Niki's Neverending Adventure

Hey y’all! I hope you had a GREAT Friday!! I was officially snowed in today! It has been snowing/sleeting all day and I think they are forecasting it to continue all night long! Should make for some super icy roads. Fun. I am just hoping we keep power! Some people have already lost theirs! Yikes!!

I tried to be productive with school today but it just wasn’t happening! It’s hard when I know I don’t HAVE to be doing any reading/school work but I COULD be doing some for next week. I blame it on the weather, just sucked the motivation right out of me! Haha! I did read about 10 pages and worked on 3 questions from a take home test, so at least I did SOMETHING!

I did a lot of other things besides school work though! I cleaned up around the house, vacuumed, did some laundry, did 15 minutes of yoga and 10 minutes of ab work, cuddled with Sadie, caught up on blogs, and baked some cookies!! So I definitely have not just been sitting around!! I was happy the fiancé had a snow day too so he could come hang out with me and Sadie!!

Sadie HATES this weather! She’s such a wimp! I think she has only been outside once today and all she did was prance out, pee, and run back inside. Didn’t even take 1 minute! Haha!

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I started getting super hungry around 11am so I had some OH’s to tide me over until lunch.

This times 2 :)

When it was finally time for lunch, I made a snack plate.

Leftover tuna from last night with crackers, cheese, and a sliced pear. It was a yummy snack plate!!

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So, I was really in the mood to bake today, but I was out of eggs and running low on butter. I decided to try out the flax+water substitution for eggs and proceeded to make my favorite cookie recipe. I also had to half the recipe because I only had a small amount of butter! But, the flax+water combo worked GREAT!! Couldn’t tell a difference at all! I will definitely be using this a lot more for baking cookies! Plus, I didn’t feel so bad eating the cookie dough because there wasn’t any raw eggs in it! Haha!! The fiancé had no clue I did an egg substitution and he said the cookies were awesome! He keeps eating them too, so that’s another good sign! Anyway, here’s the recipe:

All Time Favorite Chocolate Chip Cookies

• 3/4 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs*
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 2 1/4 cups plus 2 TBSP all purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp salt
• chocolate chips**

*To make the flax+water egg: Mix 1 TBSP ground flaxseed plus 3 TBSP water. Let sit 2 minutes, then it’s ready to use! This is the amount to equal 1 egg*

**I used dark chocolate chips and Heath Bar pieces. I just dump in whatever amount I have or want!**

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350*. Beat butter and sugars at medium speed until creamy. Add eggs and vanilla, beating until blended.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt in small bowl. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating just until blended. Beat in chocolate chips until combined.
3. Drop by tablespoons onto parchment paper lined baking sheets.
4. Bake for 10-14 minutes. Remove and cool completely.

Yummy cookie dough!!

 

 

These turned out awesome!! I already ate 1 and a half and am planning on having another 1 (or 2) for dessert tonight! Haha!! Glad I halved the recipe!! I don’t need a ton of cookies lying around tempting me!

Here’s my afternoon snack:

 

Said 1 1/2 cookies

And some Chai Spice Black Tea with a little milk and sugar!! Yum!! Loved it with the little bit of milk and sugar!!  Thanks for the suggestions guys!! I think the milk is good in black teas, but I’m not sure how it would be in herbal or green teas… Thoughts??

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Dinner tonight was one of my favorite Salmon recipes I got from Erin!

Mustard and Brown Sugar Rubbed Salmon

• 2 TBSP brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp mustard powder
• 4 salmon filets, skin removed
• 1 tsp EVOO

1. Stir together sugar, salt, pepper, cumin, and mustard in a small bowl. Press sugar mixture onto one side of fish.

2.  Heat oil in large nonstick or cast iron skillet over medium heat. When hot, place fish rub side down in pan. Cook until rub dissolves and darkens slightly (being careful not to burn), about 4 minutes. Flip fish and cook to medium doneness, about 1 minute more.

For side dishes, I heated up some Uncle Ben’s Brown Rice and roasted some Broccoli and Cauliflower. I did a new little twist on the veggies that I saw the BAREFOOT CONTESSA do today!

Roasted Broccoli and Cauliflower

1. Roast veggies on 400* for 15-20 minutes in EVOO, minced garlic, salt, and pepper.
2. Remove from oven and sprinkle with parmesan cheese, chopped (or dried) basil, toasted pine nuts, and a few splashes of lemon juice.

All together!!

This was a great combo! So glad I caught the BAREFOOT CONTESSA on Food Network today! She knows what she is talking about!

And this salmon is TDF(to die for), as always!!

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Here are some pretty snow/ice pics of my backyard:

This was late morning…

And late afternoon!!

And Sadie wanted to get in on the photo shoot too!

Being camera shy!

Watching me cook dinner with alien green eyes!!

Now with the red eyes! She has magic eye colors! Haha!

We are laying low tonight! Sadie is watching Law and Order and I am about to go join her! Looking forward to some decaf tea and cookies in a bit!! Fingers crossed for no power outages!! Have a great night!!

Posted in: on Friday, January 29, 2010 at at 7:20 PM