Still Here!

Happy (belated) new year!!

Once again, it has been far too long since my last update. The days have been long and busy and I'm hoping that some upcoming changes at work will help me leave there at a decent hour and free up some of my at home time so I can update here more often.

Despite my schedule, I've been doing my best to keep up with healthy eating and exercising. I owe a lot of the exercising I've been doing to Jay and my friend, V. Jay and I have a running schedule that he has been great at holding me accountable for, it really is a great thing to have a 30-60 minute block of time 2-3 times a week where we can run off the day's stresses and spend some time together. My friend V and I have set up a schedule to go lift weights at the gym 3 days a week, knowing she is busy too and is still going to the gym to meet me keeps me going - I just won't bail on a friend. And the in-between sets chats are fun and definitely a motivator to show up! I really don't think I'd be exercising as much if it weren't for these two.

I'm going to the grocery store today so I can have all the ingredients I need to make healthy meals all week. Jay and used to do this every week but with such hectic weeks it seems that all we want to do Sunday is relax and clean house. It's time for some changes!

We're getting closer and closer to the big day! Jay and I took some time this weekend to register. Jay was a pretty good sport about it - he took a bad fall off his bike during a ride earlier in the day and was cut up, sore and limping around but didn't seem to mind my lengthy discussions about which silverware really fit our lifestyle. What a keeper!

I hope you're having a good weekend! Now it's time to do some meal planning and grocery shopping. Have a great week!

Snow Patrol

Yesterday, I did something I've been wanting to do since last winter. I WENT SKIING!

On Wednesday, my sister texted me and asked if I wanted to join her on a ski trip this weekend. I've been talking about how I want to go skiing this winter, since I never went last year, and there was really no reason NOT to go. She found out about a ski club that has buses that leave from her neighborhood and you get a deal on the whole ski package. So of course, I jumped at the chance!

Let me preface. I have not skied since I was in the fourth grade. And that was only one time. My sister on the other hand, used to ski all the time and actually owned her own skis. Knee surgery in high school side-lined her for a while, but in the past few years she's gone at least a couple times a winter. She knows how to ski. I do not. But she promised me she'd show me the ropes and ride the easy trails with me.

We got up at 4:30 on Saturday morning and took the bus to Jay Peak in Vermont. It was COLD out, but we were properly bundled, so it wasn't so bad. It snowed at the beginning of the day, but that just made for some pretty chairlift rides.

I had SUCH a good time. I fell a couple times, but way less than I thought I would. And only once did it actually hurt (I fell right on my knee...the same knee I bashed into the coffee table last week, so it was just not going to feel good no matter what). We got ourselves into a blue square situation which was NOT pretty, but that was the only time during the day that I was completely enjoying myself!

By the end of the day my toes were FROZEN and my legs were pretty tired, but it was a great experience (my awesome $20 snow pants kept me super warm, even if they were SO unflattering). I happen to love my sister a whole lot, so spending the day together was an added bonus to the whole thing.

Today I am incredibly sore. My arms and back more than my legs, but I can definitely feel it all over. There are some bruises and even a bump (on my knee, of course), but I would do it again in a heart beat. It was great to get out of the city and try something new (and get a great workout in), and my sister and I are already planning our next trip. :)

Any suggestions for good beginner mountains in the MA/VT/NH area?

Stuffed Peppers Sunday

It is absolutely freezing here in Boston. The high today was somewhere around 15 degrees, and because of the wind chill, the "feels like" temp has hovered in the negatives all day. NOT pleasant. I avoided going outside for most of the day by deep cleaning my apartment, but eventually I had to venture out. I met my sister to get our nails done, and then I hit the grocery store. I hate shopping on Sundays because it's always crowded, but it needed to get done! The hubs and I did some meal planning for the week (I have a CRAZY busy week with events Tues, Weds, and Thurs night), and I had to get all the fixings.

On the menu tonight is stuffed peppers. The hubs (the chef of our apartment) makes amazing stuffed peppers, as I have mentioned before, so this time, I documented the process and wrote down the recipe! So without further ado, here it is!

Johnny O's Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients:
     - 6 large bell peppers (we used yellow tonight, any color will do though)
     - 10 oz ground turkey
     - 1 large can of diced tomatoes (28oz can)
     - 1 large onion - diced
     - 2 Tbsp brown sugar
     - 1 Tbsp Goya Adobo seasoning
     - 1 1/2 Tbsp cumin
     - 2 tsp paprika
     - 1 tsp chipotle powder (chili powder can be substituted)
     - 2 cups cooked rice
     - 12 Tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1. Cook the rice. We have a rice cooker, so we make a whole batch of it, but if you make it on the stove it can take a while, so it's always good to start with the rice first! And pre-heat the over. 350 degrees!

2. Chop up the onion, and add it to a hot skillet with the ground turkey. Brown the onion and meat.

3. Drain the can of diced tomatoes, and add to the skillet.

giant can from Trader Joe's

4. Add brown sugar to the mix, and allow to simmer for approximately 10 minutes.

5. While the good stuff is simmering, cut and clean the peppers. We chose to cut the peppers in half. Not only does it make it WAY easy to clean them out, it almost makes for more stuffing area. Use a non-stick sheet, or spray the bottom of each pepper (rather than the whole sheet) for easy removal later.

a few rouge seeds in there...

6. Now that the tomatoes and meat are all nice and juicy, shut off the heat and add the cooked rice to the skillet and mix it all together.

