Busy Bee.

Even though I'm off from work this week, I was BUSY today. The snow kept me indoors
and I never made it to the gym. UGH! Just look at it! Disgusting!


However, I didn't sit still for a single second so I'm not feeling too guilty about it. My morning started with a cup of knickerdoodle coffee, with whip and cinnamon of course....


and the most delicious bowl of SUPER CREAMY oats.... In my AWESOME new cat bowl. Another present from Ann. I love it!!

• 1/2 cup Irish oats
• 1/2 cup Almond Breeze
• 3/4 cup water
• dash salt
• 2 packets splenda
• dash cinnamon
• dash pumpkin pie spice
• 1 banana, sliced
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tbs coconut flakes
• 1 tbs Trader Joe's pumpkin butter

Holy heck! It was delicious. I've been toying with the idea of adding egg whites to the mix because I keep seeing it in blogland. So I finally did it and boy am I glad I did. It was SO creamy and rich and FILLING!

After breakfast I started cleaning. And I kept cleaning and cleaning AND CLEANING. While cleaning I also started reorganizing furniture and de-cluttering. Before I knew it I was removing curtains and washing them, sweeping, dusting and putting things into storage bins. So much for relaxing and enjoying my time off aye? No matter, I was enjoying it!

Before I knew it lunchtime had come and gone. I was so into the cleaning frenzy that I lost all track of time. I quickly made myself a warm and toasted wrap using a wheat FlatOut. I stuffed it with leftover egg roll filling, fat free american cheese and toasted it all up in a pan which I simply sprayed with a bit of Pam. Easy peasy. On the side I had some roasted garlic hummus, raw veggies and pretzels. I also had a bit of chili sauce which I used as a dip for the wrap. Lunch was amazing!


After lunch I cleaned myself up, put my pajamas on and sat down for a bit. In no less than 10 minutes I was changing again because all of a sudden shoveling the snow off of the LONG driveway sounded like a good idea. I was OUT OF CONTROL! I just couldn't sit still I tell you!! I was outside shoveling for roughly 45 minutes. I was SOAKED by the time I got inside. I changed into my pajamas (again), lit some candles, pured myself a nice glass of cherry wine and FINALLY decided to relax for the rest of the night.


It was right about at this time that Nick got home from work. Perfect timing I guess. :)

Dinner was already planned out for the evening. I was making stuffed pepper soup and I couldn't wait to start making it. It was my first time attempting the recipe but it sounded easy enough. As usual I planned to make a healthy pot for me and a regular pot for Nick. The only difference being that I would use Morning Star Farms grounds for me and regular ground beef for Nick.

Here is what you will need...

• 2 servings Morning Star Farms grounds (for me)
• 1/2 lb ground beef (for Nick)
• 1 cup cooked Basmati rice
• 2 cups chicken stock
• 2 large cans tomato sauce
• 2 medium yellow onions, chopped
• 2 green bell peppers, chopped
• salt & pepper to taste
• dash cayenne
• dash smoked paprika
• dash garlic powder

I cooked up the Morning Star Farm grounds with a medium onion. I also cooked up the beef for Nick the same way. (my mix is pictured below)


Once cooked, I poured one can of Tomato sauce into each pot and one cup of chicken stock.


Next I diced up one green pepper for each pot and tossed them into the mix.


I then added roughly a half cup of Basmati rice into each pot.


Then I seasoned each pot with salt, pepper, paprika and cayenne. I let the flavors marinade for about 30 minutes on low heat and made sure that the peppers were nice and tender.

And there you have it. Rich, chunky, stuffed pepper soup. SO EASY and delicious!


I also had a slice of wheat bread on the side with spray butter.


I'm off to hang with this lazy beast...


and the Mr. Have a great night everyone!

Frankie Said "Relax"

But I refused to listen. I instead started my morning by cleaning the house, doing three loads of laundry, emptying and loading the dishwasher and making breakfast. I guess I woke up feeling energized??? Breakfast was yummy. I toasted an Ezekiel bun and topped each half with pan seared ham lunch meat, 2 egg whites, a 1/2 slice of fat free American cheese and "bunny" cracked black pepper.


Two sneaky little bunny rabbits watched me eat my delicious breakfast sandwiches.

Another adorable and awesome present from Ann. SO CUTE. It's a pair of black pepper and sea salt grinders that are magnetic so I can keep them on my fridge. LOVE THEM! ;)

After breakfast I decided to get dressed and head to the gym. I guess I was still unable to relax! I was checking out the weather forecast for next week and it's not looking good! They're calling for snow every single day except Wed. The white death marathon will start tonight at about 6:00 pm. BAH! I figured I better go get a workout in while I still can!!

