Monthly Archives: June 2012

Marshmallow Fluff – Serendipitous Friday Flop

. Friday Flop, kids

Exactly 365 days ago from this morning I was in the hospital, under the knife*, waiting to meet our little monkey, Brody Thomas.

(And when I say “monkey” I mean, literally, covered head to toe in hair like a tiny, skinny, long, little monkey. His hairline started at his CHEEKS and went up, past his eyebrows, up his forehead and into his luscious, dark locks of hair. So much so that Matt’s first words about him was “He’s so furry!” monkey. Brody.)

Due to a Leap Year, however, we will be celebrating June 30 a day later, AH! Regardless, little Brodes is turning one tomorrow! He is so awesome! He smiles all of the time, big, goofy, laughy smiles. Often times he is laughing at nothing in particular. He really does take after his maternal side.

“Hello, my name is Brody, I need to eat!” (1 day old)

“Hello, my name is Brody and I will EAT YOU! (364 days old. Also, preferred method of transportation for Monkey Monkey)

also:For the love of all things good, child, could you PLEASE sit still for 5 seconds while I take your damn picture! I’M TRYING TO PRESERVE OUR FAMILY’S HISTORY HERE.

Seriously, do you know how difficult it is to take a photo of a constantly moving object? It’s like he’s mocking me…

Why walk when I have a big brother that brings me everything?

So anyway, party is on Saturday, monkey theme, stay tuned for pictures because I used a lot of Pinterest ideas….I decided to do a test run of OMGTHEMOSTAMAZINGFROSTINGIHAVEEVEREATENINMYLIFE, also known as Martha Stewart’s Cloud Frosting. A mixture between marshmallow and whipped cream which sounds, HOLY COW, amazing.

Martha Stewart Cloud Frosting

Which was supposed to look like this, it did not

(source: Always With Butter)

Later on I was going to add raspberries to it and some chocolate shavings and have a little treat! Except, it turned out more like marshmallow fluff than whipped cream. Nothing against marshmallow fluff, but it typically isn’t a staple in my diet and I have bought it actually, never. And maybe tried it a handful of times. So now I have about 16 oz. of homemade, organic marshmallow fluff in my fridge. Any takers?

Here’s where I think I went wrong, I used organic cane sugar, which is sugar, but it cooks weird. Plus, I am up at 5,200-ish feet in elevation and baking takes on a whole ‘nother level of complication when you mix in low oxygen levels. So now I am going to scrap that all together and do a chocolate cream cheese frosting, take THAT cloud frosting. I will try you again some other time for you have not beat me just yet!

*during my final check at the doctor before my due date, she used “Fort Knox” and my cervix in the same sentence and so it was highly advised to schedule ANOTHERFREAKINGCSECTION because any drugs given to induce me could ruputre my uterus because Grant was breech and stubborn and so we played God and picked his birthday (Earth Day!) and I had a C Section with him too. Not my ideal birth plan, let me tell you. But it is what it is and my boys are healthy and I have recovered and YAY! I will never have to be sliced in half again! (hopefully)

Natural Summer Remedies: The Test

. heloise, i want to make this .

I have mentioned that the house we are living in is fairly new to us (just celebrating our one year anniversary a few months past.) And although I LOVE my neighborhood there are a few things about it I could live without. Because one thing about new neighborhoods in Colorado, they are typically waaaaaaaay far out there. In the midst of farms, land, and other new developments spouting up here and there. Now, the dust sucks and I feel like I dust twice a week and I can deal with that (because I actually do NOT dust twice a week, I just SHOULD dust twice a week), but it is the FLIES that just kill me in the summer. With a back door wall that seems to be kept in the open position (thanks to the likes of a certain three year old, ok, I am totally guilty of it too….) But we often have no less than 4-5 flies in the house at all times. And as soon as I swat one, another sneaks it’s way in. We are a three fly swatter household and Grant is not afraid to use one!

But then I found this (from The Healthy Home Economist):

Fly Water BagGallon Ziploc bag, water, a few pennies

I hung this contraption in my backyard on a flowerpot hook that is no longer in use. It looks so white trash. SO. And I am sure my neighbors are wondering what the hell I am doing now. But guess what neighbors? I don’t have flies anymore! THIS WORKS! And so I am putting one up on my front porch too, wonder when HOA will tell me to take it down?

