Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Taco Spring Chicken a la Tonya!

One of my favorite things, is my husband picking me up on a sunny afternoon from work. There is nothing like seeing the person you love after a stressful or tiring day at work, and often, days are at least tiring. But when I walk outside, the fresh air hits my face, and I see my wonderful husband, everything starts perking up and my day is headed back in the right direction. Even if I have had a great day, there is nothing like seeing him look up and smile over the steering wheel.

I certainly appreciate him picking me up and I am savoring it while it lasts! Once he graduates and finds a job, I will have to find another mode of transportation and I may have to carry his picture around to perk me up as I am leaving work! Alright, well after that bit of day dreaming, I do have another great food idea!

So one of my bff's Tonya messaged Laura and I about a chicken recipe where she puts taco seasoning on the chicken and cooks them up. I was just craving chicken on the grill this beautiful spring day so I headed home, took out my nearly thawed chicken (Emma, one of my other bff's, told us her mom cooks with frozen chicken to keep it moist! point taken!)and rubbed it down with some taco seasoning. We put it out on the grill, served it up with baked potato's, onion and chive sour cream, and a big salad! The perfect spring meal! And I shredded a left over piece of chicken, put it on top of a salad for tomorrow and mixed some ranch and salsa for a little Mexican flare to my salad!

Monday, March 28, 2011

life goes on...

I decided to do a little calculating on my own to ensure my points were spot on for the recipes I have been giving you! I found out that the lemon cookies I posted yesterday are actually 2P+, not 1p+…still a great value for a cookie, however, these were not my favorites! I would rather have the Banana Bread Cookies or the White Chocolate chip cookies which still came out to 2p+ when doing my own calculations! Yipee!

I played around in the kitchen tonight and made a variation of a recipe I found on http://www.danicasdaily.com. She has a Brown Sugar Banana Nut Bread but when checking the calculations, I was not coming up with the same points, so I played around and made my very own 5p+ Whole Wheat Banana Bread Muffins!

1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup light butter
2 large eggs
2tsp. vanilla extract
4 mashed bananas (ripe works best!)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups whole wheat flour

Preheat oven to 350. Mix butter and sugar well, and then add whisked eggs. Add vanilla and mashed bananas. Mix the dry ingredients together and mix with wet ingredients.

Spray muffin pan with cooking spray, and divide mixture into 14 muffins. Bake for 30-35 minutes, inserting a toothpick to check if it is done! These are really thick, and moist, and hearty! The whole wheat flour makes them dense and adds a great nutty flavor!

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Other than my recent obsession with baking, life has been going as usual. We are heading towards Chaz's graduation, and are in the midst of putting a closet into our basement apartment. Chaz has done a lot of mudding, sanding, painting, and carpet laying! He is quit the pro! Of course he has not worked alone, but it makes me happy to know I married a handy man!

We have two relaxing weeks ahead of us, and then we get into the busy time of spring hockey. I have volunteered seasonally for MN Hockey and their select camps and those begin in two weeks! That consists of two weeks, going morning till night, with nothing but hockey on the mind! Chaz will get to experience it this year as he is probably going to be helping out!

I also will be heading to USA Hockey Camp this June! I was just accepted to be a Team Lead for my third year and this year I will be working with the 17 and 18 year old girls! Super excited! So other than that, working out, eating, baking, and enjoying my class free weeks! Only three left before class starts up again!

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correction: Muffins are 4p+ each!

Sunday, March 27, 2011

Sharing the love!

Since I love you all so much, here is a blog I read and honestly, she has some of the most amazing recipes! Anyhoo, she is doing a giveaway so if you like free stuff, head on over and enter! http://shannonskitchencreations.com/2011/03/27/chobani-greek-yogurt-giveaway/

Who knew "eating adventure" meant making more cookies?

Seriously, since beginning this "eating adventure", I have come across a host of WW cookie recipes from all the blogs I love to read! Since I have an incurable sweet tooth, all these recipes have really helped! Right now I just made a batch of lemon cookies and you can find the recipe here! http://danicasdaily.com/light-meyer-lemon-sugar-cookies-recipe/ I mean, who can say no to creamed sugar and butter!





