Mustard's never tasted so good

You know how discouraging it is when you just can't shake those last 5, 7, 10 pounds?  Me too.  Especially since I haven't been working out, the weight that I'm at looks even heavier because it's not lean muscle.  It's fatty fat.

My perfectly fitting jeans are fitting very imperfectly, and I'm always tugging at my clothes so they don't ride up, ride down, get bunched in the wrong places.  Such a frustrating place to be in.  The biggest problem of it all seems to be my appetite and love of all food/drink.  That plus no self control has ground moving effects.  Quite literally.

Poor Mr Incredible could hardly stand one more three-lettered question or comment.  Clue: ends in t, starts with f and has a vowel in between.  And 'fit' is not the correct answer.  My poor children, even though they have not expressed in so many (or any at all) words, could barely stand one more day of me jumping for dear life into my jeans, red faced and sweating, and anxiously albeit politely asking them to leave my room so they could not watch in horror the spectacle I was creating.

So I'm taking some very sound advice and trying to go no carb for 2 weeks.  14 days.  No big deal.  Really what I should be doing is sleeping with a plastic bag over my head.  Because that's easy to do for 14 days too.

It's 1pm on my second day of no carbs.  I politely declined a Tim Hortons egg, cheese and sausage biscuit and a donut of any sort.  And then when I came home shaking from the effects of too much coffee and no carbs (carbs=food) I downed 2 ninety seven percent fat free hot dogs.  I was licking the ketchup and mustard off of my plate as fiercely as I would've licked chocolate icing off of an unsuspecting two year old's birthday cake.

It's that bad.  But only twelve and a half more days to go.

Have you done any no carbs?  How did you survive it?

This post brought to you by Bristol Palin and Oh! Calcutta

Ugh this pic doesn't even do them justice

When I heard today that Bristol Palin is going to be on Dancing With the Stars, I knew I had to honor the Palins immediately.  I needed to find an occasion to wear those shoes.

  I'm 5'9.  And so is Mr Incredible (height may or may not be his only un incredible characteristic.)  And what better place would I have to wear these than an Indian restaurant?  Where I can one up small Indian men two times with 1) my height 2) my thick (er?) Buffalo accent?  I bet Bristol felt like me, too.

Bristol are you feeling self conscious than your leg is bigger than his head?  Very relatable tonight, Bristol.  Very relatable.

Sarah, why do your legs look so much hotter than mine?:

and this pic DOES NOT DO MY LEGS JUSTICE.

One Oh! Calcutta martini (two parts liquor to one part pineapple juice to one part Indian cologne)

Indian waiter, "you get rose he get beel."

Do I have loose ends not tied up?  Have I made a complete thought throughout this whole post?  Sorry.  Oh! Calcutta.  and mr incredible's left over beer.  good. night.

I don't know why this wasn't on Fox News

Obama was in Buffalo yesterday, much to my surprise after he'd already came, visited, then left.  Frankly I don't know what he was doing here, but I know the important specifics.  a) A girl who got to speak with him told him that he was "a hotty with a body."  Representin', I'll tell ya.  Buffalo, woot woot.

And most importantly- food b) he went to Duff's wings and ordered 10 extra crispy medium wings.  If I could edit people's behavior, I wouldn't know where to begin with this, Mr President.  First of all, Duff's is dandy and all, but when you come to Buffalo and want wings, you go to the Anchor Bar.  That's a given.  The person who mislead you to this wings' joint (on the outskirts of Blo, nonetheless) should most definitely be fired.  Secondly, no one orders their wings extra crispy.  This ain't Kentucky Fried Chicken, this is Buffalo, New York.  (Bad news, that's not my joke.  Good news, that's not my joke.)
credit

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RIGHT

creditWRONG

I won't talk about stupid blogger anymore. at least not right now.

For my birthday/ mother's day, Mr Incredible decided on getting me a sick camera for me.  He's letting me choose which one, which is a badgood idea.  I have complete cold feet from it because they are so expensive and I'm overwhelmed.  Because I know me, it'll probably be another year.  or three.

I was on the phone this morning talking to my friend about it when the doorbell rang.  It was literally like a bad tv show how perfectly it worked out.  In the mail was this:

I thought that the box was from a giveaway I'd one with some ghetto Sherrie's Berries packaging (not that the giveaway I won was ghetto, or that Sherries Berries is ghetto, just all of it summed up together), but alas! it was not.  There were true sherrie's chocolate covered berries in the box!  

