Tag Archives: yogurt

St. Thomas to Buffalo

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Monday

Yesterday was the perfect last day on island.

I got to see some of my favorite people and eat some of my favorite things.

I tried to eat this honey fig Oikos for breakfast.

The flavor seemed like something I would love but one bite in I was twisting up my face in disgust. Why so sour?!?

Instead I ate some leftover crack pie.

And an old-fashioned strawberry candy for good measure.

My unorthodox breakfast didn’t matter, because I had something good coming for lunch.

Chicken patty!

Pattys (pronounced like pate) are fried dough stuffed with spiced meat.

Amazing. The dough is chewy and the filling (usually beef or saltfish, but sometimes salmon or even veggies) is always tender and perfectly seasoned.

My parents and I spent the afternoon walking around downtown with my visiting aunt, uncle, and cousins. Important note – some of the best foods from my childhood are found in town and I spent the rest of the day eating myself silly.

The #1 best thing I had all vacation was this glass of soursop (guanabana) juice.

I never find soursop in the states but it will always be my favorite fruit. It’s sweet and almost creamy.

A while later I bought a fraco with milk (shaved ice with sweetened condensed milk).

I went with tamarind and passionfruit, more local flavors.

I only could handle half of it but that’s really all you need.

And for my final drink of the afternoon we cracked open a jellynut (aka a green coconut).

The water was more sour than I prefer, but I grabbed a long spoon and scraped out all of the sweet flesh.

That evening my parents and I headed back into town so we could eat dinner at Gladys’ Cafe.

I started with a slice of bread with butter.

And a bowl of callaloo (a thick soup made with spinach and okra).

My meal was the special plate, and it was exactly what I was craving.

Mac and cheese,

cole slaw,

rice and beans,

fried plantains,

and stewed chicken.

I could get past the bones to eat much chicken, but I stirred my rice and beans into the sauce and was in heaven.

We ended our evening with a glorious walk down the waterfront.

For nighttime entertainment I headed back to my high school friends’ apartment.

Vodka/something, x2.

Several old friends were there and I was so glad to get to see everyone. Adrien found his old year book which was perfect and hysterical. They were Adam’s grade, so no pictures of me, but I did see a few great ones of the husband!

Tuesday

Today I had to head back to Buffalo; which did at least mean a rendezvous with Adam.

The food situation today was pretty bad. That’s what 13+ hours in the airport will do!

In the St. Thomas airport I ate a johnny-cake with cheese.

On flight 1 I read this book.

In the Miami airport I wandered.

And got drawn in by this sign –

I actually ended up buying a very healthy sandwich.

As well as a very decadent sounding slice of cake.

The dulce de leche did not disappoint!

When I wasn’t eating on flight 2, I was reading.

After a quick scamper through Chicago I was on flight 3 starting my third book.

And before I knew it, I was home with the husband.

We stopped at Moe’s on the way home to pick up a quick and healthy dinner.

After my carb-filled day week I requested that they go light on the rice and cheese.  Topped with cilantro, green pepper, onion, mushrooms, and corn salsa.

Off to unpack I go!  P.S. It’s our fourth wedding anniversary tomorrow!

STT; Wednesday Afternoon – Thursday Morning

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Wednesday

Yesterday afternoon I made another stop at the gym; woot!  I hopped on the treadmill for 9 sets of 2 minutes running/2 minutes walking.  36 minutes and 3 miles.  I’m going to need to make myself do some strength training soon, but for now I’m taking baby steps.  Plus, my legs got sore enough that I decided to make Thursday a day off.

After a shower, I was heading downtown for a mini-meet up my old school was hosting.  I hate going to things like that by myself; I am seriously the worst with faces.  I love getting to catch up with people but if I’m not with a friend to tell me who people are then it feels more stressful than fun.  Thankfully (ha!) there really was no one I knew there, just a bunch of younger kids.  I met up with one friend from my class and we quickly fled in seach of dinner.

Crystal – a high school friend that I am thrilled is visiting the same time as I – and I headed over to Benny Iguanas, the new location of a sushi place that was very popular back in the day.  I started with a tofu/veggies miso soup.

And got a cucumber-avocado roll for my meal.

The catching up was better than the food, but the meal wasn’t terrible.

Thursday

I started this morning with dessert.

Plus a little of this –

And some of this –

The holiday season just isn’t complete without some “Carebears Nutcracker.”  Though it’s possible that I “borrowed” that DVD from a Blockbusters in Brooklyn 3 years ago!

I also had breakfast.

A 2% Pineapple Chobani with a sliced banana.

And now I’m heading to lunch with my mom, hopefully for more sushi!

How do you feel about high school reunions?

STT; Tuesday Afternoon – Wednesday Afternoon

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Tuesday

Yesterday afternoon I ran some errands with my mom during her break.  Including getting me a small square of macaroni and cheese for lunch.

West Indian style mac ‘n cheese is baked with cheese on top.  It’s fantastic, obviously.

Then I went downtown to run errands with my dad.  For this trip I made myself an iced coffee.

