Blog Slacker, Cooking Queen

I've been a blog slacker! I woke up this morning and realized it was Thursday already (how did that happen?) and I hadn't written all week! Work has been a crazy, and I spent the weekend doing a ton of cooking and prepping of food, which was so lovely. 

I've noticed that my love for cooking is really growing. Though I'm no super chef (yet), I really feel at ease in the kitchen, and it puts me in a fantastic mood. I spent Sunday chopping veggies, making home made tortillas, and trying new recipes. Some were great (the popovers, below) and some not so much (spaghetti squash - though many friends said I got a bad recipe and suggested some others). Also, doing a lot of prep on the weekends makes the weeknight dinners easy (for the most part) and makes it easier to stay on track with healthy eating. 

I'm still working off the concept of the real food pledge (www.100daysofrealfood.com). It's been really great and eye-opening to think about what's REALLY in our food. I won't preach, but when you start reading about it, it's frightening. 

While I have been eating WAY more fruits & veggies than I ever have in my life (yay me!) we're still in what I'm calling a transition phase. There's still some not totally great for you food in the house (white flour, sugary flavored yogurts, etc.). I don't like wasting food and think it would be shameful to throw it out, so I'll be replacing items with healthier options as we use them. 

So since I need to use up our flour, I made popovers. They were AWESOME!

Here's the recipe for this delicious treat - you can swap out white flour (which I used) for whole wheat flour. Just make sure the milk and eggs are at room temperature when you start, or they won't pop right.

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs at room temperature
• 2/3 cup organic fat free milk at room temperature
• 2 tbsp. of butter, melted
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/8 tsp. salt

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. 
• Grease muffin tin VERY liberally. Do NOT use cupcake/muffin liners.
• Wisk together the eggs, milk and butter.
• Wisk the flour and salt into the egg mixture until it's well blended.
• Pour batter into muffin tin until they are about three quarters full. 
• Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes.
• Turn oven temperature down to 350 degrees and bake another 15 minutes.
• Take popovers out of the oven. Serve warm with butter and jam.

In this 30 minutes of baking it is imperative that you DO NOT OPEN THE OVEN DOOR! It's really hard to not know what's going on in there, but if you open the door, they'll collapse on themselves and you'll have little dough hockey pucks.

Serve these with some fresh fruit, hot coffee and enjoy! :)

I Love Love!

Valentine's Day has always been one of my favorite holidays. It just makes me so happy!

Some people view it as a day about couples, but to me, it's about LOVE... for everyone! Maybe because it is my sister's birthday (Happy Birthday Meg!) and we always celebrated it together as a family, I've just never seen it as such a romantic day. 

It's a day to share your love with everyone. I just love getting up in the morning and texting my friends with hearts, emailing my parents, and just taking the time to make sure that the people I love know that I love them. It's important to let people know how special they are to you.

So from me to you, have a very happy, wonderful, love-filled Valentine's Day! 

Check Yo'self Before You Wreck Yo'self

It's a little hard for me to sit here and write this post, mainly because I feel like a hypocrite. I'm a very extreme person - it's usually all or nothing. There are very few things I'm in between on. However, I do believe that one few places that there is a place for moderation is when it comes to eating. 

My goals for the year included living a healthier lifestyle. Not just to lose weight (though it's an added goal), but I also don't want to be a crash dieter for the rest of my life. I want to be healthy and happy for a long long time. Alzheimer's runs in my family, and I don't want it. I have a really blessed life, and I want to live it to the fullest.

In my searching for yummy, healthy recipes, I have come across some INSANE diets - and many of them conflict each other. All meat, no meat, all grains, no grains, no sugar, all sugar (okay I made that one up), and cleanse, cleanse, cleanse. I've become VERY frustrated. Then... I got sucked into the trap. 

I started thinking, "Maybe I need to cleanse. Maybe I can't start changing my eating UNTIL I cleanse. Maybe I can cleanse over a weekend, so when my body goes into detox, I can just lie in bed and suffer through." I was falling into the misinformation trap. Until a former co-worker pulled me up from the dark cleanse hole.

Real Food. It's that simple. Stop eating processed junk, and eat real, natural food. Eat fruit. Eat veggies. Eat organic meat. Eat whole grains. Eat organic dairy. Don't buy anything with more than 5 ingredients. Make things yourself instead of buying them prepackaged, filled with chemicals. It was like seeing the light again. Just use common sense. 

