Spooktacular

Happy Halloween!  

Hubs and I had a great Halloween weekend.  We went to a Halloween party on Friday night.  I went dressed as Velma and Hubs dressed as Shaggy (think Scooby Doo).  Originally, we were going to be gnomes, but people at work tell me I look like Velma with my black glasses and haircut. Unfortunately, I couldn't find Velma's red skirt or orange knee high socks, but people still seem to figure it out.  I guess I do look like her.


On Saturday, Hubs and I had a Halloween date night.  We went out for Thai food, which wasn't ghoulish at all, but it's so delicious we didn't care.  We followed up our nosh with a trip to Meijer for Honeycrisp apples, a pumpkin carving kit (a total waste of money) and some new work shoes for Hubs (again not so Halloweenish, but a necessity). With our new loot in tow, we headed home and set to carving our pumpkins. I chose to do a ghost town and Hubs chose a duo of ghosts.  I just loved watching Hubs carve his pumpkin.  He has always been a looker, but with his new svelte form and determined face... I swoon even now (blush). 

Unfortunately, we don't have any Halloween plans for today- the actual Halloween.  I have class until 6:30pm and trick or treating ends at 7:30pm.  My guess is that most kids will already be done making the rounds by the time I get home. I haven't missed out completely though, I've already seen my fair share of ladybugs, bees, transformers, and fairies thanks to my coworker's children coming through the office. One little 3 year old was even dressed up as Dwight Shrute!  It was the best costume of the season as far as I'm concerned.

As far as Grace and Judson go, they missed out on the costumes this year. I'm sure they are bummed (yeah right).  I never got around to putting anything together for them.  If I had, Grace would have been a chef and Judson would have been a nerd.  It would have been great, I assure you.

Fall Deliciousness

Here's a delicious snack idea that screams fall:

Take a 1/2 cup of smooth peanut butter, 3/4 cup canned pumpkin, 1/8 cup of honey, and a 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon and throw it all into a blender.  Mix the ingredients well until the dip takes on a whipped appearance.  Then, grab some pretzels (my favorite) or some cinnamon pita chips and chow down.  I know that it sounds like a bizarre combination, but this dip is really amazing!

One of my co-workers brought this dip in for our department break this past Wednesday and everyone gave it rave reviews (high praise because we have some real foodies in the office).  She also brought in a wonderful honey mustard dip that was served with pretzel rods.

A Welcome Back to the Land of the Living

So this is pretty much how I feel right now: purple with red polka dots all over...

Well, maybe not exactly like that... But I am not feeling well and you can take that to the bank.

After three miserable days last week, I went to the doctor.  Turns out, I was battling a seasonal flu virus and acute bronchitis. A double whammy. I was sent home with a prescription for antibiotics and strict orders to rest and drink lots of fluids. 

Now, it is Monday and the flu bit is well in hand, but the bronchitis is still taking its toll.  My asthma had all but disappeared due to my weight loss (85 pounds- thank you very much), but this bout of bronchitis has brought it back with a vengeance.  I can't breathe.  I feel like someone is literally squeezing my lungs.  I. Just. Need. Air. Wheeze. Wheeze. Wheeze.

On the positive side of things, I took this {sickness} opportunity to fill my cabinets with some scrumptious hot beverage items: Tazo Chai and Tazo Sweet Cinnamon Spice tea.  I also bought some diet hot chocolate, which sounds ironic and disgusting and tastes that way too. One day I was just lying in bed and I thought to myself- I'm sick, my throat hurts, my ears are plugged, I'm tired... and Hubs doesn't want to hear me whining anymore. I'm gonna take advantage of this situation and buy myself something nice. Hub's was just glad to have me quiet for a while... sipping my diet hot chocolate. 

So, if you're reading this and feeling under the weather-- I commiserate. Go out (or have someone else go out and you stay in bed) and buy yourself some colorful, warm wool socks or maybe a new snugly blanket. I give you permission. Wheeze, cough, sigh.


   

Sick

I'm sick.

On Friday night I started feeling that dreaded tickle in the back of my throat.

Saturday my throat was noticeably sore, so I started downing vitamin C and drinking copious amounts of green tea.

When Sunday dawned I had a seriously sore throat-- There was no denying it at this point.

Monday however, I pulled myself out of bed and tried to work... I failed miserably. I was home in bed by 11am--Flat. Out. Sick.

