few delays

We found out that we won’t be able to close until next week sometime because there are 25 people ahead of us waiting to close at our title company and they are slammed.  And I thought people weren’t buying houses right now?  Even though we will be pushed back a bit, we still can spend time doing lots of packing this weekend.  Ugh! 

I also made a quick and easy dinner since C has class tonight.  Basically it’s a couscous pre-mix doctored up with some sautéed tofu, mushrooms and broccoli.  So easy! 

But for starters I had some home-made    Italian-style hummus with a can of drained chickpeas, 2 garlic cloves, 1 roasted red pepper, handful of basil, 1/4 cup parmesan and 2 tbsp pine nuts along side some whole-wheat naan from Trader Joe’s for dipping!  I saw this naan in the store when I was shopping today and thought . . . I want to make some hummus! 

I can’t wait to try all their naan flavors, and they even have some in the frozen section, which would be conducive to less spoilage and a better texture believe it or not.  I usually freeze all my fresh breads and cakes before frosting because they don’t dry out that way.  I loved this stuff!  It has a wonderfully moist texture and is the perfect accompaniment to hummus. 

The whole wheat also has 8g of fiber per serving!  I want to try this for a quick pizza base too.  Yum!

On to the main course . . .

• 1 box of pre-mix whole-wheat couscous with pumpkin and red pepper (Sofella brand from Costco) cooked according to the package, with just water
• 3 stalks broccoli, chopped
• 1/2 carton crimini mushrooms, sliced
• 2 blocks TJ’s Teriyaki flavored tofu, cubed
• splash of rice wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
• 1 tsp toasted sesame oil

Cook the couscous according to the package directions (I used the pumpkin with red pepper flavor not the one to the left), omitting the oil.  Gently steam the broccoli until al dente; drain and rinse with cold water to preserve the green color.  Sauté the mushrooms and tofu in a large pan with a little olive oil until golden.  Add the broccoli and continue to cook to char it up a bit.  Turn off the heat.  Splash a couple glugs of vinegar, with the hoisin and sesame oil and mix everything up.  Serve along side the couscous or mix it all together.  Yum!

I made this bowl at one of those pottery places awhile ago and it has a sunflower in the middle at the bottom.  I Love cute eating-ware because it makes eating such an even better experience! 

Any fun weekend plans?

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?

             

sloppy, yummy and a sweet ending

Sloppy Joe’s!  I haven’t made these in ages and I always feel like a kid again when I make them.  They’re the perfect thing because they are so easy to make and also very versatile to add into other recipes. 

    

It was so messy that I had to eat it with a fork! 

On the side I went for another simple thing . . . sweet potatoes!  I didn’t feel like running our oven from h*&l, because it gets too darn hot, so I just micro’d them on the potato setting which was super easy and they came out just fine.  They aren’t as ‘carmel-y’ tasting as when they bake in the oven, but it was pretty darn good to me :)

And look what was there to greet me when I got home!

  

      I was so lucky to win a gift certificate to mix my granola from Emily and it finally arrived all the way from Florida.  I’ll use this a little later for a sweet surprise . . .

Sloppy Joe’s

Yield:  6 (about 1/2 cup serving)

• 1 lb extra lean ground beef (95-96%)
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 cups low-sodium tomato sauce (I used my crock-pot sauce) I still have more of this left to make pasta later!
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano, crushed
• 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp black pepper
• giant handful of chopped spinach
• 6-8 whole wheat hamburger buns

Directions

Sauté the onion, bell pepper and lean beef in a large sauté pan over medium heat until cooked through and crumbled. 

Form a circle in the middle and plop tomato paste in pan and cook for 5 minutes to develop the flavor.  Add the tomato sauce and next 6 ingredients (through pepper); stir and let simmer for 20 minutes.  Turn off the heat and add the spinach, let wilt. 

Place about 1/2 cup of beef mixture onto each bun.  I also added some mozzarella cheese and a side of yummy sweet potato.  I have a little bit of ground beef and pasta sauce left over, so I’ll use that for some baked pasta tomorrow, love versatile leftovers! 

Approximate nutrition stats to the left are just for the beef mixture.

 

And as for the sweet surprise! . . .

I really wanted to try out the granola, and while it wasn’t breakfast time I knew I could find some way to use it!  I took one healthy choice fudge bar and chopped it up and layered it with the granola.  Then the bar got kind of melty and it was like indulgent ice cream contrasted with the chewy texture of the oats, so good! 

Here’s my granola mix:

I thought it was really good!  It’s just not as formed and crunchy as I like my granola to be.  I think it would be better as a muesli?  I prefer more of a plank type granola that almost breaks your teeth off.  It is also pretty expensive (about $13) and took 7 days to get to me, so I don’t know if I would get it again just for those two factors.  I did love the flavor and the idea of mixing your own to make it unique because they had plenty of yummy mix-ins to choose from.  Thanks Emily!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s your favorite sweet ending to the day, food or otherwise?