Scramble ‘Em Up!

Got leftovers?

Scramble ‘em up!

*****

Okay, I know that title was vague so I will explain…

Recently, I have been trying to become more creative with leftovers.  It’s easy just to eat the leftovers in their original form, but it’s more exciting [and usually tastier] to turn them into something totally different.

Like this delicious number…↓

I used leftover lean ground beef [from sloppy joes], a half-full can of mushrooms, onions, and some spinach that was almost spoiled.

I sautéed it all in some garlic and olive oil, cracked an egg, and scrambled it up!

At the end I added some low-sodium soy sauce, sesame seeds, and black pepper.

 

It was really good.  It seems like it takes pretty long to make, but it really doesn’t!  I just threw all the leftovers in a pan!

*****

A few days ago I made another scramble, but this time with a slightly different flavor. ↓

This time I used lean ground beef, brussel sprouts, and onions as the main ingredients.  Then I sautéed them, but this time just in olive oil. [No garlic!]

At the end I stirred in a spoonful of horseradish hummus and some shredded mozzarella cheese.

 

I was hesitant to add the horseradish hummus at first, but the horseradish really kicked up the flavor!  And you all know how much I like flavor.  [Who doesn't?!]

 *****

Moral of the story:  Next time you have leftovers try scrambling/sautéing them!  You adjust the flavors, you choose the ingredients, it’s really up to you!  Next time I want to try a BBQ-type scramble and then maybe a scramble with lots of buffalo sauce. ♥

Now that I think of it, a Greek-style scramble would also taste good.  Falafel, feta cheese, olives, the choices are endless!

So tell me…

Question of the Day:

1. How do you use up leftovers?  I really like scrambles but sandwiches are also good! [and portable!]

*****

Oh by the way, today was the last day of Cross Country Practice.  We did 4 miles on the track and went home after 35 minutes.  It was cold and rain-y, but it was actually pretty enjoyable because I tend to run better in the cooler weather. Yay!

Stay tuned for my next [and last] Cross Country Meet [as a Freshman.]  It’s on Saturday and we are running here.

Happy Almost-Friday!

It’s A New Week!

That’s right…It’s Monday.       

I hate Mondays.      

 I don’t know when my hatred for Mondays started (probably around the same time I started kindergarten) all I know is that Mondays are rough.      

Every Monday I drink my coffee (as usual) but it doesn’t seem to work so I end up going through the day in a fog. Seriously, I have to fight to stay awake in class…       

I only have 2 antidotes for I-Hate-Monday-Syndrome: A) Have a really good breakfast so you’re excited to wake up or B) Purposely miss your bus so you have to run a few blocks to catch it. (Option B has happened to me but I didn’t do it on purpose…)      

 I chose Option A.       

Monday Morning Breakfast

 

  Today’s breakfast was a delicious combination of a multigrain english muffin+Justin’s Chocolate Hazelnut Butter+sliced banana and a side of cantaloupe.      

Thankfully, my uncle drove me to school today! Otherwise I may have chosen Option B.       

_______      

Lunch at school was a Turkey and Tabasco Sandwich with a Blueberry Dannon Light & Fit yogurt and some grapes.      

Lunch

 

The sandwich tasted soooo good! I guess that’s what opening a fresh (huge!) bottle of Tabasco will do.      

I Love Hot Sauce!

 

I also packed some cookies to share with the girls at my lunch table. They were all gone within the first 10 minutes of lunch. ;-)      

      

I think my friends liked them.      

________      

After school, I had Cross Country Practice. All of the sports got cancelled except for Cross Country and Football – what does that tell you? It tells you that runners are equal to football players in the toughness category…       

Ohhh yeahhhh!      

We ran around the track today: 3 times around (3/4 mile) for warm-up and 12 times around (3 miles) for workout. It was actually a fairly easy day considering we usually run 4-6 miles.      

The rain may have cooled us off a bit while running but it did nothing for my straight hair… ↓      

“]

Look at my frizzy hair! [In other words...don't look at the zit on my forehead!

There goes the 30 minutes spend straightening my hair…oh well it’s Monday!       

_______      

When I got home I had some carrots and light ranch dressing, a peanut butter cookie, and coconut water.      

Snack

 

After eating my snack I got right to work on homework…lots of studying…      

      

      

…and maybe some doodling.       

      

Seriously, it was mostly studying.      

To my fellow teen bloggers: Doesn’t it seem like Monday is the toughest night of homework? It seems like it to me!      

