March- Day 1- "Verdant"

Yes, I had to start by looking it up; I figured from the "ver" that it had something to do with green, but checked anyway...and found the definition to be a bit ironic and timely in my world...

ver·dant

  [vur-dnt] 

adjective

1.

green with vegetation; covered with growing plants or grass: a verdant oasis.

2.

of the color green: a verdant lawn.

3.

inexperienced; unsophisticated: verdant college freshmen.

So, here is a photo that emulates all three uses of the word...and it happens to be one of my favorite photos, my only regret is that I didn't have my new lens yet and I am now learning to use it/play with it.  This was shot at Nassau Valley Vineyard near Rehoboth Beach, DE, a very beautiful winery with good wine too (trust me, I bought enough so that no one minded us using their grounds, but I don't think they minded anyway).  I will see if I can find as many opportunities to use this new word this month (see, this 365 thing is increasing my vocabulary!)!

My verdant daughter surrounded by verdant ivy growing up a verdant trellis!

Weight Watching What??!!???

Yesterday proved to be a big 'ol challenge because I made those banana muffins so of course I ate one at 5 WW+ pts apiece!  I really am trying to stay in the points range for the day, and I also was making my first Semolina Bread (pictured on right, was more of a cornbread style, not bad, but not what I was going for, but I have 15 more lbs. of Semolina Flour to practice with, thanks to amazon!)...it of course has points too.  I found a recipe for a Tuscan style sauce which was perfect.  In one pot I put a can of diced tomatoes and- get this- a can of Ro-Tel (I only had one can of regular, so I pulled out a bunch of the jalapenos and went with it), and 8 oz of tomato sauce.  Some salt and pepper (1/2 t. each give or take) and some Italian Seasoning (2-3 t.) and let it simmer.  Meanwhile, in another pan, I sautéed half of an onion, some chopped garlic, sliced mushrooms and zucchini.  Once both were finished I mixed them together and was finished- too easy!  Served with spaghetti so that was the only real points, I used minimal olive oil in sautéing.  I added sausage for the meat (I put the sauce right on the bread).  I had to forego red wine with it, the price for eating the muffin, which is unfortunate, because I have several bottles from Nassau Valley Winery sitting here waiting (a must visit if you are in the Rehoboth area- & fabulous for a photo shoot too)!   I posted a few of our pictures I took there below.   There is always the weekend though!