My 101 in 1001 days (that’s 2 and ¾ a year!!)

So i'm begining this on March 1, 2009... that means the last day of my challenge is November 26, 2011! Yeah that's a long time... but look at this list! I'll update as i complete things and include pictures... so i hope you enjoy!

ME
1. Grow hair out so it’s down my back, at least to my bra line
2. Treat myself to a day spa massage once a year. (2/3)
3. Get a pedicure at least 4 times a year. (12/12)
4. Get my Happy Pill dosage right and keep it right
5. Take one bubble bath a week (100/143)
6. Read 30 books that aren’t typical for me (3/30)
7. Sit and Watch the sun rise 15 times (0/15)
8. Treat myself to a "me day" once a month. (5/33)
9. Have at least 5 lazy days a year (5/15)
10. Learn the basics of a new language on CD (like in the car)
11. Enjoy a latte at least once a month (22/33)
12. Have a movie marathon day where you see at least 5 movies

US
13. Do a couples devotion every Week for a year. (0/52)
14. Take family photos once a year. (1/3)
15. Make and bake our first baby.
16. Have a candlelit dinner once a month. (0/33)
17. Take a trip planned by Chris
18. Take a trip planned by Me.
19. Go on a picnic.
20. Cut down tree for Christmas. (1/2)
21. Do the 40 day Dare (4/40)
22. Bring Chris breakfast in bed 5 times.

Pups
23. Walk pups at least 3 times every week (no longer happening i think)
24. Give dogs a bath every month (10/33)
25. Give the dogs a special treat every week (40/143)

Environment
26. Use my reusable bags for EVERY grocery trip. (3/143)
27. When said baby is born, use only cloth diapers. (chris vetoed!)
28. Finish changing all lights in house to energy savers

The House
29. Sweep the floors once a week. (50/143)
30. Put Laundry away every week (15/143)
31. Change the sheets once a week. (50/143)
32. Scoop Poop in Backyard every other week (1/72)
33. Plant flowers for every season.
34. Build Deck
35. Cut down tree in front yard and plant new one
36. Paint Bedroom
37. Replace floors
38. Fix up front of house

Memories/Photos
39. Take a picture in a photo booth, twice. (0/2)
40. Document all tasks with a photo.
41. Finish Family Photo Wall
42. Scrapbook twice a month. (2/66)
43. Update blogs so family/friends can keep in touch
44. Send out a family update with each Christmas card (1/2)
45. Create a memory book for my family and Chris’s (2/2)

Healthy Me
46. Lose 20 pounds to be a goal weight. (0/20)
47. Take a yoga class.
48. Run a 1/2 marathon.
49. Have veggies everyday (22/1001)
50. Follow Sonoma Diet for all of wave 1

Food!
51. Cook 30 new recipes. (7/30)
52. Try 10 new restaurants. (1/10)
53. Have a Crab Feast
54. Organize (into recipe book) all loose recipes.
55. Make sushi.
56. Make 5 new vegetables (1/5)
57. Make Pizza from scratch once a month (0/33)
58. Go to the farmers market 10 times. (0/10)
59. Blog 101 recipes in food blog (7/101)
60. Grow an herb Garden

Others
61. Make a meal for a family at church
62. Volunteer to serve food at a homeless shelter.
63. Send a card a month to someone unsuspecting. (0/33)
64. Compliment 10 strangers. (10/10)
65. Host a party for Chris’s friends.

Crafts
66. Make a quilt.
67. Finish and Frame Cross Stitch
68. Make baby blanket for said baby
69. Make Christmas stocking for said baby

Organizational
70. Donate/sell/throw away 101 things (101/101)
71. Organize scrapbook table to finally stay organized.
72. Make closets/dresser functional and in one room
73. Organize linen closet (throw out stuff) monthly (1/33)
74. Get the basement in order

Soul
75. Do a devotional everyday for a year. (0/365)
76. Read the Bible entirely.
77. Graciously accept every comment I receive for 1 year. (0/365)
78. Let my feet sink in the sand once a year. (2/3)
79. Pray over every dinner (24/1001)
80. Go to church 101 times. (40/101)
81. Make a list of 101 things I like about myself.
82. Make 5 new friends. (1/5)
83. Sing a meaningful song for a church service
84. Stand up for yourself when someone puts you down

