Beach Party Date Day

One reason Biz and I have been loving summer is because of the plethora of "date days."  "What is a date day," you ask?  Well, a date day is nothing more than a day spent doing date-type activities together.  We have gone to eat at new places, seen movies, watched sunsets, went people watching at the mall...all sorts of things! 

Today I decided to have an "at home" date day since we've been gone for a while (and also to save a little money on eating out).  After some pondering, a thought hit me at about midnight (as good thoughts generally do): let's have a beach party! 

Don't you love my crazy looking banner that I slaved over for approximately 30 seconds?

So today we've had a lot of fun doing "beachy" things like listening to the Beach Boys Pandora station (fantastic), playing Bananagrams (because bananas remind me of the beach, duh), and playing that fun wiffle ball + scoop game (no idea what it's called).  Soon we're going to have a seafood dinner of tortilla crusted talapia and shrimp cocktail (yum yum!).  But I figured we needed a beachy drink to keep us cool during our outside activities (high of 95 ya'll!), so we put together this concoction.  Enjoy!

Virgin Strawberry Daiquiris (Kinda)

In a blender put half a bag of frozen strawberries (I'd guess about 10).

Add 1/4 cup of OJ.  We also considered using lemonade...I'm sure it's good, too!

Add 3/4 cup of diet lemon lime soda.  Or be really adventurous and get the full calorie kind, ohh!

Think about how gross your mixture looks so far, then blend.

 Pour into a glass and enjoy!  We made this twice to get two servings, and I added two teaspoons of sugar to mine to sweeten it up a bit.  It was still pretty tart even with the sugar. 

Eating Creatively

This post could be alternately titled "Let's Use Up All of Our Groceries" or "What do we have in the pantry?" 

As I've gotten older (and, let's be honest, ever since Biz came into my life), I've become a little more concerned with groceries.  As in, only buying what I can eat and trying to plan out my meals for the week.  A prime example of this was this past Saturday night.  Biz and I got home late from a wedding and wanted to eat something quick and easy.  I pulled out some frozen mozzerella bites (yum!), but Mr. Biz decided to go a more creative route. 

Enter the plain oatmeal.

Guys, this man can do anything with a bowl of plain oatmeal.  We literally stood in front of the pantry and grabbed anything that had the possibility of being tasty.  In all of our Saturday evening creativity, this is what we came up with...

In case you can't tell, that's plain oatmeal with chocolate chips, raisins, ground cinnamon, Cracker Jacks, and a little bit of chocolate soymilk.  And, according to Mr. Biz, it was pretty darn good. 

Where does your pantry creativity take you?

What I Eat

Spring break, baby!  I'm celebrating my week off by taking pictures of the food I eat and sharing it with you.  Exciting, right?

 Annie's shell's and white cheese: This stuff is the BEST.  Add in a little (or a lot) of garlic, and the taste is through the roof.  Biz and I sometimes eat it in a spinach wrap...crazy, I know, but delicious.
Kroger Private Selection peach and mango salsa: I eat salsa on everything.  Lime tortilla chips, burgers, scrambled eggs, breakfast sandwiches.  Salsa is like the more delicious ketchup.

Vitamin Water Zero squeezed: I love this zero cal lemonade drink.  It's not too sour or too sweet...simply perfect for hot summer-y days.

 Oat Revolution maple & brown sugar oatmeal: Oatmeal is good any time of the day, but I haven't been eating it as much now that it's 80 degrees out.  My favorite way to eat oatmeal is with a banana sliced up on top.
Skippy Natural pb with honey: This is my favorite peanut butter.  It's all natural, but you don't need to stir it.  The honey adds a little bit of sweetness, but it's not overwhelming at all.  This is delicious on a tortilla, with a banana, or with an apple.
Kashi Crisp! cinnamon crumble cereal: One of my newest finds.  Since I'm home this week, I got some 2% milk, so I figured I needed some cereal to go with it.  I haven't tried this yet, but I'm sure I'll love it!

