2 Feb 2010

February Goals

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I like making mini-goals! It helps in losing weight, in cleaning your home, or cooking a large meals. You have to break things down – instead of looking at the long term.
So, what am I going to do in February that will make more more healthy:
1. If it is up to me, eat salads for dinner. This gets me a lot of green in and doesn’t weigh me down at night. Now, there are times when I’ll have dinner with others – but then I can just eat sensibly – or if going out, I can have a salad. I know of one exception – Sonny’s with Sloan.
2. Start back training for a 5k. That means running more intentionally. Started week 5 of Couch to 5k again today. Got most of it done – but a sweet friend I hadn’t seen in a while was there so I stopped and talked to her then ran out of time. My first 5k of 2010 is the first wknd of March. Bring on the Anthem!
3. Continue with yoga or Bob’s boot camp. The first 3 weeks of the month will be dedicated to our friend Bob Harper. He makes me work. My quads and hams and inner/outer thighs actually hurt right now between the 2 DVDs and running.
4. Feb 24 – bring on round 2 of Jillian’s 30 Day Shred. That will have me 30 days out of last day of my current job – so I want to look stellar. I really feel like I toned up and looked sleeker the last time I did it (before the holidays set in), so I want to do it again.

New things:
1. Taking a semi-private yoga lesson with a friend this weekend. I am very excited about that!
2. Hiking both Berea pinnacles later this month with Sloan. I’ve done it once before, but I’m doing it with Sloan this time.
3. Antibiotics. Taking augmenten right now for a sinus infection from last week. It is helping, but is sometimes not sitting well with my stomach and is making me thirsty – so I’m drinking tons of fluids!

How are you sticking with your NYRs? How are you keeping motivated in the cold month of February? What are your mini-goals? What new things are you trying this month?

2 Feb 2010

Chewy Peanut Butter Bars (2010.5)

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If you like peanut butter fudge, you will definitely like these. Quick and Easy Recipes comes through. These make tons of bars and are really easy because they are no bake – they just take chill time.

4 cups salted roasted peanuts
1 bag mini marshmallows
1 stick unsalted butter
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1 bag reece’s peanut butter chips
1 can sweetened condensed milk

9×13 pan. foil. pam.
Spread 2 cups of the peanuts on the bottom. Melt the rest in a pan over medium low heat. Pour on top of peanuts. Pour the other 2 cups on top and gently press into the goo.
Let chill over night.
These taste surprisingly like peanut butter fudge. So easy…

29 Jan 2010

John Angell James – On Usefulness

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Hand it to the guys who lived and preached in the 1800s. John Angell James was a preacher and prolific writer in England.
A friend passed this along to me today, thought I would share it with you:

“I set out in my ministry, even when a student, with the idea of usefulness so deeply imprinted on my heart, and so constantly present to my thoughts, that I could never lose sight of it long together: and I mean a usefulness of one kind – that is the direct conversion of souls …
The press is one of the two main pillars of the temple of truth. So in the conversion of souls, though the pulpit is the main instrument of effecting this, yet the tract distributor, the Sunday-school teacher, the Bible reader, are all useful, and every person should study his talents, his means, and his opportunities for usefulness.”

Questions for thought:
1. How has God gifted you to be useful?
2. How are you currently using this usefulness, or honing those skills to be useful in the future?
3. How is the rest of your life arranged to keep this usefulness useful (life management)?

Colossians 3.16 – Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly.”
29 Jan 2010

Menu Week: Feb 1

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Wow – birthday month is finally over and life can go on. We are already in the second year of the new decade! Time flies.
I will still have some leftovers from previous week: I love how stews and soups last forever! Red Wine Beef Stew and Curried Vegetables will continue to be on the menu this week.
Monday I will hopefully be having Pei Wei leftovers from my dinner in Brentwood on Sunday night – can’t wait, it will be my first time!
We have a faculty meeting this week so I have something to bring goodies to: Salted Peanut Bars from Quick and Easy Recipes.
I’ll be eating salads, soups, and easy breakfasts.
Saturday I am having dinner with a sweet family. Sunday another lunch with a great young family doing good things in ministry.
Then, for the Super Bowl (GO COLTS) a friend and I are getting together with good food. I have the NFC so that means I have to cook something related to New Orleans. Instead of copping out and just going by JGumbo’s and picking up bourbon chicken, I found a recipe for it – so I’m going to make my own! Lorrie has the AFC and is bringing Orville Redenbacher popcorn and oreos (for the Mannings/Trump commercial). We are also having salad (me) and rice (lorrie) with our bourbon chicken. Should be a good night: who can pass up popcorn and oreos?
What is your favorite Super Bowl food?

