You Win Some, You Lose Some

I seriously love Wednesdays. 

I have no class, so I get to spend the whole day with myself, doing things that make me happy and getting things done for the last 2 days of the week. Normally, I like to be with people, but Wednesdays are my days to unwind and hangout with me.

Felt pretty good today.

I got up and had a leisurely breakfast before heading to the coffee shop to get some work done. I came home around 11 and changed for the gym, where I had a great, sweaty work out. Today was one of those days where I completely zone out and before I know it, almost an hour has past. It felt awesome.

I came home, made lunch and met my friend at the library to do some maj-oh studying for out Linguistics exam tomorrow. We knocked it out, and I was home at the perfect time to get to cookin!

As always, I loved spending time in the kitchen today. It really is my favorite part of my day. And, as always, I had some successes and some failures. Let's start with the good:

I have been getting kind of bored with my dinners. Don't get me wrong, I love my stir fries and plates of roasties, but alternating between the two is getting old. Solution? SOUP! I decided to use my veggies in a gigantic pot of Italian-style veggie soup.

Yes, our pots and pans are pink. College-girl style.

I promise, it's way more delicious than it looks. Created "Rach-style" a.k.a. throw sh!t in a pan/pot and season till it tastes good. Seriously, I can't follow recipes for the life of me. My mom always asks me to write things down I cook at home, and I really couldn't even tell you how much when in there. In the mix this time:

• onion
• carrots
• cabbage
• 1/2 a teeny butternut squash
• broccoli
• canned (no salt) tomatoes
• TJ's low-sodium veg broth
• seasonings: red pepper flake, garlic salt, pepper

I ate this x2 along side some Mary's Gone crackers.

Holy crap, this hit the spot! Maybe because I had been dreaming about it all afternoon, but I'm holding it's because it really is that good. And, better yet, leftovers for the rest of the week!

To continue my cooking mood, I set out for something sweet. Again, I have been dreaming lately about pumpkin bread, and finally had the time to bake some up tonight. I found an easy recipe and set about it.

The batter was tasty. Lot's of pumpkin. Not too sweet. Then it hit the oven...

 55 minutes at 350* later, and this was what I got. It literally didn't rise at all! I have no idea why! I followed the recipe... well, sort of. Like I said, my process is to throw things together and see how they turn out. Every time I bake, I learn the same lesson: baking doesn't work like this. I know, but I will always want to try again. Maybe, I should just face the music that I am not a baker. Haha, fat chance. It just makes me want to try again.

 Cutting into it, I got a texture that can only be described as "gloppy". Dense, hard, gooey. Not what I was going for.

 After I slathered it with a little Earth Balance, it didn't taste too bad. But, then again, what doesn't taste good with some EB melted on top. 

Well, that one went strait to the trash. Not even worth the space it would take up on the counter. Eh, you win some, you lose some. I'm only bitter that I wasted a can of pumpkin. Oh the horror! The silver lining, I have just about enough leftover to make some pumpkin oats in the morning!

Here's to winning some, losing some, and laughing at ourselves!
~ Rach