Day One Of Thirty? {Again}

by Emily

Complaints first – The chance for 8-hours of sleep passed before I even started this post. All of my end of internship assignments are due on Friday and I’m freaking out. I ate two snacks after dinner and I am still flipping hungry.

Complaints aside, it wasn’t a bad day. We got lots (and lots) of shipments at work so I was nice and busy.

The morning started with smoothies.

For two: 1 Thai young coconut, ~1 cup frozen blue/blackberries, 1 medium frozen banana, and 2 Tbsp Hey Shuga! <– don’t forget, you still have another ~hour to enter my giveaway!

I didn’t have a lot of time for lunch so I kept it simple. A Garuka Bar (from my yumvelope).

The sweet peanut butter coating was addictively good; I planned on snacking on it throughout a task but every time I tried to walk away I took another bite instead!

I also had a Fage 0% Greek Yogurt with Cinnamon Apple Raisins.

The flavor isn’t listed on the Fage website and I’ve only seen it at Target. The apple compote was good, but nothing can really compare to the pure decadence of the honey and strawberry flavors.

I only had an hour between work and night class so Adam and I cashed in a coupon for Subway for dinner.

6 inch turkey with lettuce, tomato, green pepper, banana pepper, red onion, and honey mustard on Italian herb and cheese bread.

I knew my sandwich wouldn’t quite fill me up and I shared this peanut butter spoon with Webster when I got home.

Then I also had a plate of baby carrots with the last of some smoked gouda spread.

And a bag of Smart Fries.

I ended up dipping my “fries” in yellow mustard. And then I had a big glass of water; methinks I’m a bit dehydrated!

3Feb2013

na na na na na na na na BANANA

by Emily

It’s time for another two-day post. Shhhhhh, don’t tell my mom!

The past 48 hours have been full of Bananas, but nary a vegetable has been seen. Things haven’t technically been that busy, but it’s hard to post when you basically die into bed.

My last post left off at lunch. After I finished up at the hospital for the day, I came home to decorate my cupcakes for book club.

Book club may have been hit hard by sickness and weather advisories this week, but that didn’t mean that the three of us who still got together didn’t deserve banana split cupcakes!

Banana Split Cupcakes, makes 12

Yield: 12 cupcakes; Prep Time: 30 minutes; Cook Time: 30 minutes

1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 large bananas, well mashed
3/4 cup white sugar
1 large egg
1/3 cup melted butter
1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts
12 Tbsp hot fudge sauce
3 cups powdered sugar
1/2 cup butter, softened
5 oz vanilla bean ice cream, fully melted
maraschino cherries
rainbow sprinkles

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit. Line a cupcake tray with 12 paper liners.
Sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and set aside.
In a large bowl combine mashed banana, white sugar, egg, and melted butter. Stir to combine, then fold in flour mixture and mix just until smooth. Fold in walnuts.
Fill each cupcake liner halfway with batter. Spoon 1 Tbsp fudge sauce into each cup. Top with remaining batter.
Bake for 25-30 minutes. Allow cupcakes to completely cool before icing.
While cupcakes are cooling, use an electric mixer to beat together softened butter, powdered sugar, and melted ice-cream. (This icing will keep best if stored in the fridge rather than at room temperature).
Ice cupcakes then top with cherries and sprinkles as desired.

I know I’ve posted the recipe before but since almost nobody reads my blog, nobody has made the cupcakes yet. And that is really unfortunate because they are one of the best things I’ve ever made. I may not write a popular blog but I can write a damn good recipe!

I actually ended up eating my serving the minute it was decorated.

Then while my friends ate cupcakes I munched on BBQ Smart Fries.

But first we grabbed a quick and easy dinner at Wegman’s.

I got spicy crawfish chips,

and a brown rice California roll with a side of spicy mayo.

Then the three of us came back to my place for cupcakes (and Smart Fries!) and a movie. We watched “The Perfect Family” on Netflix and all loved it. Emily Deschanel was great as always and the entire film was surprisingly funny and smart.

I send my friends home with all of the cupcakes (except for two saved for Adam who was out-of-town the past few days) and when my sweet tooth called a few hours later I made an amazing yogurt banana split. An Almond Coco Loco Chobani Flip topped with sliced banana, hot fudge sauce, a big scoop of ice cream frosting, and a cherry on top.

Maybe the best bowl of “ice cream” I’ve ever had. The combination of tastes was amazing, and you better believe I ate another big scoop of frosting straight from the container! This Flip was a billion times better than the key lime one; the coconut yogurt was perfection.

I only had to work a half shift today so once Adam got home we got to spend the entire day hanging out. He’s traveled a lot this year and I’ve really missed him. Speaking of which, I’m going to rush through Saturday’s (pathetic) eats so I can get back to snuggling.

