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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: August 2012
July 2012 // Books
Last month was a good reading month. Well, not in quantity necessarily, but certainly in quality. Every book I read was a recommend, and even though they were similar on the surface, all were very different. I’m actually excited to tell you about every single one of them, and when does that happen all in one month? Not a single stinker!
23 books down this year on my (new and improved!) goal of 50.
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand
I mentioned last month that we read this for book club and that I devoured it over one singular weekend. I do not recommend that you do that, at all. This is sort of a book to savor, I think, and having to rush through it bummed me out because it is epic in nature. Don’t you love a good true story of triumph over UNTHINKABLE obstacles. And that really sums up this entire book (cliche as it may sound) but what I enjoyed most was that the author didn’t dwell on the unthinkable.
These types of books have the potential to be chock full of description of bad things happening to good people and those books generally make me feel a little bummed. This was not a bummer at all — it was just realistic enough to have you gasping on occasion, but inspiring enough for you to be able to tolerate all the crappy stuff because you know it all works out in the end when you go into it. That said, the entire time I read about his time floating on the ocean I was SO FREAKING THIRSTY. And I felt sort of guilty that I could just hop up and grab a glass of water at my convenience. Hillenbrand paints a vivid and entertaining portrait of a man and of a particular point in history. It is a completely worthwhile read.
Most Talkative: Stories From the Front Lines of Pop Culture by Andy Cohen
You had to know I would read this, what with my love of all things Bravo and specifically the Real Housewives of Everywhere. Guilty Pleasure with No Apologies. I love some good trash television! That said, I did not have high expectations of it. I wasn’t sure Andy Cohen’s life was going to be full of memoir filling information and so I picked it up just to see if there was any juicy Housewives gossip or interesting tales about running a network.
First of all — he is super interesting. Specifically, I found his career trajectory and experiences engaging. I didn’t realize his background was in news and so hearing about the decades where he was at the front lines of major world events was exciting. And he totally drops stories about famous people along the way in a perfect Celeb Autobiography way. Is there anything worse that cracking open the memoir of a famous person just to have them tell stories and keep everyone nameless. Hate that. None of that here.
The housewives scoop was not as large as I would have liked (but let’s be honest, I could read a whole book on that topic and I realize this was Cohen’s memoir, not a Housewives memoir) but what he did dish was very revealing in an indirect way. You definitely learn who he likes and dislikes and he gives insight into the way things are filmed and the varying personalities. This book was like candy you all, and I was so sad when it was over!
Dinner: A Love Story: It All Begins At The Family Table by Jenny Rosenstrach
I picked this up on a whim, as it was sitting in the “Lucky Day” section of my library. I mean, I’m a fan of dinner and you know I love a good food love story, so I thought it was worth picking up. Man, I love when I’m right.
This book is a mix of memoir and cookbook and commentary on how making dinner can help bring your family together. I’m a fan of this concept in general — food, and specifically the ritual of a meal, bringing people closer together — so I was not a hard sell on the overall concept. What I loved was how she showed what this looks like in various stages of life: as a young couple, with brand new babies, with toddlers who sit at the table. Dinner at every stage of life. She gave some good tips and inspiration for all of the phases and told some funny stories in the process.
A surprising benefit (to me at least) were the versatility of the recipes. I eat a pretty specific diet so I rarely go into a mainstream cookbook expecting to have a ton of takewaways, but there were a lot of recipes that I copied verbatim, and a lot that were easy to modify in a way that worked for my lifestyle. Total win! And beautifully photographed and designed. It felt like reading a really fun blog, but the paper version, which I guess is no surprise since she writes one.
It Starts With Food by Dallas and Melissa Hartwig
I have read A LOT of books about what to eat, let me tell you and not all of them are very valuable. Forgive me for putting what I’m about to say in giant letters but I would like to make sure I underscore this appropriately: THIS BOOK IS THE LEAST DOGMATIC, MOST PRACTICAL RESOURCE ON HOW TO EAT TO MAKE YOURSELF HEALTHIER, NO MATTER HOW YOU CURRENTLY EAT. If you identify as Paleo, great – you will love it. If you do not identify as Paleo, I think you will also love it, because all of the information just makes sense and is really quite easy to read.
Now, it’s not 100% perfect, I definitely think the reliance on cute analogies goes maybe a step too far; however, science can be hard to understand and it is helpful to do it in a way that is easily digestible, so I was glad they erred on the side of cutesy rather than extra science-y, personally. Regardless, this book WILL change your life. I really believe that. I wish I could gift it to everyone I know just so they could get a glimpse of what factors they actually can control with relatively little effort.
