Swine Flu!!!

Look at the cute little chipmunk that was stuffing his cheeks in Maggie's backyard today!
So I decided to stay in at Maggies house tonight because I really didn't feel like getting up and going back to my house or to iv or anything haha. I really wasn't feeling that well so I decided some fresh air might make me better and took Corbin on a longgggg walk. However the walk made me feel even worse. I came back and laid on the couch for a little and then took a nice long showerrrrrrr. Then I tried this Kashi Lemongrass Coconut Chicken. At first I didn't like it that much, it wasn't really what I expected. However it was really really flavorful, and even though it wasn't very coconuty the more I ate it the more I liked it. The chicken didn't have any chicken flavor and tasted like the sauce. So my final verdict- it wasn't my absolute favorite but I would probably eat it again. I really liked the rice mixture stuff at the bottom, and I think with different sauce it would probably be my absolute favorite!

After dinner Sara came over and we hung out until Grey's came on. Now I'm watching the season finale of Private Practice and its so intense!! ahhhh this crazy lady drugged Violet and is going to cut her baby out of her!!! Anyways I foresee an early to bed night and hopefully I will feel better in the morning and hopefully I don't have Swine Flu!!! There are now officially 2 reported cases in VA now so hopefully I just have a cold/ allergies and I'm not coming down with swine flu!

Free stuff alert!!! Gena from Choosing Raw is giving away a spiralizer! Go over to her blog and leave a comment about your favorite raw food or something you want to try for a chance to win!

Sick of Risotto!!!

So yesterday I went with Megan and Jonathan and we went shopping at Target and Costco. We stopped at Arby's for lunch. I was pretty excited because they had the Turkey, Apple, and Brie sandwich- yay! And they had these new Iced FruiTeas. I tried the Diet Peach one. At first I didn't really like it because it was way too syrupy, however once I drank a little more and mixed it up I think that all the syrup was on the bottom and once it got stirred up it was really good!

And of course the sandwich was just as amazing as last time I got it. After we got back I got to work on finishing up my psyc journals and my special needs portfolio. I snacked on a Quaker Chewy Dark Chocolate and Cherry granola bar that I snagged from our tutoring celebration on Monday. It was really good- but I still think the peanut butter ones are the best. But this could be a close second.
Then for dinner I made some Bunny Butts (Annies)- the Aged Cheddar variety with some chopped up tomatoes! It was delish as always and I ate about half this bowl and put the rest in the fridge for later.

And baby cat was sitting on a pillow on the chair watching everything inside and outside as I was eating! Isn't she cute!!!!

Then I headed over to Maggie's for the 100th episode of Lost. I was very disappointed because nothing very exciting happened it was the same thing that happens every week on Lost. After Lost I really wanted some ice cream. Ukrops was closed so I headed to CVS and picked through their very limited and disappointing ice cream selection. I decided on Edy's Maxx Java Mashup. It was not really what I wanted at all but it was pretty good. It was kind of like a cookies and cream ice cream with coffee ice cream as the base instead of vanilla.

This morning I woke up at the lovely hour of 11:30. It was pretty fabulous. I worked on my special needs binder for a little and then had some leftover risotto for lunch. I am getting pretty sick of this risotto. I made it forever ago while I was at home and have had it in the freezer and have been eating it off and on for months. After eating lunch there is a little tiny bit left and I guess I'll keep in in Maggie's fridge in case I need to eat it tomorrow.
I haven't really decided what I'm doing for the rest of the day. Part of me wants to go to IV because its senior night, but I'm really not that close with any of the seniors that are graduating this year and part of me really wants to just stay here at Maggie's for Grey's!

Pineapple Twist

Alright so I figured I would post today about yesterday before I did anything today! So I'm sitting in my room in my pjs and I got up about 30 minutes ago so I didn't eat breakfast!