Computer/Work
85. Learn a new program
86. Organize all photos.
87. Organize/delete, etc email once a month (1/33)
88. Go through and update work list 3 times a week (6/429)
89. File everything each Friday (2/33)
90. Create a to-do list for next week every Friday (1/33)

Just for Fun
91. go Skiing
92. Take a road trip to somewhere overnight
93. Host a Board Games Night
94. Go Fishing
95. Play Golf or go to the driving range 3 times a year (0/9)
96. Go to the National Zoo
97. Go to 5 new museums. (1/5)
98. Go to 3 baseball games (2/3)
99. Buy a new car
100. Build a sand castle on the beach (must be waist high)
101. Dance in the rain.

Reasons behind 101 in 1001 days

So i've set forth to do a lot of things in this blog (Cleaning for a whole week documented, Sonoma Diet, Weight Watchers, etc) and i haven't followed through with any of them...but that's going to change.

As some of you know i'm pretty open and what i'm about to tell you a lot of you experience and others don't believe it really exist or you just might not understand it. Well here is it. I have depression. Clinically Severe depression... well that's what i was diagnosed with back in college. Since then i've been on and off various medicines that have worked and haven't worked. Everyone is different in how depression effects them and why it does but here's my story.

All the women in my mom's side of the family suffer from this... i've been told it's just a chemical imbalance in us... caused by nothing and nothing and cure it... just treat it. With me personally i get tired physically and emotionally. I loose interest in things I love and I can't really think clearly. I become very forgetful and often just don't care. I wake up every morning (doesn't matter how long i slept) not seeing the point of getting out of bed (even though i have a job and dogs that need me). I get irritated at silly things only to realize that later it was silly. etc, etc, etc

I'm telling you this because i'm going through this again because i got cocky a while ago and went off my medicine thinking i would be fine... i wasn't... i got back on it on a very low dosage and that's not helping me so i'm going to see my doctor today to get it all fixed... or as i like to call it... Get my HAPPY pills.

Some of you might judge me from this, not understand me... but i'm writing this in hopes it might help someone. So many people are in denial that depression is only if something bad happens to you, or you're weird etc if you have it... but with me it's nothing i can change or fix... it's my chemicals... it's in my genetics. So if you think this could be you, talk to someone b/c there is help... and it's hurting more then yourself.

With this being said... Since i'm going in for my "tune up" i want to also start off on a fresh page... so i'm doing 101 in 1001 days! How fun is that!
It's going to get me on track and keep me there and help me do all the things i've been wanting to do. Don't worry this is still my food blog but i will be updating the next post (my list) often with pictures, updates, etc on how i'm doing... and this all begins March 1st!

It's cool, we're not getting cut on yet!

So i wen to my surgeon today and we're going to start a round of antibiotics and hot compresses and see how that does. Hopefully it will do one of two things... make it disappear or bring it to the surface so he can scoop it out. If it doesn't do either and/or gets worse... off to surgery i am! booo! But i'm hoping we're going to be avoiding that! keep your fingers crossed!

really??

So for those of you who know me know i've had a few surgeries lately... apparently my body just LOVES growing random bumps that are painful (lets hope it likes growing babies just as much)... well i have another one and it's on the other leg now! GEZZ come on! I'm up to one a year now! UH!

So i'm off to the surgeon tomorrow... a doctor here gave me a prescription for an antibiotic that i will tell him about in case he thinks i could try that route... we'll see! This just better not work against my TTC plans!

5 days until no more birth control!

Barley Barley I MADE Barley!

Okay this is very "throw this and that in" sorry, i'll do my best to try to get it close!
First cook your barley according to the packages directions.... I made 1 c uncooked barley. Be prepared this will take 45mins-1 hour depending on how soft you want it.
*Once it was almost done i added in 1/2 a tiny can of tomato juice and 4-5 diced grape tomatoes.
*Then i added in some italian seasonings
*around tbsp of lemon juice
*tsp or so of ground blk pepper

I think that's all and it was really good!

Stuffed Sonoma Pork chops

This recipe is adapted from what i remember my friend Martiena said she used according to a recipe in the Sonoma Diet cook book. Oh and beware because i don't measure so these are guesstimates.

