Loaf Lovers

Remember the healthy BBQ meatloaf from last Monday?

Well it was so darn tasty that Ryan and I decided to make it again. We’re celebrating the one week anniversary of this amazing meatloaf recipe. 😉

BBQ Meatloaf Recipe

 While I added all the spices to the lean groud beef, Ryan chopped the onion since onions make me cry.

Choppin' Onions

Pre-Mixed Meatloaf

As the meatloaf was a-cookin’, we leashed up Sadie for a walk around the lake near our apartment. The city of Orlando put white Christmas lights up in the trees around the lake! It was one festive walk.

When we arrived back home, the smell of BBQ in the air was mouthwatering.

I quickly prepared broccoli for roasting using a recipe I found on Tina’s blog. I was intrigued by this recipe since it called for tossing the broccoli in  sugar before roasting. Who doesn’t need a little more sweetness in their life?

After tossin’ the broc in sugar and olive oil, I broiled the florets for approximately seven minutes, until they were slightly brown and a bit crispy.

Steaming Sweet Roasted Broccoli

Tina wasn’t lying, this really is the best roasted broccoli recipe! I am obsessed. Please note the obnoxious amount of broccoli on my plate as proof of my love of this recipe.

My Plate

The Best Roasted Broccoli Recipe (from CarrotsnCake.com)

Ingredients:

• 2 large heads of broccoli
• 1/8 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

• Cut broccoli into florets
• Toss florets in olive oil and sugar
• Cover baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray or tin foil
• Spread broccoli florets on baking sheet
• Broil for 5-7 minutes until edges of florets turn brown and crispy

Giveaways to Come

One of my favorite things in the world awaited me when I got home from work today: a package! Oh how I love big cardboard boxes full of goodies!

I was really delighted to receive this box of Pop Secret popcorn and 100 calorie packs of Emerald nuts to use for giveaways on this blog.

The Goods

Yay for Packages!

Ann, who sent me the box, also said I could keep a few to sample myself. Yippee! 😀  

Stay tuned for several fun giveaways featuring these goodies.

Popcorn and Nuts

Good Deal Corner:

$5 Hallmark Coupon

Wanna save $5 off your next purchase at Hallmark? Click here for a $5 off coupon to use when you purchase anything at the store including holiday cards, yummy smelling candles, ornaments and more. Love Hallmark!

Bath and Body Works Free $13 Item with $10 Purchase

Click here to receive a free item (valued at up to $13) with your $10 purchase at Bath and Body Works.

Guy Gift: Men’s Health Subscription

By using the code SD201 here, you can receive a subscription to Men’s Health for one year for a special guy in your life (or yourself!) for only $8.

I’ll Trade You Dinner for Lunch

My camera battery died. Oh dear.

I’ll make a deal with you… since my lunch today is a repeat from yesterday’s seafood salad pita pocket, I’m going to bypass that recipe repeat in favor of pictures from last night’s dinner. Sound good? Good!

Just in case you missed my seafood salad pita pocket post, here’s a recap via one picture:

Yum, Yum

As for dinner last night… enter Kraft white cheddar organic macaroni and cheese.

Kraft Organic White Cheeddar Macaroni and Cheese

(Please note the glowing Christmas tree in the background for some holiday flava.)

I made this noodle delight since Ryan and I were feelin’ a quick and easy dinner. I added 2 percent milk to the cheese sauce, but omitted the butter. Neither of us missed it at all!

Bowl o' Mac

The white cheddar flavor is great! We both preferred it to Kraft’s original organic macaroni and cheese. This actually tasted a lot like Annie’s organic white cheddar mac and cheese that Ryan and I tried two months ago.

I love that this carb-heavy meal also contains 10 grams of protein per serving.

Delicious

Posting about this makes me want another bowl! What a comforting childhood meal. The organic variety is great because the super-scary ingredient list on the normal mac and cheese boxes is condensed dramatically. Gotta love it!

Were you a macaroni and cheese kid growing up?

I’ve always loved mac and cheese and used to get so excited when my mom would buy the boxes of pasta with the noodles shaped like my favorite cartoon characters. I would always ask my mom if I could add the cheese to the noodles. It made me feel helpful and important. 🙂

Blueberries and the Weenis

Don’t you just love it when fresh fruit is on sale? It makes me happy. 🙂

Yesterday blueberries were discounted at the grocery store, so you know they made it into my breakfast this morning!

Cranberry Relish with Blueberries

I was even more excited to enjoy my blueberry breakfast after reading an article in Health magazine praising the fruit’s ability to help diminish belly fat. Fat found in the belly is the bad kind (also known as visceral fat), linked to heart disease and diabetes.

My morning meal was sweet, tart and creamy. I enjoyed a cup of Chobani Greek yogurt topped with fresh blueberries and homemade cranberry relish. Easy and satisfying.

Monday Breakfast

My Million Dollar Idea

I think we all have little things that just tick us off. I came across one of my pet peeves this morning on my walk with Sadie.

It was raining outside… not a light drizzle, but not a downpour either. We walk past many houses on our walk and two of the houses had their sprinklers on during the rain. Why!? Let’s overload the grass with water, shall we?

Ryan is constantly on a mission to think of a million-dollar idea. I think a sprinkler system with a rain sensor could be a billion dollar idea! Though knowing my luck, someone’s already invented it.

This happened to me with my last million dollar idea.

When Ryan and I were hiking with Sadie one weekend, we both had to pee. We were on trails in the middle of the woods with no bathroom in sight. Naturally I popped a squat while Ryan sought out a nearby tree. (Sexy, I know.)

This experience made me realize just how uncomfortable it is to be a woman without an adequate toilet around. Squatting might be one of the most awkward things to do, and the tightening of the muscles doesn’t exactly relax me and allow for a relieving pee.

This experience prompted my most promising million dollar idea: the Weenis. The Weenis is a biodegradable cup-type thing that a woman would affix to her area to allow her to pee standing up like a man, thus eliminating the awkward squat and the potential for pee-splatter. It’s biodegradable so it can simply be tossed because, let’s face it, no one would wanna hang on to that bad boy.

Great idea, right?

Well, imagine my horror when my friend emailed me a link to the Shewee. According to Shewee’s Web site:

Shewee is a moulded plastic funnel that provides women with a simple, private and hygienic method of urinating without removing clothes whilst standing AND sitting.

The Shewee

I honestly was aghast that this had already been invented. C’mon! The Weenis was my ticket to billionarieism.

Oh well, back to square one.

Have you ever had a million dollar idea that was already invented?