Rainy Day Baking

Before heading out to run some errands, I fueled up with a ricotta-based lunch.

I seriously love this cheese!

I topped a big bowl of roasted veggies with two very large spoonfuls of ricotta cheese, marinara sauce and Parmesan cheese.

Veggies

Lotsa Ricotta

Lunch

It was delish!

After lunch, I headed out to run some errands and by the time I headed home the weather took a turn for the worse and it was poooouring outside!

Rainy Day Coconut Meringues

Rainy days make me want to bake!

Something about baking and the smell of something sweet in the oven makes a home feel oh-so-cozy.

I didn’t have too many quality baking ingredients on hand, but I had the essentials to whip up a batch of coconut meringues.

Whip It, Whip It Good

I whipped up egg whites, cream of tartar and coconut extract until soft peaks formed.

I then added Splenda (Yes, I use Splenda… Gasp!) and continued to whip the mix until the Splenda was fully incorporated.

Pre-Cooked

Within 12 minutes, I had soft, fluffy coconut meringue cookies!

Coconut Meringues

The meringues were a light, sweet and tasty snack!

Dinner is almost ready… Gotta run!

Coconut Meringues (Sugar Free)

Ingredients:

• 2 egg whites
• 1/8 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/2 tsp. coconut extract
• 1/3 c. Splenda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Mix egg whites, cream of tartar and coconut extract until soft peaks form. Slowly mix in the Splenda until fully incorporated. Place spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray and bake for 10 – 15 minutes. Enjoy!

Pancakes and Pedicures

This morning has been the opposite of most Sunday mornings… It’s been productive.

Being the “driver” that he is, Ryan had us over at our old apartment doing the dreaded final clean by 8:30 a.m.

Breakfast

Before we left to vacuum, scrub, polish and sweep, I made us a filling breakfast of apple cinnamon pancakes to sustain us through the clean.

Pancake Mix

I used the Farmgirl pancake mix that I gave to Ryan in his Valentine’s Day foodie basket.

Fluffy 'Cakes

After topping the ‘cakes with syrup and eating every last one, we headed over to the old pad to get crackin’ on cleaning.

Pancakes + Syrup

We cleaned for a few hours which was miserable totally great.

Mid-Morning Snack

I had an appointment with my friend Merri to get a pedicure in the early afternoon, and fortunately we were done cleaning about 20 minutes before my appointment.

I grabbed a yummy snack before heading out the door to meet Merri.

I made a berry barley bowl with barley, Greek yogurt and thawed frozen strawberries.

Berries 'n' Barley

Yogurt Barley Berry Bowl

Pedicures 

Whenever I get a pedicure I always think I’m going to go in and pick a new, funky color.

For my last pedicure in January I picked a dark purple to be wintery. It looked almost black and I felt quite goth.

Back in September, I picked what I thought was a hot pink color for my toes before we left on a cruise with our friends. In the sunlight it ended up looking orange. Ick!

Today, I figured I’d select a nice, safe color, which, for me, is always some shade of pink. 😀

After seeing the color Merri selected, I instantly put my darker pink color back on the shelf and decided to go with the same color she picked. We now have matching toes. 😉

Pinky

I got home and did the “don’t step on my toes, dance around the puppy” dance to make sure Sadie didn’t step on my feet and ruin my fresh pedicure.

The "Don't Step on My Toes, Dance Around the Puppy" Dance

Pedicure Squat

I don’t want to jinx myself, but the “dance” has, so far, proven successful and my toes are in tact. 😉

Plans

Plans for the rest of the day include unpacking (are you sick of hearing about moving yet!?) and running to the grocery store and Marshall’s to return shoes and pick up some necessities for the new apartment. You know I’ll be spending in inordinate amount of time in the specialty foods aisle as well… 😉

What are you doing on this fine Sunday?

Please share! I love reading about what you guys are up to!