kickin' it old school

It's been awhile since two things have been talked about here.

1.  Oats!!  I've been eating a lot of veggie wraps lately (and loving them), but this morning it was cold and by the time I got home from my walk with Talia, my hands were ice cold.  Definitely an oats morning!

Steelies with plain yogurt, wheat germ, strawberries, and cinnamon.  Get in my belly.

2. Running!  To be honest, my desire to run lately has been somewhat diminished.  Physically I feel a little bit worn out.  I think being home this weekend will help, but I'm also thinking I might need to play around with my sleep.  Right now I get 8 hours a night - which is great! - but I think I might need a few 9 hour nights in there, particularly after and before my long run days.  Mentally I've been struggling, too.  This morning the beginning of my run felt awesome, but miles 6-10 felt heavy and demotivating.  Last weekend's long run was a mental battle, too.  I'm not entirely sure why this is, but I'm guessing it's connected to my physical health, and I have a feeling sleep might help this, too.  In any case, I do still love running and I'm still excited about the marathon... I think I've just hit a point where I need to play around with some things to make sure I'm feeling my absolute best.

Let's rewind to last night.  I made black bean and rice cakes (I used barley instead of rice, which seemed to work just fine.) along with oven fries and roasted parsnips.  Doesn't that avocado look so pretty?

To be honest, I wasn't thrilled with the parsnip fries.  It was like a sweeter carrot, and it kind of annoyed me.  I will say that tossing them in olive oil, garlic salt, and flaxseed was awesomeness.  The flaxseed gave almost a breaded taste to the fries - so delicious!  The cakes kind of fell apart, so they were more like a mashed up tomato/avocado/black bean salad, but still very good.  I realized later that the recipe said to let them rest for 5 minutes out of the oven so they would firm up.  Whoops.  This would explain the falling apart problem.  Oh well.

Talia and I might have a little baking ahead of us today.  We'll see!

MIA oats?

You may have noticed a startling lack of oats in my diet lately.  I didn't even have oats on my birthday!  WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!

Part of it has been laziness or time, where I haven't had 30 minutes to cook my breakfast.  And part of it has been an abundance of produce (a good thing!) which meant I've been eating more green smoothies or wraps at breakfast or lunch.

Today's breakfast wrap: the last of the edamame hummus (sad!!!), romaine, spinach, cucumber, an easter egg, and a side of toms.

Delicious and filling!  Don't worry, I still love oats, but might mix it up more in the summer, when hot cereal isn't quite as great as it is in the winter.

That run earlier?  It didn't happen.  I got the house cleaned up (somewhat) instead, wrote thank you notes, visited the post office (to mail back my Brooks so I can get my free ones!), and got tax stuff organized so we could knock it all out today.

How early did you do your taxes?  Did you wait until last minute like us?  :)

I'm off to my massage!!!

cabbage, oats, feet

Last night's wheels of cabbage were great in theory, but I didn't roast them long enough, so they weren't very good.

(Topped with nutritional yeast.)  The macaroni and cheese were ready and we were on a bit of a time schedule, so we just ate a little of the cabbage and saved the rest.

This morning I chopped up the cabbage and added soy sauce and sesame seeds, then roasted it again.  I paired it with a 1/4c. cooked steelies.

It was actually very good!  A nice change of pace, and definitely super filling.

When I got back from my run yesterday my foot was bothering me again.  While I was still able to walk, it felt pretty uncomfortable.  And it got red and slightly swollen.  A side by side of "bad foot" and "good foot":

From research I've done online I'm thinking maybe it's something with my peroneal tendon?  (Any nurses, etc. out there would be appreciated!)  Today it's less swollen but still sore, so I'm going to grudgingly take a running rest day.  I've been icing it and using a tennis ball to massage the area.  

We're off to Fort Wayne later for lunch at FlatTop Grill, then to my aunt and uncle's to hang out with family.  Tonight a volleyball game at IPFW, then home tomorrow!  Sunday we're having an Easter cookout with our family!  

