Tag: snacks

The vanishing weekend

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Ahhh, it’s tomorrow already?! How did that happen?

Things kept taking longer than I expected all day long, so I didn’t even end up leaving to go to the grocery store until about 6:30. My body’s used to dinner at that time, so I had a few early evening snacks to tide me over until I could really eat.

Two small dates with 1 tsp peanut butter and a sprinkle of cinnamon:

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The last 1/2 cup of the pumpkin-banana yogurt mix I ate at lunch with 2 tbsp golean crunch sprinkled on top (and 2 sprinkled straight into my mouth :-D):

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And a Sunsweet One:

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Good thing I snacked — due to several complications in the self-checkout line at the store (HATE self-checkout), I didn’t get home until 8:30!

Loot includes 3 lbs apples (only $1.99), kale (for the BSI of course), 2 pears, 1 red onion, mushrooms ($.99), asparagus ($1.99/lb), 5 bananas, 3 sweet potatoes, 1 cucumber, whole wheat 8-inch pizza crusts (free thanks to my coupon from the Carrots ‘N’ Cake scavenger hunt prize pack), fat free feta, eggs, tomatoes on the vine, crunchy peanut butter, canned wild salmon :

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Total: $25.62!! Great price, even by my impossibly strict standards.

I set right to work cooking … and cooking … and cooking for the BSI. I nibbled the whole time I cooked, of course, so I wasn’t all that hungry by the time I was done — and it was 11pm by that point anyway. Still, I had no choice but to sample the finished products. Kale-Crust Pizza and Stuffed Kale Leaves:

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They were both MUCH more successful than I had anticipated! I wanted to eat a lot more after these bites, but I restrained myself because I am definitely not hungry and it is l-a-t-e.

For dessert, I broke out the next truffle in line from the BSI: Spinach prize Brandi sent. I present to you the Sassy Mango-Lime dark chocolate truffle:

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Inside:

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Mmmmmm, it was SO good. As a general rule, I love anything that combines fruit and dark chocolate. And the citrusy pep from the lime perfectly complemented the bittersweet richness of the dark chocolate. I actually only ended up eating half because I don’t want my fun with truffles to end! I had the half along with some Italian cookie chunks:

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And conversation hearts:

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OK, I’m off to see how much longer my eyes can stay open. Tonight will be round 2 of eye-masking, and I hope it is just as successful as last night! Tomorrow’s plan is homework, homework, and more homework. You’ll get to hear all about it — how did you ever get so lucky, right? — since I’m sure I’ll be eating the whole time :-D.

Making the cut

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P.S. I forgot to mention that I ate this garlic knot from Jessica sometime between the mangu and the cake earlier today . Isn’t it breathtakingly beautiful, though?

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OK, onto the main attraction! I met Vani and Emily for dinner tonight at ‘sNice, a vegetarian cafe here in the Slope. I recognized these girls right away from their blogs (well, ok, I had also already met Vani once before for our tea swap):

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(Vani is on the left; Emily is on the right.)

The menu was amazing — so many options! It took us at least 10 minutes to decide what to get. I finally ordered the quinoa salad with corn, black beans, tortilla strips, and avocado dressing:

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It was sooooo good!! Look at the exciting whole grain deliciousness:

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As if the waitress didn’t think we were already weird enough with our cameras, we also each asked for doggie bags up front. After my cake-fest this afternoon, I wasn’t playing! I immediately halved the salad and put some in a box to bring home. Here’s the other half that I drizzled with the avocado dressing (fyi, I usually prefer my salads dry, but this dressing was sooooo avocado-y and really made the salad):

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Did I just say I wasn’t playing? Yeah, that lasted until Vani broke out a bag of Jordan almonds. I think she had 5. I had the rest (I’m estimating 23?). So it appears that making the cut only works for some things (like salad and not like Jordan almonds):

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Here’s the last almond. I photographed it as a sign of respect at Vani’s suggestion before I made it disappear.

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Thank goodness I have my 8-mile run planned for tomorrow with Kate! (cue inner groan)

Anyway, it was so fun to see (and eat with!) these ladies in person. I loved hearing about their lives and how they ended up in Brooklyn, what they do now, what their future plans are, and more. We’ll have to do it again soon!

Yay for new blog friends 😀

I got home and packed away the leftovers, ate a million conversation hearts, and now am so going to disappear under the covers forever with my earplugs and eye mask. I hope these new bedtime accessories do the trick! Can you sleep through morning sun, or do you wake up at the first hint of light?

The sugar monster is back

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Ahhhh, must get a grip on the sugar craze!

My morning snack was this delicious strawberry Trio bar (once again from Tina’s Carrots ‘N’ Cake Valentine’s day prize package).

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This bar definitely tasted as good as it looks … real strawberry essence and packed with satisfying nuts and seeds and crunch:picture-026

In addition to my soup and yogurt, Myrna gave me some of her mangu (salted mashed plantains) and fried cheese, yummmmmm:

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And then, because there’s always something to celebrate at my office, I had three slices of angel food cake with thick thick chocolate fudge icing and chocolate-covered strawberries:

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And that totally set me off on a sugar binge for the rest of the afternoon! Before my visit, I had a Riesen and two big lollipops:

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And after my visit, I ate the grapes I packed and the rest of Heather’s skittles:

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Again, I need to get a grip. Hopefully all the sleep I get this weekend with my new eye mask will help bring back my sanity and self-control!!

Now, I’m off for a mini-blogger dinner with two lovely ladies: Emily of Super Caloric Chalk Dust and Vani from Fit for Free. You can be sure you will hear all about the meal when I get back!

Who has battle tips for fighting the sugar monster??

