Greetings from the Lake

Hello !

I decided to hang out at Jeff's Nana's Lake house this weekend for an early family thanksgiving. Before we headed up here on friday evening, I had a snack: A half of a cherry pie LARABAR!! Veggiegirl aren't you proud? I love the cherry pie flavor and I love the ingredients!

So off we drove to the lake with Jeff's two sisters and niece and nephew (all together) in his sister's new minivan! Haha family road trip! It was alot of fun! We arrived to a delicious bowl of country pea and lentil soup and chicken marsala. Sorry no picture, I have yet to take a pictures of food up at the lake until... Today!!

I snapped a quick breakfast photo this morning! I kept reminding myself,

"stick up for yourself", stand up for what you believe in, if I want to take a picture I will and who cares what anyone else thinks!? So I did! After I woke up super late because I wanted to, Haha, I had a small breakfast of coffe, a cinnamon raisin english muffin and a half of grapefruit, I had one tiny piece of bacon but I like my bacon ultra crispy and it was too chewy for my tastes ( I think Jeff likes his bacon chewy..)

In case you didn't notice, I am now on foodbuzz as a Featured Publisher and could not be more thrilled!!! I am so excited in working with them and taking this first step into getting paid ( however much) for writing about food! Woohoo!

Body:
Resting still.. still coughing... still having trouble breathing BUT I DO NOT FEEL LIKE DEATH! Which feels fantabulous! I know 120% that my first workout will be amazing because my body will be completely ready for it!

KC Mo ( my very close friend AND my boyfriend's sister) is going to run the 8K Turkey Trot with me in 5 days ( as long as I feel better)!

I am not sure of the goal time I want yet because I usually do 5 miles in 35-38 minutes on the treadmil but in the cold weather after being sick for 8 days.. not sure how feasible under 40 minutes will be.

Mind:
Getting to work on reading and writing for school right now..


Soul:
I am SO pumped about Foodbuzz , this is actually what I want to be doing in life and it seems like everything is falling into place!

State football game at noon, Jeff LOVES his football team so it will be a fun afternoon!

We have lots of wine and a fire going at the lake all weekend! Nana is cooking Duck Ala Orange.. ? I have never had it but I am sure this evening will be a blast...

Thank you all for your wonderful comments! I LOVE hearing from other people about anything I write and I am so happy I brought back memories of cinnamon sugar toast.. Haha it was the best!
I love you Mom!

Decisions Decisions

Hoorays For Today:
Got two perscriptions
Deposited checks into the bank
Got Rachel Ray Magazine Free Issue ( woohoo for thanksgiving issue!)
Saw a TV Reality Star
Annual Doctors Appointment
Read through articles in the waiting room
Stocked up on Coffee
Mailed Birthday Cards to my brother, my best friend growing up, and jeff's sister


Lunch:
Tofu 1/2 sammy, Chicken 1/2 Sammy
Salad with Hummus as my dressing

And an organic figi apple from TJ AND..... Pumpkin Butter!! I kept seeing it and wanted to try it but I finally gave in because if my brother comes I will have an excuse to use it up!
YUMM!
I even took an apple slice, with pumpkin butter and put it onto my chicken sammy

And then , I took another apple slice, with pumpkin butter and put it onto the BBQ tofu sammy

( I have always hated adding things together, but I felt like being ADVENTUROUS.. haha... it was actually kinda good! )
Body:
I am considering going to the gym- just to get in light cardio- it has been 5 days without formal exercise and I am going NUTS! just some biking maybe the elliptical- 30 minutes max..

Mind:
Read through two articles waiting at the docs. I am researching intermediate hyperglycemia and how signal transduction is involved in forming diabetes. However, no one really knows yet, so there is not much research around it- there is more research on hyperglycemia in general and signal transduction in skeletal muscle of animals. Which is not exactly what he wants, and its a 10 pager ( which in the past I can get through in about 3 days if I focus, am healthy and have other huge tasks those days ).