What are your Easter weekend plans?

(And seriously, any input/thoughts on the foot injury would be appreciated - if you've had tendonitis, if you're a nurse, etc.!)

new oats!

Had NEW oats today - strawberry rhubarb oats!  Bought some frozen rhubarb and thawed it, then cut the chunks down smaller.  Mixed with wheat germ, fresh strawberries, and yogurt.  It was tangy and tart and sweet and so delicious!

It's baby day and poor teething Talia is finally sleeping, after fighting it for quite a bit!  When she wakes up I'll get to feed her "cereal" for the first time!

Any pictures of the event will probably be kind of crappy.  Dave has the camera today so I just have my cell phone.  Still, we'll make it work!

Guess what happens tonight?  Basketball starts again at 7.  GO KENTUCKY!!!  And a new recipe to try - more to come later!

office oats

Now that is a good office morning.  Unpictured: coffee.

I was going to run after work yesterday but it was cold, rainy, and windy.  I hadn't packed the right clothes and thought I would probably be really cold while I was running.  I didn't want to go to the gym because I didn't want to have a foot flare-up from switching back and forth again.  So instead I swam!  I got a good hour of laps in.  Unfortunately, my swimsuit is causing me some pain.  I've had this suit for over a year (maybe two?) and I really like it (Speedo Endurance... which has somehow not fallen apart even though they tend to over-chemical the pool here.).  But it's too big now and it tends to rub all along the seam that runs from my shoulder down under my arm.  So last night when I got out of the pool I had a nice red line.  This morning I swam again.  I put a healthy glob of Vaseline all along the line in hopes to minimize the friction, but I've got some serious angry red burn marks under my arm.  Fantastic.  They feel really good, too.

So.  Priority for today: find new swimsuit.  If ordering, make sure it will be here by next Tuesday.  Anyone know where to find good swimsuits at a decent price?  I'll be sure to share what I end up getting!

little me

When I saw my mom this past weekend she gave me this old handbook that she found in a box.

Inside were tips on how to not get your kid snatched.  Maybe it was a workshop?  Or a class sponsored at the YMCA?  I'm not sure.

Inside was this:

I think that's my kindergarten picture?  I rocked that bowl haircut for a lot of years.  Also, please note where it asks for emergency contact I have none listed.  Thanks for claiming me, mom and dad.

On the back was this little form:

According to this, I wasn't shy but I wasn't outgoing, I was only mildly independent, and I was soft spoken.  Oh, how times have changed...  Although as a kid I was kind of dippy (often in my own world) and rather blindly subservient to my siblings.  I thought they were awesome.  (I still do.  I just don't follow them quite as ardently.)

Please note the form asks for the description of my bike.  Dave and I found this to be a somewhat random question, although I supposed they're looking to ID kid-snatchers.  However, "2 wheel red and white" seems kind of general.

In case you missed it, Kentucky won last night!  Easily.  Round 1 games continue today/tonight.  I bet you can guess what our date night will involve... (if you guessed ice cream and basketball you are the winner winner chicken dinner!)

Foot update: still bothering me, but not as much.  I'm taking a full rest day for it.  And applying icy/hot.  Fingers crossed?

Here's how I know it's going to be a good day.

Steelies + yogurt + strawberries + blueberries + wheat germ.  And coffee.  Don't you want to stick your face in that?

oatmeal perfection

It was fifty degrees and slightly rainy on my run this morning.  It felt so good to be back outside and not be bundled up!  The miles felt a little harder than normal toward the end - I think running outside pushes me more.  I'm so glad spring is here!

I had an amazing bowl of oats today: steelies + banana + cinnamon + flaxseed + yogurt + chia seeds + raisins.  Super filling and super delicious!

It's a somewhat crazy day over here - I leave tonight for Fort Wayne to head to South Carolina tomorrow!  Some of my immediate and extended family is getting together for the weekend at my sister's and I managed to weasel my way into my aunt and uncle's backseat!  So today is taking care of errands, grocery shopping, helping in Richele's class, packing, and getting things set - both for me for the trip and for Dave here at home!  I've been saving the newest Runner's World magazine for a week now so I can read it in the car - it's been hard to not open it!

