Productively Unsuccessful

Figured I'd break today up into two posts, even though I'll probably be eating dinner in like...2 hours anyway. I'm bored. Just busted out my last paper and got a mock-portfolio together, as well as went into town earlier this morning to clean my office. And managed to find a cool run-down barn long the way that I snapped a couple photos of! Film though, so they'll have to wait to be seen :) For a while there I was feeling really lazy and unproductive...but I guess I did get some stuff done today after all! hah.

This morning started off with an amazing yet severely unphotogenic mix!

1 Tbs each of: Yellow Cornmeal, Bulgur Wheat with Soy, Wheat Bran, and TVP, with 3/4 c. brewed coffee, 1/4c. soy milk, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, Truvia, and 1/2 thinly sliced banana stirred in quickly. Topped with 1/2 nanner, red raspberry preserves, and a portion of my Barney Butter sample! 

What did I think of the Barney Butter? Um, yum. Hello. It is definitely way different than the Full Circle 100% Almond Butter kind I purchased recently (which, by the way, has definitely grown on me.) but in a good way! While I've come to love the Full Circle kind, it's not something I enjoy by itself, necessarily, whereas the Barney Butter is sweetened and is actually, to me, more like a different sort of peanut butter! And let me just say...even though I'm way behind on realizing this...it is amazing in a hot breakfast cereal concoction! I don't know why it took me so long to hop on the nut-butter-in-oatmeal train. I don't know if I was even living then, apparently! So, definitely scurry on over and see if Barney Butter is still giving away some free samples! Mine came super fast - I don't think it even took two weeks - which is pretty unique when it comes to samples. Definitely a good company. And where would I be if Karla hadn't given me the heads up about it? Pretty sure I'd still be under a rock.

Last night while I was surfin' the web I started looking into breakfast polenta! Since polenta is just yellow cornmeal which is very similar to grits, I figured it's had to have been done. And my oh my, it has! There's tons of sugary concoctions out there, so I decided to incorporate it into what is becoming my morning mish-mosh of grains! Since cornmeal doesn't have anywhere near the nutritional value of Bulgur or TVP, I decided to just replace one of the tablespoons of TVP with yellow cornmeal to see what the outcome would be. Not a huge difference, really. But worth experimenting with more! This breakfast makes me so full! Which is sort of sad since it all adds up to a normal portion size. I'm not sure if I want to cut it back a bit and maybe add a little more fruit or not. I know I should at least be eating that much for breakfast, so I'd like to leave it, haha. Why is my stomach so small?! I'm such a grazer. 

P.S. I apologize for how unappetizing this breakfast combination looks. I know Bulgur has a brown color already, but the coffee instead of water makes it even more brown...resulting in...well, you can imagine. Hopefully the delicious bananas, jam, and Barney Butter disguise it a little bit?

This is going to turn into a very review-y post, I can tell!haha.

Afterwards, I got ready to go into town and clean the office & see if I couldn't find some cool old barns. I like getting the office out of the way early in the day, and usually don't leave it for Sundays. I was just not in the mood yesterday. I knew I'd have some papers to finish and wanted to work on getting some photos together for a portfolio, as well, so I hustled in and out.

Since it's a good drive, by the time I was done it was almost noon and I was ready for a snack, so I tried one of those SoyJoy bars I'd tried a while back. Initial reaction? hmm. Interesting.... 

First I thought it almost had a chemically, artifically taste, but an intriguing taste, so of course I tried more. And whaddya know, it grew on me. Halfway through though, I became interested in the ingredients and discovered it has parmesan cheese in it. Uh, what? I admit, I must have been in a rush because checking ingredients in foods is usually a given before I buy it. But after that, I kept tasting a Parmesan cheese after-taste. No joke. I'm not sure if it's psychological or legitimate...but I think that's what I tasted at first too. I just...wouldn't have thought in my wildest dreams it was parmesan cheese.

Anyway, cutting to the chase: Raisin Almond SoyJoy=okay. Not bad. Not sure I'd buy it again, though, due to how many bars are out there that I do love. HOWEVER! I have a bunch of other flavors to try, and only some of them have parm cheese! So I'll definitely let you guys know what the dealio is with the others.

