Lunch Date with My Mate

What a treat! Today I met up with Ryan for a quick lunch date at Jimmy John’s.

My Date

Lovin' My Lunch Date

Ryan met me at work and we walked a block or so to Jimmy John’s, possibly my favorite sandwich chain.

Today I opted for the Bootlegger Club… a turkey and roast beef “unwich” (aka a sandwich with lettuce in place of the bread) with all the veggies and avocado spread.

Turkey and Roast Beef Unwich

It was delicious and really filling. I am always surprised at how filling this sandwich without bread can be, but I think the double portion of meat and the avocado spread really help make it a more substantial meal.

Ryan ordered a beach club sandwich on 7-grain bread.

Ryan's Beach Club

“#12 Beach Club: Fresh baked turkey breast, provolone cheese, avocado spread, sliced cucumber, sprouts, lettuce, tomato, and mayo! (It’s the real deal, and it ain’t even California.)”

JJ’s really knows how to make amazing bread. I ate a few of Ryan’s crust scraps and enjoyed the fresh, doughy goodness.

Wanna know what else I like about Jimmy John’s? The fact that they cannot seem to let go of the holiday season either…

Merry Christmas! Love, Jimmy John's

This weekend I am making a promise to myself to actually get around to taking down the holiday decorations.

Is it weird that I’m still plugging in my Christmas tree every night?

How long do you wait before you take down holiday decorations?

Ridiculous or Really Awesome?

Lunch

My lunchtime wrap was a meal fit for the day after Thanksgiving.

I know it’s nearly Christmas, but since I discovered that you can make cranberry sauce in the microwave, I’m still ridin’ high on cranberry sauce love.

Today my lunch was a slightly revised version of my favorite post-Thanksgiving meal: a turkey sandwich with cranberry sauce.

Yummy Cranberry Sauce

I used a Tam-x-ico’s low carb wheat wrap as my base and smothered it with a creamy Laughing Cow light Swiss cheese wedge before adding cranberry sauce and deli sliced turkey.

Turkey and Cranberry Roll Up

YUM

I had this for lunch yesterday and once again it was delicious! I’m a simple creature, apparently. 🙂

Can you eat the same foods over and over again?

Ryan can. I’m convinced he could exist on the same food for breakfast, lunch and dinner for a year. His meals would be:

• Breakfast: Two scrambled eggs and oatmeal with a scoop of peanut butter
• Snack: Protein bar
• Lunch: Turkey sandwich or salad
• Snack: Cottage cheese and yogurt
• Snack: Protein shake
• Dinner: Whatever random recipe I’m cravin’ 😉
• Snack: Cottage cheese and yogurt (round two!)
• Snack: Protein shake

Yes, that’s eight meals. He’s a growin’ boy! I like a man that can eat. Fortunately for me, Ryan likes a girl who can hold her own at the dinner table too. 😀

I can’t eat the same thing every day. I tend to overeat certain foods when I find something new I love. I be come so obsessed with my latest tasty treat that eventually it loses its luster… kinda like a new song on the radio that gets overplayed.

Rudolph Your Car

I called Ryan on my way to work today to tell him about my latest holiday discovery.

I’ve been kind of bummed this year because I purchased enough holiday decor in the past to adequately decorate our apartment. I haven’t been able to buy any fun decorations for fear that our place would look like an indoor version of the Griswold’s house.

Bling, Bling

I think it’s time to move on to decorating something else… my car!

I called Ryan the minute a gorgeous blue mini-van pulled up next to me sportin’ these bad boys:

Rudolph Car

How cool is that!?

Ryan told me I was ridiculous and would look like a 24-year-old soccer mom if I Rudolph-ed up my SUV.

I think it’s FABULOUS, and for $14.99, you can’t go wrong.

Also, good news for Ryan, I found other car costumes he can buy to sport some holiday cheer too!

Happy Holidays!

So now I gotta ask… Whose side are you on? Is this ridiculous or really awesome?

Family Time All the Time

I’ve been quite the busy blogger! Our family trip to Gettysburg for Thanksgiving has been full of quality time with our aunts, uncles, cousins and grandmothers. Needless to say, this lil’ blog has been severely neglected.

In the time I haven’t been blogging, I have been doing a lot of one thing: eating! Yow-za.

Thanksgiving Day Lunch

On Thanksgiving morning, I woke up and went for a 50 minute run with my dad. I loved the change in scenery and actually enjoyed the hills. It was a neat change from the flat roads of Florida. Plus, it was nice to have a running buddy to talk to (not that Sadie isn’t a joy as well).

After a quick shower and lunch, my sister, dad and I left my one grandma’s house to visit our other grandmother.

