It’s finally ‘FALL’ here- weekend wrap pt2

Just 2 days ago I was sweating like a pig in my own house.  It was hot inside because the a/c wasn’t working.  It was hot outside because, well because it’s South Florida in October.  But, today is another story, another day.

IT’S IN THE 50’S TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It’s heavenly.  So this is what an October fall day is like.  Church was wonderful.  I LOVE my church  and church family.  God is doing so many wonderful things there.

After church, my sisinlaw and I went next door to the nursery as they are celebrating fall with a festival every weekend this month.   There were lots of families enjoying the horse drawn hayrides, decorations, pumpkin carving contests, pumpkin and banana bread samples, and more.  Here’s some pics:

fall decorations

fall decorations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

more fall decorations

more fall decorations

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PUMPKINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PUMPKINS!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horse drawn hayrides

Horse drawn hayrides

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Farmer’s Market there had yummy samples and I wish they had samples of these huge cookies.  They looked so good, but I resisted the temptation to devour one or two of them.

Jumbo cookies

Jumbo cookies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is an entry for the ‘scarecrow decorating’ contest:

chef scary-crow

chef scary-crow

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was windy, chilly and absolutely wonderful!

windy n cold

windy n cold

We were starving and headed down the street to the perfect lunch spot for a day like this.  The Vienna Coffee House & Bistro in Cooper City is a small, warm, cozy, friendly  place with yummy soups and sandwiches.  The service is great!
cozy n cute

cozy n cute

I had a cup of cream of spinach soup to warm me up.
nice hot soup for a cold day

nice hot soup for a cold day

AND the yummiest plate of bruscetta.  
sooooo good!

sooooo good!

My sis had a turkey wrap that looked so yummy.  I love how they serve on beautiful china.
We had coffee and a capuccino to complete a great lunch.
And finally, for me, the best way to end the day is with a gorgeous sunset.
SUNSET SUNOCT182009
That my friends is the end of a great weekend!  Be blessed!
VIENNA COFFEE HOUSE & BISTRO
5724 sOUTH fLAMINGO Rd
COOPER CITY, FL 33330
954.680.6599

Chili and a Sunset….as good as it gets

A new week. 

I left my cell phone yesterday at my mom’s (I didn’t know it was there at the time)  and I think I was ready to have a breakdown.  My son was playing with it and I knew he had left it somewhere, just didn’t know where.  I’m really not a big cell user and don’t consider myself hooked on technology…..until I don’t have access to it.   I’m not the only who was having a little breakdown.  My sis in law showed up early this morning in her pj’s because she couldn’t get in touch with me.  My phone and I finally reunited and all is good.

I put in another hour and a 1/2 of yardwork today.  I’m not talking gardening or planting pretty little seeds.  No, it was heavy duty, chopping down trees and branches.  But it was not as hot today so I went for it.  I do believe I sweated off at least a zillion calories.    I found this baby in the garage and had fun  🙂

bbrrrrrmmmmm

bbrrrrrmmmmm

 

 

 

 

 

 

I made it back inside and made the yummiest liquid lunch! A hugh jass green smoothie with everything in it!  I was really thirsty and downed it before I could take a pic.  Trust me it was good.

Picked up my nephew from school, did some homework with the little guy and before we knew it it was almost sundown.  But we caught a glimpse of a beautiful sunset.  These are the pics Ryan took.

pic by Ryan

pic by Ryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

pic by Ryan

pic by Ryan

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Isnt he a cutie?

Isnt he a cutie?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dinnertime! 

Ryan had some mac n cheese and I made some turkey chili.  I love chili and I make a pretty good chili at that.  This turkey chili I can enjoy even more because it’s so much lower in calories and just as tasty.

  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • chopped onions
  • chopped garlic
  • tomato sauce
  • salt n pepper
  • kidney beans
  • my secret spices

Just kidding, this time I made it with ‘chili seasoning mix’.

turkey chili

 

 

 

 

 

 

TURKEY CHILI N BROWN RICE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Served it up with some brown rice and MMM- MMM GOOD! 

