Naps, Books, and Soup

Busy week, as usual, lol. The cute little kitten was his usual crazy self pretty much the same night he had his parts removed. In my last post I have a pic of him on a pillow, under a blanket, napping. Let's just say, as soon as he was done his nap, he was fine! Running around, playing etc. I don't think he even knows what's missing on his person! LOL!

So, my soup and bread were AMAZING last week! The bread, which I shared a bit of at work, went over really well and one of my co-workers ended up having some every day! Good thing too, it was too much for just me.

On Friday my better half made me a feast! She made pork roast in the crock pot, potatoes, yeast rolls, and cookies! With the fresh rolls we had some of the honey butter that we picked up at the farmers market awhile ago. So freakin' yummy!

It's been a weekend of catching up on sleep, that's for sure. On Friday night we both napped for about 3 hrs, got up for a couple of hours and then went back to bed. Niiiiice!

On Saturday morning I got up early-ish to go to a HUGE used book sale! Thank you to Anita at No Book Left Behind, whose love of book sales prompted me to look online to see if there were any in my area! As luck would have it, there was a HUGE one about 40 minutes away! It was the 2nd annual used book sale, organized by the branches of a city library. I heard one woman say that last year they had 30,000 books donated and that this year it was more! Crazy!

I did VERY well for myself...I spent $11.50 and got 17 books! They were 50 cents for paperback and $2 for hard cover. Here is the list of titles/authors:

• The Quickie - James Patterson
• Cross - James Patterson
• Four Blind Mice - James Patterson
• Step on a Crack - James Patterson
• The Thomas Berryman Number - James Patterson
• Season of the Machete - James Paterson
• The Beach House - James Patterson & Peter De Jonge
• The Jester - James Patterson & Andrew Cross
• The Hanged Man's Song - John Sandford
• Hidden Prey - John Sandford
• The Devil's Code - John Sandford
• The Manhattan Hunt Club - John Saul
• Southern Cross - Patricia Cornwell
• 'O' is for Outlaw - Sue Grafton
• 24 Hours - Greg Iles
• Wicked - Gregory Maguire

Wow, that seemed to take FOREVER to type out! LOL! As you can see, when at book sales, I tend to go for just a couple of authors to expand my collection of those particular authors. I LOVE BOOKS!

Let's see...oh, Saturday night we watched Tropic Thunder...it was ok...some funny parts, but a little long for that kind of movie. Oh, also had another 3 hour nap on Saturday afternoon! We LOVE to nap, apparently! LOL! At least I caught up on some of my sleep this weekend. It will be another busy week this week, so I'll need it!

Today (Sunday) we slept in until 10am, ran around doing groceries, etc. I picked up the fixins for my soup of the week. I couldn't decide on a new soup and wanted something relatively easy, so I went for my good old Tomato Macaroni Soup. Yummy!

I got a good shot of it steaming on the stove, yay! The next picture is of the lunches for the week, plus an extra container for one of our friends who enjoys soup. :-)

As usual, I'll have the soup with the 7 Grain Kashi crackers which I have become addicted to. They go so well with this soup. Oh, I also picked up some Liberte Coconut yogurt that sounded good and when I had a taste, I was not disappointed. Not just coconut FLAVOR, but coconut PIECES!! I'm going to add to it some Nature's Path Pumpkin Flax Plus Granola. I got the granola a few months ago (some coupon deal where I bought one, got one free). I keep forgetting that I have it! It's VERY tasty! (thank you to Krista's post at Krista's Kravings for reminding me that I have it!)

No post would be complete without a picture of two of the little devils. Damn cats! Quit looking so cute!

Have a great week everyone!

My Poor Baby

Awwww, my poor boy looks so out of it tonight. :-( He had his little cat bits removed today and he is doing well. Just a bit disoriented and tired. I totally understand the reasoning behind getting animals spayed or neutered, but it still makes me feel bad when I look at the little guy. I'm sure he'll be back to his bad crazy self in no time.


