Friday chill

Cuter than breakfast

Yet another great night of sleep. Got up at 6:30 to pee and then lounged until the alarm went off at 7. When I drink less water I don't have to get up. Go figure.

I met an old colleague for breakfast at Morning Glory at 7:30 and it was so nice to catch up. It's been a couple years at least. I sipped some Earl Grey hot tea and had a cheese omelet with extra crispy bacon while we chatted. It was so nice I completely forgot to snap a pic so I've included a portrait of Pixel instead. He's much cuter than my omelet.

Lunch shake on the go

I had no work scheduled today to I got some stuff done. I vacuumed, dropped clothes at the cleaners, got propane refilled and went to a local pet store for the first time. I then changed and went to noon dance. When I got home, I dried the sweat from my hair with the blow dryer and spritzed on some body spray to mask the now dried sweat. I whipped up a protein shake and drank it on the way to my massage at 2. I was home by 4, took a shower, got into my comfies and made a b-line to the spot on the couch for some Grey's Anatomy.

Yummy leftover dinner

I heated the rest of the amazing leftover beef and cauli casserole for dinner and watched some Cedar Cove. And can I say that I am super super super duper excited that The Crown, from Netflix, is out today and I suspect that it will be my next binge watch in the very near future. I have been waiting for it.

I finished up the berry salad, which consisted of precisely 5 raspberries, half of a strawberry and one blueberry. I topped it with some of the homemade sugar-free whipped cream and ended up watching the rest of Cedar Cove. And right at a big cliff hanger ending of season 3 the show ended. Hallmark canceled the show. OMG I'll never know if Olivia chooses Jack or Paul! I'm team Paul. Oh I'm so sad! Looks like The Crown will come much sooner than expected.

Cauli casserole is the best

Plain yogurt with berries

A second night of good sleep. I didn't go to bed until midnight, after finishing up some work. And there was no getting up until 6:30 and then right back to sleep, until 8. I got up and had 1/4c plain yogurt with a little Stevia and a spoonful of berry salad. Soon after I changed and headed to the gym for an hour of dance. Got home, did a bit of work and then showered off the gross.

Burgers on cloud bun

At noon I made a batch of these cloud buns and at 12:30 heated the two leftover .25lb burgers, melted on some cheddar and plopped them on two of the warm, fresh buns. I watched Younger and worked from my well worn spot on the couch. In between emails I put some last Halloween away and vacuumed. I went out to get the mail mid afternoon and there was a package for me! My friend Gen sent me such a beautiful necklace with stones and beads and fringe. I had to ask Lis how to wear it with the fringe and seems this is a new thing. She told me to Google it and I found something similar. The fringe goes down the front along with the rest. Not down the back as we both thought.

Beef & Cauli casserole with surprise gift necklace

I was done with work by 4 and watched The Vampire Diaries. I'm so glad it's the last season. Around 5PM I started prepping dinner. I wanted beef and cauli casserole and it's a bit of a production. I cut up the cauli and got it boiling. While it was cooking I diced and browned three slices of bacon and set it aside. In the bacon fat I sauteed a quarter of an onion and added in the pound of ground beef. I strained the cauli once it was done and set it aside. When the meat was browned I strained it and set it aside too. Next up was making the cheese sauce. When it was done I poured it over the cauli and stirred in the seasoned meat with it. Dumped it into a small baking dish and topped with the bacon bits and half cup of shredded cheddar. Baked at 400 for 20 minutes and viola. Perfection. I chatted with Mama and then watched The Durrells, which I didn't get to last night.

A day of leftovers

Steak-n-eggs before dance

Sleep was good. Nice and cool. I laid my head on the pillow just after 11 and slept until around 4 when I headed for the bathroom. We got up after 8 and gathered and got the trash out. Kev put up all the outside Halloween decorations and I made coffee and got the leftover sirloin cut up and browning on the stove. I made scrambled eggs to go with it and had an hour to let it digest before dance.

Mmm. Meat and cauli

After a good hour of whooping it up on the dance floor I got home, showered and answered a few emails. I grilled a few quarter pound patties and heated some leftover cheesy cauli. The Kev headed for work in the early afternoon and I headed to the store for lemons, marinated some chicken and the cruised on up to the office and worked until almost 7.

