The New Year

It's a new year in a matter of days. A few things in my life have changed recently and I'm looking to make more changes. This is the best time of year to think of some changes. Resolution? NO...more like goals. 

-Exercise 3-5 times a week regularly

-Run regularly

-Do more Yoga/Pilates

-Run more races 

-Go to all my parenting support classes weekly

-Spend more time on me/doing things I want to do

-Mindfulness based meditation for stress 

-Drink more water daily

-Listen to more music

-Be more optimistic 

-Go to church every Sunday

-Help Jessy be more social/less scared and have more fun

-Be more spontaneous 

-Join a club or sport

-Stricter budgeting

-Smile more 

-Learn something new

-Finish school for BSN

-Clean eat

-Blog more often even if there's not much to blog on

-Volunteer 

-Strengthen old/new friendships 

-Strengthen family bonds 

-Drink more wine and go to wine tastings

-Grow my hair out long 

-Savor every day 

-Have fun and let loose 

-Don't let little petty people ruin my year 

-Grow a garden

Apple Pie Overnight Oats

Apple Pie Overnight Oats 

Ingredients:

1/2 C whole grain old fashioned oats

1/4 C vanilla Greek yogurt

1/2 apple chopped (any kind, I used McIntosh)

2 tsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon 

2 Tbsp raisin

1/2 tsp chia seeds

Tools:

1 pint mason jar (can use 1/2 pint)

Spoon 

Refrigerator 

1. Start with the oats and spoons all ingredients into the mason jar. 

2. When done top with raisins and mix well. 

3. Let sit in the fridge overnight. 

4. When ready to eat...add 1/4 C milk, stir, heat and eat. 

Pumpkin Overnight Oats

Pumpkin Overnight Oats...in a jar

Ingredients:

1 C whole grain old fashioned oats

1/4 Greek yogurt (vanilla or honey) 

1/3 C pure pumpkin (no canned pie filling)

1 Tbsp raw honey 

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp allspice 

1 Tbsp dark chocolate chips

(Optional 1 tsp chia seeds) 

Tools:

1 pint mason jar (can use 1/2 pint) 

Spoon

Refrigerator

1. Start with the oats and spoons all ingredients into the mason jar. 

2. When done top with chocolate chips and shake until mixed. 

3. Let sit in the fridge until morning.

4. When ready to eat...add 1/4 C milk, stir, heat and eat. 

Tasted mine before work this morning and it is very yummy....like a healthy pumpkin pie in a jar. 

Pear Lemon Zest Chicken

Pear Lemon Zest Chicken

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken (I used thighs...not my fav, but ... they worked)

4 tablespoons lemon zest 

1/3 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice

1 teaspoon fresh chopped rosemary

1 teaspoon black pepper

3/4 Bartlett pear slices paper thin 

2 tablespoons white cooking wine

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Tools:

Baking pan

Grater

Measuring cup

Measuring spoons

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

1. Grate 4 tablespoons of lemon zest from fresh lemon. 

2. Cost baking pan with 2 tablespoons olive oil and 2 tablespoons white cooking wine. 

3. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons lemon zest, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper on bottom of baking pan. 

4. Place chicken in pan. 

5. Squeeze 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice and pour over chicken. 

6.  Sprinkle 2 tablespoons lemon zest, 1/2 tsp rosemary, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1/2 tsp black pepper on top of chicken. 

7. Slice 3/4 Bartlett pear paper thin and place on top of all chicken. 

8. Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes (or until thoroughly cooked) longer if you use checked breasts. 

Enjoy with fresh veggies and couscous! 

