Good Morning or afternoon or whenever you happen to be reading this. I find I go best with an early a.m. cup of coffee or a fitmixer amino cocktail (if you have to ask, you don’t want to know). That’s just me, but then again I am a morning person through and through. I also happen to be a list loving gal as well. Lists make me feel all secure, warm and fuzzy. If it’s on the list, it’s in my world. Or something like that. 
I want to give you a glimpse into the depths of my inner psyche (be afraid, be very, very afraid), so I’m going to share one of my favorite lists with the you. Drum roll please……the Grocery Store List. I can’t imagine going to the store without one. In fact, I can’t even remember the last time I did. Even if I was only picking up three items, you can bet I wrote them down on a little wisp of paper, which I then crossed off in the middle of the store, after obtaining said item. Not only do I usually prep this list days in advance, but I also organize it, in the order it appears in the store. First comes my fruits and veggies, then dairy or non-dairy milk, yogurt, eggs, which then rolls into oils and vinegars, baking supplies, nut butters and you get the idea. Of course I load each item into the cart just so. My cart is a delicate, although carefully constructed balancing act. Heaviest and stackable in first, with precious cargo riding gently on top.
The individuals who just toss things into the cart all haphazard like make me squirm. I do my best to ignore their carts of toppling, mismanaged food, although I really want nothing more than to roll up my sleeves, get in there and reorganize the crap out of their cart. I do nothing though because it would be weird and according to the Hubby, rude. Humph.
In any event, let’s get listing. Here’s the lowdown on what I managed to knock off my many lists, in the past seven days. As an ode to my Grocery Store List, I’ll try to organize it in the order it all went down. Oh, who am I kidding? It would be work not to.
- After a ridiculously long work week the week prior, and hosting a Super Bowl party, I decided to take last Monday off, so I could get an hour long massage. Truth: I always take the day after the Super Bowl off so I can get my house cleaned and put everything back in order and it’s proper place. My self-diagnosed OCD wouldn’t allow me to start a new week any other way. The massage was just a bonus thanks to a very thoughtful gift card from friends and family at Christmas. It was Zen.
Where the magic happens. Or at least where I happened to drool into my pillow.
- I also worked out really hard during the week with four fitness classes on back to back days: Bootcamp, Pilates, Mixed Martial Arts, and Spinning. I may have to drop one of the classes because come Friday, all I wanted was to do was take a long nap or a bath. I couldn’t decide which, but I do know the two shouldn’t go together.
- I made a batch of granola last Monday, which should be enough to get me through this week too. I’ll also have some energy bars because the Hubby whipped up a batch last night. He rocks.
- I worked thirty two hours at my real job, which is way more reasonable than it’s been. Eight hour versus ten hour days does wonders for my sanity. Imagine that. Massages help too.
- I downed a ginormous plate of veggies for dinner on Thursday, and then I went ahead and did the same damn thing on Sunday night. Hmmm, I wonder if you’ll be seeing one of those come WIAW time, especially since this is Love Your Veggies month. If you’re taking bets, the odds are high, but I didn’t tell you that.
- I made homemade macaroni and cheese on Friday night, which got me into part of Saturday as well. Whole wheat pasta with white cheddar and jalapeno cheese isn’t much to look at, but I did top it with some toasted walnuts. I like a little crunch and anytime I get to add nuts…well, you know. I like those too (wink, wink).
- I shared this wonderful and magnificent Blueberry Coffee Cake with the Hubby for breakfast Saturday morning. We picked it up from the Breadsmith on Friday night. Let me tell you, there was much debate about exactly how to split this little gem. The measuring tape might have made an appearance just to make sure everything was on the up and up. I had to ensure I got my fair share. You understand.
- Along with the Hubby, I celebrated a friends 30th birthday party on Saturday night (that’s right, it’s about damn time you ladies started aging along with me) and stayed out until three thirty in the morning. I can’t even remember the last time I made it out that late, but the evening did end with puppies. Needless to say, I slept until almost noon on Sunday.
- I wrote and published another four blogs this past week, and on Saturday, I half started about five more. One of them is going to be a doozy. You’ll want to hold onto your hats that day.
- I watched the Cross movie based on the Alex Cross books. It was ‘eh, but part of the film was shot in Cleveland, so that was sweet.
- I finally got around to designing a new blog header, and the crowd goes wild, or at least I do. This has been weighing on me for weeks now, and the part I’m most excited about: it’s one hundred percent my own food photos. Feel free to give me honest feedback since I’m still mentally toying with the font. I also need to sneak some exercise photos in the mix because this isn’t just Clean Eats. We got Fast Feets here too, but sweat and food don’t pair together well. At least not for me.
What did you accomplish in the past seven days? Tell me, I really want to know, and feel free to put it in list order. Are you finicky about your groceries too? It’s ok if you are. This is a safe place for grocery store confessions. Any thoughts on my new header?
