It’s kind of hard to type right now. I have a snoring pug on my lap and I’m trying to type over her… if you appreciate any sort of personal space, never adopt a pug. Never.
But look how cute she was with her Granny this afternoon. Who needs grandkids when you have this??
This morning I decided to have breakfast with an old friend: OATS.
Made with bananas, almond butter, and some dried cherries that my parents brought back from Michigan. I added the cherries towards the beginning of cooking so they had a chance to reconstitute a bit. OH- and I bought some of that Vanilla Hempmilk that everyone seems to love so much, so I used that instead of skim. The oats turned out really creamy, but I couldn’t taste much of the vanilla. Maybe the bananas just overwhelmed the flavor?
For lunch I made burritos out of last night’s leftover Moroccan Chicken Stew. This was another idea from that Food Network Magazine:
I layered couscous and stew on a La Tortilla Factora tortilla and drizzled a little of that parsley-cilantro pesto on top. Some foods are just better the 2nd day… stew is definitely one of those 
Tomorrow is my midterm & practical exam. Along with the steamed asparagus & hollandaise (which I made yesterday), we have to whip up a batch of cream of broccoli soup. So I gave that a shot today. From this:
To this:
Pretty good. And surprisingly not that heavy- it only uses 1.5 oz of butter per quart of soup, and I used skim milk and half-and-half (instead of heavy cream).
So we had a mini crisis. Brian called me from Home Depot this evening to say that his car wouldn’t turn off. He could put it in park, remove the key from the ignition… and the engine would keep running. So he drove it home and we spent about 2 hours trying to figure out how to turn the damn thing off. Finally my dad came over and he and Brian removed some fuse-type-thingy from the fuel injector and blahblahblahidontknowanythingaboutcars. So that’s awesome. I guess AAA is coming tomorrow to tow the car. After this whole fiasco we were both pretty bummed (and anticipating future poor-ness, as I’m sure this car issue is going to be $$$), so I just tossed some stuff together for dinner.
Sauteed half an onion, half an eggplant, and an orange pepper with some garlic and olive oil. Dumped it over whole wheat rotini with a melted laughing cow wedge melted in and some marinara on top. Then added a dab of leftover mascarpone.
Oooh, I have an exciting new place for you DFW people to try! Ange tipped me off to I Heart Yogurt. There’s one in Uptown, but we headed to the Preston-Royal location last night. Basically it’s a self-serve yogurt shop with fabulous flavors and toppings, and you pay by the ounce (only 22 cal/oz, btw!). I had half “plain tart” yogurt and half dark chocolate, topped with cookie dough, mixed berries and pomegranate seeds (!!!). I may have gotten a little too excited and served up close to a pound of yogurt. Hmmm.
Survey Time!
I’m in need of a little R&R… so:
What has been your favorite vacation so far?
wouldn’t turn off? now that’s a first…i can’t say i’ve ever heard of that happening…!
omg my favorite vacation has been both times traveling in australia and once in new zealand…being able to go their by myself and just do whatever i want was a freak’n blast and so relaxing…i wish i could do it every summer….makes me want to go back, NOW!
I think i need to run off and look at my scrapbooks to revisit…:)
That’s really weird about the car. I’ve never heard of such a thing… Was this the Prius?
My fav vacation ever was Charlottesville, VA this past summer. It was the first trip Bill and I took together that 1) didn’t involve other people 2) didn’t involve other people’s money. It felt good to be grownups… plus we did what we wanted to do. He is the best traveling companion.
Ahh…so sorry about Brian’s car. How unfortunate….hope it doesn’t cost too much to fix. Never heard of a car not turning off. What a pain!
How fun you went to that yogurt place! I am dying to try the Peanut Butter flavor. Isn’t self-serve yogurt the best? Maybe a little too ez to OVER serve but worth it..it’s YOGURT! Maybe we can meet up there soon?!
And my fave vacation spot….hmmm…I LOVE Seaside, FL…so quaint, great food and beautiful water. Like living in the 50′s..everyone rides bikes, walks and eats icecream after dinner! Breckenridge, CO is gorgeous in the summer and perfect for skiing. I love their main street charm. AND….my fave vacation spot EVERRR was Maui, Hawaii! It was our honeymoon so we splurged, but i hope to revisit that piece of heaven on earth again soon.
Are y’all thikning of taking a vacay soon?!
My favorite vacation was about 7 years ago (pre-mommyhood), we went to Montreal Canada for about a week. It was so much fun! We stayed right in the heart of all the hustle and bustle plus there was a festival going on that we just got lucky to stumble upon. We went to La Ronde, which I think is their Six Flags. I highly recommend Montreal as a getaway – they speak French so you feel like you traveled far.
Chloe is adorable, I wouldn’t want to give her back if I pugsat for you! Is that your mommy?? She is a beauty.
if you made a just chloe blog, i woudl totally read it.
that car problem is insane!!! once i couldn’t turn my keys to turn it on, and another time my windows were stuck down and a hurricane was a’coming. i’ve had car issues before but never like that!
I had a roommate in college who would take the keys out of the ignition while driving down the interstate just to freak people out. Her car was ooooold. But if she turned the ignition switch I’m pretty sure it would shut off… eventually.
Now I’m hungry for oatmeal. It’s getting cold around here, oatmeal will hit the spot in the morning.
And I agree with Betsy, I would also read a Chloe blog. And make little awwwwww noises while I read it- she’s the cutest dog ever!
R&R… hmmmmm… I’m voting for the beach. Preferably a rocky one. With drinks near by.
that is a very strange car happenning!! chloe is probably the perfect grandkid
Is that your mom? She’s really beautiful!
Sammie & Hangry Heather- Yep, that’s my mom… she’s so excited for the compliments
Thanks!
Is that your mom?! SHE IS SO CUTE!
I went to Ireland, my family’s homeland (hur hur) in 2004. Time of my life!