New Things Monday

Something new that I tried is Kraft Reduced Fat Mayonnaise with Olive Oil.

(Picture taken from Google Images)

I don't use mayo too much but when I do I always get the reduced fat.  When I was at the store the other day, I saw this reduced fat mayo made with Olive oil so I figured I would try it.  

I love it!  I also like that it's 1/2 fat and calories of regular mayo.  Yes, please!

*New Things Monday, is just a fun post I like to do where I try I never tried before and I tell you what I think about it.  :)

Lunches

Here's my lunches for this past week.  I did pretty good.  I didn't eat out for lunch at all.  I brought everything from home.  YAY

MONDAY:

This day, I brought 16 turkey pepperoni slices, some slices of sharp cheddar, banana, ritz peanut butter crackers and some key lime yogurt.

TUESDAY:

I brought, leftover homemade turkey meatloaf, leftover homemade mashed potatoes, mandarin oranges, and some slices of sharp cheddar cheese.

WEDNESDAY:

I wanted chicken salad.  Had a craving.  :)  I took a small cooked chicken breast and cut it up into small chunks.  I mixed in some reduced fat mayo (with olive oil), fresh celery, black pepper and some bacon bits.  I brought half the chicken salad, 2 slices of bread, mandarin oranges, and some slices of sharp cheddar cheese.

THURSDAY:

This day, I brought the other half of my homemade chicken salad, 2 slices of bread (which I toasted on this day), some mandarin oranges and a reduced fat mozzarella string cheese.

FRIDAY:

I didn't know what to bring today for lunch.  So I just grabbed what seemed good.  16 turkey pepperoni slices, reduced fat mozzarella string cheese, fruit strip, 10 cocoa almonds, pineapple tidbits, and a greek pineapple yogurt.

RIP Grandpa

This past Monday morning my Grandfather passed away.  I'm sad and I will miss him but I know he's in a much better place.  He was going through late stages of Alzheimer's.  

1925-2014

He was a very kind man.  Always smiling and making jokes.  He was a husband, father, grandfather, and a great-grandfather.  He served his Country in the United States Navy during World War II and he was a retired Engineer.

My Grandparents have been married for 65 years and have known each other since they were little kids first meeting one another in Missouri in grade school.  My Grandpa used to tease my Grandma because he had a crush on her.  They did everything together and my Grandmother cared for my Grandpa up until his last breath.  That's love right there.

A memory I will always cherish between us......  One time when my Grandparents were up visiting my family I was sitting on my Grandpa's lap and we were eating apples.  A bad storm had passed through the area and the power went out.  I swallowed an apple seed and my Grandfather told me that a apple tree was gonna grow in my belly.  I believed him for the longest time.  haha  Every time, I see a seed I always think of his joke.  :*)

I love you Grandpa!  You will be missed and always in my heart.  xoxoxo

Lunches

Here's my lunches for the week.

MONDAY:

This day, I brought some chicken short cuts, a few turkey pepperoni slices, some sharp cheddar slices, blueberries, raspberries, clementine, 10 cocoa almonds and a few pieces of barkthins dark chocolate with pumpkin seeds.  It was a little smorgasboard and it was very filling.

I also had some snacks: my MF bars and a kashi bar.

TUESDAY:

I don't have a picture of my lunch but I got Panda Express this day.  I got a bowl of some steamed white rice with orange chicken.  I also brought some snacks.  Banana, blueberries, raspberries, kashi bar, sharp cheddar cheese slices, some barkthins and MF bars (not pictured).

WEDNESDAY:

I brought leftover chicken pot pie this day with some blueberries, raspberries and sharp cheddar cheese slices.

THURSDAY:

This day, I brought some chicken nuggets, sharp cheddar cheese slices, animal crackers and 2 clementines.

FRIDAY:

I brought a whole grain light english muffin, shredded cheese, 16 turkey pepperoni slices, pizza sauce, sharp cheddar cheese slices and some key lime yogurt.

Here's my english muffin pizza after it was heated up.  :)

New Things Monday

It's been a while since I did a New Things Monday post.  :)

Today, I'm talking about something that's really good and that everyone in your family will want their own bag of.  A friend, at work got me hooked on these.  It's BarkThins snacking chocolates.  I've only tried the Dark Chocolate pumpkin seed with sea salt.  I love them.  So tasty!!

I found these at Target.  They also had a few of the others.  They are NON-GMO so that's always a good thing.

*I don't get paid to talk about New Things Monday.  This is just something I like to share for fun.  

