Tag Archives: yogurt

Breakfast, Preview, Lucky YOU

by

An Early Breakfast

I am so not prepared for today’s exam that breakfast felt more like ‘last meal,’ but it’s a long day and I want to be well-fueled.  I don’t tend to eat much cereal but it is quick and tasty fuel.

1 serving of Barbara’s Vanilla Almond Shredded Oats and 1/2 serving Special K Red Berries with a chopped plum (with plain Silk Almond Milk).

A Lunch Preview

After my exam I’ve got two meetings that will keep me on campus until at least 2:30, so I thought I’d show you my eats early rather than late.

Today’s lunch is a milder form of yesterday’s Monte Cristo.

Arnold’s WW Sandwich Thin, topped with Crofter’s Strawberry Spread, and 1.5oz Cabot 50% Reduced White Cheddar.

I am so jazzed about my sandwich combo that apparently it put me in a jam mood, because I also packed a 2% Fage with Strawberry.

Finally, a serving of Terra Exotic Harvest Sea Salt Chips.

I’m not gonna lie, I gobbled up at least a serving of these chips while I packed my lunch.  I should not have accepted this free sample because as soon as this bag runs out I’m going to blow my whole budget buying more!

This new variety has carrots, blue potatoes, and kabocha squash.  All the Terra chips are extra thick in a way that is so fabulous, and this bag is the perfect variety of salty yet sweet.  They let the veggies’ flavors shine through, but you definitely feel like you are eating chips.  I’m in love….

Lucky for You

….which is good news for you, because I’m doing a giveaway!

Terra heard my raving about the Blues variety and offered to let me share the love with my readers (you guys!).  5 lucky winners will receive a coupon for $$-off a bag of heaven Terra Chips.  To enter –

  1. Leave a comment on this post before noon on Friday (11/12).
  2. For a 2nd entry, link back to this post from your blog and leave another comment letting me know you’ve done so.
  3. For a 3rd entry, link back to this post from Twitter and leave a comment letting me know you’ve done so.

And, just to be nice, you could wish me luck on my test today!  😉

Taking My Notecards to Bed

by

It’s almost Friday!  Actually, I’m a bit less excited about that than usual, because Friday brings a Nutrition test I’m not quite prepared for.  I’m going to do a quick post, an even quicker shower, and then take my notecards to bed.

I wasn’t hungry for breakfast before lab, but I ate brunch when we got out at 10:30.  This Liberte Peach and Passionfruit yogurt was on sale at Wegmans so I thought I’d give it a try.

I ended up really enjoying it.  The texture was much closer to thick Greek yogurt than traditional yogurt and the tangy/sweet balance was perfect.  I generally choose lower fat yogurts but I do think the higher fat content helped with satiety in this smallish lunch.  If I can find this on sale again I’ll definitely snatch it up.

I also packed some baby carrots.

I think crunchy equals brain food for me because as I munched through these carrots I got a ton of work done.  When I headed to food lab at 1:40 I was able to hand in all of my lab assignments for the remainder of the semester!

Food lab was a lot of fun today too.  It was the Meat/Fish/Poultry lab so I was feeling a little anxious about having to cook pork or red meat but luckily my group was assigned fish and fowl only.  We made pan cooked salmon with fresh tomatoes and Laab (a spicy Thai chicken salad).

Also on the plate are curried chicken and lemon chicken.  Everything was delicious and I even ended up bringing our leftovers home to Adam.

I sipped a coffee (medium, non-fat latte with 1 pump of sugar-free English toffee syrup) throughout lab as well.

It kept me warm, but I think it also gave me a caffeine headache later in the afternoon.  I love the experience of coffee but sometimes it makes me feel so icky!  My headache definitely influenced my choice of afternoon snack.

Dinner ended up being pretty pathetic.  We had something exciting planned but I didn’t realize that it involved 45minutes in the oven until it was already after 8pm.  If I’d planned ahead I could have done my reading after I cooked but the way it worked out it was just too late.  Instead I ate 2 turkey corn dogs (dipped in fresh honey mustard).

