Chatty Cathy
Posted: November 30, 2009 Filed under: Delish Dinners | Tags: broccoli, chicken, chocolate cake 17 Comments »
This cheery little penguin helped me get back into the swing of things today. I’ve mentioned this before (probably a million times), but my classroom is the temperature of a meat locker, so I drink hot water all day long. I’m not a huge fan of tea, but I love holding something warm in my hands (and up to my cheek on occasion) – so I sip on hot H2O and I love it.
I actually felt very refreshed today. The alarm made me want to scream this morning, but I got over it as Jillian forced me to do squat jumps and plank-twists as the sun came up. The rest of the day went well, the kids were awfully chatty, but I honestly don’t mind “chatty” – there are worse moods when it comes to 8 year olds. I can do chatty.
I always call my class “Chatty Cathys” – and the boys hate being called Cathy. I guess I could call them “Chatty Charlies”…hmm, I think I like that!
I stayed at school way too late planning and re-arranging desks, so when I got home at 7ish, I was pretty hungry. The only possible thing I could have made for dinner was in the freezer – and I was kind of dreading it, but it came together surprisingly well and turned out to be exactly what I wanted.
Meeker cut up some chicken (because I am repulsed by raw meat) and then I seasoned it with salt, lemon pepper and garlic powder and sautéed it until slightly browned. Next, I added frozen broccoli and green beans and seasoned them similarly. Once everyone was cooked, I poured a mixture of mustard, soy sauce and water over the pan. Perfection. I ate it atop ½ cup rice and drizzled some sweet chili sauce over the top. It really hit the nail on the head.
Monday Night Football is on, but I plan to plug in some headphones to the computer and watch some Everwood…the best show. (I’m already on season three, Cait!)
Monday, check!
***
Edited to add…
I just found this piece of my mom’s cinnamon/chocolate cake in the back of the fridge. It was fantastic. That is all.
Brown Bag Goodies
Posted: November 30, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized 13 Comments »I woke up feeling refreshed this morning, and after day 26 of the shred, sat down to a very simple breakfast.
That is one egg with hummus, one cup of coffee and one piece of toast with…
The one and only, Trader Joe’s sunflower seed butter. There was a TJ’s in Santa Fe. I got a lot of yummy goodies that will be making an appearance throughout the week.
Some of which are in my packed lunch!
That would be: leftover turkey soup, peanut butter filled pretzels, dried mango and a few peanuts and dates.
With that, I’m off to school! Have the happiest Monday!
What is your favorite thing to pack for lunch?
For me, leftovers are always the best. Leftovers and TJ’s semi-healthy junk food.
Jiggity Jig
Posted: November 29, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Thanksgiving 17 Comments »Home again, home again…
I am so beyond thankful for my amazing family, and our safe, relaxing Thanksgiving. For me, there is nothing more rejuvenating than being together with the people you care about most.
Here we (Meeker and I) are in Santa Fe, NM. We spent the day after Thanksgiving walking, talking and window shopping with 18 of my family members, ages 1 -83.
There were the coolest kitchen shops.
However, Santa Fe isn’t the cheapest place on earth, so I didn’t buy anything. But I sure had fun looking and just hanging out with everybody.
From left to right: my mom, me, Meeker and my aunt Sheryl.
I had just woken up from a car nap about 10 minutes before this picture – so excuse the bed head/puffy eyes. I’m so vain.
My mom did buy me a beautiful handmade mug for an early birthday present in Toas, NM on the way home.
This picture was actually taken this morning with my coffee, but I had to throw it in here to show it off. Isn’t that color gorgeous?!
We stopped at Meeker’s grandparents’ ranch on the way back and had a delicious bowl “Turkey Leftover Soup” before heading home. I love it when our families can all be together around the dinner table.
Beautiful soup…
and beautiful scenery taken from the backseat.
Meeker took this picture of me as we were almost home after our long car ride. I was really ready to be out of the car.
After a fantastic night’s sleep in my own bed, snuggling with my puppy, this morning was spent at church and at lunch with Meeker’s family – and then home again to clean and organize before the upcoming week. This last week flew by, but it was so wonderful to spend it with my family. It’s hard to believe that Christmas break is only 3 weeks away!
What was the best part of your Thanksgiving?
Yes, I want Thanksgiving.
