Sunday, for real

Once again, I have don't have a whole to say. Did you know there are no Elder Beermans in Virginia? It's true. My major mission today was to find one. I failed.

My gnome will destroy you.

Also, I want everyone to know, I hate that game. See it, there on the screen? I hate it. There is no pause, so you can't talk to him, because it takes all of his extreme concentration. And, it takes a long time to finish a game. Yeah, that game you see on the screen there, I have no idea when it started, but it's still going and I stopped in the middle of this post to talk to Tominda on the phone.

AND! It makes him yell random curse words, call upon God in a loud voice, and pound on the mouse. I am not a fan.

I lied about giving you the recipe. You will get it later. YOU.

Actually for Saturday

Laundry, when viewed from the floor, as it hangs drying.

DELICIOUS comfort food that I shall give the recipe to tomorrow, or today, depending on how you view things.

The husband, when viewed from the floor.

I didn't do much today. Mostly read a book and was useless and perhaps even slept until about noon today. But, I did the laundry, which surely counts for something.
Something more entertaining will be posted tomorrow.

Date Night!

Oh hai!

Not much to say today; it was date night with the Husband because it is our month-a-versary! What's that ducklings? You've never heard of a monthaversary? Well, it is that magical day of the month for the Strains where everything magically fell into place. The 28th, to be exact. Why the 28th? So many questions. The answer is simple! The Husband and I started dating on February 28th. Our birthday, as we share one, is September 28th. And we were married on August 28th. (I've also decided I'll stop aging when I hit 28. Seems like a good number.)

So tonight, we went to a new pizza place and then we had ice cream and it was glorious, as pizza and ice cream are two of my favorite things and, coincidentally, they are the Husband's as well. Here is the picture for today!


Actual Conversation with the Husband:
Me: Am I pretty?
Husband: Mmmm-hmmm. Beside my glory though, you know, it's hard to shine. But you try.

Match made in heaven.

Day of Blah

Oh, the horrors I could regal you with had I the inclination. Let it suffice to say that I spent two hours getting to work today, most of those hours spent hanging out on the Red Line of the DC Metro. They should have a large sign over the entrance to any red line stop that says, "Abandon all hope and plans of being on time, ye who enter here."

It's enough to make a person just a little crazy. That, my friends, is what I fear the most. That I will leave this city an insane individual, warped beyond recognition by the powers that be in this city, public transportation. Cynical, I will become, when faced with the disdain and contempt of my fellow riders. Rude, I will be, when I am pushed onto a full train with no standing room for anyone, let alone the jerk face behind me who continues to shove. Murderer, I will be named, if someone dares to shunt me along from behind again. Or maybe not, if the rude lady that was shoving me from behind, and is somehow now in front of me, continues to get her stupidly furry hood stuck in the train doors. While I stand from the safety of the platform and poke at the white hood that is now accumulating dirt from the grimy train doors. Maybe I will not be these things, because I risked my hand to get her hood shoved inside the doors, so the train would not be offloaded due to a "train malfunction". Maybe, I will continue to be my cheerful, positive self.

Dear Lord I hope so.

My sincere thanks to the anonymous rider beside me, who gave me a "Well done" for rescuing all of us from a sincerely overcrowded platform, due to a "train malfunction". I am an unsung Metro Hero. I deserve a medal.

Flowers to brighten your winter day.

Snow and Scarves

Only slackers leave work at 3:10.

Today was a most excellent day at work, mostly because it ended early! DC is apparently under some sort of supposed snow-pocalypse, so the federal government sent their people home early, just in case. Thankfully, the place I work for operates on the same policy as the feds. I scoffed at it at the time, but once I actually got out to Alexandria and the car was slipping around on the roads, I was pretty glad. I imagine that if I had left at my normal time, I would have gotten stuck on a few of the smaller hills on the way to the apartment.

The picture you see here is the time it was when I left work and headed for the Metro. There was no snow, so I actually felt bad for leaving work early. It seemed that many of my co-workers were staying; it made me feel guilty. However, by the time I hit Huntington Metro Station, it was pouring down the rain/snow, it was super slick, and mostly just unpleasant. Therefore, I no longer feel bad about leaving work two hours early. I wasn't doing anything particularly important anyway.

Scarves! Glorious scarves!

