Heya!

The rest of Monday was busy busy busy!  I didn't really have a time alotted for lunch.  So I ate at my desk while working.  I hate that.  I never feel relaxed.

I had some sandwiches (not all of those pictured... two went to school with me for dinner) with some crackers and dip.  And lots of carrots!  Plus three slices of watermelon.  Mmm... I love chilled watermelon.  It's so refreshing and I hope to keep eating it through the summer months.  It's starting to get hot here!  We almost reached 90 degrees yesterday.

For dinner, see above... two sandwiches with carrots and half an avocado.  It was quick and filling before class.  I got home with enough time to have my awesome husband make me some quesadillas with slightly carmelized red onions and queso fresco.  They are SO good.  SUPER onion-y.  Super.  Like, eyes were watering while eating and we smelled like onions this morning.  But we love them and I don't think we care enough about the unpleasantries to give up the pure joy of eating them.  Full Quesadilla Disclosure: he uses butter for the onions and then cooks the quesadilla in the same pan. 

This morning, some yogurt and toast with some of that amazing blueberry jam and some watermelon.

I need to start taking more photos.  I realize this.  Life has been crazy.  But class is almost over and I'm hoping to have a food and fun-filled summer.

Summer is a great time to live in Central Texas, from a food standpoint.  The heat is excruciating.  But we get some wonderful produce.  We are starting to see it and we have a long season for fresh, yummy food.  Tomatoes, bell peppers, cukes, squash squash and squash, corn, peaches, strawberries, watermelon.  I can't wait!  What sort of delicious little things grow out of the ground in your area?

Speaking of, here's a new film I just heard about but it's been out for a whole entire year:  Fresh.  Check out the trailer!  I am trying to find it so I can see the whole thing.

Weekend Wrap-Up

Morning!

This weekend was quick, but productive and fun!  Saturday morning, I made crepes and Kendall cleaned the floors and bathroom.  I vacuumed, and then we got ready for my work picnic.  I brought some carrot sticks and sauteed zucchini rounds.

For lunch, we had little tea sandwiches (I had one triangle) with some veggies, carrots, zucchini, tea, two deviled egg halves, a scone with lemon curd and a petit four.  Maple had fun visiting other dogs.

After the picnic, we went to my aunt's house and visited my parents and grandparents.  Then my aunt came in from Seattle.  So good to see everyone!

Then we cut Maple's hair!  We debated between going to a groomer or doing it ourselves.  I looked online and got some tips and then, we just went for it!

Much better!  There was so much fur on the porch!  Her hair on her torso is about half as long as it was and we removed more from her legs to keep those cool while she trots around as it heats up.  Plus we trimmed her beard and around her ears and eyes.  I'm biased but I think she looks pretty cute.  There are DEFINITELY some uneven patches, but we learned how to do it, and figure we're going to go even shorter in about 2 months when it's grown out and it's REALLY hot outside.

For dinner, we had a cheese pizza that Kendall doctored with onions and tomatoes!

I added some leftover veggies, olives and pickles to my plate.  We went to a party where I had some red wine.  When we got home, I had water and another little slice of pizza.

For Sunday, breakfast was crepes again!  Love those.  I went to the store and then folded some laundry.  For lunch, I made a HUGE salad with boiled eggs as well as mango and watermelon for dessert.  It was great to get our veggies in!  Plus it fueled us for an afternoon outside. 

We went to the nursery and home improvement store and got some sweet basil, Thai basil, ground cover, topsoil and mulch, and caulking and roof patch.  I revamped our herb garden, worked some good soil in and put the mulch on top.  I used cedar mulch to try to keep some of the pests away naturally.  Then I held the ladder as Kendall caulked the side of the house.

For dinner, I whipped up a big pot of chicken, beans and rice.

