Manic Monday

I have a HUGE list of things I want to try to get done today - 30 items, in fact. I'll be happy if I can get most of them done or at least started though. The biggest task is to find a new humidifier. Our radiator has been kicking into high gear and leaves our apartment feeling like the Sahara and our old one bit the dust last week. No amount of water is enough to stay hydrated in here! The Beanpole hit the road again this morning so I'm on my own for the week to indulge in all things to-fruity. The best part is that our new favorite movie channel is showing one of my all-time favorites this afternoon - SHAG! You better believe I have every intention of camping out on the sofa for that one!

I had the alarm set for 6:45 this morning but stayed curled up and cozy until he left around 7:30 before getting up to make some oatmeal. For years I thought that I did not like oatmeal, until I tried the whipped banana recipe on Kath Eats Real Food. Check out her Tribute To Oats here!

I heated up a little bit of my cinnamon cranberry sauce first because I hate spoiling nice warm dishes with a cold bite, added the oats, a bit of granola, and about a tablespoon of flax, and washed down all the yummy oats with a hot cup of Stash Fusion Green and White tea. I love both kinds of tea on their own and this is perfect for the mornings when I'm not quite ready for all the earthiness of a regular green tea.





The perfect way to enjoy the rest of the banana - with a little bit of PB!

Cakes from a Pan

We stayed up much too late last night watching a movie called Starflight One. It seems we have a new channel that purposely shows such gems and when we came across a movie showing a super-sonic plane that had gone into orbit, well, we just couldn't turn away. The stellar performances of Lee Majors and Hal Linden also kept us glued to our seats. Very dramatic stuff. We woke up late again and had talked about making pancakes so I set up a little breakfast bar for us. Until about 6 or 7 months ago I didn't even know you could make pancakes that didn't come from the Bisquick box, much less attempted to make them. I'd planned on making some plain and some blueberry but found at the last minute that I'd used up the rest of my blueberries in the delicious cran-blueberry sauce from a couple weeks ago. What's a logical subsitute? Chocolate chips, of course! The first guy didn't turn out so well - he was huge, doughy, and not so cooked on the inside. A little bit of practice though and most turned out pretty well for the first go-round, and we even have leftovers in the freezer for a busy morning! I was hungry-hungry and had 2.5 of these big cakes!

Lazy Day

It is dark and dreary outside with a forecast of rain or snow so The Beanpole and I have been lounging on the couch with the internet most of the day. I got pretty hungry about an hour after breakfast but distracted myself with the ever-addictive Facebook and decided to wait a couple more hours if I could to have lunch. We've talked about going around the corner to our little pub this evening and if we do will probably end up having dinner there so I wanted to do something light again for lunch. But I just could not shake the desire for eggs, so I had a second breakfast instead. This used to be one of my favorite treats for dinner and I knew it would be just the thing!

I had an open-faced egg sandwich on whole-wheat bread with a little tomato, spinach, provolone cheese, and pepper. So tasty! To round out the "breakfast" feel I added two veggie sausage links, and for balance a crisp granny smith apple (minus two slices that I forced on The Beanpole to counteract his diner lunch of a Chicago-style char-dog and a huge plate of fries). I'm still a little hungry but hoping that the big glass of water will fill me up!

Light Start

Wheeeeew, it was a late morning. I wish I could say that it was due to a wild and fun night, but alas, I am old and boring. I spent a restless two weeks trying to sleep at the in-laws (though the king-size bed was a treat!) and have been desperately trying to catch up since we returned. You've heard a little bit about The Beanpole but there is another family member that has been slinking slightly under the radar - Augustus Cat. He's an almost 9 year old fluffy tabby that cannot ever seem to get enough attention. The two week vacation was rough on him and when we returned he was hoarse from screaming and had visibly been on a hunger strike. He's not let either of us have a moment's rest since. The past three nights have been a series of yowls, incessant kneading on any limb exposed from beneath the covers, nighttime crazies, and basically anything else he can think of to keep us from abandoning him for the comfort of a good night's rest. Finally, finally, finally, last night he decided that simply cuddling up next to my feet would be satisfactory and I slept. For twelve hours. Waking up at 11am isn't quite the fresh new start I'd had planned so I kept breakfast light and had a slice of calcium-fortified whole-grain bread with a bit of natural peanut butter, and Chobani non-fat vanilla yogurt with some frozen mixed berries, granola and flax, and a cup of green tea. Hopefully I can get back on track for the rest of the day!