At this point I thought it was surely from his grandmother or mom, because they're cool like that and are always on top of holidays.  Wrong again!

cory= Mr Incredible, just incase that threw you off.  

If you're thinking that's nice and cute and wonderful but my husband/significant other does this on a weekly basis, think again.  I want to say something like this has NEVER happened, but I'll be safer with very rarely.  He's just not into the mushy gushy stuff and that's cool.  Most of the time.  This made me so happy I was literally almost speechless.  I felt like I should cry, but I didn't, mostly because I don't cry happysad tears.

I know you're wondering, what can you take from this post?

1. I have very little happysad emotion in me
2. Saving $40 on shipping charges to have it come three days early will win my heart over doubly.  I love saving money, Mr Incredible not so much.  So that right there spelled l-o-v-e
3. Those last five pounds can wait
4. You have it right there in writing: I am the Best Mother Ever

One last thing: Let's just clear the air.  It's not that Mr Incredible isn't lovey dovey, it's that he is painfully practical.  Less Shakespeare, more Bob the Builder.  Not in terms of learning levels, though.

This post took me 24 hours. I'm not sure why.

I promised my ever faithful reader (hi nwright) that I would document my Friday birthday celebration.   She wanted picture documentation, but that stopped real quick after I took the first picture in fancy-ville restuarant and my little samsung flash lit up the entire place and screamed that I am not accustomed to fancy dinners with just the husband.  And that my camera takes embarrassingly bad pictures:

sorry nwright.

I'll start with first things first.  Drinks.  Let me preface this with I had a rough day.  I showed up at my parents' house crying sans makeup, frizzy hair and insisting that neither I nor the kids deserved to have fun because we were all acting crazy.  My ever understanding mother said four simple words that changed my night.  "Go have a Manhattan."  "okay."

Have you ever had a Manhattan?????  I thought it was going to be something fruity delicious wonderful because my parents are NOT drinkers.  I should've known better when the waiter started asking me how I wanted it and with what type of whisky.  Being the obedient child I am, though, I told him to make it on the "sweeter" side (read: straight up rubbing alcohol with a marachino cherry).  First sip made my eyes water and remind me of the first time I drank.  

Bread: Pretzel rolls with butter (mustard would've gone better, Black and Blue)

Appetizers:  Crab and lobster fondue aka cheese cheese cheese with a side of gourmet

Bottle of wine: (should've known even better than the Manhattan)

Dinner:  Mr Incredible got the Paella; spicy clams, lobster, crab, scallops, shrimp, on top of saffron rice.  But that's not really accurate because I don't really remember.  I got short ribs and hangar with bleu cheese mashed potatoes and the biggest awesomest onion rings you could imagine.  I didn't even eat half of it because at that point I went to the bathroom to check to see if my dress was literally splitting at the seams I was so full.  It was not.  This is not a joke.  

Two hours (?) later we left, went to the local icecream shop to pick up cake so I could celebrate with the kids and my parents.  I was too full to eat it, but I heard it was good.

This might've summed up the night:

he looks underage

and i look like a dog.  a dog who just had a manhattan.

I ate too much again ANNNND Little Tiara Giveaway!

Ohhh shoot I was on such a (two day) roll for blogging everyday.  But then, ya know, life happened yesterday and I spent the day shoving my face instead of doing anything else.  It was Thursday, you know.  And you know what happens on Thursdays.  Binge Thursday.  Don't think this is a special occasion or anything.  Without fail, this happens every. single. Thursday.  I just assume you don't want to read about my indignities every Thursday and then my complaints every Friday because I get THE WORST. food hangovers.  All kidding aside.  This morning consisted of lots of coffee and Tylenol.  All because of that damned Sara Lee *light* pound cake and brownie batter out of the box mixed with water to eliminate my chances of saminola and added fat from oil.  I won't list the other foods because a) you don't care b) the ones listed are the ones that put me over the edge.

Shoot.  This is supposed to be the post about the giveaway.  I really need to start seperating my thoughts into different posts.

Onto the giveaway.  So.  Little Tiara and I have been reading (and commenting) on each other's blogs since I began blogging.  Yay.  We go back.  She is offering your choice of any of her posted artwork either as a notebook (sweet) or notecards (maybe that would help me with my correspondence issues).  Awesome!  Click on this link and tell me your favorite piece of her work!  Winner's choice!  Then if you feel so inclined, you should click on this link and read her blog.  She's romantic and girly and all the stuff that I could be if I didn't binge every Thursday.

