Happy Halloween y’all!

Today’s Did You Know? will be short, sweet & spooky, because it’s all about Halloween!

Now did you know…

…that the tradition of dressing up originated from people wearing masks to hide themselves from spirits?

…that Halloween candy sales average 2 billion dollars in the US per year?

…that legends say if you see a spider on Halloween, it means a loved one is watching over you?

…that “Trick or Treat” began in the 1930′s to use candy to deter pranksters from wreaking havoc over American cities?

and last but not least…

…that the top-selling candy every Halloween is…

Snickers!

I don’t know about you guys, but I am totally a Skittles girl!

Happy Halloween everyone, I hope your day is filled with more treats than tricks !

So today’s edition of People You Don’t Know, but You Should! is pretty spooky…

Meet one of the most horrific female serial killers of all time:

Dubious? Don’t be so quick to judge, my skeptical friend. This fair maiden is “The Blood Countess” Elizabeth Bathory, and her body count comes up to just about 200 young Victorian women. For today’s standards, that’s shocking, appalling and horrific. For the 1500s, it’s positively unheard of. Even more horrific than the totals are the methods of their demise: the “Blood Countess” is so named because she was said to bathe in her victims’ blood to retain youth. These claims have never been confirmed or denied, but they’re largely believed to be folklore (but hey, you never know!). What is known is that she was largely immersed in the world of paganism and witchcraft, and the victims’ horrible deaths ranged from having their body parts bitten off (yes, really) to freezing to death in one of the Countess’s infamous torture chambers housed in her sprawling mansion.

So forget about Count Dracula haunting your dreams – his female counterpart is much more bone-chilling, and remains to this day one of the most infamous serial killers of all time.

Enter Uno’s Chicago Grill. If I were to say “one of the healthiest restaurants in America” you would probably say “lol”. But believe it or not, it’s true. They plaster it all over their menu, first of all. And second of all, I experienced it for myself. And it was gooood.

One thing I learned from tonight is to always check the specials menu! I fretted over what to get but everything on their looked positively delicious. I had to start off with the pumpkin soup, because, well, if you’ve been reading this blog you understand I have an addiction . I was completely amazed at how insanely good it was! I know my fall cookin’, and this was shockingly top-notch. Creamy, full-bodied and verrrry spicy (not in the way you’re thinking, as in I could taste the perfect blend of autumn spices). Delish!

After much deliberation, I rounded it off with a Power Salad sans chicken. I think I just wanted to say “Power Salad”, hahahah. They put the nutritionals right on the menu, which is awesome. It had a surprisingly low amount of calories considering how much of a beast it was! The bowl was huuuge, and filled up with baby spinach (my fave!), feta, goji berries (first time I ever tried them – delicious!), raisins, cranberries, nuts, grapes and other goodness. The dressing was almost undetectable in the salad, which was kind of a bummer, but at the same time it didn’t really need it – lots of berry sweetness! I also broke my no refined carbs rule to snack on a cheesy breadstick – sooo worth it (;.

Craig also had good things to say about his herbed chicken, rice & veggies, so if you ever get a chance, I highly recommend hitting it up! And grab a bowl of pumpkin soup before they’re gone!

P.S. Coldstone Creamery Sinless Sweet Cream ice cream is always a good way to top off a perfect dinner – even if it’s, y’know, 20 minutes out of the way…!

My <3 goes out to:

Finally getting my car insured! Yeeeehaw, I’m a free woman! (uh, sorta. Kinda. Not really. Shh.)

Pumpkin flavored everything. You think I’m exaggerating…:|. This week I’ve consumed pumpkin flax granola bars, pumpkin pie granola bars, pumpkin chips, pumpkin spice lattes (homemade!), pumpkin pie oatmeal, pumpkin chilli (as seen on Friday) and, most notably:

Pumpkin pie smoothie a la Fresh City. I was sulking about not having incredible frozen yogurt shops (like Boston) that offer up seasonal treats (like pumpkin) when Craig somehow tuned into my brainwaves and brought me this incredible frozen treat from his place of employment. Yummmmmmmmm, hits the spot! I think it’s a limited time thing, so if y’all have pumpkin fever like I do, I totally recommend it. (Somehow clocks in at 225 calories, if anyone but me cares, hah)

Ginger Snaps! No, not the cookie, the cult classic horror/comedy hybrid from 2000. Completely stupid, completely fantastic. I love movies like that to get me in the Halloween spirit!

