WIAW~I Have To Get In A Car…Again?!?!

Good Morning and Happy What I Ate Wednesday!  For any of you who don’t know what WIAW is…it’s a fun time cooked up by Jenn over at Peas & Crayons.  All of the really Fun kids (You can be one!) hang out over there, posting our fabulous foods for the week and oohing and aahing with comments about each other’s posts.  Join us…It’s Fun!!

Fall is my favorite time of year and the time when Ralph and I head out for his Army Reunion.  This year we’re heading to Atlanta.  I’m excited because while at the Reunion we’ll get to see an old friend of mine from college who I haven’t seen in many years.  So excited about that.  Of course, last year after the Reunion we drove to New Mexico.  Wonder if I can do some razzle dazzle on Ralph and make him forget we’ve already BEEN there and that we NEED TO BE there?!?!  Probably not, but I can try! 😉

So on to the food!!

One of my 3 ingredient (well…4 this time) meals ready in 7 minutes.  Whole wheat pasta cooked up and at the same time a can of Ro-Tel tomatoes with green chillies cooked up with some crock pot black beans and topped with Romano cheese.  So good, filling and Quick!

Not much in the house because we’re heading out.  Lunch on Tuesday was a sliced apple and two rice cakes with Sunflower butter.  Very good, but I think the rice cakes were getting stale.  Didn’t matter, I only really wanted the Sunflower butter anyway!! 🙂

Dinner (again because there wasn’t much in the house) was a Morningstar Farms spicy black bean burger on a sandwich thin with American cheese and pickled jalapeno.  If you told me a few years ago that I would be half way through a jar of jalapeno in such a short time, I would have said you were crazy,but I just love these!  It was a fast and easy dinner.

One of my favorite drinks the last few days? Or maybe my Favorite…

Fresh hot coffee made with the addition of pumpkin pie spice in my wonderful Big Purple Mug…second cousin to my Big Purple Bowl…I think.  You put the coffee in the filter the regular way, then shake some PPS into the coffee.  Be sure to stir it in otherwise the spice forms a barrier and the water over flows.  Who Knew?   Nevertheless…its’ Delicious!  Try it!

So that’s WIAW for me this week.  I’ll be on the road when you read this.  Hopefully I can figure out a way to post it to Peas & Crayons from the road.

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!!  Yes, we’re on the Road Again!!

Never Let A Late Start Get The Better Of You!

I confessed Monday morning that I “slept in” until 5:30.  I have to be honest when it comes to my walking routine, I wish I had been awake at 3:30.  I didn’t get out of the house to walk until about 5 minutes to 8.  By then, there were all kinds of people and cars and dogs to bark at me which really made my walk less than enjoyable.  Eventually I got into my rhythm, but it took some trying.  The other drawback was that it was Much hotter out than I had expected.  Hopefully I’ll find a happy medium on wake ups.  🙂

I did realize one good thing during my walk today.  In thinking,  I realized that as I’m out there walking, I’m getting my Vitamin D!  I’m not really much of an outdoor person, but this is a big bonus as far as I’m concerned.  Love my morning walks!

Regardless of the fact of my late start, I got out to pick up a few things at Aldi and also a stop at Family Dollar…one of my favorite spots.  I needed a new sink stopper.  Got it for $1!!! Ok, by Me!

I also got some things done around the house that I’ll be happy about when I get back from our big trip.  I got the curtains down and washed in both the kitchen and bathroom.  I got the windows cleaned also and everything looks sparkly!  This may not sound like much but when most of your house looks like a storage unit, small things give you pleasure and hope!

After my walk I had a wonderful experience.  I had finished off a jar of Sunbutter and was saving the jar for overnight oats.  Finally remembered on Sunday night to make some.

The jar might look a bit misshapen.  That’s because I like my overnight oats warmed in the microwave.  I have to say that this was extremely tasty.  I splurged the other day and made a stop at Target to pick up a replacement jar (actually 2!)  I had a partial gift card to use.  I wish this wasn’t so expensive because I’m hooked.  Not eat it with a spoon hooked like I am with regular peanut butter or Biscoff, but spread it on caramel corn rice cakes hooked. I just Love it!!