A little bit of everything leftover

Dinner was a hodge-podge of leftovers hanging out in the fridge. I heated one quarter pound burger patty from lunch, half of the remaining mini weenies from the weekend, the remainder of the cheesy cauliflower and a small lettuce salad. I was eager to watch Sunday's Poldark, which was so good as usual, made a cup of decaf Earl Grey tea and then watched last night's The Voice before hopping into bed.

Birthday boy and Halloween

Birthday breakfast of champions

Today is the day my Kev was birthed and I am so thankful. Happy birthday my Kev!

I got up at 3:30 to pee and was up for a while. Kev also heard me up and woke and then he couldn't get back to sleep. He got on his phone and read for some time and when he finally did, thr alarm went off. he had to get up for his final PT appointment.

I was nicely sleeping when my phone buzzed just before 7:30. It was Amy across the street asking if I was ready to take their family Halloween photo. I knew I would be taking their pic but didn't realize it was that early, but of course it was. Their daughter had to get to school. So I jumped out of bed and threw on some clothes and ran over. Got home and made Kev some birthday coffee and got bacon in the oven. I had his eggs cooking when he got home around 8:45. He gobbled them down and had to get on a call. I finished mine and made a run to the grocery.

Yummy chicken Mahkni

Do you know that there are leaves all over my yard? Of course the damn front mailbox tree couldn't wait one single day before deciding to FINALLY drop leaves. Had to do it right after we spent four hours cleaning up. I did a little work and when Kev finished his two calls we first went to the leaf drop off to do a big leaf dump, got home, jumped in his smushed bumper car and drove it to the auto body fixer upper place. After we got the rental we decided to have Kev a birthday lunch at our fav Indian place, Curry-n-Kebob. I had the bowl of chicken Mahkni, identical to chicken tikka masala but with dark meat so it was a bit more flavorful. Still in the tomato cream sauce and oh so freaking tasty. This will be a great winter eating. Of course it came with a mountain of rice, 4 pieces of naan, an onion baji and pineapple chunks.

Cajun meatloaf with cheesy cauli and fresh berries

We got back and I started prepping for dinner. I made a berry salad and got it in the fridge. I cooked two cauliflowers and set it aside and we made another venture out to fill the fish tank water at Vitamin Cottage, picked up laundry and got Kev's growler filled at Liquid Mechanics. Birthday beer! Got back home and I folded and put up laundry, made the cheese sauce for the cauliflower and at 5:30 we started making the Cajun meatloaf. This was a new recipe and we substituted crushed pork rinds for breadcrumbs. We didn't use celery, bell pepper, jalapenos or brown sugar. We did use half an onion and reduced sugar ketchup along with garlic. We also did not make the glaze, to keep carbs down. it was delicious but didn't "loaf" too well. I think next time I'll add another couple eggs for binder. Dany and David joined us and all of us had seconds of both the meatloaf and the cheesy cauli. Dessert was the berry salad and I made a fresh whipped cream to go on top. We all handed out goodies to the trick-or-treaters and when D & D left, Yen and Mr J arrived. We visited until after 10 and hit the bed when they left. What a fun day.

New shiny baby

Starting Sunday

Kev put the little extra room fan in the window last night and sleep came fast. I did get up at 3:30 for the usual bathroom break and stayed up for a while. When I got back to sleep I was in some fantastical dream where I was watching a movie, Alive in Wonderland-ish, in chairs that were like big, cushy chair swings. A boy next to me shared some chocolate covered raisins but gave me too many. I ate 5 and gave the rest back.

Bacon was put in the oven and Kev made some dandy delicious scrambled eggs to go with it. We watched CBS Sunday Morning, as they were highlighting a segment on Josh Groban and his new Broadway show, which debuts in November. I'm excited that we have tickets and will see it brand new.

Quick lunch before leaves

We left the house at 10:30 for a trip to the mall. I had an appointment to pick up my shiny new iPhone 7 Plus baby. My old phone, which was Kev's old phone, had finally gotten to the point where my apps were crashing and it was super annoying. Yay for a new phone and a business write off! We got home and I heated some cocktail wieners and leftover Brussels. I stirred in two tablespoons of Stubbs regular BBQ sauce and it hit the spot. We needed sustenance for the four hours of yard clean up that was had after lunch. 12:30 to 4:30 was spent picking up leaves in the front and back and then I mowed. A big thanks goes to Dany & David for helping to haul our leaves to the leaf drop. Kev put out the Halloween lights and skeleton and we're ready for the trick-or-treaters.

