As promised...

Mac 'n Cheese!

Cookies are made.
Last load of laundry is drying.
Kitchen is tidied.
My nails are done.

Just a shower and a quick walk down the block and everything else will be done. Well, except the packing. But that won't take long.

And then a NAP. Fridays are good. =)

OK--When did the rules of the road change? Seriously?! I was pretty sure that as a pedestrian, if the little man said walk and I was in a marked cross walk, the cars had to wait for me. Obviously I was wrong.

We now return to regularly scheduled ranting.

Happy Friday!

Goooooooooooood morning, Calgary (and others)!!

The sun has finally peeked around the big high rise to the south of me and is drenching me in a lovely sunbeam. Nerm is sound asleep (as only cats can be) in front of the fire and doesn't realize she's missing out on a great sunbeam.

You'll never guess how excited I was last night when I found some of this:


in Safeway. It's an old photo, sorry, it now comes in a plastic jug. But guess who had an egg-noggy chai this morning?! Yep, I've been soooooo envious of Jaime's noggy lattes (except that whole coffee thing) but I wanted to wait for my tried and true Noel Nog. Waaaaaay healthier than the eggy stuff.

Other than that, I don't have much to report today. I seem to be on the mend, although the coughing, wheezing and hacking remain. I'm still not sure if I'll be able to run tomorrow night, but I think S. will kill me if I don't. Especially since I basically told him he had to run this with me! =P

I did make a fan-freaking-tastic mac and cheese last night. Sorry, I was too hungry to take a photo. Maybe at lunch time. Basically:
- 1 box of Eating Right whole wheat elbow macaroni
- 1 cup 1% cottage cheese
- 1 container Imperial cheese
- onion
- dijon mustard
- 1% moo (not much)
- broccoli
- 1 x 28 oz can diced tomatoes, drained
- S & P
- 1/3 cup breadcrumbs
- 1 TB canola oil
- parmesan cheese

1. Cook macaroni. Drain. Set aside. Preheat oven to 350 or 400F
2. Steam broc. Drain. Add to noodles.
3. Drain tomatoes. Add to noodles and broc.
4. Saute onion in a bit of butter or oil until tender. Remove from heat.
5. Add cottage cheese, Imperial, and a bit of moo and return to low heat.
6. Melt over low till saucy and cheesy.
7. Stir in some mustard and S & P.
8. Pour over noodles and mix.
9. Transfer to baking dish (I used my Pampered Chef 8x8 casserole but probably should have used a 9x13).
10. In a small dish, combine breadcrumbs, parm and oil till crumbly. Top casserole.
11. Bake until golden, bubbly, and cheesy (about 20-30 minutes).
12. Bask in the glory that is yours for being so amazing!

OK, I'd better get my butt in gear. Before we leave this afternoon, I still need to:
1. make cookies for the neighbours (oatmeal cherry chocolate chip)
2. pack
3. laundry
4. tidy house
5. pick up race packs
6. go to bank
7. get gas
8. nap

Happy Friday!

Early WI

Since I’m going to be in Banff on Saturday, my usual WI day had to be bumped up a day or two! I had planned on going to the meeting downtown this morning, but when I got up at 6, fever and chills set in, along with aches and pains. Sheesh! The flu sucks, people.  So, heavily medicated, I went back to bed for a few hours.

 

Got up and stood on the scale and WHOO HOO!! I have re-entered the 170’s! Happy dancing all around chez moi aujourd’hui!

Return of the Appetite

That’s a good sign, right? Good. That’s what I thought, too.

Tonight’s dinner had to:

(a) be yummy

(b) require very little effort on my part (my appetite may have returned, but energy hasn’t!)

(c) be quick

Check. Check. And check!



I made a veggie orzo dish awhile ago and put the leftovers in the freezer. While it was thawing in the microwave, I ran some cooked, frozen shrimp under some water and then got rid of their tails. I had the kettle hot, so I also soaked some sundried tomatoes. Chopped up some olives, mixed it all up and topped it with some feta. P opped it into the preheated toaster oven for 25 minutes and WOWSERS! I also had a slice of toasted Como bread on the side (note that it didn’t survive long enough to make it to the photo op). Oh, and a cuppa hot water with lemon to soothe the sore throat, too.


Christie’s coming to pick up the keys so she can feed Nerm while we’re in Banff this weekend for Winterstart. I sure hope the sneezing, coughing and phlegm are done by then!! Just found out S. spent the day on his couch, too. Uh oh! Please send healthy vibes our way...

A nice warm bath after that and Nerm and I are calling it a day. We’re going to WI bright and early tomorrow morning.

And seriously, what is up with not being able to post photos from Windows Live Messenger?! Jaime suggested 'dragging and dropping' but it won't let me do that. In all other ways I love the Live Writer! Help a girl out!!

And now it's light's out time in Cowtown. 'Night!!

Could I have some cheese

to go with my wine whine?

Oh wait, I’m trying to break up with cheese, aren’t I? <sigh>

Oh all right then, just pour me another glass!

 

This post has been brought to you by Wolf Blass Shiraz. =)

When will the coughing end?

I just need a heads up. I've hacked up a lung or two already and need time to grow another two (one for breathing, one to hack up).

Schedule woes resolved

Well, I had to email my supervisor to see if the schedule had been posted yet. Umm, apparently she posted it yesterday and forgot to email me. Good thing I emailed you at 1 this afternoon, or I'd still be waiting! So in typical fashion, I'm not scheduled for New year's eve, but she DID schedule me for evenings! Seriously?! I have a six hour drive ahead of me and I'm scheduled to work till 10 pm. Grrrr...

Here's the best part, though. I work with the most fabulous people!! And they are why I love my job. One quick email to SC and RJ and just like that, I've got the 30th OFF. I picked up an extra shift from SC the week before Christmas and her and RJ switch benches and all is good in the world. Now how hard was that? Hmmm? Not very. Not sure what I ever did to piss my supervisor off so much that she gives me the shittiest schedule, but thank goodness for great co-workers. They make going to work worthwhile!

Still coughing, but I did get my list done! C. and I are going for noodles for dinner. Nothing like a little beef sate pho with veggies to clear the sinuses.

Also got some great news from some friends this morning, but can't share till Sunday. Let's just say that there's been some serious happy dancing going on in my kitchen for them. =)

And now the couch is calling my name...