tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9578845071785715232024-03-05T00:33:57.091-07:00The Sorensen Slate<center>NATE NETTIE THOR ERIK ANNIKA</center>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.comBlogger57125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-30656567125060502512013-04-03T19:29:00.000-06:002013-04-03T19:29:45.539-06:00Easy Southwest Turkey Salad<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBgPu1BAE5pqtbey1TT77aJF8hlVRrgUT2ENCXnY5AgIw7UFLsnf-0p6rcwTavKIi7tO3jpPhOs7nFaouTypK5LhwqBj3ZiLCiMVwuYxVQ6eT-NbkK_LRRe-E5Y8Vh03kDevIyhwP3Q/s1600/20130403_180102.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiQBgPu1BAE5pqtbey1TT77aJF8hlVRrgUT2ENCXnY5AgIw7UFLsnf-0p6rcwTavKIi7tO3jpPhOs7nFaouTypK5LhwqBj3ZiLCiMVwuYxVQ6eT-NbkK_LRRe-E5Y8Vh03kDevIyhwP3Q/s400/20130403_180102.jpg" width="390" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kid tested, everyone approved!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I love using frozen fruits and vegetables. Besides the fact that they're always nice for a quick, easy dinner, here's an article with a </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">little more explanation</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> why: </span></div>
<a href="http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/fresh_vs_frozen_vegetables_are_we_giving_up_nutrition_fo"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.eatingwell.com/nutrition_health/nutrition_news_information/fresh_vs_frozen_vegetables_are_we_giving_up_nutrition_fo</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">On that note, tonight's dinner was centered around this little gem:</span><br />
<br />
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<a href="http://www.birdseye.com/vegetable-products/cw-pure-simple-blends/ultimate-southwest-blend" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://www.birdseye.com/images/products/4d1593f4ab3ce1184c2d055e7f17cffb.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><u><b>Easy Southwest Turkey Salad</b></u> (it's not
really a salad, but we likened it to a “taco salad”)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serves 6</span></div>
<br />
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ingredients:</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T oil (I used olive)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 tsp minced garlic</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">14 oz package Birds Eye “Ultimate
Southwest Blend” (corn, black beans, poblano peppers, onions and
red peppers)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 lb ground turkey</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T <a href="http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-taco-seasoning/">clean taco seasoning </a></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">¼ C water</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 avocado, diced</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 C salsa (there are usually great deli
salsas in most local grocery stores, which are fresh and clean)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fresh cilantro (optional)</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Corn chips or brown rice</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Directions:</span></b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heat oil in large skillet over medium
heat.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add garlic and saute until fragrant.
Add vegetable blend and cook until heated through, making sure to
stir often to keep from sticking.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a separate skillet, cook ground
turkey until thoroughly cooked. Add taco seasoning and water and cook an additional 2 minutes.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a blender (I used my trusty magic bullet), combine avocado and salsa
and blend until most of the avocado is blended.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Spoon avocado over turkey/veggie
mixture and sprinkle fresh cilantro over top.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serve with corn chips or over brown
rice.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-81835355544732810942013-04-03T14:22:00.000-06:002013-04-03T14:22:23.948-06:00Eating clean on a budget!<h4>
I hear a lot of people complain that they simply can't afford to eat healthy, or clean.</h4>
Today I was looking for ways to debunk this myth, and found this great post on <a href="http://www.eatcleandiet.com/the_kitchen_table/story/post.aspx?id=249">Eatcleandiet.com</a><span id="goog_134575263"></span><span id="goog_134575264"></span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/"></a><br />
