Boo!

 

I just had my first little kiddies at the door, so I guess it’s that time!!  It’s not dark yet though, so I imagine it’ll be at least another half hour before they really hit full force.  If memory serves, last year it was about an hour non-stop and that was it…so hopefully it’s similar this year.  I have enough candy for about 50 kids or so.

Only chocolate this year.  :)  So far I only ate one!!

Started this morning with another Halloweeny mug filled with coffeeeeee…

While I carved my pumpkin I sipped on a smoothie…figured I should probably get some fruits and vitamins in me early just in case tonight turns into a bit of a snackfest.

In the blender:  1/2 banana, frozen blueberries, vanilla Almond Breeze, and a packet of Amazing Grass Amazing Meal. 

Main review of the product to come next week, but if this first pack is any indication it’s going to be a great review.  Yummy!

Kept me full until a light snack mid-afternoon.  Honeycrisp apple and cheddar cheese…

I attempted to do some yoga this afternoon…but no go.  Holy shite did it hurt!! This thing in my neck is like a huge pinch that reacts all the way down my bicep, and man oh man did turning my head damn near bring tears to my eyes!  Waaaaaah.

[Just interrupted by the CUTEST little pink dragon!]

Kept busy this afternoon with household chores and didn’t even bother with lunch.  Straight onto an early dinner…leftover acorn squash filled with homemade chili from the freezer.

Perfect.

Well the kiddies are a pounding on the stairs now!

[interrupted this time by teenagers…slackers in the costume department!  sock monkey toque plus sock monkey gloves does NOT make a costume.  LOL.]

After they are gone, I’m off to a friend’s place for a scary movie and some treats.  nom nom nom.

My bat-o-lantern won’t stay lit!!  It’s so windy!  Poor kids…at least it’s warm out!!

HAPPY HALLOWE’EN!

[it has taken me 45 mins to post this…the kids just keep on comin…I’m already almost out of candy!!]

Happy Hallowe’en!

This is what I did while dinner was cooking last night. 

Monster Cookies!! 

I had already pre-baked the cookies on Thursday night, so last night was just the decorating…which is of course the fun part!

This recipe originally came from someone on the WW GDT.  I totally thought it was Shaunna, but she recently informed me that it wasn’t her!  ooops.  So whoever it was, thanks!! 

Funny Monster Halloween Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup butter, softened (no substitutions)
• 1/2 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp almond extract
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 6 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 tbsp corn oil
• candy corn candies
• small tube white icing (for eyes)

Directions:

1. Cream butter, powdered sugar and extracts.  Add flour and corn starch.  Cover and refrigerate at least 30 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3. Roll dough into 1 1/2 inch balls.  Place on ungreased baking sheet.  Flatten each cookies by pressing gently with fingers.
4. Bake 10 – 12 minutes, just until bottoms are lightly browned.  Cool cookies on wire rack (let cool a bit on the pan until easy to remove with spatula).
5. Let completely cool.  Overnight is best.
6. Melt chocolate chips with oil over double boiler.  Stir until smooth.  Dip half of each cookie in chocolate.  Place cookies on wire rack or wax paper to allow chocolate to harden.  While chocolate is still wet, place candy corn for fangs and icing for eyes.
7. Let dry.  Refrigerate to harden chocolate.

Dinner was a two-course affair…

Acorn squash.  Prepped by cutting in half, scooping out seeds, and baking cut side down in a glass baking dish with about 1/2 inch of water.  400 degrees for 20ish minutes.

I used one half.  Brushed lightly with butter, sprinkled with homemade Mexican seasoning, and broiled for about 5 minutes cut side up.  Served with salsa and light sour cream.

While waiting for the squash to cook, I heated up a Guiltless Gourmet Four Bean Chili Wrap. 

Pretty yum, but I think I prefer Amy’s Burrito.  She’s got more goods inside the tortilla.

This morning I carved my jack-o-lantern.  Not my best work but we’ll see how it looks lit up on the front porch tonight.

T-minus 5 hours til the kiddies start knocking!

H is for Happy-licious

Why did I not this to do this before?!!

Apples and cheese are a match made in HEAVEN!  (I’m sure you’ve all noticed that I rarely eat an apple a la carte…it’s always got cheese or PB with it…)

I’m running low in the veggie department around here so thought I should include fruit in my lunch.  I wanted something warm and comforting though.  So I looked in the fridge and found the last two small tortillas calling my name and got an idea.

Honeycrisp & Havarti Quesadilla!!

Sliced up 1/4 of a fresh Honeycrisp apple and sandwiched it between the two tortillas with grated dill havarti cheese…

Grilled on the Griddler until hot, crispy, and oozing cheese.

Topped with plain yogurt and red pepper jelly.

Deeeeeeeeeeeeeeelish.  OMG.

My little hint to you:  grate your cheese on the small side of your box grater…it creates more volume so your one ounce can cover a lot more ground (or tortilla as the case may be).

I got sooooo much work accomplished today.  I don’t feel like I’m way behind now.  Makes for a much nicer feeling going into the weekend.  See what a clean desk can do!?!

Late afternoon I started to get a chill so made a cup of tea and grabbed the last hunk of pumpkin spice fudge for a little pick me up.  (No I didn’t eat it all…most of it is wrapped up for gifties or later use).

