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Hey there! I'm Holly. A 40+ year old insurance-nerd wife, mom, beauty lover, and about a million other things in between.
This is the place where I share about our lives, what I'm currently loving, books I'm reading, plus-size style, beauty recommendations, health + fitness endeavors and anything else I'm finding interesting at the moment.
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Monthly Archives: April 2012
No Fail Kale: 25 Delicious Recipes To Make Your Friends Green With Envy
This year a goal of mine has been to get more greens into our meal rotation. Spinach, chard, collards, kale — if it is green, I am trying to cook with it.
There are a ton of different greens out there but I have to say, I am really partial to kale. It is sturdy, so it holds up to all different types of cooking, and it’s versatile so it is also delicious raw. Plus there is the bonus that it is RIDICULOUSLY CHEAP!
There are so many recipes out there that feature this amazing GREEN, so if you are looking to squeeze more kale into your rotation too, here is a bit of inspiration.
And check it out, not a single one of these recipes is for a smoothie:
1. Health-Bent’s Braised Greens
2. Beantown Baker’s Massaged Kale with Pear and Pumpkin Seeds
3. Everyday Paleo’s Butternut Squash + Greens (the recipe calls for chard, I’ve used both Kale and Chard. It’s delish!)
4. Bon Appetit’s Tuscan Kale Caesar Slaw
5. Daily Bites’ Kale and Carrot Salad with Ginger-Peanut Dressing (sub Almond Butter to make Paleo)
6. Elena’s Pantry’s Chicken with Cherries and Kale
7. Stir It Up’s “Cheesy” Kale Chips
8. TGI Paleo’s Sausage Kale and Egg Bake
9. Jan’s Sushi Bar’s Turkey Sweet Potato and Kale Casserole
10. Life As A Dreger’s Masala Chili with Kale and Kolrabi
11. I Breath I’m Hungry’s Sriracha Lime Kale Chips
12. Stir It Up’s Kale Chicken Avocado Salad
13. Frisky Lemon’s Sweet Potato, Kale and Bacon Frittata
14. Bon Appetit’s Kale & Brussels Sprout Salad
15. Just A Titch’s Strawberry, Mandarin Ginger Kale Salad
16. Christine Cooks’ Kale Pesto Toss with spaghetti squash, maybe?
17. Branny Boils Over’s Kale Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
18. The Kitchn’s Kale and Goat Cheese Frittata Cups
19. Oh She Glows’ Tropical Mango Kale Salad with Creamy Pineapple Lime Coconut Dressing
20. Tastespotting’s Mashed Sweet Potatoes with Kale + Bacon
21. Pham Fatale’s Kale with Caramelized Kumquats
22. Little Blue Hen’s Kale and Fennel Saute
23. Ask Georgie’s Spaghetti Squash and Kale Gratin
24. She’s In The Kitchen’s Wicked Greens Soup
25. Kalyn’s Kitchen’s Sausage and Kale Mock Lasagna
What’s For Dinner
I was all stressed out about planning a menu and going grocery shopping this morning and then it dawned on me: I ONLY HAVE TO COOK FOR 3 DAYS NEXT WEEK! Then we are off to Portland and someone else will be doing the cooking. YUM! 🙂
So I scrambled through my fridge and threw together some random combinations of food, and we now have a menu! Bonus, I only need to pick up a few things at the store so I don’t even have to go today if I don’t feel like it. Sunday Fun-day it is! I think I’m going to watch some Formula 1 with Garrett, organize my closet, and read a little bit. (Yes I realize I just listed organizing as something fun, but man, I do love it!)
Here’s what we’re chowing on this week:
Monday
Lunch: Chex Mix Shrimp (Just toss your shrimp in melted butter + the seasoning mixture for Chex Mix. Saute or broil and done. It’s amazing!) over Cauliflower Rice
Dinner: Big Blue Burgers + Salad + Sweet Potato Fries
Tuesday
Lunch: Taco Salad with Ground Turkey
Dinner: Blackened Mahi Mahi + Sauteed Rainbow Chard + Salad
Wednesday
Lunch: Salmon Burgers + Sauteed Zucchini
Dinner: Must Go Veggie Frittata (As in “all veggies in the fridge Must Go” + Fried Ham + Sweet Potato Hash
Thursday and on…
This picture just made me laugh so I had to include it.
