Tag Archives: veggies

Extreme Makeover

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I ate several undocumented bites of green bean casserole throughout the afternoon but it didn’t stop me from being ready for dinner!  We used my so-so PF Chang’s leftovers to make something amazing.

The original dish wasn’t so bad, it just needed a little seasoning.

We also upped the veggies by added 2/3 cup steamed broccoli and 1/2 cup shredded carrot.  We pan cooked the whole thing, adding two eggs at the end.  Delicious.

It’s crazy that my leftovers made (large) meals for two of us.  How much were they expecting me to eat?!

I feel pretty sick so I’m going to try to shower and get to bed soon.  I probably have another cookie somewhere in there too 🙂  I hope everyone’s long weekend went off without a hitch!

Do you take leftovers from restaurants?  Why not?

Cooking Beans and Baking Cookies

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It’s been a kitchen day here at the Bear-Mouse household.  We emptied the dish washer this morning and it’s pretty much full again with casseroles and mixing bowls.  Good times 🙂

We got up late late this morning, since I stayed up late late last night feeling sick.  Our first mission was a walk to Walgreens for Junior Caramels and cream of chicken soup (you’ll see in a minute).  $3.32, Challenge Balance – $98.86.

First up on the cooking agenda was green bean casserole.

I followed the recipe on the back of the onion can, but I subbed in cream of chicken for cream of mushroom and skim for whole because it’s all I could find.

Then came the baking of cookies.  I kept changing my recipe plan (Adam just might have eaten ALL of our oatmeal without my knowing) as I discovered ingredients we were out of.  In the end I made a half batch of the toll house recipe.

I used 1t skim milk instead of vanilla extract, and used half a cup of Jr Caramels with half a cup of chips.  Not my best substitutions, they might have been a little stuck.

Lunch was rather reminiscent of Turkey Day meals.

A small serving of Annie’s Shells.

A large serving of casserole.

Pretty tasty.

Once the cooking was tasted, I had to try the baking for dessert.  Adam and I split this crumbly plate.

My homework due date got pushed back so I doubt I will be motivated to do much today and dinner is going to be PF Chang’s leftovers so it’s looking like a lazy day.  I think there is a stack of magazines in my future!

Do you make substitutions in cooking/baking?  How do they usually turn out?

Worth It

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Hey guys!  I feel bad about breaking the challenge (not that it’s the first time we’ve cheated!) but it was so so so worth it!  I had such a great time catching up with my cousin.  She is pregnant with her second child and I’m glad I got to meet the first baby before she has the second one.  She and her husband are so nice and fun and we all had a good time.

They needed to meet somewhere close to the highway so we ended up at the Galleria Mall.  Adam and I showered and did our best to pretty up.

He was a bit more successful than I, it’s pretty obvious I’m sick!

PF Chang’s had a 5minute wait so that became our lunch spot.  I ordered the Vegetable Chow Fun.

It was only ok.  Way too much food and pretty bland.  I ate about 1/3 of it before I packaged it up for leftovers.

After lunch we walked around the mall and Dairy Queen just seemed right.  I got a small Strawberry Cheesequake Blizzard with chocolate froyo.

Mmmn.  This made me pretty happy.

From there Adam and I hit up the movie theatre.  Sharing pretzel bites seemed like less of a good idea, but still an irresistable one.

We saw “Old Dogs.”  It was pretty terrible, but movie dates are always fun 🙂

Not surprisingly, I was not hungry for dinner after all my mall food.  I got unpacked and did some cleaning this evening, but mostly Adam and I spent a looooooong time discussing my life choices stagnation.  Some tears later, I think after a meeting I have this week things will be a lot more clear.

Just as it is clearly time for bed!  Sweet dreams.

Seen any bad movies lately?  What would you NOT recommend?

Feeling Thankful

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Again, I’ll try to keep this quick, but it’s been a great Turkey Day.  I’m thankful for family, good food, and my wonderful husband.

We slept in until 10:30 this morning (I’m feeling sick again, boo!) and then woke up to the world’s tastiest breakfast.

My grandma is so cool, she had Greek Gods’ Honey Greek Yogurt waiting in the fridge for me!  I had a small bowl of fruit,

and honey Greek yogurt with berries and a sliver of homemade coffee cake.

Mmmmmmn!  I was in love with this breakfast!  If it wasn’t Thanksgiving I would have gone back for another bowl!  I think I’ve got my aunt hooked on Greek yogurt now too 🙂

We went to a family friend’s house for Thanksgiving at 1, so we headed out around noon to socialize.  Look how cute my grandparents are!

I’ve gone to Thanksgiving with this family ever year I’ve been with my grandparents and it’s always so much fun.  They have the best decorations, I wish I could have gotten more pictures.

I made a small appetizer plate with pretzels, honey raspberry dip, and crackers with dirty martini dip.