Ingredients
2 boneless pork chops (of a decent size but don't have to be huge)
4 tsp FF cream cheese
2 tbsp reduced fat feta cheese
2 tbsp chopped up mushrooms
2 tbsp chopped up red bell pepper
Spinach leaves, enough to put a layer down on each porkchop
pepper
basil
garlic salt
Italian bread crumbs (gluten free.... oh these weren't in the recipe but i used them)
1-2 tbsp olive oil

Take your pork chops and place btw some plastic wrap and beat them until thin
Spread 2 tsp of the cream cheese on each
Sprinkle 1 tbsp of feta, mushrooms, and bell pepper on each.
Top with a layer of spinach and roll.
Put pork roll in small baking dish that has been covered with non-stick something)
Then top the Pork Chops with 1/2-1 tbsp olive oil each and sprinkle with the pepper, basil (mine was dried), garlic salt and bread crumbs.

Bake at 425 for about 30 mins or until done

Stop the presses, i MADE barley and Chris liked it!

OOOH yeah! My good friend Martiena (who got me on this diet) made a dinner very similar to the one above and Chris just LOVED it! So i of course had to recreate it on Sunday night! LOL! We mainly had it so soon b/c i had some porkchops i had defrosted in the fridge and if i didn't use them soon they would be bad so this was perfect!

This is a Sonoma friendly meal. It's Stuff porkchops (she served hers on a bed of yummy wilted spinach, so good, i'm just lazy) barley, and green beans (we had mixed greens salad at her house that i brought).

This was also a surprisenly easy meal to throw together... but did you know barely takes FOREVER to cook??? But that's okay because it's SOOO cheap! When we started eating it at her house Chris thought he was eating rice and when we told him it was barley he was cool with it, esp when we told him you can get it for less the a dollar a bag! Sweetness!
So now my husband and i are "crunchy"!

Sonoma Day whatever!

OKay, so i cheated over the weekend... who here has NEVER cheated on a diet!?!?! Yeah that's what i thought! lol But i still did follow some rules, some of the time~
On Thursday this was my lunch...
Black Bean Chicken in a Whole Wheat Pita

my stomach was SOOO full after eating this i couldn't eat the salad i brought to go with it and i didn't eat my two snacks later in the day! I couldn't i was sooo full! Yeah this is the SAME Pita i had on Monday when i was starving! My stomach is getting smaller! So here's what you do for this super yummy and fast lunch.
Take a whole wheat pita and cut it in half.
In each side place a tbsp of blk bean spread (recipe below) and a tbsp of salsa.
put in 1.5 oz ck in each side. (i bought these recooked chicken packets that have 6oz so i know i get half the pack in one sandwich.
Then load it up with 1/2 c baby spinach in each side
Chow down!
This is so filling!

Black Bean Spread from Sonoma Diet book

Ingredients
1/2 c finely chopped onion
1/4 c sliced green onions
1 tsp ground coriander (i didn't have this)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp canola oil (i didn't have any so i used olive)
1/4 c fresh cilantro
1 15-oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
1/2 c water
1 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp finely chopped canned chipotle chile pepper in adobo sauce (i couldn't find this so i just put some red pepper in the mix)
1/4 tsp salt

Directions
cook onions, coriander, and cumin in hot oil in small sauce pan until very tender.
Remove and stir in cilantro.
Put onion mixture into a food processor. Add blk beans, water, lime juice, pepper, and salt. Cover and blend until nearly smooth
serve immediately or store for up to three days. (i used for 5 days)

2008 a review

1. What did you do in 2008 that you’d never done before?

hmmm, oh went to St. Maartin

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

nope, and nope

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?

yep Melody

4. Did anyone close to you die?

No, thank goodness

5. What countries did you visit?
St. Martin (it belongs to 2 countries actually)

6. What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008?
children.

7. What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

not sure if there is one

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

finding a new church we like

9. What was your biggest failure?

not keeping up with my friends the way i should

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?

had to get a swollen/infected sweat gland removed

11. What was the best thing you bought?

that I personally bought??? hmm oh our couch or TV!!!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?

don't understand

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?
???

14. Where did most of your money go?
bills.... or target...lol.... oh wait no the mortgage!

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?

