What have I been up to?

Dinner last night was quiet and tasty.

I took a photo of one assembled jam cookie for you to see. All the rest will be put together right before giving them.

Meh, not the best at all. The recipe was from the Martha Stewart Christmas special magazine. I won’t even bother posting it. I was disappointed.

This morning, I had French Toast. Three pieces. Yum.

Graham had an omelette, but I’m not a big fan of eggs.

We went out for errands, getting ready to have Graham’s parents and grandmother for dinner.

For lunch, we bought “Montreal” bagels. They were quite good – fairly close in taste to true Montreal bagels. I think I’ll get them again!

Back later with a dinner recap!

Oh the weather outside is frightful…

It really is! My Friday has been pretty low key, but I’ve been outside a few times and the snow just keeps piling up!

Breakfast…

Making my list, while on the computer and eating my “regular” weekday breakfast. I set out for Yorkdale soon after… where I managed to get pants and a shirt for myself. How does that happen?!?

Then I came back home to drop off my bags and set out for the grocery store and a few other stops.

Lunch…

That’s PB&B (peanut butter and banana), along with a clementine. I also had some Goldfish as I made this…

Mighty tasty! The recipe is here. 

Had a few more errands and now I am in for the night. Graham made it home safe and sound, but is eating at his parents’, so I’m alone for dinner. I had grand plans for the two of us, but they don’t really suit 1… guess I will just make a sandwich, or something.

I have cookie dough chilling, so that’s next on the list!

Ta ta for now!

Where was I…

Graham and I had a great Saturday afternoon – took the subway downtown, walked lots, looked in shops, had a coffee pit-stop. Such a nice afternoon together.

We went to dinner at Graham’s parents’ last night and played with his adorable, 6 month old as of yesterday nephew. 

This morning we were up around 8:30. Breakfast was French Toast!

I had another third of a piece, as well as the other half of the banana. I think breakfast is my favourite meal – Graham and I relax, have coffee… it’s so nice.

We went out looking for more tree decorations. Here it is! (so far)

For lunch, we had leftovers of the salad that we took to Graham’s parents’ las night…

The recipe can be found here. 

We went back out to Mississauga today for a little visiting. Graham went home from there. He will be home this Friday for three weeks! We also booked our trip this afternoon: leaving New Years Eve for Stuttgart, Germany, St. Anton, Austria and Zitec, Czech Republic. I’ll fill you in on more tomorrow.

I was planning on going to the gym this evening, but got home around 8 and just wanted dinner. I had frozen stew with a piece of really tasty bread. And here is my new butter dish, too!

Cute, eh? $6.97 at Pottery Barn. His other ear is a little chipped, but you can hardly tell.

I’m now catching up on my Google Reader, enjoying hot chocolate and a clementine and watching Santa Claus 2 in the the background. Happy Sunday evening!

Yay for the afternoon off

I had a half day of vacation just hanging around, so I decided to take it today.

Left work at 12, stopped at Michael’s.

Came home for lunch.

Aren’t you proud?!? I ground the beans, frothed the milk and made the coffee! Wasn’t as good as Graham’s, but I do what I can. Sort of random, but that’s two oat banana muffins. 

I headed out to Yorkdale and was quite successful! I had a few more errands to do after that – return to Canadian Tire, Chapters, etc… I considered that my exercise today. After four days in a row, and a particularly long workout yesterday, I decided to take a day off.

Here was dinner…

Check out our new napkins! $1.97 each at Pottery Barn today. They only had two left, but ah well, they will be for the two of us! That’s why I switched out to the summer mats, so I could show off my bargain!

Here’s a close-up on dinner…

Shrimp, brown rice and carrots, with garlic, sesame oil and soy sauce!

Looking forward to CSI tonight, though Grissom leaves… I wonder what will happen to the show? 

Enjoy your evening, whatever you’re up to!

Rest of my Friday

Sorry! The day just got away from me and I haven’t had time to post! So, here goes, from the morning…

I got up around 7:45 (what a nice sleep-in!) and went downstairs to the gym at 8. I did 4 miles on the treadmill, while watching Food Network. That’s definitely the advantage to the gym in the building. I like watching tv while I run.

Breakfast was a weekday breakfast! I wasn’t going to make something fancy just for me…

I did have hot chocolate, so that was a nice change!

