April Fools Day Prank

Cereal.


We love it!


We have a shelf full right now with about 8 different boxes.


My son has always been a big cereal eater.  In fact there were days growing up when he had cereal for breakfast and dinner. 


When he got older he loved it when the answer to "What's for dinner?" was "yoyo"  Which stands for you're on your own.   Cereal was his go to choice.   


Don't worry, eating cereal for dinner has not resulted in any permanent damage to him. In fact he has grown up to be a kind, intelligent, responsible college student although he may still occasionally eat cereal for dinner.


If you have someone in your life who likes to eat cereal, this is the April Fools joke for you.

Be the thoughtful person you are have a bowl of their favorite cereal ready for them, when they wake up on April 1st.


But unbeknown to them you will have had that bowl in the freezer all night and their first bite won't be quite what they anticipate.

This will definitely be good for a few laughs!  A big thanks to my sister for this good idea.

What is one of your favorite April Fools pranks?

What's Eating You?

Lose Weight, Get Healthy and Change World

That's want I want to do this year!  This is nothing new for me, they could be my resolutions every year.

That doesn't mean I fail to meet my goal, but are you ever really done with any of them?  Ok, maybe you could be at a weight where you don't need to lose anymore, but....have you all seen the food I like to eat?  I don't want to give that up so I exercise to balance it out, but as we all know sometimes you can reward yourself with more food than you've burned off and so you need to pay more attention to what you eat and that's what I need to do from time to time.  Like now.

I know that whatever I pay attention to or prioritize, I can positively impact so I am joining Healthy Eats January Healthy Every Week Challenge to help me meet my goals. What's great about it is each week has its own focus and they build upon each other to create a great month of healthy eating. Each small change can lead to big results.

• Week 1:  Eat breakfast
• Week 2:  Eat more whole grains
• Week 3:  Cook at home
• Week 4:  Eat more Fruits and vegetables
• Week 5:   Stay on Track

Sometimes the thought of making changes can be overwhelming and that can make me want to give up, but looking at the goals for each week, they are definitely  do-able.

Throughout the month I will get support from others who are taking this challenge as we blog about it and share recipes.  I get stuck in ruts where I eat the same things all the time, so the more healthy recipes I have, the better.  If you want support meeting your healthy goals join HERE and we can do this together.

I figure that January is gonna pass by and at the end I can have either accomplished something or not.  

Week one is off to a good start!  I usually eat breakfast everyday so this has been easy so far. I am always looking for fast, easy and filling ideas for this most important meal of the day.

When pushed for time I resort to a PB and J, but it never disappoints.

What do you usually have for breakfast?

  

Food and Fun in the Windy City

Chicago is one of my favorite cities to visit, but I like it even more now that my daughter Cate lives there! I recently spent four days with her and we packed in as much fun and food as we could.  Every night I fell asleep exhausted. 

Upon arriving in the Windy City (rightly named-the wind blew ALL the time) we hit our first eatery The Bongo Room. This was recommended by a teacher a met at a conference and she nailed it!  The food was fabulous! We made it just in time to order off the breakfast menu.   

We shared a breakfast burrito and their special White Chocolate, Caramel Pretzel Pancakes.  I was worried these would be over the top sweet, but it was more of a savory flavor and one of the best pancakes I have ever had.  

My next meal was at a Melt Sandwich Shoppe, a local soup and sandwich place in Bucktown/Wicker Park.

All the sandwiches are a variation of the grilled cheese.  The place had a school house theme with the menu items written on the chalkboard walls.

I chose The Provence which was loaded with roasted mushrooms, tomatoes and truffle white cheddar. It was a big sandwich and more than I could eat.  Cate got a wrap that I enjoyed more.  The food was okay, but I wanted it to be better.

Our destination that night was Arts n Spirits to paint.  These casual group painting places have become quite popular and this would be our first time going to one.  Each night they spotlight a different painting which they teach you how to create.  This crazy flower design was tonight's project.

Although we liked this painting we decided to go rogue and change it up a little and make a blue toned background. I had a great idea to capture the creation of my painting from start to finish, but I got so absorbed in the painting that I missed a few steps along the way, but you get the idea.

I am not much of an artist, but they guide you step by step and make it easy enough for anyone to follow along.  

 

As you can see, we exercised our artistic licenses. 

We spent about four hours working on these and the time flew by.  After waiting for a bus and a train and walking the half mile to her apartment, we didn't get home until midnight. That was day one!

I will share more of our adventures in Part II...

Peanut Butter & Fruit Waffle

What to eat for breakfast had been an on going dilemma until I discovered the Peanut Butter & Fruit Waffle! This is my version of the Abs Diet Wafflewich.   It is easy and delicious and keeps me full until lunch.  I use Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Low Fat waffles. At only70 calories it's a smart choice.  I use whatever fresh fruit is available seasonally and have used defrosted frozen fruit when I couldn't find fresh options.  Today I used blueberries, grapes, cherries and strawberries. This is a healthy, satisfying way to start my day.

Peanut Butter & Fruit Waffle

1waffle 

1-2 tbs peanut butter

1 tsp ground flax seeds

sliced fresh fruit 

Toast waffle.  Spread with peanut butter.  Sprinkle with flax seeds and top with your favorite fresh fruit.