Winner will be announced next Thursday at Some point in time EST.  Good luck!

If you're an Irish, Food Loving, Chocoholic and maybe Alcoholic

You know what I'm doing today.  But if you're not as brave/irish as I, you can sit inside and enjoy watching the rain and heck maybe even light a fire.  If this is what you do, do me a favor and make AT LEAST one of the following.  Your taste buds will be eternally grateful and your hips will forever shake their fists at me.

1. Irish Cream Brownies (your hips will just shake its head sadly at you, not shake its fists because these are from Cooking Light.)(warning that I choose not to follow: Cooking Light recipes are only beneficial if you don't eat the whole pan.)


1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt 
1/3 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup butter 
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup egg substitute (or 1 egg+1 egg white)
1/4 cup Baileys Irish Cream
1 tsp vanilla
Cooking spray


1. preheat oven to 350
2. Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup, level with a knife.  Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda and salt in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk.
3. Place chocolate chips and butter in a large microwave safe bowl.  Microwave on high 1 1/2 minutes or until chocolate chips and butter melts, stirring every 30 seconds.  Cool slightly.  Add sugar and next three ingredients, stirring well with a whisk.  Microwave on high until sugar dissolves, stirring every 30 seconds.  Fold in the flour mixture, stirring just until moist.  Spread batter in a thin layer in a square 9 inch baking pan coated with cooking spray.   Bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until wooden toothpick comes out almost clean.  Cool on wire rack.  
(16 servings) 145 calories 5 grams fat, 1 gram of fiber   (or you can just eat the pan and water and carrot sticks and call it a day.)


2. Irish Snugglers
Hot cocoa (or coffee just in case you think saving 70 extra calories is worth it)
1 shot Baileys
1 shot Kahlua
1/2 shot Peppermint Schnapps
Whipped cream.  NOT cool whip, please for the love of everything green, just use whipped cream


put in mug and enjoy

3. Irish Car Bomb

3/4 pint Guinness® stout

1/2 shot Bailey's® Irish cream
1/2 shot Jameson® Irish whiskey

Add the Bailey's and Jameson to a shot glass, layering the Bailey's on the bottom. Pour the Guinness into a pint glass or beer mug 3/4 of the way full and let settle. Drop the shot glass into the Guinness and chug. If you don't drink it fast enough it will curdle and increasingly taste worse.

this is how we roll

we didn't do anything for valentine's day.  we're doing champagne and chocolate dipped strawberries for Fat Tuesday.

Cheer's to being fat!

ching.

Took a breather and now able to talk some more

As you may know, I'm doing p90x.  Moreover, I'm on day 18.  Day 18 of I'm-better-than-you-workouts.  The p90x kit comes with 12 different DVDs to promote "muscle confusion" and a book to tell you what workouts to do on which day.  It also comes with a nutrition guide book.  This includes recipes, suggestions, or you can straight up follow exactly what it says every day for 90 days.  It also tells you how much of each food group to eat everyday, and tells you every food and which food group it belongs.  Since I do NOT have a niche for explaining myself well, just know that it is NOT as hard as I just made it seem.  People involved with p90x, feel free to put an appropriate summary in the comments section below.


I've been doing Weight Watchers since I was 6 weeks post partum with this babe.  So when we decided to do p90x, I thought I would couple the nutrition guide with counting points.  I felt a bit leery because if I do something I want to do it right, however, I know that WW works.  I was afraid that I wouldn't lose any weight doing p90x.  In retrospect that is absolutely absurd.  Of course you'll lose weight if you're eating right and working out hardcore.  


The first 10 days I did well with eating my points and p90x nutrition guide.  I was a little overwhelming because I didn't prepare myself for cooking.  I felt like I was cooking all day everyday, hence my house was getting destroyed and I was getting frazzled.


Part of the nutrition that was for me allowed one complex carb a day, which is like a camel that is allowed to store as much water as he pleases without a hump.  I live on simple carbs.  Very simple carbs.  As in cookies.  Anyway, on day 10 I started to notice that I was smelling like cat pee.  I thought this was a great excuse to start eating my carbs again.  You know, just one extra complex carb.  

Have I ever told you that I am all or nothing?  Well I am.  And one extra carb turned into a binge session.  But just one binge session.  "Tomorrow is a new day," me thought. 


