Is it strange that I decided just this week to set some new years resolutions? I've never been someone who was even into the whole resolution thing. I ALWAYS want to lose weight, I ALWAYS want to eat healthier, I ALWAYS want to save money. So I've never really understood the point. But for some reason, I wanted to have some things to focus on and work towards right now. I also wanted to put them in writing and keep them someplace in my apartment, where I could see them each day, as a reminder of some changes I want to make, so I jotted them on a piece of printer paper and keep them on my desk.
Here's what we're workin' with (in no particular order):
Eat healthier
Train for, and run, the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon
Wear my retainer regularly
Save money - invest wisely in my ING savings account and 401(k)
Focus on advancing my career
Find a church home
Get involved in the local community
Not too shabby, eh? Some are easier than others. The retainer thing seems weird, I know, but I want to keep my teeth nice and when I forget to wear it for awhile, my teeth visibly shift. Mom and Dad spent $2-grand on these pearly whites, so gotta make it a wise investment!
I've been really good about eating well and running so far in January. And with my great new job, that's definitely helping to advance my career! I've put a little moolah into my savings account, but my 401(k) doesn't kick in until 45 days in at the new gig. I haven't really made an effort with the last two, but hey - I've got 11 more months, right?! So now that I've thrown it on the blog, I have people who can keep me accountable. If anyone else actually reads this, that is! :)
I encourage other folks to set some goals...always nice to be able to check off a list!
If I could live on carbs alone, I would. I LOVE me some carbs. Breads, pastas, rice, beans, potatoes....YUM. So I'm trying to limit myself a bit and eat more produce, as I try to lose some weight and get in shape.
Not only am I training for this marathon in October, but I have some other - more superficial reasons - to lose the lbs. One of my good friends from college is getting married in June, and her bachelorette party is in April in....VEGAS! I've only been to Vegas once, and I can't wait to go back. There's gonna be quite a few of us girls there, and I just want to be comfortable in a bathing suit, poolside at the Hard Rock. Secondly, one of my best friends from high school is getting married in September and I am so excited to be one of her bridesmaids! I love being a bridesmaid, but don't want to waddle down the aisle as the fat kid. So I'm hoping to be a size 2 by then. Alright, so a size 2 may be unrealistic, but a girl can dream. I like to blame genetics and say, "I'm not made to be a size 2", when in reality, I don't have the self-control for a size 2. :)
Anyhow, back to my carbs. While I'm running and eating salads for lunch every day, I'm not going to beat myself up over a few carbs in the evening. Tonight I made one of my favorite dishes. I first had something like this at an Italian restaurant near where my sister lives - we went there for her birthday one year. It's basically pasta with TONS of garlic, tomatoes, olive oil and seasonings. The key is the massive amounts of garlic - without it, it lacks a kick. So I experimented a bit and have done a pretty darn good job recreating it. Feel free to try it - recipe is below. (I like to make this when I have tomatoes that are on the verge of over-ripening and need to hurry up and use 'em!) Oh, and I made the name up - 'cuz I think it's a good description!
Bruscetta Spaghetti
8+ cloves of garlic, minced
3 medium tomatoes (I use roma), chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
~1tbsp of herb-mix seasoning (I like McCormick Original Perfect Pinch Seasoning)
~1/2 tbsp of sea salt
a handful of spaghetti noodles
Prepare the pasta in a large pot. In a medium pan, saute the garlic in the olive oil for a few minutes. Don't let the garlic brown. Add tomatoes and saute for about 5 mins until tomatoes have softened. Add salt and seasoning and lower heat to simmer a few minutes - until pasta is ready. Toss (drained) spaghetti and olive oil combo together and serve hot. This will make 2 large servings.
I think I found the best way to watch what I eat at night (my most dangerous snacking time). I need to run after work, before dinner. Because (a) I have less of an appetite right after a run and (b) I don't want to eat after just working my butt of to lose the calories. Tonight I had a baked potato and sauteed kale and garlic. Yum! - but healthy! I'm gonna stop the morning runs and switch to evening runs for awhile!