The poster has some GREAT tips for ways to shop and plan your meals. I'm going to put some of these, ones I wasn't using before, to use this month and see how I do, I definitely think it can be done!<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm628f8zYfegKF6yhebBert-JQrMZtAvL7nzLDwzLRkXsevOycHWNV3fImAMcAe1zo9-RiGOTWAg66kZXYSpZzQ7g550xS8xVkLSM7X_gW7pw9XO-rOMhQlB8ve7SvsSP4tM4_LOVMaDI/s400/clean+eating.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="264" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjm628f8zYfegKF6yhebBert-JQrMZtAvL7nzLDwzLRkXsevOycHWNV3fImAMcAe1zo9-RiGOTWAg66kZXYSpZzQ7g550xS8xVkLSM7X_gW7pw9XO-rOMhQlB8ve7SvsSP4tM4_LOVMaDI/s320/clean+eating.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Here are a couple other sites with helpful tips or recipes for budget clean eating:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Budget-Recipes.aspx">http://cleaneatingmag.com/Recipes/Budget-Recipes.aspx</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://muffin-topless.com/2012/06/22/how-to-eat-clean-on-a-budget/">http://muffin-topless.com/2012/06/22/how-to-eat-clean-on-a-budget/</a> (how great is this website name?! haha!)<br />
<br />
Let me know any tips or tricks you have for eating clean on a budget, I'm always on the lookout for more!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-52027898185871357302013-03-30T20:21:00.000-06:002013-03-30T20:27:58.073-06:00Deep Dish Cookie Pie (Clean)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I got the original recipe from <a href="http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/05/31/deep-dish-cookie-pie/">Chocolate Covered Katie</a> (I think the sucanat turns it a darker color than Katie's using brown sugar, just a disclaimer), and tweaked it a little to make it "clean". The only major thing I'd change about this recipe is to get rid of the oats somehow (I have oat allergies, and I think it would be yummier without the oat flavor, but that's just me). If I figure out a way (maybe just wheat flour?), I'll post it for sure! :)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reviews: My kids all LOVED it, Nate didn't (although he only ate one bite), but he doesn't love chocolate chip cookies either. Let me know what you think if you try it!!</span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/529281_10152704186230344_1032070654_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://sphotos-a.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/529281_10152704186230344_1032070654_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Deep Dish Cookie Pie (Clean)<br />
<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Here is my altered recipe:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Deep Dish Cookie Pie (Clean)</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2
cans white beans or garbanzos, drained and rinsed (don't tell anyone, I promise they won't know!)</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1
cup oats</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/4
cup unsweetened applesauce</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3
tbsp oil of choice</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2
tsp pure vanilla extract</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2
tsp baking soda</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2
tsp baking powder</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2
tsp salt</span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> 1
½ C sucanat (I think I would only use 1 cup if I made it again, it
was too sweet for me)</span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1
C Chocolate chips*</span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0.26in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Blend
everything (except the chips) </span></span><em><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;">very </span></span></span></em><span style="color: #222222;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">well
in a good food processor (results in a much smoother texture than a
blender). Mix in chips, and pour into an oiled pan (I used a regular
deep dish pie pan). Cook at 350F for around 35-40 minutes. Let stand
at least 10 minutes before removing from the pan. (I ended up cooking
mine only 30 minutes, but it was a little gooey, but oh so good
still!)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">*Here are two sites with recipes to
make your own clean chocolate chips</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/05/20/homemade-artisana-cacao-bliss/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2010/05/20/homemade-artisana-cacao-bliss/</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<a href="http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/desserts/homemade-chocolate-or-carob-chips/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://wholenewmom.com/recipes/desserts/homemade-chocolate-or-carob-chips/</span></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-85373967251558910852013-03-29T13:03:00.000-06:002013-03-29T13:03:21.586-06:00Indian Dahl with SpinachI got my recipe for the Indian Dahl on <a href="http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Indian-Dahl-with-Spinach/Detail.aspx">Allrecipes.com</a>, making just one or two changes to make it more clean and healthy (omitted the butter, and used canned lentils for the sake of time) but it was pretty healthy to begin with! Quick and easy, start to finish (minus cooking the brown rice, which I did in the rice cooker) was probably 15 minutes!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/575723_10152699248565344_357046794_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/575723_10152699248565344_357046794_n.