mash apples with a potato masher until smooth.
  5. Stir in sugar.  Refrigerate.

Five Little Words

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Huge Anatomy test tomorrow, hurry!

Five(ish) words per line, go!

Southwest chicken flatbread sandwich, mmmn.

Corn, black beans, melty cheddar.

Baked goods food lab today.

1/3 eaten, cookies = dough balls!

Wegman’s to study, and dinner.

Lots of veggies, a little fun.

1chip per 4slides = study bribe.

Class, study, class, study, bedtime.

Going Out with a Bang

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Thanks so much for the encouragement on my last post!  Although, it seemed like many of you thought I was stressed; I was actually being matter of fact.  And I matter of factly failed my test this afternoon 😉 😦

Breakfast at Starbucks ended up being a success.  I got a tall, non-fat latte,

and a slice of gingerbread.

Then I brushed my teeth in the public bathroom and spit Scope in the parking lot like a total creeper 😉

My breath was fresh, but the dentist did give me the bad news that I got my first ever cavity.  I knew it was coming (they’ve been “keeping an eye on” that spot for a year and a half) but I’m still a little nervous about getting drilled.

After my appointment I headed to Wegman’s for a great hot bar lunch.

An assortment of veggies plus a few pieces of sweet and sour chicken,

with fruit for dessert.

I left my car parked at Wegman’s, which meant I got to walk to school for the slaughter (Orgo exam), and then walk back to do my grocery shopping.  I love walking so much, I hope this “nice” weather holds out!

When it was all said and done I ended up with a ‘you shouldn’t grocery shop hungry’ candy bar.

Delish, like honeycomb enrobed in chocolate!

I also ate a bowl of random cereals (Barbara’s Shredded Oats, plus Kashi H2H and Strawberry Flakes) with Silk Almond Milk.

I’m not sure why I was so hungry, but I’m glad I ate because I had a lot to do in the kitchen.

I’m at the point where I transfer my obsessive love from fall foods to holiday foods, and I wanted to end the season with a bang.  There’s no better way to go out than P-U-M-P-K-I-N, pumpkin, pumpkin, pumpkin!  (Can you tell I watched “Bring it On” during dinner?)

Hello there.

We made Rachael Ray’s Pasta with Pumpkin and Sausage.

We subbed rigotoni for penne and vegan crumbles for sausage, but other than that we pretty much followed the recipe.

Delish!

For dessert I went with more pumpkin, (and more Rachael Ray, come to think of it) Cheesecake-Filled Pumpkin Muffins.

I skipped the frosting, these babies are perfect without it!

I had two.

Now I’ve got to go to bed, go, go, to bed!

Were you a cheerleader in highschool?