Christmas-time is here!!!!

Hey guys! I wasn't feeling so well today, so food pictures weren't that exciting. (And I wasn't really in the frame of mind to take them)

Breakfast was yogurt and granola...

Lunch was the last of the zucchini bread...

And dinner was, by hubbie's request, soyrizo with egg whites and mozzarella cheese!

But the real highlight of the evening was our Christmas decorating!!!!!!!


Decorating with some of the bells our wedding guests used at the reception!


Hubbie is in awe of our bright tree topper :-)


Our first Christmas in Pittsburgh! We're so excited to spend the holiday season here.


Lilly has her very own tree in the sunroom!



Our first wedding anniversary is just five days before Christmas! The holidays will be forever romantic for us. :-)

tea, dinners, and WORLD AIDS DAY

Hey guys!

I've had the day off today and it's been absolutely wonderful! I kicked off the morning with a green smoothie!

I used:

1 frozen banana
1 spoonful peanut butter
1 cup soymilk
1 serving GenSoy chocolate protein powder
2 big handfuls spinach.





Oh yum. It's been a while since my last green smoothie. I definitely needed it!

Around mid-morning I made a cup of tea in my cute travel mug. I brewed the pomegranate herbal green tea from Giant Eagle's Market District.




Honestly though.... I'm kind of on the fence with this tea. I had two cups of it today (the second at dinner) and something about it just doesn't taste quite right. Or moreso, not how I expected it to be. It's still good enough to keep drinking.

I went to Ross Park Mall today for the first time.

OMG

I was so overwhelmed. This was nothing like the mall back in Indiana. There was a Kate Spade, a Burberry, and.... a Tiffany's. ::jaw drop:: I didn't even feel worthy of going into the Tiffany's! It was so clean and sparkley and perfect and.... everyone was in suits. *sigh*

While I was there I quickly grabbed lunch in the food court. It was greasy, unhealthy, and oh so delicious.

Stromboli.


Nom nom nom.

I did some Christmas shopping while at the mall and got most people crossed off my list. I also bought myself a little treat -- a super soft red crew neck sweater from the Gap. Gotta love my employee discount!!!!

Because I had such a substantially caloric meal for lunch, I decided to make dinner fairly light. We had parmesean almondine chicken with baked cinnamon apples.





Josh said that he REALLY liked the chicken, so I know it's a winner! And the apples were like dessert. Except it wasn't.

This was dessert:


Two squares of Lindt 85% chocolate. I nibbled on these while chatting on Skype with my mom. Then Josh was nice enough to do dishes while I picked up the rest of the house and vacuumed.

So... if everyone could be kind enough to think of me in the next few days, I'd appreciate it. I've alluded to the fact that Josh and I are in a tight spot financially, and I have a few opportunities in front of me to help the budget breathe a little bit. Hopefully I'll be able to make a decision about things in the next few days. I'm praying for the right offers and discernment in regards to what to do. Please remember me if you would!

______________________________

But much, much, much more important than my financial situation (because in reality, I am so incredibly blessed beyond belief) is the fact that today is World AIDS Day. For my readers who don't know me and are stopping by, the issue of the HIV/AIDS epidemic is very concerning to me and close to my heart. I tried to be active in that area during college with some other concerned friends of mine.

This is me in college on World AIDS Day several years ago. Wow, I look different. I was also a hippie wanna-be. And apparently, a very serious one, too. ;-)

Awareness is the first step. Have you taken just ten minues or a mere half hour to educate yourself today? Have you considered looking into the latest issues and statistics? Would you be open to exploring the issue and possibly having some of your ideas and misconceptions rearranged?

I encourage you to click around UNAIDS.

Also, Acting on AIDS (the organization I worked with in college) has very informative and concice information.

Here are some statistics at a glance

I encourage everyone to google their local AIDS ministry/resource center and see what they're doing for the people in your community and what their current needs are. For all you Pittsburghers, here is ours: Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force.

South Bend, IN/ Michiana: AIDS Ministries/AIDS Asst

Remember that although we are on a very large earth and there are all different types of people, we are all one humanity. One one of us hurts, we should all be hurting.

whaaaaat?!?!

Alright foodies and fitness lovers! Time to dish on this!

Have you seen the latest CNN article?! Lincoln University in Pennsylvania is requiring all its students with a BMI of 30 or above to take a fitness class. If you do not take and pass this fitness class, you cannot graduate.

*blink*

*blink*

I was required to take three .5 credit hour physical activity classes in college. I took things like Badminton. But it wasn't because I was obese--it's because I was a college student and we ALL had to take phys ed classes.