I also felt good about getting a lot of laundry done.  I have got to get myself started sorting and packing for our trip.  I’m still trying to unearth our suitcases!! Help!  I need a Personal Assistant!!

Happy Tuesday!!

WIAW~I Need To Fix This Snacking

It is that happy time of the week, the time when all the hard-core foodies gather because it’s What I Ate Wednesday! And where do we gather? Why of course it’s over at Peas & Crayons and we get to hang out with the lovely Jenn who is the mastermind of this whole thing.  Be sure to visit over there when you’re finished here at BCDC, leave some comments and just enjoy yourself.

Our theme for June is healthy snacking and trust me, I am in real need of some direction here.  I’ve been having a terrible time and have to get it under control.  I’ve been making some overall good food choices, but somehow the snacks are getting me.

A banana is a great snack, especially while reading a book.  You can eat it one-handed.  I just wish I liked them more.

Found a new favorite snack that can double as a lunch…caramel corn rice cakes with peanut butter.  Sadly, peanut butter is one of the things getting me into trouble lately.  It will not be living in my house any more… 😦

Apple with peanut butter is also a good snack, but again…no peanut butter for me in the future.  It’s just as good with almond or sunflower butter.  I don’t know why Those kinds of nut butters don’t make me eat them out of the jar.  I’m doing what I have to.

I have an incredibly easy dinner to show you.  It really only takes the time it needs to cook in the microwave to prepare.

Crock pot black beans, already prepared bulgur wheat (boil 2 cups of water or stock and pour over 1 cup of bulgur.  Let sit for about 10 minutes.) and a can of a mix of tomatoes, okra and corn. Mix it together and microwave for 2-3 minutes.  Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

This was ready in no time and so good and filling!

Dinner last night was leftover salad from Father’s Day with the last of the black beans and bulgur added and topped with shredded cheese.  The dressing was a new twist.  1 Tbsp of olive oil, 1 Tbsp of honey, 2 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar and 1 Tbsp of wasabi mustard.  Very tangy and good!  I expected that it would be a lot hotter than it was but it had a great flavor.  I just love making up my dressings!

And here you see one of the snacking reasons that I’m getting into trouble.  My new favorite from the local ice cream shop…black raspberry.  It is just delicious.  I will be doing my best to avoid this in the coming weeks. 

So there you have my snacking travails.  I hate to whine, but I’m frustrating myself with my inability to keep this under control.  Of course, I believe that confession is good for the soul and BCDC is a bit of a confessional for me.  I am working hard this week to get on track and stay there.  Make good choices both in snacks and in regular meals.  Perhaps when we get to WIAW next week, I’ll have some good news to report about my progress.  Don’t forget to go on over to P&C to read some blogs and make some bloggers happy by leaving comments. 

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!  I Can do it and so Can you!!

Jumble Of A Day

Saturday really was sort of a jumble.  It was an “I don’t feel like doing anything” day.  That’s pretty much what I did.

After coming home from Weight Watchers, I did some computer work: posting to BCDC, reading blogs, paying bills.  All necessary things.  Ralph hadn’t been feeling well the night before so I let him sleep in.

Our plan was to go to Ele’s for the wonderful leftover dinner, but she was out for the day with Jim and Little Michael, so I didn’t want to eat a lot during the day, I knew what was coming.  That’s been part of my problem the last few weeks.  I haven’t been eating regular meals.  I need to get back on track with that to get off this weight I’ve put on.  I can do it.  Knowing the reason is the first most important step, now I have to do it.  I have a plan and will share as I go.

When I got hungry, I had one of my new favorite things in the whole world…

Honeycrisp and almond butter, or sunflower seed butter, or…. It’s a filling and tasty treat.  It’s not a meal though.  Got to get back on track with that.

