Frugal Friday: It’s June?

Happy Frugal Friday! Um, I don’t even want to start the conversation on how it’s June already so we just won’t. I just need to ask-seriously- where has this year gone??

A couple of months ago, I was perusing Groupon for the deal of the day. I started to look around at other cities to see what they were offering as well. Indianapolis’ sounded interesting—$8 worth of Mexican food for $4 at Bajio Mexican Grill . I am all about the Mexican food but cheap Mexican food, si papi!

 

I had some free time last weekend so drove over and ordered the Pineapple Shrimp Salad.

Bajio was just like Qdoba or anything other Mexican fast food restaurant. I loved the number of add ins and when it came out, it was gorgeous. Looks tasty right? Wrong. There was too much juice from the black beans and the salsa so what should’ve been a salad turned into cold Mexican soup. No bueno. It would have been fine if there wasn’t so much juice, add to the fact that the lettuce was shredded lettuce as opposed to bigger pieces, I wasn’t a huge fan.

Tip: If you know you’re traveling to another city and  know what part of town you will be staying in or have a card with you, check out Groupon or other discount sites in advance. It’s a great, cheap way to check out local cuisine!

My sister told me about a Sparkling Ice Water they sell at Kroger for $.99/bottle. She said it tastes better than Crystal Light all while being calorie free. I went to the local Kroger and stocked up, they had a number of flavors and even though I didn’t have a Kroger savings card because we don’t have Kroger here, found out that I could use my Bi-Lo supermarket card since they are affiliates.

I also bought some snacks for the road since I wanted to get back on track with getting my fruits, veggies and produce in my life.

Tip: If you’re in need of food or drink while on vacation, go to the grocery store instead of the convenience store or eating out every meal. You will save tons of money and possibly discover new products like I did!

 

On Memorial Day, we went to the local Salvation Army thrift store. They were having a huge sale with all of their clothes half off! I found some wonderful tops and skirts for super cheap.

All of this? $7 and some change. Can we say holla?  Where else can you find Nike and Adidas tops for under $.80? On another note, I don’t think I’ve ever had donuts for dinner but wouldn’t be opposed to the idea.

Tip: Retail stores have huge sales on holiday weekends but don’t forget your local thrift stores! They are usually packed to the gills with clothes and other items and have sales as well!

When I got back to Charlotte, I was looking through the circulars to see what was on sale. I saw Voskos Greek Yogurt on sale for $1. I’ve never tried that brand before but if I’m going to try something, it’s going to be when it’s on sale as opposed to regular price.

A possibility of winning a trip to Greece? Don’t mind if I do.

Tip: Some times you may not like the product you get on sale. I tried the honey flavor and wasn’t a fan at all. However, I refuse to let the other three go to waste. I like to throw greek yogurt in smoothies as a replacement for milk and for a little kick of protein.

Also while looking through the mail, I found this advertisement (with coupons!) for Einsteins’ Brothers

I don’t need a fresh baked treat but it’s good to know if I’m jonesing for one, I can get one for free at Einsteins in the afternoon with a drink purchase.

Tip: Don’t just throw out your mail, check out the advertisements. Often they are full of sales, discounts and coupons!

I went to Logan’s Roadhouse with my aunt and uncle last weekend in Indianapolis. When we sat down the server did their normal schpeal asking us if we’ve ever been there. I told them I’ve heard of Logan’s but never been to a Logan’s before. Before we were about to leave the manager came over and gave me this card for a free appetizer since it was my first visit since they hoped I would return. The best part is I can use it at any Logan’s location!

 

Tip: Sorry, I don’t have one this was total luck right here!

Do you shop for groceries while you’re out of town? Do you buy Groupons/ Living Social/ etc deals for cities you will be visiting?

She’s gone country

The drive to Indiana started out ok.

I got my traditional breakfast of Dunkin Donuts egg white turkey sausage flatbread along with a cup of joe (but with an extra shot of espresso)

And I gotta say, not a fan of their flatbread they’ve been using recently. I noticed they changed it in the past year. The bread now seems tougher and lacks the flavor of the previously one used. Thank God, Lincoln was the only one in the car with me while eating this because it was one of the unsexiest things I’ve devoured. I was practically gnawing at the sandwich just trying to get one bite. I must write DD soon and voice my opinion because unsexy flatbreads aren’t good for anyone.

Homeboy looks confused why I am trying so hard for a little bite of food.

So, I drove. The drive heading west into Tennessee moved very slow due to the rain in the mountains but once we went across the TN border, it turned into a gorgeous and peaceful  day.

Until I turned on the radio.

All country, all the time. Ok, I lie, all country and Christian rock music. These Christian rock folk are sneaky too. I would be jammin to the song then all of a sudden I listen to the lyrics and hearing about sacrificing, loving Jesus, etc. I am all for the J man but not with music. Especially when I was listening to Nine Inch Nails “Closer” a half hour before. So the country came on and  I listened Mostly because I was too lazy to grab a cd or turn on Pandora. I like torturing myself like that. Then “Strawberry Wine” by Deanna Carter came on. I haven’t heard that song in ages and wore out the cd “Did I Shave My Legs For This?” when I was in high school. I actually still use that saying whenever I have a bad date. I’m not a country music gal at all but I did go through a small stage in high school and time after college where it’s all I listened to. I blame this on working at Roadhouse Grill as a hostess and dating a guy from Texas, respectively. I listened to the country station after that and heard a song and thought it was cute. I was thinking to myself “Please don’t be Taylor Swift, please don’t be Taylor Swift” and yeah, it turned out to be “Mean” by the Swift bunny. Grrr. I don’t like that girl. I don’t know if it’s because she is so tall, lanky, looks like an evil bunny rabbit (I affectionately call her Donnie Darko), that we share the same birthday or that she does the love sign with her hands all the time when I was doing it way before her but I just don’t like her. Yet, I was jammin to her song and contemplated downloading the song.

