Gettin’ Figgy

Wow!  I have lots of news to report tonight.

1.  OMG!  School starts tomorrow!  WHERE does the time go???  It seems like just a day or so ago I was announcing that I was on vacation!  I am very excited about a new year and new possibilities.  I am lucky to work in a wonderful school and district!  :)

2.  Sad News… our TV broke tonight.  So weird!  It was perfect last night.  But today… it won’t even come on.  If you follow me on Twitter then you know I am a little suspicious.  Hubby has been wanting a flat-screen for years.  Yes, we are the last people we know that still have a TV that weighs more than both of us together.  LOL.  I am wondering if he might have sabotaged the TV… hmmmmm.

3.  Thanks to Diana over at The Chic Life, I have a new breakfast fave.  I heard Diana talk about Green Monster Smoothies a lot and always thought, EWWWWWW.  Spinach?  With fruit?  Sounded crazy to me.  However, I tried it and YUM.  So Good.  So filling and has really stuck with me in the mornings!  You can go here to read all about making Green Monster Smoothies.  Anyway, I don’t add any sweeteners, so mine is purely milk, banana, and spinach, and I LOVE it!  You REALLY cannot taste the spinach.  Try it tomorrow and see how you like it!  And then let Diana know how awesome it was!

4..  I am so excited about a fruit I found at a local farm stand yesterday…

FIGS! 

It seems like everyone knows someone with a fig tree… but you can’t buy them in most markets.  I even checked the Rock Hill Farmer’s Market (who has a GREAT variety of produce) and they didn’t have any.  Luckily, the Bush n Vine in York, SC sells buckets of figs this time of year! 

The Bush n Vine is wonderful.  They have great locally-grown produce, but they also offer CSA memberships throughout the year!  We’ve been thinking about joining a CSA for a while now and maybe this Fall will be the time!

I think figs are just about the prettiest and most surprising fruit when you cut them open. 

Look at how pretty and pink they are!  I have been snacking on them a lot the past 2 days!  I’m thinking about a pizza with figs… hmmm.  Maybe you’ll be seeing that soon!

How do You Take Your Bananas???

Over the weekend, Facebook exploded with pictures from the St. Patty’s Day parade.  Take a look at these cute ones!

 

Well, another Monday has passed.  Did your week get off to a good start?

Today I had a very productive day at work.  I came home for a few minutes to rest and have a pre-workout snack:

 

graham crackers with peanut butter and bananas.  Love this combination!  I’ve heard of people eating bananas with mayonnaise, but I have never tried that.  It sounds so wrong!  But I bet many other people think bananas and peanut butter sound strange. 

Tonight was another great Zumba class, but boy was I tired at the end!  I think I have been a slacker about drinking water.  I’m thinking it might be time to do a little challenge.  More details to follow on that. 

I was feeling lazy, so on the way home I picked up Chinese takeout:

 

Chicken with Mixed Vegetables over rice.  Perfect!  (Is it sad that the Chinese restaurant phone number is programmed into my phone?)

Now I am resting on the couch and watching a little TV.  When I turned it on, the scene from Raising Helen was on where they dance in the living room to “Whip It” by Devo.  It’s one of my favorite movie scenes because I LOVE this song.  It was my ringtone for many years.

Reader Questions:

1.  How do you like your bananas?  Plain, with Mayo, or with peanut butter?

2.  What’s your favorite movie song scene?

We Interrupt these Recaps for a Little Tutorial AND a Giveaway!

I've been busy recapping my POM Wonderful Dinner Party from this weekend!  If you'd like to take a look at my other POM-Related posts, please click on the links below!


Recap # 1: Preparations and Decorations
Recap # 2: Drinks and Appetizers
Recap #3: The Main Course


There is still more to come, such as...

• a very easy yet delicious dessert made by Ryan
• what we did with the leftovers!

But I wanted to take a moment to share some information with you.  The first time I bought a pomegranate, I didn't know HOW to eat it!  I cut it in half and then went, "Now what???"  I couldn't figure how to get into it to get all those little seeds (which are actually called arils) out!  Plus, I had always been told that you had to spit the seeds out.  So get a mental picture of this... I am standing over the sink, spitting these seeds out and my hands and shirt are completely stained with pomegranate juice.  I thought, "This is for the birds!"


