February's Theme is...

RED VELVET!!

Are you as excited as I am? I already have my recipe picked out. It's Red Velvet Cheesecake! It just might blow my mind! I think I'm going to try to make it on or for Valentine's Day. Doesn't it look like a wonderful choice? What will you pick? Let me know and join in on the fun!

In other news, for the month of January I completed 38.1 miles. A bit behind schedule, but I am still proud of my progress. You can see it down the left hand side of the blog. Also, last night during my run I set some new personal bests-- I completed mile #2 in 7' 53". I was shocked at myself! My goal is to get back down to a 7'30" mile which was my fastest in high school, and now that seems more and more possible. I think if I can keep losing some weight, it will make it much easier. Also, overall I completed 3 miles in 27' 15" which is also my fastest 3 miles yet. I was a bit stressed out due to the weather conditions and the possibility that Lovebug's flight would be cancelled (which it was) so it felt good to run hard and not have to think about it. Exercise is my stress-relief and I am going to try to keep it that way.

Today we're having a snow day. Dora is curled up on my lap so that is helping me keep warm. I think I'm going to make some lunch and watch a movie on Netflix -- hopefully it will download. Then on to do some Zumba this afternoon! Making the most of this snow day, with or without Lovebug.

To life... full of circumstances beyond my control.

It was "Snow" Good!

It's time for the review of our "Snow" recipes for January! I had four participants this month-- very exciting! Let's start with mine -- Shrimp Stir Fry with Snow Peas and Coconut Curry Sauce. It was so much better than I expected!

The cast of ingredients-- well a few of them...



There were several ingredients in this recipe that I had never used before. Red Curry paste, coconut milk, and fish sauce. It was a bit scary to combine such strange (to me) ingredients, but I did it nonetheless and I'm glad I did! Lovebug declared it a once-a-week meal. He also said we should use it as our go-to dish when we want to impress guests. Can you tell he really, really enjoyed it?!? Now on to a bit of the process.

Don't smell this... or read the ingredients. Just use it!



Cooking up the shrimpies



and brown rice



A vibrant wreath of green snow peas and red bell pepper cooking around the garlic and ginger!



Dump in the sauce and let it all cook together for a few minutes



Then serve this delicious dish over rice!



If these pictures look good, ask for the recipe. I think you will be impressed as well!

Up next, my sister made "Snow on the Mountain." A cake filled with fruit and covered with whipped cream! Although the process was strange, her family enjoyed it. Check out her post at My Strongest Life.

Our third recipe is from Mom! For this month's challenge, she made Lemon Snowdrop Cookies from THIS recipe. Her review: Deliciouso! The cookie part just melts in your mouth and the filling is so creamy, smooth and fresh tasting w/fresh lemon and lemon zest. And wrapped in a blanket of powdered sugar makes them delectable! I'm glad you enjoyed them Mom! Maybe I'll have to try them. I've never made a lemon cookie before.

Last, but not least, my friend Tara made: Christmas Snow Trash. It sounds, well, not that appealing. I mean, really? Trash? But if you want an easy snack to serve to a big group-- this one is SUPER simple and tastes great! We were both pleasantly surprised with the results.

Mixing it up



The end result: Yum!


Thanks for taking time to make a recipe this month ladies! I really appreciate your participation!! Come back on Tuesday to find the new challenge theme for February!

To life... full of snow!

A January Day

Hey Friends! I wanted to do a little post for today as I'm trying to post at least once a week, if possible. Seems like it could be a random thought/stream-of-consciousness type of day-- you ready?!? I made my snow recipe for January-- it was wonderful! This suprised me thoroughly due to the variety of ingredients that I have never used before and do not appeal to me. Case in point: Fish Sauce! I looked at the ingredients- that was a bad idea! I smelled it-- a worse idea! Then I just measured it out, closed my eyes, and poured it in. But more about that when I do my official "Snow" recipe posting in a few days.

I like to listen to music when I'm at work, it helps keep me motivated to work. I like to sing along and often wonder if anyone else can hear me. I sing a little louder when no one's in my office... then I wonder if my co-workers can hear me down the hall. Can you? Regardless, it helps me immensely. Currently playing: Kelly Clarkson, "Breakaway"... soulful, sing-a-long-worthy indeed! I also like to listen to music in the car. Recently I have been doing quite a bit of car dancing. Lovebug doesn't seem to mind when I yell in his ear, "I throw my hands up in the air sometimes, saying hey-oh, Baby Let's Go!" and proceed to do as the song instructs. It makes for an entertaining ride, no?!? I greatly enjoy the fact that I rarely have to drive because it provides many opportunities for previously stated car dancing. And it makes me happy :o)

I'm going to be making the cakes for a baby shower this weekend. A 9" monkey cake with about 50 cupcakes. I'm excited and also nervous. Survey Question: I'm making strawberry cake with cream cheese frosting. They have asked that I decorate it like a monkey. Typically I think of monkeys as brown, would a strawberry cake with chocolate frosting be ok?!? Please let me know your opinion. I need it!

