graduate school blues.

The girls ended up sticking around until lunchtime yesterday.  Camryn really wanted to bake something, so we baked a batch of banana oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.  Of course, the girls wanted to take them home.  After packing their cookies up and sending them with the girls, and Bo nibbling on the leftovers, this was all that was left...

3 measly cookies.  Ok, I nibbled on a few too during the baking process ;)  Before you decide you want to try them, let me just say that they are not your average cookie.  They have a muffin texture, which some may not appreciate in a cookie.  I really liked them though and will definitely be making them again in the future!  They are pretty healthy too, which is a plus.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies 

(Makes approximately 2 dozen cookies)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp butter, softened
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 medium overripe bananas, mashed
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.  Set aside.

3.  In a large bowl, cream together the butter, sugars, and banana until combined.  Beat in the egg and vanilla extract.  Gradually add in the flour mixture until thoroughly mixed.  Stir in the oats and chocolate chips.

4.  Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet.  Bake 10-13 minutes until set and lightly brown.  Let the cookies cool for at least 5 minutes before removing them from the pan.  ENJOY!

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After my sisters left, reality set in.  My graduate school work isn't going to do itself.  I've been pretty unmotivated lately though, so it was rough getting myself going yesterday.  I think I may have rubbed off on Miller a little bit too.

Sweetest thing on this planet, right?  Sooo, I really tried to focus and worked on school stuff most of the afternoon.  That is, until I fell asleep... computer in lap...glasses still on...sitting up on the couch.  Thank goodness my mom stopped by to bring me some spaghetti squash about an hour later or I may have been out for the count.  Thanks mom, your timing was perfect.  I managed to get myself up and going, at which point Bo and I decided it might be a good idea to look at our devotion for the day.  Also perfect timing because it definitely gave me a pick-me-up.  Afterwards, Bo and I decided to do a date night at home, make dinner together and watch a movie.  PERFECT.  

We used the spaghetti squash mom gave us to make Southwestern Spaghetti Squash, a recipe I found on food.com.  I didn't want to use the spaghetti squash to make spaghetti--I felt like that was just too easy.  Besides that, we'd made that a couple of weeks ago.  This new recipe turned out to be really good, and much different from our traditional spaghetti squash recipe.  It's a little spicy, so you should definitely try it if you like that sort of thing.  We also made "skinny" margaritas, also using a recipe on food.com.  They were just ok.  I won't even bother posting the recipe for them though because they do not get my recommendation.  Sorry guys.

Southwestern Spaghetti Squash  

Ingredients:

• 2 spaghetti squash
• 1 - 14 oz. can of mexican tomatoes (undrained)
• 1 - 14 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 3/4 cup monterey jack cheese
• 1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp garlic salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Cut squash in half lengthwise and place face-down on a greased baking sheet.  Bake for 40 minutes.

2.  Remove squash from the oven and let cool.  Remove seeds from the center of the squash.  Then, fork out spaghetti-like strands into a large bowl.

3.  Add tomatoes with juice, black beans, 1/2 cup of cheese, cilantro, cumin, garlic salt, and pepper.  Toss together.

4.  Spoon the mixture into a greased casserole dish and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup cheese over top the mixture.

5.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.  Remove and serve!

Grainy picture...Bo did the first taste test and gave it two thumbs up!  We decided to skip dinner at the table and eat while we watched a movie.  Bo rented Being Flynn, which is one of the weirdest movies I have ever seen.  Robert De Niro plays a really good part, but the movie is still just kind of depressing.  It goes along with the margaritas--no recommendations from me!  It was still nice to spend the night in with my best friend.  So very thankful for him <3

I want to leave you with something I read last night out of my book, Crazy Love.  It stuck with me, especially in dealing with my current state of graduate school blues...

"To be brutally honest, it doesn't really matter what place you find yourself in right now.  Your part is to bring Him glory--whether eating a sandwich on a lunch break, drinking coffee at 12:04 a.m. so you can stay awake to study, or watching your four-month-old take a nap.  The point of your life is to point to Him."