Yesterday I also got to sleep in, actually I'm finished with tutoring so most of my days get to be sleep in days now- yay!!! After waking up and quickly made a wrap and then wrapped it up hahaha and went over to Maggie's to lay out in her backyard! I was outside and didn't feel like going in to get my camera haha so for a picture see previous post because it was exactly the same as the wrap I had yesterday!! So laying out in the grass with pollen falling from the sky was probably not the best thing for me. Even Maggie was feeling the pollen so we decided to go in after about 2 hours. I quickly showered and did a little homework and then went straight from her house to my class. Between classes I headed to Tropical Smoothie to grab dinner because I was up to my free smoothie on my punch card! I tried something new- a green tea smoothie called the Pineapple Twist. holy cow this is my new favorite smoothie. Green Tea, Pineapple, Lime, and yogurt. So delicious!!!
And for dinner I tried one of their new/ limited time only flatbread sandwiches. I got the Mediterranean Veggie which was full of hummus, onions, an assortment of leafy greens haah, tomatoes, balsamic vinegar, I really can't remember everything that was in it! But it was delicious.

After that I zoned out in special needs- classes are "officially" done with and today is a reading day, however my ethics class is not having a final so we are still having class during the final exam block- seriously who does that!!! Then I have 2 finals on next Tuesday and I will be done with class for forever!!! yay!

98 Weather + Broken AC= Miserable!!!

Hello!! It is super hot in our house because the ac is broken!! Today is a little better than yesterday but its still really hot! We called the AC guy to get it fixed and we got put on a waiting list and they are going to call us the day before they will be able to come! Apparently everyone broke their AC when they tried to turn it on for the first time in the 97 degree weather this weekend!!! Anyways I really do not have an excuse for not updating yesterday I was really not that busy hahaha! I started off the day with a Raspberry Chocolate Raw Revolution bar! It was pretty tasty but the one thing I did not like was that it was hardcore sticking to my teeth! I would check the mirror and see black spots all over my teeth from it!Then my grandparents came and picked me up and I took them to my church. They really seemed to like it and told me that I had picked a good one haha- too bad I only have one more week left down here but its all good because my church back home is really awesome too! But really how many people can say that they sit in the VIP section of a concert venue while going to church- its pretty cool! So after church we went to Joes for brunch! I got The Most Requested omelet that had feta, tomatoes, and spinach inside with home fries on the side. It was fabulous as Joes always is. My grandma got some huge breakfast combo with 3 ginormous pieces of french toast (of which she ate one), scrambled eggs, bacon, and homefries. My grandpa opted to go not the breakfast way and got the scallops- which was one of the specials of the day. They were both really impressed by everything they got. I love taking people to little places in Richmond like Joes because they are so fun and unique and they have great food!
So after brunch we came back and I gave them the tour of my house, they wanted to see where I've been living the past 2 years before I move out next week! They brought me my new power adapter (Dell sent me a new one because the other one wasn't charging my battery). Well after they left I plugged in the new power adapter and it still didn't work! I got the same start up message about it being plugged in to an unrecognizable adapter. And the battery symbol says its plugged in but not charging. So clearly this is a problem, especially since I only have 20% battery left! I called Dell again and talked to them for forever- the guy told me that it was probably something wrong with my motherboard and he would send a technician to my house and put me on hold. Then he comes back to say that oh no I don't have that kind of warranty so I have to send my computer to them and they'll fix it and I can get it back in about 8 days. I was like ok well I can't send you my computer right now I'm in the middle of finals so is it okay if I wait a week until my finals are all over. So he gave me like a case number and said to call back and give them the number and they'll send me a box to ship my computer to them whenever I'm ready!! ahhhh its such a hassle!!!

So anyways for dinner last night I just had some more leftover risotto. My camera was upstairs and I didn't feel like running up to get it in our 500 degree house just to take a picture of something that was on my last blog post- so see the last post if you want a picture!! Then Kylin, Grace, and I had a nail painting party!! We tried to get a bunch of girls together but everyone was super busy studying for exams and writing final papers and stuff. After Grace left Kylin and I watched 13 Going on 30! Then Megan came home and brought hot Krispy Kreme donuts so I just had to have one (and maybe another one later hahah)
Hot Krispy Kremes are so amazing they just melt in your mouth!!

So this morning we had our tutoring celebration! I had brought a bar to snack on but ended up having 2 juice boxes, fruit snacks, and a rice krispy treat instead hahha. So I've turned in everything and that class is completely done with hooray!!! So I came home and made a fabulous wrap for lunch- spinach wrap with a portabella garden burger, goat cheddar, spinach, tomatoes, and garlic aioli!
And a cookie for dessert!
It was all super delicious! After lunch I pretty much highlighted articles for my sped portfolio until my ethics class! After ethics the roomies and I plus Jonathan went to All Star to get sandwiches! The plan was get them to go and take them to Belle Isle to eat! However my class went over and then the sandwiches took forever to make so we decided we didn't really have enough time to go to Belle Isle before the sun went down :( but we are going to go on Sunday!!