With skim milk and 1 Tbsp of gingerbread syrup.

During the afternoon I snacked on carrots,

and chocolate.

Then I made an effort not to be a total loaf this vacation and made dinner.

My parents are wimps so I had to sub two cans of tuna fish for sardines, but other than that I followed my recipe for Sardine Mushroom Tomato Sauce.

With roasted squash and okra on the side.

I never could find good okra in Buffalo this fall, I can’t even tell you how excited I was to spot it here.

I spent the evening baking with my mom, but since my retainers were in no nibbling occurred.

And to my Jewish readers – Happy Hanukkah!

Wednesday

I started this morning with some stewed tamarind.

Tamarind has this unique, tangy yet earthy taste.  It has lots of seeds so whether you are eating it stewed or straight from the pod you have to be careful.  The best way to eat it is to swish a bite around your mouth (without chewing!) and then spit out the seeds when the flesh is gone.  Looking very ladylike I’m sure.

I also ate a leftover serving of whole wheat penne with 1.5 tsp of olive oil, a shake of salt, and a sprinkle of parmesan.

Plus two 7-layer bars,

and more chocolate.

I didn’t realize until I stated writing this post, but I’ve kind of eaten nothing but pasta and chocolate for the past 24 hours!!  I’m heading to the gym this afternoon and I guess I’ll make veggies a priority for dinner!

Now I’m back at school, trying to catch up on e-mails and eating this Greek Gods honey Greek yogurt.

P.S. No Window Shopping Wednesday this week.  With all the wishlist posts floating around it just felt a little tired.  I’ll be back with it after Christmas, next week.

Have you ever tried tamarind?  If you’ve eaten any authentic Thai the answer is probably yes, it’s often used in Pad Thai.

Primed to Party

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We have got –

a) a problem
b) a packed to-do list
c) a party
d) a profound preference towards alliteration
e) all of the above

If you guessed (e), you’re correct!  Adam and I have the problem of being crazy people because we stayed up past 2am doing absolutely nothing.  This morning got off to a late, rough start, but our day was packed full of to-do’s to prep for tonight’s party.  We are almost set up and I’m all packed for tomorrow to boot.

Today was a double smoothie sort of day.  First, another round of berry chocolate mint.

For two, 2 cups chocolate mint soy milk, 2 cups frozen strawberries, 1 scoop chocolate protein powder, and 6oz 0% plain Greek yogurt.

My second smoothie was a (soy) nog delight.

For one, medium frozen banana, 1 cup Silk Soy Nog, 3 Tbsp malted milk powder, and a handful of ice.

Plus nibbles while we got ready for the party.

I’ll see y’all on the other side, from St. Thomas!

Note – I will probably be blogging every other day or so on vacation (my parents don’t have internet).  If my first post is Monday morning, that doesn’t mean my plane crashed.  But thanks in advance for thinking safe thoughts for me!

Some Merriment

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Amid doing lots of errands and eating lots of crap, I managed to squeeze in some merriment.

First, chocolate berry mint smoothies.

For two, I blended 2.5 cups frozen strawberries, 6 oz 0% plain greek yogurt, and 2 cups of peppermint chocolate soy milk.

Adam and I both love this Jamba Juice knock-off.

Dinner was especially merry.

Cottage cheese gingerbread pancakes! 

My ingredients for 2 servings (which ended up being more like 1.5 servings!) –

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/4 tsp baking soda
  • pinch salt
  • 1/2  cup buttermilk
  • 1 tsp gingerbread syrup
  • 1 large egg
  • 2 Tbsp melted butter
  • 1/3 cup low-fat cottage cheese

Whisk together dry, then wet, then fold the two together just before griddling.

I topped my serving with Smart Balance Light, syrup, and sprinkles.

On the agenda for tomorrow?

eggnog bread
chocolate Biscoff bars
cinnamon oatmeal cookies
bacon horseradish dip
bagels with lox

Hello, Old Friend

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It’s finally time for my favorite treat of the season –

Silk Soy Nog seriously makes me so happy!  It tastes just like (actually, better than!) regular egg nog but only has 90 calories for half a cup and no saturated fat.

The Silk Nog actually showed up at the grocery store back in early November, and it’s possible I had went into crisis-mode because I thought that meant it would be gone before it was seasonally appropriate.  Thankfully Silk products have a long shelf-life, so Adam bought me two cartons just to get me to stop whimpering!

I like Silk Nog straight from the carton, in coffee, and in overnight oats, but today’s smoothie might have been it’s best use yet.

For 1, blend –

  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • 1/2 cup 0% plain Greek yogurt
  • 3 Tbsp malted milk powder
  • 1/2 cup Silk Soy Nog

Topped with seasonal sprinkles for funsies.

It was thick, and sweet, and Christmas-y, and perfect.