Trip to St. Maartin

16. What song will always remind you of 2008?

???

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? happier
b) thinner or fatter? distributed differently
c) richer or poorer? richer

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?

Exercise

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

complaining

20. How did you spend Christmas?

with chris's family and then my family

21. Did you fall in love in 2008?

was in love already! fell in love with my vacuum though!

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Gray's

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?

Nah

24. What was the best book you read?
Twilight

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?

???

26. What did you want and get?
TV, Vacuum, KA mixer, Coach Purse, Couch

27. What did you want and not get?
car

28. What was your favorite film of this year?

too many

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?

i turned 26 and hmmm what did i do?? had dinner with friends and Chris made me Fajitas!

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?

Nothing, it was perfect!

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2008?

southern comfort, lol

32. What kept you sane?
bubble baths and friends

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?

hmm not sure

34. What political issue stirred you the most?

Just the election in general, I guess.

35. Who did you miss?

my christina

36. Who was the best new person you met?

hmm....

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008.
Stick up for yourself... it's always worth it

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.
i'm really not good with these

Tell me he's not the best!

So Welcome to the baby blog for breedlovin's breedbaby!

I thought this would be a neat way to document the experience of Trying to conceive and once successfully knocked up recording what the experience was like, esp. for all those family members that aren't close by!

So these roses... were my valentines day gift and Chris's way of telling me that he's ready to start a family. So here's a little back story. I was ready and have been ready for a very long time... Chris and i talked and he finally agreed that April would be a good time to start trying (or as he puts it, not preventing).

Well on Feb 13th these roses appeared on my doorstep with a note that in the PS said something along the lines that there was a white clue in them that we needed to discuss.

Ummm yeah, apparently i'm not the sharpest tool in the shed b/c it took me a while to figure out Baby's Breath... I DID though! So when Chris got home i danced up to him very excited that i had it all figured out, when he tells me: "um yeah i ordered those BEFORE we decided on April". Oh man let down! But he surprisingly perks me right up by saying that since our finances are looking so good he thinks March sounds good to him! SCORE!

So that's the story of my super creative amazing husband and him jumping (okay maybe not jumping, more like stepping slowly one leg at a time) on the baby bandwagon!

Sonoma Day 3!!

Well this was a little tough for me... i was hungry, very hungry at times! And in the morning my stomach blew up... sorry TMI i know BUT it's going to happen to you too so i thought you should know. Think about all the fiber you're eating. Plus as i was going to sleep last night i noticed my stomach or intestines or something was feeling weird and it made me wonder... are they adjusting to the fact that i haven't had sugar, white breads, processed food, etc in 3 days. I know you're thinking it's ONLY been three days BUT think about it... have you ever tried to eat "clean" (basically this way)? You have to cut out A LOT of junk! I never thought about it before how much junk i was really used to eating. No longer do i get to sit down and munch on my Chips and Salsa... goodbye ice cream bar after dinner, and so long butter popcorn before i leave work! It's hard! BUT SOOOO worth it! Know why?? Here's a preview of what's to come for you!
I started this on Monday weighing in at 165... i weighed myself 5 times this morning (b/c i was in shock) and i'm now at around 158-159 (mine isn't digital so i don't know the exact number)!!! I wanted to cheat SOOO bad last night but i didn't and BOY am i glad now! YES!

So i thought it might be helpful for you to see the plate i've been eating on compared to what i used to eat on (and go back for seconds). The top plate is my new dinner plate (ignore those pesky water spots)! It's almost 9" across and most the time i don't fully fill it up to the edge (b/c then stuff would fall off)

So what did i eat for day three?... well look at yesterday until you get to dinner.
Repetition works for me... plus it's cheaper then buying 10 different everythings. Dinner though, i was lazy... i just didn't want to put a lot of effort into it... was even considering cheating b/c of it but i decided no... i'll eat my plate and if i'm still hungry then i'll cheat... but guess what... i was FULL! True story... full all night! OHH yea!
So below is my dinner. Half a plate of mixed greens topped with Fat free Italian dressing. Then some Barilla Plus Pasta topped with Lite Kabala (sp?) sausage (3 pieces) and topped with marina sauce. Now i wasn't supposed to have sauce with sugar in BUT i had very little in it and it was all i had in the pantry... and i had less sauce then i normally do~

Sooo moving on to Day 4!

