I love music!

I was reminded the night before last night how much t.v. is an intregal part of our daily life.  While I love all types of music, Tony is more of a talk radio/sports radio fan.  Our t.v. is pretty much on 24/7 when we are awake.  Sometimes if we aren’t even in the room!  (or rooms – is it sad that we only have 4 rooms in our house and we have 4 t.v.’s??!!).

After Hannah and I had dinner and watched Househunters International Monday night, at the stroke of 8:00 p.m. is when the worst happens – its recording 4 shows at the same time, so you either have to watch a recorded show, or turn off your t.v.  Since Tony was out to dinner, all the shows that were being recorded were ones we watch together and I turned off the t.v.

And we listened to music!  Hannah was doing some homework, I was making pumpkins scones, and it was nice.  That’s why I have been loving Pandora – its turned me on to artists I had never even heard of.

Want to know my eclectic Pandora stations so far?

• Adele
• Crosby, Stills & Nash
• Pink
• India Arie
• Sarah McLachlan
• Harry Chapin
• James Taylor

When I put the station on “Quick Mix” you can imagine the variety of music I listen to!  Well here is a new favorite artist of mine:  Laura Marling.  Never heard of her, but coincidentally I heard it on my Pandora yesterday and then heard it on Chicago’s WXRT station on my way home from work.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j-TMl5oCRjk]

I think she has such an interesting tone to her voice.  Can’t wait to check out more of her songs.

So I’ve been dreaming of Nicole’s pumpkin scones since the day she posted them.  Last night was the perfect night to make them.  Although I followed her recipe to the T, I felt the dough was a little dry, so I added a couple more tablespoons of half in half.  I should have just kept kneading the dough, because then it was too sticky.

I didn’t want to add more flour, then I’d be eating pumpkin hockey pucks (no pun intended – Nicole plays ice hockey!).  So I ended up using my 1/3 cup and made scone “drop biscuits.”  So while they don’t look anywhere near as pretty as Nicole’s, the taste was fantastic.

And because I used my 1/3 cup measure, I got 8 scones instead of Nicole’s six – so each one comes in at: 281 calories, 9 fat, 45 carbs, 1 fiber and 4.1 protein – or 7 PointsPlus.

I was concerned that I was going to be starving before lunch, but this held me pretty well – I think next time I’ll pair it with a cheese stick or egg white scramble to bump up the protein.  Thanks Nicole! 😀

Checked the weather channel before heading out for my walk/run.  Said 50% chance of rain, and I debated about even going.  Then I thought about my post and said “I will get wet – so what?!”  I drizzled for the first five minutes, and then the sun came out.  I had mapped 3.2 miles, and at the half way turn around point told myself “just run as far as you can before stoppng to walk.”

Um, doesn’t everyone have these internal discussions in their head? 😀  I have no idea if it was the cooler temperature, or being warmed up after the first 1.6 miles, but I finished the last 1.6 miles in 18 minutes!.  That’s an 11:15 pace – woot!  Here is a cool pace calculator by the way – just enter the time and distance and it will give you a pace.

I am trying to incorporate more veggies into the mix – still struggle with that a lot of the time.  Enter the acorn squash.  I’ve made acorn squash bisque (um, only 2 WW points per cup people!), but I’ve never had just the vegetable.

I sliced and baked these for 45 minutes over the weekend.  Then as I was putting the squash in my tupperware, I sprinkled taco seasoning over the top – I used about 1 tsp. of olive oil and salt and pepper per squash – so this side serving is only 1 WW point.  On the side were three chicken and spinach tacos – all together lunch comes in at 9 points.

Dinner was my 10 point stuffed peppers.  The quick version is to poke a hole in the top of the peppers, then microwave on fresh vegetable.  They cook through but still retain the shape before being stuffed and then baked.

I recently found a seasoning that I am loving – I found it at Penzey’s Spice store in Oak Park – it’s called Italian sausage seasoning – I added about 1/2 a teaspoon to my pepper mixture.

STATS FOR TUESDAY:

• 29 points (includes 1 oz. of pretzels after dinner)
• 45 minute, 3.2 mile walk/run – 18 minute 1.6 miles 😀
• average blood sugar 141

TONY’S JOKE OF THE DAY: 

• Q:  What are two things you can see from outer space?
• A:  The Great Wall of China and the Lazy-Susan I bought at the thrift store over the weekend.

I don’t care – I still love it! 😀