Butternut Squash Fries = FAIL

I like to think that I have a fully stocked kitchen with all of the necessary tools and gadgets that one would need. Compared to my kitchen before I got married, I would say that we have more than what we could ever need. However, each time my mom visits, she adds something to her list of things that she needs to get me for my kitchen. 

I attempted to make this recipe last night for Baked Butternut Squash Fries. With all the turkey and ham I have had over the last week (and all the leftovers I will continue to consume), I was really wanting only veggies last night.

After running a few errands after work, we didn't get home until about 7pm. Mike and I each had a piece of artichoke bread (leftover from Thanksgiving) while I cut up a butternut squash to make my fries. I know that fries should probably not make up an entire meal, but that is all I really wanted. :) 

I pinned the above recipe over 2 months ago to my "Healthy Meal Planning" board, so I was eager to try them out. It took almost an hour to cut up, coat in olive oil, and bake these fries, so when I pulled them out of the oven, only to find they were soggy and nothing of the "fry" variety... I was a little disappointed. I was too hungry to care. I threw the soft, mushy squash in a bowl, and ate my "fries" with a fork. I guess the rack that the recipe calls for is a must. Add it to the list, Mom!

Even though they were not fry-like, the flavor was delish!

Thanksgiving is OVA!
I need to be done with everything that is left over in my fridge and just toss it. As much as I hate to waste food, I have got to keep myself on track throughout the holidays. I haven't been very good over the last week with documenting my meals in my calorie counter app. I started back yesterday and hope to keep it up! Sodium is my serious downfall... I know I can technically have 2,300 mg of sodium per the recommended daily allowance, but I would really like to keep my intake under 1500mg. I guess I have good days and bad days



Yesterday's Stats
Breakfast - Egg White with leftover chopped ham and cheddar cheese, whole wheat toast with butter
Lunch - Leftover turkey breast, leftover mac and cheese and leftover green bean casserole
Dinner - 1 slice of artichoke/cheese bread, butternut squash "fries"
Dessert - M&M Ice Cream 

Calories (-) 45
Sodium (+) 1075
Protein (-) 31

Better Than Ever!

Last week was amazing. It was exhausting, but I wouldn't have changed a thing.

My sister arrived late on Tuesday night and I woke up to greet them at the door. It was close to 1 am, but I just had to get a snuggle in from my niece and nephew. I went right back to bed since I had to work on Wednesday.

Ainsley at the top and Freddie on the bottom.

We woke up bright and early on Thursday morning so that my sister, mom, sister-in-law, and I could run in the Gobbler's Run 5K. We arrived to the race just in time to get in line before starting.

 

 

Me and my SIL, Haylie

I ran better than I could have imagined. It was a relatively flat course, especially in the beginning, so I was surprised at how I wasn't tiring out too quickly. I continued running until the 2 mile mark, when we started to hit a few hills. I allowed myself two 20 second walking periods for the last 1.2 miles of the race. I was so shocked when I got to the top of the last hill and saw the finish line.

I ran the 5K in 30 minutes, 15 seconds with an average pace of 9 minutes, 45 seconds per mile. I am pretty shocked actually. I know that isn't very fast, but I am impressed with myself for not only improving on my best run, but improving my pace as well. I am so proud of my sister, mom and sister-in-law too, for running with me. We all felt great about ourselves after the run and had a much easier time chowing down on our Thanksgiving feast that evening.

Mom, Ainsley, Me, Jaime and Haylie

Mega Feast

We spent the rest of the weekend relaxing, catching up, eating more, and playing. My brother and his family actually came up on Saturday, so with 3 small children, a house full of people, and 3 dogs, we were all very exhausted come Sunday. Mike and I are still trying to catch up on our sleep. I set my alarm this morning to go for a run, but with my heavy eyes and the rain outside, I decided to stay in bed. :)

My refrigerator is currently stuffed to the brim with leftovers from the week. Last night I split the turkey up for Mike and I to make sandwiches for the rest of the week. Although it is nice to have all the leftovers, I will be glad when they are gone so we can get back to our healthy eating. It is difficult to throw away such great food, but I know it isn't helping me by eating it.

Ridiculous...

I hope everyone else had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I will sure miss my family and these sweet little faces!