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What’s cooking in your neck of the woods this week? Plus, last call for good restaurant suggestions in Portland. Leave ’em in the comments.
Have a great week you all!
On My Thirties
In my 30s I’m just as stubborn, but now with more wrinkles! Nothing a little botox and some other Facial Skin Tightening procedures can cure! 🙂 I also have a friend that has actually gone to skin care professional training, and she always gives nice tips that I can use that have helped a lot. Tomorrow is my half birthday, and no I don’t actually celebrate it or anything, but hey, how’s about THAT for a reason to eat cake! (Just kidding!) In fact, it’s a completely odd coincidence that I even noticed, but as of 2:23 am tomorrow I will be 33 and a half. In my mind I am already 34 though. Do you do this too? The second I hit one age, I automatically starting thinking “Oh I am almost (insert one year older here).” So weird. So I’ve felt 34 for a while. But alas, I am only actually 33 AND A HALF! And not even until tomorrow! Wow, that was like a little botox for my psyche. Woot!
Anyway, I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how much I LOVE MY 30s. I’m really in them right now, there’s no going back. I’m definitely NOT a twenty-something anymore (thank god!) and I am not even on the downhill slope to 40 yet. So here we are. And because I have a website where I get to express all of my feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelings, here are some things I’ve been thinking:
*Time feels like it has started moving faster all of a sudden. My mom always used to say the first 30 years take FOREVER and then you blink and you’re 50. I completely get that right now. It felt like it took forever to finally turn 18 and “be out on my own” (HA!) but it’s now been almost an equivalent amount of time (16 years, crap!) that I’ve been doing just that, and man does it feel like just a couple months. True Confession: I still get that “Being An Adult Sucks” feeling even though I’ve been An Adult for quite a long time now. Does that ever go away? I’m not sure.
*I’m aware of the fleeting nature of life in such a different way When I was younger I obviously understood mortality and knew we wouldn’t be around forever. Life is short…yada yada yada — now when can I get my driver’s license??? I was 19 when my dad died, and prior to that I had very little experience with death. Since then I’ve had had family members go, coworkers drop dead suddenly, old classmates pass away too young, and parents of good friends not be around as long as I thought they would. There are days when I feel like life is long (oh, so incredibly long!) but man, there are others when it just seems so short I can almost feel it slipping through my fingers with every breath.
*I do a lot more long term thinking Not that my 20s were filled with fly by the seat of my pants thinking, but okay maybe they were. My life in the last 4 years has gone from dating a cute boy, to planning our family. It’s gone from moving every couple of years, to putting down roots. From New Job I’ll Keep Until Something Better Comes Along, to Planning My Next Career Move. From going into debt buying Dolce & Gabbana scarves (FASHION 4EVA!) to responsibly saving and investing & finding ways to cultivate a life with financial purpose. And all in the amount of time it takes to graduate high school! It makes my head spin to compare the changes in my life in just that short period of time.
*I have A LOT more confidence Confidence in my relationships, confidence in my body, confidence with my money and most importantly confidence in my abilities. I have seen the value of hard work and persistence. I have physically experienced that. So these days when I am met with a challenge I have a lot less fear about and am much more strategically minded. I understand that playing the victim doesn’t help the situation but rather makes me look ridiculous. I understand that stirring up drama when I feel unhappy with myself is a wasted coping mechanism when I could be using that energy to improve my situation. I understand that in this big wide world of people who love and support me, I am truly the only one responsible for me. And I like having that responsibility. I’m good at it, actually.
*That said, I also have A LOT less ego I’m not telling you that insecurity never hits, or that I never struggle but I have a good looking life and a lot of that has to do with the ability to admit that I’m struggling without fear of judgment. I know how to ask for help, and I’m okay with doing so. I spend most of my time these days finding reasons to be grateful for my awesome life instead of looking around at others and wondering why I don’t have what they have.
Excuse my french but: THAT IS LIBERATING
If I could tell my 20-something self one thing it would be this: Quit looking at others and trying to figure out where you stand in relation to them. Nurture your passions, work your ass off and be nice to people. Be exactly who you are without apology and everything will unfold as it should. It would have saved me quite a bit of struggle, I tell ya.
That said, had someone told me that I probably wouldn’t have listened. I was too busy cruising the aisles of Neiman Marcus buying crap I couldn’t afford. And being stubborn, of course! Not everything changes for the better as you age.
