PB Problemo

Phew, I made it through Tuesday.  They are my longest days because I have interning all day and then class.  It feels like a mini accomplishment when they are over.

Yesterday when Keefer left I gobbled up the rest of my dad's beef veggie stew.  YUM!

After the gym I ran to Johnny's to get their italian ice.  It is SO good and such a treat.  I just need to find out the nutrition facts.  I'm sure there is a fair share of sugar in there but the best part about it is that it's not TOO sweet.

I also snuck a piece of Gramma's oatmeal bread.

Before class I heated up my leftovers from the other night.  Roasted veggies and roasted chicken.  MMM

I grabbed some yogurt with my granola added to it for dessert.

This morning I had to wake up a bit early so that I could register for summer and fall classes (which means I'll only be registering for classes ONE more time, YAY!)  It was so nice to drink my coffee and relax instead of rush.  I added pb to my oatmeal this morning for some protein but for some reason I just CANNOT get into pb in the morning.  Weird, I know.  I also topped it with a nanner.

I snapped a pic of my lunch last night while packing and then dumb me left out my turkey sanwich.  Needless to say, I threw it away this morning and made a quick pbj.

Today I met with a patient at the hospital who was a type 2 diabetic in poor condition and he REFUSED to talk to me saying that he would not change any of his habits.  I know we all have habits that are hard to break but it's really sad that some people let it harm themselves.

I had lots to do after my internship and before class so I stopped at Subway for a turkey sub loaded up with veggies and some broccoli cheddar soup.  No pic, woops.

Dessert was chocolate and a smoothie tonight.  YUM!  My smoothie was a banana, OJ, whole grain drink, yogurt and an apple.  The apple was a weird texture but yummy.

(Blurry pic, eek)

Off to bed, night!

Tara (:

A Mitten Blizzard

How did Sunday night get here so fast?  Weekends always go by fast but they seem especially speedy when I'm in The Mitten.  Friday morning I woke up before my weekly intern class to finish packing and get some things done.  I had eggs over easy and they were delicious.  I actually didn't over cook them this time!

I also packed up a lunch for class and the road.  I had a turkey wrap, fiber bar, apples with cinnamon and everything pretzels.

After class I hit the road under clear, blue, sunny, beautiful skies.  Illinois was nice, Indiana was nice, then I drove under the Pure Michigan sign and BAM!  I had to hold on tight to the steering wheel because the wind was blowing my car all over the place and the snow was creating a white out!  I've lived in MI for my whole life so I'm no stranger to driving in the snow but my freshman year of college I got in a nasty accident and have been nervous in bad weather ever since.  Anyway, I ended up sitting in park on the expressway due to an overturned semi.  I hope the driver was okay however I hope that made them realize that they CANNOT go seventy five mph when everyone else is going twenty five.  UGH!  I made it in just under six hours (usually takes me 3.5) and Keith was nice enough to have dinner waiting.  Side-note...one thing I love most about MI is the awesome Pure Michigan commercials they have.  They always remind me of being home and Up North and why I truly love The Mitten.

We had bread with dipping oil for an appetizer.

I love making my own dipping oil mixtures!  This one had olive oil, basil, oregano, garlic and pepper.  I suggested Keith try a recipe I found on FMF's blog.  It was great!  (Also great when we got home from the bar last night.)  We added a bit of cheese on the top as well.  Can't be too cheesy for us!

I was so stressed from my ride that Keefer was nice enough to go out and get me a Burger King strawberry milkshake (I'm very picky about my strawberry milkshakes and I rarely get them but this one is great!) and he also got my a grown up juice box.  YUM!  I think I inhaled the milkshake too fast to take a pic haha.

Yesterday morning Keefer had to get up and go to work so I stayed in bed for an obnoxious amount of time.  It was glorrrrrious.  When he got home he made me this yummy omelet with sausage, tomatoes, mushroom, onion and cheese.  Best om I've had in a while!

We then headed to a coffee shop to study.  One of my midterms was pushed back until after spring break so now I only have two this week woohoo!  (Can't believe I just said woohoo to two midterms, ugh.)  I grabbed a rice krispie treat (my fav) and picked out a tea for two that included vanilla and rooibus tea.  I was trying to recreate the Starbucks kind and it was good but it didn't compare.

Like I've said before, we love trying new recipes together so we thought we would try another Ellie Kreiger recipe.  I love chicken pot pie so I chose this one with phyllo dough.  It turned out to be okay but we both agreed you can't mess with the original recipe.  It's just too awesome the way it is.  We missed the crust.  

Today I had big plans to get up early and study and they didn't really happen.  We made french toast on texas toast bread, always amazing.