What are your thoughts on the Parmesan Cheese and SoyJoy bars? 

haha, sorry...gotta ask.

MOVING on.

Heaven.

Oh, how I love wraps.

Oh, how I love Cedar's Hummus wraps. (Or should I say Hommus? Why is there such a discrepency in the spelling of hummus, anyway?

In La Tortilla: Roasted Red Pepper Cedar's Hummus, dijonnaise, red pepper, 2 fried egg whites, romaine, red onion, President Mediterrnean Herb Feta Cheese, and tomatoes.

Holy yum. I love feta cheese...and was ecstatic to see a new President flavor! 

Only thing that coulda made this better was some beans!

Or if I'd remembered the pickle...ah well.

And this may come as a shock, but I'm currently enjoying some of the delicious frozen greek yogurt :)

What's your favorite wrap or sandwich? And what should I make for dinner?

Hah. Kidding. Except not really...

Catch ya' later!

Change is a-comin'

Be proud, readers: I didn't stuff anything in a pita for dinner today, and even breakfast was a leeeetle different!

Breakfast Cookie: approx: 2 T. oats, 1 T. wheat germ, 1 tsp. flour, 1/8 tsp. baking powder, stevia,1/2 T. egg beaters, vanilla, frozen blueberries, & cinnamon. Topped with brown cow 0% plain, banana, wheat germ, and a splash of s.f. maple syrup.

Delicious! Didn't think it would be quiiiite enough to keep me satiated most of the morning at work though, so I toasted a corn vita-top before I left and ate it on my drive in. Definitely digging the corn flavor! Quite good. The sugar alcohols in vita tops don't really knock my socks off; I admittedly use more artificial sweeteners than I would really like to (*cough*sugar free maple syrup addiction*COUGH*) but somedays I'm not so picky about it. I try to eat healthy otherwise, or use stevia, honey, or agave to sweeten things where really necessary, so hopefully it won't be the death of me :P Do you have any strong feelings about artificial sweeteners? What about ones marketed as natural, like stevia?

I had a little bit of turkey salad leftover from last night; just enough to make the perfect lunch out of! So I had that along with a bunch of other veggies and some more laughing cow on a toasted sandwich thin. That was some goooood turkey salad, let me tell you. Dijonnaise = good stuff.

Work flew by today, sort of unusual for this time of year, but I love it when that happens! For some reason I didn't get hungry most of the day. I was fairly inactive (there was a lot of scanning at the computer to be done versus running around like a crazy person) which probably explains that, but I get kind of weirded out when I think I haven't eaten enough throughout the day and don't feel hungry, especially because I've been trying to make a point to eat more snacks lately. I had carrots with lunch and the rest of my banana mid-morning, but usually I'll have crackers and a cereal/power/granola bar throughout the day as well, but before I knew it the day was over. Oh wellll.

Wasn't sure what to do for dinner since I didn't have a super-strong hunger for anything, but then remembered the Shirataki Noodles I still had waiting to be used. Shirataki Noodles are tofu noodles that are, essentially, like eating nothing, haha. They definitely have lovers and haters if you read the forums, but I think I'm a lover :) I'm also not a rabid pasta fan, mind you, which could be the difference. If I can eat something that, to me, tastes nearly the same as the original but for far less carbs, calories, cholesterol, and sugar - by golly I will! Even though I'm not on a calorie-counting diet by any means, pasta is definitely loaded with carbs and we all know I love me some carbs throughout the course of my day! (just...not today, apparently. hah!)

But, enough of that.

I bounced back and forth between making a sort of alfredo-esque sauce, like I did last time I had these noodles, or a tomato-based sauce. I decided I was digging the tomato idea for tonight :) I threw together some stewed tomatoes, red pepper, garlic, sugar peas, mushrooms, cajun andouille chicken sausage, and onions - seasoned with  little bit of salt, pepper,crushed red pepper, and basil. Topped with some parmesan and bon appetit!