On a brighter note, my wonderful wife-to-be made me this AMAZING supper tonight! She marinated a huge steak overnight in a yummy concoction and cooked it in the oven (too freakin cold outside to grill). We halved the big slab of meat and she also made some yummy fried taters. Let me just say, the outside edges of the steak (the bits of fat) were so.freakin.good. I, of course, had to have a variety of condiments...I love sauces of any kind. The more the merrier! I had some HP, ketchup, and 57 sauce! Mmmmmm! Delish!! She's such a great cook, I sure lucked out!


So...my Greek yogurt was VERY YUMMY this morning! I had the blueberry one (see yesterday's post) and wish that I'd grabbed at least one more when I was at Whole Foods the other day. It will probably be awhile before I go back. It's a bit too far to go, just to get Greek yogurt.

The verdict on my Pumpkin & Prune bread and my Curried Sweet Potato & Carrot soup...O...M...G! Both were incredible! I brought one of my co-workers a piece of the bread and she enjoyed it so much she's expecting another piece tomorrow, lol! We'll see...not sure if I can spare a piece. ;-)

I think it will be an early night tonight...I got up super early to catch up on some things at work after my couple of days off. I got up at 4:45am...crazy. I was surprised, I actually got up without too much effort. Yay me!

Anyway, everyone have a great evening! Two posts, two days in a row...a record for me! Don't get too used to that people!

Did Someone Say Soup?

It's been a LOVELY lonnnnnnnnnnnng weekend! I took a couple of days off and it was wonderful. Did some sleeping in, some errands, and some cookin'! Busy busy! Even rented a movie (Get Smart) and played some Wii.

On Friday I went to check out the Whole Foods (one of two in Canada!). It was a bit of a drive away, but I NEEDED to check it out. I've seen it mentioned on a bunch of blogs, so I had to see it for myself. It had a bunch of yummy things, but was quite a bit more expensive than our usual stores. I've heard that the prices are a bit more reasonable in the states, so it could be just higher up here. Anyway, bought four different Larabars and a Greek yogurt!

In order of appearance, Cocoa Coffee, Cocoa Mole, Banana Bread, Cocoa Orange, and Cocoa. The last one was purchased elsewhere and is actually just a wrapper...I ate that one some time last week! It was pretty cocoa-y. Not bad, but could have used a bit more sweetness.

That's the Greek yogurt above. I've had a such a hard time finding Greek yogurt here. Hope this one is good. It's blueberry in the side compartment...I'm going to try it tomorrow for breakfast, so we'll see!

On Saturday I guess I wasn't feeling too spiffy...woke up at 8am or so, but went back to bed after about an hour and a half of checking blogs and such and slept till 2pm! That is so unlike me. Felt really drugged and out of it for the rest of the afternoon. I felt a lot better on Sunday. :-)

Played a bunch of Wii on Sunday! Played some boxing, bowling, and baseball. So much fun! I'm sore today from the boxing...it's quite the cardio workout! Speaking of workout...I went with my better half to her gym this morning and we swam in the pool...it was so nice and warm! Perfect on a chilly day! After some more errands we came home and I had some oatmeal...

I'm sure it looks a bit gross, but it was pretty good. I added some chocolate chips and some cherry craisins. I've heard through the grapevine that I seem to have a theme going for a lot of what I make...a Poop theme, if you will. I'll have you know that it was NOT intentional that this looked like poop! I swear! Also, the pictures of today's soup (further down in this post) do NOT look like poop. Ok, maybe a little... :-P

After my oatmeal settled I went to the gym! I did my usual workout and then weighed myself (since it's Monday and I always try to weigh myself on Mondays). I was 164.6 lbs. Not too shabby, since I've been slacking a bit. Can't wait to see the 150's at some point. I swear, since my better half and I have been together (almost 5 years) I've had such a hard time getting back down to my original weight (130 lbs). I don't know if it's because I'm older and it's harder to lose when you get past your 20's or what. They say the more you gain while in a relationship, the happier you must be...well, it's obvious that we're ecstatic!! :-)

Just for good measure, I'm throwing in a picture of my dummy...I mean my kitten. This is in honor of him getting his manhood taken away from him tomorrow. Poor guy. I must say though...he has the biggest ummm...nads (pardon my French) that I've ever seen on a cat (no picture of that, don't worry...no one needs to see that!)!