Freddie, Austin, Ainsley <3

Happy Thanksgiving!

When I first started this blog, I only told a few people. Mike, my sister, and my friend, Lindsay. I was a little nervous to tell anyone else because I wasn't sure I would stick to my goals and I wanted to be honest about things that I thought were too "personal." As time went on, I started to get less and less worried about what other people think and have shared it with more people. The more people I told, the more responsibility and love for blogging I gained. It holds me more accountable and makes me want to blog more.

I am so happy when people mention they read something in my blog or that they want to try a recipe. It fuels me even more to continue on with what I started and not to be ashamed of the "personal stuff." I hope that when I look back at my early posts next year, I will be so proud of the person I have become since then. 

I am over half way to my short term goal of losing 10 lbs by the new year. I have lost 7lbs so far and I have no intention of stopping there. My attitude toward a healthy lifestyle has not changed either. Usually, when I get these  ideas, I let them go by the wayside after a few too many fast food relapses. It is not happening this time. I am more devoted to my health than I ever have been. I want to be healthy, strong, comfortable, and most of all, happy.

I hope everyone has a happy, delicious, and safe Thanksgiving! I have lots of family in town so I will not return until next week with a recap of the Gobbler's Run 5K and the weekend happenings.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Source

 

Sweet Apple Pie

There is probably no one else in the world that I admire more than my Grandmothers. I was named after both of them and always felt a special connection to them. Both of them were taken way too soon from this earth, but there aren't many days that they do not cross my mind.

If I had a genie and they were to grant me 3 wishes, I would probably wish for 1. to get to spend some time in the kitchen with my mom's mother, 2. to get to spend some time in the kitchen with my dad's mother, and 3. to give me the winning numbers to next week's lottery. :)

I don't get the impression that my mom's mom (Grandma P) loved to cook or bake, but she was really good at it. My mom has never been a fan of spending much time in the kitchen, either and I don't really think she was the type of kid that would stay inside and help my grandmother make dinner or baked goods. 3 things that will always remind me of my grandma P; hard candy, popcorn balls, and pizzelles. Each Christmas, I wish I could sneak into her tin and steal a piece of her powdered sugar coated candy or run over to her house to have a popcorn ball.

Last year for Christmas, I decided to try to make her pizzelles. I gained a massive amount of respect for that woman while I was pouring the batter for my 458th pizzelle and there was still a ton of batter left to go. They didn't even taste like hers. They were cake-y and missing that liquor flavor I remember so vividly from my childhood. Just a hint, I promise. :) I still have some in the freezer and have no interest in eating them. 

My mom probably learned most of her cooking and baking from my dad's mom (Grandma L). My mom married my dad at the ripe age of 19 and moved in beside his mother for the first several years of their marriage. She would spend most of her days with Grandma L and I am always so amazed at what a great resource she is for my dad's side of the family history and recipes.

Recently, my mom and I were discussing this coming week's festivities and were trying to decide on meals for the week. Since we are running in the 5K on Thursday, she suggested we make Grandma L's spaghetti on Wednesday night. There is nothing like that woman's spaghetti. I remember she used to cook the sauce all day long and the whole house would smell so wonderful. We would complain about how hungry we were and there was never anything we could munch on while waiting. She made us wait because she didn't want to have leftovers. :)

After deciding that we would make her spaghetti for Wednesday, I started thinking about other things that I wanted to make of Grandma L's. I started thinking a lot about Thanksgiving dinners at her house and the little table under the clock that was always full of desserts and pies. I wanted to make her apple pie.

I sent out a text to several of my Aunts, my sister and my mom asking if anyone had her recipe. One of my Aunts sent me a text saying "She didn't use a recipe, but I can give you some tips." I took these tips to the kitchen and began to make an apple pie from scratch. As I pulled out my food processor, apple corer, and peeler, I realized just how much work goes into an apple pie.

I never remember my grandmother using a peeler, much less a food processor or apple corer. It took me almost an hour to peel, core, and slice enough apples for 2 pies. I complained every 20 minutes and cut my finger at least twice. I never remember my grandmother complaining, or cutting herself.

