Challenge accepted. Challenge - FAIL!

I'm just going to put it out there.  I sucked something awful at doing the whole no-more-soda challenge for the month of June.  Despite drinking it more often that I care to admit (and frankly, I couldn't even tell you how much soda I drank if I tried), I decided I actually do not particularly care for it.  When I stopped and thought about it, I honestly realized how much it takes like carbonated chemicals.  I only drink diet soda so I can't speak to the taste of regular soda anymore.  However, it got me thinking.  (Brace yourselves.  This could get ugly.)

If I stopped and really thought about whether or not I want or even like a particular food or drink before I consumed it, how much less junk would I be putting in my body?  You may be saying, "No crap, Columbo," but while it sounds like a logical thing to do, how often do we actually stop and think about what we put in our bodies?  Sure, I think I'll buy all the healthy stuff in the produce section at the grocery store, but it comes down to it do I truly like these things or am I buying them because I think I have to since they're healthy or because I think I want it/like it when I really don't?

Therefore, I proclaim:
I do not like my soda pop.
I would not drink it with a cop.
I do not like it in my house.
I do not like it, Santa Klaus.
I will not drink it with a boar.
I do not want it anymore.



PS - I will be playing around with more recipes and will blog about those after some trial-and-error.  :)

Lasts and firsts.

In turning over a new leaf, I've decided to spice things up with a few challenges, adventures, experiments, whatever you want to call them.  Random crap of Kristen's craziness also works.


Lasts...
- Hot weather running excuses
Too often I complain about not being a warm weather runner but I have found that getting up and running in the AM helps and so does running with water.  I'm slow to catch on to what would seem like normal, rational solutions.

- Negative Nancy Syndrome
Fine.  You won't find this diagnosis in the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), but it's been plaguing me lately anyway.  I've been overly critical of myself, over the last few weeks in particular, regarding the standstill of my weight loss so I'm going to work on being better about cutting myself some slack and just getting back on track.

- pop (or soda depending on where you're from)
This is my last one (insert wah wah wah trombone music here).

Firsts...
- trail running
Nikki and I had an awesome trail run the other day and by awesome I mean sweaty, exhausting, challenging, fun...

- cookbook recipes
Going through and actually using recipes from the many cookbooks I have (novel idea, I know!)

- one a day salad challenge (courtesy of Angela from ohsheglows.com).
Below are just a few shots of two different salads I've had so far.

All right...I think that's all for now folks!  Until next time.

Guess who's back? Back again. Kristen's back. Tell a friend.

In trying to get back on track with healthy eating, working out, and life in general really, I have realized one very important thing.  When my apartment is clean, I'm a much  happier person.  I have more energy and most importantly I am willing to cook and would go so far as to say I look forward to cooking.  When my apartment is so messy that someone breaking in and ransacking the place would actually be an improvement, I don't want to do squat!  I don't want to work out.  I don't want to cook because it's one more effing dish in the already full sink of dishes that have been sitting there longer than they should.  (Not stinky long, but long enough).  I don't want to do anything, but veg and eat like it's the end of the world or that I'm preparing for hibernation. I know my problem is three part: I'm so mentally exhausted from grad school that now I'm finished, I just want to veg and do activities that require little to no thinking.  I'm also frustrated with the knee pain that has screwed up my running to the point where my distance is severely limited.  Lastly, I've gained back some weight that I worked hard to lose. 

So, after giving myself/my appetite a swift kick in the hindquarters, I've resolved to getting back to 5 day a week workouts and taking the time to prepare dinner rather than rely on unhealthy fast crap.  Now that my kitchen and living room are clean, I feel like a weight has been lifted.  Now if only actual weight was lifted, I would be ecstatic!  :)  The other rooms in my apartment will have to wait because as my sister can attest - I have a problem just cleaning without reorganizing.  I didn't do too much reorganizing, but once I get to the bedrooms it's a whole other story.

Last night, I made an egg sandwich.  It had been so long since I had one and let me tell you I did a yummy tummy dance with this meal.  I put 6 tablespoons of egg whites in my non-stick frying pan and that baby bubbled up wonderfully!  Then, it slid right out of the pan when I went to flip it.  BEEEE-AUT-IFUL!  I spread a bit of Miracle Whip Light and sprinkled a bit of cheese on the sandwich thin bread for a little somethin' somethin'.  Next time, I'll veggie-fy the sandwich for some extra fiber and flavor.  Then, I busted out the grapes and had a lovely meal.  (I also used the small plate trick.)

