Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!

Aren't they cute?
 
The girls had a blast tonite!  Mo was an Olympic gymnast, Kay was Abbey Bominable (from the show Monster High) and Baye was a pirate.  They ended up with bunches and bunches of candy.  

Trick or Treating really tests your willpower doesn't it?  I didn't have a very hard time due to the fact that I didn't want to end up in crippling pain from dipping into the girls stash.  If you can't resist then either bring a healthy snack with you that you can munch on or, go for the hard or gummy candies.  They take longer to eat and normally are a LITTLE healthier less bad for you.

Isn't the cake cute?  There's nothing healthy about it.  It's a box mix and canned frosting.  They girls were bugging me for a halloween cake from Publix so I did the next best thing, homemade.  

I'm going to do a workout (both mental and physical) based on halloween candy.  It'll be up in a few days.

What were your kids (or you) for halloween?  Are you tempted by halloween candy?

Souper Sandy Supper

 I think coincidences are very odd things.  Don't you?  Occasionally I'll get in a soup type of mood. 

I find Florida is not a soup friendly state.  I can't justify eating a bowl of soup in 90 degree heat most of the time.  But occasionally I'll think "Hmmm, soup sounds good!" 

But, (there's always a "but" isn't there?) every time I make soup it rains.  EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.  Without fail.  Well, I didn't know that this time I decided on soup we wouldn't get rain, we'd get the effects of Hurricane Sandy. 
 
Vegetable Stew

2 medium onion, minced
5 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium stalk celery, minced
16 ounces white mushrooms, quartered
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon minced fresh rosemary
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
3 cups vegetable stock
1 and 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup canned diced tomatoes
1 bay leaf
4 medium red potatoes, quartered
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 tablespoon cold water
1 cup frozen peas, thawed

Instructions
1.  Heat a large pot or dutch oven sprayed with pan spray over medium-high
2. Sautee onions, carrots and celery until they become soft (10-15 minutes) add a bit of water if they begin to stick
3. Add the mushrooms, sautee until the liquid they release has cooked off
5. Add garlic, rosemary and thyme
6. Add 1/2 cup of stock to deglaze pan (scrape the bottom to get anything that has stuck on, off)
7. Cook about 3 minutes until stock is about 1/2 of what it was
8. Add the rest of your stock, salt, tomatoes, bay leaf, and potatoes, bring to a boil.
9. Reduced heat, simmer, partially covered about 30 minutes until the potatoes are soft
10. Stir together cornstarch and water, add to pot and cook until the stew starts to thicken.
11. Add the peas and simmer for 2-3 minutes. 

The whole family loved it.  Even my mom who typical doesn't like stew (which I didn't know until last nite.)  I hope everyone stays safe from the storm.

November Goals

 November is 9 days away!  It's crazy how fast the year has seemed to fly by.  I've decided to make some goals for November. Most of them are very simple.  I don't like hard to accomplish goals.  Why set a goal that you think you're going to fail?

• Go for atleast 2 30+ minute bike rides a week
• Make atleast 1 new ice cream flavor a week
• Do a kettlebell workout 3+ times a week
• Thanksgiving dinner is under 500 calories
• 50 burpees a day (50 for 50 challenge, I'll explain in a minute)
• Finish 90% of my Christmas shopping by the end of the month
• Clean the house top to bottom once a week
• Get my blood work done and "fix" any "problems"  

So what is the 50 For 50 Challenge?  50 Burpees a day for 50 days.  I started a couple days ago and so far so good.  I don't do 50 at once, I do them throughout the day.  10 here, 15 there, until I get to 50.  My arms, legs and abs are honestly burning but, it's a good burn.

Okay, onto the food for tonite.  It was vegan sausage etouffe.  I love Light Life Ground Sausage.  It tastes like real sausage.  It's the fake meat that I've found that comes closest to the real thing.  