I used brown rice, then had some chicken breasts cubed up, a can of black beans, some leftover zucchini, two onions, garlic, a 28 oz. can of tomatoes, some jalapeno, cumin, salt and pepper.  I sprinkled some queso fresco and cilantro on top.  It was delicious!  Very filling, very low in fat, very high in fiber.   Plus it was tasty.  We have more leftover for the week.

This morning, for breakfast, some yogurt with whole wheat toast that is smeared with some margarine and blueberry preserves and a banana.

I love those preserves!  So yummy and fruity and fresh.

TGIF!

So yesterday for lunch, I packed a classic tuna salad sandwich on lettuce and whole-wheat.  I had it with an apple.

It was simple, yet satisfying.

After a horrible drive in the rain, I went to class to learn about plasma membranes.  It was pretty interesting, but the entire time, I was dreaming of dinner.  I wanted comfort food.  Which roughly translates to "pasta" for me.

Pantry pasta, to be more exact.  I just threw some things together to make this succulent little dish.  But I'll estimate a recipe for you.

Pantry Pasta
yields about 4 servings

3/4 of a 12 oz. box of whole-wheat pasta like rotini or penne
28 oz. can of diced tomatoes
1 zucchini, shredded
4-6 cloves of garlic, smashed and minced
1 yellow onion, diced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp dried basil (If you have fresh, even better.  Use as much as you want!)
1/2 tsp dried oregano (Again, fresh is better.)
1/4 C cooking sherry (or white wine)
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
grated Parmesan

1.  Boil pasta in well-salted until it reaches your tenderness/firmness taste.  Drain.
2.  Meanwhile, in a big pot or dutch oven, heat oil.  Saute onions and then garlic for 1 min or so.
3.  Add tomatoes from can and all those juices!
4.  Add some of the cooking sherry/wine.  Add oregano.  Let simmer.
5.  Add zucchini.  Start tasting.
6.  Add basil, salt and pepper.  Adjust tastes.  Add more of anything you want!  Then add a little more black pepper, for me, will ya?
7.  Fold the pasta into the tomato sauce.  Taste.  Adjust.  Drizzle some olive oil on it.  Stir.
8.  Dish into a bowl or ont a plate.  Sprinkle with Parmesan.
9.  Dig in!

Cook's Notes:  I wish I added more zucchini and I wish I had fresh herbs.  I also sort of wish I had white wine instead of sherry.  But it was still okay.  You can really up the veggies and flavor with this one without adding any bad fats.  Tinker around!  You could also use other veggies, like baby spinach or bell peppers.  Those sound delicious.

Happy Weekend all!

Every Day is Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day, all! 
Enjoy this day by enjoying what the earth provides us, whether it's a nice walk outside to appreciate nature, learning more about some incredible animal, or make a meal from nature's bounty!

Yesterday started off great but got all weird.

The windows were open yesterday morning, which meant a cool breeze in the house.  I decided on something warm... like oatmeal with vanilla, brown sugar and yogurt.  Topped with some walnuts, dried cranberries and some preserves.

For lunch, I enjoyed a fun salad of roasted veggies, navy beans and couscous in a little vinaigrette.

I had an apple on the side.  It was so good!  It had roasted broccoli, asparagus, and zucchini.

Then work got busy and weird, and I had some problems registering for my grad classes, and I went to my organic chem class and got all confused.  So I came home tired, and decided on a very simple and lazy supper.

Yep.  That is crackers, cheese, some deli turkey, a chopped tomato, and some radishes and cucumber in a vinaigrette.  I added fresh cracked pepper on verything.  That's also a little glass of red wine.  It was weirdly satisfying.  It was lazy and easy and took no effort to prepare, and I lounged around eating it.

In the spirit of Earth Day, check out this video from CookingLight about a sustainable kitchen.  What do you do for a more sustainable kitchen?  After discovering Michael Pollan and Mark Bittman, Kendall and I have really tried to cut back on our meat consumption, and are now trying to eat organic produce that lands on the Dirty Dozen list and eat more local produce.  Luckily, we love legumes, and Austin boasts several good farmers' markets.