Come weigh in a Weight Watchers the next day.  I gained 1.4 pounds.  (re read that 4 times over, because that's what I want to keep typing but am noting that it is becoming a bad habit)  This, my friends, put me in a downward spiral.  I was so confused and so discouraged (I know many of you are going to say it was because I binged the day previous, but I do that before (and after) my weigh ins all the time, and I most often lose).  I felt like I had been working my ass of (literally) and I gained a pound.  My.Life.Was.Over.  (I'm the epitome of "weighty issues.")(no, I don't have an eating disorder. I'm just a disordered person)


Needless to say, I stocked up on SmartOnes desserts and destroyed them.  Every day was Binge Thursday for me last week.  


"I guess," chocolate eclairs hanging out of my mouth, "I'm just gonna be 20 pounds overweight for the rest of my life, Mr Incredible" shoveling a cookie dough ice cream cake into my mouth.  


"Oh, will you stop, Kiera?  I think you look great and I can see improvements already!" 


 Me, shoving reduced fat tortilla chips in my mouth (to counter balance all those sweets) "That's a lie.  I measured and I haven't lost any inches.  Except for 1/4 inch in my left leg."  He rolls his eyes, because I always insist on leaving him speechless then get annoyed that he doesn't have anything to say.


But I stuck with the workouts.  


Today at weigh in I lost three pounds!  So it just took a while for my body to catch up to what I was doing.


To wrap this up, I've decided that I'm quitting Weight Watchers and quitting the scale for a while.  I really do need to focus first on the inches that I'm losing doing p90x, and then of course (so obvious to me now) any extra weight will come off, granted I'm eating right.  So starting tomorrow today (there was one SmartOnes Eclair left, what was I supposed to do?) I'm back on the p90x nutrition.  Onward and upward from here.

At my 30 day pics I may not look like this, though.  Because, I kinda put myself 12 days behind.  Or this (again, I know, I'm obsessing Shandal.)

What do I get for keeping my Binge Thursdays to a Minimum?

Food poisoning.  Moral of the story:  I should've binged.  I'm not sure how that is a moral or if this was a story.
Really?  Who doesn't binge 4 days before they start p90x?  Me.  Which is why I'll be a food and drink induced mess this weekend.  maybe.  

self control=food poisoning.  His puppet is clearly sick.

Food Hangover

  mhmmm.

It's Just What I Do On Thursdays

Thursdays are not just thirsty for me.  No no. They are shove-your-face-days.  I am a free willed person and on Thursdays I binge.  Let's review the damage, shall we?  Don't judge.  Actually, if it means you'll leave me a comment, go ahead.  Judge.

Coffee with milk (and twizzler and chocolate)  Weigh myself.  "Hurrah!" me thinks.  I lost one point eight pounds!  the one point eight pounds i gained last week  

Off to the gym I go. 

I burned 300 hundred calories.  "cool!"   

Lunch time: 1 mint oreo.  If you want to stay the size you are and not balloon consider this a fair warning not to go near them.  They are the Devil's gift to Weight Watchers.  2, 3, 4, 5 mint oreos.  Whatev.  That's the calories I just burned.  plus 140.  Soup, triscuits with melted cheese (a serving size, nonetheless!)  I have seven hours ahead of me to recover from devil cookies.  

Dinner: Homemade (= healthy) mac and cheese.  Homemade (= healthy) mac and cheese.  Homemade (= healthy) mac and cheese.  chocolatechipschocolate chipschocolatechips. beer. beer.  Green beans!

I type.

I wait for my chocolate chip cookies to bake.

What'd you eat today?  LET IT ALL HANG OUT.  figuratively?

Bread and Beer

Just in case you're wondering what I am doing right now (which you are or else you wouldn't have WWWed my blog) I am eating (ate) homemade baked bread and drinking a beer.  The beer is not relevant.

Mr Incredible got me a bread maker for Christmas!  I've wanted one for a while, but then would get overwhelmed with options and prices and can't I just knead my own bread?  (Which I haven't done since 7th grade with my mom)

I never really got what the point of homemade bread.  Actually, I still don't.  It's somehow gratifying for me now.  Even though I'm not really making it, a machine which is on my counter is.
So anyway, this machine that is sitting on my counter that I added ingredients to just made my first loaf of bread.  And I just ate it with a beer.  Because when you make your own bread carbs and calories just don't matter.

Which reminds me.  Why, on a pack of gum or tic tacs does it say this is "not a low calorie food"?