I want to thank Lisa for snapping me out of my vortex of dieting doom and introducing me to the concept of real food. The blog - www.100daysofrealfood.com - has tons of great info, great recipes and is a great reminder that sometimes, common sense and moderation really is all you need. 

Oh Christmas/Valentines/Spring Training Tree...

Last winter, we hibernated. I'd like you to think I'm joking, but I'm not. I went to work and came home, we ordered a lot of take out, never worked out, and watched tons of TV. It was beyond lazy winter weekends. It was just sloth. And depressing.

This winter, I'm making changes - and even though it's still yucky outside, my mood is much brighter. I've been regularly working out on Saturdays and Sundays. Sean and I will get up, go take a walk, run some errands - anything to get out of the house, even if it's cold. I've been cooking healthy meals - mostly in the slow cooker, which still makes it feel like comfort food. 

But there is one thing I am still so lazy about, mainly because it brings me cheer all year - the Christmas Tree. Yes, our tree is small (4 feet) and fake (thanks Walgreens!) but I love it so much. I love the warm glow of tiny white twinkle lights. I love all our new engagement ornaments we got over the holidays, and I love the NY Yankee tree topper that pretty much gets me into the spirit of my favorite American past time (winning World Championships).

I know it's almost Valentine's Day, and I know I've changed my winter habits for the better, but I can't let go of the tree. It brings a warm tingly feeling that gets me through the winter, that no amount of exercising or eating right can do. It warms my heart.... right through Opening Day. 

2013 - Year of the Ear

I'm homesick today. I feel as gray and gloomy as the Chicago sky. I've recently had to say no to some things I really would like to go to, simply because cannot travel to every single thing, as much as I want to. It stinks. I like to be with my people.  

I do have so many things to look forward to this year though. 2013 is going to be fabulous (once it stops snowing). Disney even declared 2013 the "Year of the Ear" - and since my mouse ears are shiny and sequined, I'm going to focus on all the shiny highlights of the year coming up to remind me that there are some wonderful moments waiting for me. They are:

1. Kerianne and Mason visiting Chicago!
2. Heather & Stephen's Engagement Party!
3. Going to Disney with my Mom and Megan!
4. Billy & Luisa's Wedding!
5. Danny & Briana's Wedding!
6. Chris & Reb's Wedding!
7. Summer Trip to Charleston!
8. Justin & Kathryn's Wedding (Our first trip to Santa Barbara)!
9. Brian & Heather's Wedding!
10. Kenny Chesney & Eric Church Concert!

In the meantime, I'll continue my February work out plan (going great so far!) so I look fabulous for these awesome events. And to add a little extra sparkle to today, a picture of the ears:

Jen & I: Disney 2012

P.S. If anyone has a money tree, private jet or a DeLorean they want to share so I can travel to everything, I'll let you wear the ears :)

February 1: Reflections & Resolutions

Here we are - a month from out from my first resolution, and looking down the barrel of February's. Time to evaluate, for better or for worse.

January's goal was healthier eating - less processed food and more veggies. I did okay. I definitely have been eating more fruits and vegetables than I have in a long time, and trying different recipes. I've been loving green smoothies - a great way for me to get veggies in and it's much easier on my sensitive tummy. I am having a harder time giving up some things though - namely, cheese. I just love cheese. Especially during a Chicago winter - melted, gooey goodness that just warms your insides when it's 0 degrees outside. I'm hoping to spend February trying some more yummy, veggie heavy recipes and phasing out cheese a little more. 

February's goal is to work out more. Woof. This to me is much harder than eating right (which is primarily why I didn't start off with it in January). But it has to be done. I started off easy last night and did yoga, which was really lovely. Until I got a cramp in my calf that literally crippled me. It still hurts - almost 12 hours later. 

However, I made a deal with myself and now it's time to face the facts. February is heart health month, and it's time to get my heart (and rest of myself) healthy.

My cousin Chris said I need to make my goals SMART, so I'm going to do it by week. My goal for this first week of February is to work out 4 times, for 30 minutes each time. I have some yoga DVDs, a Zumba DVD, a treadmill in our building basement, and cute new sneakers. I'm ready to go!

For a little motivation I am putting up this picture after my first half marathon. I've also pinned some photos of wedding dresses I like, so I'm keeping those in my mind.

Tell me how your resolutions are going - health related or otherwise. And if anyone has any good workout tips or fun workouts they love, I'm always excited to try something new so please share!