Balsamic Chicken

This was tasty and very moist but honestly i could have used more flavor (it's one of the book's recipes)... maybe if i would have grilled it then there would have been at least the grill taste... oh well it was still very good!
Ingredients
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast, 1- 1 1/4lbs (i had 3 big ones)
1/4 c Balsamic vinegar
1/4 c olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced (1 1/2 tsp minced)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

Place your chicken between 2 pieces of plastic wrap and beat it to within an inch of it's lift... well 1/2 an inch (thickness that is)
Place it in a sealable baggie and pour the above marinade (premixed) over it. Seal and put in fridge for at least 1 hour, up to 4 hours, turning occasionally.

Discard the marinade when you remove Chicken from bad and grill or heat in oven.

I made mine in an oven on a boil pan, at 400 degress for around 15 mins.
Enjoy!

Hot Suff Rice

I created this yumminess when i realized that my chicken was going to be a little sweet and tangy so i wanted a bold hotness to blend nicely with it. Also brown rice is one of the few grains i can have (since i don't think i could get Chris to eat Quinoa or Barley... not sure i'm ready for that yet!) So here's what i did...
I have this GREAT Pampered Chef Microwave rice cooker so i loaded it up with
3 1/2 c of water
1 c brown rice
2 tbsp sliced green onions
3/4 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
1 tspish of red pepper flakes
splash of olive oil
Pepper
very small amount of I can't believe it's not butter light
Cook in the micro for 35 mins and DONE
This had a really nice kick that blended well with the chicken!

Sonoma Diet, Day 2! By Joe!

They aren't lying to you! When all these diet/nutrition books tell you to eat slower and you'll get full faster, etc.. it's TRUE! So in day one i was dealing with EXTREME hunger after dinner so i decided to try something different. First i ate a little later, this obviously helping (ate at 7 instead of 6). Then i took 25 minutes people to eat my 9" plate of food! Oh YEA! This is incredible for me because normally i look at eating like a track event, the first one done is the winner! Not SO i tell you! WOW! So i ate VERY slow and i don't know about getting full FASTER but i did stay full LONGER! That was just what i needed! YES! Chris was even impressed with my slow eating! lol!
So here's what Day 2 looked like...
Breakfast: Same old Cereal as day one
Snack: Coffee with FF creamer and splenda (i HAVE to have this... sorry sonoma)
Lunch: As you see below i had mixed greens with baby spinach topped with a sprinkle of fresh Parmesan and Ken's Balsamic Vinaigrette from the healthy options line. And i had half of a whole wheat pita!

Snack: On my day off i made baggies of veggies that i could eat for snack. They included a few slices of each: green bell pepper, cucumber, celery, and some cherry tomatoes!
Snack at home: I had a skim mozzarella cheese stick and a glass of diet orange soda
Dinner: This was quite good! As you can see we had peas (no recipe needed, open a can and heat them up!), Balsamic Chicken and Hot Stuff Rice! Please note the plate is a 9" plate! ooooh yea!
Also i had TONS of water throughout my day~

TuTu Heaven

This is not eddible, but i made it~ This is sooo easy to make and here's how!

What you'll need
Tulle of preferred colors (i got about 10 yards... but i had a lot left over b/c my little person is short!)
elastic (a thin strip)
sissors
thick satin ribbon
thin ribbons in various colors
silk flower
Needle and thread

First measure you darlin's little waist. Then add on about two inches and cut the elastic that size.
Over lap the elastic ends about an inch and sew together.
Measure the length that you want your Tutu then double and add 2 inches. For exaple:
I wanted mine to be 8inches long
So i made my pieces of tulle 18 inches long (8x2=16+2+18)
Go through and cut all you tulle 18 inches long, then take those pieces and cut into strips about 3"-4" thick. So you'll have an 18x4 strip. This doesn't have to be exact, i measured the 18" but eyeballed the 3-4" thick strips. Worked JUST FINE!

Now that you have your strips and your band you can begin to place together.