I realized a few things in the almost 4 hours that it took me to complete 2 apple pies... 1. I suck at making a pie crust and will definitely be hitting up some professionals (eh hem, lovely Aunts of mine) on how to do so without the dough breaking apart and 2. I wish that she were still around to teach me all of her wonderful tricks about baking and cooking.

My pies turned out pretty ugly, but I think they are going to taste amazing. One of the pie plates that I used was actually a pie plate that my mom got for Grandma L for Christmas one year. When she passed away, my mom kept the pie plate and then I took it from her. I don't know that she ever actually made a pie using this, but it is probably my most cherished kitchen item.

Grandma's Apple Pie
Crust:
using the Crisco Recipe:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp salt
3/4 stick crisco vegetable shortening or 3/4 cup crisco vegetable oil (*chilled and cubed*)
4-8 tbsp iced cold water
milk for basting 

Combine flour and salt in a medium bowl.  Add cubes of crisco to flour mixture and cut together using a pastry blender (or if you don't have one, using a food processor) until mixture looks like crumbles. Add in 4 tbsp of ice water and continue adding while mixing the flour with the water until the flour sticks together. Shape into 2 balls, 1 slightly larger than the other. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or up to 2 days.


Roll out larger dough ball thinly and place in a 9 inch pie pan (here is where I had issues, it kept breaking, so I thinned out the dough in the pan). Add filling. Roll out the smaller dough ball and either cut into strips for lattice or place over filling and press down at edges. Cut an initial or design in the top of the crust to allow for venting. 


Bake at 400F for 20 minutes, reduce to 350F for 45 minutes. *place tin foil on the rack under because they will boil over in the oven.

Filling:
3 lbs of 2 different types of apples (I used 1.5 lb golden delicious and 1.5 lb fugi)
1 cup of sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp lemon juice
dash of nutmeg (optional)
dash of flour (optional)


Peel, core and slice apples thinly. Add sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice, nutmeg and flour. Mix together.

Ring My Bell

Today definitely feels like a Monday. I am tired and busy and just wish I could crawl back in bed. But, I can't... So I might as well just enjoy the day. At least we only have 2 more days until the long weekend! Plus, my sister and her family arrive tomorrow and I am so very excited! I can't wait to spend 5 days with my wonderful little niece, nephew and my sister and her hubby. :) On Wednesday, my mom, Charles and Mike's sister will get here. It is going to be an awesome Thanksgiving!

This past weekend was soooo busy. We decided not to go to the last home football game for East Carolina. We just had so much to do and everyone is just so burnt out from the games. Of course we won. We always win when I don't show up to the game. :)

On Friday evening, we got home and I made the Roasted Chicken, Garbanzo Beans, Tomato and Paprika dish that was on my meal plan for last week. I ended up following the recipe exactly and it turned out really good. I cut up the remaining chicken and split it between some salads for lunches this week. I am not planning on making anything new until Wednesday night since we need to make some fridge room for Thursday's meal.

This was our counter last night as I was preparing our lunches until Wednesday. I love getting ahead on Sundays!

Huge To-Do list!

Saturday morning, I woke up (due to Franklin's pestering) and started to check off things from my to do list. I wanted to give the weather a little time to warm up before going on my run. At around noon, I headed out with Franklin for my 3.2 mile run. I wanted to have a "practice run" to see where I was at with my time for Thursday. All I really care about is finishing the 5K in under 33 minutes.

This is the beginning of my run and just continues to go up.

I know I have mentioned that my neighborhood is pretty hilly before, but seriously, if it weren't for the hills, I would have probably finished in 30 minutes. I ended up trying to run up the first hill, only to completely tire out when I got to the top. There are 3 hills within the first mile and I find myself walking at least 3 times. Once I get past those, I can usually go a pretty long time without walking. I pushed stop on my RunKeeper at 3.06 miles and was at 32.27 minutes. I had an average of 10.36 min/mile. I should be able to make my PR on Thursday without any problems, I hope. :)

Such a trooper!

I got back from my run, completed a few more things on my to do list, showered and then headed out to run errands. We wanted to get the grocery shopping done for Wednesday and Thursday, so we weren't trying to do it on a busy evening. Then we met some friends for dinner and to watch the ECU game.

