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Thinking Out Loud: Butter Brain

Posted on March 13, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Thursday…thinking…out…loud…annnnnd…GO!

I’ve had THIS song stuck in my head for the last few days. I’m not exactly complaining, baaaa-ut, when you’re at work and keep wanting to belt out “fuck you anyway”…yeah, that kinda makes things difficult! 😉

I rediscovered my love for baked cookie dough Quest bars…with their crispy, crunchy outsides and pillowy soft and doughy insides. I swear it’s like absolute heaven! Then I found a way to make it even better…

My GAAAAAWD you guys!
This is like icing on the ~~cake~~ COOKIE! Do this…do this NOW!

Turn oven on to 35o°F (176°C), place bar on a cookie sheet, pop it in oven, cook until the bar starts to turn golden brown and then flip the oven to broil for just a bit to get it niiiiiiice and crispy! Use a spatula and a good swift scoop to get it off the pan, flip it over (because the bottom is a flatter surface), and slather that baby with melted coconut butter! BUT before you take a bite, you may want to call your mom, because your gonna DIE! 😉

On second thought, just put coconut butter on everything! It’s official, I’ve been cheating on peanut butter! But seriously…how is that stuff even LEGAL?! And why do I always forget how frickin good it is?!

PS: persimmon + coconut butter > persimmon + peanut butter

PPS: I’m out of bagels! 🙁

Remember how this Tuesday was supposed to get up to 68°F (20°C)? Well how about it was actually EIGHTY DEGREES (27°C)!!! I woke up around 4pm that day and after opening the front door and seeing how great it felt outside, me and Elvira were on the road and headed to the park (with the sunroof WIIIIIIIDE open) in a matter of minutes!

And yesterday it was forty degrees COLDER! Ha! <- Sometimes you just have to laugh to keep from crying! Oh and guess what?! ~~I think~~ ~~I’m pretty sure~~ I KNOW (yet I’m still in denial) that my heater is BROKEN! I came home this morning and it was 52°F (11°C) in the house even though the heat is set to 72°F (22°C)!?! I fiddled with it for a minute but got frustrated and decided to just crank up the electric blanket and faceplant under the covers. 🙁

Wish me (and my wallet) luck when I have to call the repairman today!

And wish me luck on my appointment with the therapist tomorrow because sleep this week has been oh I’d say on the average of SUCKINGMYFACEOFF! <- Yes, that’s numerical value! And also yes, I have officially taken every sleep aide that the pharmacy sells. I think this one works…sometimes…but no grogginess? HA, riiiiight!

I’m back to guzzling my Barbie juice too! Seems like there is a direct correlation with Heather’s sleep and Heather feeling like death eating a cracker. Mmm, crackers!

Am I the only one out there who craves the HELL out of salty crunchy stuff when I’m feeling under the weather? Because I seriously been putting away some chips, crackers, and pretzels like it’s ma J-O-B!

Speaking of jobs, I know I complain a lot about my sleep (or lack thereof), but I just want to say that I really like my job, the shift, and the people in the other departments that I work alongside. A position recently became available for the day shift, but after giving it a lot of thought, I decided not to put in for it. I know you’re thinking I must be crazy, but I just have to keep in mind the reason I chose this shift in the beginning.

Plus, it allows me to spend long weekends with my blends! Which is exactly what I will be doing THIS weekend when Melissa comes to visit!! Omg, I’m so freaking excited! And now I have to go because I’ve got a repairman to call, a house to clean, and a list of adventurous activities to write out! 😀

And as always, a BIG thanks to Amanda hosting ToL…aka, making it perfectly acceptable to leak wordy brain matter all over the blog! Be sure to hop on over to Spoons and check out all the “mindful” linkups today! 😉

Tell me, what’s on YOUR mind today!!

Posted in Randomness, Thinking Out Loud | Tagged blends, coconut butter, hospital, music, night shift, park, persimmons, Quest bars | 30 Comments

WIAW: The Cheesy Edition

Posted on March 12, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

I LOVE cheese.

Something I actually used to convince myself I could take or leave back when I was counting calories…because I was convinced that it wasn’t really “worth” it in the end. But on the contrary…

Because THIS was totally worth every melty gooey stringy bit of IT!!!

Sit back kids and enjoy, because today, I’m throwing MORE than just grilled cheese in your face…today is all about What I Ate ~~Sunday~~ Wednesday!

After making it through my 12 hour on-call shift on Saturday, I woke up Sunday EVENING (another 10 hours of sleep, yo!), stumbled my way to the kitchen, and had the grill pan in my hand before I was even fully awake!

SWEET DREAMS ARE MADE OF CHEESE?

One slice of the BEST multigrain bread, buttered, halved and topped with fresh spinach and sharp white cheddar cheese…which kinda slid off the spinach and made for one cheesy mess, but omg, finger lickin’ good! And I guess there was a carrot and half an apple involved too…I don’t really remember! 😉

Thank God I had a decently sized meal BEFORE going into work because once I got there, I was busier than a one-armed bandit! As you guys know, I’m not much of a “lunch” person during the week, but when I started getting light-headed, I HAD to take a few breaks to throw something down my gullet!

