You'll thank me for sharing all of this in one post

Recent happenings that I have chosen not to write entire blog posts about.  You will understand quickly why.

• I sat on the couch and smelled a smell.  I thought Tom was making a hot dog.  I then looked to my left and saw a pile of dog poop on the floor.  Not good for hot dogs.

Yes the poop is steaming

• I have a new appreciation for a friend.  We absolutely can't stand the same person.  Have you ever noticed how if you don't like someone or something and another person feels the same way you instantly become friends?  Love it!
•  Tom and I hopped on the green smoothie bandwagon.  We are both really loving it as are our intestines.  Although the budget for Febreeze air freshener has gone up considerably.

Tom happy with his smoothie.  Check out those guns!

 My favorite green smoothie concoction so far is: 1cup spinach leaves, small handful of cucumber, small handful of celery, big handful of broccoli, half an avocado, banana, honey, water, ice.  Blend it up and drink.  I use this one for breakfast since its a bit higher in the calorie department.

• Do you ever have those mornings where the outfit you imagine in your head doesn't turn out and you don't have time to change so you just have to go to work looking like a fool in an outfit that looks terrible?  That happened to me this week.  I imagined my skirt a different color and my top a cardigan instead of a flowing top and my shoes not black.  It was bad friends.  So bad in fact I went home and changed on my lunch break.  The weirdest part of the whole thing?  No one at work even noticed I changed my clothes.  And it wasn't a subtle change.
• My work is trying to get away from the IT company they currently use.  They have asked me and two other people to be our new IT department.  I had to look up what IT stood for.  I really hope they aren't expecting much :)  I mean I was pretty sure it stood for Information Technology, but not 100%.

Thank you all for your kindness after the last post and for your patience.  I feel like real life is just boring lately.  Except I did go to a bridal shower this past weekend (for a co-worker) and all there was was wine and fruit salad.  All the church people got drunk.  It was awesome.


 XO XO,
Going to buy more Kale and Febreeze now :)

Tiny Morsels

I overslept today.  A simple sentence with many ramifications.  Oversleeping in my life equals waking up in a burst, running around with dogs chasing you because they think you are playing a game, sweating, 15 minutes of vigorous activity logged on Bodymedia, looking like crap for the entire day and a headache that can't be minimized by massive amounts of coffee.  Oversleeping basically ruins my entire day.  I called my mom on my way to work and told her I was pretty sure my outfit was illegal for church work.  Leggings with a shirt that I anticipated to be longer but really doesn't even cover my butt and boots.  It's like Julia Roberts in Pretty Women except I'm  not a prostitute or on Rodeo Drive.  Oh man, how I would love to be on Rodeo Drive right now rather than looking at more snow falling.

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Kim told me I was having a good bang day Sunday so I took a picture for all of you.  If this is what good looks like I don't want to see a picture of me on a regular or even a bad day!  YIKES!

I'm so serious about my bangs.

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Easter is coming and I couldn't be more excited.  We (Tom, Eric, Kim and myself) will be heading to good ole' Des Moines for some rootin' tootin' fun.  Yes tootin' will probably be a major source of the fun :)  My parents are very excited to have us and I am even more excited since I haven't seen them since Mexico.  Although my Mom would beg to differ and say she is MORE excited but really it's not a competition.  I'm also excited to see Ann who will be home for Easter.  But to be honest I'm a little worried that Ann and Kim are going to become besties and squeeze me out.  They have A LOT in common.

 

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I worked out everyday last week.  EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.  I logged my meals.  EVERY.STUPID.THING.I.ATE.  I gained a pound.  *#&^!&*#*  I think my body is in shock.  It's like where are all the jellybeans???  Dried coconut and peaches are not the same dammit!

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Last night I had a run in with a jalapeno.  I made Jalapeno Popper Chicken.  Everything was fine until I cleaned up.  Somehow I got it all over my left hand and it burned until I woke up this morning.  It was like the Alicia Keys Song "this girl is on fire" except it was "this hand is on fire!"  I once heard that milk helps if you eat something spicy so I poured the rest of our slightly expired milk on it and that helped for a bit.  I think Addie also accidentally ate a small piece that had fallen on the floor because she proceeded to drink 2 bowls of water and was still panting all night (this is my guess as to why she drank so much and was panting but it is not confirmed nor will it be).

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The title of this post is making me crave chocolate.  Doesn't the word morsel remind you of chocolate???  Or is this just my in-shock body talking again???  It also wants me to tell you about how we saw dark chocolate covered peeps at Wal-Greens and how I didn't buy them so to retaliate my body made me trip and fall outside.  Stupid chocolate peeps.