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Indian Dahl with Spinach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-60609000038318340172013-03-27T18:46:00.000-06:002013-03-27T18:48:52.157-06:00Kickin' Turkey and Peppers (clean)<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">This dish gets its kick from jalapenos and cayenne pepper, which can both be adjusted to suite your 'spiciness level'. Super easy and quick! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kickin' Turkey and Peppers (clean)</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Serves approx. 8 (depending on how much filling you use)</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgULTKRDZ6_2g6oY9DIMbJ-JEeTRD20nXsKLAYIiZdeyT-mOc0-JbDCQgIG-27WYaPfZRS0DcItASzsvr_5BfzQqSOfn9vptigx-CB8gmA4f_upAv6Aa_WCVXYrSf6PTGf7Ecnwz3R7g/s1600/20130327_172330.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgULTKRDZ6_2g6oY9DIMbJ-JEeTRD20nXsKLAYIiZdeyT-mOc0-JbDCQgIG-27WYaPfZRS0DcItASzsvr_5BfzQqSOfn9vptigx-CB8gmA4f_upAv6Aa_WCVXYrSf6PTGf7Ecnwz3R7g/s400/20130327_172330.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Ingredients:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1.5 lbs ground turkey <br />
1/2 tsp garlic powder, or 1 tsp minced garlic <br />
1-2 T dried, diced jalapeños (you could definitely use fresh, just used what we had on hand) <br />
1 tsp smoked paprika <br />
1 tsp chili powder <br />
1 tsp cayenne pepper <br />
1 tsp sea salt<br />
1 bag frozen peppers (again, you could use fresh, just what we had on hand) <br />
1 tsp dried cilantro</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><b>Instructions:</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Heat a large saucepan to medium heat and cook peppers just until tender. Remove from pan and set aside. (You could easily do this part in the microwave as well, 6 minutes covered.) <br />Adjust heat to medium-high and add the turkey, salt, paprika, cayenne and jalapeños. Cook until turkey is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Add peppers and cilantro and cook for another 3-4 minutes. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Serve in warm, whole wheat pitas, with a little Greek yogurt inside, if you typically like sour cream. <br />
The rest of my family used sour cream and cheese. The filling is even yummy just by itself!</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ApnIUzLhK-PgQ3Y1G_1vythDewN7RzUeK2p4SaruWns9rOGRFHEn42a9e2JDsosGgnzAdczwKZIQBQLVyHbbImysn8LOguf3rFbLdvCTElulfMYTXxvV860sWa_IL6VckbpO-uHtvg/s1600/20130327_174836.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> <img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7ApnIUzLhK-PgQ3Y1G_1vythDewN7RzUeK2p4SaruWns9rOGRFHEn42a9e2JDsosGgnzAdczwKZIQBQLVyHbbImysn8LOguf3rFbLdvCTElulfMYTXxvV860sWa_IL6VckbpO-uHtvg/s400/20130327_174836.jpg" width="300" /></span> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-3440460336941041602013-03-26T19:34:00.002-06:002013-03-26T19:34:33.107-06:00Clean Turkey Meatloaf Muffins<h3>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 300; line-height: 32px;">I needed to make something easy tonight as I was running out the door, so I decided to throw these little guys together. They're ideal for a lower-fat meatloaf (and taste even better in my opinion!). I got the idea from <a href="http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/video-jamie-eason-turkey-meatloaf-muffins.htm">Jamie Eason's recipe</a>, but made a few changes to fit our tastes better. I think I've found a new favorite!!</span></h3>
<h2>
<span style="color: #6eac62; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 32px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 32px;">Turkey Meatloaf Muffins</span></h2>
<h2>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><div style="color: #a6a6a6; display: inline-block; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">
<strong>YIELD:</strong> <span class="yield" style="margin-right: 15px;">12 SERVINGS</span></div>
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; text-transform: uppercase;"> </span><div style="color: #a6a6a6; display: inline-block; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">
<strong>PREP TIME:</strong> <span class="preptime" style="margin-right: 15px;">10 MINUTES</span></div>
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; text-transform: uppercase;"> </span><div style="color: #a6a6a6; display: inline-block; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">
<strong>COOK TIME:</strong> <span class="cooktime" style="margin-right: 15px;">40 MINUTES</span></div>
<span style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; text-transform: uppercase;"> </span><div style="color: #a6a6a6; display: inline-block; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">
<strong>TOTAL TIME:</strong> <span class="duration" style="margin-right: 15px;">50 MINUTES</span></div>
</span></h2>
<div>
<div class="time" style="color: #a6a6a6; font-size: 10px; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px 0px 2px; padding: 0px; text-transform: uppercase;">
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91qH34dn_XQqvrwUSrU38yu5VuBf23WcjD3i2qGbpEcZZ0We3bRDz9Bh3kgiCAsA0G0jQuRD2Ava26LSQ80v2BGKA9j_biHBX-gLH4pQSSq293MLtvIpTW4xdCB_N8sFd1HUfN3SuOA/s1600/20130326_150538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg91qH34dn_XQqvrwUSrU38yu5VuBf23WcjD3i2qGbpEcZZ0We3bRDz9Bh3kgiCAsA0G0jQuRD2Ava26LSQ80v2BGKA9j_biHBX-gLH4pQSSq293MLtvIpTW4xdCB_N8sFd1HUfN3SuOA/s400/20130326_150538.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Turkey meatloaf muffins</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Ingredients:</span></h4>