7. Once everything is good and mixed up, add a heaping 1/2 cup of the mix to each half pepper.

8. Add a tablespoon of shredded mozzarella to each pepper, and then put them in the oven! They should be in for about 10-15 minutes, until the peppers are tender.

Once the peppers are tender, turn the oven to broil for about 3 minutes. This will brown the cheese and crisp up the tops of the peppers!

9. ENJOY!!!

These puppies are DELICIOUS. They have the tiniest kick to them and are so flavorful (although you can make them spicier by adding more chipotle/chili powder). They're healthy, filling, and super easy (pretty sure that's the trifecta of cooking). I obviously did the watching, not the cooking, but IF I ever wanted to cook, I'm sure I could make these no problemo. Maybe. I wouldn't trust my cooking though...

Off to watch the Golden Globes!

Triple Tangent Tuesday

I'm not great at remembering to do the triple tangents on Tuesdays, but since Hunger Runner Girl posted hers, it reminded me, and I figured I'd join in on the fun.

1. I generally do something stupid everyday. I like to refer to it as my "daily dumb" because it's a moment of the day where I do not know where my brain went. It's usually extremely amusing.

Yesterday, for example, I went to the pool at the gym, and I followed some people into the locker room. I wasn't paying much attention, but I hung up my coat, changed, and headed to the pool. When I was done with my swim, I went back to the locker room and couldn't get back in! It wasn't until then that I realized I had followed some ladies into the staff locker room and I didn't have the special pass code to get in. Oops!

 source

Luckily, I had my bag with me (since I lost my padlock when we moved and I haven't gotten a new one yet), so I could change in the student locker room, but I then had to stand around outside the staff locker room for a while waiting for someone to come out so I could get in and get my jacket. Yeah, genius.


2. I'm a fairly adventerous eater. I'll try anything once, and I like most foods. The one thing I cannot stand, will not eat, sorry, but no? Eggplant.

source

I really really really cannot stomach it. Even things I don't really care for, I will eat at other people's houses, but not eggplant. Sorry, but I just can't.

3. I don't like dogs. This, however, is my Twitter profile picture.

The hubs says it makes me look like a dog person. But I am not. I have never owned a dog. That giant one there is my dad's. There are certain dogs here and there that I can stand, but in general, I am not a fan. Maybe I should find a new profile picture?


So those are my random fact for this week! I just wolfed down some soup (I was SO hungry after the gym tonight) and now my stomach hurts. I need to work on not eating so quickly when I'm so hungry...it never ends well.

Any one else got a good random fact? :)

2012 (Just a Little Late)

So I know I said last week that I'd be back with an update, and here I am! It just took me a little longer than I anticipated. But what can you expect around here, right? I'm a self-proclaimed slacker. Oh well.

Thus far, 2012 has been a pretty good year. I know we're only 9 days into it, but why not enjoy those good 9 days, right?

I started the year by drinking too much (again, no big surprise here) and then going to the zoo. Yes, I am 26 years old and on my day off from work, I went to the zoo. No big deal. It was awesome. A friend of mine and I really needed an adventure, so off we went! The weather was nice, and Rhode Island is close enough, but far enough, so we spent the day at the Roger Williams Park Zoo. I made a new friend too.

This weekend I went home to see my gma. I had to get some work done on my car (the one thing making 2012 NOT so great), and so the hubs, the siblings, and I piled into the car and drove down. My uncles came down on Saturday night for dinner too, and we played a few rounds of Scattergories. All I have to say is, HILARIOUS. My 9 year old cousin was there, so it stayed pretty clean, but it was still so funny.

Sunday, my brother and sister and I took advantage of YET ANOTHER weekend with awesome weather (keep 'em coming, universe) and went for a walk around our hometown, which is on the water and gorgeous. It was a nice brisk walk, and we chatted about old memories the whole time. And my brother is quite possibly the funniest person alive, so I pretty much laughed the entire time. Great ab workout.

Last night we also all went to a BU hockey game. It was really fun! They played the US Men's Under 18 team, and it was a great game. It ended in a tie, which is fine by me, because how do you really root against a national team?

That's what I've been doing so far in 2012. I've also been working (duh), getting workouts in, and tracking my eating.

2011 turned out to be a pretty rough year for me mentally...adjusting to my new job and the changes it brought to my everyday life, and the last 6 months have not been what I wanted them to be on my journey to a healthier life. I don't generally like New Years Resolutions, but this year I took the changing of the calendar as a new start. I do actually KNOW how to live a healthy life and lose weight, but I wasn't doing it. So now, I'm working back to that. Did I take a couple steps back in my habits and what the scale says? Yes. More than I care to admit (especially on the scale part). But it ends now. I know how to do this, and I am going to. The end.

And to that point...this is supposed to be a blog about eating better food and being fit. So I should probably start doing that. In 2012 I plan to blog A LOT more about my workouts and hopefully a lot more about food. I am NOT a cook by any means, and I don't plan on documenting everything I eat, but hopefully I'll have some good recipes and tips to share!

I'm still trying to decide my fitness goals for the year. I know I want to do at least one tri this year (I think I'll be doing the same one I did last year because my mom is going to do it too!), but I'm thinking a second tri, a 10k, and maybe a 10 miler? It's still in the works because I feel pretty out of shape right now, but as it comes together, it will get posted here!

Here's to a new year, a new attitude, and lots and lots of fun!! :)

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! Hard to believe it's 2012 already! I'll have a new years appropriate post for you tomorrow, but I really wanted to share this article today.

20 New Years Resolutions for 20-somethings

It's hilariously true and made me laugh out loud. Enjoy!!