I’m not the type of person who thinks that everyone should be doing and eating exactly what I am, but I am someone who thinks that as a person, as an adult rather, you should be at least *have* a philosophy about the food you eat. And Dallas and Melissa impart a lot of wisdom that I think can help ANYONE clarify, perfect, or amend their food philosophies in a way that is not at all preachy. And lack of preachy when talking about food is pretty darn hard to do. And if you are someone who wonders if this book is worth buying if you read their site regularly — it is. Surely you can find all of the information they discuss somewhere on the internet (if not 100% on their site) but it is a convenient compendium and a great resource and completely worth investing the (less than) $20.
CHECK IT OUT, YO.
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So…hooray for great books this month! Tell me what you read and what you thought.
Whole 30 – The First 5 Days
Well, we’re 1/6 of the way through our first Whole 30 and I can say with absolute certainty that I haven’t had a bad meal yet! And I’m feeling pretty fantastic. That said, it hasn’t been without its challenges.
1. Taco Salad using a new vinaigrette, 2. Chili Redux with Steamed Broccoli, 3. Leftover Tri Trip Salad, 4. Herb Rubbed Tri Tip, Broccoli, Avocado, Tomatoes, 5. Roasting Sweet Potatoes, 6. photo, 7. Mish Mash Brekkie: frittata, leftover broccoli, cherries, coffee. #whole30, 8. Lobster Cocktail with Clarified Butter (not pictured Salad with hard boiled egg, olive oil and vinegar), 9. Fried Eggs, Sweet Potato Hash + Zucchini Fritters
Days 1-5
Thus far the Whole 30 has been pretty mellow. We are cooking delicious food, there are no “marginal” ingredients in the house so there is no temptation there (I’m uh…not so good with temptation) and life hasn’t felt dramatically different. That said, last week was NOT a typical week.
For starters, we only worked out once (I mentioned we both ripped our hands open TO THE EXTREME on Monday and this, plus other scheduling things, hindered workouts all week. HUGE bummer!) This meant I didn’t have to deal with eating real food instead of my beloved protein shakes post workout. I anticipated that being a challenge, but since I didn’t work out at all I can’t give you any update. Boo.
The first major challenge that we did encounter though happened on the first night. I had meant to prepare some Chocolate Chili on the weekend and hadn’t. I told myself not to worry about it that I’d just make it Wednesday night, but when I busted out the recipe at 6pm I realized that it takes more than 2 hours to make. And I was missing a major ingredient. FAIL. 🙂 In the end I just threw together a chili-like dish (no chocolate) with protein, veggies and spices and while it was not at all the beautiful first-night meal I had anticipated, we didn’t go hungry. Victory.
The second major challenge ended up having to do with casino food. HUH? You see, I do a good amount of traveling for my job (mostly day trips) and they can come on a moments notice. I got a phone call that I would be going to Reno last Thursday for the entire day (Road Trip, on only Day Two!!!) and all of a sudden I had a serious panic attack. What the hell would I eat in Reno? I was meeting with many strangers and honestly I was already sort of concerned about all the hand shaking I would have to do with my hideous ripped open hands. Now I was going to have to be the food nazi too? This was a SALES-ISH MEETING. I was trying to look amenable and agreeable. Siiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigh.
In the end though, we ended up lunching at the seafood bar at the Atlantis (which is actually super delicious) and while everyone else ate sushi, I happily gobbled up a lobster cocktail with clarified butter (Totally legit!) and a salad with olive oil and balsamic that I had them add a hard boiled egg to for some extra protein. In the end, no need for panic at all. No one was the wiser. And I actually got some high fives for “Ordering the Lobster” which, um…hello? Who DOESN’T want lobster?
I thought Friday night would be a challenge since that is usually when Garrett and I both want to crack open a bottle of wine on the patio and kick up our feet, but Garrett had to wake up at 4am for work on Saturday morning so neither of us even thought about drinking. Saturday night though? After running errands and being productive, doing the grocery shopping and then cooking up an awesome dinner on the grill– well, we missed the wine. And talked about it. Quite a bit. 🙂 But we’ll survive! Instead of wine as a reward, we rewarded ourselves by sitting down and watching a movie together and eating a bowl of cherries instead of popcorn. Totally fun, even though the movie was so lame it was funny.
