The Master Cleanse

So, it's official....I WILL (I debated it for a bit) be doing the Master Cleanse at the beginning of the month in September! I'm a little excited and a little nervous. It will definitely be an interesting experience.

My brother has done this many times and tells me that the first three days are the hardest, then after that you no longer feel hungry. Hmm...I'm not sure how I feel about that, but I guess we will find out!

I have decided to start it September 6th or 7th because Bob will be out of town that week. I figure if I get cranky due to no food, he will not have to feel my wrath and since he will not be here...I can keep the fridge empty! Which means, NO FOOD TO TEMPT ME! :D Perfect!

I will be blogging (hopefully not angry blogging) about my Master Cleanse experience in a short time! I'm going to try to find a bunch of projects to keep me busy and keep my mind off food...that will give me more to blog about as well!

Chipotle Mayo

I've always wanted to test out making my own sauces and condiments and such, but just never have for some reason. Tonight I tried! It turned out wonderfully. I made some chipotle mayonnaise...delicious!

It started because I spotted this container at the store for only $0.96! I bought a few : ) I had seen them before, but I guess I just never really looked at them much.

Jen and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen gadget isle for some reason tonight. (apparently kitchen gadgets were calling our names since we both bought a few things)

I (naturally) had to test out the mayo, so I made this delicious wrap. The color is quite plain because I just used what we had in the house which was mainly green stuff (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, green pepper, cheese, mayo)...yummy!

Freebie...

My mom gave me this foot stool that someone gave her...I was thinking we could recover it and give the legs a quick coat of paint. It could be something cute :) ...now just to pick out some fabric to cover it in.

How could I?!?!

I can't believe I forgot to show you my Goodwill find! I got this cute tray for only $7 : ) I plan to do a little crafting with it to make it amazingly cute...just haven't decided exactly what I'm going to do yet.

It has legs that fold up underneath it, too. I thought that would be nice for extra counter space when serving food. Items can be placed on top and underneath it : )

Crafty Cookbook

I had a bunch of vegan recipes ripped out from magazines that I wanted to give to a friend. I didn't want to just hand them to her in a pile...so what to do? Scrapbook style cookbook! : ) They're not perfect due to my limited supplies I have at my house...I usually use my mom's scrapbooking stuff because she has TONS! However, it's turning out pretty cute for what I have here. I just used the clippings from the magazines instead of wasting even more paper by reprinting the recipes. This way I could use the pictures too! : )
This is going to be the front. The side and back will also have the same pattern on it...


Here are some of the pages I have done so far...

I have a ton more to do and unfortunately since they're from magazines, not all recipes will have photos to go with. The ones without photos will have a few recipes per page.

Tourist in my own town : )

Jen and I went down by the lift bridge on Tuesday (?) and just hung out. Took in the sights, took some pictures and walked around. It was good times with a great friend : )

Tomorrow...I swear!

I will post the new picks tomorrow! I'm feeling to lazy to do it tonight...only because I haven't even gotten them on the computer yet and I'm exhausted. I'm off to bed, but I WILL get them up tomorrow!

But, on a quick side note...I think my interview went well : ) It was for an office administrator position. I guess I will find out just how well it went if they call me back for a second interview!

Went 'touristing' around town today : ) Will post pictures tomorrow after the job interview!

16-20 of "103 Randoms About Me"

20. Once as a child, I lost my glasses outside in the middle of winter...they were found the following spring in a neighbors yard! (too bad we had already bought new ones)

19. I have three tattoos. One on my left shoulder blade of cherries, one on by my right knee of three stars and one on the base of my neck/top of my back of a cherry with a tribal thing around it...I like cherries in case you can't tell : )

18. One of my biggest pet peeves is when someone or something (aka a pet) sits on top of the blanket next to me when I'm in bed or curled up on the couch underneath the blanket. It pulls the blanket and makes it uncomfy...how annoying!

17. I LOVE guppies! Bob bought me a 5 gal aquarium for my birthday last year (?) and I got a bunch of guppies to put in it! They're totally my favorite even tho they're such simple fish...I mean I like many fancy fish too, but the guppies are all so different. I love their big tails and that they are such attention whores and are always up at the top of the aquarium saying "Look @ me!!!" ...unfortunately, the aquarium he bought me was a death trap and almost all of the fish were sucked up onto the bottom of the filter and died : (

16. I have a horrible habit of starting a project (or five!) and then taking FOREVER to finish it...or never finishing at all. I get bored with them really easy. So, I've started doing quick projects that can be finished in one sitting.