I took this weekend off from drinking since I felt like I needed a break. Every weekend I head back into the week with an extra 2-3 lbs on the scale. I decided to try a weekend without any beer or wine and sticking to my normal "during the week" eating to see if it made a difference. I definitely felt better on Sunday and was able to accomplish a lot more, but it seems that my weight still fluctuates quite a bit on the weekends. Maybe it is just that I am not on such a strict schedule on the weekends so my weight kinda floats around. It is hard to tell if the drops in weight are there to stay when it bounces around like that.

Yesterday, I had all intentions of getting another run in, but we spent most of the day helping some friends move into their new apartment. I ran up and down 3 flights of stairs more times than I can count and even tried to make it into a little cardio for the times I didn't have boxes in my arms. I was definitely huffing and puffing for several 30 min intervals, so I feel like I certainly got a good work out in. Plus, my butt and arms are feeling nice and sore today.

I am going to rest today and tomorrow so that I will be ready to roll on Wednesday and Thursday. My runs always feel best on my 2nd day of running in a row, so I will run on Wednesday morning to ensure that. I am really excited to run on Thursday. It has been a while since I did a 5K and I know it is just going to make me feel great heading into this holiday weekend.

Stupid Bell Training

So, recently, some friends were telling Mike and I about bell training your dog to ring a bell on the door when they need to go out (apparently we were the only one's unaware of this...). We thought it would be a great way to train Franklin since he was new and we know Deluca so well that we can just tell when he needs to go out.

Franklin picked up on this so quickly. Probably after only a day or two. We ring the bell and say "outside, Franklin, do you want to go outside?" and then open the door to the back yard. After only a few times, he would use his little nose to ring the bell and we would stop whatever we were doing to open the door and let him outside.

Now, he rings the bell NON-STOP to go outside. I am fine with him ringing the bell even if he doesn't have to go to the bathroom, even if he just wants to go play, but it is constant. He loves being outside and I am thankful that he does, but I can't handle the bell ringing every 5 minutes. And, with the temperatures getting cooler, we can't just leave him outside. So, now what do we do? Take the bell away? I feel like we have to stick to it... but  we have to figure something out to stop him from ringing the bell all.the.time.

It is pretty cute to watch though...

Nurses Are Kinda Awesome

TGIF!!!! I am sooooo happy it is finally Friday, and I have nothing planned for tonight. It has been a while that we have had a Friday evening to just go home and relax. I am going to make dinner, make some cupcakes for tomorrow's tailgate and then just chill. I can't wait.

This morning I woke up very groggy from getting home late from the hospital. I ended up staying about 30 minutes later than usual, so I didn't get to bed until almost 12:30. Ugh... Sometimes, it just happens. Luckily, since I have been working at this part time job, I have only been home that late twice. I would have to think again about doing it if it were more often.

I got up and immediately wanted breakfast. I was starving! Must be that added cardio from running around like crazy for 4 straight hours. I eat on my way there and then just try to go straight to bed when I get home. Most nights, I will just have a glass of milk or some peanut butter on crackers to tide me over until morning. Last night, Mike had brought home some delicious pineapple casserole from work, and I just had to have a few bites. Layne - I must get that recipe!

Since my protein intake has been rather low, I wanted to make some eggs. After making those stuffed peppers on Tuesday, I haven't eaten any other type of meat, and it is easy to drop protein fast. I made 2 eggs (1 egg white and 1 regular) and put them on a piece of 12 grain toast. I added a little cheese in between and had a glass of milk. I usually only roll with egg whites in the mornings, but yesterday I was STARVING 3 hours later, so I figured today I needed a little more to hold me over until lunch.

For lunch, I will be having one of my last (sniff, sniff) stuffed peppers and a pear. I will be very sad when they are all gone.

I Love Being a Nurse

I have never regretted becoming a nurse. From the moment I entered nursing school, I knew it was meant for me. I love medicine and am so intrigued by things that most people would find "gross." I am proud to call myself a nurse and love the many options and career choices the profession offers. The opportunities are endless and I often think 'What can I do next?!'

A few years ago, I was completely burnt out from hospital nursing. This is something that happens to a lot of people in the medical field from being overworked, under-appreciated and under-paid. The most unfortunate thing about getting burnt out is that it usually is not a result of the patients. Usually, it is because of the millions of rules, regulations, documentation, and policies that the hospitals enforce.