 MorningStar maple flavored fake sausage: Mr. Biz and I looove soysage (say that outloud...it makes you sound like you're from Boston).  This is our favorite brand and flavor.  Absolutely delicious!
Luna bars (chocolate dipped coconut and chocolate raspberry): I eat at least one Luna bar per day (normally more).  These are my two favorite flavors, but I also like chocolate peppermint stick and blueberry bliss.  Do yourself a favor and try one out!  They're especially good paired with a large mocha coffee.  :]

And of course, with all of that healthy stuff you've got to have some peanut butter m&m's mixed in.  :]

This is probably the most random post I've ever done, but I had a major shopping trip this afternoon and wanted to share what I got.  At other times there's hummus in the mix, eggs, pasta, pesto, and whole-wheat pasta.  What do you like to eat?  And if you're on spring break, are you doing crazier things than me?  :]

Recently...Eating and Travel

Wow, it sure has been a while!  I haven't been around the casa much, so I haven't taken much time to write on here.  I've been a little more intentional about keeping up with the teaching blog, but I don't want this one to fall by the wayside.  It is so great to be able to look back and remember what was going on my life at random times.  But anyways...

Like I said, I haven't been at my house much.  Mr. Biz and I have been all over the world (ok, maybe just the southeast) doing all sorts of fun things.  Don't be jealous.  ;]

 

We went to Birmingham to visit some of our best friends and for Mr. Biz to run the Mercedes-Benz half-marathon (I was only a spectator/cheerleader).  On Saturday we hung out with two of my besties, Clint & Brynn, and then that evening we spent some time with Biz's best friend Jonathan and his girlfriend.  The next morning we left around 6:20 for the marathon and I did my best not to freeze to death (a large non-fat mocha from McD's helped that cause).   He did a great job on the marathon; I love cheering him across the finish line.  Then we had a much deserved brunch at Another Broken Egg Cafe.  Deeeeelicious!  There is a location in Atlanta, so I'm sure we'll visit there again soon!  We both highly recommend it.

The next weekend was an EPIC four day weekend.  Yes, you read that correctly: we had Friday and Monday off of school.  We decided that we needed to live it up while we had time away from work.  Mainly, we decided to go to Steak and Shake at 2:00AM for their happy hour milkshakes.  Did you know that their happy hour is from 2-4AM and PM?  Well, now you do!  We figured what better way to stay young than to go out when all of those crazy college kids are out.  Actually, we were surprised that there were so many people there...come to find out, the bar next door closes at 2, so everyone migrates to Steak and Shake for some milkshakes and burgers.  That also explains the inebriated state of many of the patrons.  We overheard some very interesting conversations.  All in all, it was quite the experience and a fun, atypical thing for us to do.

That Sunday Mr. Biz ran the Locomotive Half-Marathon in Kennesaw, so we took the opportunity to go check out Big Pie in the Sky.  Adam (our favorite TV personality of Man v. Food fame) did the carnivore challenge there and the pizza looked amazing.  We decided to go with our favorite and try their version of a white pizza.  INSANELY GOOD.  There were huge chunks of garlic all over it.  I don't think the picture does it much justice, but we got their smallest size which was still 16" across.  And our plates were pizza trays.  Epic.  If you have a reason to go to Kennesaw you should definitely check it out.

If you can't tell, our goal in life is to become real foodies...which is why we try to find unique and fun places to eat in each city we visit.  Just last night we learned about some places in Athens that we are going to visit.  Over the past couple weeks we also enjoyed some sinful cheesecake from The Cheesecake Factory and got some really good Thai food from a place near Mr. Biz's work.  I never realized how fun it was to try out new places all the time!

This is a very long post, and if you made it to the end, props to you!  I'll probably keep updating ya'll on the places we eat at, and there is a "Good Eats" page currently being edited.  I'll let ya'll know when it goes live.