Like my little napkin?  If you knew me in real life, you’d know that this is extremely fitting.  Apparently my friends think this is funny.

Tonight I have a squash to create dinner with, a pumpkin to carve, and cookies to decorate.  Happy Friday night everyone!

Fresh Friday

I have a REAL coffee and my desk is TIDY and CLEAN.  Happy Friday to me! 

This morning’s coffee brought to you by a trip to Starbucks because I forgot to buy coffee yesterday.  Oh darn!  :) 

Grande Half-Sweet Non-Fat Pumpkin Spice Bold Misto - (tis not half-caf but I’m only having one coffee today, so I splurged!)

For Shirls:  translation: coffee with a couple squirts of pumpkin spice syrup topped with steamed non-fat milk.  I often prefer a misto over a latte for a couple of reasons…

1. less milk (only about 1/4 cup) means less calories
2. less milk lets me actually taste the coffee
3. it’s cheaper.  :)  $3.33 for this drink vs. $5ish for a PS latte

You might ask “why not just add milk after the fact?”.  You’ll just have to trust me that steamed milk makes all the difference, plus you still get a little foam action on top. 

Enjoyed with some Yogurt-Zucchini Bread…

And then *drum roll please* I cleaned my desk.  It had gotten ridiculously out of hand.  No wonder I am unmotivated to get any work done. 

Before:

After:

Now I can rock out some work and go into the weekend feeling on top of my game!

The One Where I Created a Game

A game called…

“Stump the Chiropractor!”

Today I got to tell him about how the stabbing pain in my shoulder/neck/arm has returned.  Same thing I had last year…except it’s ventured to my left side.  Ya-ya, we know it’s a compressed nerve.  We know it’s from my neck.  We know after $1100 worth of chiro and massage last year it got marginally better…good enough that it didn’t bring tears to my eyes or cause me to gasp at the slightest wrong move.  But it was never fixed.  And now we get to try to figure it out all over again!

He was not excited.  Nor was I.

(…and before anyone offers up advice…yes, I am planning to get an x-ray…yes, I’ve seen a sports med doctor…after I get the x-ray she may refer me for physio…and I want to try accupuncture.  unfortunately all of these things cost money and our extended medical covers very little in the scheme of things…so I have to take things one step at a time…)

When I got home I enjoyed this smoothie in a bottle to hold me over for a late dinner…

Had to do some extra work this evening to make up for taking off for my run and my appointment.

Then enjoyed my leftovers from last night’s Keg dinner.  nom nom nom. 

Chicken Oscar:  butterflied chicken breast, scallops, shrimp and asparagus in bearnaise sauce… with garlic masher taters.

Served up with a small head of steamed broccoli for some veggie love to counteract all that buttery goodness…

Tonight was dedicated to baking off the cookies for Halloween treats I plan to decorate tomorrow and share with friends this weekend. 

They don’t look like much right now, but just you wait and see!

As soon as the last batch cools, I’m off to bed to read.  Early like a good little girl.  :)  A couple of you asked what I’m reading…currently just some fluff…

 

But I have two new Charlaine Harris (non-Sookie) books waiting in the wings!

Me + outdoor running = NOT BFFs

I finally updated and charged my iPod, the sun is shining, I was feeling more motivated, I had hydrated, I got up on time, and work wasn’t pummelling me with time sensitive projects…all things pointed to OUTDOOR RUN.

Except that I’m not experienced at outdoor running. AT ALL. 

Before I set out I had breakfast…

The Bee’s Knees and banana on toast.

Gasp!  Out of coffee this morning…oh no!  Rescued by Starbucks Via sample pack.  Phew.  Strong but tasty!

I updated my iPod.  It has literally been sitting here unused for about 6 months.  I finally wiped out my old music (bye bye songs I have had for 8 years!) and started from scratch.

And hooked up my new headphones.  My original iPod ones died last Winter, and the replacement pair I got wouldn’t stay in my ears.  These ones don’t seem to be much better…grrrr.

I was running a bit behind and breakfast had started to wear off so I munched on 1/2 a lemon Larabar on my way out the door.

The run = the sucks.

- Mistake #1:  putting my camera in my pocket.  it bounced around too much and distracted me.

- Mistake #2:  carried a water bottle.  again, distracting and I didn’t need it.

- Annoying thing #1:  new headphones didn’t stay in my ears.  so another thing distracting me.

- Annoying thing #2:  using iPod as timer.  I so need a digital watch (or a Polar!!).

- Rookie mistake el grande:  pacing!  I start out too fast.  I’m used to setting my pace on a treadmill and have no idea how to pace myself on my own.  I’m all over the place!

Needless to say it wasn’t the nice interval run I was hoping for.  More of just a mish-mosh of running when I could and a lot more walking than I should.  Any suggestions?  Obviously I need help! 

It was 3km in about 25 mins.  Lame.

Came home and went straight for lunch. 

The controversial “soup-snob” soup leftovers.  I hate waste so I just amped it up with some parmesan cheese and lots of fresh ground pepper.

Served up with a quick salad of spinach, grated zucchini, carrots and balsamic.

And hummus with FSTG chips.

Hit.the.spot.

As much as the run wasn’t what I thought it would be, I’m still glad I did it.  I kicked my own ass to get out there and do something, and now I know that I really need to focus to be ready for the Santa Shuffle 5km in just 5 weeks…eeeek.