Thoughts and Pins on a Thursday

I ended up going out to dinner last night and not getting home until late so I wasn't able to do my Pinteresting Wednesday post.

This is a mash up of Thoughts on a Thursday and Pinteresting Wednesday.

Source: flickr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

KB loves butter mints and those chalky nasty after dinner mints.  These look scary and good at the same time.

Source: candidrd.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I made this peanut butter hummus over the weekend and it was wonderful.  I ate the whole thing in about 2 days.  That's alotta hummus!  You should probably use honey to sweeten instead of molasses.  My sister used molasses and said hers was really gross.

Source: projectwedding.com via Rachel on Pinterest

These herb wreaths look like they would smell really good and be really neat looking hanging all together.  Too bad I don't have any more fresh herbs.  This may have to wait until next year.

Source: d30opm7hsgivgh.cloudfront.net via Rachel on Pinterest

No words necessary.

Source: saksfifthavenue.com via Meredith on Pinterest

I'm wearing something similar to this to my cousin's wedding on Saturday.  Is black lace too much to wear to a morning wedding....probably, do I care....not really.  I'm still in the need for shoes, so we'll see what happens.

Recipe Review: Lasagna Soup

I got a lot of questions about this recipe when I posted it on my Menu Sunday run down, so I decided to do a Recipe Review on it.

Source: foodgawker.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Overall this recipe was pretty easy and tasted okay.  I didn't exactly follow the directions though, so that may be why it wasn't as glorious as the picture above makes it look.

First of all, I didn't use any meat.  I was expecting to have some left over pasta sauce from last night's dinner, but it didn't happen.  The spaghetti squash was a hit and we ended up eating the rest of it for lunch today.

Here's my meatless tomato paste/onion base.  From there, I added in the basic tomato products and let it cook while we took the dogs for a walk (and entertained KB's grandparents who decided to drop in unannounced).  When I came back it smelled wonderful and I added in the lasagna noodles.  The recipe says to not let them cook too long, but I'm not sure I cooked them long enough.  They were still a bit al dente.

You were also supposed to make a ricotta/parmesan mix to put in the bottom of the bowl, but I'm not a huge ricotta fan.  I ended up putting a white american cheese single in the bottom of the bowl....classy.

Overall it was good, but not great.  I think most of that was my fault for not following the directions.

Decisions, Decisions....

I have a wedding coming up and I'm not sure what to wear.

I currently have these items that I'm thinking about combining somehow.  Suggestions....ideas.....thoughts?

I'm seriously having one of those days where I feel like I have NOTHING to wear!  HELP.

Menu Sunday

Here's what the Browns will be eating this week....

Mon:  Turkey Meatballs with Spaghetti Squash

I've never tried spaghetti squash, but I've seen lots of recipes saying that you really can't tell a difference from it and regular spaghetti.  "Seasonal squash" happened to be on sale at the grocery store, so we'll probably be eating them a lot coming up.  KB is already skeptical.  He saw the spaghetti squash when he was helping me unload groceries and just gave me a look.

Tues: Lasagna Soup

I love soup in all forms and this one looks delicious.  I will be leaving out the ricotta part because I'm not a huge ricotta fan and it is expensive.  I figure this will also be a good way to use up the leftover pasta sauce from the night before.

Source: foodgawker.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Wed: Bubble Up Enchiladas

I love enchiladas and Mexican food (I'm just now getting back into it after our week long vacay in Mexico).  These look easy and good.  I'll be substituting black beans instead of ground turkey to make it a meatless meal.  I try to not eat meat for dinner at least one night a week.

Source: chef-n-training.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

I'll be out of town Friday going to my cousin's wedding, so no more meals this week.  Poor KB has to fend for himself.  I am going to make 1 bonus recipe this week for snacks.


Peanut Butter Hummus

I'm interested to try this one.  My sister posted it on Pinterest and I've been thinking about it ever since.  It seems like it would be really easy, but I'm not too sure how the chickpeas will taste with chocolate and peanut butter.