Adorning the table is a lovely orchid plant from my wonderful friend Sarah.  THANK YOU!  I'll make sure to do the plant justice and get the whole thing in next time.

While dinner was cooking, I was preparing breakfast for the next day (two days actually since I split it into two servings).  Here are what my overnight oats looked like this morning.  I'll admit.  I was a bit apprehensive about cold oats/oatmeal type breakfast, but I enjoyed it!

Here I added some of Trader Joe's Better 'n' Butter peanut butter and drizzled it with honey.  Tomorrow I think I'll just add the peanut butter and in the future, I'll experiment with different additions/toppings.  I think next time I won't use as much milk.  And for the record - it kept me full until lunch!  Heeeyyy fiber!

'Til next time!

Greenifying my apartment

Hello world!  (And by world, I mean the 2 people who actually read this thing.)  Grad school is done, which one would think gives me more time to blog when really it means I didn't have homework to procrastinate doing with blog writing.  ;)

Let's see...what's been happening?  Well, I have been working on jazzing up my palace with more eco-friendly products.  For a while now, I've been using more eco-friendly cleaning products such as Seventh Generation.  I really like their laundry detergent, but I have mixed emotions about their dish soap (and Nikki can attest to that).

Anyway, I thought I would write an homage to the green products I adore.  Enjoy!  Oh, and now that grad school is finished, not just for a semester, but for for-ev-er, I will get back to posting recipes a bit more regularly.  I needed to cook in order for that to happen and I haven't cooked in, well, longer than I'd like to admit.  Just ask my pants.  They'll testify to my bad eating habits.  Those bastards just don't know when to keep their mouths zipped and instead blurt all my business to anyone who will listen.

7.) Reusable shopping/produce bags - I have a bunch of cloth bags I use now instead of plastic.  The only downfall is that I unload my groceries and forget to put the bags back in my car and thus, negating the purpose of having them in the first place.  I also bought cloth produce bags so I'm not using the plastic bags at the grocery store.  (Thank you Etsy). 

6.) Microfiber mop head - This bad boy is awesome.  It's like the Biore nose strips of mops...you can see all the nasty stuff that used to be there and have satisfaction knowing it is no longer there.

5.) Bar soaps/shampoos - I proclaimed my love of these in my last post, but I love the idea of not having plastic bottles to recycle once I'm finished.  And let's admit it, I can never rinse all the soap out of those freakin' bottles anyway!

4.) Vinegar & water cleanser - I used this concoction to clean my floors and I must say I was pleasantly surprised!  I found some similar products on Pinterest (one where you soak citrus rinds to add a little olfactory happiness to your cleanser).  I'll be trying some of these out later.  I'll keep you updated because I know all two of you are just on the end of your seats in anticipation.

3.) Reusable water bottles - I like CamelBak, but will not discriminate against any reusable water bottle, in particular the aluminum water bottles, especially those with Sasquatch on them like this one we found at the Whole Foods in Seattle:

http://laurajvandenbosch.blogspot.com/2011/11/sasquatch-liberty-bottles-unite.html

2.) Unpaper towels - Just a fancy way of saying cloth.  However, if you call them "reusable paper towels," "unpaper towels," or "cloth paper towels," and dress them up with cute designs, people like me will pay more money for them.  Although, I will say I like some on Etsy in particular that snap together and can be rolled up and put on the paper towel roll.  Don't worry, I will not be going so far as to use unpaper toilet paper.  I draw the line there.

1.) Reusable sandwich/snack baggies - Thank you again Etsy for this one!  I am a fan of Lizzy who has her own Bag It label.  She's the one who made the bamboo utensil  holder (and also sold the utensils with the holder so I have reusable utensils for lunch.)  Sa-weet!

Even though I haven't been cooking much, there are a few things I've made recently that have my taste buds singing.  In the morning I've been making smoothies courtesy of the Magic Bullet (an unfortunate name for a blender.)  The one below has strawberries, blueberries, mango (frozen because I'm lazy and can't cut up a mango for the life of me), and some vanilla flavored Greek yogurt.  YUM!!!