The day was further made fantastic by the arrival of a box from my mother, filled with a few of my favorite things: scarves. She knows my weaknesses. I have taken a picture in order to share with everyone the rapture I felt at receiving, not one, nor two, but THREE scarves from my Momma!

The Husband had me stand beside my already impressive collection of scarves, so everyone could truly grasp my obsession. I don't have any scarves of that color however! I am quite pleased with my Mom's decisions, even if I am running out of space on my scarf hanger...I'll just get another.
Thanks Mom! (It would be awesome if she could do this with shoes as well.)

In other news, I watched Secretariat on DVD for most the evening (new favorite, I slobber through the entire thing) and did a Tae Bo video. Billy Blanks is funny.
Fingers crossed for a work delay tomorrow, or even a cancellation! (I'm a bum.)

Seriously Short Update

Monday's Picture

Here is a picture from Monday. It's of P street, which is a road near where I work where I often go for lunch. It has many delicious places to dine at, all for a relatively good price. You can't see these places in this picture, but trust me, they are there. Take for instance, Sakana. The sushi is fantastic and the women who work there hate me, but they know my face now and sorta smile if they're not too busy. Or the place called Panas. They people there are friendly and they have a limited amount of chairs, but the empanadas are great and I love their deal of three empanadas, plantain chips, and a drink. Always fantastic for lunch. I actually took this shot as I was walking up P street towards my office from a new find, Crepes a Go Go. Unfortunately, I just saw today that the apartments above the restaurant were on fire and Crepes might be closed for a while. Curses.

Picture for today: Tuesday

The picture for today is the dash board of my friend C's car. She very kindly gave me a ride home from school yesterday and today. I love her car, it has seat warmers. I'm also jealous cause that giant screen you see there is a gps and other wonderous things. Also, check out the ring on her finger! She has such wonderful accessories. I must learn from her. C! Let me be your Padawan!

Sick on a Sunday

Indeed friends, that is a "sick kit". The Husband has been puking ALL day. Anything we put in his stomach only gets to visit for about 15 minutes before the stomach police violently reject them out into the trash can. It's awesome!

It's weird. He doesn't have a temperature (I've checked twice), but his stomach hurts and he feel nauseous. It's very strange. I am hoping that it is a one day bug and it will pass from his system soon, but if he's not better by tomorrow, I am going to drag him to the doctor. He looks so pathetic!  

Poor Husband, with the trash can and his sippy cup. 

Clutching to a bottle of ginger ale. Sad.

Savory Saturday 3 +

Today was pretty awesome. On my way to pick up The Husband from the metro, I ran across this beauty of a bumper and was compelled to take a picture so that I could share it with you all.

What caught my eye was the large sticker that proclaims the car as a "Dyke Mobile". Other stickers say things such as, "Is it GAY in here, or is it just me?" The license plate says Reinbow which = Rainbow, if you can't make that leap yourself; and the frame around the plate says "I'd rather be scaring straight people."
This is an awesome car.
Other stickers: I'd rather be swimming with bare naked women!
Out an proud!
If you don't like gay marriage, blame straight people. They keep having gay babies.
And my all time favorite: "I'm so gay, I shit rainbows."

Epic win. Epic. I really do appreciate someone who is really proud of who they are, or at least is trying to convince everyone else that they are. As loudly as possible. Seriously though, this car sorta made my day. Enough in fact that I was compelled to take a picture. (Mom, I was stopped at a stop light.)  But, do you guys see that pink stuff there on the left side? At first, I thought it was, like, pink flames or something, more decorations, you know? However, I'm almost certain this car and another car got waaaay to close to each other and the driver of the Dyke Mobile made lemonade out of lemons and decorated with pink duct tape.
Seriously epic.

On to the food for today! I got another Cooking Light book (I might have an obsession) and it's Cooking Light for the Crockpot! Hurray! I also got a new crockpot today that has a timer on it, which is lovely. I did a vegetarian dish today, because it looked the best last time I was making my menu for the week.

