Veggie Melts

Happy Saturday everyone! I hope everyone is gearing up for an exciting weekend. Yesterday was pretty much a waste of a day, as I did absolutely nothing. The one and only thing I did yesterday was drag my mom out of the house (yes I literally had to drag her) to DSW to get some running shoes. My mom said I exhaust her because I suggested we go to a nearby farmers market on our way back from DSW (like I said I had to drag her out of the house in the first place). Oh well, hopefully today I convince someone to go with me and if not I might just go by myself.

Anyways Thursday night my mom made probably one of the only vegetarian meals she has or will ever willingly make- veggie melts! These are super easy to make and so delicious- even my family who scoff at any meal without meat in it eat them (well my parents do, my brother added chicken to his and my sister doesn't eat veggies).
Veggie Melts
(I'm not putting any amounts down because you can use more of veggies you like, less of things you don't like as much, or just switch the veggies up completely.
onion
bean sprouts
mushrooms (whatever kind you like the best)
green peppers
butter or evoo (whatever you like to sautee in
some kind of bun or hoagie to build the sandwich on
monzerella cheese
parmasean, romano, and/or asiago cheese
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees
2. Sautee the onion, sprouts, mushrooms, and green pepper with your butter or evoo until all the veggies are slightly tender.
3. Sprinkle the desired amount of cheese on your bun then top with however many veggies you want.
4. Pop in the oven for about 5 minutes or until your bread is toasted and the cheese is melty.

Anyways, yesterday for breakfast I made a Kashi waffle topped with almond butter and bananas. Yummmm it was delicious! I'm all out of greek yogurt so I see more almond butter centered breakfasts until I get some more yogurt!
Then for lunch my mom heated up some taquitos and miny chimichangas in the oven. I don't know what brand they were or where they came from but they were not that great. It was like a paste inside with meat and cheese all blended together. I prefer the Friday's quesadilla rolls because you can actually see each separate ingredient and they taste so much better!
In between lunch and dinner was when I dragged my mom out to DSW and of course when we got home I had to test out my new running shoes. As you may know our treadmill was broken and my dad recently kind of fixed it. It works but after like 20 minutes it starts to smell like its burning. Oh well I kept going, hopefully I won't kill it. I think once I get my security deposit back for my house in Richmond (which should be any day now) that I'm going to make my dad use that to buy a new treadmill.

Dinner was taco salad and I made a little taco to go alongside. My taco salad had taco meat, an assortment of greens, tomatoes, green onions, cucumber, a few crushed up tortilla chips, and a little ranch dressing. Taco salad is the only salad I like ranch dressing on because it is creamy like sour cream which I can't live without on my mexican food.
This morning I woke up and made juice for breakfast! It was an apple, ginger, 3 carrots, and a beet. It was pretty delicious!
I just finished drinking that while I was writing this and now I have no idea what I'm going to do for the rest of the day but I'm hoping it is more productive then yesterday was!

Happy Birthday to my Mom!

I'm getting really bad at blogging! I think its because I have no set schedule really and so I just put it off because I know I can do it later. During the semester I would blog when I was procrastinating my school work. Now I usually blog at night before bed but a lot of times my camera is downstairs or something that I just am like oh well I'll just do it later. So my mom's birthday was on Thursday and for her birthday I made her a Chocolate Truffle Tart, a recipe I found online from Fine Living, that has been sitting in my recipe book never made!



I topped it with a raspberry sauce and it was so delicious! This recipe is definitely a keeper! The raspberry sauce was a bag of frozen raspberries thawed in about 1/4 cup of sugar. Then you keep the juice and add enough water to make a cup. You bring the raspberries, juice/water mix, 1/2 cup sugar, and 2 tablespoons cornstarch to a boil. Boil for 1 minute and add a splash of orange extract. Then strain the sauce to get rid of the seeds! Its super easy and fast and delicious!

Yesterday I babysat in the morning. The night before I made a green monster and stuck it in the fridge to grab on my way out the door the next morning. I was very happy that it was still wonderful the next morning. It was some fage 0%, orange juice, a banana, spinach, overloaded spoonful of almond butter, and some of the leftover raspberry sauce from the tart! It was just what I needed to get me through a morning playing with kids!
I had a turkey and swiss sandwich for lunch while I babysat, but was still pretty hungry when I got home. I had made some egg salad the day (hard boiled eggs, mayo, and mustard) before so I topped some wheat thins with the egg salad.
Then for dinner I warmed up some frozen tamales. I threw the box away without thinking so I can't remember what brand they were but they were Spinach and Monetary Jack tamales with a pesto sauce. They were really good and I'll buy them again and take a picture of the box!
Last night was nice and relaxing, I soaked my feet in the foot bath thingy and gave myself a pedicure. I woke up this morning and my throat was killing me. So I had some spiced tea and some toast with almond butter! It was just what I needed!
Now I'm off to go shower and get dressed, yes it is noon but when I woke up at 11:30 I was the first one up in the house! My mom and brother are still sleeping! Once everyone is up and ready we are going up to West Virginia to my grandparents house to visit some of my cousins that are down from Ohio! Hope everyone has a great day!

