Weekend & Monday Recap

We had a great weekend here.  My sister was in for the weekend, which was really nice!  We made vegan sweet potato lentil chili, which was delicious.  No picture, of course.  I gotta get better at this.  You can find a recipe for it in the book 1000 Vegan Recipes by Robin Robertson.  We, of course, just wing it.  Saturday she went to the gym with me and I completed my third workout of the week from The New Rules of Lifting.  Sunday was my grandmother's 75 birthday!  I love my grandma.  She's a feisty lady.  

Today I started Week 2 of my workout program.  I love how much better I feel after a workout.  I'm looking forward to my workouts now.  I love getting in the gym and freeing my mind for a little while.  I think soon I'm going to have to take Baby Boy Sunshine with me.  My gym offers day care and it looks very nice.  So we will see how that goes. 

Today I ate broccoli and cauliflower.  I've found the best way for me to enjoy my veggies is to roast them in the oven with a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  I've done a lot of different veggies that way and it's almost always delicious.  Last night I did asparagus.  So tasty.  Sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, cabbage, brussel sprouts, broccoli, cauliflower, it's all delicious roasted in the oven.  I do mine at 350-400 degrees and it depends on the veggie how long.  Asparagus takes a lot less time than hunks of potato. 

Behold!

My little man has fallen asleep now.  I'm going to go try another yoga routine from my new DVD set.  Last night I did "Letting Go of Your Day."  Which was nice, very relaxing.  A lot more mindful breathing than like, a stretchy yoga session, but I think that's what I needed at the end of yesterday. 

So anyway, do you like roasted veggies? 

Le Hot Dogs et Eggs

Today was another great day.  My in laws came over to watch Silas while I went to the gym and Target.  I did my second work out from "The New Rules of Lifting for Women."  It was great.  I'm already sore.  Our Target has some brands of organic, grass fed, yuppie meats, so I stocked up.  I also got myself a box of wine, so I'm enjoying that right now as we speak, err type and read.  After the gym and my in laws left I made a very tasty dish; this one is only for my readers with a very distinguished  palate, it's not for everyone.  I give you:

Hot Dogs and Eggs!!

I really love hot dogs.  I mean, they're salty and greasy and meaty.  Of course, I bought the yuppie, grass-fed, organic, free range, all beef dogs, whatever that's worth.  It makes me feel better about eating and loving the hot dog.  In the right circumstances I will eat the random, mystery meat dog as well, if I'm hungry enough.  I'm rambling.  I blame the box wine.  Anyway!  This is a tasty, quick and easy, high protein meal.  (Also high in sodium, fat and electrolytes?  It's amazing I was never a better sales person.)

1 hot dog
1/2 cup egg whites or two whole eggs
pepper to taste
olive oil spray for your pan
sriracha to burn your lips of (if desired)

Start by spraying your pan with the olive oil spray and heat on medium high heat.  Add a sliced up hot dog and cook until a little crispy.  Add your egg whites or eggs and turn your heat down to low.  Sprinkle in pepper.  You REALLY don't want to add any salt to this creation, believe me, the hot dogs are salty enough.  Stir until your eggs reach desired level of done-ness.  I put a fancy squiggle of sriracha on the plate then dumped the egg and hot dog mixture on top.  It was delicious. 

Silas is trying so hard to move around and crawl.  From a sitting position he tries to move onto all fours but occasionally takes a nose dive.  Poor thing.  When he's on his tummy or even in a sitting position he'll reach for your hands and pull himself up to standing.  He's going to be mobile in no time!  Here he is playing with his toys.

Well, I think that's enough for today.  Do you like hot dogs and eggs?  Ever had it?  Do you like hot dogs?  More importantly, do you put KETCHUP on your hot dogs?   

Monday, Monday!!

Ahhhh ahhh ahhh ahhh ah!  You know the Mamas and the Papas song, right?  Today has been a good day.  I've started a workout program and I'm feeling pretty excited about it.  I did it a couple years ago, it's the program in the book The New Rules of Lifting for Women.  I didn't make it all the way through the program though.  I got distracted, started another program and life got in the way I guess. 

http://www.amazon.com/The-New-Rules-Lifting-Women/dp/1583333398

I noticed a difference after about 4 weeks so I'm glad to be getting into it again.  Today was the first day and I'm already feeling a little soreness in my arms.  I know my legs are going to be hurting later!  What I like about this program is it's concise.  The exercises are preformed in an order that is very smart, so you're not spending hours in the gym.  For example, today I started with squats and moved on to push ups before going back and finishing the squats.  I've done other programs where I've been standing around for a minute and a half in between bicep reps and I don't have that kind of time!  So my plan now is to go Mondays, Wednesday and Saturdays.  In between those days are rest days but according to the book I can do something light like walking or yoga.  Which I plan on doing because I got this DVD set.