Pomegranate Black Tea KeVita. Have you entered my giveaway yet?

Mac and cheese from the co-op hot bar.

2% Chobani Banana topped with sliced plums.

Buffalo chicken pizza with blue cheese and baby carrots.

And a giant bowl of popcorn with melted butter.

My popcorn bowl was actually too big for me and I couldn’t finish it…. who am I???

P.S. This is what’s happening beside me right now –

31Jan2013

Baking Tasting

by Emily

My breakfast was pathetic. Someone {ahem!} only left behind a tiny bit of my Low-fat Coconut Chia Kefir.

I planned on taking it to-go and didn’t have time to grab anything else so I had to spend the morning hungry. Even worse, I think Wegman’s isn’t going to carry that flavor anymore.

I spent my morning in the formula lab at the hospital and my afternoon in an off-site clinic and I had to drive through lunch. I packed it simple with packaged things I could eat in the car. Luna Blueberry Bliss Bar.

Normally I’m all about the chocolate flavors, but this blueberry flavor is one of my favorite Lunas.

Key Lime Crumble Chobani Flip.

After all my anticipation for this flavor, I actually didn’t really like it. The yogurt was weirdly thin and every key lime Greek yogurt I’ve tried has tasted too artificial. But I have an Almond Coco Loco Flip in the fridge that I’m still excited to try.

I didn’t realize how sore I was from yoga until my drive home. Moving around during the day was fine but sitting for a long stretch on the highway was killer. Last night’s practice kicked my butt. <– I had to edit out a typo here where I wrote “butts.” It’s a Freudian fat joke!

During the drive I also realized how hungry I was. Days I don’t eat breakfast are a disaster because I end up eating so much crap in the afternoon. I started with a sliced Honeycrisp.

And two Alexia Artisan Sweet Potato Rolls with butter.

But then I had to do some baking for tomorrow’s book club.

Adam wasn’t here this evening to help me taste-test and I did an insane amount of nibbling and bowl licking.

Plus I ate one of the (mostly) finished baked goods.

Delicious but so unnecessary.

At least dinner was healthy.

My black-eyed pea salad is so easy to make – BEPs, chopped green pepper, smoked almonds, chopped Kerrygold Vintage Cheddar, green Tabasco, done!

It’s quickly becoming my favorite dish. There is even another serving in the fridge for tomorrow’s lunch.

I’m hoping that this weekend will include lots of baked goods and booze, but my goals for next week are bedtime, breakfast, and less sugar overload. {and the Vegan 20 Day challenge!}

31Jan2013

Two Days, Too Many?

by Emily

My mom called to tell me that not posting yesterday ruined my 30 day streak. But my focus wasn’t so much the daily posting as the posting of everything from each day. I’ve decided that as long as I blog everything I eat it will count towards thirty days straight of blogging even if I have to do some recaps. Thoughts?

The past 48 hours have included some really tasty things, but they have also included too many missed meals and way too much sugar. I need to keep getting better about my sleep schedule.

I didn’t have breakfast together Tuesday morning so I just had coffee – half sweet, half regular – from the cafeteria.

Lunch was a fun assortment. An apple.

A Cascadian Farm Crunchy Oats & Honey Granola Bar.

And an Artisana Cacao Bliss packet.

I planned on eating the coconut butter as a granola bar topping, but that got too messy and I ended up just spooning it into my mouth with a knife. That stuff is so flipping good; like a coconutty chocolate frosting!

When I got home I ate two fun sized candies, <– so unnecessary

and a Müller Strawberry FrütUp Yogurt.

A friend and I are doing a Vegan 20 Day challenge soon and I just can’t stop buying yogurt!

Adam and I haven’t seen much of each other lately so we decided to make Tuesday night Date Night and make use of our King and I Groupon.

We split the Tofu Tod to start. //fried tofu with a sweet and sour peanut dipping sauce//

This is one of our favorite Thai appetizers and King and I did not disappoint. We both kept grabbing spoonfuls of the sauce!

I went with the King and I House Noodles, vegetarian and Thai spicy. //broad rice noodles with egg, vegetables, and ground peanut//

I wish my meal had come with more vegetables, but I was very impressed with the spice level.

Adam commented that he could *hear* how spicy my meal was so I must have been doing a lot of sniffling! Sadly, his dish was too salty and he didn’t really love it.

The husband went with a coconut sticky rice and custard dish for dessert.

I took a few small bites, but decided to have these gummi candies instead.

They came from Wegman’s bulk bins and were totally to blame for the headache that caused me to lie down while taking off my boots, and end up falling asleep on top of the covers, fully dressed!

I was still pretty out of it this morning and I left for the hospital without so much as a scrap of food in my bag. I bought this serving of Kashi Heart to Heart from the cafeteria.

And I got Wegman’s hot bar after work to eat while I was journaling.

