If you live in Tennessee, then you are experiencing exactly the same thing as me. If you don't, then you may not have had the pleasure of the wonderful 4-6 inches of snow, plus the thick layer of "wintry mix," (code for ICE) that we received yesterday and this morning. It's pretty amazing...or not amazing, depending on how you look at it. Most people I know think it's pretty amazing! Of course school got cancelled yesterday, and rightly so, so yesterday was a nice and restful day off for those of us educators. Actually, most people I know ended up getting home early from work, no matter where they work. I got a couple of errands run in the morning before the snow started, and the rest of the day was spent totally relaxing! I wasn't feeling well yesterday- came down with a silly head-cold, so I blew my nose a lot, made taco soup and guacamole, and we watched "Hoosiers."

Today, I feel much more "clear," and am thoroughly enjoying day #2 of being "snowed in." I am taking advantage of not being able to leave my house by doing all of the housework things that typically have to be CRAMMED in: things like cooking, clothes washing, cleaning, organizing, etc. I decided to go ahead and plan this week's meals and cook as much ahead of time as possible. So, here's what I planned for our week:

Sat. night: BBQ chicken pizza

Sun. lunch: Thai chicken and veggies w/peanut sauce/edamame

Mon: Ham & potato soup/Arugula salad

Tues: Baked cajun tilapia/rice and veggies/homemade bread

Wed: Baked chicken/ haricot verts/spicy black eyed peas

Thurs: Low-fat ckn alfredo/haricot verts/homemade bread

So, here's what I have made for the week

- 4 rounds of whole wheat pizza dough, 2 that have become pizzas: 1 to eat tonight and 1 to freeze (yes, you can make your own healthy frozen pizzas! The other 2 doughs will be frozen for later pizzas- we LOVE homemade pizza) :-)

- Tomorrow's lunch: peanut sauce, brown rice, chicken and veggies (will combine all tomorrow)

- Ham & potato soup

- Rice & veggies

- Haricot verts (cooked and flash frozen, ready to be reheated)

- Spicy black eyed peas w/red bell pepper and jalepeno-mmmm!

- Alfredo sauce and chicken (frozen and ready to be heated)

- Homemade loaf of 4 seed whole wheat bread (this is actually still baking-it's smelling great!)

It's basically my own version of what you do at the places like "Super Suppers." The idea is to prep everything so that during the week you can simply thaw, or heat up things you have already made. I LOVE it because I love to cook, and I make pretty much everything we eat from scratch, so having the time during the week is challenging, and this is much better option.

Next on the agenda: grading Direct objects and predicate nominatives quizzes!! Yay!

Have an awesome day, whatever you are doing!!!

Charm City and Tennis

So, I don't think I have ever seen anything like this in my life, but after we watched the end of So You Think You can Dance and were finishing our dinner, Jordan and I were flipping back to a special on Chicago gangs on the History Channel, and "Ace of Cakes" on Food Network.

I was so enthralled by these cakes that I looked at the website and could hardly believe what I saw. It's incredible!! And it's so incredible that they require a minimum of $1,000. Yeah...I'll be checking into that um, never. But, I can sure admire!

And then I must say I am super excited that my husband got to play tennis and sub in for a local rec team. He had a great time and played GREAT for not playing competitively in like 8 years. Ian, myself and my mom & dad had fun watching him.

One reason I love to cook...

Turning that...



...into this:

Who needs Starbuck's.....

...when you have your own espresso machine and learn how to make decaf, non-fat mocha's.

When our coffee maker busted a couple of weeks ago....my husband bought (off Craigslist, of course) a dual coffee/espresso maker, and Sunday night we purchased some espresso beans, and have tried to figure out how to make different drinks. My favorites are Americano's, but I made a yummy cappuccino for my mom last night, and then I thought I would try my hand at a mocha for an afternoon snack.

So here ya have it! Not too shabby, eh?!

This is what I cooked last night for our dinner. It's Artichoke, feta and thyme stuff chicken, Tomato/Shallot salad and Corn with Feta, Walnuts and Jalapenos. I love cooking FRESH, CHEAP, easy and seasonally, and this fit ALL four of those. Seasonally meaning you are cooking with produce that is in season, which means it will be very fresh and less expensive because it's in large supply. Tomatos and corn are both fully in season right now, so that was perfect! The meal cost me approx. $7 to make, and that's for both of us, with leftovers. And I think it took me all of 20-25 minutes from start to finish. So, I was pretty darn excited about that last night. I have some other things on my mind, but I must work today, so no time for that right now. I'll save it for a later date!!