Sure, I have had patients yell at me, hit me, try to hurt me, pee on me, throw up on me, and much worse... but, that is not why I left the hospital. I left because I felt like in a 12 hour shift (which always turns into more like 14 hours), I would spend 6 of those hours doing NOTHING for the patient. As a charge nurse, I would have to break up fights between other nursing staff, organize the oncoming shift assignment, and a lot of paperwork. As a staff nurse, I spent many wasted hours waiting on medications to come up from pharmacy, cleaning up after the previous shift's mess, and much more documentation than you could ever imagine. I also felt like in a staff nurse position, I had no where else to move up.

I left the hospital and have been in a research position for almost 3 years. The work is boring, the days are long, but I love the schedule, pay, and the amazing results that come from the work I am involved in. I can't really complain, because at least I have some time to shop, catch up with friends and family, and blog. :) The biggest problem I had with this job is that I missed working with patients.

Much to Mike's urging, I decided to take a part time job at the hospital to a. remind me what I wasn't missing, and b. to keep my nursing skills fresh and current. In an economy such as this and a career such as nursing, I need to keep my options open. You just never know what life will deal you.


Last night, I cared for an elderly man who was suffering from a chronic lung disease and diabetes. He was admitted to the hospital because he had gotten an infection that required IV antibiotics. He told me all about his life, how much he loves his family and his career when he was younger. He told me how he spent his entire life healthy and as soon as he retired, he became very sick.

This man had been through a lot already, but yesterday he was told there was a possibility he would have to have part of his foot removed. As upset as he was by this news, he had a smile on his face and thanked me for everything I had done for him. Later on in the night, his IV had gone bad and I had to start a new one. His veins are frail and weak and his arms are covered in bruises. I attempted to start the IV and I missed the vein. Another bruise on this poor, sweet man. I apologized several times and all he would say is; "Never apologize for trying, thank you."

As I was about to leave the room, he reached for something on his table. He handed me a small box of chocolates and said that he couldn't thank me enough for all I had done for him. It is hard to remember the bad things about being a nurse when you have a patient like that.

I love being a nurse. :)

New Recipes Page!

Good Morning!

I am pretty exhausted today from working last night and not looking forward to another late night at the hospital. waahh, waahh, poor me... :)

Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I have made a Recipe page! It will just link you to the original posting, but at least this is a bit quicker than looking through the posts yourself. I hope I have hundreds of recipes up there one day... but for now, this is a good start.

Thanks to my amazing sister for her blogging class 101. :)

Have a great day! 

I Blame My Mother

I can't wait for lunch. I will be enjoying leftovers from last night's dinner and I am so excited. The last time I had stuffed peppers, I am pretty sure they were stuffed with ground beef, white rice, and lots of salt and cheese. Although, those are very delicious, I have been looking for a lighter, cleaned up version for a while. This recipe, is certainly going into the books. It is amazing... there is no meat in these peppers, instead, mushrooms (yes, I said mushrooms). There is also no white rice and very little salt. But, the flavor is amazing. I promise you won't be disappointed. :)

I blame my mother for my extreme aversion to mushrooms.  Growing up, my dad was always a big mushroom lover and wanted to put them in everything. My mom hated mushrooms and made it known to everyone in the family. She used to talk about their gross texture and how she couldn't stand the way they felt. What child would want to try them? I lived my life avoiding mushrooms like the plague and never found a way to truly appreciate them. I love my mom and she and I are very similar, which probably explains why I just never bothered to try mushrooms. If she didn't like them, I probably wouldn't either.

I made it quite a long way in my life avoiding all things mushroom related, until I met Mike. Mike loves mushrooms. When he doesn't want me to have a bite of his meal, he orders mushrooms on it (I know that is the real reason, babe). He is always wanting to buy mushrooms at the store and I continuously make comments about their texture and that they are gross. He is such a lucky guy to have found me. :)

Recently, when doing research for this healthier lifestyle, I realized how beneficial mushrooms are. I learned that they can really provide a lot of protein and they can be a meat substitution when you are trying to cut back. I started buying mushrooms and telling Mike they were for him. I let him order pizza with mushrooms on it and I would just pick off the large ones. Mike is very confused, yet excited. I still have a problem with their texture and I still blame my mother for that, but, I can tolerate them mixed into things and and when they are pretty small. The flavor that mushrooms provide is actually pretty awesome. The proof, is in these peppers.