From Cooking Light: Slow Cooker - Spicy Black Bean - Corn Casserole 

3 tablespoons diced green chiles, divided
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup chopped green onions
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 (15 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (11 oz.) can corn with red and green bell peppers, drained
1 (10 oz.) can enchilada sauce
1/2 cup egg substitute
1 (8 1/2 oz.) package corn muffin mix
2 tablespoons chopped bottled roasted red bell peppers
1 1/2 cups pre-shredded reduced fat Mexican blend or Cheddar cheese
6 tablespoons reduced fat sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons thinly sliced fresh cilantro

1. Place 2 tablespoons green chiles and next 6 ingredients in a 3 1/2 quart electric slow cooker, stir well. Cover and cook on LOW 4 hours.
2. Combine remaining 1 tablespoon green chiles, egg substitute, muffin mix, and roasted red bell peppers in a bowl. Spoon batter evenly over bean mixture in cooker. Cover and cook 1 hour or until corn bread is done.
3. Sprinkle cheese over corn bread. Cover and cook 5 minutes or until cheese melts. Top each serving with sour cream; sprinkle with cilantro.
Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup casserole, 1 tablespoon sour cream, and 1/4 teaspoon cilantro)
Calories: 366

Lindsey's NOM rating: 4 1/2 stars out of 5 (I would have given it five, but JR and The Husband talked it down. Damn food snobs.)

Cheerio, duckies.

Look What I Can Do!

This morning was another FUBAR of a trip on the DC metro but I thought that it would be too soon to post another picture of many people crowded onto a platform with murder in their eyes. Instead, I bring you this little tid-bit, a fantastic blog like my own, but purely centered on the DC Metro. Unsuck DC Metro is actually rather helpful and a good way to hate the system while still using it. Kudos to them.

The Husband went to a happy hour this evening, leaving me to my own devices (I decided to go home and wreck havoc.) I like for us to do separate things every now and then, it reminds me that I'm an independent person and I have things to do. My plan for today was to cook the recipe that I picked the food out for (because the veggies were starting to get a bit flopsy), do my homework (to be ahead of schedule and responsible), and maybe clean up the apartment after I did my exercise video.

I would like my readers to know that after I came home and devoured three chocolate and peanut butter chips cookies, I read part of a book, cooked my dinner (it was ok), read more of the book and ate dinner at the same time, read more of the book, did my exercise video and finished the book. And, I experimented with my hair. I have, of course, documented the experiment for your entertainment.

I must never go out in public.

Cheese, ya'll.

It was at this exact moment that I realized I resembled Cloud Strife. I am an anime character.

Another realization: I am Lady Gaga without the mask. Just the hair.

Haters gonna hate.

I am a danger to myself. Please keep all gels far from me, someone could lose an eye.

Castles In DC

 Check this place out. It's a castle. Seriously. Actually, I believe the correct term is "late-Victorian home", but I imagine that the Victorians secretly called it a castle. This place is just down the street from where I work, I actually have a friend who works inside. (Their offices are just located there; no relationship to the castle.) There is a law office in there too, I think, but the main portion is a museum and they give tours of the place. I've been in once and stood in the turret, on the third floor. I have not taken the tour, to my everlasting shame.

The castle was built by a German turned American, Christian Heurich, a brewmaster. The guy brewed beer. It was built between 1892-1894 and was completely fireproof, which was unheard of at the time. According to history, to ensure that it was fireproof, the fireplaces were never used.

The owner, good 'ole Heurich, was the world's oldest brewmaster and owned three pretty big breweries in DC. He was also a philanthropist, employed the most German's in the DC area, and was the second largest landowner in DC, right after the Feds. He was 102 when he passed away.

If you want more information, you can check out their website. They have a really nice garden/park in the back that is open in the summer. I visit it with JR for lunch and we picnic back there. I have also seen evidence that the park has been used as a place to have weddings and I see on the Brewmaster website that you can rent the place for just such an occasion. At any rate, it's very nice. I plan to take a tour someday.

NSFW!

 I found this little jewel on the sidewalk when I was walking to take a picture of the castle. I lol'ed for real.

The Morning Commute

I would like to be the first to say, I love public transportation. Maybe I'm just lazy, but I love having someone else driving me to work. I like hopping on the Metro and arriving at an acceptable distance from where I work and then walking over. I get to check out the weather and breath in the (sorta) fresh air before I trap myself in a building for the better part of the day. I like that if I'm late, it's usually not my fault. If it is my fault, it's totally ok to blame the public transportation. They don't mind. I like not having to worry about parking, which I find to be a particular bitch in any city larger than where I grew up. (Sad state of affairs, ducklings, sad state.)

