Eleven in 11: Evaluating July

Uhhhhhhhhh! I am such a slacker this summer. I'm honestly just so exhausted from the four-day work week. I enjoy the Fridays off, but I've mostly been using it to recover from the four-day work week! Class has gotten a little crazy, and I'm very excited that tomorrow is the FINAL! Woohoo! I love my students, but the 12.5 hours on Tue/Thur are brutal.

The breakdown:
1. Volunteer opportunity- Still volunteering for SASC. Also, had a debate meeting with my CHS ladies. Hopefully we can get these kids into shape so they can debate at state this year!
2. The weight loss one- Stuck in a rut. Not gaining, but not losing. If I could just get back to tracking the WW pts again and hitting the gym more. We did start doing Pilates at home and I can feel a difference!
3. Plan and take honeymoon- We went to Amelia Island. Collectively, Tim and I decided that we simply didn't ever have a honeymoon. While the trip was a FABULOUS trip, it just wan't a honeymoon. We missed the boat 3 years ago, and it isn't something you can just have 3 years late. It's ok though, we still loved vacationing! You can see our recent trip photos from here and here.
4. Trying four new recipes- Slacker again. But, I did make Ricotta Cheese Chocolate Chip Muffins. VERY YUM!

5. Blog three times a week- Still kind of slow.

6. Student loan- Check!

7. Savings!- Check! I think I've actually exceeded my goal :) But, we're thinking about venturing into home-buying, so I need to keep it up.

8. Read 52 books- I'm awful.

9. Facebook birthdays- I have done very well with this I think!

10. Visit 12 new restaurants- We went to Mandarin Cafe, and I decided NOT to blog about it...because it was soooo awful...

11. Etsy- Consider this one failed too.

I'm going to come out of this goal-achieving slump and do it up BIG in August!

Snacking at Our House: Ricotta Cheese Chocolate Chip Muffins

Saw these and knew I had leftover ricotta to use before it went bad. Also, I wanted to get back to trying to make four new recipes before the end of the month. So here is my best shot at attempting that with only one week left in the month. And if you don't subscribe to her blog, I highly suggest doing so. I love skinnytaste.com.

They are pretty yum, but why do they always stick? Blast!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups self rising cake flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 cup I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Light (I used yogurt butter because that's all we have)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3 large egg whites
• 8 oz fat free ricotta cheese (I used low fat because it's all I had)
• 1/2 tbsp vanilla
• 9 tbsp mini semi-sweet chocolate chip morsels (I used regular because it is all I had)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Mix flour and baking soda. 
3. Mix and cream butter and sugar. 
4. Beat egg whites and add to butter/sugar mixture. 
5. Mix in ricotta cheese, then flour mixture and vanilla. 
6. Fold in chocolate chips and spoon into lined muffin tins about 3/4 filled.
7. Bake at 375° for 15-16 minutes and let cool.

For me it made 14 muffins, but I think it was supposed to make 12.