Sunday (Day Five! What? This is flying by!) I spent a few hours chopping, measuring and stirring and I’ve prepped a portion of almost every meal we’re going to eat this week. Usually when I do this on Sundays I snack on some little treat like sweet potato chips or (even better) DRIED MANGO!! I missed that yesterday, but mostly just out of habit. I wasn’t hungry, and I have really come to understand that my obsession with both of those snacky items goes from “enjoying a bite or two” to “can someone help me unhinge my jaw so I can get this down faster” pretty quickly, so even though I sort of salivated at the thought, I just kind of distracted myself and kept on moving.
Desire for jaw unhinging, I think, is a pretty good indicator of an “Unhealthy Psychological Response” to food. I enjoyed finding that term in Dallas and Melissa’s book It Starts with Food, which I finished right before we embarked on this Whole 30. Part of this experiment is acknowledging those foods that you don’t really eat because they are nourishing you, but rather to get some sort of fix: comfort, sugar, whatever. I don’t have a lot of those, but let me tell you dried mangoes and sweet potato chips are definitely a slippery slope for me!
Someone asked me the other day if I was really going to cook all 30 recipes in this post? In reality, I probably will not get to all 30. But for me, that list was more of a strategy to keep my own anxiety at bay. It feels better to go into something like this armed with some creative ideas. Despite not planning to stick to that list exclusively, I will be absolutely cooking something every single night (except for two nights when we have plans that include dinner out, which will be their own challenges.) How I keep myself from feeling overwhelmed by all those meals is the Sunday afternoon prep. It is seriously a life-saver and I just can’t recommend it enough if you are going to try to undertake a 30 day nutritional challenge.
Things I Miss
So…is everything absolutely easy-peasy and perfect? No. I miss my glass of wine, damnit! But guess what? I am feeling notably better. So whether it is the seed oils that I’ve given up, or the little bits of sugar here and there, or the alcohol completely — it has absolutely made a difference in only 5 days. And I was eating (what I thought was) pretty clean beforehand. I’m also concentrating on getting a good amount of sleep, and what do you know? If you get enough sleep, you actually think about other things when you wake up in the morning instead of thinking WHERE IS MY COFFEE the second your eyelids crack open.
The other things I’m missing like crazy are my taco salad dressing options. Yes, even though every single one is full of sugar and other crap. I made a substitute vinaigrette that I thought would taste okay and it was only alright. Still working on a replacement for that. And you know I won’t be eliminating Taco Salad this month so a solution MUST BE FOUND! 🙂 Saturday night’s dinner included making Melissa’s Moroccan Dipping Oil with cilantro and let me tell you I literally wanted to drink that right out of the jar. I’m thinking the mix of flavors might taste pretty damn good on Taco Salad so I mixed up a batch yesterday for just that purpose. I’ll report back!
Things Coming Up
I have lots more to say about this little experiment but I think I’ve probably said enough for now. So far so good, but can I get a GODDAMN GLASS OF WINE? NO? HRRRRRMMMPH. OK.
I’m going to show you what’s going on in my fridge this week and also tell you about some of the other habits that I am trying to take the time to incorporate into my lifestyle. Healthy Habits can be hard to create, but one of the things that I’ve realized is that most of the time they aren’t any harder or more time consuming than what you are already doing, they just aren’t part of the routine yet. So we’re trying to routinize some other things that will benefit our health during this experiment and then see if they stick! Here’s to hoping.
Hope you all are having a good Monday. How have your first few days gone?
Currently
It’s Friday! Let’s get current…
I am currently:
Attempting to harness my little cousin Olivia’s fierceness. I mean, will you just look at her in that picture? Pretty sure there is not a bone in her body that is not self-assured and ready to rock. You gotta get your inspiration where you can, and today I’m trying to move through life like a self assured lady who knows how to roar. I have to say this is harder than it looks. 🙂
Working On keeping August free of excessive socialization. As such, I’m planning lots of homebody-esque activities: Cooking Marathons, Project Life Craftiness, Roku-obsessing, Cabinet Organizing, Book Reading, Garden Tending, Backyard Picnicking. WAHOOOOO!
Lamenting the fact that my workouts this week have been almost non-existant. Monday we did Angie which involves (among other things) doing 100 pull ups. At about 75 pullups in I just ripped my hands up completely. My grip technique is clearly sub par and this is such a painful way to come to that realization. Tuesday I couldn’t even think about picking a barbell up without bleeding. Wednesday + Thursday was more of the same. Today is the first day I will even be able to go back to the gym and I’m frustrated about that. I’m not *completely* sane when I don’t workout. This week has been full of odd brain fog and a little bit of sadness over that.