Grilled chicken salad

After I did the final sweeping and Kev set the light timer I went in for a well deserved shower. Once all clean I went down and washed up some green leaf lettuce and made a version of Mama's salad dressing. In it was the juice of two lemons, lots of freshly grated Romano, canola oil and a splash of basil flavored avocado oil, garlic, dash of salt, some fresh grated black pepper and a wee squeeze of Stevia. I had to call Mom for some tips and it turned out so good. We each got two and a half thin chicken breasts on our salads, some black olive slices and chopped green onions. We ate and started season 10 of our favorite Heartland. Afterwards we had some orange sugar free Jello.

Cherry lime awesomeness

Saturday perfection

I woke at 3AM to pee, drank some water and just could not get back to sleep. I browsed Facebook for some time and guess I eventually fell asleep around4:30ish. I woke at 7:20 and didn't roll out of bed until just after 8. It needs to cool down. It was 76 degrees today, at the end of October. Nuts.

I cooked up three slices of bacon and three eggs and enjoyed almost a full cup of butter coffee. And it was a most delicious cup. I poured 1/4c coffee over a tablespoon of butter and blended. Mixed in a sweetener packet, a dropper of butter toffee Stevia and 3/4c unsweetened almond milk and then heated the cup in the micro until good and warm.

Leftover beef and cauli casserole

Me and Kev made a store run and when we got home I marinated a batch of chicken breasts and got them in the fridge to stew. I then filled my tumbler with water and headed up to the office for a day of work. I worked until 12:45 and got hungry. I heated the rest of the super delish beef and cauli casserole and ate till stuffed. I worked until 3:30 and texted Dany about a stroll. We did the medium loop and it felt oh so good to move my legs. I sat all day yesterday and most of the day today and needed to get them going.

Rock star dinner

I started a batch of Brussels cooked in bacon fat at 6PM and at 7:15 Kev lit the grill and made us some mighty fine Prime sirloins. We melted on a tablespoon of butter and it's my mot favorite. The butter mixes with the steak juice to make a most excellent dipping sauce for the meat. Meat and Brussels I'd say is a top favorite meal.

Kev watched his game and I watched my great Hallmark channel show, Cedar Cove, comfy stretched out by the window on his side of the couch. I gladly give up my spot when the games are on. So all of Saturdays usually. We had the best batch ever of sugar free Jello for dessert. I mixed some lime sparkling water in with the cherry gelatin for some cherry-lime decadence.

Smooshed

Friday starts

I got in bed just after 10 last night and fell asleep. At 12 I woke and called to check on Kev. At 12:30 he got home from work. At 6 I got up to pee. At 8 I got out of bed.

I got bacon cooking and fed Sampson. I made fried eggs to go with the bacon. After breakfast I went up to do some work. At 10 I found out that the event I was supposed to go to all afternoon wasn't going to happen so I continued working. I had a case of cramps and wasn't up for dancing, so I kept on working.

Delicious leftover lunch

I took a break at noon, when I got hungry, to heat leftover beef and cauliflower casserole. I ate while watching Grey's Anatomy and went back up to the office. Kev saw his shoulder surgeon and got the official release. He's healed and clear to snowboard! On his way home someone rear-ended him and smooshed in the trunk of his car. This same bumper was just repaired from another rear ending just a few months ago. Thank goodness no one was hurt, that's the main thing.

Friday night burgers

I worked until 7 before heading down to think about dinner. I had some ground beef that had to be used so I made up four burgers, which Kev grilled, and broiled on cheddar. We ate the beef and finished the final two episodes of Scandal. What a good series it's been!

Dress up dance party

Food and the Ice Ice Baby

I woke up exhausted. I got up every hour, hearing things and just couldn't sleep at all. It was likely that I got maybe 3 hours snooze total. But I was excited for the Halloween costume dance party today so I got moving.

Nibbles after the dance party

My stomach was growling like crazy so the first thing I did was get bacon in the oven and then make eggs. After I ate and cleaned up I started slowly dressing and doing makeup. I met Sherri in the parking lot and we went in as a team. It was great seeing everyone's costumes and of course it was so fun to dance to the Halloween music (Monster Mash, Hungry like the Wolf, Ghostbusters etc).