CrossFit Love: How Sharing Fitness Has Improved My Relationship
I think I’ve told you this before but I reeeeeeeeally had to twist Garrett’s arm to get him to come to CrossFit with me for the first time. I believe his exact response was, “No thanks. I don’t need to be a (F-Bomb) Navy Seal.” He had watched a few videos on the internet after I suggested it and instantly decided it was not for him.
(Sidebar: If you are thinking about CrossFit, disregard 90% of the meat head videos on the internet. This is NOT real life.)
Anyway, I finally pleaded my case to him and said that I just didn’t want to go alone. Would he just consider coming with me once, and then if he hated it he never had to go back again. That was almost a year an a half ago, so it’s no spoiler how that all worked out. Now he loves it! Well, at least most of the time. 🙂
This is halfway through Open Wod #1 which was 7 minutes of burpees. I don’t think he loved it right then. (And who could blame him?)
We have both seen a ridiculous amount of positive changes, individually, because of Crossfit. But the thing that has been the most awesome (and partly because it was completely unexpected) is that it has really helped strengthen our relationship. Bonus! Caity over at Moi Contre La Vie wrote about something similar recently and it inspired me to share our experience.
Here are five big reasons that I’m so glad that Garrett and I CrossFit together:
1. There’s Always A Hand to Hold (Or, Rather A Spotter Handy)
The couple who bench presses together, stays together.
Starting something new can be scary for anyone, which is why it is sometimes easier to do with a friend because you can pump each other up and strategize before or after class. When you do it with a significant other though — the person who can read your non-verbal cues like a book — it’s almost even more comforting. Garrett can tell when I’m nervous or feeling insecure and I can do the same. We both make an effort to support each other a little extra in those moments.
2. You’ll Have Your Own Secret Language
Whispering sweet nothings about snatch technique, surely.
Having individual fitness goals that you can talk about together is not only beneficial for keeping on track, but it creates a level of intimacy. I know when I make a goal Garrett is 100% in my corner. He keeps me honest and pushes me when I need it, and I do the same for him. It’s built in accountability and built in understanding. Although on the other hand — it’s a built in bullshit detector. Garrett can always tell when I’m making excuses and I can do the same. That’s the best/worst part. 🙂
3. Having a One Man Cheering Section Feels Pretty Great
We all have bad days. I had a remarkably bad one doing Fran the other day because I was feeling insecure, I wasn’t in a great head space and I let something get to me that I shouldn’t have. Ten thrusters in I dropped the barbell feeling so defeated, but Garrett quickly came over and started pep-talking me back into a good head space. And he knows just how to do that because he is my Partner in Crime. He followed me around for the next 6 minutes just like an overly aggressive Soccer Dad. And while that sounds nutso, it was JUST WHAT I NEEDED in that moment. And I was so grateful for him afterward.
4. We Now Prioritize Spending Time Together Improving Ourselves
Post-Workout Afterglow is one part sweatiness, one part happiness
I used to always spent 5-6 hours a week at the gym, but back in the day that was time that I spent away from Garrett. Alone time is necessary (OBVIOUSLY) but sharing a fitness routine for us has increased not only the quantity of time we get to spend together, but it has improved the quality of time. Now instead of spending that time watching tv or reading, we get to spend 5-7 hours a week supporting each other through challenging workouts. And it overflows into other things like making new recipes together, or supporting our buddies at CrossFit competitions on the weekends too. It’s fun having a shared interest that works its way into your social life. Speaking of social life…
5. It’s A Great Way To Meet Other Couples With Similar Interests
photo courtesy of Caity
Making friends as an adult is haaaaaaard, right? And making Friends Who Are Couples is also kind of a challenge. But lots of couples enjoy working out together, and it’s fun to have met so many in our short time CrossFitting. I just don’t think you don’t get that going to a regular gym, right? I mean can you imagine how creeper that would be if you were approached by folks on the prowl for couple friends at a 24 Hour Fitness? Awkward! 🙂 I’d be wondering if they were going to invite us to a key party, or trying to sell us on their pyramid scheme.
The most important thing that I’m constantly reminded of though when we head into our CrossFit box each though isn’t only specific to working out. When it comes to fitness, life, or especially relationships I think that there have been no truer words spoken than the one’s written on the back’s of all of our sweatshirts:
True Story, my friends. True Story. And I’m just so happy we’ve found such a fun way to put work into our relationship.