http://www.amazon.com/Beginners-Essential-Inflexible-Michael-Director/dp/B0057FOPLS/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1389650504&sr=1-3&keywords=yoga+for+inflexible+people

I hope to post my progress here.  I've got a lot of baby weight to lose, but really I'm doing this for my mental health.  I know I feel so much better when I get some intense exercise on a regular basis.  So that's my plan and I'm putting it out here on the internet for all my readers (yes, all 4 of you) to see.  I'll keep a log here of my workouts.

After my workout I ate some stuffed peppers.  They were the best thing I've made in a long time.  I've seen a few versions floating around on Pinterest so I decided to make some.  This is my little spin on it.  I didn't take a picture, sorry.  I was so hungry I inhaled them.  I will share the recipe with you though!

Stuffed Red Peppers
 4 red bell peppers
1 pound ground turkey, you could also use ground beef or bison
1 large onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup salsa, I used a mango habanero salsa
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon dried garlic
1 cup cheese, I used a "Mexican Cheddar" blend

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.  Chop your onion and heat it in a large skillet with your olive oil on medium heat.  Cook until soft.  Add the ground meat and spices.  Cook until meat is no longer pink.  Add salsa.  Stir until combined. 

Cut peppers in half lengthwise and removed stems and membranes.  Place them in a casserole dish, I had to use 2.  Fill peppers with your meat mixture and top with a little cheese.  Bake in the oven for about a half hour.  The end result was so delicious.  The peppers were perfectly cooked without being mushy, the turkey was so tasty and the cheese melted and browned up a little bit.  Yummy.  You could top with avocado.  I did.  

In other news, Silas has been sleeping this afternoon for two and a half hours.  It's like a record for that kid.  I think he's finally getting out of his infant sleep schedule and moving on to an older baby sleep pattern.  What do you call 7 month olds?  Still an infant?  I don't know.  He's so close to crawling now.  I'm a little afraid of the day he becomes mobile.  He's a handful as it is now.  I'll be chasing him all over before I know it!  He was watching me take down the Christmas tree today and every time I tossed a branch into the box he cracked up.  I mean, of all the things to laugh at!  I guess I should quit trying to be funny. 

Okay.  I guess that's enough for today. 
 

Success!!

You may remember my last attempt at making bread in the bread machine. 

So sad.

But today, today, I succeeded.  Instead of following the instructions of some random dude with a dirty kitchen on YouTube (I should have know better) I followed the instructions in the booklet provided by the manufacturer.  Novel idea, huh?  Anyway, I made the basic white bread recipe and it turned out great.  We don't usually eat plain white bread, I try to buy whole wheat all the time, but I only have white flour right now.  It's organic so I guess that makes me feel better (not really, especially since I slather every piece with butter).  It's an occasional treat and if I really get into it I'll start making whole wheat bread or something else healthy.

The top picture is the "loaf" and the bottom is a nicely slathered piece.  So yummy. 

In other news, I started to pack away our Christmas decorations.  It makes me sad to see it all go.  I love Christmas and I think the decorations are so pretty.  The house looks so plain without them.  Tomorrow, I plan to take down the tree and that will be the end of it until next year.  I wonder if my husband will let me put up the tree before Thanksgiving next year.  It's not long enough!! 

My little Silas turned 7 months old yesterday.  I can't believe it.  It's gone by so fast which is a little hard to believe since I feel like I've been awake since he was born.  Hahaha.  Tonight I was snuggling him before bed, rubbing my nose and lips into his peach fuzzy hair and breathing in that delicious baby scent.  It's all going by too fast.  And yet, when I say that it feels like a cliche.  I think the only thing I can do about it is make sure I hold him close every chance I get, nuzzle that sweet little head and breath in that scent.  He'll be too big for my cuddles all too soon. 

He also accidentally head butted me in the nose this morning and it still hurts. 
   

Ye Olde Bread Machine

We have in our basement a Dax Auto Bakery bread machine.  It's from the late 80's and is a behemoth of a machine.  I've look through the recipe book before but never got around to trying any bread.  I'm still sick and kinda craving comfort foods, so I decided to try it today. 

 Spoiler Alert: This doesn't end well. 

