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Friday, January 16, 2009

she's such a poseur

the bean is such a ham. she cracks me up. as soon as i whip out the camera, she's looking dead at me and striking a pose (do you dig the new PJs, or what?):



more of her new jammies! her little ruffle butt is funny.



the teen hates this toy with a passion (it's got some really loud music that plays at the push of a button, which the bean does with great delight). i put some tape over the speaker, which muffled the volume a bit, but it's still annoying as hell. when i asked her to smile, this is what i got:



and, totally off-topic, but my latest culinary adventure was quite a success. i made a big spinach salad for dinner and paired it with this recipe for tomato-artichoke soup.



the last time we had tea, the teen had a similar soup that she absolutely loved, and when i found a recipe for it, i decided to give it a shot. after a few tweaks (namely, adding more tomato puree and salt), she gave it a taste-test, and it passed! i was pretty stoked, as i'd never made soup like it before. and because i cringed at the thought of using all that butter and milk, PLUS heavy cream, i cut down on some of that butter and switched the latter for some fat-free half-and-half instead (i also used fat-free milk). delicious AND nutritious!

cutting out starbucks has been painful, but great for the checkbook. i mean, come on - there's a 'bucks in both of the grocery stores i shop at, and it'd become a regular treat for us. scooping up a grande iced nonfat upside-down caramel macchiato (say that three times fast) was pretty typical for me for quite a while, and i do miss it. but while going through my pantry, i rediscovered several brand-spanking new tins of flavored instant coffee and decided to give it a shot.

and i'm officially addicted. i like to mix in a bit of nonfat french vanilla creamer, and it's oh-so-yummy. and i think a whole tin of that instant coffee that i used to turn my nose up at costs about the same as ONE of my beloved caramel macchiatos. so, so wrong. but oh, so right!

this cost-cutting thing is turning into a fun game. i kinda like it.

15 comments:

  1. I'm inspired by all of your cost-cutting strategies.

    I want to try that spinach salad. I had a ton of bacon fat that I had no use for the other day. With sadness, I just threw it away. It felt like saying goodbye to a beloved friend. [sniff]

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  2. I bet that instant cofffe would be good iced. Starbucks uses instant for iced coffee. At least they did when I worked there.

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  3. i want some of that soup! it sounds delicious :)

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  4. I love that the bean hams it up for the camera!! So.effing.cute!

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  5. I love the 1st PJs! So cute. Whenever I make soup, I always reason that the whole milk and heavy whipping cream is distributed among many servings, not to mention I do believe the fat burns off while simmering.

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  6. I'm making that soup on monday. yum.

    if you care, I made this one last week and it was pretty tasty (I used precooked chicken sausage):

    http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1591122

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  7. What does it mean when you order your drink "Upside down"?????

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  8. Ugh, does the Pooh bear on that toy pop up and down? I know that toy, and yes, it is annoying. I cut out my iced coffees from McD's in favor of yummy homemade iced coffee, mmmm. You should try some flavored syrups, they are delish.

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  9. gasp! instant coffee?! j/k. I loved the French Vanilla one. So yum esp on ice. It's ok SB and CBTL all use powder.

    oooh, i gotta try that soup. thanks for posting the recipe unlike someone I know. humpth.

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  10. we have the same cow jammies but in the 2 piece variety! I *heart* Carter's!

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  11. "the bean is such a ham."

    i wonder where she gets that from. ;)

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  12. 1) I love the Bean's cow pajamas
    2) I love making soup. Well, pretty much anything that simmers on the stove and makes the house smell good.

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  13. I had to check out your blog after seeing your adorable daughter in lolcat form on the nest! She's too cute!

    I am completely addicted to Starbucks and the Skinny Upside Down Iced Caramel Macchiato. Good for you for giving it up. I have slowed down but until there is Starbucks- Anonymous I won't be quitting cold turkey.

    (Psychgalbride from F&B)

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  14. I've gone to making my own flavored coffee and using that same creamer at home too!

    Bean's PJs make me smile.

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