My random eats worked well for my productivity, but I think I need to house some fruits and veggies this weekend!  😉

I’ve got my alarm set early for tomorrow; I can register online for Spring classes at 6am.  Keep your fingers crossed for me that I get what I need!

Do you ever cook with fish sauce?  My lab mates were weirded out (it’s a Laab ingredient), but it’s a staple in my fridge.

Squashing My To-Do List

by

When Adam and I were miserable, teaching in New York, we would escape in entertainment.  I genuinely believe that “Scrubs” saved our sanity (and our marriage!) during our first year.  During our second year, things had gotten much easier but they were still much harder than we had ever imagined.  On Sunday nights, when none of our plans for the week were complete and things felt hopeless because even after we stayed up all night writing them we’d still never get to teach the damn plans, one of us would say it – “Do you want to see what’s playing at the movies?“

Something was always playing.  And if there hadn’t been I’m pretty sure we would have convinced ourselves that something from the previous week was worth rewatching.  Our studio apartment was on the corner of 2nd Avenue and the movie theatre – a fabulous revamped spot with a galaxy of stars sewn into the carpet and classic movie posters lining the walls – was on the corner of 13th.  Those eleven blocks, and every single store and restaurant along the way, are forever etched into my memory.  No matter how we felt before the decision to see a movie, that walk always felt hopeful.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

But times have changed.  Now I’m in a Dietetics program (that I quit my job career to join), and letting Adam talk me into seeing “Paranormal Activity 2” (I hate scary movies) at 9:10 on a Tuesday night is just a bad idea (a really bad idea).  But that’s what I was doing yesterday!

Thankfully, today I really did get it together and I managed to take care of my to-do list.  My eats were nothing if not unorthodox and I can’t help but credit that in my success at actually taking care of business.  Should I have chocolate for breakfast every day?

Because that’s what I did today.  I let Adam gobble up most of the homemade pb cups, but this one was special.  A layer of chocolate and a layer of butterscotch, sandwiching a layer of crunchy peanut butter?  Oh yeah!

Breakfast’s dessert was significantly healthier.

Yesterday I roasted this delightful orange acorn squash with a teeny bit of honey and salt.

And today all I had to do was reheat and mash with a bit of Smart Balance Light.

Sort of like mashed potatoes, but a thousand times better.

For lunch I crunched through Anatomy with a bag of baby carrots and sliced Empire apple.

Btw – after the curves I scored an 89 on the Orgo test and a 74 on Anatomy.  I need to step up my Anatomy game for the remainder of the semester (I do, however, have a 96% as my Anatomy Lab current class average!).

Adam came to study with me between classes and Orgo lab and generously shared a few bites of pizza with me.

When I realized that I was actually considering punching him in the face and trying to make a break for it with the pizza I deemed it time for an early dinner.

Huuuuuge chicken burrito.

We took a quick walk around the ‘hood on the way home (glorious!), so 4 hours after my burrito I had dinner, part 2.

Low fat plain yogurt topped with 1/4 cup gingerbread granola, 2tsp maple syrup, a sliced plum, and a sprinkle of unsweetened shredded coconut.

I need to remember this combo in December, it felt very ‘visions of sugar plums.’

Maybe you’ve noticed my lack of gym time?  My plan/goal is to smash my to-do list over the next 4 days.  Whether I succeed or I fail in that endeavour, I’m returning to the gym come Monday!

Do you ever escape in entertainment?  How often do you go to see a movie?

Save the Second Bowl

by

We had a great Halloween last evening, cozy and creepy, exactly as it should be.  Sitting on the couch, eating nachos, watching “Hocus Pocus;” pretty much perfect!  But I guess that holiday’s over…

Smashing pumpkins sans Billy Corgan aside, my excitement level was high this morning.  I knew in advance, breakfast was going to be good.

For the most part I tend not to follow blogland trends.  My cabinet is not stocked with chia seeds and I’ve yet to find the obsession allure of almond butter.  But when Kath describes something as “oat batter” I know it’s time to get on-board.