Crockpot Melt In Your Mouth BBQ Chicken

  Crockpot BBQ Chicken 

(Literally melts in your mouth)

Ingredients:

6 whole chicken breasts

1 large bottle BBQ sauce (any kind you like)

1/4 Cup vinegar (I used 1/8 apple cider vinegar and 1/8 white vinegar)

1/4 Cup brown sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Tools:

Crockpot 

An appetite

1. Mix all the ingredients (except chicken) in a bowl. 

2. Place chicken in the crockpot and pour ingredients (mixed together) over chicken. 

3. Cook on low for 4-6 hrs. (Closer to 6 if you use frozen chicken) I used raw chicken so it cooked in 4 1/2 hrs. 

This was soooooo good. I literally are so much my tummy hurts ... Yikes! 

Enjoy!!! 

Dark Chocolate Chip Coconut Fruit Dip

Chocolate Chocolate Chip           Coconut Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

2 Cups Greek yogurt (1 plain, 1 vanilla) 

2 Tbsp dark cacao powder

1 Tbsp pure maple syrup (you can substitute raw honey) 

1/4 tsp vanilla extract 

3 Tbsp dark mini chocolate chips

2 Tbsp grated dark chocolate (I use Green & Black Organic Cacao 85%)

2 Tbsp flaked coconut 

Tools:

Mixing bowl 

Spoon

Grater 

Mix Greek yogurt, cacao powder, maple syrup, vanilla extract and dark chocolate chips together in a bowl. 

Top with grated dark chocolate and coconut. 

Great with apples, bananas, orange slices and pears! 

Enjoy. 

Pineapple Chicken Quesadillas

Pineapple Chicken Quesadillas

These are a perfect blend of spicy and sweet in one. Delicious! 

Ingredients: 

3 Large chicken breasts 

15 oz pineapple chunks

3 green onions chopped 

1/4 tsp cilantro 

1/2 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1/4 tsp sea salt 

1/4 tsp parsley

2 cups mozzarella shredded cheese

8 whole wheat soft taco tortillas (they add sweetness) 

Few dabs of olive oil

Tools:

Stove top

Frying pan 

Spatula 

1. Cook chicken thoroughly on stove top. When chicken is cooked, add pineapple (drain pineapple juices out 1st). 

2. Chop green onions and add to chicken along with all other seasoning ingredients. 

3. Heat frying pan with a few dabs of olive oil on med to low heat. 

4. Take a tortilla and fill half with the chicken mix and sprinkle mozzarella cheese on the same side. 

5. Cook until tortilla is lightly browned, flip and cooked until lightly browned on that side as well. 

Remove, cut, eat and ENJOY! 

Not your Grandma's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

            Not your grandma's Oatmeal Raisin Cookies

Nope...these are the healthiest version of a cookie I have ever made and actually enjoyed.

Ingredients:
3 mashed bananas (the more ripe...the better)
1/3 Cup all natural applesauce
2 Cups steal cut oats
1/4 Cup almond milk
1/2 Cup raisins (I used 3 boxes of sunmaid raisins)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Tools:
Mixer (with stainless steel bowl)
Oven (obviously)
Measuring cups (wet and dry)
Measuring spoons
Tablespoon (for scooping cookies)
Cookie sheet
Cooling rack

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Mix all the ingredients in the bowl with the mixer.

3. Grease your cookie sheet.

4. Place 1 tablespoon of cookie mix onto the cookie sheet about 1-2 inches apart.

5. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes (mine were finished in 16 minutes).

6. Cool cookies on a cooling rack...and ENJOY!

Peanut Butter Muppy Cookies

                                           Peanut Butter Muppy Cookies
(for those of you unaware...I call my dog a "muppy" because she is a mutt puppy aka "pound dog")

This is Lady...she is the princess of our household.

 

Peanut Butter Muppy Cookie Recipe:

 

Ingredient:

1 Cup Peanut Butter

1 Cup Milk

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour (unbleached)

1 Tablespoon Baking Powder

 

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

 

Items Needed:

Stainless steel mixing bowl

Elbow grease (aka "mixer")

Hands (to ball the dough)

Cookie Sheet

Oven (stating the obvious here)

Cookie Cutters

 

We used fun doggy shaped cookie cutters...you can get these at Wal Mart in the "professional cake making" aisle for $2-3 I believe.


