Good morning! How’s everyone? For those of you that had a few extra days off this week, I hope the time off has been delightful and rejuvenating!
My day yesterday was fairly typical. I was home from school, so I literally spent the day working on schoolwork.
A typical breakfast:
A chocolate protein pancake with Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter on top. For the record, I’m about halfway through the jar already – addictive stuff.
Followed by a morning getting some marking/papers done. Next week I have 2 presentations, 1 draft of a final paper and 2 essays due – intense! I have a busy weekend planned, so yesterday was definitely devoted to schoolwork.
Of course, I took a lunch break.
brown rice with bell pepper, peas, and Veggie Patch Meatless Buffalo Wings with plum sauce for dipping. I was actually surprised my how much I liked these – they tasted pretty meaty and had a spicy kick to them.
After lunch, I got some pretty cool news – I’m going to be on the Brantford GSA! (The Graduate Student’s Association – basically, the graduate student council). I’ve gotten the position of Director of Social Affairs; I’ll be in charge of planning social and fundraising events, as well as keep in contact with speakers for future panels/conferences. I’m definitely thrilled that I was given this role! I’ve actually never participated in any form of student government before, so I’m excited to give this a shot.
I left the house twice today; once to go to the gym, and again to go pick up dinner. I didn’t feel like cooking and I had a coupon book on my coffee table full of coupons about to expire, so I decided to make use of one of them.
I live pitas, but it’s been forever since I’ve had one. The cafeteria at UWO had a pita place…Pita Hut? Pita Pizazz? (something along those lines. Chelsea, help me out here) and I used to go there for lunch at least once a week. I love having a full meal that I can fit in one hand!
The deal was for two pitas and two drinks, so the Coke Zero in there had my name all over it.
(awkward story: I was rocking out in the car on my drive home when I was stopped at a light. I looked over and the guy in the car next to me was giggling and pointing at me…oops. C’mon, everyone has their own private car dance parties, right?)
I went with a Chicken Crave Pita, which was ham, chicken and swiss.
I stuffed it with all my favourite veggies: spinach, tomato, cucumber, green pepper, pickles, black olives, and hot peppers, with honey mustard and tzatziki.
Delicious (and yes, we eat dinner on the couch while watching TV shows/movies on our XBox. No cable here…or dining room table).
I made it about 3/4 of the way through the pita before admitting defeat. Now that I know the Pita Pit here has good food, expect it to pop up once in a while.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew
Ever since I received it for my birthday, I’ve been making great use out of my slow cooker. Earlier in the week, I had been thinking about a good slow cooker recipe to make and I realized that beef stew is pretty much the quintessential slow cooker recipe. I had never made it before, so I thought I’d give it a shot.
(side note: I was talking to my mom on the phone on Thursday and told her I had made beef stew. Apparently, my brother had mentioned to her that he hadn’t had it in a long time and requested she make it sometime soon. Considering that beef stew is almost never made in that house, I find that interesting in a sibling-telepathy sort of way).
I woke early Monday morning before class and by dinner, I had a tender, flavourful beef stew waiting.
Slow Cooker Beef Stew Recipe
Ingredients
- two lbs chopped stewing beef
- 1 cup baby carrots
- 2 stalks celery
- 2 large potatoes, chopped
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups beef brother (preferably low sodium)
- 1 tablespoon worchestire sauce
- 1 teaspoon basil
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
Directions
1. Place beef in slow cooker. cover with flour, salt and pepper and stir until meat is coated.
2. Add carrots, potatoes, carrots and celery to slow cooker. Add Worchestire, basil and paprika.
3. Add beef broth and toss. Cook on high for 6 hours, or low for 12.
My original plan was to cook in for 12 hours on low, but I got a text from Eric mid afternoon (he works a split shift so he’s home in the afternoons) telling me I forgot to plug the slow cooker in. Well, that was smart of me. Fortunately, I told him to turn it on high and we were good to go by dinnertime.
