Christmas Cookies, part 1

Hiya kiddos!

Do I dare even touch the issue that is the snow in NYC? I am sure most of you are done with it. I’m done with it – and I live here. I am toying with the idea of dedicating some blog time to writing a letter to the powers that be over what I think of this whole scenario… but I dont want to get into any negativity before the end of this year.

My posts from now and the new year might be few and far as I havent been in the kitchen much in light of the flu that kicked my ass and from here on out I will be in the kitchen preparing for the new years eve bash I am hosting… I figured since christmas was kinda sucky, i should go out with a big bang! And if i ever felt short on inspiration that all changed when the dude gave me the most amazeballs cookbook for christmas (along with a new kitchen toy). I forsee a lot of deliciousness in 2011.

When several people made mention of christmas cookies I kept coming home from work, pouring a big glass of wine and staring at my mixer; willing it to magically make cookies by my stares alone… i was unsuccessful as you might imagine. With a week before Christmas left, i summoned by friend Patti over (AKA splintergirl), she brought the wine and japanese take out while i whipped up a crazy ass amt of cookie dough.

Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Ing: 1 cup unsalted butter (softened), 1 cup sugar, 1 cup brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 tbsp vanilla, 2 cups flour, 1 sp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 1 cup chocolate chips

Dir: Preheat oven to 375*. Cream Butter and sugar in mixer on medium speed for 2 minutes. Switch mixer to low and slowly add in eggs one by one, followed by the vanilla. Continue to add in the flour, baking soda, and salt. When everything is mixed together turn off mixer and fold in the chocolate chips with a spoon or rubber spatula.

Using a small spoon (i use an ice cream scoop) place rounded portions of cookie dough onto a nonstick baking pan (or a baking mat that you borrowed from your friend). Bake for 10-12 minutes.

Allow to cool on a cooling rack. This recipe makes 2 dozen cookies.

This was one of the easier of the recipes. Mix, drop and bake… the others required some extra love and affection. (and a lot more wine)

Oatmeal Cookies:

Ingredients: 1 cup unsalted butter (softened), 1 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup sugar, 2 eggs, 2 tsp vanilla, 1 1/4 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp salt, 3 cups quick cooking oats.

Directions: In mixer cream butter and sugar on medium for 2 minutes. Beat in eggs on low one at a time. Add vanilla and slowly add flour, baking soda, salt and oats. Do not over mix. Dough should be light and fluffy.

At this point, I was really tired (early sign of a weakening immune system) and rolled up the oatmeal dough and put it in the freezer.

A week later, i defrosted the cookie dough and baked for 12 minutes at 325*.

I used a melon baller for uniform cookie sizes.

and made good use out of my borrowed silpats.

And realized when the cookies were done baking that they were overmixed.. they should have come out plump and chewy. Instead they were flat. and chewy. But they were delicious.

Next post will explain how this:

Turned to this:

Exciting stuff, isnt it?

I am running out of PB

So the re-tagging process has become quite the pain in the BEHIND. I am literally going back in time, erasing mindless tags and replacing with new uniform, easy to find tabs. It amazes me how careless I was in the tagging process and how stupid blogger is for disabling so many tags when I bought my own domain. UGH! I managed to updated the tags on 75 posts last night. It sounds like alot but I have about 325 to go. (insert unenthusiastic YAY here)

I was going to make a green monster and felt my jar was a little on the light side. A peek inside confirmed 2 things:1. I think I am out of peanut butter

2. I should have Oats in a Jar for breakfast. I bought a cinnamon spice oatmeal that really sucks. But when I put peanut butter in it, it acutally tastes good- obvi, it does more for the peanut butter than the other way around. I have also come to realize that when I have oats in a jar at work people look at me funny. I can imagine what is going through their minds:

Is Mo eating PB straight from the jar???

Wouldn’t be the first time… especially if its a jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams! mmmm.

Or My favorite:

Did you just put OATMEAL in your Peanut Butter?

Duh.
And after the explanation and the much hated “GROSS” comments I press on and eat my oats in a jar and feel sorry for the souls who have never put a lil pb love in their oatmeal. I know, its not for everyone but please dont knock it till ya try it.