Posted: November 26, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Thanksgiving 16 Comments »Surprise! I didn’t think there would be wireless internet where we are staying – but there is! In fact, this place is pretty sweet. Especially the kitchen. More on that later.
“This place” that I am referring to is in a little town called Glorieta, New Mexico. It belongs to the church that my uncle works at – and is made to accommodate large groups of people for retreats and such – but my family of 18 is really enjoying the space.
There has been a lot of this…
Puzzle working and football watching.
And take a look at this kitchen…
Cousins, sister-in-law, aunt, and nice (on the shoulders in the background)
The kitchen has five ovens, three stoves, two refrigerators, two dishwashers, and endless cabinet space, pots, pans and utensils. A foodie’s dream.
I started this morning out with the shred while my family was watching and cousins were mocking. But, it felt good to be moving after the long car ride yesterday. Then I sat down to a hilariously small breakfast.
My daddy’s homemade bread with jam.
My aunt stuck her hand in here to show how small it really was.
Peanuts and a fudge baby. I didn’t feel hungry at all…I think my stomach was subconsciously saving up for the meal that was to come.
After nibbling like a mouse for breakfast, I started on my sweet potato dish.
I enlisted my dad’s help to thinly slice the ‘taters, then layered them in a pan with goat cheese and parmesan cheese.
This is pre-cooking.
I also took a big risk and tried out a new recipe for roasted Brussels sprouts.
I soaked them to get the dirt off.
Then chopped and drizzled with evoo and balsamic vinegar.
And then roasted them for about 30 minutes at 400* before adding toasted almonds and parmesan cheese. Delish. The family responded fairly well – they all told me they were “good” – but honestly, they weren’t the best things ever. I liked them too, but I probably wouldn’t make the recipe again.
I also took lots of “action in the kitchen shots”
My mom, brother and nephew…and a lot of other cooks in the background.
A local BLUE egg.
Mom, niece and Meeker, creating a beautiful salad…
My sister-in-law plating her ah-maze-ing fudge creations.
From the outside in: white chocolate cinnamon, chocolate peanut butter and pumpkin spice fudge. They are all my favorites.
After a glorious few hours in the kitchen, cooking and laughing with my family, it was time to feast!
A table for 18
The spread…
My thirteen year old cousin’s nutritious plate…
The family starting to chow…
My plate…
Classy Styrofoam cups with my name. (My family calls me “Kate”)
I ate most of this, then went for a smaller dessert sampler.
Pretzel pudding, chocolate cake, bread pudding, and some fudge. A bite of each.
And some coffee to wash it all down.
Then the family went for an hour long walk to digest and chat. I’m so thankful my family likes moving as much as I do.
After tackling the dishes (not a small task), I was hungry again.
My second plate…
Stuffing, cranberry relish and Brussels sprouts.
Now it’s off to do more football watching (go Broncos!) and I think a new puzzle (the 3rd in two days) was just put out on a table.
Happy Thanksgiving to you all.
Woosh!
Posted: November 24, 2009 Filed under: Breakfast, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: cookies, green monster, peanut butter, Thanksgiving, turkey, veggies 15 Comments »Today flew by. It was 7 o’clock and I was at the grocery store picking up rolls, and then BAM it was 3:30 and the kids were walking out the door. It was a total blur, but we did a lot today. I didn’t get a potty break until about 3 o’clock, but it was FUN and the kids were jazzed all day long, but really well behaved considering all the chaos and lack of a schedule.
I knew the influx of treats would be kind of insane, so I stuck with a healthy green monster for breakfast.
Plus a spoonful of peanut butter.
The ingredients in this one sound awful, but hang with me.
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 cup leftover coffee (in the pot from the day before)
- ½ banana,
- 1 date
- 2 handfuls of spinach (frozen and thawed)
Hands down, this was the best smoothie I have ever created. Like I said, I know it sounds nasty – but don’t knock it until you try it.
Like I mentioned earlier, I had to make a stop at the grocery store before school, and I accidentally picked up a latte while I was there.
Look at these cute Christmas cups from Tully’s! Oh, and my cute block-calendar that sits on my desk. Teachers have class – the funny thing about this little saying is that the kids are always telling me, Mrs. Unger, they left out the word “a”…it should say Teachers have a class. It’s the perfect opportunity for teaching homographs….
I wish sooooo badly I could post more pictures from our feast, but I only managed to capture a few without the students’ cute little faces in them.
