No Alarm!

So i was going to attempt the whole “Move your Alarm Clock to another part of the room” thing… and i blew a fuse last night and when i restored the fuse… i forgot to reset my clock. But get this…i woke up EARLY! 6am. I went to take a nice shower and remembered as the freezing water hit my back (and shrieked) that the boiler is being repaired and I wont get a hot shower until later when i return home (shit). I should have sat down to a hot breakfast but when i opened my cereal cabinet, i got a whiff of chocolate and peppermint!
The delicious chocolate that Tiffany sent me! and I sprinkled it on my cornflakes. OH MAN. SOOOO GOOD! I love you Tiffany and you crack-licious chocolate.
I still havent been grocery shopping and plan on making a trip with the roomie… once we are home at the same time… so I had some leftover brown rice… and lots of eggs.

This made for a very interesting and Poor Lunch. thank goodness for hot sauce, salt and pepper.

and new popchips! Found this at Duane Reade and swiped a bag. Loved it so much I wrote a letter to popchips telling them i was in love and might name my first child Jalapeno PopChip Rodriguez. We can call him JP for short.

I was looking forward to dinner becuase I had a tray of stir fry veggies from TJs and a really good stir fry sauce… so at least dinner would be more than eggs.

MMM. Veggies.

And Tilapia! haven’t had tilapia in FOREVER!

I used a tbsp of stir fry suace and added some water and spices. I let it simmer to thicken up and it made a very nice brown sauce.

Piled it onto some WHITE rice and ate. It was the best stir fry ever… felt bad too becuase i didnt make enough to share.

-Whats the simplest most delish meal you have ever made?

-On your broke days what is your go to meal?

Diiiiirty Martiiiiiniiiis

Hope you are all still standing. I didn’t partake in the St. Pattys madness this year (or any other year) but the day before that… I did my own partying.
I love to have fun and be social but the 95 year old woman in me HATES crowds. Like the kind of crowds where you cant scratch your nose because there are that many people around you and you cant lift your freakin arm… people this is not a good time- this is an opportunity for some pervert to grind on your ass. (Working in the law enforcement field has changed my life that way. I see crowded subways and think “Oh No! Subway Grinders!” )
In a rare occasion that there is a happy hour after work, i decided to venture out and hope that an hour of fun will not have mickey doing the pee pee dance when i get home (spoiler: she was not dancing when i got home). Before I get into happy hour… lets talk about the disaster: my menu.
I went to work with a mug of hot cafe con leche. It was delicious. So delicious in fact that i forgot to eat my oatmeal. Not a big deal i guess… but when i skip breakfast I subconsciously make up for it later on in the day- NO BUENO.
And almost as soon as i realized i forgot to eat breakfast the 5 year old in my stomach was whining for lunch.
(you should never give in to a whiny child) A tuna and spring green sammie with garlic aioli and a touch of mayo. the bread was sensational (better be if one loaf cost $5) and the tuna was MEH. Not the best quality. When i mixed it up it kind of turned into a paste…not cool cuz i like tuna.

And some pop chips to make it all better. The whiny child stopped whining and I modeled a very funky summer color on my nails that looked really cute in the bottle but a little loud on my olive hands. I like it… but i think it would suit a 16 year old better (did you know 10 years ago I was 16- *crying*)

My coworkers were in the mood to hang and they invited me out. Normally, i take my booty home to cuddle with Mickey but its been a while and this nice weather puts me in a great mood to socialize.

I always go and say “okay guys, but ONLY one drink, k?”

and everyone laughs.

Drink #1

Drink #2

NOT PICTURED Drink #3. The one that was not dirty… and after two dirty martinis, a regular one tastes good enough to glug- which i kinda did… oops

random clicks

This is what I look like on 3 dirty martinis (red and shiny with tingly feet) and an empty stomach. And by the way… the effects of alcohol are killer when you have nothing in your stomach.

