One year of CookEatReadSleep!

Hello lovely people!  Today is a special day because it is my one year blogiversary!  It's kinda crazy that I've been doing this for a year.  One year of tracking, "meeting" all of you, and weirding out my friends when I take pictures of my food :)


I'm going to have something special posted a little later, so make sure to check back!

Yesterday for lunch I had a can of Amy's Fire Roasted Southwestern Vegetable.

I enjoyed this soup a lot!  I didn't add any hot sauce to it like I did the other one because it already had a good amount of spice to it.  I liked that the veggies had grill marks on them, it really does taste fresh.

I also had a piece of flax pumpkin bread that I made yesterday.  It's vegan, and it has a "healthy" taste to it, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.

 

I went on a voyage to Trader Joe's to get a few things that I needed/wanted.  I also got lost on the drive back, but that's a different story and really not out of the ordinary for me.  I decided to get a fun cheese while I was there and I picked out a white stilton with orange and dates.  I had some with some crackers.

This cheese is so sweet!  You really need a nice salty cracker to cut it.  Or it would be good on a salad.

For dinner I made Ina's Chicken Picatta and broccoli. 

I love this chicken, but G said it was too lemony. 

I was apparently in a baking frenzy yesterday, because I also made these Sweet and Salty Brownies.  I had one with some milk.

 

They were still pretty warm when I had mine, so I couldn't really detect the different textures.  We'll see how they are today :)

I just had a signature bowl of oatmeal for my busy day.

I got so much done yesterday, but I feel like I still have a million things to catch up on.  I'm pretty sure I'm getting snowed in again this weekend, so that will be a good time to catch up.

And to make you drool (or maybe not), check out this grilled cheesecake and cookie cake pie.  Would you ever consider making these?  I would, but I would probably feel disgusting after I ate them.

Productivity is key!

These have been a busy (but productive!) couple of days for me.  I have actually been doing my readings for classes and trying to stay up-to-date with everything.  It's so much harder now that I'm living with my boyfriend and have all of these extra chores that come with having my own apartment and a puppy.  But I'm trying!

The other night, I made these corn and shrimp quesadillas with avocado and onion salad.  The recipe was in Every Day w/ RR's February issue.

Sometimes I don't really like RR's recipes.  They have too much going on or something.  But I liked these!  I really liked all of the lime flavors.

Monday: Oatmeal.

 

Leftover soup.

Peach Chobani.  Yum!

And then what?  Another RR recipe?  Even BETTER than the other one?  Behold: Bowties, Brussels Sprouts and Candied Almonds.

I am sort of in love with this recipe.  I didn't think that it was going to be anything special, but it turned out being fantastic!  I used feta cheese and roasted the almonds myself.  Speaking of those almonds, I ate WAY too many of them all that day.  I'm hiding them from myself now.

 

Plus, my new obsession in a new flavor.  Oatmeal raisin Otterbein cookies.

I should have a Baltimore cookie party.  Which by the way, Otterbein cookies are on the list of 100 things Baltimore foodies should do!

Yesterday: Oatmeal.

 

My lunch and snacks.

Ginger terriyaki veggie cake, blueberry Chobani, pumpernickel pretzels, kiwi, carrots, apple, and cherry chocolate Kashi.

For dinner, G had really been wanting to try the new Dominos pizza.  Before dinner I had a small salad.  I got a Pacific Veggie pizza with thin crust, spinach, onions, mushrooms, tomatoes and black olives with feta and provolone cheeses.  It's advertised on a parmesan crust, but I'm not sure I got that.  I also left off the roasted red peppers.

 

I had three pieces like that.  

The verdict: this was a really good pizza!  And not just for a chain restaurant.  I was really impressed with the ingredients and the textures of everything.  And go Dominos for being a little innovative!  I still have some leftovers, but I'm probably going to try to keep myself away from them today.

I also had 2 of those Otterbein cookies last night.  Addictive.

