Mondayisms

Happy Monday! Since I was so productive and cleaned the house from top to bottom last week, I don't have a super-busy day on my hands. Here's what's on my mind today:

1. Breakfast: I actually made myself eat breakfast today. My New Year's goal of eating breakfast has been hit and miss but I am trying to "hit" more than I "miss". I made oatmeal today, topped with blackberries, toasted almonds, and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

(Used frozen blackberries as it is not exactly blackberry season here in Kentucky!)

2. A nice, long workout: The hubby and I spent a couple of hours in the bar at O'Charley's on Saturday enjoying fried appetizers and vodka cocktails. Fun? Yes! Healthy? No! I plan on spending some time today getting to know my elliptical machine to help me feel better about splurging this weekend. I will probably throw in some work on my stability ball and some free weight lifting for good measure too.

3. Baking: I wanted to try a new recipe I found for Banana Bread Muffins but these were the only bananas I could find at the grocery store-

I guess those muffins will have to wait till later in the week. Boo! I do have this recipe for Lemon Blueberry Muffins I have been wanting to try so I might give it whirl today. Of course it's from YourHomeBasedMom. That woman is good!

4. Cooking: I am trying my hand at roasting a chicken again. Last time I roasted a chicken, it was pretty good. Not perfect though. I am determined to get there! I think I only roasted the chicken maybe 10 minutes too long last time, so I think today I can get it perfect! And actually, now that I think about it, I might not want to tackle muffins and roasting a chicken on the same day. The muffins might have to wait till tomorrow.

And finally, I was completely floored that Whitney Houston passed away over the weekend. I loved her when I was a kid, I grew up listening to her! I loved "One Moment In Time". It may have been an insanely cheesy song, but man, it inspired my 13 year old self. When she made her comeback, I was in college and I loved the remix to "It's Not Right, But It's OK". I may be one of the only ones who thinks this, but Jennifer Hudson did not do her justice at the Grammy's. You will be missed Whitney.

I picked an older picture of Whitney, as I choose to remember her