NOTE* For OIAJ virgins, please do not COOK your oats in a jar in a microwave! I added hot water (NOT BOILING) to my oats and let them sit for a while before i ate them. No plastic was harmed in the process*

I also got a little overzealous:

and added a spoonful of my vanilla chobani. I have seen several bloggers adding yogurt to their oats and coining the phrase Yoats… but i couldnt get into this. Yogurt and peanut butter- GOOD, Peanut Butter and oats- REALLY GOOD, Yogurt, peanut butter, and oats? Flavor overload in a bad way. I liked the creaminess the yogurt added but the tartness was just too much and overpowered the pb. I ate it anyway and boy was i stuffed! But i wont make that mistake again. Kudos to the yoat lovers out there.

For lunch, i decided to eat half an avocado and needed a muse.
This ezekial wrap reminded me of my favorite “single girl living alone breakfast lunch and dinner” option. Quesadilla. with Eggs.

I cant take credit for this one. I stole this idea from the Lovely and Annoying at the same time, Rachael Ray. It was when I subscribed to her magazine and acutally used the weekly menus. She had a Bacon egg and cheese quesadilla in the menu and i made it once. After that lovely foodgasm and CHEAP dinner, I started to make different versions. I got sick of it eventually and stopped making it…

but they are making a comeback!

I fried to eggs over medium.

and managed to cause very Little damage! Yolks still intact! SUCCESS!

SLATHERED the bottom half of the Ezekial wrap with one laughing cow swiss cheese wedge. This was used as “glue”. so the eggs had somewhere to stick.

Placed the eggs on the wrap. I keep the yokes towards the middle… you will see why if you make your own.

Added a deliciously ripe avocado sprinkled with coarse sea salt. Added shredded mozzarella on top as “glue” for the other side. Folded the wrap in half to create the ‘dilla. Normally, I would have placed the ‘dilla in my skillet for a quick cook on each side but i was using a small skillet and didnt want to dirty yet another dish. I placed it in my toaster oven…which could use a good cleaning too…

Please note the gooeyness on the left. one of my eggs couldnt take the pressure. Let the ‘dilla sit in the “broiler” for 5 mins or until the edges of the ‘dilla brown.

I wanted a side dish so i made some fries out of a Zucchini and stir-fried them in spray oil, salt and pepper until they were crisp-tender. Peep the foodie goodness.

All together now! This was awesome. It was just as good as I remembered it. Not pictured is the salsa i dunked this baby in. I was in piggy heaven. And with all the fiber, protein and monounsaturated fatty acids going on in this photo, by the time dinner rolled around I wasnt really starving..

I was dreaming of the Wisconsin block of cheddar that I bought…

And had a straight up wine and cheese plate for dinner. Turkey pepperoni is my new bitch by the way! Along with some sugary-sweet strawberries and a glass of pinot grigio. My belly was sooo happy… and i was a little buzzed too.

Have you ever gotten TIRED of anything? So much so that the mere suggestion of it makes you gag?

FOUR

Happy Birthday to my Pup, Mickey. She’s 4 today. No, I’m not thowing her a party. But we will have some cuddles and treats and possibly a really long walk provided the weather holds up…and if Mommy doesn’t get too thirsty at Happy Hour. LOL.
A quick post today. A really quick post later on the winner of the Mini Herb Garden. You still have till Noon today to enter! Click here!

For breakfast, a very uninspiring bowl of cinnamon spice oatmeal with a heaping tablespoon of Mighty Maple Peanut Butter. The good news is that the jar is sorta empty now and I will be having oats in a jar very soon!

Now that I am back at the gym, lunch prep has taken a back seat. I am going for quick eats that will keep me going but require the minimum effort to assemble. Behold the junk salad:

Literally thrown together in seconds. Spring greens topped with cut up slices of Virginia Ham, 1/4 chopped avocado, big tablespoon of roasted red pepper hummus, fat free mozzarella cheese, and alfalfa sprouts. Not pictured is the balsamic vinaigrette that I made… it wasnt the greatest dressing. If you have a homemade dressing you want to share feel free to leave a comment with tips or email me. I am getting a little bored with the bottled dressings.