We were then off to the library for a good part of the day.  I felt like I was back in undergrad again and actually missed it.  Every time I'm back on the MSU campus I get so nostalgic and miss it terribly.  Especially living in my house with all my roommates!  We packed some grapes, Pringles and trail mix to hold us over.  Studying always gives me the munchies..and Keith the crazies I guess!

This mix from Costco is awesome!  Ignore the hideous econ notes underneath.

We get to use one 4x6 notecard as a "cheat sheet."  I don't think I've ever written so small.

We finally had to leave because I was starving and we had homemade pizza on the brain.  We made our pesto pizza again and this time topped with sausage (which we couldn't even really taste), mushrooms, tomatoes, olives, roasted onions and garlic, mozzarella and feta.  SO delicious.  I could eat this everyday.

For dessert Keefer made me some cinnamon sugar toast.  I used to love this when I was younger and forgot how good it was!

Off to bed.  I have an early (and hopefully less snowy) drive back to Chi tomorrow morning.

Tara (:

Weekend Munchies

It seems that when weekends roll around I become a serious slacker when it comes to blogging.  However, a couple of my best girlfriends were here this weekend so I needed some time to relax and hang with them. What a weekend!  I didn't take pics of everything but I tried to take them when we ate out.

I started my weekend with some maple syrup oatmeal.

Friday night we were celebrating Kate's bday so we were out and about in the city.  Saturday we all had a slow start to our day due to our late night on Friday.  We had tickets to a show at night so we found a cute little restaurant around the bar.  Wishbone was a southern cooking joint.  It was pretty good however I don't know if I would go back.  They did serve rolls and cornbread before which were so good!

I decided to get a burger on brown bread.

The show we went to after dinner was Bye Bye Liver.  It was an interactive, drinking, comedy show.  It was so funny and I had a lot of great laughs.  I would definitely go again.  I think that both men and women would enjoy it although just my girlfriends and I went.  After the show I saw they had one of my FAV beers.  I ordered a Founder's Red Rye and although it wasn't as good as draft, I still loved it!

We also got hungry again later on so we ordered the spinach artichoke appetizer.  (I like having my appetizer after dinner haha.)  It was AMAZING.  I love spinach artichoke dip I just wish it was a bit healthier for me.  haha

This morning I was in a little bit of a rush to get back into the city to meet up with the girls so I made some cream of wheat, banana and agave.  Yum!

We walked around the city until we were ready for lunch at The Cheesecake Factory.  I have never eaten at this famous restaurant but WOW.  My whole meal was delicious and then the cheesecake was amazing of course!  I got the four seasons pizza which had four different sections and a caesar salad.

For dessert, Kristi and I split the carrot cake cheesecake.  It was hard to decide from all the different choices but I think we made the right decision.  It was fabulous!

Like I said, what a weekend!  I had such a great time with my girlfriends but boy am I tired and I really think I'm sick.  They are preparing us for lots of snow here in Chi so I plan on staying in in my pjs, making spaghetti squash and cheering on Team USA in the hockey game!

Tara (:

Surprise Flowers

Today was one of our occasional Chicago area intern meetings.  We learned all about resume writing, interviewing and dealing with the media.  It was fun and informative for the most part.  The resume writing was especially helpful I thought.

Before I headed out for the day I made some cream of wheat with banana and agave.  Really hoping I don't get sick of this anytime soon because it is soo good!

At the conference I was starving by the time lunch hit and I think I overate.  None of the foods I chose from the cafeteria were too exceptional either.  Bummer.  I chose half a grilled cheese and tomato sandwich (def not as good as mine haha), chicken soup and taco salad.

I snacked on a Fiber One bar towards the end of day so I wouldn't over-indulge in the next meal too.  By the time I got home it felt so good to get into my comfys.  The VERY BEST part of the day was what I came home to find at my apartment.

Keith sent me sunflowers (my fav) in a cute purple bucket (my fav color) with a wonderful note.  What can I say, I'm a lucky girl (:

I was SO tempted to order a pizza for dinner because I was craving it but I told myself I had to have some self control so I decided to make stir fry and roasted yellow squash.  Both turned out great!  Look how steamy...

For the roasted squash I:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees
• Cut into thin slices
• Brush with olive oil
• Add chopped garlic to the top
• Season with pepper and Mrs. Dash

Delicious!  Can't wait to try with my zucchini tomorrow.