Tuesday has been a repeat of Monday. I slept. I slept. I took some medicine. Then I slept some more.

I hate being sick. Being sick turns me into a big, whiny baby (I totally admit it). Hubs has been great, but I know he is fervently praying for me to get better soon. I think that tonight I'm on the upswing.  Hallelujah!

Carrot Cake, I {Heart} You

This is by far one of the best cakes I've ever eaten, let alone, made with my own two hands.  I wish I could take credit for the recipe, but it's not mine.  I took this carrot cake recipe from my favorite foodie blog, Gina's Skinny Taste.  I'm telling you-- You need to make this cake!


I actually intended to enter it in the Fair this past September, but by the time I finished making everything else I couldn't bring myself to bake it.  Now, I'm really glad I waited because if I had entered this carrot cake in the Fair--Hubs and I wouldn't have been able to try it.  Wowsa... just typing about this cake makes me want another slice.  


From Gina:

Here's a super moist, low fat carrot cake recipe. This is made with a can of crushed pineapple which makes it very moist. I baked this in my new 8 inch round cake pan which I love because it's 3 inches deep but you can use a bundt cake pan or 2 smaller round pans for this instead (baking time will vary). I noticed other ww carrot cake recipes had much smaller serving sizes, but I think it's easiest to cut this into 16 equal slices however if you want to make this into cupcakes or 24 slices, it would be 4 points each.

Super Moist Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes

Servings: 16 • Serving Size: 1 slice • Old Points: 7 pts • Points+: 7 pts 
Calories: 301.1 • Fat: 8.1g • Protein: 4.4 g • Carb: 38.2 g • Fiber: 0.4 g

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup flaked sweetened coconut
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 2 large eggs
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 cups grated carrots, peeled
• 20 oz. can crushed pineapple in juice, drained 
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts plus 1/4 cup for topping

For the Cream Cheese Frosting:

• 8 oz 1/3 fat Philadelphia Cream Cheese
• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, coconut, baking soda, salt, and spices; stir well with a whisk.

In a medium bowl, combine oil, eggs, and vanilla; stir well. Add grated carrots and pineapple; mix well. Fold wet ingredients with the dry ingredients, batter will be stiff and dry but keep folding it and it will all come together. Fold in 1/4 cup chopped nuts.

Spoon batter into an 8" x 3" cake pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for about 40-50 minutes, depending on pan size or until a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and cake is pulling away from sides of pan. Cool cake completely on a wire rack.

To prepare frosting, beat together cream cheese, powdered sugar and vanilla until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cake. Garnish with remaining chopped walnuts.

Porch Progress

This past week was rainy and cold, so imagine my surprise when the sun came out on Saturday.  It turned out to be a gorgeous day and for some reason, I was totally wired.  I mean it-- I did two loads of laundry, washed a bunch of dishes, vacuumed the house, cleaned out our work van, and then I tackled a long overdue porch project.

Way back when we first bought our house, the porch looked like this:

Here's my sister, but if you look past her you can see the worn porch boards.

The porch was a real eye sore.  The floor boards were worn and had the remnants of old brown paint splattered on them.  The steps were definitely showing their age, warped and ugly.  Perhaps the worst thing about the porch though, was that someone, sometime, painted the cement walls two different colors and neither of them even closely resembled a natural cement color.  Yuck.

From the day we moved in, fixing up the porch was on our long to-do list.  It just wasn't at the top--I'd say it fell somewhere more in the middle.  Well, I guess we've reached the middle of the list now because the porch has really been irking me this summer.  I kept telling Hubs I wanted to do something about it and he would nod and remind me of all the other projects that need to get done.

Even so, Hubs did agree to switch out the steps for me a couple weeks ago.  We were wandering around Menards and came across a good deal on lumber. Here we are making the switch-a-roo:

He's hot stuff!

{Total side note- Hubs did this manicure for me.  He's amazing, huh?}

After we got the stairs replaced, I decided to let Hubs off the hook for a few weeks before I started hassling him about painting again (I'm so nice).  But before I could say anything--He brought the floor grinder to the house and did all the prep on the floor!  What an amazing surprise.... and the reason why I was able to prime everything on Saturday.

What's up next?  Stay tuned for the final floor/stair color- it's bold, but beautiful!

The sanded porch boards