1. Mix all the ingredient in the stainless steel bowl with the mixer. We had a lot of laughs with this part because being the smarty pants I am...I decided to use just a regular stainless steel mixing bowl and not the TALL one that came with my mixer and when I turned on the mixer....well, the counter and stove had splattered dog cookie everywhere! (don't try this at home).  2. ball up the dough with your hands and flatten it out about and 1/2 inch thick.  3. make the cookie shapes with the cookie cutters you chose.  4. place cut out shapes on the cookie sheet (greased or ungreased doesn't matter).  5. Bake at 375 degrees for 18 minutes.

These are also safe for human consumption, but according to my daughter (the natural born taste tester) you really don't want top eat these!

 

Hope you dog/puppy enjoys...we know Lady did. We made some for our furry neighbor as well!!!

.

 

 

 

 

The Day I Fell Off My Wagon

Obviously these are Oreos. 

Why did I post a pic of them? 

Well, because my mood is so irate today that I just "angry ate" a whole fucking row of double stuffed shit...tasted GREAT and now I feel like shit, but this is what I do when I get aggravated/upset...good thing this doesn't happen too often. 

Now I'll go hang my head in shame! 

Just so everyone knows...sometimes you have those days where absolute shit happens and you just cave. This doesn't mean you failed...it just means you get to start again tomorrow. 

Or in my case, it means I need to learn to control my frustration in other ways than anger eating. 

Lord help me! 

Peanut butter fruit dip

What you need: 

2 Tbsp natural peanut butter

1/2 C vanilla Chobani Greek yogurt

Fruit of your choice

Mix it all together and ENJOY! 

Hubby ate this with apple slices. 

Cinnamon Fruit Dip

What you need: 

1 C honey Greek Chobani yogurt

1 tsp cinnamon

1-2 Tbsp raw honey 

Fruit of your choice 

I happen to like mine with apples! 

I made another version with Dannon plain yogurt and the above ingredient (honey and cinnamon) but ... It was great to start  in the morning when I made it, but when my daughter came home from school it was like soup...hmmmmm? 

 

Yogurt Dipped Strawberries

What you need: 

1 C vanilla Greek Chobani yogurt

Strawberries

Wax or parchment paper

Plate

Freezer

Dip your strawberries in the yogurt, place them on the wax paper on the plate, place in the freezer long enough to freeze the yogurt. 

... REMOVE and ENJOY! 

Blogs and Webpages...ohhhhhhhh my!

So, not too long ago I asked you what your favorite blogs/webpages were and I gave a list of mine. Mine have changed ever so slightly, but not too drastically. With every changing day we grow to love and respect more!

Here are some of my ultimate favs: (I told you things might change a little) 

100 Days of Real Food by Lisa Leake
www.100daysofrealfood.com

Single Dad Laughing aka SDL by Dan Pearce
www.danoah.com

Pieces In Progress by Kate Mancino
http://piecesinprogress.tumblr.com/

Jenna Marbles by Jenna Mourey
www.jennamarblesblog.com

Conveying Awareness with Jessica David by Jessica David
www.iconveyawareness.com/

Feel free to take a peek at these. I like all of them for many different reasons. What are some of your favs???

What human foods are/aren't safe for man's best friend?

Dogs like special treats just as much as their human counterparts, but do you know what is safe and what isn't (toxic) for your best friend? 

You should always skip giving your dog table scraps. This will help nix of begging, weight gain and the possibility of poisoning you best friend. 

Making your own dog food or treats can be way more beneficial to man's best friend, but would you know what to use and what not to use? 

Of course I'm not a veterinarian so you should always consult him/her prior to introducing new foods, especially the human kind, into you dogs diet. 

Should your pet get ahold of something in the "don't" list, contact poison control for pets 1-888-426-4435. 

