Yawn

Today has been a pretty relaxing day, I broke into my box of Kashi Go Lean Crisp! for breakfast and made a banana parfait with Trader Joe’s 2% Plain Greek Yogurt

I shouldn’t have eaten something so big, I completely forgot I was meeting a friend at 11A for brunch at Pewter Rose Bistro. I normally wake up so early on the weekends but slept in until 9A today so I could’ve had a banana but this was still delicious. Regardless, I’ve never been to Pewter Rose and have heard raves about their weekend brunch so it was on like Donkey Kong!!

They serve you fresh, warm butterscotch scones-nothing wrong with that

I was contemplating getting either the Mashed Potato Omelet (cheddar cheese, bacon,scallions, sour cream) or Banana Fosters French Toast (rum butter, sweet banana cream, whipped cream,maple syrup) but french toast always wins!

The french toast was delectable and had a rich banana cream on the inside (it reminded me of the honey walnut cream cheese at Einsteins) I wanted to lick the plate but remained a lady and left one bite on my plate but everything else was happily devoured. I will be going back fo sho!

Lincoln is a tad tired from posting yesterday

I got some cute buys at Target

Yes, I know I am 30 years old but will forever be a child of the 80s

Polka dot notecards for $1!!

Found the Cardio Burn Yoga DVD Mari gave me when I visited NYC

Dinner was random, my stomach is still acting up a bit and I was full from the fabulous french toast I had earlier on.

I cut up two whole wheat tortillas, brushed with extra virgin olive oil, pepper and chili powder and baked at 300 degrees for 15 minutes or until crisp

Put some soup on the stove top

The “chips” came out perfect and I paired with Trader Joe’s Spicy Hummus

After a few chips, I wasn’t feeling the hummus (I don’t think I’ve ever said that in my life) so I just ate the chips plain and they were still terrific. I broke into my newly purchased bag of Trader Joe’s Wasabi Peas. I’ve seen bloggers writing about these and finally caved in and bought a bag, they were delicious!

Pretty much a boring day but I am feeling better and hope this week at work goes quickly. I am driving to Indianapolis on Friday (with Lincoln) and working overtime throughout the week so I won’t have to use any vacation time to leave early on Friday. Hope everyone had a fabulous (and perhaps more exciting) weekend than I did!

We never found out who let the dogs out.

Sometimes when I get ready to take Lincoln out, I get “Who Let The Dogs Out?” in my head and once again, it’s crept in my head.

I am seriously contemplating downloading it from itunes.

I made french toast with fresh strawberries this morning. Yay for spring and cheaper fresh fruit! I need to hit up the farmers market soon.

I decided to get some spring cleaning done and cleaned out my closet and packed away my winter clothes, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. Does anyone know of a good earring organizer> This is what it looks like when it’s “orderly” and is such a pain in my behind trying to organize, untangle, etc.

 I love my ghetto baby girl earrings!

I put away a bunch of clothes into my outdoor storage and put away a bunch of stuff that I’m donating to Good Will. All that stuff worked up my appetite and decided to make zucchini cakes.

The cakes frying up

Looks wise=fail. Taste wise=fabulous. They didn’t look as good as the last time I made them but still tasty!

Dessert was greek yogurt, pineapple, strawberries and flax

I got the bubble bath going and put on my bathing suit because it was time to give Lincoln a bubble bath! He hates going in the kitchen sink so have to give him a bath in the tub and he has this pina colada dog bubble bath that smells wonderful.

He looks so fluffy and clean now

And without a collar, he looks like a little naked puppy!

I ran to K-Mart to pick up some random stuff plus Easter gifts for my nieces. I love going there as opposed to Wal-Mart since the [prices are comparable and not as many people go there. One of the things I cannot stand about Wal-Mart are the crowds (given it is good people watching). Soon enough, it was time for the WVU-Missouri game. I made popcorn with my new White Cheddar seasoning

WVU won so they are onto the Sweet 16 and play Washington on Thursday–bring it Huskies! I feel asleep right after and hate that about Sunday afternoons. I never sleep well on Sundays due to me not being happy about another work wk starting but something about Sunday afternoon naps is so right.