<div class="ingredients" style="color: #4d4d4d; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<h3 style="clear: left; color: #733c65; font-family: ProximaNova, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: 300; line-height: 22px; margin: 20px 0px 8px; padding: 0px;">
<ul>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;">2
lbs. ground turkey</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">3
egg whites</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">1
cup oats (I'm allergic to oats so I subbed with 1/2 C wheat bread crumbs)</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">1
tsp dried thyme</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">1
tsp black pepper</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">1
tsp smoked paprika</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">1
tsp salt</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">1
tsp garlic powder</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0.03in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">1
diced onion or 1 tsp onion powder</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><span style="background: #ffffff;">2
diced celery stalks (optional, I don't like chunks of stuff in my meatloaf so I omitted)</span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.19in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: #4d4d4d;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background-color: white;">2
T ketchup (all natural, HFCS-free) or tomato sauce</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
</h3>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">
Instructions:</span></h4>
</div>
<div class="directions" style="color: #4d4d4d; line-height: 18px; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div class="instructions" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Preheat oven to 375 and spray muffin pay with some cooking spray (or coat with a little olive oil) .</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mix all the ingredients in one large bowl until well combined. Roll the mixture into balls and place each one in the muffin pan. (She says each one should be about the size of a racquetball). If desired, add more ketchup or tomato sauce on top of muffins before baking.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Bake for 35 minutes, or until cooked through.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 15px; margin-top: 8px; padding: 0px;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px;">Makes 12 muffins.</span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-83679241667579561632013-03-25T19:32:00.001-06:002013-03-25T19:32:18.708-06:00Tikka Saag Recipe<h3>
<span style="font-weight: normal;">We love Indian food at our house. This is one of our favs, so I adjusted a few things to make it "clean". If you want to add meat you can add cooked, diced chicken when you stir in the spinach. Let me know how you like it, if you try it!</span></h3>
<div>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
<b><u>Clean Tikka Saag</u></b></h2>
<div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="background-color: #efefef; border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; width: 100%px;"><tbody style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;" valign="top" width="50%"><div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1 lb frozen chopped spinach</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1/4 cup water</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
2 T oil (coconut or olive)</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
2 large onions, minced</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
5 cloves garlic, minced</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1 (1 inch) piece fresh ginger root, minced</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1 (14.5 ounce) can crushed tomatoes</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1 teaspoon ground coriander</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 0px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper, or more to</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
taste</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1 teaspoon salt</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1/4 cup milk of choice (coconut would be great, I just used skim, if you're not eating clean, cream would be great)</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
1 teaspoon garam masala</div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="border: 0px; margin: 0px 8px 4px 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><tbody style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;" valign="top">Place the spinach into a large pot with 1/4 cup of water, bring to a boil, cover the pan, and remove from heat. Allow the spinach to steam for about 10 minutes, then place into a blender, and blend until very finely chopped. Set the spinach aside.<br /><br /><table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="border-collapse: collapse; border-spacing: 0px; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-size: 11px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><tbody style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;">
