Highlights of December 31st
Posted: December 31, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: banana bread, omelete, Outback Steakhouse, pumpkin butter, sugar cookies 13 Comments »Happy New Year’s Eve!
My day was filled with laziness – and I tried to fully embrace it. I managed to squeeze in a walk (mostly for the dog’s sake) and a 60 minute Yoga to the People podcast – by far my favorite free podcast out there. But, otherwise – I lazed.
On the eating front…some highlights.
Toasted banana bread with pumpkin butter, and coffee in the back.
Omelet – exact replica of yesterday’s.
Mr. and Mrs. Sugar cookie
And Meeker and I just got back from The Outback – where I had a chicken Caesar salad, and the best sweet potato I’ve ever tasted. I’m sure it was cooked in a vat of butter – but it did have cinnamon on it, and I loved every bite. I also have some leftovers that will be killer tomorrow.
I can’t believe it’s already the end of the decade…I hope you all have a fun-filled evening!
See you in 2010.
Sweet Start, Sweeter Ending
Posted: December 30, 2009 Filed under: dessert, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: banana, buckeye, carrots, cookies, elk meat, ice cream, museli, mushrooms, omelete 16 Comments »Breakfast number one – Christmas cookie
Breakfast number two – Muesli and banana
Breakfast number three (or we could call this lunch) – Omelet
Alongside a cup of coffee and my new cookbook
Two o’clock snack – crackers, fig spread and cheese
flipping through the cookbook once again…
An onion, carrots, mushrooms, red potatoes and elk meat into the Romertopf
– cooked @300* for two hours.
I took one bite of the elk meat and discovered that I really don’t like it – it tasted like I was sucking on a penny – coppery and tangy. Bleh.
So, I just ate some carrots and mushrooms instead.
Insert: 30 minutes of yoga.
Dinner number two – Vanilla ice cream and a buckeye
Not the healthiest day I’ve ever had, but I’m okay with it. Once in a while, a girl just has to have a sugar cookie for breakfast and ice cream for dinner…
Again, please.
Posted: December 29, 2009 Filed under: Breakfast, Mid-Day Yummies | Tags: chicken chili, cinnamon, espresso, fig spread, grapes, oats, running, snack 18 Comments »I wish I could have this type of day every day. It may lose its appeal after some time, but it was just right for today.
Breakfast was so leisurely, it felt indulgent. Good thing I’m still on vacation.
I used my new stovetop espresso maker to create a semi-latte.
And what I mean by semi-latte is that I don’t have a milk frother – so I drank my espresso with hot milk.
I got this adorable mug as a Christmas gift from a friend last night (thanks Lib!) She also gave me some special extra-strength cinnamon! She knows me well…
And that’s Regis and Kelly in the background. I drank my milk/espresso/cinnamon, watched TV and eventually got hungry enough to whip up some oats.
I started with ½ cup of oats in ½ cup water, ½ cup milk – and cooked them on the stovetop until almost finished, then I added a spoonful of brie cheese to bump up the creamy factor.
When they finished, I topped with a dollop of delectable fig spread and more cinnamon…
After laying around and reading blogs, I ran some errands, and then came home for a chilly, but glorious run.
That shirt I am wearing was a birthday present I received last night…thanks Andrea! I think I ran about 5 miles, I didn’t time myself and I loved every second of it. I came home feeling hungry and energized.
I refueled with some Chicken Chili and giant grapes.
Mmm, mmm better than Campbell’s
Because of the snow, it’s been a while since I’ve had a good run- and I forgot that it turns me into a major snackface. I’ve just been munching on things all afternoon – all unpictured, lo seinto. Think veggies and hummus, more grapes, dark chocolate and banana/sunbutter. The best kind of day.
Who knows what’s in store for dinner, more snacking I suspect.
I hope you all are staying warm and enjoying this Tuesday as much as I am!
Cookies and Friends
Posted: December 29, 2009 Filed under: dessert | Tags: cheese, crackers, fig spread, grapes, sugar cookies 18 Comments »The cookie party was a success!
Here are my girls…
(I’m the one in the white/blue stripes on the left)
I have known these girls my whole life – they’re like family. It was so good to see them all. After a fair amount of hugs, laughter, and dinner, we went crazy with frosting and sprinkles.
5 dozen blank slates…
I made basic sugar cookies, and then made frosting using powdered sugar and milk (and food coloring!)
Such colorful creativity.
There was also some fantastic snacking (not all on cookies).