Seriously, I love coming home and having dinner made for me. It just makes life so much easier, you know? Plus it just smells so, so good.
And this was an awesome dinner to come home to – the veggies and the meat were perfectly tender and the broth was nice and flavourful. Served with a whole wheat roll for soaking up the broth, this was an awesome dinner.
Have an awesome weekend! Eric and I are off to his company holiday party tonight, so I’m looking forward to kicking off the holiday season.
<— Most embarrassing moment in a vehicle? I wish I could say that was the first time I’ve been caught holding my own karaoke party in the car, but it’s not.
<— Did you ever do any student council/office council positions? Any advice for a newbie?
November 24, 2012 at 8:44 am
That pita place sounds delicious! I definitely have those days where I won’t leave the house except to go run. And then get takeout because I’m too lazy to cook. Congratulations on becoming a GSA! It sounds like such a cool position, getting to keep in contact with the important people. I’m sure you’ll do a great job at it. I’ve been caught dancing/singing in the car before too. I try to play it off really cool, but in reality, I’m just not haha. Have fun at the holiday party! Let the Christmas season begin 🙂
November 24, 2012 at 8:50 am
Thanks Sarah! I’m a little nervous but I’m excited try something new.
November 24, 2012 at 8:53 am
I haven’t had pita pit food in ages! You made me want to try it again ASAP 🙂 And that beef stew looks delicious! Definitely something I’ll be making in the next few weeks 🙂
November 24, 2012 at 8:55 am
I’ll definitely be eating Pita Pit more often, it’s so good!
November 24, 2012 at 9:36 am
My gosh – that stew looks amazing. I am going to follow your recipe this upcoming week!! Slowcookers are perfect for commuting… thank you for the reminder! 🙂
November 24, 2012 at 2:45 pm
not a problem! They’re useful little things 🙂
November 24, 2012 at 1:39 pm
I used to get pita pit so much in college! I loved the chicken caesar pita. Dance parties in my car happen daily, and I honestly don’t care who is staring at me. I just try to remember I will never see them again (except for those awkward moments you look over and know the person next to you).
November 24, 2012 at 2:58 pm
Hehe at least I can be thankful that wasn’t the case!
November 24, 2012 at 3:54 pm
Eep! Congrats for making it on the council! That sounds like a pretty awesome opportunity. I wish I could offer some kind of advice, but I never really participated in that kind of stuff – something I still kind of regret. So have fun with it! And like I Tweeted you yesterday, the only way to react to those embarrassing karaoke car moments is to go all out, kind of like what this guy was doing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQyAA_ZyJIA 😀
November 25, 2012 at 8:03 am
lmao I love that commercial! Although I’m not sure how I would feel if the dude threw his underwear at me… :-p
November 24, 2012 at 5:09 pm
Haha, Pita Pit always makes me thing of the drunk bus in Guelph. It’s one of the few places open after the bars and since you’re not allowed to take food on the bus, I always see girls huddling at the back, pulling squished pitas out of their bras that they’ve managed to smuggle on…
November 25, 2012 at 8:04 am
lmao that’s hilarious!! I can honestly say I’ve never tried to do that…
November 24, 2012 at 7:18 pm
I love looking at the food you eat. It seems like you eat really healthy without being extreme. I think that’s cool! I’m glad you’re enjoying your slow cooker. The beef stew looks great!
November 25, 2012 at 8:04 am
Thanks Austin, that’s the approach I try to take!
November 25, 2012 at 8:22 am
It’s been ages since I’ve had a pita too! Whenever I eat at the UCC, I always opt for Subway. But now you’ve got me craving a pita so I’m definitely going to get one this week. And to answer your question, it used to be a Pita Pit, but now it’s Extreme Pita. 😉
Your beef stew looks fantastic! That’s one of my favourite meals.
And congrats on getting that position on the GSA! You’re going to do a great job. 😀
November 25, 2012 at 9:23 am
Hehe thanks for clearing that up for me Chelsea!
And thanks! ❤ I'm a tad nervous, but I'm excited.!
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