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Have a fabulous night.  What are you up to this hump day evening?

Today is even more special to me because it is my mama’s birthday!!

Now, you already know how amazing she is in taking Petrie in until Mike and my lease is up.

But words cannot even express how incredible she is as a mom, sister, friend, career woman, and the list goes on and on. Most importantly though, she has raised my brother and I to be the strong and successful individuals that we are today. She would do anything for us in the world, but she also taught us tough love.

As any family has, we’ve had our bumps in the road, but my mom has kept the three of us a tight-knit family through thick and thin. She is my best friend in the whole wide world and she deserves a long life of happiness for years to come. Happy birthday mama, I love you!

Moving on to today…

I got 8.5 hours of sleep last night and practically sprung out of bed this morning.  It think a good nights sleep was exactly what I needed to not feel sickly and run down.  Since I am obviously feeling better and have loads of energy, back to the gym routine it was for me.   7.2 miles in 67 minutes.  Whoohoo!

For breakfast this morning, I dug into the freezer for inspiration last night.  Guys, I love the freezer, and the freezer loves me.

Whenever we have leftovers that I won’t eat before they go bad, bread products, fruit, meats, etc., they all go in the freezer for future eating. 

Now I obviously didn’t find my Barney Butter in the freezer, but is the star of my breakfast.  How could Barney Butter not be the star of any meal that it is included in? 

But what I did dig up out of the freezer is a pumpkin bagel!

I love buying ‘last nights bagels’ from the local bagel shops such as Brueggers and Panera. However, they don’t have the added preservatives, so they go bad much, much quicker than store-bought bagels. So into the freezer of love they head for purposes like today.

So yes, I am having a bagel + Barney Butter for breakfast. And a banana to have with breakfast or as a mid-morning snack.

Lunch today will be bought. Reasoning? Because my company has today off, but I am working. So if I am working, you best bet I will be treating myself to something good! (No worries, I get an extra vacation day for working today).

While I am out for lunch, I will also be sending Petrie, as well as one of my favorite bloggers and best bloggie friend, packages today.

Does your work/school have today off? If so, what are you doing to enjoy your day off?

Because of the endless possibilities there are to change-up the combos.  You can change one or two ingredients in a sammie and you have a whole new flavor.  Keeps things interesting.

Tonight it was a wrap night in our household.  Mike and I couldn’t agree on a dinner idea, so what better way to have the ‘same’ thing, but yet so different.

We had an avocado that was either going to be used tonight or tossed.  So of course, I used it and based all the additional add ons around avocado.

What else did I throw into my wrap?

We’ve got…

• Spinach
• Avocado
• Tomato
• Black beans
• Mexican cheese
• Sour cream

I pressed it all together on my panini press to get it all ooey and gooey.

There has to be dipping sauce of course.  Arizona Heat mustard and mayo mixed together to create a sauce with some serious kick.

A not appetizing photo though…

On the side, a salad with sea salt and pepper croutons and poppy seed dressing.

Dessert is TBD.  No worries, dessert is always had though!

Tonight I am going to be doing a little more work on my new site.  I am getting SO excited.  Hopefully not too much longer until I can reveal it to y’all.  Eeekk!

What is your favorite TV show of all times?  Why? Mine is Friends and Will and Grace.  I love how the story line develops each character so you really feel like you know them.  Even better, they can always cheer me up.

I woke up in the middle of the night sweating and feeling a little cruddy. I am crossing my fingers whatever it is just works its way through my system. I am feeling slightly better already having gotten up and moving around. Positive thoughts!

Needless to say, my appetite is present, just not 100%. So I packed the components for a yogurt mess to make at work.

First up, the star of the show. Pomegrante Yumberry yogurt. It looked intriguing at the store. Has anybody ever tried/seen this flavor before?

The cereal component is one of my long lost loves. Go Lean Crunch. I always forget about this gem. It has the best crunch and fabulous staying power for me.

And an overripe banana. Nasty to many, delicious to me. And makes the perfect, easy mix in.

Soothes the soul, those yogurt messes.

For lunch I packed a hearty, comfort food meal. Leftover Shepard’s Pie and mini salad with spinach, snap peas and TJ’s three layer hummus.

I love hummus as a ‘dressing’. Especially this TJ’s flavor with the zesty cilantro layer.

Here’s to another work day, my friends.

My company gets tomorrow off, but I am working and catching up. I then in turn will get another vacation day. I am estatic because here is my vacation lineup:

• Next Friday off, my brother will be in town
• Thanksgiving day and the day after
• The whole week before Christmas
• New Years Eve

And that still leaves me with three days to burn.  Whoohoo!