I wish i had taken a picture of this next step but i'll try to explain.
Hold one strip of tulle with the two ends together so there's a connected end and a cut end. place the elastic circle on top. Loop the cut end over the elastic and through the connected end and pull. This should now have your tulle secured on the band!
You will continue this until all your tulle is on in whatever pattern etc you're trying for. The one above is as follows.
Hot Pink (about 65ish pieces)
Then i mixed in Yellow and blue creating 2 blue patches and 2 yellow patches and then a few random pieces here and there.
Topped it with Light pink and white and then a few more Hot Pink Tulle.

Now you add your ribbon. Cut your pieces just like you did the tulle and secure in any pattern you prefer. I decided to do 5 pink, 5 blue, and 5 yellow.
Now make your Satin bow.
I found it easier to tie the bow on in a knot then as i made the bow i secured the flower in it!
And Voila! A perfectly cute tutu!

Marinated Flank Steak

This is quite the tasty treat! It sure had a kick too! I cooked this with REALLY thin steaks so that i could cut them up for my salad and i think if you did it on a thicker steak it wouldn't be as spicy! But Soo good!
Ingredients

* 1 (1-1/2 to 2 pounds) flank steak
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tablespoon dried, crumbled
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled (i didn't have any)
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh oregano or 1 teaspoon dried, crumbled
* 1-1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
* 1-1/2 teaspoons paprika
* 1 teaspoon coarse salt
* 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
* 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus additional for grill pan

Directions

1. Trim fat from steak and place steak in a shallow dish. Stir together rosemary, marjoram, oregano, garlic, paprika, salt, and peppers in a small bowl. Stir in the oil until combined.

2. Spoon herb mixture evenly over both sides of steak, rubbing in. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator 1 hour or up to 24 hours.

3. Preheat grill pan over moderately high heat. Lightly coat pan with oil and place steak in pan. Grill, turning once, until a meat thermometer inserted into center of steak registers 125 degree F for medium rare, 10 to 12 minutes.

4. Transfer to a cutting board. Cover and let stand 10 minutes before cutting, across the grain, into very thin slices. Makes 8 servings.

Sonoma DIET!

For all of you who were waiting for my BIG announcement, this is pretty much it. I am starting the Sonoma diet. If you are unsure of what this diet is here's a brief explanation I found on About.com:
Positive Emphasis - Emphasis is supposedly on what you do eat rather than what you don't, and this is true to an extent. However, the list of forbidden foods is one that is common to, for example, the South Beach Diet, and most of that list is common to all low-carb diets. BUT you do get carbs in Wave 1 (brown rice for example... and Whole Wheat Wraps and Pitas)

Focus on Food - There is an emphasis on eating slowly and savoring food. Partially to this end, a glass of wine is allowed with dinner after the first ten days.

Nutrition - The books talks getting a variety of phytonutrients and antioxidants, partially through "power foods". I always like it when I see a diet which emphasizes variety and nutrition. Also, whole foods are emphasized (very few processed foods are recommended), which is always a good sign.

Structure - I think that some of the popular low-carb diets lack structure. For those who want more guidance, the Sonoma Diet delivers, but perhaps too much for some. (I NEED this structure! I found even Weight Watchers was too open for me!)


I'm very excited about this diet because i have a SERIOUS addiction to carbs and sugar, hopefully this will help me so when i'm allowed to have them all again I don't over indulge.
Here's what I ate yesterday

Breakfast: 1 c Whole Grain


Lunch: Chicken and black bean spread in a whole wheat pita
You took a whole wheat Pita and spread in 2 tbsp of the black bean spread (Recipe coming later) throw in 3 oz of ck breast, 2 tbsp of salsa, and then fill with about 1 cup of baby spinach. SO good, i forgot to take a picture because it was so tasty!

Snack: 1/3 of a cucumber sliced and 1 celery stalk
1 stick of reduced fat string cheese (i had two actually, one later on in the evening b/c i was sooo hungry)

Dinner: Marinated Steak (recipe to follow) with Broccoli and Brown Rice.


I was fine until close to bed time, when i was starving! So i had another string cheese but other then that i did fine and no cheating! So from now on that will be my post and recipes... so if you have any questions feel free to ask away and i'll do my best to answer!