Once again I focused on cardio. It was weird being there without Ann. This was the first time since we joined that I was completely on my own. She had holiday plans with her boyfriends family today. I was able to hustle and get in and out quickly though which was nice.

Elliptical - Interval training
30 minutes at 5-7 resistance
20 minutes at 7-9 resistance
10 minutes at 9-12 resistance
Total of 715 calories burned (AWE YEAH!)

After the workout I was feeling good, weak, cold and pukish all at the same time. Signs of a good workout I dare say. HA! After the gym I ran to the grocery store to pick up a few random things that we needed. By the time I got home I was STARVING! I quickly made lunch. I had a toasted English muffin sandwich with hummus, arugula and pastrami. On the side I had veggies, more hummus, brussel sprouts and bread & butter pickles. So good! I LOVE bread and butter pickles!!


After lunch I finally got to relax for a bit. I collapsed on the couch with a comforter and lay there like a bum for a solid two hours. I loved every single second of it. When 7:00 rolled around I started prepping dinner. On the fabulous menu tonight were my veggie egg rolls and Bangkok curry soup. I can't claim the soup though, that came pre-packaged. ;)

The egg roll recipe is super EASY and healthy. Into a pot toss the following...

• 1 bag of tri-color coleslaw mix
• 1 cup white mushrooms, chopped fine
• 1 cup Morning Star Farms meal started grounds
• 2 tbs low sodium soy sauce
• 2 tbs teriyaki sauce
• 1 tbs Thai chili paste
• 1 tbs oyster sauce
• 1/4 cup green onions, chopped fine

Let this cook for about 15 minutes until the veggies soften up and the flavors love on each other. While the mixture is cooking beat one egg white and get your egg roll wrappers ready by brushing the edges with the egg white. Fill each egg roll wrap with the veggie mixture. Add as much as you like but keep in mind that the more you add the harder they will be to roll. Add the rolls into a frying pan with a bit of olive oil and cook on medium heat until all sides are nice and toasted. I don't deep fry mine for obvious reasons. I want to keep them as healthy as possible. I've actually baked them before as well and they turned out really good. Nick begged me to brown them up in a bit of olive oil though so I gave in. I think this was the first time I cooked anything in olive oil in roughly 4 months. He should feel special!! :)

Dinner was delicious, spicy and flavorful! We both loved it!!


I dipped the egg rolls in some spicy, sweet chili sauce. YUM!


After dinner I took a nice long bath and Nick got ready to visit his friends in Canton. A friend from high school that he hasn't see in years was in town for the holidays and the boys were gathering at our friend Blairs house to catch up. I hate that he was heading out and driving as far as he was because it started snowing a few hours ago. STUPID SNOW! He promised to be careful though! HE BETTER BE!

After my bath I was craving a yogurt mess like crazy. Into a bowl went plain Oikos, a small banana, a handful of pomegranate granola, coconut flakes and a spoonful of pumpkin butter. YUMMMMMMMMMM!!


I think I'll watch a sappy tear jerker movie since Nick is leaving. I could use a good sissy cry session! HA!

Have a great night!!

Reflection

As the Christmas festivities come to an end I find myself reflecting at their heart warming brilliance. The simplest of this seasons pleasures make my heart just want to burst. Family, friends, kindness, laughter, cuddling, relaxation, rich coffee, good food, amazing company, fine wine, fantastic music, health, joy and happiness. Oh the list just goes on and on. I'm so lucky!

I'm currently curled up on the couch with a delicious cup of Dulce De Leche flavored coffee reminiscing over another fabulous day. I feel nothing but content and joy right now. Let's recap shall we?

I woke up late. Why? Because I'm on vacation and I can, that's why! LOVE IT! I started a pot of coffee, fed Sir Oliver and started playing around with my new Sansa mp3 player. I must have been playing with it pretty hard because I lost complete track of time. I looked up and it was nearing 11:20 and I hadn't even had breakfast. AND I was supposed to meet Ann at the gym by noon. AGHH! I quickly got dressed, grabbed a quick banana and a chocolate brownie Cliff bar and was out the door.


I was only a few minutes late and beat Ann there. DISASTER AVERTED!

The workout today was awesome. Ann did lower body and I decided to focus on straight up cardio. I needed to punish myself a bit for my recent Christmas-treats-indulging session.