Tonight: Homemade turkey burgers and salad!

Lunch invention

So I totally have fun things to post about my past weekend in Atlanta, but since I am currently eating lunch and taking a quick break....that will have to wait until after work. But one of the things I realized I love about being able to work from home (thank you, Steve!) is being able to go in my kitchen and make lunch. When I worked outside of the home I usually packed my lunch every day, one to save money and two because I hate eating out over and over. Plus, I LOVE cooking, so I would rather make my food than have someone else make it for me.

Well today I am just very much enjoying my lunch and I thought I'd tell you about it! I went grocery shopping yesterday (I hit Publix, Kroger, Walgreens & CVS for weekly specials) so I knew I had stuff to make grilled cheese. But, when I got in the kitchen, I decided that instead of plain ol' grilled cheese, I would use the monterey jack I had and pair it with some sliced apples for a spruced up sandwich. Yum yum! It is delicious! Rainbow Peppers were on sale at Publix yesterday and I stocked up on red- my favorite!! So whatever you are eating for lunch today- I sure hope you enjoy it as much as I am enjoying mine! Bon Appetit!

Oatmeal

You can't tell me that doesn't look good! That's my oatmeal from this morning. I made some for the girls before I took them to school, and then made some for myself when I got back. Here are some reasons why I love oatmeal:

- The health benefits are amazing! You will always find oats on ANY list of so-called "superfoods" because they are so high in protein & soluble fiber, and have been shown to help reduce the risk of heart disease and lower cholesterol. Oatmeal is also very filling, which makes it a great morning meal.

- They are so easy to make. Many people think that rolled-oats are difficult, and therefore opt for the "quicker" less healthful quick or instant oats. While you're still going to get some health benefit, by using quick oats, you are lessening the health value of the food. Steve showed us a great way to make rolled oats that is so simple, and now I can have a bowl ready to go in 2 minutes flat, with no mess but the bowl I made it in!

- You can dress it up ALL kinds of ways. This morning is blueberries, a little brown sugar, toasted almonds & cranberries. SO delish! We also like banana/walnut or cranberry/walnut oatmeal.

- It is inexpensive! I buy a large carton of oats at Kroger or Publix for under $2, and I don't even know how many servings that produces...I just know it's a lot!!

So there you have it! Hopefully I've convinced you to give oats a try if you don't already. I think you'll find it well worth it!

PS- For those who can't handle the texture of oatmeal (like my friend Janelle) I have a GREAT home-made granola recipe which I make about once a week, and mix with yogurt for another great breakfast chock full of good stuff!

Had a great weekend! It seemed to fly by, but it was great. Friday night we had dinner with the fam: Robby's parents came in town and his brother Jeff and fiance Heather joined all of us for dinner at my parents. We got take out from PF Chengs and enjoyed eating, laughing and playing Cranium before all heading to bed. Saturday I had to wake up to do some rehearsals at church and then had an incredibly relaxing afternoon....I got a lot done, but it was relaxing and fun...not hectic and stressful. I enjoyed sitting by the fire and working on some things...I am so thankful for laptops and wireless internet :-) Yesterday, (Sunday) we had an incredible service: it was our New Song Family Service, where we celebrate the season together as a family....we had some hilarious moments via video and some touching moments via song..it was great and turned out SO well. I am thankful for everyone who was involved. We had lunch with the girls and then I prepared the pork tenderloin I was making for dinner and got that in the oven. Watched a little football with a sleepy Laurel and a sleepy husband....kept checking my fantasy team, and then took a long bath. FABULOUS! Then last night we had 8 of our good friends over for dinner. The Clingers, Hughes, Owens, Kellums and of course, the Roes. We had a yummy yummy meal, everyone contributed, and SO much fun talking and laughing with everyone. I LOVE all those people and the opportunities we get to see them. Ended up staying up until almost midnight with the Kellums. I know- we're crazy, but it was totally worth it!

SO, here I am. I can't believe it's Christmas week!!!! WOW! Dylan is on his way here- YAYAYAYA!! We have some of Janel's friends coming over for dinner tonight, so I'm sure that will be interesting.....in a fun way!

Enjoy your time with friends and family and don't miss the little things!

