Dinner with Outstanding in the Field

by Emily

Tonight was amazing! I am so sorry for another lame post, I truely truely am. I get so excited about food but I have so much to say that it is too much and I’m exhausted.

Dinner was put on by Outstanding in the Field (a very locavore, farm to table, excited about sustainability organization) and was held at Greenleaf Warehouses. The setting was legit a warehouse, I love industrial/fashionable settings.

You can just go ahead and multiply this glass of vino by 3.

And I had 1 shrimp crisp,

and a whipped tuna cracker.

Dinner was family style, so we got to serve ourselves. First was a pickled veggie plate Ahi tonnato on pain de mie with gochukaura and parsley.

I loved how spicy everything was.

Next was soup Mushroom dashi, maitake, shimeji, enoki mushrooms.

It was very similar to a miso but the mushrooms had an insanely lemon taste. This was the only thing I didn’t love.

Then they brought out udon noodles with fresh calamari Udon, grilled Monterey calamari in a browned butter ponzu reduction, cucumber, kaiware, frisee & yellow pear tomato with chojang & sesame vinaigrette.

I was very nervous about it but Jenna convinced me to try a taste.

So glad I did! I actually really liked the calamari but the soba noodles were the best, very doughy and raw. Plus the dish had a good spice kick.

Then came salmon and mushroom risotto Salmon baked with dashikombu, fried garlic and Japanesse curry powder / Mushroom risotto with koshihikari rice, crispy maitake mushrooms.

I don’t know why I took such a tiny serving, but it was delicious. I love love loved the curry powder.

There was oxtail, but I obviously ignored it, and then came out a platter of brussels sprouts Roasted brussels sprouts, ponzu fried garlic, guanciale, bonito flakes. Jenna told me there was short rib in them, so I resisted. But brussels sprouts are in my top five all time food favorites, so I finally said f’ it and ate one. Delish. Then the waitress came by, and said “vegetarian.” So I loaded up a plate.

So.Fricking.Fantastic. They tasted like McDonald’s fries, which sounds awful but was just amazing. However, apparently, so not vegetarian. They definitly had pork in them. Which makes me quite sad 😦

Finally, dessert. Ah dessert Koshihikari rice pudding, cookie crumble, and warren pear.

I love rice pudding, but the pear, oh the pear! I had a bite of pear at the farmer’s market this morning and I’ve been telling people all day that it was seriously the best thing I’ve eaten out here. The dessert was from the same farm!!! I was in heaven.

Before we headed out they did Foodbuzz awards which was a lot of fun. I definitly congratualate some very deserving winners!

A bus ride later, Camile and I walked the mile back to our hotel for the last time. On the way home I just might have seen a 7-11 and shrieked at the top of my lungs. Bosenberry and cola, oh yeah.

Even more exciting? Getting in bed now! Tomorrow morning there is a goodbye breakfast and then I fly all day long and get back home at midnight! I have a big test on Monday so I’m not sure what the posting situation will be. I hope everyone else’s weekend ends well!!

Challenge Balance – $31.71

3Nov2009

Adding to My Happy List

by Emily

I discovered several new things I enjoy today. If I had to make a “happy list” it would be a bazillion pages already but it’s always good to find new things.

Volunteering went well, there was more for me to do than usual, which is always nice, and it was good to spend time on my feet after the car and plane trips of the past weekend. One of the nurses gave me a piece of “Canada candy.”

It was surprisingly good, I thought I didn’t like milk chocolate but maybe I’ve been lying to myself.

In challenge fasion, I used my lunch voucher to bring Adam home pizza for his afternoon snack. For my snack I had two servings of Quaker Quakes Kettle Corn Rice Cakes.

I thought I didn’t like rice cakes, but apparently I was wrong about that too! I bought this last week because I had a coupon and was pleasantly surprised.

I was rushing out of the house and I was a little worried that I ended up looking like I was rocking my pjs.

I think the (amazing, far nicer than anything I’ve ever owned before, handed down from my aunt this weekend) jacket salvages it don’t you?

I was hurrying because I had a meeting with a professor at UB’s anthropology department. She couldn’t answer all of my questions – the big one being do I want to be an RD, an anthropologist, or a turnip – but it was informative. Afterwards she asked if I’d like to sit in on her class that afternoon (4-6). It was amazing! She had a guest lecturer – a previous student who now is a policewoman/csi. She talked about evidence collection and showed all sorts of crime scene photos and generally thrilled me. I seriously sat there for two hours with a big grin. I don’t know which career path I’ll choose, but I do know that I find forensic/anthropology fascinating.