Dinner for two, Cooked by two

We made dinner together tonight : ) Stuffed red peppers and 'grilled' asparagus

Picnic Lunch : )

Bob and I had a picnic lunch today. A first for both of us! It was perfect weather for it today too. A little hot in the sun, but in the shade under the tree it was great!

We had veggies sandwiches (I offered to make one with ham for Bob, he said nah.) They had spinach, lettuce, peppers, mozzarella & cheddar cheese, mayo or miracle whip and avacado. The pic was before the avacado was added.

The picnic 'basket' is complete!!! We have our sandwiches, the avacado slices, banana chips in the cup looking container, homemade lemonade, grapes, apples slices, fruit salad and snack bars. Its a lot of food because I wasn't really sure what Bob would be in the mood for...I got the 'basket' aka bag cooler ready while he was still sleeping.

Our little picnic blanket : )

This was what we saw in the park we picnicked in...

The view while laying down on the blanket...

Us laying on the blanket (horrible pic of both of us, lol)

Fruit for Breakfast, Lunch & Dinner

The weather last night was unbearably hot. So, common sense says, FRUIT SALAD for dinner! It's the perfect summer dish for an icky, hot day. Altho usually a side dish, I had it for dinner...two BIG bowls and another BIG bowl for breakfast this morning : )

It only has one problem, I accidentally bought red grapes with seeds in them : ( So the salad doesn't have many red grapes in it...

(I have just realized, my blog has been all about food the past few posts)

Dip for Dinner *updated*

I made a green pea dip for a snack tonight...it pretty much became my dinner once I ate a bunch of it and spoiled my appetite. Oops!

Ingredients:

Juice and zest of 1 lime

1/2 fresh green chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped

2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley

1 tbsp chopped cilantro

1 1/2 cups thawed frozen peas

4 scallions, chopped

1) Place all the ingredients except the lime zest in a food processor (I used our magic bullet and it work amazingly) and process to a rough puree.

2) To serve, garnish with lime zest.

I didn't totally follow the recipe tho...okay, okay I didn't follow the recipe at all, but the recipe gave me a general idea. So if you want to try it, you should play around with it with whatever you think you'd : ) I ate it with Wild Harvest's organic black bean tortilla chips (not the ones int the pic) YUM!

I didn't really measure anything and I used a few jalapeno slices instead of green chili, didn't use cilantro because I hate it, used some onion instead of scallions, I also added some red pepper, some salt and pepper and jalapeno salsa...see, really didn't follow the recipe.

*Word of the Day*

dernier cri • \dairn-yay-KREE\ • noun

: the newest fashion

Example Sentence:When it came to shopping for a new wardrobe for school, Jacqueline tended to ignore the dernier cri and would instead pick clothes that suited her own tastes.

Did you know?Paris has long been the last word in fashion, but hot designer clothes from the city's renowned runways aren’t the only stylish French exports. Words, too, sometimes come with a French label. "Dernier cri," literally "last cry," is one such chic French borrowing. The word is no trendy fad, however. More than a century has passed since "dernier cri" was the latest thing on the English language scene (and cut-steel jewelry was declared the dernier cri by the Westminster Gazette of December 10, 1896), but the term (unlike cut-steel) remains as modish as ever. Other fashionable French words have walked the runways of the English language since then: "blouson" (1904); "couture" (1908); "culotte" (1911); "lamé" (a clothing fabric, 1922); and "bikini" (1947), to name a few.

Courtesy of: http://www.merriam-webster.com/

Dinner @ my favorite place

Gena and I went to dinner at my favorite place tonight : )

My favorite Blueberry Pomegranate Iced Tea and Gena's Lemonade

I ordered the Buffalo Tofu Melt...

Gena ordered the Cheesy Chicken Tender Melt sans cheese...

At the end of the meal I had a full glass of tea left (after two refills) and our waitress was so amazing she gave me a to-go cup!!!

Yummy Beer!

Bob and I went on a 'date' tonight to Old Chicago for some tasty food and even more tasty beer...

Bob ordered their new Florence Artisan Pizza and I ordered (and LOVED as always) their amazing mozzarella sticks.

