Pumpkin Pie Oats At Last

It’s been so long!  I’ve missed you!  I promised to post more often when I got my camera and I intend to keep that promise  

 This week, I have spent a lot of time with my new best friend

 

Study Study Study!  Pedro helped.

It’s just hard for him to understand the A & P terms since Spanish is his first language.

I arrived 20 minutes early for class on Tuesday and I could not find a parking spot anywhere! After driving back and forth through the lots for those 20 minutes, I finally found a spot.

Too bad I didn’t know it was in a residential lot not a commuter lot

I found this when I returned to my car later.  The lot did not have a sign at the entrance stating that it was for Residential Parking.  I only had 48 hours to pay this bad boy.  So, I planned to try to get the campus police to lower it to a warning.  I have to be at work right after class on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I had to wait until before my Thursday classes to visit the campus police.  I arrived 30 minutes early just to be sure I had time to run by the police “station” today.  It was raining like crazy!  Get this:  I couldn’t even find a place to park so that I could walk to the police station to speak with them about my parking ticket!  I drove through the lots for that full half hour.  I finally found a place to park so that I could go to class and I was late!  After class, I had no time to go to the police station once again so I have to just suck it up and pay the ticket

Have you ever gotten a parking ticket? 

In other news, I cut my finger while cutting Snuffy’s banana in half on Tuesday.

I guess I was just having “one of those days”

There is some good news.  I got a 100% on my math test!

You may notice (or you may not care) that my hair is almost always pulled back these days.  This is because it’s in an in-between stage. 

 Last winter, I had my friend, Becky give me a short, textured bob

and I loved it! But, it took a lot of time to style in the mornings.  Have you noticed that short hair tends to take longer?

So, now I am growing my hair out.  I get it trimmed every 6-8 weeks.  It just had soooo many layers when it was short that it looks so boring when I leave it down.

It does go well with my college student/ baby mama look though…don’t ya think?

I swear I didn’t leave the house like this.  I have to dress up for work and I love to dress up! 

 But, sometimes when I get home, I just want to be comfortable and enjoy some comfort food!

I have seen Pumpkin Oats all over the place lately!

I cooked my oats in water with 1/2 teaspoon of vanilla and used the infamous melted banana trick as usual. 

While the oats were hot out of the microwave, I stirred in the banana and 1/3 cup pumpkin.

I sprinkled in a good amount of Pumpkin Pie Spice and Cinnamon.  It was reminiscent of my favorite Thanksgiving dessert.  Pumkin Pie is one of the few flavors of pie that I like.  I always had to have a dollop of Cool Whip atop mine! ( Now I know what’s in Cool Whip, no thanks!)

This was my Cool Whip substitute and it was far better than any HFCS laden, partially hydrogenated Whipped Topping!

I also used this dairy-free yogurt to mix with some blueberries for a simple, satisfying sweet-tooth tamer.

Sometimes 2 ingredients is all I need.

Other times…

Ginormous Yogurt Bowl!  Two Cups of Puffins, Two Scoops of Dark Chocolate Almond Spread, 1/2 Cup Chocolate Soy Milk and  a splash of Vanilla Coconut Milk….         YUM!

I go back and forth between the above pictured yogurt and Stonyfield Organic. Of course I waver between Oikos and Fage too.

Are you brand loyal?  Are there those few select items that have to be a certain brand?

There are also times when I crave savory flavors.  I tried an Amy’s Indian Wrap on Monday night.

I promise you, this tasted 5,000,000,000 times better than it looked!

Today, I forgot to pack my lunch!  As Snuffy says, “Uh Oh!”

I obviously don’t get to spend money on manicures these days.   

Do you add things like manicures and pedicures into your budget?

Anyway, I was starving between school and work.  The healthies and least expensive option was a grocery store salad bar.  As much as I love Whole Foods, I just couldn’t justify the expense since I have plenty of food at home that I should have packed.  So, I chose Bigg’s, a grocery store around the corner from my office.  I was actually impressed.  It doesn’t look like anything special but their produce was awesome!  The tomatoes and red peppers tasted like they were just picked from someone’s garden!!

I took note from this girl and mixed up some cottage cheese and ranch for my dressing.  My conclusion is that cottage cheese + ranch = pure joy!  I know Janetha uses chickpeas and a few other ingredients with hers.  But, this was delish!

What do you do when you have to grab a quick lunch? 

Check out this big prize giveaway going on until Friday!!

Love your body, it’s the best gift you’ve ever received!

J