Many veggies with some chicken (salad and dumplings) and pasta.

I ate a Honeycrisp when I got home.

And then I ate a bowl of gelato for dinner.

And did so with impunity; I topped it with a protein-rich Bare Naked cereal sample.

The Talenti Caramel Cookie Crunch was good and the combination was even better.

And it was exactly what I was craving.

In healthier news, I made it to yoga this evening! 60 minutes of hot yoga was amazing, every time I go I love it. But – if I go both days this weekend I will have officially gotten 4 uses out of my unlimited pass, whoops!

I took advantage of my (messy) high yoga ponytail to show y’all my current hair.

The bottom is still good, but the top has lost a lot of color and has white streaks.

I have to go back to brown for my next internship placement so I won’t bother refreshing it, but I am still love-love-loving the purple. FYI: It is very difficult to take a picture of your own hair!

27Jan2013

Cookie Sunday

by Emily

Cookie Sunday, could that be a thing now please? I had two today. But everything else was healthy. Now that we are trying to not be fat-fat-fatties we gotta keep things balanced.

Breakfast bowl.

The final serving of KIND maple granola (booo! We need more asap!) with chopped peach and plum and Lifeway coconut chia kefir.

Tortellini salad from the co-op.

I split a cookie with Adam at the grocery store.

Yes, we were back at the store, I’m unable to do my shopping in any less than twenty trips a week.

Dinner was great.

Buffalo chicken nuggets (I have a recipe for you below) with blue cheese for dipping,

sautéed mushrooms,

and roasted broccoli.

I made us cookies for dessert.

no. 2 pencil’s single serve cookies (recipe actual makes 2 cookies) are genius, but I crunched the numbers and they have 360 calories each – not an everyday treat. But they were perfect for Cookie Sunday. <– is it a thing yet?

Buffalo Chicken Nuggets, serves 4

1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
1 cup buffalo wing sauce
1 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup cornstarch
2-3 Tbsp oil

Put chicken pieces into a Tupperware and cover with buffalo sauce. Marinate at least 4 hours.
Combine cornmeal and cornstarch in a large ziplock baggie. Add marinated chicken, seal bag, and shake until chicken is evenly coated.
Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a large pan over medium heat, add remaining oil to the pan as needed.
Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, place chicken in pan, cover, and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until cooked through.
Transfer cooked chicken to a plate covered with paper towels to rest before serving.

27Jan2013

My Forever Alone Movie Date

by Emily

Why am I posting at 12:30, tomorrow would have been such a happier day if I had gotten into bed an hour ago? There isn’t much to share on the food front though, so at least I will keep this quick.

Breakfast didn’t happen at home, but thankfully my co-worker offered me her blueberry muffin (she bagged it at Wegman’s and then decided on hot bar instead).

I ate half. I’m not a big muffin person but this was pretty good.

I actually wasn’t supposed to work today, but was called in last night at the last-minute. Work = money, yay! But I had fun stuff planned with Adam that I was really bummed to miss and I was sort of in a funk this morning.

Lunch was a 0% Pear Chobani.

Holy frick I love that flavor so much! I tried one at FNCE and have been biding my time until they showed up in Buffalo.

Also a KeVita Living Green Sparkling Probiotic Drink.

Full disclosure – KeVita sent me some free coupons so I could sample their products. They sent me some extras to share with y’all too; stay tuned! I wasn’t expecting to love the drink, but then I did. It was so refreshing!

Adam was playing poker with friends all evening, so after work I took myself to a movie. I was seeing “Hansel and Gretel” so I didn’t even bother inviting other people. I’m still not sure why I was so obsessed with seeing the film but I did end up enjoying myself. I brought a .25 lb bag of candy for a themed movie snack but didn’t have time to take a picture. It was mostly conversation hearts and they were mostly disgusting.

Dinner didn’t happen until almost 10 pm and I’m still amazed that I managed to stick to my plan.

2 Quorn Cheeseburger patties* topped with some Cabot’s 50% sharp cheddar,

and a sliced cucumber sprinkled with lots of salt.

I also ate these Honey BBQ Smart Fries because I was too hungry to wait patiently for the patties to cook.

I enjoyed the flavor but it wasn’t worth getting seasoning all over my fingers versus the classic version.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

*Adam ate the other two Quorn patties when he got home from poker and proclaimed them to be “very good”

26Jan2013

Fashion Friday

by Emily

The hospital was great today.

I got to chart on several patients and I saw some really interesting cases; everything from cancer to Crohn’s, to burns.

If you think I actually got in bed early last night… you haven’t been reading my blog very long! Of course I stayed up another hour and of course I was exhausted this morning. I had to grab breakfast on the go, a Chocolate Peanut Butter Chia Bar.

