Archive for the ‘eating’ Category

Posted on February 21, 2012 - by Ashley Jackson

Pizza and Candy

Gotta post quick so I can get my Lego Batman on!

Breakfast was the same as yesterday, but with a different flavor of Chobani.

I like the apple cinnamon flavor well enough, but it reminds me of  how awesome Liberte apple cinnamon yogurt is…maybe I should swing by Whole Foods and pick some up sometime soon. I haven’t had it in a looooong time.

For mid-morning snackage, I had some pistachios.

I ate my lunch later than usual. It looks pretty gross, but I swear it was good.

Half an avocado, two Roma tomatoes, and four slices of bacon, all chopped up into a salad. Normally this would also have a couple of hardboiled eggs in it, but to be frank I was too lazy to make any last night.

After blogging today and yesterday I’ve realize the reason I’ve been throwing back candy all afternoon, every afternoon is that I’m really not eating that much before mid-afternoon. So there was some candy after lunch…

…then I took a walk around campus in my heavy winter jacket, because after yesterday’s snow I didn’t realize it was back into the sixties already. Hmph.

I snacked on a chocolate brownie Pure bar after I got back. They’ve changed the packages several times over the past couple of years, and when I ordered a variety pack from Amazon in January I was surprised to find that they’d changed the actual bars, too.

Nothing too crazy–they’re thicker and not as wide, more like LaraBars now–but I liked them the way they were before just fine.

Then I had more pistachios, and more candy.

Then I had more candy.

I really need to work on the candy thing, obviously.

Originally the fiance and I had planned to both leave work early so we could go see War Horse tonight–it’s the only Oscar nominee for best picture that we haven’t seen yet–but my work schedule changed so that we’ll be able to see it tomorrow instead. So we met up for dinner. I’d never been to California Pizza Kitchen and I don’t really eat wheat that much any more (except for donuts and brownies), but it sounded good, so we went. I got a Pesto Chicken Pizza and ate all but one slice.

The pizza was great, but the experience was slightly bizarre. The waitress asked my fiance what she could start him with, and he said “I’ll just have water”…and then she said “I’ll get that for you!” and bounced off without asking what I wanted. We’re not sure if she thought he said “we’ll  just have water” or what, but she came back with two waters and never asked me if I wanted something else. I was going to get water anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal, but it threw me a little.

We also stopped and got a a donut each from Dunkin Donuts, because it’s Mardi Gras!

Okay, gotta get do some Lego Batmanning now!

Posted on February 20, 2012 - by Ashley Jackson

The Prodigal Blogger Returns

I didn’t mean to abandon my blog for months, but the past little while has been pretty busy. I kept telling people I wanted to update my blog regularly again, but once I got out of the habit it was kinda hard to get back into it. But I miss blogging, and a few people have told me they miss me blogging, so here we are again. Maybe it’ll stick this time?

A couple of big things have happened to me in the past couple of months, so here’s a brief recap.

On November 6, I ran my first half marathon. I’d had to defer my registration from 2010 due to issues with my foot being made of biomechanical fail, but I was determined to do the City of Oaks/Rex Healthcare Half Marathon in 2011. I got sick a few weeks before the race and wasn’t as trained as I wanted to be, and I’m also slow as all get out, but after 3 hours, 28 minutes, and 19 seconds, I managed to run across the finish line.

And promptly almost threw up on my mom, dad, and boyfriend.

After inhaling a piece of pizza, a banana, and half a bottle of water, I was recovered enough to take the obligatory medal photo.

I wish I’d written a race report after I ran the half, because apart from some issues with some runners not getting their times, it was a lot of fun. Raleigh is beautiful in the fall and we got to run through some gorgeous areas downtown. People were out cheering for us from their front yards and the balconies of their apartments, and during the last three miles, when I was really starting to struggle, the volunteers at the water stops, a nice U.S. Navy veteran, and some other bystanders encouraged me to keep going.

My goal was to finish within the time allotted for the half marathon–3 hours and 30 minutes–and I did that, but I’m definitely going to train harder for my next race. I ran as much of it as I could as fast as I could, but I run SLOW. So slow that people can pass me walking fast. My knee has been hurting off and on since then, though, so I haven’t done any running this winter.