I love the Bilinski Farms chicken sausage and this cajun andoiulle (okay, I honestly can't spell that. sorry.) flavor is SO SO good. If your supermarket carries them, try them!

I added some fresh bread halfway through to add a bit to the meal, it initially escaped the camera. I bet you know what a piece of whole wheat fresh bakery bread looks like though :)

Just made some hot cocoa and a quick cookie, and I'm sure there is more in store. Now I'm off to get stuff ready for tomorrow (classes start back up! guff!) and catch up on flickr, spark, and blogs!

Do you like work days that are packed full of stuff to do, or would you rather a liesurely workflow? I love keeping busy at my job, personally. Before you know it, you're driving home!

Peace!

Twos.

I bet you could guess what you'd be seeing again this morning...

Yep! French Toast again! I'm telling you...I find one thing to latch on to and can eat it over and over and over. I don't think you'll see this again for a couple days though, with work and school. It's super fast to make and not a big mess, but doesn't french toast just seem so weekend-y?

Anyways, a bit different than yesterday: this was french english muffin! I love using english muffins as the bread. So good. The trick is poking them and letting them soak up the liquid so they get nice and eggy. For the egg mixture, I used 1 egg + 1 egg white, splash vanilla, cinnamon, splash soy milk, and applesauce. Yes. Applesauce. Don't hate. Just try it. And be amazed. I also decided to throw some raisins on them while they were cooking, but it looked funny so I flipped them upside down when I took the pic! Had a side of all-natural unsweetened applesauce with cinnamon and s.f. syrup, too - for dipping! As my step-mom would say, "I'm a dipper. You like to dip stuff." Sounds funny, but when I think about it, she's right. I like to combine foods rather than keep them separate. My last room-mate said it's because I'm Polish. Hey, I'll take it.

Applesauce=another random kick of mine lately.

This ended up being the perfect breakfast. Delicious, easy, and held me over for a super long time. I wasn't really ready for lunch nd hardly snacked at all, but definitely wanted this:

Toasted WW Sandwich Thin spread with half a laughing cow french onion cheese wedge, dijonaise, and franks, then carefully piled with 2 hardboiled eggs, sliced plum tomato, red pepper, romaine, and dill pickles.

Another shocker, right? Honestly people. If Subway employees consider themselves sandwich artists, yet can't make me a sub half as good as this, what does that make me?

Hardboiled eggs = heaven.

'Nough said.

It does make my mom laugh a little how I carefully slice and pile everything though. Hey, it's gotta be balanced! There really is an art to it :) I admit a wrap would make this easier x10. Should probably get some o' dose, even though I have been loving me some Arnold Sandwich Thins as of late.

And here I am, nearly 3:00 on a Sunday afternoon and I have done absolutely nothing productive today. At all. Well, besides laundry and cleaning. I wanted to bake so so  badly, but luckily pushed through the desire. WAY too much food in the house! Also looked up booklists for the semester starting Tuesday. Only two books I need, but they're both pretty pricey :\ I usually wait until class starts to make sure I need them before purchasing them ever since I bought a $150 one only to show up and have the teacher say "DON'T BUY THE TEXTBOOK!"

You win some, you lose some. I lost.

Tonight = Clean Out The Fridge, Edition 20.

Check out my flickr uploads from yesterday until then!

Love My Saturdays...

Shortly after uploading everything, I had to break for lunch.

All I wanted was a repeat from last night!

Except, take two was made way better - didn't know that was possible!

My mom had hard-boiled some eggs earlier so I stole one and sliced it up to put on this sandwich thin with Cedar's sundried tomato hummus, Cedar's Mild Wild Salsa, mushrooms, red pepper, romaine, and pickles. With, of course, carrots on the side. Not sure where this newfound carrot obsession is coming from. I used to hate gnawing on carrots...I felt like they were a food you'd just chew...and chew....and chew...before actually being able to eat it. Lately I can't get enough of their crunchy goodness, though!