<tr style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px;"><td style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 8px;" valign="top">Place the onions, garlic, and ginger, ground coriander, cayenne pepper, garam masala and turmeric into the skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently, until tender, about 10 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes and salt and cook, stirring frequently, for 10 minutes. Pour in the milk, stir to combine. Bring the mixture to a simmer, and add the spinach. Stir the spinach in and cook until the spinach starts to stick to the pan, about 5-10 minutes.<br /><br />Serve over hot brown rice.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
</div>
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-77248149695084062502013-03-25T09:00:00.000-06:002013-03-25T11:21:02.825-06:00Clean Chocolate Mug Cake <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8hykARjFOX_n1T-20Ttr_9TH8FqmWjLXFId7zEFxTMsP4TfqOWb7kzm2_bleMjZoA_aKBwTPsq5tD822jdXwN2CT7nxGHOZ0xvX3RkHi4DduaCRPTEzob2ZSaVvNuEDrV6Yx0gn3RVQ/s400/20130324_205629.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="300" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My totally unpretty (it's a word), Clean Chocolate Mug Cake. Yum!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8hykARjFOX_n1T-20Ttr_9TH8FqmWjLXFId7zEFxTMsP4TfqOWb7kzm2_bleMjZoA_aKBwTPsq5tD822jdXwN2CT7nxGHOZ0xvX3RkHi4DduaCRPTEzob2ZSaVvNuEDrV6Yx0gn3RVQ/s1600/20130324_205629.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"> </a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
This recipe is from <a href="http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-chocolate-mug-cake/">The Gracious Pantry</a> (her picture is much prettier as well!). With only a couple small changes I made, here is the recipe:</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<h2 class="fn" style="color: #d52a4c; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 24px; font-weight: normal; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px; text-align: start;">
Clean Eating Chocolate Mug Cake</h2>
<div class="summary" style="color: #534640; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; text-align: start;">
<strong></strong><em>(Makes 2 servings)</em></div>
<em style="color: #534640; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;"></em><br />
<div style="color: #534640; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; padding: 0px 0px 15px; text-align: start;">
<em>NOTE: You’ll need a large mug (a small or regular sized mug won’t cut it) or bowl</em></div>
<span style="background-color: #eeeeee; color: #534640; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;"></span><br />
<div style="color: #534640; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">
<h4 style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
Ingredients:</h4>
<ul style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;">
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">4 tablespoons white whole wheat flour</li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">6 tablespoons coconut sugar <i>(I used Sucanat)</i></li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder</li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">2 egg whites</li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">3 tablespoons non-fat milk</li>
<li class="ingredient" style="list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;">1 tablespoon safflower or coconut oil</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div style="color: #534640; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Tahoma, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 21px; text-align: start;">
<h4 style="font-size: 16px; line-height: 1.5; margin: 0px 0px 10px; padding: 0px;">
Directions:</h4>
<ol class="instructions" style="margin: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 15px;">
<li style="list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Whisk together the dry ingredients in your mug. Be sure they are well combined.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Add the wet ingredients and mix well again.</li>
<li style="list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 20px; padding: 0px;">Microwave for up to 5 minutes on high. <i>(3.5 was perfect for mine)</i></li>
</ol>
<div style="line-height: 1.5; padding: 0px 0px 15px;">
<strong>Note:</strong> The cake will rise up over the mug during cooking. Don’t panic.</div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-20191654503191912292013-03-20T13:22:00.000-06:002013-03-20T13:48:51.150-06:00'This is me' challenge: Children<h2>
'This is me' challenge: Children!</h2>
<h3>
