Workin' for the Weekend

When you are going to school full time, working, and trying to maintain some semblance of a social life, weekends are the best thing that has ever happened to you. Seriously. So I thought you might enjoy some scenes from this weekend--which, I should mention, I found particularly successful :)!

 Started the weekend off early on Thursday by heading over the the soccer game with Erin. Erin and I are are both so busy, I hardly ever see her. It was wonderful to spend some "Sammi-Erin" time--even if we were freezing our butts off! 

You know, I wish I played soccer when I was younger--those girls are in the most amazing shape and are incredible runners. I might have been a little jealous...

 Got a little tired of eating oatmeal and pancakes Friday morning (I know, shocking!) so I whipped up a small batch of Julie's fantastic pumpkin muffins. Used up the last of the pumpkin though...we'll see how long I can make it before cracking open another can.

Have you ever seen this movie? Soo funny! Its supposed to be a "scary movie", but the special effects are not very believable. And the character development is just wonderful. I definitely recommend it if you are looking for a Halloween movie to watch without peeing your pants every five minutes.

Went for a run Saturday afternoon (6 miles + stairs) and I am really feeling fantastic about the race. I have less than three weeks to go, and I'm starting to think that I am definitely ready!

Made this gorgeous pizza--Thai Chicken! I'm not going to put up this recipe because its definitely not that good for you, but expect a salad variation coming soon!

Football game Saturday night...we are winning finally! Also, this picture isn't from this weekend--way too cold to be wearing a t-shirt!

Hope y'all had a good weekend, and are feeling ready to start a new week. I know I am!

Best Friend Cookies

Good morning! The weather outside might be miserable, but at least I have cute rainboots!

Last night I had an intramural football game. It was raining. I played through snow, hail, and rain all through out high school softball season, so it really wasn't that big of a deal for me. And in case you were wondering, we tied 6-6. There wasn't much scoring on either side because the ball was too darn slick to handle! Playing in the rain totally made up for it though. Epic.

My bff Elaine has been dying to come to a game. She's from Louisiana--all they do is produce NFL athletes and shoot gators--naturally she would want to come. ;) I suggested that she come last night since she wasn't doing anything. Little did I know that the weather would behave so poorly! Poor girl was probably freezing her Louisianan butt off! But she stuck it out and cheered for me the whole time (and that's why I love her).

When I got off the field, I apologized for making her come tonight. Her reply? "Thats okay, you're going to bake me cookies to make up for it." Love it.

So I made her cookies. Apology cookies. "I Love My Best Friend" cookies.

It took us her a while to figure out what she wanted, but she finally decided on Orange Dreamsicles. These cookies are light and creamy, with an orangey twist (just like a dreamsicle!). Ironically, I had this recipe listed in a document called, "How to Gain the Freshman 15". Ha.

Orange Dreamsicle Cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 ½ cups flour
• ¾ teaspoon soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup butter
• ½ cup sugar
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 egg*
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons orange zest
• 2 cups white chocolate chips**

Directions:

1. Beat together butter, sugars, eggs, and vanilla. 2. Add dry ingredients and mix. 3. Fold in the white chocolate chips. 4. Bake at 375 degrees for 7-9 minutes. Makes 3 dozen cookies. *I actually was out of eggs, so I replace it with 1/4 c. applesauce, and they turned out beautifully. **Delicious with or without (we didn't have any...)!

Servings: 36
Calories: 147 (and you wonder that I gained the Freshman 15...)
Protein: N/A

Game Day

What would college be without football?? The first home game of the season was yesterday, and it just happened to be against our biggest rivals.  

Elaine, Kayla, and myself...super excited for kickoff! If you want to ready all about Kayla and how awesome she is, you should check out her blog. :)

Super stoked for the game, I packed all of the essentials: nuts and cranberries, a whole wheat PB sandwich, and my last nectarine--no stadium food for me!

Actually, my food almost didn't make it in.  I totally forgot that outside food wasn't allowed in the stadium, so when I saw the bag checker, I panicked a little.  You know, shoving things into the bottom of the bag, trying to cover my snacks up with non-contraband items.

When we got to the bag checker, he started searching.  And he found a tupper.  Of leftover eggplant!  I had forgotten (that seems to be a common theme right now, right? chalk it up to the fact that I have four--yes, four!--midterms this week) that I had left it in my bag when I didn't eat it at work.

The beautiful thing about eggplant is...well, its pretty darn ugly.  The guy totally made a face and was like, "What is that?!"  Hahaha!  I just told him that it was eggplant that I had forgotten about and that I would throw it out.  And it worked.  So everyone: if you are ever trying to sneak in delicious food, use an ugly food, like roasted eggplant slices, as a diversion.  Works like a charm.

Contrary to my food success, our team sucked. Hard core. It was super tragic and altogether quite painful.  Hopefully they will step it up for the next one... I can't sit through an entire season of insanely sloppy play. :(