Photo editing resumed as well as random grazing, though for some reason I haven't been that hungry today. I've been all about hot beverages, though! In place of hot cocoa (which we have none of) I've been drinking hot jello pudding. Uh, come again? Yeah...sounds weird. But seriously; it works! Just put a spoonful of jello pudding mix in hot water and drink! It's not thick since the water's hot...and is a good sub if you have no hot cocoa or unsweetened cocoa powder mix, lol.

When dinner rolled around, all I really wanted was a breakfast "burrito"! I was on my own for dinner - mom & henry are at an auction and so they ate dinner realllly early. Whenever we eat together I love making an intricate meal, especially since when I get home late during the week I never get the chance to make anything super exciting for myself (but, since I am easily satisfied, as you can tell, it doesn't bother me too much.  I do miss cooking, though!)

But anyways; breakfast for dinner is just what I had! I love having a craving for something and being able to have just that, especially when it's so simple :P In the eggs was a splash of soymilk, salt, peppa, and mustard, poured over sauteed red peppers, cajun andoille chicken sausage, mushrooms, green pepper, garlic, and cilantro. Scrambled to perfection, and then added a laughing cow cheese wedge and the remaining Cedar's Mild Wild salsa. All stuffed in a Joseph's flax pita that I had pan toasted while the eggs were a-cookin'. Hey,so maybe it's not a "burrito" but it's durn close! This made me so full. Thought for sure I'd need a "Part II" to this meal, but not yet. Sure to have my nightly bowl of apple-granola-etc though, hehe...

Right now it's NFL playoffs (not really by choice - moreso "Why is there never anything good on television anymore?") and still going through photos :) Really getting into this HDR stuff.

What are your thoughts on HDR (High Dynamic Range) photography??

and if you're here for the food - Are you one of those "easy to please" eaters, or do you always need to cook up something new and exciting? Don't get me wrong - I love being able to make new and exciting and healthy meals. But I also kind of luck out in that I'm content with  delicious hummus sandwich or breakfast burrito for dinner when it comes to working later :P

On and On and On...

...pretty much how today went. Felt like it lasted forever! So happy it's the weekend, but not looking forward to going back to classes Tuesday :\

I've felt kinda "meh" off and on all day today. I woke up in the middle of the night and could not get back to sleep, so I'm guessing that played  large role in the problem, but I dunno since it was moreso my stomach that's been problematic. I best not be getting sick!

Would you care to read the Granville Sentinel with me?!

I didn't wke up very hungry so decided to be boring once again; same ole same old, but obviously it's not getting old :) This combo will forever be delicious. But my blueberries are almost all gone! Not a happy camper. I ended up feeling so full halfway through, but knew I would be draggin' at work if all I had was half of this, and it's not like it's more than I'm used to eating, so I finished it off - when my stomach started to get that "meh" feeling. Didn't last too long but my eyes were pretty tired which added to an overall "This day is going to be a drag." feeling!

Work is relatively slow this time of year, too, so it's not like I've got ridiculous amounts of stuff to do to keep me up and at it.

Lunch was a repeat of last night's salmon and broccoli. Just as delicious for round two! Luckily the work microwave is in the basement though! hehe...

I started feeling gross again in the afternoon, just as I was setting up to shoot an artist's print for reproduction. I was probably pissing my boss off because I don't think I was in the best of moods - I just wanted to sit down, not mess around with heavy lights, cameras, and tripods! Not to mention I was freezing. But I got it done; luckily he was in a pretty good mood so he wasn't sassing me back! haha. We're kind  of funny in that we can both be in a "mood" and challenge each other as to how things can be done, or we can be totally fine and just be joking around all day. It works :) I do love my job.

By the time I was done shooting I was starting to feel better and was about an hour from close - I was able to just sit and work on a computer for the last hour, so by the time I was ready to leave I started feeling just plain HUNGRY! I was practically fantasizing about dinner, and all I could think about was making a hummus sammie while I was driving home.

So that's just what I did when I walked in the door! I think the worst part about having a long commute is that when you're hungry, you just keep thinking about what you're going to make once you're finally home, and that first bite. Or maybe I'm just weird? haha.

