My Fall Must-Have

I’m not a fan of skinny jeans--I don’t like the way I look in them. How can they be flattering on anyone? But since I have some brand new, amazing boots to wear this fall I needed to invest in some skinny jeans so I can wear my boots over the jeans. I was unable to find a pair of skinny jeans that I liked in my size. The sales associate suggested I try on these new J Brand denim leggings in the 'olympia' wash. Now, I love leggings, but black denim leggings? Ugh, they had to be worse than skinny jeans. But, to be a good sport, I tried them on. They were sooo comfortable but I was hesitant about buying them. Would I wear them? Mr. Surly liked them and thought I should get them. I still wasn’t convinced, so I put them on hold and we continued our shopping. Mr. Surly went going through all the points for getting them:

*I have 1 (yes, only 1) pair of pants that fits me (the rest are too big and I don’t want to buy more because I’m convinced that I will soon gain back some weight)

*I can wear them with my new boots

*He liked the way they fit me, giving me the illusion of a butt (it makes my flat, pancake butt look curvy and voluptuous)

*They were comfortable

*Did I mention I really need pants that fit?

I bought them and I'm so glad I did. These pants have barely left my body since purchasing (and washing) them this past weekend. The fabric is so stretchy and comfortable. I love them and I really can’t say enough about them. Once the weather finally cools off I envision myself wearing these pants along with the new UGG 'cardy' boots I bought last week. I love comfortable footware. I saw these babies and had to have them. I wanted the cream, but decided they would get too dirty, the gray was much safer.

I’m going to be sad when I finally gain back some weight and this pants don’t fit me anymore. But then, I can pass them on to someone else who will love and enjoy them as much as me.

I know this post is in no way related to food, but I just haven't felt much like cooking lately. And I love, love, love these pants and just had to let others know about them.


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This post is not an advertisement for any of the above brands (J Brand, Frye, and Ugg Australia). I bought and paid for all of the products and just loved them so much I wanted to share my opinion with others

Butternut Squash and Apple Soup

I’m still not really feeling much like being in the kitchen. Due to Mr. Surly being out of town on business for a couple days this week, I didn’t have to make any food. But when he returned I had to make something so I chose to make an easy, quick soup. The addition of the apple and apple juice adds a nice sweetness to this soup. It’s yummy as is, but I’m trying to experiment with different spices to try to jazz it up. This time I added cumin (probably my favorite spice), turmeric and a pinch of cayenne to give it a nice kick. Mr. Surly ate so much of this for dinner that I was lucky to get a picture of it before it disappeared.

Chocolate Espresso Shortbread Cookies

I’m slowly getting back into the kitchen this week. I haven’t made a dessert for us in awhile, and decided it was time to make one when I found Mr. Surly rummaging around the kitchen for something sweet. He’s used to having dessert around, since I’m supposed to be eating sugary delights, as per my doctor’s request. But with my new meds I have been constantly fatigued, the last thing I want to do is hang around the kitchen trying to bake. Since I really haven’t made anything in a (long) while, I forced myself to make a simple dessert. I chose this recipe because it required little prep time in the kitchen, with a break in between. I made the dough one day and baked the cookies the next day. I halved the recipe since there are just two of us and I don’t have much of an appetite. I chose to cut mine into bite-sized portions so they are easier for me to eat. These were good the day I made them, but even better the next. I had hoped they would be kinda crunchy and crisp, but these are soft. I don’t have any experience with shortbread so maybe that’s how they are supposed to be. They taste great and I feel that this halve recipe made the perfect amount of cookies. I think tonight I might serve them alongside some ice cream.

Eggplant Parmesan

After avoiding the kitchen all weekend, it was finally time for me to get back in it and make some food. I’m sick, tired, and still have no appetite. If it weren’t for Mr. Surly, I would be content drinking all my meals via smoothies and weight gainer shakes. But alas, I live with a constantly hungry man. I had an eggplant in the fridge that Mr. Surly bought last week, begging me to make him eggplant parmesan. I decided to make some yesterday to use up some pasta sauce I made on Friday. I really didn’t follow a recipe, I just kinda threw it all together. Mr. Surly raved about this, so I thought I’d post my guidelines so next time I can remember what I did. I prepared the eggplant and assembled the dish in the morning then popped it in the fridge until I was ready to bake it for dinner.

Creole Chicken with Rice

Don’t let the unappetizing photo scare you off from this dish. It doesn’t look like much, but the taste is out-of-this-world phenomenal.

Back before I got sick, I read the book Eat to Live by Dr. Fuhrman. I have always tried to eat as healthfully as possible and heard his book was informative. Basically, he maps out a caloric restriction diet/lifestyle. He recommends eating lots of fresh, raw veggies and eating meat sparingly, thinking of it as a condiment. I used the book as mainly a diet guideline and for some of the recipes--caloric restriction is a bit too extreme for me, I'm not really into counting calories. Some of the recipes are really good so I went online to Dr. Furhman's blog to find more. I saw this one and decided to try it. I’m so glad I did because this has become one of our top 5 favorite recipes. A word of warning, if you don’t like hot and spicy food this is not the meal for you. It definitely cleans out the sinuses.

I made this a lot when I had to eliminate gluten from my diet. I use Trader Joe’s brand chili sauce because it is gluten free and I love it. I’m not sure if all chili sauce is gluten free so if you have celiac disease or a gluten intolerance be sure to check the ingredients of the sauce you use.