My Chemistry class is at 6:30 and it was all the way across the campus so I ended up having to speed walk there with my huge bag. I was sooo thirsty by the time I got to class. I ended up buying Lifesavers to suck on from the vending machine.

Challenge Balance – 60cents.

When I got home I had a Zevia to drink immediately,

and then I started on dinner.

Oven Baked Chicken Salad from the October issue of “Family Circle” (click the recipe for the link). There were several ways to make this recipe healthier, but due to time and budgetary restrictions I chose to follow it as is – minus onion salt which I didn’t have. However, here are my suggestions for a healthier dish-

Substitute 1 chopped, sauted real onion for onion salt.
Substitute half or all of the mayo with plain Greek yogurt.
Skip the “topping” bread crumbs and cheese.
Add additional chopped veggies – broccoli, cauliflower, cucumber.

I ate my portion alongside some oven roasted broccoli and butternut squash; both cooked with salt, pepper, and fresh ginger.

It was all seriously so fricking delicious! I always forget how much I love roasted broccoli and the casserole was shockingly good.

Mmmn.

I need to hurry to shower now, as starting my gym routine back up in the morning is pretty much a necessity. I hope everyone else has a good night.

Where do you find recipes? I have a long list of things that sound good on other blogs, but for the most part I get my recipes from magazines. I am subscribed to “Cooking Light” and “Everyday with Rachael Ray,” but the healthy living magazines have a lot of great recipes too. The ‘older’ magazines my mommy subscribes too (she sends them to me) have yummy recipes that aren’t quite as healthy, but can easily be modified like my suggestions tonight.

1Nov2009

Happy 80th Nana!

by Emily

Hello, hello, hello! Sorry to skip out for the weekend but I had a fabulous time. I flew to Ohio (with a bunch of other family members) to celebrate my grandmother’s 80th birthday. We did party/family time all weekend, which meant TONS of cake! I missed the husband a lot but I had a great time, my family is so funny! This post won’t be as detailed, due to length, and if you get too bored skip to the bottom to find the winners of the Zevia contest.

Friday we had to get up nice and early to make it to the airport for my 6:35am flight. I was hungry when I got to the airport but it seemed early and I knew I would sleep my first flight so I decided to wait.

On my layover I got egg and cheese on a cheddar jalopeno bagel.

It was very tasty but I dropped half on the floor so I only ate half of it.

I was so excited when I finally got in to the Dayton airport!

My mom and grandma picked me up and we drove over to Tipp City to do some shopping (also the location of my grandmother’s surprise party!). We saw all sorts of fun things.

Nana (grandma) was impossible to get to her surprise party, she kept insisting the chosen restaurant was too nice, too slow, etc. I finally had to pretend I was going to pee my pants if we didn’t at least go in to the restroom! When she saw all of her friends she was so surprised she cried!

My mom and my aunt (who flew up with my mom a few days earlier than me) did such a good job planning and decorating!

We did a party lunch at Coldwater Cafe and it was very nice. I got a bloody mary to drink.

And for lunch I split – more halfs! – a turkey pannini (with artichoke spread and cheese) with my mom.

I ignored the chips but the sandwich was great.

My grandmother cried when she opened her presents and again when they brought in the cake!

I am not really a chocolate cake fan so I took a small bite and then packed up the rest to bring home to Paps (grandpa). I also packed up all the bread from the table baskets. My family teased me but they are either going to use it again, ewww, or throw it out, wasteful.

We got to go home long enough to pick up my grandpa and then we – me, my mom, my aunt, my grandparents, and the dog – squeezed into the car for a long drive to Toledo where my uncle lives. I seriously can not handle how funny my family is, we had such a good time!!

We were running late when we got there so we had a quick dinner from Wendy’s. I got a baked potato with broccoli and cheese.

I also ate one of my pumpkin cheesecake cupcake/muffins, so good!

My uncle is a high school football coach so we went to watch his team. It was their last game of the season, against their biggest rival, and they whooped them, so it was a lot of fun. My uncle had the marching band play happy birthday to Nana and she cried again!

After the game we went to a ‘end of season’ party my uncle was throwing for the other coaches. I had a small vodka and coke,

and a small slice of pizza.

And then there was more cake and more tears!

Quite a night was had by all 🙂

For Saturday breakfast I had an English muffin with homemade strawberry jam and scrambled eggs.

We spent the morning having family time before we headed to another birthday party, this one for my cousin’s baby! Lunch was buffet style at the party.

Cheesy potatoes,

fruit,

and veggies.

And of course more cake – I just ate the icing off this piece.