He has NO idea it's coming! He loves to sleep with his tail under his chin. He's too cute and he knows it.

OMG, before I forget...I received my wedding present early!! Her present was the Wii, my present is this beauty:

Let me just say...I LOVE this thing!! It's a single cup fancy dancy coffee maker. If I wasn't already taken, I would marry it! I can make a cup of any of those goodies to the left of the machine. I can make coffee, tea, cocoa...even just hot water if I so choose! Ahhh, so much coffee, so little time! :-)

Ok, on to this week's lunch!! Drum roll please!! I would just like to say...I am so very proud of myself, you have no idea. I keep wanting to call my Mom and tell her about this (she passed away in January and would also have been very proud of me and would have loved the items that I made today).

I made Curried Sweet Potato & Carrot Soup and Pumpkin & Prune Bread:

We went out to a fancy Bistro on Friday night and I had an amazing bowl of soup...I knew as soon as I tasted it that I'd have to try and make it. I found a recipe online, tweaked it a smidge, and here is the finished product! It was so freakin' good. I am SOOOO looking forward to lunch tomorrow! YUM!!

This lovely bread recipe I borrowed from Tina at Carrots 'N' Cake. I just substituted pumpkin for squash (since I wasn't able to find squash in a can). The above picture is the mixing part...before I mixed it I was wondering if there would be enough moisture, but as it blended together, the pumpkin handled the job quite nicely! The "batter" was verrrrrrry tasty. I only had a little taste, I swear!

Here is the finished product. I tried a bite and it was delicious! It will go nicely with my soup tomorrow for lunch!

Ok, enough of this blogging nonsense! I need to go dry my hair and get to bed! Have a great week everyone!

Squash, Gym, and Tags, OH MY!

Started the day early for a Sunday...8am. I blame the cat...as usual! The kitten just doesn't want us sleeping if HE isn't sleeping! We really should have gotten a couple of pet rocks.

Went out and did a bit of grocery shopping this morning...it was nice to be at the store when it wasn't too busy. Got my supplies for my lunch item for the week...I made Bacon's Famous Pasta Salad! Ok, it's not famous...I actually just created it yesterday and today was the first time making it. It COULD be famous...someday! Anyway, here's a picture:

Here's what went into the bowl:

• tri-colour pasta


• cucumber


• tomato


• chick peas


• feta


• kalamata olives


• balsamic vinegar


• EVOO

I believe that's all. Tasted pretty good. Hopefully it will be yummy for lunch tomorrow! I packed a few Kashi crackers (which I LOVE with my soups) to add some crunch. This bowl may look like one or two servings, but it's actually a BIG bowl that will get me through the week. I really should have added something to the picture for scale. Oh well!

The other item I made (for supper this time) was some acorn squash. Thank you to Kath for the tutorial on how to cook it! It was pretty yummy (see picture!). I made my better half a grilled cheese sandwich (forgot to take a picture)...she wasn't wanting any part of the acorn squash, lol. I added butter and brown sugar, yum!

Oh yes, I almost forgot...I went to the gym, yay!! I had a pretty good workout! I'd been thinking of trying to run on the treadmill for a good while now, but haven't wanted to do it while many people were there. I used to run quite a bit a few years back, but then I stopped working out, etc. Anyway, in the spring of this year I did something to my knee and haven't even been able to run across the street while trying to catch a light at the crosswalk. It's been quite painful, so that's part of the reason I haven't wanted to even try running on the treadmill. Anyway, the gym was pretty dead, so I gave it a shot! The first little bit hurt, but then I was able to find a rhythm that minimized any discomfort and didn't make me look like I was all gimpy. I only ran for 5 minutes, but I was so proud of myself. The cardio part of it wasn't a problem, since I've been doing the elliptical, so I was able to pay attention to how I was running and making sure my knee didn't do anything weird. Very proud. :-)

So, I have been tagged by Krista at Krista's Kravings!! How exciting! Been a few years since I've played tag...let's see how I do!