Do you like overripe bananas?  Or do you like yours more green?  I have found people are VERY particular about their bananas.  Mine need to be overripe.

Don’t forget to enter your recipes into this weeks Blogger Secret Ingredient Contest!  The ingredient is ricotta cheese.

Since I was at home all day, and since Jenna and I had purchased rough ingredients for it during one of our recent trips to the grocery store, I figured today would be the perfect day for slow cooked beef stew. So, when I got out of bed at about 8:15, I got to work right away so I could rest up and get better. If any readers haven’t used a slow cooker (honestly my first time using it for something other than an appetizer or dip), those things are awesome! Super easy to use and the outcome was delicious. Here is all it took to serve 2 (many recipes out there call for a family of 4-5):

1 lb. of Beef Stew Meat (usually comes pre-cut in the meat section – both inexpensive and convenient)

2 Carrots – chopped (obviously)

1 and a half of a Jumbo Russet baking potato – peeled and cubed

2 Celery stalks – chopped

about a handful of frozen pearl onions

1 cup of water

Half packet of McCormick Beef Stew Seasoning

3 Jalapeno Rings – chopped (Optional, Jenna and I add Jalapenos to just about everything if you had not noticed!)

Additional Spices as desired. For this guy I added in: Garlic Salt, Black pepper,  a little over a teaspoon of both Roasted Garlic Worcestershire Sauce and Franks Red Hot for a kick.

All you need to do is toss all the veggies and meat into the slow cooker, mix the seasoning in a separate bowl with the cup of water, toss onto the goods, stir, add your extras, stir some more and cook on low in the slow cooker for about 7 hours. It was ready by the time Jenna got home.

Here are the photos, served with a side of sourdough baked in the oven:

Overall pretty outstanding meal if you ask me. Perfect for a cool, fall evening. Definitely will be using the slow cooker much more often.

Dessert is more of Jenna’s to-die-for apple crisp a la mode (aren’t I lucky to get all of these treats all the time?? I mean, come on!):

Thanks for reading. To go along with Jenna’s question theme: What is your favorite slow-cooker meal? Any good suggestions for something else to try?

Looking forward to posting again soon!

Mike

Thank you, Julie, for selecting me to host this weeks secret ingredient. As a reminder, here is how all the fun goes down:

Each week, a new host picks an ingredient and anyone (food blogger or not) can submit a recipe.

The rules:

1. The host picks an ingredient, preferably one that is in season, readily available, and not too expensive.
2. The host links back to all the other previous weekly hosts.
3. Participants create a unique recipe using the BSI and e-mail the host with their recipes.
4. You do not have to have a food blog to participate, and you do not have to submit a photograph (although it is preferred).
5. If you don’t have a blog, you can submit your recipe to the host, and she will post your recipe for you on her blog.
6. The host reviews the recipe submissions by Sunday night of each week.
7. The hosts pick a recipe that is her favorite.
8. The host posts the winner Monday morning and sends the winner a token prize of her choosing.

Make sure you visit all of these fabulous bloggers that have hosted the secret ingredient week in the past.

