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By Kim, April 4, 2010 4:39 pm

I really felt like I needed this week-end to get refreshed and recharged for the upcoming work week.  I was so tired last week.  So this week-end was spent enjoying the time off and relaxing with my wonderful husband.  Friday night was date night and we went out for some drinks after work and then on to dinner.  It was so much fun. Both of us couldn’t remember the last time we had done that.  It felt nice to unwind after a long week.

On Saturday morning, we woke up with homemade lattes.

I also tried a recipe for baked oatmeal pancakes that I have been wanting to try for a while now. It was very quick and super filling.  I couldn’t eat the entire thing.  We topped out oatmeal pancakes with some strawberry Greek yogurt and fresh strawberries.

Doesn’t that look delicious? Trust me, it was. My husband thought it was pretty awesome too. I’m sure this will be a repeat meal.

Baked Oatmeal Pancake (1 serving)

1 package instant oatmeal

1/4 cup liquid egg whites

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp flax seeds

Mix all the ingredients and pour batter onto a frying pan and shape into a pancake while cooking.  Cook evenly for about 2-3 minutes. Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy.

After breakfast, we gave Moose a walk that was way overdue.  This past week the weather was so bad and super windy so it wasn’t the best walking conditions. He was pumped and got out a lot of energy.  We ran errands yesterday and then relaxed and watched the NCAA Final Four games.  I’m not a big basketball fan, but my husband is, so I let him enjoy some sports so he could relax too.

All in all this week-end couldn’t have been much better. I seriously needed some quality time with my husband and recharge.  It feels so refreshing to relax and enjoy quality time with the people you love.

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By Kim, April 3, 2010 9:46 pm

I just got the Motorola Backflip and I am in love! I have been wanting to get a new phone for a while now and my contract was finally up to renew. Needless to say I am pretty pumped. I can blog from my phone now, so expect more from me. I am writing this post from my phone right now. So awesome!
Check out my new phone:
AT&T

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By Kim, March 28, 2010 1:22 pm

I have been missing for the last couple of days because we had a family emergency. The past few days have been very tiring and I just didn’t have the desire to write.   Family is so important and that was all that was on my mind.  We got home last night and totally vegged out on the couch.  I think we needed some serious down time.

This morning I wanted to make some serious comfort food. Sometimes you just want something that makes you feel a little more at ease.  I know it is probably not the healthiest but I just didn’t care this morning. So I decided that we needed some homemade chocolate chip cookies.  What is better than that? Plus my husband loves cookies so I figured he would help me enjoy them too!

I got busy on my cookie dough this afternoon. Check out the delicious looking dough. I could not resist a little sample.

The cookies turned out super good. They are soft and chewy. I do not like hard cookies. Plus the house smells like homemade cookies. I love that smell.  I think the cookies served the comfort purpose I was seeking.

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed

1/2 cup sugar

1 cup softened butter

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

1 12 oz. package of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  Combine the flour, salt and baking soda in a bowl and set aside.  Combine brown sugar, sugar, butter and vanilla and beat until creamy.  Add eggs and beat. Add the dry ingredients and mix well. Stir in chocolate chips. Drop mixture by rounded spoonfuls onto a non-greased cookie sheet. Bake 8-10 minutes. Makes about 2 dozen cookies.

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By Kim, March 17, 2010 6:42 pm

It is only Wednesday!!! Ugh, can you believe it? It totally feels like it should be Friday. I hate it when weeks drag on and on.  I wish it were Friday already.  At least I made it through the day.

The weather has been so nice here.  It said it was 70 degrees today! I love it when Spring is on the horizon.  Although in Reno, it can be sunny and beautiful one day and the next day snowing, so I refuse to get to excited about all the nice weather.  I just wish I was off of work to be outside and enjoy it.

When I got home from work, I took Moose for a walk.  We have walked every day this week and he loves it.  All I have to say is the word “walk” and gets so excited and jumps all around.  He follows me around as I get ready and waits at the front door until it is time to go.  I know he loves Spring just as much as I do because he gets so many more walks.

After our walk I did my 30-day shred.  I finally moved up to Level 2 and it is like 3 times as hard as Level 1.  I feel like the workout is much more effective.  I can tell my body is working harder.  Maybe I should have tried Level 2 sooner than I did, but oh well.  At least I have started with it.  I sort of lost track of what day I am on, but I think it is somewhere around 12 or 13.  So I am close to being half-way through the 30-day shred program. Go me!  I am so proud of myself for sticking with it.  I can already tell I feel a little stronger than when I first started.  At least my motivation has not flown out the door.

I hope the next couple of days go by super fast and this week-end drags on. But I know that will not happen.  Week-ends always go by super fast. I just have to tell myself, two more days!

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By Kim, March 15, 2010 7:52 pm

On a cold day, a nice warm bowl of chili always hits the spot.  We had some cold weather on Friday, so on Saturday I pulled out the crock pot and let it do its magic! I love my crock pot.  I put everything in and it all comes out delicious.  If you don’t have a crock pot, I highly recommend getting one.  But enough of my crock pot and back to my chili.

