One Smart Cookie

Phew! I feel like I have a hundred things to say in today’s post! I better get to breakfast first before it gets lost in the melee! I shook things up in the ole bowl this morning. I had about a 1/3 of a cup of All Bran Buds left in a bag that was just sucking up precious pantry space so I used them up. Here ya go!



-1 cup water
-1/4 cup Quaker oats
-approx 1/3 cup of All Bran Buds
-half a mashed banana
-1/4 cup blueberries
-cinnamon
-1 tsp pumpkin flavored coffee powder
-sprinkle of cinnamon sugar



I was worried that this combo wouldn’t keep me full as long as a normal bowl of oats, but it did the trick. It’s nice to switch things up sometimes, isn’t it?!

I ate some pineapple-green tea infused yogurt for a snack last night. This yogurt has such a great kick to it!



Ms. Bender dropped me a line last night to let me know that when she tries to leave a comment on my blog, it disappears. Is anyone else having this problem? If so, please email me (kristaskravings@gmail.com) and let me know. I am trying to figure out what the issue is so I can correct this inconvenient blip…..I HATE thinking that I may be missing comments! I thoroughly enjoy reading what everyone has to say!

Speaking of comments, if you ask a question in my comment section, please check back in as I will respond there. I find that easier on me time wise than emailing everybody. I don’t want anybody thinking that I’m being snobby and ignoring your inquiries!

At 11am, I felt like a little something so I ate an apple that’s been patiently waiting on my desk the past 3 days to be consumed.



Tasty little devil! I must try harder to not forget about my apples as snacks!

I’m without a vehicle today, but that’s okay because it is gorgeous outside and I (my knee) needed to take a break from the treadmill so I took the opportunity to go for a 45 min walk. I wound through a new subdivision and drooled at all the beautiful houses and then made my way down a path and to my favorite trail. It was so peaceful and serene down there and....I didn’t like that! I don’t like traveling on trails alone because I become VERY nervous that something might happen to me. I know, I watch too much crime TV, but these things do happen! I told myself to stop being such a baby and just bit the bullet and went and I was nervous the whole (15mins) time. Yes, I suck, but I was sure glad to be back on the sidewalk! It’s OK, you can laugh at me! I covered about 2.5 miles in 40ish minutes.

Lunch was a mish mosh of stuff because when I was preparing it last night I really didn’t feel like anything. I got some yogurt cheese going before bed so I took that with some pineapple coconut jam and granola to mix in.



Here's the jam that I used. It's from my favorite country store, Knapp's.



I adore yogurt cheese! It’s a perfect Greek yogurt substitute...so creamy and smooth. I also packed grapes and a raspberry pumpkin muffin.




Every year after Halloween, the school my kids attend holds a “candy drive”. The idea is that the kids bring in their unwanted candy and it’s all donated to a charity called “Canadian Food For Children”. The candy is sent to several developing countries to help stimulate the metabolisms of starving children. They have been doing this for over 10 years now. This morning I had the kids go through all their stuff and pull out what they don’t like and then I went through the bags and removed some more things like suckers, gumballs & rockets. They were very generous and I’m sure they won’t miss a few more things from their mountain of a candy stash!

I’ve always known that my DD is one smart cookie, but I was reminded last night while having a fun little conversation with her. We were talking about dinner and how I used the crockpot roast to make the sauce. I explained to her that for the cost of an $8.00 roast, we were getting 5 meals...Tuesday’s dinner, hubby’s roast beef sandwich lunch, pasta sauce for Wednesday’s dinner, an extra container of sauce for the freezer and hubby’s leftover pasta lunch. She looked over at the container meant for the freezer with big eyes and said, “we could add broth to that sauce and make soup or some beans and make chili!” And that is how my 9 year old daughter looks at things! I looked at the container and saw sauce, she looked at it and saw MUCH more! I should learn from her to think outside the box more often! Little did she know that her comment was behind tonight’s dinner creation (read
on)...!

We were able to pick up our van tonight. The brakes lines needed to be replaced. I saw the ones they took out and they looked rough. Yowza! Good thing we had that looked at before the snow hit.

Dinner tonight was soup and sandwiches. I pulled out a container of lentil & rice pilaf from the freezer and popped it I the microwave to defrost a bit. I combined it with 4 cups of chicken stock and voila...soup's on! (This was where DD's creativity came in.) I also made a tofu grilled cheese for myself with a laughing cow cheese wedge. Mmm, Mmm, good!



Of course there's a serving left for my lunch tomorrow. Had you any doubts?! My sweet end was a chocolate/peanut curves bar. Nailed my chocolate craving and kept me out of the Halloween candy!

This evening will be dedicated to reading and then CSI later on. Tomorrow will be a busy day at work and at play so I plan to take advantage of the down time tonight. Hope you all enjoy the night!

Bye for now!