So far I had some shredded wheat with milk for breakfast, and will have a tuna fish sandwich and apple for lunch.  I'm looking forward to dinner tonight.  I think it will be meatless and have something to do with PASTA and SALAD.  It's the simple things, yes?

Saved by the Phone!

Whew!  I was let off the hook of jury duty and am now relaxing a bit at my desk!

I had a lovely lunch of yogurt, veggies with salt and pepper and a slice of whole wheat toast, which I dipped in some olive oil, salt & pepper.  I also had an apple.

It was filling and really simply delicious.

I also stumbled across this fun article on Self.com about some healthy tapas recipes.  If you're having a party or get together any time soon, these sound really divine and easy.

Have a great afternoon!

Busy Busy Busy

A quick recap and then I gotta run!  Today is going to be jam-packed.

Yesterday was a lot of repeats.  For lunch, the very last of the white chili with crackers and an apple.  For dinner, a turkey and cheese sandwich with another apple.  For a second dinner after lab, leftover panang curry.  Not nearly enough veggies, but I got a few in at the end of my day.

This morning, more yogurt with cereal and a banana.  Today, I have jury duty.  I need to call in at 10:30 am to see if I can get let off the hook.  I have a lunch packed and did add lots of veggies to it.  Will try to snap a photo!

After jury duty, I have a test.  Then I will be HOME FREE!

I'll leave you with this little article from EatingWell.com.  It's timing couldn't be more perfect;  Kendall and I were talking about eating more of this highly nutritious food this weekend.  Enjoy!

Week end and Weekend in Review

Sorry for the delay! The past few days have either been crazy, or I've taken advantage of the slow pace by relaxing.

On Thursday, I went to a training for work.  I had a chewy granola bar as a snack in the AM, and for lunch, they brought us yummy deli sandwiches!  I had the vegetarian sandwich, which was loads of yummy veggies and sprouts with some mayo (I think?) and cream cheese on whole-wheat bread.  I only had a half, because it was stacked so high with vegetables.  I also had a very delicious tortellini pasta salad on the side and a cookie, and some olives, all with iced tea.  I grabbed some of the veggies that were the plate garnish as I was almost last in line, and really wanted to fill my quota for the day.  It was great!

Thursday afternoon, we were drenched with rain, which meant traffic was a nightmare!  By the time I got home, I was tired and just wanted to relax, and Kendall and Maple implored me to relax with them.  We had pizza and then I baked cookies!  I just had a hankering for them and realized that I had all the ingredients.  I decreased the recipe and made half without chocolate chips for Kendall and then added some in for me.

Friday, I had cereal for breakfast, and then brought a PB & J on wheat with veggies for lunch.  I had an apple on the side.  It was simple, but good.  Friday, we were going to go out for sushi, but by the time I got home and we got on the road to the restaurant, we were really pushing the sushi happy hour deadline.  When we got to the restaurant, it was packed and there was no parking.  So we had to drive back through downtown which took forever.  But we finally arrived at Enoteca.  I had been disappointed by the pizza, so we decided to try something new.  We still got the calamari, but we ordered pasta with tomato sauce that came with eggplant and zucchini and mozzarella.  It was so good.  We didn't finish it!

Saturday, I had a scrambled egg with cheese on toast and tomato juice.  My parents stayed over, and soon, we hit the road to go to my cousin's wedding.  We got into town and met up with some family for lunch.  I had a bit of chicken fajita, along with salsa and avocado on a tortilla, with rice and beans.  Then I had several strawberries.  Then, some cake.

The wedding was beautiful, and it was so great to see everyone!  The food at the reception was sort of amazing.  After the ceremony, they served grilled veggies, feta cheese, crawfish salad and crackers.  I had one bit of crawfish on a cracker.  Then I had two chunks of feta and loads of asparagus and summer squash.  It was so tasty!  I also sipped a glass of red wine

For dinner, they served chicken in a cream sauce, wild rice, grilled zucchini and salad. 

