Sunday.....

This past weekend was great! No, not great - pretty darn awesome. We didn't get a darn thing done around here that I wanted to do - like rehang the kids' photos in the living room from when they were removed for our recent (two months ago!) remodel - but the rain subsided for the most part on Sunday and we were able to get out and have some fun. To Do List....phttt!!! Home projects can wait, right?

Sunday morning, we did what has become a semi-"usual" Sunday breakfast for us: I made vegan banana waffles. No, we are not vegans but the recipe is and we love it. I posted a link for it from Vegweb some time ago but now I have the recipe memorized, so here it is:

Banana Oatmeal Waffles

2 c. oatmeal
2 c. water
1 banana
1 T. sugar - I use different sweeteners each time. Yesterday, I used agave nectar.
1 t. vanilla
1/2 t. salt

Blend all ingredients in blender under very well blended. Let sit for a minute or two and then pour into well-oiled waffle iron. Cook until desired brown color.

Because there are no eggs, there are no worries for uncooked ingredients and you can cook the waffles as light brown or as dark as you like. We love this recipe and it's especially good with the real maple syrup we buy. If I ever write a cookbook called something like "Healthy Cooking for Morons" this recipe will be in it. Seriously, it's that simple.

Sunday afternoon, James and I had "Date Afternoon." I don't even know what to call this. When you go out childless in the evening, it's called Date Night. So what is it when you go out during the day? Date Day? Date Afternoon? Lunch Date? Escape? Whatever....so anyway, we decided to try out a relatively new restaurant in our area: BJ's Brewhouse. The name makes me laugh every time I hear it. I can't help it. Call me a perv.

To give a little background, I don't consider myself one of perverted mind but every time I hear of someone named BJ or, in this case, a restaurant called BJ's Brewhouse, I can't help but think of the perverted implication of these two letters when used in conjunction with one another. Recently, I was checking out a website I occasionally frequent that sells personalized t-shirts, household items, etc. On the site's homepage, there was a girl wearing a t-shirt that said, "I love BJ." The site doesn't seem like the kind of online store to promote such a thing on their opening page, so I couldn't help but wonder if it was a mistake or the website owner doesn't realize the implication or what. At any rate, I wondered more about the girl wearing the t-shirt. Who in their right mind would wear such a thing? And even if you do "love BJ" is it really something to go advertising across your chest??? Okay, tangent over, back to our regular scheduled blogging.....

Usually, I'm not terribly keen on "chain" restaurants, but now and then I will make an exception and yesterday was one of those days. So, chucking my food snobbery and distaste for franchise-style joints for the afternoon, James and I had our lunch date at BJ's Brewhouse. I joked with him that when we returned from our date that he could brag to our friends who were watching Reiss and Milla that he got BJ's for lunch. Okay, okay....really, I'll stop now.

At BJ's, James got a BBQ sandwich and I got a Turkey Cobb sandwich. Both were served on garlic-parmesan buns. My Turkey Cobb was turkey, lettuce, tomato, avocado, bleu cheese dressing, and bacon on the aformentioned garlic-parmesan bun. The sandwich was really yummy and I was very appreciative of the strong garlic flavor of the bun.

Fast-forward to about fifteen minutes after I finished eating and I was again reminded of why I don't like to "cheat" on my dietary rules. Naughty foods always taste really, really good while I'm eating them but not long after consumption they always seem to be like a bratty tweener child and start talking back to me. Yesterday was no different and I'm glad today is Monday and my digestive system is back to being on track with allowable foods.

I've had a sore throat for around two days now. With the weather starting to turn and the days sunny, I'm hoping this little bug or whatever doesn't decide to take up long-term residency in my body. Cold weather is not my idea of fun for being outside but I absolutely love Spring and warmer temperatures, so it figures that right as things start warming up, I'm not feeling 100%.

Now that I've sufficiently bored the tar out of anyone reading, I'm going to get off here and go put a flashlight in my mouth to inspect my throat. Hopefully, my next post will have some photos....of the kids having fun the last few days, not of my throat.