Happy Snowy New Year’s Eve!

Happy NYE everyone! Guess what – I have to work on this day too and everyone else seems to have it off. Oh well, such is life. I’m sure the office will be very quiet. And it looks super wintery outside with lots of snow.

The good news is that today is a short work day – I’m out at 3:00 p.m.; the bad news is that I fear I may be getting a cold. But, I am taking all the necessary preventative measures, here is my arsenal of weapons:

Not pictured is the chewable Zycam (gross) and vitamin c tablet I took this morning. There is nothing I hate more than being sick. So, as soon as my throat started feeling scratchy last night I was on high alert.

Speaking of last night, here are yesterday’s eats:

Breakfast was boring old Kashi Heart to Heart cereal with skim milk – not almond milk in the house. I originally had apple cider when I took this photo and then I tried it and realized it had gone bad, so I switched to orange juice.  

When packing my lunch yesterday, things were looking bleak. No leftovers and not too much to choose from. So I ended up making some tunafish and bringing it in to put on Reduced Fat Triscuit crackers. I had two clementines as well.

Afternoon snacks were walnuts and raisins and a strawberry Yoplait yogurt with granola. I was really missing my Greek yogurt. Darn you bad Oikos yogurt!

Toward late afternoon I started to notice the scratchiness in my throat, as well as some congestion in my nose. Thoughts of hitting the gym started to fade fast, although in retrospect it might have been good for me to sweat out some of those bad germs.

Around 4:00 p.m. my boss told me to go home – not because I was sick or anything – just because it was soo dead. On the way home I picked up a few things to make dinner. I was in the mood for some comfort food. So here’s what I made:

I adapted this recipe  (Rotini and Cheese with Broccoli and Ham) from Cooking Light, to be:

Penne and Cheese with Broccoli and Sausage
Yields 3 servings

Ingredients
2  quarts water
1  cups  uncooked penne (about 8 ounces corkscrew pasta)
1/2  (10-ounce) package frozen chopped broccoli
1/8  cup  all-purpose flour
1  cups  fat-free milk
3/4 cup cubed cheese (cheddar)
1  teaspoon  Dijon mustard
1/2  teaspoon  salt
1/4  teaspoon  garlic powder
1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
1/2  cup  chopped vegetarian sausage

Preparation
Bring water to a boil in a large pot. Add pasta; cook 5 minutes. Add broccoli; cook an additional 5 minutes or until pasta is done; drain.

While pasta cooks, lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a medium saucepan; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat 8 minutes or until mixture is thick, stirring frequently. At the same time, microwave vegetarian sausage and cut up into bite size pieces.

Remove from heat; stir in cheese and next 4 ingredients (cheese through pepper). Combine pasta mixture, cheese sauce, and sausage.

I really liked this dish and the sauce, even though it’s not the healthiest of choices. Hubby liked it as well. I will definitely make this one again.

After dinner, I made some tea to calm my throat a bit.

This flavor was decent, but what I really wish I had was this:

I can’t find this flavor anywhere! I’ve gone to about 5-6 stores in the city and it’s never there. Sadness. I’ve also tried to win this flavor on several blog give-a-ways (but I never win anything) to no avail. But I’ve built this flavor up in my head so much, I’m sure I’ll be disappointed. I just can’t give in and order it online. I won’t.

P.S. – Hubby thinks I have a tea problem. I am always bringing home new flavors and he claims I am bombarding the cupboards with tea. But it’s tea and I love it! (And he secretly does too).

Other evening happenings. Murphy tried on his sweater again…yup it’s definitely still too tight.

He looks like a fat cat in a little sweater. We’re going with dog clothes next year. Bill weighed him last night and he actually weighs less than his norm. He’s usually around 16 pounds, but now he is a svelte 14 pounds.

Hubby and I also watched one of our Netflix movies – UP! I never feel excited to watch Disney kids’ movies, but then he convinces me and I love them. And I loved this movie so much! If you haven’t seen it, you must.

It is stinking adorable and there were definitely moments when I was teary-eyed.

Have you seen UP? What did you think?

Our plans for NYE tonight are going to be very low-key. I don’t feel like fighting city crowds or traffic and not feeling 100% is also adding to my desire to chill. I plan on making us some risotto for dinner (I’ve never made it before), drinking some champagne and maybe some wine, getting a fire going (ok, Hubby will be handling that), and cozying up with my two boys to watch the ball drop on t.v. from our apt.

What are your NYE plans? Has anyone ever done Times Square? Would you ever?

I have no desire. The whole being trapped and not having any bathrooms thing sounds scary. One of Bill’s friends (who shall remain nameless), actually wore a diaper to Times Square once because he wanted to drink. And yes, I think he used it. Gross, right?

Well, wherever you are tonight – I hope you have a very Happy New Years and a great start to 2010! Talk to you next year! 🙂