Chicken for Cookies

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Even though the cookies were great I kept myself from eating more because I knew dinner would be equally tasty.  I had another item to try from Suzanne’s Specialties –

so we made this Cooking Light recipe, Black Pepper and Molasses Pulled Chicken.  We didn’t have all the spices but we followed the basic idea.

Alongside we also made some baked green bean fries.

Delicious. 

I loved this recipe, pulled chicken is so hard to find and it is so tasty.  I burnt the green beans a bit but salvaged them with some Parmesan and Garlic Seasoning.

I’m a little bummed about still being in the house but Adam brightened my spirits when we drove out to UPS and came home with this –

expect an excited review this weekend!

P.S. Head over to Melissa’s site for some light (ha) reading.

*****Updated to add – is there any way you’d think I wouldn’t eat a 2nd cookie before bed?!?  🙂

Sweet Substitute

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There was no lunch post because there was … no lunch.  Sitting in the house all day makes me feel yucky, I took a nap.  When Adam got home there was still no eating but we did do lots of kitchen stuff.

Starting with making vanilla extract –

My aunt and uncle gave us this for Christmas, all you do is add vodka and wait for 4-6months.

The other side of the family gave us this adorable planter and we set him up as well.

And then finished with … cookies!  Suzanne’s Specialties sent me this Organic Agave Syrup and I wanted to try baking with it.

I followed this recipe for agave cinnamon blondies.

We tried to follow it exactly so we could get an idea of cooking with agave, but I did sub 1/4 t cinnamon for the vanilla extract.

The verdict?

Delicious!  They ended up tasting almost like cinnmon muffins.  I highly recommend this recipe!

I got the bad news today that I can’t register for any of the additional classes I wanted, boo.  Right now all I’m in is two classes and a lab so hopefully I will at least be able to find some sort of job.  For now, I’ll distract myself making dinner 🙂

MIA Migraine

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Good morning!  Sorry I went MIA yesterday; I occasionally get terrible migraines and they tend to erase days from my life 😦  It’s ok though, I discovered the trifecta of unhappiness.  1. Mid-migraine I thought it would be a fabulous idea to eat nachos for dinner.  2. My migraines get so bad I often throw up from the pain.  3. I still can’t step down on my foot.  All that adds up to me having to hop into the bathroom to throw up jalopenos; yikes!

Today’s morning is off to a much kinder start.

That pun was bad, but my KIND Strawberry Nut Delight Plus Calcium bar was great.

On the agenda for today

  1. try to register for the rest of my classes, fingers crossed!
  2. newest Everyday with Rachael Ray magazine
  3. Chemistry reading
  4. lots of random online tv watching
  5. actually healthy lunch and dinner
  6. some sort of strength training
  7. difficult shower

What’s the stupidest thing you’ve ever eaten whilst sick?

Salad as an Eraser

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I needed a bigger breakfast, I was so hungry mid-morning I made some less than stellar choices.  It’s crazy how hungry you can get sitting on your butt all day; when I’m active and busy I’m satisfied with much less food.

That’s said, I’ll never apologize for popcorn.

Sprinkled with Kernel Season’s Sour Cream and Onion.

And then I had this.

“This” would be a serving of pretzels with 2T of semi-sweet chocolate chips melted on top.

Eaten with chopsticks of course.

The Reese’s tree is the point at which I probably needed to just say no.

But then I brought things back around with my “real lunch,” a nice healthy salad.

Made with some very tasty components – layer of lettuce,

chopped green bell pepper,

baby corn,

1T babaganoush,

the best dressing on earth (seriously, buy this!),

and a little bit of cheddar.

All added up to a tasty dish.

I’ve got some school work to do this afternoon and I’m hoping to balance long enough to prepare dinner tonight.  I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t dreading my eventual shower, but I’ll probably try to squeeze in a bit of strength training beforehand.

Do you find your hunger increases with or inversely to your activity level?

ProfessionalEthicsThey’reAbsent?

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Last night was a success!  Before my shower I managed to squeeze in some crippled calisthenics – I did some stretching and 60 reps of arms exercises, including a couple 1-legged planks.  The “shower” ended up being me cowering on the bottom of the shower while Adam dumped cups of water over me, but you can’t win ’em all!

This morning when the husband got up for school at 7 I did as well, and even got moderately gussied –

Even though I can’t leave the house there’s no reason not to wear a snazzy top.