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the blog that originally tagged you
2. Post the rules on your blog
3. Tell your readers 6 random things about you
4. Tag 6 other blogs and link back to their sites
5. Leave a comment on your chosen blogs letting them know they’ve been tagged
6. Let your tagger know when you’ve posted your entry

Here are the "oh so exciting" random things about ME!

1. I have an iPhone and I LOVE LOVE LOVE it!!!
2. My favourite dish in the whole world is something that my Mom used to make. It's called Macaroni and Cheese Casserole. So freakin good!
3. I have several favourite movies (I know this is a random list, not a favourite list...sue me! LOL!) - Office Space, Top Gun, The American President.
4. I have experienced -52 degrees Celsius (that is -62 F)...no one should be THAT cold!
5. I have driven from the top of the USA to the bottom...and would do it again...just for the Cracklins and Boudin!
6. When I was in elementary school, we would take an old knee high or some panty hose, stick a tennis ball in there and bounce it off of the outside of the school. We didn't have video game consoles in those days (OMG, I sound SOOOO freakin old!!).

Ok, I think I am done with the craziness that is me!

Here are my tags (sorry if you've been tagged already!):

• Around the World in 340 Days
• Carrots 'N' Cake
• follow my weigh
• Winning Friends with Salad
• No Book Left Behind
• Kath Eats Real Food

I'm off to bed! My workout and my cooking have made me sleepy! Have a great night all!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!!

I soooo admire all of you who blog every day! I am just so tired during the week, I just can't seem to do it. Work's been crazy and I've been working late fairly often, so by the time I get home, have some supper, organize my lunch and snacks for the next day, and have a shower, I'm super tired! I think I'm going to challenge myself to blog at least once during the week (in addition to my at least once on the weekend post).

I WENT TO THE GYM TODAY, YAY!!! I've been MIA from the gym for at least a week or two, so I'm so glad I finally went. It felt really good. :-)

At the gym (pronounced "guy-m" for those of you who enjoy the Simpsons...which are on right now, incidentally), I did:

• 5 minute walking warm-up on the treadmill
• 15 minutes on the elliptical - alternating my speed each minute between normal and fast
• 10 minutes walking on a 3.5 incline on the treadmill
• 30 minutes of weight machines and free weights

Food today included the following:

• tomato, feta, mushroom omelet, a couple of bites of potatoes, and a 1.5 slices of whole wheat toast with a bit of jam
• apple
• almond butter
• shake n' bake porkchop with herb and garlic roasted potatoes

On weekends I seem to forget to eat fruit, but today I was able to fit in most of an apple...my better half ate part of one and gave me the rest. Win win situation!

I keep forgetting to mention...I tried the Coconut Cream Pie LaraBar and I LOVED it! It was so very tasty! I'll buy that one again, for sure! I also tried the Cashew Cookie LaraBar...it was actually a bit dry for my tastes. It only had cashews and dates, so that could be why. All of the other ones that I've tried so far have had a bit more moisture to them. This is the first one that I've had with only two ingredients...the rest have had three or four. I have several more LaraBars that are sitting in the pantry that I need to try...I think the next one I'm going for has something to do with cocoa...anything with cocoa can't be all THAT bad, so I'm hopeful!

On a non-food related note...we got a Wii!!!!! YAY!!! We have Wii Play, Wii Sports, and the Wii Fit...all pretty fun! I just finished the running portion on the Wii Fit...we did the 2 person run, so we had a laughing good time doing that...passing each other AND cheating may have been involved. I wasn't the cheater...guess who it was! LOL! In all fairness, I had been sitting on the couch for about 15 minutes watching her do the other things like balance, yoga, strengthening, etc. So, I was nice and fresh when we started our "run"...so, while I was running, she was standing in place, moving the Wii remote up and down to make it THINK she was running! I know...cheater!