I have a 3 pager due in Minority Health that is more "fun" due in 11 days.

And for Research Methods, I have to write a 3 page field note on the interview process, and then right up codes on the transcribed interview, analyze them- That is not due until, at the latest, 14 days, dec 5th.

So, this helped me figure out that while I "should" focus on my metabolism paper ( I am struggling with finding a specific aim for the paper... i know intermediate hyperglycemia and signal transduction is actually NOT SPECIFIC enough??!? anyhow, I "could" get the fun, minority health 3 pager out of the way over this weekend while I am up at Nana's. That is much more easily acheived while there because I really enjoy reading about the health issues and writing on how it relates to my presentation. However, my 10 pager is due earlier- I still need to feel %100 and really focused mentally and decipher all this cell metabolism stuff into a paper which would not be so feasible this weekend ( here or at Nana's!).

Soul:
I am hoping that my brother comes into town this week for turkey day but I highly doubt he will get a plane ticket at this point. In which case, I should head to my parents but I need to get this school work out of the way. I can definately focus on monday, tuesday and wednesday on the metabolism paper if I don' t head to my rents, and then again on friday-saturday and its due the monday after thanksgiving. But I hate to dissapoint my parents, and I could get writing done there as well... huh.. stupid cold!!!!!! I am so MAD at it because I was useless these whole past five days, when I had planned on getting it mostly out of the way!

I am confident in my writing abilities though, I do best under short deadlines and pressure ( not stress- just pressure). Like the morning I woke up and realized my paper was due an hour ago ( my gastronomical me reflection). I pulled that sucker together immediately within like an hour and she commented that it was absolutely Excellent paper!

I know I will have more time to myself if I stay at home this weekend, but I may not necessarily be able to focus on these papers anyway. I will have the house to myself which gets lonely after , say, one night! Oh decisions decisions.

celebrity spotting

okay, no not me ( i doubt that will happen)

and she wasn't even a real "Celebrity"..

Anyone watching this season of The Biggest Loser knows Heba...

Well, I get called into my appointment ( the OBGyn) and get weighed. Note* I will be sidetracking several times... Soo I am wearing a heavy sweater, shirt, jeans and boots. It is winter and I dress accordingly- How is that accurate to weigh someone in their shoes and heavy clothing? The scale said 127 which kinda bummed me out at first- but then I realized I had all this crap on me- Seriously doctors, that is not an accurate way of weighing people? So then I sat down and got my blood pressure (105/67 ) yikes that is low i thought to myself. I am waiting for my nurse to measure my height and guess who walks by ???
I immediately thought " oh I know her, I think that is andrea's friend, where do i know her from.... "

"Heba!???" as she smiled at me like yes, you are right.... its me. WHOOOOOAAA!

This girl was absolutely gorgeous and she was having an OBGyn appointment at MY Obgyn! How weird! And, she entered the show because she wanted to have kids and couldnt because she weighed like what, 280 + lbs ? She is definately un-recognizable as far as weight goes, maybe like 160-170- She is really tall too though.. She said this week is Thanksgiving week and the producers made them all act like they were having real thanksgiving or something.

Anyway- How cool is that?!!? We both said nice to meet you and went on our ways... but then.. AFTER the doctor's appointment , I stopped at the Trader Joes right by there, and pulled into HER parking spot as she was leaving there too. How funny and coincidental!

cinnamon sugar toast

SO still sick. BAH HUM( this icky) BUG!

Doctor called and prescription being filled. Oh I can't wait to feel NOT like death.

My mom used to make me cinnamon and sugar toast when I was sick, Did anyone else have this as a kid? Well, I decided it has been probably a year since I had this and being sick still was a great chance to relive this childhood memory.

Newman's Own Whole Wheat, Double Fiber Bread, toasted and then I rubbed a little butter all over ( I am talking little , just so the sugar and cinnamon can stick)... Then sprinkled with brown sugar blend and cinnamon. If you never had this, you must try! I usually had it with white sugar but you could use whatever-

Chobani Vanilla Greek Yogurt with a couple almonds and a pistachio, a skinny banana with flaxseed butter.