I grabbed a coworker who lived near me and asked her to share a cab with me because the thought of a swaying train for an hour really didnt sound like something that would be beneficial to me…. and how nice is is to split a $30 cab ride? (yes, i live far from the city)

When I got out of the cab I made a B line to the best pizzeria on the block.

and got a lil greedy!
And look who couldn’t care less that I came home tipsy and 2 hrs late. (mind the mess in the background)

A little behind…

I’m a weekend behind on photos… so I have broken them down into days- so as not to bore or overwhelm. k, pumpkins?
Eating right… week 3. How does it feel?
pretty good.
Spoiler alert- i cheated over the weekend… pretty badly… but i promise you that I get back on track.
Big surprise as to what I had for breakfast Friday. Grits. But I had the kind with baco bits. It smelled so nasty when i opened the package and because I literally had nothing else to munch for brekkie, I prepared it anyway. And you know what? it didnt taste the way it smelled. it was actually pretty good. I like fakin bacon! yum!

Around lunchtime, I had a very boring turkey and cheese sandwich with a teeny tiny cup of soup. Those lil cupa-soups arent the best tasting things on the planet but really filling for only 50 cals. And please pick out those nasty freeze dried pieces of “chicken”- they are so damn disgusting!

pop chips! seriously, how can you not love these? I have converted a few snackers with these babies and now whenever my buddy gets a bag for herself she comes through with a bag for me. ((((friends))))

And after seeing a funny commercial about these… and them being right in my face at the checkout line in the drugstore (conspiracies) I thought – why not!

Pretty good. Kind of menthol-y, like a cough drop but not. They are refreshing and kill the snack attacks.

And now for my epic dinner fail…

I got a little over-zealous with my Korean marinade. It was GREAT on mahi mahi so i figured I would use it to marinate some chicken.

I should have stopped there. I really wanted some veggies and thought that the marinade would make a good stirfry sauce.

Frozen greenbeans and fresh broccoli.

recipe for disaster coming right up. As it was cooking, I was tasting to make sure I didnt over season or overcook. the broccoli took to the marinade nicely but the greenbeans were gross. In an effort to get my veggies in…

I added some portobello mushrooms to the mix…

they really saved my dinner. And they are amazing. I forgot how much i loved mushrooms. Its been too long!

For the exception of those greenbeans… dinner was pretty good. But i think i am taking a break from the korean marinade or maybe get a recipe for the vegetables…

How do you like your frozen green beans?

the Love/Hate Relationship

I LOVE to cook.
I HATE to clean up.
Thats why when I cook, i try to make Henry Clean.

My lovely roommate put something in my cabinet when she first moved and told me I would get addicted to it if i tried it- but then warned me that it was extremely hard to find…and I thought maybe i should stay away from it.
But when do i ever stay away from anything?!?!
right.
The something: Chocolate Malt-O-Meal. Chocolate. Hot wheat cereal.
Bowl #1. Creamy. Chocolate. 130 calories. satisfying.
But IM GREEDY…

Bowl #2. Even better than bowl #1. I found this stuff on amazon… and also discovered a maple and brown sugar flavor. Holy Foodie heaven! Since this is becoming something I am indeed craving and addicted to I must replace roomies box for fear she might kill me.

She wouldn’t kill me…

but why take a chance?

Went to work. Noshed on a pear. This pear came in a giant bag from Trader Joes. It was so sweet!!!

Doncha hate when you are eating a pear like an apple and the damn thing splits in half?

For lunch I had a mini ham and cheese wrap with Pickles and sea salt/vinager pop chips.

I was enjoying this delicious lunch with a really delicious book! (Jemima J)

For dinner,

grilled chicken.

Fresh corn on the cob.

and sugar snap peas (SNP).

I love SNP ROASTED!!!!

After washing your peas, arranged them on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with PAM, or lightly coat the peas with EVOO. Sprinkle the peas with salt and pepper. Place in the oven at 400* for 10-15 minutes.

Or until like this. Its sweet and savory at the same time and I love how they carmelize ont he edges. What a lovely side dish!