There’s really no reason to be up, I’m probably just going to watch tv online for a while, but I’m trying to get myself into the habit before school start.  Plus I got breakfast.

KIND Bar’s Almonds & Apricots in Yogurt was divine.

*What’s the title all about?

How many of you have read this article yet?  Really, PETA?  I love everything that PETA stands for as an organization but all of their pr-nightmares are adverse to their cause.  You didn’t seek Mrs. Obama’s consent because you knew she couldn’t endorse the campaign so you just go ahead and use her image without getting approval?  Nice.  Because this backlash doesn’t basically undo any benefit to including Obama over another (consenting) celebrity any way.

What do you think?

*Edited to add – who noticed that my first title spelled PETE?  Whoops!

One Bowl Wonder

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I guess my nap revved me up because I ended up organizing all my school stuff and doing some Chemistry reading this afternoon, go me!  Unfortunately my biggest accomplishment of the day – a shower – has yet to come, so I’ll have to keep this quick.

Dinner was salad and spaghetti but I wanted to eat on the couch and watch “Make it or Break it” so I had to utilize my biggest bowl.  A layer of mixed greens,

followed by leftover spaghetti.  Note – the leftovers were this recipe with turkey and mushrooms subbed for beef.  Microwaved for 1.5minutes and then topped with a drizzle of clementine olive oil and Siracha.

Yum, it made a very good 1-bowl combo.

For dessert I ate the rest of the cookies my mom sent us home with.

Hopefully that will fuel me through my one-legged shower, think clean thoughts for me!

Do you watch “Make It or Break It?”  In general I eschew high school shows but I used to be into gymnastics so this one is way too enticing for me.

Soup & Sandwich

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I barely managed to skim my magazines – this months “Cooking Light” has about 8bazillion recipes that I want to make – before I fell straight into a long nap!  I’ve felt nauseous and just icky ever since yesterday.  However, when the husband came home and offered to make lunch I was more than ready!

I had a soup from to Amy’s to sample so I based the rest of my meal around that.

I eat 99.9% of my meals on the couch so I took advantage of eating at the table with my leg up by using the new placemats my mom gave me for Christmas –

Adam did a fabulous job on lunch – Jonagold apple slices,

grilled cheese with cheddar and pickle relish,

and Amy’s Organic Chunky Tomato Bisque.

Yums.  The portion shown is the whole can but I handed the bowl off to Adam half way.  It was a very tasty combo.

I’m not sure what the rest of the day will bring.  I would like to do some stretching and I have a very tricky shower ahead of me.  “See” you for dinner!

By the way, the contest winner was actually # 1 – Brandi, who writes and eats with her left hand but cuts and throws with her right!

an award and a giveaway, as promised

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First, the lovely Dallas Celiac awarded me the Beautiful Blogger Award!  I met DC in San Fransisco and she is quite beautiful, so I feel honored!

Now I have to pass it to 7 more bloggers (note, I think pretty much 99% of bloggers are beautiful – 1% is handsome, I’m looking at you Nate! – so this was a challenge.  If you’ve already gotten this and I’m being repetitive I apologize).

  1. Peas and Thank You
  2. Bran Appetit
  3. Skinny Runner
  4. Meals and Moves
  5. Graduate Meghann
  6. Classroom Confessions
  7. Yes I Want Cake

And now 7 random, cool facts about me –

  1. When I ran cross-country in high school I finished the first race last dead last and then puked all over myself.
  2. I started college as a communication major and was one credit from a minor when I switched to education (I also have a 2nd major in English).
  3. I really, really like stickers.  In fact, in high school, I wore at least three a day and walked around handing them out.
  4. (Given fact #3 this one is astonishing) I was popular in high school, and sometimes I used to wish I was picked on so I could have a character building experience.
  5. I think Dr. Seuss is a genius and taught several of his books in my 8th grade curriculum.
  6. I’m a major klutz, Adam is astonished by how often I hurt myself.
  7. I’m pretty bummed about my foot.  I think the best way to feel better is to make someone else smile, so I’m hosting a small giveaway below.

The small giveaway (please notice the emphasis on the word small) is sTiCkErS!  A few are cute company stickers from some fabulous brands and a few are fun foodie stickers from my sticker box.  To enter – leave a comment on this post telling me one random, cool fact about yourself.  I’ll pick one winner at 1pm today.