Yogic Perspective

So thanks to heather at hangrypants.com, she was the third yoga "clue" I had today.

My first clue::
was that I stumbled up a gym site a friend of mine used to work at today... I love my gaiam dvd but I have felt like I needed a change, I want to meet new people, I want to have multiple interests , etc. I was considering taking just a yoga class during the week, or just a dance class.. but that would be an extra $60+ a month. So the gym offered yoga classes, and pilates classes AND some other classes that would be super fun for me ( like spinning!) ...

My Second Clue:
I drove to campus and parked into the only spot available ( or so it seemed) . When I got out of my car and started to head towards the library, I saw that the car I parked next to had yoga mats in the back!

My third clue:
I was checkin out all my lovely ladies blogs and stopped in to Heather's at HangryPants and found this amazing yogic perspective that I was immediately enthralled by.


I am taking my three clues, and totally switching gyms to join one with a yoga class. I am SO Excited!

Goodbye Thursday Hello Weekend

Breakfast:

Pumpkin Pie for 1!
Oat crust, filling as usual, and organic oikos vanilla on top and a half of a banana on the side.. with flaxseed butter

Here is the explanation:

"Crust":
1/2 Cup total of Irish oats ( I mixed flaxseed cereal with it too)
Put into an Oven AND Microwave safe dish (I used this corningware dish) with
1/2 cup water ( so that the oats are soaked but not floating in water)
Microwaved for 2 minutes
Spread out oat crust to the sides of the dish so that its a flat crust like shape
Put oven-safe dish into (toaster) oven at 375 for about 5 minutes

"Filling"
Mix following ingredients into a separate bowl
1/4 cup organic pumpkin (puree not filling)
1/3 cup egg beaters- or I've used carton egg whites only or 4 egg whites
pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon Brown sugar
1 teaspoon of Maple Syrup (or more brown sugar)
1/2 teaspoon of Baking Powder
Microwave for 2 minutes or until slightly firm all over

Put-It All-Together:
Take out crust dish w/ oven mitt!
Spoon this slightly firm mix into the crust dish
Put back into oven for another 5-7 minutes + at 375
Topped with a spoonful of "cream" aka nonfat greek yogurt, sprinkled with cinnamon

On the side I had a half of banana with pb


Lunch: Whole Foods Salad


If you often read my blog, you can tell that I NEVER treat myself to lunch out. Mostly because I enjoy preparing my own food, secondly because I HATE to spend the money when it is so much healthier and CHEAPER to plan a tiny bit and have foods for lunch. However, being sick and being on campus until 1 pm ( and having class at 3:45) I knew it would be the best option to either stay or head to Whole Foods less than 1/4 mile from campus! So, I thought it would be a nice treat to myself to get a yummy made-my -own salad!
Broccoli

Roasted and non, Red Bell Pepper

Quinoa

Chicken

Mixed greens

Feta

Purple Cabbage

Cucumber
Corn and Black Beans
Two quarters of roasted potatoes ( top right)

And, an artichoke

Pineapple and Strawberries

Dinner:


leftover Whole Wheat Pasta and Sauce, Half of a whole grain bun for a mini-tofu sammy, extra veggies (peppers, cauliflower), parm cheese, some chicken in there too...

Body:

I certainly DID NOT feel well enough to get in a workout after class ...ARGH! I barely had a voice and felt really tired after the interview and lunch. But I needed to stay for class. Calling the doctor in the morning for meds!