I was too anxious to search for my camera as I pulled this loaf out of my little machine, so here is a picture of what my bread looked like.  Sans nasty oven mits, $2 bill, old man reading glasses, leather black couch and stench of sour alcohol.

Pumpkin Cheesecake, Anyone?

For Thanksgiving, my Mother-In-Law made pumpkin cheesecake.  What's more- the crust was made of gingersnaps and pecans.  Da.
I snatched the recipe when she wasn't looking (lie) and promised (her) I would give it back the next time I saw her.  Well here she is this weekend, and tis time for me to part.  I'll share it with you.  With her permission.  Even though it is a recipe from Food and Family magazine.  (2006)


25 Gingersnaps, crushed (about a cup and a half)
1/2 cup finely chopped pecans
1/4 cup butter
4 (8oz) packages of cream cheese, softened
3 tbs flour*
1 cup sugar, divided
1 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
dash of ground cloves


Preheat oven to 325*F (or 300 if using a dark pan).  Mix ginger snap crumbs, pecans and butter; press firmly onto bottom and 1 inch up side of 9 in springform pan.


Beat cream cheese, flour, 3/4 cup of sugar and vanilla with electric mixer until well blended.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each addition just until well blended. 


Remove 1 1/2 cups plain batter; place in small bowl.  Stir remaining 1/4 sugar, pumpkin and spices into remaining batter.  Spoon half of the pumpkin batter into crust; top with spoonfuls of half of the reserved plain batter.  Repeat laters.  Cut through batters with knife several times for swirl effect. 


Bake 55 min or until center is almost set.  Cool completely.  Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.  Cut into 16 slices.  Store leftover cheesecake inrefrigerator.


(You can also bake this cheesecake in a 9x13 baking dish.  Line the dish with foil, with ends of foil extending over sides of pan.  Prepare as directed, decreasing baking time to 45 min, or until center is almost set.)


*Recipe didn't call for flour, but MIL and I both think it would be a good decision for a sturdier cheesecake.


note: this is not fat free vegan  (ha. ha. ha.)

Thanksgiving Countdown (Fat Free Vegan Pumpkin Pie)

Im not really sure when I got hooked on telling the world fat free vegan recipes. Actually I do know. It's when some of my family decided it was for them. And my world of hosting turned up-side-down. (k, I'm being completely dramatic, but you just can't order a pizza...)

So here's a tried and true Fat Free Vegan Pumpkin Pie. From my sister, who, although sharing her life with a vegan, is a noteworthy meat eater :)

Apparently this pie makes it's own crust:


Impossible Vegan Pumpkin Pie

1 1/2 cups soymilk
1 tbsp. Ener-G egg replacer*
1/4 cup water*
1 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. vanilla
2 cups pureed or mashed cooked pumpkin (or cushaw or winter squash)
1/2 cup rice flour (or flour of your choice--not whole wheat)
2 tsp. baking powder
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 tsp. ginger powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Spray a 9-inch deep dish pie pan with cooking spray. (I used a Pyrex pan, and it came out with no sticking.) A deep dish is recommended because this pie will rise a lot during cooking but will fall back down as it cools.

Put the first five ingredients in the blender, and blend well. Add the pumpkin, and puree. Add the remaining ingredients and blend on high for 2 minutes, stopping to scrape the sides a couple of times to make sure everything is thoroughly blended. Pour into a pie pan and bake for about 60 minutes. The top and edges should be brown, but the edges should not be over-done. (Since this is a custardy pie, using the standard toothpick or knife test does not work; it will remain somewhat moist in the center, but it shouldn't be uncooked.)

Remove from the oven and allow to cool on the counter. For best results, refrigerate until chilled before eating.

*If you don't have Ener-G egg replacer, you can omit it and the 1/4 cup water and use any other replacement for two eggs. Of course, if you're not vegan, you could use two eggs, but why not give the vegan version a chance?

153 calories, 1g fat, 3g fiber

found on fat free vegan blog

(sorry no picture, no link, no bold, reader friendly post- don't know what's up with blogger right now?)

Thanksgiving Countdown (Cranberry Sauce)

My peeps: I'm gonna let you in a family recipe. Or at least that is what I thought until my mom told me otherwise. For as long as I can remember, we've had this stuff at Thanksgiving dinner. The aroma when you make it is nearly unbearable. You might think you died and made it to heaven. Here goes it:

Cranberry Sauce

1 Large Package of Raspberry Jello

1 large bag of cranberries (usually 12 or 16 oz), sorted

1 orange with rind, seeds removed

1 cup of sugar

1. Make Jello according to package
2. In a food processor or blender, grind the cranberries and orange with rind . Add the sugar and let dissolve.
3. When the Jello starts to congeal, incorporate cranberry mixture into the Jello.
4. Put mixed Jello into a mold (which my mom does not do) or a glass bowl because "the color is absolutely gorgeous."

