sexy sandwich

As I am trying to bring vegetables and fruit to the forefront of every meal, I am being forced to get more creative. I know I have mentioned quite a bit lately my new love for roasted red peppers and portabella mushrooms, which today I made the best sandwich ever out of.

I was researching online a bit and I thought I'd try a garlic mayo with it -- sort of an aioli, if you will (and you will). I am usually not a real big fan of mayo and you would think that for weight loss purposes I'd want to stay away, but it really made the sandwich and I used a fairly harmless portion.

Whole wheat bread, garlic mayo (I pressed the garlic into the mayo and sprinkled it heavily with black pepper), cheese (um, obviously) and spinach. I grilled the portabella mushroom caps slices with lots of onion and a sliced up roasted red pepper, all of which I had marinated together overnight in the fridge with fat-free Italian dressing.

By the way, how great is my finished breakfast nook?? We sanded it down bare and stained it black and did three layers of polyurethane. Last week I found a piece of glass in the basement that was made for the top of our table which finally gave a home for my favorite tablecloth that doesn't work in the dining room.

I am very excited about my kitchen, can you tell?? Now if only I could get a chunk of time to myself to paint it (preferrably when Tony doesn't know about it so he can just come home and be surprised rather than overwhelmed by my constant need to paint everything). I think I'll ask for that for Christmas--a day (or two) to paint my kitchen. Santa, can you hear me?

Friday night before the IIDA Fusion Fashion show, Chase and I had Pizza Luce, as they have gluten free pizza. Our server gave me a strange look when I ordered a Blue Moon on tap after asking for a gluten-free menu. The gluten free pizza was shockingly good and I personally couldn't tell a difference in taste, though Chase claims he can. Friday night I was not worried about my "diet", just my support for my bff Alison and my mom and, of course, Artful Decor Inc!
Friday night I got about 3-4 hrs of sleep because we were out late. Yesterday sucked. I gave in and had a Diet Mt Dew (gross) which screws up my water/coffee only rule. I had to.

Poor Clara has been especially fussy the past couple days and, again, I can't help but wonder if it is all of the vegetables in my diet. I think I am going to take her to the pediatrician this week because I think it also could be an ear infection. Poor baby :(

I do feel a bit guilty comparing Clara to Lucy as a baby and condluding Clara is "harder". If my biggest complaint is that my 3-mo-old only sleeps for 8 hrs through the night vs Lucy who slept 12, I think I've got it pretty good. I have awesome sleepers. And eaters :)

I know the better I sleep, the better I eat. I strive to be fully rested lately so I don't give into bad choices....like frappuccinos...yummm.

Which reminds me (excuse my rant)...

To all of you coffee shops out there;

I am a big fan of cold, blended, sugary coffee drinks. Though I have currently banned myself from drinking them, I am not happy about having to remember, depending on where I am, what to call this.

We have the Cooler, the Frappe pronounced 'FRAP', the Frappe pronounced 'frap-PAY', the Frappuccino and many other obnoxious names. If we can agree on what a latte is, let's agree on one name for this 1500 calorie cup of caffeine and all things good.

I, myself, will continue to call it whatever I feel like that day until you can all get together and agree on a name. Don't correct me. Correct yourself.

Phew. Glad to have that off my chest. Today I give myself an A, until the Hovlands come over and I devour some enchiladas and whatever amazing dessert Emily brings.