Recipe

Made this salad tonight and it was fantastic.

(Photo cred. http://www.espressoandcream.com/2010/11/autumn-chopped-salad.html)

It was amazing. Tasted so good. The one thing that I did differently than the recipe was had the dressing on the side. So that I could eat it later and not have it get soggy, but also so I could regulate the dressing on my salad.

You must try it. It is so good.

Valentine's Day

So I finally did something that found on pinterest. (which I will say I just spelled pintrust, I know I have been working with kinde

rgartners too much.) I find so many cool

things on there and have yet to do many of them. I did make a scarf I found on pinterest for Christmas, but that is about it. So I found a few V-day cookies I wanted to make. So I did. And they turned out to be pretty good.

I made heart cut outs with jam in between. This was a Martha Stewart recipe, which I thought might be ambitious, because hello it's Martha Stewart. This recipe is at Martha Stewart.com Valentine cookies.

The other cookies are Red Velvet Cookies. They were super easy. I love Red Velvet. Here is the link for these ones. http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/red-velvet-crinkle-cookies/

One difference with the ones I did and her recipe is I took some dough would squish it down then cut out the heart and then bake. I found I could make more cookies this way because I would use the leftovers from the cutout with the next cookie. What she does in her recipe is bake the cookie then while it is still warm cuts the heart into it. It does make a unique looking cookie, but I did not want to eat all of the scraps.

These cookies I shared with the teachers at my school.

For the valentines that I brought to my classroom I took the idea from my aunt who got the idea from pinterest. Cutting out a moustache and lips from foam. Then putting a hole in it and attaching it to a sucker. I added the heart because I did not want to buy the adhesive paper to print the labels on. Here is the link http://blonde-designs.squarespace.com/blonde-designs-blog/2010/2/3/lip-and-moustache-lollipops.html

I am spending my v-day night with a friend, a girl that is. Dinner and some fun and then going to my second family's house for the weekly Glee, New Girl, and Parenthood viewing. Such a great day.

healthy, fit.

Okay why was I not told when I was younger that I should maybe eat more vegetables or maybe run around the block. I am not saying that I needed to do this when I was say 7 or even maybe 10 but in high school or maybe in college, okay so maybe I should have just continued running around with my friends outside instead of sitting in the house watching a movie or going out to eat and eating fried food. Because if I did that then maybe I would be fit now, and just have to maintain it and it would be so easy because I had been doing it for years. lol.

Well this is not the reality and so I am now starting at square one. I have been active at different parts of my life in the last few years, but not on a regular basis. So now I am working on making it permanent. I have working out for a few weeks now, at least 6 days a week. I heard that it takes 21 days to create a habit and I would say that I just know now that I will wake up at 6 and work out.

I actually find that the working out is not the hard part now. The hard part is the eating healthy. I am doing pretty good at it, but sweets are a real issue for me. It is normally just a bit here and there, but I find that it starts to add up. Working out does not do it alone, you have to eat right.

I also find that because I work out in the morning I am so hungry all day. I mean every few hours I need something in my belly, which means I am eating lots more, trying to make some healthier choices but still eating more.

Almost every morning I have Chobani greek yogurt with either granola or a small bowl of cereal. Then I have small whole wheat saltines for a little snack or a granola bar to tie me over until snack, then I have an apple for snack. A salad or left overs from the night before for lunch. I am normally good until PM snack and then I have an orange or fruit of some kind. For dinner I try to have a vegetarian meal one night a week (tomorrow is a Mexican bowl with black beans for the protein), fish twice a week. Ground turkey lots.

I will keep you updated on my healthy eating woes and mishaps.

One thing I hate is when people ask if I am on a diet or ask why I am dieting and I am not dieting I am being healthy. This is my lifestyle change, not a fad!

cooking.

So as a college graduate there is one thing that I really wanted to become good at or more experienced at and that one thing is, you probably guessed it, cooking.

I am not inept when it comes to the kitchen I know where to find most things and what those things are used for. But I always jealous of one my friends at university that would through things together it tasted amazing.

So I have been making many a dinner and am quite pleased with what I have come up with. I made some stuffed chicken breasts with what I had around, feta, Parma, tomatoes, and mushrooms. It was very delicious and wish I had a picture to share with you. I have also made some salmon burgers, put fresh salmon in a food processor with garlic, olive oil, beat a little then add, red win vinegar, hot sauce and some lemon zest, the lemon zest was amazing. Then toss with some bread crumbs and form into patties. Grill up and they are good!