*unless otherwise noted, all photos courtesy of American River CrossFit.
More Blogs I’m Enjoying Lately
So we’ve talked about the My Favorite Clean Eating Food Blogs, and then a few months back I mentioned 5 Real Life Style Blogs You Should Be Reading. Because I just can’t help myself from sharing stuff that I like, I’m back to make More! Random! Recommendations!
Today, I have no good categories to share with you. No umbrella terms that encompass all the sites I want to tell you about. I’m just here with miscellaneous reading material that I’ve been enjoying lately. Who knows, maybe you’ll like them too? Or maybe you like them ALREADY, you smarty pants! I’ve never been really ahead of the curve on these things. 🙂
1. Everyday Elements
You guys I’m a crap-tastic photographer. And I’m okay with that…to a point. And for now. But it also something I find myself butting up against regularly — the inability to articulate — in my case, in a picture. You know what I’m saying, right. It’s frustrating to want to communicate something and have it come out nothing like you see it in your mind. Anyway, shortly after I picked up Photoshop Elements I stumbled across Everyday Elements on the recommendation of Hollywood Housewife (another super fun site you should totally be reading!) It’s been highly informative as I work my way through some of her tutorials etc. And with the impending death of Picnik (sob!) I think it’s time to take the plunge with PSE.
Billed as “Creative Ideas and Inspiration,” sort of makes it sound like it is Pinterest: The Blog Version. And there’s nothing wrong with that per se, except that it is not really accurate. Creative Something is a more analytical look at the spinning cogs of creativity: how to recongnize them, harness them, find more of it in your everyday life. There are a lot of great ideas and motivation on this site and I enjoy seeing new posts pop up in my reader.
Kathleen has a fun voice and likes to talk about all the things I like to read about: Style, food, decorating your house — you know, the good stuff! And then to top it all off she turned her successful freelance career and turned it into a legit creative agency with her sister. Reading stuff like that always makes me feel inspired to chart my own path, professionally speaking.
4. Shutterbean
So Tracy takes some pretty darn amazing photos of food. Oh, have we gathered yet that I am in a photography/food loving phase? Well, I’m really never NOT in a food loving phase, let’s just clarify that right quick! But anyway I came across her blog on Pinterest and had a fun time tooling around her awesome site. Then Amy (another arbiter of fun things) mentioned that she did a podcast with Joy the Baker that you can find over on HomeFries with a lot of other fun podcasts, if those are your bag. BUT EVEN MORE FUN than podcasts (to me at least!) are Tracy’s Home Fries Musings on Organization called High Straitenance. Good, good times for a crazy anti-hoarder like me!
So those are some of my random favorites. I think that’s plenty to keep you “Looking Busy” at work today, yes? 🙂
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What are some of your favorite miscellaneous blogs? My feed reader is greedy and always on the prowl.
I Tried It: Airbrush Tanning
The week before our Wedding Weekend Extravaganza I took to getting myself a fancy pants spray tan. My skin is incredibly pale, and while I’m not really against looking fresh-faced and ivory-colored, lately my legs are also covered in bumps and bruises and scrapes from CrossFit. I thought a tan might help me camouflage that, so I looked for tanning lamps for tanned skin.
I am generally a lily white or sunburned kind of gal — there is not a lot of in between for me. In fact I went to Maui for 12 days and hardly came back with a tan line despite many days on the beach. My skin’s natural state just doesn’t really evolve to glowy but now I can use airbrush makeup to hide wrinkles and give a glow to it. For a long-term solution to wrinkles and frown lines, you may consider anti-aging skin fillers.
Maybe you are one of those lucky folks who can just pile on the Jergens Natural Glow for a couple of weeks but I am so pale that even that will turn me orange, if it works at all.
So these were my legs the day I got sprayed (crappy iphone photo in bad lighting. Awesome!) But you get the idea:
Not a tragedy, but I knew (FOR SURE) I needed to involve a professional. Also, I knew I didn’t want to fry myself up in a tanning bed. I’m too old for that, man. Too much time spent in tanning beds in my 20s and all I have to show for that are laugh lines. BOO. So — a spray tan, it was!
There are two main types of spray tans you can get if you go to a salon: A spray booth tan or a custom spray tan. Both have pros and cons, but I chose the custom spray. Here’s why:
1. I’m sorry, but a decade later this experience is burned into my brain. This would totally happen to me! I didn’t want to take that chance.