I got the Tredegar sandwich which had balsamic tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, and a pesto sauce

Yummm it was soooo good! I've never been here before but they had so many delicious looking sandwiches I'll have to come back!

Jonathan got some kind of steak sandwich.
Kylin got the same thing as me but here she is trying Megan's sandwich which I really am not sure what it was!! haha
I don't know if you can see that but thats the sandwich menu!! Their breakfast sandwiches also looked really good!
Then afterwards we decided to go to Shields Market and get some dessert and go take it and eat it on Jonathan's porch. I got a vegan tiramisu. It was super cute and super delicious.
It was kind of like a cupcake on the outside but the inside was all tiramisu deliciousness!!
So for the rest of tonight I'm probably just going to highlight some more articles for my sped portfolio and maybe go to bed early because I'm so tired. I feel like I haven't gotten much sleep the last few nights because its so hard to fall asleep when its this hot! Tomorrow after my class I might go over to Maggie's to sleep in the ac and also because Wednesday is a reading day and I have nothing to do!!

Too Hot!!!

So last night I decided to clean instead of bake but clearly I picked the wrong thing. It was 96 degrees today and the gas oven did not help things! Our ac is set to 70 and it is currently 80 in our house and the oven has been off for over 2 hours!

So anyways I started out this morning with a yummy omelet! It had spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, and goat cheddar!!! yummmmm
Then I got to work on writing my final reflection for tutoring. I finished writing that and made some copies of some things for my parent packet and then broke for lunch. I wasn't starving so I just had a little risotto that I pulled out of the freezer yesterday (another freezer find! If I had known I had this food in there I would have waited to go to the grocery store!). It was sundried tomato and mozzarella risotto that I made a while back! It was delicious.
Then for dessert a delicious ice cream sandwich. I think I've decided I like the other ones better. The banana flavor in these is good but I think I prefer it without. Actually I think what would be amazing is if they just had a plain strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla coconut ice cream sandwich. That would be delish!
After lunch I got to work on baking. Since I have no measuring cups I used this glass as my one cup guide!!! I actually found an old disgusting blender that came with out house and poured one full glass of this into it and it was exactly one cup so yay! Then i put that blender far far away because it was really gross.
Then as I was searching for vanilla in my cabinet I discovered a miracle!
I knew I had bought measuring spoons from the dollar section when I bought my hot pink measuring cups! I couldn't find them for the life of me when I was packing up my kitchen stuff but for some reason they were in my cabinet behind all my baking necessities! The only downside to this search was that I had no vanilla so all my cookies had to be sans vanilla.

So first I mixed up my monster cookies! I got nervous about adding the coconut so I baked about half the cookies without the coconut and then added it in to the second half.

Above without coconut and below with it.

I went kind of picture crazy! hahaha so the final verdict is that next time if I add coconut I need to decrease the oats because they were too crumbly, however they were delicious.

So the recipe originally came from my old roommate Vicki, and it is actually her birthday today! The original recipe calls for normal semi sweet choc chips instead of recess pieces but you can really put in whatever you want in monster cookies- m&ms would work too if your not a big peanut butter person.

Monster Cookies
1 stick butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 1/2 cups oatmeal
8 oz mini semi sweet chocolate chips
8 oz reeses pieces

Cream together the butter, sugars, and eggs until fluffy. Add the vanilla and peanut butter until its incorporated together. Stir in the oatmeal and baking soda. Then add in your mix ins (choc chips, reeses pieces, m&ms or whatever you want- don't limit yourself to this specific recipe!)

So after baking monster cookies for forever (I only had one cookie sheet!) I started on the White Chocolate Macadamia cookies! White chocolate macadamia are probably my favorite cookie, which is funny because I never make them! I think I've made white chocolate macadamia cookies maybe once in my entire life, but I always get them when I see them somewhere else, especially the ones at Subway! So after searching through All Recipes I settled on White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies IV. Most of the other recipes had brown sugar in them and I really don't think brown sugar belongs in a white chocolate macadamia cookie!

