I had the pleasure of celebrating Halloween on Friday night at a friend’s Zombie Apocalypse party. These kids were really into it and had great decorations, detailed costumes, and even better food.

The rest of my weekend went by way too fast and per usual, I’m getting ready for another exam this week (almost over though!) To give myself a little treat today, I experimented with a little homemade pumpkin ice cream- and it might be he best thing ever. I’ve never tried pumpkin ice cream before, but this tastes just like icy pumpkin pie, wich I love, so in my opinion it’s wonderful! When I read about this easy DIY ice cream I knew I ha to try it, and thought adding some canned pumpkin and spices would be a great modification. The only trick (get it?) was solidifying it- shaking didn’t work, so I actually poured it into  bowl to freeze over night, which then required some thawing and stirring, but it still tasted wonderful.

 This time of year is always a little hard fo me, as both of my grandparents passed away around this time a few years ago. However, reminiscing about my grandfather gave me another great idea- pumpkin ice cream root beer floats! And it was the perfect opportunity to feature my favorite new cup from Tervis

I received this cup as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program to feature on the blog, and I can assure you that it has been constantly used. I keep it by my bed with water, and use it to make oatmeal while working at the lab, so it’s perfect for both hot and cold beverages (or meals.) After making the pumpkin ice cream, I just plopped some into my cup, splashed some root beer on top and savored it while reviewing yeast genetics (yum…?)

Unfortunately drinks aren’t very photogenic.

Pumpkin Root Beer Float:

Ice Cream: (modified from here)

3/4 cup milk product (I used light vanilla soy milk)

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 cup canned pumpkin

1 tp vanilla

pumpkin pie spice- unmeasured

Mix all ingredients until smooth, then pour into a sandwich bag. Place sealed bag inside a quart size bag and surround with ice and salt. Seal and shake for about 10 min. At this point I got tired of shaking and just froze it in a bowl, but I’m sure if you’re up to it you can keep shaking until it’s ice cream.

Scoop ice cream into a cup and cover with root beer. Enjoy!

Another great drink that I’m loving in this cup right now was designed for the over 21 crowd. I’ll call it Kate’s Newfangled, and it’s an update on the classic Old Fashioned.

Crush ~1/4 cup pomegranate with 1 tsp sugar. Add bourbon (Maker’s is my favorite) and ice, and serve with an orange slice.

This is a great “fall is coming but I’m not letting go of summer yet” drink.

Thanks to Foodbuzz and Tervis for the opportunity to receive this cup!

First up: spaghetti squash. Not something that was on my list, but they were on sale for $0.69/lb, so I found a small one to try. When I got to the register, it rang up at $1.79/lb!! I asked the attendant about it and he ended up giving it to me for free! It also came with instructions, so I followed them by cutting it in half and baking it in a pan with some water for about an hour, then scraped out the “noodles”- they were really just like spaghetti!

I didn’t have any sauce, so I sautéed onions and mushrooms in some oil, then added spinach just until wilted and piled it in with the squash.

For something so simple, I loved this meal. But it might have something to do with my love of mushrooms. And spinach. And squash…

I was really excited about how much squash there was- after you scrape it into “noodle” form, there is a lot more than it looks in its compact form. Which seems obvious as I type this, but it didn’t occur to me at the time. Some of the cool nutrition facts about spaghetti squash are that it’s about 42 calories per cup (compare to actual spaghetti at 220 cals/cup) and is a source of Vitamin A/beta carotene, Vitamin C, folic acid, and potassium. Both Vitamins A and C may have antioxidant properties. Folic acid is known as a preventative for neural tube defects (which is why it is fortified in American grain products) and it is a component of one of my research projects- the amount in a mother’s diet may have an impact on the child’s cancer defenses! Stay tuned for updates on the research findings! (How’s that for a teaser )

