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I kept seeing the flyer on the side of the screen and kept forgetting to mention it. Head over to Publix to print some great pet coupons.

-Free Cesar Canine Cuisine Bistro wyb Ceasar Canine Cuisine Treats
-$2/1 Iams Dog or Puppy Food
-$1.50/1 Fresh Step Cat Litter
-$3/1 Purina Dog or Cat Food
-$3.50/1 Purina Beneful Dog Food
-$2.50/24 cans of Fancy Feast or Friskies Cat Food
-$2.50/1 Purina Cat or Kitten Chow
-$2 off Pedigree Dog Snacks wyb Pedigree Dog Food

These coupons expire on 12/2!

Reaping In Abundance,
Kay

Crap?  Not totally, but I’m not being as disciplined as I used to be.  I need to reel things in, especially since the holidays are here.  It’s harder to be good, and I can’t waste all the hard work I’ve done this year on just being lazy.

I also know why this happened.  A couple of months ago, my George Foreman grill stopped working.  I started going to frozen dinners, or making sandwiches.  The food isn’t good enough fuel for me, so I ate more.  And by more, it meant anything.  Snacks especially.  I don’t know what it was/is about the GF that makes me make dinner.  It just does.  So, duh, I went and got another one yesterday.

Now, I promised myself to be more focused.  I need to be fueling my body appropriately so I can perform at a higher level!  And there’s some vanity in here too.  I really want to have my sixpack back!  Once I do, I’ll post a picture (by saying it here, now makes me HAVE to do it).

Me [to Two-Year-Old]: See, Mommy goes potty in the potty.
Wife: Butch goes potty in the yard.
Me: The whole world is your toilet, kid.
Wife: …
No, no, just no.
…
It’s not really “oyster.”

It’s amazing how some Christmas cookie recipes, and other holiday treats, are so well-received that they become an integral part of the family traditions.  It gets to the point where you can’t really imagine Christmas without a plate of the particular cookies in the kitchen, ready to be gobbled down during A Charlie Brown Christmas and washed down with cold glass of milk.

When I was growing up, so it was with sugar cookies, cut out into holiday shapes and iced with the hard icing you get when you mix confectioner’s sugar and a few drops of milk and then brighten the mixture up with a few drops of food coloring.  Here is the recipe for that Webnerhouse classic.

Sugar Cookies

1 cup butter, softened; 1 cup granulated sugar; 1 large egg; 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla; 3 cups all-purpose flour; 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

Beat together butter and sugar until fluffy.  Add egg and vanilla, mix.  Add flour and baking powder gradually.   Continue to mix with mixer until combined, even if mix seems dry. Divide the dough into four parts, shape into four circles, wrap with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for an hour or until firm.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Lightly grease sheet pan with Crisco.  Roll out dough with rolling pin, lightly dusting with flour.  Cut out shapes with cookie cutters and place on baking pans.  Bake for 7 minutes or until edges of cookies are light brown.  Remove from oven, cool briefly, then put on plate.  Ice after completely cool.

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes (Cont.)

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes (Cont.)

Calling For Christmas Cookie Recipes

If you’ve never seen one of Maira Kalman’s beautiful visual articles from the New York Times today is the day to click through and enjoy something special.  In honour of American Thanksgiving, she has produced a truly inspiring visual article/short story that helps illuminate some of the opportunity that exists in our world to reclaim our food systems by applying educational support and democratic will.

We loved the line ‘It is bringing elemental things to the present time with optimism and commerce’ because that is very closely associated with what The Preservery is trying to do.  Elemental things+Present time+Optimism+Commerce.  A little more of this equation in our world probably would result in a more satisfied population.

Feast on this article and when full, in the spirit of Thanksgiving, please pass it on.

I still have another day, but it looks like I won’t make it through Torts by Monday. First, I got drunk on Thanksgiving and lost an evening. Then I had a big proofreading project come in from a friend/professor/client that needed to be done quickly: another evening lost. I’ve spent this Saturday making breadless meatloaf (don’t ask) and watching The Proposal and Food, Inc. The proposal was great because Ryan Reynolds is very hot and was, for a moment, very naked. Food, Inc. was disgusting and revelatory. Made me want to high-tail it to a farmers’ market. Well, one more day to go (and I guess Monday night too. And since I’m 13-16 hours ahead of everyone in the US I guess I could technically go into Tuesday and meet my ‘Monday’ deadline.