Dinnertime was approaching and already had split chicken breast in the crockpot cooking so all I needed was a side dish. I had this box of Annie’s Organic Shells and Cheese sitting on my shelf for a few weeks and have been itching to make it. This was my first Annie’s experience and was excited!

Shells and cheese alone never fills me up so I steamed some broccoli and threw it in the mix with some pepper

 

I pulled the chicken apart to make pulled chicken, spooned Budweiser bbq sauce on top and let simmer in the crock while the shells were cooking

LOVED the shells and cheese. It didn’t taste as processed as Kraft shells and cheese, which I definitely liked it. It was light, cheesy and paired with the broccoli, a perfect side dish.

Since I already had dessert at lunch, I figure why no continue to have dessert at dinner.

This was another first for me–Skinny Cow Chocolate Truffle Bar

I’ve always wanted to try these but they are super expensive but only $2.48 at the supermarket this wknd so I had to buy a box!

Mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm mmmmmmm. This was delicious and reminded me of Pudding Pops from the 80’s!

God, those were so good!

I made lunch for tomorrow–Barilla Plus Whole Wheat Farfalle with sautéed baby spinach, artichokes in olive oil with fresh garlic and red pepper flakes.

It’s hard to believe this is one serving of the farfalle—56g. Before I had a food scale, a “serving”—eek!

I signed Lincoln and I up for the Dogswalk Against Cancer Event on the 3rd here in Charlotte this evening. Some of my former co-workers may come out with their dogs to walk as well. It’s the weekend of Easter and will be something fun to do since I have no plans for Easter Sunday itself.

Does anyone watch Desperate Housewives? Does anyone else want to shave off Preston’s porn-stache or think MJ is super whiny all of a sudden? I know I shouldn’t pick on a five-year old but suck it up MJ and stop whining about everything under the sun!

I wish I could tire out as easily as this little guy  but no can do. Hopefully I will start getting sleepy soon enough!

I want some french toast.

Friday-yay!!! You finally made it and I love you.

I just woke up from a wonderful nap and sipping on some coffee. I am going midnight bowling tonight (hence the nap) which I haven’t done in forever! I am not really in a drinking mood but definitely in the mood to go have some fun and bowl! Maybe there will be some cute boys there, who knows? I can’t remember the last time I’ve been out on a Friday night.  If I do go out, it’s normally on a Saturday night so I can rest up during the day. I hate going out on Friday nights because I wake up @ 545A and being perky is hard to do after being awake for so long. I either take a nap or have to decline the offer.

But good news this morning—the Carolina Panthers cut QB Jake Delhomme—finally!!!!

Jake sucks. He is a good second or third string qb but as first string-negative. John Fox (Carolina Panthers Coach) had too much loyalty to him for some reason. Peace out boy scout. Maybe now we will be a real team (although I am a Chicago Bears fan).

I started the day off with a green monster But it wasn’t too green….sad.

 I got into my car and this song came on the radio. I completely forgot  Lenny did a remake of this song and I was so happy to hear it!

I munched on a granola bar that I made last night

In honor of yesterday’s wonderful soup and sandwich lunch-I decided to repeat since I didn’t have time to cook last night.

I filled a Habanero Lime Tortilla with Garlic and Herb Laughing Cow Cheese, Dijon and Smart Deli Turkey Style Veggie Protein slices before the goodies And after I got very ambitious with my veggies –baby spinach, carrots, red onion and parsley.

Pre Veggies–

 So much that I couldn’t even wrap it and had to eat like a taco-which was fine with me!

Look at that color–love it!

The soup was good. I’m a Campbell’s girl for the most part and bought this because I had a coupon but was pleased with the flavor–even for being No MSG Added

I walked over to Harris Teeter to get some cheese and bread. They were having a BOGO sale for the cheese and 50% off their bakery bread. I took this picture on the way back while walking through the cemetary–it was a gorgeous day!