Next Summer Remedy: Using dryer sheets as a mosquito repellant. Apparently I didn’t pin this one, could be because I made it up? Here is a list of dryer sheet alternatives, but using it as a mosquito repellent is not one of them. But I swear that I have heard of this as a remedy* and wanted to put it to the test. So last weekend I brought them to the bonfire we had with our neighbors. Now, Matt and I came away bite-free (I cannot speak for our neighbors) and  I can’t say for sure if it was the dryer sheets or the fact that all of us had on LONG SLEEVES AND JEANS, or perhaps the alcohol consumption…but I cannot confirm or deny this one. But if you do try it in a more controlled setting, let me know how it works out for ya.

[As I went to post this to Facebook, ironically enough, in my news feed was an article from Stylist that test natural home mosquito repellent remedies and my dryer sheet tip was listed! However, seems as if you need to rub it on your skin. I just had mine in my pocket. Rubbing dryer sheet on my skin is just about the last thing I want to do...gross.]

*My research drove me to Snopes, they deny this one. I don’t believe them.

A Few Recipe Reviews – Lasagna Rolls Ups, Zucchini Tots and More!

. Friday Flop, From Scratch Cooking, yum

About once or twice a month I get super busy with work and everything (fun) is put on the back burner. As you might be able to tell from the lack of posts recently, this has been the case. Thankfully, that doesn’t include cooking because these three males that live with me demand to eat at least three meals a day. Seriously, the nerve of some people.

As I have said before, I am all about healthy, quick, and easy and here are a few that have been put to the test the past few weeks:

Lasagna Roll Ups : This happened because I planned a big lasagna dinner to carb-load for a The Bolder Boulder (See: previous post) but when it came down to preparing it, I did not have enough noodles. And I had already gone to the grocery store THAT DAY and was not about to go back to the store that I was just at a few hours prior. damn. But I remembered this lasagna roll up pin and decided to try the concept…the recipe was mine and it isn’t much of a recipe more so eyeballing everything, I am a Rachel Ray type cook.

(source: Cooking Classy) Also note, this looks relatively mess free

It is not relatively mess-free, but it ALL SORTS OF AWESOME! It is easier to serve, it is easier to eat, it is more fun to eat, it does not fall apart like a lot of other lasagnas I have eaten and/or made, and for some reason, it is tastier. Also a bonus, it is more economical. I used a 8 noodles and fed one LARGE man (and by large I mean 6’5 large, not fat large), Matt, who is in training, myself, my BF Kelly, and both of my children. Whom, at 1 and 3 you wouldn’t think they could put it down, but let me tell you…these boys can eat more than me. PLUS, we had enough left over for the boys to eat for the next few days. Love left overs!

Zucchini Tots (source: Curious Country Cook):  Let me start off by saying, zucchini could very well be the cure to world hunger.

A little TLC to a plant and that baby will give up the bounty, let me tell you!

On Monday, I made these zucchini tots only I added a mushroom to the mixture. Holy cow we they good. So good, I made them the next night too. And the biggest fan in the family, who ate six of them that first night? My almost one year old, Brody. No joke, six (6). Shoveling handfuls in his little pie hole, he couldn’t get enough. Such a satisfying feeling when that happens.

Pesto (source: Simply Recipes)  I am tending my neighbors garden while they are out of town and we have been eating really well the past week. They have these basil plants that are out of control and so I gave them a hair cut and made my own pesto. It is much easier for me to make my own pesto, rather than try and find one that is sans soybean oil. Also, you can control the amount of oil you put in allowing you to cut calories. I found that I didn’t need nearly as much oil as the recipe called for (I probably used half.) This lovely garden also provided us with some lovely (organic) lettuce and so I made a Chicken Pesto Salad. Here’s a new twist on salad that you may have not thought about. Add rotini noodle to the salad and use the pesto as salad dressing. LIGHTLY though, you do not need a lot to add flavor to this salad, pesto is a potent flavor anyway. This makes the salad a bit heartier and filling and more of a meal…and is damn good.

