When Life Gives You Lemons

I have been missing from the blog world lately, but I’ve been missing from the real world too. Life has been rough, boring, and stressful. So, I’ve been keeping to myself. To make matters worse, Lars is on the job market. He and I will be living states apart for four years. Then when I finish my PhD, we have to figure out how we can work at the same university. Or one of us has to drop everything and follow the other. It is complicated and annoying. He has been traveling a lot for campus visits, so I have gotten the taste of being alone and I hate it.

Complicated.

Lemons are not complicated, though. That is why I like them. I love how many things you can make with one lemon. For example, I made two Cooking Light dishes recently. They both rocked.

First, I made Lemony Chicken Saltimbocca. It is more beautiful on the Cooking Light site, but only because I couldn’t find fresh whole sage leaves. I had to use the dry sage stuff, but found it was still delicious. The chicken was wrapped in prosciutto, which Lars is a fan of. I was a big fan of the lemony sauce. I recommend serving it with a whole wheat long pasta; it soaks up the juices.

The same lemon I used for dinner made some delicious Lemon-Cornmeal Cookies. I loved these cookies. LOVED.

What is your favorite thing to do with a lemon?

Well, I have to read more articles. Have a great Monday!

Scattered Memories of a Saturday

Saturday was full of adventure. Today is not. Sunday schoolwork is not so bad when you have the memories of such a great Saturday.

Memories start…now!

Lars and I woke up early for the first tailgate of the season. We slept longer than planned, so we decided to buy cookies at a local bakery: O’Rear’s. We picked out some sugar cookies decorated like footballs (I didn’t try these) and these delicious M&M cookies. The M&M cookies were thick and moist. Holler.

No Purdue game is complete without an awesome outfit for my beer! With everything ready, Lars and I made our way to the fields!

The tailgate was full of spirited fun. We drank, ate, and people-watched.

I didn’t sleep much this week, so I could only last to halftime (we won, though). Lars and I needed food before a long hibernation, so we stopped by Oishi. We have eaten just about everywhere, but this Japanese place was new to us. I’m so glad we went. It was so fantastic that we are going back on Friday.

For an appetizer we started off with scallion pancakes. The pancakes had these perfect layers, which I tore apart and devoured so slowly. Yummmm…

I’m having a moment.

Lars ordered Shabu-Shabu, which I define as a boiling pot of Japenese adventures. Anyway, it comes with this boiling broth and a tray of ingredients. You add these ingredients randomly, not really all at once, but enough to make a good bowlful. Then, thank you sir, may I have another.

I played it safe and got some fried soft noodles with chicken. Safe, but fantastic.

Lars and I passed out afterwards. We woke up to a new world adventure: GermanFest! Sounds like a good dinner to me. Lars picked up some Schnitzel, which he enjoyed.

I got a pretzel with cheese. It was good, but I could have gotten it in the frozen aisle. I’m pretty sure Germany would not appreciate this pretzel.

For dessert, Lars got chocolate pie and I got apple pie. The chocolate pie had this weird liquor taste, and the apple pie needed more sugar. I am also very picky about pie, though.

We would have loved to stay and dance to some polka music and enjoy some Deutsch beer, but I had to go study. We played Scrabble/read at the local coffee shop. It got late and I needed food. Well, I wanted to give the pie community another chance. And, it was this bourbon pecan pie. And, I stayed in and studied both Friday and Saturday night. And, sometimes health food bloggers eat pie…twice.

It was a-cup-of-chocolate-chips short of a Derby Pie, but it was the highlight of my weekend. I would run miles for this.

Sorry for the scattered thoughts, but hopefully the delicious pictures fill in the cracks.

I had a boring, but relaxing day. Don’t you just need boring sometimes?

Today was a breather between two stressful groupings of days. I slept in until 9 AM, and rewarded my awesomeness with blueberry pancakes and apple slices. I didn’t finish it all, but it was a nice to “cook” again.

I spent the morning dealing with some boring tasks and watching daytime television. My mother bought me some Risotto chips, so I finally cracked open the bag for lunch. I like them a lot. They would make the perfect hummus chip. I also ate some strawberries and roasted green beans.