Maybe I can get on board with country music?

Not only was the music a let down, the snack department was disappointing. I grabbed this Oikos greek yogurt from the fridge since I  could always use a container of protein loving

I think I’ve been spoiled by Chobani because no other greek yogurt comes even close to theirs. Like the Yoplait yogurt I tried a few weeks ago, I wasn’t a fan of the Oikos.

I brought a coconut water with me

Nasty as well. I struggled just to choke down 1/3 of this and poured the remainder out at a rest stop. It wasn’t overly sweet or tart, it was just nasty and not like other coconut water I’ve tried. I will be staying away from the passion fruit flavor in the future.

In true Frugal Friday fashion, lunch was free! When in Kentucky, I stopped for gas and when I went in to go pay for a Diet Coke, I saw this sign

Oh, it was on. Gas station pizza may not be the best option for lunch but I’m not one to turn down pizza.

Look at those mini puddles of grease sitting on the pepperoni, yum.After a few blots of a napkin, Lincoln and I shared the piece then went on our way through Kentucky.

The drivers in Kentucky were crazy—the speed limit was 70 mph and I was going 80 mph but I felt like everyone else was going at least 90mph. I kept getting over in the right hand lane to let people pass and I’m not going to go off on a rant but some people out there really need to learn that the left lane is passing lane. You don’t just sit there and hang out. If someone is behind you, move over and let them go. I cannot stand the coasters.

I was getting a bit worried because I had a coupon for Chick Fil A that I wanted to use for a free dinner but didn’t see any in the state.

I kept thinking to myself “What is Kentuckys beef with Chick Fil A?” and then bam-I saw a billboard for it. And the angels were watching over me because I saw there was a Starbucks at the same exit and believe I raised my hands in the air while exiting saying “Praise Jesus” which I never say. I blame this on Melissa from Real Housewives of New Jersey and her Jesus talk. I got my salad to go, along with a cup of ice to keep it cold since I wouldn’t be eating it until later then got some caffeination.

For those of you who want to see what Louisville looks like, here you go:

 

 

That cup of ice that I got at Chick Fil A came in handy big time. When I was an hour south of Indianapolis, traffic came to a dead stop and went to one lane then slowly started to move again and went back to two lanes. Why not do construction on a major road leading to Indianapolis on not only Memorial Day Wknd but Race Wknd as well (Indy 500 is on Sunday) So, we were back at two lanes but 20 minutes went by and we didn’t move at all. I start to get a little agitated with this, not only do I have to pee, my butt was asleep and there was a creepy trucker next to me waiving at me. I looked up traffic online and turns out that there was a big rig carrying hazardous materials heading south on I-65 that overturned and went into the northbound lane, so northbound was completely shut down. We sat there for another hour before traffic returned to normal and I could do the minimum speed again. All I could do was stare at Lincoln and wish that I could have someone driving me around (and that I had a furry bed like his)

I got to my sisters house and took a bubble then enjoyed my salad.

 

I was disappointed with the salad. The lettuce didn’t taste fresh and it was meh at best. And don’t think just because I was on the road I didn’t score some condiment loving

 

 

 

I leave you with two items that I can’t wait to try:

 

Do you like country music?

What do you do to pass time when you’re stuck in traffic?

Say hola to my little friend

For as crappy as Tuesdays usually are, today wasn’t bad at all.

I had an Earnest Eats Cran Lemon Zest bar and Dannon Greek honey yogurt for breakfast.

 I was a bit reluctant to try the Earnest bar since it’s vegan and I may have a misconception about vegan products being bland or tasteless. When I took it out of the wrapped, the small of cran and yes, zest overcame me. I bit into it and was in shock—it was scrumptious! It was moist but not too moist and bland would be the last word to describe it. My main gripe was that it was a small bar so it was gone within a few bites and a higher fat content that I would have liked. 

As for the greek yogurt, honey greek yogurt is my obsession as of late. How did I never try this flavor before? So freakin yummy.

I had the final leftovers from Sunday night. Instead of adding pasta to the stir fry like yesterday, I heated the leftovers then laid upon a pile of plain cole slaw mix to make a quick, Asian salad!

I’m going to start using cole slaw mix as the base more. I will buy a bag and go through only half of it not knowing what to do with the other half and this is a perfect way to incorporate it.

I had a consultation for my tattoo removal in the afternoon so I got to leave work earl. Plus, it was another gorgeous spring day so getting out of the depressing gray cube  is always a nice thing. I talked to the doctor and it turns out I don’t need any more sessions of laser tattoo removal however they want to wait a few months before doing any procedures to remove the scarring.

So you can get an idea of how much color has been removed, here is a pic of me five years ago

And this is what it looks like today

You can barely see it anymore however there is a bit of it that has been raised from scarring and I would like to get it back to an even level. I hate to say this and will never admit it to her face but I wish I would’ve listened to my mother. Of course green is the hardest color to remove and this has cost me a good $1,000 more than getting the tattoo when I was 16. And I got my tattoo by a guy named Mr. Happy, how effin creepy is that?? I hate spending that much money because I am a frugal gal but it was a mistake I made when I was young and dumb. I felt like I couldn’t wear a lot of things I wanted to especially in the work place so getting it removed was the option that seemed best.

They were also concerned about my right arm.