Kept it light but filling with a toasted WW Arnold's Sandwich Thin, tons of hummus & salsa, romaine, mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes, and pickles with delicious carrots and snap peas on the side! I finally picked up those sandwich thins the other day - so good, so healthy, and so big! Sometimes "stuff like that"(i.e. marketed towards dieters) is so tiny you'd wish that companies would nix the 100 calorie idea and just give you a real portion size for more, but this was perfect. Almost too much! But I can always finish a good hummus sandwich.

My new favorite dessert: unsweetened applesauce, whole wheat honey-oat bread crusts, and a drizzle of maple syrup. I actually prefer it with a bit of crumbled scone, but I've gotta use up that bread and it's actually still really good! haha. I'm so random sometimes.

I've been feeling fine this evening, so I think today was just a fluke-y thing. Ah well. Day off tomorrow. Not sure what I'll end up doing! I've been trying to get promotional stuff together for photographing horse shows and senior portraits and stuff though, as well as updating my photoreflect portfolio and design.

And hey, have you ever seen Exploding Dog?

One of my favorite web-esque artists ever - some really cute/silly/sad illustrations - follow him!

A Splash of this, A Dash of that...

Back already, belly full and content.

When we last spoke, I was in the process of

orange, cawfee, evidence of a Kashi TLC bar, cawfee, cat-nappin', and photo-editin'.

And before I knew it, it was time to get in the kitchen!

I didn't have a true game plan, just knew I wanted to incorporate a sort of orange glaze for the salmon. I prefer fish with glazes :) I also figured on a basic garden salad for the side. This is what ended up on the table...

Hey, so I was sort of close! I'm not going to write up a recipe just because I don't have exact measurements, but here's how it all went down:

For four wild salmon filets, I sprinkled each side with some montreal steak seasoning, and sauteed in some olive oil for a minute or so on each side. Over them, I poured a mixture of the zest and juice of one lime, 2.5 Tablespoons Apricot/Mango preserves, 2 t. dijon mustard, 2 t. honey mustard, 1 packet of Truvia, a "dash" of ginger, and 2 T. balsamic vinegar. It ended up tasting quite good, however I did overcook the salmon just a tad. It resembled the last time I made salmon which was kind of disappointing, just because I like new things, but it still tasted great so no complaints :)

The broccoli turned out amazing! Which is sort of surprising because I had no gameplan; but as I was going through the fridge I found it and knew it'd been in there about a week and decided I'd rather have broccoli than a garden salad. We've also got some mushrooms to use up, so I heated up a pan with a splash of olive oil, 2 minced garlic cloves, and half a yellow onion until fragrant, then added 4 heads of chopped broccoli and a cup or so of chopped mushrooms. This was covered and left alone for about 4 minutes, and then I gave it a quick stir, re-covered, and left alone again while I mixed up approx. 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, 1 tablespoon honey mustard, and 2 laughing cow french onion cheese wedges. I poured this over the broccoli and left it alone again to let the cheese get all melty. This is where I started to get worried, thinking to myself "Jess, just because you adore honey mustard doesn't men everyone else does." BUT I just figured what the hay. They'll still eat it. They might complain, but it won't be THAT bad. The flavors would at least be consistent throughout the meal, right?

So, I pushed on; gave the broccoli mix a stir (started looking really good; some pieces were kinda burnt and crispy while others were still fresh and crunchy green) sprinkled with some montreal steak seasoning and crushed red pepper,a nd dinner was served!

Amazingly enough, the broccoli was very well received. Not to say the salmon wasn't; the salmon was loved, too, but I figure that's  kind of hard to mess up. Now that I think about it, broccoli should be hard to mess up, too. But this is me, we're talking about. Anyways. The first words out of my mother's mouth were "Wow. This broccoli is really good. What'd you do to it?" And I agree. That broccoli was really good. Try it! Please...?

Upgradin'

Upgrade numero uno came in the mail today!

Still deciding on a new lens; I'm not in a huge rush but I think I'm going to go for the 55-200mm Nikkor VR if I can't find a 200 or 300mm D lens (a D lens will work on both my cameras) It's pretty inexpensive but has great reviews.

