Friday Four F's: Fun, Food, Fitness and Fabulous Find

Happy Friday! Friday the 13th.

Craig and I got married on a Friday the 13th.
Clearly, we're not superstitious.

Today we hit the twelve and a half year mark. Don't worry, we don't celebrate the
half-aversaries.
That's a little gag worthy. No offense to those who do.
Heck, we hardly do anything for the actual anniversary.

Sentimental, schmentimental.

We started the day with a few snow flurries. Snow?!? In the middle of March.
There wasn't any accumulation, but it sure is chilly outside.

Without further ado, here are my Friday F's:

FUN:


Take this fun quiz to determine your decorating style.
I took the quiz and here are my results.


Your personal style is a mix of 3 specific styles:

57% Wine Country Style

29% Classic



14% Traditional Country







I really love the "wine country" room, so I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I scored the way I did.
When I win the lottery some day (or get a job of my own!) I hope to have a beautifully decorated room like that.


FOOD:


The first part of my week wasn't very busy in the kitchen. Craig stayed in Maryland late to focus on some work stuff, so I was off the hook for dinner. Wednesday afternoon he called and asked if I could make some goodies for him to bring the next day. He was scheduled to give a brief and wanted to ply his listeners with some tasty treats.

Ever happy to bake and going through some sort of butter and sugar withdrawal, I got out my recipe box and decided on best big fat chewy chocolate chip cookies and blissful snickerdoodle blondies.

Thankfully they were both met with rave reviews. By nature I'm not a braggart but I'll admit that it is nice to know that I did a good job and made people happy.

As much as I love to bake, I worry incessantly and obsessively about the end result. I'm a great practitioner of the art of self deprecation. I expect the worst as to not be taken by surprise if I fail. Makes me wonder why I love to bake so much. Why do it if all I do fret about the outcome?
More than anything, I enjoy the process. Deciding on the recipes. Shopping for ingredients. Measuring. Mixing. Smelling what is coming from the oven.

Sugar, butter, vanilla, chocolate....scents from heaven.
Are they heaven scent? Ha!

Last night for dinner I made something called Pasta Pedro.
As the name might suggest, it is southwestern/Mexican inspired.
Does the name sound cliche to you? A tad bit racially insensitive? Does that mean I'm turning into a bleeding heart?

Whatever you think it should or should not be called, we called it TAY STEE.
And SO easy.

Boil some pasta in salted water, any variety.
I used about 6 ounces of whole grain linguine.

Melt about 3 Tablespoons of butter in a sauce pan.
Add 1/2 cup of canned enchilada sauce.
season to taste with some cumin, oregano and chili powder, if desired.
mix in about half a can of black beans and about a cup of shredded cooked chicken

continue to cook over medium heat until warmed through

remove from heat and stir in about 1/2 cup of sour cream...this is important if you use reduced fat sour cream....letting it boil will make it curdle and look unattractive.

If the sauce is too thick, use a spoonful of the starchy pasta cooking water to thin it out to the consistency you so desire
Serve over pasta.

The original recipe called for 1/3 cup of grated Parmesan cheese, but that sounded kind of strange to me. I omitted it and sprinkled our individual portions with a little bit of reduced fat cheddar cheese.
Salsa on top would be good too. That is if you actually remember to put it on your plate instead of leaving it on the counter and forgetting about it until your dinner was nearly finished.

This made three nice sized portions. It could easily be adjusted to feed as few or as many people as you'd like.


FITNESS:

Have you ever had one of those days where you'd rather go to the dentist than go to the gym?
That was me today.
I had a heck of a time getting myself out of the car and into the gym. It's Friday and I was feeling a bit draggy.

Knowing I had about 40 minutes before my class started, I talked myself into just walking on the treadmill.
After putzing around in the locker room, I hopped on the treadmill machine o' torture.
The treadmill and I generally have a cordial and often friendly relationship, but that's not how I felt about it this morning.
The only one available was next to someone who was running. And you know what, if I'm next to someone running, suddenly I feel the need to run as well.

I guess I found the secret to shaking off the don't-want-to-move-would-rather-be-sitting-at-the-computer blues.


FABULOUS FIND:

This is not a new product, but why in the world did it take me so long to buy one?

I love love L-O-V-E it!


Behold the Swiffer Wet Jet.

I guess I never bought one because who wants to spend over $15 on floor cleaning device? That's not a fun way to spend money.
I received a coupon in the mail for $5 off and I just did it.
And I'm so glad.

I bought the cleaner that is good for hardwood floors and everything is so shiny.

I really don't care that I have to buy special cleaner, special cleaning pads and batteries (!).
It's so worth it.

And now maybe I'll wash my floors a little more frequently.
I'm willing to admit that while my house stays pretty clean there is no way I'd eat off my floors.
There's no shame in that.
Thanks to my new wet jet, I just might reconsider.
Maybe. Or not.

I think I'll just enjoy the shiny glow instead.
And stock up on AA batteries.