Source: candidrd.com via Rachel on Pinterest

What will you be eating this week???

Thoughts on a Thursday

It's time for my thoughts on a Thursday!

Link up with Carolyn to play along.

• I seriously can't get over the soup I posted about yesterday.  I had it for lunch today and said out loud "I wish I could swim in this soup it's so good".  I'm pretty sure everyone thought I was crazy.....but they should already know that I am.

• I'm loving all of the new premieres.  Modern Family was really funny last night ("Buffalo Phil......worth the wait").  Some of the ladies I work with said Up All Night was really funny last night.  I'm planning on catching it this weekend.  Parks and Rec also looks really funny tonight.  I love Aziz Ansari...he's so funny to me for some reason.

• My dad's birthday party is this weekend and I have no idea what to get him.  I normally end up getting him some sort of candy, but I feel like that's pretty lame.  I'm probably going to get him candy bars and socks.  What a lame-o gift.

• Me and some of the girls (and guys) that I work with are going to a Greek festival tomorrow.  I'm so excited to get a good gyro...yummmmoooo.  Greek food is my absolute favorite ethnic food.

What are your thoughts on a Thursday???

Recipe Review: Roasted Butternut Squash Soup

It's no secret that I love my Crock Pot.  I'm using it 3 times this week alone.

I'm never really sure what to do with butternut squash, but it was on sale this week so I decided to give it a try.

This recipe was really easy and really delicious.  The soup is creamy, but it just has the vegetables (no butter and no cream).  It's also easy to make in the Crock Pot.  Sometimes these recipes make me mad when it only has to cook for 1 or 2 hours.  I'm not home during the day to do that and I don't have a programmable pot (ha ha).

It looks a little like baby food, but tastes like fall in a bowl.  Lots of cinnamon, lots of apples and lots of squash....yummy.

Menu Monday

It's still not exactly a normal week in the Brown household.  Why does going on vacation have to suck so bad when you get back?  I had 726 emails in my work inbox.  726...HOW DOES THAT EVEN HAPPEN?

Mon: Crock Pot Chicken and Wild Rice Soup

Source: chefmommy-brandao.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

We actually had this last night too and it was really good and easy.  We also had it for lunch today.  Soup overload!

Tues: Mustard Pork Chops with Mashed Potatoes

Pork chops were on sale and we have a ton of potatoes from KB's mom.  I spent a total of around $3 on this meal....score!

Wed: Crock Pot Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut squash were also on sale.  I'm never really sure what to do with them, so we're going to try some soup.  The recipe looks like this will taste very "fall-y".  It's got apples, carrots, cinnamon and squash.  I'm pretty sure KB won't like it, but oh well.

Thurs: Crock Pot Pineapple Chicken

Source: sixsistersstuff.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

It's pretty obvious that I'm loving my crock pot currently.  I'm slowly working on cleaning up our house from being gone last week and at night I don't feel like cooking, working out, and cleaning.  At least with the crock pot one of these is done by the time I get home.

What goodies are you making this week?

Up and Running

We're back from spending a week here...

Source: travel.nationalgeographic.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Welllll not all week, there was some white sand and clear blue waters that we spend some time at, but the Mayan ruins were definitely a highlight.

I'm still sleeping off the jet lag and 5 hour car ride home from the airport (thanks Atlanta road work!) but expect a full recap soon!

Pinteresting Wednesday

I'm at a loss for a fun, witty and entertaining post today, so enjoy what I've been looking at on Pinterest this week!

Source: espressoandcream.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Apples, bacon, lettuce...I'm in love.

Source: termlifeinsurance.org via Rachel on Pinterest

STOP with the Diet Coke....maybe next week.

Source: blondeslogic.blogspot.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Absolutely LOVE the color combo.

Source: pinkandgreenowl.tumblr.com via Rachel on Pinterest

Totally wearing this at some point.