Over the course of the party I sipped a beer

and had a good time hanging with my mommy and grandma.

My mom, aunt, and I (all Virgin Islanders) walked to and from the party because it was so exciting to be cold! It was sad saying goodbye to my cousins but then the six of us packed back into the car and headed back to my grandparents’ house. More uproarious fun was had, including the hilarious/horrifying realization that my grandmother – who was driving – talks with her hands a lot!

It was Halloween, so I broke out some fancy chocolate I bought for the occasion.

We all had a small piece.

When we got home we had to rush to get dressed before meeting my grandparents’ best friends for dinner. It was a great last meal. I had a bloody mary again, to which I added a ton of Siracha and sizzled my mouth off!

My grandmother shared her side salad with me,

and she and Rose gave me their martini olives.

They are both amazing and both happen to read the blog, hi guys!

I also had a small piece of bread.

I was torn on ordering but when the waitress said unlimited toppings on the flat bread pizza I was sold! I asked for roasted red pepper, green peppers, red onions, caramelized onions, tomato, spinach, and mushrooms.

Mmmn. I ate 3/5 pieces.

It was another late night and I think we left my grandparents thoroughly exhausted!

This morning my mom and I both had 6:50 flights so it was another early trip to the airport. Goodbyes were easy; I see my grandparents for Turkey Day and my mommy and aunt for Christmas!

For reasons explained in the next post, I packed my own breakfast. A banana from my grandmother’s house,

and a seasonal Pumpkin Spice Cliff Bar from home.

My flights were all blissfully uneventful. I was very excited to see the husband at the airport. Apparently he went to a Halloween party last night so I’ll have to track down some pictures of his costume. He made himself spaghetti this weekend so I had a big bowl of that (doctored with mozarella and red pepper flakes) while I wrote this monster post.

My fingers are exhausted, it is definitely time to say Goodbye! I will “see” you all this evening, hope everyone else had a good weekend!

Zevia Winners

I used a random integer generator to choose the winners.

Runners Up who receive a mixed six pack

(#18) Annalene – i actually have tried Zevia before & I have to say that while they may take some time to getting used to the flavor after the initial drink or 2 these are actually quite good! my favorite is the lemon lime
(#5) Jenny – I would love to try the all-natural diet sodas. I work the night shift, and am obsessed with my diet Pepsi….but always feel guilty about the weird ingredients and colorings.
(#17) Erin – I really want to try this stuff since I love the occasional diet coke.
(#2) Holly – I’d love to win – this soda has been all over blogs and I’ve never tried it!
(#14) Erin– Zevia sounds great!

Grand Prize Winner who receives a mixed case

(#9) Molly – Sounds good!

Winners – shoot me an e-mail (emilyhwaxATgmail.com) by Tuesday morning to claim your prize!

28Oct2009

Seriously, Make It

by Emily

What a day, what a day! Early in the week headaches have officially been canceled out, today bumped my weekly productivity up to 100%! Things actually started off a little rocky; we were awake so late we slept through the alarms! I panicked for a moment but I realized that my legs were hurting pretty badly so it wasn’t the world to cancel my gym session anyway.

I finished my post-lab work at home and then headed to The Spot to study. I was dreaming of a Mike’s Sandwich but I didn’t actually get there until after 11 and they were no longer serving breakfast. Buffalo parking is a bummer. The barista totally empathized with my craving though and hooked me up with an everything bagel with sliced turkey and colby cheese (+ diet coke).

Craving decimated!

A few hours later I also got a tall Americano with skim milk.

My focus today was out of control, I only got distracted twice! Once when I was reading about the visible light spectrum and started thinking about how my rings act like a prism in the sun…

and again when I got this…

I drove to school around 3:30 and continued the study frenzy before my 6:30 class. In total today I completed reading an entire chapter (with 11pages of notes!!), pre and post work for this week’s labs, and a class session. Plus I put away 4 loads of laundry when I got home. And I made a grocery list for tomorrow. I’m going to do a little baking before my trip 🙂 Tomorrow is still going to be a bit crazy but I made a definite dent.

For dinner I finally got the try my Moussaka.

Yums! You broiled it for a bit so the cheese got all nice and brown and I loved the combo of veggies.

I had an Orange Zevia to drink.

Dessert was fall personified – chopped up Cortland apple, sprinkled with cinnamon and 2T cinnamon caramel apple dip, heated in the microwave, topped with a crumbled Maple Pecan Boomi Bar.

Seriously? Seriously? This might be the best thing I’ve ever eaten. The caramel thinned out when it melted so it coated every single piece of apple; the apples got nice and soft; and maple pecan boomi bars are freaking better than cookies. Make this. You will not be sorry.