My smoothie contained

  • the 2nd serving of yesterday’s oats
  • 1 medium frozen banana
  • a splash of vanilla extract
  • 1 Tbsp maple syrup
  • ~1/2 cup skim milk

In addition to being tasty, this kept me full so long that I didn’t even want to eat lunch before I headed to class!  That’s not to say I wasn’t starving when I got home at 3:30 😉

I made myself a snack plate very quickly.

A sliced apple,

and 1.5 servings of Sahale Snacks Sing Buri Cashews.

I also ate a serving of these Pillsbury Sweet Moment Caramel Chocolate bites (free via coupon from BlogHer).

I wasn’t expecting to be a fan, but these were pretty good.  You know how sometimes cheap cakes have that granular sugar mouthfeel?  I know a lot of people find that gross, but I love it.  Anyway, these had that.

On a more serious note, I want to remind you to take care of your health.

In order to keep your boobs safe, I’ll give you a close-up of mine –

My mom sent me this “Save 2nd Base” shirt from a fundraiser she attended a few weeks back.  I sported it to school today, and I just wanted to remind my readers that you (or a loved one) should be feeling you up each month, for safety!  Just don’t try to give me a pink ribbon…

Did you get to watch Hocus Pocus this year?

Hot Bar Makes the World Go ‘Round

by

Today was Study Saturday, sort of.  We were up waaaaaaay too late last night, and it shifted the whole day back.  At this point I am at least all caught up and ready to begin studying for my two tests next week.

We puttered around the house a bit in the morning and I made myself a Pumpkin Pie Through a Straw.

We didn’t have a lot of pumpkin leftover so I ended up having to add some ice for filler, which made it less tasty than usual but still pretty fricking tasty!

Around 11 we packed up our stuff and headed to Wegmans cafe for a study session.  Between our hot bar obsession and the fact the booths are perfect study session size, Wegmans is the perfect spot.  And we were jazzed to see that they had Halloween decorations up and employees dressed in costume!

Not gonna lie, lunch was still the most exciting part.

I got a random mish-mash of little bites.  Steamed broccoli and brussels sprouts,

wok seared veggies, bbq tofu, and sesame chicken and shrimp.

Full-bellied, we got a lot of studying done.  Except for the two hours we wasted on an intense conversation about the social construct of gender roles/child care/alimony.  <– dorks!

We got our weekly grocery trip in before we came home.  I had to spend a certain amount of $ in the bulk bins to use a coupon so I filled a baggie with assorted chocolates.

And downed them the minute we walked in the house 🙂  Think chocolate covered peanuts, pretzels, sponge candy…

On the agenda for tonight is a tasty, saucy (<–puns) dinner that’s my entry into a certain fun contest…..

Jump in De Line, Rock Your Body in Time

by

Ugh-dates –

1. The Wegman’s blueberry coffee is just not good 😦  It has a super burnt bitter taste.  I even added sugar (and skim milk) to my second cup and I still didn’t like it.

However, Adam says I can’t buy more until this is gone and there are some holiday flavors I’m excited about so I’ll be slugging this down.

2. The Orgo notes assignment that was due today took up my entire morning.  I was so slammed for time I couldn’t even eat!  Must work on the weekends, must work on the weekends, must work on the weekends….

UP-dates –

1. The husband has been bringing chocolate chip pumpkin squares to school and his classmates like them so much someone even requested the recipe!  It’s not actually my personal recipe (thanks, Martha), but it’s nice to feel like a good wife.

2. I lit a cinnamon pumpkin candle this morning and it brought my Halloween corner of the mantle to life.

Anyway, I didn’t have time to eat so I packed myself 2 servings of Sahale Snacks to munch during Orgo.

After my first set of classes I spent yet more time dealing with transfer credits and my class schedule.  The good news is that I’ve had two victories; the bad is that I call BS on the fact that they won’t accept my writing credits.

I spent so much time that I almost didn’t make it to the gym before lab.  I had to rush rush rush and eat food from the vending machine while I hightailed it across campus.

A pre-gym Rice Krispie treat is better than no fuel at all!

And a short work out is better than no gym time at all.  I did a quick treadmill session.

Lab went quickly tonight – all we were doing was building models – and I was home in time to make a nice dinner.  First though, I made a nice snack.

A Caramel Oikos with canned pumpkin and homemade pb.