Coffee

One cup of (3/4 caff…I’m in the BIG leagues now!) coffee around 11pm and another about 3am.

HOW DOES MOSES MAKE COFFEE? HEBREWS IT!

I also had the other half of my apple and another freakishly huge carrot.

HOW DO YOU KILL A SALAD? GO FOR THE CARROT-ID ARTERY!

Greek Yogurt with M&M's

But come 4am, I had a stroke of absolute GENIUS! Because that? That right der would be half a container of my favorite plain Greek yogurt mixed with cream cheese extract (TJ Maxx score) and topped with…carrot cake and coconut m&m’s!

HOLY FREAKIN’ CHEESUS!!

Seriously, I died. Then I came back to life after a few minutes and took another bite. Then I died again. And well, here I am a ghost of a woman typing up my WIAW post so yeah, go figure! Whatta way to go! 😉

After getting home at the end of the ~~day~~ ~~night~~ whatever, I was in the kitchen for approximately five minutes before this plate was devoured in less than FOUR!

Pilfered sausage pizza from the break room at work (Sarah’s not the only one with a penchant for scouting out free food!), eaten cold the way leftover pizza SHOULD be eaten alongside some steamed broccoli topped with chili flakes…hit the spot!

NOT MUSHROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT HERE!

And in the act of full disclosure, before my ~~day~~ ~~night~~ whatever started, I woke up in the middle of ~~day~~ ~~night~~ whatever and had the first half-container of yogurt and a peanut bar.

WHAT CAN I SAY, I WOKE UP AND FELT NUTS!

Big thanks to Jenn as always for hosting! Be sure to hop on over to Peas & Crayons and see just how everyone else is celebrating this week. Don’t forget your party hats!

NOW, LETTUCE TURN UP THE BEET!

♫ “Sweet dreams are made of cheese. Who am I to diss a brie. I cheddar the world and the feta cheese. Everybody’s looking for Stilton…” ♫

What are your favorite kindS of cheese?
Because seriously, how could you pick just ONE!?

Tell me something punny!

Posted in What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged apples, broccoli, carrots, cheese, coffee, Greek yogurt, M&M's, night shift, pizza, pun | 31 Comments

Guilt, Party of ZERO?

Posted on March 11, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Can I tell you a story?

I’ve worked at the hospital for almost SEVEN years now (no, I am NOT a nurse), which is officially the longest time I’ve ever been with a company. Since my very first job, where I waitressed in a little mom & pop-style restaurant at 15 years old (paid under the table…hush, hush), I’ve always given everything I’ve got. I feel a sense of pride with any title I carry and I can’t help but form family-like ties with my coworkers…I mean, heck, when you spend more time at work than you do at home, it’s only natural. Besides, there’s no “i” in life, right? Wait, I mean…uh, never mind! 😉

Ok, let’s get to the REAL story…

Last week was rough…on top of being busy, I was sleeping very little and feeling a bit under the weather. So come Thursday, I was seriously patting myself on the back for having the foresight to book myself a massage that night. My plan was this: hour-long massage > bubble bath > glass (possibly bottle) of wine > Benedryl > bed…where I hoped to slip into the best drug-induced coma possible.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the spa, I got a call. It was work, asking if I could come in that night because the regular tech was sick. I sat there…in my car…staring at the door to the spa…and literally could not form words for nearly two minutes. I was a little upset, but my immediate thought was to agree to work. I couldn’t cancel my massage without being charged, but I could still get it AND get to the hospital IF I hurried.

But…

But I was scheduled for call on Friday night AND Saturday…hence the reason for the “party girl” plan on a Thursday. What if the tech was too sick to make it in for the rest of the week? What if I ended up working ELEVEN days straight?? My gut told me to say no, so that’s what I did. I knew that with a week of averaging 4-5 hours of sleep a night AND feeling a bit sickly myself, I needed to take care of ME, but I still I couldn’t seem to shake that twinge of guilt…

UNTIL I got on that table and had one of the best massages ever! When I told her about some migraines I’d been having, my therapist practiced some reflexology and I could actually feel my scalp tingling…as she was rubbing my FEET! Afterwards, I went home, and carried out my plan as…well, planned. I’m sure Meghan would be proud! 😉

Then I went to bed and slept for TEN HOURS!

Since then, my throat has quit hurting and I haven’t had any headaches. I’ve even had a bit of energy…which looked to be jussssssst enough to get me through a shift on Saturday (since the tech was indeed to sick to work the rest of the week…luckily Friday was covered) without a nap…hence the brain-dead ending to Sunday’s post.

Moral of the story:

Wine and chocolate are a girl’s best friends.
Always trust your gut.
And never EVER feel guilty for taking care of YOU!

And since I actually thought ahead and planned this post for today, I’m super excited to be linking up today’s post for my very FIRST Treat Yourself Tuesday hosted by the lovely Becky of Olives ‘n Wine! Be sure to head over and check out all the other links to see just how everyone else has been TREATING themselves this week!