My chicken was kind of plain so i gave it a kick.

lightly buttered corn on the cob. BBQ grilled chicken, roasted sugar snap peas and a side salad (i never ate the salad)

I havent had a dinner like that in a while and i remembered when I was scrubbing the dishes… When Henry is late I have to cook and wash. boo!

When Henry showed up, I was already done with dinner and looking for a dessert type thing… I managed to get a free box of Blueberry Muffin poptarts.

It looked pretty good and I used to be addicted to poptarts as a child…

but sadly this was just nasty. the filling was more frosting that was too sweet to enjoy- God I sound like my mother! I think if I were 15 i would love this… but im an old fart so no- not my thing….

I ate baby sweedish fish instead.

The nerve!

I become official and then i disappear! The Nerve, Diva!
Okay okay.
See, what had happened was….
I took an insane amount of pics that I didnt feel like resizing or uploading and now I have some REALLY GOOD stuff coming up and I have to get these blokes out the way. Not that they aren’t special to me… its just that wonderful things are coming up and I want to build the excitment…

are you excited yet?
Okay cool.
Smart Ones has a breakfast quesadilla! And when i picked up a box I told myself that they would be for emergencies only. But I never listen to myself. So I just got lazy and figured, breakfast is in the freezer and didnt make my steel cut oats. bah!
The quesadillas come in a crisping sleeve and appear to have some yummy ingredients inside.

My microwave must be on SUPER POWER becuase this thing was crunchy but in a “Shit, the cheese is so hard it tastes like a cracker” kind of crunchy. But I like burnt cheese. So this was okay. Warning, nuked scrambled egg and cheese get really HOT and can squirt into your mouth when you take a bite. Don’t be a beast, let it cool off!

Oh Lunch!

I had a Dr. Prager’s tex mex veggie burger on top of a sesame seed hamburger white wheat bun that should have been toasted and some garlic laughing cow slathered onto the buns.

Mushy, but yummy. Next Time, DEFINITELy toasting the bun.

Alongside is a steamed side of broccoli- definitely helps to fill you up on days that you don’t trust yourself with the 3 serving bag of popchips that you got for free.

Later in the day (at work) I got a package via interoffice mail. usually when i get boxes its from the supply people ((((NEW PENS)))). I took a pic because my reputation surpasses the confines of the blog and has leaked into my professional life.

behold: the package is addressed to Monique “Diva” Rodriguez.

I can’t deal. LOL. My boss saw that and had a chuckle over it.

Dinner! You know what is a really bad habit of mine?

Ordering with my eyes. as in I will order everything and really only want a piece of bread…. and guess who else likes to do that??? Henry.

we are in trouble!

So, lookign at the menu for some mexican food… we decided on the following in this order:

H: Babe, that chipotle chilli sounds really good. Order that one. (thats a side dish)

M: oh yeah, that does sound good! Oh! they have quesadillas. MMM jack cheese and pico de gallo. wanna split that?

H: yeah. I wanna try their chimichangas.

M: No, those are deep fried….(reading)…(gasping) FAJITAS. they come by the pound!

H: 2 lbs?

M: what planet are you from? ONE POUND! (am i crazy?)

H: chicken and steak

M: yeah hold on let me order.

Hi, can i get a delivery. Yes, its Monique. I’m fine how are you? Tell you sister I said hi. No not the usual today. can I get a chipotle chili side dish, jack cheese and pico de gallo quesadilla, and one pound of hte chicken and steak fajitas? (caluclating) Wait! and can I get a large side of guac, small side of sour cream and an extra frijoles? Wonderful! (it came out to $25)

(25 mins later)

M: DAAAAYUUUUM! look at all this food!

H: take a picture!!!!

the next day we had huevos rancheros for breakfast, fajitas for lunch and enchilas for dinner

I got my moneys worth!

