the perks of waking up an hour and a half late

that's right.  this morning i was having an absolutely random dream.  so much so that i bet i was smiling and trying not to laugh at all the characters in my sleep {because you know, they would have heard me and thought i was impolite}.  naturally, it startled me a little when natalie burst into my room at 7:20 and shouted in surprise, "JESSI!"  i was supposed to wake up at 6:00.  so during the ten minutes in which i got ready for the day (and still had time to put on mascara - yeah, i'm that good), my planner and my unfinished homework were giving me a guilt trip.  luckily, i wasn't more than 30 seconds late to class: me, win; failed alarm clock, eat that.

it took me half-way through my 8:00 class to be fully conscious, but i was entirely physically present.  by the time i was conscious, i was annoyed.  BUT as you know, i've been working diligently on this mental process called stubborn, obstinate happiness.  hehe, i won!  that alone, i think, is a little manifestation that in my head things are going splendidly!

now, the upside:

because natalie is a saint, i still ate breakfast this morning (and oh was it ever yummy, thanks to our returned blender and my sister's pro-smoothie skills).  unfortunately, waking up late in combination with the fact that i ran out of pre-frozen meals in tupperware two days ago meant that did not have time to pack a lunch.  one goal i have this semester is to eat out as little as possible.  but i had to eat!  during my hour break, i stood in line at subway, ordered my veggie delight, read the rest of the ecology of human development for my next class, and ate my sandwich.

the student center is a fabulous place to eat lunch because 1) there are so many people to distract me from my homework and 2) i just love to watch them!  sitting at a table adjacent to mine was a son and his father.  for the first few minutes, i couldn't for the life of me figure out what in the world they were doing.  then it hit me.  when they sat down, before touching their food (and both with a newspaper in front of them), the son simply said, "GO."  there they sat, pencils in hand, racing each other in today's cross-word puzzle.  isn't that incredible?  it made me smile for the next hour!  the dad won, by the way, and in relief the son began ravenously chowing down on an enormous burger.  it must have been commonplace to them.  the way they didn't have to communicate about what was happening, but just raced (with, i imagine, a strict rule of no food-touching until one of us wins).

maybe my major just turns me into a crazy person, but isn't that one of the silliest, neatest family traditions ever?

i love crazy families!

singing tastebuds

candied orange scones

...interested?

this was a late night experiment that passed the test with flying colors!  of course, i'm sure it helped that we were devouring these while watching the young victoria, so my taste buds weren't the only thing in bliss.

for the scones:

2 cups whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg 

1/4 cup applesauce

2 tsp olive oil

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/4 cup plain greek yogurt

2 1/2 tbsp rice milk (or soy, whichever you prefer)

2 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp orange extract

1/4 cup agave syrup

first, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.  combine the flour, salt, baking powder, soda, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix well.  with a fork (or your fingers!), mix in the applesauce and oil until crumbly and stir in the chopped pecans.

in a separate bowl, whisk everything else together, then combine the wet and dry ingredients in the bigger bowl until well mixed (i feel like captain obvious writing these directions tonight for some reason...).  shape into little flat circles (about the size of your palm) and place on a greased baking sheet.  bake for 18-19 minutes or until golden brown.

*i didn't have any on hand, but after tasting these, they really would be incredible with about a teaspoon of orange zest included, and if you're feeling super ambitious, you could replace the rice or soy milk with orange juice.

i served these with homemade candied pecans and coconut (at the insistence and courtesy of natalie) and orange chocolate sauce for drizzling.

the candied pecans were a combination of whole pecans, agave syrup, coconut oil, cinnamon and shredded coconut all simmered in a pan until toasty!

for the orange chocolate sauce, i whisked together cocoa, agave syrup, vanilla (extra, extra) and orange extract.  once again, this would have been even more decadent with orange zest instead or in addition to the extract.

believe me, these were a mighty success!  i loved every last bite.  to make it even better, my tummy loved every bite just as much - they weren't too sweet even for a late-night snack!

sorry, though. no pictures this time!  it was a little too late and i was a little too hungry for orange scones to be playing around with my camera.  next time, for sure i'll snag some.  they were beautiful: orangy with all the candied yum and drizzled with chocolate - it looked like christmas to me!

enjoy life!