I Hate Season Finales!!!

So first things first, here is a picture of my new haircut! I've been styling it differently every day and I think I decided I like it flipped out a tiny bit but not a lot the best.Anyways my room is still not in order! At least all my clothes are unpacked now so I don't feel like a homeless person when I'm getting dressed in the morning! However the rest of my room is still a hot mess but I'm not worrying about it until after my VRA's tomorrow!

For lunch on Wednesday (I know I've gotten bad at updating without my computer!) I tried some of the Buitoni reserves that I've seen popping up everywhere! I'm really sad because apparently I signed up for the Foodbuzz Tastemaker program right after they sent out these babies! Everyone else except me got them- so I went out and bought some myself because they looked so good! First up was the cheesy ones haha!
Which I topped with Buitoni pesto which is probably my favorite store bought pesto sauce!
And it was so delicious! Super rich and creamy and had an amazing taste. The ricotta cheese made for a great background for the rest of the cheeses and made it super creamy and delicious. I just wish they came in bigger packages because it would take three of these boxes to feed my family. I ate half the box for lunch (the serving size is only 2) and then found myself reaching into the fridge and pulling out one every once in a while for a snack for the next few days haha.
Later in the day I took Charlotte out for a run and made my first Green Smoothie when I got back! It had a banana, a cup of spinach, and a cup of milk. It was surprisingly good! I think it had a little too much banana for me so I would add some other fruit into it next time and I would use yogurt next time instead of milk, because I'm not a fan of milk anyways.
And I also snacked on a small handful of these babies- chocolate covered sunflower seeds. Last week was teacher appreciation week and a student brought these in for my mom and they are delicious!
Then for dinner was making burgers, so I made a yummy Morning Star pizza burger! Topped with smoked cheddar, campari tomatoes, spinach, and sabra roasted garlic hummus!
With a side of juicy watermelon!
For breakfast yesterday I needed a change of pace from the waffles, so I had some Cinnamon Pecan Special K with some Vanilla Chobini. It was delicious!
Then I went to Fairfax to pick up the pump for our pool that was getting fixed so that we can hopefully open the pool up this weekend! While I was out that direction I stopped at Robeks for some juice! I got a G-Snap which was orange, carrot, and ginger! It was so delicious, the ginger just gave it that extra 'snap' haha.

Then I came home for lunch and had this Simply Asia spring vegetable rice noodle soup bowl. I had high hopes because I love Annie Chun's noodle and soup bowls, but this was super disappointing. The broth really didn't have much flavor at all and there weren't that many vegetables in it. It certainly doesn't look anything close to the picture on the box. It was really bland and disappointing- I would not buy it again.
For dinner last night my dad was grilling chicken so I decided to bust out one of my frozen Kashi meals. I went with the Tuscan Veggie Bake. It was okay, not great but not awful. I added goat cheese on the top which improved it immensely. All in all I probably wouldn't buy it again but I would eat it if someone else bought it and it was sitting in the freezer.

I was still hungry after this so I made some toast with Almond butter. I have this oatmeal bread that is surprisingly really good and some Nature's Promise Almond butter which is also surprisingly good. At first I wasn't a fan of the almond butter- this was the only kind they had at Giant, but I think it was just because its not chunky and I really want the almond chunks in it! But as I've continued to eat it its actually got a really good flavor- its just missing some chunks!
After dinner it was time for Grey's. Can I just say how much I hate season finales! Grey's was definitely the worst, Private Practice was also really distressing, and so was Lost and I'm sure Desperate Housewives will be just as bad. I hate cliff hangers and I hate when they kill people off a show (especially when its 2 people!)

Anyways now that thats off my chest! Today I woke up at the wonderful hour of 11:30 and decided to skip breakfast. I'm currently boiling water to try some of the mushroom Buitoni reserve for lunch! I'm heading up to West Virginia this afternoon to go up to my grandparents house. Tomorrow is the VRA in Winchester (which is closer to my grandparents house which is why I'm going up there tonight). I won't be back until tomorrow evening, so I hope everyone has a great Friday!

Going Away Party!