A little lemon, and little love, and viola! Nummy nummy in my tummy! I followed the recipe except instead of fresh lemon juice, I had to use bottled lemon juice. And I did not have white whole wheat flour so I used whole wheat flower. And with out a fresh lemon, I did not have lemon zest, so i zested an orange. Tasted great, however, real lemon juice may make them a bit less tangy! No matter, I really enjoyed them and just love the fact that they are 1 p+. And they taste bomb over some light vanilla ice cream! And you will have to notice that all this cookie baking has lead me to buy some new equipment! Silicone baking mats! Woot woot!






With all this cookie baking, I have made sure to keep the exercise regimen up! Since running the 5k a few weeks back, I have been addicted to running! Here is me and the crew on my birthday before heading out to the Irish for a Day 5k!






And here is a pic of my running towards the finish line! I ran the whole thing and was so pumped! This was my second 5k but the first I actually trained for! I am already excited to participate in my second 5k which will be in about two months! I run for distance but I may try and up my PR!




All this running has encouraged me to seek out stretches that are healthy and will keep me injury free. This is my favorite for stretching my calves. I sit with my legs straight out with a slight bend at the knee, place my palms on the bottom of my foot, and pull forward. I hole this for 30 seconds and do it 2-3 times.




My next goal is to do some Internet research or talk to a trainer about the correct way to train. I want to do this injury free and make sure that I am crossing training! I know I can't run 3 miles every other day...I need to come up with a schedule and make sure I am doing everything safely and correctly. I run about 3 days a week, anywhere from 2-3 miles, and the other days I do the elliptical machine, Biggest Loser DVD's and my 30 Day Shred.

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Cookie fest!

So prior to my birthday weekend, I wanted to try some cookie recipes that were WW friendly! I found these two recipes and they are amazing! AND, they are both 2p+ per cookie!

















The White Chocolate almond cookies are simply decedent! Sweet and creamy! Yum! You can find the tasty recipe here!

www.shannonskitchencreations.com/2011/03/05/zumba-and-white-chocolate-almond-cookies/

















I also made these delicious Banana Bread Cookies that have raisins and oatmeal and bananas and are super gooey deliciousness! You can find the recipe here!

http://shannonskitchencreations.com/2011/02/21/low-fat-banana-oatmeal-cookies-2-pts/

Feast!

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Dairy Queen and Berries!

Food

Forever and 5 days I have been addicted to you
Overly luscious and satisfying, you bring about the greatest of joys
Only now have I realized, I can find joy in other things, like working out, and
Dirt

Not true! Lol, I just wanted to be funny! But for realz now, food is a highlight in my life. Not just because I love the taste, texture, and satisfaction, but because I have always seen baking as a bit of an art. I love making cookies and cakes and recipes that people shed tears trying to recreate. Somehow, I have always been able to hop in the kitchen and generally create some appealing dishes, and yes, there have been some failures, and there are some WW recipes that have added to those failures, but generally, I keep it real, I keep it simple, and I keep it really simply delicious. Hehe…so with my “food adventure”, I have been trying some new recipes, and honestly, there have been so many good ones and only a few duds! I have talked about a few recipes previously but now I am going to lay it all out on the table! Food, pictures, taste tests! Nummy!

Tonight my computer is being a butt so I can't upload pictures for actual recipes but I will give you a treat idea!

Take some beautiful blackberries, or any fruit for that matter.
















Top with one Dairy Queen Chocolate bar (1p+)

















A super nummy 1p+ treat! Great for the afternoon snack attack!

More recipes tomorrow once I get all my pictures uploaded!

Monday, March 21, 2011

fresh air...

Oh, sorry for the little break there! Last week my final was due for class and it took a lot out of me! Blah, glad it’s over! I get a 4 week break before my next class!

This weekend was great! I went out Friday night with some of my Auggie ladies to celebrate Alyssa’s birthday! Not only do we look similar, act similar, and dress similar, we also have birthdays in the same month! Crazy!

We got a hotel room in downtown MPLS and hopped from one bar to the next. We tried out some for the first time and it was nice finding some different atmospheres! I really liked a bar downtwon called the Loon!