Banana Bread made with applesauce and honey instead of sugar and oil (source: 8 Weeks To A Better You Recipes): I always have an overripe banana or two around the house so banana bread is one sweet that is around more often than not. However, I believe this is the first loaf of banana bread that I have ever thrown away. No joke, it was so sweet I couldn’t eat one more piece. And while I definitely encourage substituting the applesauce, perhaps there was just too much honey in this recipe and so I am giving this the big, ‘ole Friday Flop.

It didn’t hurt as much as this did

And while we are on the topic of sweets…..my sweet tooth has kicked in full time these days. I am “in training” which just means I am a little more neurotic about getting a run in daily. The flip side is that I need to keep my calorie intake up and while 95% of the time the food that I put into my body is fairy unprocessed and healthy, well, I do have a thing for cookie dough.

And now is one of those times that I don’t feel bad eating it. So I took to Pinterest to find an eggless cookie dough recipe that I could sneak bite from the freezer every once in a while. I found one for Cookie Dough Bites from Dear Lillie.

While I give her props for coming up with a recipe she liked, it was too sweet for me. I could taste too much brown sugar. Plus, I really like the slight bite that baking powder gives a cookie, which was left out of this recipe. And salt although seems counter intuitive to add to sweets, actually brings out the flavor. By taking those out of her recipe (although, the baking powder is not necessary so I understand why it was done) it doesn’t taste like cookie dough anymore, just really sweet flour and butter mix with chocolate chips. My thought is, why can’t you just make your own chocolate chip cookie recipe, replacing the eggs with applesauce, banana, ground flax and water or the multitude of other egg replacements? Cream your butter with whatever your replacement is and make the batter eggless that way? I’ll try it the next time I make a batch of cookie dough and let you know how it turns out. But this recipe, as it is right now, gets chalked up on the Friday Flop list too. wah wahhhh.

My Wonky Relationship With Running and What it Has Taught Me – An Essay by Kelly Schoger

. workout .

Right now it is 5:48am and I am already thinking about going for a run. Granted, I am blogging about it instead, but I have the entire day ahead of me to make it happen. And it will because I am already thinking about it. Other than my children and husband, it is top priority today. It is a top priority most days. There are so many reasons why I run, with a long sordid history and a rather unique outcome.

I ran track in high school. I ran the 400m, 400mx400m relay and 200m. I wasn’t the best, I wasn’t the worst…but I did it. It wasn’t really because I liked running; my sister did it, and was GOOD! and I typically did anything that she did because I was that little sister. And also, I really liked the social aspect of track. The running part was just something to do (and I later learned in college, helped keep the weight off.) So that running relationship lasted during high school. “I don’t really like it much, but it’s something to do and I like the people that are on the track team and there is a lot of hanging out, I don’t have to do much, etc.”

That’s me, sitting on the bench, white scrunchie in hair. white scrunchie.

In college my level of physical activity dropped drastically. My focus was elsewhere (mainly having fun.) But every year in December I would go on vacation with my family and for those two or three weeks I would run almost everyday. Not only would I watch my sister run, but my step dad is also a runner and so I continued to run too, so that I fit in and be cool like them. I wanted to be a part of their “group.” I would drop 5-10 lbs (no joke), my clothes would fit better, and although I still didn’t really like running, I was now starting to learn that a) I needed to exercise to offset the amount of alcohol and crappy college food that I put in my body and b) I was learning the art of determination and perseverance – I gained weight and it was something I never had to deal with before I went to college. But I found something that would take it off quickly, even though I didn’t exactly like it, I did it anyway because the end justified the means. And that was my running relationship from college to about 2005 – “I don’t like it much, but the end justifies the means.”