So after that, I started looking into this.  Turns out, YES!  You can totally eat the arils/seeds!  They are good for you and can really aid in digestion!  As you've seen, they are great in salsa, as a garnish, on top of cereal, on yogurt... LOTS of possibilities for these little guys. 


But in order to eat them or use them, you've got to be able to get INTO them!  So I did a little cutting demo at my dinner party and now I am going to share the video with all of you here, so that you'll all know how to open a pomegranate, too!

Enjoy!


Now, POM Wonderful gave me gift bags for all of my dinner party guests.  I happen to have ONE left!!!  The gift bag is awesme.  It has 2 Pomegranates in it, a Wonderful Inside bracelet, a brochure with "How to Open a Pomegranate" in it, a set of recipes for using pomegranates, AND... a coupon for a FREE bottle of POM 100% Pomegranate Juice!

To be eligible for this drawing, you must leave a comment on this page related to pomegranates.  If you've never seen one, be honest!  If you have a favorite way you like to eat them, tell me that, too!

I'll draw on Friday afternoon!  So get your comments in before then!

Well, it just isn't a cooking week around here...

I've had high hopes for cooking this week and having a recipe to post, but it just isn't working out.  I have this poor spaghetti squash sitting on my counter, patiently waiting... maybe tomorrow!

This morning I was back at work and Ryan took his turn staying with The Incredible Pooping Machine Sadie today.  (By the way, she is feeling much better, and things are "moving again.")  Thanks to all of you for the well wishes!

I am officially addicted to Pomegranates.  Yesterday, I got a shipment from POM Wonderful!  They sent me all kinds of goodies for my POM Wonderful dinner party.  I have been experimenting and practicing cutting them.  I am trying to do it without making it look like a huge mess.  It's getting easier.  I have been eating the arils by themselves and as a garnish, just to get used to the texture.

This morning, I had yogurt, topped with some bran cereal and pomegranate arils.  (Most people would say, "Bran!  Bleh!"  But I really like it.)  YUM.  This would have been better with vanilla yogurt instead of strawberry, but I grabbed the wrong one.

For lunch, I tried to make the most colorful plate possible.  Doesn't it make you more cheerful when your meal is colorful?  Notice the pomegranate arils?  Today was baked potato day at school, which I LOVE.  I added just a little cheddar (low fat) and sour cream (light).  Just enough to taste.  Today, the potato also came with some ham, which I wouldn't have chosen, but was actually really good together.

And tonight I taught Zumba, so Ryan took care of dinner.  Wish I could say it was homemade, but it was one of those freezer-to-oven lasagnas.  Which are actually VERY good.  And very convenient when you are in a pinch.  (This one was super cheap because it was part of Bi-Lo's meal deal that they do.  I love a good deal.)

If you don't already do this, start reading the ads for your grocery store.  Many of them have a "meal deal" where you purchase one item and then get several other items free.  I bought this lasagna and got a 2-liter of Coke, breadsticks, and ice cream free.  The only down side to this is that you then have ice cream in the freezer tempting you. 

Happy Friday Eve, everyone!  The weekend is almost here!!!

Trick-or-Treat!

What a busy day we had today!  We started with a quick trip to Columbia to celebrate Meredith's 29th birthday.  Her birthday's really on Tuesday, but we decided to celebrate today when we could all get together. 

This is the BEST veggie dip.  Mix Sour Cream, a Ranch Dressing Packet, and bacon pieces.  Always a hit!

This fruit dip was an experiment: I mixed light cream cheese, marshmallow creme, and pineapple Greek yogurt.  Delish!

We had lots of delicious snacks and Dad made some fabulous homemade chicken salad. 

This cake was delicious.  It was called "Coconut Cream Cheese Fantasy Cake."  I believe it was accurately described. 

We enjoyed getting to be together, even if it was just for a short time.

We got home and had a few minutes to rest, and then it was time to begin the Halloween festivities!

We tried to take a family photo first, which was hard.  Either the dog was moving or Sadie wasn't looking or Ryan or I look silly...

Then our little witch posed for photos.

We headed over to Ryan's parents to see Sadie's cousins and friends.  We had dinner together and then all headed out for some Halloween fun!