The morning was busy… had something to do for work, then went to Yorkdale. I was semi-successful, getting new hand towels for the bathroom (I’ll take a picture in the light tomorrow), but that was about it. I do have some good Christmas ideas now, though… After that, I was off to Bulk Barn and Walmart, where I got mostly baking stuff.

Lunch was simple…

I think I’ve told you this before, but when we were young, we used to have “reading lunches” when the three of us (my mum, my sister and me) all had good books. I ended up finishing my book over lunch – I recommend it for a light read, but not much more than that…

I went back out shopping again after lunch, and got Graham’s Secret Santa gift for the party tomorrow night (guess it’s not so secret!) and also got gifts for his nephews. 

Then, it was off to Twilight! I felt like a big nerd because I was the only one there by myself. I think I fell asleep for a few minutes in the middle, but overall, it was a really captivating movie! My co-worker doesn’t like Edward (thinks that the actor wasn’t the “to die for” Edward from the book…), but I liked him! I wonder when the next film will come out…

I was home around 6:30 and cleaned up – I had stuff everywhere after all my errands. I made gingerbread for the party tomorrow, but no pictures yet… I’ll wait til better light tomorrow. I’ll also post the recipe, because it’s so easy and tasty!

I made a fast and easy dinner: shrimp with veggies and couscous.

After the photo, I mixed it all together and added some soy sauce. Oh, and I couldn’t resist a beer on a Friday night.

Speaking of Friday nights… Graham’s not coming home til tomorrow. We’ll meet in Mississauga and go right to the Christmas party. So, I’m alone! As soon as I finish this post, I’m going to make tea and cut a piece of gingerbread and settle in to Lipstick Jungle.

Hope your Friday night is as relaxing as mine is!

2nd half of the weekend

2nd half implies that it is now over

Ayayaye. I am not looking forward to work tomorrow.

Saturday’s dinner was steak, salad and baguette.

We headed out about 8:30 to a housewarming party at my director’s house. I thought there’d be some munchies, so we ate a full dinner. Well, turns out there was food galore! We both ate way too much! Home around 1:15, we both hoped for a good sleep.

But no. The neighbour’s alarm was going off again! I have to write that note…

For breakfast, we both wanted something small. I made some bran muffins…

We finally finished the ottoman cover! I will post pictures tomorrow – will take them in the daylight.

In the afternoon, we went out to Mississauga. Lunch was homemade soup and cheese and bread at Graham’s parents’ house. We then went to visit everyone over at his sister’s.

He left for Sarnia about 3:30. I didn’t want him to go. Since then, I’ve been to the bank and Walmart, made soup, finished two loads of laundry, made and ate dinner and watched Amazing Race.

The veggie lasagna was stolen from Graham’s parents’ – leftovers!

Yes, Graham, I ate the other half of the St Honore! Couldn’t let a good desert go to waste.

Time for bed now, I guess. Hope you had a great weekend. Hope your Monday starts your week off well.

Saturday at last

Well, Friday was ok too!

We had my sister over for dinner and she and Graham were both already home when I got home. They were starting dinner – pasta with shrimp in a vodka sauce. I made the salad – easy job!

Sorry for the poor photo. I think I was already a little tipsy (vodka cocktail and glass of wine… second one to follow). It was a tasty, excellent meal. 

For dessert, Graham picked up his favourite cakes – a piece of dobos (a Hungarian cake) and a St. Honore. I had a small piece of dobos.

I fell asleep on the sofa pretty early – very uneventful night!

This morning, we had waffles!

I had another half.

We went out for some errands this morning, did a few jobs, etc…

For lunch, I had two little sandwiches: both BLTs.

We’re sort of having a quiet day, which is nice considering the past few Saturdays!

Hope you’re relaxing today, too!

‘Twas the day before Friday…

Happy Thursday, everyone! This was the scene in Mississauga today…

Quite a nice morning! I had the doctor at 9:15 [who sent me for an x-ray and told me to see a physio for my hip] and the dentist at 11 [just a cleaning]. I high-tailed it back to the apartment to work from home for the afternoon.

Here was my lunch…

That’s 1/2 c. oatmeal with 1/2 c. milk, 1/2 c. water. 1/2 a banana mixed in with cinnamon and walnuts, then peanut butter on top. The verdict? Not my favourite! Couldn’t finish it, to be honest. I found it too sweet with the PB, I think. I’m not sure I’m really able to eat oats anymore…

Sidenote: Sarah tends to eat things so often that she gets sick of them. And then cannot eat them anymore. This happened with peanut butter in high school. This happened with Quaker Maple & Brown Sugar oatmeal during the first two years of university. This now has happened with oats/banana/cinnamon combination after eating that nearly everyday last year, from about September to May.