Vegan Sausage Etoufee
adapted from Fat Free Vegan

• 1/3 cup white flour
• 2 cups vegetable broth
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 rib celery, finely chopped
• 1/2 green bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms, stemmed and halved
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 14-16 ounces vegan sausage (I used Light Life ground sausage), ripped into chunks
• 4 green onions (scallions), sliced

Instructions

1. Put flour into a pan and heat it on medium high.  Stir the flour constantly until it turns a golden brown color.  (I think it took me about 10 - 15 minutes)
2. Whisk it in with the broth in a separate bowl and set aside 
3. In a separate pan cook the onions, when they start to wilt add the celery and peppers and cook until all the vegetables are brown.  Add the mushrooms, garlic and a tiny bit of water and put a lid on your pan.  Cook for about 3 minutes until the mushrooms give off water.
4. Add the broth mixed with flour to the vegetables.  
5. Add soy sauce and spices then cook until the sauce has thickened.  
6. Put the sausage in, cover and simmer for about 15 minutes.
7. Mix in green onions when done  

Mr. Amazing loved it over rice.  I put mine over a sweet potato.  I think next time I'm going to use shrimp in it and use the seafood stock I made instead of vegetable.  Do you have any goals for next month?

Pumpkin French Toast

'Tis the season to break out the pumpkin recipes.  My Pumpkin Frozen Dessert (here) is one of my most popular posts since fall began.  I decided I wanted to try a Pumpkin French Toast recipe I found at the Post Punk Kitchen.

Pumpkin has many healthy benefits:

• 1 cup has 200% of your daily RDA of Vitamin A.  Vitamin A helps with your vision.
• 1 cup has 3 grams of fiber
• 1 cup has 564 milligrams of potassium (that's 142 milligrams more than a banana)
• 1 cup has 20% of women's daily Vitamin C needs
• They are loaded with beta-carotene which can help prevent cancer and keep your skin wrinkle-free
• Pumpkin seeds can reduced your LDL (bad cholesterol)
• Seeds have tryptophan which helps boost seratonin (a feel good chemical in your brain)

Pumpkin French Toast
adapted from The Post Punk Kitchen

1 cup pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cup reduced fat soy milk
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
8 slices of reduced calorie whole wheat bread

1. Whisk together everything except bread
2. Pour mixture into a shallow container and soak bread while your sprayed pan is heating up over medium heat
3. Flip bread over and let the other side soak for a minute
4. Place 2-4 slices of bread in the skillet and cook on first side until brown, flip then cook the other side until golden brown also.
5. Serve with maple syrup

As you see in the picture I started out using my electric griddle.  It honestly didn't work well.  It took forever for the toast to cook.  I switched them to a skillet and it browned up really quick.  I don't know if my griddle was just turned down too low or if this recipe is just meant for a skillet.  If you use an electric griddle and get the toast to work, please let me know how you did it!


I think next time I'll try to make some pumpkin waffles or pancakes. Do you have any good recipes for pumpkin waffles or pancakes?

Plum Nectarine Cobbler

Obviously it didn't last very long

Isn't that pretty?  I'm trying to make some interesting fruit based desserts.  I'm tired of my sauteed fruit with cinnamon, Marshmallow Fluff and chocolate chips.  Today I made cobbler.  I'm going to try every fruit combination that I can think up (or at least like.) 

I had some plums and nectarines that I needed to use up so, in they went!  But like I said before, you can use whatever fruit you'd like. 

Plums and Nectarines have some amazing health benefits.  Plums are filled with Vitamins A,C and K;  loaded with antioxidants, they help absorb iron, and help your eyesight.  Nectarines have Vitamins A and C; they contain natural antioxidants, they support healthy eyes and skin; and are packed with beta-carotene.  

So you can justify eating this by knowing you're benefiting your health at the same time.   



Plum Nectarine Cobbler
adapted from The Pioneer Woman

6 plums and nectarines (I used 3 of each)
1/4 - 3/4 cup sugar (depending on how sweet you'd like it)
1 cup light soy milk (any dairy-free milk will do)
1 cup flour

1. Cut up your fruit into small chunks. 
2. In a separate bowl mix together flour, sugar and soy milk.
3. Spray an 8 or 9 inch square or round pan with cooking spray.
4. Pour in wet mixture.  Place fruit on top
5. Bake at 350 for 60 minutes until set and golden brown.

I've already got 5 or 6 other cobbler combinations in my head.  Next time I think I will try the crumbly topping instead of the cake-y topping.  

 What's your favorite cobbler?  Do you prefer the cake topping or the crumble topping?

Ending

I've decided to end my diet challenge.  There were a couple factors that led me to this decision.   The first one is that Gramma and Sirr (my mom and dad) are coming into town next week and the menu I have planned will not go over well with them.  The more important reason is that I have realized that I've already found my perfect diet.  It's honestly a combination of the first 3 weeks that I've done.  

What is my perfect diet?