Week 55: Savvy Eats- Maple Syrup

Week 54: Sound Eats – Dried Fruit

Week 53: MegaNerdRuns – Acorn Squash

Week 52: Healthy Tipping Point – Pancake Mix

Week 51: Live, Laugh Eat – Almond Butter

Week 50: Balance, Joy and Delicias! – Cauliflower

Week 49: Healthy San Diego Living – Chickpeas

Week 48: Thought 4 Food – Yogurt

Week 47: London Foodie in New York – Chocolate

Week 46: Johnstone’s Vin Blanc – Oats

Week 45: Guilty Kitchen – Figs

Week 44: Ordinary Recipes Made Gourmet – Peanut Butter

Week 43: The Sophisticated Gourmet – Brown Sugar

Week 42: My Kitchen Addiction – Lime

Week 41: Nutmeg Nanny – Coffee

Week 40: Chaya’s Comfy Cook – Broccoli

Week 39: Healthy Delicious – Plums

Week 38: Zoe – Feta

Week 37: ChezWhat- Potatoes

Week 36: Cinnamon, Spice & Everything Nice – Blueberries

Week 35: Girlichef -Greens

Week 34: The Ungourmet – Watermelon

Week 33: Bread + Butter – Bell Pepper

Week 32: Burp and Slurp -Corn

Week 31: Say Yes to Salad – Kabocha

Week 31 1/2: Simply Fabulous Now– Cherries

Week 30: Thinspired – Bananas

Week 29: To Be The Whole Package – Almonds

Week 28: Kristas Kravings – Lemon

Week 27: From French Fries To Flax Seeds – Coconut

Week 26: Plentiful Plants – Avocado

Week 25: Training Fuel – Eggs

Week 24: Dinner at Christina’s – Cabbage

Week 23: Hey What’s for Dinner, Mom? – Strawberries

Week 22: One Bite at a Time – Basil

Week 21:  Just Sweet Enough – Black Beans

Week 20: What I Ate Yesterday – Kale

Week 19: What’s for Dinner – Orange

Week 18: Bran Appetit!–Spinach

Week 17: Tales of Expansion -Dates

Week 16: Biggest Diabetic Loser – Zucchini

Week 15: Sweet & Natural –Peppermint

Week 14: bella eats [and runs] – Ginger

Week 13: Coffee Talk – Walnuts

Week 12: For the Love of Oats – Pumpkin

Week 11: Trying to Heal – Sweet Potatoes

Week 10: The Inner Workings of a College Graduate – Eggplant

Week 9: Itzy’s Kitchen – Pears

Week 8: The Fitnessista – Cranberries

Week 7: Tri to Cook – Lentils

Week 6: Rhodey Girl Tests – Polenta

Week 5: Eating Bender – Butternut Squash

Week 4: Care to Eat – Apples

Week 3: On a Lobster Placemat – Mushrooms

Week 2: Hangry Pants – Tomatoes

Week 1: sportsnutritionliving – Quinoa

My secret ingredient came to me right away.  So what is it you ask?  Ricotta cheese!

Ricotta is such a versatile ingredient.  It can be used for sweet and savory.  My kind of ingredient.

Remember when I used it a few weeks back for my Super Stuffed Buffalo Chicken?  I also have been meaning to make a stuffed french toast with the secret ingredient as well.

How you are going to use it is the most important question, my friends.

How to win/things to note for this week’s BSI:

• Get creative and get cooking and baking in your kitchen!
• Please e-mail me when you post your BSI recipe on your blog. If you don’t have a blog, send me your recipe and picture to foodieinthecity@gmail.com.
• The BSI winner will receive a small prize!
• You have until Sunday, November 15th at 8 PM EST to enter
• Recipes will be posted on Monday morning along with the winner.

Have fun!

But prior to the blonde moment happening, I had some delicious eats today. It was mostly a ‘snack yourself throughout the day’ type of day today, which most days are for me, post long run.

Here are a few things that I did capture though…

Pumpkin Honey Wheat Psncakes with mixed in berries. And, syrup of course.

Many, many thoughtless handfuls of this combo. Veggie Cheddar Goldfish and Baked Cheetos.

And then, my blonde moment came when it was time for dinner. Unfortunately, I didn’t realize until after dinner what had happened.

I was snapping photos of my dinner without the memory stick in the camera. And we have no cord for our camera. Ummm, duh Jenna! What makes it even better is me asking Mike how there were pictures of dinner on the camera. Yep, I forgot that cameras have a limited memory to hold pictures on the camera itself. Wowza.

I can describe my dinner though.

First up, a pumpkin beer on our rooftop deck. It was a lovely evening in Minneapolis.

For our meal we made TJ’s Orange Chicken with rice. Also, cooked up some green bell peppers, snap peas and onion to mix into the dish to add some veggies.

Our thought on the TJ’s Orange Chicken? Pretty nasty. We didn’t look at the package when buying it to see that is said ‘dark meat’. We both aren’t fans of dark meat. While it was edible, there were some pieces that looked very questionable to us. And for Mike to say he wasn’t a fan of anything Chinese, that is saying, A LOT.

It was also my first experience not liking something from TJ’s.

On the side, some TJ’s potstickers with peanut sauce. You can’t go wrong there. Regardless of the not so great chicken, I am definitely full and content.

And for dessert, the best part of any day, right?

We bought a school bus yesterday. But not just any school bus, one from Appletown School District.

I know, I’m so clever.

The bus turned into a lovely crisp, using this recipe for Maple-Walnut Apple Crisp.

I made a few adaptations based on what I had on hand. I used agave instead of maple syrup, nixed the walnuts and made the crumble topping x1.5.

I can’t wait to have a large portion of this crisp tonight, with whipped cream and Häagen-Dazs vanilla ice cream melted on top.

What are you having for dessert tonight?

I am headed out the door here as soon as I finish this post to go on a run.  I always need to fuel up a bit before a run, so I have my combo that never fails me.  Half of an Arnold’s Thin with almond butter and banana.

I gives me the carbs, the protein and fat and the sugars to fuel me through.

I also always bring along some sort of candy or dried fruit to dig into later in my run if I feel a little low on sugar.   I need to stop at my neighborhood convenience store before I head out to get some Dots or Skittles.  ;)

I am outta here!  Do you have any routines/go to foods that you have before a workout and/or during a workout?