What got me interested in this was my dog who sits by me almost every morning when I eat hard boiled eggs and waits for her share. Was I unintentionally poisoning my own dog? 

Here's a list of "do" and "don't" eat table foods for dogs I have compiled off various searches. Just like humans, these "do" foods should be given in moderation (holidays, birthdays, special occasions). 

DO:

Apples (no seeds/core) 

Applesauce

Apricots (no pits)

Bran cereal

Broccoli (raw) 

Carrots

Celery

Cheerios

Chicken (cooked, no skin/bones)

Chicken broth (no salt)

Eggs (cooked) 

Flax seed (ground/oil) 

Ginger

Honey

Melons (no seeds) 

Mint

Oatmeal

Orange slices (no peels/seeds)

Organ meat (giblets, liver, heart, tongue, gizzards)

Parsley

Peas 

Peanut butter (natural) 

Potatoes (mashed) 

Rice (brown/cooked) 

Sweet potato 

Squash

Tuna (canned with juices) 

Turkey (cooked/no bone or skin) 

Yogurt (plain/unsweetened/low fat/unflavored) 

DON'T: 

Alcohol

Apple seeds

Avocados

Bones (cooked) 

Bread dough (raw yeast) 

Caffeine

Chocolate

Coffee (ground/beans/brewed)

Corn cobs

Eggs (raw)

Fat trimmings

Fish (other than tuna) 

Garlic

Grapes

Milk (ice cream/dairy products) 

Moldy foods

Mushrooms

Nutmeg

Nuts

Onions

Pits from fruits

Potatoes (leaves/stems/green peels) 

Raisins 

Rhubarb

Salt

Tobacco/nicotine products

Tomatoes 

Xylitol (sugar free products/gum) 

Fall/Autumn Bucket List

Each season that comes is a new chance to do some things we wait all year to do. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year. 

1. Hike

2. Apple picking 

3. Bake apple pies and cobbler

4. Cookouts

5. Fires and s'mores 

6. Backyard campout

7. Hay ride

8. Pumpkin picking

9. Bake pumpkin pies

10. Roast pumpkin seeds 

11. Bake pumpkin bread 

12. Nature hunt

13. Drive-in movie night

14. Corn maze 

15. Pumpkin carving/decorating

16. Fall cookies

17. Picnic in the park

18. Mountain biking

19. Football

13. Wear hoodies

14. Make popcorn balls

15. Homemade soups

16. Stove top fall spice recipe for the house 

17. Movie marathon day 

18. Enjoy Turkey Day

19. Xmas shopping

20. Leaf art fun

Adventurous days of vacation Day 9

Rainy, gloomy day. Went to see The Conjuring with the girls and parents. 

Today is rest day for the upcoming drive home tomorrow. Another 584 miles. 

Yippee! 

Adventurous days of vacation Day 8

Mom and I went to this cool thrift store in Newington NH called Savers. 

Enjoyed my morning cup of joe and bought 3 Boston Red Sox tees as I can't get them where I live. Love my boys! 

Later in the day the girls and I went to Canobie Lake Park in Salem NH.  This is a big amusement park of 85 rides, games and shops. 

The weather was great and the place was packed with people. Standing in line for 30 minutes for a ride. 

This ride called the Equinox scared the living bajeebers out of my daughter. I thought she was going to back out for sure, but she didn't. Proud of her courage. 

The girls and I also went on the Blue Heron boat ride to view Canobie Lake. 

Of course the girls picked this ride called the Boston Tea Party last, which you get soaked, right before we leave.  Ohhhhh and the best part is I forgot the towels at home that I packed just for the wet rides. Needless to say.....I spent $30 on 2 freakin towels....... Can we say ripoff. 

Some other rides. 

So I spent $8.50 on 3 waters to hydrate. Ughhhhh. Highway robbery! 

Fried dough for the kiddies to share. 

Pretty good day I must say. We drive home and ate D'Angelos subs at 2115.