The best friend stopped at Whole Foods on the way up to my house, and got some delicious cheese selections, crackers, grapes and fig spread – and she’s so nice, she left all the uneaten yummies with me! (Something about grapes and cheese being difficult to carry on a plane back to LA). We also ate tons of veggies and hummus…snacky wonderfulness.
And…
Thank you to Kelly for the award! I have a really tough time coming up with new things about me, but here goes…
- I DVR Rachel Ray’s talk show, and watch it almost every day while I make dinner.
- I have a completely distorted personal clock….since I was 18, I’ve felt that my time to start a family is running out. The clock is ticking and YES, I know I’m crazy.
- I have always claimed to hate bananas, but recently…I’ve been loving them – like 2 a day. Grown up taste buds?
- I don’t really like any form of protein – except nut butter.
- While I have 3 pets, and love them all – I’m not a big animal person.
- My dad used to pay me $100 a year to not watch TV when I was in elementary school. That is so much
money when you are 8 years old – and so totally worth it. - I want to move to Arizona. Mostly because it’s warm there.
So there you go, 7 things you might not have known about your local cake lover.
I’m passing this award on to:
KT @ The Sneaker Teacher
Naomi @ One Fit Foodie
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is
Joelle @ The Pancake Girl
Cait @ Cait’s Plate
…there are others, of course, but it’s dangerously late for this 25 year old grandma (like 1:02am) and I can’t think straight.
Happy Tuesday! I wish you were ALL here to help me polish off my gazillion sugar cookies!
Return to Normalcy
Posted: December 28, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized 11 Comments »I’m so happy to have another week off! The glamorous side of teaching, I guess.
Breakfast was leisurely…a bowl of veggie scrambled eggs.
And some really good coffee from Meeker’s amazing Christmas gift…
A single cup coffee maker! His parents gave this to him as a Christmas present, and by default, I also got a fantastic gadget.
I ran errands and made some cookie dough (more on that later), took Punky for a snowy walk, and then came home for a nice sit-down lunch – which I hadn’t had in a while.
Turkey sandwich with hummus, cucumbers, and lettuce.
A crispy gala and a chocolate peppermint cookie!
Yum, yum, yum. After Mexico, then two Christmas celebrations, it feels good to be eating my normal food again.
***
Tonight, I am having seven friends (most of which I have known for 15 years or more!) over for a cookie decorating party. I am also making a white chicken chili for dinner. I plan on a lot of hugging and laughing…and don’t worry; I will be back with a full mouth-watering recap tomorrow!
Happy Monday!
El Segundo Navidad
Posted: December 27, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Mexican Pile On 16 Comments »I had another Christmas today…another beautiful thing about being married is getting to share in another family’s traditions as well as your own! Win, win.
My family’s food tradition for Christmas something we have dubbed Mexican-Pile-On.
Fairly self-explanatory.
We set out large bowls of everything Tex-Mex (chips, beans, meat, salsa, cheese, guac, rice) and everyone piles their plate full of whatever they want. It might be my favorite meal of all time. Works well for our family of 18, too.
Then we had a small gift exchange (we all just buy a present for one person) and then a hilarious hour of white elephant gifts. I got robbed of a pair of pleather leggings and a can of spam, but ended up walking away with a door mat (actually cute), some chip clips, and a sweet workout DVD called Jiggle Free Buns – all in all, I think I did pretty well.
I also got some fantastic foodie birthday gifts.
Foodie refrigerator poetry
A cake pan shaped like Texas (where my family is from…)
a stove-top espresso maker, The Foodie Handbook – and many gift cards to restaurants. I’m such a happy camper.
After eating, we took a walk and saw the most bizarre thing ever. (Beware: It’s a little morbid)
That is a dead, frozen bird (hanging by its beak) to a power line! How WEIRD IS THAT!?
My cousins and my niece freaking out about it…
I mean…really bizarre. I just had to share. I told my mom about it when we got back from the walk, and she was so sad, she refused to look at the picture – so I apologize if I offended anyone, I just thought it was too crazy to withhold.
Okay, with that, I am off to get a little snackie and veg on the couch…ahhhh, Christmas is over.
- Do you have multiple holiday celebrations? Or does it end on the actual day?
- Have you EVER seen anything so weird as that bird? Please share! Also, any guesses as to how in the heck that happened??
Toes in the water, toes in the snow
Posted: December 26, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: beets, Christmas, finger food, mexico, omelete, pineapple 22 Comments »Hello!!
I have missed you all during the last week – everything has been a whirlwind, but I am happy to be back, lying in my own bed, watching the snow fall.
My trip to Mexico was fantastic (how could it not be?) and can be summed up with four things.
