Thursday, October 29, 2009

Thursday Time Crunch

by Meghann on October 29, 2009

Thursday evenings I have a very limited time frame to prepare and consume dinner. I have exactly one hour from the time I get home until Maddie’s puppy training class to check the mail, relax, feed Maddie and feed myself.

Tonight’s meal was simple, fast, and delicious. Exactly what I need to fit in to my Thursday night routine.

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My Mock Eggplant Parmesan was particularly quick easy taking only 10 minutes to prep and cook.

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I sliced an eggplant length wise and popped the slices in the oven at 420 for 5 minutes. Once the slices were tender I topped one with marinara sauce, 1/2 chicken sausage, and spinach then topped with the other half and more marinara sauce. Finally the mock lasagna went back into the oven for another 5 minutes.

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I prefer my eggplant a little tougher, so if you do not prefer the bitter taste I would suggest keeping the lasagna in the oven for another 5 minutes or so. Next time I would also add a cheese layer in there. :)

I stole one of my supervisor’s curly fries after lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon craving more fries!

These babies aren’t curly fries, but they were still able to take the edge off. ;)

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Simply cut an idaho potato in wedges, dous in seasonings, and bake at 420 for 20 mins.

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Yum!

All this good food and I still made it to puppy class on time.

After puppy class I took a cue from HungryGirl and made a VitaTop Ice Cream Sandwich.

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Such a great idea, I can’t believe I haven’t tried this before!

All I did was cut a vita top in half and fill with ice cream.

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Soo good! I already want another one!

This afternoon I had a Mocha-Walla Bar to snack on.

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I really enjoy the mix of chocolate decadence and rich mocha aroma evident in this bar. Its like a big healthified cookie. :)

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I switched back to Ecto tonight… Can you tell the difference? As many problems as Ecto has atleast the photos still look decent.

Rock the Vote…

Don’t forget to get your daily vote in for the Sam-e Good Mood Blogger! Only one more week left, so lets make it count!

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Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters Giveaway

by Meghann on October 29, 2009

The Cick Fil A minis get me every time

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My supervisor was kind enough to bring in a large order of Chicken Minis today and I couldn’t resist. Chick Fil A is the one fast food place I can never say no to and oddly enough its the only one that I have ate at since I started this blog. The little mini was only a couple of bites and totally ‘worth it.’

Lunch was another fun twist on left overs. I feel like all my lunches have been left overs lately at least they’re left overs with a twist. ;)

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I cooked an extra Sun Dried Tomato Chicken Sausage on the George Foreman last night and today I made a sandwich with it.

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Between two slice of an Arnolds Thin I had the chicken sausage, Chavrie goat cheese, tomato, spinach and mustard.

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On the side was the last 1/4 or so of my Stuffed Acorn from last night.

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Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters Giveaway…

In honor of the launch of the New Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters MyBlogSpark.com sent me a snack pack to sample and review the new clusters on my blog.

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According to the site:

Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters are a bite size blend of 100% natural ingredients that include select roasted nuts, whole grain oats and a touch of honey – a wholesome and delicious pick-me-up any time of the day. If you love nuts, you´ll enjoy this flavorful little snack featuring the perfect combination of sweet & salty flavors paired with a crunchy texture that you can see and taste. And with the first unique cluster-shaped granola packaged in a handy re-sealable pouch, it´s perfect for sharing on the trails or in your living room!

Anyone else rely on Nature Valley granola bars in college? They seemed to always be the cheapest granola bar at the grocery store especially with the Buy One Get One Free sales constantly surrounding them.

A couple of years ago I stopped purchasing the granola bars due to the lackluster ingredient list. When I was introduced to the nut clusters I was happy to see the ingredient list was slightly shorter and the nutritional stats weren’t too bad either.

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This morning I put the clusters to the ultimate taste test and sampled all 4 flavors.

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Nut Lovers

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Roasted Almond

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Roasted Cashew

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Honey Roasted Peanut.

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Overall each cluster was very sweet, but still taste great. They were fun to crunch on a
nd I loved how I could see whole nuts in each piece. The clusters would be a perfect snack on a hike or something easy to pack for a trip. Its creative spin on a traditional granola bar that I really enjoyed trying. :)

Want to sample the Nature Valley Nut Clusters for yourself?

MyBlogSpark.com has offered to give one lucky reader their own Nature Valley Granola Nut Clusters "Snack Pack" prize pack which includes:

  • all four (4) varieties of the Granola Nut Clusters 
  • a sling backpack
  • stainless steel water bottle
  • flashlight
  • and binoculars!

To enter simply leave a comment on this post stating what your favorite snack is to take hiking/ camping.

I LOVE eating Fig Newtons while hiking. I know its not a very traditional hiking snack, but it is in my family!

You have until tomorrow morning to leave a comment. I will draw a random winner during my breakfast post.

Good Luck!!!

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I miss running with the sunrise

October 29, 2009

I hate to admit it, but I can not wait for time to fall back an hour Saturday night/ Sunday morning. Sure it means it will be dark almost as soon as I return home from work, but  I miss having the sunrise during my morning runs. This morning the sun didn’t peak over the more »

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