I hate when I can’t get my self tanner all blended it. My left arm looks normal while the right arm looks like I have a funky skin condition going on. I assured them I was fine and it was all Hawaiian Tropics part. I was so self-conscious about it at work and whenever someone would come into my cube, I would hide my right hand.

Then dinner happened. I had no clue what I was going to make except that it was going to be chicken since I had a piece defrosting in the fridge. So I went to old faithful-stuffed chicken. Instead of making a hummus or spinach stuffed chicken like I have in the past, I put a south of the border spin on it and stuffed it with refried black beans, garlic and jalapeno spices.

I pounded the chicken (hehe) and then spread the refried beans on it along with the spices

Then I realized I was out of toothpicks, which means I will have to make a trip to Chipotle soon. I remembered that I bought some interesting toothpicks during my trip to NYC this winter.

I love ranch. Even ranch flavored toothpicks but sadly these didn’t taste too ranchlike so this was perfect to hold the chicken together.

I heated two tbsp of oil then placed the chicken in the pan to cook

I let cook while turning every two or three minutes so it could cook thoroughly, it took about 20 minutes

I turned the heat down and added salsa and cheese to the chicken and let cook for another five minutes

I had mini nachos on the side topped with jalapenos, green onions and cheese for a perfect Mexican meal done in less than 30 mins!

So, how was it? ABSOLUTELY AMAZING! Yes, I realize that’s all caps but that’s how good it was. My only regret is that I didn’t make another piece of chicken for leftovers but this will definitely be another addition to the stuffed chicken collection.

I had an admirer sitting watching me while I ate.  Even Lincoln could tell it was some good grub.

Afterwards, I made myself go to the gym. I was supposed to go last night but didn’t for no reason whatsoever other than laziness. I did 35 minutes on the Precor Crossramp on the interval workout with a resistance ranging from 8 to 10

All in all a good workout, I was just happy I got off my butt and did something. I was such a sweaty mess afterwards, all I want was a hot shower and then a cold smoothie.

Blackberries, coconut milk and chia seeds

The smoothie was good but as soon as I finished it, I wanted a po boy, what’s up with that?

Do you have any tattoos or gotten any removed?
Do you make stuffed chicken?

Frugal Friday 4.15.11

Happy Friday all! The sun is out and it’s finally getting warm here, it is a wonderful Frugal Friday indeed!

Some deals of the week for me:

 I received an email from Qdoba with an offer for free chips and queso or chips and guacamole on April 13 only

We have a Qdoba in our building at work so I took a break from my work to go down there and grab this freebie. Apparently, everyone else was also there to get their free food but I didn’t mind waiting. It gave me some time to get away from work and of course, see my forbidden fruit hot Qdoba boy, he is just too cute. I got a big bag of chips, side of queso and a large diet coke for only $2.06

 I love countering hot cheese and fried chips with a Diet Coke, it’s the little things that count right?

On Saturday, I used a Groupon for The Brow Bar at South Park Mall. I had some furry caterpillars above my eyes for some time so a threading was in order. I first tried threading six or seven years ago in some hood mall in Indianapolis and it was only $7. I could definitely be down for personal grooming  at a discount like that. But then I moved to Charlotte and saw all the places offered threading…..but for outrageous prices like $20 on average. Hell, I could take a course on threading, open up a salon and make a killing with prices like that! However, being the frugal girl I am, I refused to pay that much. I’ve heard about the Brow Bar through friends and they said it was pretty cheap-around $12 for a threading which isn’t horrible but more than I would like to pay. Groupon had a deal of the day for The Brow Bar a few weeks ago for a threading session for eyebrows for only $6 so I jumped on that.

I bought two so I could enjoy one right away then at another time. It’s located at a kiosk in the middle of the mall so there are people walking by as you get your brows done  but that didn’t bother me too much. It took less than 10 minutes to get them done and the woman didn’t even make a snarky remark about the horrible shape my brows were in so all in all, it was a super experience. Hooray shapeups!

I went to Harris Teeter shortly after to grab some milk and passed by this beauty of a sale

I don’t make chicken leg quarters on a regular basis but over five pounds of chicken for $2.69? Sign me up!

Dannon Greek Yogurts were on sale for $1 plus I have a coupon for $1 off of 3 containers so I got 3/$2

 

I found strawberries on sale for $1.25 as well so grabbed a container to eat throughout the week and add to my smoothies

To top it all off, the hippie fruit people are finally out again until September! I love their produce because their stuff is so cheap and I love supporting local farmers. I got all of this for only $7.30

Some savings for you:

Sign up for Bob Evans Be-Mail and get a coupon for buy one Bob Evans Side Dish, get one free coupon!

Get a $2 Baja Bowl at Baja Fresh!

Click here for a $1 off Kashi cereal or snack product

Gluten free? Click here to get $1 off any Udi’s product!

Last but not least, this is for next Friday 4.22—bring a reusable cup into Starbucks and get a coffee or tea for free!

Do you pluck, wax or thread your eyebrows?

Do you go to farmers markets to get your produce?

What made me smile today…..and some bad dates

This post is going to be all over the place so hang on!

Today was actually a great day for a Monday, who knew that could happen??

For breakfast I tried a new greek yogurt snack—Athenos Greek Yogurt

It’s separated into the greek yogurt portion and then the “fruit” portion which was more like a strawberry jam. It was just enough to hold me over until my mid morning snack and provided some protein (11g) so clicks to that.

