Diet Week

Well today officially starts the family diets week. Summer is winding down and soon the holidays will be here and we all know what that means - eat, eat, eat!

Today I hit the gym that is on campus and free for all students and staff. It was truly an experience. From the moment I walked in and noticed that all the lockers in the dressing room need to have a lock if you want your stuff to be safe. They are also teeny tiny and no where big enough for my big gym bag. Then I noticed that you cannot change in the bathroom stall and they said to change in the shower stall instead - yeah I broke that rule. Then I walked all my crap back out to my car and then back into the workout room. Upon entering I noticed how small it is, nothing to brag about that's for sure. They had 2 treadmils, a bike, lots of extreme exercise equipment, free weights from 5lb to 40lb, medicine balls and of course plenty of mirrors so you can watch yourself get big and bulky and sweaty. When I walked in I noticed that I would be sharing the room with not 1, not two, but 8 big, iron pumping, college guys. Playing on the radio was the same Eminem song on repeat. They all looked at me as if they've never seen a female before let alone one who bypasses the treadmill and heads straight to the free weights. Yes I love free weights over any machine so even though there were guys watching me and my chubby thighs from every angle at least I didn't have to share my free weights with them. After working on my arms, doing 200 jumping jacks (my favorite!) and doing a mile on the treadmill I was sweating bullets and exhausted.

Now I am home and planning dinner but mostly on my mind is dessert - chocolate zucchini bread baby!

Click the picture for a link to Taste of Home's two loaf recipe

Dinner will be some leaner chicken recipe and probably some pasta as a side. My husband tried to fit in every unhealthy calorie he could before diet week began. So now I'm putting all the fried chicken aside and going with a baked or grilled chicken. I prefer to eat my calories in chocolate anyway!

Cheers!

Mind Games

Why is it that when our mind gets something in mind that it wants, it's not satisfied until it gets it? Example? I just finished making dinner - lasagna roll-ups and yeast rolls. I had put it off until the very last minute (that would let me finish at 6pm) because I simply wasn't feeling the roll ups. But I had lasagna noodles for over a month now. The only thing I didn't have was ricotta cheese but it worked out fine. I enjoyed putting them together and serving them to my husband but the whole time while cooking my mind was looking forward to the rolls that I serve. These are the yeast rolls you can get at SAMS Club - 30 for $8 and they go from frozen to tabletop in 10 minutes - easiest and best rolls outside of homemade.

So with that said I ate the lasagna roll ups and saved the roll for last but...my mind was not satisfied. My mind wanted cereal now. Specifically frosted shredded wheat but ironically enough I JUST finished my last box. Luckily enough raisin brain satisfied my "cereal" tooth. Now lets hope it's satisfied enough so I don't have to make the brownies it's trying to trick me into...

In other news I bought a new MP3 player and I'm going to attempt going to the gym on campus 3 days a week. I'm currently trying to find good workout music since I lost all my previous music when my hard drive crashed. Right now I'm totally in love with the Glee mash-up tunes! Which is weird because I honestly don't like the show Glee past the 1st season. I watched through the 3rd season and when everyone and their cousin was turning gay/bi I stopped. But besides that I'm so lost with what kind of music is current and "hip" right now that I'm going back to my N'sync and Hanson roots. Yes don't hate on Hanson - their actually one of the good bands from the 90s that didn't break up or go postal. 

I wanted to put a few of my favorite things out here right now because I know I'll probably forget that I love them so much at some point so this is to jog my memory. 

1. Peach Poppy hand soap - smells like summer!
2. Lemon Gelato Candle - again, smells like summer
3. My new MP3 player this thing holds up like nobody's business

4. Archer Farms Tiramisu Coffee - I never get tired of it! However I think Target has discontinued it I totally should have stocked up...I am sad

So there you are - whoever reads this. The husband are about to head out for a nice walk since the humidity has disappeared for the day - yay!

Now how much longer until Fall? Pumpkin spice everything, scarves, boots, a chill in the air? Count me in, bring it on!