Let’s start at the top–your header. Love it! Excellent assortment of really good photos. I should pull my droopy sunflower and replace but I love that old thing . . .
The annoyance for me, on your header, is that when I view it (on a Mac with Safari) the vertical tweet thingy bar blocks the brownies and I can only read Home ____ndown My Life etc. The bar thing scrolls down with me so I didn’t get to read the word Blog Rundown until just before it disappeared off the top of my screen. If that makes no sense email me and I’ll have my daughter teach me how to take a screen shot and send it to you.
Next up–splitting a coffeecake (or anything else, for that matter). I learned this from a patient mom of 6: one person does the splitting, the other person gets to choose their piece. Works every time. At least between my kids. All it took was one unequal split, where the splitter thought she’d get the larger piece but the chooser took it first, and now all splits are equal. Though they do not involve measuring tapes.
Finally, I am not picky about the groceries in the cart, though I don’t throw or pile haphazardly, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE self checkout since I can bag groceries my own way. I was never a bagger when I was younger, but I have some definite opinions, which I am passing along to my children, about how to bag groceries and I love being able to do it my way.
PS-jealous of posts written. Too many circling around in my head not yet on paper.
Thank you for the input. I know exactly what you mean. For some reason, that weird social bar blocks nothing on my laptop or my iPad, although hearing that it covers up your view of the brownies makes me frown. You must see the brownies in full, and if your brownies are blocked, others may be too. I’ll work on that; thank you for the info!
Also, I love your logic behind splitting things. It’s genius and much easier than using a measuring tape.
Don’t be too jealous; they’re just starts with no middles or ends. There is much work still to be done.
You are amazing–looks completely awesome to me now! The bar appears next to the text of your post, covering nothing, and moves down with me as I continue reading. Great job!
I’ve accomplished a lot of homework and papers.
I heard the Cross movie wasn’t very good, but that’s pretty neat that part was filmed in Ohio! I still haven’t seen Shankshaw Redemption, but I think eventually I’ll just have to watch it, just because it was shot in Ohio too.
I’m very specific about how I organize my groceries on the conveyor belt. One time I had an employee ask me to arrange the groceries according to cold vs. dry goods so it was easier to bag. At the time I thought that was a little weird to ask, but alas, it has stuck and I do it every time. The baggers now don’t really appreciate all of the hard work I do though. Lol 😀
I like how you are using your own pictures for the header. You picked some good ones!
Thanks Madison! I struggled with which pictures to use, but figure I can always change them out whenever I feel like it.
I didn’t know Shawshank was filmed in Ohio. It is, however, one of my favorite movies, and I highly, highly, highly recommend it. Skip the Cross flick.
Glad to hear I’m not alone with my grocery store issues, and I must say I’ve never though of separing the cold and dry goods, but I am definitely intrigued.
MMM I’ve never thought to add nuts to my mac’n’cheese!!
You absolutely should. Better than bread crumbs and gives it a little crunch.
I agree– your new header looks fab! I haven’t stayed out until 3:30 in ages either..and when I do, it’s always sooo painful the next day!
Thanks so much! I appreciate it. Yeah, the next day was rough; I was exhausted.
I love the header – I think it’s wonderful that it’s your own pictures!
I am absolutely a list maker too. My grocery list is always a process – it starts with a brainstorm on paper of what I need/want – nothing in order at this point. Then I transfer my list to an app on my phone (ColorNote) in the order of how things are arranged in the grocery store. That way I can check things off on my phone (which is always with me) as I go through the store. And if it didn’t make the list, I will forget to get it!
You accomplished so much this week – congratulations!
I’m so glad I’m not the only one who arranges the list in order of appearance in the store. I may have to check out this App; thanks for the info.
I love massages. I have one on Wednesday that was a birthday gift from LAST year. Go figure, cause my birthday is on Friday..oops I guess I waited a whole year to cash this in ha. You’ve had quite the week, that mac and cheese tops the list for me of YUMNESS!
Happy Early Birthday. Despite the fact I just had a massage, I’m envious of yours. I can’t wait to go again.
… I thought something on your blog looked different, but I just couldn’t pin point exactly what it was (ha!).
Meghan, have I ever told you that you are my idol? Seriously, I dont know how you do it, but damnnnn girl you get things done! Ha Ha 🙂
Oh and I love grocery lists. Last week I went to the grocery store with my list in my hand, and within 5 minutes I lost it. I honestly thought I was going to have a drastic meltdown (okay maybe not that extreme). I back tracked the few places I was at, but no luck. It was like the grocery list thief came down & snatched it from me.. those jerks!!
I thought this was actually a pretty slow week, what with sleeping until noon and all on Saturday, although I did take an extra day off work. Maybe that’s why.