I met up with one of my former co-workers for coffee at Caribou Coffee. She recently got laid off (for the second time) and has a few more days on the job and is actively looking for other positions within our company. If my company told me I was being laid off then expected me to work after that, I would think they were out of their minds. But then again, I probably wouldn’t be able to get any severance so would comply. We have some openings in our department so I wanted to give her a background on what we do to see if she was interested. My job isn’t horrible (for as much as I complain about it), I just don’t think it’s a good fit for my personality.
Can I just say how happy Caribou’s cups make me?

 Starbucks should start writing inspirational sayings on their cups just to play the game.

They were also giving out free samples of Somersaults Sea Salt nuggets. I grabbed a few for the road as I love me some free samples.

It was cute, when the cashier told me about the free samples they had both the Sea Salt flavor along with the salt & pepper flavor. I grabbed a salt & pepper one but he said “Oh, the salt & pepper ones aren’t free however they’re coming out with a Destiny’s Child one soon” I tilted my head then nodded and finally laughed, it took a few seconds for me to get especially since I only had one cup of coffee in my system but I thought it was a witty remark. Witty remarks plus free samples on a Monday is guaranteed to plaster a smile on my face for a full 10 minutes.

We had a huge company wide call we had to be on a bit later. I was thinking that they were going to talk about lay offs or something negative but it turns out they were going over 2010 performance. We also found out we are getting a bonus! My company has an incentive plan each year where if the whole company does well with profits and stock price, they award out a nice bonus to eligible employees. And this girl is so eligible. It’s going to be $500, which is nice but isn’t as high as it used to be. When I first started with the company, it was around $2,000 but then the economy went down the crapper and here we are. I like that you can defer to entire amount to your 401K (plus they will match up to 5%) or you can defer just a portion and then keep the rest. I aways try to defer half of it to my 401K then get a little to play with since they tax the hell out of it.  Hooray for money!

Last night, I made whole wheat spaghetti with mushroom and onion sauce and topped with fresh parsley. I had a little for a late dinner as well. I was sooooo full from Growler’s and the smorgasbord of food but needed to get a little something in my tummy before going to bed. I had for lunch today as well along with a piece of Great Harvest Bread Rosemary Garlic bread. The bread was absolute perfection-I dipped into the spaghetti sauce but it was moist and didn’t need any extras such as butter or extra virgin olive oil. Their bread has no preservatives and no artificial ingredients so I don’t mind paying a little more for it (around $5 a loaf).

Another thing that makes me smile? When celebrities open up restaurants. I’m not ashamed to admit that I kinda want to visit Iowa to check out Flavor Flav’s “Flav’s Fried Chicken”

For dinner, I had no idea what I was going to make. It’s Monday, so I wanted to stick with Meatless Monday so I began to heat up some red onions, jalapenos and black beans on the stove top.

Why do black beans seem more like purple beans most of the time?

While that was cooking, I nuked a baked potato while jamming to the Rolling Stones. I simply cannot cook to silence anymore, I must have my Pandora on. When that was done, I topped the potato with the black bean mixture. I think sub consciously I was inspired from The Auspicious Squirrels baked potato goodness

Then topped with salsa

And no tater is complete without cheese

Yes, a cheese-tastic, meatless meal made in minutes made me smile.

And we can’t forget about this little guy

Lincoln always makes me smile. Even if he does do the thug pose with lifting up his chin in the air like he is all tough and stuff. Rock on you little eight pound poohuahua!

Another thing that made me smile?

New challenges!

I saw this 30 Day Challenge on Janetha’s blog  the other night and was instantly intrigued.

Yeah, I like talking about my day, random things, food, workouts, etc. but sometimes it’s fun to mix it up a bit so here we go!

Day 1-Your current relationship,  if single, discuss how single life is.

I am single. Which I am fine with for now. I would love to be in a relationship however the main thing that is holding me back at this time is me. I am not happy with my weight. I’ve lost a lot of weight in the grand scheme of things but have gained about 15 lbs back this year due to me not consistently going to the gym anymore, stopped running and eating out too much. I don’t feel comfortable in my own skin at the moment, which is really sad. I don’t care at the moment what I dress like or how my makeup or hair looks when I go to work since I am not looking for a relationship (plus every guy is either married or too preppy for me). Along with that, I am kind of over drinking at the moment. I love a drink more than anyone else but I am not going to sit at home and have drinks by myself, that’s just sad and a bit unhealthy. So while friends have been inviting me to go out to drink at night and meet guys, I’m really just not interested since I don’t like how I look at the moment. But that’s why I am going to the Y again, consistently working out so I can change this and get back to my old regime and get this weight off.

Not only with my weight, I am not at a point in my life where I think I should be in a relationship due to my work situation and not knowing what I want out of life. This is something that is on my mind almost every minute, every day….which is a bit exhausting. I need to figure out what I am doing with my life, where do I want to be, etc. before jumping into a relationship.

That being said, I thought I would share some of my interesting dates in the past :

*Nips guy-his nipples wouldn’t go soft throughout the whole date. Absolutely disgusting. And it wasn’t like it was cold out—it was May….in North Carolina….that means hot!

*Young Rush Limbaugh-One guy took me out to a local sushi bar. I had been to that sushi bar twice previously that month on two other dates and had the same waiter each time! So by the third time, he came up and greeted us and shook his head when he saw me there with yet another gentleman. When he asked what we wanted to drink I smiled and said Captain and Ginger (like the previous two times) and winked. I am so not a winker but felt quite sassy doing it. The date ended up being a right-wing nut whereas I am a liberal kind of chick. He started spouting off why I should own a gun and shoot at anyone that invades my property and how all gays should be deported. Yeah. So I drank….and drank….and drank some more trying to drown him out. Oh, I forgot about the edamame. We were chowing on edamame as the appetizer and his tooth kept falling out into the bowl. Beautiful. And then he ended up getting so drunk, he stumbled into the womens restroom thinking it was the mens. Some old lady who was in there started to  shoo him out of there and I believe that was the only part of the date that I smiled. That and when I saw he picked up the tab.