_________      

After a few hours I (finally) got a break from the homework to have dinner.      

I had a huge salad topped with my Mom’s Roast Beef and a side of Whole Wheat Wheat Thins. ↓      

Dinner

 

Not bad for a Monday Dinner!       

_________      

Question of the Day:       

1. What is your favorite and least favorite day of the week?          Least Favorite: Monday (obviously) Favorite: Friday

ABC’s & Catching Up

Let me start this post with something I have seen on so many blogs.

(Yes, it’s the ABC’s including all of my favorite foods!)

A - Avocado

B – Buffalo Wings

C – Cheese (and chocolate!)

D – Devil’s Food Cake

E – Eggs

F – Fondue (also thought about putting frosting, feta, and falafel)

G – Grapefruit

H – Hummus

I – Ice Cream

J – Jambalaya

K – Kettle Corn

L – Lobster

M – Mandarin Oranges

N – Nuts and Nut Butters

O - Oatmeal

P – Pomegranates

Q – Quesadillas

R – Rice Pudding

S – Salsa

T – Tomatoes

U – Ugli Fruit (never tried but sounds really good! it’s the hybrid of a grapefruit, a mandarin orange, and a tangerine.)

V – Vegetables

W – Waffles

X – Xmas Cookies

Y - Yogurt

Z – Zucchini

_______

Phew! That was a lot of thinking! Now I am going to sit back and let the pictures do the talking.

Here are my eats as of late. ↓

Raspberry Overnight Oats with dried cranberries and topped with some Sensible Foods Cherry Berry.

Mini Clif Bars

Falafel Sticks, Hummus, Babybel Cheese, and marinated edamame

All of the leftovers in the fridge: Steak, Teriyaki Tofu, Annie’s Macaroni and Cheese, steamed broccoli, and a salad with raspberry viniagrette.

And…last but not least…Better Batter ice cream mixed with crushed Butterfinger from Coldstone Creamery!

________

Question of the Day:

1. What are some of your favorite foods that start with the letters E-R-I-K-and-A?

 

First Day Of School!

It’s official summer vacation is actually over. Today was my first day of High School and I can not believe it!   

This morning I had to wake up at 6:45AM to get dressed, straighten my hair, (I wear my hair curly in the summer months but once school starts I have to straighten it every other day) eat breakfast, and get my Mom to take me to school.   

Seems pretty reasonable, right?    

Wrong, on  “normal” school days I will have to get an entire hour earlier because I will have to catch a 6:40AM school bus. AAARRRGGGG! This is going to take a lot of getting used to…   

…and a lot of overnight oats!    

   

Last night I made myself some really good raspberry overnight oats. I combined:    

• ½ cup oatmeal
• 1 container raspberry yogurt
• ~1 tbsp. chia seeds soaked in ¼ cup water
• ~1 tbsp. ground flax seeds
•  and a few drops of vanilla extract

 I let all of the above sit overnight in the fridge and woke to a nice, creamy, raspberry-y breakfast. In the morning I added a few fresh raspberries which completed the oats and made a perfect first day breakfast. Yummy!     

Today, instead of going to regular classes, all of the freshman had Freshman Orientation. We met with our Peer Leaders who divided all 300 freshman into groups of 5-6 and showed us around the school, brought us to our lockers, and attended a liturgy with us in the auditorium.   

The best part?    

My friend, Nanci, from Cross Country was in my group! I had someone familiar to talk to! Yay!  However, Nanci wasn’t the only familiar face. Once we broke for lunch I saw more people who I knew, either from Middle School, Cross Country, or otherwise. It was so nice, plus I didn’t have to worry about having a seat at lunch and isn’t that what everyone worries about when going to a new school?!     

Speaking of lunch…I was sooooo impressed by the lunch offerings at the school cafeteria!   

How impressed you ask? They had a salad bar complete with chickpeas, edamame, and eggplant! They also had made-to-order paninis, made-to-order sandwiches on ciabatta or whole wheat bread, PB&J’s, Soup, and an assortment of yogurts, cereals, fruits, and chips.  

 Today I got a turkey, roasted veggie (eggplant, peppers, zucchini), and tomato sandwich on ciabatta bread. Hello delicious! ♥    

I think I am going to be buying lunch a lot this year.  Okay, food-talk over (for now.) After lunch we went through a shortened schedule – this semester I have Religion, English, History, and Keyboarding. After meeting all of the teachers I think it is safe to say I see a lot of homework in my future. One of the teachers actually had a sign up that said “A day without homework is like a day without sunshine.” He thought it was the funniest thing in the world…okay I’ll admit I chuckled when I first saw it. Wouldn’t you? ;-)    

After school I thought I would be taking the bus home. (The keyword is thought.) But it turns out that all of the busses from my area weren’t running today. Oops!    