I'm still trying to re-familiarize my body with what exercise feels like - since I've done nothing, outside of walking, for the past 6+ months - but I am not cute while huffing and puffing down the street. Not only am I chubby, but to add insult to injury, all of my running clothes are a leetle too small. And I can suck in pretty hard for the first mile, but after that, I just don't care how much gut is hanging over my waistband. (I hope you have a lovely visual.) But when I'm the driver, passing a chubby runner, I give them more credit than the skinny folk. It'd be a lot easier to run if I had 50 less lbs on me!
Here's my beef (I need to find another way of wording that) with DC runners. In Minnesota, when you pass another runner, they smile...or nod...or wave...or say hello. I keep smiling and waving to DC runners and get a blank, almost angry, stare in return. What the eff, people?! We're one in the same - super cool runnin' people. SMILE AT ME, YO! It must just be that whole "Minnesota nice" thing. I will try not to hold a grudge against the mean, miserable jerk face DC runners. On second thought - maybe no one's smiling, because they're busy staring in awe at my gut...hanging over my waist band. Hmmm.
On that note, I want to share my brownies recipe with you. Best brownies ever. I made a pan tonight for a bake sale that we're holding at work tomorrow. All the funds raise will be matched by our agency and donated to help the survivors of the Haiti earthquake. So not only do these brownies not contain any animal cruelty, but they will also help people! Enjoy.
Vegan Brownies
INGREDIENTS
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 cups white sugar
1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup water
½ cup strong coffee
¼ cup vegetable oil
½ cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cups vegan chocolate chips
DIRECTIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees
In a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, cocoa powder, baking powder and salt. Pour in water, coffee, vegetable oil, applesauce, vanilla and chocolate chips; mix until well blended. Spread evenly in a 9x13 inch baking pan.
Bake for 30 to 45 minutes in the preheated oven, until the top is no longer shiny. Let cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting into squares.
I'm back in the advertising world!! I'm so excited to be 3 days in at TMP Government, located just outside Washington, DC., as a Sr Media Planner! God is good -- the last year of my life reminds me that there is a greater plan for me and that I need to trust in Him to guide me where I should be. Although I had a really negative experience at PETA, it got me out to DC - a city I love - and if I hadn't gone after my "dream job", I would never know. The grass is always greener...but when you get to the neighbor's plush green lawn, it doesn't always look so great. Suddenly your old yard wasn't so bad. My apologies for the awkward analogies, but I'm just really glad that I gave the nonprofit world a shot, but am back to a world I know and love - ad agencies!
With this great upward movement in my life, I've also decided to take on one more marathon. I'm going to run the 2010 Marine Corps Marathon in October. It's supposed to be incredible, and it's right outside my door, and I just want *one more*. I think that will be the end of my marathoning career, but who knows. I'm so indecisive. Yesterday was Day 1 back in the running/training mode. I'm feeling it today - and I only ran 3 miles! Ha! It will be a long road (literally!) back to being in a condition to run long distance, but I'm so up for it. Just gotta keep my eye on the prize. Plus, I'm able to sleep in a later now vs when I was working at the Children's Hospital, so why not squeeze a run in before work, right?
My outlook is so bright and I am thankful for everything I have in my life. Ready for whatever God has in store for me next! :)
....that I had a blog, but never added any new posts? Oh yeah. That's right.
I've had a lot going on. I'm no longer with PETA. Thank God. It was not a good fit. I'm not a believer in micro-management, as I have faith in those that I work with. I also have compassion and love for both animals AND humans. Which is not the case for most folks there. The last few weeks were painful. I've never been treated so poorly in my life.
Anyhow, I had a good "in" at the DC Children's Hospital (Children's National Medical Center), so was able to line up a position in the Pathology dept pretty darn quickly, so bills are paid. :) It's about the exact opposite of what I've done in the past (read: science-related), but it's been great. Such a wonderful work environment - I'm valued, trusted and appreciated. So it's a great space filler until I find my next great move in my Communications/Advertising career.
