What’s New in the ‘Hood

Another busy week flew by. By the way, where did May go?

Here’s a quick update on life:

• Catching up on sleep during the day-nothing really new there
• Celebrating my niece’s 13th birthday (and ate the most delicious chocolate cupcakes)

• Getting recognized from supervisors, clinical coordinators, other nurses and patients at the hospital who have been appreciating my hard work and being a team player. (This has been a rewarding experience thus far).
• Chasing ducks

• Daisy’s eggs have been hatched!

• Side braiding my hair because that’s the only way it’ll manage

• Getting ready for my 5 day weekend vacation in 3 weeks!

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• Saw “Men In Black 3-3D”

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• Bought my bridesmaid dress for my girlfriend’s wedding

Just kidding! Although, I thought it would be hysterical walking down the aisle looking like the Black Swan!

• Made some yummy meals

Old fashioned Meatloaf with sautéed kale

 

Turkey burgers on a whole wheat bun with homemade guacamole, grilled chicken wings, pasta salad, and grilled veggies all made for BBQ with some friends.

 

Salmon stuffed with crab mixture along with leftover grilled summer vegetables

Mixed salad (spinach, avocado, sweet red peppers, cucumbers, egg)with boneless grilled pork chop

Cinnamon Ezekial grain sprouted bread with goat cheese, Applegate Farms turkey sausage and blackberries

Applegate Farms (nitrate-free organic) ham sandwich on Ezekial grain sprouted bread with light mayo, cucumber, lettuce and tomato with a side of fresh cherries.

That’s about it folks! I’ve been getting inspired lately and will be posting some new recipes! Stay Tuned!

Be Active Kids!

There are days when I wish I was more active as a child. I played outside a lot, but I wasn’t really into sports mostly because I didn’t like being competitive nor did I feel I was coordinated enough. I was in acrobats for a year and I quit. I was in softball for a year and I quit. I bowled during my elementary, middle and high school years. And I played soccer in high school but was no super star.

Don't be too jealous that I was in the World Acrobat Championship ;)

If I were to do it all over again, I wish I played soccer or field hockey starting at a young age up to high school. I feel if I did this, not only would I be pretty good at sports, but I wouldn’t have had such weight issues.

It’s so important to get kids moving at an early age. Children who are regularly active are more likely to achieve a healthier adulthood. Children who begin activity early on will not only promote their health, but also build their social skills and individual confidence in their abilities.

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My husband owns a business called Amazing Athletes. It’s a sports and fitness program for preschool aged children where they build their motor skills, hand-eye coordination, cardiovascular fitness, and their whole childhood development while learning the basic fundamentals of nine different sports: baseball, football, basketball, volleyball, soccer, lacrosse, golf, hockey and tennis. This is the perfect program for those that want to get their child moving at an early age and help improve and promote their physical pursuits.

This weekend, I went to Virginia to visit my sister, brother-in-law, nieces, nephews and a few friends who moved back to NOVA (Northern Virginia, my home away from home). The weekend was jammed packed with the kids’ extracurricular activities.

Some included: my nieces Spring 2012 Girls on the Run 5K held at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA . I ran the Fall 2011 Girls on the Run 5K-my very first 5K which was an amazing experience. This time, the crowd was almost double the size and her and her friends from her group had a blast! I was suppose to be her buddy runner again, but I had planned on visiting once registration was already closed. My niece LOVES to run and she’s already planning on another 5K, a 10K and a mud run this year. Yay for healthy teens!

And… healthy tweens! My nephews, who also love running, had their (eh-hem 5 hour) track meet on Sunday. Tyler and Jacob both participated in the 100 & 200 meters. Tyler’s other event was the softball throw and Jake’s was the long jump. They did… good

The track meet was long since it involved hundreds of kids from Northern Virginia. It’s not school vs school but by different track & field organizations in the counties. Regardless of it being boring long, it was great to see not only my nephews but hundreds of children ages 9-14 promoting healthy and fit lives.

Whether it’s swinging across the monkey bars to getting involved in a sport, get your child fit and keep them active so that they can establish healthy patterns that leads to adulthood!

Question of the day: Were you an active child? What kind of activities did you do growing up?

Kale Chips

Tonight’s dinner wasn’t anything spectacular, however, I decided to try these easy peasy “kale chips” my team has been talking about as a side dish.

Recently, I became a HUGE fan of kale. I usually like my kale sautéed in sunflower oil with almonds and blueberries, so I was curious to try something new.

Oh my Gawd. They are soooo good! Shawn said they tasted like potato chips but healthier! Ha, nooot quiiiiiite The kale chips were super crispy, like chips, tasty, but a tad bit salty. I definitely need to go lighter on the salt next time.

