monday's memory: the one with valentines past

2009
dinner at a local italian place and a movie at my house

2010
afternoon concert, dinner at anthony's apartment (he cooked!) followed by video games and going to see a movie

2011 

(this somehow didn't make it on the blog...but 6 days later we got engaged, so i suppose that's why :-)

bowling, starting our marriage prep class (although we weren't engaged yet), dinner cooked by anthony and dancing in his living room. 

2012

we've already celebrated with a meal at Stoney River on saturday, and tomorrow night we are just staying in and enjoying an evening together.  our gift to each other is buying the lady and the tramp bluray.  we've definitely become fans of keeping it simple and sweet :D

recipe of the week: lora's (copycat) spinach sour cream dip

i discovered trader joe's spinach sour cream dip awhile back.  and while this version isn't *exactly* the same, it's pretty darn good.  and definitely keeps me from spending $3/week on a tiny tub of dip!  


it's embarrassingly easy, but i'll still share it :-)


spinach sour cream dip


1/2 a bunch of organic spinach
1 large handful of fresh parsley
1/2 cup organic sour cream (i use trader joe's)
1/2 cup mayo (i use olive oil mayo)
1/4 cup mozzarella (optional--i usually leave it out)
generous sprinkles of sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, red pepper flakes, nutmeg garlic powder and onion powder

begin by processing (with the shredding disk) the spinach and parsley.  once they are well chopped, switch to the dough blade.

  add the sour cream, mayonnaise and spices and process until well blended.  

refrigerate for at LEAST an hour to further blend the flavors. (i usually refrigerate for several hours or overnight before serving) 

enjoy!  according to my recipe input program a 2 tbsp serving (without cheese) contains 80 calories, 6.5 g fat, 116.6 mg sodium, and 3.7 g carbs.


(i'm linked in to feed my family fridays again -- go visit this amazing blog and join in!)

monday's memory: the one with january's photos

this is pretty much a photo dump post, but i said i was going to post my daily photos here, so i'm following through :-)


i have discovered a couple of things through taking these
1- i take a lot of pictures of food
2 - looking back through my photos makes me hungry.  because of #1.


so.  here ya go.  january 2012 in photos

recipe of the week: pastrami burgers

i found a fun recipe for pastrami sliders a few months ago.


however, because we were HUNGRY the night i made them, i made full-size burgers.
here's the recipe, not changed much (for once :-)


pastrami burgers


rye bread, toasted in the oven for 7-8 minutes
1 pound ground pork
1/2 medium onion, processed
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp garlic powder
salt and coarse ground pepper to taste (you won't need much because of the salty pastrami)
1/2 pound lean pastrami, coarsely chopped (i used the food processor and processed the onion with it)
olive oil for drizzling


toppings/sides:
tomatoes (i used cherry)
dill pickles
german mustard
mayonnaise

 burgers are pretty much selfl-explanatory, right?  mix up the meat and spices.  form into even patties.  heat grill pan over med-high heat, grill burgers until they are cooked through.  

mustard on one slice and mayo on the other is what we did...and it was GOOD.


next time i'll get the pumpernickel and rye swirl bread because i love that blend, but other than that?  this is a yummy recipe, and comes in (according to my fitness pal) at 392 calories per burger (including the rye bread).  Not bad!


(visit a sweet blog friend and link your own post!)

thursday's ten: in order to not be a slug

mid-winter is the worst time physically for me

not only do i want to consume every creamy, savory, carb-loaded thing in sight
i also don't.want.to.move.

and since i sometimes need to say it to (a) realize that i'm already on the right track and (b) to hold myself accountable to keep.doing.it.

today's list is all about things i'm already doing to stay active and mobile even during chilly and dreary days :-)




1.  the occasional 5k.  i'm doing one this saturday, in fact.  now, i've cut WAY back on 5k registrations to save money (i can exercise for free, after all).  but one every 2-3 months is much more reasonable than my old pattern of once a month.  so i'm going to try that this year.  so i need to at LEAST do one by the end of may by those calculations...

2.  dancing.  with the baby in the kitchen while i nanny, by using the "just dance summer party" game i've purchased for the wii, or by attending contra-dancing or even a belly dancing class.  it's FUN, cheap (or free!) and even if i feel silly i'm burning calories!

3.  cleaning.  yes, i know this sounds like a stretch.  but if i tell myself to take a 30 minute break to clean the kitchen i will put it off.  if i remind myself i can put it on my fitness pal as "cleaning, light or moderate effort" i jump to do it.  i know it's weird, but hey.

4.  my fitness pal.  i love the app (and that you can add recipes by scanning the ingredients -- hellooooo user-friendly).  and i get a kick out of tweaking my eating habits so that i'm eating better calories.  but i also get a rush by plugging in all the ways i've exercised during the day and have even been known to find 15 minutes of an activity to do later in the evening so my exercise doesn't show a big fat 0.

i can NOT figure out how to add people outside of emailing them, so if you're on it feel free to look me up.  i'm msmsctchr.
<a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com"><img src="http://badges.myfitnesspal.com/badges/show/1511/7178/15117178.weight-lost-sm.gif" border="0"></a><p style="text-align: center;width:226px;"><small>MyFitnessPal - Free <a href="http://www.myfitnesspal.com">Calorie Counter</a></small></p>

5.   hiking.  free exercise is good.  amazing girlfriends or a wonderful husband to share it with is even better :-)

6.  little things at work: at my office job, i try to move every hour for at least 5 minutes.  i realize that isn't much but it's way better than sitting at the desk all.morning.long.  and at my nanny job, i carry the baby more, go on stroller walks when it's nice out, use their elliptical even if it's only 5 minutes at a time, and even get on their balance ball while baby g plays (which she finds extremely amusing).

