A cure for the common cold

This is the second time I'm battling a cold so far this fall.

The last one might have been a reaction to the flu shot – even though they swear that doesn't happen. But this one is a full-blown cold.

It sucks.

The good thing is that my throat is no longer on fire. The bad thing is I can't breathe out of my right nostril.

Smelling is underrated anyway, I guess.

When I'm feeling under the weather nothing is better than hot toddy. Hot tea, lemon and honey are great for colds. Whiskey just helps clear you up and help you sleep.

Trust me. It works.

Hopefully you won't get sick this cold and flu season. But if you do, make yourself a hot toddy.

Hot Toddy
Serves 1

1 shot of whiskey (I prefer Maker's Mark, obviously)
Strongly brewed black tea (I use loose leaf English Breakfast brewed in a small tea pot)
1 tsp honey (or to taste)
1 slice of lemon

Pour a shot of whiskey in a mug. Top with brewed tea and stir in honey. Squeeze the slice of lemon into the tea and stir.

Perfect Smoothie

To bring back a phrase from my middle school years, it's hot like a mug out there. I walked out the door this morning, and I was instantly bombarded with stifling humidity. It was suprisingly hot out for 7:30 a.m. It's 9 a.m. now and it's already 74°.

When it's this hot, my usual oatmeal doesn't sound very appetizing. That's when I pull out the blender and whip up a smoothie.

In general, I'm not a huge fan of drinking my breakfast. It just doesn't hold me over well. But my coworker suggested the Perfect Smoothie. It sounded kind of weird to me and I wasn't sure my blender could handle fruit with the peels. But I gave it a go. And it wasn't bad! A little tart, so sometimes I use a little orange and a little lemon. It has spinach, which seems to be all the rage. It that scary shade of green thanks to the blueberries and it doesn't take mounds of spinach to make one drink.

I chop up the ingredients the night before and my breakfast is ready in a flash. It holds me over better than the average smoothie, but I need a small mid-morning snack so I'm not starving going into lunch.

See? Not a scary green :)



Do you have a favorite hot-weather breakfast?

Strawberry-Orange Smoothie

I know that I said once you've seen a smoothie, you've seen them all, but honestly, I'm running out of things to post about this week. I am working three weeknights this week at job #2 in addition to my regular 40-hour-a-week job. Then, I'm taking off to Cleveland this weekend to visit my sister. So, it has been a week of leftovers. That doesn't leave me much to post about.

This smoothie was adapted from the Best Life Diet by Bob Greene. I've been kind of lax on points lately and have regained 10 pounds. It has resulted in a new (er..old actually) size. Somewhere along the way I've lost focus, which tends to happen when you've been trying to maintain a weightloss for five years. I've been following the Best Life Diet in conjunction with Weight Watchers. I like how the first phase stresses basics of a healthy life first — like drinking water, taking a multivitamin, and moving more. Things that I have been neglecting, to be completely honest.

The smoothie is one of his breakfast suggestions. A WW tip: If you're having trouble getting in you oil, try adding 1 teaspoon of canola oil to this and blend. You won't know it's even there.

Strawberry-Orange Smoothie
3/4 cup vanilla soymilk (you can use light if you prefer)
1 cup frozen strawberries, slightly thawed
1/2 large banana
1/4 cup orange juice

Blend in blender until smooth. Serve immediately.

It's cocktail time

Because I secretly wish I could appear as put together as Martha (minus the jail time) and because the best margarita I've ever made came out of Martha Stewart Living:

The Perfect Margarita.

This isn't the recipe, but it's close, and if it's half as good as the recipe I normally use then you'll never have another margarita using sour mix or any kind of other mix for that matter.

It's happy hour somewhere

Tonight, I'm not cooking. We're going out for Mexican, then out to play video games at Gameworks, and then probably somewhere for less expensive beer and drunken debauchery. Hopefully we'll make it to my favorite bar that offers a good oatmeal stout for the tough price of $3. It might be a quarter or two more than that, but you still can't beat that with a stick.

I have to admit, my brain is already on "weekend mode" and I can't wait to get that sweet booze and tortilla chips in my little paws. I've been looking forward to it all week, and it has been the carrot in front of my nose.. taunting me all week and motivating me to work out like I planned to and stay out of the little chocolate Easter eggs in my kitchen cabinet. I want to save all my WPA for this.

And for those with WPA (or Flex) to burn.. let me suggest a martini that after two.. will flatten you. I think I had two or three of these on New Years and I certainly wasn't feeling any pain—at least until the next day :)

Pomegranate Cosmos
From Barefoot Contessa on the Food Network

2 cups (16 ounces) good vodka
1 cup (8 ounces) orange liqueur (recommended: Cointreau)
1 cup (8 ounces) pomegranate juice
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lime juice
Lime peel strips, to garnish

Combine the vodka, orange liqueur, pomegranate juice, and lime juice in a pitcher and refrigerate until ready to use. Pour the mixture into frozen martini glasses with a twist of lime peel and serve immediately.

You seriously don't want to know the Points® value for these.. just enjoy them. And keep in mind.. pomegranates are nutritional powerhouses, so they're GOOD for you!

The cold is not so much my friend

So...tonight I got this fantastic idea. I should create a food blog. After all, I spend a lot of time reading other people's blogs. All of them have pictures of the food they make and it all looks so good!

I've been posting a long time on the WW message boards. And sometimes, I'll share a menu and someone will say, "That sounds really good." Well now, they can actually SEE it. Well, OK. My plating skills are something to be desired. And I'm certainly NOT a professional cook. I'm a self-taught home cook.

Tonight I made Fresh Totellini with Pancetta and Mushrooms for dinner. I didn't have pancetta so I subbed center cut bacon. That's what happens when you're on a strict food budget.

It looked so good that I thought I should make it my first entry. But my camera's batteries were dead. I ate my dinner and planned to take a picture of the low fat vanilla ice cream and homemade fudge sauce. But by the time I got back from buying batteries.. I was so cold I decided my snack would be hot chocolate:

It's the yummiest 3 pts. ever, and a full dairy serving. If you prefer it to be only 2 pts., you can make it with skim milk. I just prefer 1%.

I'll have a photo of the tortellini tomorrow... it's my dinner for the next few nights. Gotta love cooking for one! Lots of leftovers.