I couldn’t let the fresh bread I bought just sit in my kitchen so I made mini french toast with berries for dinner.

The Whole Wheat Petit Loaf.

Loaf, I love that word. Maybe because it sounds dirty–I dunno.

I sliced in little pieces, some of which fell apart so I was about to toss. But then I remembered I had spray butter in the fridge so decorated with that and had a pre-dinner snack. And this is why I don’t buy fresh bread. I could seriously eat the entire loaf (hehe) in one sitting.

Because I?

The slices cooking

Ok looks wise, this got a D+

But the flava?? A++!

At least it wasn’t this french toast

I never used fresh bread for french toast before and it made a world of difference

Coffee in my favorite cup

Anyone see or planning on seeing Alice in Wonderland?

 I’m not a huge Tim Burton fan but love the story and cartoon! I’m trying to round up a friend or two to go see it.

All I know is the black eyebrows and white hair are bothering me.

****A little raffle fun for y’all. Patricia is holding a raffle to raise money for the Tufts University School of Nutrition as a team member of the Presiden’ts Marathon Challenge. She is more than half way to her goal of raising $2,500 (YOU GO GIRL!) The main raffle prize is a hot Garmin Forerunner 305. Click here for more details!****

I’m watching this Ancestry show on NBC  “Who Do You Think You Are?“ and Sarah Jessica Parker is on it now. I am very amused that her ancestors last name was Hodge…..She co-starred with Kyle Maclachlan on Sex and The City, who now plays Orsen Hodge in Desperate Housewives. I watch too much tv, I know.

Well, time to start getting ready for tonight. Now that I think of it, today was a pretty boring day. We will need to change that tonight. Happy weekend everyone!!

Walking On Sunshine

20 degrees and snowing last wk……60 degrees this wk? Hello global warming, it’s nice to meet you!

It’s an absolutely gorgeous day in Charlotte and I have been on the go all day and taking a break for now!

I had to wake up early to take Lincoln to get groomed then I came back made some french toast with baked apples on top and my first cuppa joe.

I thought this would be really good because I had pancakes with baked apples on top from Cracker Barrel but these disappinted me. It was edible and tasted good, just not as good as I thought it would. I nuked the apples for 2 minutes and topped with apple pie spice and splenda. Then poured over the french toast and topped with syrup. I’m sure it was better at Cracker Barrel because of all the sugar and stuff (plus they put whipped cream on their pancakes and you can’t go wrong with that) but it filled me up and prepared me for the busy day I was going to have.

First stop was the post office to ship out some clothes I sold on ebay this past wk. Then I drove a few miles to South Carolina to get gas. It’s about a ten minute drive to the border and gas is about $.20 cheaper to I fill up on the wknd and am good for two or three wks (I really don’t drive too much at all due to the bus and train during the work wk).

Next stop was onto my good deed for the day….Charlotte Mecklenburg Animal Care & Control

They are no kill and in dire need of food. I saw this on the news the other night about how food donations for animals are at an all time low and knew I needed to help! Enter in the four unopened bags of dog food that I got for free but Lincoln didn’t like. They have been sitting in my kitchen for a good year .

I was so happy to help the poor doggies! Sometimes I think I like dogs more than people—they don’t talk back, aren’t selfish and just want to love. But that’s another rant for another time! Then I made a huge mistake, I asked to see the dogs. They pointed me over to where they keep the dogs up for adoption and I walked in. That’s when my heart sank. Thankfully, there were only 18 dogs but to me, that is 18 too many. They were all so happy to see people!  I kept getting licks from them and it was just so sweet to see all of them so happy. But then I started tearing up because you could tell they were good dogs who don’t have a home and there was nothing I could do ( I warned y’all I like dogs more than people sometimes). I would love to have more dogs (but not to the point I am crazy dog lady) if I had more room but I am in an apartment which is room enough for Lincoln and I. Plus if I brought some doggies home, I think that would break his heart.

Speaking of which-next stop was to pick up Lincoln from his morning of pampering! Now if his momma could only get a day of pampering…..