In the afternoon, I started a project that is inspired by the writing I’ve been doing.  I’ll share that soon as well.

We heard from Ele that they would be home soon and we headed over to her house around 4:30.  We’re pretty laid back about our leftover feasts.  We lay out all of the food on the counter.  We each take our plate, fill it with our choices and then take turns with the microwave.  It works out pretty well.  I had two plates that looked pretty much like this…

Mashed potatoes covered in succotash.  You may not think it looks appetizing, but it’s delicious!  I had salad with it too, but you see plenty of salads on BCDC, this is far more interesting…at least to me! 😉

I had another piece of Ele’s wonderful apple cake.  I need that recipe.  I’ll share it and see if we can lighten it up a bit.

Little Michael had a good day.  On their adventure he acquired a new friend…

This is actually a puppet.  It looks so real that it startled me several times.  I walked into the room and jumped thinking I was seeing a real dog.  It is very cool.  If he told me what he named it, I forget.  In fact, he had it with him in a restaurant that afternoon and people sitting near them were looking at him strangely thinking he had a real dog!

We had a lovely evening, looked at some old pictures.  We found some that I should have had for Halloween…you should have seen the costumes!  It was lots of fun.

We’re off to a birthday party Today which should be fun.  I’ll share all of that with you tomorrow.  But first, last night’s sunset.  I can’t get enough.

Pretty spectacular!

Happy Sunday!!

A New View

It seems the view I see most often these days is the screen of my laptop. 

Sometimes there’s a flash…

Sometimes there’s not..I can’t decide which I like better, so I decided to share both.  This was my attempt at creatively showing you my oatmeal from Friday morning.  I’m not quite sure why my bowls of oatmeal or oatbran never looks as appetizing as the bowls on other blogs.  Maybe because they cook theirs stove top style and I’m a microwave kind of girl.  Maybe because they have more space to set up their shots.  Maybe they have better cameras.  All of these things could be true.  Or it could just be that they’ve been doing it longer.  I don’t know.  Doesn’t it matter the most how it tasted after all?  I think that’s what counts.  My oatmeal tasted Yummy!  It was a mix of 1/2 cup of oats, 1 1/4 cups of water, 1/2 a pack of Weight Watchers French vanilla smoothie mix and lots of cinnamon.  Microwaved for three minutes and then 1/2 cup of soymilk and 3 packets of Splenda.  It was warm and tasty and kept me working, which was what I needed it to do.

After posting on BCDC and eating breakfast, I got back to work on my NaNoWriMo project. I seem to be saying that a lot lately, but it’s true.  That’s taking up a lot of my time.  The good news is as unlikely as it may seem…I’m actually getting there.  I’m completing the task.  I like saying that.  I got in 3359 words yesterday.  It didn’t feel like I’d get that far.  Then I looked at my word count.  I only needed a few hundred more words and I would cross the 40 thousand word mark.  It was a challenge I decided to accept and meet.  My total word count for Friday was 40,261!!  I’m rather amazed myself, so feel free to have a shocked look on your face.  I won’t be offended. 😉

Mid day my snack was one of my new favorites…

Sunflower seed butter and honeycrisp apple.  Such a good combo.  I’ve eaten so much of the sunflower butter that soon I will be faced with the joy of overnight oats in a sunflower seed butter jar.  I’m really looking forward to that.  Only problem will be that then I need to find more sunflower seed butter that I can’t seem to find around here.  I guess a pilgrimage to Trader Joe’s will be in order!

Saturday morning found me at Weight Watchers of course.  The WW stars were shining on me today.  In spite of eating out 4 times this week to celebrate 2 different birthdays I was able to stay the same.  I really had no idea when I walked in what the result would be.  I was most grateful and will work harder this week.  Now that I’m doing so well with my word count for NaNoWriMo, maybe I can fit some exercise in this week.  That’s my plan.

After WW, of course Gail, Alice and I headed to breakfast at the Gateway Diner.  I ordered my usual, scrambled eggs with sliced tomatoes.