Mind:
Met April on campus at 9:30 to get equipment, then we met our freshmen interviewee for our project on College Freshmen Food Choices. The interview we conducted took about 30 minutes, then we went to the library and transcribed the interview. Apparently this takes a looonnngg time, ( it took about 1.5 hrs)

Class: we talked more about TG, but mostly cholesterol and phospholipids and went over our exam from last week. I did alright ( I got a B)... but so many people in the class did worse than the last exam and we all studied so hard. I think it was because there were SO many places to mess up, SO many enzymes for each pathway - so he gave us an extra credit opportunity to work in groups and re-do the first problem. We did great!

Soul:

It was so nice to treat myself to Whole Foods, $8 for lunch is outrageous but I never do it! I sat outside too, the sun was really warm but the air was cool.

It was also SO nice to be out of the house all day! Even though I still felt ill and was exhausted, i have been "couped up" in the house all week being a total bum on the couch! ( i needed to be but..)

After lunch i searched for articles to support my metabolism research paper and found a bunch!

Another lake trip to Nana's is in store for this weekend since she is having "thanksgiving" early, but I am un-sure if I will go mostly because I have been so sick that I haven't been able to get alot of my research done. I also would hate to bring my cold with me and get nana or any of jeff's sisters/neice/nephew sick!

It's Thursday!!! Grey's and Ugly Betty soon and I am catching up on Private Practice right now...

Nuts, Seeds, LNA and CLA...

Lots of letters huh?

I read some interesting info a few other blogs in the past few days about nuts and thought I would post more on fatty acid sources because that is what we will be discussing in class tomorrow afternoon ( again!)

I have this chart from my biochemistry book of the make up of 20 varieties of nuts. All nuts provide sources of BOTH saturated fats AND Monounsaturated fats. Nuts also provide essential fatty acids ( which are omega-6, omega-3 and LNA)

For comparison, nuts/seeds such as walnuts, flax seeds, pumpkin seeds, peanuts, seasame seeds- they all offer a good source of fat and fiber. however, they are different in specific make-ups of their nutrition profiles. i.e:

Walnuts (1 oz) are made up of:

6% Saturated fat, 14% Mono-unsaturaed fat, 58% Omega-6, 14% Omega-3 and offer 2.6 gm of Linoleic Acid.

Flaxseeds (1 oz) are made up of:

9% Saturated fat, 18% Mono-unsaturated fat, 16% Omega-6, 57% Omega-3 and offer 5.2 gm of Linoleic Acid

Omega-6 fats do offer some benefits, but have also been shown to increase risk of prostate cancer among other illnesses.
Omega-3 fats are more beneficial.
Linoleic Acid and Linolenic Acid are "essential fatty acids"- They are both Omega 3 because of their nomenclature.... ( check out my post http://runlmo1.blogspot.com/search/label/Advanced%20Nutrient%20Metabolism for even more info on Lipids and naming fats) .... is also thought to have anti-cancer properties ( specifically Conjugated Linoleic Acid or CLA).

Flaxseed is higher in both Omega-3 and Linloeic Acid and Unsaturate fats in general.

Macadamia nuts are made up of 16% saturated fat which is actually LOWER than both Pumpkin Seeds (19%) and Cashews (20%). The saturated fat in macademia nuts is very close in saturated fat with Tofu and Peanuts, both of which are made up of 14% saturated fat.
But, Cashews are much higher in monounsaturated fats (57%) than lots of other nuts...( i love cashews)


Essential Fatty Acid:
Conjugated Lineoleic Acid is naturally present in meat and dairy fats and may inhibit certain types of cancer. Studies creating synthetic CLA have found it to inhibit human tumor cells in the skin, colon, breast, and lung as well as preventing spread of cancers in animal models.

The problem with consuming CLA from its natural sources are the sources of saturated fat in both meat and dairy. In in vitro studies ( where the cells are in an artificial environment and not in the actual body), CLA inhibits breast cancer cell growth ( Margot, from Roswell Park Cancer Institute in Buffalo, NY) and it also prevents the development of new blood vessels in the mammiary gland which reduces the rate of mammary tumor growth. ( this was from the American Institute for Cancer Research Newsletter).