*The Ex Convict-this could be my worst date ever. For starters-we were walking around Uptown Charlotte and decided to go into Starbucks. I was wearing a white and black top (along with a new Victoria’s Secret Very Sexy bra) and felt cute. My hair was kicking, the conversation was flowing and we were going to get java. How could this not end well? I order a raspberry soy mocha and the lid wasn’t on all the way, so yes, it spilled down my new white and black top and seeped into my bra so I smelled like a lovely raspberry soy mocha. I laughed it off (I had to or else I would cry) and we continued walking around Uptown since he wasn’t familiar with the area. While walking, I walked smack dab in the middle of a pole. I was sober. So embarrassing occurrence #2 out-of-the-way. We finally settled on dinner and went to a local sports bar/restaurant and sat in the patio area so we could people watch and be able to actually hear each other. We ordered an appetizer of spinach and artichoke dip and whatdoyou know, while going to take a bite of it, it spilled down my cleavage. At this point, I smelled like a sour raspberry soy mocha and spinach and artichoke dip-who wouldn’t want a piece of this?? The first date conversation was there, asking questions, answering, etc. when he casually said “Yeah, when I was in prison” Exsqueeze me? Huh? And he snuck it in there by saying it all casually, that’s what killed me! He said it in the tone of “Yeah, when I go to the supermarket,  I like to buy bananas” You don’t say something about your time in prison with that inflection. So I smiled, put down my napkin and just said “Spill” and he told me the story of how he went to prison for statutory rape with a 16-year-old when he was 20 years old and was there for four years. At this point, I wanted to get out of there but dumbass me let him pick me up at my place so he had to get me home. Grrrrrr. I wished I was smarter. We finished dinner and on the way back to my place to drop me off, he stopped at the gas station and told me he wanted to pick up a surprise for me. I hoped he didn’t mean condoms b/c yeah, not happening. While he was in there, I texted a friend to tell her what happened and to call me in a few hours to make sure I was alive. When he got back to the car, he wouldn’t tell me what he got and then drove me home. He asked me to come up to my place and I let him because why not let an ex-convict who’s a lot bigger than me and could rape me into my home? Lincoln didn’t like him one bit so that should’ve been my sign right there and he wouldn’t stop barking his balls off when we got in. So I finally asked him what the surprise was and he told me he was going to make me a clink meal. A) Didn’t we just have dinner? B) What the f*** is a clink meal?? Being a curious girl with an insatiable appetite, I let him make said clink meal.

 The contents

*Beef Ramen

*Cheetos

*Ketchup

*Mustard

Crush the cheetos until they are a fine texture. Make the ramen noodles as normal, mix in the flavoring then drain the water out. Mix all ingredients together and voila-a clink meal. I’m ashamed to admit but it was actually a good meal and liked it. Until he told me that they made it in the trash cans in prison. Eww.

*Red Coat Guy-a guy who I dated back in college. Really nice guy however when it was time for my sorority’s spring formal to roll around he brought some suits over to my apartment to get my opinion on. He brought two-a red one and a purple one. And no, he was not a King of Comedy. He was just a white boy from Jersey who really liked the colorful suits. I was wearing a simple red dress with spaghetti straps so I told him red would be the best option since we would color coordinate well together. That we did. My sorority sisters still talk about Red Coat Guy.

*Tow Truck Driver. This one is a long story but I’ll keep it short and simple since it was a long time ago. He took me to Denny’s one night, which is oh so classy, I know. And you know, on a date you ask each other what you’re thinking about getting, etc. He asked me what I was going to get and I said “The roast beef sounds good” he slowly put down his menu and said to me with a straight face “That’s too expensive” I’m sorry? Denny’s roast beef is too expensive?? So being a girl who holds a grudge, when our waiter came over to take our order, I order the roast beef, plus an appetizer….and a shake. Eff that. If you want to enjoy my company, you will buy me the damn roast beef. When I went home a couple of summers after that, I saw him on the front page of the local paper and that was wanted for aggravated stalking. Beautiful.

With a track record like that, maybe you all can see why I don’t want anything at the time.The sad thing is that these are just a glimpse of my bad dates and not all of them. I clearly do not pick the right men and need some help in that department. If you know of someone who I would like and vice versa along with nipples that go soft, not a right-wing nut, hasn’t been in prison and will buy me roast beef- holla atcha girl!

What made you happy today?
What’s your relationship status?

Happy Thoughts

This morning I was up at the crack of dawn to get ready and make a huge breakfast

Why big breakfast on a weekday you ask? Because I had a job interview today! Edit–I had three job interviews in a row for a position within my company. It was at 9A but I usually get in around 845A so I went into work a bit early and needed something to hold me over. I think the interviews went very week and I have a great feeling however all I can is wait it out at this point. I am supposed to hear back within a few weeks and hope that the days don’t go unbearably slow. Soooooo…..any good vibes you could send my way would be appreciated!

I have the funky sinus thing going on that everyone has caught the past two weeks due to the weather changing. I just feel nasty and my throat is swollen. I hate how I never had allergy problems until I moved here but oh well, just gotta suck it up at this point and hope I get better soon. The fact that we had two people out of the office (yeah, we are a team of five) and that I’m training our new guy didn’t help either.

I had my stuffed peppers for lunch and they were tasty!