I was a bit disasspointed about how little zucchini I got (just those two little slices!) so I went back to the appetizer table and grabbed some asparagus and bell peppers.  Under those veggies is a bit of my salad peeking out!  I had lemonade, water and iced tea.  We also had a piece of wedding cake.  Then I had another glass of red wine and a beer.  We all kept talking, and reminiscing, and then it was time to clean up and go back to the hotel!

For breakfast on Sunday, we had a yogurt, some little pastries, and juice.  The hotel didn't have fresh fruit out when we were down, but it was okay.  We squeezed in one more visith with the family, and then were on the road again.  We stopped for lunch at Subway, where Kendall and I split a roasted chicken breast sandwich on 9 grain honey oat bread with all the veggies.

Once home, we walked the dog, washed clothes, put away the laundry and cleaned the house!  I then made some panang curry.

The curry was thin, but the taste was okay.

For breakfast, I had some yogurt with cereal on top and a banana.

Now it's back to the grind!

Berry Berry Exciting

I woke up this morning feeling great and wanting a treat.  Last night I whipped up a smoothie.  I have reason to celebrate: I was officially accepted into my Masters of Human Nutrition program last night.  Yes!

I made two servings for Kendall and I to split.  It was about 2 cups of strawberries and blackberries.  I added about 3/4 C plain yogurt and added enough juice (cranberry strawberry banana) to get it thin enough.

It was great!  My first sip wasn't good because I had recently brushed my teeth.

I had two slices of whole wheat toast with some peanut butter and strawberry preserves.  It was a filling and good breakfast.

Lunch today was a real treat.  The office bought us lunch at Chipotle!

I knew we were getting lunch, but wasn't sure what they'd order, so I brought some veggies and ranch just in case.

These things are huge.  I had a burrito with rice, black beans, veggies, cheese, a bit of lettuce and medium-heat salsa.

While delicious, it was really heavy on the rice.  The black beans were yummy and I felt that they had added just enough of them.  I couldn't see the cheese, but I could taste it, so I think it was white and in a corner of a tortilla fold.  The salsa was awesome.  The veggies... not enough and were just green bell peppers and red onions.  I love that combo!  But maybe add some red bell peppers and squash.  I think my ideal burrito would be 1/3 rice, 1/3 beans and 1/3 veggies with some cheese and salsa on top.  But it was FREE, yummy and I ate the whole thing because I was hungry.  I ate all my veggies too.  Now I think I might have some hot decaf green tea to settle my tummy.

Now the week is on the downhill slide, because my test is over, and work is quiet, I got into grad school, and I am going to a wedding this weekend with lots of family, so it will be fun to catch up and hopefully dance with my handsome husband.

Yay Grad School!  Go Bobcats!

App Happy

If you are into apps, I have sampled a-many and found some to be great and really useful and others to be... boring.

Epi- This app is from Epicurious and I love love love it.  It has plenty of food and beverage recipes, and lets you search through their database by keyword, main ingredient, meal, dish type, cuisine, dietary consideration or season/occassion.  You can then save to your favorites within the app.  I have used this numerous times, especially in the grocery store if something unexpected is on sale and I have no recipes in my arsenal.  Like, halibut, for instance!

AllRecipes- The DinnerSpinner is similar to the Epi app, but is more fun to use because you flick the phone to make the wheels spin like a slot machine.  You can narrow by dish type, ingredients, and ready in/cooking method.  You can also search by keyword.  Not as extensive as Epi, but if you want a solid go-to recipe that might not be as gourmet, this is a great app.

SparkRecipes- Healthy recipes that are submitted by all sorts of folks.  You can search by keyword, or browse by category, course, cuisine, dietary consideration or occassion.  What's nice is that there are lots of variaions on recipes for one dish.  For instance, tuna salad will bring up lots of health-inspired recipes from all over.