{I would like to note that I stopped typing around 6:02am because I could not sit here any longer writing about running….so I went for a run.}

My husband, Matt and I started dating in 2005. He had this photo album on a chair in his house and it was OVERFLOWING with photos and….race bibs. My husband, who is one of the most humble people I know, would never tell you this. But he is incredibly athletic and all of those bibs were from the mountain bike races, Xterra Off Road Triathlons, 10K’s, 1/2 marathons, and marathons he had done.  A few months into our relationship I asked him if we could look through it and he told me about his most favorite race, the Bolder Boulder 10K. That night, Matt made running sound fun (do you see the pattern here?) and inspired me to want to run. Because who doesn’t want to run through beautiful Bolder, CO with (old) belly dancers cheering you on, people passing out bacon, marshmallows, BEER, slip and slides, bands playing, with an incredible finish in Folsom Field with a stadium full of people cheering you on? That was that day that my outlook on running changed, it was the day I decided to sign up for my first race. DUDE, I DID NOT WANT TO MISS OUT ON THAT KIND OF FUN! My first Bolder Boulder was in 2006, I ran it again in 2007, 2010, and just a few weeks ago. (2008 was missed due to ankle surgery, 2009 and 2011 were missed due to babies.)

My First Bolder BoulderMy first Bolder Boulder! F355 (Please take note that the other lovely lady in this picture is mentioned further below in this post (See: Carolyn) She also has been a pivotal motivator the past 7 years!)

What I learned from that first race is that if I have a goal to work towards, then I can totally stay motivated because I still didn’t always like to run. The races were fun, the sense of accomplishment was AWESOME! but the training wasn’t always pleasant. And so it often turned out that if I didn’t have race to train for, I would just kind of put my running on hold for a few months and find other activities to do.  But that feeling you get when you achieve the goal that you put so much into, it’s kind of addicting.

Plus, I am ridiculously competitive with myself.And what I mean is, that I am ridiculously competitive. period.

Until last year. Last year was different. Last year I was presented with a challenge I said I would NEVER take. (“A 10K is perfect, I never want to run farther than that.”)  I completed my first half marathon in Houston this past January. This was not my idea, this was Carolyn’s sick idea (Care (see above) is one of my best friends, we go back to middle school days. This would not be the first time I went along with one of her hair brained ideas.) But I am so grateful that she challenged me to do that race because it was something I would not have done without her encouragement. And so I trained, and it SUCKED, it sucked so bad (I got the flu a month an a half before my race.) But I pushed through, I had to come prepared and  I ran that race in 2 hours and 12 minutes and when I came home I was so jazzed up (because my goal was under 2 1/2 hours) that Matt and I committed to an even bigger challenge in September. We will be racing with Team Last Call at the Ragnar Relay Colorado. A 200 (ish) mile, 12 person relay race from Breckenridge, over Vail Pass up to Aspen Snowmass….over 48 hours, non stop.

I run Leg 9

Leg 9 is a 10K down Vail Pass, then 7 hours later a nice easy, flat 3.5 miler to be run sometime between 1:30-3:30am, and a strong finish with another 10K, up (UP!) River Wood Rd. in Aspen around 8:30 am. I am kind of scared shitless (but SUPER excited at the same time!)

Now that I am getting older and have more responsibilities and more worries and more anxiety, running keeps me balanced and I need it in my life or I get all sorts of crazy. It also forces me to carve out time for myself which I don’t often do now that I have the little nuggets. So having these races to train for helps keep me stay motivated. And thankfully, because Matt is the same way, he fully supports and encourages me (and on Saturday practically pushed me out the door to go for a run.) He knows I need it too. :)

On Sunday I went for a longer run and half way through I felt really good, really strong and I said to myself, “I do so like green eggs and ham! Thank you, thank you Sam I am!” (seriously, I did really say that.) with a big ‘ole smile on my face And I FINALLY decided that yes, after all these years. After all of this time saying “I’m not sure if I like running” which I have been indecisive about for the past 20 years or “I’m going to give up running after this next race.” Running is something I need to keep me balanced, healthy, and strong. It allows me to keep up with my boys and be a positive role model to them. It allows me time for myself, it has taught me lessons, determination, perseverance.  I have met some incredible people, and have taken on challenges I never dreamed of, and pushed myself in ways I didn’t think possible. Because it has done so much for me as a person I can finally say for sure, that I do love to run and I will continue doing it until my body no longer lets me.