29 Jan 2010

Crud and Weight

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Well, folks, over a week later and I still have crud. That’s about how I describe it and how I feel. Life must go on though. I am going to the clinic on campus today after speaking with my friend, the nurse, this morning.
I’ve been doing yoga all week in my house. That has been good. 2 days I only did 20 minutes, 2 days I did the whole 45. Feel much stronger and lean after doing a full yoga session!
And…I have finally lost all the holiday and birthday weight! Now, I can concentrate on losing the last 5-10% I have to go!
Keep up all the New Year’s resolutions everyone!

25 Jan 2010

Day 5 of Oats: Pumpkin Cranberry White Chocolate

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I think I saved the best for last. This was yummy – reminded me of fall. Oh, I like fall much better than winter – but so be it! At least I can remember warmer temps with my bowl of goodness in the morning!

1/3 cup oats
1/2 plus a little more cup water
2 tsp white chocolate wonderful (PB&CO)
10 dried cranberries
1 T pumpkin

So good! Enjoy!

25 Jan 2010

Product Review: Ciao Bella Sorbet

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Love. This. Stuff.
Whole Foods comes through in little individual containers of yummy goodness!
Ciao Bella is a gelato place in NYC (they have some great stuff don’t they) – and they send their sorbet to my Whole Foods here in Louisville.
I tried the Sicilian Blood Orange flavor of sorbet. For 100 calories – amazing. I felt like I was eating a blood orange with a spoon. I also put a scoop of free cool whip and a sprinkle of coconut on top – just for textural and temperature changes (important in my consumption of cold things).
1. With this, I don’t have to wait till the oranges are in season
2. I don’t have to be in Florida to get good oranges when I have this stuff.
3. It was cold – which felt good on my sore throat
4. It was better for me than ice cream.
5. I will be trying other flavors.

Yum – hey Ciao Bella people – got any coupons?

25 Jan 2010

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Chocolate Pepita Muffins

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I needed to use up a bit of a can of pumpkin so this was a great recipe to do it. I was a little doubtful when these came out of the oven, but the chocolate really made these!

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup canned pumpkin
1/4 cup buttermilk
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 T raw pepitas (pumpkin seeds, you can find in bulk bins at Whole Foods)
3/4 60% Ghiradelli chocolate bar, chopped

Combine wet. Combine dry. Add wet to dry. Fold in chocolate. Put in 12 greased (I use silicon liners) muffin tins. Sprinkle pepitas on top.
Bake at 400 for 18 minutes.
Serve warm. I’m sure Dark Chocolate Dreams would be amazing on the top of these (instead of butter). These are going to the office too!
220 cal, 10 fat, 1.5 fiber

25 Jan 2010

Orange Molasses Cookies (2010.4)

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I love healthy cooking magazines that don’t always use the light version of everything. I want healthy stuff – not fat free or “light stuff”. Eating Well is that magazine for me. A lot of their ingredients are either less of stuff or natural stuff. I like it. I love these cookies. I halved the recipe and changed it a little bit, but these are so good. I am glad these are going to the office tomorrow.

3/4 cup oats – put in a blender and ground semi-fine
2.5 T unsalted butter, softened
1/6 cup sugar
1/6 cup brown sugar
zest of one naval orange
1/4 cup molasses
3.5 T all natural applesauce
1/2 large egg yolk (scramble egg yolk, then just pour in half of it)
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp soda
3/4 tsp cinnamon
3/4 tsp nutmeg (I didn’t have any ginger)
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp allspice (I added more of this and left out the pepper)
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
Turbinado sugar to roll cookies in

Cream wet ingredients. Add in dry. Roll cookies in turbinado sugar. Bake at 375 on greased sheets for 9 minutes.
I love the orange flavor that comes out in the first bite – wow – orange! 🙂
About 76 calories a cookie, 2 fat, 1 fiber.

25 Jan 2010

Chocolate Cherry Pistachio Oatmeal Cookies (2010.3)

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Bon Appetit comes through again for this week’s recipe. I really love their cooking magazine. I halved the recipes and made it my own by adding some chopped pistachios – and the review I got “These are great, just what I needed, something a little sweet”. The only thing that puzzled me about these were the timing. I couldn’t get it just right – but they were still good. This version of the recipe makes about 2 dozen.

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
3/4 tsp vanilla (I upped it some from original amount)
1 egg
1 cup oats
3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup dried cherries (next time I would chop these before putting them in)
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup chopped pistachios

Cream the first three. Add in egg and vanilla. Combine the dry ingredients. Fold in the additions.
Bake on greased cookie sheets at 375 for anywhere from 10-13 minutes, just watch them so they don’t burn.
These were good. I would make them again.

118 cal, 6 fat, 1 fiber