Sadly, I think the reign of the tomato is over.  These were pretty anemic looking.  Maybe I’ll ask for fruit or my other choice of cottage cheese. I’ll have to wait until next year for nice ripe tomatoes again. 😦

I’m going to try to get even further ahead on my writing today.  I have 11 days left until I need to finish, but it doesn’t hurt to get some extra words in.  That way I won’t have to worry about doing it on Thanksgiving day if I don’t feel like it.

Thought I’d leave you with a few more Fall pictures.  Most of the leaves are gone now, but you do find a tree here and there with some color left.  These are from last week.

There will be no mention of how those pictures were taken. 😉

Happy Saturday!

3359/40,261

A Sorting Machine

I realized Thursday as I was getting my dinner ready that I had not been out of the house in two days except to put the trash our or go to the recycling bin to make a deposit.  I did go out into the back yard to take a few photos, but otherwise that’s it.  I am…A Sorting Machine! 🙂

It’s hard to explain exactly what this project entails, but let me just say that we have a lot of “stuff” which needs to be sorted through, then determination needs to be made what to do with it, then if we’re keeping it, it needs to be packed, if we’re not keeping it, do we try to sell it or give it away.  That’s a lot of determining to be done, but I’m up for the challenge.  I’ve made quite a dent in it since I started last Thursday.  I intend to keep denting and keep sorting!  Stick with me! 😉

Fairly early on Thursday I decided to get myself something to eat.  I decided this because I think I waited until around 1pm to eat on Wednesday.  I have to get back on track with three meals a day.  It will keep me from thinking about snacks, especially the kind that Ralph likes to bring into the house. 😉

So breakfast was…

Honeycrisp and Almond Butter.  Thanks to those of you who explained to me that I’m supposed to mix the oil INTO the nut butter.  I still made a mess, but I did it.  First time for almond butter and it was very tasty.  I don’t think it tastes as distinctive as sunflower butter, but still very yummy.

I’m running out of fun ways to display the apple and nut butter.  I’ll have to keep trying or find some new dish options!  This is actually the fun part to me, setting up the food.  When we get to New Mexico, there will be more opportunities for fun food displays.  Hopefully by then I’ll have a better camera too!

Worked all throughout the day.  I stopped for some cottage cheese and sweet relish, but forgot to photograph it.  I should keep that in the fridge more often, it’s very satisfying and good for me.  Put it on the List!

Dinner was another quick and easy without much thinking involved.

Crock pot pinto beans, pre-made bulgur, frozen corn and store-bought salsa.

The bulgur was warmed up in the microwave with a little garlic powder sprinkled on top.  The salsa, corn and beans were heated together on the stove.

Topped with the last of the pecorino romano cheese.  Boy do I need to go Shopping!!  It was really delicious and kept me full without snacks all night. 

I have been on track all week, so I’m hoping for a good result at Weight Watchers on Saturday.  Of course, after the meeting on Saturday we have the second of our two October weddings.  Then on Sunday we have TWO birthday parties…neither one is mine… 😦

I got a few lovely Fall photos today.  The Fall colors always seem to stand out when it’s been raining.

I am enjoying Fall so much this year.  I do miss seeing all of the trees along the highway as I drove to work, but not enough to have to deal with the commute again.  I can just take a ride if I want to see trees.  We’ll get a lot of chances this weekend.

I haven’t really slept all night, so I think I’m going to head back there to see if I can get a little shut-eye.  I need my rest if I want to remain…A Sorting Machine!

Happy Friday!! 🙂

Hand Me Down Tofu And Salads And Salads

Never let it be said that I’m too proud to take something that someone else doesn’t want.  Have you seen my basement?!?  Well, that’s beside the point.  I’m talking about food here.  My best friend Gail is also vegetarian.  She’d never tried tofu and thought she try it.  Now that she’s tried it, she KNOWS she doesn’t like it.  And she’s the kind of person who can’t be swayed if she doesn’t like something.

