Sweet Tooth

Hi all–hope everyone had a terrific weekend! I can’t believe it’s over already 😦 I’m not even going to talk about the WVU-UConn game on Friday night because WVU didn’t even show up. We so need to get rid of Coach Stew and start over because after two Big East losses in a row, this is embarssing.

Oh–Happy Halloween! And I’ve only gotten two sets of trick or treaters-wtf? I didn’t buy any candy because it escaped my mind but scrounged some random pieces of candy that I collected from my office and had a bag of raspberry filled Hershey’s Kisses sitting in my cupboard so that was going to be it. The first trick or treated I got, I let them reach into the bowl and forgot what a big mistake that was. One of the boys grabbed two big handful—greedy anklebiter! So when the next ones came, I was prepared to hand it out. I had to lock Lincoln in the bedroom since he was going batsh** crazy each time they knocked and since I’ve put him away, no knocking. I want to let him out but I think if I do, they will come a knocking again. What time do trick or treaters stay out until anyways?  So I wait. But I’m in good company

 A new cupcake/froyo place opened in my neighborhood–Divine Cupcakes and Yogurt. I read a review of it on Yelp and had to go there right away.  I looked at the menu and they had a number of cupcakes that fit various dietary needs-diabetic, gluten free and vegan which I found very cool. I got the Chocolate Espresso cupcake and either a Vegan or Gluten Free Blueberry cupcake (can’t remember!)

The Chocolate Espresso was a bit too dry for me and it was hard on the outside. The chocolate covered espresso bean was the best part but besides that it was lackluster. The Blueberry tasted healthy but was still yummy. I don’t know why it looks all mangled though. They were decent but I don’t think I will be heading back there for the cupcakes. Very rarely will I admit that a baked good that I paid for and didn’t make were a disappointment but they were. They were around $3 each and a box of Duncan Hines costs $2 so yeah, you do the math.

But Tiffany you’re not a baker you say?

Au contraire

I gave the cookies one last shot at redemption. Thanks for everyones tips about letting the batter settle some more. I mixed it yesterday and let cook overnight and this afternoon, it was rock hard

They turned out fabulous! Yes, they were still giant cookies but with more substance and not crumbly

So my co-workers will be getting these tomorrow and then I will be the most popular girl on my floor!

I had a pretty awesome strength training workout this afternoon:

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Upright Deltoid Rows (13 reps, 3 sets)

Side Bends (20 reps, 3 sets)

Halos (13 reps, 3 sets)

Shrugs (13 reps, 3 sets)

Lateral Bench Press (13 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell-15 lbs

Benchpress (13 reps, 2 sets)

Front Lateral Raise (13 reps, 3 sets)

Shoulder press (13 reps, 3 sets)

Curls (13 reps, 3 sets)

Tricep Extensions (13 reps, 1 set)

For dinner tonight, I tried Baked Orzo with Fontina and Peas from Giada. My co-worker who isn’t a huge cook passed this recipe onto me and I’ve been wanting to try it for a few months. I halfed the recipe and added more peas.

After

I halved the recipe since it makes six to eight servings and added more peas. I forgot to pick up some marsala sauce and didn’t have how to make it but I imagine it would have been tasty with it. Between the mozzarella, fontina, salt, pepper and thyme it was very flavorful though. I never cooked with fontina before so I was psyched for it and now have a surplus. Anyone know of anything I can do with the extra? I hate to see things go to waste…..especially cheese. All in all, it was a good meal. Some protein would’ve been nice with it, maybe some chicken or tuna next time?

I Licked The Bowl and I Liked It

Ok, so today has been a long one. With training, getting last-minute Halloween stuff, baking cookies (many of you know I am NOT a baker) and of yeah, living, it’s been busy. Let’s do some highlights of the past couple of days

*Mexican Pizza

*Giant Chocolate Toffee Cookies

I saw Shelby’s post where she made Giant Chocolate Toffee Cookies and knew automatically that I had to make them. I am a chocolate person but not so much a chocolate cookie or cake girl, it’s just too rich for me. But I am going to a party tomorrow night and wanted to bring something different and nothing goes better with beer and football than chocolate cookies right? Also, I wanted to make some tonight so I could taste test on co-workers. Ok, that’s a lie. I was only bringing them in so they like me more.

