Boxed Wine Never Dies

Did you know boxed wine can last up to 6 months? Well it can! I used to lift my nose up at boxed wine. Back in undergrad, fraternities would have wine and cheese parties. They served us boxed wine and Kraft cubed cheese. I thought, “this is not classy, at all.” But now, I like the little spout and the convenience.

After I played soccer for a hour and a half this evening (I scored a goal, it was fun), I was excited to find a cold box of wine my friend had left. I was too lazy to make dinner or even conceptualize dinner, so I made the Ashley snack plate.

• Cut Carrots
• Sliced Apple
• Columbus Peppered Salami
• Trader Joe’s Bite-Size Multigrain Pita Crackers
• Gruyère and Cheddar Cheese

So, I’m on the couch the rest of the evening: playing the computer, snacking, drinking, and watching Law and Order: SVU. I love Law and Order: SVU more than anything. They have the best guest stars! Did you see the recent one with John Stamos? That was hilarious. He got all these women pregnant (on purpose) and I said to Lars (who was forced to watch it with me): “Now, that’s a Full House!”  It’s funny, I think.

Off to relax!

Potpie and Regrets

Hey all! Good News: Today I made a potpie.

I found the recipe on Cooking Light’s website (yes, where I find all my recipes). This Old-Fashioned Chicken Potpie was a little extravagant and time-consuming for lunch, but it was my day off. This recipe was easy considering the crust is homemade. I loved it. Lars was so excited about it, he devoted a Facebook status to it.

Recipe Notes: I used store-bought rotisserie chicken from Target and it worked out great. I took out the potpie 10 minutes before the minimal time suggested on the recipe. It was golden and still cooked throughly. So maybe keep your eye on the oven. 

Making the inside in a skillet.

Before diving in.

Plated and Good!

I was proud of myself.

Bad News: ugh, weight.

I have weight issues. More specifically: binge eating issues. I’ve gained maybe 15 pounds over the past year, which is not surprising…I’ve been stressed. This could be the major (embarrassing) reason why I haven’t been blogging. When I’m in a phase of binge eating, I am so aware of the extra weight. It is so difficult talking about this to other women, because I am skinny. But, over the next month I am going to be on a “diet.” I use the term loosely, because I just write down what I eat. I don’t crunch numbers. I don’t weigh myself. I don’t have a goal weight. I just want to have more control over the situation. I am telling you all this, because I want to be a honest food blogger. So, over the next month, I’m going to be struggling. But, I think this community will be helpful.

Post Insomnia

I got a total of 2 hours of sleep last night, but somewhat made up for the lost hours during several short naps today. When I did sleep, it was a tossing and turning type of sleep. Therefore, my day was in complete shambles. I was extremely unproductive. I laid like a zombie on my couch. Hopefully, tonight is full of sleep or at least 3 hours. Geez.

Today I continued my apartment hunt. Currently, Lars and I live in sin. The sin will end next school year, when he moves to a new institution to be a professor. Thus, I’m hunting for a one-bedroom apartment. This will be my first time living alone. I am excited to take this step, but afraid of how well it will go after my recent insomnia. Anyway, today I went to apartment #2. I am looking for a unique place in a multi-unit house. This is harder than I thought. Apartment #1 was in a basement. I guess that was fine, but the fact that it had wood paneling made me feel like I was living in a house boat. Although, the landlord did inform me that I could have a gun. Great.

The second apartment (which I visited today) seemed great. The pictures online seemed fantastic. I met the landlord at the apartment. We were greeted by a sick man, who informed us that his wife and him were sick. Awkward. He decided to let us in, but I wish he hadn’t. The apartment looked like one of those drug den’s on Law and Order: SVU. I felt like Ice-T trying to question a prostitute. Anyway, there were toys EVERYWHERE. They were smokers, so it smelled like shit. I hurried my butt out of there. The pictures weren’t even from that apartment. I see apartment #3 tomorrow. WISH ME LUCK.

So, today has been a weird daze and I feel so….weird. Dinner helped soothe any oddness.

I made a pita pizza. I’ve never been a fan of these, but I think it is because I take them out of the oven too soon. I am very impatient when I want pizza. This pita pizza turned out great. I topped my wheat pita with Muir Glen Organic pizza sauce (canned and used at Whole Foods when Lars worked in the deli), part-skim mozzarella cheese, sweet Italian turkey sausage, and crushed red pepper. I would have loved veggie toppings, but I only had carrots in the house. I ate those on the side. This was so good. Go me! Something went well today. About F’IN time.