We stopped by to see our friends Kati and Lucas-- and Sadie got a fun treat: bubbles!

Then it was on to our neighborhood for trick-or-treating!  This is the first year Sadie has really gone.  She loved it!  After every house, she said, "I want to trick-or-treat some more!"  She had a blast and when we got home she couldn't wait to try one of her treats.  She barely had time to finish before she was crying to go to bed.  Poor child was exhausted.  We skipped the bath and tucked her in. 

It was kind of sad trick-or-treating... not many houses had their lights on.  It was about every 8th house or so.  We were glad we took our wagon.  We wondered if it has something to do with Halloween being on a Sunday?  Or are people just participating less?  What do you think?

Dinner, Katy Perry Style

The song, "California Gurls" by Katy Perry has been stuck in my head the past couple of days.  When Katy Perry released her first song, I thought she might be a one-hit-wonder, but she has hung in there, hasn't she?  I really like her songs.  Maybe I need to use that song for Zumba. 


After tonight's Zumba class at Oakland Baptist Church, I had to hit the grocery store.  Miss Priss has a Halloween Party at school tomorrow, which is sounding like it's going to be a major shindig!  I know she's going to have a good time.  I'll have to take a picture of her all dressed up as a princess tomorrow.  (She's going to be a witch for Halloween, but I don't want her costume to get ruined at school tomorrow, so she's going to get to wear a princess dress.  She'll think she's died and gone to Heaven.)  So anyway, I hit the store to pick up a few things I am supposed to send to her school tomorrow.  Now, me going to the store AFTER Zumba and BEFORE dinner has the potential to be dangerous.  Sometimes I find myself wandering the aisles, picking up things I normally wouldn't even look at, just because I am hungry.  Tonight, as I passed by the sushi counter at the deli, I just couldn't pass it by.  It looked so good!  And look!  Brown rice!

I also grabbed a POM Wonderful Pomegranate.  Since I am going to be cooking with pomegranates for my dinner in a few weeks,  I figured I should start practicing cutting them.  Last time I did this, it looked like a massacre had taken place in my kitchen.  But then I watched the POM Wonderful video on how to cut open a pomegranate and that helped.  I still need practice,  but tonight the mess stayed (mostly) on the cutting mat.  If you've ever been completely befuddled by this fruit, please take a look at this video or this guide.  It will help a lot! 

So that's my Katy-Perry-Style dinner: California Rolls and Pomegranates from California.  Sounds like an odd combination, doesn't it?  Yumm...  (No, I am not pregnant.)


Now, here's the question I want to ask all of you... do you eat the pomegranate seeds inside the arils?  (FYI, the arils are the little juicy red things inside the fruit.)  I never did, but lately, everything I have read says to eat the seeds.   They are supposed to be really good for you.  So tonight, I am (GASP!) eating the seeds inside the arils.  Do you??  Leave a comment and let's see what the consensus is.


Happy Friday Eve!

Peaches, Pears, and Pluots... Oh My!

Do you ever take your lunch to work and then when it's time for lunch, you are like... NOPE.  DON'T WANT THAT.  Well, that it what happened to me today.  I had taken leftovers, but instead I went and got one of those wraps from the cafeteria.  This one wasn't as good as the one last time, mainly because it didn't have much lettuce.  Maybe they ran out?  It was still good and still full of pickles, which was yummy.  I am so glad we have Baked! chips in our school cafeteria instead of the fattening ones.  And the apples looked so pretty I grabbed one of those, too.  Maybe every Friday I will get one of these wraps.  I still haven't asked about the fat content... I am kind of scared to.  I know it had mayo on it.

My goal of trying new things this week has been on a hiatus since Tuesday.  So today after school, I loaded up the munchkin and took her to the farmer's market.  I thought surely we could find something to try there.  And we did!

My shopping helper

We found pluots!  I have seen these in the grocery store before, but never tried them because I wasn't sure what they were.  As it turns out, it's a cross between a plum and an apricot.  They are really sweet and very juicy like a plum!  I have always loved plums in the summer months. 

Sadie and I tried the pluot when we got home and we both agree that they are delicious!

I don't know what we are going to have for dinner tonight... I will have to go scavenge the fridge...