busy times and mang-oats

Either I’m super busy running around like a chicken with its head cut off, or else there is not much going on.  Does that happen to you?  Sometimes it seems that everything all of a sudden culminates around a certain time . . . and this time it’s NOW!  The next few weeks are going to be pretty busy and I apologize for the lack of posts.  I would so much rather blog and read blogs all day! 

In House News . . .

We are hoping to sign papers on Wednesday to get the keys on Friday.  On Thursday we want to get all our paint supplies rounded up.  Friday is time to prep everything for painting (I’m not looking forward to this because taping off is half the battle!)  Saturday and Sunday we are going to be PAINTING like crazy people and hope it doesn’t look icky with uneven lines (fingers crossed).  The next weekend will be for touch up and a family birthday party, and have we even started packing yet??   The weekend after that will be dedicated to carpet/couch cleaning and the big MOVE!  But that’s not all . . . finals are the next week, along with Chris’ graduation and his grad/my b-day party!  Whew, there is a lot going on!  We also ordered the laminate flooring, but that won’t get here till after graduation, so that will be our next week’s project.  I think Home Depot has become our second home! 

This weeks grocery shopping was very frugal ($35 for two!) because, not only am I trying to save as much as I can, we have a lot of leftovers in the freezer that need to be used up.  One of them being Lamb Daube Provencal.  I thought I would serve it with some nice corn bread for dipping tonight.

I wanted to highlight my oats this morning, I call them Mang-oats, featuring the tropical love of my life . . . MANGO! 

 

These guys are not only taste like the tropics they are great for you too.  In 1-cup sliced, there’s nearly most your Vitamin C needs and 3 g of fiber, super filling!

 

Here’s how I like to slice mine:  First cut off both ends to see how the direction of the pit in the middle is going.  Take your knife and cut along the pit in a oval shape.  Once you get the fleshy sides, I cube them with the skin still on.  Then you just have to cut the cubes off into the bowl.  Yum!

Mang-Oats

Serving for Two:

• 1 3/4 cup non-fat milk
• 2 tbsp raisins
• hefty sprinkling of pumpkin pie spice and cinnamon
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/2 mashed banana, the other half sliced on top
• splash of vanilla extract, or any other tropical extract
• 1 mango, cubed (see above)
• Favorite toppings:  I topped mine this morning with ‘mix my granola’, scoop of TJ’s peanut butter, a scoop of cottage cheese and mango.  Some shredded coconut would be great too!

Boil the milk, raisins, spices together in a large pot.  Add the oats and mashed banana; stir.  Cook until desired consistency, about 5-7 minutes.  Turn off the heat, add extract and all your favorite toppings!

Here’s a picture with all the paint swatches and project plans in the background . . . wish us luck!

Do you have any good tips for painting textured walls and keeping lines straight?