I was stressed about getting my immunizations done before Purdue, but the doctor said they had an opening today. Lucky me. Before heading to the doctor’s office, I stopped by Starbucks for some academic reading. I was preparing myself for the crap load of reading coming up in my near future. I made sure to drink a lot of liquids so I could pee in the cup at the doctors. Once I spilled the pee cup on myself. Hmm. I also ate some fruit bark and a granola bar.

The doctor’s went well. The shot was painless, although I felt pressured to start a family while sitting in the waiting room. The waiting room only had Parenting and Fit Pregnancy for reading, and they kept playing songs about love making. I think it is a good strategy for getting more patients, but I’m not falling for it.

Immediately after the doctor’s appointment, my sister and I ate at Scotty’s Brewhouse. My family eats here often. So much so that my father has a pile of gift cards. My sister and I helped take a few off his hands, because we care. I ordered the house merlot, Latin Chicken with a side of steamed broccoli. The chicken was a spicy piece of grilled chicken atop a bed of Mexican rice, and salsa. I ordered it from their new gluten-free menu. I loved it. I have been sick of Scotty’s since we eat there so often, but it was nice to see some changes.

To continue the gluten-free theme, I ordered their gluten-free chocolate chip oatmeal cookies. Although the color was blah, the cookie had a nice toasty pine nut taste. I ate one, and saved the rest for later.

I plan on spending the rest of the evening riding my bike and watching television (including Jersey Shore). I also wanted to plan Lars and my first week of eating. After cleaning out the last apartment, I realized how much food I buy on impulse or just throw out. I think meal planning will save some money. Do you meal plan? Any tips?

Hope the week is wrapping up nicely. I look forward to catching up on your blogs!

Best Friends and a Restaurant Rant

Whew! I’m tired. We got back from Bloomington, IL at 4 AM. It was totally worth it, though. It was great to see my friends, Josh and Robert!

We had a 2 1/2 hour car ride, so I brought healthy snacks (apple slices and carrots) and bought an iced coffee before hitting the road.

Now, we got to Bloomington fine. We were early (we forgot about the time change), but wanted to find the restaurant first. We drove for 30 minutes with no success. Lars and I were starving. When Lars is hungry he turns into The Blonde Hulk. Luckily, we found a Great Harvest Bread Company! And, I found flavored whole wheat pasta. The pasta was not made by Great Harvest, but was made locally. Cannot wait to try it! Lars got a scone. Well it isn’t a scone by definition, but a pile of soft chocolate chip goodness. I helped him eat it. Delicious.

With Great Harvest directions, we hit the road to find the restaurant. We ended up here at some point:

We finally made it. I was a little grumpy and flustered at this point, so I ordered a wine. The server asked for my ID.

Server: Oh, you’re from Indiana…I can’t serve you.

Me: (realizing it is a bad joke and annoyed) Well I’m in Illinois, so I need a glass of wine.

Server: Good point.

Point: Ashley. I love Illinois, but only slammed it to get my freaking wine already.

For dinner, I ordered steak. I was given a choice of three sides. I picked cream of asparagus soup, broccoli, and mashed sweet potatoes. Sounds good? No. Here we go. The soup was excellent. Major props on the soup! I ordered the steak medium, and it came very well done. It tasted like hamburger. The broccoli was watery. The worst was the sweet potato mush a.k.a. Gingerbread Feces. I know, I know. That is a gross description, but an accurate one. It had the consistency of apple sauce. It tasted like a Christmas candle. It was way too sweet.

Dear trying-to-be-classy-but-is-tacky restaurant,

I recommend watching Gordon Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares (the British version because it is much more pleasant). He says to keep it simple. Sweet Potatoes, when fresh and especially local, taste good alone. Sure, you can add some “jazz.” You can mash them, slice them, fry them…whatever. But, when you decide to be all “creative” (I mean, pretentious) and make them high brow when you don’t know the basics, you end up ruining them. Plus, I know you are trying to cover up the fact that they are not fresh. You cannot fool me. I know what veggies taste like. Also, my watery broccoli? I have that same effect when I buy them from the freezer aisle. Bring out the natural taste of my veggies, don’t hide it under crap. I wish only the best for you.

Respectfully,

Ashley

P.S. When I got lost, I ran into a corn field. I know you have veggies around. Go local.