Among some of the random things I take from my mothers refrigerator, I scored a cornish hen. I LOVE Roasted poultry…i CANNOT stand chicken or cornish hen when its cooked in the crock pot. It takes on this weird texture, odor and taste that most people cannot identify…but it makes me ILL. I havent had crock pot chicken since the last time i made it… the smell REALLY gets to me.

ANYWAY. Cornish hens, where I live are really expensive. Mom picked up a bunch of hens at BJs for a steal and my father HATES them… (thanks Dad) and mom handed this baby over…

I cleaned it up and then got to seasoning it. Onion, garlic, Salt, Pepper, and parm cheese. Never put parm cheese on poultry before but i was feeling a little adventurous. I put this lil baby in the toaster oven but the parm cheese started to burn and we cant have that so i put the oven on and roasted it for 30 mins. it was small so it cooked fast.

I had trimmed this up really nicely and thought the parm and the garlic were awesome additions to the seasoning. I might just start adding parm cheese to my poultry from now on..

There would be some pics of the cornish hen in all its yummy glory but I came home a little tipsy and kinda went to town on it… the end results were ugly!

Its Official (and a giveaway)

If it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck and looks like a duck… its a duck right?
All this time I have been calling myself a blogger and confessed my love of peanut butter and my love of oats, and my love of tofu and bla bla bla… but there was on blogger trend that I never tried. When I first saw it I thought it was a great idea for using up every last bit of peanut butter in the jar… Oh, yes, I am referring to oats in a jar. Nevermind the fact that my first experience of putting peanut butter in my oats involved a jar of Dark Chocolate Dreams and a packet of Cinnamon Roll oatmeal… how incredible it was… but the thought of putting oats in a jar of peanut butter never crossed my mind.
Maybe because I have a bajillion different flavors of peanut butter that have yet to reach the Oats in A Jar status…
Until Now.
I was working on the cinnamon raisin swirl peanut butter for Months! Months i tell ya and the amount left in this jar was pitiful. I happened to have a packet of oatmeal and I seized the moment.

The verdict. Wonderful. I could not believe the additional volume to my oats. They were incredibly creamy and the peanut butter was studded with raisins so the extra bonus of raisins made for a textural paradise. seriously, party in my mouth. I am looking forward to more oats in a jar parties in my mouth as my bajillion jars are coming to an end. i will keep ya posted.

Around lunchtime i tried a new sammy. Avocados are in season and I love love love me some fresh and ripe avocado. When i first joined the workforce many moons ago, my first lunch was a grainy bread stuffed with tomatoes, hummus, avocado, and sprouts. So, i recreated it. Two slices of Ezekial 4:9 bread, 1/2 a ripe avocado, a healthy smear of red pepper hummus (translation: a glob), alfalfa sprouts and a heaping handful of spring greens. DIVINE. I have made some good sandwiches in my life… but this one – its VEGAN and its INSANELY good… and filling i might add. The calorie count on this whopper of a sammie is under 300 cals and kept me satiated till dinner.

Which wasnt so healthy.

When Carol was visiting, we passed by BAOHAUS and saw that it was JAMMED with eaters. We had just eaten and couldnt fathom another bite of anything…but i made a mental note to return.

While walking in the neighborhood i spotted the sign and noticed it was empty. I took this moment to experience Baohaus. Baohaus is in the lower east side and offers a small variety of vietnamese steamed buns. I am a steamed bun lover from the start since I work in Chinatown… but i wanted to put this place to the test.

The server was very friendly and helpful. I told her it was my first time there and she walked me through the ordering process. Since i wanted to sample them I asked for her recommendation. She knew I was looking to taste so she followed up by asking me if I like lean meats or fatty meats.

Taking a second to look at myself i thought and said FATTY.

And thats how i ended up with the Chairman Bao.

Braised Pork Belly, crushed peanuts, cilantro, Taiwanese red sugar, and relish on a steamed bun. It was $4 for one. I was a tad disappointed because $4 is a little steep for something so small… but the value comes when you buy them in bulk (3 at a time). Despite the price tag, I took a big girl bite. and then another. and another and before i knew it, this delectable treat was gone. Not wanting to go broke in the calorie house or in my wallet, I thanked her and walked out in search of some coffee. I thoroughly enjoyed the bun but in order to get back there someone is gonna have to buy )

And now, because Im in a good mood and because My Blog Spark sent me one, I have a giveaway.

