Halloween costume shopping and oatmeal scotchies

Yesterday I didn't have to work. For lunch I heated up some of the left over bean, cheese, and bell pepper mixture from making pupusas and made burritos with the last two tortillas. I added sour cream and green taco sauce. I loafed around the house until Winter got home and then we went up to Capitol Hill to pick up things for Winter's Halloween costume.

We went to Value Village and found the skirt, shoes, and jacket she needed. She also used some of her allowance to buy a bag of 4 My Little Ponies, a hardcover copy of Insurgent, and some Halloween makeup. We also picked up a couple more things she needed for her costume at Walgreen's, and we bought a sugar free sparkling water for $.99 and a bag of Werther's caramel apple candies for $2.49.

On the way home we went to QFC and picked up a canister of oats for $2.99, two broccoli florets for $1.98, and a bag of purple grapes for $3.78. It was raining the entire time we were out, and I wished we had brought our own bags because paper bags fall apart in the rain.

Jeremy saved a receipt for a protein bar he bought at Rite Aid earlier for $.99. He was supposed to work out with his heavy lifting coach in the afternoon, but his coach wasn't feeling well and they rescheduled for Friday.

For dinner Winter chopped up three turkey sausages, and the broccoli. I boiled a package of fettucini noodles, sauteed the sausage and broccoli, and made a cheese sauce out of milk, corn starch, and the rest of the garlic jack and one of the bags of mozzarella. After dinner we made oatmeal scotchies, but we only had one full stick of butter left, so I just did a half batch.

Breakfast: smoothie with milk, PB, frozen banana and the rest of the strawberries, peanut butter chocolate pop tarts
Lunch: bean and cheese burritos, berry breakfast shake
Dinner: fettucini with turkey sausage, broccoli, and garlic cheese sauce
Snacks/desserts: strawberry pastry crisps, caramel apple candy, oatmeal scotchies
Beverages: water, sugar free sparkling water

Recipe for chocolate banana oatmeal bread

A few months ago I bought a huge bottle of banana liqueur on impulse. It tastes like burning, and I don't really like it at all, so I added a little to this banana bread in an attempt to use it up.

Adapted from this recipe.

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1 egg
3/4 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/2 t vanilla extract
1 cup mashed ripe banana
2 oz banana liqueur (optional)
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl and mix, but not too much or your bread will be tough. As soon as everything is incorporated, stop mixing. Most recipes tell you to mix the dry ingredients separately from the wet ones and then combine them. I don't bother with this step, and have never noticed a difference, but you can if you want.

Pour batter into a non-stick loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove the bread from the pan and let it cool ten minutes.

Tip: it's easier to cut if you wrap it in plastic after letting it cool a little. This softens the crust on the outside. It will keep for a few days wrapped in plastic or in a large zipper bag. Nutrition info is for 1/10th of the loaf.

Oatmeal with teff grain, peanut butter and banana

1/2 cup old fashioned oats
1 T whole grain teff
1/2 cup water
1 T honey
1 T crunchy peanut butter
1 banana, sliced

Mix oats, teff, and water together in a microwave safe bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes. Stir in peanut butter and honey, and top with the sliced banana. This breakfast with stick with you a good long time. Makes one serving.