So I went to the store and got all the goodies and was ready to bake tonight since I didn’t want to rush myself after work tomorrow. With a frantic text to Mo regarding the shelf life of the batter (thanks again for replying so quick!!), I was ready to go.

Funkadelic, looks promising

Nothing but chocolate, again promising.

I had to take a taste or five ….don’t worry, I used five different spoons and now have to wash all my spoons. And I licked the bowl and I liked it. Then I started singing that to Katy Perry’s “I Kissed a Girl”, kill me for that song is really annoying. That paired with having the Bieber in my head all today, I just want silence.

Back to the cookies……

I was watching Community and I could smell them baking. I started to get all kinds of happy since good aroma means they are going to be beautiful and tasty, right?

Negatron.

I don’t know what I did wrong and that made me sad. A) They were burnt B) They weren’t as fluffy and pretty as Shelby’s. But I manage to salvage one and it was damn tasty.

The rest had a new home

 Having extra batter on hand, I gave it another go

Better but why are they so flat?

Thinking that I am not a quitter, I decided to try one more then I was throwing in my apron

Big, flat babies-wtf? Someone help.

These were tasty with the combination of chocolate, walnuts and toffee but don’t know where I went wrong. I urge someone (Amy? I’m looking at you since I’ve tasted your cookies. Hmm, that kinda sounds dirty hehe) to try these and let me know what’s up. Anyways, thanks Shelby for posting—they tasted good but am just not the baker I thought I was.

*Tropical Chewy Lemonheads

When did this happen? I am so tempted to try a box.

*Purple Monsters

*Pepperoni Rolls from West Virginia

*The company I work for

Supposedly, we get a debit card each year with $600 to spend on health care related expenses. I’ve been with the company for five years but was never made aware about this. Ok, I probably was but ignored it but was talking with one of my teammates about it today and she said they are doing away with it next year but I can still get a card and the balance will carry over. I called our benefits team about this today and I have $1900 available to me!!! WTF?! I can get LASIK with this or use it to pay for my tattoo removal and more. The possibilities are a plenty of things I can spend this on and I am stoked I finally found out about it. Maybe I don’t work for such an evil empire after all

*Not a highlight but for some reason Taylor Swift really bothers me. She reminds me of the bunny in Donnie Darko and I think she is an evil bunny rabit. The fact her and I share the same birthday is not kosher in my book.

*Companies that take your opinion into consideration

I wrote Hain Celestial who makes Terra Chips regarding a bad bag of chips I had a few weeks ago. It was the Mediterranean flavor but the chips were completely stale when I had just bought them a month before. Seeing they are $4 a bag, I was not happy so I went to their website and let them know and they sent me some coupons for sharing with them—thanks Hain!!

This is going to be a busy weekend-I don’t even feel like I have a weekend!

I leave you with some Lincoln love

Why does it look like he’s saying “Bitch, please”??

98 Degrees

And no, not talking about these guys.

Although, I do kinda miss the boy band craze of the late 90’s sometimes (Jeff was my favorite 98 Degree-er)

That’s how hot it was today. 85 degrees by 10A and just nastiness outside. I feel like I am living back in Phoenix but with humidity. Make. It. Stop.

I had such a wonderful day off and felt like I got so much done. I was in normal spirits, had more energy, etc. it’s a real shame that this work thing gets in the way of my life schedule. But, gotta pay the bills right?

I slept in until 745A (which was just fabulous), I felt so rested and relaxed, it wasn’t even funny. I made an egg and egg white omelet with red peppers and Trader Joe’s Feta with Mediterranean Herbs

I was waiting on the washer/dryer company to come pick up my set but of course they gave me a six-hour time frame in between 8A and 2P so I lounged around while Lincoln sat out looking at the window. He wasn’t doing anything, just sitting there. It really makes me wonder what he does when I’m at work or away. I’m really tempted to get a nanny cam but then if I see he is just sitting there bored, I will feel sad about going to work and having a life. Look at how he was glaring at me!

There was only one thing to do at that point-Fight Club Chihuahua Style. I got a puppet dog out of Lincoln’s Baby Bin (a bin with 20+ babies aka toys) and we had a training session.

