Weekend Fun & a Personal "Cake"!

My sister found this and shared it with me.  It's so true and I'm so excited!!  I LOVE Pumpkin. :)

It's that feeling of fall that does it.  The temps have dropped just enough to really make it feel like fall...who cares what the calendar says?

I first noticed the cool down Saturday morning when I joined my friend and my Godson for a bit of garage saling.  I went out to the car to leave and immediately ran back in to grab a cardigan.  The whole time we were walking around the neighborhood I was taking it on and off.  I just couldn't decide it if was too hot for it or too cool without it.  Oh well, if that's my biggest problem I think we can all agree I'm doing alright. :)

My big win in our Garage Sale Adventures was a Pampered Chef Chopper for $1!!  I've always wanted one and I've already used it several times to chop onion.  Total Score! :)

On Sunday Kai and I attended our Church's Tailgate party while the Hubs worked on the basement.  There was an obstetrical coarse...

 And a Bounce House...

And your standard grilled tailgate food & pitch-in type salads.  Plus there was a DJ and the playground that's part of the church/school.  We had a BLAST!  And as much fun as we were having, I still made the executive decision to leave at 1 so we could actually watch the game with the Hubs. :)

In addition to watching the Colt's play, I got to watch a quick pick-up game between Kai and the Hubs when she stole his "lucky football".

And nothing goes better with football and this fall weather than chili!

For the Hubs it was just Ground Beef, Onion, 1 Can of Diced Tomatoes with Chili, a small can of Tomato Sauce, and a lot of Chili Powder. :)

For me it was left over soup from Saturday night... An assortment of veggies and veggie broth  (Soup / Chili - it's all good).  Plus a slice of Grammy's homemade bread (the loaf is officially gone!)

Kai had the left over soup with some macaroni stirred in (we tend to eat chili with macaroni noodles) and some cheese.

The Hubs added some oyster crackers, hot sauce and cheese to his meaty chili.

For dessert the Hubs and Kai split a pumpkin bar that Grammy had given us.  (seriously, she bakes non stop and I CANNOT get out of her house without bringing something home, lol!)  I snacked on an apple and raisins later on. :)

While the Chili was simmering Kai and I got creative in the kitchen to make her lunch for Monday.  Here's what we came up with:

Chocolate Peanut Butter Personal "Cake"
1/2 C Rolled Oats
1/4 C Almond Milk
1 T Carob Powder (or cocoa powder)
1 T PB2 Powder (or you could use natural peanut butter)
1 T Chia Seeds
1 T Unsweetened Apple Sauce
Handful of Spinach
1 Egg

Use your food processor to chop the oatmeal into a flour.

 Add your other ingredients...

And blend until everything's smooth...

Pour into a ramekin....

Bake at 350 for about 30 minutes until a pick comes out clean.

For an "icing" I mixed a spoonful of Cream Cheese with an equal amount of Ricemellow....

Kai cannot wait until lunch tomorrow.  She asked if she had to eat it last and I told her she could eat it first if she wanted.  Then she made me promise to tell her teacher because they make them eat the "healthy stuff before dessert".  Little does she know this dessert is "healthy". :D

School Lunch Wrap Up Wk4

Here's this weeks lunch wrap up.  Click below to see the previous weeks.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

MONDAY:  Labor Day, no school means no packed lunch.

TUESDAY:  Cheese Stick, Left over lemon cake from Labor Day at Granny's house, Cinnamon & Raisin Unsweetened Apple Sauce, Left over chicken from Labor Day at Granny's house with Sliced Mini Sweet Pepper.  

- She ate everything but the cheese stick.

WEDNESDAY:  Left over homemade garlic bread stick from last Friday when I made pizza (I didn't post about it - sorry), Soup in her new thermos, and a banana.  

- I was told she ate everything and a little bit of the soup but I can't confirm that.  There was a bag mix-up when I picked up Kai so she brought home her friend's lunch bag (Her friend at everything but about an eigth of her hamburger and 3 strawberries, lol!).

THURSDAY:  Left over Pizza with a side of raspberries and sliced almonds.  

- She ate everything but the almonds, which she finished in the car after a bit of negotiating.

FRIDAY:  Some Pumpkin Dip, Veggies - Brocoletti and green pepper, PB2 & Jelly Sandwich on some of Grammy's bread (Grammy makes bread to keep busy and is always giving it away!) and the bag that came with her Kid's Meal at McAlister's the night before.  

- She ate EVERYTHING - veggies and all.  And when she got in the car and told me she ate everything she asked if we could go get Frozen Yogurt.  Oops!  We agreed that Frozen Yogurt will be a special treat, but I made her a "soft serve banana" when we got home as a compromise (frozen banana blended until smooth like soft serve)

As you can see this week's been all about left overs!