The taste was good and I loved chewing through the chia. The bar only had 100 calories, but it did provide 4 gram each fiber and protein and 1000 and 800 mg respectively omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids.

Nutrition fun fact – it is important to get healthy fatty acids in your diets, but did you know that the ratio of omega 6:3 matters too? It should be about 1:1 but most Americans get too much omega-6 and not enough omega-3.

I also had a big cup of coffee at the hospital.

Half vanilla cappuccino (sweetened) and half caramel nut coffee (flavored beans).

I may have packed lunch yesterday, but it wasn’t much help sitting in my fridge all day! Instead I got a salad from the salad bar.

Spring mix topped with tomatoes, banana peppers, french dressing, and scoop of cole slaw.

I wasn’t interested in my packed-but-forgotten turkey sandwich when I got home, but I did eat my Pink Lady apple.

Plus a Caramel Pineapple Chobani Bite topped with some KIND Maple Walnut Clusters with Chia & Quinoa.

<– heavenly

Dinner was a big slice of pizza.

Buffalo chicken with blue cheese for dipping.

This will be my last slice for a little while (I’ll explain soon) and I really enjoyed it.

Fashion Fridays

This post was pretty short, so I figured I’d share my “professional” look with you all. I hope at least a few readers (hi, Nana! hi, Mom!) would like to see what I wore to my first week at the hospital.

Fact 1 – Lose-fitting tops with fun neckline details are pretty much my uniform.

Fact 2 – I know my mirror is filthy. Sometimes I hold Webster up to the mirror to see “the other dog” and I don’t always have time to clean off his nose smudges because by “sometimes” I mean daily.

23Jan2013

My Pictures Went “Poof!”

by Emily

I’m over the hump! Three days in a row of full-time interning, cooking meals, and generally being an adult. And the thought of adding in workouts next week only slightly makes me want to order a pizza and eat it in bed.

[[[Updated to add – I typed my introduction as I was editing today’s photos. Only when I moved forward to write the next paragraph did I realize that I somehow deleted all of my dinner photos. {frick! frick! frick!} It is a good thing that I started this post in a chipper mood.]]]

Today was delicious! Breakfast had two tasty components.

A big glass of Lifeway Lowfat Coconut Chia Kefir.

Yumtastic, this variety is the best kefir I’ve ever had! Sometimes kefir has a bit of a sour aftertaste to it but this flavor had none of that. The coconut flavor was pretty subtle so I think this would appeal to you even if you’re not loco for coco(nut).

With a big bowl of (microwaved frozen) peaches topped with 1 tsp brown sugar, 1/3 cup KIND Maple Walnut Clusters with Chia & Quinoa, and a splash of skim milk.

Yesterday’s gross protein smoothie may not have tasted like peach cobbler, but this sure did.

It was a good day at the hospital. I’m still mostly observing but I got to discuss some pretty interesting patients. My cases today included eating disorders, ketogenic diets for seizure disorders, and failure to thrive. So far this experience has really cemented my desire to go into clinical practice when I graduate.

I did get up early to journal, and then I worked through lunch, but I’ve finally taken a chunk out of that project. There is still a lot to do tomorrow but tonight I managed to just have down time. And I did get to eat lunch while I worked. A big Pink Lady.

Some Skinny Cow peanut butter chocolates.

And I packed us both tuna salad sandwiches.

We split a can of tuna with Miracle Whip, pickle relish, and tons of red onion.

And then I had to chew gum to deal with my horrendous tuna/onion breath.

Worth it.

Afternoon snacks included 3 oz of trail mix eaten in the car.

And a strawberry milk tea with popping and tapioca boba from Gin Gin.

I’ve been raving about the double bubbles at Gin Gin for months and today I finally got to take a similarly obsessed friend to experience the wonder. I’ll have you all know that she too dug through her ice to snag all the boba!

As you know, I don’t have any pictures of dinner. {grrrrrr} Thankfully the meal didn’t photograph all that beautifully anyway. We sautéed linguine, evoo, a bag of frozen veggies (green beans, broccoli, onions, mushroom, and red pepper), 2 eggs, and peanut sauce until crispy and delicious. We each had a large bowl and loved every bite.

My new fun thing is to be starving an hour after dinner each day. I’m not going to fight it, but I am trying to stick to mostly healthy(ish) snacks to deal with my hunger. Today’s 4th meal was a yogurt bowl.

Fage 2% Plain Greek yogurt topped honey and a half serving of granola. A little more sugary than I’m hoping for every day, but the bowl was luscious and it did fill me up.

Are you a kefir fan?

Eating Chalk

Tag Archives: yogurt

Day One Of Thirty? {Again}

na na na na na na na na BANANA

Baking Tasting

Two Days, Too Many?

Cookie Sunday

My Forever Alone Movie Date

Fashion Friday

Fashion Fridays

My Pictures Went “Poof!”