Organic Cows, grass fed, have higher levels of CLA in their meat and in their milk ? which also means they have less saturated fats than conventional cows.

Did you also know that conventional milk is thought to increase the release of insulin-growth factor in women, which is thought to increase your risk of both diabetes AND breast cancer?
Ladies- go for organic dairy products!!!


Long chain fatty acids are very important as well ( and do not really come from nuts)
-The best sources of one long chain fatty acid: APA ( alpha-lineoleic acid) are: spinach, linseed oil, english walnut oil, and canola oil.

-The best sources of EPA ( eicosapentaenoic acid) are: Anchovies (18%), scallops (21%), haddock, sole, mackeral, and albacore tuna.

-The best sources of DHA (docosahexaenoic acid) are: Cod (37%), Anchovies (11%), scallops (26%), haddock, herring, cod, mackerel, sole, tuna, human milk, and egg yolk

Hot Chocolate Kind of Day

Breakfast:
Smoothie: Pineapple, Blueberry, Banana, Flaxseed Butter, Organic Milk 1% and
Miini bowl of oats ( just 1/3 cup irish cut mixed with 1/3 cup water, tsp of peanut butter, sprinkle of coconut)

Lunch:
Organic Creamy Leek and Potato Soup, BBQ Tofu Sammy ( with hummus and a tiny piece of cheese)



Dinner:
Whole wheat pasta, garlic herb tomato sauce ( a can of Hunt's and I sherry-ied it up!) and a Tilapia Filet.
I used to eat this my last year in college very often- I loved the tomato sauce and tilapia sprinkled with parmesean- so yummy!

Body:
Still resting ugh! I would love to get me some exercise of any format at this point but the cold wins, I slept literally for 12 hours from last night to this "morning" . I know I needed it but mentally I am dying to exercise~physically just not ready yet.

Mind:
I did make it to class today, we had three presentations on The American Indian- Strong Heart Study, African American Women Obesity, and CVD in non-hispanic foreign born populations...

and.. Gasp, I messed up a suduko! Man I really must be sick!
Soul:
I found this great Southern Living Magazine (The Best Ever Cakes and Pies)

from earlier this year- one of my student's mom's gave this to me during Teacher Appreciation week- I read through it dreaming of all the amazing desserts to make. I am going to share/attempt one with my mom for next week since she bought a springform pan while we shopped together "Lightened Mocha Chocolate Cheesecake" - yum! We may make more too. ( hint hint )
And.. I got this in the mail from her ( I called her to debate whether or not I should get these sheets b/c they were a really good deal)

and... I made this Hot Cocoa, while my pictures were uploading because it was so cold out today ( I took Jack outside and took my garbage can to the curb for am pickup... Brrr!)

I use a heaping teaspoon of cocoa powder, mix it with 1/2 teaspoon of Brown Sugar Splenda blend, 1 cup of 1% Organic Milk, splash of cream, and a big splash of water... mix very well, heat in the microwave for 1 1/2 -2 minutes... stir, add marshmallows, sprinkly of coconut

Rocky Road...

Body:
Doctor says it might not yet be a respiratory infection but I did get an icky strep test that (thank goodness) came out negative! So rest it was after buying some crucial theraflu for sore throat. As soon as I got home and took it, I fell asleep. I pretty much slept all day because I did not sleep AT ALL last night! Awful, I was up every hour ( i looked at the clock) from my throat hurting etc etc.

Mind:
I even stayed home from class... I HATE missing class but there was just no way it would be good for me to bear the cold and strain myself and making classmates sick ( esp. since there were food presentations today too)

I did do three suduko puzzles after waking up late afternoon

Soul:
I found a race next week, Thursday morning 8k around my Campus!!! How awesome is that! I loved training with my runs around campus and I was looking for a 10k to keep my spirits up since the non-race marathon a few weeks ago. I am going to try to kick this nasty bug with lots of rest and hopefully be up and going by thursday/friday of this week .. It will feel so good!