Green Giant hooked me up and wants to hook you up to!

Enclosed in the prize pack is a resuable bag, a mini herb garden, three wooden cooking utensils, and a coupon for a free Green Giant Product.

As a city girl, i suck at planting anything… but this looked USER FRIENDLY enough.

I followed the directions and placed these babies on my window sill.

I will report the progress…. so far my basil is starting to sprout!

WANNA WIN?

One Entry per the following:

1- leave a comment about anything. What color is your top today? are you even wearing a top?

2- follow me. Cuz really, I am a great blogger and you want to hang on to every word i “say”

3- tweet tweet tweet: “Mo is giving away a mini Herb Garden. and No, its not weed” www.twitter.com/iarethefoodsnob

4 – link back… because more chances help your odds of winning

RULES:

- ANYONE in the U.S. can enter. You do not have to be a blogger to enter…but you MUST have an email address so i can let you know you are a winner.

- Contest ends Friday, april 9th at NOON.

- YOU MUST BE HUMAN to ENTER. Sorry Mickey Girl, you cant enter this one.

Thanks a Latte!

My fond, fond memories of young adulthood were spent grinding coffee beans, pullin shots of espresso and steaming buckets of milk at a time at the ‘bucks. The good ol’ days. If I could, I’d run back there to live the simple life. I spent 3 years serving lattes, cappucinos, frappuccinos and and everything in between. Life was simple. Report to work. Put on your apron. Smile. Serve the coffee. That was it! the pay sucked but really- life was SOOO much simpler then. No bills. No rent. No responsibilities but to spend the money i busted my ass for.
A lot has changed since then. But one thing is constant…my love for coffee. Not just coffee… but GOOD Coffee. When my brother scored a holiday spot at the ‘bucks last year he hooked his big sis up with a new travel mug, a big mug for home ….
and this beauty. My French Press. Little Brother got me TWO of these babies. One for work and one for home. There is nothing like a freshly ground, freshly pressed cup of coffee. But sometimes time is not on my side and Keurig does all the work so i dont get to play with the press as often as I would like to.

On a particularly lazy day, I decided to relax with a big ol mug of coffee, Cafe con leche style. But seriously, i was craving something frothy and strong- like a capuccino- Hell! Even a Latte would suffice. But I do not own an espresso maker (where you can steam your milk)…but I do have a way to froth my milk without any heavy machinery…

The steaming wand on the espresso machine works by aerating the milk with steam, causing the milk to froth or get foamy. The French Press can be operated in such a way to produce the same effects (maybe better) than the steaming wand.

I poured half of my still hot cafe con leche into my french press (i have a 4 cup press so i filled it about halfway) and plunge the top of the press rapidly several times to produce this glorious effect:

Froth. The volume doubled in size with the addition of air.

I was impressed with the results.

and sprinkled my homemade latte with cinnamon. It was freakin delish! I am willing to bet that it kicked the ass of quality of ‘Bucks’ foam… but you need to see for yourself. A French press will run you about $20 vs. the hundreds you might spend on an espresso machine.

On to the eats!

Overnight oats made with soy and brown sugar. Not my fave. I like creamy oats. These were too thick and when i tried to add a lil water to them I watered down the flavor : (

Lunch was fab! Grilled shrimp seasoned with sea salt and cracked pepper on top of a bed of romaine lettuce. I bought the farm fresh romaine and was a little irked by the texture of the leaves… they werent crunchy but did manage to turn my FF creamy white ranch dressing a bright lime green color. (please tell me if this is bad lol)

And then for din din i wanted something comforting:

Oh How I love Amy’s! This was my first pot pie from the Am-ster but i have heard good things and really- how can you screw up a pot pie?