Valentine's Day Steaks

Chris and i had a very LAZY and relaxing Valentine's Day... it consisted of us doing well really nothing... we took a nap! WHOO HOO! We did go grocery shopping so that we could have a nice yummy dinner at home! Don't you LOVE how grocery stores ALWAYS have really good steaks on sale for this holiday! Even if you don't celebrate Valentines Day you should AT LEAST take advantage of the steaks! YUMM! We'll we did and i created a creations using some Parmesan and peppercorn salad dressing we bought!
Ingredients
Steaks, doesn't matter the cut, kind, etc just get what you want!
1/4c about of Parmesan Peppercorn Ken's light and healthy salad dressing
1 c of sliced mushrooms
splash of white wine
pepper
Put all of this in a small skillet and cook over low heat for as long as the steaks take

We Broiled our steaks (b/c it was COLD) with a broil seasonings rub.

Once your Steak is done pull it out and top it with the mixture in the skillet (the liquid should be very little and creamy since the mushrooms should soak up quite a bit.
Then top with about a tablespoon of the salad dressing and sprinkle fresh Parmesan cheese on top and some fresh ground pepper and voila! Yumminess!
Chris has decided we're going to start having this once a week... riiight!

Happy Valentine's Day!

These little wonders are AMAZING!!! SOOO good! I put them together on Friday night and threw them in the fridge. Then the next morning i pulled them out and put them in the oven and WOW! Chris and I were eating these all weekend long! Yummm! I can't remember whose blog i got these from so if they're yours let me know because i REALLY want to thank you!!!
Cinnamon Rolls
For dough:
1/2 cup warm water (105–115°F)
2 (1/4-oz) packages active dry yeast (5 teaspoons)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
5 cups all-purpose flour plus additional for dusting
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 cup warm milk
2 large eggs at room temperature
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter, softened

For filling:
2/3 cups granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoon cinnamon

Glaze (is my own combination):
2 cups powdered sugar
Approximately 8 teaspoons milk (add more if glaze is too thick)
2 teaspoons vanilla

Directions
-In bowl of large stand mixer, stir together warm water, yeast, and a pinch of the sugar and let stand until foamy, about 5-10 minutes. (If mixture doesn't foam, discard and start over.)
-Meanwhile, in large mixing bowl, combine 5 cups flour, salt, and remaining sugar and whisk to combine; set aside
-In small bowl, combine milk and eggs.
-With mixer and dough hook on low speed, add milk and egg mixture then slowly add flour mixture, stirring to combine.
-Beat at medium speed until a very soft dough forms, about 2 minutes.
-Add butter and continue beating at medium speed until dough is smooth, soft, and elastic (adding more milk or flour to achieve good consistency if needed), about 4 minutes (it will be quite sticky).
-Add dough to large oiled bowl and tightly with plastic wrap.
-Let dough rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
-Turn out dough onto a well-floured surface and dust with flour, then roll out into a 16-inch square.
-Stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, and 2/3 c. granulated sugar and sprinkle evenly over dough.
-Beginning with side nearest you, roll up dough, firmly but not tightly, into a log, then pinch seam to seal.
-Trim 1 inch off each end with a large knife and discard, then cut log crosswise into 12 slices.
-Arrange slices, cut sides up, into prepared 9x13 pan, spacing evenly as they will bulk up.
-Cover with plastic wrap and place in fridge overnight to rise (you can also just let rise at room temp until doubled in bulk about 1 -1 1/2 hours).
-In morning, remove rolls from fridge and preheat oven to 350 degrees while they comes to room temperature.
-Bake rolls in lower third of oven until puffed and golden, 30 to 35 minutes, then cool in pan on a rack 10 minutes.
-Meanwhile, stir together powdered sugar, vanilla and milk with a fork until smooth.
-Drizzle over buns while still relatively hot.
-Serve buns warm or at room temperature.

It's HERE what you've all be waiting for!!

MIA... i know i know

I know i've been MIA from my cooking, well i have been cooking, it's just not blog worthy... but that's because i'm planning something BIG! So be prepared.... it's coming within a week!