On the bright side, my friend Kelly saw the dilemma and said her Mom could take me home. (She lives a few streets down.) Crisis adverted!   

Of course once I got home my Mom and Dad had a bunch of questions for me…    

“Erika, Did you make any new friends?”     

“Erika, Did you like all of your teachers?”  

“Erika, Did you see (insert name here) today?”  

 You get the picture.     

When I got home I was kind-of hungry but I didn’t get myself a snack-snack. So instead I snacked – a peanut butter finger here, some mixed nuts there, some edamame.   

I was pretty excited when dinnertime rolled around because my Mom made a special (yet healthy!) back-to-school dinner for me: London Broil with Au Jus, Long Grain and Wild Rice, and steamed broccoli.    

Back-To-School Dinner

 

The London Broil was rare-ish ↓ My favorite! ♥    

Still Moo-ing!

 

After dinner I just relaxed and sat around until I had to go to Karate. Going to school takes a lot out of you!      

Black Belt Training was today; something I always enjoy. We did Taegouks 1-7 today and I, to say the least, need some help with them. But, that’s okay because I still have plenty of time to practice. (I have black belt testing in early December.)    

At my request, (I wasn’t lying when I told Katie I felt an ice cream craving coming on) my Mom took us out for ice cream after Karate. I got a medium cup of Peanut Paradise. ♥  

YUM!

 

I don’t know about you, but when I get ice cream I almost always get a peanut butter or a chocolate flavor. Cookies N’ Cream, Peanut Butter in Vanilla Ice Cream, Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough, are just some of my favorites.
   

And with an ice cream-filled belly I went to bed. Ahhh, I think I am going to like High School.    

Question of the Day:   

1. What is your favorite ice cream flavor?

Like A 2nd Grader

Today’s lunch would have made any (veggie-lovin’) 2nd grader happy.  

Lunch:  

• ½ a PB&J (on white whole wheat bread with Skippy Natural and Polaner)
• Carrots
• Cucumbers
• Light Ranch Dressing

Lunch

 

I can’t believe I almost forgot about how much I love PB&Js! ♥  

  

I ended my lunch with a little something sweet…  

PB Parfait Nips

 

Then I downloaded some songs onto my iPod, surfed the web, helped Mom pack, and had a snack.  

Freeze-Dried Corn

 

I am in love with this corn, well actually I have been in love with this corn since  I was little. I would actually beg my Mom to take me to the health food store to buy me some…I guess I was a pretty weird 10-year-old.   

After all the packing was done my Mom treated me to a do-it-yourself pedicure! She painted my toes with one of my favorite nail polishes: Sally Hansen Salon Nail Lacquer in Plum It. It’s a really dark purple – like a summer-y take on black nail polish. (Yes, I wear black nail polish sometimes. No, I am not goth.) ;-) 

  

  

Here’s the finished product. ↓ Perfectly purple toes right in time for vacation!  

My toes!

 

Then I had to run outside and into the car barefoot (my polish was still wet!)  because we had to go to the Farmer’s Market and then to church. I actually stepped on a piece of glass while running from the house to the car (!!!!!) - It hurt, but my small, tweezer-like fingers were able to get it out no problem.   

While my Mom was getting ham, kielbasy, and eggplant at the market I took some Facebook-worthy pictures. ↓  

  

  

What do you think? I even Picnik-ed them! 8-)  

After my impromptu photo shoot we went to church which was…um…church-like. (Yeah, there’s not much I can write about for a mass that was entirely in Ukrainian.)  

Dinner was Taco Bell! ♥  

I got a Fresco Crunchy Taco and a Fresco Ranchero Chicken Soft Taco.  

  

Have you seen those corny Taco Bell Drive-Diet commercials? (Not going into THAT now though…) In case you didn’t know what makes something “Fresco” all they do is sub cheese for salsa. But not just any salsa…  

  

…really good pico de gallo salsa! And as if that wasn’t enough I added a bunch of mild sauce and homemade salsa, too!   

  

  

YUM!   

After dinner I was feeling the munchies so I had some pretzels and PB. Now I am watching World’s Dumbest while blogging. I can’t believe we are leaving for Myrtle in an hour! Woohoo!