Happy Holidays everyone!

I know I’ve been MIA for more days than usually, but it’s really just par for the course with the holidays.  Things have been crazy with tying up all these loose ends at work, Christmas shopping, Christmas gift making, holiday parties, and on and on and on.  I’m sure you all know EXACTLY what I’m talking about! 

Going along with all that – I got a rude awakening when I hoped on the scale this morning – it was my highest weight in about 8 months!  Although – really, it wasn’t that much of a surprise.  Because of being so busy, constantly being around delicious temptations (that I’ve totally been giving in to – HEY – IT’S THE HOLIDAYS!), and not going to the gym…what did I expect?   And it’s not an insane number – 8 months ago I’m pretty sure I was doing a jig when I got down to that weight – but still – 2 more days and then that’s it, no more excuses, back on track.   

On to food, I don’t have too many pictures for you, but wanted to show you the few highlights I have. 

Wonderful office goodies – Crate and Barrel gifts and delicious things dipped in chocolate!

The best homemade pizza to date – Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough, black olives, banana peppers, artichokes, onions and spinach!  It got “Best to Date” approval from Mike!  

Homemade Saturday brunch – some eggies with ham and sweet potato fries:

Saturday night, we had some friends over, and I decided to cook  for everyone.  I needed to cook something that was appealing to everyone (let’s face it – not everyone feels the same way about vegetables as us foodies!)

So enchiladas with turkey meat it was!   Unfortunately, I only snapped on picture, I really should have shown you the prep along the way.   Before the company came over, I cooked the turkey meat, and added in a packet of taco seasoning.   I also chopped up a WHOLE BOATLOAD of veggies (it could be whatever you want) – I went with black olives, a can of corn, a can of kidney beans, a can of black beans, green pepper, red pepper, and red onion.   But you could get creative and add whatever you like.  I spiced the veggies up with some garlic powder and chili powder, and let it all hang out in the fridge until it was time to actually prep.

Here’s the whole meal, right before going in the oven:

All you  need to do is just spread some refried beans on the tortilla (I used 99% fat free), and then mix in you filling, drizzle a little enchilada sauce and cheese on the inside, and roll up!  I cooked them for about 15 minutes on 350 and we were all set!  The 3 pans were enough to feed 4 “growing” boys, and me and my friend Steph.  I’d put a picture of  us lovely ladies right here – but SOMEONE (HINT HINT – STEPHANIE!!!) hasn’t posted pictures to Facebook yet.  I can’t steal pictures if they aren’t posted!  

In the morning, we were all a little “tired” – read HUNGOVER – and the boys wanted lots of food.  Rather than spending a ton of money, they asked if I’d cook, as long as they went out and got the food.  How could I say no?  I got to stay in my PJ’s, not go outside in the cold, AND cook!  I jumped all over that!   Here’s the feast:

We had

• sausage
• bacon
• english muffins
• pancakes
• eggs
• sweet potato fries

Pretty awesome huh? 

Last night I got fancy and decided to break into the Annie’s Mac n Cheese I had been holding out on trying:

IT WAS AMAZING!  I only took half to being with, but ended up eating the whole box! 

I found this on sale at Walmart (I know, groan) – but it was only a dollar, which I think is super cheap for Annie’s products.  I’d buy this again in a heartbeat, and may just have to make a trip to Walmart, solely for the purpose of buying more!

That’s it kiddos, nothing more to update you on.  I made some really cool Christmas presents this year (I know it sounds cheap, but with the economy being in the crapper, and Mike being in law school, we didn’t really have a choice).   I’m not sure who in my family reads this so I can’t post the pics yet, but after all the gifts are open on Christmas, I’ll snap some pictures for you so you can see all the neat stuff!

Hope you are all enjoying the holidays and time with your family!   Take care! 

Hiya bloggies!

I can’t believe it’s already Thursday – I have some interesting items to share with you!

First of all – because you were all so supportive and concerned I thought I would give you an update – I got my hair fixed finally! I went to my regular lady last night, who I love, told her what I had done, and then told her “only she could fix it” Here’s the finished product:

MUCH BETTER -RIGHT?!?! I can now safely wear my hair down! I am kinda bummed, just because I really was trying to grow it out, so I didn’t want to go short. But I went in to the appointment knowing Janine was going to have to take alot off to fix the mess – so all said and done, I was surprised at how much length was actually left. LESSON LEARNED PEOPLE, LESSON LEARNED!