I just finished some cinnamon swirl toast with smart balance and a kiwi for breakfast.

I've been pretty good with counting my calories for the past couple of days.  I really need to be a little more strict about it until I get myself into a better place. 

Does anyone use The Daily Plate?  I am loving the changes that they have been making to the site.  I am hoping to get a new phone this month and I think the changes are going to make it really accessible on the go!  

Do you use apps or programs for every day things like eating or working out?  Which ones?  I love The Daily Plate, UrbanSpoon, Super Cook, and Calorie Count!

Yummy fall foods!

Yesterday was an awesome day for cooking!  One of the big perks to living with the BF is I can cook things that I had always wanted to, but I knew that I couldn't finish by myself.  Case in point: Chicken Pot Pie!

This recipe was awesome.  One of those things that you can't wait to eat for lunch the next day.  I left the peas out and I actually used turkey breast.

I also remade this!

This is seriously one of my favorite desserts right now.  It has such an amazing blend of flavors and it's really good for fall.

And of course, a puppy update video of our baby, Ollie.  He's starting to get really wild!!

Tomorrow is hump day!  Yay!

Sloppy and spicy.

Ugh.  I used to really like my human behavior class, but it has become a major borefest.  I was so happy to get out of there and home!  I worked out today and it's been a while.  My neck has been acting funny and the workout made it feel really weird.  Not sure what that's about.

Dinner was another one of those meals that I have been making over and over again for the boyfriend.  I based this off of Rachael Ray's recipe in The Big Orange Book, Sloppy Buffalo Joes.  Here's the original recipe.  I modified it so that it I only put in onions, Frank's Red Hot, diced tomatoes, and chicken broth to the ground meat (I used turkey tonight).

I like putting the chopped up pickles and blue cheese crumbles on top.  Yummy.  I served it with some tater tots with Old Bay, my love.  I also had a few crackers with cheese after my workout.

I'm so used to getting a lot of replies right away when I post, and it's been really slow.  I know this is only my second day back, but I'm trying not to get discouraged.  I want my community back!

I have to be at the hospital in the morning for my internship.  I'll really need to get around to updating everything and everyone with all of my life changes since May!

(Not so) super soup.

I just got done with my social policy midterm! Woohoo! Now I just need to do a take home midterm for social work practice and study for my research midterm on Wednesday, but those shouldn't be so bad.

This morning I was pretty excited about something that I actually haven't eaten for a long time... oatmeal! I bought some instant kind because these earlier mornings really don't give me time to make regular oats. I am so not used to getting up to be at work/internship at 9! These are maple and brown sugar made with skim milk and I added some walnuts.

I also had an apple. I like this instant oatmeal because it's natural. And it's Wegman's brand!

So I've been planning on making tortellini soup ever since I had some that was really good at the hospital where I have my internship. I found the recipe that I wanted to base it on and yesterday I got all of the ingredients that I needed at the store. This recipe looks so simple, right? It's just a bunch of stuff all thrown together. Well, it was simple, but when I got it out of the fridge for lunch, this is what I saw:

Pretty much all of the liquid got absorbed! I guess it all went into the tortellini. I ladled some out and added some water to it, but it (duh) got really watered down.

Oh well. I ate the tortellini and some of the veggies out of it. I guess I might try to buy some more vegetable stock and add it as I eat it. Any other suggestions?

Now I'm eating a PB and banana sandwich since that "soup" really didn't do anything for me.

I really want to know: what's the biggest thing that I have missed while Ive been gone? With you, with food trends, with major happenings, or whatever! I want to get back in the loop!!

I have a second class at 2, so I need to get ready to go soon. I hope everyone's day is going well! Monday is almost over!

Excitement is in the eye of the beholder.

The most "exciting" things that have happened since my last post were making dinner and watching the new episodes of South Park and Important Things with Demetri Martin. I put that in quotes because not doing nothing IS pretty exciting for me :)

I'll start with dinner last night. Pizza was originally on the menu, but for some reason our lunch yesterday kept us really full all night. A lot of protein, I guess.