Elliptical - Interval Training
Levels 5-7, 35 minutes
Levels 7-9, 15 minutes
Level 12, 10 minutes
Total of 717 calories burned. YEAH!

I was covered in sweat and freezing when I left the gym. UGH! After the workout we went to visit the folks. We can't get enough of them. HA! My Papa gave me one of his shirts to change into so I could stop shivering. I instantly felt better. While there I enjoyed the most DELICIOUS salad. It included the following.

• Sweet butter lettuce
• Baby arugula
• Butternut squash
• Chicken breast
• Black beans
• Fat free mozarella cheese
• Dried cranberries
• Red pepper flakes
• Spray butter

IT WAS SO GOOD! I ate every last bit of this deliciousness! After the salad I enjoyed a cup of coffee and we decided to play some Scrabble. The folks have actually never played the game. Crazy right? I love it. I can't believe it but Ann won. THIS NEVER HAPPENS!!! I'm the Scrabble champ. I was set up! It's the only explanation!!!


After a few hours of visiting I decided to head home. I couldn't wait to take a hot bath and warm up. I realize it's Saturday night but all I can think about is diving into my pajamas and maybe watching a good movie.

I brought home leftovers from Mama for Nick (Stuffed Peppers) to have for dinner so I decided to make myself some healthy pancakes. It's been too long since I last enjoyed my beloved little round and fluffy cakes of goodness! I need them in my life!

I made the typical recipe (which you can view ***HERE***) and I decided to top it with cooked, sauteed cinnamony apples, cranberries, raisins and fat free syrup. I haven't made them like this in SO long. I forgot how good they were like this. WOW. I devoured this plate!


Cuddle time!!

Have a GREAT night! ;)

A day FULL of joy!

THE FUN REFUSES TO STOP! My fragile fun lovin little heart can barely stand it. Somehow I'm managing though! Yesterday with the folks was fabulous and today was just as amazing. I got to give presents to people I love AGAIN and managed to snag up some AWESOME goodies as well. Can I just say again how much I LOVE Christmas!!!! The word "love" doesn't really describe it my friends. There are no words!

This morning I woke up super early as usual. My anxious self refused to fall back asleep. It was still dark out for Pete's sake! Absurd! I glanced over at what I assumed would be a sleeping Nick but ALAS, he was staring back at me. I guess we were both too excited to sleep! We came downstairs, I made some coffee and we relaxed for a bit with Mr. Oliver Cat. We found ourselves stretching the inevitable gift opening session out a bit longer. Clearly we both love the torture! Don't we look tired? HA!


About an hour later it was time to DIVE IN!


Nick loved all his goodies. I got him a paper shredder. I know this seems lame but if you could just see his office, it would ALL begin to make sense! I think perhaps this was a present for the BOTH of us. I HATE CLUTTER! I also got him a beard trimmer, a WARM hoodie, some drill bits, pajama pants, a hat and some other odds and ends.


Soooooooo, the long wait is over! Want to know what I got? I GOT THE MOST AWESOME KNIFE SET IN THE WORLD! Four star quality brand G.A. Henckels knives at that!! I cook a LOT and my current knives SUCK a lot. He knew that I would NEVER indulge and buy myself a set of good quality knives so he went ahead and spent a small fortune on this set. CRAZY ADORABLE MR. MAN OF MINE!

I look deranged in all of these pictures by the way. HA!


What can I say, we're both into practical gifts! Perhaps these are signs of getting older??? HA!

We also gave Oliver cat (fur baby) his presents (treats, toys and catnip). He went WILD with excitement. HAHAHAHA!


After Nick and I wrapped up our present tearing session it was nearing 10:30. GOOD GRIEF how did that happen? I never even had breakfast and now it's too late to have it. I was expecting Ann by 11:00-ish and we had planned to have lunch together. Oh well, it's not like I was starving or anything.

Nick was heading out the door to visit his Aunt at the exact time that Ann showed up. Oh man, Ann had a bag of goodies for me. Crazy lady! Sometimes I just feel so spoiled! I love my family. DO YOU HEAR ME CRAZY PEOPLE? I LOVE YOU GUYS!! YEAH!!!

I made Ann and I a pot of Raspberry truffle coffee (yeah, it tasted just as good as it sounded) and we pondered over what to have for lunch. After some serious deliberation we decided to have chicken sandwiches. We piled fresh chicken breast on Ezekiel buns with pepper-jack cheese and cran-apple butter and also had a small side salad with soy nuts and cranberries. It was delicious!


