So glad that the weather is going to be decent today – it never seemed to fail that we’d have great Chicago weather the week before and the week after Halloween, and then the day of Halloween it would be like 20 degrees and rain/snowy!

Here is Hannah’s first Halloween – she was 7 months old šŸ˜€Ā  She was an early walker – she was walking at 10 1/2 months old.Ā  I remember because she was invited to a birthday party and I bought her a pair of patent leather shoes – I carried her downstairs and the sound that the shoes made on my parents hardwood floor just mesmerized her – click, click, click – I think she walked back and forth between the living room and kitchen for 30 minutes straigh!

We had no plans yesterday, so I got my cleaning freak on.Ā  I even vacuumed baseboards, moved the sofa – I did the living room, dining room, deep clean of the bathroom, put in a new plastic shower curtain, mopped the kitchen floor, cleaned the freezer and refrigerator and then did my South Beach meal plan.

For breakfast I had leftover fruit from our Halloween party and an open face breakfast sammie with a touch of chipotle tabasco sauce:

I didn’t eat breakfast until almost 11:00, so when Hannah got home from work and fixed lunch around 3:30 – I was hungry.Ā  Now, my Mom is going to hang her head in shame – because yes, a 42 year old mom loves . . . spaghettios!

The proper way to eat spaghettios is with toasted and buttered white bread – I am confident my brother would agree!Ā  I actually ate them with a few tostito scoops! šŸ˜€

Once we were done with lunch, Hannah and I went to a shitty thrift store and then to the grocery store.

I spent $92 dollars at the store – my sirloin tip roast was $10 alone, but it will be morphed into two leftover meals for me.

On our dinner menu next week:

  • black bean pork chili
  • taco salad
  • pork chops with balsamic glaze with green beans
  • lemon oregano chicken breasts with broccoli gratin
  • classic roast beef with mashed potatoes and carrots (that’s for dinner tonight – our farewell to carbs! – I plan on using leftover roast beef for a lunch and making a soup from the rest)

My Lunches:

  • spaghetti squash with meat marinara
  • zucchini stuffed black bean pork chili
  • roast beef and horseradish lettuce wraps
  • thai chicken soup
  • split pea soup with diced smoked ham

Breakfast:

  • sausage, cheddar and broccoli quiche
  • zucchini and green chile breakfast casserole
  • egg veggie cheese in ham cups

I am also making Tony some egg salad and basil chicken salad for his lunches. šŸ˜€

I had leftover Butcher’s ragu and decided to make lasagna for dinner – and as mine was cooking in the oven, my twin sister called to tell me she was making lasagna too – twin powers activate! šŸ˜€Ā  No real recipe here – I used cottage cheese instead of ricotta, added 2 eggs and Italian seasoning.Ā  I used my leftover sauce and sprinkled mozzarella cheese over the top.

I had 1/4 of this small casserole.

Tony requested a “last breakfast” this morning, so I may be in the process of making mile high buttermilk biscuits with sausage gravy.Ā Ā  Hannah just tasted one of these biscuits and declared them the best biscuits I’ve ever made šŸ˜€

I didn’t exercise, but I consider my 2 hours of cleaning exercise.Ā  I think I will do a Jackie Werner video when Hannah goes to work.

Happy Halloween!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwPvt96wt2w]