God, my life-changing, lazy-ass moving resolution is off to an inauspicious start.

yum

Behold, our Christmas card photos:

Our incomes aren’t currently large enough to support buying gifts for all the family members we would like to acknowledge during the holidays, so last year, my boyfriend and I started the tradition of sending out a holiday card with a current photo in it to many of our relatives. Sometimes I feel bad that I can’t do more, but then this past summer a visit to M’s family in Illinois helped to change that.

We paid a visit to his grandmother, who lives in a little house about an hour and a half away from his mother. She didn’t have an overabundance of knickknacks and decorations in her living room, but those that she did display were almost all photographs. And in a prominent place on an end table was the Christmas card we had sent her last year, with our smiling faces beaming out of it. Looking at that card I realized that sometimes what means the most to our relatives—especially those who are far away most of the year—is a glimpse of our happy faces. And that solidified my resolve to do another Christmas photo card this year as well!

Fortunately, my sister was in town to do the honors, and today I’ve picked up the developed photos and I’m starting work on the cards. It’s a pleasant sort of occupation for a peaceful day. I’m so glad the various holiday meals are over for this long weekend. I did stay on plan yesterday evening, but it was a little stressful. I had to have lots of internal dialogue with myself and make the best choices I could from those available. It was a buffet-style affair, and I ended up eating some raw veggies, lots of hummus and pita, and a baked pear that was simple but very tasty. M and I worked out earlier in the day and will also be hitting the gym today, so my physical activity efforts have been very consistent.

Looking forward to the month ahead, there will be a few more challenges coming up. December 7 is our office holiday luncheon, which will require me to do some planning in advance in order to budget my calories well. December 25 is of course Christmas Day; as I’ve mentioned before, I’ll be treating Christmas dinner and dessert as a “free” meal, but otherwise I’ll be watching my calories. My boyfriend and I will be up North visiting my parents for six days over Christmas, but they know I’m watching my weight and I’m sure they will have some lower-calorie groceries in the kitchen.

The weight-loss process is one that often leads me to doubt myself. I’ve talked here about saving up oodles of cash for a personal training package; but part of me feels like I can do more on my own and I’m not yet at the point where I need a trainer. If I had more money to spare, maybe it would be a non-issue; but as it is, I am trying to slowly save up for things like buying a house a few years from now, and the more money that goes to “non-essentials,” the less I am saving toward that dream. It’s not always an easy call, but when I look into my heart as I have the last few days, I think that I can do some strength-training on my own or possibly in a class for the next little while. A trainer may very well be in my future, especially if I plateau; but for now, it isn’t an “essential.”

A vintage Kins-shot to start the post; I found lots of old pics on our external hard drive, so I saved some to include in posts for you.  This one was particularly cute, I think…Shelli was very interested in the camera.  you can also see her little shaved belly; they spayed her at six weeks; sometimes they do that to help them be more adoptable.  It helped us a lot because we couldn’t have afforded the spay fee.

I don’t feel like talking about food today.  Suffice it to say that I had too much of it yesterday and the day before and that I’m pissed about that and plan to eat extremely cleanly for the next week at least.  Also suffice it to say that I’ve learned a very important lesson about being a vegetarian at omnivore family gatherings:  I will need to bring a very good veggie dish to every one I go to.  Green beans?  Cooked in beef stock.  Turnip greens?  Same thing.  My options?  Potatoes, potatoes, potatoes.  I’m sick of them.  Anyway, on to other things.

One of the most fundamental aspects of voluntary simplicity is the idea of “minimalism,” or reducing one’s possessions down to what is absolutely necessary and/or important.  Possessions should reflect one’s values, and those values should not include amassing as much “stuff” as possible.  One of the first steps, I daresay, into a more simple life is taking inventory of one’s possessions and paring them down to the important stuff.

We’ve done this a few times; we’ve had two or three yard sales and have made decent money, but we’re still really bad about keeping stuff because “we might need it later.”  I’m over that.  We have an office that we can’t even get into, and the dresser in the bedroom is so covered with junk that I have to stand on tiptoes to put my hair in a ponytail in the morning.  Our mission for the next few weeks is going to be to get those rooms cleared out.