Don’t worry, I have no intention of fighting Lincoln and am disgusted when I hear about dog fighting. I think people who fight their dogs should get thrown in a pit full of hungry, vicious dogs and let them go to town. I just want to know Lincoln can hold his own if he ever gets into a “situation” when someone is trying to mess with him. Good session indeed. I was on such a high from training Lincoln (and kinda was feeling like Mickey Goldmill) that I put him in my room and had a workout session of my own.

Kettlebell-20 lbs

Upright Deltoid Row (13 reps, 3 set)

Side Bends (20 reps, 2 sets)

Swings (20 reps, 2 sets)

Shrugs (12 reps, 2 sets)

Halos (13 reps, 2 sets)

Squats (20 reps, 2 sets)

Dumbbell-15 lbs

Shoulder press (12 reps, 2 sets)

Curls (13 reps, 3 sets)

Dumbbell 10 lbs

Tricep Dumbbell Kickbacks  (13 reps, 2 sets)

Tricep Extensions (12 reps, 2 sets)

Front Lateral Raise (13 reps, 2 sets)

Stability Ball Crunches (15 reps, 2 sets)

The delivery guy came right after that once I was in my normal clothes again and not looking like a complete wreck. Lincoln is a quiet dog for the most part but barks anytime a stranger comes and goes absolutely berserk when a man comes in, he just doesn’t like them (which is not good for my game). The delivery man came in and not one peep from Lincoln, which really perplexed me. I was telling the guy this and noticed he had an accent and asked him where he was from originally and he responded with “Mexico” then I said “Ahhhh it’s b/c you’re of the same ethnicity—he’s part Chihuahua!” LOL he thought that was funny (all I’m ever looking for is some laughs to validate my great sense of humor and wit) and he went over to Lincoln, pet him and said “Hola amigo!” It was cute. I went to the pool for two hours afterwards and had the entire thing to myself—it was great! I was sure to re-apply the sunscreen every 20 minutes because I didn’t want to burn and need to protect my money-maker as much as I can.

I was famished by the time I got in and made a tuna melt for lunch. It was so nice to make my lunch, listen to the Beatles and dance around the kitchen for once. I always listen to music when I am cooking or prepping and it makes it an even happier event than normal. I mixed tuna with Light Mayo, pepper, paprika, red pepper flakes with red pepper and onion and placed on two toasted pieces of whole wheat bread and topped with tomato and 2 slices of Monterrey Jack cheese then broiled for 10 minutes and served with a side of Trader Joe’s Organic Baked Nacho Tortilla Chips with Tabasco sauce.

I spent the rest of the afternoon shopping, I got some cute clothes for NYC and some accessories to go with and had an iced coconut coffee with skim milk from Dunkin Donuts. Ummm, why does it look like an Arnold Palmer?

Broke into my Newman’s Own Organic Champion Chip Cookies-Double Chocolate Chip

It’s 160 calories per serving, which is only four cookies. Edit, four small cookies. I enjoyed the taste, they were super chocolate and mint flavored but wouldn’t buy these on my own based on that serving size (I won these in a giveaway)

I am still on Operation Clean Out My Kitchen so for dinner I made Health Is Wealth Jalapeno and Cheese Munchees

From the website:

“Health is Wealth Jalapeno & Cheese Munchees are bite-sized, crispy puffs of wheat, crunchy on the outside, cheesy on the inside with just the right amount of Jalapeno peppers. Jalapeno Munchees cook up in minutes and pucker when done.  Our lip-smacking blend of all-natural, low fat ingredients with no added sugars will keep you coming back for more.”

I’ve never tried any of their products before so I was super excited because I love trying new stuff! I bought these on a whim awhile back but you never know with the frozen products how they will turn out. They reminded me of Totino Pizza Rolls.

They only took eight minutes to cook in the oven and I served with a baby spinach salad with onion, zucchini, tomato and cucumbers topped with Red Vinegar and T Marzetti’s Light Ancho Chipotle Ranch

I sipped on my new favorite—cucumber water, so refreshing!

Hope y’all had a Happy Humpday!!

Remember tomorrow at midnight is the deadline for my giveaway!

And if you like giveaways and you like peanut butter—check out Diana’s fabulous peanut butter goodness giveaway!