Here is the spread…
The whole sha-bang! Fruit, turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed ‘taters, veggies, cheese, crackers, rolls and cookie bars and PIE…so much pie.
We made placemats out of construction paper, and made our desks into a banquet table. They looovveed it. You should have seen the chaos.
I ate a few slices of turkey, some fruit, a spoonful or two of stuffing and a cookie bar. I only managed to photograph the really important part of the meal…
…on an orange sticky note.
It had just come out of the oven and it was still warm. Heaven. Look at all that melty chocolate on the bottom layer…I die.
There was a lot of singing, running, jumping, a few smashed fingers, a lot of untied shoes, many, many cups of spilled hot chocolate, some Thanksgiving themed crossword puzzles, and A LOT
of laughs. I had so much fun today, but I am also really thankful that it is the end of the week. 3rd graders called today “Fruesday” (Friday + Tuesday).
While trying to grade some tests after school, I was really tempted to dig into the leftover pie, but surprised myself and munched on some raw veggies, and managed to pawn the pie off on another teacher who has a pregnant wife at home. I convinced him that his wife was eating for two and he should really take it to her. I win.
Who knows where that
self control came from, but I’m sure it’s short lived.
We are headed to the in-laws tonight (brother in-law is home from school!! Yay Robby!) and we are having us some fried chicken!
Since we are leaving town tomorrow, I won’t be posting until the weekend…I will miss you all and your sweet comments, but I hope you have the happiest of holidays!
Eggy Day
Posted: November 23, 2009 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: baked omelete, balsamic vinegar, eggs, pear, salad 12 Comments »Brrrrr! It’s freezing here in Colorado!
I woke up, and warmed myself up with some good ol’ Jillian Michaels. After the butt kicking, I wanted something warm, with staying power.
An egg white baked omelet. In this particular creation: 3 egg whites, 1 handful of frozen (thawed) spinach, 1 shredded carrot. It was yummy, and it served its purpose. It held me over for a while, but as always, I was about to gnaw my arm off when lunchtime rolled around.
I had packed this the night before:
You can’t really tell, but this is an enormous container filled with lettuce, cucumber, and shredded carrot. I also always include some balsamic vinegar in a baggie to add to the salad at lunchtime. The best part of this lunch was the pear that I sliced and threw in the mix. Pear and balsamic…dynamic duo.
I also had this vitatop somewhere during the day. Along with a half a PB/pumpkin butter sandwich that went un-photographed.
I got home and realized we had a ridiculous amount of eggs in our fridge, and we’re leaving town soon, so I looked up a recipe for Eggs Foo Young in one of my favorite cookbooks: More With Less. This was infinitely better than my first attempt at these little guys.
I had to change the recipe based on the ingredients we had on hand, but it was a giant success.
Here are all the little eggy pancakes.
And my portion:
I actually had one more after this plate…
With instructions, Meeker made thickened soy sauce to accompany the eggs. I will post the recipe for both the egg cakes and the sauce here.
I will probably have some sort of dessert after publishing this post. A cookie, maybe? Dates and peanut butter? VitaBrownie? So many possibilities…
***
Tomorrow is the last work day of the week! My day is jam packed. I am not exaggerating when I say that we booked our day so full (minor instruction, Thanksgiving feast, crafts, Grandparents Day) that I will not have ONE break. Not even 30 seconds to myself. I imagine I will have to go to the bathroom at some point…but I guess I’ll deal with that when it happens. Until then, I am going to rest-up for the fun day of festivities tomorrow!
Do you celebrate Thanksgiving at your job or in any of your classes?
Hodge Podge
Posted: November 22, 2009 Filed under: Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: avocado, dates, peanut butter, roasted veggies, savory oats, sweet potato, vitatop 21 Comments »Can you believe another weekend has come and gone?!
It went quickly, and I didn’t take pictures of all my meals, but here are some highlights…
Saturday morning – savory oats. One egg, ½ sweet potato and ½ avocado – dotted with siracha. I told Meeker this was my tribute to his Irish heritage. The colors of the flag…in the wrong order.
More fruit cereal: 1 pear, 1 kiwi, pomegranate arils and a spoonful of granola – all with almond milk.
A spoonful of crunchy peanut butter and a date. The best combo ever.