Thank God I like hot stuff because these had my mouth on fiiiiiiire! I blame it on the chile powder and jalapenos but it was all good.  don’t mess around when it comes to my spice.

I haven’t had stuffed peppers since I was young and think I was scarred by them. My mom used to make them all the time with just rice, ground beef and cabbage doused in tomato sauce. Don’t get me wrong, it was tasty but having that meal one week for weeks on end that turn into years gets a tad redundant. How do you make your stuffed peppers or what do you stuff them with?

I picked up a new book at the library–thanks Amy for the recommendation! After her sending me cookies and recommending books, I just feel like this is the wk of Amy.

I didn’t feel like cooking tonight so I made some ghettolicious nachos for dinner. They were pretty boring but tasty. By boring I mean just jalapenos and shredded cheese on top with salsa on the side. I didn’t even have the energy to open up a can of black beans and drain there, sad huh? Again, blame it on work.

I tried a new product for dinner last night-Trader Joe’s Tokyo Style Soba Noodles Kit.

Even though I’ve never been to Tokyo and have no clue what “Tokyo Style” included, I was psyched to try these. They’ve been sitting in my cupboard for a while and perfect for a lazy night (which is starting to be the norm) when you don’t want to cook.

While I threw the noodles in to cook-I cooked up some red peppers and water chesnuts for some crunch along with chicken seasoned with ginger, red pepper flakes and black pepper

It really did only take 10 minutes like the box states-shocker! I never believe products that say something is done within a certain, unbelievable time frame (eyeing you Miss Rachael Ray) so it was a nice, Monday night surprise.

I tossed the noodles in the sauce from the kit then topped with the dry seasoning (seaweed something or another) that came with the kit. All in all, a quick, delicious meal. It was a bit salty for my taste so I’m not sure I would buy it again but it was something fun to try

I brought back an oldie but goodie for a snack tonight-Fage Greek Yogurt with a diced peach and flax-seed. And wtf—why didn’t anyone tell me that Fage is pronounced “fah-yeh”? I never knew that until I read it on the packaging tonight.

And with that, I am out. I am about to have dreams of unicorns and Burt Reynolds thanks to Benedryl…..ok maybe not unicorns and Burt Reynolds but I once did have a dream about Oscar the Grouch and Jerry Orbach so go figure. As long as I don’t have a dream about three ex boyfriends in one sleep session like I did the other night, it’s all gravy.

What’s Going On

I am hungover in a major way. So hungover, I woke up at 7A, played around for an hour (when I say played around I meant laid on the couch watching Saved By The Bell) then went back to bed. I never go back to bed once I’m up so that’s how I know it was going to be bad. But when I go somewhere that has $2.50 pints—all pints—that’s the price I have to pay.

I havent’ posted  since Tuesday and I am just going to be honest, I’ve had nothing to say. I haven’t been cooking too much, haven’t been exercising too much and pretty much have been doing nothing special whenever I get home from work each day. I’m checking out blogs but I am not going to do a fluff post when nothing is going on.

Some highlights of the wk:

Two Jars of home made salsa from my friends mother in law

Jalapeno Turkey Burgers topped with Laughing Cow and Salsa with Okra

A filling greek yogurt/granola breakfast that I haven’t had in forever-an oldie but goodie.

I received some blogger love yesterday from Amy. She posted a few weeks ago about making a big batch of cookies for one of her friends in Texas and I jokingly said “I would love some cookies” and she sent me some! So sweet 🙂 Literally. They were chocolate peanut butter toffee cookies. I think they also have angel dist in them since they were absolutely heavenly. I got these yesterday and yeah, they are gone. She even wrapped them so it was like opening up a gift of yummyness!

WVU-Marshall game was last night. If I am going to be decked out in WVU gear, so is my dog. I like to think he enjoys when I dress him up and how cute is he in his little hoodie? My friend and I went to Picasso’s to watch the game last night

I love that they have  Van Gogh pictures in there

After having their wings last time, I had to try them again and yep—still good!

I was sipping on Stella and Blue Moon all night then we started talking to the owner of the bar and he bought us a shot. I don’t know what it was called but it had Patron and kinda tasted like chocolate milk-who knew?

And with that-I needed grease today.

I had a leftover Philly Cheesesteak sub with chips for lunch and it hit the spot. Now I am contemplating what to do today. It’s a gorgeous, overcast day out and I love it. I love overcast days because I feel less guilty about doing absolutely nothing. But then big question is Greek Fest or Blues, Brews and BBQ tonight?

M&M

I am really digging making my own breakfast at home. I love that I can whip up an egg and cheese sandwich within minutes and am no longer spending $6 for a box of some frozen, preservative ridden sandwich pack. Now if I could only get motivates to make some bacon or sausage with it…

I don’t dig bringing a lunch of leftovers that I know isn’t going to be anything special. I brought over the rank chicken from the other night but this time covered in Heinz 57 sauce (because cmon, it makes everything better) with a side of brown rice.

Can we all say “Boooooooring” in unison? Lets! It was decent, it somewhat filled me up but it was more meh than anything. Thank god there were no pineapples in it because I might have thrown up.

I am so happy I stocked up on kiwis the other day at the store. I love kiwis so much (yet hate kiwi flavored stuff) and is a reminder that summer is almost over. Anyone else just take a bit right out of one? Or is it just me? I always heard growing up most the vitamins are in the skin so I just eat like an apple.