My friends ordered fish and pasta, and they liked it. Essentially, this is one (bitter) opinion. The Yelp-ers rated it high.

Afterwards, we hit up the Starbucks and drank coffee/tea and ate my peanut butter cookies. They loved them! We shut down the place (and sat even longer outside after it closed). It was great to catch up! I love these guys!

Pasta by Lars

Lars made pasta for dinner and it was the best yet! I found chili pepper spaghetti from Target in his cabinet and demanded (nicely) we use it sometime during my visit.

Lars’s Extravaganza in my Mouth Pasta (modified from Mark Bittman’s How to Cook Everything)

• 1 package Chili Pepper Spaghetti (Archer Farms)
• 6 cloves of garlic, crushed and pulled apart
• 1/4 white onion, diced
• 3 medium slices of prosciutto, diced
• 1 can whole, peeled tomatoes
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• about 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 1/2 tbsp dried basil
• salt and pepper (fresh ground) to taste

Directions

1. Pour olive oil in cast iron skillet or cast iron dutch oven on medium heat.
2. Sauté onion, garlic, and prosciutto in skillet until garlic is browned and onion is translucent (Lars had to cover the skillet with a lid for a few minutes to speed the process).
3. Bring approximately 2 quarts of water to a boil (let it come to a boil as you proceed with making the sauce)
4. Remove lid from can of tomatoes and gouge the tomatoes with a knife or crush them with your hands. Remove approximately 1/2 of a cup of the tomato juice from the can (unless you want your sauce more watery).
5. Pour tomatoes and juice into skillet with sautéed ingredients.
6. Raise heat to medium-high on the skillet until the mixture becomes more like a sauce. Bittman suggests 10 minutes, Lars’s usually takes closer to 15.
7. While the sauce heats, salt the boiling water and prepare in the pasta. Follow the directions on the package. Time everything so that the pasta is done before the sauce-  even if the sauce is a bit thicker than you would like it (see next step)
8. (KEY) As soon as the pasta is finished, get it into the sauce in the skillet or dutch even before it cools. You can strain most of the water and then add the pasta and the leftover water to the sauce, as Lars did, or you could probably transfer the pasta directly from the pot to the skillet using tongs. This is the point at which it would be an advantage to have used a skillet large enough to accommodate both the sauce and the pasta. Lars did not, but it still turned out great.
9. Serve with fresh Parmesan!

Now, the pasta did not necessarily have a distinct chili pepper taste (they did have a slight kick). Although, they were the best spaghetti noodles we have ever had. Thanks, Target. Keep on, keepin’ on.

While Lars cooked, I baked. I wasn’t as successful. Lars and I are meeting our friends halfway from both our locations tomorrow for dinner. I wanted to bake them something, but I’ll try again tomorrow.

In summary, I made two different cookies from Cooking Light:

Cookie 1: Peanut Butter-Chocolate Chip Brownies (pictured left). I recommend not making these. The end.

Cookie 2: Pecan Bar Cookies (pictured right). The recipe recommended baking in a cast iron skillet in the oven (to make bars), but I baked them as cookies at 350 for 8 minutes. These cookies were good. They tasted like autumn, pancakes, and homemade goodness. Lars ate a lot of them.

Time to watch Sunshine Cleaning with Lars. I have a busy day making peanut butter cookies (as they requested) tomorrow. I’m excited about our mini-food road trip later in the day, though. Pictures to come.

Eye of the Tiger

Check out my first blog post on frugal eating at thriftshoppin.com!

So, I’ve been putting off my thesis revisions. I wake up today ready to take it on.  I do the boxer’s dance and throw air punches. I am so ready! I eat a healthy and filling lunch. I poached two eggs and put them on buttered halves of whole wheat English muffins. I also have a side spinach salad mixed with sliced almonds and Annie’s Gingerly Vinaigrette.

I headed to the local coffee shop equipped with apples slices and two oatmeal cookies. I am expecting maybe 3 hours worth of work, if I am lucky. I order an iced green tea, set up shop, and open the document with my professor’s revisions. She basically says, “looks good.” Further, she deleted some things (I ramble), but she didn’t think I had to really do anything else. So, it took me 15 painless minutes. So I am sitting here at the coffee shop, done. I guess I will blog. I still have to do some formatting things with the Graduate School, but school is closed today. So, I blog. I have a lot of blog reading to catch up on! That is one task I love doing.