Sorry I haven't posted at all this weekend!! Friday I was sick and I spent most of the day in bed! I really don't remember what I ate but I promise you it wasn't exciting and I was too sick to take pictures! Luckily on Saturday I was feeling better because I had my going away party that night and didn't want to be sick for that! I wasn't feeling 100% in the morning so I started the day with some cranberry orange toast with almond butter- of course.
Then I had some spiced tea that my mom makes- it is basically instant tea, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, lemonade, and tang (i know it sounds gross but its actually really delicious). It was exactly what I needed and I felt so much better!

After breakfast and a shower I ran to the grocery store to pick up supplies for all the things I was planning on making. When I got back I made a wrap for lunch. It had my last portabella gardenburger, spinach, goat cheddar, and hummus!
And the last juice box that I hijacked from our tutoring party last week.
Then I made some spiced nuts- it was a mix of almond, pecans, and walnuts. I cooked them in some melted butter and then added brown sugar, cinnamon, and cloves. They were delicious and I would have added some nutmeg too but I didn't have any!
Then I made some fake samoa girl scout cookies from Baking Bites. They were delicious- my only problem was that I didn't have all the coconut it called for and it definitely could have used more. And I also ran out of chocolate so they didn't all get chocolate on the bottom!
Then I made some asiago garlic bread. It was asiago and garlic (clearly haha) mixed with a little mayo, basil, and oregano. They were pretty delicious.
And I got some Sabra hummus- which is pretty much the best hummus ever.
And some Sundried Tomato and Basil Wheat Thins and Fire Roasted Tomato and Olive Oil Triscuits to go with the hummus.
So the party was wonderful- I got to hang out and see a lot of people. It made me kind of sad because I'm pretty excited to move back home and not be in Richmond anymore but I'm going to miss everyone so much!!!! There will definitely be lots of visits back down here so I can see everyone!

This morning on my way to church I snacked on a chocolate coconut Raw Organic Food bar. yum, yum, yum. This was sooooo delicious! It is definitely up there with my new favorite kind of bar. It was really moist and had little chocolate chips all through out it. Delicious!
After church Grace and I got swiped into Shafer by two freshman! yay for free food, even though Shafer pretty much is gross! I opted for a waffle and I topped it with some vanilla yogurt and pineapple off the salad bar. It was actually pretty good, but it would have been better with fresh pineapple and/or strawberries!
Now I'm getting read to head out and go get coffee with Ashlee Giles! I'm so excited because I haven't seen her in a really long time (like probably back in September at my b-day party!). I'm trying to make sure I get to see everyone before I leave- especially everyone that couldn't make it out last night! So today is Ashlee Giles, tomorrow is lunch with Emily and Megan and then dinner with Ashley Callaway/Turner. Then sometime, possibly Tuesday for lunch Kylin and I are going to go to Cous Cous and then on Wednesday Grace and I may be doing lunch! My days are filling up fast and there are definitely more people I need to see before I leave!!!!

Final stretch!

I am back in Richmond for the final stretch of school! I also just realized my last final ever is on cinco de mayo!!! hahahaha So dinner last night my mom made this baked pasta thing with ham and peppers and mushrooms. I really didn't like it all that much, I'm definitely not a red and green pepper fan.
I had a little bit- Ipicked out the peppers from mine and then had some zucchinni, squash, and mushrooms on the side!
We also had some old foccaccia bread that i made a while back and had been in the freezer, but it was still slightly frozen when we started eating so we had it as a second course haah.
After dinner we went to get ice cream! We drove by Pickle Bobs which is a soft serve place in Haymarket and they had a huge long line. So we drove to this other place in New Baltimore that I had never been to but they had one of the longest ice cream lines ever- I'm talking like obx 4th of july weekend put put golf line long! It was ridicuouls. So we ended up going to Maggie Moos- which was probably the best idea! I got dark chocolate ice cream with strawberries and almonds. yummm it was delicious! I forgot my camera and my cell phone (ahhhhh) so I took a picture on my sisters cell and e-mailed it to myself but apparently it didn't work because I never got it! Oh well I'll just have to go back again and get some more ice cream just so I can take a picture for you guys!

Then this morning was church and I had some cranberry orange bread wtih almond butter in the car on the way there.
And then after church I made myself another yummy sandwich with the last tomato, last of the sprouts, munster, cheddar, some green onions, and slathered on the hummus!!
And then on the side I had some chocolate bunnies! These were yummy too- bunny butts never dissapoint! Although there are no bunny butts on these bags so I don't know if these still can be considered bunny butts or if its just the mac and cheese! I'll have to consult my sister!!!
Then I called the Dell people because my power adapter for my less than 4 month old computer stopped working again. My computer is still under warrenty so I was hoping that they would just send me a new one. Well after the guy trying a couple things he agreed that I need a new one and he was like I have to wait for my manager to approve it and while he's waiting for his manager he is trying to make small talk. He was like so what time is it there- I was like umm its about 3. He was like in the afternoon? And I said yeah. Then he said its 1 am here- hahhaha everyone always jokes about the people in India fixing your computer but its totally true!! Then he proceeded to tell me how he doesn't get off work until 5:30 or 6 am and it really sucks lol. It was pretty hilarious! So after getting off the phone with him I was already to leave until I remembered that I had bought this Edy's froyo at the store! We were going to eat it last night but then we ended up going to Maggie Moos instead!