I have a classic go-to recipe that I have been using for a while now.  It always turns out good and is super easy to make.  I always make corn bread to go with our chili, but this time I decided not to use a mix and make it from scratch.  I have to say that homemade corn bread is so much better than any mix.  It had a hint of sweetness and it was not too dry.  Sometimes the mix stuff turns out so dry, I feel like I need water to wash it down with.

Doesn’t that look awesome? It was!  We had leftovers all week-end and it is already gone! I guess my husband must have liked it!

Check out the recipes below of you are looking for a great easy meal.

Homemade Chili

Ingredients:

1-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef or turkey

2 cups chopped onion

1 cup chopped green pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 15-ounce cans dark kidney beans, rinsed

1 15-ounce can tomato sauce

1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes

6 teaspoons chili powder

1 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Directions:

Cook ground beef/turkey with onion, peppers and garlic.  Drain the fat.  In a 4-quart crock pot, combine the meat mixture with the kidney beans, tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, chili powder, basil and pepper.  Stir well. Cover and cook on high for 5-6 hours or on low for 8-10 hours.

Adapted from Better Homes Cookbook.

Homemade Corn Bread

Ingredients:

1 cup yellow corn meal

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 cup sugar

1 tbsp. baking powder

1 tsp. salt

1 cup milk

1/3 cup vegetable oil

1 large egg, lightly beaten

Directions:

1- Preheat over to 4oo degrees.  Grease a 8-inc square baking pan.

2- Combine corn meal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.  Combine milk, oil and egg in a small bowl, mix well.  Add milk mixture to flour mixture and stir just until blended.  Pour into prepared pan.

3- Bake for 20-25 minutes. Serve warm.

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By Kim, March 10, 2010 2:20 pm

Look what we woke up to this morning!

Snow! Not a ton of snow, but enough for Reno drivers to freak out.  We get a light dusting of snow and this morning they reported 25 different car accidents during the morning commute.  The drivers in Reno are seriously some of the worst I have ever encountered anywhere.  On top of the freak out during snow, they also love to drive 50 in the fast lane.  It is seriously bad.  But enough about the bad drivers and snow.   The sun is out now and the snow is all melted.  It is actually turning into a pretty nice day.

I woke up and did day eight of my 30 day shred.  I felt very tired again this morning but afterwards I had a ton of energy and so far it is still lasting.  I am glad I got up and worked out!

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By Kim, March 9, 2010 8:26 pm

When my alarm went off this morning, I almost did not make it.  I felt so tired.  I was laying there thinking, there is no way I can do this today.  But somehow I got up and I did my workout.  I am so glad I did because I had a long day today and I did not want to workout tonight after work.

I find it harder to exercise after work than first thing in the morning.  I do not know why, but my motivation seems to be gone after working all day long.  Motivation is something I have talked about before, but sometimes it is very hard to keep going.

Hopefully tomorrow will be easier to get up!

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By Kim, March 8, 2010 9:13 pm

I woke up early this morning to do day six of the 30 day shred and when I got out of bed my whole body was so stiff.  I guess skiing yesterday made my body pretty sore today.  I have been sore all day long! I was hoping it would die down a little today as the day went on, but I guess sitting at a desk all day doesn’t help loosen out your muscles!

I can’t believe it is only Monday! Today was so slow.  It felt like I was at work forever.  I wish it were Friday! Only 4 more days till Friday, right?!?! I think I have a case of the Mondays.  I hope tomorrow goes by faster than today did.

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By Kim, March 7, 2010 8:01 pm

Today we made it skiing and we were both so glad we waited to go today! The weather was beautiful this morning. The sun was out and it felt like a Spring day.  Check out the mountain waiting for us this morning!

When it comes to skiing I am a total beginner.  Adam, on the other hand, has been skiing since he was 3 years old!  Of course, he grew up close to Lake Tahoe and I grew up in the extreme heat of Las Vegas.  But it still took him about 5 years of dating before he got me on the mountain.  I had gone a few times before I met him, but I never had a really good time, so I was never really exited about it.

Well I guess that all changed a couple of years ago.  I finally gave it another try and I had a really good time.  Now this year I even got a season pass and I have been skiing all winter.

Today was a great day of skiing.  Each time I go, I feel like I am getting a tiny bit better than the last time.   I am already looking forward to next week-end, so we can go again!

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By Kim, March 6, 2010 7:58 pm

So today we were going to go skiing, but last night me and my husband, Adam, drank a little too much wine.  Plus the weather is supposed to be better tomorrow. Not that those are excuses or anything, but we will be in better form tomorrow.

So instead of skiing today, we went to Alice in Wonderland in 3D.  When I was younger I loved the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, so I was pretty excited to see this one.  It was super good. I won’t spoil it for other people who haven’t seen it, but the 3D stuff was very cool.  I would totally recommend it to anyone.  Even Adam liked it!

Sometimes it’s really nice to have a lazy day after a long week of work!