Took about an hour to cook in the oven but it was worth the wait. The sauce was cheesy and the crust was flaky and buttery. The crust is my favorite part! (which reminds me of when I was dating Rene, I made him a pot pie from scratch and he was so impatient to eat it that he took it out of the oven before the potatoes were cooked and ate all the chicken and crust in it… leaving me with pot pie filling minus chicken… Man, I sure have dated some WINNERS in my time!)
DO YOU HAVE ANY KITCHEN SHORTCUTS OR UNUSUAL USES FOR APPLICANCES?

(and no, you cant say you use your neck massager for something else!)

Blogging in my Jammies

Happy Thursday!
I am taking a vacation day, sitting in my red snowflake pjs, listening to Gaga, and sitting at my desk with magical sun rays keeping me warm and cozy.
I have discovered a wide array of trends on the food blogger network. If you are a female blogger there are three things that are always on the menu:
Peanut butter
oats
TOFU or tempeh
I would like to encounter a blogger that does not like any of the items listed above. I know you are out there!
After reading all of you blogs I crave peanut butter, oats and tofu. Not together of course…but i crave it. I got the oats and PB down…but i have been craving tofu.
How can one crave a substance that has no flavor whatsoever?
Texture my friends. its all about the texture!
So after a long day at the office I came home and fixed me a tofu stir fry.
of course, as is the trend in my life as of late, nothing has been going the way i planned…

I was given this tofu in a box a month or so ago. I normally get extra firm tofu from the refrigerated produce aisle….never in a box. This should be interesting. First, the tofu isnt Extra Firm. It claims its firm… but i beg to differ. To start, this block of tofu PLOPPED out of the box it came in. It was not appetizing at all- but my craving was there so i couldnt care less about the plop factor.
Then, upon hitting the dish – it broke! wth! its delicate. so i try to dry it up a bit and it literally crumbles as i handle it.

I sliced the tofu as best as i could and was mindful of it crumbling as i was stir frying it. How frustrating. I added some stir fry sauce….

and it turned into a stir fried tofu scramble.

i added some freshly steamed broccoli and watched the tofu crumble even more.

So ugly looking and not at all what i was imagining.

I added it to some steamed brown rice and poured some diluted chili sauce on top. I ate my scrambled tofu and broccoli but that texture i was craving was not fulfilled… so alas- i crave tofu still! But anyone who is getting tofu for dinner and you intend on stir frying- you must must must get the extra firm one!
texturally this dish was a fail but flavor wise- it was pretty good! (and healthy)

….
unfortunately, not having my DREAM tofu dinner, my body craved something else…

cereal. about 2.5 cups of honey bunches of oats with skim milk. Anyone with milk sensitivities should know that having a massive bowl of cereal at or around bed time is never a good idea!
I had to learn that one the hard way.

Enjoying my StayCation

Happy Friday bloggies!
Still home on my Stay-cation. Decided to go to the grocery store and stock up on essentials in the event of a snow storm. I went at 930 am on a Friday thinking I would have the whole place to myself… i was so wrong. It was soooo crowded! But I made it out alive and stocked up on milk, veggies, oats and snacks to hold me over. Peep my creamy Cinnamon Roll oats with a dab of cinnamon Raisin peanut butter. Soo good. I also stocked up on greek yogurt because lately, i see a lot of yogurt in the oats and i am so tempted! mmm! I will let you know if i loves it.

For lunchies I have been sticking to pretty much the same thing. Sandwich thins, flavored peanut butter and fluff! i got a huge jar of fluff for like $1.50 its become my favorite part of my pb sammies. Jams make the sammies messy and soggy, fluff just makes it sweet.

I spoon a lump into the middle and wrap it up. When i get to work the fluff is spread nicely all over the bread. It makes for an awesome bite! I enjoy this with an apple and h20…if im in a snacky mood a bag of pop chips. but i was in the mood for something else…

healthy pop! a 2.5 serving bag. i ate the whole thing over the course of 3 hours. about 250 cals for the whole bag. so good. and I felt really greedy! tee hee.

For dinner I had a grilled tilapia fillet with a little teriyaki sauce, steamed broccoli, steamed rice, and balsamic mushrooms. This was so good. I really was trying to behave and save some for another day but it was just too good not to consume!

And i wanted to officially announce that Henry is back! Its so nice to have him back!