Today, I did not love public transportation. To the right, you will notice a ton of people, all crowded onto a tiny platform. Just moments before, on a crowded train, I listened to the conductor push buttons repeatedly, in an attempt to get the doors to close. Since this did not happen, I then heard the words, "Customers, we're gonna have to offload at this station, due to a train malfunction."

Malfunction my ass. I know there was some broad with a super giant purse in there, holding the doors open. (I do not know this, but I like to pretend. It's better than operating with the knowledge that the DC metro system is old and falling apart and no one thought it might need updates at some point.)

But yes, that was the morning commute today. It took about 20 - 30 minutes longer than it usually does. But yes, I love public transportation.

Last thing:

Pilates are hard!

Ice, Ice, Baby

I woke up this morning to the land of ice. I think it took about half an hour to clear our car windows of the ice that had frozen over the entire thing in a shield of ice. We were like a tank of ice. Ice tank.

This is not our car. I just liked the blue color on this one.

Check out how covered in ice this pine tree is. Sweet. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pimp My Husband

Today, whilst chowing down on some naan at a cute little place called Indique with JR and the Husband, I heard the Husband ask this question: "May I dip my naan in your sauce?" JR's response: "That sounds dirty."

 

Mmmm, naan. 

I also saw the Green Hornet movie and found it entertaining. I do believe that Seth Rogen made the movie a bit less awesome than it could have been, but the rest of it was entertaining and I recommend it. Maybe on DVD. It's playing in 3-D and I am not a fan of that. 

That's all for today. Perhaps I'll have something more interesting tomorrow. The Husband goes to the hematologist, so I am sure I'll have stories about that. Cheers, everyone!

Savories and Shoes

Today, my goal was to find a plain black pair of heels that don't make me feel like my feet are being pinched, eaten, or blister-ized. Thankfully, I have had previous experience with just such a brand of heels, they are Mudd. So, I went to Kohls, which carries that brand, and found myself a pair of plain black heels that fit my crazy ass feet and look sensible. I'm about sensibility. Or just good shoes that don't hurt.

This shot is my attempt at being artistic. I have failed.

Anyway, I like the shoes. I'll wear them next time I head out to work. Today, I also made some delicious cookies for some dudes that really wanted the New York Jets to win against the Patriots. The Jets did win, and the cookies were fantastic. I have posted a photo of them in not-cooked format. There they are, in their delicious batter life state. I think I ingested a good deal of those cookies raw. Fantastic.

What you can't see, but maybe you can if you click on the photo, is the mess I make when I do just about any form of cooking. I spilled cocoa all over the counter and down to the floor and onto my white socks (not so white now) and got butter and egg all over the place. I'm a danger with an electric beater.

Oh well, you're not having fun if you're not making a mess. I'll go ahead and post the cookie recipe, which I was gifted from my fantastic best friend, Tominda.

Heavenly, Super Easy Cookies

1 cup butter
1 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. vanilla
2 cup peanut butter chips
2 cups flour
2/3 cup cocoa
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

Mix all ingredients. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.

They are damn good. Make 'em.

Savory Saturday and a Play

Today was date day with my husband; he found a deal on Goldstar for a play in DC. It was called Magic and was put on by the Washington Stage Guild at a really pretty Methodist Church. I am apparently advertising for both.

Magic was about how some people can believe so completely in something, and how others refuse to see it the same way, such as with magic and it's "opposing" force, science. I liked it, it was very well put on and I hope I can go see them put on another one in a few months, called Red Herring.

On to our savory stuff.

Today, I did another recipe from Cooking Light called Chicken Marsala.

Please don't look at my plates. All the nice white ones are dirty at this exact moment. I think I'll start looking for a nicer set, maybe get rid of some of these hand-me-downs...such as the fantastic blue and green plastic ones you see here. :) Anyway, the recipe itself. Once again, I have to wonder if I didn't put the wrong ingredient in, the recipe calls for dry Marsala wine; I found some in the cooking section with the marinades and stuff, but it was a bit...weird. It didn't combine like the recipe said it would with the other ingredients. I'm going to keep an eye out for other options. The chicken itself was great, so I give that a definite 4 out of 5 stars, with a 2 out of 5 for the sauce.