Thursday is looking to be pretty rushed, so it will probably be another full day recap post. See you Thursday night after lab!

Don’t forget about my Zevia giveaway.

Also; watch this. Seriously, it’s the funniest thing ever.

23Oct2009

BSI Entry

by Emily

Oh man was a good evening! I am pretty much excited about everything right now. My dinner (and drink) are delicious, but more importantly fall themed, and the whole meal is just rocking my socks! I’ll back up though…

We didn’t head out to the store until after 7:30 but I was cool with the tardiness because I was excited about my new shirt.

This was one of many $10 mall finds last weekend.

The grocery store was quick and easy, Adam and I make each other laugh so much when we are doing errands. This week’s BSI, a la Megan, is acorn squash, so I picked one up for dinner.

By the way, Adam was less than thrilled by a veggie stuffed squash so he made his own dinner, including (among several other things) this sample from Annie Chun’s Soup Bowls.

It had beef broth, so my caveman was happy.

While I cooked dinner I ate the last of this pineapple.

Dinner was a masterpiece if I do say so myself! My squash was inspired by eggplant and chicken parmesan, but ended up being waay more tasty. Italian Stuffed Acorn Squash, for 1-2

1 medium acorn squash, cut in half with seeds scooped out (go bigger than the one I bought, pictured above, it was too small and I had leftover guts)
1T evoo
1C baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1/2 a small eggplant, cubed (I used a graffiti eggplant)
1/4t minced garlic
1/4t dried oregano
salt and pepper
3T balsamic vinegar
1/2C marinara sauce
1/4C reduced fat mozzarella, shredded
1T seasoned bread crumbs

Preheat the oven to 400*. Line a baking pan with tin foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. Place squash cut side down and cook for 40minutes.
While squash is cooking, heat evoo in a pan over medium-high heat. Add eggplant and mushrooms.
Season with salt, pepper, and oregano. Cook for 7minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add balsmic vinegar and cook another 3-5minutes, until liquid is reduced.
Remove from heat and stir in marinara sauce.
Remove squash from oven and flip cut side up. Fill cavities with veggie mixture and top each side with half of the bread crumbs and cheese.
Return to oven for 10minutes, until cheese is browned.

Holy cow, I fell in love! The flavors of this melded together amazingly and I loved the texture. Gaaah!

I really planned on eating the entire thing but 1half ended up being enough (I also ate some leftover stuffing while the final product cooked).

I am super excited to finish the rest tomorrow! To drink I made the most “Fall” cocktail ever.

8oz each apple cider and pumpkin beer. Gah again!

Good meals, especially especially fall themed ones, make me so happy! I’m going to do some blog reading and then head to bed. I didn’t get any studying done today (that time was taken up by the flooding fun) so I have a lot to accomplish before my in-laws get here tomorrow. Sleep tight!

Do you participate in the BSIs? Have you won any?

21Oct2009

The Right Fluff

by Emily

My sleepless night left me pretty dazed, and not at all productive. In fact, as soon as this is published Adam is driving me to school early so I can focus on studying there.

Lunch was randomly thrown together but quite tasty. I ate the second serving of my long leftover bbq cabbage.

And discovered 5oz of okra in my fridge as well. I chopped off the ends and roasted at 475* for 25minutes.

I roasted this delicata squash too, with a little nutmeg.

All together.

The cabbage was actually better after sitting and the okra was great as always but I was not a fan of the squash. The flavors were good (I love nutmeg!) but I did not like eating the skins at all. I ended up leaving a big pile of “crusts” on my plate.

Dessert more than made up for it.

I love love love marshmallow fluff so I was very excited to see a vegan, and slightly healthier version.

I’ve had this Rice Mellow Creme in my cabinet for a while, just waiting for inspiration. I found it!

No, that is not a cup of hot chocolate…

…that a fluffernutter sundae! Stoneyfield Nonfat Vanilla Froyo with melted peanut butter and rice mellow fluff. Mmmmmmmn! I will be making this again, soon.

I also snacked on 1 2 servings of Food Should Taste Good Olive Chips.

They were a little too good, I probably should have used a plate instead of dipping into the bag.

Adam is driving me to campus now so I can hopefully finish my ch. 10 notecards without distraction. After class Caroline and I have another study session, so I won’t be home until late. We are planning on studying at Wegmans and getting dinner from the salad bar. I hope everyone has a great evening!

P.S. Please vote for me for the Good Mood Gig here. You can vote every day until the 30th.