Kale Chips

Ingredients:

• 1 head of Kale, washed thoroughly
• Sea Salt
• EVOO

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees
• Remove ribs from kale and cut into 1 1/2 inch pieces. Place on a baking sheet and toss with olive oil and salt. Bake 10 minutes, flip over and bake for another 10 minutes.

Once dinner was over, I checked up on our new little friend.

Meet Daisy!

This is Daisy (yes, we named her-how original, right?!?) . She’s a neighborhood duck that decided to lay eggs on our front lawn. We noticed her on Sunday while doing some lawn work so we’re unsure how long she’s actually been here. Apparently, ducks lay on their eggs for about 28 days (4 weeks) until they hatch. Because we’re such hospitable people, we decided to feed her some stale bread since she’s probably going to be chillin’ here for a while. This is her second round of bread since Sunday, so at least she’s eating! I can’t wait to meet “our” little ducklings!

If anyone has any interesting facts about ducks, please share! We have so many hanging out in our ‘hood!

Shameless Workout Playlist

The other day, I decided to tied up my running shoes and run until I couldn’t anymore.  The only functional iPod my husband and I have is my purple iPod shuffle which I only use for my workouts/runs.

I turned on my iPod and Bon Jovi came on. I wasn’t feeling it, so I moved on to the next song and it’s Jovi again! And the next, ugh- the next… “Wait a minute,” I thought. Shawn deleted my entire playlist and added his! Okay, so let’s FYI this one: I like Bon Jovi… a lot… I’m a pure bred Jersey girl. Now you see, I married the poster child of New Jersey who only listens to 3 maybe 4 artists and one of them is…take a guess: Bon Jovi! Since Jovi has been playing constantly in our home, cars, iPod playlists, I’ve grown to part my ways with his music more and more. Thanks to Shawn. I put a lot of time creating my own workout playlist so when I turned it on I was quite disappointed to  only hear Bon Jovi, Billy Joel, and Yellowcard.

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At this point, you’re probably wondering what you can find on my workout playlist. Well naturally, an eclectic of music!

Summary of “The List”

Since most of you don’t know me, you will learn that I am the Queen of the 80’s! So, you’ll find lots of 80’s hairband and pop music. Oh and don’t forget punk rock! “Punk rawk” was my high school jam (and still kinda is ) And shorty, I LOVE to shake my boot-ay so you’ll hear the latest hip hop and dance tunes. SOME showtunes, though I tend to omit it from my workout playlist UNLESS its RENT or WICKED! All of this includes upbeat tempos and beats. I need to be PUMPED during my workouts!

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My Shameless Workout Playlist

• Tomorrow is Another Day-MxPx
• I’m Okay, You’re Okay-MxPx (Anything MxPx)
• Carousel-Blink 182
• Run the World-Beyonce
• I Got a Feeling-Black Eyed Peas
• Up all Night-Blink 182
• Holding Out for a Hero-Bonnie Tyler
• Rio-Duran Duran
• Defying Gravity-Wicked
• Calabria 2007- Enur
• Yeah-Usher
• Hands Down-Dashboard Confessional
• Low-Flo Rida
• Ready and Waiting to Fall-Mae
• Your Love-The Outfield
• Emergency-Paramore
• International Love-Pitbull
• I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles)-The Proclaimers
• Beer-Reel Big Fish
• Blister in the Sun-Violent Femmes
• Surf Wax America-Weezer
• Chicken Fried-Zac Brown Band
• Come Originial-311
• In da Club-50 Cent
• Like a Prayer-Madonna
• Rent-Rent
• On the Floor-JLo
• Give a Little Bit-The Polka Family Band…. Did I forget to mention that I was crowned the Polka Princess of 2005? I guess we’ll need to discuss this another time 

 

Oh just you wait and see my friends

 

Question of the day: What could I find on your workout playlist? What is your workout anthem?

My workout anthem: Quiet Things That No One Ever Knows-by Brand New. It’s an angry song so I get all of my stress, frustration or whatever is left in me out of me during my workout. Good song and what a good feeling!

Back on Track

Once again, I was a shady blogger in the last week. I wasn’t feeling too hot, at all- but I’m finally starting to feel better and get back into the swing of things.

Since I haven’t had much of an appetite, I didn’t eat much and if I did, it wasn’t filled with good nutrients. Also, working out was out of the question except for my 3 mile run on Saturday and my water intake was pretty lame.

Tomorrow, I have big plans to eat healthy, keep track of everything accurately and workout intensely.

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Despite feeling icky, 2 great things happened in the last week:

1. I got recognized by my clinical coordinator and night charge nurse for doing a stellar job at work. It’s always a good feeling when someone goes out of their way to praise you for a job well done. Then a card and gift on top of it makes it even more special! That was super exciting news for me!