I had to consult the YouTube to figure out how to put the thing together.  That was very simple.  So I continued with the video and used the guy's recipe as well.  I'm not really sure what went wrong.  I measured and added all the ingredients according to the video (maybe this is where I went wrong, maybe I should have used the recipes in the Auto Bakery Cookbook?) and turned the machine on.  It mixes itself, lets the dough rest and ferment and then bake.  I'm of course doing all this while taking care of Baby Boy Sunshine, so I wasn't paying much attention to what the machine was doing, but that's the whole point of a bread machine, no? 

Anyway, at some point I took this picture:

I do believe this should all be one lump? 

I think the dough mixed again after this and then went on to its fermentation phase and then baked.  Here's what we have when the machine was done:

Uhhhhh.  Beautiful, isn't it?  It tasted ok.  Kinda crunchy on the outsides.  I'm thinking something was wrong with the yeast.  I may keep experimenting with the machine, or I may haul it to my mother in law's house.  Whatever.  I'm sure she can tell me what I did wrong.

Got a bread machine?  Have I convinced you to buy a Dax?  Hahahahahaha!!   

Happy New Year!!

Yes, I know I'm a day late.  We're ringing in the New Year with some really schnazzy colds.  The Husband had it last week and he's still feeling the effects.  I started feeling a little icky on New Year's Eve, but we went out anyway.  Smart!  Today has been a day of drinking tons of tea and napping when the baby naps.  So not that different than any other day...

I find myself reflecting on the passed year like so many other people, remembering what I've done, goals I have or have not accomplished, etc.  What a year it was for me and my family!  In February, at about 6 months pregnant, I got engaged.  The next month, on March 14th, I got married.  In May, our baby boy was due, but he did not arrive until June 6th.  And I guess you could say that everything has been a blur since then!  I tend to avoid making New Year's resolutions because I don't think I've ever followed through with one!  Even when I resolved to buy more CDs in high school or the time I resolved to wear more green.  I did neither.  However, there are plenty of areas in my life I could improve on.  I could definitely work out more, cook more and clean more.  So I hope to share some of those successes and potential failures with you here.

Anyway, let me share with you my lentil soup recipe I made this week.  Typically when I cook I don't measure, I just dump stuff in the pot.  I mean, there are times when I follow a recipe, like when baking a cake, but with things like soup and chili I just "cook by heart."  Someone once described their style of cooking like that to me and it's totally how I cook now.  I will try to pay better attention to my measurements from now on so I can share my recipes with you!!  This one is modified off the back of Bob's Red Mill Red Lentils bag. 

Lentil Soup
1 onion, I used four small, chopped
olive oil, I just pour some in the pan, about 2 tablespoons
1 carrot, chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, I used dry because that's all I had, but you can use 2 cloves fresh
1 (14.5 ounce) tomatoes, I used stewed tomatoes
2 cups lentils, I used red but any will work
8 cups water
1 tablespoon vinegar, I used apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Hungarian sweet paprika (it's what I've got)
1 tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
Salt and Pepper to taste

In a large pot, drizzle some olive oil.  Over medium heat add your onions and carrots and cook until onions are soft and tender.  Add garlic, paprika, cumin and crushed red pepper and cook another 2 minutes, being careful not to burn.  Add lentils, water and tomatoes.  Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to low and simmer for at least an hour, until the lentils are soft.  When my lentils were soft, I used my immersion blender (do you have one of these?  They're amazing and if you don't you should get one ASAP.  I may have to do a whole post on the wonders of the immersion blender.) to blend everything together.  I love a smooth lentil soup.  Add salt, pepper and vinegar to taste.

I served this to my parents on New Years Eve with toast.  Simple!  Today I ate some with baked chicken shredded in there for extra protein.  Super tasty.  

Do you like lentil soup?  Do you make New Year's resolutions?  Tell me all about it!! 

Hello and Welcome!!

This is my first blog post on this blog.  I'm very excited to be here!  I've been wanting to start a blog about myself and my family life for several months now.  So a little information about me; I'm an almost 30 year old (yikes!!) woman, wife, and brand new mama to an almost 7 month old little boy.  I'm a stay at home mama right now, and I am SO grateful to be able to say that.  I'm married to an unbelievably awesome man who makes it all possible.  I'm hoping to use this space to document our lives, share some recipes, maybe crafts, some fitness information (baby weight, anyone?) and family LOVE!!  I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoy writing!!

Do you have a blog?  Can I follow it?  Let me know in the comments!!