UrbanSpoon- So fun for restaurant lovers!  It detects your area, and you select the cuisine type and price.  You can also change location, so it works whether you are spontaneously looking for a place where you are, or if you are planning ahead.

Restaurants- Nutritional information on practically every national chain restaurant I can think of.  You will never be stuck in a line guessing which dish has the most fat, calories or sodium.  After sifting through, I was really surprised about what I found to look like a good choice but wasn't, or seemed like a bad choice but wasn't really that bad. 

NutritionTips- Nothing fancy, but is loaded with fun little things you can do to improve overall health.

NutritioniQ- Select a category, like fiber, calcium, protein, or whole grains, and flip through foods, learning about their health benefits as you go.  Then you can add the items you like to a mobile grocery list.

Vitamins- Again, nothing fancy, but houses lots of information about what each vitamin or mineral does and where you can find it.  I guess this is good if you are curious...

DietFoods- Another unfancy app, but loaded with lots of healthy foods and their benefits.  For instance, find out what broccoli can do for you, then tap to read on about carrots.

NCalculator-  By entering your stats, you can calculate your BMI, BMR, Body Fat and about how many calories you burned.  It also lets you know how your number falls within different ranges of health.

There are a few others that I'm tinkering with.  I'll let you know if I find any good ones!

A Lady who Lunches

Yesterday, I packed a delicious little lunch of leftovers.

Leftover white chili, a mix of celery sticks and snow peas and a banana.  It was very filling!

After work, I headed to campus and had a peanut butter and jelly on whole-wheat sandwich with an apple before my big test.  I don't know how I did on the test, but I sure tried hard!  After the test, I went to lab, which luckiy, was short.  Once home, I combined the last of the black beans with some squash casserole and had a few chips on the side.  I also had a dark beer, and then some decaf.

This morning, I kick-started the day with some of my new cereal with milk and a banana.

I'm hoping today isn't too hectic and that my class lets out on time tonight so I can squeeze in a walk.

For lunch today, I have packed:

I have leftover squash casserole, a few leftover wheat crackers, some edamame, shredded wheat cereal for a snack and some big fat strawberries!  It should be really filling.

I've been reading up on eating for heart health, since my family has various heart problems.  It's not one reoccuring problem throughout our family, but things like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, etc here and there.  One of the top recommedations is a Mediterranean-inspired diet.  We don't eat any red meat in our diet and have been trying to scale back on chicken (portions and frequency).  We've been eating more meatless meals.  One thing we've been missing lately is some of those delicious fatty fish like salmon!  So we need to incorporate that back into our diet.  Other trademarks of a Mediterranean diet are lots of fruits, veggies and whole grains, and healthy fats like olive oil, nuts, or avocados.  Luckily, I love all of those things; I just need to plan our meals around it!

Interestingly enough, Kendall asked about foods that help boost brain function, and as I tooled around online, I found that many recommend the Mediterranean diet for brain health as well.  It's said that by ensuring a healthy bloodflow through cardiovascular health, you help boost brain function and stave off brain-degenerative diseases like Alzeheimers.

I'm out, but will return with a new recommendation.

I can has a new cereal

Yes, it is frighteningly true: Texas is approaching summer temps which means, among other things, that I wake up craving something cool, rather than hot.

This weekend I went hunting through my store shelves for something fiber-filled and cheap with an only slightly insulting ingredients list.




Mom's Best Sweetened Wheatfuls. Yes. Six grams of whole grain fiber. Three ingredients. Two dollars! Did I mention that it's tasty?

Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Weekend!

After a crazy week, we kicked off the weekend with some yummy dinner out at our fave Mexican place.
I ordered a burrito, which was HUGE and a real deal for only $3.50.

Kendall ordered our usual, a chicken tostada...