2. Booth tans require you to walk through a series of timed poses without supervision, and most say it takes a time or two to get it right. While this is nice if you have time to experiment, I didn’t. It takes a certain level of skill that I didn’t want to practice. I just wanted it right the first time. We were heading to our Wedding Festivities Friday, so I scheduled my tan for Thursday evening after work.
3. A custom tan in my area only runs about $10 more + tip. SOLD.
Prior to Tanning
So I was advised there are a few things you need to do to prepare yourself for your tan:
*Make sure your skin is completely exfoliated and shaved. You are basically having someone spray a bunch of dye on you that develops over time (icky, but true!) so if you show up with dry skin, the dye is going to look blotchy. Skin Clinic Bristol can recommend and do treatments to help moisturize dry skin.
*That said, most salons will recommend that you do not moisturize for up to 6 hours prior to your appointment. I don’t get it, but I complied.
*You will want to remove your makeup. Maybe bring some of those makeup remover towelettes in your bag with your change of clothes. (I’ll talk about the clothes to bring in a minute.)
During Your Appointment
*You will arrive for your spray tan and need to decide your comfort level around nudity/tan lines.
*If you decide your comfort level involves wearing undergarments (thong/bra) bring ones that you don’t mind getting dirty. Even though the developing dye they spray is invisible, it is usually mixed with an instant bronzing agent that does have visible color. This will get on your clothes.
*Also if you do wear undergarments, make sure that you are comfortable with the tan lines they are going to leave. You may want to try on your swimsuit over them to make sure you won’t look funky when the tan is done.
My Experience: I’m just gonna throw it out there that I’m pretty comfortable with the idea of getting (mostly) naked in front of strangers. Not like random strangers, but for professional strangers my modesty level is fairly low. Keep in mind this is their job and part of what they do involves seeing naked people. They aren’t analyzing you, no matter how awkward it may seem.
I ended up choosing to just do it in a thong (boy, aren’t we getting all cozy up in here today) which I felt like was a good combination of getting a great tan without any hoo-ha flashing. That worked for me. If you want to keep more clothes on, again these are professionals, so no one is going to make you feel bad about that. It’s about YOUR comfort level. This is a service YOU are paying for, no one makes the rules but you!
*With a custom spray tan you will still be walking through wacky positions in various states of undress (which is hilarious, actually, if you can stop and be objective in the moment) but you will be doing it at the behest of the person controlling the dye gun. For me, this is worth its weight in gold. They won’t spray until you are ready. No chance of you coming out looking like Ross Gellar!
After The Spray
*When you are done, they will probably make you stand in front of a fan for a minute to let everything set. You will be dry but still feel sticky. You now have developer on you, plus the visible bronzing agent so you will feel kind of sticky like you just got home from a day at the beach but with less sand in your crack. (Yeah, I said it.)
*Pack some loose (preferably dark) clothing. The dye is water soluble so things are not going to stain for life, but the clothes you bring will get a bit bronzy. Just in case, don’t pack your super expensive and tight white pants, ok?
*Wait 6-8 hours before showering or sweating. This is tricky because you will look and feel like a slightly sticky Oompa-Loompa when you leave. You will want to shower immediately, but you cannot. Here I am in the Oompa Loompa phase
*Also, and maybe this is just a personal preference, don’t plan to have drinks with the ladies afterward. Or really anything social. You will feel kind of gross, look kind of orange, and brown stuff is going to be rubbing off on your clothes. Maybe have a nice night in! 🙂 Your color will continually develop as the night goes on.
*When you finally can shower (and it will feel GLORIOUS!) don’t exfoliate or use shower gels or lotions with mineral oils or AHAs in them. Both will decrease the length of your tan.
The Cost
So what kind of cashola does this set you back? I’m sure it varies. I spent $75 plus potentially the cost of a new set of sheets.
Here was the breakdown:
$40 for the tan
$8 for the fancy pre-lotion crap (that I probably wouldn’t buy again)
$17 for the post-tan “extender lotion” that really just looks like a fancy pants Jergens Natural Glow (I probably wouldnt’ buy that again either, but now I will have it for the next time, so…)
$10 for tip
Potentially the set of sheets? Well, we have bright white sheets on our bed and I couldn’t shower before sleeping that night. I wasn’t sure how much would rub off on my clothes 5 hours after the spray, but let me assure you: A LOT RUBS OFF. I washed my sheets afterward, and while everything totally came out, they are sort of dingy looking now. I’m sure I could bleach them but they are old sheets and I want a new set, so there. 🙂
The Result
Well, if you compare crappy, poorly lit iphone picture to crappy, poorly lit iphone picture I think you can tell a difference.