I thought I was going to be kind of creative with b-fast this morning by mockly broiling bananas, but it didn't turn out quite as pretty as I'd hoped.

Pardon the ugly blue plastic bowl...

See, I thought I'd "fry" the bananas and blueberries in some stevia, syrup, and cinnamon and they'd get all carmeliz-y and pretty, but they just got soft and, while delicious, weren't golden and crispy, haha. Not sure how my thought process works sometimes...

The concoction did taste great, though! In the mix was Brown Cow atop a cubed hunk of homemade whole-wheat bread, syrup drizzle, half a crumbled Kashi Raspberry Graham cereal bar and half a Clif Apple Cinnamon Z-Bar. And some wheat bran...and a couple more slices of banana to make it a little more visually appealing for you :) Coffee = Van Houtte Macadamia Nut. Not a big fan of the Van Houtte brand.

Ran into town to hit up the post office, Rite Aid, and Price Chopper (yes, for the third day in a row) for a couple ingredients for tonight's salmon!

Came home and did a mini fridge-and-freezer clear-out for lunch:

uhh...once again, not too visually appetizing, eh? hah...

Freezer-burnt P.C. veggie burger in a Joseph's pita with romaine, Cedar's Mild Wild Salsa, dijonaise, mushrooms, and a lovely side of snap peas and carrots. Luckily it only tasted half freezer burnt. Probably should have just chucked it and started in on the box I had just brought home, but hey. There's starving kids in Asia. Can't bring myself to toss it unless it's moldy or something. It really wasn't that old. hah.

Then I played with my new toy :) That camera is getting so heavy. Wait until the new zoom lens is on it. hehe...

Check out the photos on this blog.

The black and white portrait of the child in the tub on the front page? Amazing.

The amazingness continues on her flickr.

See yas for dinner! I've gotta go warm up; It's finally broke 30* here but for some reason this house feels so chilled!

Hi, I am a lens addict...

I've had camera equipment on my mind nonstop lately!

I bought a battery grip for the new camera a couple days ago and am eagerly awaiting its' arrival. Now I'm searching for a 300mm zoom lens. I have an okay 200mm lens that did what I needed it to last year, but now I'd like to upgrade. There are just so many choices! You camera geeks: do you prefer the Nikon D, G, or VR series? I'm leaning towards VR, but the D also interests me so that I can use it on my film camera as well.

But back to the food!

I <3 my Keurig Brewer! Timothy's Irish Cream today.

Who would have guessed; Greek yogurt and camera lenses?!

I warned you all that I am a creature of habit! Sorry for the yucky photos today. It's always dark at my meal times on days I work! Makes for unpleasant fotografs.

Typically I don't like surfing the web while I eat breakfast - it makes me not want to get ready! But I caved this morning.

Lunch packed = delicious leftovers. I swear those Joes are better the next day! They did need more Frank's though. I took it easy on the hot sauce since I'm the only  spicy foods lover of the family - if I were to make these for just myself, I think I would have doubled the Frank's! I also snacked on Wheat Thins flatbreads and an Apple Cinnamon Clif Z-Bar. I think I am in love. These bars are soooo chewy and oaty and amazing!

I had to run to the Price Chopper near work to pick up some VitaTops; I've been craving them and the PC 5 minutes away doesn't carry them :\ Nor do they carry my beloved Newman's Own Honey Flax Flakes, which is kind of a pain. I make it work. Whilst there I took a peek at the rest of the frozen foods aisle because I wanted to see what they offered for organic/healthy(ish) frozen dinners. Hey, cut me some slack. I can't remember the last time I've had a frozen dinner, and I was kind of craving one! That price chopper actually had a pretty impressive selection of Kashi and Amy's dinners as well as a large "health foods" section in general, but I spotted some organic chicken egg rolls and realized I had to have an egg roll. I don't know where the craving came from so suddenly. hah! I can't remember the name, but I proudly left price chopper carrying two vita-top boxes, egg rolls, and Kashi TLC Raspberry Graham cereal bars. (I have a bar addiction :\ ) I use self checkout during these instances because I feel like a cashier would think I'm strange. Everything was advertising how many calories they had!

