I am trying to keep a positive attitude about my retreat in the rain.  I did pick up a pair of rain boots from Target this morning – wet feet make me especially cranky!

Its Cookie Friday so I celebrated with this deliciousness.

It was so soft and mushy – just the way I like my cookies!

See you tomorrow.

Instead of Cookie Friday, I celebrated cupcake Friday.

That is a s’mores cupcake – graham cracker cake, chocolate ganache, buttercream frosting and a roasted marshmallow on top. 

It was amazing. 

Hope you enjoyed cookie Cupcake Friday!

I died and went to Cookie Friday chocolate heaven…

Delicious. 

I hope you celebrated Cookie Friday as well!

Cookie Friday today? 

I did.  The bakery in our cafeteria is now open so I decided to celebrate.  But not with a cookie (they were sold out of my favorite kind) – with a GINORMOUS cupcake

It was delicious – except for the purple and white swirl frosting on the top.  I ate this entire thing minus that frosting.  The chocolate ganache with chocolate chips was my favorite part.

Few more hours of work and then no work until Monday…!

Looking forward to the weekend…

Today was unexciting – yet productive.

For lunch, I enjoyed a salad (romaine lettuce, tomato, cucumber, carrots, onion, egg whites (2), feta cheese, chickpeas, red pepper)

Plus a bag of Fritos

WHAT!  A bag of Fritos?!?  Let me tell you, this morning I had the biggest craving for Fritos.  Today’s craving + yesterday’s ham craving lead me to believe my body needed salt.  Two years ago I had a sodium problem – it was too low!  I never salt anything and because I’ve been eating less processed food lately (mostly salads at lunch) etc., I think my body really needed it.  I never crave salty foods – I’m a sweets girl.  Typically when anything is even remotely salty, I can’t stand it.  Today, this bag of Fritos, with all its sodium, was amazing. 

I even got comments from the lunch table like “you are going to eat that?!?”  I guess my healthy eating habits are noticed. 

Because it is Cookie Friday, I had to get this

Check this out – Patty, who works at the dessert counter, set me aside a cookie this morning just in case they ran out.  How amazing is she – as amazing as that cookie was.  I enjoyed this cookie about 3 pm this afternoon. 

After work I went to two grocery stores and Target.  I returned home thankful that dinner was already prepared – I was starving. 

Leftover Spaghetti Squash with Vegetables and Cheddar Cheese

I had another plate of this – I still have some left too!

After dinner, I opened up a Pomegranate, made Cranberry Sauce, baked and did a load of laundry.  Very productive.

Off to bed – I have a run scheduled plus I have to go to work.

Mid-morning I enjoyed a banana and some raisins for a snack – what a perfect combination. 

I did not eat all those raisins – I probably ate 1/4 of that container – save the rest for next week.

By lunch time I was hungry but not STARVING like normal.  I got a large salad

and a Texas Grilled Cheese – which I only ate half of even though it was delicious. 

Plus, to celebrate Cookie Friday, I enjoyed an Oatmeal Raisin cookie.  This was amazing.

Very soft and chewy – the way all cookies should be.

I have a few errands to run before dinner tonight so I just enjoyed an afternoon snack.

Oh Oikos how I have missed you during Dairy Detox. 

What a great day of snacks and food – much better then yesterday.

Be back later!

Today’s lunch started with a BIG salad….Romaine Lettuce, Spinach, Carrots, Onion, Tomato, Chickpeas, Red Pepper, Mushrooms, Tuna, Feta Cheese and Cucumber. 

I enjoyed this monster salad with a Whole Wheat English Muffin (that got stuck in the toaster and thankfully did not catch on fire)

Cookie Friday was changed to Cupcake Friday this week.  Sadly, my favorite cookie (the M&M Chocolate Chip) was not available today.  After carefully studying the bakery case, I decided on this BIG beauty.

Holy Batman this cupcake was delicious.  The cake itself was so moist and the frosting was sweet but not too sweet.  Amazing…well worth the change in Cookie Friday. 

Matt and I may head up to the outlets tonight…we shall see!

So I bought 3 things for lunch today.

1. Sweet Potato
2. Spinach-Vegetable Soup
3. Wrap with Mozzarella, Spinach, Tomato

I had planned on putting some sweet potato into the soup to add an extra oomph.  I sliced into my sweet potato to find a not-even-close to being cooked interior.  I thought the warm soup would heat the sweet potato up enough to make it edible so I scooped some up and added it to my soup bowl.

Keep in mind, our cafeteria still has the air conditioning on.  It was freezing!  All I wanted was warm soup.

Next, I moved onto my sandwich – I thought I would eat 1/2 and the move back to the soup.

The sandwich was great.  It is not too often that the cafeteria has this combo without pesto or hummus (two things I am scared to eat with my food allergies).  I was so happy to have this sandwich today – it was great!

I ate 1/2 and moved back to the soup.  First spoonful…I thought I had put a tablespoon of salt in my mouth.  Ok – stir it up a little – try again.  Nope – salt.  That soup was inedible.  Disappointment – 2 (soup and sweet potato)

I ate the other 1/2 of my sandwich and then went back into the cafeteria and got a veggie plate.

Much better. 

As it is Cookie Friday, I thought about the week.  Yesterday I had birthday carrot cake AND dessert at dinner.  Did I really need a dessert? 

I compromised and got Apple Crumble with no ice cream – hey it’s got apple in it.

That, to the right of my apple crisp, is my to-do list’s to-do list.  Excellent. 

Thankfully, I have accomplished MOST of the things off that list today except for the big one – my presentation for tomorrow. 

I see a night in front of the laptop in front of me.

Oh Cookie Friday how I love thee

Your soft, chewy center fills me with glee

I look forward to you every week

A date with you I will always keep

Do you celebrate Cookie Friday?

I always look forward to Cookie Friday – who wouldn’t?  I started lunch with a sweet potato salad.

In the mix was 1/2 a sweet potato, spinach, mushrooms, tomato, red pepper, onion, black beans and cheddar cheese.  No need for salad dressing – sweet potato took care of that. 

I also ate an unpictured egg white from a hardboiled egg. 

Sadly, the M&M Cookie was not soft and chewy according to Patty (the dessert lady).  I went with the M&M blondie today – which unfortunately, was also not so hot. 

It was very dry.  I ate about half of it and decided it wasn’t worth it. 

My co-worker Patrick and I are walking the campus in a little while trying to figure out a 5k route for a Family Weekend.