Don’t believe me, here’s another couple shots. See? Much darker with the spray tan!
Was it flawless? No, there was one spot on the inside of my hand/wrist that was a little dark, but that is to be expected I think. Can you imagine if I had done a booth tan? I feel like patches of my entire body would look like this! For a week. And that would be awful!
Overall I was very happy with the quality and precision, and I didn’t have to worry about barrier lotion or my fingers and toes or having blotch armpits, or looking like an *actual* Oompa Loompa.
How Long Does It Last?
I exfoliated, scrubbed, shaved and bought the fancy pre-lotion. I also followed all the instructions, waited to shower, didn’t use any mineral oil body wash, and followed up with a post-tan lotion extender. Whew! I’m exhausted thinking about all that maintenance. I would say the tan looked flawless for about 3 days. On day 4 it started to fade in spots. On day 6 it was patchy. By day 8, I was hardly tan. I’m writing this on Day 12 and I still have brown patches on my legs, despite exfoliation and it’s not that attractive. The Tan Aftermath isn’t that pretty.
The Verdict
Despite The Tan Aftermath, I would totally say this is worth it. You don’t have to spend $75. In fact, I could have spent $45-50 for the same quality. Also, most salons sell packages that make the tans considerably less expensive. The girl I saw has a package that is 3 for $100 and I’m honestly considering it.
It’s pricey enough that I won’t do every couple of weeks, but maybe I will treat myself and for $100 go once a month all summer. We’ll see!
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Any other questions that I didn’t answer? Leave ’em in the comments and I’ll respond.
Paleo Chocolate Chip Cookies
Listen, this definitely falls into the “treat” category, but it is a worthwhile treat in my opinion. Usually I am an abstainer from treats and would rather just have the real thing. You won’t find a lot of recipes around here for Paleo Desserts and such, because I’d rather just not eat dessert and then every once in a while have the kind of dessert I *truly* love (read: cake. always. every time.)
But sometimes you need to shake things up a bit. This weekend I had a hankering to bake (which RARELY happens in my house, I’m much more of a cooker than a baker) so I tried my hand at this recipe. Frisky Lemon is such a fun blog to read, by the way, stop by and check it out!
Now back to the cookies: They couldn’t have been easier, and I have to tell you the addition of cinnamon to the batter almost gave the cookies a flavor reminiscent of caramelized brown sugar. I think without it, these would just taste like cookies made from almond flour. The cinnamon is the ingredient that really makes magic! So hat tip to Allison for coming up with some real baking brilliance. If you and your friends are cookie lovers, you now can mail cookies to someone with Chocolate Shipped Cookies.
Ingredients
2 eggs, beaten
8 Tbsp butter, melted in the microwave
1 Tbsp vanilla
1/3 cup raw honey
1 1/2 cup almond flour
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2/3 cup dark chocolate chips
Method
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line a baking sheet with parchment (always a must with Paleo baking!)
2. Mix melted butter, eggs, honey and vanilla in a medium sized bowl.
3. Sift together all of the dry ingredients (except chocolate chips) directly onto the wet ingredients, stirring occasionally to mix the batter.
4. Fold in chocolate chips.
5. Your dough will be sticky/gooey — that’s ok. Spoon 2-3 TBS of batter on the parchment for each cookie.
6. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Mine came out perfect at 16 minutes.
7. Enjoy with an icy cold beverage of choice!
On Easter Weekend + Epiphanies
You’d be pleased to know that Operation: Have A Relaxing Weekend went off without a hitch!
Friday night we enjoyed a rainbow colored dinner and a bottle of wine while playing our New Favorite Game, like dorks. Since we both had Saturday morning off (which doesn’t always happen) we stayed up late. Ok, and maybe we opened a second bottle of wine.
Is that a heart in your wine glass or are you just happy to see me?