For the stir fry I was trying to be economical but creative so here's what I added:

• Frozen broccoli
• Frozen zucchini
• Frozen peas
• Frozen cut okra (first time using and loved it!)
• Frozen asparagus
• Fresh tomato
• Fresh mushrooms
• Grilled chicken breast
• Olive oil
• Soy sauce

I love using frozen vegetables because they are often packed with the same nutrients as fresh veggies without the price.  They also don't have the sodium of canned veggies.  I didn't measure anything which is sometimes the best way to cook I think.  (Just being careful with the oil and soy sauce.)  I wish I would have added a million more mushrooms but overall it was a great meal.  I have enough left over for an army so hopefully I don't get sick of eating it this weekend.  I paired my dinner with a glass of white wine and skim milk of course!

For dessert I had a piece of Grandma's oatmeal bread.  Hit the spot.

Now it's time to catch up on my sleep.  I don't have an alarm set for tomorrow...what a wonderful feeling!

Nighty night

Tara (:

One Post Wonder

Although I love making multiple posts in a day, I rarely have time for it and it seems like it won't be getting any easier.  Today was my first day at the hospital and it was great!  I got a tour of the joint and then got to learn their charting system and do some case studies on patients.  I really think it's going to be a valuable learning experience and put me that much closer to passing the RD exam!

Of course I started my coffee pot...back to Folgers. (RIP chicory coffee, you will be missed.)  I also had cream of wheat, bananas and agave which I'm totally addicted to.  It is so good but the only problem is I don't get enough protein in for breakfast.  I would love to eat eggs everyday but I know that's not the best and I'm not always in for peanut butter in the morning.  I know there are many options but none of them seem to hit the spot in the morning.  Hmmmm......thoughts?

On the train I just relaxed and read a good book.  It really makes the time fly by.  Before I knew it, I had arrived and was hungry (I know, I know...need the protein.)  So I snacked on some apple cinnamon mini rice cakes.  (Again, no protein.)  These actually held me over until it was lunch time.  I packed my lunch last night, which I always do so I'm not rushed in the morning.

We got out a little bit early so I hit the gym.  I'm thinking that spring will be here before you know it so I really need to crack down on my running and working out.  (Plus, I'm trying to talk Ma and Pa into a spring break FL trip....bathing suit body??)

By the time I got home from the gym I didn't have much time before class and I was starvin marvin so I heated up leftover tacos.  MMMMmmmm.

After class I am always craving a little something so I made a smoothie with my frozen fruit, a banana and some blueberries.  YUM!  I also had a piece of my gma's oatmeal bread.

I'm going to finish watching The Bachelor (I'm loving this season) then catch some zzz.

Tara (:

Mother, Daughter Day!

Today was tons of fun with delicious and not so healthy foods.  (Hmmmm, this NY resolution may be tougher than expected.)  My mom and I spent most of the day together which is always fun, especially when it includes some shopping...and EATING!  It was a snowy day today unlike the Christmas pic!

I had a dentist appointment early this morning, no cavities, YAY!  Then headed home for Mom's waffles.  (With syrup to add sugar to my freshly polished teeth.)  Of course I also had to have my morning coffee.  (I really am trying to slowly cut back...I swear.)

I also got a waffle maker for Christmas so I can't wait to try it when I get back to Chi!

After breakfast we were headed off to Marshalls, one of our favorite stores.  You have to do some digging but you can always find great stuff!  I got a few new shirts (some for my internship, some for my outing with girlfriends later this week) and some veggie chips, thanks Mom!

These chips were tasty and were on clearance for one dollar, yes ONE DOLLAR!  Should have bought a couple more bags.

For a quit bite to eat before the gym (well actually before Oprah, then the gym) I had bread and dipping oil with an orange.  Notice the Marshalls receipts in the back.  (:  The bread was homemade Ciabatta courtesy of friend Lise, leftover from NYE.  mmmm

These pans are from my shopping trip yesterday to Kohl's with my parents.  Unfortunately I can't afford to buy them yet and probably shouldn't until I have my own kitchen large enough to store them.  hmm

Oprah had on a vegan chef which got me thinking that I may like to try a cleansing diet in the summer for a couple weeks to see how it feels.  May be quite a task for my meat loving self.

After Oprah I hit the gym to find myself there along with a gazillion other people.  I guess waiting to work out until 5:15pm on the Monday after NY was a bad choice.  I had to wait for a treadmill which I've never had to do before, boo!  Tomorrow I'll be going while the rest of the population is working.  On my way home I picked up a delicious veggie pizza (86 the green peppers, add feta of course.)  I ate THREE slices, woops.  Therefore, no late night snack for me...although I was thinking about a leftover Christmas sugar cookie.

My mom and I topped off the night with a Red Box movie. (LOVE $1 movies)  I do NOT recommend The Other Man.  The most exciting part was the interruption with a phone call from Keefer from New Orleans.  I wish I was there enjoying the cuisine with him!  (Just not the spicy stuff!!)

Only a week left in The Mitten...time sure is flying by!

Goodnight!

Tara