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!

Tomato Macaroni Soup, Yum!

The weekend is over and I have NO idea where it went!!! Ok, so I guess I have AN idea as to where it went, but it still went by too fast.

Friday night (after an exceptionally busy and long week at work), we went to see the movie Saw V at the theatre. We are HUGE fans of the Saw movies and highly recommend them to anyone who will listen! I think they are the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Streets of today (can you tell I grew up in the 80's??). They are full of gore and twists and don't have any zombies or ghosts or other things that make a movie seem like just a movie. Anyway, good stuff.

Yesterday was spent running errands and such. Had to buy the old ball and chain some pants and walked around the mall for a bit. I've been looking at getting one of those fancy metal water bottles. Some of them are pretty pricey. The one that I liked ($25) was silver and had a cool top on it - http://www.laken.es/index.php?s=products&a=view&ref=42.

Attempted to make almond butter on Saturday...ummm, yeah...way easier just to BUY almonds ALREADY buttered. Wow. We have a magic bullet thingy and it would grind the almonds into a meal, but not really finish the job. I read online that it could take 10 or 20 minutes, but really...who has that kind of time?? Lol, just kidding. It just kept getting stuck on the sides of the bullet, so I'd have to stop, fix it, and try again. Just not worth it for me. So, went to the Bulk Barn and got a bit of already made almond butter there.

Today felt very short. We slept in until 11am, which is usually impossible...however, after yelling at the kitten and leading him to his food several times, I just put him in his little zip up cage. I'm not sure if the back side of it was already unzipped BEFORE I put him in there, or if the kitten and his older sister worked together to unzip it, but he was able to get out! Crafty little bugger. Anyway, when he started jumping up at the doorknob, trying to get into the bedroom, it was time to get up. At least we slept until 11! Latest sleep in since before getting the crazy kitten a few months ago!

I didn't make it to the gym at all this weekend. I'm not super impressed with myself, but I'm not too upset either. I was really tired this weekend, so I'm gonna give myself a break. Tomorrow I have to go into work super early, so I will go to the gym on Tuesday.

Ohhhh, I found a new Larabar that I hadn't come across yet! It's the Jocalat Cocoa. I'm very excited to try it. I now have a good collection of Larabars...now I just need to make it to the gym in the mornings, so I can eat them!!! I only like to have them after the gym in the morning...I'm weird, I know.

So, wonderful food items eaten on Saturday:

• All-Bran Strawberry Bites w/ milk


• McDonald's Grilled Chicken Snack Wrap w/ Ranch


• Banana and glass of soy milk for snack


• Shake n' Bake chicken and potatoes

Sunday's Eats:

• Bob's Red Mill 10 Grain Hot Cereal w/ 1tsp brown sugar and 1/2 cup milk (OMG, this cereal was SOOOOO good! I read about it on Krista's Kravings...it looked so yummy and since she is also in Ontario, I figured I'd be able to find it at the store!


• One egg w/ a bit of ketchup (made in this really cool microwave egg thingy...so easy! 30 seconds! Can breakfast BE any faster?!!!)


• Banana and glass of soy milk for snack, with a bit of almond butter chaser


• Macaroni with Classico Tomato and Basil pasta sauce, with a couple of kalamata olives thrown in for good measure

I made some Tomato Macaroni Soup for the week...and then some!! It made a lot more this time than the last time I made it...don't ask...I forgot to write down the recipe that I tweaked last time, so I was just guessing at it this week. Oh well. This is a kind of soup that improves with age (like myself), so I'm hoping that by mid-week, it will be as amazing as it was the first time I made it. I'll keep you posted! Meanwhile, here's a pic and also the recipe that I posted on Spark Recipes:

Thank you to Heather at Hangry Pants for making us aware of a bunch of new bloggers (and thank you for adding my site to your list of sites to check out!)!

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!!

A Month Today?! Say It Ain't So!

Okie dokie pokie. Been a lonnnnnnnnnnnng time since I've posted. I've really got no good reason, unless you count "just didn't feel like it" as a valid reason. It's actually been a month TODAY since my last post. That is insane. I've been thinking about posting, but just hadn't gotten around to it.

My evenings (prime blogging time) have been occupied by eating supper, bathing, fixing my lunch for the next day, and checking to see if the bloggers that I follow have posted another post since I looked last (on the way home from work...can you say "addiction"?). Anyway, by the time all is said and done, it's pretty much bedtime or I can't think of anything good to blog about. I'm trying, I really am! :-)

So, since I've blogged last, I have made a few lovely meals. I made an AMAZING Tomato Macaroni Soup. I made it on a Sunday and ate it for lunches for the week. It was sooo good and it just kept getting better as the week went on. I will DEFINITELY be making that one again! This weekend, I think.



I also made some Salmon with Zucchini (http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/salmon-provencal-zucchini-ghk0208?click=recipe_sr). Wow, soooo freaking good.





My wonderful better half made me some catfish awhile back, as well. I cut up a tomato to go with it (added some EVOO and S&P to the tomato). It was so yummy!



I also made another batch of Poop Soup (see last post) since the last time I made it. It is so easy to make, it's crazy. I highly recommend it.

Ohhhhhh, I FINALLY tried LARABARS!!! I LOVE THEM!!! I tried the following so far:

• Key Lime Pie
• Cherry Pie
• Cocoa Coconut

I usually eat about half of one at a time (usually after a trip to the gym). Tomorrow (if I go to the gym) I will try the Coconut Cream Pie. I'm very excited!

I'm not really sure if anyone is even reading my blog, so if someone IS out there, PLEASE feel free to leave a comment to at least let me know! I think that is part of the reason that I have had a hard time keeping up with this...I don't think I have any readers, so why bother. I started this blog for myself, so I guess it doesn't matter if anyone reads it, but it would be nice!

I've been doing fairly well at keeping up going to the gym. I still have a really hard time going during the week in the mornings, but I've been pretty good at going on the weekends. I usually go on Sat., Sun., and Monday morning. At least 3 workouts are better than none!

This post is getting long! I really should go to bed. I plan on going to the gym in the morning (lol, I say that EVERY night).

Food that I filled my face with today:

• Kashi GOLEAN Cereal with Skim Milk
• Chicken Parmigiana with Pesto Penne from East Side Mario's (leftovers from last night)
• Grapes
• Minute Steak with McCain Seasoned Oven Wedges

I think that was about it. Doesn't seem like a lot, but I was out of strawberries, so that was one less snack. I went to the grocery store tonight though, so I picked up a pomegranate, strawberries, and an Asian pear.

Ok, off to bed. One day closer to the weekend, yay!!