If I don't like it, I will tell you and if I love it, then I will tell you.  It's just my opinion.   :)

Garden Update

I haven't done a garden update in a while so I figured I would do one tonight.  My aloe plant is doing great.  It's the only plant I have indoors at the moment.  It's really happy and it's just begging to be repotted into a bigger pot.  :)

I cleaned up the sunflower pot I had and also my eggplant pot and basil pot.  All those plants were dead.  I moved my rose plant and lavender plant to the rocking chair.  I plan to move these on the front porch and wrapping them with a plastic bag to keep them from getting snow on them.  I wrapped the rose bush last Winter and it was fine.  :)  Not really sure if lavender likes cold but I guess we'll see.  I might move it indoors to be safe.  We'll see.  For now they are on the rocking chair.

My lavender still only has one sprouted flower.  It's still popping.  :)  But it's pretty and smells good.

I cleaned up some other things that were sitting around the yard.  Wooden board, hoses, porch broom, wheel barrow, bucket and some wooden stand.  The stand fell apart when I moved it so I broke it all up and took it to the trash dump.  No need having it sit around rotting this Winter.  I put everything in the shed.  The shed is going to need a good cleaning in the spring though.  There's so much stuff in there that we need to get rid of but at least I don't need to think about it til Spring.

I placed some rocks we had around my Harley's grave.  We're not finished getting the grave ready.  I want to plant some bleeding hearts flowers here in the Spring.  For now I'm happy that the rocks are around the grave.

Homemade Whole Wheat Pancakes with Fresh Blueberries

Saturday night, for dinner my husband and I felt like having breakfast.  Breakfast is always good for dinner right?  I decided to make my pancake mix but instead of using white flour I used whole wheat flour because it's better for you.  At least that's what the experts say.  I also only made a half recipe so we wouldn't go over board with an over abundance of pancakes.  :)  I was able to make 7 pancakes with half the batter.  I had 3 and my husband had 4.

The pancakes turned out delicious.  I even added some fresh blueberries.  So yummy!  I served them with some scrambled eggs and some andouille sausage links.  YUM!

To make:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup and 2 tbsp almond milk unsweetened

1 egg

1/2 tsp homemade vanilla extract

1 tbsp veg oil

Mix up the dry ingredients with a fork until combined.  Form a well and pour in the milk and then add in other wet ingredients.  Whisk until smooth.  Use a 1/4 cup to scoop batter into skillet.  Add some fresh blueberries to pancake as it's cooking.  Cook until golden brown.

I served with some sugar free syrup.  

Lunches

This is week 6 of my lunches and snacks I bring to work.  

Read up on past weeks here:

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

MONDAY:

This day, I brought some leftover green beans (from dinner the night before) with some chicken shortcuts, strawberries, and farm fresh cherry tomatoes.  I also had 3 MF bars (not pictured) for snacks.

TUESDAY:

I had a whole wheat English muffin, shredded cheese, turkey pepperoni slices, strawberries and farm fresh cherry tomatoes.  I totally forgot pizza sauce and I forgot to toast the muffin before heating up.  It was only Tuesday and that's the kinda week I had. Oh well, lunch was still good.  :)

I also brought some snacks.  Nature Valley Oats n honey bars (I got a huge box of them at Wegmans for $7), whole grain fig newtons, and a fruit roll up strip.  I also had 2 MF bars.  (not pictured)

WEDNESDAY:

I met my Mother for lunch this day at Ruby Tuesday.  I got one plate at the salad bar.  No picture....totally forgot.  I love their salad bar.  I had a salad with bacon bits, egg, cucumber, tomatoes, shredded cheese, croutons, and light ranch dressing.  I also had some of the pasta and potato salad.  Sooooo good.

Here's the snacks I brought to work.  Nature Valley oat's n honey bars, and my MF bars.

THURSDAY:

I brought some BBQ pork (leftover from dinner the night before), some strawberries and farm fresh cherry tomatoes.

Here's the other foods I brought.  Honey nut cheerios (dry) for a late breakfast on the go, Reduced fat mozzarella string cheese, nature valley oats n honey bars, and my MF bars.

FRIDAY:

Today, I had a whole grain English muffin (toasted), leftover manwich (from dinner last night....lean ground turkey with farm fresh peppers), mixed fruit cup, farm fresh cherry tomatoes, and a reduced fat mozzarella string cheese. For snacks I had my MF bars, cocoa almonds and some PB crackers.

Produce Stand 11/2

I went to the produce stand after going to the grocery store yesterday afternoon.

I spent $9.30 on farm fresh produce.

I bought:

4 red potatoes

2 yellow squash

3 zucchini

green beans

cherry tomaotes