• Lots of fruits and veggies
• No white potatoes, white rice or white flour
• Very little processed food
• Fish and seafood only 
• No milk

 But I'm sticking to my planned menu until they get here.  This week is still a vegan week.  Tonite was chili.  I love this recipe.    I hope you do too!  

3 Bean Chili
adapted from Cook This, Not That!


1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 cup chili powder
2 bay leaves
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 piece (1 oz) dark chocolate or 1 Tbsp cocoa powder
1 bottle or can (12 oz) dark beer
1 can (28 oz) whole peeled tomatoes
1 can (14 oz) white beans, rinsed and drained
1 can (14 oz) pinto beans, rinsed and drained 
1 can (14 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained

1. Sautee the onions and garlic in a dutch oven or large pot until soft
2. Mix in spices and tomato paste
3. Crush the tomatoes between you fingers, add them to the pot along with the other liquids and heat until boiling
4. Put in the beans and simmer for 15 minutes.

If you want you can top this with some fat free cheese and diced onions.  (That's how I eat mine)  

How do you feel about chili?

Sweet Sweet Mistake

When I say soy what is the first thing that pops into your head?

Soy sauce?  Soy milk?  Soy beans?

Tonite Mr. Amazing made a tasty mistake.  I wrote the recipe for him in shorthand.  I just wrote down as much of the ingredient's name as I thought was necessary.  I stupidly thought that he would understand it.  Guess not.  Instead of soy MILK he used soy SAUCE.  We had a conversation earlier today about soy milk going into the stroganoff.  I assumed that he would understand I was calling for soy milk.  

1 cup Plain Soy = Soy Milk!

Well, it actually came out amazing.  So I've edited the recipe to reflect the mistake.

 See all those pieces of mushrooms and yummy noodles?  I actually made egg noodles to go with the sauce.  The rest of the family ate the noodles, I put my stroganoff over a sweet potato.  'Mmmmmmm!

Mushroom Stroganoff 
adapted from Engine 2 Diet 

1 large yellow onion, chopped
16 ounces white mushrooms, sliced
2 T minced garlic
4 T flour
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T soy sauce
½ c Soy milk
16 ounces cooked whole wheat noodles

1. Cook the onions until semi-soft
2. Add the mushrooms and garlic and cook until soft
3. Whisk the flour in and stir until it's evenly distributed
4. Pour in the vinegar, soy sauce and soy milk.  
5. Stir until the sauce thickens.
6. Serve over noodles

I've been giving him a bit of a hard time about it but I make sure that he knows that it was really amazing at the same time.  
 
Have you ever made a mistake like that?  Used the wrong ingredient?  How did it come out? 

Diet Challenge Week 3: Engine 2 Diet

Week 3 already?  This week is the Engine 2 Diet.

Diet History
"The Engine 2 Diet was created by Rip Esselstyn, a professional athlete turned firefighter, who converted a firehouse full of committed carnivores to a plant-based diet, in the process improving their weight, blood pressure and cholesterol.
He developed the program when he realized that several of his fellow firefighters had dangerously high cholesterol levels. They all experienced dramatic improvements by following his eating plan. Then he applied the same principles to a group of fifty-eight volunteers who lost an average of ten pounds and significantly reduced their cholesterol levels in just four weeks."  -- Source

Do's and Don'ts

1. No animal products.  No meat, milk, eggs or cheese.
2. Limit the amount of fats, sodium, and sugar.
3. 30 - 45 minutes of brisk exercise a day. 

Links
Engine 2 Diet
Forks Over Knives

Starting Weight
116.8
 
Starting Waist Measurement
26.5
  Menu for the Week
Monday 10/15 -- Sushi 
Tuesday 10/16 --  Stirfry
Wednesday 10/17 -- Mushroom Stroganoff
Thursday 10/18 -- Baked Potatoes & Vegetables
Friday 10/19 --  Pumpkin French Toast
Saturday 10/20 --Sausage and Mushroom Etouffe
Sunday 10/21 --  Chili  (Note: The recipe is a turkey chili.  I always replace the turkey    with double beans but it is,and always will be, my favorite chili recipe)

Sugar Bomb! A cereal comparison

When I went to BJ's the other day I allowed Mr. Amazing to buy the girls Cap'n Crunch.  I've always thought that this was a sugar bomb.  Well, I got bored one morning and decided to compare the 3 cereals we had in the house.  They were my generic Corn Chex, Mr. Amazing's Kashi GoLean Crunch!, and the girls' Cap'n Crunch. 