I had one of the Kashi bars on the commute home (it takes me at least 45 minutes to get to and from work) and was impressed. Clif may have some competition...

Turns out I was lucky to have picked those up, too; I would have been happy with Sloppy Joes, Round 3, but they were long gone, as expected. And these turned out to be quite good! Didn't taste greasy or overly processed whatsoever and the chicken was actually all-natural. The ingredients weren't bad at all, but I did nix the duck sauce. They're probably pretty high in sodium, too. Forgot to look at the sodium content since it doesn't typically concern me as much as everything else, but salt was pretty high in the ingredients list! Oh well.

Currently munching on a baked chopped apple and a cran-bran vita top. mmm!

Apple con raisins, granola, syrup, and cinnamon.

I am free from work requirements tomorrow, which means I'm in charge for dinner again :) Will probably have salmon or tilapia. What are some of your favorite fish recipes? I have two I love that I'm sure I'll be sharing in the not-so-distant future, but am always looking for more; love salmon and tilapia!

Favorite photo of the day?

I can't chose just one from Miliken Gardener's flickr photostream! Can you?!

Grocery Shopping: The NEW Time-Killer

Day off. What do I do?

...go grocery shopping. For some reason, if I get bored, I'll just go to Price Chopper. I'm lucky enough to have one 5 minutes away, even though I do live in the middle of nowhere! It's no Trader Joe's or Whole Foods, though :(

Among that, of course, I've been messing around on my Flickr and Etsy all morning. Other than that, I've done laundry and that's about all. hah!

What are your favorite boredom-breakers??

I woke up ravenous this morning! I think it had a lot to do with that fact that I slept til 8:30. That is super late for me. I'm usually up by 7 even if I'm not working. I enjoy it! I stayed up much later than usual though, playing on Flickr. These challenge games are addictive!

Made myself my new fave:

Shocker! Brown Cow Greek Yogurt, Blueberries, half a large banana, Kashi H2H, raisins (these really made it complete, I think!), maple syrup, and pumpkin pie spice. Oh, and half a spelt scone! It's hiding. 

Coffee this morn=Gloria Jean's Cappuccino. Not my fave, but not terrible. I save the "mediocre" flavors for days I don't have work.

Enjoyed while surfing Etsy! P.S. - check out my shop! please?

Insert random kitchen cleaning, laundry-doing, face-powdering, and grazing here, until I decided to steal Henry's jeep and run to el banko and aforementioned grocery store. Grazing = remainder of the banana and a Kashi TLC Pumpkin Pie granola bar. I can't decide if I love these bars, or if they have too much of the sweet coating "stuff" on top. But I think I'm leaning toward love.

Currently grazing on:

sugar snap peas con garlic, chili powder, and salt and a blood orange.

I was really excited to try my first blood orange but was a little let down :( They're not bad, but for some reason I was thinking they'd be like n out-of-this-world orange or something. Not really :\

I've got some "overnight oats" (that I prepared this morning, hah) waiting jusssst a little bit longer for me in the fridge. Gonna be grrrrr-ate. heh...

A random photo of the morning:

Taken October 2009 with my Nikon N90s and Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 lens on Ektar 100 film.

Catch ya lata, kids. I'm cookin' dinner tonight!

It Starts...

So. Here I go; taking the plunge, hopping on the bandwagon, what-have-you: food blogging. Over the past year I've become progressively more and more interested in healthy living, particularly in food and how it fuels the body. This interest has given way to a passion for healthy cooking, and a thirst for more knowledge of different fruits, vegetable, proteins, grains, and how to incorporate them into mine and my families daily life. I've been following multiple healthy living foodblogs, and when you take into account my long-time passion for photography, I just felt like it's time to start one myself! So let's see how it goes, no? This blog will be compilation of interesting eats, fun photoshoots, random babbling, and anything else that choses to present itself. Enjoy!