School has been dominating my life lately so I haven’t been up to too much fun, but I did get to go to my co-worker’s wedding yesterday! I love weddings, and I’ve been working with Erica since before she got engaged, so I really got to see this one come full circle. Unfortunately my camera is dying a slow death, so my pics aren’t turning out fabulous…

Let’s rewind about a week. It’s a beautiful day and Erica and I decide to go somewhere to sit on a patio and enjoy an adult beverage. She suggested Atomic Cafe which has Carribean-themed dishes. I got a goat cheese salad that was delicious and rich and nicely complimented with citrus fruits (sorry for the bad pics- in addition to a dying camera, it was also getting dark)

 While we were going through excitement and last-minute tasks for her wedding, we met up with John, an undergraduate student who worked with us in the lab this summer. Since he recently turned 21, we all had a celebratory shot together. Which somehow turned into John getting invited to Erica’s wedding. The more, the merrier!

The wedding was last night and it was a nice ceremony and fun reception complete with a photo shoot area with interesting props. Never one to turn down a photo-op that includes props, I acted like I was famous and cheesed it up- a few of my favs are below!

And now I have to work on all my assignments and tests for the week. Hope you’re having a beautiful day!

Hola! So, summer is over and classes started back this week. That went way too fast! I’m working on a lot of catch-up posts to remember the fun events of this summer, but this post is all business.

As part of the Foodbuzz Tastemaker’s program, I was able to try Birds Eye Voila! frozen meals. Being a poor graduate student, frozen meals make up the vast majority of what I eat these days, so I was more than happy to try these. And because my friends also happen to be poor graduate students who never need an excuse to gather for food and beverage, we decided to have a dinner-and-drinks party to celebrate the beginning of the school year (if I were saying this to you, you would detect sarcasm.)

My roomie (Christy) and I picked up supplies and headed over to my co-worker Erica’s apartment for dinner. Another friend was going to join us so we were well prepared with a variety of the Birds Eye Viola selections- I picked up Garlic Shrimp for free (thanks, Foodbuzz & Birds Eye!) and also used a BOGO coupon to get Alfredo Chicken and Chicken Florentine. Our fourth comrade couldn’t make it, so we decided to just make the Garlic Shrimp and Chicken Florentine flavors.

Erica was a great host and had this spread of bread , dips and grapes waiting for us

She immediately offered us a glass of wine, and I got to work in the kitchen. The instructions on these guys couldn’t be easier:

We were all impressed with the colors- lots of veggies in these meals! It made Christy and me very happy (nutrition nerds.)

Cooking should always require wine, even if your cooking only involves a splash of water and occasional stirring for 10 minutes. Sooner than I knew it, we were ready to eat.

I tried tastes of both flavors, but picked out the chicken (still not eating meat, but wanted to try the dish!) I ate the Florentine first and thought it was really good.

But then I tried the shrimp and was blown away- definitely a restaurant-quality meal! Both of the girls had the same reaction. We weren’t sure if it was the crunch of the corn that added to the texture, or just the combination of flavors, but we all went back for more helpings until this skillet was gone!

I asked the girls for their opinions on the chicken, and they were split- Erica really liked it, but Christy wasn’t a fan of the texture of it. However, we were all very satisfied with the meals and were really impressed with the taste and amount of veggies in the dishes. We all plan to eat these meals again, but I’m really holding out until a store here carries the Shrimp Scampi! I also wish they would make a vegetarian-friendly meal- the flavors would be great with some mushrooms and edamame in the mix (go veg!)

We had both been at the gym before and ate a quick snack before heading to the show, which we soon found was totally unnecessary. The very first booth was a caterer with lots of samples:

And that was followed by cakes!

I sampled a piece of dark chocolate champagne and vanilla bean, chased with mint and lemon iced tea. Chocolate and champagne wins! And I’ve decided my future husband will need to be a cake baker…

More goods were consumed, bo pictures were not taken. But I did learn that playing bride for an afternoon gets you lots of attention and all the fun of trying lots of different tastes (just like a real wedding!) without all the stress of planning!

