Cooking you can count on...

I've been in the "experimental" phase of cooking for awhile now: getting to know what Trav likes, what I like, what's quick and easy and what's worth the effort. I try to use new recipes at every opportunity, and while I don't cook quite as much as I'd like, I've started to collect a handful of recipes I can whip up and know they'll be good. Here's a few of my random favourites; try them out if you have a chance. If they turn out for me, I guarantee you'll make them work too.

Pasta Carbonara

I had never tried this pasta until I made it myself. So delicious! Wholesome, pure ingredients. And yes, not the lowest in calories but it's real food. Kaitlyn and I whipped it up Friday night while sipping some shiraz – bliss. This is the recipe I use, from The Pioneer Woman Cooks. Ree Drummond has taught me so much about cooking and her recipes always turn out. I recommend anything she recommends!

Sweet Potato Fries and Garlic Aioli

Alright, so I don't make the fries from scratch...McCain actually sells them frozen, and they are a better choice than your regular bag of frozen fries. Since trying sweet potato fries last year Blue Plate downtown, I crave them all the time! However, the mayo-based dip (I know, I know, not the healthiest) is necessity. Always, always. This recipe is easy and quick, and tastes just like the restaurant's dip...if not better!

Cheesy Homemade Macaroni

Again, Pioneer Woman comes through! Never, ever resort KD again.

Crash Hot Potatoes

Such simple ingredients, so crunchy and tasty...if you're craving salt or crunch or potato chips, this will fit the bill. And with heart healthy olive oil...it's a much better choice!

Spinach Dip

Travis and I love Kelsey's...people make fun of us for going to the family restaurant, but if you try their spinach dip, you'd understand. Fricken amazing! It's exactly why we go. They used to deep fry their pita chips that went along with the dip, but now they have a baked variety...healthier yes, but not quite as exciting. I found this recipe that rips of the Kelsey's original, and it's pretty darn close! Great for parties, snacking, or just because.

I have more recipes...but those are the ones that initially come to mind. I'll have to do a dessert feature later, because we all know I'd rather indulge in a dessert if I had to choose!

: (

I'm grumpy and exhausted. At least it's Friday, but ugh. That's not even getting me excited today! I couldn't sleep last night; I was up til about 3. That especially annoys me when I had an early night planned – all to myself. My brother came home with his gf and neither of them were very respectful to the fact that I was in the next room over.... GRRRRRRRRRRR! And it doesn't help that I'm the lightest sleeper ever and my mind likes to race AFTER 11 pm.

Sigh. I'm ready for Jamaica! We leave at the beginning of December, and I'm SO READY!

So here goes, I'm going to do my best to make this day enjoyable despite my complaints and groggy head. I have a million things to be grateful for. And one of those of course is you, so as always, thanks for listening... : )

Quick! New Blog Shoutouts...

I'm becoming more and more of a blogger fiend...you get so much for free! This made me tear up a little...(must be the strange mood I've been in lately). It's pieces of advice we ALL can use.

And bodyrock.tv - my new go-to workout spot. Zuzana has the most amazing body and determination. And again, it's free.

Enjoy your Monday...I'm off to teach a room of hyper children dance.

Cut. It. Out.

I've been attempting a healthier lifestyle the last few months or so. Nothing drastic, because this is something I want to be able to adapt and do forever. I've begun by making smallish changes slowly...educating myself along the way.

I've gotten much better at reading nutritional labels and now only eat cereal that has 10 grams of sugar or less, but at least 5 grams of fiber. Not many fit that bill! Kashi Flakes and Fiber is my favourite...but of course I do add in a handful of chocolate chips to take care of my sweet tooth first thing (I hope that doesn't cancel out the nutritional benefits)! I've also started eating almost as soon as I get up. It gets everything revved up and gives me a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

I've also cut out pop completely, diet or otherwise – including for mixed drinks, so that's why I've been a fan of vodka water. That's not to say I'm perfect all the time...at the odd party you're handed a drink mixed with pop and sometimes you don't have much of a choice but to drink it. But overall, there's hardly any pop coming my way. (Trav and I have even been bringing water to the movies!)

