So I guess I'm a binge eater?

Yaaaaaaaay Friday!

It's been a long week.  I knew early on that it was going to drag on, so I delved into the cookies headfirst.  Tuesday morning I was particularly desperate as I channel surfed the uncertain weather forecasts, which kept growing in disappointment level (if you're going to forecast a ginormous storm, there had better be more than light freezing rain to show for it!).  As I grew more and more desperate for fulfillment, I ate vast quantities of bread and butter, cookies, and cake.  By noon I felt terrible about what I'd eaten, so I tried to find out how many calories I'd consumed... mostly out of curiosity.  So I downloaded the Lose It! App, and guestimated what I'd eaten...


HOLY COW!

 I ate approximately 2,000 calories on Tuesday morning... BEFORE lunch!!!!!  WOOPS!

So obviously I've been trying to be good since then... (part of why the days seem to drag on forever...) and I've already lost 4 pounds!  Probably just the 4 pounds of cookies I ate on Tuesday morning... hahaha.  Shoot.

Chocolate!

Maaaan oh man do I love chocolate.

Especially dark chocolate.  On it's own it's wonderful... but it's even better if it's got just the right amount of a special flavor... orange, mint, ginger... you name it, I probably love it.  Even slightly spicy... like mexican hot chocolate... If you've never tried it, you should! I've even tried (and liked) bacon flavored chocolate! (though the toffee is better)

My coworker suprised me the other day with a couple of these:

Li-Lac's Glacé Ginger
"Candied ginger coated in dark chocolate. A spicy and delicious treat."

They're AMAZING.  The ginger inside of them is cooked and candied, so the stringy and bitter aspect of the ginger is gone, and only the burny deliciousness remains... soft and encased in dark chocolate.  Now that I've tasted it, I'm going to want more!  I think I'll try this kind next; I've seen it in stores so it will be much easier for me to get my hands on:

Chocolove Crystallized Ginger in Dark Chocolate Bar
"65% Rich Dark chocolate gives way to moist chunks of crystallized ginger. Surprisingly stimulating."

And while googling, I even found recipes to make candied ginger myself!  Which I can then cover it in chocolate!  I'm putting that on my list of things to make sooner rather than later, fo sho.

Ice, Ice Baby (dun dun dun du-du dun dun *dink*)

Mmm, hot tea and toasted oatmeal bread. 

If I close my eyes, I can pretend it's warm...  

On the other hand... if I open them... there's much to see!

Look! While we were sleeping we got bubble glass installed!

And we lucked into that view of a pond we always wanted!

This was such a nice tree, we thought we'd preserve it.

Here it is from another angle, doesn't it look nice encased in glass?

These bushes weren't looking so great, so we got them sparkled up.

Unfortunately, they're not doing so well with the extra weight of the crystal...

And one more, just for fun.

Oatmeal... Bread?

I've been baking a lot of bread lately, now that I have a handy dandy mixer to cut down on the mess.  I've been keeping my eyes open for new kinds to try... and I came across a few recipes for oatmeal bread.  What the heck is oatmeal bread?  I don't know!  So I decided to try it!  It seems there are many different ways to make oatmeal bread, so I modified the easiest recipe I came across to suit my pantry.  It's not usually safe to experiment with baking, but I'm doing it anyway!  It turned out to be delicious, though possibly tooo moist? Doesn't even need a spread, tasty and moist all by itself!  Yum!  Also, I'm really excited, because I've come close to solving the mystery of the delicious but "what the heck kind of bread is this" bread from Tir Na Nog!

Quick (no yeast!) and Easy Oatmeal Bread 

Makes 12 servings.  Per serving:  149 Cal, 2.3 g fat, 27.6 g carb, 1.4 g fiber, and 4.2 g protein.

(click link below for recipe)

Scraps for dinner!

I like to play a game called "What's in the fridge?"  Sometimes, this game overlaps with another one, called "What's in the freezer?"  I played a mix of the two this weekend!  I didn't take any pictures, since it was super ugly, but it was also super delicious!  Here's what I used:

Fridge:
1/2 a head of cabbage
1/2 a can of tomato paste

Freezer:
Cooked ground beef, crumbled (about a cup or 1/2 pound?)
Cooked italian sausage, diced (2 links?)
Super salty leftover stir fried egg plant (1/2 cup?)

Countertop:
1 onion
2 red potatoes

Instrucciones:

1. Chop onion, place in bottom of casserole or crock pot.
2. Dice potatoes, same.
3. Chop cabbage, same.  Mix the 3 together a bit.
4. Season with oregano, mrs. dash, herbes de provence, or whatever herby stuff you might have.
5. Salt and pepper too (unless you have super salty eggplant coming, like i did)
6. Spread around sausage, ground beef and eggplant
7. Mix tomato paste with water (about 1 cup total liquid) and pour over.
8. Put on lid, and bake at 350 for an hour or two, checking to make sure concoction doesn't dry out.  If it does dry out (like mine did after more than 90 minutes, husband neglected instructions to turn off oven when timer went off), rescue with tomato-y liquid!  I used a can of tomato soup.  

It was delicious, I win!  I like this game! Would also work just fine with uncooked meats, just make sure to cook long enough for them to come to a safe temperature.  Instead of tomato-y liquid, I bet broth would work... and instead of eggplant I imagine mushrooms would work well.  Maybe I'll try those substitutions next time I play!