Hi, I’m allergic to trees

Hey ya’ll! Boy, is it hot today!
I woke up with itchy eyes, a runny nose, and a sore thoat. The culprit: TREES! I am allergic to tree pollen…and grass pollen but mostly tree pollen. Where do I live? Surrounded by trees. Where do i walk my dog? In Forest Park. FOR-EST = TREES.
Is the allergy medicine working? hell no.
So my itchy runny sneezy self seeks comfort.
last night i remembered a european chocolate yogurt someone gave me from trader joes and i loved it. I had some plain yogurt in the fridge and chocolate syrup…
I mixed it all together.And created my chocolate yogurt. I used the plain yogurt because of all the sweetness from the chocolate. It wasnt too sweet and definitely satisfied a sweet tooth. However, i ate with my eyes and there is more than half of this bowl sitting in my fridge right now (but at least its healthy).I went to Dunkin Donuts this morning on a mission for iced coffee (as I sip my 2nd iced coffee of the day) and saw in the window that they have a new sammie. Egg white and cheese on an english muffin. I used to order that (back when i was rich) every morning from the deli before work. It was a great deal and it was pretty damn tasty. I shall be ordering it again.

Yesterday, i raved about my Dr. Praeger Burgers and I made one for todays lunch. This is a shot from last nights dinner but I made two, one for dinner and one for lunch. I added goat cheese to the mix and it was fantabulous. Alongside these babies are some BBQ popchips. I wanted polenta fries but didnt feel like slicing, grilling, waiting, etc. Chips did a good job! At lunch though, I munched on carrot sticks.

For dessert, I indulged in a square of my truffle cake chocolate bar. This was a great gift from my coworkers. One square is rich and delicious and is a total treat. I am almost done with the bar and am savoring every last bit.

And around 3 pm i was craving some yogurt and granola….so I had some! It was supposed to be my breakfast but that egg white and cheese sammie sounded more appealing. I used plain fat free greek yogurt, honey and a crumbled granola bar and had a party in my tummy. Sometimes (i said SOMETIMES), you have to listen to what your body is craving -it will prevent you from going overboard.

I dont have any plans for dinner but think I might open up my new Dr. Praegers TEX MEX burgers to bring for lunch tomorrow!

A PopChips Review! RAVES

A few weeks ago i received some PopChips to try and review. The people over at PopChips are fantastic and I loved working with them! Its a pleasure to be able to do this review and I am happy to report that I have converted 3 potato chip eaters into PopChip lovers! Over the course of the last few days I have been munching away and giving a lot of thought into the comments you will read below.
I will be using a measuring system of 5 being the best and 1 being the worst with my little friend who popped up when I googled images for CHIP.

Its hard to choose what to try first when you have no idea what you are getting yourself into. So I just reached into the box with my eyes closed and pulled out the Sea Salt and Vinegar Chips. I have never really been into the salt and vinegar variety so my expectations were that high…
But I was impressed! First impression was how crunchy and NON-Greasy these chips were. And second was the burst of flavor that came with each bite. I will say that while these chips do not smell appealing to me, they taste great (especially alongside a turkey and cheese sammie!)

Next up, Salt and pepper variety. It wasn’t bad, it was pretty good actually but I was a bit overwhelmed at first bite with the pepper.
three Chips for Salt and Pepper. I enjoyed it but I’m a bit wimpy when it comes to pepper. It scores major points for having the cracked black pepper as opposed to peppery powder. So if you love Cracked Black Pepper – these will knock your socks off!

The original brand taste a lot like MUNCHOS to me, which bring me back to my days in High School where I could scarf a bag of chips and some cookies for lunch without any consequences whatsoever!
This had a great flavor and I cant tell you how much I loved to crunch these bad boys! They are damn good chips! They don’t overpower your mouth with different taste, these are a standard potato chip flavor.