19Oct2009

Curried Chicken and Cider Soup

by Emily

I totally lied when I said I was going right to class. That was the plan, but I was so cold (inside my house, with the heat on) that I just couldn’t bring myself to go outside yet! I sat on the couch and read my book.

Heat seems like it is going to rock my socks, it’s a memoir about, among other things, training as a prep chef for Mario Batali. I am all about memoirs and food, so it seems like the perfect fit.

Once I did get off the couch and get dressed I realized I was wearing an outfit from my teaching days and the whole thing felt sort of surreal.

I don’t know if anyone read my job identity search post this morning, but the one thing I do know is that do not want to teach! I swear I sort of have PTSD from my experience!

Also, I was super hungry so I packed myself a snack for the road –

1 oz buffalo wing pretzels with some turkey pepperoni (don’t worry mom, I only ate at lights!).

That totally did not cut it though. After I finished printing at the library I set off in search of food. I ended up with an everything bagel with veggie cream cheese.

Class went well, we are studying electron orbitals which I love – it’s like a puzzle! When I got home at 9 I got right to work on dinner. We made Curried Chicken and Cider Soup from “Everyday with Rachael Ray” (click on the name for the recipe link).

I skipped the cumin, and substituted 1C of water with 1C extra cider, but otherwise I followed the recipe. I topped my bowl with buffalo wing pretzel nuggets for a crouton-like effect.

I don’t think I would have liked it without the added spice, it was pretty sweet, but with the addition it was perfect.

Afterwards I had this fun drink I bought a while back.

It’s not really Sangria, more like strawberry soda. It’s from Japan and was totally cool; you had to pop the top to release a marble.

I was supposed to paint my nails tonight but it is almost 11 so it looks like I’ll be heading straight to bed. Tomorrow I have a gym trip planned, plus tons and tons of schoolwork, and hopefully some job searching. Sweet dreams!

Do you like buffalo wings? I’m not a huge wings fan but I love buffalo sauce!

17Oct2009

Jay and Silent Bob Go to Duwalli

by Emily

Let’s be honest – I’m a bit drunk and it’s been a long day. This will be quick 🙂

Oh man, what a Saturday! Sorry to not post all day but it was pretty busy. We got up at 9 and headed straight for the gym, the husband kind of never goes so I’m always up for a trip when he is. My run was terrible again, what is the deal?!? In the end, I did 3.5miles / 37minutes / 397calories.

I mentioned when we did our closet switch last week that neither Adam or I really has a winter wardrobe, well today was the day to rectify that. I know some girls love to shop, and I do love clothes and bags, but shopping itself is pretty tedious to me. My mom is the best shopper on earth and I think my lack of mall-enthusiasm is her only real complaint about me! 🙂

We packed a bag of grapes to share but they ended up being inedible.

So we hit up the food court for lunch a few stores in.

I got steamed veggies and grilled bourbon chicken.

When I was growing up we didn’t have a mall, and when we visited the states I was obsessed with getting bourbon chicken at the mall! Today I killed the veggies but split most of the chicken with the husband.

Shopping ended up going very well. We were at the mall for HOURS, but we are 99% done! The husband and I are officially both ready for winter. Plus we found many things on sale (like the children’s snow boots I bought). This is my “we are leaving the mall after 5 face” –

We rewarded ourselves for a day well shopped by driving to Anderson’s for ice-cream.

I got pumpkin soft-serve with peanut butter cups. Mmmmn.

We had to rush, rush, rush as soon as we got home to get dressed in semi-formal clothing. Our evening event was put on by a group at Adam’s medical school; Duwalli is India’s festival of lights. There was an open bar so I got boxed white vinfindel x2.

I ate two samosas while we mingled.

And it a bit it was time for dinner.

The food was fantastic, all authentic, spicy, and delicious. I have no idea what I ate, but it was mostly veggies with a little chicken.

And spiced rice pudding for dessert.

After dinner there was an Indian dance presentation. I loved watching, the music was catchy and everyone’s saris were beautiful. There was plain old dancing afterwards but we left with a friend to talk in a more quiet spot. We ended up at Wine Thief, which was quite fun.

I had a great glass of riesling (this pushed me a bit over the edge).

We got home by 11 and I might have drunkenly eaten two small rolls while I blogged,

and now I’m going to tumble into bed! See you in the morning!

Have you seen Mallrats? If not, do!

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: veggies

Dinner with Outstanding in the Field

Adding to My Happy List

Happy 80th Nana!

Zevia Winners

Seriously, Make It

BSI Entry

The Right Fluff

Curried Chicken and Cider Soup

Jay and Silent Bob Go to Duwalli