A truly minimalist Christmas is impossible for me; I’m stuck in the corporate world, and we have THREE, yes, you heard me right, THREE holiday “events” that we have to participate in.  And, as much as I like the people I work with, the amount of time/energy/money that we have to spend on those events is incredibly draining.  Then, our church puts on a musical every year, with six performances (and a dress rehersal) that ends up taking up an entire week of our lives, and then we need to fit in a Sunday School fellowship…etc, and the list goes on.  For me, this year, our commitments will not allow for minimalism (although watch out, because that very well may change next year), but at least I can take some steps now to help reduce the clutter and stress of the holiday season.  Here’s what I’m doing:

1. cleaning off the dresser
2. getting rid of articles/paperwork that I don’t need anymore
3. putting away/organizing my shoes
4. getting the bedroom closet so that we can store clothes in there again.
5. starting on the office

Now, anyone can “clean.”  The point of the minimalist-driven clutter project is to take a very hard look at EVERY item and asking oneself whether or not it’s really that important.  Have you used it in the last three months?  four months?  If not, then you probably want to sell it, donate it, or chuck it if you can’t do anything else.  Don’t be overly sentimental; just let it go.

If you need help mustering up the courage to start, check out Far Beyond the Stars.  This guy is extremely serious about the minimalist lifestyle, to the extreme.  While the lengths to which he goes may not be for everyone, his philosphy is something that can really be taken to heart, and his tips are worthwhile, regardless of what level you’re comfortable taking them to.

Enjoy your Saturday!

What is the holiday season without cheese balls? It’s the perfect time of year to indulge, and while cheese balls will never be referred to as health food, you can make your own lower-fat cheese ball in just a few minutes.

We started with two, eight ounce packages of low-fat cream cheese (at room temperature), two, seven ounce pouches of finely shredded Kraft Sharp Cheddar cheese made with 2% milk, and a package of Wine Barrel Gourmet Creamy Parisian Herb Salad Dressing mix.

Red Wine Salad Dressing Mix

Beat the cream cheese and salad dressing mix together until light and fluffy. (Add 1 Tbsp red wine if you want a more pronounced wine flavor).

Creamy Parisian Herb Dressing and Cream Cheese

Add the sharp Cheddar cheese and stir until well mixed.

Adding the Cheddar cheese.

Cover a piece of parchment or waxed paper with about 2 cups of chopped pecans (parsley or paprika could be used instead of nuts). Lightly flour your hands and gather the cheese mixture into a ball. Roll the ball in the nuts to cover. This step is quite messy so be prepared! It works best if the pecans are finely chopped.

Wrap the ball in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. The long chill time does two things; it allows the herbs  to fully flavor the cheese and it helps the ball stay together!

Red Wine Cheese Ball

We are still eating cheese ball leftovers three days later and it tastes better every day!

Tips: Serve on crackers or flat bread or pita chips. Adding red or white wine to the mix will enhance the wine flavor. The red wine solids included in the Creamy Parisian Salad Dressing mix do add a non-alcohol red wine flavor.  Creamy Parisian Salad Dressing mix is full of several herbs and garlic, but any of our Red Wine Salad Dressings would be equally delicious in this cheese ball. Try the Italian Rosemary Salad Dressing mix and use 3 1/2 cups of Parmesan cheese instead of Cheddar, or the Sunny Greek Salad Dressing mix using crumbled feta instead of Cheddar.  Perfect for the holiday appetizer table.

Hey everyone!

I hope all of you out there had a great Thanksgiving.  I got some great feedback for my video Fun Food Friday last week.  I thought it would be a great idea to put together a special Thanksgiving edition of Fun Food Friday.  I tried to get the video done for Friday but unfortunately there are just not enough hours in the day.  But fear not.  The video is now ready.

Rather than just showing a food tutorial, I put together a short little montage of my Thanksgiving day with my family.  I hope everyone likes.  As always, I welcome all feedback.

Enjoy!

I made dinner! It’s noodles with chicken and some japanese vegetables and its mmmm x3
Doesn’t it look delicious? <3_<3

Hey there Toronto breakfast joints, I have some news for you:

When someone orders Huevos Rancheros for breakfast they want to be filled to the brim with starchey, protein-filled deliciousness. 