Can you say comfort food?!  :}

A beautiful day in the neighborhood

Well today I actually wanted to sleep in but my son set the alarm early and I got up to make him some breakfast.  So much for sleeping late.  I got ready and headed for the Farmer’s Market in Pembroke Pines.  There were about 30 vendors selling not just fruit and veggies but all kinds of things.  This is South Florida after all and we have lots of different cultures blended together here.  There was even a vendor selling organic coffee made from a mushroom (MLM). I walked around for a bit, but it was really hot out today.  Here’s a lil’ sampling:

OCT3 PPfarmersmarket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A beautiful day

A beautiful day

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OCT3 PPfarmersmarket

 

 

 

 

 

 

this thing was huge n tasted like raw potato..blahh

this thing was huge n tasted like raw potato..blahh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

my fave booth-smoothies

my fave booth-smoothies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

beautiful orchids

beautiful orchids

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OCT3 PPfarmersmarket

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was really really hot out and the fruit didn’t look very appetizing, so no pics of fruits.  I drove a couple of blocks to do some window shopping at my favorite budget design store….Kirklands!  I love Kirklands! They already have Xmas decorations up.  I love these java tin like wall hangings.

cute huh?

cute huh?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ve heard of a farmer’s market in SW Ranches, and on my way home I decided to drive around and look for it.  SW Ranches is a few blocks from my house.  I didn’t find the market but ran into some MEGA-HUGOMONGOUS-MANSIONS.  Who the heck needs so much living space?  My house would fit into one of their living rooms.  Check this out:

I couldn't fit the entire house in the frame

I couldn't fit the entire house in the frame

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Seriously, this is ONE house and I couldn’t even fit the whole thing in the frame. 

OCT3 swranches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is a small part of an entrance to another mega mansion.

And then there were these pretty horsies…..there’s lots of horses in this area.

OCT3 swranches

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I was getting hungry, mostly thirsty because I forgot to bring my water bottle so I headed home.  I quickly made a liquid lunch ….spinach, strawberries, blueberries, mango, banana and oj.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

mmmmmmmmmm

mmmmmmmmmm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love FREE stuff!  In the mail was a Kashi sample:

free Kashi Sunshine

free Kashi Sunshine

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and freebies from Walmart.  

 

free samples

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A friend’s daughter was celebrating her sweet 16’s and on the way to her house God blessed me with yet another gorgeous sunset.

heavenly

heavenly

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oct3 sunset

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had some BDay cake, goodies and a yummy mojito.  It was great reuniting with some friends from back in the day.

oct3 Bianca's sweet 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pastelitos de queso

Pastelitos de queso

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 oct3 sweet 16

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Headed home and called it a night!

 Eat well, live long and catch a beautiful sunset!

A turkey of a day!

Seriously it’s October 1st?!  Yikes!  Well, it actually felt a little fall like tonight.  There was a slight breeze and a gorgeous sunset.  Check it out!

Is that amazing?

Is that amazing?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OCT1 SUNSET

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Started the 1st day of October feeling great and 10 pounds lighter.  YAY!!!  The original goal of 59 lbs is now down to 49 lbs left to go.  I’ve been making a conscious effort to eat healthy foods.  Today I went grocery shopping and stocked up with lots of veggies, fruits, greek yogurt, fish and ground lean turkey.  I made hummus today and added Sesame Tahini for the first time.  Love my hummus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Breakfast was yogurt, banana and lots of cinnamon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Went to my women’s Bible study, ran some errands, went grocery shopping and was STARVING when I got home around 2pm.  Lunch was a quick turkey sandwich on whole grain thins and a super delish mango/spinach/blueberry smoothie.

Dinner was a yummo turkey burger, fat free cheese on whole grain thins spread with hummus.  I know, it was a turkey day and too much bread.

quick n easy turkey burger

quick n easy turkey burger

So did you hear about the free Disney pass giveaway?  Register here and sign up to volunteer for a day and Disney will give you a free day pass.  Super cool since the tickets are now up to almost $80 bucks!  The volunteering is valid after Jan 1, 2010 but you don’t have to wait until then to start volunteering.  Give of your time, be a blessing to others.  
 
 
 
Eat well, live long and volunteer!