After the Happy Hour specials wrapped up, we headed to a friend’s house for some drinking and regrouping. Our hostess, Lindsay, made an exceptional bartender

Her specialty drink was a delicious concoction of vodka, diet 7up, and a splash of pink grapefruit juice- we named it “Summer Delight”

I suppose it was like Christmas in July…

Random group photos were taken

And then our group relocated to Marrika’s, which is known for its extensive beer supply and sand volleyball tournaments. Oh yes, we played. It wasn’t pretty. It was getting pretty late at that point, so most people decided to go home. But not my future roomie and me- we decided to head downtown for some girl talk and food. Since we’re both relatively new to Lexington, we went to the only place we knew and that was still open- Hugh Jass Burgers.

We split a veggie burger and sweet potato fries and called it a night. All night my knee was bothering me but I didn’t see why until I got home- I had this beaut to thank

Which brings me back to the cleaning subject. I’m going booze-free, added sugar-free and minimal processed foods for a while. My body just feels sluggish and like I need to clean it out. This will a challenge, as I’m also trying to eat the rest of the food in my house without buying more until I move. Hence the “minimal processed foods”…

A patriotic breakfast, since I’m still kinda “on holiday” at least until my car is ready to drive back to Kentucky…

Mom and I enjoyed watching the Wimbledon final at the neighbor’s house with a great spread of fruits, cheese and crackers, and a homemade black walnut cake that was delish. Another fun update- I ran! I keep getting injured every time I try to start a training program, so I’m taking it slow. Since we’re in the country and all, I had to run on a small 2-lane road and dodge a few cars, but it helped me to a speedy 2.8 mile run in 25 min.

Back to crossing my fingers to hope nothing’s wrong with my car!

I’ve met some amazing people in Kentucky and I’m having great experiences. The change in my study direction has also led me in directions I never thought I’d be heading. It seems appropriate that I change the theme and title of my blog to reflect my current life situation. Instead of blogging regularly about what I’m eating and how I’m living to maintain a healthy weight, now I’ll be focusing on the things I’m doing in Kentucky and about my research. I’m excited about all the changes and where my life is going, so I hope you’ll be entertained by the new format!

I didn’t want to weigh myself recently because I thought maybe I could regulate everything and get back to a more normal weight on my own, but that hasn’t happened. In fact, this morning I found out that I’m the heaviest now than I’ve been in 7 years, when I first lost a lot of my college weight. Yikes! So now is the time to get serious about reigning in my eating at night and keeping workouts strong.

And for a shameless plug- one of my best motivators is to think about how indulging in foods now can endanger my health for the future, and that by just making simple changes you can help improve your future livelihood. This concept is what motivated me to study nutrition in the first place, and lead me to my graduate program at the University of Kentucky. Now the UK Nutritional Sciences Student Association is participating in the American Heart Association’s Heart Walk, and I would love any support for this cause by clicking here to donate- any amount is greatly appreciated!

• I became an aunt! My brother and his wife welcomed an adorable baby girl to our family, Jenna Grace

• Finished my first semester of grad school with a 4.0 GPA! Still contemplating Master’s v. PhD…
• Winter break- celebrated with family, friends, and Chelsea Handler. It was a riot.
• Decided to train for the Kentucky Derby half-marathon. Waiting on actually registering until I survive a few longer runs without knee issues
• The boy and I broke up
• Gained 10 lbs

My eating and exercising habits have been off for the past few weeks, and I have the sudden weight gain to show for it. The best way for me to hold myself accountable and really assess what’s going on is to track it on the blog, so here I go again! And I find it fitting, seeing as I am in a nutritional sciences program, and this is National Nutrition Month, for me to use this as an opportunity to explore more foods and new ways of eating them while fueling for my half training and maintaining a vegetarian —> veganish diet. (PS- haven’t eaten meat in months! Did have tuna the other day though…)

Hope you’ll enjoy the journey with me!