Saturday, I had cereal for breakfast and we headed out to the farmer's market!  We picked up some lettuce and spinach.  Then we went toy shopping for Maple.  For lunch, we had nachos and deviled eggs, fresh veggies and fruit.  Then we took Maple to the Animal Trustees for her heartworm medication.  After that, Kendall ran to the store while I studied.  Then we made yummy chicken florentine alfredo pasta with asparagus and hollandaise sauce and garlic bread.  It was awesome!  I have a photo on my other camera.

Sunday, I woke up early, had a bowl of raisin bran, and headed to the store.  It's great to get the shopping done early!  When I got home, Kendall had cleaned downstairs.  It looked great.  I studied for a short bit, and then we rearranged furniture.  For lunch, we had a slimmed-down version of chicken salad.  I used equal parts no-fat yogurt and mayo with celery and poached chicken.  I added salt, pepper and celery seed for flavor.  Delish!  I had some tomato juice on the side.

For dinner, I made white chili and squash casserole.  Kendall said about the casserole, "There's no way this is healthy.  It has flavor and cheese!" 

Oh but it is!  Check it out here.

For dessert, we tried a new frozen treat.

Fake "soft serve."  Healthy ice cream.  And by that I mean, AMAZING!  That, my friends, is half a batch of 2 frozen bananas and 1 tsp vanilla extract that were put in the food processor for 4 minutes.  Totally fat free.  No sugar added.  Totally amazing.  Kendall and I agreed that it could use another flavor, like blueberry or strawberry.  I found this through KathEats.com and she found it through a raw foods blog.  I will be trying this again and I HIGHLY recommend this as a great way to get your cold, sweet fix as summer comes around.  Of course, the sweetness depends on the ripeness of the fruit.  This is also fluffier than soft-serve, so it won't be dense like ice cream.  But give this a whirl!

Yep, it's been busy...

Let's recap, again, shall we?  Wednesday, I had some oatmeal with peanut butter and strawberries.

I decided to pack a salad for lunch, because we had been lacking on veggies.  I made a Southwestern cobb with half a hard-boiled eggs, cheese, black beans, green bell peppers and tomatoes on top of lettuce.  So yummy!  Too bad I took both dressing containers, sending Kendall to work without his. 

Crackers on the side and strawberries.  It was very yummy!

I had an apple on campus as a snack.  We were let out 10 minutes early, which was awesome.  Once home, I whipped up some black bean and spinach quesadillas!

Today, I had more oatmeal with PB & J and some juice on the side.

For lunch, Italian tuna salad in a whole wheat pita with lettuce and a kiwi and 4 strawberries on the side.

For dinner, nachos with black beans.

And a beer.

Quick Recap and Another Fun Article

Hey y'all!  Lab took FOREVER last night, so when I got home, I was happy to find some mac 'n' cheese in the fridge and fresh blackberries.  It made for a yummy late night snack.  The macaroni probably wasn't the healthiest snack/late dinner, but it hit the spot.

For breakfast, I switched back to good old oatmeal after my lackluster cereal left me hungry by 10 am yesterday.  Oatmeal really fills me up, and I find I don't feel famished mid-morning.  I made it with 1/2 C skim milk, 1 tsp brown sugar and vanilla each, and mixed in a little cereal, 1/2 Tbsp peanut butter and 1 tsp raspberry jam.

I found this great article yesterday at Self.com on foods that can help reduce the risk of some illnesses, and also help with some short-term problems, like fatigue or PMS.  I was happy to see that carbs and even beans can make you feel happier, so I am making a bit pot of black beans today!  I'm interested to try some of their suggestions for life's little ailments.  It will be hard to tell if the food really helps with things like the blues, stress or fatigue, or if it creates a placebo effect.  And while eating certain foods is no guarantee that you won't get heart disease, high blood pressure, or types of cancer, it's an interesting read.

Bunch of Lunch

For lunch, I took some whole-wheat pasta with veggies and lots of strawberries.





Except I accidentally dumped a ton of salt on my pasta! So I sat at my desk and tried to get some out by picking it out by hand. Yes, there was that much salt! I managed to get most out and stirred it a LOT, and it was edible.