Chicken Marsala from Cooking Light
1/2 cup dry Marsala wine
1 teaspoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon dried tarragon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
4 (6oz.) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 cups hot cooked angel hair pasta

1. Combine first 4 ingredients in a 1 cup glass measure, stirring with a whisk until well blended.
2. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, and garlic powder in a shallow dish; stir well with wisk. Dredge chicken in breadcrumb mixture. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken; cook 4 minutes on each side until done.
3. Microwave wine mixture at HIGH 30 seconds or until slightly thick, stirring once. Arrange chicken over pasts; top with sauce.
Yield: 4 servings (serving size: 1 chicken breast half, 1/2 cup pasta, and about 2 tablespoons sauce.)
Calories: 361

I bet that chicken would be good with a creamy sauce and some noodles too. Although, I'm sure not as low in calories. Ah well, supposedly you only live once.

Cheers.

9 Pictures of Toes Later

I have found, through nine different photos, that I do not have photogenic feet. The idea today was to show you the awesome color of toenail polish I currently have on my toes; but I was side tracked by the entire body part. I mean, damn, I have some strange feet.Yes, do note the awesome color on my toes, I'm rather pleased with it. But, let me tell you about the miniature odyssey I went on while taking photos of my feet. First, I tried to find a good angle. I took a few in the kitchen, one with my feet pressed against the oven door, in an attempt to show everyone that I do not have cankles. Cankles is a technical term, where the ankle and the calf morph into one body part. Largely seen on little old ladies. I even took a few shots with my ankles crossed; all in an effort to take a picture of my feet at a good angle. I tell you, it does not exist.

The picture above is not in the kitchen, it's in the bathroom. If you couldn't tell from the toothbrushes and sink. First, I shot down on my feet as I sat on the closed toilet seat. But, that was too dark because the lighting is strange in the bathroom and you couldn't see the color on my toes, which WAS THE POINT. So, I held my feet up, over the sink, for the light and got this shot, which was the most acceptable.

If you look closely, my loves, you'll see that I have an extremely large space between my largest toe and the one beside it. (I just scrolled back up to see what else was wrong with my toes, but got sucked back into that crevice between my toes. DAYUM.) Also, look at my pinky toe. What the eff is sticking out of the side there? I think the bones in my phalanges grow to the side like that. I get lots of blisters there too, it's awesome. What is up with my pinkies? They look like they want to crawl up under that other toe there...

The other reason I picked this photo is because you aren't close enough to see that hair grows on the "knuckles" of my toes, as well as a bit on the top (oh lawd, I have man feet) and the fact that I haven't shaved in a few days and my legs are pretty dry.

Good thing I got married when I did, I must have been wearing socks through the entire courtship.

Dinner Dates with J*Rock

Every now and then, I am blessed with an opportunity to stuff my face on fantastic new food that I have never tried before. Even more awesome is when I can take a friend along. Today, I went to a place called Zengo with my good friend J*Rock. It is a "Latin-Asian" fusion resturant that features small plates, mostly for sharing with a group. I learned about this place from a site I am signed up with (LivingSocial.com) that delivers a daily deal to your email and you decide if you want to purchase it or not. The Zengo deal asked for 25 dollars in order to have 50 dollars to spend on food and drink at the restaurant. Awesome!

JR and I picked out five different things and chowed down.




This was called "Crunchy Calamari" and it's a warm salad. Calamari, cilantro, a spicy green sauce and lettuce. Super noms.













Those are Seared Tuna tacos. They have a mango sauce on the top, tuna and rice in the middle, and all that green stuff was delicious guacamole.


















This is what was left of the sushi before we remembered to take a picture. Crab on the inside, cooked tuna and some saucy thing on top, also very, very good!


















Those are Thai Shrimp Lettuce Wraps. You wrap your serving up in the lettuce and stuff your face. It was excellent!





















Last but not least, Thai Chicken Empanadas. They had mango on top and were delicious!











I recommend Zengo, it was pretty delicious!

What Snow?

After having a good three feet of snow last year, I find most everything else pretty wimpy. Such as today, in the DC area. It was icy, I'll give it that, but the roads in my area were clear and I heard of quite a few schools on two hour delay. Pssh. I'm being insensitive, I am sure.

Anyway, today I took pictures of Dupont Circle, which looked sorta nice with barely an inch of snow left on the ground. I work at Dupont, but I feel it's super stupid to post my place of work and then tell everyone exactly where it is. Please, stalk me.