7.  better sleep.  who wants to work out when they're constantly tired?  i've been bad about this for the last 2 weeks or so, but i need to get back in the habit i was in for at least 2-3 months of sleeping 7-8 hours each night with rare exceptions.  yeah...need to go to bed by 11 tonight (self-reminder...)

8.  crunches.  yes, i hate them.  yes, i feel better after doing them.  so right now i at least try to remember to do them 2-3 times a week.  hey, it's a start.

9.  spurts.  when all else fails, i go in spurts.  this works for me if i have guests coming and need to clean the house and everything feels overwhelming.  9 minute tasks, move to the next one and have a rotation system.  i can always come back in the rotation, and if i only have 3 minutes of cleaning left in one room...i feel SO good about finishing it before the timer.  it's amazing how an hour goes by so much faster if you move between several rooms than if you spend the entire hour in a bathroom scrubbing.  and bonus: i'm moving the entire 60 minutes instead of taking a break every 15 or so because i'm exhausted, bored and grouchy.

10.  know thyself.  i have twice in the last three weeks injured my wrist by doing mundane household things.  ri-di-cu-lous, but it's made me realize the value of taking it easy on my wrist while not stopping activity altogether.  sometimes i need to take it easy and take that nap instead of jumping on the elliptical.  but taking a day off doesn't give me permission to take the week off!
(plus, sometimes that nap gives me better energy to clean the house later.  so it's kind of a nice payoff...)

what i'm loving wednesday (2.1)

it's been awhile since i've participated, but not for lack of things to be loving!

so here's a very short list of what is making my heart full at the moment :-)

i'm loving my cell group girls...what an AMAZING group of God-seekers who daily inspire and uplift me. 

i'm loving my amazing husband who cleans the kitchen to surprise me on regular occasions, who won't let me touch the vacuum, who changes the litter box in rotation without complaint, and who will look at me at times and say "let's just watch big bang theory instead of organizing that room tonight".  balance, people.  we have it.

i'm loving intentional time spent with friends.  in my new year's post i mentioned that i wanted to let my yes be yes.  anthony is doing the same...i don't even know if he's meant for it to end up that way, but in looking back over january, we have had 12 separate occasions where friends have come over, shared a meal or conversation, and just enjoyed being with each other.  february is shaping up to be similar and we LOVE that.

(can i also just say i'm loving the creativity of those God lets me call "mine"?  cooking in my kitchen with my husband and/or my girlfriends makes my heart sing in a way i never noticed before.  and that's just one facet of the creativity surrounding me!)

i'm loving the warmer weather lately.  i mean, 64 and sunny yesterday.  come ON.


i'm loving opportunities to make some extra cash while loving on people's kids.  i'm so thankful for the opportunities to invest in their lives while at the same time put a few extra dollars towards non-necessities and paying off debt.

i'm loving being healthier and happier...i'm still slowly progressing in weight loss, but it's not necessarily about that.  i'm moving more, even if it isn't "true" exercise...staying active and having fully nutritious food 90% of the time makes those nights that i need to be a slug and consume chili cheese fries perfectly ok.

i'm loving great changes on the horizon...SO excited about what God is doing right now.

it's a short list, yes...but my heart overflows.

menu 1.29 - 2.4

sunday
lunch - out after church
dinner - stuffed baguette (recipe found on pinterest but i will be changing it up a bit, naturally)


monday
leftovers on our own


tuesday
cheesesteak chimichangas


wednesday
chicken cordon bleu soup


thursday
pizza night: we still have two groupons to one of our favorite takeout places to use by mid-february, so we're having pizza out :-)


friday
slow cooker thai beef (new recipe)


saturday
lunch - pigs in a blanket
dinner - sausage ravioli lasagna

it's a great day to cook for the guys

anthony had two friends spend the night last night after playing games well into the early am hours.  i'm making brunch for them in the midst of their gameplay, and basically being a complete slug on the couch downstairs, catching up on my dvr...


i babysat last night and have another job tonight (yaaaay extra monies!) and tomorrow is church, etc.  anything more exciting going on in your world?  


honestly, i'm quite enjoying the weekend with little going on since the next two will be spent in a more normal fashion -- superbowl gathering next weekend and entertaining out of town guests the next.


have a good one!

recipe of the week: bbq chicken (irish) cheddar pitas

anthony found this recipe a few months ago, and we decided to try it

it's definitely an easy recipe, very quick (less than 30 minutes start to finish)

i was pleasantly surprised by how much i liked it the first time!

however, the only way i could think (on the fly) of how to prepare the chicken before shredding was to boil it

and i HATE boiling chicken

so this time i did a couple of things different

barbecue chicken cheddar pitas

2 chicken tenders for each person eating

bbq sauce of your choosing (we have a split household between sweet and spicy, so i always make two batches)

1 cup (or more) shredded cheddar cheese (i used dubliner, so not a true cheddar but even.more.amazing)

3-4 stalks of green onion

1 pita for each person eating

begin by grilling (in a grill pan over med-high heat) your chicken strips in barbecue sauce until they are fully cooked

 shred the cheese (i used all but a small chunk of the package)

 shred the chicken.
(i decided to try what i had seen on pinterest, and found out that it works well!  using the paddle on the kitchenaid, you can perfectly shred chicken in less than a minute!  the exclamation marks just begin to show my excitement about this...)

 place chicken in mixing bowl

 add cheese and green onion

 more bbq sauce if you wish

 and mix together

 cut the pitas in half using kitchen scissors

 and top each half with the chicken mixture

 heat oven to 400゜and bake for 8-10 minutes

 serve up

add more bbq sauce if you like.  smiley face because of your excitement about the dish optional (anthony)

enjoy!

i've linked up with "feed my family friday" again over at farmgirl paints.  go visit her blog (click the button)!