I love my kids. They teach me new things every day. I'm definitely not the most patient mom, and I'm probably more sarcastic and silly than sweet and gushy, but I'm pretty sure they like me a little too. :)</h3>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*Give your children's names, birth dates and places.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Thor is 13, Erik is 11 1/2 (that half always counts!) and Annika will be 7 in a month. They were all born in different hospitals in Utah County.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*How did you choose their names?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">We wanted them to be Scandinavian names. Thor was named after a great friend of Nate's named Thorval who died just before our Thor was born. Erik was what we had planned from the beginning and it just fit perfectly. When we finally found out we were having a girl we had a few different names we were playing with (we had always wanted a Bridget but she just wasn't one!), but Annika fit perfect when we met her.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What were the circumstances of each child's birth?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Thor was 4 days late, and huge. So they induced me. He was 9 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I was induced with Erik 1 week early and he was 9 lbs 4 oz 21 inches.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I begged them to induce me as early as possible with Annika, so she was 10 days early and was 9 lbs 6 oz 21 inches. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What are some funny/interesting things about each child?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Thor used to be completely OCD as a child. He would always line every thing up, from shoes, to toys, all in specific orders. We have some funny pictures of this I'll have to dig up! He was probably the cleanest kid in the world, would never get his hands dirty or his face. (If only that lasted ;)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Erik was our tough baby. He got really, really sick around 18 months old and was in the hospital for 10 days, had surgery at Primary Childrens, and had to learn how to walk all over again. He was so amazing through the whole thing. When he was first sick we didn't even know it, because he was so happy and good!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Annika is Daddy's little princess of course, and 6 going on 16, as they say.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What do you love most about each child? What are their strengths and weaknesses?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Thor, being the oldest, is definitely my best helper because I know I can rely on him to do things. He is becoming a really sweet buddy to have around. I think it comes from being the oldest, but he is extremely bossy. He's a great babysitter though!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Erik is very kind and sweet, and always willing to help, he's just a little (okay a lot) spacey and forgets what he was helping with seconds after he was asked ;) He is such a sweetheart and always right there when you're not feeling good or something.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Annika keeps me on my toes. She is very outgoing and adventurous. But she always wants her way, so I have learned I have to be consistent (still working on that!) with her so she doesn't end up being a spoiled stinker like those darn 'babies' always end up being ;) (I'm the baby of 8...I get told that all the time from my siblings!)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What are your children involved in?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">All three kids are yellow belts in Brazillian Jiu-Jitsu and love to sing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Thor plays Junior Jazz basketball, and hopes to play his freshman year as well, and is already in the pre-football camp for Provo High.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Erik isn't all that into sports, but his favorites are football and running. He loves to draw and do anything science related, he's very creative.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Annika loves running and dance. She's always making something, out of paper or fabric, always designing new clothes for her dolls or crowns or cards.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*How do you spend your time with your children?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">On a typical day, homework, chores, cooking (my kids love to watch/help me cook, and Thor is becoming quite the baker already), reading, and some quality Jeopardy time. Haha yes, Jeopardy! We love to learn the answers, and feel awesome when we already knew them ;)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What are your favorite family activities?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><span style="line-height: 24px;">All of the above. We love to play outside together, workout together, read great books (Nate is known for reading The Hobbit to everyone), cooking and baking. We haven't had too much opportunity for many family trips because of Nate's job in the past, but now that it has changed hopefully we'll be able to add traveling to this list!</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 18px; line-height: 24px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-29899513516404004312013-03-20T08:41:00.002-06:002013-03-20T08:41:27.575-06:00Clean birthday cake!No, we didn't have a birthday... I just wanted to bake, and be able to eat it too! :)<br />
<br />
I decided to try this recipe from <a href="http://www.thegraciouspantry.com/clean-eating-birthday-cake/">The Gracious Pantry</a> (SO many great, clean recipes here).<br />