Saturday morning we slept in a bit and then headed over to open gym at American River CrossFit to do a workout that had looked particularly heinous this week. Our gym has an A and B track of workouts. Since we are currently doing the A workouts, and since we like torture, we decided to do this workout that had been programmed for the B track:
8 Rounds For Time (YIKES!)
10 Burpees
15 Jumping Lunges
20 Double Unders
25 yards of Shuttle Sprints
About 30 minutes later the aftermath looked was a sweat angel of fairly epic proportions:
Is it just me or does the outline of my body remind you of the old 80s kid’s game Cootie?
It was a GREAT workout, albeit a sweaty one. Afterward we headed over to Old Navy because I got a hot tip on some adorable workout tank tops that were on sale for $14. I’m going to workout in them this week and if they are as awesome as they are cute, I’ll let you know!
When I walked in to Old Navy, sitting right in the front of the store was the dress that I had been eyeing and tweeting about all week. In the size I wanted! (Or at least the size I thought I wanted, you never can tell with Old Navy!)
Luckily it fit, so obviously I had to buy it. Adults need Easter Dresses too, right? (And Easter shoes!)
Saturday night was another night in and I toyed with a new recipe for Paleo Chocolate Chip cookies as a treat. OHEEEEEMGEEEE you guys, they were super delicious!
Especially with a little shot of Coconut Almond Milk on the side — the treat of all treats! I’ll post the recipe later this afternoon because it was totally worth sharing!
Sunday morning we headed out to my mom’s for Easter Brunch, which is a family tradition no matter where you are or who you are with. Every year on Easter we eat eggs benedict, period. No questions asked. The end. You drink some Bloody Marys, you discuss how damn good the Hollandaise is at home vs. in restaurants, you cook together and most importantly you enjoy the day!
And this year was no different! And it was because everything went just according to tradition, that I had a major epiphany that I thought I’d share.
You see, 2 years ago we were celebrating Easter this exact same way up at my aunt’s house. Like I said, it’s TRADITION! We were making Eggs Benny, laughing in the kitchen and hanging out all together. It was April 2010 and it was right around that time that I had first heard of this crazy way of eating called Paleo. I was reading a lot of Bodies in Motivation (right before I started writing over there) and a number of people had hopped on this bandwagon of Ancestral Eating (Paleo/Primal/Whatever) and I thought to myself “THESE PEOPLE ARE NUTS.” I distinctly remember eating eggs benedict and thinking why would I ever even consider giving up bread? Or these traditions? Or these awesome moments with my family to “eat like a caveman?” It all just sounded so stupid and I had a smug little laugh to myself.
Here is a picture of Garrett and I from that day:
Here is a picture of us from yesterday:
Sadly, we are still sort of awkwardly un-photogenic. 🙂
But along with that, we are 140 lbs lighter between the two of us, we are almost 2 years entrenched into a fitness routine that we enjoy together 3-5 days a week, and we are the healthiest we’ve been, um…well, EVER. Do you know what we also did right after this picture? We ate eggs benedict, we enjoyed some bread, and we participated in family traditions that we have been participating in together for the last 7 years of our relationship. Easter still looks exactly the same, even though we’re Paleo.
There are many moments in life that still look EXACTLY the same, despite the fact that our diet only includes lean meats, vegetables, fruits, nuts and seeds. When you say that out loud to people (or when you read about it on the internet like I did years ago) it sounds pretty extreme. But in practice, it’s actually only an accumulation of small tweaks here and there and that we stick to 80-90% of the time. I thought to myself yesterday: I am so glad we stopped letting the “fear of missing out on food related events” be the excuse we used that kept us from trying something new.
The point here is not that you MUST try Paleo (ok, well maybe I want you to try it a little bit…haha!) But more importantly, what I do want to encourage is that if you are putting off making a change in your health because of Fear of Missing Out — take the plunge and try something different if your health is an area of life that you think needs a little work! It can be so hard to make a change, and sometimes it seems like we are hard wired to hold on to an excuse like that as a crutch — and why sabotage yourself like that?
For me the best change I ever made was going Paleo. But for a long time I let my fear of being a person on a “Special Diet” keep me from giving it a try. But I’m not a person with a “Special Diet.” And you won’t be either. I’m just a person who eats what I want, when I want, but I have chosen the Paleo Framework to be my compass. Two years ago I didn’t even have a compass, but there was no doubt in my mind that I was lost. This Easter, I was consciously deviating from my normal course. I enjoyed bread (gasp!) and muffins from a box (shocker!) and drank stiff drinks with abandon. The difference was I knew exactly where I stood…and more importantly, I knew exactly how to get back on course.