I'm ready for my next challenge now, and that will be to cut out margarine and butter on my bread (note that I will NEVER eliminate bread from my diet. It's just not worth going through life without it!!!). I'm going to try replacing it with olive oil. I'm trying to watch the preservatives in my bread too, and have heard that buying straight from a bakery is the way to go. It's ridiculous how many ingredients bagged, sliced bread has. So many additives...notice how it can last for weeks and weeks? That's just not natural; no wonder our bodies are getting confused and softening up. They don't know how to process it...and that goes for sooooo many fake foods. We're a processed nation, and I'm the first to admit I've been a slave to it. It's just so easy! This is much more of my concern as opposed to calorie or fat count. So for now I'm going to try the bakery...how can anyone argue with freshly baked bread?!

I could talk forever about this stuff as I learn more and more...I find it so fascinating in my quest to be healthier, stronger and fitter.

Have you cut out anything or made any recent changes in your diet or lifestyle?

New obsession

Remember how I used to collect magazines? Well mostly I've cleaned up that habit a bit. To save us money I FINALLY purchased a subscription to Glamour, the magazine I do actually read and enjoy every single month. The rest of them? Shhh, don't tell, but I totally read them in the drugstore at lunchtime. Score! And I check out blogs a lot more to get my reader's fix. Seriously, I've figured in doing so I've saved about 40 bucks a month at least...around 500 bucks a year!

Alas, I have started enjoying something else though...workout videos! I bought two off ebay with some leftover paypal funds I had from a secret shop I did ages ago. I don't plan on getting a gym membership anytime soon, and I really enjoy working out at home (which makes it doable timewise...just throw on my clothes and do it! I save a ton of time.) I just needed a bit of variety because all I was doing was Jillian's videos (which will always be my staples; you know I love her). I just got a new one just the other day that I'm super excited to try, by Cathe Friedrich. She's supposed to more advanced, so I'm pumped to try it because most of them are introductory levels which doesn't do much for me now. My collection is at around 15 or so. Trav and I have Jamaica in December...that's two months to get it tight and together, so I've got no excuses to try every one! I'll certainly let you know how it goes.

Stalled but moving...

Don't you hate that feeling? Every day I make it through my list of menial things to do: going here, going there, working, cleaning, shopping, filing, paying bills, etc. But then there's those bigger things that just don't happen. Read: bathroom reno. Ongoing for a couple of months now. Between Trav and I and our opposite schedules and multiple jobs, it just ain't happening! Instead I'm working on ways to forget about it and relax, haha. Right now the floor is torn up, and we finally went to End of the Roll and purchased some lino. The finish line is so far away...

Fresh and frugal?

I've seen inspiration many places...from Jillian Michaels' latest book (LOVE!) to Young House Love's tips on living on less. Trav and I are budgeting tighter now, but that doesn't mean we can't have as much fun as before! I'm actually enjoying ways to cut back...it simplifies life and ensures you're spending your hard-earned money on things that are really important to you. And it certainly forces you to be creative, which is perhaps the best part for me. I have a couple of cheapo house projects on the go that I'm very excited about, so once those are complete, I'm super excited to share them – stay tuned!

In the meantime, I've examined other ways to live a little more simply, and finally thought to give this a try: natural cleaning products. I mean vinegar, baking soda, hydrogen peroxide and lemon juice. That's it. Nothing else. No windex, or clorex wipes (my fave), no vim, no bleach...you get the idea. It seemed a little hippie to me at first, but the more I research it, the more I get excited about (I know, getting excited about cleaning. I'm really turning into my mother!) I'm also a migraine sufferer, and usually wake up with headaches in the morning, so I'm hoping this helps. I'm extremely sensitive to chemicals. (I remember this one strong tub cleaner we had. Mom had me clean the shower and I threw up 12 times right after and had the worst shakes of my life! Isn't that scary?) So I thought this might be an interesting and much healthier route to try. And of course, it's cheap!

Here's the article that will get me on my way. I have the products (from the dollar store!)...I'm just using up my old cleaners (I don't want to waste everything) and then I'll be trying these tips out. I also found this article about the endless uses for vinegar totally entertaining. Happy cleaning!