Newlywed, Newly Veg!

…with this sandwich.  For real:

Let me assure you that it tasted every bit as good as it looks.  Elvis was really onto something with his grilled pb & banana sammies. 

Last night, when I pulled out the bag of frozen bananas to make my soft serve, I forgot to put it back in the freezer!  Eek! So, I had a very mushy banana that needed to be used as soon as possible.  Enter the grilled almond butter and banana sandwich on Earth Balance buttered Ezekial bread.  Swoon.

This morning, I worked on some writing (I’m actually working on a segment about the dogs right now, so I was able to “steal” some material from my Christmas Miracle Dog post…score!), and then hopped on the treadmill for what ended up being a great six mile run (I walked for the last five minutes or so).  As I ran, I watched a Lifetime movie with Denise Richards (who is starting to sound more and more like Sarah Palin to me, for some reason…I feel like they’re voice twins!) and Dean Cain (whom I will always remember fondly as “Reek,” French Brenda’s American boyfriend on 90210).  I didn’t watch much of it, but as far as I could tell, they just completely ripped off the plot from The Wedding Planner with Jennifer Lopez and Matthew McConaughey.  Lifetime, have you no shame?  Oh, wait.  You’ve supplied us with movies like Mother, May I Sleep With Danger? and Crimes of Passion: She Woke Pregnant.  I guess that answers that question.

After my run, I headed downstairs for my delicious, delicious lunch. 

I’m pretty sure this is what they serve for lunch in heaven. 

A major house cleaning is on the agenda for this afternoon, plus a trip to the grocery store—we finally decided on a menu for tomorrow night’s Valentine’s Day dinner!  Nothing too fancy, but it should be good!

I liked Julie & Julia!  Although I hadn’t liked the book, I thought the movie was cute—and, of course, I appreciated a movie centered around blogging!  I did think that the two storylines kind of took away from each other—right when I started getting immersed in one, it would switch back to the other one.  All in all though, it was a good rent!  And it did make me want to start cooking with more butter, ha!

Oh, and I’m glad y’all liked my mom’s e-mail.  She’s a pretty funny lady!

Check out these little guys who were watching me write this morning:

I like his mohawk!  Sorry, I got a little carried away! 

Hope you’re having a great Saturday!  See you tonight, love birds!

Hey guys! Well, after all that talk about productivity in my last post, at 2:30, Ryan and I hit the hay for a TWO HOUR nap!!! Lol—it kind of came out of nowhere—I mean, neither of us has been exactly missing sleep lately.  I actually used to take naps almost every day in grad school, but I hardly take them at all anymore.  It was nice—I just hope it doesn’t mean that I’m going to be awake until 2 a.m. now!

Around 4:30, the UPS man dropped off a surprise Valentine’s day package from my mom! 

Look at the cute bag she sent:

So sweet!  She also sent a beautiful glass blown bottle with a bird cap (I’ll take a pic—I know it’s kind of hard to picture!), a candle, some lace doilies, and other fun V-day stuff!  What a great surprise!  Thanks Mom!

Around 5:00, I hopped on our treadmill and walked at an easy pace (4.2 mph) for an hour while I watched some Dr. Oz.  He kind of gets on my nerves, but I have to admit, he sure does know a lot! Today he was talking about cancer prevention and superfoods. 

And he’s a heck of a lot better than Dr. Phil!

For dinner tonight, we cooked up some easy, comforting pasta.  We bought this pasta a while back at a gourmet Italian store a few towns over.  Isn’t it pretty?  Little leaves:

 For the sauce, we cooked up the rest of our Light Life sausage, a BIG bag of spinach, and some Bertolli marinara.  Simple, healthy, and delicious!  I always add spinach to my pasta sauces—it’s a great way to get some veggies in there when you don’t feel like having a salad. 

Check out how much it cooks down:

Five minutes later:

And ten minutes after that:

This morning, I peeled some bananas and popped them into the freezer, so I knew what I was having for dessert…

Banana soft serve:

But it was missing something…bunnies!

The bunnies add a little sugar…but they’re worth it. 

A great end to a great meal!

*        *        *

Another reason why I love my mom…she’s hilarious!  Check out this e-mail that she sent me and my sister this afternoon, and tell me you don’t just love this woman:

Hey, Girls!  I have to tell you a funny story that just happened to me.  I was walking around the neighborhood, looking at all the snowmen (I think every kid in Shreveport has built one!)  Anyway, I got to Dudley and there was a teenaged boy (maybe 17) who had built a large snow penis (think Washington Monument with 2 beach balls at the base) in his front yard.  He saw me and got this teenaged cocky grin on his face and said "Hey, you like my snow sculpture?"  Me:  "Yeah, that’s something else!"  Him:  "But, it keeps falling over"  Me:  "That’s what she said!"  He looked at me and then died laughing.  I was so proud!  I think that’s the first time I’ve gotten to use that line appropriately.  The moral of this story is that I think it’s time for your dad to get home when I’m out bantering with teenaged boys!!  Mom 

My mom is awesome. 

We’re about to watch Julie & Julia!!! I’m so excited—I didn’t like the book (although I LOVED My life In France), but I have high hopes for the movie!

Have a great night, y’all!