My sister doesn't have internet at her house, but I'll try to squeeze a post or two in.  If not, I'll be back Tuesday with lots of pictures!

HAPPY SPRING!

savory breakfast oats and the return of Mosie!

I mentioned yesterday that I wanted to try this baked eggs with marinara recipe.  This morning I had some extra time before the start of Baby Day, so I made some marinara sauce with leek, carrot, broccoli, garlic, tomato sauce, and lots of herbs.  I made a 1/4c. of steel cut oats (my addition to the recipe), scrambled an egg with some water, and piled it all in a greased dish.

Kind of bizarre looking, I know.  Baked at 400 for about 15 minutes.

Ready to eat!  Basically this tasted like spaghetti, which wasn't necessarily a bad thing.  I think I could have done without the egg on top - it didn't really add anything.  But the combo of oats with sauce and veggies was SO good (better than pasta, even???).  I ate this two hours ago and I still feel really full, like I just ate.

Picked Mosie up from the vet yesterday at 4.  We are so happy to have her home!  She is moving a little slow, not jumping much, and a little more reserved than normal, but overall doing well.  She didn't eat at the vet at all and boy is it showing - she was already skinny but now it's very obvious.  So far she's had a great appetite here at home, so we're thinking she'll gain it back pretty fast.

The little shaved patch on her front leg is where they put the IV in.  I won't post pictures of her incision, even though it's pretty small and very neat.  The stitches absorb into her body - easy peasy!

Talia is still in her morning nap so I've cleaned the dishes and am ready to do a little reading... or maybe some Olympics...

2 posts, 1 day: still about oats

Yes, really.  More about oats!  I had a reader request for some of my favorite oat toppings, and I am only too happy to oblige!

Apple pie oats: plain yogurt (about 1/4 or 1/3c.), applesauce (same amount as yogurt), cinnamon, splash of vanilla, little ginger if you're feeling crazy!
Apple pie oats 2: diced apple (microwave for 30-40 seconds), cinnamon, vanilla
Pear oats: plain yogurt, diced up pear
PB oats: plain yogurt, big scoop of peanut butter (about a tablespoon or more)
Strawberry peach oats: plain yogurt, fruit puree (1 bag each frozen strawberries and peaches, thawed, pureed til still chunky)
Traditional oats: plain yogurt, cinnamon

Leftover desserts are also a good idea, like apple pie.  Chocolate chips and cinnamon.  I haven't tried it yet, but I'm pretty sure a splash of coffee in oats would be awesome.  We've also got some berries right now, but surprisingly I'm not loving them in my oats.  I've tried craisins but didn't enjoy the solidness of them in the middle of my oats.  I've also done banana in my oats, but I'm freakishly weird about bananas and didn't like them in there either.

Allow me to explain.  You might be freakishly weird about bananas if you:

• only buy 2 or 3 bananas at a time, preferring to return to the grocery store every 2-3 days to get new, slightly green bananas.
• anxiously watch how the grocer packs the bananas in the bag.
• feel actual anger at said grocer if they put ANYTHING on top of the bananas.  Bananas are a top-of-the-bag item, people!
• immediately repack your groceries as soon as you are outside the store.  Bananas on top.  Resume breathing.
• give top priority to the grocery sack with bananas.  This one does not get slung over the shoulder or gripped with three other bags.  It goes in the lone hand that can hold it out from the body so it does not bump against anything.
• compulsively tell your husband, "Careful.  The bananas are in there" about said grocery bag.
• want to throw up (and probably do gag) at the sight of over-ripe, bruised bananas.
• can't make banana bread because mashing said over-ripe, bruised bananas is above your gross-factor capacity.

Okay then.  I think I've proved my point.  If any of you doubt the actual truth of the above statements... just ask Dave.  Needless to say, I'm pretty specific about my banana preferences.  Love them alone or with peanut butter or apples.  Do not in oatmeal.  Moving on.

