Hi Friends! How was your weekend? Mine was a blur. I worked, I spent time with the fam, and I may have gone to the mall. Twice.
See, the first time I went on Saturday afternoon, it took me 45 minutes to find a parking spot! Nothing like cutting into my very brief time window I had carved out for my dress-finding mission. You would never know the economy is in the toilet by looking at the sea of cars at the mall.
I almost ponied up for a car wash and car detailing just to get rid of my car since that was looking like the only way I was going to snag a parking spot. But I wanted to spend money on me, not $50 on my car just to park.
Finally, some parking karma struck and I got a parking place. That was Saturday and my free time and shopping time was majorly cut short before I had to go to work.
So back to the mall I went on Sunday afternoon. And this time, shopping karma struck. I found a cocktail dress for my Food Buzz Trip to San Fran!
Sorry, I am not going to reveal it. Oh I know, I’m such a tease.
The other thing I noticed at the mall was all the Christmas stuff already out and being sold! And, right now and as I type this, I have a Barney episode playing for Skylar and they are doing Christmas carols and a winter holidays, snow, singing Jingle Bells and the whole bit. Isn’t it a little early?! It’s not even Halloween yet!
Onto some food, I found avocados for 59 cents each at the grocery store. So I peeled an avo, mashed it with a fork, added 1 tsp of salt and a generous sprinkling of Mrs. Dash.
Voila, homemade 2 second guacamole. I put some on crackers (Triscuits for the fam and Mary’s Crackers for me, and some corn chips) and everyone around here was happy.
Below is my usual guac recipe. Still a “quickie”, too but on Sunday I “cheated” and just mashed + Mrs Dash’ed. Here’s my usual recipe:
Homemade Guacamole
1 large or 2 small/medium avocados
Juice of 1/2 lime
1 small tomato or roma tomato, diced
1/4 c diced red pepper or chili peppers
Salt to taste
Optional: Garlic & Red Onion–I don’t include garlic or red onion in my guac because I don’t like it personally
Optional: pinch of sugar or agave
Mash everything with a fork and serve
The only thing that made Skylar happier than the guac was a Halloween card from her Grandparents in the mail.
From yesterday’s post about banana recipes, I am so glad you enjoyed mine and I loved hearing yours! And I was surprised that many of you don’t love bananas, as I mentioned I don’t either. Plain ones that is. Inside recipes is more my speed.
For all my recipes that use up extra bananas, I hope you check out yesterdays’ post for recipes like:
Tip of the Day: My Open Sky Store 25% Off Promotion for Items in my Open Sky Store!
Maybe you’d like 25% off your Sun Warrior? A couple readers who’ve bought Sun Warrior told me they actually used the code and got 30% off. Bonus!
Dessert: Raw Vegan Chocolate Mousse
If you don’t like guacamole, that’s ok. Even if you don’t think you like avocados, that’s ok too. Neither you nor anyone you serve this to will ever suspect what the secret ingredient is. You can also thin it out with extra agave to make frosting or freeze it for a frozen mousse which is to die for.
Questions
1. Best thing you ate or did over the weekend?
Me = I found a dress! And got some solo shopping time in at the mall. I can really make tracks without shopping with a 3 year old. Love my Lil Shopper to death but I can’t move at quite the break neck pace with her along. I got so much accomplished in my solo mall missions. And the alone time was very re-centering.
2. Do you like avocados?
I do, but I didn’t grow up eating them. I grew up in Minnesota where meat and potatoes were the norm. Not avocados and guacamole and raw vegan chocolate mousse. It wasn’t until adulthood that I really got into avos. But I am sure glad I did.
3. Do you ever make your own guacamole and what do you put in it?
I usually add lots of veggies to my guac; everything from tomatoes and bell peppers, to sometimes radishes or carrots if I have them. Whatever I have on hand to use that up as well as incorporate extra crunch and nutrients to the guac.
4. Do you have any other avocado recipes?
Avos are great to blend with other ingredients for salad dressings, or in (raw) soups, or as garnishes for soups, salads, chili, you name it.
And of course, the dessert recipes. Cocoa powder + agave are always a great start for any dessert. Add an avo and all that good, healthy fat, and the dessert becomes decadent!
5. I hate waiting for parking places. Driving around in circles, stalking people as they walk from the store to the parking lot, just hoping you can snag their spot. Such a waste of time and frustrating! Sometimes though, there is just no other answer other than to wait it out.
What’s the longest you’ve ever waiting for parking or tried to find parking?
For me it was at this very same mall, two years ago, the day after Thanksgiving but at like 8pm. I thought all the crowds would be gone. Wrong. I drove around for about 75 minutes to try to find parking, never did, and drove home. Talk about a time waster!
I have an action packed day off. As soon as I hit publish, I have a solid 12 hours of real life to tend to. Kinda don’t even want to get started but no time like the present. It’s time to pump some iron and do some yoga moves, in my garage now, though. Have a great day everyone!