We had been talking about a restaurant that doesn't exist anymore that used to be one of my favorite places to eat. Period. It was called Mad Hatter's and they had the most amazing sandwiches, sweets, and coffee. I went there as often as possible until they suddenly closed about a year ago. So sad. One of their awesome sandwiches was called The Dodo, and we decided to replicate it last night.

It's really easy to make and a huge treat! In the sandwich:

• 2 slices multigrain bread
• peanut butter (we used crunchy)
• sliced banana
• honey
• raisins
• granola

I need to admire it a little more.

Ok. Done. Today has been another slow eating day, due to late awakening and a big breakfast. Tried something a little different today though: Gingerbread Waffles.

Ingredients (for about 4 waffles):

• 2 cups pancake/waffle mix
• 1 c. water
• 1/4 c. mollases
• 1 t. pumpkin pie spice
• 1/3 c. oil

Mix together and use waffle iron according to its directions. We had them with smart balance and syrup and they were very rich and good. Sweet, though and I haven't been hungry since.

I'll be back at my house before I know it, with my standard eats and my normal eating/workout schedule. But I like this right now :)

Changes of plans.

I had one of those days yesterday when all of my plans didn't really end up happening. We had been planning on going on a walk and then going out to a bar for dinner, but then the whole broke college student thing set in, so we didn't. I'm fine with it. I'm not a big drinker so it wasn't absolutely necessary for us to go out last night. And we still had good food!

During the day was a nice snack-grazing:

Nibbles off of my mom's Texas Sheet Cake.

Coconut Cream Pie Lara Bar, my LEAST favorite flavor so far. I almost didn't finish it. This was surprising because I love coconut and I've seen this flavor pop up on a lot of blogs. Oh well. I also split a Banana Bread one with the BF later and that one was much better :)

Apple.

Dinner was not only an excuse to go to Harris Teeter, but a way to get some cooking in and try to save some money. Granted, we made crab cakes so we were still being a little pricey, but it was fun!

The Harris Teeter near us is still pretty far away- probably about a 20-25 min drive at least, but it's fun and it's the only "special" grocery store in the area (no Whole Foods or Trader Joe's!). We loaded up on some ingredients and then came home and got cooking.

We started off with some Take and Bake wheat rolls (I had 1).

And then the main meal, which consisted of crab cakes, roasted brussels sprouts (there's my green!), and basil and garlic couscous.

Yummy! I wanted to make a Maryland-style crab cake, so I based these off of this recipe, but used crushed crackers instead of bread crumbs and Old Bay instead of mustard powder. Also, I would never shred the crab meat. The best crab cakes have lump crab meat in them!
We also had a discussion about whether or not the oven door needs to be open while using the broiler. Anyone have some insight?

Dessert was a frozen mini Snickers.

Today looks a lot nicer in the weather department. Hoping to get outside and get some activity in. Breakfast was back to oatmeal!

In the bowl:

• 1/2 c. oats, 1/2 c. water, 1/2 c. skim, 1/2 banana
• vanilla
• cinnamon
• crumbled Kashi Oatmeal Raisin Flax cookie
• Almond Butter.

I know that this is going to carry me through to my next meal a lot better than everything else has been!

Alright, have a great day! Thanks for commenting and putting up with my lack of posting :)

Game of catch up!

Yikes there's been quite the hiatus! I've been enjoying my first weekend off for break, but I've been wanting to catch up here! It's still kind of nice that I've been away from technology for the most part. I think I'll be a little more able to catch up this week because I'll be around the computer more.

Friday night:

Waiting for Gustl and our friend James to come up for the concert, I snacked on a Cranbran Vitamuffin (seen here in it's partially eaten state...):

Once they got up to CP and we got settled, we decided that we should probably get something pretty fast so we could get to the club when the doors opened. This meant going to one of my guilty pleasures:

Chick-fil-A tenders and waffle fries. Yummm. I try not to eat fried foods very much, but I'll make exceptions :)

The concert was fun. REALLLLY LONG. Modest Mouse didn't go on until midnight and we didn't get to sleep until 3! Yikes. Needless to say, my sleep pattern has been pretty weird.

