New Motivation

Yesterday was my 22nd birthday and my hubby and his family surprised me with gifts to boost my motivation to exercise. I'd been wanting running stuff for who knows how long but it's just one of those things where I have a hard time spending the money for. Finally I have actual RUNNING clothes and will no longer have to run in holey scrubs and other old things. They're the activewear brand Lucy and super nice.

I also got a really nice ipod holder that goes on my arm, AND the Nike+ SportBand, which is the chip that goes in the shoe and the watch/band that goes on the wrist. It'll track how far I've gone, how many calories I've burned, etc. I've wanted that for a long time too.

And on top of that my amazing husband bought me brand new really awesome Nike running shoes, which are so much better than I had. The Nike LunarElite+. Happiness.

What a fun surprise it was! I was always mentioning to Taylor how bad I needed real running clothes. He and the family sure went the extra mile! Thank you Taylor, Mom (and Dad, Morg, and Slade), Tammy, Galen, Jonathan, Adam, Hannah, Thomas and Mercedes! I love you guys! And I can't wait to work out!

New delicious discoveries

A week or so ago I got the idea for these yummy tomato and fried cheese crumpets I made up. What I did was take our basic pizza crust recipe, add fresh grated parmesean and dried basil to the dough and formed them into patties, brushed melted butter over them and stuck them in the oven for 12-15 minutes. While they baked I sliced up mozarella and stuck it on the grill until they were melted and golden brown. I put the mozarella on the baked crumpets, placed a slice of tomato on top with some salt and pepper and there you have it. Delicious! This next meal I would highly recommend to anyone who likes savory chicken breast. It's a chicken marinated in a mustard and lime mixture. For the marinade, juice a half a cup of lime and mix with a tablespoon of mustard. Then whisk in a tablespoon of olive oil. Then add two teaspoons of sugar and a dash of salt and pepper. Mix it all together and poar half of the marinade over two chicken breasts and set them in the refrigerator to marinade for a few hours of over night. When you're ready to bake, set the oven temp to 375, slice up bell peppers, preferrably red, yellow and orange and add them to the pan of raw chicken. Bake for about 40 minutes or until the chicken is fully cooked. When it is done take it out of the oven, poar the rest of the marinade over the chicken and let it sit for 10 minutes.

I made it last night, and here was the final product.

Served with some brown rice, it was so amazing! If I had more chicken breasts I would make it again tonight.

Vegetable Chowder

Yesterday I sampled a new recipe and then made it for dinner because it was YUMMY. It's called Vegetable Chowder. It's delicious and a lot like soup you would get in a restaurant. Here is the recipe:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup red bell pepper, chopped
1/4 cup onion, chopped

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 cup celery, chopped

1/2 cup cauliflower, chopped

1/2 cup carrots, diced

1/2 cup broccoli, chopped

3 cups vegetable broth

1/4 teaspoon salt and pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups low fat milk

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

2 cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions:

In a pot, saute the pepper and onions in olive oil until tender. Add remaining vegetables, broth, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 20 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. In a small bowl or cup, combine flour and milk and mix with a whisk until smooth; stir slowly into soup. Bring soup to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally for 2 minutes to allow to thicken. Just before serving, mix in the parsley and cheese until melted. Serve with whole wheat toast. Serves 6

I actually used Colby jack cheese instead of sharp cheddar because that's what I had but I would recommend using sharp cheddar if you have any, it will leave the soup with more flavor. Because I was missing a few other ingredients I used dried parsley instead of fresh, a cup of potatoes instead of a half a cup of celery and a half a cup of cauliflower. Here's how it turned out!

On a different note, my herbs are growing!!

DAGOBA Organic Chocolate.

For all you chocolate lovers out there, here's a yummy treat. Those of you who don't know, I LOVE chocolate and can't seem to get enough of it. Because of my intense love for chocolate I am trying to be more conscious about other aspects besides how amazingly wonderful it tastes. For example, I mostly love milk chocolate and haven't really cared much for dark. Dark chocolate however, has a higher percentage of cacao.

According to Wikipedia, "Chocolate and cocoa contain a high level of flavonoids, specifically epicatechin, which may have beneficial cardiovascular effects on health."