Unlike yesterday, it was busy today. Pet peeve of the day-when I am busy with my own work and have the highest volume work load but people still ask me to help them with their stuff. I am doing double what you’re doing and I’m not asking for help, someone please explain this to me? I was in no mood to be messed with, I had at least four people complaining about one person on our team and kept giving out my managers info so they could speak with her directly. I can’t help that some morons are still working on our team (note—it wasn’t Stinkalicious although were some complaints about the stinker today)

Yummy coconut pineapple bread on top of Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt. I brought in the rest of the coconut pineapple bread so I wouldn’t eat the entire loaf. We have many a hungry people in my office so they were willing to take it off my hands. I heated up the slices for them and they kept telling me how good it was.  I will admit, I like the compliments, it makes me feel good.

I had a $30 Groupon for the Deck, a local beach themed restaurant in Dilworth offering seafood and summer style foods.

The Deck is a somewhat newer place and in a location that one would think would be good but businesses never seem to last there. I was itching to use the Groupon and in the mojito so my friend and I walked over there to see what it was all about. We wanted to enjoy the rooftop deck (hence the name of the restaurant) and there was a little wait. We wasted no time and headed straight for the bar. $5 Mojito’s and $6 Martini’s on Wednesday nights? Don’t mind if I do……

I started off with a French Martini. I had a few sips of my friends for the first time when I was in Phoenix this past weekend. When I heard $6 martinis I knew I needed to try this! It was absolutely fabulous.

Martini and Mojito love

A table finally opened up and up we went! They had an awesome singer outside playing great music like DMB, Jack Johnson, Pink Floyd, Sublime and The Beastie Boys. I was in heaven! I could just sit there drinking mojitos and listening to Mr. Magic Hands sing songs of others. Oh yeah, I can’t do that. I have a little thing called work getting in the way of my schedule. Boo.

Next drink on the agenda was the Mora Negra Mojito-muddled blackberry, lime, sugar with mango juice and Bacardi Superior. Do I ever have to tell y’all that it was delicious?

I chowed on some chips and salsa while my friend had the She Crab Soup and dinner came shortly.

I got the Honey Wasabi Tuna Burrito-honey marinated yellowtail tuna with rice and pico de gallo in grilled flour tortilla. Look at how gorg that tuna is!! It was late by time my friend got off of work and I was starving but I guess my eyes were bigger than my tummy. Our server was peculiar, he came up to us asking if we were mad at him because we weren’t eating. He kinda sounded serious maybe he is buddy buddy with the cook? It was great but I just wasnt in the mood for scarfing down the plate of food (What has happened to me?? Did I just type that!?) It was a nice Mexican alternative to the usual fried, cheese ridden Mexican food I find in many restaurants.  As I am a Florida girl, I love anything beach themed and everything on the menu was looking mighty fine.  I was happy with the food but the drinks were the highlight for me.

Has anyone ever tried shrimp and grits? Supposedly, theirs is the best in Charlotte but the idea of it kinda skeeves me out. I like shrimp and I like grits. But together in unison? No thank you.

So I’m watching LA Ink right now and this is my first time watching it. Has Cat Von Dee always sounded so……gruff? I am sure homegirl slice could kick my ass but she sounds a little man-ly. And who says we don’t learn something new every day?

And how did I not know about M&M’s Premiums?  When did they come out with all of these? They have Mint Chocolate, Raspberry Almond, Triple Chocolate and more! I don’t know if I should thank or curse Christina for sharing this link with me but I will say thank for now (untul I go up another dress size at least) I wonder if they will ever make a chocolate espresso flavor or gahhhhhh…..cookies and cream! I will be in M&M heaven. I must find a Costco soon so I can go buy a feedbag of it and be in M&M heaven! Or perhaps I should just walk over to The Deck and be in another M&M kind of heaven. Ohhhh……M&M flavored Martini……now we are talking.

Happy humping 🙂

Leaving on A Jet Plane

Greetings all from the Charlotte Douglas airport! I’m heading out to Phoenix today and had to get some use out of their free Wi Fi.

Yesterday’s eats weren’t anything too amazing

Chobani Greek Yogurt with Kashi Go Lean Crunch!

I love Caribou Coffee’s cups. I kept singing “Sip It, Sip It Good” to the tune of “Whip It” yesterday…..it was starting to get annoying after a while (even if it was me doing it)

Lunch was a fail—tuna and egg salad on whole wheat toast with sliced apples. I didn’t realize that parts of the bread was starting to mold so tuna and egg salad alone it was. It was good but it didn’t fill me up at all.

 Last night was date #2 with dude from the other night. He came over to my place and we walked around deciding where to go. He was at work and there a bit later than expected so by the time he got to my place it was 9P. I was a tad hungry and moody by that point since my appetizer of beer and baked Lays didn’t exactly fill me up. We decided on dinner at Big Daddy’s Burger Bar. It was trivia night so the place was packed but we got a table inside and had some beers and unofficially played trivia. I had the Emilio’s Burger with jalapeno bacon, guacamole, onion, tomatoes, lettuce, mozzarella and poblano pepper mayo.

No picture….again…..awkwardness with going out with a new guy and whipping out my camera. I can honestly say that it was one of the best burgers I’ve had in my life. On the menu it’s a chicken sandwich but I subbed a burger in its place and wow, good times. I  was even thinking of it this morning!! lol I had a great time with him though and have plans to do something when I get back in town so we will see where this goes.

This morning, I packed last minute stuff and got Lincoln ready for his stay at the boarding place. Go me for fitting everything in a carry on! When I go somewhere, I have to pack option after option but figure if I am going to be there not even two days I really don’t need that much stuff. It’s my friends 30th birthday party tonight and she doesn’t know I am coming in. Word on the street is that she is kinda pissed at me so I can’t wait to see her reaction when I roll into the party. I can’t wait to see old friends for the wknd and kick back in the 110 degree weather. Yay Valley of The Sun!