-
Laying on the beach
-
Reading
I finished this book this week (and snacked a lot), and started on a new one, too. I probably laid on the beach and read for 6-7 hours each day – pure relaxation.
-
Eating
We stayed at an all-inclusive resort, so I had a lot of plates that looked like these. I also had my fair share of unhealthy stuff (think chips and salsa, fried fish and soft serve ice cream) – but you can be sure that I ate my weight in pineapple, carrots and beets. -
Playing in the ocean
These pictures are actually of the boys playing, but I did enjoy my own body surfing and swimming.
I tell you – it felt nothing like Christmas or my birthday (the 22nd) – and I was so totally okay with it. I tend to stress myself out of the holidays and this vacation allowed me to relax and just live in the moment while enjoying sunshine, water, and family. Thank you to my fantastic in-laws for the trip…Best. Christmas. Present. Ever.
When the plane landed, it was snowing here in Colorado – and I was still in Mexico mode. I was wearing flip flops, and my little piggies were covered in snow and FREEZING. Quite a shock to go from 85* to 18* in 4 hours. However, the snow plunged me head first into Christmas mode.
The next day was spent Christmas shopping (I didn’t even start until December 24th…eek!) but we got it all finished, wrapped and were at church by 4pm. Afterwards, we went to my in-laws for their traditional finger food dinner.
Christmas day was spent opening way too many gifts, laying on the couch and being with my husband’s family. My father-in-law made his traditional omelet breakfast for us all.
Unfortunately, I had NO appetite later in the day, so I didn’t partake in Christmas dinner (although I did manage to force down a slice of apple pie later in the night during card games…)
Christmas will be celebrated with my family tomorrow – so I have a busy day ahead of me while preparing for that…the season continues!
I sincerely hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!!
Move Over
Posted: December 18, 2009 Filed under: Delish Dinners | Tags: carrots, peanut butter, sweet potatoes 19 Comments »Move over oats in a jar…
Veggies in an (almost) empty peanut butter jar.
I didn’t really have the broccoli with the pb, I just tucked a few florets in there because it looked pretty. Then I pulled them out and ate them before stirring and mashing the carrots and sweet potatoes to ensure the peanut butter flavor infused each bite. I cooked the sweet ‘tater in the microwave for 6 minutes, then cut half of it into squares. I roasted the carrots for 25 minutes at 450*with a little cumin and salt/pepper.
I admit, it’s a bit unconventional, but it tasted fantastic – and that’s all I really care about when it comes to meal time.
***
The house is clean, the doggie is at the sitter, and our bags are packed…Mexico here I come! Have a fabulous few days, my friends!
Twenty-Four
Posted: December 18, 2009 Filed under: Breakfast | Tags: egg whites, spinach, toast 10 Comments »In twenty-four hours, I will be at the airport, about to board a plane for Mexico. I am giddy with excitement.
I woke up with some yoga this morning, and I’m about to head off to work to do some organizing and socializing.
I know I will be presented with cakes, cookies, pastries in the staff lounge – so am currently trying to fill up with good stuff before I go.
Egg whites, spinach and toast…piled high. I also drizzled some sweet chili sauce over the bread before assembling. Yums.
I hope you all have a happy Friday!
Relax
Posted: December 17, 2009 Filed under: Uncategorized | Tags: Christmas, tea, yoga 9 Comments »Christmas Vacation has begun.
One (of the million) nice things about teaching elementary school is the spirit that surrounds holidays. Today was Christmas all day long – and I really tried my best to relinquish all the control I wanted to have, and just enjoy the laughter and chaos. I mostly succeeded – but it sure is nice to be at the end of this day sitting on my couch wearing my new, fuzzy red socks.
Speaking of new things…I really had a great haul this year.
I know it’s hard to tell – but there are six bags FILLED with chocolate, home-baked goodies, starbucks gift cards, candles, journals, tea and flowers. Apparently, parents like to buy their kid’s teachers things that make them feel fat and relaxed. I’m totally okay with it.
Speaking of relaxing – I got a Target gift card and immediately went there after school to buy my first yoga mat. Then, rushed home to use it in the dark with candles and a fireplace roaring to unwind with 20 minutes of yoga. Ahhhhhh.
Next, I ripped into my new package of furry socks (above) and a petite teapot from my ex-Chinese student.
With some chamomile
I also managed to steer clear of most of the Christmas crap (sugary snacks) that came in through my door today.
Here are some things I did eat.
I actually do have work tomorrow – but it’s a staff-only grading day, and I already posted my grades for the quarter! Yipee! I will spend the morning organizing and planning and then a staff lunch…can’t wait!
Happy Thursday!