Ethically sound

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Yes, today was a day of ETHICS. My class had a guest speaker (aka the professor did not want to come in) to talk about ethics in social work for two hours, and then I had to go to a mandatory workshop for another two hours that also happened to be about social work ethics. I love when my days are so scintillating and jam-packed with variety. Ummmmm …

Anyway, I had a cup of green grapes during class at 11:30 to hold me over until lunch at 1:00 (the workshop didn’t start until 2:00). The girls and I (there are only five of us in this grad program) ate together and bemoaned the loss of our afternoon. In addition to my cup of coconut-ginger soup, I helped Emily finish the last 1/2 cup of her Hale and Hearty chicken barley soup:

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Today’s yogurt had 2/3 cup yogurt, 2 tbsp pumpkin, 1/2 chopped apple, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, and a sprinkle of golean crunch:

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I had dessert during the workshop: an orange, a Starburst from Lisa, and some m&ms from Emily:

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And then I ate this honey graham zbar from Tina’s Carrots ‘N’ Cake Valentine’s day prize package (Thanks, Tina! You sent so much that I think I’ll be thanking you every day for the rest of the year :-D):

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I ate the bar because I was a little bit hungry but mostly because I was bored. And then Emily couldn’t finish her m&ms, so I helped. Because I’m in a helping profession, and it was the ethical thing to do:

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We got out of the workshop a little bit early around 3:45, and I stopped at Union Square on the way down to Brooklyn so that I could get dinner part 1: oatmeal for $1 at Jamba Juice. I decided I’d had enough sugar for the moment, so I got the banana oatmeal with no brown sugar crumbles:

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I considered waiting until I got home to eat the oatmeal, but it was cold and windy out and the oatmeal was hot. In other words, I inhaled the whole cup while walking the two long blocks from University Place to Sixth Ave. This oatmeal is very stick-to-your-ribs-y, just the way I like it. (Vani, you should definitely give it another shot because it hasn’t been watery for me either time!)

There were two exciting packages waiting for me when I got home. First, my free sample of Quaker mini delights arrived! I love free things:

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But even more exciting was this care package from my mama!! In addition to two of her homemade Valentine’s treats, she sent two eye masks from my stepdad. I am soooooo going to be able to sleep late this weekend :-D.

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Mom’s treats included a chocolate-drizzled oat bake and a chocolate-drizzled kitchen sink muffin heart:

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I’ve been anticipating this package ever since she sent me these gorgeous pics of the treats just out of the oven earlier this week:

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Thanks for brightening my week, mom! I’ll be thinking of you as I eat these :-D.

Dinner part 2 was a bit of a repeat from last night. I had just over 1/2 cup of heated “pumpkin plus” puree with a toasted morningstar Asian veggie patty:

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Are you wondering what’s in the background?? Yes, it’s dinner part 3: the dark chocolate-covered orange slice that Brandi sent as part of my BSI: Spinach prize!

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So to review, I ate a lot, learned about appropriate social work behavior, and helped a friend. All in all, an ethically sound day…. Were you ethical today?

I’m off to go finish up some work homework and get into bed. I know I’m behind on blog- and comment-reading, but I will catch up this weekend, I promise.

Also, make sure you check out the amazing granola that is up for grabs at Mon’s Apetit!

Supporting roles

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In addition to the lunch and snacks I packed today, several supporting food items deserve appreciation and acknowledgement for getting me through! It started with a thick chunk of crunchy chocolate chip cookie that I discovered in one of the kitchens while filling my mug with tea water this morning. The cookie chunk became my 9:10 am snack:

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My orange came out to greet the world (and my mouth) at 10:30, and lunch took place at 12:30. As an intermediate course (or 3!) between my packed soup and yogurt, I enjoyed (seriously enjoyed) some of Mildred’s Chinese food broccoli:

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I love plain steamed broccoli, but there’s just something irresistible about how it’s done in a Chinese restaurant …

Myrna came along with her shrimp (!), beans, and rice, so I had some of that, too:

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And several (again, several = at least seven) pieces of Jessica’s cantaloupe:

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Then, Rosalie came straight to my desk with a box of Ghirardelli chocolates (!!) and gave me first dibs. I took one of each kind:

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They went into my empty tissue box because they’re wrapped and can stand to hang out for a little bit while I work through the unwrapped Russell Stover truffles I snagged yesterday. For lunch dessert, I extracted this from the tissue box:

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It turned out to be dark chocolate filled with vanilla cream … yum!

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At 2:30, the next round of packed snacks came up for air: green grapes and red pepper strips, just like yesterday. And also, I may have eaten my 3rd of 5 mints for the day:

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The real trouble began at 3:30 when Mildred came back into the office accompanied by evil in the form of rich, freezing, creamy, sugary deliciousness:

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Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

I had about 1/3 cup and couldn’t help but crumble a butterfingery Russell Stover chocolate (you guessed it — from the tissue box) over the top:

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Ummmmm … and another 1/3 cup:

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Interestingly enough, the ice cream did have a positive side effect: it satisfied me enough for the rest of the day so that I was able to resist mindlessly inhaling the Z-bar I had packed :-).

I’m running somewhat behind schedule tonight, but I do know that dinner is going to involve serious experimentation with our apartment’s fall decor (that we finally decided to swap for some springier accessories!):

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Results of the experiment are forthcoming!

Things to do:

1. Caitlin is hosting a RoadID giveaway at Healthy Tipping Point, so go check it out!

2. Jamba Juice has coupons for $1 oatmeal again right here!

3. Now that Wednesday is over, do you feel like you’ve really jumped over the hump of the week? I do not …