I will say that the two weeks of time I had off between the two jobs was also incredible! I LOVED staying home. I don't think I could ever get bored with staying at home all day. It would be nice to have some additional spending money on top of the free time. But my apartment was SO CLEAN -- and Jakers got about 12 walks a day. :)
So there's a quick update. I'll try to get back on my blogging game now, too! Some great recipes to share...as always!
I'm really excited about this weekend! I'm attending a Baltimore Orioles game with some friends on Sunday. Just in the knick of the time, with playoffs starting next week! I am an on-again, off-again MLB fan. I mean, I always enjoy baseball, but some years I'm able to follow the season better than others. This was not one of those seasons. And although I'm a MN Twins fan through and through, I think it will be really fun to check out another team and my Dad keeps insisting Camden Yards is supposed to be a gorgeous stadium. So that should be fun.
In anticipation of spending some money this weekend, I wanted to save some money on dinner tonight. I looked in my cupboards and noticed how many cans of various beans I had. Why would I buy cannelloni beans, kidney beans and lima beans? And they were all purchased on separate occasions. Hmm. Well, I put 'em to good use and made soup. I ended up making 4 quarts, so I froze some and plan to eat the rest over the weekend, but I did come number-crunching and I think I made all 4 qts for under $10! Maybe someday I'll have my finances under control! :) Anyhow, I was pleasantly surprised with how delicious this turned out. I hope you, too, enjoy this recipe!
Becky's Bean & Veggie Soup
8 cups veggie broth olive oil ~10 cloves garlic 1 medium onion 3 cans of beans - I think any would work, but I used cannelloni, kidney and lima 4 celery stalks 3 carrots 3 red potatoes salt, pepper Old Bay Seasoning (or some other seasoning with a little kick)
Chop onion and garlic cloves, saute in olive oil in large pot (4 qts or larger) until onions become translucent. Add veggie broth and bring to boil. Add salt, pepper and other seasonings. Rinse beans and add to pot. Bring to boil and reduce heat, simmering for about 45 mins. Add chopped carrots, celery and potatoes and simmer another hour.
Serve with bread or crackers. Refrigerate or freeze leftovers.
Sorry about my lag time in posting! But it's Labor Day Weekend and I've got VERY little going on, so plenty of time to post today. :) I'm happy to have three straight days of relaxing and catching up on housework.
Although, my weekend started out kind of rough. Jakers had an emergency vet visit on Saturday morning, and we found out he had a scratch across his eye. Aww! Poor babe! The vet is guessing a cat (perhaps by the name of Mabel?) :) is the culprit. So he's on pain meds and eye drops all weekend. Makes me glad that I didn't plan a trip for this weekend! Plus, I've been back and forth to MN twice in the past month for friends' weddings, so I could use a weekend at home.
Of course I can't have a weekend sans-baking, so I just finished taking my oatmeal raisin cookies out of the oven. I'm not even that big of a fan of oatmeal raisin, but I don't have any vegan chocolate chips in the house, so had to try something new. These are SO GOOD. I think I'll have to bake a full batch (I only made half, so I could have some sweets in the house, but not risk binging!) and bring them into work this week. Just that good.
Try 'em out and let me know what you think! :)
Soft 'n Chewy Oatmeal Raisin Cookies
3/4 cup margarine (make sure it's vegan!)
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup soy milk
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup raisins
3 cups rolled or quick cooking oatmeal
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Beat together the sugar, brown sugar, vegan margarine and vanilla until smooth and fluffy. Add the soy milk and mix until combined.
Add the flour, baking soda, salt and spices, and stir until well mixed. Add raisins and oatmeal.
Drop by 3 inch balls onto cookie sheet and flatten slightly. Bake 12-15 minutes, or until done. Cookies will still be slightly soft and chewy. Perfecto!
