2009 March 29

***In case any of you were unaware its my Cousin Andrea’s Birthday today so head over to her blog at Bella Eats and give her a Happy Birthday shout out!! ****

Despite the ugly morning we had today I am happy to say I am currently blogging poolside in my parent’s backyard under a cloud free sky with a gorgeous late afternoon sun peaking through the trees. Why the sun was hiding this morning, I will never know, but I glad it made a reappearance back into my life before the end of the weekend was official.

Before the sun came out I was bored stiff, stuck inside today. When I am bored I like to be creative so my Dad handed me the food processor and a couple of beans and told me to go nuts. Oh how my Dad knows how to entertain me so.

In to the food processor I added

1 can Black Beans
1 can Chickpeas
1/2 sweet Red Pepper
2 cloves Garlic
Drizzle Vinegar
Drizzle Olive Oil
Oregano
Red Pepper Flakes
Paprika
S & P

I then locked the lid and pressed high until I got a creamy looking dip. Perfection.

My Black Bean & Chickpea Bean Dip made a great companion with the Tostitos my parents had in the pantry.

For lunch we had a house full of boys. My Little Bro, our German Exchange Student, My Little Bro’s Friend and his friend’s German Exchange Student were all running around playing with the dogs. I can’t remember the last time I was in the presence of soo many teenage boys. I passed the bean dip along to the boys and my Dad and I prepared the group lunch.

He grilled the Burgers and made the Bean & Corn Salad while I prepared the Veggies and Bean Dip. My plated consisted of 1/2 a hoagie roll, burger, gilled veggies, sprouts, Bean & Corn Salad, Bean Dip and Tortilla Chips. It was actually a really good lunch.

After lunch the boys were their way and my parents and I were back to the same predicament as before. After a few minutes of debating we hopped in the car and headed to Lowes for some plotting mixture.

Some how in the process my parents decided I needed a garden on my porch. I just went with the flow.

As we got in the car on the way home my Mom casually reminded my Dad that Brusters was near by. Before I knew it, my Dad was turning into the opposite direction of home and we ended up at Brusters for a mid afternoon treat.

I got a small Mint Chip Yogurt with Nuts on top.

My Mom is a very bad influence on me!

Luckily after our outting the sun had returned!

Oh how I missed you sun!

Abbie missed it too. She could not resist rolling around in the green green grass.

With the perfect weather breaking through, we got to work planting my garden to bring home.

We planted Basil & Cilantro in one pot and Eggplant in the other.

I hope I don’t kill them!

We also experimented with this Topsy Turvy Tomato planter my Aunt got us for out birthdays.

This should be another interesting thing to take care of.

With the return of the sun we spent the rest of the afternoon lodging poolside and enjoyed a refreshing dinner on the back patio.

I had a grilled Chicken Breast, Spanish Rice, 1/2 of a mini Onion Bagel, Carrots, & Steamed Broccoli. An all american meal.

Now I must return home and finish my grocery shopping. I will actually be publishing this after I return home as I am too lazy to upload my pictures at the moment. I hope everyone else has had an enjoyable Sunday and a ready for another fun filled Monday.

Baker’s Spotlight…

First of all I need to give my next baker, Eva, a huge GOOD LUCK on her first Sprint Tri coming up and she’s doing an Olympic tri in May! Way to go Eva!!

Eve does not have a blog, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t special, in fact I think it makes her more important to this bake sale. That means she is taking time out her normal life to make something wonderful in support of the Leukemia and Lymphona Society. I say you go girl and thanks for helping a sista out!

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My fate for my morning work out was decided when I woke up to dark clouds and rain outside. I did not need any more push then that to tell me to stay inside and do the Jillian Michaels Work Out through Exercise TV on Demand.

Before my work out I had the other half of my Protein Odwalla Bar from yesterday.

Jillian Mchael’s Banish Fat Boost Metabolism DVD took a much different approach the her No More Trouble Zones DVD. While the N o More Trouble Zones work out was strength focused and used weights with consistent reps, her Banish Fat Boost Metabolism was more cardio focused with no additional hand weights needed.

I did work up a sweat with Banish Fat, but since my work outs are pretty cardio heavy thanks to running I much prefer strengthing exercises with videos. I would say if I were to pick one of the two to purchase and continue on a regular basis I would pick the No More Trouble Zone DVD.

After Banish Fat I really felt like I could have got away with more of a work out or something. I was considering going for a run in the drizzle, but decided a shower and breakfast would be better. Maybe I will try to work in a bike ride or walk with Abbie this afternoon.

My Dad made waffles from scratch this morning.

He used a Betty Crocker recipe that called for the egg whites to be whipped to tiff peaks before being folded into the batter. This resulted in very fluffy, yummy waffles.

I added a handful of Dried Cherries to my waffle batter and topped the waffles with the left over sugared strawberries and the strawberry juices that had came out of being in the fridge last night. It was a great syrup substitute.

Our original plans were to enjoy some fun in the sun on the beach today, unfortunately the hidden sun makes these plans seem kind of pointless. Instead I took advantage of my Dad’s car knowledge and his insistence that I needed new tires today or be face with blowing them on the road in the next week. I chose new tires. I also may have not had a oil change since umm.. last May, so to Tire Kingdom we went!

On the way we also discovered my wind shield wipers were in need of replacement. Apparently my car was falling apart around me!

So one hour, an oil change, two new tires and an oil change later I needed a snack.

I picked up these Peanuts while we were killing time at Target and had a small handful on the way home.

I now feel safe again in my car. Woo hoo!

Now let’s see what other fun activities we can do today despite the rain. I heard rumors of bowling. That should be fun!

Baker’s Spotlight…

Lisa from Lisa Hearts Pizza is another baker where supporting The Leukemia and Lymphona Society is a cause near and dear to her heart as both her dad and aunt are non-hodgkin’s lymphoma SURVIVORS! Pretty incredible, right?

Lisa is baking up something pretty great for the event and just think how purchasing her goods you are helping someone else’s life that could be a fellow blogger’s Dad or Aunt. Just think about that.

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