I'm pretty sure Dave and I need to buy these in order to embrace the full scope of my Kentucky-love.  Yes?

(source)

Unfortunately, I'm not photoshop-skilled enough to paste our faces in there.  That would be truly awesome.  I'm thinking these are worth $50 each since we could wear them for Colts AND Kentucky.  Right?

d.i.y. and f.y.i.

Recently we scored a huge bag of raw almonds from Sam's Club.  I was especially excited about this, since Kroger only carries tiny little bottles of almonds and they're expensive.  But I found I didn't enjoy the raw almonds as much as roasted.  So yesterday I roasted my own!  I was a little nervous since our oven tends to be a little picky and doesn't always cook even.  I spread the almonds over a cookie sheet and put them in at 425 for about 12 minutes.  I turned them halfway through because the back of our oven cooks faster than the front.  All done!

These were amazing!  I thought I liked roasted almonds but I absolutely ADORE fresh roasted almonds!  These tasted so good and so much better than the store-bought.  AH!  I'm very excited about them, obviously.

We had a delicious white pizza for dinner last night.  Wheat parmesan scone crust, olive oil/onion/garlic/herb sauce, broccoli, shrimp, and mozzarella.  Yum!

So, back to my favorite topic (which are currently cooking on the stove): oats!  You may be wondering (as I definitely did) what the difference is between steel-cut, old fashioned, quick, and instant oats.  The answers (source):

Steel-cut (sometimes called Irish Oats): The oat grain intact is called an oat groat.  Steel-cut oats are oat groats sliced by (you guessed it) steel blades.  Oat groats are very nutritious but take a long time to cook.  Steel-cut have all the same nutrition as the groat, but cook much faster.  They are often a little bit chewier and take longer to break down and digest.

Old Fashioned: Oat groats are steamed and then "rolled" into a flake (I'm not really sure how rolling them turns into flakes...).  Old-fashioned oats cook faster and have a more mushy or gelatinous texture.  These digest quicker than steel cut or oat groats, so they  might not tide you over quite as long.

Quick: These oats are steel-cut oats that are cut more, steamed, rolled, and made into smaller flakes.  They cook fast - under 3 minutes - but are digested faster since they are already thinner and smaller.  Compared to old-fashioned, quick oats are not quite as dense or chewy.

Instant: Instant oats are steel-cut oats that are cut very thin and steamed, then pre-cooked.  Instant oats are in the paper packages, often flavored.  They cook really fast (just add hot water).  In essence, they are similar to quick oats but cook faster.  And if they're packaged and flavored they're often full of sugar.

Hope that helps!  My pb/apple/cinnamon steel-cut oats:

Do you eat oats?  What kind is your favorite?  Do you like plain or do you add your own flavorings?

NEW oats!

My love/addiction/obsession of oats is well-documented here.  Yesterday my new case of steel-cut oats arrived!  Ta-da!

I was so excited to try them this morning.  When I opened the top though, I was surprised.  They were smaller than I expected.  For some reason I was expecting them to be granola-chunk size or something.  I was also a little worried that the serving size was a 1/4c.  I currently eat 1c. old fashioned oats (2 servings) every morning.  I wasn't sure 1/2c. steel-cut would be enough!

Cooking... my witch's brew:

The container said it would take 30 minutes.  Mine were ready in about 20.  This made me extra happy, since I'm impatient and even more impatient when it comes to hunger and breakfast.

Into the bowl!

Thankfully 1/2c. steel-cut bulked up to my normal oatmeal portion size.  Yay!

With my favorite apple pie toppings: yogurt, applesauce, cinnamon:

I loved how the oats were just slightly chewy.  YUM.  I wolfed them down.

An empty oats bowl is a sad, sad thing.  The old-fashioned oats I have left are being relegated to cooking... or when I need a speedster breakfast.  Steel-cut oats are my new oat love, for sure.