I was amazed at what I found out.

Corn Chex

Toasted Corn Chex --

Serving Size: 1 cup

Calories -- 110
Fat -- 0 g
Cholesterol -- 0 g
Sodium -- 280 mg
Potassium -- 25 mg
Carbs -- 26 g
Fiber -- Less than 1 g
Sugar -- 3 g
Protein -- 2 g

This also provided 50% of your daily iron

Kashi GoLean Crunch

Kashi GoLean Crunch

Serving Size: 1 cup

Calories -- 190
Fat -- 3 g
Cholesterol -- 0 g
Sodium -- 100 mg
Potassium -- 300 mg
Carbs -- 37 g
Fiber -- 8 g
Sugar -- 13 g
Protein -- 9 g

Cap'n Crunch

Cap'n Crunch

Serving Size: 1 cup

(The original serving size was 3/4 cup so I did some math to make it match the 1 cup size of the others)

Calories -- 134
Fat -- 2 g
Cholesterol -- 0 g
Sodium -- 254 mg
Potassium -- 67 mg
Carbs -- 30 g
Fiber -- 1.33 g
Sugar -- 14.7 g
Protein -- 1.33 g

Cap'n Crunch has 100% of your daily Folic Acid
So each one wins in a different manner in my book.  It all depends on what you're watching.  The Kashi was not as healthy as I expected.  It had almost as much sugar as the Cap'n Crunch.  The Chex had far less sugar, potassium, carbs, fiber and protein than the Kashi and even less fiber than the Cap'n Crunch.  

But this proves it.  Kids cereals are the healthiest things in the world but they aren't as bad as we assume either.  So go out and treat yourself to a box of Cap'n Crunch, Trix, Cocoa Pebbles or Cinnamon Toast Crunch.  Just limit yourself to one box.

Blood Type Diet Review

Last day of the Blood Type Diet.  Here's my review.

Weight Today:  116.6
Weight Difference From Day 1: 2.2 lbs

Waist Today:  26.5
Waist Difference From Day 1:  1.25 inches

Diet Ease Rank 1-10 (1 being easy, 10 being hard) -- 8
Opinions:  This diet was annoyingly hard.  There were so many "bad" foods and it sucked.  I've tried this diet years ago and I never lasted more than a week or so.  

Could I make this a permanent way of life?  HELL NO! 

My Mud Run Adventure

Yesterday was the Survivor Mud Run.  Mr. Amazing and I had a blast!!  It was such a great experience.  

We left the house at 7:45 to get there in time to register and everything for our 9:45 wave.  After we had all the important stuff out of the way we wandered around and people watched.  I wish I could have gotten more photos but the camera's card was acting funky.  

Here are some though:

 Me posing before the race.  All clean...

I felt like I had super powers.  

 Me and Mr. Amazing

 Psyched and ready to go

 I loved her shirt.  I didn't read the front but I'm guessing that it's about the many reasons why women are awesome

 My lovely bat socks

 Mr. Amazing pinning on his number.  He was kinda excited that it was "666"

 The finish line!

 All the people milling around

 There was mud even before you got onto the course!

 The SuperGirls

 Start line. 

 Mr. Amazing's number.

I was trying to be confident and collected while waiting but I was actually freaking out inside.  I was so nervous.  Could I do it?  Was I going to fail?  Was I even going to finish???  These were all questions running through my head. 

But it was alot easier than I expected.  Mr. Amazing and I jogged at first.  (I think this helped out our time a bit)  First we had to crawl through a mud puddle under wires, then we had to weave through a patch of trees, next came to a bunch of trees that we had to bob and weave between.  We also had to go through tires (like you see football players doing), walk through about a mile of nothing but thick mud, and climb monkey bars.  There were hurdles, a few more mud puddles, planks and hurdles.  

But the most extreme one for me was the 10-15 foot cargo net.  I'm horribly, HORRIBLY scared of heights.  My legs were shaking trying to get over.  I am so proud of myself for doing it (and not dying).  

This was an excellent bonding experience for Mr. Amazing and I.  I am very happy that my chiropractor told me that it was a good idea to start living my life and do it.  At the end of the day we were covered in mud, muck, and possibly poop, soaking wet, sore but, so pumped.  I've already started planning 3 for next year.  

Now I'll leave you with a few more photos.

 Me after the race.  Don't I look beautiful??

