Howdy 😉 Hope y’alls Monday is going well thus far! I know mine’s been really reeeeeeally slow, but it’s still a welcome break from our busy season! I’m glad to hear y’all are liking the review of French Women Don’t Get Fat too! It’s one of my favorite books and has a way of continually teaching me to love myself and treat my body with respect 🙂
Lunch today was a weird combo, but I loved it nonetheless! I had a couple of pieces each of smoked cheddar and smoked gouda. Both cheeses were smoked in my backyard this past weekend by Nate!
SO good. I like the cheddar a little more by itself, although I can only imagine the gouda being fabulous on a grilled ham and cheese with good mustard. YUM! The other part of lunch was about 2/3 cup of the leftover shrimp pasta from last week. I was a little iffy since I’m weird about how long we keep leftovers, but it was good and just the right amount!
After lunch though I had a meltdown. A chocolate meltdown, that is! Now don’t get me wrong, I love chocolate, but there aren’t a lot of times where I have an uncontrollable craving for it. But guys, TODAY WAS THAT DAY! I broke down and got this bar out of the vending machine at work. “Just a couple of pieces,” I thought to myself:
Next thing I know I look down and the whole bar has VANISHED! If not for the chocolate smeared all over my face I would have though Bunker did it 🙂 The rest of the afternoon I drank a ton of water and took a little stroll to the grocery store. While I was there I picked up some Larabars, and decided to give this guy a try today:
The verdict? It was good! I wasn’t really sure what to think after taking the first bite, but in the end it won me out with a ton of ginger, cinnamon, and clove flavor. I would say I’d get it again, but the thing is it’s much higher in calories than my favorite Cherry Pie Larabar. Definitely makes a nice treat though!
Tonight we’re making dinner and dessert for Robbie & Stef for Stefanie’s 25th birthday! I remember back in the day (last year) when I turned 25…’twas so long ago 🙂 We’re going to have chicken mole taco bowls with brown rice, black beans, and avocado salsa. The for dessert brownies with Jessica’s (in)famous peanut butter frosting. It’s OK, you can say it: HOLY YUM!
What’s your favorite thing to do to celebrate your birthday? What’s the most INTERESTING thing you’ve done to celebrate? I’m kind of all over the board, but typically I love to spend time with close family and friends, whatever that looks like. Several years ago my parents surprised me by coming in town (when we lived in Dallas), then two years ago was great though because I’d been so busy coaching volleyball, and we just got dressed in our pajamas, ordered pizza, and watched movies. This past year Nate threw a surprise party for me and everyone brought cheese to smoke! All of them were amazing birthdays 🙂
I love that you smoke your own cheese! I didn’t even know that was possible! (I’m assuming you have a smoker??)
That does sound like a delicious spread. And I bet your friends will really appreciate it. 🙂 I love just spending time with family and friends for birthdays too. I do remember my parents did special things for my 13th (rented limo to ride in with friends) and 16th (stayed in a hotel room downtown with friends).
My friends threw me a surprise party once. When I came and everyone said “surprise” I had no clue what was happening. Someone actually had to say, “It’s a surprise party for YOU, dumbass!”
I LOVE gouda! 🙂
For my 30th b-day this year, I had a dinner party at my favorite restaurant with my closest friends (about 13 people came) and then the next day my boyfriend and I drove to Sunriver, Oregon for a long weekend away. We went snowshoeing, got massages, ate really great food, and just had a blast!
A chocolate bar is a must sometimes! The M&Ms at the store last night were eyeing me…but I resisted, I like when I really, really want something!
I don’t do anything spectacular for birthdays…I enjoy a low key evening with friends and family and eating my favorite meal for dinner 🙂
Oh my goodness, I hope you post recipes for tonight’s dinner! I’ve never attempted chicken mole at home and it sounds so good. That’s so cool you smoked cheeses for your bday! One of my favorite birthdays was dinner and a movie with my family and 3 of my best friends followed by a day of winery touring!
I read FWDGF a few years ago and really, really enjoyed it. She has such a great message about moderation and pleasure in eating.
lol– chocolate disappears with me too…wonder where it goes?!? 🙂
For my 21st birthday I went to dinner at Hooters! haha. I loved their wingys!!
Yay for pb frosting! I like to spend the day with my family and friends, and am even fine with it being lowkey!
My fav thing to do on my bday… is spending it with friends if possible (and always with family). 🙂
my favorite thing to do for my birthday is eat cake…well, more like icing with a side of cake 🙂 hahaha…but my absolute fav is hanging out with family 🙂
Ginger snap is one of my favorites! The best party I ever had was in college and my friends threw me a “Madeline’s favorite things” party and everyone had to come dressed up as one of my favorite things!
I wouldn’t have thought to give the ginger snap flavor Lara bar a try, maybe I will though. I think I will try the Dove bar first though!
Smoking cheese, that’s genius. My favorite birthdays are ones surrounded by my family. Couldn’t ask for more.
That’s the good chocolate! We all need treats every now and then.
I love your blog! I just read your “Heather” page and I’m hooked!
oh that bar is nothin sister. good work just hitting up that vending machine once.
Wow that sounds like one absolutely fabulous dinner girl!!! Especially the brownies, yum!
I love birthdays! Good food, good company and my sweet husband = PERFECTION!
I have vanishing issues with chocolate too, especially Dove! I love smoked cheese, well cheese period 🙂