How adorable are we? hehe

Lunch was sushi from Harris Teeter-Spicy Salmon Roll

And a kiwi (which this package of six at Trader Joe’s was $2.20 but for one at Harris Teeter is $.69 each–dislike!!)

Lincoln hoping to blog

Bad news on the Shamrock Shake hunt—I stopped by two McDonalds’s today and none in the forecast.

I’m not going to completely give up on this though. I am gonna keep searching through McDonalds in the area ….and learn how to say Shamrock Shake en espanol or learn how to dance like a leprechaun so people who don’t understand what it is will know what I am talking about!

 

Year of the Tiger (well, not Woods)

Happy Chinese New Year everyone! Year of the Tiger-rawrr!!! Maybe if Tiger Woods wasn’t such a dirty dog, this could’ve been a good year for him. I guess we’ll never know….

Today has been a great Valentine’s Day!

I started the day off with french toast topped with almond butter, bananas and lite syrup

I watched the news afterwards then decided to go for a run/walk. I ended up doing 2.5 miles for 35 minutes. I love my Polar heart rate monitor but wished it measured distance because sometimes I go off track.

Post Workout snack was Honey Graham Z Bar (first time trying it!)

Yum! I love Clif bars but it’s nice to have a smaller and lighter alternative. I will have to try the other flavors now.

Lunch was fried catfish bites. I was in the mood for something crunchy and didn’t feel like taking a chance  baking it. I’ve never baked breaded catfish before but  maybe I’ll try it some day.

Cucumber and Tomato Salad on the side

Like Starbucks, Diet Coke is all about the love

I had a spinach smoothie with chocolate whey protein powder, silk soy milk , two spoonfuls of Chobani Champions -Chocolate (which I thought was nasty so I am trying not to throw it out and make some use out of it).

 Then I watched Love Actually and prepped dinner in the crockpot…….Crock Pot Kung Pao Cashew Chicken that I saw on Danica’s site.

 

Holy yum-this was great and healthy! I served over a bed of sprouts (along with mushrooms, broccoli and onion mixed in)  and topped with 1 oz.cashews.

Dessert was vanilla crème Peeps.  I had to celebrate V-Day somehow and what better way than pure sugar?

  I’m looking forward to tomorrow-Federal holiday-yay! And V-Day candy is on clearance 🙂

I leave you with some Lincoln love

Let it snow

I had such a wonderful sleep last night and woke up to this—yay! First snow of the year, I am so excited!

It maybe snows once or twice a year here so when we do, it’s an excuse for me not to do anything a big deal. I had to take Lincoln out and I was interested to see if he was going to like it.

Operation Snow 2010 a success! I tried to keep him out for as long as possible since I love the snow but was jonesing for some coffee and big weekend breakfast! I decided to make french toast with bananas and of course, coffee.

The toppings (with my favorite magnet in the background hehe 🙂 )

 

I have never tried pumpkin butter atop french toast but knew it could not be a bad thing plus with syrup and banana? Yes please!

The final product

 

Delicious! I really have no clue what I am going to do today since the roads are bad here. I could clean (meh), set up my printer (meh but still a better option than cleaning), organize stuff to sell on ebay (cha chang) or just sit on my butt drinking coffee watching Turbo Dogs (yes a real show). I think I will do that for now.

On another note, whatever happened to Snow who rapped sang “Informer”?

 

SNOW GOT HOT!!!! That’s what’s up? When did that happen? Look at his swagger, hello. A licky boom boom down indeed. YUM. Ok focus…..I always thought it would be cute if he met a girl rapper named Flake and then they had a baby girl and named her Snowflake and they would be a traveling rapping family. But screw Flake, Snow is hot now and YUM! Enough of that though…..

If you read my rant the other day, you will remember my issue with work. How I want to leave but they keep giving me raises (waaa waaaa I know poor me) But seriously, I found out yesterday I got yet another raise. A substantial one too. I just got one back in November, they must really not want me to leave.  But I do want to leave and move somewhere where my friends are so it’s a catch 22. Especially when unemployment is so high. Mo money, mo problems I tell you.