I totally called my mom - It will never go away, needing your mom's comfort when you are sick. I actually broke down on the third time I woke up last night, 1:30 am, I banged my hip on our doorknob trying to get back to bed without lights on. I crashed and just started bawling, which made me literally heave because of all my congestion and throat pain. As I was blurting unaudibly " i can't breathe I am so miserable I just want to sleep I hate this"....Jeff almost laughed at me but was seriously SO sweet, he was rubbing my hands and patting my back telling me to try not to cry because it would make it worse. He is so wonderful.

So this is the first time all day I have had any energy to do anything!
Onto eats... I did eat today and last night I made the most amazing dessert so I should start with that..



HOLY YUM! Rocky Road Brownie for Two ( B-healthy -style)
-three tablespoons no-pudge brownie mix

-2.5 tablespoons nonfat greek yogurt ( i used Oikos Organic Vanilla)
-mixed it very well

-microwaved for 2 minutes

-topped that with:
- Marshmallows

- Pistachios, Almonds, Pecans
- Flaxseed Butter

So freakin delicious! yum!

I know the marshmallows and the mix aren't incredibly healthy- but all the other ingredients are - IT WAS AWESOME!

Tuesday Breakfast:

French Toast
- two egg whites

-splash of organic 1% milk

-cinnamon

-a half teaspoon of Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

-whisk very well

-Dip slightly toasted bread into this mix, then into a hot pan ( on medium)
- While it was cooking I heated up some fruit - I could definately use the extra vitamins/minerals/antioxidant
- pineapple

-strawberries

-blueberries

-cranberries

When the french toast was done, I took it out and sliced half of a banana into the pan. Turned off the heat and let the sugars caramelize - YUM

Two dipping sauces: Chobani Strawberry Greek 0% Yogurt and Flaxseed Butter

Fantastic breakfast- I was hoping it would make it a fantastic day, but the cold won...

onto...

Lunch:
I got back from the doctor's and had...
Chicken Noodle Soup ( Healthy Choice)
added extra chicken and extra veggies!
On the side I slathered up a mini whole wheat tortilla (Trader Joe's) with hummus

Dinner:
Easy casserole + Tofu on the Side
-Annie's Mac and Cheese ( organic)
-Made as directed but used a splash of organic cream and 1/4 cup nonfat plain Chobani

- While that cooked, I defrosted broccoli in the dish

-Added sliced up "healthy style" canadian ham bacon ( it literally says it on the package "health style")
- I added the Annie's into my dish, mixed all of it really well

-Crushed four triscuits very well and spread on top

-Shook Parmesan cheese on that

-Baked for about 20 minutes on 350 ( in my toaster oven of course)

For the tofu, ( which is making its first appearance on the blog! wooohooo applause please)
I dried it out with a few paper towels, then sliced the pack in half. I left one half in the fridge for later and this half I used
Olive Oil

Pepper, Salt

Hot Pepper Sauce ( dashes of Frank's and Tabasco)

And let it saute on several of its sides.
I have to say, it was alright, but it was tofu.
Does anyone have any good recipes for tofu that do not include a "sweet" factor?

I found a bunch with maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, etc. I was trying to make it taste like buffalo chicken but it didn't do it for me. I will not give up on tofu though. ( I have actually tried several times before) ..

Lunch:
Amy's Organic Low Sodium Lentil Vegetable Soup
I was pleasantly suprised at the chunkiness of the soup when I poured it into my new bowl and I was also happy I could see the veggies as well. If anyone has ever had low-sodium soups, they tend not to be very good. I found the taste of this similar to all other low-sodium soups, but I added grilled chicken strips for protein and some parmesean cheese and some low-sodium salt ( how ironic right?). For $3 a can, I highly doubt I will buy it again. I would have much rather just made lentils from scratch and heat up some veggies.

Easy Dinner:
Threw all this into the pan: Egg whites plus a little dab of the yolk, a turkey sausage patty, asparagus.
Into the toaster: whole wheat toast ( I burned some of it so I ended up only having about 1 piece total- and I had a bite of rice leftover from last night).

