Speculoos

Yesterday, Matt sent me a picture message of a jar of peanut-butter-looking stuff that said "Speculoos Cookie Butter."  While I was trying to sound out "speculoos" Taylor freaked out and said something to the effect of, "Ohh my gosh, Speculoos!  It tastes like Teddy Grahams!  It's so good!"  Apparently, it is a famous foreign spread.  Why nobody informed me of it sooner, I have no idea.

Matt went in to Trader Joe's while he was working, and the sample lady (who I guess is always very nice to the EMTs and generous with her samples) gave him a sample of the Speculoos with apple and an english muffin.  Matt liked it so much that he bought some for us.

Speculoos kind of reminds me of Nutella in a way... an alternative to peanut butter that can be used on fruit, bread, ice cream, in baked goods, etc.  It kind of tastes like gingerbread cookies, but it's not Christmas-y enough for me to ban year-round and the ginger flavor isn't too strong.  And it's not too sweet, either (I think Nutella is sweeter).  It's so creamy and spicy and delicious... I could eat it by the spoonful. 

While doing "research" for this post (clearly being productive with my day off) I came across a few people hating on the product for being "unhealthy" and whatnot.  Nowhere on the label does it claim to be healthy, so people need to relax.  Plus, it's not actually that bad for you.  Haters gonna hate, I guess.

This girl did a great, short review of this wonderful stuff.

You can read about the origins of Speculoos here and about the drama surrounding the patent here.

Thanks, Trader Joe's, for giving me another reason to love you and for providing me with another yummy snack!

Love Note

It's 12:26 am (0026 in nursing time) and I have a midterm tomorrow!  Why am I not studying, you ask? 

Well, I had clinical from 1-8, showered, studied for a little while, watched Top Chef, studied for a little longer... and now I'm over it.

I'm mostly over it because this teacher is a real (insert choice of not-nice names) and I think it was so mean of her to give the test on a Thursday, when half of the class has clinical on Wednesday and Thursday.  I'm just too fried to focus on studying.  Now I'm overtired and wouldn't be able to fall asleep right now.  So, I'm doing this post and then going to bed.  Did I mention I"m leaving for class at 8 am?  Should be a spectacular day.

Alright I'm done with that.  On to Valentine's Day.

We've never really done much for Valentine's Day.  We've never gone out to dinner.  We did gifts the first couple of years (Matt got me some really cute heart earrings once), but not anymore.  I did have a feeling that some sort of decoration would be waiting for me when I got back from picking up my patients for clinical.

 I was right!

We went over to my parents' house to drop off some goodies, then headed over to Coffee Bean (it was buy one get one free!) so I could work on my care plan.

 Two of my favorite things!

Matt was in charge of dinner.  He made a marinated pork loin from TJ's, mashed potatoes (his first time ever making them) and some sauteed zucchini and squash.  It was delish!

 The photograph doesn't really show the deliciousness

I was in charge of dessert.  I made these mini heart cheesecakes the day before, but they kind of failed.  I added some red food coloring to make them pink...  I didn't want to go overboard, and I didn't add enough and they ended up coming out kind of orange.  Also, I baked them WAY longer than it said to, because they just wouldn't cook through.  They still fell!  I just put some strawberries on top and called it a day. They tasted super yummy at least and my Valentine liked them.

 Cheesecake for a cheesy holiday.

I suppose I should study a little longer.  Really really looking forward to tomorrow.  Really.

Monday Monday

I had high hopes for today.  I even had a little list written out on the whiteboard on my refrigerator.  The day started out well because I woke up with a new tattoo (that sounded like someone did it to me in my sleep).

 

Yay!

I had a test this morning and was planning on coming home, eating lunch, working out, putting laundry away/putting clean sheets on the bed, making dinner, doing some stuff for work, and cleaning some silver jewelry that's gotten really tarnished 

Actually, now that I'm looking at this, I did everything on the list except for working out.  Ha!  Maybe I thought I did less because I didn't work out and that made me feel bad about myself?  It's just hard for me to be motivated when Monday is the only day of the week that I have a good chunk of time to do nothing.  So instead of working out, I watched Hoarders, went to Trader Joe's, and baked cookies.  That's a pretty good trade off, I'd say.

For dinner I made a salad with baby romaine, baby spinach, Gorgonzola cheese, dried cranberries, candied walnuts, and green apple.  I whipped up a little oil/vinegar/mustard dressing to go with it.  For the cookies I made the same tea cakes I made a few weeks ago and froze half the dough for the next time I have a craving.

If you're eating by yourself, you might as well make it pretty.

As far as the test goes, I got an 82%.  That is above the average for the class, but not as good as the A I pulled last time.  However, I probably put in a total of 5 hours of study time... so the 82 is fine.  Oh yea, about that "be a better studier" resolution... Well, next time.

Overall, it was a good day- minus the fact that Matt is working and I've been alone at the apartment.  Boring!

Basically any day that I successfully wrangle a fitted sheet is a good day, let's be honest.

Off to enjoy some tea, a tea cake (or 3) and The Voice!