Saturday morning we woke up way too early after drinking way too much! We headed to Sawatdee for birthday lunch and as soon as I got home around 2:30pm, I was out! Out until the D. Lo came and woke me up at 7:15pm….ah, the joy of sleeping! We watched a movie, You Again, which was a pretty good movie to rent, and then it was back to bed…I pretty much love not having homework!

Sunday was a rainy, romantic day. It was dreary and wet, yet it was a nice break from the sun and it sure made that snow disappear rather quickly! I headed out for a workout then came home to clean, then Chaz and I headed off to Maple Grove to take in a date night! We went to Trader Joe’s, the movies, and then a nice dinner at Granite City! I love date nights with my husband!

As for this week, I foresee lots of relaxing, working out, and reading! Oh, and we are getting a closet put in so maybe by the end of the week, I will be organizing a new closet! The best part of this week however, is we get to see some Durgin family! Chaz’s dad is coming into town for the week and I am excited! It is so great having two families and two groups of people you feel really comfortable with. I love the Durgins and the great time that usually follows them! I wish we could see more of them, but Denis will have to suffice till we make our way to the great city of Reno in May to see Laine graduate!

Tuesday, March 15, 2011

ABC's of Me

Since this past weekend was my birthday, I kind of took a break from WW, and since this week my huge 20 page paper is due, I have taken a break from working out! There fore my blog will be doing the same! So instead of a "healthy" update, I am going to do a "hearty" update! Before I jump into that however, I did successfully complete the Irish for a Day 5k and I ran the entire thing with around 12.5 minute miles! Not to shabby since that is how fast I pretty much run on the treadmill! It was fun! Such a thrill to finish this accomplishment! A 5k that I actually trained for! I a,, already planning my next one in May! But more on that later! For now I will leave you with the ABC's of me!

A. Age: 25...as of three days ago!
B. Bed size: Queen...cause I am one!
C. Chore you hate: cleaning the litter box
D. Dogs: love!
E. Essential start to your day: breakfast and coffee, like right away!
F. Favorite color: purple and pink! Used to be blue but I am much more girlie in my old age!
G. Gold or silver: Both! A tasteful mix
H. Height: 5'9''
I. Instruments that you can play: ahhhh...mabs a bit of the piano
J. Job title: Merch Specialist
K. Kids: 2 cats, Faith and Kea!
L. Live: Minnesota
M. Mom’s name: Joni
N. Nicknames: punkin
O. Overnight hospital stays: appendix, tonsils, think that's it
P. Pet peeve: rambling...like random stories that make no sense and go on forever
Q. Quote from a movie: "And 6 months ago, when Doug introduced me to you guys. I thought…wait a second, could it be. And now I know for sure, I just added 2 more guys to my wolf pack. 4 of us wolves running around the desert together, in Las Vegas looking for strippers and cocaine. So tonight, we make a toast!"-Hangover
R. Righty or lefty: lefty
S. Sibling: One brother, one sister, and a host of animal siblings!
T. Time you wake up: around 7 on weekdays...more like 11 on the weekends!
U. Underwear: bikini
V. Vegetables you dislike: okra
W. What makes you run late: I generally run late! it's a little perk you get for knowing me!
X. X-rays: knees, chest, back, so on and so on...
Y. Yummy food you make: cookies! cakes! soups! those are some of my fav!
Z. Zoo favorite animal: Elephants...that or the penguins!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Accomplishments

It is fun to see that my weight has gone from the 40’s to the 20’s! I like seeing that! Even if I may have hit a plateau last week…ok, well gained L
This weekend I have some big plans for my birthday, so I am really trying to make sure I eat good this week cause who knows what the weekend will bring! Good thing I have my weeklies! They will all be saved for the festivities! Of course I will help counter some of this with my Saturday morning 5k run! I am so looking forward to this event and for a variety of reasons!

First, it is my second 5k, and this one I have actually trained for! Second, I am doing it with some of my best friends, some really strong wonderful women, while my other group of best friends cheer’s us on from the sidelines! I am looking forward to the challenge, to breathing in fresh air while pushing myself. And I am looking forward to the sense of accomplishment after! Well, there is also the post-run beer garden! I mean, it is a St. Patty’s day race!