This was the Import Beer Flight (I forgot to take a pic before we drank most of it...) Stella Artois, Hefeweizen, New Castle, Guinness.

This is the Staff Favorite Beer Flight. Zommerfest, Leinie's Classic Amber, something we can't remember and Blue Moon Honeymoon.

Oh-so-yummy!!!

We grilled tonight for the first time in forever : ) It was so delicious!!! Bob grilled steak, salmon and brats...I had black bean burgers (first time tried on the grill) and we shared some asparagus. OMG was the asparagus amazing!

I have to share how easy the asparagus is to prepare:

Basalmic vinegar
Olive oil
Kosher salt & Fresh ground pepper (Bob's specifications)

Simply pour vinegar, oil and seasonings on top of asparagus, let hang out for a minute, then grill til cooked, yet still crunchy.

SO YUMMY!!! The basalmic vinegar scared me at first...but is a MUST HAVE!

*Word of the Day*

The Word of the Day for August 06, 2009 is:

demean • \dih-MEEN\ • verb

: to conduct or behave (oneself) usually in a proper manner

Example Sentence:Sylvia was proud of the polite way her young children demeaned themselves in front of the dinner guests.

Did you know?There are two words spelled "demean" in English. The more familiar "demean" -- "to lower in character, status, or reputation" -- comes straight from "mean," the adjective that means "spiteful." Today's featured word, on the other hand, comes from the Anglo-French verb "demener" ("to conduct"), which in turn comes from Latin "minare," meaning "to drive." This verb has been with us since the 14th century and is generally used in contexts specifying a type of behavior: "he demeaned himself in a most unfriendly manner"; "she demeaned herself as befitting her station in life"; "they knew not how to demean themselves in the king's presence." As you may have already guessed, the noun "demeanor," meaning "behavior," comes from this "demean."

Small Space Gardening

Next year when we garden I think we're going to try this...

*Word of the Day*

The Word of the Day for August 05, 2009 is:

jingoism • \JING-goh-is-uhm\ • noun
: extreme chauvinism or nationalism marked especially by a belligerent foreign policy

Example Sentence:Albert Einstein was a pacifist who found German jingoism, with its ultra-nationalistic ideology and militaristic policy, so objectionable that he left his homeland in 1933, never to return.

Did you know?
"Jingoism" originated during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877-1878, when many British citizens were hostile toward Russia and felt Britain should intervene in the conflict. Supporters of the cause expressed their sentiments in a music-hall ditty with this refrain:

"We don't want to fight, yet by jingo if we do,
We've got the ships,
we've got the men,
We've got the money, too!"

Someone holding the attitude implied in the song became known as a "jingo" or "jingoist," and the attitude itself was dubbed "jingoism." The "jingo" in the tune is probably a euphemism for "Jesus."

Courtesy of: www.merriam-webster.com

*Word of the Day*

The Word of the Day for August 04, 2009 is:

tantivy • \tan-TIV-ee\ • adverb
: in a headlong dash : at a gallop

Example Sentence:Once the school bell sounded signaling dismissal, the children rose from their desks and headed tantivy for the exits.

Did you know?"Tantivy" is also a noun meaning "a rapid gallop" or "an impetuous rush." Although its precise origin isn't known, one theory has it that "tantivy" represents the sound of a galloping horse's hooves. The noun does double duty as a word meaning "the blare of a trumpet or horn." The second use probably evolved from confusion with "tantara," a word for the sound of a trumpet that came about as an imitation of that sound. Both "tantivy" and "tantara" were used during foxhunts; in the heat of the chase people may have jumbled the two.

Courtesy of: www.Merriam-Webster.com

11-15 of 103 Randoms About Me

15. I have yet to find anything that I am allergic to : ) ...lets hope it stays that way!

14. My aunt told my mother that with a name like Lacy I would grow up to be a hooker or a stripper...I guess I showed her that wasn't true!

13. I have two mice as pets, Finnigan and Gilbert. Finnigan is a jerk...he used to beat up on Gilbert. I had to put them in separate cages. A few years before I got Finnigan and Gilbert, I had two other mice name Mr. Pipkin and Barnibe...Barnibe was the jerk of those two.

12. All of the artwork in my kitchen is stuff I have painted myself. This is a set I made...I have four other paintings as well.

11. I went to Europe for 3 weeks a few days after my high school graduation. It was good times.