Pumpkin Dip

Happy Friday!  Are you looking forward to the weekend?  I am.  Sunday is the start of Football!!!  (I know they REALLY started on Wednesday but the Colts don't play until Sunday).  PLUS this weekend I expect there to be some serious headway in our basement.  Yes, we're DIYing our basement remodel.  I've spent the last couple of mornings perfecting my Muddying technique.  I'm not going to lie, there have definitely been a few learning curves but I THINK I've got it figured out now. :)

Yesterday's breakfast was just left over pizza eaten over the course of the whole morning.  I do love left over pizza.  I think I like it even better than fresh pizza.  I could actually go for a little more now, but alas, I finished it off yesterday.  :(

After 3 slices of pizza I didn't really need a super sized lunch so I stuck with a salad.  I like salads.  Especially when they're topped with bell pepper, blueberries, raspberries and pecans!

When I picked Kai up from school I discovered that she ate ALL her lunch except for a few almond slices.  I was told, "I don't like nuts.  I don't want you to put nuts in my lunch EVER again".  Ok, point taken.  BUT I made a deal with her that if she did eat the almonds then we could go get yogurt.  See I wanted yogurt.  Ever since I saw that they had brought back PUMPKIN flavor!!  She struggled to finish the "Yucky" almonds, so we were off to Speedway to get frozen yogurt...

You know what's missing from the flavor board?  Pumpkin.  It's only at the downtown location until NEXT week. :(

The lady working was so nice and apologetic.  I told her not to worry about it - I'll get it eventually and it's not like I don't enjoy their other flavors.  This time I got Tart (my favorite!) with a dollop of Red Velvet (amazing!!) plus assorted fruits and some almonds (Ha! Take that Kai!!)

Kai picked Cake Batter with Red Velvet and topped it with assorted fruits and cookie crumbles... When I asked her if she wanted almond slices she gave me a dirty look.  I don't think she always gets my sense of humor.  :)

After getting home I was still in a pumpkin mood so I whipped up a Pumpkin Dip to go with dinner:
1 Can Chickpeas - drained & rinsed
1/2+ Can Pure Pumpkin
Pumpkin Pie Spice (2 parts cinnamon, 1 part nutmeg, 1 part ginger)
About 2 T Chia Seeds
1 T Coconut Oil
Drizzle of Maple Syrup

Blended until smooth....

Even the Hubs said it tasted like Pumpkin Pie.  I feel that's a TOTAL win!

After making that we headed over to my parent's house to help them take the ladder out of their pool so they could close it up for the season.  One thing let to another and we wound up enjoying dinner together at McAlister's Deli.   My mom works evenings so now that Kai's in school we don't really see them that often. 

I got the Veggie Club (YUM!!) and the Veggie Spud (Ok) combo with water to drink. 

It was a really nice evening!  Once we got home and I got settled I noticed there was a new episode of Project Runway on.  SCORE!  I love watching Project Runway...It makes me think that I COULD make my own clothes if I just took the time to measure/cut/sew.  Sure I could!

Almost Forgot, but not quite!

Man, I was just walking around and suddenly realized, I never posted today!  That's how it starts too.  You forget to post one day and think oh well, I'll just cover everything tomorrow.  And then tomorrow comes and it seems like there's so much to edit so you put it off and then Bam! You're gone for days.  Not this time.  :)

Yesterday was full of some standard eats for me/us...

BREAKFAST:  a nuked muffin from the freezer and a nuked egg with spinach and nutritional yeast stirred in.

LUNCH:  Black Bean Soup topped with avocado.

 Which I enjoyed with some tortilla chips.

Once I finished the soup I grabbed the bag of chips and finished those off too.  I KNOW better than to bring the bag out of the kitchen.  I have no self control!

Then I also enjoyed an apple.  Is anyone else looking forward to fall and going to the orchards? :)

Once Kai got home I agreed to set up the karaoke machine.  She's been begging me but I've been holding off since she can't read yet and it just becomes frustrating.  BUT not this time.  We did Girls Just Want to Have Fun a few times because she knows that song, and then it turns out she LOVES Pat Benatar's Hit Me with Your Best Shot.  Neither of us can sing worth a lick but we do like to pretend.  :)

AND I went ahead a ordered a new CD...Party Tyme Karaoke: Super Hits 17 which has Call me Maybe, We are Young, and a few others that she loves to sing along to in the car.  I'm thinking this is going to be a spectacular CD!!  The poor, poor Hubs is going to have many nights of off key singing in his future.

DINNER:  the Hubs ordered Pizza.  He got his standard meaty pizza and I got Veggie, extra sauce, no cheese.

I then topped my pizza with some nutritional yeast... YUM!!!

And then tried to add a little "healthy" with a side salad.

So, there was nothing new but it was ALL so good!!  Well, maybe not the singing.  Seriously, we are completely tone deaf.  :(

EVERYTHING I ate Tuesday...

Yesterday I drove up to work in our office so breakfast was a quick smoothie.  It was one of my favorite smoothies...although to be fair they're all my favorite smoothies. :)

BUT this one consisted of steel cut oats, almond milk, ice, chia seeds, 1/2 a frozen banana, PB2 (peanut butter powder), carob powder (cocoa) and of course, spinach....

As the day wore on it was much easier to fit take out into the schedule rather than actually going out to eat.  Sometimes that's the way the work day goes.  So we decided to get Chinese:  I had Mixed Veggie with Fried Rice (I ordered white, but you gets what you gets) and Egg Drop Soup.  It was their lunch special, only $5!  To be honest it tasted like a $5 meal... Not the best I've ever had but there was a VERY nice assortment of veggies in it. :)

And of course lunch was rounded out with a fortune cookie!

