Succe$$?

So this weekend, we ate out but we also grabbed some groceries! Sunday evening, we were pooped, so we grabbed some milk, a pizza, and some beer. Minus the beer... $6.98!

Then we hit the store on Monday to get some goodies. Minus the cleaning supplies and lotion, it came out to a grand total of...$33.71. Yikes! So we're over by $0.69. We'll do better next week!

I was pretty excited because I found a new pasta brand that is whole wheat and has flaxseed... and is cheaper! Opposed to $1.25 for 12 oz., this is $1.19. Score!

Runnin' Again

Whew! What a day! Work went well, but man, people are dropping like flies with the flu and all sorts of nasty bugs. Just a friendly reminder: Wash your hands a LOT, eat well-balanced meals, exercise, take a vitamin, drink your water and get some sleep! Basically, do everything you can to keep your body healthy and your defenses up!

Breakfast was a quick bowl of Cheerios and milk and a cup of black coffee. That kept me well-fueled for the morning, which was great! For lunch, a sandwich of turkey (1 oz), Swiss (1 oz), lettuce (~1 C) and mayo (2 tsp) on whole wheat bread (2 oz).

This afternoon, I snacked on candy. My bad! I'm a sucker for Smarties. But driving home, stuck in traffic and after reading about running at KathEats, I felt the urge to run! I started to reflect, and realized that I really do miss running. Even though it totally sucks when I'm actually running, I feel great immediately afterward. I like being a person who runs, I like feeling like I did something. And... not gonna lie, I looked a bit more toned when I ran. I've been saying that I want to get back to running, but it doesn't happen. I'm really going to try to get back to running. So tonight, right when I got home, I went upstairs, threw on some workout clothes, laced up my tennies and hit the pavement!

I came home and Kendall was already working on the salmon! I sauteed some zucchini and onions with salt. And we had some cornbread on the side. The salmon was... edible. No fault of Kendall's but the fish was a bit funky. We ended up throwing the rest out.

We went for a walk and came home craving a snack. So I whipped up some guacamole!

I had about 4 plates like this...

Shopping trip numbers comin' right up!

Demo

It was another day of home improvement! But we finished... here's a before and after.


A big mirror that was glued to the wall that took up everything above the double sink. Plus one of those generic vanity lights with the big bulbs...

Behold! Snazzier fixtures, individual mirrors and shelves. Fancy schmancy!





I knew we had our work cut out for us so, I started the day off with a bowl of hot oatmeal with thinly sliced apples, some cinnamon, honey and peanut butter. Yum! I finished the other half of the apple that I didn't thinly slice, and a cup of coffee.

For lunch, I made some white chili and corn bread. My lunch looked much like this, except no beer at lunch, but juice instead, and only one square of corn bread. Also I chopped a big tomato for salad at lunch, not the cherry tomatoes shown here. But this photo was my dinner. Super good... Kendall's a big fan of this meal.

White chili and a dark beer... 1554! So delicious.

It was a full day and we are pooped! I had to finish some school work and went to campus to make some copies and send in my assignment with campus mail. I was a total genius and forgot any cash, so I wasn't able to make copies on campus before sending. My teacher urges us to keep a hard copy of EVERYTHING we send via campus mail, so I took it along to the grocery store. I also returned the light fixture we bought last night, because we were worried it wouldn't produce enough light. So I brought home our second choice. Then Kendall went to mount it, and disaster struck. It only had one big screw to mount it, and when he screwed in a glass lantern, the whole thing tipped like a see-saw! We were sufficiently freaked out, so we exchanged it for another one! Then after lunch, it was back to campus to put my assignment into campus mail. We spent the rest of the afternoon wiring, measuring, drilling and mounting lights, mirrors and shelves. Whew! Time well spent though. I love the new look!

Good night all!

Catchin' Up!

I've been out of the loop because Kendall and I are celebrating our first anniversary! We've spend the whole weekend celebrating, which has been fun. Admittedly, we've splurged on food this week, but it's good to indulge a little!

Friday, I had a bowl of cereal and coffee! For lunch, I had a tuna salad sandwich with an apple. For dinner, I made pizza from scratch. So yummy! Kendall also walked in with some gorgeous roses! Sweetest husband ever.