So what do you think? Should the college even have the right to get your weight and BMI measurements? Is it ethical to require students of a certain physical make-up to take a class to graduate while people of a different physical make-up can opt out? What if a person's BMI was 29?

I think my jaw would drop even more if their food service was a company like Sodexho (featured in the film Super Size Me.)


Oh wait. It is.

*blink*

best zucchini bread ever

Hey guys! How is your Sunday evening going? Hubbie and I have the Steeler's game on right now -- just a regular Sunday!

After Josh left for work this afternoon, I decided to go grocery shopping. Awhile back, Reluctant Vegetarian hosted a giveaway contest for 25 dollar gift cards to Giant Eagle in honor of the new Market District. I was fortunate enough to be one of the winners and I recently got my gift card in the mail. That was a huge blessing for Josh and I with perfect timing for our current budget. Thanks so much, Reluctant Veggie!!!! I used the gift card today.

This week's groceries:


Skinny Cow chocolate truffle fudge bar (Josh and I like these as treats)
Deli turkey
Apple Cider (!!!)
Canned green beans
Skippy natural peanut butter
Slivered almonds
Pomegranate green and herbal tea
Lindt 85% cocoa bar
Chocolate chips
Baby spinach
Cliff builder's bars
Bread


Sandwich bags
Soymilk
Bananas
Strawberries
Mozzarella cheese
Light string cheese
Flour
Women's one-a-day vitamins

The house felt really cold tonight, so I decided to have a warm dinner. Soup! I needed to use up more of my butternut squash soup from Trader Joe's. I had that sprinkled with cinnamon and nutmeg along with some strawberries and a light string cheese:


I did a little bit of cleaning this evening. We still needed to put away stuff from our trip, pick up the house, and the kitchen. After I did that, I was in the mood for baking!

Lately, I've had a craving for zucchini bread. That's perfect since I have some zucchini in the 'fridge waiting to be used up. I put some Johnny Cash on my iTunes and put on my apron.

Johnny Cash + baking = a happy Kelly!
See?


I made an (almost) vegan recipe that I modified from one my mom found on allrecipes.com.

I'm a bit of a messy baker. But that's ok because I always clean it up!


The mess was well worth it though, because my house began to fill with a marvelous smell and 80 minutes later, I beheld a glorious sight:



Holy yum!!!!

Here's the recipe:

Best vegan zucchini bread EVER!

1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1/2 t. salt
1/2 t. baking soda
1 t. ground cinnamon
1/2 t. baking powder
1/2 c. unsweetened applesauce
slightly less than 1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. unpacked brown sugar
1/4 c. and 2 tbs. olive oil
1 t. maple syrup
1 1/2 c. shredded zucchini
1/2 c. chocolate chips.

Preheat oven to 325. Grease a bread pan. Combine flour, salt, baking soda, cinnamon, baking powder until evenly blended; set aside. In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, white and brown sugar, olive oil, and maple syrup. Fold in flour mixture and shredded zucchini and chocolate chips. Bake in preheated oven till toothpick inserted comes out clean, approx 7o-80 minutes. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to wire cooling rack.

Enjoy!

The only thing that did not make this recipe vegan for me was that I didn't use vegan chocolate chips.


The bread was so moist and so soft, I kind of went a little crazy and obsessive. I'm already waiting for breakfast tomorrow morning, because I can tell you right now another slice will be on my plate!!!!

And of course, my evening couldn't be complete without playing with my Lillybean. I missed her while I was away for Thanksgiving! I'm becoming one of those creepy child-less pet owners that turn their pets into a substitute child. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love my cat!


The poor thing hasn't had anyone to play with in days.

For a minute there, she was really curious about my camera:





But then, she quickly became camera shy, so she stopped smiling. Excuse her bashfulness ;-)




Hope everyone has a good last few hours of the weekend! Back to work on Monday. Until then!

food blogger fail

Wow I haven't posted in five days!!!!!!!!!!

That's enough to be a food blogger fail, but the fact that it was over Thanksgiving?! The biggest food holiday of the year?!?!?! Well, I have a few excuses. Josh and I got to go back to Michigan and Indiana to see our families over Thanksgiving. Josh's mom doesn't have Internet access at her house, so that's part of my excuse! But also, I miss my family very very much, so whenever I get to see them, the time is so precious to me that I don't want to waste any of it on the Internet. I hope you all understand!!!!

But it's back to daily life in Pennsylvania, so I will give you an abbreviated recap of the past few days.

