New Favorite Snack

I have very little time to refuel during my school day. I start on one side of the campus, run to the opposite, and then run back to where I started. Luckily my Spanish teacher doesn't yell at me for shoving a few snacks in my mouth during class. One of my new favorite snacks to take in my bag is grape tomatoes and Kashi Original Seven Grain crackers. I just toss a handful of tomatoes and handful of crackers into a container and then pop them in my mouth when my teacher is asking someone else to habla espanol. :)

Back in The Land of the Living

Oh boy. I have been so sick, y'all. Like, pretty much dead since last Tuesday. I had a mega-cold. A cold like I hadn't had for quite some time. It really knocked me for a loop, but I'm feeling much better now. Still have a cough and some congestion remains, but nothing like the past week. I blame my poor eating habits as of late. The foot injury brought on a lot of convenience foods. And I'd already been a bit lazy in the kitchen as of late. This week I've been trying to get my immune system back in order. Lots and lots of fresh fruit and veg. Salads for dinner this week. Yesterday I had a homemade salad/salsa comprised of black beans, red/yellow/orange bell peppers, and an onion for lunch with some tortilla chips, then a big salad for dinner chocked full of bell peppers, onion, zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes and cucumber. I followed it with a few strawberries, a big wedge of watermelon, and half a banana. The other half went into a smoothie I had with my fruit, along with a handful of spinach, 3/4 cup of oj, and a cup of frozen pineapple. It comes out green, but it tastes like pineapple- fun! If I keep it up I should be back in virus fighting shape in no time. And who knows, I might just drop the couple pounds I gained during my gimpy weeks too!

Craving

I have such a big craving for a sandwich today. Unfortunately I can't think of anywhere good nearby to get one. I'd love a nice Cuban though. Mmmm.

Stephanie's Baby Shower

So, bff Stephanie is currently growing two babies in her belly. That's right, twins- a boy and a girl! This weekend I hosted a shower for her family and friends. This was the second shower I've thrown for Steph, and this time around she wanted things to be really simple. I chose a bird theme that I knew she would love and almost everything else just fell into place. I looked through the archives of a couple of blogs I frequent, namely Oh Happy Day! and Brooklyn Limestone, for some ideas and everything came together really well, I think. I used some kit invitations that I actually found in the wedding aisles at Michael's, and embellished them with a little birdie stamp to work with the theme. I went with a light lunch-ish menu of tuna and chicken salad sandwiches, kettle potato chips, veggies with dip, fruit salad, and blueberry crumb bars. I had lemonade, iced tea and coffee to drink. Michael's also provided the grapevine wreaths that I "nested" the sandwiches in, the little birdies that matched my yellow and blue color scheme, the twig & nest combo, and the card stock to make the sandwich flags. I bought two small bunches of delicious smelling freesia for the tabletop and voila! I think everyone had a good time, and Stephanie and her husband Rodney got a lot of stuff that's going to come in handy once little Logan & Hadley get here. Here are a few pics. Oh, and the cake? It was made by Steph. Because she wanted to make her cake, and because she makes awesome cakes. If she hadn't been dying to make this particular cake design then I probably would have done some of those bird's nest cupcakes that have been around the blogosphere and back again. Or talked her into doing it. Because she's awesome. Here are a few pics. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate the soon to be here babes! Edit: I neglected to thank Josh and Holly for being super helpful with the party prep and even more so with the clean up. They rock!

Things Floating Around

I finally finished reading "The Omnivore's Dilemma" this week. I heart Michael Pollan. But aside from that, it has set a lot of different thoughts floating around my gray matter. Gonna do a little free-thought list here.

-Pig tails make me sad.
-I don't want to stop eating meat.
-I don't want to eat industrial meat.
-I want to start composting.
-About 1% of me would like to try hunting.
-98% of me is too squeamish to take that other 1% seriously.
-1% knows I'd break my shoulder if I shot a rifle.
-Is buying a large quantity of meat the best option for consuming local grass-fed animals?
-Is there any spot in my yard that will get enough sun for a garden?
-Why is our farmer's market not super awesome?
-Would it be super awesome if more people utilized it?
-How many people I know might be interested in buying local meat? Enough to help defray costs for all?
-I need to widen the variety of vegetables and grains I eat.
-Should I buy a chest freezer for the garage to store all this meat in?
-How hard would it be to make cheese?
-Why haven't I figured out baking bread yet?
-How many things could I really take on myself with the amount of free time I have?
-I want to re-read "In Defense of Food".

Perfect Treat

Josh put some dark chocolate covered almonds in my Christmas stocking. I decided to bring them to work and put them in a candy jar near my desk. They have turned out to be the perfect little treat during my work day. After all, dark chocolate is good for you and almonds are full of vitamin E, so I'm doing myself a favor by eating a few every day.

Christmas Cookie Cottages

Sometime last week while blog trolling I came across a link to these cookie cottages from Martha Stewart. For the life of my I can't remember what blog I saw it on, even after re-trolling in search of it. I've never made a gingerbread house before, so this seemed like these graham cracker structures would be just as fun, but a bit easier. I asked Josh if he'd have some holiday fun with me and he said sure. During our grocery shopping on Sunday we picked up supplies, including some pre-made royal icing at Central Market. That night we set up shop at the dining table, turned the Christmas carols on and got to work. This was such a fun and easy activity! We have plenty of icing and some grahams and candy decorations left. I'm going to pick up a few more supplies tonight and we're going to make some houses to deliver to friends this weekend. What fun we'll have! It barely took us an hour to make these and that was our first time so the rest of them should be a breeze. I think this will definitely become part of our holiday traditions, at least till I feel like tackling the big real deal.



Josh's cottage left, my cottage right.

Pudding Face

I'll be spending some time on a soft food diet, what with all the impending dental work. I can't decide if pudding should be on the grocery list or not.

Sweet Dreams

Oh, Stephen Colbert. I knew I liked you before. But now? I think I love you, you sweet, sweet eagle of delicious freedom. Thank you Ben, Jerry, and Mr. Colbert. Your creamy patriotism earns you my personal Purple Tastebud award.

Lunch

I've been trying to bring better lunches to work, partly to save money and partly to eat healthier. I was especially pleased with my lunch today. I had a nice salad of spinach, romaine, and red leaf lettuce with green bell pepper, tomato, olive oil packed tuna, and balsamic vinaigrette, some celery sticks, a whole wheat pita with roasted red pepper hummus, and two clementines for dessert. Not sure what I'll bring tomorrow, but I hope it will be just as yummy. What do you guys like to have for lunch?

Strawberries

We had some yummy strawberries on Sunday.