And I had a light beer to drink.

As I mentioned before, I am actually not much of a Turkey Day food fan!  I didn’t even eat any turkey meat!  I tried to just take a small bit of everything.

Clockwise from the top – stuffing and mashed potatoes with gravy, corn casserole, sweet potato casserole, roll, jello mold salad, cranberries.  I finished everything on my plate (except for the roll which I gave away).  I didn’t actually eat very much, but I didn’t do seconds because I knew dessert was coming.

I actually gave away that mini cake in favor of a second cookie!

It was great getting to catch up with people and Adam was definitely stuffed!  He took a fat nap before we even headed home, and hit the couch asap.  My grandmother and I wanted to take a nice walk but unfortunately it was raining.  The other disappointment was that there was nowhere for me to volunteer.  I really wanted to put in some time at a food bank or soup kitchen today but everywhere my grandma called had too many volunteers.

We ate dinner around 7, and I was actually hungry again.

Leftover sweet potato casserole,

and a yumtastic sandwich – turkey, cranberries, cream cheese.

Plus apple and celery salad on the side.

I was still a bit hungry so I went back for more salad.

We played cards after dinner.

I had a coffee with 2% and an amaretto stick,

a mini 7-up,

and a small handful of caramel corn.

We kept my grandparents up past midnight playing cards, I’d say it’s time for bed!

How was your turkey day?

Foodgasms

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Good afternoon!  Today has been nice and productive; I mixed together a schedule of work and fun and this online stopwatch has been crucial. 

Amid the work has been the cleaning of the kitchen, the completion of the laundry, and a major chunk of Chemistry reading.

During some of the fun (NCIS watching) I shared a cup of tea and honey with the bears.

Did you know that Ulrick moved all the way from Brooklyn with us?  Unfortunately the tea didn’t really rock my socks.

I guess I only like Yogi if we are still talking about bears!

A bit later I had a strange snack that was exactly what I was craving (yes, in my dirty tea mug) –

Sliced bell pepper and 1/2C stuffing bread crumbs with 1T prepared pesto (from the Foodbuzz Festival!).  It sounds strange but it was a craving-fulfilling, 100ish calorie snack that held me over until lunch.

And what a lunch it was.  OhMyGosh.  It’s funny because Jenna and Brandi both talked about how much they enjoy food – like really really enjoy it, more than just ‘oh this is good,’ like foodgasms – in posts today and now I’m going to do the same.  Sometimes I get so excited about what I’m eating that I flap my arms like a deranged bird.  Today’s lunch was super simple and yet it elicited tons of flapping.

Today felt life-changing.  Today was the day I tried Sunshine Garden Herb Burgers.

Holy frick.  I didn’t think it was possible to get so excited about a veggie patty but I’ve managed.  This might be my new favorite food.  It’s not, because I love roasted brussels sprouts and broad rice noodles too much to demote them, but it’s close.

I microwaved one patty and ate it on white toast with Jack Daniels mustard.

One of the best sandwiches ever.  Chewy and hefty and the mix of flavors was to die for.  I love love loved the vinegary kick from the mustard and burger.  I almost got up and made myself a second sandwich.

And then I remembered dessert.

This is the best idea I’ve ever had.

Ricemellow, the filling scooped out of a slice of ‘Smores Pie, and a few chocolate chips.  Melted in the microwave for 20seconds.  It was like ‘smores x1million.

I love my readers.  I really do.  So I’m going to take this opportunity to remind you to make some good decisions.  #1 – Make ‘Smores Pie.  The recipe is here.  It’s from my grandma, it’s easy, and I’ve literally never met someone who didn’t like it.  #2 – buy this:

It’s vegan, it tastes like marshmallow fluff, and it is socks rocking.  I’ll be honest, even if it wasn’t wonderful I’d like it just because I’m in love with the packaging.  Seriously though, go buy it and report back to me.

That is all.  I got myself so excited I just may need to go lie down.  I will get up in time for class at 6:30 though, and I’ll see you for a dinner post this evening.

Is there a food YOU would like to strongly recommend today?

Doing It With Friends

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Today was pretty darn successful!  My shameful laundry has to wait until tomorrow but I completed all my planned studying.

I ended up skipping errands with Adam (he can really go to the post office alone) in order to stay home and make an early dinner.  I whipped up a tasty veggie frittata while he was gone.

unfortunately I can’t share the recipe because I’m entering it in a contest, but I can tell you it was tasty (if not photogenic).

Each serving has 112calories, 12grams of protein, and 60%+ of your daily requirement of vitamin A, so I think I did a pretty good job recipe writing.

During cooking time, I ate two slices of white bread with Smart Balance Light while I did some kitchen organizing.