Ummmm this was so amazing!!! I should have brought it back to Richmond with me because my dad is probably the only person back home that will eat it because this is not the kind of ice cream my sister and mom would eat. But it was so yummy I would definitly but this again!

Then I headed back to Richmond. When I got there I made a Wild Mushroom and Black Truffle flatbread pizza thingy from Trader Joes.

It was huge so I cut it in half and saved the rest for lunch tomorrow! This was pretty good but not as good as I imagined it to be. I think that everytime I eat any kind of thing like this I just compare it to the tuscan mushroom pizza from z pizza which is probably one of my favorite pizza's ever! But that being said I would but it again and then jazz it up with some onions and tomatos and stuff. I actually put some asiago cheese on it- it didn't come with the little squares of asiago on it hahaha. So after eating that I was still a little hungry so I ate my last apple with some almond butter (ahhh I'm almost out of almond butter!)
So now I'm sitting with my laptop plugged in because it won't charge- well sometiems it charges if the cord is sitting just right but most of the time it says it is plugged in but not charging it is just using the outlet power! And I 'm watching Extreme Home makeover while I wait for Desperate Housewives and Brothers and Sisters to come on! I use to watch Extreme Home Makeover all the time but I haven't watched it for a while because I miss my sunday shows a lot and watch them online or I am doing homework up until Desperate Housewives. However tonight I don't have too much stuff to do- I did most of it this weekend! But this is probably one of the saddest ones I've ever watched. This family lost their house in a fire. They moved in with some family and were starting to get back on their feet. The dad took the kids to a lake and swam out with the youngst daughter on his shoulder. All of a sudden the girl starts screaming and they are both sinking. The oldest son swims out and pushes the girl back to shore and then tries to rescue the dad who is drowning, but in doing so ends up drowning too. So this family lost their house and finally started recovering then lost their father and oldest son in the same day. It is so sad and it makes me realize how blessed I am to have a house and all of my family!

So I hope you guys all have a good Sunday evening and a good Monday morning tomorrow! (If it is possible to have a good Monday morning!)

Back Home Again

Ahh sorry for the lack of updating its been super busy this week! So Wednesday after lunch I pretty much packed and loaded up my car and did a little homework. Then for dinner I had another lasagna roll up and the last of my leftover fruit. I used an ugg box for my table hahah!

After dinner I made made sure I had everything packed up in my car. I had been craving a smoothie so I headed over to Tropical Smoothie on my way to Maggie's and got a Blimey Limey- my favorite!
Then I headed over to Maggie's and we went to three different stores in search of a logitech microphone so we can have 2 mics for High School Musical Sing it! But we had zero luck and made it back just in time for Lost! Then the next morning I woke up and had a blueberry pomegranate yogurt from Target. It was pretty good not the best and not the worst.
Then a couple hours later for lunch I had my last lasagna roll up.
Then I headed home! It took my almost an hour longer than usual because there was traffic and construction everywhere! When I finally got home I unloaded my car! I now have most of the stuff that I won't be using when I'm living at home packed in boxes and stacked up in the dining room until we find a better place to store them! Then I worked on my case study and portfolio for my tutoring class until dinner. There was not much to choose from but somehow my dad found this bertolli bag of pasta in the back of the freezer.
It was stuffed shells with a shrimp scampi sauce with little shrimpies all through the sauce. It was surprisingly good for one of these frozen bag things (which my parents buy all the time but I really hate!) My dad also made some toaster garlic bread hahaaa- this is really how little food we have in the house. We had some sourdough bread slices so my dad just tops them butter and garlic powder and the pops them in the toaster.
Then for the rest of the night I mostly worked on my case study and I'm almost done. Today I will for sure finish that and then work a little on the power point for our special needs group project for Tuesday! ahh I thought most of the big homework things were done when I turned in that 10 page paper last week but I guess I was wrong! I also at some point need to put together a portfolio of resources about teaching students with special needs in different subjects in school- if anyone knows of any websites let me know!

So I just finished eating a wonderful breakfast of my favorite cranberry orange bread and almond butter with an orange on the side!
Hope everyone has a great friday! Tonight there is a 2 hour prison break on- I'm pretty excited!!!!!