 This is a Mexican Lasagna I made in my bean pot:

Ingredients:

- 1 can of Rotel

- 1 can of cream of celery

- 1 can of cream of mushroom

- 1 can of black beans (drained and rinsed)

- 1 pkg of Mission's Carb Balance Small Fajita shells

- 1 pkg of shredded cheese (I used the Mexican blend)

Mix the first 4 ingredients in a bowl and set aside.  Layer the shells, mixture, and a sprinkle of cheese and repeat until you used all the mixture.  (You may have to tear the shells to fit and layer properly.)  Then on top of the last bean mixture, put the last layer of shells and sprinkle with cheese.  Bake for 325 degrees for around 30 minutes.  Voila!  Dinner is served!

Hippie at heart

I know it's been a while and since coming home from my spring break vacation, I have been greeted by the knowledge of two crazy and very hectic weeks ahead of me (this week and next).  So, instead of blogging about the craptastic-ness of these upcoming weeks, I wanted to focus on a small little something that occurred to me today, which made me smile.

My friend Nikki introduced me to LUSH.  I'm loopy for LUSH (an homage to my childhood memory of  "Coo coo for Coco Puffs" commercials).  I fancy the LUSH bar shampoo and the LUSH bar conditioner, although I think I may try one of their liquid conditioners.  Only time will tell.  I've noticed how I'm pulling out/losing less hair in the shower and the fewer times I have to clean my shower drain/wall the better!  (Yeah, I take the loose hair that comes out in my hand after shampooing and stick it to the wall until my shower wall looks like Sasquatch's back.  Don't judge.)  And I really like the way my hair smells and feels too!  It took a while for my hair to adjust to the new product, but that's to be expected.  As LUSH says, "Solid shampoos have no preservatives (there’s no liquid content so they don't need any), need very little packaging, and are very light to carry around with you. Ace."  (The Ace remark was all them...even more reason to like them.)

Another company I have to profess my extreme liking for is Moon Valley Organics based out of Washington.  I'm obsessed with their Moon Valley bar soap so much that I've had their products shipped to me (not so eco-friendly I know) and when I went to Seattle, I made sure to go to Pike's Place downtown to stop at their vendor booth and stocked up.

In addition to truly liking these products (which by the way I am receiving no compensation for singing their praises and can assure you these are all my own opinions), I thoroughly enjoyed looking at my shower rack and seeing so much less clutter.  No shampoo, conditioner, or body wash bottles hogging the little shower rack shelves.  Now my bars have plenty of room to themselves while having happy little bar neighbors nearby on the next shelf.

For those of you who don't know this, I like to take songs and insert my own lyrics especially when I'm in the car and have the urge to pee...badly.  So, I re-wrote Wishin' and Hopin' to fit my appreciation of these and other products.


Reducin', reusin', recyclin', are awesome
Change just one thing cuz small steps are a great start
I'm a bit of a hippie at heart

So if you're thinking how crazy all this sounds
All you gotta do is find it, and buy it, and try it, you'll like it
Yeah, just do it!
And after you do, you won't look back

Do I have a bit of a problem?  Let me answer your question with a question.  Does a bear poop in the woods?  I think you have your answer!

I'm out!  (insert mic drop)

Coupons and Lettuce Wraps

My apologies for the vagueness of what is to follow.  I don't want to spoil it in case my sister reads this...
Last Friday (2 days ago Friday), I was working on putting together my nephew's birthday present and since I have to make it and then send it off to a magical place in cyberspace to get it assembled, I wanted to get it done in plenty of time before his birthday next month.  Now the company I use gives me coupons and I had one that was set to expire Saturday meaning I had one day to make his gift.  Deadlines help put pressure on me to get things done, but this was too close for even my liking!  Anyway, I'm working on this present like an elf in Santa's workshop - haulin' ass like it's Christmas Eve so I can use this blasted coupon.  Are you on the edge of your seat?  I bet.  It's a tantalizing tale.  You'll be happy to know I got that bad boy sent off at 3PM on Saturday and got to use my coupon!  WOO HOO!  Oh, but wait.  There's more.  I wake up this morning and check my email to find a message from the company.  Those bastards extended the deadline for the coupon until Tuesday.  Well, it was early when I saw this so I don't fully remember what I said aloud to myself, but you can be assured I dropped some choice expletives.  I'm just telling myself that at least the gift is done and is one thing off my to-do list.

