In Which I Burn Some Brussels

Yesterday I forgot my camera at home so I didn't get a picture of most of my eats! When I got home last night I made zucchini bread.
A friend gave me a Make Your Own Vanilla Extract kit last Christmas, which I used for the first time on this recipe. In the kit you get a bottle, and several nice vanilla beans. Split the beans lengthwise, place them in the bottle and fill with vodka, bourbon, or rum. It has to sit for a few months before use. You can refill several times using the same liquor. I used Vodka.
Moving on to today.
It has been one of those days. I woke up late, dreaming about work. Someone forgot to set the alarm (me)! Usually my cat comes in and screams at me to wake up and feed her. She was nowhere to be found this morning. I was planning a bigger breakfast, and more of a lunch, but that didn't happen. Also, my eyes are bloodshot and really dry today.
So breakfast was Oikos yogurt and honey, and no I didn't use that much honey! I recently bought a little jug of local honey, and it poured out quite quickly.Work coffee (I buy cheaper stuff for work than home - does anyone else do this?) and Zucchini Bread!
Around 10:30 I had a granny smith apple and an ounce of cheddar
This cheese is not very good. It is supposed to be a sharp cheddar, and instead it tastes like butter. Ugh. Of course I'm eating it anyway.
Lunch was a disaster. When I was running out the door this morning I grabbed a box of soup thinking I had enough at work to feed me. Well, turns out it was expired! After emailing a few loved ones on whether I should eat it or not, I decided not to.
I do have a really strong stomach, but the fact that it was Friday and the chance that food poisoning could ruin my weekend made me not eat it.
So instead I had a Campbell's Soup to Go - Chicken Noodleand half a pita.
Talk about disappointing. I bought these Campbell's soups on sale a while ago, but they are just not tasty when you're used to homemade or more premium soups. Plus their ingredient list was very long.
Oh well, bottom's upLater in the day I had some Peanut Butter Puffins to appease my hungry stomach.
And no, I did not just have 4 squares. These are the ones that escaped my mouth.
Dinner:
When I got home from a long hard day of work, I opened one of these:Meh. It was either their Brown Ale or the Pale Ale that I like better. [Word to the wise, if you visit their website, don't have your volume all the way up like me.] I only drank half, and moved on to water and kettle chips.For dinner, I decided on roasted potatoes, brussels sprouts, and a Morning Star Mushroom Lovers Burger.
The potato was just cut in pieces, tossed in olive oil and salt and pepper. Brussels are done a particular way. Cut them in half after washing.Dry or spin them.
Toss in olive oil (or spray) and one clove of minced garlic. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Garnish with a tablespoon of pine nuts (or less)Sometimes I add the pine nuts in the middle of cooking so that they're less burnt. About 20-40 minutes later they're done.
The potatoesAnd Mushroom Burger with a square of feta to the left.
I had an Octoberfest with dinner. Yum!

Saturday

Breakfast: Eggs in toast, or toad in the hole, whatever you will. I just call it Good!


Looks done. Watch your "hole"( TWSS) because boyfriends and housemates will come by and snatch it out of the pan. This is good with a slice of ham, grits, or other such Grand Slam, weekend comfy breakfast options.
I chose a piece of thin deli ham.My ham folded itself into a fortune cookie shape, that's what my mother would call "an auspicious sign".


*Saturday Morning*
Today is going to be like most of my Saturdays lately: catchup! Grocery shopping, housecleaning, general budgeting, laundry, cooking, baking, etc. Hopefully I can see my friend and possibly make one or two sweet potato breads. They're in demand lately.
I went grocery shopping earlier today to get it out of the way. It's a Saturday, and a GAME DAY, so I avoid the crowds as much as possible. If you don't live in a sports town in the deep south, consider yourself lucky yer missin' out. It is an All Day Affair, with cooking smells and drunk driving and whoopin' and hollerin' and traffic jams.

I went to a great open air grocery store in Baton Rouge that I visit weekly. I asked management if I could take pictures, and I was politely turned down. That's too bad, because it was glorious in there today, piles upon piles of fruit and vegetables, along with great frozen produce (like okra, corn, beans), and wonderful dried goods like grits, beautiful beans, rice, nuts, and pasta. I especially love the specialty items like spices, rubs, sauces, jam, jelly, peppers, relish, and cheese. Almost everything there is local, and have cool labels. The most popular adjectives in this state are definitely Cajun and Creole.
I took pictures of what I bought when I got home though.
Bell pepper, 4 irish potatoes, 4 Louisiana sweet potatoes, garlic, grape tomatoes,
Carrots, ginger, broccoli
Huge nice onion. I just remembered some advice to buy small onions though, I think they're more potent. Sigh.

Potatoes are cheap, filling, and there are a hundred things you can do with them.
I also picked up some broccoflower, or Romanesco. The boyfriend has been wanting to try this ever since we heard about it. Fractal food!
I usually have to buy something cool or new, so today I picked up Bernard's Acadiana honey. Fruit: two gala apples, 3 granny smith apples, a few small bananas, and 3 California grapefruit.
All this came to 29.00. I usually spend about 20 bucks there, but today I splurged on the honey (8.99 - worth it).

At the other store I picked up only a few items interesting. I've looked for Arnold's thins, and then went to their website only to be told that they do not sell to Louisiana. Your loss! We may be po', but we like bread. I picked up some Orowheat thins to see if they're any good.
And thanks to Green Dog Allison, I now want Pirate's Booty, so I got some!
It didn't come in a treasure chest though. Sniff sniff.
The boyfriend and I have been eating Clif bars, mostly as fuel for workouts and long bicycle rides. Unfortunately there is no Costco, BJ's, or whatever other large grocery store in town. There's also no Trader Joe's.
I know, seriously!
I've bought Clif bars and the like online and in single packs in drugstores, so I was psyched to see them at Target for just under 6 bucks for a 6 pack. The only downside was there weren't a lot of flavors. I like Carrot Cake and Cool Chocolate Mint the most.
Mmmmm! Pirate's Booty....