So this recipe was definitely a keeper and exactly what I was looking for!
Some of all of the cookies!
All the sans coconut monster cookies!!
And here are the ones with the coconut!
And the white chocolate macadamia!
Then once the oven was off I took a much needed shower! I have to say I might have been sweating more baking in the 96 degree weather then when I was cleaning yesterday with the ghetto vacuum! Then for dinner I made some pasta. I sauteed up some mushrooms, onions, and garlic and then added some spinach and tomatoes and made a sauce with milk, a little goat cheddar, and asiago.
It was delicious but while I was making it I was thinking I should have skipped cooking tonight because the stove was heating up the kitchen and I was sweating again! I hate hot weather!! The plan for the rest of the night is to finish up my parent packet because tomorrow is church, hanging out with the grandparents, and then nail painting party tomorrow night!

Cleaning for Grandma!

So yesterday when I was unloading my groceries I discovered a frozen enchilada from Trader Joes that I totally had forgotten about! The funny thing is I had searched the freezer a couple days ago to see if I had any hidden food and couldn't find any! So I brought it over to Maggie's to eat during Grey's Anatomy. It was okay- it wasn't bad but it wasn't great and I probably wouldn't buy it again. I was so hungry that I ate half of it before I remembered to take a picture! There were 2 enchiladas and here is the second one haha!
I was still hungry after I ate that so I snacked on some of Maggie's Artisan Wheat Thins

ummm holy cow these were delicious!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I had seen them in the stores but the picture on the box didn't look that good so I hadn't bough them before. I can't even explain how delicious they were! Better than the Sundried Tomato Basil one which were my favorite before. I ended up eating the rest of the box of them which Maggie said was okay because she kept eating them constantly and wanted me to help her get rid of them!!

Anyways I woke up this morning and my right eye was killing me!! And I didn't have my glasses with me so I walked around without being able to see for a while. Then I put in my left contact and could half way see. Eventually my eye was not quite as red and painful as it was before so I sucked it up and put in my other contact because I knew I would need it in to drive home! Anyways while I was blind I had a Greens energy bar. I wasn't really sure what to expect and wasn't really expecting it to taste super good but wow it was amazing! Hands down the best tasting bar I've ever had. It was super fruity and covered in yogurty goodness! I will definitely be buying more of these!

Then while I was halfway blind I ate lunch! haahha I had Amy's Chunky Tomato Bisque- my new favorite soup!!! I love love love this soup!
Then for dessert I had this fake cadberry egg that I got at CVS last night on a late night contact solution run!

Ummm the chocolate on these are not that good but the inside was like what cadberry eggs use to be like!! Super runny and not like all thick and dried out like they are now lol. Anyways it made me miss the good old days when I was like 6 and the insides of the cadberry eggs would drip halfway down my arm and get all in my barbie dolls hair!

Then after I was able to see fully again I headed back to my house. After an unsuccessful try with our big real vacuum cleaner I vacuumed the steps and upstairs with the little "broom" vacuum thing. Then I cleaned the bathroom! By that point it was almost 8 so I headed downstairs to make some dinner to eat while I watched Prison Break! I made a delicious wrap with these awesome portabella garden burgers! ummm yummmmm! I've never really had veggie burgers of any kind before but have been wanting to try them. So after studying the selection at whole foods I decided on these ones because I love mushrooms! ummm these were sooooo delicious! I'm not a big hamburger fan and I will for sure be having these around all summer to eat while the rest of my family has hamburgers.Anyways into my spinach wrap went one portabella burger, tomatoes, spinach, goat cheddar, and a little garlic aioli. yummmmm yummmm yummmm. I will definitly be making more of these with the rest of those portabella burgers.
Then for dessert I had one of these yummy So Delicious banana split coconut ice cream sandwiches! These are just as good as the vanilla ones and I can't really decide which ones I like better!
So the plan for the rest of the night is either clean the downstairs or bake some cookies. Right now I'm leaning toward the cookies because I don't feel like cleaning anymore but I'm already gross from cleaning so I might as well finish it now. Whichever doesn't happen tonight will happen tomorrow! Hope everyone has a good weekend