 

XO XO,

Setting my alarm tomorrow Molly

I Do Not Have the Taste Buds of a College Student Anymore

Last night Tom had to work.  I was being lazy (surprise surprise) and didn't feel like making myself anything special for dinner.  I looked in the fridge and the pantry and didn't see anything that looked good.  I lowered my standards and looked again and found tucked waaay back in the back of the pantry a box of Tuna Helper.  The last time I remember buying Tuna Helper was in Virginia, so we've honestly probably had it since then.  I decided it was time to part ways with the Tuna Helper and whipped it up.

Now I remember in college thinking any kind of "Helper" meal was fancy and delish.  Last night however, I realized it is neither of those things.  The Tuna Helper literally looked like the crap I was blowing out my nose a few weeks ago.  The taste??? Bland and Blander.  I tried to doctor it up with some spices but then it just became a mess of garlic salt and chili pepper.  And no, I don't know why I thought chili pepper would help.  It was an act of desperation.

As I was gagging down my dinner I started thinking about other food items I used to love, but now think are gross.

•  Spaghetti-O's - Used to be a special day when we got Spaghetti-O's.  Now, they taste like ketchup with soggy noodles and dog food.
• Hershey's plain chocolate - Used to be the best chocolate.  Now, unless smashed between graham crackers and roasted marshmallows, smells like feet.
• Pizza Rolls - Used to be the best snack after school.  Now, as stated yesterday, taste like poison.
• Campbell's Chicken Noodle Soup (or any canned soup for that matter) - Used to warm my soul, now tastes like chemicals and salt.
• Powdered Parmesan Cheese (you know the kind in the green container) - Used to cover my pizza slices in it, now tastes like shredded up paper.

Not all food items from my childhood / college life are on the bad list.  Ramen, Oatmeal Cream Pies, and Fruit Snacks will always be my friend :)

Is this normal???  Does anyone else have foods they used to love and now can't stand?  Does this taste thing correlate to money?  Like because Tuna Helper was all I could afford I thought it was delicious, but now because I can buy food that is not on the 10 for $10 list it is gross?  HELP!!!


XO XO,
MUCUS (i mean tuna helper) EATER

The Smells of the Holidays

Many of you have been asking what I baked this holiday season, and many of you who got to eat what I baked have been asking for the recipes.  So this post is for you!  None of these recipes are gluten free or healthy, but all of these recipes are delicious!  To get to each recipe click on the name of the recipe or item.

The first thing I made were cookie/brownie things which you saw here as a baking failure.  Although they didn't look pretty they did taste pretty.

Cookie Brownie Bites

At a recent staff meeting I got off topic (surprise surprise) and started asking if anyone knew how to make those cream cheese mints you get at weddings or bridal showers.  I tried to bribe my friend Rick to get his wife to make some, but he didn't come through for me, so I learned how to make my own.

Cream Cheese Mints

While shopping at my local co-op I found shelled pistachios and dried cranberries on sale in bulk, and was reminded of a cookie recipe I pinned on pinterest that I wanted to try. 

Cran-Pistachio Cookies

These have been given wonderful reviews from everyone who's tried them...not trying to toot my own horn, just sayin' :)

Tom's extended family usually gets together sometime around Christmas and this year we did it potluck style.  Of course I signed up to bring dessert 1.) because I love to bake and 2.) because I wanted to make sure there would be dessert.  The way I see it, when you do potluck style you better bring something you know you want to be there just in case no one else does.

Ginger Bars

This is not my own picture...I forgot to take a picture of these, so this comes from the link.  Although mine did look this beautiful :)  AND, these were probably my favorite thing of the entire holiday season.

I also brought spiced nuts to the family party.  The link is to the recipe I went off of, but I didn't follow it exactly.  There were Vegan's there that I wanted to be able to enjoy the nuts.  I also used pistachios (left over from the cookies above).  The picture is a few cups of them in a holiday baggie I took to some neighbors.

Sugared Pecans

My mom and I loooove caramels.  Especially the squishy, sticky, homemade kind.  I'd seen a bunch of recipes on pinterest for caramels and decided to give it a try.

7 minute microwave caramels

I should have cut them smaller because they were very rich, but very delicious.

Have you been to Starbucks lately?  Have you seen or tried the Cranberry Bliss Bars?  Well let me just tell you they are amazing, so when I saw a copycat recipe for them I just had to make them.  They are a bit time consuming, but worth it.  Again I used the extra dried cranberries from the cookies above, and should have cut them smaller because they are dense.  Also if I make them again I will use a larger pan to make the crust thinner.

Cranberry Bliss Bars

In the fall I bought a bunch of Libby Pumpkin when it was on sale because I thought I would have to make a pie or two.  When I didn't I ended up with a bunch of extra cans of Libby Pumpkin and wasn't sure what to do with them.  I clicked through a few boards on pinterest and found some pumpkin cupcakes with cinnamon cream cheese frosting that looked divine.

Spiced Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cinnamon Cream Cheese frosting

I also packaged some of these up for our neighbors.

And there you have it!  I would definitely make all of these recipes again.  Although I would try and give more away rather than eat them!

XO XO,

Fat & Happy Molly