Cheers

Puppy Love

We are currently in talks about getting a puppy! Since my husband is opposed to lap dogs we have agreed to get a Labrador Retriever - black or yellow. I fell in love with one and by the time we got approved to have the dog in our townhouse she had a new owner. Now I've found another precious one and going to show her to my husband tonight hopefully!

Life as a married woman never seems to slow down and even when it does I find myself wanted to speed it up and doing lots of fun things with my husband. We currently went to a local beach (terrible day in my opinion) and on a double date with a girlfriend of mine down here that I've known for almost a year now. When we are not beach hopping or double dating we are big ole homebodies. We watch more Netflix then anyone I know and play video games and look at puppies on the internet machine. That is when there isn't laundry to do, bathrooms to clean, or cuddling to be had.

My cooking is definitely getting better - I am no longer afraid to fry things! We are trying to work out way through a butt load of meat we bought from a salesman. Yes it was out of the trunk of his car, they do exist! However we bought so much flavored chicken (southwestern, italian, honey mustard) that I don't have enough recipes to use it up. My new tactic is to thaw the chicken completely and then rinse off all of the seasoning. This works way better then I ever thought it would! Also amongst the meat we bought was all sorts of beef so we have filet mignon every other week. I feel pretty fancy when I eat it still.

Our favorite dishes so far have been an Asian chicken and rice dish which shocked my pants off because my husband hates Chinese food! And pretzel breaded chicken - dude regular fried chicken has nothing on this because it's even better the next day cold! The easiest meals to make are meatball subs, any kind of pasta dish, and most recently pizza. Homemade pizza and I had a lot of fights over the last 6 months but I have won in the end and figured out the way it works best for me - in the cast iron skillet. If you don't believe me try this recipe and your life will be changed as well!

Well I better go set the table and take the food out of the oven - it's been warming and waiting for the husband to get home.

Cheers!

Sunday Sunday

Hey looks like I'm getting better at this blogging thing eh? And by still saying "eh?" I guess I'm not as country girl as my husband accused me of being this morning. Yes the Canadians say eh and Ohio is only hours from Canada so I used to say it all the time. Anyway...

Life has been crazy because the husband works 14 hours days now and we barely get to see each other anymore. He comes home, we eat dinner then he buries his nose in his kindle and reads until we go to bed. But trust me, reading is a lot healthier then watching a bunch of TV. We've kind of sworn off TV for now besides on date night we'll watch a movie or Sunday morning cartoons.

Side note: I think our neighbors wear orange when the Volunteers are playing...I think I just noticed that.

This weekend we are headed to Virginia to spend the 4 (glorious, relaxing, amazing) day weekend with close family friends of ours. I seriously cannot wait to get away!!

I also got a surprise phone call that my mom, sister in laws and mother in law are coming down aka flying to see me in September. My one sister in law doesn't fly though. She actually swore to me long ago she would never fly but for me...she is now going to fly. I am beyond honored and excited to have them here for a weekend!

In closing I want to reference back to this post. And give an update as to the other restaurants we've tried.

Cookout - my husbands most favorite place probably ever. He loves the burgers and their meal combos in general. He gets tons of food for $5.00. They do have hush puppies but their not the best in my opinion. But their milkshakes are to.die.for. Seriously, peanut butter/fudge - holy moly I would have one a day if I could without getting fat.

Smithfields - another of my husbands favorite because why? They serve crushed ice in their drinks not cubes. His love of crushed ice is one I will never understand. I love them because their hush puppies are the best in JAX. And you get your food super fast.

Wingman wings - the only one in NC is 2 miles from us so we just had to check it out. Nothing impressive but it was nice to try somewhere new.

The coffee in my cup is Nicaraguan. I haven't been able to buy some so I had to resort to using my precious Nicaragua stash. A stash I cannot replenish until I go back home. Sad.

Cheers!

Coral Leopard

Coral Leopard by freeindeed1018 featuring an oasis shirt

Seersucker

Seersucker by freeindeed1018 featuring seersucker capris

Grey Maxi Turq

Grey Maxi Turq by freeindeed1018 featuring stacking bangles