Not a great picture.

The Rhetoric of Binge Eating

Rhetoric is the art of persuasion, and I am quite good at persuading myself to binge eat.

Yesterday I was so busy baking for Lars’s party that I missed lunch; at his party I grazed. Although I didn’t eat much, I felt that I had lost control over my eating choices. Later I let Lars choose a dinner place, which was not-so-healthy. I saw no harm in enjoying a cheeseburger and onion rings with my boyfriend on his birthday. Then I got home and went cookie crazy. The following is a list of thoughts that go through my head when binge eating, thoughts going through my head last night:

• I already started eating bad, so why stop?
• You ate poorly today, and you usually don’t, so continue with your freedom. Just consider it a bad day.
• You can start a diet tomorrow.
• I’m bored, so I eat.

While these thoughts are comforting and convincing, I often go to bed hopeless and wake up with a horrible stomach ache. The next day I am over-concerned and angry with every food choice I make, even if it is not a bad one. So, this is the real reason I was missing from the blogs this weekend: I was frustrated and embarrassed. The binging has happened less often since I have given up excessive calorie-counting, but it still sneaks up on me during times of stress or long periods of boredom. For the past week I have been sick and/or slightly down, so I can see where the binge eating originated.

How do you cope with a day full of bad eating choices? Or days? Is there a book or resource you have found especially helpful?

Today, I attempted to eat. In the past, binge eating has led to too-restricted eating habits in the days following the binge.

The Day After the Binge (Today)

Today has been a day of sandwiches and leftovers.

Breakfast: A slice of leftover breakfast pizza.

Morning Snack: One of those jam stuffed muffins.

Lunch: (pictured below) Lars and I had a Grown-Up Grilled Cheese Sandwich. This was loosely inspired by a recipe by Cooking Light. We essentially made a grilled cheese sandwich: garlic cheddar cheese, fresh spinach, tomatoes, pepperoni from the deli, and garlic. I also had it with a pickle.

Afternoon Snack: An iced coffee and 1 peanut butter cookie. I gave the other cookie to Lars.

Dinner: Broken Yolk BLT. We put bacon, tomato, spinach, and egg on wheat toast. I loved the oozing yolk when I bit in.

I feel better today and I think having a community to talk to about these issues is helpful. So thanks for listening.

No Bluffin’ with these Muffins!

Hello friends.

I have been missing, I know. But, I am back and here to stay. I finally finished and sent my thesis revisions. I’m sure I’ll have to fix something else, but it feels good to have one obstacle out of the way. Lars’s birthday was yesterday and in this post (I’m going to do a couple of posts to make up for lost days), I will share this awesome recipe I found.

Lars had friends over for this birthday, so I decided to make some treats.

1. These don’t need no introduction: Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies. These were a big hit at the party.

2. After the last muffin incident, I thought I would try a new recipe. I made my own version of Cooking Light‘s Low-Fat Strawberry-Cinnamon Muffins. I followed the recipe exactly, but instead used Amish Triple Berry Jam. Thus, my version is called Low-Fat Triple Berry and Cinnamon Muffins of Awesomeness. This recipe was easy, and the muffins cooked perfectly…perfectly! The muffin itself had a light cinnamon taste, which paired well with the robust fruity flavor of the jam.  If you like jam, make these. Trust me. Further, the recipe recommend using foil cups for the muffins. AND, it also asked that you spray the inside of the cup. I never knew this trick, but it stopped the muffins from attaching themselves to the foil cup and thus breaking in half.

Here I am filling each cup with batter, jam, and then batter again.

YUM!

Bad Habits

Gooooood Morning! Last night things got crazy. Well, I drank 1 too many glasses of wine. It is always that one glass! I was still sober, because I am a classy lady, but I woke up with a slight headache (which is now gone). I did have fun though and did not go overboard with alcohol or food. I did, though, serenade Lars in the car with Real McCoy’s “Another Night,” Shakira’s “She Wolf,” and The Killers’ “Mr. Brightside.”

