date night and how i’m going to make up for it today…

Andrew and I went on a date last night.  An actual date.  I don’t even remember the last time we had a “true” date.  Sure, we go out to dinners and movies all the time, but they never feel like a “date.”  It’s just not-eating-at-home, or grabbing something convenient, or going to see the new summer blockbuster with Andrew’s family.  I think because we can go out often, we DO go out often, which takes away some of the “special-ness” of it all.

So, we decided mini-golf would be our date.  It was a typical New York summer night; the temps have dropped again (thank goodness!) and I was in a t-shirt, pants and a jean jacket–can you believe it!  As always, I lost to Andrew, but perhaps played my best 18 holes EVER, so that was fun.  After golf we stopped into Target to explore the new “Fresh” section they just put in.  We shared a cherry ICEE and a bag of popcorn and walked up and down the aisles, which was probably more fun for me than for Andrew, but it was nice to see what they had.

We left with some odds and ends and then made ANOTHER stop…this time to get DESSERT.  (Not that I needed it, but I’d had a crazy craving for chocolate and we’d discussed going to Taffy’s; I needed no more persuasion than that!)

Taffy’s is a 60-year-old hot dog and milkshake stand that is now on the corner of a busy intersection in Orchard Park.  Strip malls filled with Tim Horton’s, McDonald’s, Lowe’s and the like have sprouted up around it, yet it remains a local favorite.  It’s a tiny building surrounded by four-person gliders with canopies–perfect for a summer day or night.

They’re known for their milkshakes; they have a menu with about a hundred (or more!) options, all divided by main ingredient, like fruit or chocolate.  Thank goodness!  I’m indecisive enough!

I got a Raspberry Truffle milkshake (raspberry and chocolate) and Andrew got a vanilla ice cream cone.  We split an order of cajun curly fries.  YUM.  We’ll definitely go back, and I’ll be bringing the camera because Taffy’s deserves a post of its own!

I’m still four pounds away from my goal (grrr), so in order to make up for last night’s overindulgence, I’m going LIGHT today.  Very light.

Breakfast was a banana (I love eating bananas plain when they are yellow with just the tiniest hint of green; once they have the brown dots all over them I tend to mix them into things or slice them on toast with peanut butter) and coffee.  After my workout, I fixed myself a fantastic, Kath-approved snack:

I mixed up plain lowfat yogurt, flaxseed meal, 1 tbsp chocolate chips and the last of my frozen cherries in the blender, then topped with the last of my Great Harvest Groovy Granola.  YUM.  The granola makes it pretty high in calories (220 for 1/2 cup) but it also keeps me full for awhile.

I’m planning on finishing up the last of my hummus and veggies for lunch, with some fruit.  I’m cooking here tonight, finally, and we’re having Trader Joe’s Mango Chicken Sausages (they’ve been living in the freezer since Ohio!) with barbeque chips and fruit for dinner.

I bought Birthday Cake-flavored Kefir at Wegmans yesterday (I know, it sounds weird) in hopes that if I poured it over fruit it would KINDA taste like ice cream.  We’ll see.

overnight oats with drizzle

Finally!  I pulled a Kath and drizzled some peanut butter on my breakfast!

I’d been jonesing for some overnight oats topped with some of the last of my Great Harvest Groovy Granola for a couple days now, and I figured my frozen cherries would be just the fruit to make it with.

Last night I mixed up half a banana, 1/4 C instant oats (I’m going from “doesn’t prefer” to “major dislike” by the day), 1/2 C milk, 3/4 C frozen cherries and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

This morning I threw it all in a blender and topped with 1/2 C granola and, for once, a drizzle (1 tbsp) of Susy’s homemade white-chocolate peanut butter!  YUM.

Although I don’t think I would do the oats in this combination again; I think a fruit and yogurt mix is a better combo with the granola and peanut butter.  There is always tomorrow!

Busy day ahead:

-Pilates/Yoga then Kickboxing at the gym

-home for lunch

-maybe to the co-op for some picture-taking/documenting of their mural (more on that later!)

-Wegmans (we’re in DESPERATE need of some doggie bags!)

-date-night with Andrew 🙂

Happy Wednesday!

a list

1.  I AM SO HUNGRY.  With all the reading I’ve been doing (my newest cookbooks, my ex-pat-chef-living-in-France-memoirs, Pioneer Woman’s blog, Kath’s blog), I see food at every turn.  With just a few more pounds to go, I MUST control myself!

2.  Why is a cake cone called a cake cone?  It’s not made of cake, or really anything remotely like cake.  In fact, I’ve always thought they tasted like styrofoam.

3.  I called around to local apartment complexes today.  We have about another month here in the hotel, and if by the end of that month we have no solid prospects on a house, we have to get an apartment or house for rent.  It seemed a little dicey as I called place after place and heard they only accepted “small” dogs, or none at all.  However, it looks like there are at least two places that will take all three of us, and one is actually in East Aurora–praise God!

4.  We looked at a house today that is closer in price to $500K than $400K…  I don’t know what we were thinking.  Actually, I take that back.  I know exactly what Andrew was thinking.  He did his homework and found out the house had been for sale for a whole YEAR awhile ago and never sold…which means they’ll take less.  However, our “less” and their “less” are probably two very different numbers.  That, and in seeing the house, (while it was AMAZING) it was really too big for us.

5.  We just had a heat wave here, along with the rest of the country.  The temps soared to mid- to upper-90s and the locals were dying.  While it was definitely warm and uncomfortable, it wasn’t too bad for Andrew and me.  However, one must remember that a lot of people here don’t have a/c, including Andrew’s parents.  Their house was HOT.

6.  Have you heard of that “Dessert Delights” gum?  They have flavors like Key Lime Pie, Orange Dreamsicle and Strawberry Shortcake, all of which I’ve gotten before.  In the Target check-out line today I saw Apple Pie.  I grabbed it immediately.

7.  I’ll be in Phoenix next week with my mom and brother, Aaron, for his Assemblies of God National Youth Fine Arts competition.  I’m excited to see them both and his guitar solo, but I’m also excited to find hole-in-the-wall places to eat.  I love eating at special/famous/local favorites while I’m traveling; I think it’s better than sightseeing.

8.  Andrew’s 10-year high school reunion is this weekend.  I’m super excited.  Going to his reunion is second only to going to MY high school reunion, which is this October.  Let’s just say I’ve been waiting for this for, well, ten years.  In fact, I was actually a little worried that they’d be on the same weekend.  That is so me.

9.  I just ordered two more cookbooks; a smoothie one and an Eastern Mediterranean one.  I’d been eyeing the smoothie one for a bit and thought Andrew would like the other one.  And I had a 60% at The Good Cook.  I found another one to add to my wish list today: Quinoa 365.  Lord help me.

10.  I’m so hungry…did I already say that?