Well two things went well: I had wine! I had the official wine of graduate students: 3-Buck Chuck (or if you must: Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw). I tried the Nouveau. Good, for being three bucks. I was excited to drink out of the wine glass my mother got me for Christmas.

I’m going to keep drinking until I pass out.

Elliot Stabler Came in a Box Today

For the past few nights I have been suffering from a major case of insomnia. Despite that, I have been more cheery than usual. Or I could be delusional. Whatever. zzzz….

For breakfast I had Archer Farm’s Strawberry Granola with Flax and organic low fat vanilla yogurt. I also had two tangerines. I have been trying to eat larger breakfasts, because I have been so hungry by dinner time. Plus, I needed energy after only a few hours of sleep.

After some apartment cleaning, I decided to make some chocolate chips cookies for Lars’s road trip. Honestly, I just wanted to wear the vintage apron I got for Christmas.

I don’t know who Bev is, but she can make a freaking good cookie. I decided to make a healthful batch of chocolate chip cookies from Eating Well: Bev’s Chocolate Chip Cookies. These cookies call for only whole wheat flour. These cookies ask you to grind up rolled oats.  These cookies were delicious. This was a better version of those good Kashi cookies. I used Hersey’s Special Dark Chocolate Chips, which rock obviously. These were so good. Lars ate a lot of them. I hope I have some left. Thanks Bev, whoever you are.

I was famished after baking, so I made breakfast for lunch. I toasted reduced-fat cheddar cheese in a wheat pita, then filled it with turkey bacon and scrambled egg (one egg with yolk, one without). I cut up some carrots for my veggie fix. Of course, I needed coffee.

Lars leaves this evening and he knew I was afraid to sleep in our spooky apartment alone. I got a box in the mail today, opened it, and found a cute teddy bear with a sweet message from Lars (sorry for the mush). I guess this little guy will protect me. I’ll name him Elliot Stabler.

Come back tomorrow to hear about my first night. I’m sure wine will be involved.

A Good Food Day

Ever had a good food day? Like everything just hit the spot? You are eating just the right amount and every bite tastes awesome? That was my day.

I started off the day with a blogger staple: oatmeal. I mixed in pecans (from Green Valley, Arizona, holler at my G-Ma!), strawberries, and brown sugar. I ate this while watching Pretty Little Liars on Hulu. I’m not afraid to say it, but that show rocks.

I took Bob’s Red Mill corn muffins out of the freezer (I had saved them from earlier) for lunch. They tasted better than I remember. I slathered them with strawberry jam. I also had an apple and sliced carrots.

After lunch Lars and I ran some errands. We got to take another tour of our new apartment for next year. I love the place! It has so much windows; I’m a fan of natural lighting. I’ll post pictures once we move in and get settled.

The highlight of my day was the chocolate I received in the mail from Hannah over at Wayfaring Chocolate. Thanks Hannah! It was wonderful. Hannah sent Dark Chocolate with Strawberry and Sichuan Pepper (made by the The Curious Chocolatier). The pepper added a gingerbread-type taste. I loved it. Loved it. I couldn’t wait to eat it, so I brought in the car on the way to our new apartment.

Cute package, right?

Lars and I had pizza for dinner. We used panini grilled flatbread again. I topped mine with olive oil, sliced roma tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, diced prosciutto, fresh basil, and oregano. I popped it in the toaster oven, and then enjoyed!

Up close.

Our new apartment is next to a Great Harvest Bread Company, so of course we stopped by. I bought a Blackberry Fruit Bar for Lars and I to split for dessert following dinner. It got a little damaged in my purse, but it was still the best fruit bar I have ever had. They used shredded coconut in the streusel, which added a nice sweetness without overpowering the natural sweetness of the blackberries. I also appreciated the amount of fruit they actually used. I’ll buy this all the time after the move.

What is the best treat you’ve had lately? The chocolate and fruit bar made for an awesome food day!

Sweet Dumplings, Miss!

Whew, I am sweating. After I “worked” at the coffee shop, I came home and watched television while I did some free weights. It may have been the heat and/or the tiredness, but I felt dizzy. After the workout, I treated myself to a TJ’s apple cereal bar. I then took a nice cold shower. Then, I felt much better.

For some reason I keep eating like it is December. I wanted chicken and dumplings for dinner. My mom’s interpretation is baller, so I feared I wouldn’t be too thrilled about this version. I started at 6 PM and finished at 8, right in time for The Bachelorette. It was already hot enough in my crappy apartment, so cooking over a hot stove was a horrible idea. At some point it got really smoky and I had to open a widow and wave around my towel in the air. My blinds were open, so I’m sure my neighbors found it entertaining. The fire alarm did not go off, thankfully.

