Enjoy the Little Things

I love in the fall when all the seasonal flavors hit the shelves at the store.  You've got your Pumpkin Pie Pop Tarts (not that I recommend them nutritionally), pumpkin ice cream (such as Edy's Slow Churned), and, my favorites, pumpkin spice coffee (such as the kind by Dunkin' Donuts and Green Mountain Coffee) and creamer (such as the kind by Coffee Mate).  Anyways, I was super excited when I ran into my K-cups and coffee creamer for the fall! 

It's a great way to have my pumpkin spice latte without the cost or calories of Starbucks.  Seriously though.  I got my K-cups at Bed, Bath & Beyond with a 20% coupon, making it $9.59/18 or $0.53/each.  The coffee mate creamer was $1.38 at a local grocery store.  I just use one serving of creamer per cup, bringing my total to about $0.57/cup (10 oz) and 35 calories.  Bonus: it still tastes like coffee and not liquid pie.  At Starbucks, you're looking at 130 calories for a short-8oz (skim milk and no whipped cream) and probably close to $4.   

What are your favorite fall season indulgences?

Pumpkin Baked Ziti

I love fall.  Or, I love the food that comes in the fall... like pumpkin, for example... it's just inappropriate to eat pumpkin in the summer, but it's delicious.  So now it is fall, and I can eat pumpkin without being inappropriate.  Better yet, it's fall break so I actually had "time" to cook.  Kind of.  Anyways, I kicked off my fall cooking season with Paula Deen's "Pumpkin Baked Ziti."  Keeping to my tradition, I mixed up the recipe just a smidgen.  I used fat-free half and half in place of the heavy cream.  Otherwise, I used the healthier options that Paula has for the recipe.  Also, I didn't mess with ramekins.  I made this a one-dish thing except for the pot I cooked the ziti in.  Brilliant, right?  I mean, who wants to mess with ramekins? And who wants to mess with cooking the sausage, taking it out, cooking the other stuff, and adding the sausage back?  Not me.  It still turned out delicious and creamy and wonderful.  Everyone enjoyed it! (But who wouldn't? Paula + pumpkin = two of the best things ever).  Here it is with steam-in-the-bag sugar snap peas on the side:

Okay, it's not much to look at...but, trust me, you want to eat it.

I think that's all I have for now!  I better start working on the homework I've been neglecting over break.  Oops.

DC*B Concert

This past Sunday evening I joined a few friends in Tulsa for a DC*B (David Crowder Band) concert.  (As far as I know, there is no relation between David Crowder and myself.  But, if you have a lot of spare time and wish to investigate, please let me know what you find).  This is my third DC*B concert (also, my third concert EVER...lame, I know) to go to. If you have never seen DC*B, I would definitely encourage you to look at the rest of the 7 tour dates and locations and see if you can make it to one of the concerts.  This is their LAST tour, so really try to make it to one...no excuses...I even had clinical on Monday and still hit up the concert Sunday night.  Totally worth it. Seriously. At least get some of their music off iTunes...my favorite albums are probably A Collision, Remedy and Church Music, but all of them have some fantastic songs.  On that note, don't ask me to tell you my favorite song...I don't think I could pick.  Here are the highlights of the evening (chronological order):

1. Dinner at Joe Mamma's Pizza. Super cute pizza place where you can actually watch them make the pizzas and put them in the oven thing. It smelled really good...I can't actually tell you how it tasted because I have been sick, so I just got to eat a salad....but everyone I was with liked it.  I think I will have to go back sometime when I can actually eat the pizza.  

2. Concert at Cain's Ballroom. I guess you could say Cain's is a historical ballroom of sorts. It's pretty decent. It's a quaint little concert hall with like no seating, but it's fun times.

3. First opener = John Mark McMillan. I wasn't a huge fan of this one. Kind of a weird cross between country and rock. Also, I could not understand like any of the lyrics. 

4. Second opener = Chris August. I didn't think I knew who this was, until he performed Starry Nights. I think I like him.  Kind of reminds me vaguely of Phil Wickham. The downer was we were kind of needing some jump around, pumped up music, which this was not. Good, but not super upbeat.

5. Third opener = Gungor. Don't make fun of the name...I may have...but don't...Gungor is actually a really decent band.  I'll definitely be getting some of their music. Check them out.

6. DC*B!!! Yeah, they finally came on at 9:30...but they were fantastic, as usual.  Played some great songs from older albums, played a couple songs from their last (not-yet-released) album, and gave us a taste of their new Christmas album. Fabulous. It's too bad this is their last tour. I mean, if I've only gone to DC*B concerts, and this is the last one, I guess that means I will not be going to any more concerts...hopefully not, but seriously.  

7. Drive home. We didn't leave Tulsa until midnight-ish. Got to Stillwater shortly after 1ish. Hopped in my car, and I'm not going to tell you when I got to Edmond by...but I was in bed at 3ish. I was blessed for some unknown reason to have a late clinical on Monday (3p-11p instead of 7a-7p). Anyways, that's pretty much it...obviously life is crazy or else I would be on here more often...

Funnel Cake

I kind of missed out on the State Fair this year.  Between rush events and nursing school, there was simply no time to run down to the fair and eat until I couldn't walk anymore.  In lieu, I made funnel cakes at home. I don't know why, but I have this incessant need to have a funnel cake once a year. You would think after the one I had two years ago killed my gallbladder I'd be over it, but no.  Conveniently, Paula Deen has a recipe for funnel cakes.  They are super easy to make, although there's always the risk of burning yourself on the hot oil...which I, of course, managed to do.  Anyways, they turned out pretty tasty, and I figure since they weren't fair-sized and made at home, they're healthy-er. (Fine, they're not really healthy...but I'm less likely to get food poisoning or infection if I make them myself, right?) 

In other news, today was the last day in my first clinical rotation! I don't have to wake up at 4 again until the 24th.  I guess, for the most part, it was a pretty good clinical. I had a WONDERFUL instructor, and I found one floor (out of 4) that I generally liked being on. Except for a couple days, the nurses I followed were pretty decent. I had some "interesting" patients a few times too. My psych rotation is up next. That should be special. 

Well, I better get back to the wonderful world of studying...two tests again this week.