Happy Sunday!

Pancakes, Winter, Broken Hearts, and New Tunes

Hey, all!

I feel like I've been abandoning my little blog over the past couple of weeks.  I've just been concentrating on getting my new blog up and running.  Good news: I'm up to six followers!  Haha, doesn't sound like much, but I'm pumped.  :]

A few random thoughts for this Saturday morning...

On Thursday Mr. Biz and I made whole wheat banana pancakes and they turned out pretty well, if I do say so!  We didn't have nutmeg and we added a bit more milk (about 3/4 cup).  When it says the mix will be dry, that's really true!  We were both a bit flummoxed because we're used to runny pancake mix.  In the end it all turned out, though.  We enjoyed our pancakes with fake-sausage (aka "soysage"), random berries (of the straw, blue, black, and rasp varieties), and butter/maple syrup (only on mine).  Quite a yummy dinner!

Source: How Sweet Treats

The temperatures this past week have hovered around in the 60's and I AM LOVING IT.  I have never been much of a fan of winter (it's dark and way too cold), so this mild beginning to February has been awesome.  February is normally such a dreary month.  Here's to hoping this year is different.  I think we deserve this little taste of spring, since our spring all too quickly becomes a scorching hot summer.

Have you ever prayed for God to break your heart about something?  I have prayed that before and last night God answered my prayer.  I work with some of the sweetest kiddos around, but I know what most of their futures are.  They live in a very poor area with a lot of gang activity and such, so while they are innocents for now, they won't be for long.  My heart just aches for these children.  My goal as a teacher is to show them so much love and acceptance with the hope that one day they will make choices that will keep them on the right track. 

One last thought: I am currently listening to the album Kaleidoscope Heart by Sara Bareilles.  This next week I am going to delve into some new music on my computer: Elton John, Frank Sinatra, the Gin Blossoms, Harry Connick Jr., and possibly some Jack Johnson (in honor of my college roommate, SJ).  New music is the best!

Happy Saturday, everyone!  :]

Eating in Atlanta

I had a great weekend.

Saturday I got to hang out with my BFF all day.  We ate lots of food, had smoothies, did some shopping (or "looking" in my case), and simply enjoyed the chance to catch up in person.  A great day.

Sunday Mr. Biz and I had planned to spend some time at a park and then get some coffee from the Bux, but last minute he decided to get spontaneous.  Instead of our more typical date, after church we went down to the ATL (that's how the cool kids say Atlanta) to get some brunch at Ria's Bluebird.  It was awesome to do something entirely spur of the moment.  It's easy to do the same thing over and over, so it was cool to spice it up a bit. 

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Secondly, Ria's was awesome.  The atmosphere was so hipster-y, and Lord knows we all want to be hipsters.  We ate in the enclosed patio with mismatched tables & chairs and graffiti covering the walls.  We both got pancakes, although the waiter called mine "candy cakes" because I got them with chocolate chips.  Mr. Biz got some soysage with his and we shared some skillet potatoes (DELISH).  We will definitely make our way back there soon.  I think we both want to try the breakfast burrito and possibly the fish & grits. 

[source]

Long story short, this weekend was a lot of fun.  I had a great time with two of my favorite people and I got to eat at a super awesome diner.  I highly recommend heading to the Grant Park area of Atlanta to check out Ria's Bluebird. 

Our list of restaurants to check out in Atlanta is slowly getting longer.  Do you have any we should add?  Some of the ones we're already planning on are The Vortex, Holeman and Finch Public House (for the famous burgers), West Egg, and a couple others. 

P.S.- Major props to Mr. Biz for the idea to go to Atlanta on a whim.  That guy is awesome, in case you didn't already know.

Thumbs up!

Let's give some thumbs up today! 

#1: Monday was my birthday!  If I had enough people I would give myself 23 thumbs up. 

Which brings me to #2...