Womanly Craving for Cupcakes

So right about now i see in your eyes that if you're a woman you're thinking "Right On Sister! Cupcakes and Chocolate... perfect filler for a craving" and if you're a man you're think "Sweet, food" and let me tell you think is sweetness and quite deceiving! lol!
So This Cupcake baking story begins with Chris coming to me and saying that he would REALLY like me to make a lemon cake. I'm thinking on it, begin searching for recipes... then BAM! Craving hits me like a mac truck (no i'm not pregnant i'm getting a visit from... okay TMI you get the point, moving on...) i NEEDED raspberries and chocolate! I don't mean i wanted.. it was a DIRE NEED!! BUT i also knew i didn't want to overwhelm my "not a huge sweet fan" husband with a raspberry chocolate overload, so i decided to throw in his lemon cake! Oooh YEA!
So since we all like simple servings i decided to make cupcakes! I found a lemon cake recipe that was a former first ladies i believe... and she must have been a democrat because it was full of it! HA, not funny? ok ok you can laugh at ME later...
well honestly this was NOT a very good recipe so i'm not posting it... the cupcake was VERY heavy and sort of hard... so it wasnt bad, tasted good, just not fluffy deliousness.
Directions
So Make a cake batter (mine might be boxed next time!) and make your cupcakes. Once they have cooled, scoop out a small amount of the center... kinda of the size of one of those slugger marbles (you know the big ones you used to knock the little ones out of the circle, never played marbles.. oh well guess you'll have to guesstimate!)
Then pour raspberry preserves in the center (i used oh wonderful store bought kind and stirred them until it became more liquidy) then i covered the preserves with some of the cake i scooped out and then topped it with Whipped creamy chocolate icing *uh yea no recipe for this either b/c it was store bought...(whatever i just wanted CHOCOLATE)!
These are amazing (minus the heaviness of the cupcake) Chris said if they were a fluffier cupcake it would be his favorite desert, so i'll be making these again... with a recipe i like hopefully! So enjoy my cupcakes that are full if it (yes it was my idea for the filling and i'm a republican so i guess i'm full of it now... oh well)!

Another Take on Ale Braised Sausage

As you'll hopefully remember I made katie's Ale Braised Sausage with a pasta twist before. Well this time i decided to stay a little truer to the recipe she found since i was bringing it to a Super Bowl party! So the recipe is the same as on my other page (minus the pasta) but i thickened up the sauce quite a bit with extra flour so that people could stab the pieces with a toothpick and just munch!
It worked well and everyone got their fill of beer sausage yumminess!

Edible Footballs

Are you ever invited to someones house for game day and you're supposed to bring something? Well Come fall (since football is now over) Your problems have been solved!! You can bring chocolaty football goodness! I foundhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif this great little item on and it sure was a winner!
Here's the review:
So i go to Chris and say "I'm sooo excited I'm going to make Chocolate rice krispie treats in football shapes!"
and to that Chris said "oh i don't know if i'm going to like that... can't you just make normal ones??"
Me: NOOO Footballs aren't flesh colored! Just don't eat them if you don't want them.
So i go about my day making them... and as i'm mixing it up he comes and has a bite... hmmmm is his reply. Well a little while later they are done and he asks if he can try one... Sure I say... and what does he say? "Wow these are rich... a lot better then what i was thinking... anyone who likes chocolate will love these! SCORE!
So keep in mind my darlin husband is NOT a big sweet person.
OKay, so i bring them to my mother-in-laws for her birthday and they were an instant hit... i mean HELLO what woman doesn't like chocolate!
The next day while i'm waiting for us to leave to go to our friends house for the Super Bowl he ask me two different times if he could have a chocolate football... i caved and let him.
Took them to the party... devoured! Even had people hiding them for later! lol! So Make this and you'll take me (okay Katie, since she thought of it) later! Oh and as you will see i changed the cereal type and i don't have anything to compare it too but it was GREAT!

Chocolate Football Crispies
Kraft

Ingredients:
6 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
½ c. light corn syrup
1 Tbsp butter
½ tsp vanilla
4 c. Chocolate Rice Krispies
white decorating gel

Directions:
- Microwave chocolate, corn syrup and butter in large microwaveable bowl on high 2 1/2 min., stirring after 1 ½ min.
-Blend in vanilla.
-Add cereal, mix well.
-Let cool 10 min and then shape into football shapes on parchment with moistened hands.
-Let cool completely and use decorating gel to add lacings.
-Let stand until gel is firm.