I had a late breakfast because I spent my morning at the dentist.  My teeth are perfect and now they feel nice and squeaky clean.  On of our friends is a hygienist at the practice so it was more like catching up with a friend (literally!) than a scary appointment.  I’m not sure what will happen with lunch because I’m actually leaving the house this minute to pick up a school friend.  We are heading over the Buffalo Centre for the Treatment of Eating Disorders to get in some observation hours.  I’ll see you this evening!

Not My Birthday

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It’s Adam’s birthday so I’m going to keep this post quick and cursory.  Well, it’s sort of his birthday.  But not really.  I’ll explain in a minute.

This morning was about as lazy as it gets.  I stayed in bed until past noon and it was glorious.  Then Adam and I headed out for a late lunch at Mangoz, a new Jamaican place in our neighborhood.

We split a plate of stewed chicken with plantains and beans and rice.

It was amazing.  The best Caribbean food either of us has had since leaving home.

And they had pink Ting.

We’ll be back.

My one accomplishment today was a quick trip to the gym.  30 minutes on the elliptical, random level 6.  And I did some studying while I worked out.  Followed by a super quick stretch/strength session.

But that was sort of where the productivity ended.  We decided to spend the day doing fun stuff (in celebration of Adam turning 26 tomorrow).  Adam opened all of his presents a day early.

And I even made an effort to fix my hair.

We went to the mall so Adam could use a gift certificate at Dicks, and cashed in a coupon for Aunt Annie’s as well.

We split this pretzel, slathered in mustard.

The husband’s choice for birthday dinner was Indian food.  I got a fig lassi.

And we split a paneer pakora (fried cheese) for an appetizer.

I got the vegetable Korma, with extra okra, for dinner.

I demolished it.  I made three plates, and ate every last drop (literally!).

I made myself a little bit ill, but that didn’t stop me from drinking 90% of this coffee milkshake I “shared” with Adam.

Whoops.  And now we’re gleefully watching tv.

It’s been a good day, even if it’s not my birthday (or the husband’s!).

Ingrid and I

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It’s been a back-and-forth sort of day.  My travels included –

  • home to school
  • school to the WNY Food bank (in a friend’s car)
  • WNYFB to the Broadway Market (carpool)
  • Broadway Market back to school (carpool)
  • school to the post office
  • post office to Wegmans
  • Wegmans to Batavia!
  • Batavia back home
  • home back to school
  • and finally school back to home

Whew!  Way too many miles for my poor little gas tank.

For our last class of the semester, my coordinated program group took a field trip.  We donated the money we earned from the Chili Sale to the Food Bank of Western New York, so we went there today to take a tour and give them our check in person.  The tour was fascinating; a staggering amount of food (1.5 – 2 million pounds) is moved through the food bank each month.

I ate this Stonyfield yogurt drink on my first drive to school,

and these grapes during the drive to the food bank.

I also packed an Oatmeal Cranberry Pecan Cookie for everyone in the car.

Good reviews all around!

Our next stop was the Broadway Market.

It was fun to see, but I doubt I’d go back.

One of my classmates bought a fig cookie from one of the stands a shared a bite with me.

Shockingly for me, I actually found this to be too sweet.  But the sprinkles were fun.

When we got back to school I had time to print of the last of my notes for final exams before I was off on errands.  I stopped at Wegman’s at 12:30 for a 15-minute lunch.

Food, that wasn’t very good.

I had two different types of brussels sprouts and both were basically raw.  Plus the German Potato Salad (on the right) ended up being more cheese than potatoes.  I’m not saying it wasn’t tasty, but I am saying it wasn’t healthy.

And a coffee with skim milk and two sugars that I dumped down the front of my shirt while driving on the highway.

I’ve had better lunches.

I was driving out to Batavia – 50 minutes each way – for a job interview.  They won’t know for a few weeks and a lot of other (more qualified) people have applied, but nothing ventured, nothing gained.

My long drive was made exponentially more pleasant thanks the new-to-me Ingrid Michaelson CD my friend Kim burned for me.

I loved it!  The sound reminded me a lot of Regina Spektor’s 2nd album, Far.  And there were several songs that I had previously enjoyed but not recognized as Michaelson’s.  Her song “Snowfall” has been my favorite Christmas (or anytime!) song since I heard it on Bones last year. 

How gorgeous is that?

I had enough time before my final event to run home to take a quick shower and make Adam and I the world’s fluffiest smoothie.

For two – combine 1 cup skim milk, 3/4 cup h2o, 3 Tbsp malted milk powder, and 1 scoop chocolate whey protein.  Blend for far too long and you get chocolate malted air.

That big glass literally felt like nothing was in it, but at least it tasted good!  And my 150 calorie serving was surprisingly filling.  Oh the power of protein.

I was back on campus because my friend Janessa and I volunteered to run a nutrition table at the relaxation fair our college was putting on.

We were there two hours and were very pleased to see many students take an interest in our table.

I snagged a popcorn bag from a neighboring snack table,

which sparked the craving for this snack when I got home.

I’ve actually been munching my way through the bag while I typed this post!  Plus two unphotographed cookies that snuck in after I hooked up the camera.

Are you an Ingrid Michaelson fan?  How about Regina Spektor?