Therefore…Hand Me Down Tofu.  Gail bought some and tried it and I wish I had a photo of her face when she described how she felt about it!  Not Good!

All seasoned up and ready to enjoy.  I got together a few salad-y things…

Sautéed up the tofu…

Chopped it up…and added it to my salad…

Very tasty and not bad for Hand Me Down Tofu!

Wednesday mid-day, because I hadn’t had the chance to get anything to eat, I was drawn to my latest obsession…

Sunflower butter and Honeycrisp apple!

So Good…mmm

While I worked on sorting and tossing…and I got a LOT accomplished 😉 I had a crock pot full of pinto beans crocking away.

Fresh beans mean…another Salad!

The usual suspects along with a fresh batch of bulgur.  I’m so happy that I found a good way to make it easily.  1 cup of bulgur, 1 and 3/4 cups of boiling water, cover and leave it alone.  I put it in the microwave just to keep it out of the way and I think being enclosed like that might keep the heat in and make it fluffier.  Anyway, it comes out perfectly every time now!

Chop, chop…

Cup o’ beans…Cup o’ bulgur…

Almost there…

Added in my wonderful Cabot 50% reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese…and it was a perfect, delicious Salad…in my Big Purple Bowl, of course! 😉

Sadly, the LAST of my wonderful Cabot cheese…

All gone… 😦  I’ll have to head out today to get some more.  I really am impressed with this and can’t believe that I never found Cabot before.

My Birthday Flowers are still going strong after a week.  How nice to have that spark of color around the house.

Rainy Thursday…lots to do.  Ralph has a dentist appointment.  I’m hoping to stay home in order to continue my projects.  It feels so good to say I will accomplish something today.  I finally seem to be getting things done.  I LOVE IT!!

Happy Thursday!

A Nutty Kind Of WIAW…Plus Brussel Sprouts!

It’s always fun when it’s time for What I Ate Wednesday.  What is WIAW you ask?  Why it’s the fun invention of Jenn at Peas & Crayons, that’s what!  When you’re finished getting all of the fun you can from BCDC, be sure to stop by at Peas & Crayons to check on and comment on all of the other lively blog participants.

Today, my version of WIAW is a little nutty.  I didn’t intend for it to be, but it’s like life, some days it’s not what we intend it to be.

I mentioned the other day that I finally had the opportunity to have overnight oats in a jar the way it was meant to be…in an almost empty peanut butter jar.

What did I think about it?  Do these next photos answer the question??

It was delicious!  Probably because of the protein in the peanut butter, it was much more filling and stayed with me longer than the overnight oats usually do.

Last night’s dinner was something that I thought about all day.  Sometimes that turns into something that doesn’t taste very good, the idea of thinking about it too much.

I had Brussel sprouts in the fridge since last week…oops…forgot about them.  I trimmed them and cut them in quarters.  Started to sautee them in olive oil and garlic.  While this was cooking up, I put a large potato in the microwave to partially cook.

Cut up some zucchini…

sautéed some more, then topped it with chopped scallion, salt and pepper and dried basil.  I cut up the potato and added it.

Sautéed some more and then added my new favorite, Cabot 50% reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese.

It was just delicious.  It smelled wonderful, too.  Ralph even commented on how good it smelled!  I will make this again!  Probably this week so that I can finish off the Brussel sprouts! 😉

This morning I was still dreaming about these…

The Honeycrisp apples I got yesterday.  I realized while moving some things around in a cabinet that I had Sunflower Seed butter!

I had gotten it several months ago on my pilgrimage to Trader Joe’s.  I noticed there was a lot of oil on top.  I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to mix it in or not.  I tried rather unsuccessfully so I just poured it off.  I thought later that I should have saved it and used it for cooking. 😦

Anyway, the sunflower seed butter and the Honeycrisp made a great breakfast combo!

Very filling, protein again, I know!

The SS butter was so good that I thought it sounded like a good option for a quick lunch…

…on rice cakes. 