Listening To The Sex with Emily podcast. Have you guys been watching Miss Advised on Bravo? That show is kind of a train wreck but an entertaining one to witness. One of the gals is from the Bay Area and does a weekly podcast on all things sex. I like her non-judgmental vibe, and she was the most normal on the show the best so I tuned in to her podcast. WOW is it full of, um…adult content. I a little bit turn fuscia when I listen to it but it’s also smart, entertaining and the radio equivalent to Really Good People Watching, so I haven’t turned it off yet. Think PhD in Sexuality, not necessarily Trying to Hard To Be Vulgar.
Thankful that Garrett remembers to do things like take the garbage cans out on Thursday night. I am terrible at remembering these types of repetitive house chores and if I was left to my own devices my life would most certainly resemble Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout’s!
Reading Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl and loving it so far. It sounds like people either love or hate this book. I love a polarizing read! Plus it’s been a while since I flipped my way through a good page turning book with lots of suspense. I’m excited about that. But also a little worried since I do most of my reading right before bed. EEK! 🙂
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So what’s going on with YOU currently?
A Month of Whole 30 Dinner Ideas
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When it comes to embarking on any nutritional challenges, the big question becomes WHAT THE HELL AM I GONNA EAT? In my opinion, the challenge of this is all relative to how you are currently eating and how much you like to cook. With the Whole 30 I can see how it could seem daunting. Honestly though, I think it’s just a matter of organizing your recipes. This has been my number one strategy.
Dinner has to get on the table nightly anyway, right? Might as well cook up some deliciously Whole 30 compliant food! One of the first things I did when I decided to do the Whole 30 was to grab a calendar and pick out 30 recipes I have eaten in the past and loved or recipes that made me excited to cook in the future. It helped with the WHAT THE HELL AM I GOING TO EAT anxiety. 🙂
Now, I’m not trying to ignore breakfast and lunch — uh…we definitely eat them around here. 🙂 But for me those are more routinized meals. For breakfast I’m making Easy Frittatas on the weekend (no cheese, obviously!) and serving with some fruit or spaghetti squash, or I do my standard hard boiled eggs with fruit or vegetables. Those work for me and are SIMPLE. I can’t whip up 3 fresh meals per day — I work full time, hit the gym multiple times a week, run this website and OMG NEED TO SLEEP!
For lunch I’m mostly sticking to salads with protein I cook up in batches (grilled chicken, browned ground beef) and homemade vinaigrettes (no honey during the Whole 30 though!) or I enjoy my dinner leftovers. So let’s get to the fun stuff. Let’s talk dinner! It’s 30 days, let’s make these meals good!
Day 1: Chocolate Chili over spinach with avocados and green onions. I add a little extra kick to this since Garrett enjoys his food MOLTEN LAVA HOT.
Day 2: Thai Green Curry over Cauliflower Rice Curries are so easy you almost don’t need a recipe. Simmer your favorite meat and veggies in a coconutty broth, pour over cauli rice and enjoy!
Day 3: Baked Salmon with Basil Walnut Pesto Yep, Garrett has agreed to eat some salmon for this month and we’ve got a freezer stocked full of it and a garden overflowing with basil. Match made in heaven.
Day 4: Apple and Bacon Rosemary Pork Burgers I love a good burger…just call me the Paleo Rachael Ray — I could have a burger every night and never make the same one.
Day 5: Herb Topped Tri Tip Steaks with Sauteed Radishes Meat + Radishes are such a winning combo. And even though I LOVE raw radishes, sauteeing them just does a little something. I definitely recommend.
Day 6: Ginger Chicken Two great tastes and all that 🙂
Day 7: Moroccan Chicken Despite never being able to spell it correctly the first time, I have never had a recipe with Moroccan flavors disappoint!
Day 8: Masala Chili with Kale + Kohlrabi Chilis are great to make batches of on the weekend. This one is uniquely flavored and uses two of my fave veggies: Kale and Kohlrabi.
Day 9: Deconstructed Gyro Salad Another make ahead weekend recipe and the greek flavors are refreshing!
Day 10: Grilled Lamb Chops with Chimichuri served with a side salad and some grilled veggies doused in oregano olive oil. I freaking LOVE little mini lamb chops but never make them for myself. Let’s remedy that, STAT.
Day 11: Mexican Meatza I’ve made this so many times and love it more and more every time I do. It pairs well with a tomato and cucumber salad. Crispy, spicy, refreshing, delicious.