On top of all that, is the fact that it is my 25th birthday that day! I mean how cool to walk right up to your 25th birthday and greet it with a challenging 5k, being surrounded by amazing friends and family. Hopefully I can greet every milestone this way!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

fashback

When you love your wedding as much as I did, do, and always will, it is fun to sometimes reflect on certain parts of it. The other day, while driving back from Moorhead, I started reflecting on the little things that made my day special. Things I hopefully don’t forget and am able to make other friends who get married step back and realize. Here are some fun things I picked out from my special day!

· Sleeping in till 9:30! I mean, I know I love sleeping in now but I didn’t do it often back then and I certainly never dreamed I would do it on my wedding day!
· Watching TNT in my wedding dress while everyone was out taking pictures with my two dogs at my feet.
· Painting finger nails and toe nails, helping others get ready.
· Eating subway.
· Seeing my cakes for the first time!
· Waking up and walking right upstairs to get my drink on with some mimosas!
· Stopping at Terri's friend Julie’s house on the way and snacking on tortilla’s and veggies prior to the ceremony.
· Listening to Black Eyed Pea’s “Tonight’s Gonna Be a good night” on the way to the chapel!
· Giving a couple who was married the weekend before us a ride back to the hotel!
· Getting to the Chateau we were staying at and playing with the resident cat!

Thursday, March 3, 2011

mix'in it up...

So after embarking on a wonderful adventure to the meat palace Fogo De Chao last night, I woke up this morning at a weight of 228.5. That is up .5 from last week. But honestly, I enjoyed Fogo with my coworkers, and I enjoyed my splurges last weekend, or my “refueling” as I see it. But today was a great day to pick myself up and keep trucking along!

Chaz had an interview this morning so that made the start of my day especially bright. He has a lot of people who like his work and a lot of people who are rooting for him! And I am so proud of everything he has accomplished!

Tomorrow night is hangout time with the college roommates and the rest of the weekend will be relaxing, cleaning, running, and conquering large amounts of homework! Ah the joys of school!

Really looking forward to enjoying some healthy snacks too! Here is what I am munching on to keep myself satisfied!
· Clementine’s 0p+ (always a great treat!)
· Mini box of raisins 1p+
· WW English muffin with jam 4p+ (add some butter for 1p+)
· Edy’s double churn Samoa’s ice cream 3p+
· Raw Sugar Snap peas 0p+ nummy!
· Strawberries and Grapes 0p+
· The most refreshing tropical tasting mix of bananas and Clementine’s in a bowl together 0p+
· Not opposed to drizzling 1p+ light chocolate syrup on any of the above! Well, maybe the snap peas!

Tuesday, March 1, 2011

church and cookies

This weekend, on top of my wonderful food splurges and rockstar running, I got to experience something else totally cool! My college roommate, and one of my best friends, was giving a sermon at her hometown church. Since I was up in Moorhead and only 45 minutes away, I decided to get up early and I met my other two college friends, Kelsey and Alyssa, so we could all watch Emma together.

In a few words, Emma did amazing! It was such a wonderful sermon, and I loved sitting there, in a good old Lutheran church, listening to her enthusiasm for life, God, and the African culture. Emma’s sermon was a reflection on her time in Africa with the Peace Corp and how in a place so far away, she was able to feel right at home. She talked about bird watching, something she did in her hours of free time, something she found peace in.

It was also so wonderful to see a true family of God. Emma’s dad is the Pastor at this small town, Minnesota church, and her mom sings in the choir. How cool to span the front of this church and see this family, all playing a different role, but with a common goal, to spread the word of God and his presence in their life. It was a neat experience, and I just wanted to share it with all of you!

P.S. Shout out to Mary Kay! You rocked those polka dot stockings! Us Auggie ladies thought you were one hip momma!

P.P.S. Try these cookies! They are so fricking amazing, a great size! (bigger then most cookies!), and only 2 points per cookie!!!!!

http://shannonskitchencreations.com/2011/02/21/low-fat-banana-oatmeal-cookies-2-pts/