The second big update I have to share is just a little “heads-up” for all of you. We got some bad news this week, and roomie Josh had to move out. That being said, money is really really tight for us right now. If you are asking “Why is she telling us this?” – I have a point. My point being, with watching money, there is less groceries, and less “fun” or “blog worthy” food. So I wanted to warn you, as you might have caught on by now, I might not post as much. I’ve really been eating a whole lot of the same thing. I’m not going to stop blogging (that would make me so sad if I had to) – but just wanted to let you all know what’s going on. I’ll try to not be so boring all the time though!

Now on to some food highlights!

I decided to get crazy with my oatmeal the other morning, and I went for a chocolate cherry combination:

I just threw in a small handful of chocolate morsels, as well as some dried cherries – it was AMAZING! here it is all melty and delicious:

A few typical “Allison Salads” as the girls I work with would say:

and2 pretty similar dinners – one night Boca with sweet potato & black beans, the next chicken sangwich (I think that’s so funny – don’t know why) and sweet potato & black beans:

Since it’s December – you know all the Holiday goodies are coming in to the office – here is a SCRUMPTIOUS pumpkin chocolate muffin (I had two!) – they were PHENOMENAL!

That’s about it kiddos – it’s been a crazy week, and now it’s time to get back to it! 6 more days until Chrismas!

Howdy y’all!

I know it’s been a few days – I’m just giong to update you on the important stuff! 

Friday night – my mom and I went out and did some Christmas shopping – we were out for HOURS – but we got so much accomplished.   My mom had dinner waiting for me since I stopped and her house and we left together from there – some yummy pa-sghetti with turkey meat sauce!

Saturday – I got up early and did some cleaning – while Mike went down to the law library to study for finals.  Started the day of with some Kashi H2H:

Around 11am – I called my neighbor to see what she was up to – and we ended up chatting for a while and then decided to go shopping together!   Being a nice person to begin with – and then adding in the Christmas spirit – my neighbor decided to treat me to lunch – so we grabbed some always delicious Chipotle!

And then, we went shopping because she wanted to buy some toys for the local toy drive the Cleveland Firefighters were putting on.   She ended up giving $194 worth of toys to charity!!!!   While I wasn’t able to pitch in because times are so tight for me and Mike, it was really fun to help her, and I felt honored that she shared her good deed with me!

I came home to a package sitting outside our door – which is ALWAYS a good feeling!  

It was my first (hopefully of many) package from the the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program – where you sign up for the samples you want to try.   The first test – COWGIRL CHOCOLATES!

Look how pretty the packaging is –

Inside – there was a rainbow of wrappers – and a little “key” – that told you the flavor of the corresponding color

There was a Habanero Chocolate, and a a Habanero Caramel!   The chocolate was great – I couldn’t really taste the spice – and the caramel – was SUPER TRICKY!   When you started eating it – it tasted like a delicioius caramel – and then as soon as you swallowed it, you were HIT with that crazy pepper spice right in the back of your throat!   Fun for once in a while – definitely not a regular snack!

I also went straight for the Rasberry Lemon Creme – the flavor combo sounded so delicious…

And it was!  I could totally eat a whole box of this flavor!   Notice Lando in the bakground – waitingn for a morsel to fall – she apparently  hasn’t gotten the memo that dogs can’t eat chocolate! 

Overall – the chocolates were very cool, and would make a perfect little gift for someone – I totally recommend them!

Saturday night – we went over to my grandparents to hang their Christmas tree – and make the stuffed shells we eat at Christmas.  It was a really nice time – it was our whole family, just visiting and relaxing!   My dad snapped some pictures but I forgot to steal his pictures from his computer!   I did snap a picture of the tasty tasty pizza we had though:
That’s about it – those are the highlights from the weekend!  Sunday I just did some more running around and Christmas related errands!  

Hope ya’ll had a great weekend!  10 days until Christmas – EEK!