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Mmm Bok Choi!

Right now I could be sitting at home by myself… I could be nuzzled up all by my lonesome watching TV – but instead I am not alone!  Dave is still here with me! You see, he was suppose to be travelling to the US for two weeks for work, but thanks to some messed up paperwork he gets to STAY HOME!  Don’t get me wrong, I like having my alone time as much as the next girl but I’ve gotten tired of him coming and going so often.  We have been getting along fabulously for the past while and really building a nice solid foundation… I would hate for him to have to leave again (never mind the fact that he’d miss Halloween and fly back in on his birthday!)

Today I had my first in-car driving lesson for my drivers training class. It was two hours of just driving all around town, on familiar roads, doing maneuvers I already know how to do.

Boring!

I still have to do this four more times before I get my certificate saying I passed.  That’s when I can stride right on down to my lovely insurance company and have them reduce my insurance by a sweet $1000!

Dave and I did up our budget the other day.  It’s embarrassing to admit that we have been budget-less for the longest time.  We just joined bank accounts this weekend so along with that is time to keep a closer eye on our dolla dolla bills, yo!  For our budget we used the Till Debt Do Us Part lady’s spreadsheet found here.  We will be getting the jars and going the paper way instead of always using our debit cards!  This should keep us more accountable!  We will see!

Along with that budget we decided we need to PLAN!  We actually have a cleaning schedule which has helped us tremendously!  We decided to also do up somewhat of a meal plan for this week.  The meal plan was discussed inside of Superstore so hopefully next time we can get more organized and write our menu down, along with the ingredients, etc.  This will help us not overspend by buying things we just don’t need.

Today I had oatmeal for breakfast at work, a Lifestyle Michalena’s for lunch, and salmon with bok choi and roasted potatoes for supper.  mmmm dinner was delish!

The potatoes were roasted in the oven in a bit of EVOO and sprinkled with Epicure’s 3 onion dip mix (one of my favs).

We had Superstore’s Blue menu salmon:

I spiced the salmon fillets with some Lemon Dilly Dip mix from Epicure, and cooked them on my griddler pan (I think that’s what you call it?)

For the veggie I had some stirfried Bok Choi with garlic and mushrooms.  Bok Choi is a yummy vegetable that I don’t eat as often as I could and should.  It is so easy to cook and packed with vitamin C, calcium and vitamin A.

- wash the bok choi

- slice off the ends of the crunchy stalk part.  I like to slice the stalk in half, then separate the crunchy part from the leaves (I cook the crunchy part first then add the leaves after)

- heat up some oil in a pan on medium then add the crunchy stalky part of the bok choi.   Cook for about 5-7minutes

- Ad a bit of water or chicken stalk for flavor.  I added neither and sprinkled some epicure minced garlic and a TEENY drop of sesame oil instead.

- Add the leafy part of the bok choi and cook for a little while longer.  It’s going to be very full once you put the leafs in but they will shrink like spinach shortly.

The only variation I did was add my mushrooms after the oil was heated.  I cooked them up before adding any of the bok choi.  You can use any veggies if you wish, or just enjoy the bok choi on it’s own!

When all is said and done… voila:

Salsa, salsa where are you?

Soo… I’m still sick.

Boo.

I tell you, I am not a good sickly person… very whiny and grumpy.  Dave has been such a good sport putting up with me and my shenanigans.  He’s been great with tidying up, running to the store to pick up a hot water bottle – running back to the store when he’d forgotten my hot water bottle!  ;)

I’m not sure what the heck kind of bug I got – it felt flu-ish though.  Monday & Tuesday I was so achy right down to my bone.  I wasn’t coughing or sneezing but I did have a tickle in my throat.  Overall I felt like I was literally 95 years old and had the energy of a turtle.  Wednesday and today is when I started my coughing and sneezing though!  Although I still feel like crap, I needed to go back to work.  Thankfully I just had to sit at my desk for the past few days so I was able to sit down and work away.

We’re suppose to go on our first Halibloggers run tomorrow however I am still not feeling up to par and I don’t think my lungs could take it.  Plus, Dave is going to be travelling for work for a few weeks starting Monday so I’d like to spend some time with him.  (awww!)

Yesterday for dinner I baked up some of Amy’s twice baked sweet potatoes, along with some chicken and veg.  No pictures, but damn it was delish!

As I’d mentioned, peppers are a staple in our house however they were starting to look a little dull so we needed to use them up.  We had beef fajitas for dinner (one of our fav dishes!) 

We sautéed up some beef in some EVOO then added some onions.  Added some Epicure Fajita mix:

Then threw in some red, orange and yellow peppers.  mmmm it smells SO delicious at this point!

On the side I threw together a little spinach salad:

- organic Canadian spinach

- chopped red onion

- chopped cucumbers

- some laughing cow cheese

- some pomegranate seeds

- topped with Kraft Balsamic Vinaigrette

It was a delicious meal but we missed out on one key ingredient in the fajitas….

Salsa!

Our salsa in the fridge had gone bad (cries) so we had to eat it sauce-less.  The Epicure Fajita flavor did turn into the savior and despite the lack of salsa the beef fajitas were delish!

Friends Don't Let Friends Fat Talk

Interesting Facts:

■Did you know that Barbie, the best selling fashion doll in the world, has unattainable and unhealthy body proportions? If she were alive, her waist would be smaller than patients with anorexia nervosa, and she would be unable to menstruate (Dittmar, Halliwell, & Ive, 2006). Research has shown that very young girls (ages 5-7) who are exposed to Barbie have lower body esteem and want a thinner body than they have.

■Did you know that fashion models are thinner than 98% of women in the United States (Smolak, 1996)? According to the National Eating Disorders Association, the average woman is 5’4” tall and weighs 140 pounds. Yet not surprisingly, the average model is 5’11” tall and weighs only 117 pounds.