It pains me to say this, since Tina, Kath and Rose – all well known for their love of oats – all adore the oats and PB combo. Just not for me, I say!

My afternoon went ok… had the snow tires put on, read some of my book. Oh yeah, worked too! I snacked on crackers and some w.w. chips throughout the afternoon – not too much, though. Before I knew it, it was 7:35. I made a quick, if slightly less than satisfying, dinner…

And then, the most satisfying part of the meal…

So satisfying, I might have had a 2nd (smaller!) bowl.

Now, I am mid-way through CSI, tea in hand. I wanted to get a good post in before it got too late and I got too lazy.

The plan for the weekend? Graham comes home tomorrow – yay! We are going up to the cottage Saturday – Sunday. It’s supposed to be -6 in Huntsville. The cabin is heated by wood stove. BRRR!

What about you? Any great weekend plans? I hope so!

Night night!

Sunday evening, again

I’m back! Wow, it’s been a busy few days

Friday
Got home from work and started on my ottoman project. I cut the fabric and pinned it to size. Graham called to say he would be late, so I had a snack to tide me over.

 

Yum! Also had some w.w. chips.

I ran to the store for dinner and then Graham was home sometime around 8.

It was catfish with a lemon sauce – yum! I had a second roll and bought Graham the potato wedges from the prepared foods counter at Loblaws.

Saturday
Graham slept in til about 9:30 and when he got up, we had waffles…

 I did have the other half of the banana too.

We’d decided to make a bunch of freezer meals, so that Graham doesn’t have to do much cooking during the week. After deciding on our recipes, we went down to the St. Lawrence Market to get the meat. You can get cuts there not found at the grocery store, for great prices. We got chuck and pork chops. We had to go to Longo’s too, for the rest.

Once home, we set about cooking! Because of the christening today, we had to run to Yorkdale for the gift. Wow, what a production that was. A half-hour just to get out of the parking lot. It was insane. We had friends coming for dinner and still had stuff to do!

In the end, we got it all done and had a great meal – bourguinon, salad, bread, wine. Great food and even better company. Sorry, no photos!

We had to resume our cooking once they left. Here is what we made:

 

• Beef Bourguignon (12 meals, but ate 4)
• Braised Chicken (8 meals)
• Meat Loaf (8 meals)
• Tuna Casserole (8 meals)
• Butternut Squash Soup (6 meals)
• Pork Chops (* did not cook, but will make 6 meals)

 

That’s 48 meals! Ay ay aye, lots of cooking! But, it went well and now we have lots of tasty food. In terms of cost, we spent about $160 for everything, plus a bunch of other needed items, like oatmeal, fruit and veggies, hors d’oeuvres for dinner, etc… We think it breaks out to an average of less than $3 a meal.

Sunday
Up at 7:30 this morning… Graham’s nephew was being christened today and he is the godfather! We had french toast for breakfast, with left over french bread from last night.

 After church, about 20 family and friends were back at Graham’s parents’ house for lunch. I had a ham and swiss sandwich on a w.w. roll, a few pieces of smoked salmon and some desserts. 

After Graham’s parents’, we went to my parents’ house. We hung out with my sister a little, did some Wii Fit, then chatted with my mum when she came back from shopping. 

Around 5:45, we each went our separate ways – me back to the apartment, Graham to Sarnia. I have laundry in right now and will catch up on my blog reading. I’ve got Lipstick Jungle and Amazing Race also on the agenda tonight. I’m a little sad and wish we could be together – especially after a jam-packed weekend…

Lazy Tuesday

This is the life! Well, I say that… it would be pretty lonely to lead the exact life that I had today. It was lots of alone time! But, it is nice to have a Tuesday to myself – with no work in sight!

I had a great shopping trip at Yorkdale, buying two skirts, a turtleneck and earrings. Pretty good!

I came home to a quick left-over lunch.

I’ve had a pretty chill afternoon – the bank, the shoe repair man, my book (finally finished Breaking Dawn!), two episodes of Lipstick Jungle. 

Great dinner! Even though the sweet potato fries were a tad crispy! I’m now relaxing with my hot water bottle [side note: I think there is something wrong with our heat...] and Dancing with the Stars. I always said I wanted peace and quiet from Graham’s comments on results night, but I wish he was here! Ah well, Friday will come soon…

Night!