Homemade Garlic Croutons

Hey guys!

So I love croutons on salad, soup, and anything where a little crunch is in order.  But have you ever read the ingredient list on your average package of croutons??  Yikes!  I firmly believe that if it sounds like a chemical weapon, it has no business in my food.  Plus, like a lot of commercial baked goods, some crouton brands have trans fats, which are seriously bad news.  Trans fats are fat molecules that are twisted around into hook shapes that can attach to cells in your digestive tract and majorly up your chances of cancer and other diseases.  There are miniscule amounts of trans fats found naturally in all food, but I'm talking about products that have them added, usually in the form of funky cooking oil.  The USDA daily limit for trans fats is zero, meaning you shouldn't be adding ANY to your diet in measurable amounts.

So, what's a crunch-loving girl to do?  Make croutons, of course!  Here's today's afternoon project:

Throwback Thursday!

Hey guys!

So for Throwback Thursday this week, I thought I'd share one of my favorite fall pictures of myself.  Even though it's still very hot here, I'm working to imagine a fall chill in the air, especially since I'm heading back to work soon. 

Fall is my favorite season!  Crunchy leaves, that hint of a chill in the morning and the evening, the school year feeling fresh and exciting, and Halloween, which is far and away my favorite holiday.  I love the play, the fantasy, picking out a costume, the candy, and the fact that it's not a formal holiday, like Thanksgiving or Christmas, where I have to bake, wear pantyhose, and travel long distances in the cold, usually at early hours.

When I was little, we always went out to a real, honest-to-goodness pumpkin patch on a farm to get our jack-o-lanterns.  The rule was that you could get any pumpkin you wanted, but you had to be able to carry it all the way back to the car.  I think my parents did this not only out of practicality, but also for some hilarious photos of the two of us staggering around under pumpkins we were sure we could carry! 

Back-to-Work Changes

 

Hey guys!

 

So I'm in planning mode:

 

My first official day back is next Friday, although I'm going to go in a day or two before to set up my classroom.  They didn't have any painting or anything scheduled so I was able to leave up a lot of my posters, but I did pack up my desk and some other personal stuff that I need to lay back out and I have other back-to-school stuff to start thinking about: welcome letters, etc.

 

What I Ate Wednesday!

Good morning, guys!

Yesterday I tracked what I ate all day and am recording it here:

 

 Breakfast (7 am):

 

Weekend Wrap-up!

Hey guys! 

 

Aside from my stormy adventure, Hubby and I had a very fun, relaxing weekend.  Here's what we did:

 

Grocery Haul!

Hey guys!

Welcome back!  I hope you all had a great weekend.  We had a spectacular summer storm here on Friday afternoon and enjoyed much cooler weather all weekend as a result.  I did my weekly grocery trip of Friday instead of my usual Saturday morning run because my hubby wanted to take another online practice test for his upcoming GMAT and I thought it would be nice to give him some peace and quiet to work in.  When I got into the check out line, I heard a guy one lane over exclaim really loudly, "Look at that!" and when I turned around, I saw through the doors that it was raining really hard outside. I comment to my checker that now I really didn't want to leave, and she told me, "That's okay, you'll just have to stay and shop more!" to which I was like, "No way!  I've got ice cream in here that will die."  So I braved the wind and rain to race my cart to the car.