On deck for today: shower, kindergarten classroom, Kroger, deciding and making dinner, reading time, and hanging out with Dave!  Happy Wednesday!

top ten

Welcome to Boring Cubicle Tuesday, where we come up with fun things to occupy ourselves with for the duration of the workday.

My Top Ten Favorite Foods (at least right this minute... it might change depending on the hour and cravings)... and in no particular order because it would be too hard:

1. Oatmeal.  I have a serious love and addiction to oatmeal.  I have them for breakfast every morning.  And in the small chance I might not have them for breakfast, I have them for lunch or dinner.  I also like them for a snack.  Or because I'm cold.  Or just because.  Oatmeal with a little plain yogurt and then any (or all!) of the following: fruit, applesauce, cinnamon, spinach water, apple pie, apple butter, peanut butter, almond butter, and anything else I discover/find/crave.
2. Apples.  The perfect crunchy/sweet snack, with cheese, with bread, with peanut butter, with bananas, or just on their own.
3. Cake.  Homemade or store bought (although if it's store bought I'm really just in it for the icing).  My mom's chocolate sheet cake.  Wedding cake (love love love).
4. Almonds.  Roasted, unsalted are my favorite.  I have at least one handful a day.
5. Raspberries.  I am a raspberry monster (which is unfortunate since they're never cheap).  I can put down a pound or more by myself, easy.
6. Broccoli.  Steamed, with a little salt or a little parmesan.  YUM.
7. Baba gannouj/egg/avocado sandwiches.  A new obsession.  Always delicious.
8. Soup/stew/chili.  Loaded with veggies and beans and served with cornbread or bread.  YUM.  Curries also fall under this.  And african nut stew.  Pretty much anything chunky/stewy/soupy/beany/steaming hot.
9. Popcorn.  How did I almost forget this?  Popped on the stove, with coconut oil, with salt and nutritional yeast to top.  Although let's face it, I don't really have standards and I'll have it any old way - from Target concession stand, at sports games in a box or bag, microwave cardboard kind, whatever. And I never stop at one bowl (or two).
10. Reese's pb cups (or similar).  PB and chocolate?  Yes, please.

Others to mention: pesto, cookies (chocolate chip, peanut butter, mom's lard cookies with frosting, molasses, gingerbread), all fruit, peanut butter, crackers (right now we're really digging the parmesan basil Wheat Thins),  and probably about a million other desserts.

Thanks for passing time with me!  What are your favorite foods?

Christmas, continued

Yesterday Dave and I went to Mishawaka to get my Christmas remote car starter installed.  I now have this fancy doo-da on my keychain!

It makes super cute chirping noises when I remote start it or turn it off.  Yay!

Dave and I had 4-6 hours to kill while Best Buy installed it, so we walked across the parking lot to Olive Garden and split salad, a pizza, chocolate mousse cake, and coffee.  We had planned ahead to go over to University Park Mall and hang out in Barnes and Noble for the afternoon - I had brought a book and Dave had his laptop to do work.  The only problem is that the mall is across 6 lanes of busy traffic with no center median and huge piles of snow on the side from plowing, so no sidewalks.  Not exactly pedestrian friendly.  We felt a bit like idiots walking on the side of the road (and also a little fearful), tried to gauge the lights (between turn arrows and everything it was really confusing), then just made a run for it.  We made it there and back without dying or getting honked at (Dave thinks we might have gotten one middle finger), so we consider it a victory.

In the vein of Christmas, continued, I made green and red oats this morning!  I've been toying with the idea of green oats for awhile.  Green smoothies turned out to be delicious, so why not green oats?  I blended a giant handful of oats in some water in the blender, poured it over my oats, and microwaved as normal.  Oats pre-toppings:

And with plain yogurt and fruit (pureed strawberries and peaches):

Christmas oats!  This was really good.  The taste was slightly different from regular oats, but not anything bad or even that noticeable.  I gobbled them up, same as always.  And you get the benefit of an extra serving of veggies to start your day!