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Another “big” thing in my life: I started the new year in a bigger office at work. The woman who worked in the full-sized office next to my tiny office left, and I got up the courage to ask my boss if I could move after she left and to my surprise, he said yes. It’s a silly thing, but I love having a bigger office–my old one was awesome given how small it was, but I didn’t have any space on which to put down papers and write. My new office doesn’t get as much sunlight as my old one even though it’s right next door, but my orchids seem to be surviving and I’m loving the extra space. Now you’ll know why the setting for future breakfast and lunch pictures has changed…

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And the biggest thing that happened in my life since I last blogged, the one I’m the most excited about: my boyfriend and I got engaged!

We got engaged on New Year’s Eve, so I’ve been referring to him as my fiance for almost two months, and it’s really weird to type the word “boyfriend” again. We’ll be getting married sometime later this year, and he’s moving to a new place that’s much closer to where I live and will BE where I live after we get married. So I’ll be getting married and moving again in 2012…plus one or two other things that I’m not ready to share yet will be happening this year. Exciting times!

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Back to regular blogging business.

After a beautiful, sunny Saturday in the 60s, it rained all day Sunday. Then it started snowing.

In case you’re not familiar with the South and how we roll when it comes to snow, this resulted in a lot of two-hour delays this morning, and even some closings. I was already off work since it’s Presidents Day. Or, as the Federal government officially refers to the holiday, Washington’s Birthday. Which is actually February 22.

Anyway, it was a Federal holiday, so I got to sleep in. I woke up mid-morning for a Diet Sunkist and some mango Chobani Greek yogurt.

For a while I tried to stop drinking caffeine completely, but I couldn’t stand the withdrawal headaches, and you know what? I like caffeine. It’s tasty and while I do have high blood pressure and insomnia, one caffeinated drink a day is unlikely to kill me anytime soon. So I decided to compromise. Most days I drink one Diet Sunkist in the morning, and after that I switch to water. Some days we’ll eat out a lot and I’ll end up getting another soda or two, but I’m surprised at how well I’ve been doing with this most days. (Days that are not most days are days like Sunday, when I drank at least three Diet Sunkists. Maybe four.)

I was in the mood for a BLT wrap for lunch, but I’ve been trying to be better about using up leftovers in the fridge lately and I didn’t want to start on a new head of lettuce while  I still had part of a bag of salad left. Instead, I made a BLT salad with spring mix lettuce, delicious oven-baked bacon, Roma tomatoes, and a package of mayonnaise from Chick-Fil-A that my fiance found in one of my kitchen drawers yesterday.

It was excellent, and now I know that there’s no mayo in my fridge.

For a post-lunch snack, I had some chocolate non-pareils that have been hanging out in my pantry since we hit up A Southern Season a couple of months ago.

These guys were super rich; they remind me why I don’t buy boxes of Sno Caps very often.

For another afternoon snack, I munched on some pistachios.

I don’t ever really remember having a pistachio until late December, when my future in-laws put a bag of them in my stocking. They are delicious. Why did no one tell me about these things? I went through the bag in my stocking, then bought another bag at Aldi, then ordered three pounds of them from Amazon. They came in two separate containers and I left one at my apartment and took the other one to work. I’d subscribe to these pistachios if they’d let me. They are good.

I spent the afternoon cleaning, reading, doing a little recumbent biking, and playing with the dog before making stirfry for dinner.

I chopped up a chicken thigh and cooked it with half a bag of Trader Joe’s Harvest Hodgepodge frozen vegetables, then let it simmer with some TJ’s General Tso’s stirfry sauce. Something about stirfry sauce always tastes a little off to me–maybe it’s the soy sauce? But this was pretty good, since I made sure not to put too much in.

Along with dinner, I had a big glass of water and a little cup of freeze-dried blueberries and walnuts.

After dinner, I went on a short hunt for the most awesome flavor of Ben & Jerry’s ever put into production.

I’ve been looking for some Coffee Heath Bar Crunch for days. Target suddenly didn’t carry it anymore when I tried to get some Saturday. My fiance was going to pick up some for me at the grocery store Saturday night, but they were low on all flavors of B&J’s. I tried again at the same store tonight with no luck, but I was determined to find some before Lent starts and everyone in the blogosphere (including me) gives up eating candy. The next store I tried had a plentiful supply of Ben & Jerry’s. I ate at least half of the pint while sitting on the couch watching first season episodes of How I Met Your Mother. Breyer’s Heath Toffee Blast doesn’t hold a candle to this stuff.