<br />
Everyone seemed to love it, even my cake-hating husband, so I give it 5 stars!<br />
I made the recipe as is, and topped with simmered frozen berries with a drizzle of honey on top.<br />
Next time I think we'll try it with some <a href="http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2012/01/16/chocolate-frosting-shots/">chocolate frosting from Chocolate Covered Katie</a>!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWyvQo1VuTa1D3HZFQKDwAUYcNxAg3GDNtBvrVXLH24UXs8ZEf9z4WMlHPx1vp9s1iKsyaLE_tr1BMmMgs3QtahDifREN7LLyay0rK0KuIirCZW-wmIRIwtMVrKcUjK1ACeYNQ9aZZA/s1600/20130316_194538.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUWyvQo1VuTa1D3HZFQKDwAUYcNxAg3GDNtBvrVXLH24UXs8ZEf9z4WMlHPx1vp9s1iKsyaLE_tr1BMmMgs3QtahDifREN7LLyay0rK0KuIirCZW-wmIRIwtMVrKcUjK1ACeYNQ9aZZA/s400/20130316_194538.jpg" width="300" /></a></div>
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<h2 class="western" style="font-weight: normal;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;"><u>Clean
Eating Birthday Cake</u></span></span></span></span></h2>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<em><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">(Makes
8 servings)</span></span></span></span></span></em><strong><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">NOTE:</span></span></span></span></span></strong><em><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;"> This
recipe makes 1 layer. Double it (using 2 cake pans) if you want a
layered cake with filling in the middle.</span></span></span></span></span></em></div>
<h4 class="western" style="border: none; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.1in; margin-top: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">Ingredients:</span></span></span></span></h4>
<ul>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">1
cup whole wheat pastry flour</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">2
teaspoons baking powder</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">2
egg whites (or 1 whole egg)</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">1
tablespoon oil (I used olive oil, could use coconut, etc.)</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">3/4
cup unsweetened apple sauce</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">1/3
cup honey</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">1
tablespoons vanilla extract</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
</ul>
<h4 class="western" style="border: none; font-weight: normal; line-height: 150%; margin-bottom: 0.1in; margin-top: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">Directions:</span></span></span></span></h4>
<ol>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">Preheat
oven to 350 degrees F.</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">Line
a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper. Then spray the inside of the
pan, including the parchment with a light coat of oil from an oil
sprayer.</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">In
a large mixing bowl, whisk together the flour and baking powder
until well combined.</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">Whisk
in all other ingredients.</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">Pour
batter in to cake pan and bake for 26-30 minutes. A knife or cake
tester should pull our clean.</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">Allow
to cool. Run a plastic knife around the edge to separate cake from
pan and then remove.</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
<li><div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="background: #eeeeee;">If
you made a second layer, cover one cake with filling or frosting and
place the second cake on top.</span></span></span></span></div>
</li>
</ol>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<strong><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Nutritional
Content:</span></span></span></span></strong><span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />(Data
is for 1/8 of the recipe – single layer)</span></span></span></div>
<div style="border: none; line-height: 0.22in; margin-bottom: 0in; padding: 0in;">
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Calories:
127<br />Total Fat: 2 gm<br />Saturated Fats: 0 gm<br />Trans Fats: 0
gm<br />Cholesterol: 0 mg<br />Sodium: 135 mg<br />Carbohydrates: 26
gm<br />Dietary fiber: 2 gm<br />Sugars: 14 gm<br />Protein: 3 gm<br />Estimated
Glycemic Load: 13</span></span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-61905738717007476732013-03-19T19:55:00.002-06:002013-03-19T19:55:50.656-06:00Mmm Mmm Mmm!<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;">I'm loving trying out these new recipes on my family because they all have different tastes and everyone still loves them (even Nate, who doesn't normally like dessert because they're too sugary!). Here is tonights treat if you ate all of your veggies ;)</span></h4>
<div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span></div>
<h2>
<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Clean and Simple Blueberry Cobbler - single serving</span></u></h2>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #555555; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1.25em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22.5px;">Ingredients</span></div>