After our mini feast it was time to open presents. I couldn't wait to give her all her goodies. I don't know why but I love the gift exchange with the sis-sis the most. It's not that I don't absolutely adore giving my parents their presents, or Nick for that matter. There's just something special about when Ann and I do it. Probably because we know each other so well. Like we can read each others minds. We're so alike it's almost scary. It's like she is my miniature doppelganger. HA! My little mini-me. HA-HA-HA!!

Once again I got hooked the heck up. She got me an awesome and PINK (I love pink) gym bag and matching workout gloves. LOVE! I also got an awesome apron.... I LOVE THE APRON ANN!


I also got a bunch of other goodies. INCLUDING A SANDISK MP3 player. OMG. I no longer have to use my crappy phone to listen to music at the gym. Which by the way I had to hold in my hand or pocket, making working out while listening to music damn near impossible!! YOU CAN'T BEGIN TO IMAGINE HOW AWESOME THIS PRESENT IS! THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU ANN! I was so happy I sang a song. A sweet, sweet song of JOY!


I mean, I just had SO much to sing about. LOOK. A polka dot water bottle. I LOVE IT!


I think Ann enjoyed her presents too. She looked happy anyways! :)


This Christmas has been ridiculous! I feel spoiled to a disgusting degree! After the present invasion we enjoyed some more coffee. Actually I made a pot of Chocolate Chip Cookie flavored coffee, courtesy of yet another amazing present from Ann. Uhm, it was delicious! After coffee we hung out and chatted for a while and just vegged out on the couch. It was such a nice and relaxing day. It was at about 3:30 that Ann decided to go home. This has been such a fun day!!!

After Ann left you will never believe what I did next. I CLEANED AND ORGANIZED! HA! I put all of my presents away, cleaned the kitchen, dining room and living room. I instantly felt better!! I should explain. Every year after Christmas I go through uncontrollable "CLEAN AND TOSS" phase. I tend to organize a lot and I get rid of a lot of old things. It's probably a combination of making room for my new things and having time off from work to get things done. IT FELT GREAT! LIBERATING! I will probably do this a few more times before I go back to work. I think my closet is next, and yes, I AM scared!!

Nick and his brother Dan got back to the house at about 6:30. I should mention that his brother Dan got a bottle of Captain from one of his family members for Christmas and they walked into the house lovingly cradling the bottle. Clearly they were about to enjoy the heck out of this Holiday weekend a bit more. HA! I decided to immediately start on dinner. I wanted to get some food into the boys before they started on the bottle of avoid a disaster!! And of course it was Friday which could mean nothing other than TACO SALAD NIGHT!

I made the boys a huge serving of taco meat with beef and made myself a small serving of my usual Morning Star Farms mix (click **HERE** for the recipe). To make the cooking experience a bit more magical, I busted out my AMAZING new santoku knife. Here is the bad boy in action. It glided through the veggies so gracefully and easily. WOW!!


You know what else it glided through with grace and ease? MY FREAKING FINGERNAIL! I will save you from the GORY pictures and just show you the bandaged finger! It delicately sliced off a thin layer of nail along with the flesh below it. Yeah, it DID hurt!


OMG LOL! I can laugh at it now because the pain has passed (mostly). It happened SO FAST. I'm not used to knives as sharp as razor blades. Holy my goodness! I could lose a finger with these freaking things. I will need to get used to working with QUALITY cutlery, that's for sure!

I can hear my Mama screaming now. There is this Hungarian tradition where you can't give anyone a knife as a present without poking them first with each one. This ensures that the person you gift it to will never cut themselves with the knives. I made Nick GENTLY stab/poke me with each one after babying my finger for a bit, smothering it with triple antibiotic ointment and bandaids. OUCH! :)


Ok, back to dinner now that the bleeding has stopped. I finished the chopping of the veggies and dinner was served. I made sure that both boys had PLENTY of food in them. I also told Dan that if he drank too much he was sleeping on the couch. NO EXCUSES! ;)

Dinner was amazing. I had it with chips this time. I was starving and I was craving a bit of carbs. I had a handful of Food Should Taste Good multi grain chips. Oh man, I haven't had taco salad with chips in MONTHS! SO GOOD!


After dinner the boys started playing Castle Crashers (Xbox 360 game) while sipping on Captain Morgan. I think this is going to be a long night. :)

Goodnight everyone! I hope you all had a WONDERFULL Christmas. Mine has been FANTASTIC!

xoxoxox!!!