These are two recipes that I have made and found to be quite fantastic. A really easy meal is a frittata, put a bunch of veggies together and put eggs on top of it in a fry pan, cover and let cook on low. No need to turn it or scramble it. It is just easy and good.

I am glad that I am getting more confident with species and experimenting with food. It has been a success and I am excited to continue.

Random Thought

I have wondered if people who are purchasing toilet paper dispensers or paper towel dispensers ever actually test them out before they choose which one to buy. Some of them are ingenius about how they dispense their paper product, and others did not seem to get the memo that we need their paper product. They hold on to it, just giving us a little bit at a time, then you have confetti to wipe your bum or hands with. That is no fun. When I find a good dispenser I actually think in my head, that is a good paper dispenser. And when I find a bad one I think didn't anyone try this before they decided to install it. I have vowed that if I am ever on a committee to purchase dispensers or am the sole person in charge of purchasing the dispensers, I will for sure test them out before hand.

Facebook status mind

It is kind of ridiculous and I am a little ashamed to say this, but not feel as though I am alone. I often think in Facebook status updates. What I mean by this is that when I am going throughout my day and something funny happens or tragic or bizzarre, or anything really in my mind I think of how I would write as a Facebook status update.

It is quite weird and feel as though Facebook has maybe penetrated a bit a too deep. Or it is kind of nice that I am sum up that event or experience in a little sentence. (maybe stretching it a bit too far). I rarely actually write these things on Facebook, but think that it can be paralleled to those people who take a good picture and think, this would look great as my profile pic or on Facebook in general.

It is funny how we want everyone to know what is going on in our lives, so we update the status or the photo album, but we rarely actually talk to people about what is going on. I do not know how many times I have either said this phrase or heard it said, "Oh I saw that on Facebook." We did not talk to the person personally about the event, but we know what is going on in their lives. Its kind of crazy. I guess that is what I am doing on a blog too, but I just have lots of thoughts, if I did not get them out, I would go crazy maybe never sleep.

I guess this is the 21st century that social network decade, where we care more about what we put on Facebook/social network sights than we do about... school work, our jobs, our future, lots of things.

A little Fashion.

So I really enjoy fashion, scratch that I love fashion. I love how it can completely change my mood and make me feel amazing. How when I wear something a little out of my comfort zone, I feel so confident.

I do not have a lot of money, and I find that most people who have a great sense of style, have the money to have a great sense of style. The reason they can dress amazing is because they have the money to. I do not, but still feel as though I have a great sense of style and simply use what I have to make new outfits. I have not bought anything new in quite some time.

Here are the essentials that I think every woman should have and could create endless outfits with.

-a blazer of some sort, it can go over a t-shirt and jeans to dress up an outfit, or wear it with a pencil skirt and a blouse. the possibilities are seriously endless with the blazer.

-A pencil skirt, it is a staple. It can be worn over a shirt that is tight, or over a shirt that is baggy and it still looks very professional. It can be worn with high heels or flats to dress it down a bit.

-a skinny belt to go around your waist. This is good for those of us that need to show we have curves because sometimes clothes can look like a pillow case. This works really nicely if you have a cardigan over your shirt and would like something to cinch it in and not look like you are frompy.

-a pair of flats, black and brown would be nice. These do not have to be expensive, but you will wear them a lot. with jeans, leggings, skirts, shorts, skinny jeans you name it they go with it.

-a pair of leggings. I have a few pairs, but I seriously wear them all the time. with an over-sized shirt, a dress, a shirt because I am too lazy to put on pants. I have not been buying new pairs of pants, I just keep buying leggings.

-a pair of boots, black or brown. I find that no matter what color brown they always look good, where as sometimes black boots can look very fake at times.

-Black and white V-neck t-shirt. It can go with any pair of jeans, tucked in or left untucked. You can put it with a pencil skirt tucked in. It seriously can go with anything.

-a nice pair of jeans. Just because.

-a cardigan, either short or medium or long in length. Maybe one of each. They are nice to wear over a tank top for a little more warmth, or to layer it even more and put a blazer on top, but I do not think that the cardigan should peek out underneath the blazer.

These are a few staples that I think every girl should have in there closet. Remember if you are unsure about an outfit, just be confident and wear it. I hate when people say that they might not be able to pull something off, just wear it and if you are confident then no one will say a thing.