There should be no white showing on the plate.  There should be guacamole [not avocado chunks], and there should be plenty o’ full-fat sour cream. There should be no capability to eat another meal, post-huevos.  In fact, there should be a bit of a  strain to stand, post-huevos.

Universal Grill:  understands the  huevos concept and has pretty much mastered it, AND has the loveliest servers ever.

Sunrise Grill & Crepe: not so much with the huevo-understanding-thing, nor the decent-service-thing.

Both restaurants have delicious homefries, though… just so you know.

Bonjour, tout le monde!

I hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving, we certainly did! Unfortunately, I have been sick, but I am trying to make the most of it and am using this time to get ahead in schoolwork, read, watch movies, seasons of FOTC, and (duh!) blog!

I promised a fabulous friend of mine that I’d include pictures from my vegan Thanksgiving, but my camera is kaput… so I’ll do my best to describe! Among the delectable dishes were:

1. Sweet potato hash (with vegan sausage) – Cooked sweet potatoes, some onion and seasoning for flavor, and smoked “wheat meat”. We used Field Roast and loved it!

We <3 the smoked apple!

2. Brussel sprouts – They get a bad rap, but they are SO DELICIOUS! Mother bought a whole tree, practically, so we’ll be noshing on those for quite some time  ;)

3. Asparagus cooked with crumbled pecans – Sounds better than it actually was. It came out pretty nasty (though I can say with pride that neither Chester nor I had any part in this!), to tell the truth. Good idea, but the recipe called for too many nuts and vinegar… not a cool mix. I think Chester and I shall be doctoring this later!

4. Cranberry salad – Normally very good, but some of the frozen cranberries were just too sour! Overall, it is a really nice mix of walnuts, pears, oranges, and cranberries. Great Thanksgiving treat… with the right berries!

5. (Chester’s favorite) Pumpkin pudding – I whipped this up in 3 minutes (with Chester’s help, natch) out of some flaxseed meal, pureed pumpkin, soymilk, and some spices. Not too sweet, which is how I like it (and don’t tell Chester, but the vitamin A and the fact that it’s not too high in calories means it’s actually good for you!)

Bon appetit!

Special 3 course Thanksgiving Dinner at O’Reilly’s Pub including Detroit vs Green Bay followed with a night on the town.  Both were excellent.

Seems like only a year ago that we saw a special appearance by Rick Astley at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Wait,… that was a year ago.

This year, bananaketchup and I spent time with our family, feasting on Cornish game hen, chowing down on some ham, sweet potatoes, mac n’ cheese topped with prosciutto (courtesy of our sister), mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie, watching football and drinking beer.  I think that says it all, so I’m not going to go on some long spiel about what Thanksgiving means to me.  But, I would like to share some pictures from our special day here and say thanks to everyone who stops by to check out Late Nite Adobo.

With my dad at the helm, delicious options such as this glazed ham made it onto the dinner table.

And of course something to wash it all down.

That’s all fine and dandy but what I really want to know is… how did you spend your Thanksgiving?  I hope you all had a great one!

Since I’m not home there will be no weigh-in this morning and I can’t say I’m bummed about this. I’m feeling fine about NOT seeing my weight after these last two days of eating. Sorry to disappoint. I did go for a run this morning although it was at a snail’s pace. I skipped breakfast since I wasn’t hungry but I did just eat lunch. Salad with reduced fat feta, pear, and the left over quinoa salad. Yum.

Today’s the day to go see The Blind Side which better be good. So sad that this vacation is coming to an end. Sniff sniff.

There are excuses, and there are reasons. More often than not, regarding exercise and nutrition, what people think is a ‘reason’ is actually an ‘excuse’.

For example: I don’t exercise because I don’t have time….or I don’t eat well because I don’t know how to prepare healthy meals.

But occasionally you come across something that sounds like an excuse that is actually a reason:  I don’t eat vegetables because I am afraid of them.

Is it bad that I really want to try most of the food from This is why you’re fat?  I mean, how could someone not look at those Bacon-Wrapped Pigs In A Blanket Wrapped In Bacons without wanting to eat the whole plate?

New York Times reporter Kim Severson in the article “Butterballs or cheeseballs” writes that with millions of cooks seeking out recipes online, the culinary habits of a nation on its greatest food holiday can now be codified and analyzed.

Be sure to check the map to see how the top 50 recipe search terms plot out across the US.