2. I came home Saturday morning from work. I didn’t have the most pleasant night. I was so beat I plopped myself on the couch (After a rinse off and change into fresh clothes, of course!).  Shawn woke me up after 2 hours of sleep with breakfast and this…

Roses, 20 oz Wawa Coffee and Chocolate Covered Fruit

 

Oh my gosh…chocolate covered fruit from the Fudge Shoppe….

A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! He gave me a small assortment of strawberries, blackberries, raspberries and blueberries dipped in milk and dark chocolate. To die for!

I was able to sneak in 4 more hours of sleep before we headed over to our friends’, John and Colleen’s house to meet their newborn-ish baby boy, JR.

Isn’t he such a cutie?!?

Unfortunately, I needed to learn how to share him with our friends. But…But…But… I looooove babies!

Obviously some men don’t have paternal instincts.

We all enjoyed our time reuniting, catching up, and sharing lots of laughs. These group of people are truly my favorite. We always learn something new that’s going on in each others current lives… like Pete’s new worldly travels and that Chris is moving to Hollywood to attend one of the best screenwriting schools in the country (!!!) And planning our annual weekend getaway together… so fun!

John, our southern friend and best griller ever, made some of his famous BBQ chicken for us to knaw on.  I brought over jalapeno chedder cheese and buffalo cheese dips for us to share.

Good times with good friends!

Now, I’m off to watch the Devils/Rangers game (Go Devils!) and plan my meals for the week with whatever is left over in the house! I’m going away this weekend so food shopping is silly and a little pointless.

Have a great night!

3 Meals in 3 Hours

I love days off. I’ve been off from work since Friday and don’t have to be back into work until Tuesday night. I take full advantage of my days off by keeping up with the house, working out, sleeping and relaxing. It’s glorious.

After an intense workout this morning that included hurdles, jumping over walls, and jump ropes…  making the most amazing Greek Omelet, and sleeping the afternoon away, I woke up around 4pm feeling refreshed and ambitious in the kitchen.

First, I was hungry and craving veggies. For real! Most of my veggies from the farmer’s market stayed fresh from last week so I chopped up a fresh Black Bean & Mango Salad.

In it included:

Black beans, mango, green and red peppers, scallions, jalapeno peppers, freshly squeezed lime, cilantro, some salt, pepper, EVOO, and red wine vinegar.

It was delicious! And now, I have a week’s worth of lunch! Yum!

Shortly after, it was time to cook dinner. I’ve been cooking a lot of poultry lately and was feeling fishy-but of course, I used our household favorite shellfish: Shrimp.

My all-time favorite meal to cook is Shrimp & Rice (in a garlic-wine sauce).

Shrimp & Rice is a Portuguese/Spanish dish and the recipe below is my parent’s specialty. Tonight was one of the best I’ve made and gave myself a good pat on the back! My papa would be proud!

Shrimp & Rice

Ingredients:

• Uncooked Shrimp peeled and deveined
• White rice
• Chopped garlic and onions-lot's of it!
• Chopped parsley and red peppers
• White Wine
• Portuguese olive oil or EVOO
• Kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder and hot sauce to taste

Directions:

Cook the rice in a separate pot. While rice is cooking, heat up a large sauce pan with a generous amount of oil. Once heated over medium high heat, sauté onions and garlic. Add red peppers and shrimp.

Cook shrimp until pink.

Add parsley and about 1/4 cup of white wine. Add seasonings (garlic powder, salt, pepper and hot sauce. Adjust to your liking).

Sprinkle some bijol or saffron to rice to make it yellow.

Add rice to shrimp in the garlic sauce. Stir until mixed and heated through.

(I kept somebody busy during all this cookin’ )

Then it was time for dessert! Hubby wanted something sweet so I whipped up a quick batch of homemade chocolate-chocolate chip cookies. Except we had a bit of problem…. NO EGGS! I can’t believe we went through 2 cartons of eggs in 9 days! I guess we overdid it with the extra protein! Yikes!

Instead, I baked. EGGLESS Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Or you can call them FLAT EGGLESS Chocolate-Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Not sure what happened (I swear I added the baking soda, powder and flour!) but this is pretty embarrassing. I have to admit-they are tasty though! And FYI-I created my own recipe. Next time, I’ll be sure to drive to the local convenient store to pick up a carton of eggs AND follow a cookie recipe. This is just sad. So so sad.

At least my late lunch and dinner came out wonderful! Dessert, well, at least it’s chocolately, sweet, and will still go well with a glass of milk. Hopefully I can convince hubby to eat these! (My goodness! At this moment I’m hearing him in the kitchen saying “What did you do to my cookies!!!???” Oooops.)

Now, I’m off to catch up on “The Killing.” (love that show!) Have a great night!