You lost your list mid-store; yeah that would have completely derailed me.
I love your grocery shopping description. I’m eerily similar… only maybe worse because I’m a “grocery stalker” too (and I don’t think I’m good at not being obvious). What can I say? I like to see what other people are buying! Mac-n-Cheese looks killer. 🙂
Oooh a grocery stalker. Yeah I always look into other people’s carts. I like to see what they’re buying.
I’m so jealous of your massage!;) And great job on the mac n cheese- that sounds amazing
Ohhhhhhhh-kay…you’re forcing me to do this…list format it is: 😉
1. You’re seriously inspiring me to do some meal prepping this weekend…and to FINALLY try my hand at making homemade granola…actually, I just Googled a crapton of things based on what I have in my kitchen right now…we shall se how this turns out! 😀
2. Omg, that mac and CHEESE! And topped with toasted walnuts? Why have I never tried that?! Hmm, oh yeah, probably because then it would up to crack-level status and I would eat the entire pan…yeah, me and cheese? We know no portion control…but I’m guessing you get where I’m coming from. 😉
3. I THOUGHT that was a new header! BUT since I’m such a bad blogger friend and am just now catching up on a whole MONTH of your posts, I was afraid I just forgot! It looks GREAT…but maybe…I don’t know, it’s kinda hard to see the skinny black letters. Could you fade the color of the pics some or maybe you a thicker font? Or white? I LOVE the fusion of healthy and indulgent in the pics you chose…it’s PERFECT! 😀
4. Grocery store confessions: I’m a list maker, but I ALWAYS forget to even look at my list until I pull it out of my purse with my money in the check out line. I’m also that person who half-hazardly throws stuff into the cart…BUT in my defense, since I’m shopping for one (or let’s get real…it LOOKS as though I’m shopping for a family of FOUR when it comes to the produce), I don’t usually get to “mountainous” status…so hopefully you wouldn’t berate me too much if we ran into each other in the nut butter aisle! 😉
5. I can’t help it…I have to have FIVE…I know it’s not an “even” number, but to me multiples of five are always even…like a clock! And I just noticed that I alternated winky and cheese-eating smilies on the above four comments! There…NOW it’s even! 😀
I love that you put this in list format. Seriously, I’m excited.
1. I also can’t wait for you to make your own granola. It’s so damn easy, and you’ll likely never buy store bought again. I also can’t wait to see your pictures of it either.
2. Nuts and cheese just together. Like fruit and cheese. Screw portion control. Alright not really, but once in awhile can’t hurt.
3. Thanks for the feedback. There’s something about the font for me too. I’ll try to play with the size of the letters. I did try white but it got lost in the salad picture and it thrills me to no end you noticed the balance of healthy and indulgent pictures. It’s all about balance right.
4. I would never berate you although I might reorganize your cart. 😉
5. I like five too even though it’s not an even number. Only good things seem to come in fives.
Oh ohhhhhh! I like it like that! …I got soul…I got soul! Umm, I mean, the HEADER! It’s perfect…I like the bolder font! Only…you maybe kinda sorta forgot the apostrophe in the second “I’m” 😉 xoxox
Guess what I’MMMMMM doing right now! Just fished a bay leaf out of some cauliflower soup AND popped some granola in the oven (fingers crossed it comes out good!) 😀
F@ck. Thank god, you came back so soon.
Keeping my fingers crossed, but I know you’re going to love the soup and especially the granola. You may even stray from pancakes for a minute.
OMGahhhhhhhh! The soup is FANTASTIC!! I made a couple of small alterations…didn’t have any cheddar so I used Monterrey Jack and since that has a much milder, I threw in some nutritional yeast instead of adding the flour. I snuck in a little taste earlier but ended up burning my damn tongue…ugh, when will I learn…but I JUST sat down to dinner at work right now and it’s PERFECT! And I’m SO glad I remembered to bring some bread to toast…I mean seriously, who can have soup without something for dippin’? 😉
And the granola? What the heck have I been afraid of all these years?! I basically just threw some random ingredients together and BAM out popped some of the best granola I’ve ever tasted…if I do say so myself! *brushes off shoulders* 😉
Thank you SO much for the inspiration girl! Today has definitely been a good “de-funking” day thanks to you! 🙂
I’m so glad you like it. It’s one of my favorite soups, but I also happen to adore cauliflower. And yes you need bread for dipping, or the Hubby will throw in crackers when we’re all out of bread (as if). A good crouton doesn’t hurt either.
I’m thrilled you made granola. It’s ridiculously easy and the options are kind of limitless. I can’t wait to see what crazy granola concoctions you come up with. I usually top mine with a scoop or two of Greek yogurt and fresh berries. Simplicity at it’s finest.
I’m happy to be your de-funk muse. I hope you jammed out in the kitchen. I know I did yesterday.