I've got a couple hours to kill before church so I'm off to read, make the bed, play with Mosie, and do some stretching.

oats solve all

My day wasn't horrible, but it definitely wasn't high on the "fun" side either.  Up at 5, drove almost 2 hours, sat in a cubicle, drove 2+ hours home, in rain/sleet/snow, at one point going sub 30mph for 25 minutes behind a snow plow.  How do you make that day better?  You start it with a big bowl of oats... and you finish it in the same fashion.  Dave and I are going to watch the season finale of Biggest Loser (we haven't watched any of the season but it's so fun to see the befores and afters) and I'm going to enjoy a big ol' bowl of hot oats with a side of tea.

Someone else at work had a bad day, too.  My coworker dropped the printer ink cartridge.  Here's what happened: 

What do you do to make a bad day better?

breakfast is the most important meal of the day

Pie for breakfast?  Yes please!  Apple pie oatmeal: sliver of pie, plain yogurt, oatmeal.  I recreated this for Dave with vanilla yogurt and some sprinkling of brown sugar.  It was delicious!!  We definitely recommend this (and will just maybe be recreating it tomorrow).

We didn't go shopping this morning on account of 1) I hate the madness and crowds 2) we didn't need anything.  We did snag a few deals online at Gap though - combined with free shipping and the $30 off we had we got quite a few things!

We are going to Essenhaus for Thanksgiving lunch with Dave's family, then hanging out for the day.  Watching Up tonight with some friends.

I'm heading out for a run sometime soon - it is 33 out, but feels like 25... so if all else fails I'll just do some sprintwork and then come in for some yoga and abwork.  We'll see.  If the wind isn't too bad I should be able to make it!  I need to go try on some running tights!!  These thin sweatpants are just not good enough!

dalliance with dal

I made dal (dahl?) for the first time tonight!  Into the pot: lentils, onion, curry curry curry, diced toms, and the cooked insides of a tiny little butternut squash that I've had far too long and has fallen off the shelf once twice.

The lentils were a little undercooked (my bad) but all in all a very delicious first try at dal!  Dave had his paired with chicken... which he covered in bbq sauce after he ate the dal.

We followed dinner with a little bit of frozen yogurt.  It was rock hard so I took it out to soften and came back to these carvings:

I had a great run tonight, with my fastest ever (I think) time!  I did 9 miles nonstop with an average 8:40min./mi. pace!  It's been awhile since I've really pushed it speed-wise.  I should probably do it more often instead of just coasting through runs.

Off to try to serve up that fro-yo!

**update** I just made a mini oatmeal bedtime snack... here's what I found when I opened the microwave.  I'm not really sure what happened?

midweek

New things new things... what's been new?

I've been putting leftover lentils/cabbage/carrots with a bit of tomato sauce and piling it on toast - big YUM.  New oatmeal this morning - extra oats, little bit of yogurt, some pureed strawberries, little bit of raspberry jam.  I love love love oats!  And tonight I attempted to make stromboli.  The plan was to make a meaty/cheesy one and a veggie one... but after the first stromboli - the meaty/cheesy - took all the dough and was not quite as easy as I imagined (sticky dough, not folding, some sauce leaks, etc.) I settled for one stromboli and a skillet of sweet potato, garlic, orange pepper, onion, and spices.  And some cheesy mashed potatoes.  Dave thoroughly enjoyed the stromboli and I happily gobbled up the skillet!

Question: is there a difference between stromboli and calzone?

We got Mosie a laser pointer to play... she loves it like you wouldn't believe.  Panting can generally occur 5 minutes after the laser is turned on.  She sprints, jumps, weaves, bounds - it's hilarious to watch!  And an easy (lazy) way for us to play!


Tonight we had our friends Jeremy and Erin and baby Talia over to hang out.  We caught up on The Office together and just chilled.  

Cute baby Talia with her little barrette.

Late last week Amanda came over and gave Mosie a horsey ride.  Lucky for us Amanda likes Mosie enough to think horsey rides are fun, not lame or ridiculous. 