We sat and cooled down a little in the lobby before a small group of us went across the street to a Mexican restaurant for lunch. I went for the appetizer plate of bacon wrapped jalapenos (stuffed with cream cheese). They were super tasty and not nearly as hot as the ones I had at our last Zumba lunch gathering.

Lunch shake

I got home around 12:45 and could not get the ice bag off fast enough. And it was wet inside. So totally gross! My shirt and bra I could almost wring out. I had the best shower of my life and put on some comfy clothes. I was pooped. I did muster up the energy to run a couple errands before falling on the couch for the rest of the day. I got hungry around 2 and made a shake with protein powder, 1 TBSP unsweetened cocoa, 1 TBSP peanut butter, 1 cup unsweetened almond milk, 1 cup ice and a little sweetener packet. it rocked my world.

Beef and Cauli casserole

I had just enough fun work to fill the rest of the afternoon. Around 5:45 I started dinner. I whipped up a beef and cauliflower casserole, mainly by making my favorite cheesy cauli recipe but adding seasoned ground beef (seasoned with salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, and oregano) and bacon. I browned the bacon bits and set them aside. When cauliflower was done and meat was browned and cheese sauce was made, I mixed the cauli with beef and sauce and added in half of the bacno bits. Dumped into a casserole dish and topped with cheese (cheddar and mozzarella mixed and the rest of the bits. Baked at 400 for almost 30 minutes and let cool for 15 before devouring. I ate and watched Younger and thought that I'd definitely make this again.

Ice bag prep

Costume's ready for action

I slept pretty good last night. Just the 3AM bathroom run but back to sleep until my alarm went off at 7:15. I got up at 7:30, put on some clothes, made a cup of tea and got a text that Sherri was on her way.

Her and Amy arrived just before 8 to help put the Ice Ice Baby costumes together. Amy had the great idea to use bubble wrap for a better "ice" texture and luckily we had two garbage bags full of it. There were big sheets which we cut holes out for our heads and can wear like a dress under the clear bag. We tucked the bottom of the bag under and now we have full range of movement for our legs. Tied the top and voila. But then the black leggings looked bad because you could see them through the bag. We needed white ones. Make a few stops and finally found them at H&M for $3. We got $3 white Keds-like tennis shoes at Walmart and we're all ret to go. I'll post a pic of us done up after class tomorrow.

Yummy Gyro salad

After we did all of our running it was noon and we were both super hungry. We decided to stop at a local Mediterranean place called Mumtaz. I tried it years ago, when it was new, and didn't care for it but I've heard good things so what the hell. I got a regular size salad (with feta, tomatoes and cucumber) and added gyro meat. Mixed in the cucumber yogurt dressing and oh it was super delish. But super expensive. This salad was almost $16 (of mostly lettuce). I will likely not go back, unless I'm in dire straights with a craving. Plus I spent ten minutes removing every little piece of tomato.

Leftover dinner, again

I did a practice run on my makeup and showered it all off. I then had to make a run to Walgreens for last minute stuff. Got home and heated two stuffed burgers and sat down to watch The Durrells in Corfu, the new PBS Masterpiece Classic. This Is Us was after.

Dance pants Tuesday

Toast and bacon Tuesday

Another home run in the sleep department. I had one bathroom run at 2:30 and back to sleep until 7. Got up at 7:30 and dressed, gathered trash, scooped the litter, got trash out to the curb, washed hands and got bacon in the oven. All of this while the Kev was getting ready for work.

Crazy Halloween dance pants

I had a couple slices of no carb bread with my three slices of bacon and soon it was time to change for dance. I wore my new Halloween tights that have crows (or ravens) on them. I love them so much. And they weren't hot at all. I thought I was going to die but oddly enough, they were very comfy.

Leftover lunch

I got home and instead of showering I changed into some cool clothes and headed outside. I got the leaves up in the front yard that were about to drive me batty, eight bags full. It took about an hour and a half and I was hungry when I got done. I heated a stuffed burger and started watching Jane the Virgin. I didn't finish it because I had a call at 2PM and had to shower before it started.

Repeat of lunch for dinner

The call was done at 3, I got a little work done and finished up Jane the Virgin. I watched Timeless next while working. I was done at 5:30 and heated the leftover cauliflower since I was getting hungry. Since there was only a little of it I then moved on to the cheddar Moon Cheese. I went to yoga at 6"15 and got home around 7:45. I heated another stuffed burger, since they were there and done and convenient and watched The Voice.