Quinoa and Black Bean Stuffed Peppers
Adapted From: GoodLifeEats
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
2 ribs celery, finely chopped
1/2 8-oz. pkg. mushroom caps, chopped (about 1-1.5 cups)
1/2 of a jalapeno pepper, diced
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 – 15 oz. cans diced tomatoes, drained, liquid reserved
1 – 15 oz. can black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup quinoa
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1 1/2 cups grated Pepper Jack cheese, divided
4 large green bell peppers, halved lengthwise, ribs removed

Preheat oven to 350 F. On the stove top, heat olive oil in a large pan and add in the onion, jalapeno pepper, and celery. Saute until soft. Drain diced tomatoes and save the liquid in the bottom of your baking dish.  Add tomatoes and mushrooms to the onion and celery. Add in your cumin and garlic and allow to saute for about 5 minutes.

Add the quinoa to the mixture and about 1 and 3/4 cups of water. Cover, bring to boil and then reduce heat to simmer for about 15 minutes or until the quinoa is soft. Remove from heat, add in the drained black beans and roughly 1 cup of pepper jack cheese. Fill each green pepper with about 3/4 cup of the filling and place in the baking dish on top of the leftover tomato juice. If there is any filling left after you are done, grab some chips or pita triangles for a little snack. :)

Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake for 35-40 min. or until the green peppers are cooked and soft. Remove the foil and add a sprinkle of cheese to each pepper and continue baking for 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy!

No One Loves Running...

This post was supposed to go up last night, not sure what happened... I got busy at work and could have sworn I hit publish before I left, but I guess not. Looks like you will get 2 posts today!

I hear people talk all the time about how they wished they 'loved' running. No one 'loves' running... Sure, they love getting outdoors, getting some exercise, and having the body they desire... but I guarantee, no one loves the physical act of running. It is just something we have to do. As you run more and more, I think most people develop an appreciation of running and know how great they are going to feel afterward, which makes it easier. Races are fun, accomplishing goals are fun, but training for those races and getting to those goals are not.

Source

This morning I woke up at 6:30 AM and was out the door by 6:55 to do something I assure you I do not 'love.'  I love my husband, I love my family, I love my dogs, I love good food. I love shopping, Christmas, iced tea, boats, and the beach. I love my friends and I love lazy weekends. I love the feeling I get after a good run, and the way my clothes are feeling looser and looser since I have been doing these dreaded runs for the last few months. I will most definitely LOVE eating my Thanksgiving dinner with no guilt because I will have completed a 5k earlier in the day. I think I will save my 'wishes' for for good health and getting rich... not a love for running.

I think the more you know about something, the more interesting and easy it becomes. I would guess that people who 'love' to run, have been doing it for years and have a lot of knowledge in the sport. They know it works and they know that it is important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I try to educate myself in running everyday so that I can enjoy it just a tad more than I did yesterday. I want running to become part of my day, just like brushing my teeth and taking a shower. I don't really think anyone 'loves' doing those things either, we do them because we have to and because of the feeling afterward.

If only my closet looked like Polyvore...

This is the type of outfit I would love to be wearing right now. It is so fall-perfect. I have recently started using Polyvore and I am IN LOVE! It allows you to make your own outfits, accessorize your current outfits, and shop...  amazeballs. Basically I have been designing my outfit for the upcoming engagement party I am hosting all week. I did find some awesomely cheap booties on polyvore which are going to be perfect with my dress and tights on Saturday. I'll try to post pics next week.

Sorry for the lag in posting this week, I don't have a lot to write about right now. My husband has been doing most of the cooking lately, except for on Monday when I made us each an egg with toast... major wife points deducted. But, that is what we wanted. We were tired of leftovers and I wanted something easy and healthy. Oh well. I did make it out running on Tuesday morning and plan to do the same on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.