I used a recipe from Cooking Light for Herbed Chicken and Dumplings. I was excited about this because it only made two servings. Well, the wait was worth it! It was so flavorful and the dumplings were  moist! I used whole wheat flour and it tasted just fine! I was saying “Mmmm” really loud in my apartment, which is sad because I was alone. I wish I had someone around to compliment me on my cooking, but for now I will have to do. It is probably best because when Lars is around  this is our conversations at dinner.

Me: Wow, I like this dish.

Lars: Yeah, me too.

Me: I did a good job.

Lars: You totally did.

Me: What was your favorite part?

Lars: The {inert something}

Me: I made it.

Lars: Yep.

Me: Tell me how much you liked it…in detail.

I’m very direct when fishing for compliments. He is my boyfriend.

Then, I wanted an alcoholic beverage with my dish, but what goes with chicken and dumplings? Wine? No. Beer? Maybe. Something I have brewing out back? Um, most likely. I have no moonshine, though. Anyway, I am so excited about leftovers tomorrow.

Hello, Dumpling!

I was still hungry after my bowl, so I made a snack bowl with fresh strawberries and a 100-calorie dark chocolate bar from Trader Joe’s.

The Bachelorette is okay thus far. I’m on team Roberto. I love when men dance with you in the middle of a busy street. That has only happened to me once, and he was drunk…and then he passed out on the sidewalk. I want them to get to the Jake and Vienna interview. I have a feeling Jake is a tool.

A Whole Bunch of Random

I finally made it home, y’all. Lady Gaga got me through, but so did baby carrots and Jones Zilch (last one).

I got home and was starving so I tried these bagels that are 110 calories. They tasted like absence. The Amish Triple Berry Jam of course tasted like it was just picked from the vine.

So, I cooked for my family tonight. First, I had to get my family a cutting board. Next time, knives that cut. I made my family Chicken and Basil Calzones from Cooking Light. I think Cooking Light is pretty solid. These were about 450 calories, but so filling! It was a hit.

After dinner I met a friend from high school for some coffee. I ordered an iced coffee, my usual summer drink. It was nice to catch up, and she didn’t give me a weird look when I talked about my food blog! Have you gotten bad responses from people? My aunt called me “weird.”

Tonight I am watching part 2 of The Bachelorette on Hulu (last night’s episode). I don’t know if I like this Bachelorette. Has she ever seen a Lifetime Movie? Yes, my Lifetime Movie watching has made me slightly paranoid about the male species, but I do know when a guy is a creeper. But I also want the creepers to stay, because it is entertaining. Also, I would kick off the men that tattled, and that were cheesy…and mushy.

You know what I miss, Veronica F’IN Mars!

Do you miss a particular television show? Let’s talk; I talk TV.

Sunday Night Stir Fry

Well people, I’m still sick. It’s okay though, I’m dealing. For those reading about my people watching, the weird lady never showed up (at the coffee shop I was studying at). Oh well. I did not get anything done because I was blowing my nose repeatedly, which caused me to forget what I was thinking about.

So, I went back to Lars’s apartment. I was hungry since my snack/lunch wasn’t really enough. I made a snack plate.

I grabbed about four of these Stacy's Pita Chips: Garden Vegetable Medley

I grabbed 4 of TJ's Dark Chocolate Almonds. I will recommend these until I die.

I had about 1/3 of this cheese wedge.

I also had a small bite sized piece of the Asiago Sourdough bread.

This kept me full until our Sunday Night Stir Fry. We decided to pair our stir fry with whole wheat couscous. I was excited about using this couscous I picked up at Trader Joe’s, simply because the box is cool looking!

I used a recipe for Herbed Whole-Wheat Couscous from Eating Well (click link for recipe). It was easy to make and flavorful enough not to clash with the flavor of the stir fry. It was made with parsley and scallions.

Lars was in charge of our stir fry, which used the following ingredients: broccoli, carrots, scallions, Poblaeno peppers, eggs, snow peas, and steak.  He also used all the sauces pictured below. Most of all, we were excited about using our new wok.

It was delicious and filling. Although I was sick, I gave myself a glass of wine. Yum.

I will spend the rest my night blowing into tissues, watching Hulu, trying to work on my thesis, etc. Lars and I might also finish the last two slices of derby pie!

What ingredients do you like in your stir fry?