Enjoy!!

Thanksgiving Countdown (Pecan Pie)

via Cooking Light

So the countdown begins. (Clearly I am not hosting Thanksgiving or else my countdown would've begun like 3 months ago)

If you are like me and are going to be an innocent, bystanding guest (in a good way) become more likable and bring this Low(er) Fat Pecan Freakin' Pie. It's amazing, friends. Truly steal-my-heart amazing. I've made it now for three or fours years, and my popularity has grown exponentially. Ja.

Pecan Oatmeal Pie

• 1/2 (15-ounce) package refrigerated pie dough (or make your own, of course)
• Cooking spray
• 1 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 1 cup light corn syrup
• 2/3 cup regular oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 325°.
2. Roll dough into an 11-inch circle. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Fold edges under; flute.
3. Combine brown sugar and remaining ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Pour into prepared crust. Bake at 325° for 50 minutes or until center is set. Cool completely on a wire rack.

For 1/12 of the pie, this has 311 calories, 11 grams of fat, and 1 gram of fiber. I'm not going to go look up the nutritional information in a regular pecan pie, but relatively speaking, this pie is like eating broccoli.

Fat Free Vegan Lentil Stew

This past Friday, a few of my friends and I had our second annual meal exchange. We each make enough meals for participating families, and so we each receive meals to stock our freezer for the busy holiday season! Last year I made and received 6 frozen meals. This year, three people bailed because of sickness, out of town, and full term pregnancy- but I still made and received 3 meals. That's three nights of not cooking! Woohooo!

My friend who plans and hosts it does a great job. Her house is always clean and inviting, and the dining room table was packed full of treats for the kids and moms.

We put the cooked meals in freezer friendly storage somethings, put instructions on how to reheat and serve, and include a copy of the recipe. Two of my friends and their families follow a fat free vegan diet. I made a Fat Free Vegan Lentil Stew. Mr. Incredible even loved it. And he is alll about the beef:

Easy Lentil Stew

3 cups broth

28. oz can peeled Italian tomatoes, undrained

1/2 cup red wine

1/4 cup dried parsley

3/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 lb. dried lentils, rinsed and drained with stones removed

1 large onion, chopped

4 carrots, peeled and chopped

4 celery stalks, sliced

4 oz. chopped mushrooms

3 tsp. garlic

Throw everything in your crockpot. Break up the tomatoes if you feel like it. Cover. Cook on high for 2 hours, then low for 4. (Or high for 4. Or low for 10. What every your day can handle.)

Serve on top of rice if you want a starch with your meal. !enjoy!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Did you know that there is a canned pumpkin shortage this year? Well yes, yes there is. This may be common knowledge, but if any of you readers out there are like me, you don't keep up on current events. Luckily my mom snatched up a can for me when she spotted one, so I was able to make this delicious recipe (found on Design Mom):

Old-Fashioned Soft Pumpkin Cookies

2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup butter (1 stick) softened
1 cup 100% pumpkin (you can find cans of this in the pie-filling section of the grocery store)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
Glaze (see below)
Optional: 1/2 cup chocolate chips or nuts.

Preheat oven to 350. Grease baking sheets.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and set aside. Beat sugar and butter in large bowl until well blended. Beat in pumpkin, egg and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Drop by rounded tablespoon onto prepared baking sheets.

Bake for 15 to 18 minutes or until edges are firm. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes; remove to wire racks to cool completely. Drizzle glaze over cookies

For Glaze:
Combine 2 cups powdered sugar, 3 tablespoons milk, 1 tablespoon melted butter and 1 tsp vanilla in small bowl until smooth

I did not make the glaze, I thought that they would be great without. And I think the chocolate chips are a must!

Overall, these were spectacular. They were like perfect muffin tops. So So So Good.

Apple Picking

This is how we spent our afternoon.

Despite what this picture says, Mr. Incredible picked most of the apples while the girls and I took pictures of ourselves. They wanted dinner and I didn't want to go into labor. (We have a birthday to celebrate tomorrow!)

Stay tuned for some mean apple recipes.