Super Bowl Sunday is this weekend. Anyone making apps? My party got moved to another persons house so i am making brownies with marshmallow frosting and Mommy Crack!

A Weight has been Lifted

For the past 10 days I have been self diagnosing myself with a cold, allergies, sinus infection and whatever else I have felt like. I was so grateful to have felt kind of like myself at the blogger meetup and the next day the situation (fist pumps) snow-balled into something ugly. I havent been sick in two years… not this sick at least. But Sick enough to travel an hour and a half out of my way to see my ENT. My savior. My doctor. He gave me the healing drugs (praise cheeses) and as I sit here typing at my desk, i wish I was home in bed but i am feeling a teensy bit better. i am looking forward to feeling ALOT better tomorrow…
because in just two short days, Henritos will be home! the last three months have been so hard (TWSS) and I really appreciate all my new friends who have been so awesome.
But now that I am on my way to feeling better and Henry will be home… i feel as though a weight has been lifted!
Oats. I have always liked oats. The other day, Lynn made some savory oats and I immediately was intrigued. I have a love for grits because of their savory goodness but never knew my oats could be savory too… I had to try this out. The smell of oats makes me think “SWEET” definitely not savory. So I admit I was a skeptic from the start. I prepared half instant, half rolled oats and added some salt and pepper. While it was thickening, I made an egg over easy.

That was one gi-normous egg.

Served it atop my oats. the verdict: so good! the yoke was a nice addition to the savory oats. I couldnt beleive how satisfying it was!

Later in the day, I met my papa for a late lunch. I had a craving for a salad and went to my beloved Spaghetti Western. I looked online and planned ahead! I allotted myself a cool 600 cals for lunch because it was late in the day and I was likely to have a cup of soup for dinner.

the Grilled Tuna Nicoise Salad was calling my name. Seared Tuna, herbed poatoes, green beans, honey mustard vinagrette…all of it was calling out to me!
and thats when I got this…

A pretty looking interpretation of what a Nicoise Salad should be. It was filled with a lovely mix of greens… that was yummy. The tuna was nicely seared… however, it was topped with anchovies… i never tried them before but gave it a shot (verdict: SALTY but okay). Next I found some odd substitutions… snow peas instead of green beans, potato chips instead of herbed roasted taters, balsamic vinagrette instead of honey mustard… and orange sections. I need to know why anchovies and oranges are in the same salad. I moved the oranges to the side and ate them as dessert.

So, my dining adventure with dad has not gone the way i intended (AGAIN). I calculated this “salad” as acurately as possible and becuase I am sick I cant workout… it left me little options for dinner.

But i was totally psyched to have an ice cream bar for dinner!

No More! Please! Make it Stop!

I am reaching my boiling point with the soft stuff. I was enjoying it. Really enjoying it. But something happened later in the day that broke me. oh the shame.
I started my day with my super food smoothie with green powder, chocolate soy milk, heaping spoon of peanut butter and a frozen banana. Its good! I enjoy it as it gives me energy and fills me up but I am starting to miss the sinful things… like bagels. mmm. carbs!

Pumpkin butter is back at Trader joes! yay!I love pumpkin butter and I norally enjoy it on toast but I decided to put a spoonful into my lunch time oats.

MMM. i used cinnamon spice oats.

The mixture was pumpkin-y and cinamon-y but it was really sweet. I might have to use less pumpkin butter or add more water and plain oats.

It was really difficult to eat my lunch when so many people are heating up delicious foods nearby. Someone (damn them) brought in taiwanese FRIED chicken. And it was so aromatic that I felt my stomach YEARNING for the fragrant forbidden “fruit”.

And you know I can shrug stuff like that off once I have eaten but for some reason, Everywhere I went that fried chicken smell was wafting through the air. It was insane! Was EVEYRONE eating fried chicken????

UGH!

When I got to Queens, i was walking home and what the F do you think i smelled. Damn freakin right. Fried Chicken!

I took my dog for a walk with me while I went to the Golden Fountain- my favorite spot for Chinese food and i ordered…. Chicken wings.