So good!  Please note that I did measure it out.  The nut butters are a little pricey on Weight Watchers.   It’s 3 Points for a tablespoon, and I can get carried away with them so I measured.  4 points each but very tasty and filling.

A note for all of you who had to hear me whining yesterday about losing my CVS coupon.

I did go into my severely full recycling bin and went through several bags.  Of course only after doing that did I think to look in my wallet.  I remembered I tried to use it yesterday on prescriptions and that’s not allowed.  I had put into my wallet after not being able to use it.  I was so excited, but I sure wish I’d thought of it before diving into the bin!  Sometimes you have to get a little dirty!

So that’s my distinctly nutty version of WIAW.  Please hop over to Peas & Crayons and check out what everyone’s eating today.  It can only be an adventure.  I find the most interesting things when I visit over there! 

And watch out, because I also found Almond Butter in the cabinet!! 

Happy What I Ate Wednesday!!

An Errand-ous Day

Monday was a busy day with places to go and people to see.  I needed strength and fortitude to get through it all.  Where did I start??

My free Dunkin’ Donuts Iced Coffee for the month of October, pumpkin spice of course.  Every Monday, I get it for free.  I was disappointed that I didn’t get to go there last Monday, so I was not about to miss it again.  I’m so glad that my friend Gail found the coupon and gave it to me.  Dunkin’ Donuts is good about putting out coupons.  We usually find them in the local newspaper which is great.  It started my day off right!

When I have a lot of errands to run, I try to map the route out in my head to make my travel as efficient as possible. My next stop was the CVS to pick up Ralph’s prescriptions.  CVS has a program that I like.  It involves this little tag…

I keep it attached to one of my cloth bags and keep it in the car.  I give it to the cashier along with my CVS extra care card and after 4 visits I get a $1 off coupon.

Like this one.  This is a wonderful thing.  It’s supposed to be given to the customer because they brought their own bag.  However, they give it to people who only bring the tag and I find that frustrating.  Fewer bags used is supposed to be the whole idea.  I’m additionally upset at the moment.   I had a $2.50 coupon which I thought was in my bag.  I apparently put the coupon in the recycling instead of the useless part of the receipt.  I have so much in my recycling now, I’m not likely to find it.  When it gets light out, I’m going to give it a try though.  I’ll update you all later.

My next stop was Verchio’s produce.  I needed lots of things, especially fruit.

Let’s see if I can remember everything…potatoes, Roma tomatoes, carrots, plums, grapes (not so good), yellow squash, pears and scallions.  That wasn’t even everything.  This time, I wrote down what the price was of everything in order to do a better job of the Thrifty Vegetarian.  I like it when I know that I’ve gotten a good meal for a good deal.  How poetic!

Gail had gone to Sam’s and picked up some the salad mix I like and some Honeycrisp apples.  I had mentioned that Alice had given me one and how good they were…

They are so delicious!  I had never tried them before and they are a little pricey, $7.00 for the bag, but I Know I will eat them all.  They’re a great snack and a portable one too!

I visited with Gail for a while making some plans for some upcoming adventures.  She also gave me a great coat that had been her Mom’s.  It’s sporty but could be worn for dress if needed.  It’s really beautiful and fits perfectly.  She told me her Mom would be happy that I was able to wear it.

When I got home, I put all of my goodies away and got started on more sorting.  I was doing well until I had an avalanche of things which I had already sorted fall off of the table and on to the floor.  Of course this happened just as Ralph and our grandson, Alex were walking in the door.  I was able to get it together without too much difficulty. 

On this subject,  I’ve joked to my sister Ele and to Gail that I’ll need an assistant to put out the recycling today.  Now I have to dig in the bin to look for that darned Coupon!

For the moment, I’ll just enjoy sharing life with all of you…

…and drinking my own pumpkin spice coffee from the wonderful mug that Ele gave me.

Time for dumpster diving!!

Happy Tuesday!