WHOA Nelly! Now if you are new to reading this blog you might not know the foodgasm that is the garlic parm variety! I loved this one so much that I crushed them and breaded some chicken with them and even shared the recipe with the snackers at PopChips! I hope they like it as much as i currently do. So its no surprise that I award this one a perfect score!
Best Flavor By far! I think that at some point while I was munching on these I had a “pizza” taste in my mouth! Which got me thinking…PopChips should definitely come up with a Pizza flavor! It would be a winner in my book! You might need some gum after this one! LOL.

And last but not least, the BBQ flavor. What chip does NOT come in BBQ? BBQ is a classic flavor! And this review is for my momma and poppa. I gave them each a bag to try and judging by the number of times they have called me since I gave them a bag beggin and pleading for more, I am guessing this is a 5 chip for them!
BBQ gets a perfect score. What I personally like about this flavor is the “mesquite” kind of flavoring. Some bbq chips don’t hit the mark because the BBQ is too smoky, too peppery, or too sweet and this one offers up a perfect balance of all that makes a good BBQ flavor. I enjoyed it. And cant wait to stock up on my favorite flavors.

The New Alarm Clock is the Smoke Detector

After a disagreement with Henry, I went to bed at 10pm last night. I figured I might as well get a good nights sleep since neither of us are speaking (Don’t worry- We are OK now) and was startled at 2 am when I remembered that I had my bread machine working on some Italian Herb Bread that was scheduled to be done at Midnight. So I hopped out of bed, plopped the loaf into a container and shut the appliance off. Then at 430 I was startled out of bed when my smoke detector (which sounds a lot like a nuclear strike warning) went off and was BLARING! There were NO signs of smoke anywhere and I couldn’t figure out how to disarm it. Im sure it woke the neighbors. Roomie woke up and helped disarm it. This has happened before so I warned Peter that it might go off again for no reason whatsoever. He took my warning and threw the damn thing in the kitchen drawer. 20 minutes later it went off again. I got up, disarmed it and went back to bed. ANOTHER 20 mins later, it went off… This time Peter ran out of his room and stole the batteries to it. It beeps no more. By this time it was 5 am. I couldnt sleep… so why did i MAKE myself? Only to wake up 2 hrs later. Worst sleep ever! I was exhausted. I should have stood up and did some Yoga or something… jeez.
For brekkie today I brought some Vanilla Chobani and a Banana. I only ate the banana. So the yogurt waits for me till tomorrow.

I ran out of Shampoo so at the suggestion of my coworker, i went to LotLess. Its a closeout store of sorts downtown Manhattan and they sell so many things for practically nothing. I went for shampoo and came out with Office Loot! I got Cocoa Via Bars (2 boxes) for $.99! I got the Trident splash for $1.99, Milky Way 100 cal bars for $.99 and the shampoo for $1.99…not pictured: Halls Raspberry Cough drops $.99.

I tasted the Milkway and its mega yum! its a nice size and will go GREAT in my dessert later! (ice cream – duh!) MMM. Milky Ways in Vanilla Ice Cream!

Then i had a square of the 100 Calorie Cocoa Via Bar. It has Blueberries and Almonds in dark chocolate. Its good but I cant have too much of this…its too sweet. But I think it will taste good chopped up in my yogurt or oats. And when I got back I ate my lunch! Turkey and American Cheese, mayo, spicy mustard, and Lettuce. Accompanied by some red seedless grapes and a sliced pear.

And later today, when I have a snack attack I will be reaching for the BBQ PopChips. Nom! Im in the mood for some of that chicken I made over the weekend!

My fruits in my lovely Fit n Fresh pack. I hate my fruit when its too cold. Its not warm but its slightly chilled in the pack. YUM!

The Sandwich. I really like the way the density of the Trader Joe’s White Wheat Bread. Its a thick slice of bread that holds up well when its chilled. Most white breads get thin and soggy, this is chewy and fluffy at the same time.
Last night, pre disagreement, the boy came over for dinner. I had tofu on the brain and this was the easiest thing I could make…

I used soy sauce, chicken bouillon, onion, garlic, broccoli, 2 eggs, and whole wheat capellini. Seasoned with Hot pepper flakes. It was really good.