A window of opportunity won't open itself.

 Is it just me or have fortunes become more "wisdoms" than fortunes?  Maybe I just misunderstand what a fortune is.  Hummm

Anyway, I left work at 5 and then sat on a bridge for about 15 minutes!!

Nice view, huh?  Well sure, unless you have an irrational fear of being on a bridge during an earthquake.  I don't know why I fear it but I don't like stopping on or under bridges.  To the point where I've freaked out before!  I managed to hold it together by focusing on this....

Not nearly as nice a view but hey, no one's ever been crushed by an orange cone before.  :)

By the time I got home everyone had already eaten so I decided to just whip up something quick.  Then Kai reminded me that she wanted to take soup for lunch.  Last week I bought her a Barbie Thermos on clearance for lunch soups during the winter.  Of course she's wanted to break it in ever since!

Soup it was...

Onion, celery and half a spoon of coconut oil all sauteed for a few minutes....

 Plus tomato and Veggie Broth simmered until the veggies are softened....

Then I used the immersion blender to smooth the veggies up a bit (these are the veggies Kai tends to turn her nose up to so I puree them so they're a bit more "hidden" - sneaky mom moment)

Then I chopped up some Broccolette, a Carrot and a potato (not pictured obviously)

And added them along with a couple of handfuls of Lentils....

And then I put the lid on, turned it down to simmer and let it cook for about 45 minutes.  (yeah, my quick meal turned into a late night dinner, lol!)

Then I topped my bowl with some nutritional yeast. :)

After Kai went to bed the Hubs and I decided to watch an episode of Dr. Who.  We're 6 episodes in and so far I've found it entertaining but goofy.  I don't get the obsession with it yet.  BUT it's all the "Geek" boards talk about on Pinterest and I want to get the jokes so I'm committed to watching it!  

While we watched I ate a bowlful of popcorn topped with nutritional yeast, raisins and sunflower seeds.  Oh, and a couple spoonfuls of Almond Butter.

And that, ladies and gentlemen was everything I ate yesterday.  :)

Labor Day Weekend...Bad Blogger

I was a bad blogger this Labor Day Weekend.  I took no pictures.  In fact the only reason I have a picture of this left over salad is because I took it right before finishing it off for dinner last night. :)

Labor day was not only Labor Day, it was also my mom-in-law's birthday so of course we had to party!  The original plan was to join the Hub's extended family's picnic reunion but the threat of storms forced us indoors so we headed to his Granny's house.  My contribution was the above salad (it was bigger then)...A Taco Salad of:

Lettuce, Spinach, Tomato, Purple Onion, Nutritional Yeast, Corn, Black Beans, Avocado, Lime Juice, Sweet Peppers and Green Onion.

And even though we had a lot of fun visiting the highlight of the weekend was my Godson's Baptism!!

Look at that little champ!  He didn't even cry.

And here I am putting his baptismal shawl on him.  He is SUCH a little flirt... and I totally eat it up!

After the mass & baptism we headed back to his house to party for the rest of the day.   There was a deli tray, chips & snacks, lots of veggies and... WATERMELON!!  There may have been a little battle between me and a 5 year old over the last piece.  lol!

School Lunch Wrap Up

 Here's this weeks lunch wrap up.  Click below to see the previous weeks.
Week One
Week Two

MONDAY:  Chocolate Peanut Butter Overnight Oats (I added carob powder & PB2 to the linked recipe), cut sweet pepper & cucumber & her everyday drink, water + juice.  

- She ate good amount of the oats (there was a LOT in the jar) and a few of the veggies and then finished off the veggies when she got home.

TUESDAY:  Pinwheels (see below), unsweetened apple sauce with raisins & cinnamon & a homemade fruit leather. 

- She ate the apple sauce and 2 of the pinwheels at school then finished them off at home.  I was told the bell rang before she got a chance to eat the fruit leather. lol!

WEDNESDAY:  Left over Quesadillas, a few tortilla chips, Greek Yogurt

- She ate the chips and yogurt.  Then when she got home she didn't eat until dinner time.  The quesadillas were thrown out. :(

THURSDAY:  Left over casserole & pumpkin treat.

- She ate the pumpkin treat and the bread part of the casserole.  When she got home she didn't eat until dinner time again.

FRIDAY:  Leftovers from her dinner... Macaroni with edemame & broccoli topped with spaghetti sauce, nutritional yeast and parmesan cheese with a side of cinnamon raisin unsweetened applesauce and greek yogurt with a few butterscotch chips.

- By the time we left the school parking lot she had FINISHED the entire lunch.  Nothing left over.  At all.  And when we got home she asked for more macaroni.  I guess I found something she really likes...this week anyway.

PINWHEELS
A tortilla smeared with cream cheese and then topped with spinach, nutritional yeast, shredded carrot and red sweet pepper....

Rolled up and then stuck with toothpicks....

And then cut between the toothpicks.