I stopped at Dunkin Donuts and got their egg white sandwich with turkey sausage and a medium coconut coffee (my favorite thing there)

I was a little bummed when I got the sandwich b/c it used to be in a triangle shape when I was all about. Not that the shape of a sandwich should affect the taste but I wasn’t too excited about the round sandwich. Turned out I was wrong b/c this was a great sandwich and kept me full!

With that, it’s time to go. I need to get some water, find my gate and get everything. Hope everyone has a fabulous wknd!!

A Pom Kind Of Day

The friendly people at POM Wonderful contacted me a couple of weeks ago in regards to trying their pomegranate juice. I was so excited because I love all things pomegranate but have only tried the actual juice a couple of times before (I prefer to get my pomegranate from pom flavored beer thank you very much! 🙂 )

A little about POM Wonderful from their site

contain no added sugars, preservatives or colors

are a good source of potassium

are gluten-free

are flash pasteurized to retain both flavor and nutrients

are certified kosher

Plus they have different flavors of Pom juice that I never knew about-such as mango, kiwi, blueberry, cherry and nectarine with a myriad of different products like tea, bars, iced coffee (say whaaaaa??!!?!), shots, pills and more.

I got their package on Friday and have been brainstorming what I could make with it. Yes, I could make a cocktail or green monster but I wanted to try cooking with it.

With that, I decided to make Feta, Walnut and Parsley stuffed pork chops with a creamy pomegranate sauce and a side salad with pomegranate balsamic dressing

I finally bit the bullet and bought some xanthan gum. I’ve been wanting to get these to use in my green monsters since they turn out soupy a lot of the time and to use in sauced instead of corn starch. Most recipes only call for one to two tablespoons of cornstarch so this bag is going to last me awhile!

For the stuffing, I threw in 1/3 cup walnuts, 3 tbsp of feta and a few tbsp of parsley in the food processor and pulsed on low for about 10 seconds.

I butterflied two pork chips and stuffed with the filling then secured with toothpicks. I rubbed a little extra virgin olive oil and black pepper on them and then cooked at 350 for 25-30 minutes

For the creamy sauce, I threw  1/4 cup half and half with 3/4 of a POM Wonderful bottle on the stovetop with one tbsp xanthan gum and let cook on a low setting for 10 minutes until thick and bubbly. I know it kinda looks like the River of Slime from Ghostbusters 2 but don’t fear, it was tasty!

Side salad with carrots, tomato, extra stuffing mix, quinoa topped with homemade  pomegranate balsamic vinegar. I liked the dressing a lot and never knew how easy it was to make your own dressing!

 This was such a fabulous, filling meal. It was nice to experiment with the POM Wonderful for a different flavor for my meals and I cannot wait to try it with more stuff—thanks POM Wonderful for sending me and giving me the opportunity to try your juice, I am loving it!

I also found the mythical Chobani Pomegrante Greek Yogurt I’ve been seeing all over the blogs lately. I’ve never seen this flavor in the store before so when I saw it this past week, I practically screamed and started doing my happy dance right in the middle of Harris Teeter!

And I got to use the free Chobani coupons I won over at Nutrition Nut on The Run so free Chobani is always nice. It was terrific! I am a bit skeptical with new flavors ever since trying Chobani’s Pineapple flavor but this did not disappoint. Thus being said, I may just turn into a pomegranate by end of day.

 Fail to plan, plan to fail….yep that’s what I would say about my lunch today

Microwave popcorn-yum! I love the stuff but it is not filling at all. Oh, I didn’t mention I had this at work did I? Yeah. Another so busy week that I went in for five hours today just to catch up on my emails so I could get some peace of mind. I was annoyed by having to go in to do that but I kept repeating to myself “time and a half-pay, time and a half-pay, time and a half-pay” to make it bearable.

Oh and I know how I was singing praises to Jackie Warner and her workout dvd yesterday but today? I curse the day she was born. My everything hurts and each time I step up or sit down today, I whimper a bit. It’s sad. No pain no gain right??

I made a yummy plate of eggs topped with avocado and tabasco for breakfast.

Hey healthy fats!! Just wanted to say that I heart you.

I got a Magic Bullet for my birthday this past December and finally opened the box today to try it out with a green monster with blueberries, almond milk, baby spinach, Spiru-Tein Blueberries & Cream protein powder (half a packet), one Splenda and 1/2 tbsp of xanthan gum

Holy crap-why did I wait so long to use this? I absolutely loved how easy it was to use, quick it was and way more quiet than my blender. And xanthan gum, I just love it. It came out like sludge (which is a good thing!) this was more like an ice cream treat than a smoothie.

Happy August to everyone as well, I completely forgot its first of the month!

Things to work on for this month

*Drink less beer. I was out of control the month of July. Ok, not alcoholic out of control but drinking way more beer than I normally do due to the ridiculously hot weather out.

*Have a more consistent workout schedule each week. With moving and going on vacation twice in July, I didn’t get much workout time in. Again, add the nasty weather and it was a recipe for laziness on my part.

*Cook more at home, eat out less. Now that my kitchen is all squared away and I am somewhat getting used to cooking in a smaller kitchen, I need to get back into the swing of things.

All in all, today was a great day with work, new recipes, etc. Hope everyones August is off to an equally fabulous start!

PS—Check out Eat, Move, Love for a fun giveaway!

PPS-Anyone else have Blogger issues? I keep trying to comment on Blogger blogs and can’t, it’s a tad frustrating!