I was starving when I got home and I didn’t want to be too hungry to enjoy my dinner.

And dinner was delicious;

I claim the 2nd night of Sandwich Week to be a success!

BLTs.  Rather, TBSTs – turkey bacon spinach tomatoes.  On sourdough with a smear of homemade mayo.

We ate roasted asparagus on the side.

Yum!  And this took all of 10minutes to throw together; dinner really can be healthy, tasty, and quick all at once.

We shelled out a bit of extra cash and bought Applegate Farms bacon; it is so much better than the other varieties we’ve had.

Turkey bacon doesn’t really make ‘bacon grease,’ but it does stick to the pan and make delicious browned bits.  There’s no chance I’m letting that go to waste; I scraped up the browned bits with a scrambled egg.

We got in the October spirit by watching “Beetlejuice” while we ate.  I love that movie, but I don’t think I’d realized before how sad it is.

I’ve got an Anatomy Lab quiz tomorrow to study for (announced at the last minute, arrrgh!), so I’m off!

What do you like on your BLTs, ya know, beyond the B, L, and T?  M (mayo or mustard)?  S&P? C(heese)?

Why Don’t I Accomplish Things on Sunday?!

by

I’m going to set a blogging speed record today because it’s bedtime.  Especially with the amount of school work I did today (cough, cough, none, cough), I want to be well rested for tomorrow.

As we went to get in bed last night the husband and I both realized that we were starving.  It was a bit ridiculous.  We ended up getting staying up, getting pizza, and watching the Simpsons’ Halloween special.

Breakfast = beautiful.

Plain fat-free Dannon with canned pumpkin, homemade pb, 1/4 cup gingerbread granola, and a bit of honey.

2nd breakfast (my hunger from last night didn’t wane all day), was more yogurt.

Low fat coffee topped with peanuts and honey.

Lunch was a sandwich from Lean Cuisine, Sun-Dried Tomato Basil Chicken.

Dinner was looking at me!

That fried egg is sitting atop a bed of sweet potato and kale. 

I precooked both veggies in the microwave to cut time, then cooked them in a bit of butter with salt, pepper, and paprika.

More pumpkin?  Dessert was a Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Square.

Con leche.

Goodnight!

Life As I Know It

by

It’s been a rather fun day, especially for a Thursday!  We’ve managed to pack in a lot of good times.  Plus, look at the sun rise I woke up to today:

Not quite as impressive foodwise; I’m not sure how I managed to get so completely out of food!  We actually made a special banana stop this evening so I could make myself oatmeal (a real breakfast) tomorrow!

I did the best I could with breakfast today though.

I knew I didn’t have time for lunch between classes so I tried to make a bowl that would hold me over for the long run.  0% Plain Oikos, maple syrup, homemade pb, peanuts, shredded coconut, and craisins.

Filling, and actually a very tasty combo of flavors.

I got some good news in Anatomy, an A+ on last week’s practical exam!  And in between classes I finished all of my work for tomorrow, which meant I had time to play later on.

Food lab today was all about veggies.  My group experimented with the effects of cooking techniques.  Did you know – if you want your broccoli to look extra green and appetizing you should use cooking water that’s a bit alkali (baking soda).  If you cook it in an acidic medium (with vinegar) you’ll end up with a very unappetizing olive-green shade.  I didn’t sample any of our experiments, but I did take some tastes of the dishes the other groups made.

Adam came to pick me up from school because of the rain, and we took a spontaneous trip to the movies!  You know we split a medium popcorn 😉

We saw “Life as You Know it,” which I’ve been jazzed about for months.  Normally I hate chick flicks but something about Katherine Hiegel makes me unable to resist!  The movie was adorable, very touching but with a lot of funny moments as well.  I give it two thumbs up!

Our apartment is seriously foodless, so when we picked up my banana we also swung by Moe’s for a quesadilla.

I ate my fair share of chips too.

And a honey vanilla caramel apple.

Have you made these yet?  Do it!

Now we are watching “Nightmare Before Christmas.”  Adam’s been trying to get me to see if for years and I’m actually totally loving it.  Hope you all have *sweet* dreams!