After dinner was finished we headed over to a friend’s house for a study session.  Listening to Adam and his friends identify body parts puts me in the perfect study zone and I got lots of reading done.  Plus I stole some Halloween leftovers.

It’s almost 11 and I still have to shower and look at my schedule so I’ve got to scadaddle.  Sweet dreams folks!

How do you like eggs other than as eggs?  I like frittatas a lot but my favorite rendition is definitely french toast.

TGI-Cuddle Time

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After my last post, I spent the day making all the calls from my to-do list.  Guys, what the heck am I going to do next year?!

I did some work online and had an apple based snack in the late afternoon.  Yogi tea,

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and a Yoplait Light Apple Turnover.

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I love the chunks of apple in that yogurt, so good!

For dinner I threw together a quick but stunning combination.

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I steamed the brocoli in the microwave and then put it on the stove over medium high heat with a little evoo, tamari, salt, pepper, and garlic.  Meanwhile, I cooked the Garlic and Scallion Annie Chun’s Noodle Bowl according to the package directions.  Finally I combined both on the stove, heating for another 5minutes.  Once the everything was nice and crunchy I broke in 2 eggs and scrambled.  Delish.

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Mine looks so dense because I squeezed it onto a small plate.

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The sauce was tasty, the brocolli is always a favorite, the noodles were crispy, and Bear was a fan.

For dessert (#1!) I had a mini So Delicious.

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After dinner we went to the mall to buy a (very late) birthday gift for my mother-in-law.  We shopped quickly but then spent about an hour walking around.  Next up on the young hot couple schedule was a weekly grocery trip.

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Challenge Balence – $58.16

That bill included a cookie to watch while we snuggle on the couch and watch the new Bones tonight.

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Be aware, there will definitly be popcorn and my last Zevia [:(] in this evening as well.

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Have a great night folks!

Back in Action Jackson

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My fabulous weekend (fueled by lots of booze) left me not so fabulously dazed.  Jet-lag doesn’t even describe it, more like rocket-lagged!  Unfortunately my Chemistry test preparation this afternoon paid the highest price.

I was exhausted when I went to bed last night (after 1:30!) so I told myself I could sleep in as long as I wanted.  I got out of bed at 11, and it’s possible I should have stayed in until noon.  Even sitting on the couch in a daze wore me out 🙂 

I need manage to cobble together some lunch out of the husband’s leftovers from this weekend.

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I steamed 3oz of broccoli in the microwave, then added 1/2C cooked quinoa, 1/2T worchestire, a few dashes chipotle tabasco, and 3T low fat mozzarella.

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I rounded things out with a candy sample from my Foodbuzz swag.

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The packaging was lovely and the carrot cake goodies inside were even better.  They were nice and chewy.  The serving was the whole box (3) but I ate two and left one for the husband.

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I realized I was going to eat more candy if I stayed at home, and was getting nothing done anyways, so it was time to head to school.  I got dressed in my ‘I worked in New York City” duds,

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and even pulled out the big guns.

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Sadly, none of this helped me to do any studying this afternoon.  I went to the library to print of the class notes and ended up doing more dazed sitting until it was time for the test.  Shockingly, I think the test went really well!  I felt very confident and I’m excited to get my grade back.

During class I snacked on my last 18 Rabbits bar, Haute Diggity Date.

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This is my last taste of SF until my swag box gets here from Fed-Ex.

I got home at 8:30 and got started on dinner.  Someone commented last week that it is hard to eat well on a budget, so I give you the main component of tonight’s dinner –

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and in fact, this would have been a twofer meal with leftovers had I not dropped half of it on the floor 😦

But drop I did, so I will give the recipe for a two-serving portion – Cauliflower Patties

  • 1/2 lb cauliflower, chopped
  • 1/2 C flour
  • 1/8 t curry powder
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 egg
  • 2T lemon juice
  • 1T evoo
  1. Steam cauliflower.
  2. Pour cooked cauliflower into a blender/food processor and pulse, stopping occasionally to stir, until cauliflower is uniformly crumbly.
  3. Pour into a medium mixing bowl and add everything but evoo. 
  4. Meanwhile, heat oil in a pan over medium high heat.
  5. Mash cauliflower mixture together and form into 8 small patties.
  6. Cook patties on stovetop in two batches, about 2minutes per side.

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I served mine on top of a lettuce base, drizzled with 1T light blue cheese dressing.

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Delish!  I also shared a Zevia with the pilgrims.

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On the agenda for the rest of the evening?  A trip to Wendy’s to redeem some frosty coupons, couch cuddling and an episode of Bones, and a bit of unpacking.  Tomorrow I’m going to school with the husband in the morning so I’m not sure what the posting situation will be.  Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite!

What have you made into patties?  I’m a fan of pretty much any veggie/meat in patty form, in fact, we are having something similar for dinner tomorrow!