Mike has made the menu for the whole week and he is pretty excited to be doing the cooking. Since I have been working late, I gladly gave up my kitchen duties. Getting off work when it is already dark and then having to run errands does not put me in the mood to cook when I get home. Last night, he made a wonderful jambalaya. Maybe he will do a guest post with the recipe and his thoughts on our health(ier) lifestyle. :) 

I am heading to Greenville tonight to meet my best friend's new baby boy! Have a great day! 

Got Sausage?

Happy Monday, everyone! Although, there is usually nothing happy about a Monday, it is a pretty happy one for me. One of my best friend's had her baby today! I can't wait to meet him.

This past weekend we headed to Greenville to watch some Pirate Football. Too bad the Pirates were unaware that there was a football game, because they suuuucked. It was freezing cold but it was a pretty fun time.

I actually made it out running both days this weekend and I can already feel my runs improve. On Saturday, I walked a lot, but made it about a third of a mile further than last week. On Sunday, I only allowed myself to walk for 30 second increments and made myself run for at least 60 second increments. Most of the time I did 120-180 second runs, but having those 60 second spurts helped keep me from walking too much. I just have to keep at it and not let myself fall back into not exercising. 

Also on Sunday, Mike and I decided to finish painting our foyer and downstairs bathroom. We painted them both green but varying shades. I think once I have some frames, towels and rugs up, I will love it. Until then, it is a little bright...

But it looks really great with our new foyer color, which I love.

Since we were working so hard on that all day, I wanted to make an easy dinner. We ended up bringing home an enormous amount of sausage from the tailgate and I figured I could come up with something to make.  I was thinking about making spaghetti and just adding in some sausage, but then I talked to my sister who suggested a baked spaghetti. That sounded perfect.  Except I didn't have the ingredients.

Looks so yummy, huh?

We are going to call this recipe... "Clean-out-the-fridge Baked Spaghetti-ish Pasta." We had 3 different types of sausage; a jalapeno chicken sausage, a sweet Italian sausage and a hot Italian sausage. I also did not have 1 full container of pasta. I had a little bit of whole wheat spaghetti and a little bit of vegetable rotini, so I just threw it all together. It was actually one the most delicious spaghetti recipes I have ever made. It probably wasn't the healthiest meal, but I put it into a nutrition calculator and really, it was only 440 calories per serving. The fat and sodium content were a little high. But, everything in moderation, right? Plus, I hate (more than anything) wasting food. So this solved that problem.

It was pretty easy to make too. Basically, I cut the sausage and sauteed them in some olive oil.

Boiled my noodles and placed them in the bottom of a baking dish.

Added some regular pasta sauce to my sausage as well as a tomato that was starting to wrinkle in the fridge. I also added about a 1/3 cup of cream cheese that I needed to get rid of.

I poured the sausage/sauce mixture over the pasta, added some sliced monterey jack cheese and mozzerella chesse to the top (probably only a cup total), baked on 350 F until the cheese was melty, maybe 20 minutes?  And, voila! A meal is born. A meal that satisfied the cold weather, my anti-waste attitude, and the hubster. Winning!

Bonus: There are a ton of leftovers, so lunch is already done for the week! So, if you find yourself with way too much sausage on your hands (that'swhatshesaid), you have a great recipe to use!

Mike and I are going to attempt (again) to meal plan this week. Hopefully it works out! I am so tired of grocery shopping with no purpose.

Have a great day, everyone!

There was no running and no brussells sprouts made...

 

Because we were out CELEBRATING!!!! I passed my test! Whooo Hoo!

I have been studying for a cardiac arrhythmia test that the floor I work on (not even part time - mind you) mandates all their nurses have certification for. The test is supposed to accompany a 6 week class that you learn, from a teacher, how to read, interpret, and treat cardiac arrhythmia's. The class is only offered every Monday from 1pm to 3pm. Since I work full time elsewhere, I refused to take 3 hours of PTO to drive across town to take this class in the middle of each Monday. Maybe if it were earlier or later, I could have taken the class and then come to work late or gone home early, but right in the smack middle of the day? No, thank you. My only option was to attempt to test out of the class.