#2: Today is my sister Hannah's 21st birthday!  Happy b-day, lil sis!  Don't do anything crazy.  ;]

#3: Starbucks has given me one more reason to part with my hard-earned cash: half-price Frapps from 3-5PM every day till the 15th. 

#4: Chick flicks are still the bomb.  My sis Kelley, my mom, and I watched From Prada to Nada yesterday afternoon.  Did you know that it is based on Sense and Sensibility?  I really enjoyed it, but that goes without saying since I'm one of those "chicks." 

#5: It's Saturday!  That definitely deserves two weird, crooked thumbs up from this girl.  Enjoy your day!

Flamin' Ridiculous

     Anyone out there ever eaten any Flamin' Hot Cheetos?  They are seriously flamin'.  Chester Cheetah isn't kidding around with the spiciness of these bad boys.  My mouth is currently around a million degrees, but I can't stop eating--MORE CHEETOS.  Good thing I have a Lipton white tea by my side.  *whew*


     Second random thought: I've been cleaning all day for a very special guest: my dear friend Sarah!  She moved to Thailand to teach Kindergarten after we graduated last May, which means we haven't seen each other for almost a year (!).  I'm super pumped to see her and spend some quality time together.

Our first photo together...almost five years ago.  Such babies!

Graduation last May!  The last time we saw each other in person.

Don't you love seeing friends after being apart for a long time?  And do you dislike super spicy foods as much as me?  :]

Food for Thought

     I've been thinking about food a lot lately, and it's not just because of all the delicious holiday goodies (although, that weight I put on because of the goodies is one of the reasons).  My whole life I've grown up eating delicious home-cooked meals, but then eating all of the processed snacks I could get my hands on.  Eating those processed foods never bothered me until a few months ago when a new magazine came in the mail.

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     The cover story talked all about the food industry in America and our "food responsibility" as Christians (read the whole article here).  The author mentioned many different viewpoints on our responsibility, but there was one that really stood out to me:

I don't really know what Jesus would have put on his plate at the church potluck that day. I suspect he might have tossed a few cheese doodles on his plate, next to his Jell-O, quietly reminding me that it is not what goes into our bodies that makes us unclean, but what comes out of them, from our mouths and hearts. Even so, I'm pretty sure there will not be junk food in heaven, nor do I think we'll be eating meat. I'm expecting to cook good, slow food there, and I have reason to believe we will.

-Leslie Leyland Fields

It's true--I don't think God is in heaven sending down lightening bolts every time we pop open a can of Pringles.  But God has provided all of these wonderful fruits, vegetables, and grains for us to eat.  Why do we feel the need to fill ourselves with junk food?

     As all of these thoughts were flowing through my mind, I began to think more about vegetables.  I've never been a huge veggie fan (except for the those salads from Olive Garden...can I get an "amen"?), but as one of my close friends went vegetarian, he exposed me to fresh veggies I'd never had.  Isn't it a shame that I just learned the amazing food that is fresh green beans?  I believe I am making a more conscientious and responsible choice when I decide to have some steamed green beans instead of frozen chicken nuggets.

[source]

     That's just a little preview into my thoughts on eating healthier and more responsibly.  Later I'll share more on the challenges of eating "good-for-you" food in a house with plenty of "not-so-good-for-you" choices.  But, my question to you is this: what's your favorite vegetable?  How do you prepare it (so I can try it myself :] )?

P.S.- Does anyone else share my desire to see this documentary?

What I'm Baking Today: Christmas Eve Edition

     I found this recipe in a Betty Crocker ad in the latest issue of Good Housekeeping.  Yes, I am 22 and I read Good Housekeeping.  Last weekend I made them for a party and they were a big hit, so I decided to take them to Christmas Eve dinner tonight.  The green color just adds to the fun-ness of the cookies.  :]  Enjoy!

Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies

 

•  1 pouch Betty Crocker sugar cookie mix
• 1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon mint extract
• 6 to 8 drops green food color
• 1 egg
• 1 cup creme de menthe baking chips
• 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips or chunks

1. Mix cookie mix, butter, extract, food color, and egg in bowl, until soft dough forms.  Stir in creme de menthe baking chips and chocolate chips.
2. Using small cookie scoop or teaspoon, drop dough 2 inches apart on ungreased cookie sheet.
3. Bake at 350 F for 8 to 10 minutes.  Cool 3 minutes; remove from cookie sheet to wire rack.  Serve warm or cool completely.  Store tightly covered at room temperature.

What I'm Making for Dinner: Potato Soup

     My Dad showed up from his weekly grocery trip with chicken broth and cream cheese...a not-so-subtle hint that he wanted me to make potato soup again.  Hence, tonight I am making two batches of potato soup for my family.  Because I am so benevolent, I decided to share the recipe with you all.  Credit goes to Sarah Wigal for introducing me to this recipe and thinking to add the corn.

 

Panera's Cream Cheese Potato Soup

1 hour | 15 min prep

SERVES 4 -6

• 4 cups chicken broth
• 4 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
  
• 1/4 cup minced onion
• 1 can of corn
  
• 1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
  
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, cut into chunks

1. Combine broth, potatoes, onion, and spices.
2. Boil on medium heat until potatoes are tender.
3. Smash a few of the potatoes to release their starch for thickening.
4. Reduce to low heat.
5. Add cream cheese and corn.
   
6. Heat, stirring frequently, until cheese melts.

Mmm, mmm, good!

     Hello, everyone!  I hope you're staying warm on this unnaturally cold November weekend.  I guess Georgia decided to skip fall (although the forecast is saying that it will be 80 degrees next Thursday).  I've pulled out all of my sweatshirts, which has made me miss the college life and the fact that I could wear a sweatshirt almost every day.  Sadly they are not quite "work appropriate;" I'm sure many of you feel my pain in this.

     I can't say that the winter months are a favorite season for me.  I'm a naturally cold person, so living at home where my parents refuse to put the thermostat above 65 can be uncomfortable.  Hence the reason my Snuggie is permanently attached to my body.  With all of that, however, there is still one thing I enjoy about cold weather: soups!  I've been waiting and waiting for a cold day so I could make chicken tortilla soup.  That stuff kicks some major butt.  Wigal introduced me to it last fall/winter, and we ate it all the time.  It is seriously soooo good.  And check out how nice I am: I'll even share the recipe with you.  ;]  Super easy and super delish...try it!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

4 cloves garlic, minced (I just toss in some garlic powder)

1 tbsp. and 1 tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp. chili powder

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp. ground cayenne pepper (I put a little less than it calls for b/c it's so spicy)

3/4 tsp. salt

1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro (I tend to put a bit more b/c I like it so much, but I warn you that it is strong)

2/3 onion, chopped

2/3 (29 ounce) can diced tomatoes (I use Rotell)

4 cups chicken broth

3-1/4 boneless chicken breasts, chopped (or shredded)

1 can of corn (optional)

1 can of black beans (optional)

Combine chicken broth and spices in large pot over low heat.  Throw in cilantro, onion, tomatoes, black beans, and chicken.  Simmer over heat for a while (from 1 hour to all day in a crock pot).  Add corn 10 minutes before serving time.  Garnish with sour cream, cheese, and tortilla chips.  Enjoy!  

Note: I choose to make my own chicken broth, so the amount is normally a little more than what the recipe calls for.  If you feel like the soup is too "soupy," you can add more tomatoes, chicken, corn, etc.  Essentially this is one of those "throw it together" recipes.  :]

     Let me know what you think if you make it.  Wigal and I tweaked the recipe a lot, so feel free to do the same.  What have you been waiting to make this fall/winter?  Wanna share the recipe?  ;]

     Oh, and I'll share my other favorite soup recipe soon, as well as one I found online that I want to try.  Stay tuned!

-Abby :]