Im laughing as I type this. I couldnt possibly make my own fried chicken because the chicken was frozen and taht would take too long. I needed instant gratification. I paid $4 for 4 wings (damn, back in the day they were $2) and went home. Mickey LOVES fried chicken so my plan of action was to chop some up for her (to avoid eating it all) and have 2, the most! With wings in tow, i need a side dish and since this was a comfort thing i did the unthinkable….

INSTANT. MAC. AND. Cheese.

What is wrong with you Diva?

I know I asked myself the same thing. I hate instant mac and cheese. But I didnt know what else to have and I sure as hell wasnt gonna have fried rice or french fries!

I was lazy and microwaved it.

and gagged as I poured powdered cheese all over the al dente pasta. I swear there is nothing more disgusting about powdered cheese. Im such a cheese lover that I cant even deal with this. But in the name of all that is comfort i will press on through this nasty powdered cheese and hope to salvage it enough to be mistaken for velveeta…

Since this was going NOWHERE, I added half and half (for creaminess) and a little bit of butter to cut the tartness of this powder cheese. It definately loosened it up. A little too loose.

But I popped it back into the microwave to thicken the new cheese sauce. It was a definite improvement but I wouldnt say this was the best mac I have ever had.
And I ate my two wings with my serving of mac and fake cheese and was satisfied (mostly due to the fact that the cheese put me off!) But these super food smoothies have really curbed my appetite…. despite the craving monster that kicked my ass today.

I am off the fried chicken craze and back on my smoothies. My tooth is better and I really enjoy the pick me up in the morning.

I’m glad I can share this crazy shit with you.

Oh yeah and Mickey Loved her some wings… no more treats for her until next weekend when we go to Toby Keith’s birthday Paw-ty!

Re-Vamped those Leftovers!

When I got home last night I wanted something quick and yummy. I am getting bored with my leftovers (who wouldn’t) and really wanted eggs…but I didnt want to waste my leftover beef and potatoes… and It hit me.

FRITTATA!

I chopped up the leftover potatoes and beef that I made the night before and added 3 broccoli florets and chopped them up too.

I beat two eggs and combined them with a little bit of skim milk. I added salt and pepper and lightly cooked the eggs before adding the “junk”. I placed the entire pan in the oven at 425* and cooked for 8-9 minutes. I meant to take more pics but Henry called and needed recipe 911. Once I was off the phone and his Chicken LoMein was on the mend, my dinner was done.

I sprinkled some Parmesean Cheese on it and sliced it into 4 pieces. I served myself two slices (or half of this concoction) and a slice of toast.

YUMMY! With a slice of toast sprayed with butter.

It was quite pleasant. It was like a steak and egg omelet with home fries…diner food! Sweet! And healthy too!

Happy to report the above photo is the last of the beef. I had that for lunch today – I am officially sick of it!
Around snack time I wanted a snackeroo, so i opened my Laughing Cow Cheese and veggie Crackers and had at it.


So good! I highly recommend the Laughing Cow Spreadable Cheese! It goes great in sandwiches or on crackers – even on toast. Its creamy and flavorful and SUPER low in calories!

Last week, I went to Moms house ( gotta love that mom!) and came back with groceries (Oh Mom!). She gave me some instant oatmeal that Poppa-Dukes wasn’t eating (‘sup Dad?). Oh, yeah, they read this blog. Say hey to the folks readers! lol.
I am getting bored with plain oatmeal so i grabbed a mystery packet today and make it for breakfast at work. It was a Maple and Brown Sugar with Crunchy Granola Topping!

I really enjoyed the texture of this oatmeal and the sweetness! The granola did, however, get soggy after a few minutes but still totally enjoyable!
For some strange reason, at 12 i was starving… so I ate one of these mama-jamas. The verdict: pretty good. It was a little warm- would probably be AMAZING with ripened Strawberries. And Im currently noshing on these as I type this lovely entry.

For dinner tonight, I have some Tofu that needs my attention, so i might make a stir fry. Stay tuned for pics!

Pre-dinner Nosh! Chinese Pear.

GIVEAWAY ALERT!!!
Kate from What I ate Yesterday is having a giveaway! All you have to do is leave her a comment and link back to her post and you will be entered to win a bottle of Country Bob’s All Purpose sauce! Im entering and so should you! Enter by clicking here.