The picture to your left is the statue placed in the middle of the Dupont Circle traffic area (it's a beyatch) in honor of Samuel Francis Du Pont, who was a Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. He served in the Mexican-American War and in the Civil War (in which he was a Yank), as well as being a superintendent at the Naval Academy and helping modernize the US Navy. Busy man.


The statue you see above is actually the second one to grace the circle. The first was created by Luant Thompson and later moved by the Du Pont family and replaced by this one. The second was sculpted by Daniel Chester French. P.S. - DC French is the guy who did the Abe Lincoln sculpture that's chilling out in the Lincoln Memorial.


The picture to the right is a close up of the sculpture; I was having the damnedest time figuring out what these nude people had to do with a rear admiral. As it turns out, the three nudes are symbolic for the sea, the stars, and the wind. The first statue was made from bronze. This one is marble. I bet it's nicer than the first.

For your enjoyment:
The man himself. Check out that facial hair. And what the hell is he doing with his hand?
"Harumph, yes, I seem to have placed that deep inside my jacket, just, go on, yes, paint it this way. I always stand with my hand in my jacket in front of the sea. Helps my indigestion."

Monday and Tuesdays

It seems that it'll be difficult for me to post on Monday and Tuesday cause I have class most weeks and I don't get home until pretty late. I will take pictures though and try to either post them on Wednesday or late Tuesday if I'm not feeling too dumb.

Here is the picture from yesterday (Monday, Monday, Monday!):This is traffic at the Vienna metro, that interstate there is i-66, fondly referred to in my mind as "The Devil's Playground". I had planned to take another picture from a better and different angle, but as soon as I clicked this one, the camera went dead. At least I'm keeping up the "take a picture everyday" thing, it said nothing about them being good.

Today, I took a picture of my collection of workout videos. Why is that, you ask? Because I gorged myself on pizza after chowing down on a large lunch and tried to make it up for by doing 70 minutes to these babies. Did it work? No, it did not, but the Fitness Pal did tell me I wouldn't be any fatter than I was, but please try harder. (I'm just kidding. It doesn't talk like that. It knows not to sass me. I could break it.)
There they are, all 8 of 'em. I need more. I have a disease. And the only cure is more WORKOUT VIDEOS.

Tomorrow I plan on taking a picture of the "snow" that caused my class for tonight to be canceled and thus is to blame for me going over my calorie goal. Dammit.

The Attempt Has Been Made

This picture is another exceptional self portrait de mi. I am attempting to follow the advice of one Jesse Cannon in order to give my eyes a bit more flash. To read the instructions and see what I was attempting, please see this. To learn more about Jesse and his posse of super awesome friends, please check out the book: Vessel: The Advent by Tominda Adkins. You can totally buy that shit now!

Anyway, I asked for more flash for my eyes. I took Jesse's advice and bought some brown mascara, curled my eyelashes, etc. I think I need more practice or better lighting for this photo. I look about the same. We'll try again later and post more pictures of my attempts to teach myself the art of make - up. Cheers.

OM NOM NOM - 1st Savory Saturday

This here is a picture of what I made for dinner tonight. I would like to note first that the prep took FOREVER. I got the recipe from this cookbook that I love, Cooking Light. I love Cooking Light because several months ago, August 12th, acutally, I joined a site called MyFitnessPal in order to lose some weight I had hanging around. (Haha.) Since then, I have lost eight pounds through diet and exercise (although some came back during the holidays). MyFitnessPal calculates your weight, how much you want to lose, and how often you plan to work out and then gives you a calorie limit for each day. I have found it effective.

To do this, I cook low calorie meals and do exercise videos. I have a particular brand that I'm in love with: Ten Minute Solutions. They allow you to create workouts based on ten minute sessions. So, you can do one session, or do like me and put together three sessions for a thirty minute workout. I like it a lot and it lets me exercise without paying a membership fee for something.