For dinner, I had a turkey and Colby Jack cheese on whole-wheat sandwich with an apple. It's almost time for class!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Back in the Saddle

It's Monday, and while I'm at work, my hubby is at home.  I hope he has a fun day.

After a weekend of indulging, we both decided to get back in the saddle with healthy eating and more excercise.  It's been hard for me to do anything physical with class at night and the winter sky getting dark at 5:30 pm or 6 pm, but now that it's spring and the sun doesn't set until 8 pm or so, I hope to squeeze in a few evening walks. 

And wouldn't you know it?  No sooner had we talked about needing to clean up our diets a bit, I saw this timely article on Cooking Light!  It's a great reminder that eating seasonally is nature's way of offering fun and different ways to get in your nutrients.  We've been enjoying strawberries and asparagus, and a few peas at our house recently, but I never thought of radishes as a nutrition-powerhouse veggie.  I usually use them to add to salads or cut roses for veggie trays!  I'm going to try to work a few more in my diet, as well as some yummy cherries and apricots. 

Kendall is from Ohio originally, and his family has great stories about rhubarb, but say that you really can't get good rhubarb in Texas... it doesn't ship well!  Perhaps I will swap that one out for more artichokes.  I do love them, but the one time I cooked them fresh, it was a lot of work for not a lot of food.  Maybe I did it wrong?

This morning, I tried a new cereal, Special K Fruit and Yogurt.  It was very yummy, but as I read the labels, I was sad to see that it was low in fiber and high in sugar!

Upon further inspection, I also found that it didn't contain any real dried fruit, but rather, "fruit flavored clusters" of grains.  Um, gross!  Perhaps this will be a good yogurt topping to use sparingly...

It was also full of corn syrups.  I think this should be treated more like a dessert than a breakfast staple...

Have a great day, everyone!

Weekend!

It's been three glorious days off!  I kicked off the weekend off right by picking up my husband from the airport!  He made a quick work trip and Maple and I were so happy to have him home.

After a stressful few weeks for both of us, we decided that Friday called for playtime!  We drove out to Marble Falls and had to go to Bluebonnet Cafe for lunch.  They have the best Texas home-cooking food around.  I had the teriyaki chicken breast with spinach, mashed potatoes with gravy and fried okra.  They also serve amazing yeast rolls and corn bread.  It was so good and really hit the spot!  It was the perfect way to start a relaxed weekend.  If you are ever in the neighborhood, you've got to stop by.

We then went for a little walk by the water while in town and then headed back home.  We went to the grocery store and then the comfort food continued!  I made up some BBQ chicken pizza.

Saturday, we cleaned this house from top to bottom!  We divide and conquer and usually, I take the upstairs floors and bathrooms, but I was bored with that.  I chose the downstairs floors, bathroom and kitchen.  I also dusted the blinds because the oak pollen has been awful!

After cleaning, Kendall whipped up some lunch... a veggie-loaded pasta salad!

So so good.  We had mangoes and blackberries for dessert. 

We then went for a walk, and had to run a few more errands.  Then it was time to get cookin'!  More delicious comfort food!  A beer-roasted turkey breast, mac and cheese from scratch, and a three bean salad!  For dessert, we had fresh fruit and a few ginger snaps that we got for free, but did not like.

My parents joined us for dinner, and we went for a little walk after dinner.

Sunday, we kicked off Easter morning with some crepes!  After I did some homework, we showered and headed to my aunt's house for lunch.

Oh yes.  Turkey, green beans with toasted almonds, scalloped potatoes, rolls, salad, fruit salad, and ice cream for dessert!  Yum!  We had a great time visiting, taking photos, playing with the dogs, and hiding Easter eggs.

Then we headed home for dinner.  I fixed some pasta with veggies and had leftovers.

Now we are hanging out, and I am crying and typing while I watch "Extreme Home Makeover."