I seem to have quite a bit to say...I really should try to blog more often!

Ok, I've been meaning to post pictures of the damn animals...I say damn because they are all pains in the butt, but are also all damn cute...it's a love/hate relationship really. Ok, mostly love.

Ok, I really need to take the dog out, so I can come back in and sit on the couch again! Night all!

Bacon's Famous Minestrone Soup!

Another week, another dollar...another 50 cents after tax, if you want to get technical. It was a busy busy busy week at work, as usual. I'm trying to blog more than just on the weekends, but that's proving easier said than done, I'm afraid. Something to work on...I'm a work in progress! :-)

We had a nice outing yesterday (if you don't count my better half little incident with the white porcelain throne. Not in the good drunken way, but in the sick, not feeling good kind of way. :-( She's been taking an anti-biotic for bronchitis and I think that's the culprit.

Anyway, we headed out to St. Jacob's Farmers' Market on Saturday morning and left there with a REALLY yummy haul!

The first picture is the whole kit and caboodle (I have NO idea where that came from...who SAYS that anymore???!).

Moving left to right...sticky buns (aka cinnamon buns), garlic bread (standing up behind the first item), garlic red pepper jelly, regular red pepper jelly, Empire apples, acorn squash, butternut squash...

...Royal Gala apples, mini red potatoes, honey butter, apple cider, beeswax tea lights.

Wow, quite the spread! Except for the vomiting, good fun was had by all! To end our Saturday, we had a NAP! I LOVE weekend naps! I slept for 3 or so hours, but I let my better half sleep for a couple of hours longer, since she wasn't feeling well. We had half of the garlic bread for supper, with some Classico Tomato and Basil pasta sauce. YUM!!!

This morning I had some of my Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal with some brown sugar and milk. Last night I put some into the crockpot (as suggested on the company's website), so it was ready for my consumption this morning. It was pretty good, as usual, but REALLY hard to clean out of the crockpot. The reason I did it in the first place was so that I could have some already made to bring to work for breakfast. I'll see tomorrow how it is warmed up in the microwave.

Today we met up for lunch with one of our friends that we hadn't seen in a good while. We headed to the Pickle Barrel and had a pretty tasty lunch. I had a chicken wrap with hummus etc. and some veggie soup. I took home the other half of the wrap to have with tomorrow's lunch.

Which brings me to tomorrow's lunch (and lunch for the rest of the week, as a matter of fact). I made...guess...just try to guess what I made. It rhymes with POOP, GOOP, BOOP, COOP, HOOP, LOOP...get it yet? You're right!!! SOUP!!!!! I'm thinking of calling this blog, "Bacon's Soup". It seems like that's ALL I make. Anyway, on to the soup...

Here is a before heat and after heat shot of my famous (first time making this) "Bacon's Minestrone Soup"!

I'm actually quite proud of myself. I looked at a couple of recipes, didn't really see anything that I totally liked, so I created my own! Here's a list of the ingredients:

• diced tomatoes
• white beans
• orzo pasta
• carrots
• celery
• kale
• garlic
• EVOO
• beef broth
• beef bullion cube
• veggie broth
• water
• oregano
• basil
• S&P

I think that was it. I have it written down, but am just too tired to get my butt up to have a look. It made enough for the week, and then some! Oh and let me just say...I felt like a real chef when I was cutting up the kale! I don't know why, but I felt like I actually KNEW what I was doing! LOL!

Tonight for supper we had the other half of the garlic bread with the rest of the pasta sauce. So good! We'll be buying some more of that next time we go, for sure. We don't go as often as we'd like...it's about a 45 minute drive away and we always end up spending a good bit of cash. Good stuff though. Totally worth it!

I think that's about it for the weekend. It was pretty busy...didn't get in a workout...haven't really gone in awhile. I plan on going in the morning, so hopefully the extra hour of sleep will facilitate that. Anyway, have a great week everyone! I'll be enjoying my soup!