"I Want" Wednesday

Hi.

My name is Mo and I am Pinterest-aholic.

A few weeks ago, I requested to be added to the "exclusive" website, Pinterest.  {notice the bit of sarcasm}

This past Sunday, I got an e-mail letting me know I was accepted!  While all my students are being accepted to great universities around the country, this was my own acceptance letter...I knew I had made it in life.

I am only partially kidding, because, since Sunday, my life has been Pinterest.  I spend my lunch hour pinning away.  I go home and pin some more.  I eat dinner, then pin a little more before bed.

What is Pinterest?  THE MOST AMAZING WEBSITE EVER!!  It is seriously an online pin board.  The way I explained it to my husband {after he noticed my absence from my side of the couch for a few nights} is Pinterest is like a virtual website bookmark.  You can categorize your pins, like a bookmark folder would do.  The cool thing is that you post a picture of what you are bookmarking and can write something about it that will help you remember WHY you are "pinning" it. 

Since I am already obsessed with this site, I am going to try and post a few of my favorite pins every Wednesday.

• I want to make this DIY handsoap from The Farmer Family.

• I want to be able to do this Sock Bun with my long mop of hair from 3 Pink Dots

• I want you all to know that this happens to me all the time!

And, finally:

• I want to always remember how awesome I was at 5 and realize that I am now even AWESOMER!

How cute is this girl?  

Are any of you part of the exclusive Pinterest family?  If so, link up your page so I can follow you!

Mine is http://pinterest.com/organicallymo/

Let's all remember this week just how awesome we were at 5 and how much more our awesomeness has grown!

(Almost) Wordless Weekend

Here is partially what my 3-day weekend consisted of:

 Friday Night!

 Saturday AND Sunday morning!

Yumm-o!

Shared a Gyro for Sunday lunch

We also cleaned out our 2nd bedroom, but it wasn't much fun, so no pictures of that.

Here's to a 5-day work week!

November Rain

Who doesn't love a little rain?  Me, I guess!

I have been waiting for a cold, rainy day for months and today, I got my wish.  Unfortunately, my attitude today went right along with the weather.  So instead of being productive and cleaning house like I wanted to, I went to Safeway and Raley's and wandered the aisles looking for inspiration.  I found lots of food, but no inspiration to go home and clean.  After coming home and changing into my "relaxing" clothes (old gym pants and a SF Giants tee), I made lunch and have done about 3 hours of Facebook nothing here and there.  

Here is what it looks like in good old Central Cali right now.

Someone doesn't mind laying around listening to rain!

Okay, Mr. Rain.  I am done with you and you can politely move on to some other region that needs you.

Maybe tomorrow I will wake up and Mr. Rain's handsome brother-from-another-mother, Mr. Sun will be peeking at me through my window.  One can only wish!

Pumpkin Cake

It's been a crazy week for me, but I HAD to share this recipe with you before I forget!

 Ingredients:
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 15oz can pumpkin
1/2 cup tapioca flour
3/4 cup quinoa flour
1 cup millet flour
3 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 TB milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.

In a bowl, mix eggs, sugar, oil and pumpkin.  Mix until smooth.  Turn mixer to low, and add remaining ingredients.  Batter will be thick.

Spread batter into a greased 9x13 pan.  Bake in preheated oven for about 40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  Once cake has cooled, frost with frosting of your choice.

Enjoy!

Mac-n-Cheese Please

One of my favorite foods as a child was macaroni and cheese.  Not from scratch, but the boxed kind.  As a teenager, I knew the evenings my parents were gone, I could whip up a batch of good ol mac-n-cheese, watch some Beverly Hills 90210 and call it a night.

Since I am forcing myself enjoying healthier eating, I know boxed mac-n-cheese is no bueno for my body.  That left me searching the internet for a homemade mac-n-cheese recipe. I found this ridiculously awesome  recipe from "How Sweet It Is."  I think this recipe may have changed how I look at macaroni and cheese for the rest of my life.  It is healthy, yet sinful at the same time.

Here is the recipe I found...I have noted my changes in red.

Autumn Mac and Cheese

1 pound whole wheat pasta (I used gluten free quinoa shells)

1/2 small butternut squash, peeled and chopped into small cubes

1 large apple, peeled and chopped

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

2 cups brussels sprouts, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (I used 2 teaspoons.  1 for the squash/apple roast and 1 for the onion/brussel sprouts)

1 tablespoon butter

1 tablespoon flour

2 cups milk

8 ounces cheese, grated (smoked cheddar) (The smoked cheddar was awesome!)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese + more for topping (I grabbed asiago cheese by mistake...best mistake ever!)

1/4 cup panko bread crumbs  (I used crushed corn flakes)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Lay chopped squash and apples on a baking sheet and drizzle with 1 tablespoon olive oil, salt and pepper and 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg. Roast for 25 minutes, flipping once.

While the squash is roasting, heat a skillet over medium heat and add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add onions and brussels sprouts with a pinch of salt and pan roast for 6-8 minutes, turning frequently. Heat a large pot of water to a boil, and begin to cook your pasta.

