layering

It's lunchtime. The all American staple: Peanut butter and jelly. Oh, and a little apple cider. The bread is 'whole wheat white' which is slightly healthier than white bread. I personally would prefer legit whole grain bread, but I would be the only person in my house eating it, so therefore it is not bought. Sigh. But do you see that jam? That is cherry jam from Canada's, which is based in... can you guess? Canada. Formerly known as Malkin's, Canada's is some amazing jam. My family goes up north every year and we stockpile on jam. If you ever see some, get it! So good. My all time favorite is cherry, because it was such a big part of my childhood, but I also love blackberry and blueberry. Other flavors include strawberry, apricot, saskatoon, and raspberry.

Snackage time... was reading most of the day, and the gobstoppers were near me. They are nearly gone now.

Dinner was an epic adventure. I made a lasagna! This is my mom's recipe, and this was my first time making it on my own. Also, I was actually making dinner. This never happens in my house. Ever.

Well, I say I made it on my own... my mom actually made the meat sauce the day prior and refrigerated it, but in my defense I actually know how to make that sauce. I love this sauce. No straight-out-of-a-jar sauces here. (My fiancé has not accepted this yet.)

Hello in process photo.

I cooked the noodles though! ...which, of course, was far more epic than need be. When I stuck them in the pot I realized I didn't have enough water, then I cooked them for 5 minutes longer than told and they were still undercooked (I was told later this was okay, since they bake in the oven), and then I'm not... 100% I was supposed to leave them in the strainer. OH WELL.

Here we are layering on tasty mozzarella cheese!

After all the layers are on! I think I put the layers on in the right order. I didn't think anyone was going to analyze it after it was baked.

Finished lasagna! I think it came out pretty well, and my nephew assured me it tasted good. If little kids will eat it, you know you did something right. (By the way, I nearly forgot to take a photo, so I already ate like a third of this... oops.)

Afterwards, the cookies my sister-in-law made yesterday were so good, I wanted a legit ice cream sandwich. so I got two chocolate chip cookies and stuck in a little cookies n cream ice cream. Sad thing is, this was terrible. The cookies were over a week old and the ice cream had been sitting in the freezer for a few months... ick. I wish I could undo eating this. My nephew told me he felt the same way after eating one of these cookies. Sigh.

Late night snack: Ritz cracker with a bit of sharp cheddar cheese on it. I love cheese, so when I have it I try not to eat too much of it. Hence.. one cracker.

can I cook yet?

Day three and I'm still here.

I was contemplating what to have with lunch and was sorely tempted by the leftover Chinese in our fridge... but I wanted to at least try to be a little healthy. I decided to make an egg sandwich, so I know I succeeded at least in the sodium department.

I have mentioned before I have very little cooking ability. I am working on it! But the scene below illustrates this nicely. I have to toast the english muffin, scramble an egg, and cut a piece of roast beef all at once?? I was legit slightly intimidated. I mean, those eggs cook fast. Also, somehow one half of the english muffin got wedged under the wire bread normally sits on, so it was nice and stuck.

But it all worked out in the end, and I was left with a tasty roast beef+egg+cheddar sandwich! And Simply Orange orange juice, because I can't have eggs without orange juice. I'm not sure what the roast beef was leftover from (I didn't know it was roast beef until my dad said so... I have much to learn.), but it was pretty good.

Of course, then the brownie. This is like, half a brownie. They're almost gone.

Later for dinner, I went to my brother's house. For starters there was iceberg lettuce, chopped carrots, a little cheddar cheese, and just a drizzle of light Italian dressing. Just enough to kind of make everything a little moist. Sorry about the poor quality of the next photos, I left my camera at home and only had my phone.

My sister-in-law made chicken alfredo! She makes a really great marinade for chicken, which my brother grills outside. No, it is not warm outside, but he will do it anyway. That's how he rolls.

Two pieces of grilled chicken, mostacholi noodles, alfredo sauce, and a piece of garlic bread. I only eat the insides of garlic bread. Not a fan of crispy things.

My sister-in-law always makes dessert for us. Today was triple chunk chocolate chip cookies. Ooooh my gosh. Halfway through my cookie she made an ice cream sandwich out of hers with vanilla bean ice cream, so I split another cookie with my mom just so I could make a mini sandwich with two quarter pieces. Sooo good.

Evening snack. Serving size of Cheez-it crackers are 27 crackers for a 150 calorie serving. I have 7. Go ahead and count 'em. I also had another half brownie... sigh. I love chocolate, what can I say.