California

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a work-related conference in San Diego.  My husband took time off work to accompany me.  It was a great trip- the conference was informative and provided some good networking, and my husband and I still got to spend some quality time seeing the sights.  Here's the trip in pictures:

This was docked outside our hotel.  Very Fifty Shades, no? 

Pomegranate juice at breakfast.  Wasn't really  my thing.  It tasted too much like red wine.  I know- for some, that would be appealing.

I asked for peanut butter with my English muffin.  The waitress brought me Nutella.  Po-tay-to, po-tah-to, French fry. 

I love palm trees.

If I ever happen to have a total windfall of $250,000, I *might* have to buy this pink Bentley.  They had a blue one too.  His 'n' hers?

Okay a trip to the West Coast demands some In-n-Out burger.  We often make "healthy" versions of these at home with wheat buns, lowfat dressing, and ground turkey.  Not quite the same as the real thing.

California must require calorie counts to be placed on menus.  This is something we encountered a lot, and I like this as a trend.  I'll have a cheeseburger, and an extra helping of guilt. 

Our hotel room overlooked the Dole facility on the harbor.  A huge freighter from Honduras comes and drops off the U.S's supply of bananas.  Very cool. 

Now it's back to work and back to reality this week.  I'll probably be slacking in the blogging area since we are moving this weekend.  That means much to pack, and we'll be eating freezer leftovers.  Nobody wants to read about how I fixed waffles, mixed veggies, and sweet potato fries for dinner. 

Fun at the Dollar Tree

I often view money as the same way I view calories.  I have a budget with both, and exceeding either budget has negative consequences.  With my calorie budget, I try to pack in as many foods as I can, rather than blowing it all on a few high-cal items.  Similarly, give me $20 to spend at Target, and I'll see you at the dollar bins.  I make no promises about getting value- just simply amounts.

Last night my husband and I took a walk and checked out our neighborhood dollar store (deduce what you will about our neighborhood).  Here's our haul:

Knock-off oatmeal cream pies.  No food worked as a bribe quite like Little Debbie, at least when I was a kid.  Dog toy, mints, sugar-free Hawaiian Punch, and a metallic comb.  As a child of the 80s, I appreciate the ombre neon. 

Here's how the loot has fared, less than 24 hours later:

I'm almost afraid to drink it.  Nothing in nature is putrid green like this.  Punchy and his antics were awesome in the 90's, but I might have to pitch this.

The most practical purchase was the first to break.  I can assure you that I don't have dreadlocks, so what's the deal? 

Here's a fun puzzle- see if you can identify this food by its list of ingredients:
-Sugar, invert sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, citric acid, white mineral oil, artificial flavors, red #40, and carnauba wax.

Yes, that would be three kinds of sugar, oil, and wax.  Mmm...

The ingredient list is a major turn-off. 

But hey, that's only a total of $3 wasted at Dollar Tree. 

I'll meet you at the Target dollar bins. 
 

Mango Fail.

Lest you think I lead you to believe I am without culinary faults, here's a picture of the mango bread I made last night.

After an extra 20 minutes in the oven, I could tell that it was still unbaked in the middle, yet the top was starting to burn.  My choices were to either let it keep baking, and risk stinking up the house with burnt stank, or, abandon the bread and consider it a lost cause. 

Within seconds of removing it from the pan, the doughy middle collapsed.  I did salvage one decently baked piece though. 
I might try it again in muffin form. 

Good thing I can take a fail every now and then and not give up.  'Til next time, Mango....'til next time.

Crafty Aspirations

In theory, I am a very DIY kind of gal.  I have ideas a-plenty.  But while I excel in ideas, I fall short in execution.

Case in point: while cleaning out the basement I found a large tote of half-finished sewing projects.  There was a cute dress with uneven seams.  Several packets of patterns.  Heaps of fabric.

What can I say- I used to be really into "Project Runway."

I'm feeling pretty proud of myself this morning though because I have two -two- finished projects sitting in my dining room.  Unprecedented!

Project #1: New artwork

Step 1- buy a blank canvas (or three) at the craft store.  Buy some paints too if you don't already have some.  I bought a package of acrylics.  Pick up a brush while you're at it.  And some spray paint.

Step 2- using a color scheme of your choice, paint all over the canvas.  I chose blotchy circles.  In retrospect I wish I would've done vertical rectangles, but whatever.  First time's not usually the charm.  Allow paint to fully dry.

Step 3- now comes the hard part, though it's still not too bad.  Using painter's tape, cut out rectangles of even size.  I laid mine out in a herringbone pattern, though you could do whatever pattern you'd like.  I debated doing a trellis, but I like how this looks.

Step 4- go to town with your spray paint.  When dry, peel the tape.  Finish off the edges of the canvas with some paint as well in order to cover any spillover.

Ta da!  The nice thing about this project is if you don't like how it ends up, just paint over it.

Project #2: New chair covers

Big news that I should've mentioned earlier- my husband and I bought our first home.  We're really looking forward to moving in a few weeks.  Our new place has a four season porch, where we plan to eat most of our meals.  Since new patio furniture isn't in our budget, we're going to use our current dining set (hand me down from my parents).  But, it's not very porch-y, so I bought some outdoor canvas in a summery print and put it right over the existing fabric.

Step 1- Flip the chairs upside down and using a screwdriver or electric drill, unscrew the bolts connecting the chair base to the pad.

Step 2- Lay out your fabric and place the chair pads on top.  Cut the fabric allowing for about a 1-2" overlap- so you have room to staple the fabric down on the underside.

Step 3- Using the heavy duty stapler that your friend Kayla loaned out* (*please do this- do not attempt to use liquid stitch like I initially did), pull fabric tightly and staple in place.

Step 4- Refasten chair pads to chair base.  My husband was happy to be able to use his electric drill.   

Ta da!  Much better for our new porch.

I even saved the leftover fabric to make matching pillows.  I just have to make sure the fabric doesn't end up in the tote of doom.

Cabin Season

Ahh, weekend out at the lake.  Lots of fishing, boating, jet skiing, and...eating.  I don't know what it is, but something about being at the cabin makes me throw sensible food choices out the window.  Three cans of diet coke and fistfuls of cookies?  Not my usual diet.

Neither are just-add-water blueberry muffins with 100% real blueberry bits.  

Lately my husband and I have been eating meat for almost every meal, and as much as I like burgers and barbecue chicken, by last night I was really craving some pasta and veggies.  So I made up this meal- rich with pasta, but the vegetables lighten it up.


Rotini with asparagus
-1 box whole wheat rotini
-1/2 bunch asparagus, rinsed and cut into 2" pieces
-1 container cherry tomatoes, halved
-1 yellow onion, finely diced
-1 15-oz can cannelini (white kidney) beans, drained and rinsed.  
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 tsp red pepper flakes
-1/2 cup shaved or shredded Romano cheese
-1 Tbsp fresh chopped oregano

1. Fill a large stockpot of water 2/3rds full and heat to boiling.  Meanwhile, do your chopping of the veggies.
2. Add pasta and cook 7 or so minutes, until tender.
3. While pasta cooks, heat oil in a pan.  Add onions, tomatoes, asparagus, oregano, and red pepper.  Simmer, covered, stirring every few minutes.  Cook until asparagus is tender.  Add beans. 
4. Drain pasta and add vegetable sauce.  Add salt and pepper to taste.
5. Serve immediately.

Makes six servings.  Per serving: 370 calories, 65 g carbs, 7 g fat, 17 g protein, 12 g fiber.  With all that protein and fiber, this is a meal that will keep you feeling full for hours.  Sometimes it's okay to give your grill a break.