And I wanted to share that for those of you who consider making a change. It can be scary to chart a new course or deviate from the route that your friends are going down. But if you are letting the fear of change, the fear that things would be too extreme, or the fear that you would miss out too much hold you back — I just wanted to let you know that the view over here is just as awesome so GO FOR IT ALREADY!
What’s For Dinner?
Happy Easter!
While you are reading this post, I will be eating this plate of delicious eggs benedict. Well, not this exact one, but the one my mom is making me. And you can bet it will be good. But you aren’t here to find out what I’m eating right now, are you? How about I get on to what I’m eating next week!
Monday
Lunch: Taco Salad (duh.)
Dinner: Broccoli Slaw Frittata with Ham + Sweet Potato Hash
Tuesday
Lunch: Asian Ground Beef, Mushrooms + Broccoli Slaw Wraps
Dinner: Cayenne Rubbed Chicken with Avocado Salsa + Chili Zucchini
Wednesday
Lunch: Grilled Chicken Salad
Dinner: Turkey Satay Burgers + Sweet Potato Fries + Salad
Thursday
Lunch: Paleo-ified Chinese Spring Roll Salad with Grilled Chicken
Dinner: Balsamic Chicken + Peppers and Roasted Artichoke Salad
Friday
Lunch: Salmon Burgers and Roasted Yellow Squash Fries
Dinner: Leftovers or Go Out!
Saturday
Lunch: Brunch
Dinner: Grilled Marinated Flank Steak + Roasted Cauliflower with Jalapeno Cilantro Salsa Verde
Sunday
Shop!
*****
It’s looking to be a pretty tasty week. What’s cooking in your neck of the woods?
Your New Favorite Game: The Game of Life (As in: Get One)
The rules of our new favorite game (maybe yours too?) require you to know that Garrett and I are homebodies. Our days of chandelier swinging and Friday night’s out on the town until the bars close ended years ago, and what has settled in its place on Friday nights is the desire to have a a good dinner, a bottle of wine, our PJs and the DVR. I know my 21 year old self cringes at the thought of this but you know, my 21 year old self once had a bench warrant out for her arrest because she thought she was above the law, so what I’m saying is consider the source. But that is what happens after you have been dating someone a million years and have your own stupid inside jokes and language and silly nicknames for each other — a night in can be just as fun! More so even, right?
Additionally, in order to understand to allure of this game, you need to know that my new(ish) iPhone is still a novelty in our house. Garrett has a flip phone circa 2002 or something and so the iPhone with all of its bells and whistles is still majorly improving our quality of life on a daily basis. For example, we generally keep it on the coffee table at night and when we are watching random things on tv and have very important questions like “Was Richard Roundtree the guy in Shaft?” It’s great because we can immediately pick up my phone and google it. LIFE CHANGING, right? I KNOW!!! (Speaking of life changing, google *has* become The Killer of Wonder — you should go read that hysterical link. Holy Moses, story of my life!)
Anyway, the other night we were watching Psych and wondering whether the lead actor, James Roday, was still engaged to his co-star Maggie Lawson. Obviously we took to Google immediately because: why wait? So I typed in James Roday and immediately google pre-filled my search with terms “James Roday Fat.” I mean…seriously? Poor guy. Sure he’s put on a few pounds over the seasons, but can you imagine googling yourself and having INSERT NAME HERE: FAT be the first thing that pops up? So sad. Garrett and I discussed what pre-filled searches for our names that we would like to see pop up and we agreed upon “Garrett Franklin: Pretty” (HA!) and “Holly Woodcock: Bombshell.” I mean, it could happen right?
I’m getting off topic here — the game. The game! So, basically for the last few days we’ve been trying to guess what the first pre-filled search terms are for celebrities. For example: Megan Fox. I guessed “bitch,” Garrett guessed “hot.” But actually Megan Fox: THUMBS is what pops up and WOW — is that disturbing! We’ve seriously been playing this game for days! It’s almost as fun as the game we play when Mad Men is over and we try and guess the RIDICULOUS exclamations that the characters will be making in the previews for next week’s episode. Previews that make no sense and follow no plot lines. Keep that one in your pocket tomorrow too, for a good time! Hours of entertainment folks.
Also proof that we may need to get out more. Either/Or.