Time to go pack food for the workday tomorrow. I promise to blog again before the week is out!

Posted on October 4, 2011 - by Ashley Jackson

So I might have lied…

…when I said I’d be back with another post like two and a half weeks ago. I’m still trying to figure out this whole working-full-time-while-dating-and-training-for-a-half-marathon-and-cooking-healthy-food thing.

My half-marathon–the one I had to bow out of last year because my left foot went all pear-shaped–is on November 6, and I’m a little behind on my training, but still feeling confident that I’m going to be able to finish. I had a totally awesome walk/run last Wednesday, totaling about 4.6 miles; I ran for the majority of it and was fine afterward except for some muscle soreness.

This was largely thanks to all the athletic tape I put on my foot beforehand.

Here are some pictures that made their way onto my camera over the past couple of weeks…

Here’s one of the almond butter pumpkin brownies I made.

They were pretty tasteless, but in a non-offensive way, and the texture was fantastic. I plan to mess around with this recipe so that it involves chocolate.

The Tuesday after Contagion came out, the boyfriend and I went to the Cheesecake Factory and then to the IMAX. This was my first time at the Cheesecake Factory and I agree with everyone who said the menu was overwhelming. I finally went with some salmon and broccoli…

…and some fries. Because I couldn’t think of anything else to order.

I did only eat part of the fries. And they were delicious. As was the salmon. I’ve never had salmon with tartar sauce before and it seemed weird to me when they brought it out, but I figured I’d try it anyway. It turned out to be pretty good.

With the exception of some donut binges and the occasional meal out, I’ve been trying to eat pretty primal lately. It’s been fun to try out new dishes, such as buffalo chicken and veggies.

I’m still trying to get the sauce right for the chicken, but it’s pretty good. I’ve also been making blue cheese dip to go with it (out of cream cheese and blue cheese crumbles).

There was even a trip to Golden Corral where I pretty much stuffed myself on veggies, fajita steak, and shrimp.

I also got a piece of cheesecake for shiggles, but I didn’t eat the crust. Oh, and I had some chocolate soft serve. Because I could.

On Saturday, September 17, it was time for BugFest. I volunteered at the USDA-APHIS booth for the fourth time and sampled some of the buggy fare. My boyfriend tried some, too, which made me happy. We had the cricket and crayfish jambalaya…

…and some fried waxworms, and then some chocolate-covered mealworms. I had the orange-chocolate ones. Mmm.

I have recently discovered a love for Chargrill. (It hasn’t supplanted my love for Cook-Out; these two loves can co-exist peacefully.) I like to order their low-carb option–a 1/2 lb hamburger on a bed of lettuce–with cheese, mayo, and tomatoes. And more lettuce. And I split an order of fries with my boyfriend (which is to say, I take some of his fries).

I like Chargrill because you don’t have to talk to anyone to order.  You just check off what you want on a ticket and put it in a slot. It appeals to me in the same way that self-checkouts at the grocery and the library do.

At some point, I made more buffalo chicken, and my boyfriend made garlic Parmesan fries, and their wonder twin powers activated into a totally awesome dinner that I ate way too much of.

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I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned it here before, but I’ve spent the last couple of years growing out my hair with the intention of one day getting it all cut off and donating it. I finally did it this Friday!

I chose to donate my hair to Pantene Beautiful Lengths because their length requirement is only 8 inches, and because I’ve heard a lot of positive things about their program–the donated hair is actually used for wigs, not sold for profit (as with some other, better known charities), and the wigs are given to women who have lost their hair because of cancer treatments.  Everyone always tells me how beautiful my hair is, so I hope that my donation will help make a kick-ass wig.

I’ve cut my own hair, had friends cut my hair, and gone to some less expensive salons (i.e., Great Clips, JC Penney), but I’ve never gotten my hair cut at a nice salon. I figured that since I was doing a good deed by getting my hair cut, I could splurge a little. I bought a LivingSocial voucher back in May for a nearby salon and I finally used it on Friday. The stylist cut off my ponytail…

…and then gave me an extremely cute haircut that was exactly what I wanted.

And thanks to the LivingSocial voucher, it ended up being about as expensive as getting my hair cut at Great Clips would’ve been. LivingSocial FTW!