I am having an unpictured glass of diet tonic water as I blog too..

Update*
Body: totally not up to yoga

Mind: class ended early, woohoo!
Soul: off to medidate

If I feel any worse tomorrow I am going to head to the doctor's- I haven't been to see a doctor ( for being sick) in about a year!
Early bedtime too. cough cough, haachoo

no longer just a case of the blah's

One of my new bowls with part of breakfast today...

But first, I no longer have a case of the blah's/or boredom- I am actually sick! My throat was pounding this morning when I woke up- yes, throat pounding-I couldn't swallow and its not scratchy or harsh, it feels like I have a tennis ball stuck on one side! Ouch! Jeff, I am pretty sure, passed it on to me- Yuck!


Sunday dinner:

I made grilled chicken breasts with a splash of pinot grigio leftover/brought to us this weekend and some cracked pepper/sea salt. I just put that all in the pan on low-med for about 20 minutes. While that cooked I made creamy rice, directions according to box RiceRoni all natural no preserv. parmesean herb rice. I made some "fried" okra- I took frozen okra and defrosted it in the microwave. I made a "crumb bowl" - crumbled 4 triscuits and a piece of whole wheat double fiber toast. I added parmesean cheese, salt, pepper. I heated up a large pan with a thin coat on the bottom of oil ( took about 1 Tablespoon- I used smart balance-olive) and threw the okra in this "crumb bowl" while the pan heated- Then threw the okra into the pan- about 3 minutes on each side.


Jeff and I cuddled on the couch and watched a movie- The Chipmunks ( alvin simon theodore) then Desperate Housewives! I love that Jeff actually enjoys watching it!


Monday breakfast: Smoothie & Mini Oatmeal bowl

protein powder

1.5 cups Organic 1% Milk

frozen Blueberries

frozen Pineapple

frozen Strawberries

3/4 large banana

scoop of flax butter

Blended all this and gave Jeff 2/3... there is my 1/3

plus a small bowl of oats ( that is a 1/3 cup of irish oats covered with water and microwaved for 2 minutes, the rest of the banana and some peanut butter)

I am going to rest with the Today show
Body: rest
Mind: class, but only 1 reading for it
Soul: meditate, yoga if up to it

Bored!????

Sunday Morning Brunch

Pumpkin Egg Whites and Brown Sugar, Topped with cranberries, mango, blueberries, a banana, peanut butter, toast AND a turkey sausage patty...


Body:
I am so tired ! I don't feel that great ( Jeff I think gave me a cold he has been fighting off) so I'm not sure yet what I'll do

Mind:
I guess I SHOULD catch up on the next set of assignments for classes but I am just a little burnt out- I feel like I wouldn't be productive or enjoy it as much ....

Soul:
I love sunday night TV! I had such a fun weekend, I am thinking of going shopping for some groceries or to the mall to browse but I feel bored, but tired but restless at the same time..
Our friends have left for home and I already have washed and dried the guest towels and sheets , did a load of my own laundry, uploaded all my pictures and posted , not sure what to do now- I may bake some muffins - or watch the Steeler game- oh I don't know !
I think this week was just SO busy and filled with SO much that I need "down" time just to chill out ?


I'm not the question of the day type, but what do you do when you are bored?

Deep Fried

Tailgate Time!..

Me and Jeff...

This is one of his best friends' Hanz, our other friends Nick and Brit in the back! Like the weather in the back too? It threatened us early ( hence the poncho) but then poured shortly after this!
Here is what is in that drink I'm holding- Blueberry Vodka and Pomegranate Fuze... I had this and a beer (someone else has the picture) . We didn't really have much to drink because we were so involved with the fryer/cooking

Andrea, Hanz, Me, KC Mo

Lalala... now its time to get serious with ....

The deep fryer

But Before all of that.....