Of course I learned a lot of this stuff in nursing school, but for the last 7 years (WOW!!) I have not even looked at an EKG strip, let alone try to interpret one. The floors I have worked on in the past, have only had remote monitoring, which means that the patient has a monitor on, but there are EKG Techs in another part of the hospital monitoring them. If something went wrong, they simply called the nurses and we informed the physician if something was of concern. I won't bore you with the details, but I always knew if someone was running a safe cardiac rhythm and when they weren't, and that was all that was really important. The floor that I am working on now has the monitors on the floor. Even though they are still being monitored by EKG Techs as well, the nurses are supposed to have the same amount of certification so that we can read them if needed (like we have that kind of time?).

The test was extremely hard and it took me just under 2 hours to complete 35 questions. My eyes burned and my neck hurt from crouching over that test and trying to count squares that are no bigger than the tip of a ball point pen. But it is over, and that is just another thing I can add to my resume. I am pretty proud of myself for doing so well and self-teaching a very difficult topic. I have always hated school and I am a horrible test taker. My anxiety level gets so high that I feel sick and get my thoughts confused. My teachers in college could never understand why I would do so poor on my tests, but in clinical rotations, I knew the information like it was second nature. I am so much more comfortable at the bedside than I am in a classroom. Kinda strange...

Anyway, when I got out of the test, I called Mike and we decided to go out to eat since it was almost 8. And, I wanted a glass of wine to celebrate. :) We met at a new restaurant downtown called Cantina South, since we had a restaurant.com coupon. When we eat out during the week, we try to only go to places that we have a groupon, living social, or restaurant.com coupon. We would rather save our eating out money for places we want to go on the weekends.

This place was pretty good. It was definitely a much more formal Mexican restaurant and the prices were a little high. We decided to get a few appetizers to share instead of getting meals. We wanted to try so many things and we figured that was the best way to get a taste of several items. We shared some chicken nachos on blue corn chips, Flautas de Pato - which had pulled duck breast, and Hongo Choriqueso - which was sort of like a skillet queso with chorizo sausage.

Everything was really good, except I wasn't a fan of the Hongo. I just didn't like the flavor. But, Mike loved it, so it may have just been me. We each had a glass of red wine and then headed home for some pumpkin ice cream. I was really wanting some frozen yogurt, but there are NO frozen yogurt shops in the downtown area or in East Raleigh... get it together, Raleigh!

This morning I woke up to gross, wet, and chilly weather outside and was in the mood for some hot oats. I made some pumpkin oats with maple syrup and chocolate chips. They were just what I was looking for. I don't know if I have ever posted my recipe for pumpkin oats, but I listed it below. I have done a lot of tweaking and eaten a lot of horrible tasting oats before coming up with this great mixture. And it is sooo easy!

Hot Pumpkin OatsServes 1
1/4 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1/2 - 3/4 cup skim milk
1/3 cup pumpkin puree (take it from me, pumpkin flavor goes a long way)
Pumpkin Pie Spice (or nutmeg and cinnamon) - to taste
Toppings:
Dark Chocolate Chips - to taste
Maple Syrup - to taste


Place all (except toppings) in a pot and bring to a boil. Once creamy and soft, serve with some maple syrup and chocolate chips (or any other toppings you may want).

That is it! Very simple and sooo tasty.

Tonight, Mike and I are just taking it easy. We are heading to Greenville for the ECU game in the morning, so we plan on getting some things done tonight and relaxing. We haven't had a free Friday night to relax in a long time. I hope everyone has a fabulous weekend!

P.S. - I apologize for my AWFUL pictures. The easiest way for me to document my food, upload the pictures, and get them on the blog is to use my 3G iPhone... you know... the original? The camera sucks and the phone is pretty awful being 2 years old. I am HOPING... hint, hint, my wonderful husband will get me that fancy new iPhone for Christmas...or just for a fun Happy Friday gift... I won't hold my breath. Until then, you will just have to deal with these horrific pictures. :) 

Yesterday's Stats:
Breakfast - Overnight pumpkin oats with skim milk, pumpkin puree, oatmeal, chocolate chips, flaxseed, pumpkin granola
Lunch - leftover turkey burger with jack cheese on a sandwich thin and 1/4 cup pinto beans
Dinner - see above
Dessert - pumpkin ice cream (1/4 cup)

Calories 0 - I had to kind of guess since my dinner was not in my calculator, but I did well all day, so I had a lot of room. 
Sodium (-) 329
Protein (-) 1