2010 January 31

Boy, did it look like Maddie have it rough today or what?

A day of laziness full of lots of hugs, kisses and belly rubs?

Yeah, this little one sure has my pity.

You have no idea how happy I was to take the above photo this afternoon. Maddie is pretty shy around males and it has taken her some time to finally feel relaxed around Derek. She has slowly and surely gone from barking every time he entered a room to cautiously crawling into her arms on the couch. Its a big relief to see two of my favorites really starting to bond with each other.

Maddie was able to enjoy plenty of one-on-one time with both Derek and I today. We spent the entire morning watching a full disc of Weeds on DVD (Love this show!) before finding the motivation to run a few Sunday errands.

By the time we were ready to leave for our errands it was close to noon and I was feeling hungry for a snack, but wasn’t ready for lunch. I grabbed a Raspberry Chobani and topped it with pom and homemade granola before heading out the door.

3+ hours later my stomach was more than ready for a big, late lunch. I walked in the store with Nachos on my mind.

Last night I was drooling over the nachos at the concession stands. They were piled high with toppings and looked amazing. My lunch was my slightly healthier version of those nachos.

Blue Corn Chips
365 Brand Spicy Vegetarian Chili
Mexican Blend Cheese
Tomato
Olives
Mushrooms
Red Onions
Jalapenos
Spinach
Plain Yogurt

My version of nachos was a lot of fun to eat. Each chip was beaning with fresh, delicious flavors. I still have a few chips left, so don’t be surprised if this meal makes another appearance this week.

Where the rest of the afternoon went – I have no idea. There was a Man vs Food marathon and some laundry thrown in there, but that’s about it.

Before I knew it, it was close to 7:00 and I was ready for dinner.

Thanks to these quick cooking raviolis dinner was ready in less than 5 minutes.

The ravioli were cooked via the packages instructions and then simply coated in some jarred marinara sauce.

On the side I made a simple spinach salad of spinach, cucumber, carrot, mushrooms, and carrot that I topped with some raspberry dressing.

I soaked up and excess marinara sauce with a lovely piece of flatbread.

For dessert I warmed a chickpea blondie from last night and topped it with some eggnog ice cream.

My eyes are starting to droop and my head it feeling heavy. I guess that means its time for bed!

Before I go I wanted to share with you a post I read on PastaQueen about Commenting Etiquette that can be found by clicking here.

I thought she made some interesting points regarding what is considered respectful when leaving comments on other people’s blogs. A few of my favorites included the idea of reading the entire post before commenting and the part where she states that her blog is not a democracy and she reserves the right to pick and choose what stays and what goes.

What are your thoughts? Do you believe a certain commenting etiquette is necessary?

{ 45 comments }

Last night the Orlando Magic kicked some major Atlanta Hawk booty!

When I was younger my Dad’s company had season tickets to the Orlando Magic. Every other week my Dad would take turns bringing each of us kids to one of the games. It was big deal to get to go because it meant being allowed to go out on a school night and it meant some rare one-on-one time with good ole Dad.

Being in the arena last night brought back all those old happy memories. I think for that reason the Orlando Magic will always have a soft spot in my heart.

Before the game Derek and I decided to save some money and make dinner at home.

On the menu? Pizza!

Homemade pizza featuring some whole wheat crust I had made and froze a couple of weeks ago and some, fresh veggies, and, per Derek’s request, a spicy sausage we purchased at Whole Foods earlier today.

Can you tell who’s half is who’s?

We topped the whole pizza with olives, sausage, zucchini, yellow squash, tomato, and mushrooms. I then opted for a sprinkle of a mexican blend cheese and goat cheese on my half while Derek loaded up on his.

I had two slices from my half

And then went back for a third.

Right before dinner I quickly whipped up a batch of Chickpea Blondies.

I was really nervous when the blondies took 20 minutes longer to bake than the recipe had stated, but the first nibbles right out of the over were pretty good.

I packed two up for Derek and I to snack on at the game.

Once the blondies had time to sit I realized they weren’t as great as I had originally assumed. They were dry and almost chalk, yet the flavor was still right.

Derek and I believed they were ok, but based off of the odd texture probably wouldn’t bake them again.

At the game I also enjoyed a couple of sips of Derek’s Blue Moon.

I took the night of blogging in favor of watching trashy tv and crawling into bed on the early side. It felt nice to just relax.

This morning I headed out on my scheduled 14 mile run bright and early. It was a very windy and chilly run. What happened to all our beautiful sunshine from last week?

Before my run I tried one of the new Luna Protein Bars.

Honestly, I wasn’t that big of a fan. It was chalky and tasted like protein powder.

I heard the cookie dough flavor was better. Thoughts?

The bar wasn’t very filling, so I grabbed a chickpea blondie on my way out the door.

During my run I couldn’t get my mind off of Pumpkin Waffles!

I googled a few recipes and decided this one was easy and contained ingredients I already had on hand. The batter came out a bit dry, so I added some milk to moisten it up.