Mr. Amazing's after

 Our medals and racer numbers

 All of our icky clothes.  I hosed them down before washing them to get all the ick out.

 This is how the camera looked when I got it out of Mr. Amazing's pocket

 I had a thin layer of mud all over my arms

 My soaked, mud covered shoes.


Would you do a race like this?

Pretty Clouds

So happy t be back at the farmers market today.  $20 for 3 heavy bags of vegetables.  This is especially awesome since next week is my E2 (read: vegan) week.

Sorry my posts have been so short the past week.  It's been just one of those weeks where there's a lot to do.  Plus the recipes were nothing spectacular.  I'm super excited for tomorrow.  It's Mud Run day!  I promise to post lots of pictures and let you know about all the fun I had.
 


Prompt:  Do you plan to do plastic surgery or botox to cover up the effects of aging?
Answer:  I plan on getting my breasts done.  Not to cover up aging at all, just because I've wanted them done for over 10 years.

Testing

Last nite I did a test walk for Saturday's distance.  I wanted to see how long it would take.  I did 3.4 miles in 58 minutes.  I'm proud of that time.  I checked the calorie burn for the distance and it's a really nice number.  I'm really wondering how much I'll burn on Saturday.



Prompt:   At what point in life did you stop trying to look older? At what point in life did you start trying to look younger?  If neither are true, talk about looking your age.

Answer:   I never really tried to look younger or older.  When I was younger I wished I looked older but when I had 2 kids before I was 21.  I didn't really care how I looked.  Half the time I didn't even have time to shower. 

Stress

Please pardon the scattered posts recently.  I have been super stressed with school and kids.  Hopefully things will get back to normal in a few days.



Prompt:  Do you look similar or very different from how you looked ten years ago?
Answer:  This question would have been perfect a few days ago.  Facially, yes I do.  Body?  Nope.  And I'm damn proud of that.  I so often hear people say "I want my pre-kids body back."  Not me, I wouldn't be caught dead in that body again.  Right after I gave birth to my first daughter I was 100 lbs heavier than I am today :)

Soup Day

Today was a gloomy soup day.  French onion fit perfectly into the diet plan for the week. 


French Onion Soup
Ingredients

8 large onions (I used 4 red and 4 white)
12 cups of vegetable stock
3 T garlic
1/4 cup Sherry

Directions

1. Saute onions with the garlic until they become a golden brown
2. Add sherry and cook for about 5 minutes
3. Add stock, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer.  Simmer for 15 minutes

Prompt:  If the figurative oxygen mask of life were to drop, would you put on your own first or assist others?
Answer:  Depends on who was with me.  For family, I'd assist others first.  For friends I'd do 2 things at once.  And for a stranger I'd do my own first.  

Diet Challenge Week 2: Eat Right 4 Your Type/ Blood Type Diet

So it's week 2 of my diet a week challenge.  This week I've decided on the Blood Type Diet.  

Diet History
"A blood type diet is a nutrition plan based around your blood type.  D’Adamo claims that the diet will not only bring about weight loss — but can assist with allergy and infection resistance, and will achieve overall good health.  Dr. D’Adamo started out as promoting the eating of the right foods as a way to improve health and wellbeing."  -- Source

Do's and Don'ts
This is an odd one to describe the do's and don't because they vary by the blood type
Type O -- Low-carb, high protein, low dairy.  Lots of exercise is also reccommended.

Type A -- No red meat.  Eat lots of fish and vegetbales and limit dairy.  Type A's should only do light exercise

Type B --Avoid chicken and bacon, eat alot of meat and dairy, moderate fish and a lot of fruit and veggies

Type AB -- A combination of the type A and type B diets


Links
http://www.everydiet.org/diet/blood-type-diet

Starting Weight

Starting Waist Measurement

Menu for the Week
Monday 10/8 -- Mr. Amazing Special
Tuesday 10/9 -- French Onion Soup
Wednesday 10/10 -- Beans & Rice
Thursday 10/11 -- Sandwiches
Friday 10/12 -- Spaghetti
Saturday 10/13 -- Out (Chinese buffet)
Sunday 10/14 -- Shrimp

Fat Girl Mentality and a Life Long Ago

The photo that Mr. Amazing handed me...

The other day Mr. Amazing up to me and handed me a photo.

Mr. Amazing:  Who is that?
Me:  Ugh!
Mr. Amazing:  You were cute!
Me:  I was like 15.  I was HUGE!!
Mr. Amazing:  I would love you even if you were still that big.