A fudgy Vitatop with peanut butter – this was breakfast numero uno today. Plus some frothy café –
To achieve the froth – I put ¼ cup of almond milk (with cinnamon and allspice) into a glass jar, and shook it until my arm was tired (that’s not very long: 20 seconds max) – and then microwaved it for 20 seconds and poured it into the black coffee. It was almost like a latte! I drank it en route to church this morning – where I worked in the nursery playing with babies. They make me feel so maternal and squishy inside.
Afterwards, my in-laws took us to my desayuno segundo at Village Inn…
Multigrain pancakes with strawberries and pecan pieces. I ate about ½ this plate.
Around 3pm, I was craving veggies – so I went all out.
Here is the tray pre-roasting. Carrots, zucchini, asparagus and mushrooms. Drizzled in evoo and sprinkled with salt and garlic powder. The best meal.
I topped my half with 1 piece of chicken and a spicy mustard/balsamic vinegar mix. All pictures of the final product were blurry and ugly – so just use your imaginations on this one. Thank you.
I actually felt more hungry after this meal (my hunger is unbelievable sometimes), so I had a sandwich – of sorts.
Two slices of ww bread, one with PB and chocolate chips, the other with pumpkin butter. A delicious end to a speedy weekend.
Good news: tomorrow is essentially a Thursday because I only have a two-day-week coming up! And one of those days includes an in-classroom Thanksgiving feast – Lord help me! Aaaand then it’s THANKSGIVING! My very favorite holiday of the year! The countdown is on…
What is your favorite holiday?
Another day
Posted: November 20, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized 13 Comments »…being a vegan! Well, sort of.
It was all fairly unintentional; I started off with a favorite breakfast.
Fruit cereal…this girl knows what I’m talking about.
Today’s mix was one kiwi, pomegranate arils, one crispy gala and plenty of almond milk.
I followed my fruit cereal with coffee (out of my favorite Holly
Golightly mug) and a fudge baby.
.
What a start to a Friday!
Lunch was leftover squash/veggie medley from last night.
It was even better than last night. So darn yummy. I like having lunch as the biggest meal of my day. It’s always my hungriest time.
The non-vegan part of my day was from my latest shipment of Vitatops.
100 calories of unbelievable chocolaty goodness. I ate this mid-teaching, so there was no time for a photo, but it didn’t stop me from enjoying it immensely. While it doesn’t compare to the fudge babies, it sure was a good afternoon pick-me-up. So far, so good VitaTops!
While grading some vocabulary at around 5:30, I got hungry and tore into a bagel that was in the staff lounge.
This little nub held me over until I could come home and create a simple Friday dinner.
Half a pita with spicy mustard topped with toasted chickpeas and roasted Brussels sprouts and drizzled with balsamic vinegar. Heck yeah. This was g-o-o-d.
We’re working on homophones in 3rd grade, and I totally wanted to say that I ATE EIGHT fudge babies afterwards, but I (somehow) held it down to two.
Now it’s officially the weekend!! I don’t have any big plans, but I do want to start organizing for thanksgiving (I’m going to New Mexico with my whole family – like aunts, uncles, grandma, etc. and I couldn’t be more excited). I only have to teach on Monday and Tuesday next week, so this weekend seems even better than usual knowing that it’s practically Thanksgiving in my world.
What are your Thanksgiving plans?
Vegan for a Day
Posted: November 19, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized 15 Comments »
A cheery way to start the morning, no?
Especially when the mug is filled with coffee and combined with…
- 1/3 cup steel cut oats
- 1 cup water
- ½ banana, added during the last 5 minutes of cooking
- 1 spoonful crunchy peanut butter
- 1 spoonful pumpkin butter
I also added a handful of crack Caramel Pirate’s Booty after I had mixed everything together.
I can’t tell you how addicting this stuff is. It tastes like the cereal “Pops” – but 10x better.
Oh! I almost forgot! It’s Blogger Vegan for a Day today! I’m a total sucker for challenges, so when I heard about this – there was no question I was going to participate. Partially because my diet is about 85% vegan anyway. Secondly, because my BEST meals often come when I’m challenged to get creative. Today was no exception…
You already saw my delicious breakfast, that was all vegan friendly.
Lunch was so quick – I almost can’t remember eating it!
Kale with avocado, evoo, and garbanzo beans. I was surprisingly stuffed afterwards – but was worried that I would get hungry later, so I packed a substantial snack.