Back to the dinner, which is what this post was supposed to be about. Here is the recipe, should you wish to try it out, 'cause this Cooking Light recipe only has 276 calories for one serving. Sweet.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole - From Cooking Light: "The Best of Cooking Light Everyday Favorites"

3 quarts water
1 (12 oz.) package broccoli florets
4 (6 oz.) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated fat-free milk
1/4 cup all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper (fresh)
Dash of nutmeg
1 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
1/4 cup dry sherry
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 (10.75 oz) can cream of mushroom soup
1 cup grated fresh Parmesan cheese, divided
Cooking Spray

1. Preheat oven to 400
2. Bring water to a boil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add broccoli; cook 5 minutes or until crisp-tender. Transfer broccoli to a large bowl with a slotted spoon. Add chicken to boiling water; reduce heat, and simmer for 15 minutes or until done. Transfer chicken to a cutting board, cool slightly. Cut chicken into bite sized pieces; add chicken to bowl with broccoli.
3. Combine evaporated milk, flour salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a saucepan, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Add mayonnaise, sour cream, sherry, Worcestershire sauce, soup, and 1/2 cup cheese, stirring until well combined. Add mayonnaise mixture to broccoli mixture; stir gently until combined.
4. Spoon mixture in a 13x9 inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese. Bake at 400 for 50 minutes or until mixture bubbles at edges and cheese begins to brown.
Yield: 8 servings (Serving size 1 cup)

Note to all those that make this: Make sure you use mayonnaise and not Miracle Whip. Miracle Whip is mostly just miraculous for sandwiches. It's ok, but definitely off for casseroles. Also, make sure you have Parmesan cheese, and not 4 blend Mexican style cheese. That throws it off a little as well. One last thing, this takes forever long to prep and cook. Weekends are the best idea if you are in a rush.

Overall, I give this recipe a 3 out of 5, with a possibility for a 4 when I cook it correctly. I was thinking that the blog could have recipes on Saturday or Sunday and pictures of what I have cooked. We can call it...Savory Saturday or Savory Sunday! ALLITERATION.
I dub this day, the 8th of January, our first Savory Saturday! Huzzah!

Go eat some cookies. Loves.

The Verizon Center

So here's where I was today; the Verizon Center. It's basically a civic center, but way better than the one back home. There is more stuff inside, not just walls and a stage. Often, friends of mine and Matt's will round up everyone for a Happy Hour at a bar inside the Verizon Center (it's a giant building) called Bar Louie. The food is good and the drinks are pretty decent during their happy hour specials.

In the Verizon Center, the Washington Wizards (Men's Basketball), Mystics (Women's Basketball), and the Capitals play. I have been to see a Wizard's game and my next goal is a Cap's game, cause I would love to see our hockey team live. I have been told that they are the only team that wins much in DC.

There's also a movie theater in there, which is where I saw the last Twilight movie to come out. (Eclipse, right?) This is also the site where I promised myself I would not go see the next two in the series.
In the basement is a GIANT Bath and Body Works, there is a good thai place, the movie theater, a sushi/tapas place, Bar Louie, and a Haagan Dazs. That's just one area, there a bunch of other places connected to the building but with entrances only from the street, such a Dunkin Donut and McDonalds. Classy places, you know?

The Verizon Center is also the site of many musical acts to come through the capital. It is another goal of mine to sell a kidney so I'll have enough money to buy a ticket to see Lady Gaga there. I think last year I saw that Rhianna played there, as did Usher.

The steps you see are the steps to one of the many museums in the city, I think it might be the Portrait Gallery. I might be wrong, however. If you know, do let me know and I'll be sure to double check next time I'm in town for a happy hour.

A New Life for the Blog

For a long time I have not had a purpose for this blog, which made it hard to do anything with it. Like many of creative writing things, without a goal in mind, it fell to the wayside. However, yesterday I was playing around on a site called 43 Things which is a site for listing your goals and sharing them with others. This supposedly makes you more likely to work towards and accomplish what you want. So, I'm looking through others' resolution and stuff and I find one that says, "Take a picture every day for a year."
I found this a wonderful idea! I live in Washington DC, there are tons of things to see and I have not taken that many pictures! I know a lot of people do picture blogs and they're beautiful...mine will not be like that. But, I thought that would be a fun goal, and it will give me something to write about. It doesn't even have to be that long! Which would be great, as I suck at writing lots of stuff sometimes.
However, I did forget my camera this morning, so the picture for today is a picture of me I took with my new webcam. The goal was to look as insane as possible.
Mission accomplished.


Let's just see where the blog goes from here, but at least I have a general idea. *Salutes* General Idea, get it?
Hilarious.