Day 12: Mexican Hash Egg Bake Breakfast for dinner is always fun, but you gotta spice it up a bit!
Day 13: Baked Mustard Lime Chicken If I can’t have honey mustard chicken, then this recipe will have to do!
Day 14: How about a crockpot meal? I mean, it’s been 2 weeks, treat yourself to some laziness in the kitchen already!
Day 15: Mexican Chicken Lime Soup Make it up on the weekend, eat it all week!
Day 16: Apple Dijon Burgers topped with Caramelized Onions + A Fried Egg What did I tell you about burgers. Love. Just make sure your dijon does not have wine or sugar in it!
Day 17: Southwest Meat Loaf I’m sorry, I would anything for meat loaf. (But I won’t do that! OOOOOOOOH NO.)
Day 18: Bison Sweet Potato Chili – Dreamy! And not gamey! I swear.
Day 19: Turkey Satay Burgers — get your sweet and spicy fix in burger form.
Day 20: Sun Dried Tomato Meatballs with Creamy Pesto Everyday Paleo can do no wrong, right?
Day 21: Rogan Josh Indian food is amazingly flavorful. And this dish is no exception.
Day 22: Paleo Pad Thai Because after 22 days of clean eating you might have a hankering for fast food. (Ok probably not.) Regardless, this will taste better.
Day 23: Crockpot Asian Style Carnitas Listen I would eat trash can style carnitas. I love pork! But these are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than that!
Day 24: Caramelized Italian Pork Chops with Sweet Onion Jam This is an absolute favorite in our house. YUM!
Day 25: Crockpot Brazilian Chicken Curry Juli’s recipes are always fun and sassy! This looks like a great mix of flavors with easy preparation.
Day 26: SB+J Burger served with some BBQ 3000 sweet potato fries and some veggies. I’ve never made this, but I’m a fan of the Peanut Butter and Banana style Elvis Burgers. OMG. Can’t wait to try this.
Day 27: Roasted Butternut Squash Coconut Curry Soup This has amazing flavor and warmth. Plus it is rich and hearty and easy to make!
Day 28: Bo Kho – Brisket with Lemongrass I love me some brisket and never miss an opportunity to make some!
Day 29: Moroccan Zucchini Boats – Get rid of that overflowing zucchini from your garden! And I still can’t spell Moroccan right.
Day 30: Ok, there HAS to be some leftovers right? You’ve done a lot of cooking! Tonight you are having “mustgo.” As in EVERYTHING IN THE FRIDGE MUST GO.
Day 31: Mexican Food. Juuuuuust kidding. Just wanted to see how many of you actually got down this far. 🙂
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Ok…here is where you come in, you all. Lots of us are doing this challenge together, so drop some recipes in the comments of your favorite Whole 30 compliant dinners. I’m talking Quick Dinners, Simple Dinners, BBQ Dinners, Fancy Dinners for Guests. You name it! Let’s help each other out!
July Progress + August Intentions
Oh July, you were a wily one.
I wanted to keep one day per weekend to myself and I did not do a great job at that. The beginning of the month started strong but in the end we traveled, and overscheduled, and basically got a little crazy.
All fun, but not what I set out to do. Not even close.
Whenever I set intentions and don’t actually do them I try and figure out if I was not being honest with myself about what I really wanted, or if I just failed to set boundaries appropriately. This month was a boundary issue, for sure.
My intention to eat clean 7 days a week got a C-minus. On the days I did it, I was supah dupah clean and awesome. On the days I didn’t – well, we ate a food trucks. I wish I had the energy to be upset with myself for all of this, but oh wait — no I don’t.
That said, I miss having energy. So let’s switch this mutha up, shall we?
August Intentions
We’re going easy-peasy this month.
1. Have fun with the Whole 30. Commit, without craziness. That is my one intention for the entire experience. Enjoy cooking. Enjoy observing. Enjoy learning. Enjoying sharing about it. That sounds manageable.
2. Figure out what you really want and set your boundaries clearly. If you don’t want drama, don’t engage. If you don’t want to be tired, sleep. If you don’t want to be doing 900 things at a time, then say no to 899 of them. That sounds slightly harder. Yet doable.
3. Review Summer Bucket List. Then figure out what’s left that you feel like doing. And the rest? Don’t worry about it!
4. Watch a lot of bad TV. Oh you guys, we bought a Roku box and I seriously never want to leave my house again. If you need me I’ll be on my couch streaming television until the end of time.
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Anyway. Goals: short and sweet. Written down. Because I need that right now.