■Did you know that more than half of American girls ages 18-25 would rather be hit by a truck than be fat? More than two-thirds would rather be mean or stupid. In her 2007 book Perfect Girls, Starving Daughters, Courtney Martin notes that 90% of high-school-aged girls think they are overweight.

The link to Fat Talk Free week was just sent to me today, but the week is from the 19th-23rd. Why do we have to stop at a week though?
Let's support one another and end fat talk for good!

* End Fat Talk Video

* The Issue

I heart surprises!

This weekend has been a whirlwind – not a lot of downtime – but a good weekend nonetheless!

Friday night some of the Haliblogger ladies came by.  Tash, Jaime, Les with her big and little J’s, and Angie came by to go over some of the Blogger GTG videos.  Poor Lynn was still sick and couldn’t come by. :(  We were also totally missing Jen and Cat and Amy who live way yonder on the other side of the country.  We missed you all!!

Tash & Les brought surprises with them!  Tash read that Dave & I love peppers, so she brought us a cute grow our own pepper kit!!  We love it!

Also, Les surprised me with a bundle of beautiful flowers!! There’s nothing like surprise flowers to make a girls’ day!!

A small GTG turned into a feast it seemed!  Everyone brought a little somethin’ somethin’ and Dave & I surprised the ladies (and man) with a huge sushi platter!!

Here’s Dave showing Big J what sushi he should try (for his first time!)  I have converted MANY people to the deliciousness of sushi so it was cute seeing Dave show Big J how to do it!  I think the verdict was, “It’s not bad –not bad at all!”

Overall it was a great night! 

The next two days, Dave & I had to go to drivers training. Both of us have been driving for years but neither of us took DT before so our insurance rate is high!  Taking this course will reduce our insurance by a little more than $1000/year.  So very worth it!  The class is from 9-330 so it eats up most of our day but there’s only two weekends then 10hrs of in-car driving which we can do at anytime.

After class on Saturday, D & I just hung out catching up on the DVR having a cozy night on the couch.  Much needed!  After yesterday’s class we decided to go to Boston Pizza for dinner since they had a dinner + movie deal.  We decided to go check out Law Abiding Citizen which we both thought was pretty good.  Definitely worth seeing!

I started to feel a tickle in my throat when we got home and so I headed to bed in hopes of sleeping it off.

Not so much.

I woke up today sick sick sick.  boo!  When I woke up I was kind of pissed because I had a meeting with an allergy specialist tomorrow, and I had to ‘fast’ from any cold/flu medicine/antihistamines/gravol.  Well of COURSE I’d have to go and get sick.

Good news: as I was writing this, the doctor called and said they’d need to reschedule.  As it goes with specialists, it won’t be for another month, but at least I can now pump myself full of cold medicines!

Us Halibloggers have decided to do the Santa Shuffle 5K run this year.  I will admit – I am terrified of this – I am not a runner, never have been, and this is very intimidating to me.  Us girls are going to do a bit of training together to motivate one another though – which I’ll need!

Lynn – you are a genius!!

Brr – It sure has gotten colder here in the past few days!! This morning was so bright and sunny so I just wore my cardicoat but on the drive in to work I saw many people bundled up outside and was worried I wouldn’t be warm enough.  It was chilly but I made it! :)

I can’t remember the last time we went grocery shopping.  Our fridge and cupboards are bare bones!  Yesterday I made some spaghetti & meat sauce with some lean ground beef that’s been in the freezer for a while, which made for a yummy lunch today.  I had no idea what I wanted to eat for supper today so I browsed through Lynn’s food blog for some inspiration since she *always* has such delicious looking eats!  She Tweeted me the suggestion to make Cauliflower Soup.  What a WONDERFUL idea!!

It was so hearty and delicious!  We had it with rolls but I think next time we’ll eat it with Naan. mmmm.  I loved the recipe but I feel it’s missing one thing that I can’t pinpoint.  It was so good but just needed something!

Sauteeing some onions… Let me tell you… this is probably one of my favorite smells in the WORLD!  Reminds me of when my grandmother made perogies… butter & cooked onions would always be drizzled on top.. Mmmmmmmmmm

Roasting some cauliflower:

Next up some yummy medium spiced (ahem, I am a spice wuss) curry powder to mix with the onions:

Chicken broth + water + onions + cauliflower set to boil

After it boiled I blended it all up then served in our un-trendy, un-cool bowls.  (We REALLY need more hip and cool dishware!)  I drizzled what remaining honey we had in the house, and topped it with some roasted yellow peppers.  (We heart peppers in this household!)

           

DELISH!!

Things on my mind:

- I am craving grilled cheese with tomato soup SO badly after reading about Tash & Jen having T.Soup for dinner yesterday (mmm my fav comfort food).

- Instead, we are having S'ghetti & meatsauce for din din tonight.

- Frustrated that someone recently asked me to do a last min wedding cake, I responded to her inquiry - she never got back to me, then proceeded to remove me from Facebook. Pure Jerk.

- I just got a random call saying I have to prep to go see a specialist next week for my sinuses! I am super pumped about that... maybe one day I'll be able to painlessly fly, and easily breathe!!

- Considering getting braces - I'd hate to wear them, but I'd like to straighten my chops out a bit. Hopefully work covers this!

- Drivers Training starts this weekend. I am 50/50 excited about this. 50% of me is eager to learn new stuff (such as not having crazy anxiety about driving in the rain!) the other 50% of me would just really like to SLEEP IN!! LOL

- I have GOT to start the C25K soon.... It looks like its 3days a week and I dont' really have anything in my way for the next while in the evenings. I can totally take 20mins out of my day to start this!

- I am hungry.

'nuff said!