Rambling Babushka: Magical Masala

Hi everyone. I'm currently rotting on the couch with my bright, shiny laptop by my side. Saturday is nearing its end and I'm saddened by this inevitable occurrence. This day has just flown by for me. BAH! My morning started with a nice cup of coffee and what I've lovingly named Fall Harvest Cakes for breakfast. So basically I made my usual pancake recipe but added a 1/2 cup of pumpkin puree, a dash of pumpkin pie spice, a little milk and a handful of dried cranberries. AMAZING! Each bite tasted like a decadent bite of Fall. Like a magical mix of Thanksgiving flavors but without the guilt! AHHHHHHHHH (High pitched sound of satisfaction!) I topped it with low calorie, fat free maple syrup and had to calm my clammy little fork in hand self down long enough to snap these pictures.

I devoured breakfast and then in my usual fashion RUSHED to the gym to meet Ann for "leg" day. I would like to declare that I am an idiot. I ate breakfast WAY TOO LATE and though it was delicious, it was also dense and felt like a brick in my belly. I was on the bike for no more then 5 minutes before my stomach stared aching and cramping. UGH! I had to get off of it early. Bad Ildie! BAD! After about 15 minutes the bad feelings passed and I was able to bust out all of my usual leg moves and even threw some triceps workouts in there. All in all it was a good workout.

I came home and found my kitchen in pieces. Nick decided to "fix" the broken dishwasher. Ladies and gentlemen, this thing has been broken for like four years. I've just grown accustomed to washing dishes by hand. No big deal. Nick however was convinced that he could fix it. My Papa tried fixing it a few years back when it initially broke. At the time I ordered some stupid part that was about the size of my thumbnail for something absurd like $50-$60. We waited on the part for a week, got it, installed it, turned it on and about 2 minutes later it broke again. It was at about this time that I kicked the damn thing and said screw it.

I managed to dance around Nick and the mess long enough to make both of us a veggie omelet for lunch. Of course I made mine with fat free cheese and egg whites only! I used mushrooms, green peppers, onions and green onions as well. It was yummy. I topped it with hot mango habanero salsa. YEAH!

After I was done I cleaned the kitchen up a bit and then got the heck out of there. The disorganization had me in a tizzy so I left him to do his thing and amused myself with other things for a few hours.

Fast forward to a few hours later.... My kitchen is still a cluttered mess of dishwasher bits and pieces. SIGH! He got it working... The water came in, it was nice and hot, it started spinning, and then it stopped and random lights have been blinking ever since. He consulted his computer several times as well as the manual for magical answers but has found none to date. I just stay out of there. Too much time has been invested for him to give up easily and me telling him to stop are where "stupid fights for no reason" originate from. I know better. :)

For dinner I decided to make Vegetable Masala Curry with rice. Yes, once again I kept seeing this on blogs and it sounded so good that I wanted to try it. I love curry and vegetables. How can you go wrong? I made it with cauliflowers, broccoli, green peppers, mushrooms and yellow onion and this magical jar of sauce. It only has three servings of 80 calories. AWESOME!

I simmered the veggies in the hot gooey mix for about 30 minutes and then poured it over brown rice. Nick enjoyed his with jasmine rice. YES! I WAS JEALOUS! Jasmine rice is my fave but I know brown rice is better for you. SACRIFICES! :) It turned out really good. I ate every last bite and plan to make this again... Soon!

After dinner he went right back to working on the devil machine. After about another hour of fiddling he closed up shop and gave up. Stupid dishwasher! He was so cute for trying to fix it though! ADORABLE! :)

For a sweet fix later I made a cup of double spice chai black spice tea. I love this stuff. You add fat free french vanilla creamer and I swear it tastes like pumpkin pie. TRY IT!