A few banana slices with pumpkin butter – sandwiched inside a pita.
I ended up eating this about 2 o’clock (about 2.5 hours after my kale lunch) – it was as yummy as it looks. Maybe more so.
I stopped by the store to pick up ingredients for a special dessert (I won’t blame you if you scroll to the bottom of this post to see what it was) – but let me mention my delectable dinner first.
This is half a butternut squash (roasted), filled with a medely of sautéed vegetables: onion, zucchini, carrot, celery, and green pepper, and broiled again. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. I was Mmming and Ooohing with every bite. As delicious as it was – it was totally outshined by my unbelievable dessert.
I kid you not when I say that this is one of the best things I have ever eaten. Ridiculously, insanely, unbelievably good. Just four simple ingredients…
- 1 ¼ cup Medjool dates
- 1 cup walnuts
- 1 tsp. vanilla extract
- 4 tbs. cocoa powder
…all in the food processor for about 3 minutes. Roll into balls. Finished. (Look out familia, these are coming to thanksgiving)
Katie, you are a genius (Not a bad name, either). As of this minute (7 o’clock), I have only eaten one. But that’s all about to change the minute I hit publish. I hear them calling my name…
***
So, vegan day wrap-up? It was great! I didn’t feel like it was really a stretch for me, but it did inspire some creativity – all with good results. Will I now become a full fledged vegan? No, probably not. As I already said, the majority of my diet is vegan. I like the occasional chicken salad and yogurt mess – but other than that – it seems entirely possible. However, I feel no need to label myself, or my eating habits. I just eat what tastes great and makes me feel fantastic.
I’m off to eat some raw, chocolaty deliciousness. Head over to Katie’s site to check out all of her ah-maaazing raw/vegan creations.
Thanksgiving Surprise!
Posted: November 18, 2009 Filed under: Breakfast, Delish Dinners, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: cookie, fruit cereal, pumpkin butter, spinach 14 Comments »I had two fantastic surprises today – and I will most definitely talk about them later because they both have to do with food. Really, what else would I be excited about?
Unfortunately, the bitter taste is still lingering. Blech, it’s disgusting. The good news is that it only happens while I’m eating and then goes away about 10 minutes afterwards. Still, though – I’d like it to go away permanently.
I liked my breakfast so much yesterday, that I partially re-created it.
That’s half a banana with pumpkin butter. Crazy good. What’s in the bowl, you ask?
The other half of the ‘naner, one apple, and a handful of pomegranate arils – all doused in vanilla almond milk. Seriously – this is climbing the charts as my new favorite food. Fruit cereal, try it now.
And because I was too full to eat it last night, the doubletree cookie that was left in my school mailbox by a co-worker.
Holy moly this thing was delicious. Thaaaank you Mr. Pallas! Now I just need the recipe so I can eat these every day….
I was so thoroughly enjoying my breakfast that I left the house without my camera OR lunch. Foodie Fail.
However, it wasn’t that big of a deal because I live 5 minutes from my school, I just though “I’ll go home for lunch”. When I was signing out at 11:20 to go home – the girls at the front office said “You do know there’s a staff luncheon, right?” – Um, noooooo!! But I couldn’t be more thrilled!
What’s MORE, it was a Thanksgiving feast!! Turkey, stuffing, pies…the whole 9 yards. But I already told you I forgot my camera, so…lo siento. You’ll just have to take my word for it – everything was outstanding.
When I got home, this box was waiting for me…
Surprise!
I realize I’m probably the last person on earth to discover Vitatops, but that doesn’t stop me from being oh so excited. I am so thankful to the company for sending me these samples!
Meeker immediately ripped into the Fudgy Peanut Butter Chip variety, took one bite and said “Ew, this tastes bland…and healthy” – when I excitedly exclaimed “Well, yeah! It’s got vitamins, and it’s only 100 calories!” He promptly told me that he didn’t care (but he ate the whole thing anyway). I can’t wait to try my first one for breakfast tomorrow. But, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Three Course Dinner:
- Self explanatory salad
- An onion + egg + spinach baked thing. (I’ve yet to give it a name)
- Bread with pumpkin and peanut butter (folded into a sandwich after the photo)
And that wraps it up! Three great meals, two delicious surprises and one long day…check!