Saturday, I had peanut butter on toast. We ran some errands, ran by the farmers' market, and then came home to a lunch of butternut squash soup and some pressed sandwiches. We picked up some lovely lettuce and sweet grape tomatoes at the market. Yum!

My friend Mariah was so thoughtful and offered two wristbands to the AIA Tour of Homes, so we spent the afternoon going from house to house, checking out some amazing design and getting lots of good ideas! Thanks Mariah!

For our celebratory dinner, we went out for dinner at Chez Zee. I tried to hold back on their wonderful sourdough bread and olive oil. I was saving room! I had the jalapeno cornbread stuffed chicken breast with rice pilaf and sauteed veggies. Kendall had the tequila-lime grilled chicken with the rice and veggies. It was a ton of food! And every bite was delicious! They served two chicken breasts, so we both took home one. Then we headed over to Mozart's for a little dessert. We split a slice of blueberry cheesecake. Divine!

We woke this morning to no milk, so we were stuck. Donuts? So bad but so good! I had two and a half glazed! We decided that the best project for today was to remove the huge mirror from our master bathroom. It came out easier than expected. Then we thought, "We don't like the light fixture either!" So out it came! And we were off to Home Depot for some painting supplies and looking for light fixtures.

We lunched on leftover chicken, soup, cherry tomatoes, and Kendall had a PB & J sandwich. We headed out to IKEA and got mirrors and shelves for the bathroom and lots of candles. We stopped by Lowe's and then went back to Home Depot for our light fixture. We were losing daylight and really tired, so we swung by the grocery store for some pizza, beer and milk. Now we are relaxing with lots of warm candlelight.

Yesterday was my first day back at work and it was busy! I was really exhausted by the end of the day. I had a bowl of oatmeal with half a banana, took some curry and rice to work with an apple and the other half banana. I had to go on campus last night, so I grabbed a protein bar, and ended the evening with a salad, two whole wheat muffins and a glass of red wine.

Today I had cereal with milk for breakfast. For lunch I had half a PB&J on whole wheat with a banana and an apple. For dinner we had broiled chicken with butternut squash soup and a muffin.
It was my first attempt at butternut squash soup. It was okay, but it was actually pretty hot tonight, so soup didn't hit the spot exactly.

Now it's time to settle in for an Office wedding!

Another Sick Day

I woke up feeling less than awesome again today. I called in sick today and took the day to rest. Luckily, I had an appetite! After sleeping in, I woke up and made myself some oatmeal (KathEats recipe) topped with 2 Tbsp peanut butter, a tsp of honey and some dark chocolate shavings with some coffee and an apple.

I was able to do some reading for school. It felt nice to get something accomplished! I started to feel pretty tired, so I whipped up a quick lunch of soup (2 cups) and a turkey (1 oz) sandwich on whole wheat (2 serv) with Swiss cheese (1 serv), lots of tomatoes and lettuce (1 C lettuce, 0.5 C tomato). It was a lot of food.

Then I hit the hay! I took a nice nap and woke up feeling much better. Good enough to bake some whole wheat muffins. I plan to use them later this week for dinner. I was able to get in some more reading and watched a video for class. Kendall came home and we had leftover curry with a bit of chicken breast and rice. I also tried one of my muffins. Kendall really dug in! We each had a pear for dessert.

Then we relaxed with "The Biggest Loser." I love that show! It's so inspiring.

It's Freezing!

Well, it's not anywhere close to freezing temps outside here in Central Texas, but I do have some extra soup I can throw in the freezer!

I had plenty of the soup left over, so I reserved some for lunch, and got to work. Freezing soup is a great way to stretch your dollars, and have all the convenience of ready-made soups with all the benefits of a homemade dish. Freezing it flat in a large plastic zipper bag means that you can thaw it faster and it stacks and stores better.

Labeling the bag with the dish name and the date is great for sorting and solving any mysteries of when you made that. It sounds so simple, but it's a big benefit!

I put the bag in a loaf pan to hold it up right. You do have to hold it a bit during the first two ladles, but after that, you should be able to leave the bag to stand on its own.

