Layered Bean Dip

from: Cooking Light September 2001

Ingredients
1 (16-ounce) can fat-free refried beans
1 (15-ounce) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
1 cup bottled salsa
1 cup (4 ounces) preshredded reduced-fat Mexican blend or cheddar cheese

Directions
Preheat oven to 375.
Combine beans; spread in an 8-inch square baking dish. Spread sour cream over beans; top with salsa and cheese. Cover; bake at 375 for 20 minutes. Uncover; bake 10 minutes or until bubbly. Garnish with cilantro, if desired.
Yield: about 2 1/2 cups dip (serving size: 1/4 cup)

Nutritional Info (1/4 cup(
CALORIES 107(19% from fat); FAT 2.3g (sat 1.4g,mono 0.2g,poly 0.0g); PROTEIN 8.8g; CHOLESTEROL 9mg; CALCIUM 111mg; SODIUM 497mg; FIBER 5.8g; IRON 1.6mg; CARBOHYDRATE 15.8g

Stick It!

As a part of this weekends many activities, we went to see Stick It, which I honestly expected to be the gymnastics equivalent of Bring it On. But rather than a tired us vs. them plotline, this had a much more interesting plotline concerning the rigid rules of sports like gymnastics. Group that with some great one-liners, a fun sound-track, and some of the coolest art direction and camera work in a while, and you have a pretty darn good movie.

If you're not looking for anything too deep, check it out. Most enjoyable.

Star Power?


Yesterday, while at Old Navy (spending lotsa $$ on lotsa clothes), I saw that they're looking for a new mascot. I wonder … should I enter Loki? I don't want his cuteness to go to his head ….

Summa Time Summa Time …


As part of Matty's birthday, we had a bit of a TV viewing marathon … we watched the last two eps of Veronica Mars and Gilmore Girls each. Veronica Mars had a good conclusion to the plot-line at hand, but then raise a huge number of additional questions in the last few minutes of the show … a preview for next year. I can't wait. Gilmore Girls was more disappointing, with them messing up the whole Lorelai/Luke thing again, which feels incredibly fake to me and is starting to really get on my nerves. The writers seem scared of what to do with them once they're married and keep putting it off, but they really need to take the plunge. The show really dipped when they kept having Rory and Lorelai back together in Stars Hollow after she went to Yale and really improved when they embraced her being at Yale and developed plot lines on that front. I'm just saying …

I love the lack of TV in the summer, but I'm always anxious to see my old faves in the fall.

Happy Birthday!

Today is the 26th anniversary of the day Matty was born. I can't imagine what my life would be like without him. He brings so much fun, humor and love to it. I wish him the best of everything today and all other days. I'm so lucky to have him as my best friend and husband.

He has already opened his presents from me. His dovetail jig and router kit (woodworking things for those of you not in the know) came on Friday. He's got an orbital sander on order as well.

We have a limited number of birthday plans … Matt gets a couple of his food favorites (see below) and we will celebrate more thoroughly this weekend. Continue reading “Happy Birthday!”

Le Tired


Friday Off work. Home. Lunch. Put away laundry. Run to post office. (Bridesmaid) Dress fitting. Mother's Day shopping. Home. Clean desk. Pick up Loki. Drive downtown. REI sale. Drive homeword. Dinner at restaurant? 1 Hour wait – no. Home. Make dinner. Watch bad movie. Sleep.

Saturday Up. Work. Step class. Change. Breakfast. Errand 1. Errand 2. Errand 3. Errand 4. Errand 5. Grocery shopping. Home. Clean kitchen. Lunch. Laundry. Clean bedroom/bathroom. Start dinner prep. Weed back patio & bathe Loki. Clean garage. Friends over. Cook dinner. Drinks. Eat dinner. Play with baby. Paint toenails. Bye friends. Play video games. Sleep.

Sunday Loki throws up on the carpet. Up. Clean. Back to sleep. Up. Shower. Dress. Breakfast. Get bikes and Loki ready to go. Go mountain biking. Make lunch. Lunch. Watch TV. Home. Put away bikes. Clean up kitchen. Go get dinner. Dinner. TV. Crafting time. Get ready for work week. TV. Reading. Sleep.
Continue reading “Le Tired”

Friday! Yay!!

I'm in an annoyingly good mood today. Friday has a way of doing that to me. I don't have very exciting plans for the weekend, unless you count sleeping in. We're planning to make some good food and get some stuff done around the house. The rain was supposed to let up tomorrow, but now they're saying Sunday.. so I guess it's more gym time for us. I am a fair-weather mountain biker and Matt is on call all weekend. He can never be more than like 20 minutes away from his computer. Blah. I've been wanting to take Pilates and/or Kick-Boxing again. Hiiiiii-ya!

I bought two cheap magazines today: Cookie and Fitness. They both look cool and, as I said, they were cheap. Rubber-Sol had the scoop on that. My magazine obsession grows. Got my first issue of Blueprint (not sure that obnoxiously long link will work, but whatever .. it's the one from Martha Stewart … you can find it.) yesterday. But I haven't gotten around to reading it yet … soon soon.

Did you notice I'm a little hyper? Obnoxious in anyone before 8 AM.