I was right this afternoon – that blueberry muffin did nothing to satiate my hunger. Next step…I rolled in the big guns.
A small pita with Chocolate Soy Nut butter.
Finally I was content. Next I hit the supermarket and Target. We hadn’t been to the supermarket for a normal shopping in two weeks so this week’s trip was bigger then normal.
When I got home, I started working on dinner (it is 7:15 at this point…)
First I made some marinara sauce using 3 cans of tomatoes – Muir Glen Chunky Tomato Sauce, Muir Glen Diced tomatoes and Muir Glen Diced Tomatoes with Italian Herbs. I used an ENITRE clove of garlic along with some dried basil and dried oregano. I need marinara sauce 2 more times this week so I thought I would make it once and cut some dinner prep time out for the rest of the week.
Next, I got to work on my spaghetti squash. Now spaghetti squash is one of my favorite vegetables. I look forward to it all summer. I got my first one at the Farmers’ Market on Tuesday.
It was small, so I pierced it in a few places and cooked it in the microwave for 8 minutes – it was perfectly done. After cooking, I sliced it in 1/2 lengthwise and used a fork to pull the “strands” out.
Here is my plate with about 1/2 the squash.
I then added some of my marinara sauce, ricotta and parmesan cheese.
After dinner I was still hungry, so I had a small bowl of cereal. In the bowl went
- Quaker Oatmeal squares
- Cheerios
- skim milk
- blueberries
Finally I was full. I may have even thrown some chocolate chips in the bowl towards the end – gave it a dessert flair.
Updates: My shower this morning was only 15 minutes (including the time running the water to warm up). Also, I remembered to take my shoes off at the door after running and when I came home this afternoon but didn’t do too well after the grocery store. My friend Liza let me know that taking your shoes off at the door is a tradition in the Asian culture. In fact, “most Asian families will have slippers at the door — even for guests — so that dirt is not brought into the home.” Thanks for further educating me Liza – I love to learn more about other cultures!
September 5, 2009: Turn off computer at night (or when not in use for an extended period of time).
I found some great information from the U.S. Department of Energy:
Though there is a small surge in energy when a computer starts up, this small amount of energy is still less than the energy used when a computer is running for long periods of time. For energy savings and convenience, consider turning off
- the monitor if you aren’t going to use your PC for more than 20 minutes
- both the CPU and monitor if you’re not going to use your PC for more than 2 hours.
Make sure your monitors, printers, and other accessories are on a power strip/surge protector. When this equipment is not in use for extended periods, turn off the switch on the power strip to prevent them from drawing power even when shut off. If you don’t use a power strip, unplug extra equipment when it’s not in use.
Very easy huh?
I’m going to take things a step further. For Christmas I got this nifty appliance
This gadget measures how many watts of electricity is being used by what is plugged into it; it also then calculates how much money the energy usage would cost. I have plugged my computer surge protector into my nifty appliance for the evening to measure the energy usage. As a result, turn my computer off at night will start tomorrow…when I will report what I find as well.
Tomorrow morning I need to get up and run. I think Matt and I are going to run a few errands as well.
Enjoy the rest of your evening!
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