We spent Thanksgiving day with Josh's mom, brother, uncle, and grandfather. What I love about holidays at home is it's all traditional Midwestern American style food. Everything you would expect! Here's my Thanksgiving plate:


Turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, sweet potato with toasted marshmallows, and a sweet Hawaiian roll. Yum!

You should have seen us trying to prepare the turkey. We couldn't find one of the bags inside the turkey! It was quite a sight to see people peering into the turkey's cavity with a flashlight trying desperately to find the second bag!!!! :-P

Before coming over to Indiana, I made some no-bake cookies to contribute to the desserts:


We all had one of those cookies and some homemade pumpkin pie for dessert.


I love pumpkin in many things, but truth be told, I don't care for pumpkin pie. I had a small sliver of it thought to participate :-)

The next day we went to Michigan to be with my family. It's always such a wonderful feeling to come home and sit with family in a familiar house and environment. Of course we played lots of games. My mom's "Thanksgiving meal" was her delicious homemade pizza!!!! Such a staple childhood memory for me.


This was my pizza, separate from everyone else's. Notice the obvious lack of sauce.

Saturday was the big family get together on my mom's side of the family. She is the youngest of ten children, so when only half the family can come for a holiday, it's still a pretty decent amount of people! Holiday meals are all done pot-luck style in our family. There were so many delicious treats and options before me! I went back for seconds and admit I felt like I was slipping into a food coma by the end of the day! There was turkey, ham, potatoes, green beans, two different types of sweet potatoes, roasted vegetables, and all sorts of pies!!!!!

Our get together was in my aunt's church which is right in the country. To be honest, I think PA is prettier than IN, but it was still beautiful to step outside and be able to look for miles across the freshly harvested fields and spot the silos and barns in every direction.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. I know I have lots of blogs to catch up on!

love love granola

Good morning everyone!!!! :-)

Yesterday was a very busy day for me! I have an opportunity for something that will really help Josh and I out financially, so I was busy around the city yesterday meeting with various people in various locations. Think of me if you will -- I'm hoping that all goes well!

I had to work soon after that, so there really wasn't much time for regular meals and blogging. Sorry 'bout that.

This morning thought was granola and yogurt for breakfast!


I had one cup of TJ's nonfat plain yogurt with granola and almonds, a drizzle of maple syrup, and a sprinkle of cocoa powder and cinnamon. It was good!

And it was just the fuel I needed for a short morning workout. I did about 20 minutes of cardio intervals, burning almost 400 calories. I plan on doing a full workout with the hubbie tonight!

Got to shower and head to work! I'm thinking pineapple chicken for dinner tonight?

Worship in a bar

Happy Sunday everyone! How's it going?!

This morning, I hit the snooze button about three times. But really, it wasn't necessary because Lilly was going crazy this morning. She kept walking around the bed and eventually just plopped herself down right on my stomach. Then, she proceeded to whine the whole morning.

Last night, I made the mistake of putting some new cat food I'd gotten as a sample at the store in a little bowl for her in the sunroom. It was supposed to be like a treat. Well, she got the idea that this was her new cat food, in her new bowl, placed into a new room. And when those three things were no longer present, she thought she had no food despite her huge bowl of regular cat food sitting in the kitchen. Argh.

This morning's breakfast was small and rushed because Josh and I were headed off to church! I had a bowl of strawberries:


This morning, we went to a church called Hot Metal Bridge Faith Community. If I understood correctly, the church used to meet in the Goodwill building on the South Side, but it acquired and old bar and fixed it up. This is now their church building. What is cool about the building is it's kind of in the shape of the heart with the platform/stage being at the point.

I really enjoyed Hot Metal. There were all different personality types in the church and although there were a lot of younger people, there were definitely children and elderly members as well. Looking through their web site, they seem to have a lot of community involvement and ministries.

When we got home, it was lunch time and we were both starving! We had breakfast sandwiches consisting of whole grain bread, egg whites, veggie "sausage" patties, and mozzarella cheese. Can you tell we've been on a breakfast kick lately?!


Dessert was a Clif builder's vanilla almond bar:



This afternoon I did a short workout. Nothing much. It was about 30 minutes long. For some reason, I just didn't feel as into it today. My legs just kinda gave out on me and I looked at my heart rate monitor and said "meh, that's enough for today."

But it was still pretty good for a 30 minute workout:


414 calories burned, so it claims.

My afternoon snack may or may not have been a Skinny Cow fudge bar.
Maybe.

But who would know?





I have a crazy work schedule today. I'm working 5:45 to 11 pm. Yuck. I think I'm going to rest for a half hour or so and then fix myself a quick dinner before I have to leave.

Everyone enjoy the last bit of the weekend!!!!