Honestly, it was hard to look at those pictures.  The girl in those photos was happy, yet miserable.  I viewed myself as nothing because I wasn't thin and pretty like all the other girls.

Looking at those pictures today made me realize how much I've changed and how much my way of thinking has changed.

These days when I see a woman who's got a better body than I do.
15 year old me: "Why can't I be like her?"
Today me:  "How can I look like that?"

But honestly the only women I really say that about are the professional fitness models that I follow on Facebook.  When I look at them here's what each of the mes would say:
15 year old me:  "I'll never look like that"
Today me:  "I'll look like that before I'm 31"
You read correct.  By my 31st birthday I will have a fitness model body.  It would be my 30th but I plan on having another baby in the next couple years so I know that 30 is out of the question.

I wasn't expecting this post to be as mentally freeing as it was.  

Here's another one from when I was 11

Prompt:  If you had the superpower to know what everyone was thinking (but not saying) would you use it?
Answer:  Possibly.  I think it would be awesome but at the same time some things are better left unsaid.  

Clean Eating Recap

My package of pita went bad so, we just had tilapia and veggies for dinner.

Saturday we did Do-It-Yourself Oatmeal.  It was a great decision since it rained all day.  I don't know about you but in my world oatmeal is a rainy day food.

I made a big batch of oatmeal and set out a muffin tin with various mix-ins.  There was sugar, brown sugar, syrup, raisins, and sliced bananas.  It was nice and hearty.  And the girls had a blast deciding on what to put in it.  Recently I've found out that DIY dinners are big hits with the kids.  Shrimp Packets, Oatmeal, Sushi, all had Kay and Mo raving about it.

  I actually found a new (to me at least) type of "hot cereal."  It's a mixture of wheat, rye, and barley.  It has less calories and fat then normal oatmeal.  It was really good.  It had a heartier taste then normal oatmeal does.  It takes about the same amount of time as normal oatmeal.  It cooked in 2 minutes. 

Since today is the last day of my Eat Clean week I'll give you my review.

Weight Today:  117.8
Weight Difference From Day 1:

Waist Today:  26.75
Waist Difference From Day 1:

Diet Ease Rank 1-10 (1 being easy, 10 being hard) -- 2
Opinions:  This diet was pretty simple to follow.  Honestly I practically lived this way before the challenge.  The only thing that would have made it better is if I had a gym membership and could have followed the strength training program better.  My only issue was desserts.  I couldn't find many that worked into the plan.

Could I make this a permanent way of life?  Yes, to an extent. 

What to do, what to do?

Oh my goodness.  This afternoon was the first time in a LONG LONG while that I was alone in the house.  Baye was napping, Kay and Mo were at school and Mr. Amazing was at work.  

I HATED IT.  I was so bored that it wasn't even funny.  Do you ever get so bored that you pace around the house trying to find something to entertain you but nothing works?  Yeah, that was the kind of afternoon I had.  From 12-3 pm I wandered around the internet and the house, I stalked a few people on Facebook, and then prepped everything for dinner.  

And dinner failed miserably.  It's almost definately because I tried to do my souffle with only egg whites and no yolks PLUS I used packaged egg whites.   So I'm not going to give you a recipe today.  I promise I'll have an awesome one for you tomorrow.  I'm in a hearty oatmeal mood so, I think I may switch from the carrot soup to that.  I'm not sure yet.

And while I was bored I photographed this bug...

 

Cannalini bean stew

I think one of the best smells is mushrooms cooking.  Tonite I made Cannellini Bean-mushroom stew.  It was amazing.  I added some leftover acorn squash from last nite.  This recipe really is quick and simple.

When school calls right before dinner you end up with a picture of my leftovers

Mushroom Cannellini Bean Stew  (adapted from Clean Eating Mag)

1 lb mushrooms, sliced (any type, I used white)
1 tsp italian seasoning
1 cup vegetable broth
15 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1 T minced garlic

1. Saute mushrooms until gold
2. Add all other ingredients and heat through 

That was a 20 minute recipe.  Perfect for people like me who have 5 assignments due in the near future and feel like they're running around like a chicken with their head cut off. 

That's the reason my posts have been so short recently.  I've been so busy with school I haven't had the time to plan out my posts so they're scattered and short.  I promise though, next week they will return to normal.

What's your favorite quick meal?