Me, My Dad and Leslie

When we were done visiting with our grandma, we came back to my other grandmother’s house where appetizers were waiting.

appetizers

I ate way too many appetizers and by the time Thanksgiving dinner was ready I was barely hungry. That didn’t stop me from fixin’ myself a plate though. It was Thanksgiving after all!

Turkey

After dinner, my cousin Andrew, my sister and I made sugar cookies using my grandma’s famous recipe.

Sugar Cookie Dough

The Bakers

Cooked Cookie

These cookies are unreal. The smell, taste, texture… everything is perfect! Yummy!

Thanksgiving was wonderful. My stomach hurt from laughing so much at dinner. I went to bed with a full and happy belly!

Today

Today was another busy day full o’ family fun!

Cousins

Three cars full of relatives gathered at my grandma’s house! I am the oldest of all the cousins and felt even older when I couldn’t help but think about how much my cousins have grown! I’m gettin’ old, my friends.

The Adults

After our relatives from Maryland left, my mom, aunt, sister and cousin Andrew headed to Boyd’s Bears, a huge barn full of stuffed teddy bears. It was ginormous!

En Route to Boyd's Bears

Boyd's Bears

Me, My Mom and Bubba the Bear

The outside was decked out with Christmas decor, but that was nothing compared to the interior.

Cozy Fireplace

Inside

We had the best time looking at all the bears and huggin’ on the stuffed animals.

I Loved the Pigs!

The piggies were so cute! I bought a lil’ pig pig. 🙂

Andrew the Bear

We also couldn’t stop laughing when we saw a bull with quite the anatomically correct appendage.

Bull... Pretty sure it's a boy, no?

I loved this store and could have spent hours looking at everything. There were three floors of bears and toys. What a dream!

When we got home we played several rounds of games, including Catch Phrase (my favorite), and made a big batch of brownies with M & M’s and peanut butter chips stirred in. Now we’re ordering subs and pizza for a cozy night of more family fun.

We’re heading back to Florida tomorrow. I’m excited to see Ryan and my little Sadie girl! 🙂 I miss my lil’ Orlando fam!

Green Scene

Lunch today was quite the scene of green.

The Green Machine

I made a salad using several green ingredients:

• Spinach
• Celery
• Green beans
• Broccoli
• Apple
• Turkey
• Feta cheese
• Annie’s Naturals raspberry vinaigrette dressing

Dressing so good you could drink it!

Salads full of veggies, cheese, fruit and meat are a lot more satisfying to me than plain lettuce and dressing. It’s fun to taste something different every bite.

I know Ryan isn’t big on fruit in his salad. I, on the other hand, love fruit in pretty much anything, so I’m quite the fan. Do you like fruit in your salad? Any favorites?

Easy Dinner

Tonight I will be kicking off holiday movie night with some of my girlfriends. Each week through Christmas we’ll watch a holiday movie one night a week at a different girl’s apartment. I’m excited!

Since I’ll be out of the house by 7 p.m. tonight, our Sadie-walking/ dinner-cooking window is tight tonight. To be sure Sadie gets her walk and we have time to eat before I go, I placed the pork for tonight’s  dinner in the crock pot before I left for work.

Stay tuned for the easiest pulled pork recipe in the world!

A Poopy Post

Ever wonder where pumpkin pie comes from?

The Creation of Pumpkin Pie

My aunt sent that picture to me in an email yesterday and I just had to share! Who knew pumpkin turds were so tasty?

This reminds me of other poop-related holiday humor. Have you ever been the recipient of a bag of snowman poop?

(Picture from Crafts.PeteandKerry.com)

Or reindeer poop?

(Picture from HomeStyleDivas.com)

Or perhaps pumpkin poop?

(Picture from Crafts.PeteandKerry.com)

Who knew potty humor could enhance the holiday spirit?

Lunch

The bagel sandwich I ate for lunch today is one of my favorite ways to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers.

You only need four ingredients, two of which are Thanksgiving staples:

• Turkey
• Cranberry Sauce/ Relish
• Cream Cheese
• Bread

I spread the cream cheese on top of my sweet wheat Alternative Bagel before adding several spoonfuls of the cranberry relish I made last week on top of the creamy spread.

Sweet Wheat Bagel with Cranberry Relish and Cream Cheese

I then placed several slices of Boar’s Head lower sodium turkey on the bagel sandwich and dug in!

With the Turkey!

Yummy

My Lunch

This sandwich helped me further realize just how much I can’t wait for Thanksgiving to come! I’ve been anxiously awaiting this holiday for a while and now my taste buds are just as excited.

What’s your favorite way to enjoy Thanksgiving leftovers?