We decided as a group friday night to borrow jeff's parents deep fryer and fry turkeys for the tailgate. We had to head to the tailgate by noon and I woke up at 9:30 am ( late night!) - and immediately decided to get in a great workout to start the day out right!

Body: Biked 10 miles (Random hill) and Elliptical 30 minutes- Fantastic Sweat!
Mind: I read one article before I left for the gym!
Soul: SO Excited to have my lovely friends all together in one place today! It was SO MUCH FUN!

After the gym I fueled up on oikos organic vanilla, some mixed nuts, some kashi blueberry cereal, and some peanut butter all mixed in there

I was told I had to name the first turkey- and since we needed peanut oil for the fryer- I named it "Peanut". Then, the second turkey came out and I was asked to name that one!- At that point, I asked "How many turkey's do we have?!?" because I thought we bought 1.. They said "3"..... So after pondering while they were prepping #2- I called out "Butter... the first one was Peanut, this one is Butter and the third one can be.... Jelly! We can have peanut, butter and jelly!"

Here is What I Ate:
Veggies, A little ranch, a couple thin slices of cheese, a few triscuits

Piece of Turkey ( Peanut) and a fried mozzarella stick

French Fries! I had that big on on the right - yes I only had one- I saved the rest for Andrea who was arriving late ( I was completely happy with eating one because I also ate a cheese stick, and turkey- no need to go overboard but no need to deprive myself of goodies!)

Not pictured: I had a big slice of Butter... and a big slice of Jelly

Some of the goodies that people brought to fry- Jalepeno poppers, a mini pizza ?, hot dogs, sausages... the fries..Here are the turkeys:
"Peanut" - in all his rubbed glory

"Butter"

"Jelly"
So we researched how to fry the turkey.
As a disclaimer, I am not a professional turkey fryer person and PLEASE research on your own how to fry it properly. It is a very dangerous activity, too much oil can overflow and potentially cause fires. You can gage how much oil you need to cover the turkey but filling your fryer with un-flammable WATER and your turkey. You also do not want to use a frozen turkey as it can catch on fire.
So, here is what we did... We used three large jugs of peanut oil and filled our pot with it, heated it up to 350 degrees ( took about 30 minutes). We rubbed the turkey with zataran's cajun seasoning. We dunked each down into the hot oil jacuzzi for 4-5 minutes per pound..."Peanut" weighed about 6.5 pounds so it took about 30 minutes. "Peanut" "Butter" and "Jelly" were all just turkey breasts, which made the process much easier and worthwhile because you filled up and heated up the fryer with $50-60 of oil, you should get your money's worth out of it right!

So this is just a description of how we fried the turkeys- super enjoyable time although it was rainy and chilly!

Friday night

We all went out to a new bar in town after lots of catching up at our place- Here is our newly engaged friends, hee heee , they both closed their eyes!

Weekend- Friday

Yah! I got approved for the foodie blogroll/foodbuzz.... But I deleted the emailed to quickly, so now I have to figure out how to set it up!

This weekend has been AWESOME and INCREDIBLY FUN!

Friday:

Shopping with Mom! We actually had such a fun time shopping we couldnt bare to stop and eat- we grabbed a soft pretzel and Fuze EMPOWER! I have been waiting for these to arrive and really liked them! Pomegranate Acai Berry

It was pouring down rain the whole day but that did not deter us! I bought new bedding finally! I have been searching for exactly what I found for a while and it could not have been a more perfect find, on sale! I also found guest room towels on clearance and a dust ruffle for the guest room bed. My mom bought me new placemats and some new bowls ( I have been wanting to make blog pictures more interesting!) and workout top AND I found a great shirt and dress!

We spent so much time shopping that when I got home, I wanted to wash everything and get it ready for guests!

Dinner: Leftover pizza with lots of veggies ( I actually ended up putting the veggies on the pizza then making a veggie pizza sandwich out of it! I wanted to take a picture but my hands were all dirty at that point!)