Right now I am struggling to move through this morning due to some sort of sleeping pill hangover.

Last night I took an Advil PM so I could fall sleep at a reasonable hour.  This little pill didn’t put me to sleep, it knocked me the F out for 12 hours! 

As I plan my escape to the other side of the world next week, I’m wondering what I should bring with me so I can sleep peacefully for 8 hours and NOT feel like this when I wake up.  Jet lag is hard enough without this added element!

Going to London and China I used Ambien which worked well.  But on one trip to London, it failed to knock me out, and I had to suffer with a massive headache for the 11 hour flight.  While in living in London, I bought some over-the-counter sleep aids which are JUST the right dosage, but they sell them in the US unfortunately.  Back in the day when I hoped the pond several times a year I had a nice little stash, but that is long gone.

Lunesta is the other one people like.  I’ve heard Valium from others.  Tylenol PM never works for me at home so I don’t see how it could be effective on a plane.

I’m the kind of person who hates taking pills, especially ones that aren’t natural.  I usually don’t even take an aid when I get a headache.So, this is a predicament for me. 

Any thoughts??? What works for you??

Love the bracelet!

Fingers crossed for $2k.  I have some gold to sell you :)

goldbuyinggirl:

Gold Buyng Girl has found her new signature bracelet for the year. A must for every GBG jewelry box after you decide to recycle some of your old jewelry!  Gold shot up in the last two days.  I have a feeling that gold will hit $2000 this year. 

A reader said, “I wish I could see your grocery list”  Well, here it is!  Can you read it?? Yeah, me neither. I actually have nice handwriting when I’m not rushing….

No, seriously, I never make a list unless I’m determined to cook, which I was this week. 

If I don’t make a list, here’s what I usually pick up (as I go through the store):

• Broccoli crown or broccolini bunch or green beans
• Spinach or salad mix with herbs
• Herbs (rosemary, thyme, basil)
• 1 tomato
• 1 sweet onion
• 1 avocado
• 1 sweet potato
• 1 honey crisp apple
• 1 pineapple
• 2 small bananas
• Fresh OJ - medium
• Fresh Green Juice - small
• Grapes or clementines or strawberries or blueberries
• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups granola
• 1/2 cup of roasted (no salt) nuts I’m in the mood for
• 1/2 cup Thompson raisins
• Dark chocolate
• 1/2 chicken with bones and skin or in-store roasted turkey slices
• 1 filet white fish
• 1 serving of flavored organic yogurt
• 3-4 Justin’s almond butter packets
• 1-2 Gnu bars
• Terra sweet potato chips, no salt
• 1 bottle white wine
• 1 awesome beer
• Cookies of some sort (the healthiest that sounds appealing)
• A couple pre-made deli stuff: broccoli crunch, butternut squash, green beans, edamame, a soup

This week I’ve made two recipes from publications. But really, nothing special.  You can see them for yourself.

Roasted Talapia with EVOO and herbs.  Spinach using the Whole Foods recipe I posted last week.  Brown rice with lime and cilantro.

This didn’t turn out as I had hoped.  Island pork recipe from Clean Eating magazine and green beans with sesame oil.

Apple-potato latkes with maple-cinnamon yogurt from one of my favorite sources: Melissa Clark’s column “A Good Appetite” in NYTimes Dining section on Wednesdays.  (I fell in love with her making this Chicken Adobo.  Then I found THESE BAD ASS RIBS!) I’m sure hers were MUCH better, but my circumstances were not great.  I had to make the mix and then put it in the fridge for an hour before frying them. Ideally, I’d like to broil them!  I’ll try that soon.  Until then, see my healthy substitutions below and see what you can do with them.  Here is the recipe:

Apple-P0tato Latkes with Cinnamon Sour Cream

From Melissa Clark, NYTimes Dining

• 6 tablespoons sour cream or Greek yogurt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon maple syrup
• 2 Golden Delicious apples, peeled and cored
• 1 large russet potato, peeled
• 1 medium yellow onion, peeled
• 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 3 large eggs
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• Olive oil, for frying.

MR used: Nonfat Greek yogurt. Wheat flour. Whatever apples I had in the fridge.  Whole Foods brand agave syrup, both Maple and Cinnamon (in addition to ground cinnamon). 

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, whisk together the sour cream or yogurt, cinnamon and syrup. Cover and chill until ready to use.

2. Coarsely grate the apples, potato and onion. Put the mixture in a clean dish towel and squeeze to wring out as much liquid as possible. For the crispiest pancakes, you want the least moisture.

3. Working quickly, put the mixture in a large bowl, add the flour, eggs, salt, baking powder and pepper, and mix until the flour is absorbed.

4. In a heavy-bottomed pan over medium-high heat, pour in about 1/4 inch of oil. Once the oil is hot (a drop of batter placed in the pan should sizzle), drop heaping tablespoons of batter into the pan, cooking 3 to 4 latkes at a time. Use a spatula to flatten the scoops into disks. When the edges of the latkes are brown and crispy, 2 to 3 minutes, flip them. Cook until the second side is deeply browned, another 2 to 3 minutes. Transfer the latkes to a plate lined with paper towels to drain. Repeat with the remaining batter. Serve with dollops of the cinnamon sour cream on top.

MR notes: I know nothing about oil except their benefits.  EVOO was too thick to fry in.  Test a latke in the oil before making all of them.  I had to add additional potato and apple because my batter had too much flour.  And the yogurt is unexpectedly amazing; you need it.  I used it instead of ketchup.

I love running across pictures like this.

(Love you and miss you Whitney and Jimmy.  Big hug to precious Leighton!)

In early morning pre-coffee daze I bought “Wind down” cd @starbux -not bad honestly. Starts w/ FrouFrou! (Taken with instagram)

@NYTdining potato & apple latkes w/cinnamon maple yogurt. Yummy! Recipe on MTM soon. (Taken with instagram)

Every time I go to Target, I end up with a least one new piece of clothing. Like this jersey dress. Cute, right?

It seems every time I go in there now for a necessity, I come home with new clothes.

How can I resist? Right there at the entrance is the women’s section with trendy pieces lining the isle, enticing me to step in and browse. Sure enough, one piece always jumps into my basket. Why question the impulse buy when it’s so cheap?

Smarty corporate merchandisers. We are so predictable. :)

Yesterday in the WSJ, there was an article about retailers, Target was the example, getting upset about acting as a “showroom” for customers to experience a product before they buy it for considerably less online. Target actually wrote a letter to its vendors pleading for them to help level the playing field with price reductions or exclusive offerings for their stores.

As a consumer I just don’t feel bad for them. They’ve dominated our shopping and wallets for too long, and it feels empowering to have options and use them. Now, I usually go with brick and mortar over online, but the majority of shoppers apparently don’t. (Check out the Red Laser and Amazon PriceCheck apps to comparison shop.)

Online retailers try to entice you with the “other people bought” items, but I’m willing to bet those don’t jump into the shopping cart as often as they do in a real store.

I certainly don’t have numbers to back this up, but it seems like the ball is finally in our court! The question is then are we smart enough to consider our budget and hit it straight passed their tactics, not always ending up with the jersey dress.

I’m working on that :)

Not quite the latte of @catalinacoffee or @cafeluzhouston but Double Trouble is a legit new bar for #Houston (Taken with Instagram at Double Trouble)

Haha.  I wish.

The corn syrup is filling - 90% of the pie!