This is to show that I squeezed out as much air as possible by folding it over gently.

Then I laid it out on a big plate to put it in the freezer. You can also use a baking sheet if you have the space or a small enough pan.

Then pop it in the freezer to chill. I tried to use the ice box to prop up the zipper to prevent leaking.

Here's the Recipe!

Spinach Minestrone Soup

10 C water w/ bouillon or stock

3/4 C dried macaroni pasta

14 oz. can of diced tomatoes

1 can Navy Beans (any beans works!), drained and rinsed

10 oz. box of frozen spinach, thawed

3 C frozen vegetables

(I used blend of cauliflower, green beans, lima beans, carrots, red bell pepper)

Bring the stock to a boil, add the dried pasta. When pasta is almost cooked, add the frozen veggies. Return to a boil, add the beans and spinach. Let simmer for a few minutes and then add the tomatoes and juices from can. Let simmer for another 5-10 min.

Dinner for the Sick

Monday was a sick day. I had a bowl of Special K with dried strawberries and some milk. After reading our chapter about fiber, I realized that we need a new cereal! We get almost nill from Special K.

I trekked in for my TB test and drove home felt awful. Kendall was already staying home from work sick and I called in too. We spent most of the morning in bed, sleeping. I tried reading more, but I was feeling dizzy, so that didn't work out too well.

For lunch I had another bowl (about 2 C) of spinach minestrone with 4 wheat crackers. Kendall and I split an apple.

I took another nap, then woke up and Kendall and I watched a movie on streaming Netflix. Love that! We felt a little snacky, so we each had a pear and some crackers with mozzarella cheese.

By dinner, Kendall was feeling better and I was feeling worse, so he made some miso soup and some rice with Golden Curry!

It's this great curry that he had in Japan. He used a potato, two carrots, and a yellow onion. It was so yummy and really hit the spot.

Miso Soup

Golden Curry! Yum yum.

Sicker Day

Kendall is out of commission! Poor thing has spent most of the day in bed. I knew he wasn't feeling well the minute I got up, and when I came back from shopping, he was cleaning the bathroom! That didn't last long though, and soon he was back in bed. That's pretty much where he has spent the day, except for some lunch, a movie, and now we're watching Desperate Housewives.

So today's been pretty quiet but really productive! I started off with my bowl of cereal and coffee. Then I headed out for grocery shopping, came home, and cleaned the other two bathrooms and all the floors. Then I went for a nice long walk, showered, and made my own spinach minestrone soup for lunch. I paired it with half a grilled cheese sandwich and had a juicy apple.

After working on some laundry, Kendall was up enough for a movie, so we watched "War, Inc." It's funny in parts, and I get the satire, but I think it might be better AFTER the wars are over...

Kendall had the appetite for a turkey sandwich and some Jell-O and I had some mixed nuts and homemade granola with a diet Coke. I finished up some laundry, then started in on some homework for my nutrition class. I got a lot done! I had the rest of the leftover Moroccan stew and couscous with some water and fruit juice.

Now we are both enjoying some chamomile with honey and some juicy TV.

Sick day and Shopping!

Kendall woke up with awful allergies this morning! I think it's the mold in the air caused by all the rain. After some cereal and milk, I dashed the grocery stores to get some food, some soup, and some Airborne for him. Pobrecito!

At HEB, I picked up 2 cans of tomato sauce, 2 cans of Select Harvest Soup for Kendall, some sliced swiss cheese and sliced turkey for our lunches and some Airborne. Minus the Airborne, we can out to $8.97!

Then I went to Newflower for the veggies and fruit. I bought 1 lb of brown rice ($0.68), a little less than a pound of whole wheat flour ($0.71), lots of apples, some pears, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, potatoes, a butternut squash, and two zucchinis! I forgot the broccoli, but might just sub the zucchini for those recipes... no biggie! They didn't get a shipment of spaghetti squash today, so they told me to try back later this week. I was planning to serve it on Wednesday, so it's no problem. The total came out to... $9.81.

Adding it all up, Friday's trip to HEB and today's jaunt brings us to $35.01! Yes! I deducted the wine from Friday's receipt, to be honest, and now have plenty leftover for some spaghetti squash.