Set aside squash/apples and sprouts/onion mixture. If pasta is cooked, set it aside as well. Reduce oven heat to 350.

In a medium saucepan, heat one tablespoon of butter on medium heat and whisk in the flour to create a roux. Add the milk while continuing to whisk, and begin adding cheese as well. I find that adding cheese in batches about 3 minutes apart works best. Continue to whisk together so the cheese melts and doesn’t stick to the bottom. The entire process takes about 10 minutes and you want the heat on medium-low, this will help thicken the cheese sauce. I find you don’t want it too thick, as it will thicken in the over.  Mine took about 15 minutes, and she is right, you do not want it too thick as it thickens in the oven.

Spray a large casserole dish with non-stick spray. Begin to layer pasta, vegetables and apples, and cheese sauce in batches, just mixing to make sure all is combined. Top with panko and another sprinkling of parmesan. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

I was not too sure how Gary would react to this meal, since he is typically a "meat and potato" guy, but he LOVED it.  For our lunch the next day, I added a bit of leftover roasted chicken I had on hand and it took the meal over the edge in such a good way.

What is your comfort food of choice?  Mac-n-Cheese is only one of my MANY!

Weekend Recap - Trying New Things

3 day weekends are the best!  Especially when you are under the weather...it's one more day to recover.  Luckily, getting lots of sleep from Friday to Saturday was all I seemed to need.

Neither Gary or I wanted to stay inside on Saturday, so we headed out to Modesto for some window shopping...well, that was the plan.  I got 2 new plates at Cost Plus World Market. I also got THIS for later that night:

I am only halfway done with it...so good!

Then Gary dropped me off at Ulta while he went to Best Buy.  I was in there for over an hour just browsing, until I found these 2 beauties.

I have always wanted to try the crackle polish trend and figured since I had a 20% off coupon, this way a great time to try it out.  I'll let you know what I think once I actually get around to painting my nails.

Shopping makes me hungry, so we stopped off at BJ's for lunch and an Irish Root Beer.  For those of you who do not know what an Irish Root Beer is, I feel sorry for you.  It's root beer mixed with Whiskey and Bailey's Irish Cream.  I've made them at home a few times, but nothing beats one from here.

"Adult" Root Beer makes me a happy girl!

After we devoured lunch, we walked around the mall in a food coma before heading off to the new Sunflower Market for some grocery shopping.  WOW!  They had a great variety of organic produce, specialty cheeses, and overall healthy food.  I found this, which I am using in a pumpkin cake this week.

I ran into a bunch of current and former students while there, which is always nice (only because I had my hair and makeup done).

Yesterday, I decided I needed a little "me" time, so I took a few hours to do some shopping around town.  I ended using a gift card my mom & dad got me for my birthday at Dress Barn to get some pants, a sweater and a purple top.

This morning, my whole breakfast was made up of things I have never tried before.

I found the tea at Cost Plus and I think I may go back and stock up!  It felt like I was splurging on a coffee shop drink.  I seeped the tea bag for about 7-8 minutes and added a splash of milk.  The GF waffles I found at Safeway.  I rarely have waffles, so layering them with Justin's chocolate almond butter was a treat.  I love the Justin's line of nut butters.  I have tried about half of the flavors and have yet to be disappointed.  After that, I just added some chia seeds and half of a sliced banana.  I ate it while checking out all the blogs I love to read!

I'm not the only one who enjoyed their morning.  Our sweet Sasha turned 5 today!

In addition to her regular breakfast and TWO treats, I cut up 2 apples for her to enjoy.

 You can tell she is excited because she is looking right at me.  We always make her sit, shake our hand and do the "look at me" command before eating.  When she get something exciting to eat, she sits and look at us right away, trying to make the process go quicker!

The way she ate was really cute.  She would go get an apple, then take it to the grass, chomp it down, lick the juice off the grass, the go back for another.

I spent most of today prepping my meals for the week. There are some really good ones, so stay tuned.

 As a preview, here is a picture I took while prepping one of my meals.  Can you guess what veggie this is?

 What did you do this weekend?  Do any of you celebrate your animals birthday?


Happy Halloween!

Blah

Unfortunately I have been under the weather this whole week, which has meant no blogging, but lots of 8:30pm bedtimes.

Luckily, I have a 3 day weekend to recover.

Due to my A- personality (which is a blog post all in itself) there is no rest for the weary, so here ia a typical "Mo list" of things I must accomplish this weekend.

1. Get better!  This will involve lots of soup & sleeping.
2. Watch "Halloween."  I imaginge this happening in the middle of the day with all the lights on as I have an aversion to scary movies.
3. Start a list of possible somewhat healthy Thanksgiving side dishes I can make.  Once again, my type A- personality in full force since Turkey day is 4 weeks away.
4. Put away Halloween decorations that did not make it up due to a crazy week at work and being sick.
5. Do not freak out when most of this list is not accomplished!!

On that note, I wish everyone a great weekend and a spooky Halloween!

What are your "to-do" items for the weekend?  Anyone else feeling under the weather lately?