And now onto the recipe...
My friend and her husband made these for me one night and was generous enough to share the recipe with me.  They are awesome and one of my favorite things to eat.  I hope you like them too!  Oh, and did I mention they are ridiculously easy to make?  Cuz they are. 

THAI LETTUCE WRAPS

Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup of Hoisin sauce
- 1/2-1/4 cup of Thai peanut sauce (I use a little more than 1/4)
- Dash of ground ginger
- Soy crumbles (or your preferred meat choice)
- Romaine hearts
- Chow Mein noodles
- Green onions

Directions:

1. Cook soy crumbles in a frying pan.
2. While that's cooking, combine Hoisin sauce, Thai peanut sauce, and ground ginger in a bowl and set aside until the soy crumbles are done cooking.
3. Cut the end of the Romaine hearts.
4. While you're at it, chop up some green onions.
5. Wash and pat dry the lettuce leaves.
6. Once the soy crumbles are done, add your sauce mixture to the pan and stir until all is covered.
7. Take a few spoonfuls (however heaping or non-heaping you like your spoonfuls) and fill a Romaine leaf.
8. Sprinkle the Chow Mein noodles and green onions on top of your lettuce wrap.  Voila!  
9. Repeat steps 6 & 7 as desired and eat to your heart's content.  (That is a direction and you better follow it.  There is a fine line between heart's content and food baby so proceed with caution.)

I forgot the green onions so they're not in this photo.  My bad!

Hobo Chic and The Hunger Games

I love my sister for many reasons.  Mainly because she cracks me up.  She's a tell-it-like-is person and I admire that about her whereas I sugar coat it and put it in the context of puppy dogs and rainbows.  

I was someone who always marched to the beat of her own poorly fashioned drummer.  For those of you who didn't know me in grade school or have not seen the photos, I rocked the tie dye shirts, long shorts, knee high socks, and some knock-off version of Birkenstock sandals as much as anyone can "rock" an ensemble like that.  I was just plain awkward...for a loooong time.

Anyway, during a recent conversation with my sister, we said that lucky for me the Bohemian style is in and since that's the style I tend to lean towards, my clothes are somewhat in fashion.  She continued by saying that it's actually more "Bohemian Chic."  I replied, "So you just add 'chic' to the end of it and it makes it better?  How about Hobo Chic?"  And, it stuck.  We have now coined my fashion nonsense as Hobo Chic.  And now onto the real story...

I often send her pictures of clothes, shoes, and accessories I come across in seeking her approval (although sometimes it's the disapproval I get instead).  I only caught a glimpse of the bottom part of this advertisement while in the shoe section of a store and thought, "OOOO!  Where are those?"

 

When I proceeded to look up to find them in the store, I saw the rest of the advertisement and realized they were men's shoes.  You may be asking yourself, "Gee, didn't the hairy ankles give it away?"  In the excitement of seeing the shoes, I hadn't noticed so no, I didn't see the hairy ankles Mr. High-and-Mighty.  ;)

 

However, I did find these and bought them.  For those inquiring minds,  they are self-tested and sister approved.  I guess buying shoes for women is a step in the right direction.

Last Friday, I saw The Hunger Games with my two gal pals from college.  It was great hanging out with them and in my excitement for the movie premiere (and my general excitement for the books that are crazy addictive and suck you in), I decided to do my hair like the main character from the movie.  For those of you not aware of what it looks like, just Google "Katniss Braid," and you can see for yourself.  I think I did pretty well if I do say so myself.  (And by the way, the shirt is part of the Hobo Chic collection approved by my sister.)

 

My thoughts on the movie?  Thank you for asking.  Without spoilers, let me just say it took some solid thinking for me to make up my mind as to whether or not I liked it.  While, it stuck pretty closely to the books, I would have liked to see more character development.  Overall, I decided I really did like the film.  Besides, I really like Peeta's character and the actor who plays him ain't too bad either!  Which by the way, has anyone noticed his name is pronounced the same as "Pita," which is a bread-like substance and in the book, Peeta makes bread?  Anyone?  Anyone?  Bueller?  Bueller?