I found something I really like! It's a website called nutritiondata.com. I have always been more interested in making sure I am getting the proper nutrients in my body, than watching my fat or caloric intake. I am of the belief that if you focus enough on the GOOD things to eat, you'll fill up on that and won't eat too many of the BAD things. So, each day, if you so desire, you can input the things you eat and it will track all sorts of levels so-if I am trying to decide what to have for lunch, I can see what I need more of nutrient wise. I like it too, because I am not too worried about tracking over a period of time, for weight loss or anything, but rather day to day to keep my eating habits in line. So, I've begun today and I will let you know how it goes....

Okay, so I know I JUST blogged about food, but this is hilarious and I HAVE to share it. I've been working hard today, and accomplished a lot, but I was totally craving something sweet just now and since I don't keep snacks or candy or soda of any kind in the house, usually the only option is to whip up a batch of cookies. (which I do more than I ought) But, no time for that in the middle of the work day....so I quickly googled "5 minute desserts" and voila! Up popped something Nathan had talked about before: 1 minute chocolate cake, except this recipe was even more simple and quick, so I figured...why not and gave it a try.

I combined 2 tbs. flour, 1 tbs. sugar, 1/4 tsp baking powder, pinch of salt, 2 tsp cocoa powder, mixed that and added 2 Tb milk, 3/4 tsp oil and 1/4 tsp vanilla, mixed it up and microwaved it for 1 minute. WHAt?! I got a bowl of chocolate cake!!!

Absolutely astounding...I topped it with a little fresh whipped cream I had...and can't finish it...apparantly it's too much even for my current sweet tooth.

GREAT SOLUTION for those quick fix moments!

Pantry Cleanse Week!! That's the name of this week in the Roe household. This has been an expensive month for groceries so I decided that this week and next would be our "pantry cleanse" weeks in an effort to not spend more money at the grocery and to stay within our budget. So far, so good and it's actually been yummy! We're going through things in our pantry and freezer that I've had for a while. Monday we had chicken pot pie (used frozen veggies I had) leftover green beans and canned pineapple (the first time I've EVER done that) with fresh whipped cream. Not too bad. Last night I made Ritz chicken with sweet potatoes and spinach salad which the girls are eating tonight b/c Jordan and I are meeting a couple for dinner. Currently I'm snacking on a dip I made with some leftover cheese and cans of corn, black beans and diced chiles. Tomorrow I'll probably heat up one of the three homemade soups I have in the freezer. And for the weekend, we've got tilapia and pork chops in the freezer as well, ready to be made. So, there's actually plenty. Of course, next week is T'giving so we should have plenty of leftovers from that. I'm going to see how long I can make it without a grocery trip.

I just found my new favorite website!!!

Check it out!

*smile*

So, it's been a while since I blogged about food, but for those of you that follow this regularly, you know I love food! And one of my favorites is breakfast. Nothing better than waking up early on a Monday morning, and starting the week off with a wonderful breakfast. So, here's what I made this morning:

2 Farm fresh organic eggs cooked in a tiny bit of olive oil
1 piece of homemade (by me) 4seed whole wheat toast spread with this amazing organic goat/feta cheese I bought at the farmer's market
glass of 100% orange juice

YUMMY!



I LOVE breakfast! :-)

Oh yeah! Look at these yummy fresh, organic veggies. This week I got lots of tomatoes, a watermelon (its buried under there) some potatoes, peppers, eggplant, fresh basil, summer squash. We're going to be eating fresh tomato basil soup this week!! Yeah, and probably going to be making some fresh salsa. Mmmm, Mmmm, Mmmm!

I'm thinking about food right now, which is why you are getting this post:

BETHANY's TOP TEN FOODS OR DISHES

#10
Spinach Artichoke Dip
(I've rarely met one I didn't like...in fact, I've never met one I didn't like)







#9
Chocolate Fondue with Bananas
(go for the Turtle's Fondue at the Melting Pot- delish!)










#8
Oats
(Whether for no-bakes, granola, or plain- you can't beat 'em)






#7
Water
(Where would I be without it. I sip it all day)









#6
Cranberry Walnut Salad w/Feta Cheese
(Combination of three faves: cranberries, walnuts and FETA....mmmmm!)






#5
Hummus
(Spicy Red Pepper is my favorite, which leads me to number 4...)






#4
Bell Peppers
(ANY color, I love the rainbow packs at Costco, but RED are definitely the best)







#3
Black Beans
(Anyone who knows me well knew this was comin')









#2
Cheese
(Any kind, any way- except for baked brie...bad experience once)







AND #1
TEA!!!


ARE YOU HUNGRY YET??