Saturday:

In the morning/afternoon, I decided to make everyone breakfast. I made banana flax pancakes with smart balance and maple syrup. Totally forgot to take a picture until I gobbled them up, but trust me, they looked like pancakes ;)

Stopped in Annapolis at Whole Foods to get a few ingredients that we can't find on the good ole eastern shore. I picked up some Lara Bars to hold me over for the week and ate the Pecan Pie one on the ride home.

I also picked up some freshly baked Irish Soda Bread and had some at home. This is both mine and Gustl's pieces.

This is really good bread. Nice and dense and chewy.

Gustl made dinner from this recipe in Men's Health for Chile Chicken and Basil.

It was amazingly spicy, so I'm glad that I had the multigrain baguette to cut some of the heat. It was really good though, as long as you can take the heat!

Finished off the night with Stonyfield Farms Vanilla Frozen Yogurt.

I've been dieing to try this, but I wasn't too impressed. The texture wasn't great, and the vanilla flavor was a little off. I might try the other flavors, but probably not unless they're on sale.

Sunday:

Today I worked all day at the restaurant where I work at home. During the day I was making sundaes and at night I was waitressing. It's a fun job, and I seriously feel like I'll be working there forever. I've been there since I was 17 and always seem to get some shifts in when I'm home.

Breakfast at my parents' house was Irish Soda Bread. One slice was with crunchy peanut butter and one with almond butter.

With an apple on the side. This kept me full for a long time. I've been loving big breakfasts :)

Lunch at Dumser's was a turkey sandwich on wheat toast with lettuce, tomato, pickles, sweet peppers, hot peppers, and mustard.

Not a whole lot of excitement at work. Just catching up with everyone.

Dinner was pulled chicken barbecue with green beans and macaroni and cheese.

Not a whole lot of healthy food at the Dum's. And homemade ice cream doesn't help. I had a mini chocolate malt, one of my favorites. I also had a little bit of my mom's Texas Sheetcake when I got home.

Now I'm just relaxing and ready for the rest of the week. I hope the weather gets nicer! I've done yoga every day, but I'd like to get some action in outside. Have a good week!

Spring breakin'!

First of all: THANK GOODNESS IT'S SPRING BREAK!!

Phew. I felt like I was really forcing myself to get through the rest of this week. I am totally ready for some R & R and not worrying about school for a while.

Before I headed to class today, I made a Honey Oikos with a little bit of TJ's Chocolate Decadence cereal on top:

I also brought an apple and a Cherry Pie Lara Bar with me. I was kinda hungry during my workout and yoga, but I think maybe cutting out my usual sandwich wasn't horrible today, especially since I ate breakfast later.

Speaking of yoga, it was AWESOME today! I had thought about not going because I'm ridiculously burnt out, but then I thought about the fact that I wouldn't be going for over a week. I'm so glad I did. We did some really fun poses: one was a hand stand type with feet against the wall to make an upside down 'L'. Also did headstands against the wall. I was unsure about whether I'd be able to do them, but I did! Not only that, but my instructor commented on my flexibility and skill level earlier in class, and had me help her demonstrate spotting in the head stand. Sometimes some recognition can really boost the mood, especially if it's something that you're proud of :)

Dinner tonight was for using up some of my food so it doesn't go to waste before break. I based it on this recipe, but used whole wheat spaghetti and smart balance instead of egg noodles and butter. In case you can't see them, there's also shrimp, asparagus (grilled instead of steamed), and mushrooms in there.

Yummy :) After some chores and such, I was ready for the last of my Cherry Garcia. I threw in about 1/2 an oz. of cocoa almonds, too. Mmmmm, awesome addition.

Alright, all. I need to resuming my lounging. Have a great night!