Let me see if I can find a picture of something...



I hope we get at least one snow day this year. So far while I've been working here, we've gotten at least one each winter. Last year there were two in February, so I'm going to continue to hope!

I'm currently hungry-- trying to lose weight is not an entirely fun process. Hopefully I'll see some results soon, those motivate me to keep going. It's only January 26 and I need that motivation. I have actually been going up some recently, my clothes fit the same, so that tells me that I might be gaining muscles. Regardless, I still want it to go in the other direction. It's a daily choice and I'm trying to remember that. I can sometimes get overwhelmed thinking about how long it's going to take to lose a certain number of pounds, how many calories I can have each day, how many calories I have to burn to lose even one pound, and so on. But if I think, "Today I will eat this apple instead of that brownie" that seems much more achievable. I can make those choices. I will make those choices. I want to be healthy and each day I can choose to be-- it is up to me!

To life... full of snow, music, healthy choices, and listening to Sara Bareilles (right now!)

Cookie Dough Dip

You should make this!




Truly! I made a half batch last weekend and Lovebug and I finished it on Sunday. It was both magnificent and shocking :o)

The version above is chocolate chip. For the snack I brought to work today I also made a snickerdoodle version. I didn't get a picture taken, but I think I may have dumped in a wee bit too much cinnamon. All well, surely people will still eat it right?

There are several blogs that share this recipe. I used Brown Eyed Baker's recipe. But you can also go here for three more variations!

I plan to make my "snow" recipe this weekend, but I will wait to hear back from everyone before I do my posting on January 31st!

To life... full of cookie dough dip!

January's "Snow" Recipe

Well I've finally decided on the recipe for this month. It definitely took a different direction than I expected, but I am excited! I'm not even sure if I'll like it, but I think my lovebug will and I'm willing to try. I have chosen:

Shrimp Stir Fry with Snow Peas and Coconut Curry Sauce

What have you picked?

To life... full of fish sauce and red curry paste (I'm scared!).

Challenge Time

Hey folks! My mom wants to keep up with the baking-together-challenge-type-sort-of-thing. She suggested maybe picking one recipe per month to make for a special occasion and I thought that sounded like a fun idea. But I have added my own twist. Here's what we'll do: Each month I will pick a theme for the month and everyone has to pick a recipe within that theme to make for that month. I know making the same recipe made it feel a little more like we were baking together, but I felt this twist would allow for a bit more creativity, allow people to choose the recipe of their liking, and we'll actually cover/review more recipes that way. What do you think? I'm very excited because we'll still be working on our challenge together, yet baking new recipes! So up for January, the theme is: "SNOW"

If you'd like, as a place to start, I visited tastykitchen.com and just typed in "Snow" in the search box. I was excited by the variety of things I hadn't even thought of -- snow peas, snow balls, snow ice cream. How fun will this be?

Lastly, if you are reading this and are interested in participating-- please let me know! I'd love to have you join in. Then on the last day of the month I can highlight all the different recipes that were made that month with our theme. You don't even need to worry about doing it every month, but if there's a particular month that strikes your fancy, join in and tell me about it!

To life... full of fun baking adventures!

Happy New Year!

I realize that is a bit tardy in saying, but since this is my first post of 2011 I thought it would still be acceptable :o) We had a wonderful Christmas break visiting family! Very little snow which was a little disappointing, but sure made traveling a lot safer, so we were thankful. I'll put up a few pictures of our celebrations and creations. My sister and I tried out a few new recipes over the break: Eggnog Meltaways (Ok), Orange Cream Bars (Good, but I think we'll try a different shortbread recipe next time), Peppermint bark ( I was quite a fan!), and Cranberry Brownies (the definite winner in both of our books, I'd say!). There was so much good food over the break, and I definitely indulged in it. Now back to the daily grind and getting those pounds back off!

After a review of the goals I created for 2010 I was fairly pleased with my accomplishments. I completed most of my goals. There were a few that I still need to work on and a few I just let slip by, but overall I was happy with the ones I crossed off my list! I know that many people make resolutions and by February have forgotten they even exist. I post mine up on the wall in an effort to not let this happen. This year I have made mine even more visible than last year's. I have also reduced the amount to seven in hopes that I might be able to make effort at each one instead of the ten I tried to complete last year. One of my goals is to run 575 miles this year! That averages out to approximately 11 miles per week. I feel like this is quite achievable, but will still stretch my abilites. I am going to attempt to find a countdown or counter of some sort to keep track of my progress here on my blog. I hope I can find one because I would like to see the visible progress as well as sharing it with others! Enough chit-chat, now for some pictures...

Peppermint Bark

Orange Cream Bars

Happy New Year!

To life... full of new goals and new years!