Relaxin’

I find many different activities relaxing. I genuinely enjoy cooking and baking and find that making cookies from scratch soothes me (as does eating the cookies).

Today consisted of quite a few relaxing activities. What better way to kick off a Sunday than with a big ol’ pancake breakfast?

I made a big batch of fluffy pancakes using half apple cinnamon pancake mix and half Bisquick Heart Smart mix.

Pancake Mixes

These two mixes really complimented each other and the pancakes tasted great!

Cookin' Cakes

Doctored Up

After a satisfying breakfast, Ryan and I took Sadie to the dog park to run around for an hour or so. I find the dog park oddly relaxing as well. I love watching dogs run around and just be dogs. They’re so funny!

Sadie found a ball to play with almost immediately.

"Throw It!"

"Come and Get It!"

Woohooooo!

The weather was a little chilly outside, but I was bundled up and didn’t mind. Sadie ran around like a mad woman. Chilly weather makes her extra frisky.

After the park, we came home and did some chores around the apartment. Laundry: Done! Dishes: Done!

When Ryan went off to soccer practice, I headed out to Hallmark to pick up a card for our six year anniversary tomorrow. Yowzaa! Six years! 😀

I came home and felt like bakin’. I made some blueberry protein muffins that turned out okay. Nothing phenomenal, but still tasty enough to enjoy.

Protein Muffin Batter

Baked Muffins

Muffin!

Protein Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 c. old fashioned oats
• 1/2 c. oats blended in the food processor (or oat flour)
• 4 scoops protein powder (I used All the Whey cupcake batter protein powder)
• 1/2 c. applesauce
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• blueberries (fresh or frozen)
• chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all of the ingredients together before folding in desired amount of blueberries. Pour into muffin tins lined with muffin liners and bake for 15 minutes or until tops become slightly brown.

I ate two muffins which kept me full until lunchtime.

For lunch I enjoyed a lavash pizza with broccoli, plum tomatoes and mozzarella cheese.

Lavash Pizza

Pizza Close Up

I wish I could make pizzas like this at work for weekday lunches! We need an oven in the break room. 😉

Later this afternoon, Ryan and I went to go see New Moon at the discount movie theater near our apartment. The theater shows movies that are out of the main theater, but not yet available on DVD. I love this theater because you can still enjoy a movie on the big screen, but tickets are no more than $3 each (on Tuesdays they’re $1!).

We split a medium popcorn. Why is movie theater popcorn so darn delicious??? (The butter… duh.)

We got home a little before 7 p.m., and I chatted on the phone with two of my girlfriends who live up north for a while. Why does talking to someone who lives so far away make me miss them even more? 😦 I wish I got to see my best friends from high school more often.

Who are you missing today?

“Here She Comes…”

“…Miss Ameeeeerica!”

The Miss America watch party at our friends’ Merri and Pete’s apartment was a blast!

Merri is a wonderful hostess and within five minutes of walking in the door I had a glass of my favorite kind of wine in my hand.

Relax Riesling

My parents gave me a bottle of Relax Riesling wine for my college graduation in the spring of 2007 and I’ve been obsessed with it ever since!

Aside from my favorite wine, Merri and Pete had a beautiful display of food… the majority of which was really healthy!

Fresh Fruit

Veggies

The Spread

I am a fruit lover and gobbled up a lot of the delicious fruit. The grapes were perfect – really crunchy, but very sweet.

Merri also brought out homemade spinach artichoke dip which I ate a ton of as well. It was cheesy, creamy and homemade how was I to resist?

Unfortunately our sorority sister, Miss Florida, didn’t make it all the way in the pageant, but she looked beyond gorgeous and her body was smokin’. I gotta get on the Miss America fitness plan, STAT! 😉 Great job, Rachael! 

Before leaving, Ryan and I managed to stuff ourselves with tons of cookie dough and a billion oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies. Merri made a huge batch and we dug in!

Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookies

I had more than five… I am officially a cookie monster. 😀

I’m off to make breakfast. Pancakes are callin’ my name!

I hope you all have a relaxing Sunday. I’m going to try to swindle Ryan into seeing New Moon (the second Twilight movie) with me at the dollar movie theater since I still haven’t seen it. Wish me luck!