 I took a smaller run on Sunday post-race to get my legs warmed up - and it really did help with soreness and stiffness.  My legs felt tight at the beginning but loosened up quickly and felt great the rest of the day.  I took off Monday and Tuesday as rest days - partly to give my legs rest and partly out of necessity with my work time in Marion.  Today I got nine in.  I didn't feel my best, but my legs were great.  It was wonderful to be out in the cool morning, with bright sun.  Perfectly fall.

And that's been the week so far - lazy football Sunday, work in Marion, stromboli, friends!

fartleks and flashbacks

I first read about fartleks in Runner's World magazine - basically just speedwork when you're running - but I had yet to try them.  Today I thought I would give it a shot.  Here's what I did:

2 miles - average pace
1/2 mile - hard pace (basically talking would have been difficult, but I wasn't sprinting)
1 mile - average
1/2 mile - hard
1 mile - average
1/2 mile - hard
3 mile - average
1/2 mile - hard

I threw a mile of sprintwork on the college track in there, too.  I think I'll try to do a run like this once or twice a week?  In any case, I think it would be good for me to push my pace so I don't get in a rut.  I'm perfectly happy with a 9 minute mile pace... unless I'm still there out of laziness.  I don't feel extra tired or sore, which is nice.  I think I can play around with doing shorter bursts at sprint-level, and maybe longer ones at a hard pace.

In high school my best friend, Bec, and I both took classes at the community college.  As a result, we got to go home for lunch instead of staying at the school.  We always used to go to Bec's house, watch What Not To Wear, and eat pizza bobs - open faced sandwiches with pizza sauce, pepperoni, and cheese, microwaved.  My lunch today kind of reminded me of that.  I decided to work with lentils for the first time (growing up we had lentils in casseroles and soups - I've just never made them myself).  I cooked the lentils in a bit of cumin water, toasted an Arnold Sandwich Thin, got some leftover pizza sauce my friend Patty made, and browned up some onions.  The final product:

It was delicious!!  I definitely want to make this again.  And covered in cheese I think Dave would like it, too!

I had peanut butter oatmeal for breakfast again - soooo good.  This time I added some chia seeds and a few salted sunflower seeds.  The sunflower seeds were a great slightly salty crunchy addition.  A definite repeat.

Happy Thursday!

return of the internet!

Our internet is back! Hooray!

Today I went with Richele's kindergarten class to the apple orchard in town. It was a ton of fun to hang out with the kids, and it was a BEAUTIFUL day! It's currently almost 70, with raging sun!

We each got to pick three apples, a gourd, and got served apple cider. It was a great field trip! Unfortunately, three of the kids weren't there today... two are home sick with H1N1. Poor little guys!

I tried miso soup for the first time today... with a mixed reaction. Mostly I attribute this to my own problem: I made too much, and I put in peas (yum) and black beans... bad mixture. I also didn't have any noodles. I think if I make it next time with peas and noodles I will be a much bigger fan.

Also had a most delicious peanut butter oats breakfast this morning: bowl of hot oatmeal, a little plain yogurt, and a big spoonful of peanut butter. Mix and enjoy! It was so great! The peanut butter is new - something we picked up at Trader Joe's when we were down in NC. It's made of only peanuts... and it's really good! I want to try making my own peanut butter once this jar is used up.

I watched Breakfast at Tiffany's for the first time this week - cute movie. I definitely understand a bit more the Aubrey Hepburn hype (my first time seeing her) - she's adorable!! You can't help but love her. She's also impossibly tiny. Holy cow...

I'm off to pick the car up from the mechanic's (oil change) and to run a few more errands. Dave came up with a brilliant plan for tonight to enjoy the last warm night of the year: get pizza from our favorite brick-oven restaurant downtown and eat it picnic style on the roof of the church! Husband points for Dave!

Hope you have a day as enjoyable as our little sleeper girl, MosePose! (These were all taken within about 5 minutes of each other. She's a dynamic sleeper.)