71. Make 80 new recipes.

For dinner last night, I was totally in the mood for breakfast.  Pancakes, waffles - you name it, I was down.  That being said - I few weeks ago I stumbled on this recipe and knew it was just the ticket.

And boy, was I right.

Hello, deliciousness.

This meal was the perfect balance of sweetness while still being hearty enough for dinner.  Next time - I will make sure I mash up the bananas a bit more than I did.  Otherwise, I'm not changing a thing!

Oh, and I topped them with peanut butter fro-yo.  Does it get any better? 

Not on a Wednesday folks.

76. Buy a bike.

Every since I moved to NYC - I have been on the lookout for a bike. But I had some specifics...

Not a mountain bike.

Not a regular colored bike.

A bike that had some vintage flair to it,

And wasn't 48956737 millions dollars.

Finally - all of my searching came to an end while visiting my parent's in Florida.  We were strolling thought the aisles of Walmart (I know! of all places) and I saw it...my future bike.  I promptly ordered it online when I returned north.

After super fast shipping, it arrived and one Saturday night of assembly later - it's perfect.

I still need to do some minor adjustments to the seat and handle bars - but for the most part - I'm ready to ride.

Summer, watch out.

72. Bake 10 kinds of sweet treats.

This past weekend our good friend M and J came for a short visit.  We didn't really do anything other than eat really yummy diner food and bake - both of much made for great catching-up activities. 

Since M has celiac's disease - we needed a batter that was gluten free.  Since I don't readily have potato starch or soy flours in my cupboards - it was Target to the rescue.  Surprisingly there were a lots of gluten-free cake batters to choose from - but I went with my girl Betty.

I am so glad I did - because these bad boys turned out wonderfully.

If no one had told me these were gluten-free - I would have no idea.  They were that good.  

Needless to say there were no leftovers from this batch. 

70. Make 10 meals in the Crockpot.

For my first "official" crockpot meal (I have used my crockpot many times before - but never documented it) I chose a vegetarian version of J's favorite meal - chili.

This Black Bean Chili  was super easy to make - thanks to my dear friend, Mr. Crockpot.  I love the functionality of the crockpot - throw everything in, set to "low", arrive home from work to a home-cooked meal. yum.

This recipe used a ton of different types of beans - which I LOVE.  I, however, do not love the gross oil and added chemicals to the beans in the cans.  After rinsing and cleaning them they looked much better...

But I think after this experience, I will be buying dried beans.  Better for the earth and less gross things added = win/win! 

After cooking for close to 10 hours - the chili looked like this:

...and closer look

I topped mine with a little fat-free sour cream, while J opted for his go-to Frank's Hot Sauce.  Truthfully - I am not big on spice - but I added a bit to mine - and it totally kicked it up a notch.

J really enjoyed it - so it's safe to say this will be made again.  Plus, it was great to come home to a warm meal after the cold and rainy day we had!