I overestimated how much we were going to eat. I have leftovers and I might have them for dinner tonight or tomorrow. I have some ideas brewing for dinner…. I have some polenta that i want to cook… I have feta cheese I dont want to forget about….and I have an eggplant that I bought because it was $1. what should i do?

PopChips Chicken

Look at what the lovely folks over at PopChips sent me! I was relieved to know that this package was waiting safely at a neighbors house. As soon as I got it, I opened it up!

Lots of PopChips for me to play with…I mean try and fall in love with and tell you all to try. If I learned one thing with these blogs is that when i read your blogs, I get hungry and I go out and buy what people wrote about. So hopefully you see what I have to say about certain products and trust my opinions. Be warned, you might want to go out and get some PopChips of your own.

As promised when I made the Pretzel Chicken, i was going to try a PopChicken.

So After dance class on Saturday, I got cooking. I had a chicken leg and thigh hanging out in the fridge that needed to be eaten. I used one egg white, 1 bag of Parmesan garlic pop chips, and some fresh ground black pepper.

I opened the bag a tiny bit to let some air out while I crushed the chips to crumbly pieces.

See? Crumbly.

Then, I dredged the chicken in my egg whites and then pressed the chicken into the PopChips. I like the way it sounds when I do this. I’m weird that way.

Here are the two lovely pieces of chicken. One bag of PopChips was just enough to coat two pieces of chicken. I sprinkled the chicken pieces with pepper.

I put the toaster oven on Broil. And used Nonstick foil. I cooked each side for 30 minutes.

After one hour. DROOL. BY the way, the apartment smelled like pizza.

I let the chicken sit for a while so the juices could be evenly distributed and plated the chicken. Once it slightly cooled, I went in for the bite. It crunched. It was heavenly, it was not greasy but tasted like fried chicken. The garlic Parmesan flavored up the chicken very nicely and I might not enjoy chicken any other way.

Imagine what you could do with sliced boneless chicken breasts??? PopChips Chicken Nuggets Anyone?

Monday, Monday

Happy Monday! Its freezing! I spent the morning FIGHTING to get out of bed because it was warm under the covers and my floors were ICE Cold! Once I got out of the shower though, I felt better. Nothing like a scalding hot shower to wake you up!
Breakfast today is a plain Chobani with a handful of some Total Cranberry Crunch.

I got a sample of this cereal and knew that this sample size was not enough to enjoy as a bowl of cereal. Its less than 1/4 of a cup! But it made a great addition to my yogurt.

I added a packet of splenda for more sweetness. I would have loved some strawberries but havent seen any worth buying.
Random snacks throughtout the day include a sliced pear and a Fiber One Bar. I usually eat the Fiber One Bar on the way home so I’m not starving after my 1 hr commute.

Lunch is inspired by Missy, who seems to be influencing my grocery list every day with her food pics. I am eating a sandwich for lunch *gasp*.

I started with some of Trader Joes White Wheat Bread and added a tsp of mayo and 2 tsp of the garlic aioli sauce. I topped it with some Romaine Lettuce for crunch.

Then I added two thin slices of deli cheese.

And two slices of deli oven roasted turkey breast.

Put it in a sandwich baggie….

And packed some sea salt and vinager pop chips.

A long time ago, I was a sandwich junkie and bought this uber cool lunch pack from Bed Bath and Beyond. Its a compartment that holds a 3 course lunch. A sandwich, an ice pack, and two small containers for sides like fruit and veggies.

My two compartments have sliced apples and pop chips in them.

The ice pack ensures my sammie stays fresh. (i wrapped the sammie so it doesnt get soggy from the moisture of the ice pack)

And there my sammie sits, in perfect shape. Unsquished and at a safe temperature. To get your cool sandwich keeper click here.

I have quite a few choices for dinner but think I will be having either grilled tofu or grilled pork chops with grilled eggplant and salad. pics to follow of course!

And i’m already thinking about an ice cream sundae for dessert…if i have heat in the apt!