Let’ travel back, shall we?

It is undergrad and I like to consume an alcoholic beverage 0nce in a good while. The alcohol was not the issue, though. The problem was the food I consumed after a night out at the bars with my friends. I’m talking cheesy bread, calzones, and Insomnia cookies (they deliver milk and cookies until 2 in the morning). That is why I gained so much weight in undergrad. Well, the pastry at each Strabucks visit didn’t help either.

Now, even after a glass of wine I get food cravings. So, I went out last night fearful of what food I would consume. This is also why I ate a salad for dinner; it was effort to save up for future, unwanted calories. But, I behaved. I had a sliver of the luscious lemon (store-bought, but delicious) cake, since it was an important celebration. I also, had a piece of toast when I got home to absorb any unwanted alcohol in the body. Then, I went to bed. This is a huge step for me, y’all. I didn’t have Lars drive me to Five Guys for a burger. I didn’t eat the entire lemon cake. I just danced, which is exercise and fun.

So, I woke up and made Lars and I oatmeal.

Oatmeal Cookie Oatmeal

• 1/2 cup oats
• 1/2 of  a Kashi Dark Chocolate Oatmeal cookie (squeezed into crumbles)
• 2 spoonfuls of brown sugar (because I’m too cool for actual measurements)

Yum! the oatmeal was good for after a late night! The dark chocolate chips melted into awesomeness.

Thanks for sharing your reality show favorites last night. I thought I’d share my favorites. In no particular order:

1. Kathy Griffin: Life on the D-List
2. The Hills/Laguna Beach/The City (I mean is all the same show really)
3. Tori and Dean (I just want their son Liam)
4. Real Housewives of New York (but, I also love New Jersey)
5. A&E’s Intervention
6. The Bachelor/The Bachelorette
7. Top Chef (I hate Hosea so much, anyone feeling me?)
8. Flipping Out
9. MTV’s True Life
10. Millionaire Matchmaker

In closing, I wanted to share this interesting interview about The Salad Bar in Every School campaign in the Huffington Post.

I’m sure some of you watched Jamie Oliver’s Food Revolution on ABC, so I’d thought I would pass this along. This all got me thinking about my poor eating habits in the school cafeteria. I remember eating chocolate muffins, dipping bagels in cups of cheddar cheese, and so much breadsticks! I was a soccer player and I had a decent metabolism, so I thought because I was skinny…I was healthy.

I’m glad I have grown up.

This post seems to be about bad habits, so I thought I would continue the discussion. What are some eating habits you are working on or that you are glad to have gotten rid of? (feel free to talk more generally if you want, not just about the cafeteria).

boo.

I woke up today with a sore throat and a stuffy nose. What the heck? I’m assuming it is because I slept in a freezer last night. I was planning to work out, but I am going to wait until I get back to school. I am going to go running. Isn’t that very exciting? I’m not too excited. All my fellow bloggers are kicking running butt, so that is an inspiration!

I didn’t want to eat breakfast, at all. I ended up forcing myself to eat, because I knew I would just feel worse if I did not. I am so excited about going back to my apartment with my food.

I was able to find a wheat frozen waffle so I toasted that and covered it with peanut butter. I also found a V8 fusion, which was great because I did have a craving for juice. Also, one of my cookies from last night got onto my plate. I don’t know how that happened.

To keep this post exciting, I thought I would share some of my favorites. Today’a category is FOOD.

• Breakfast Food: Eggs Benedict. Whenever I travel somewhere, I have to try their Eggs Benedict. I am on a mission to find the best Eggs Benedict in the United States. Thus far, New Orleans is in the lead. I’m sure this egg-cellent journey of mine will pop up on my blog!
• Favorite Dessert: Derby Pie. Anyone from Kentucky? This pie is essentially pecan pie with chocolate and bourbon.
• Favorite Restaurant: Anything that is breakfast-oriented. Going out for breakfast is my favorite activity, especially after an “interesting” night.
• Favorite meal of Mom’s: (my father doesn’t cook) Chicken Fried Rice, bread sticks (see last post), and potato chip chicken.
• Favorite Beverage: Coffee, Wine, Latte.

My question for you: What is your favorite breakfast food?