Shopping Pretties

Since Blogger decided to delete my original post, here's a quick rundown of the shopping goodness I got yesterday....for cheap!

Stay Tuned

I had a lovely post of all the pretty things that I bought today but Blogger's new interface decided to eat it.

It's nowhere to be found.

Stay tuned for all the fun things that I bought today in my it's raining let's go buy something retail funk.

Menu Sunday

I'm actually posting a Menu Sunday post on a Sunday!

Mon: Garlic Basil Meatball Subs

For some reason I've been really craving meatball subs, so when I saw this Prevention recipe for them I decided to take the plunge.  I'll be using some ground turkey and low sodium marinara sauce to try to make it a little healthier.

Tues: Portobello Burgers

Portobello tops were on sale at the grocery store this week, so I decided to try out some portobello burgers.  I've never made them before, but I had them last week for lunch in a restaurant near where I work and they were delicious.  I'm hoping KB will like them and maybe won't be so bitter that we're having 2 meatless meals this week.

Wed: Pizza
          No fun pictures.  We're using up the leftover stuff from the cauliflower pizza last week, but this time with prepared pizza dough.  I can't be healthy and resourceful all the time.

Thurs: Leftovers/using up stuff in the fridge
          We will be out of the country next week so we're going to clean out the fridge before we leave.  I'll probably eat some sort of fruit/yogurt combo while KB will probably eat one of his 9,000 frozen pizzas in the freezer.

What goodies are you eating this week?

Saturday Somethings

This Saturday is shaping up to be a good one.  I met my mother in law this morning to talk about KB and his brother for some prepping for our tropical vacation coming up.

I got China Glaze Custom Kicks on my toes...

And I got OPI's Breathe Life on my nails.  I'm pretty sure this polish is discontinued and was only produced specially for a Lung Cancer Awareness benefit OPI did a few years ago.  It's okay, but I probably won't get it again.

Sorry for the super blurry picture!

I'm also making some delicicious goodies for dinner tonight.  Including crockpot BBQ chicken, roasted green beans with Parmesan and Smores gooey bars.

AND...because all this excitement isn't enough.  I reach my weight loss goal on Wii Fit this morning.  I'm now in the "normal" range for my BMI.  This may be the one and only time in my life where I am considered normal.  Go me!

Workout Review: Jillian Michael's No Trouble Zones

This was really really hard (but good).  This workout is all about circuit training.  There's a short warm up and then seven 5 minute circuits.  I was pretty sure I was going to die by circuit number two.

I'm normally not a huge Jillian Michael's fan and think she is the fitness equivalent of nails on a chalkboard, but she was pleasantly not annoying in this one.  She didn't yell that much and she didn't act like an over achieving jock (woah hate on Jillian moment).

I'm already sore and can tell that I'm probably not going to be able to move tomorrow, but that's a good thing.  If I'm going to spend an hour of my day working out, I'd at least like to feel that it's doing some good.  Overall it's a pretty good DVD...if you survive it.

Thoughts on a Thursday

It's time for my Thoughts on a Thursday....

Link up with Carolyn to play along!

• In about a week I will be here.

I can't wait, but for the time being I'm spending a lot of time working in order to get my stuff caught up so I can go there.  It really snuck up on me and I don't have anything planned or packed or anything.

• I was very lucky to snag one of these yesterday

A Cook Out watermelon milkshake is like summer frozen and blended with ice cream.  It sounds gross but they are so good.  They are only sold July - August and since yesterday was August 31st I was really worried that I waited too late.  It was pure delicious ice cream heaven.

• We've had some really good meals this week and most of them have been vegetarian.  I'm not a huge proponent of the no animal products bandwagon (having a dad that's a dairy farmer kinda immediately throws you out of the wagon) but we try to not eat meat at least 3 nights out of the week.  We had black bean burgers yesterday and they were so delicious.  They were better than most burgers I've had out and definitely better than anything I could make myself.

What are your thoughts on a Thursday?