"Prolonged intake of flavonol-rich cocoa has been linked to cardiovascular health benefits, though it should be noted that this refers to raw cocoa and to a lesser extent, dark chocolate, since flavonoids degrade during cooking and alkalizing processes. Studies have found short term benefits in LDL cholesterol levels from dark chocolate consumption. The addition of whole milk to milk chocolate reduces the overall cocoa content per ounce while increasing saturated fat levels, possibly negating some of cocoa's heart-healthy potential benefits."

My mom loves dark chocolate and I remember how she would sometimes carry a dark chocolate Dagoba bar in her purse and pull it out whenever time called for it. I was thinking about this yesterday as I was heading to the health food store and decided I would like to follow in her steps and keep a bar of dark chocolate in my purse. I've had a few pieces and I'm starting to appreciate the flavor.

For more information on DAGOBA organic chocolate, check out their website! http://www.dagobachocolate.com/

And here's a little artwork I did to show my appreciation for chocolate. (There's a bit of a glare on the paint). They're hanging above our kitchen. :)

Thanks mom, for giving me a love for CHOCOLATE. :)

The health of America

Have any of you heard of the book The Crazy Makers by Carol Simontacchi? Well my grandma Slade had it on a night stand at her house when we visited her last summer and Taylor picked it up and started reading bits of it to me. Later we ordered our own copy and I'm just now reading it. I'm only at the beginning but let me just tell you, it is fascinating. It's all about how the food industry in America and the diet of America are slowly ruining the health of our brains. We are becoming more aware of what bad diet is doing to our bodies but have we really thought about what all of the chemicals, additives and just poor diet are doing to our minds? The first chapter labeled Our Food and Suffering talks about the increase in mental illnesses among the new generations and why this is so. Below are a few quotes I added from the book.

"Over the past century, the American food culture has gone through a transformation so pervasive and enormous that we have almost completely lost sight of what constitutes a normal diet. In our quest for convenience and shift in culture and priorities, we have pushed aside the notion that the purpose of eating is to provide energy for our day-to-day activities and to maintain the structure of our changing bodies and brains."

"Until the past few decades (since man started tampering with the food supply), we ate what nature provided, grew healthy brains, and never gave it another thought."

"Our new foods, however, are altering the ability of our brains to think. They are altering both the structure and function of our physical brains, leaving us less able to cope with stress and more susceptible to the forms of mental illness..."

Just like the explosion of physical illness, mental illness is becoming a plague of its own, all because of the chemicals we consume daily with the normal "American diet." As our bodies are polluted and become sick so do our minds, affecting the way we think, feel and perceive life. I know from personal experience and I'm sure that most people have felt the difference between how they feel when they are making a conscious effort to eat fruits, vegetables, protein and whole grains. Just interesting! Stay tuned, I'll post more about the book after I read some more. :)

Herb garden

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I'm starting a little herb garden in my windowsill. I found these adorable little pots at JOANN'S and I'm really hoping it all works. I planted basil in one and cilantro in the other. So excited to use fresh herbs in our food.

Delicious dinner and some gardening

Earlier this week I discovered something DELICIOUS. It's not exactly the healthiest thing but it is sure YUM. I actually got the idea from the movie Julie and Julia when Julie was making dinner for her husband near the beginning of the movie. I sliced some french bread, sizzled it on both sides in a pan with butter and then used diced tomato, Mozarella cheese, Italian dressing and some salt, pepper and dried basil to go on top. It was SO good we ate it again the next night.

Last night Taylor and I planted our first garden! When I say garden I mean two box plots here at the apartment community garden. We are a little late getting it started but we're hoping we still have some growing success. We planted corn, squash, some flowers and we will also be planting tomatoes. I'm also planning to grow some herbs indoors by a windowsill. Super excited!

Welcome to my new blog!

Hey everyone, I've been wanting to have a separate blog to post about my art projects, sewing projects, cooking ideas, home ideas, fitness and health ideas and all other passions I have and for this reason I have created this blog. This is a blog dedicated to my learning and striving to become a good wife and mother, and to create a home filled with the spirit, creativity and joy. I'll begin posting very soon!