Things I’m Not Digging:

SNOW.

Oh God, why is it snowing?

Here’s a quick recipe I threw together before I went to work on Wednesday. I know it sounds kind of weird, but it’s really good – scout’s honor. Although I am a bit of a pumpkinhead so maybe it’s fogging my culinary vision…hah. But honestly, the combo of sweet + spicy is perfecto, and it smells amaaaazing when y0u open up the crock pot! Just like everything else, it’s super rough approximations…adjust to your taste. It was one of those “clear out the fridge of stuff that’s about to go bad” recipes. Nice and warm, good for chilly nights…especially ones with snow >_>.

Pumpkin Chilli

1 cup hearty veggie pasta sauce (I used Newman’s Organic, but whatever you feel like is fine.)
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1 cup black beans
A few shakes of pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup soy chorizo (obviously a lot of you guys aren’t vegetarian so just use normal chorizo…but I definitely suggest it to add some spice and substance to the chilli! If you are vegetarian, or willing to try out something new, Trader Joe’s hands-down makes the BEST soy chorizo.)
1/4 red pepper, diced
1/4 yellow pepper, diced
1/4 green pepper, diced
1 medium tomato, diced
A few (generous!) shakes of chilli powder
+Water, added until it gets to the consistency you like your chilli.

Throw it all together in a crock pot, stir and leave for a few hours. mmmm, warms the soul. I heavily recommend throwing a dollop of Greek yogurt on top and serving with a wheat pita for dipping, aka the yummiest fall dinner ever.

P.S. the picture’s not mine, hah. I wish it was!

Anyway, onto this week in <3

Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Halloweentown and some of my other cheesy childhood faves on TV for Halloween!

Finding a Halloween costume for $12! Thanks Target, I love youuu.

Vanilla spice chai tea. mmmmmmm, fall in a cup.

Throwing organic canned pumpkin into everything. It makes the world taste better…seriously .

Getting a hard copy of my license in the mail! Yeehaw, I also drove alone for the first time this week.

Finally apple picking tomorrow! !!!

Skipping Monday. Not really, but you know what I mean. How I loathe Mondays.

Things I’m not digging:

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Good Lord, I feel like I’m 2 years old.

Waiting for my car to get insured. >:|

PSATs this week. Yawn! Been there, done that. I need to retake it to get the scholarship. So dumb.

The fact that my house is the Arctic tundra. You have no idea. I wake up and have to scrunch up into a ball to conserve heat…I don’t even…:|

Have a great day off tomorrow, everyone!

So if you haven’t been, Panera has an adorable atmosphere (seats next to the fireplace in the winter are hard to score, but lovely if you can!) and lots of healthy options for a chain. My fave sandwich is the Mediterranean Veggie, which is great if you pair 1/2 of it with the Spicy Black Bean Soup!

I was psyched because I got a rare score when Craig & I went there – they actually had the tomato basil bread! It’s what makes the sandwich, and it’s pretty much my favorite bread ever. It’s a flavored sourdough with a sweet crust – absolutely amazing. Apparently, though, everyone else in the world thinks so, too – they’re always out! I got a whole loaf of it and made it into something absolutely delicious before I ran out the door to Spanish Thursday, so I figured I’d share it with you:

Veggie Mozzarella Panini on Tomato Basil

A few slices of eggplant (locally grown is particularly good right now, if you have the chance to grab some!)
A pinch of fat-free mozzarella
A few mushrooms
A few slices of red pepper
A handful of baby spinach leaves
A drizzle of balsamic vinagrette
2 slices Panera tomato basil bread

Toss the eggplant, mushrooms and pepper on the grill (I used my bff George Forman), cook until slightly browned. Slide onto the bread, sprinkle the mozerella and vinagrette on top and place on the spinach and then press the assembled sandwich on the grill for about a minute. Yum!

Happy dining everyone!

I’m unreasonably excited. Anywhooo, time for Word of the Day!

Today’s word is clancular.

Clan”cu*lar\, a. – Conducted with secrecy; clandestine; concealed.

I just like the sound of it, hah.

But shh, don’t tell anyone .

So therein lies my question: do you guys let the rain put a damper on your day? Does it change your plans, what you wear, how you feel?

I know when I see the rainclouds, I can barely drag myself out of bed, and all I can think of is sweatpants and Lifetime movies. I don’t even know why, it’s so ridiculous!

But I’m curious if I’m the only nutcase out there…let me know!