<ul id="zlrecipe-ingredients-list" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #555555; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; list-style: none; margin: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 2.4em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-0" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">3/4 cup blueberries (or any fruit of your choice)</span></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-1" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-2" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T sucanat</span></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-3" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-4" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/3 cup whole wheat flour</span></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-5" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-6" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T sucanat</span></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-7" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-8" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1/2 tsp baking powder (I know that's not real clean, but I didn't have an alternative on hand)</span></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-9" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-10" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">1 T oil (I used olive, I'm sure coconut would be even yummier)</span></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-11" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-12" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">2 T milk of choice (I used skim, almond milk would be great too)</span></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-13" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
<li class="ingredient" id="zlrecipe-ingredient-14" itemprop="ingredients" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: none; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"></li>
</ul>
<div class="h-4 strong" id="zlrecipe-instructions" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #555555; font-size: 1.25em; font-weight: bold; line-height: 22.5px; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: 1em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Instructions</span></div>
<ol class="instructions" id="zlrecipe-instructions-list" style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #555555; font-size: 15px; line-height: 22.5px; list-style-image: initial; list-style-position: initial; margin: 0px 0.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 3em; vertical-align: baseline;">
<li class="instruction" id="zlrecipe-instruction-0" itemprop="recipeInstructions" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add berries to a mug/bowl (if using a bowl make sure the sides are high enough to allow for the cobbler to rise some). Add sucanat, stir to combine.</span></li>
<li class="instruction" id="zlrecipe-instruction-1" itemprop="recipeInstructions" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">In a separate bowl, add the flour, sucanat, baking powder and mix to combine. Add the oil and milk and stir with a fork until combined.</span></li>
<li class="instruction" id="zlrecipe-instruction-2" itemprop="recipeInstructions" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Add the dough to the top of the berries.</span></li>
<li class="instruction" id="zlrecipe-instruction-3" itemprop="recipeInstructions" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Microwave on high for about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes. (Mine took 2)</span></li>
<li class="instruction" id="zlrecipe-instruction-4" itemprop="recipeInstructions" style="background-color: transparent; border: 0px; font-size: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-variant: inherit; line-height: inherit; list-style-type: decimal; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">If you're still working on that sweet tooth, you can drizzle some honey on top, but we found it was perfectly sweet as is!</span></li>
</ol>
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<u><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></u>
<u><br /></u>
<u><br /></u>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EcSz_2U05bKhm-MGIauTWLdvjmFKw0pBltRWeBgki_WmqwiWA8QCIJY4X6NTHyXDnQnfbd5ha2tTCEAbAY_UMEyN8UekHlix28Ptvze8kdFBOJPXejAOqzVICmUYWvEh-5hmlb-R8Q/s1600/20130319_190030.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3EcSz_2U05bKhm-MGIauTWLdvjmFKw0pBltRWeBgki_WmqwiWA8QCIJY4X6NTHyXDnQnfbd5ha2tTCEAbAY_UMEyN8UekHlix28Ptvze8kdFBOJPXejAOqzVICmUYWvEh-5hmlb-R8Q/s320/20130319_190030.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"> Straight out of the microwave with a little honey</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbu7nqduQ0QWKKXDcF1hbOeeLZ1GfcdQfRaKOH0T-pTfkjz1vqk1CPgGTw_lL1AY-OnVBx1bgx0oiWfi6yROrcWNKBMmMPwfP-wBaZf-d_0dgUh4cThY-oRkOQvlKMQ7YOwpUq9dv7JA/s1600/20130319_190108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbu7nqduQ0QWKKXDcF1hbOeeLZ1GfcdQfRaKOH0T-pTfkjz1vqk1CPgGTw_lL1AY-OnVBx1bgx0oiWfi6yROrcWNKBMmMPwfP-wBaZf-d_0dgUh4cThY-oRkOQvlKMQ7YOwpUq9dv7JA/s320/20130319_190108.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zqFMiZrE-zVXdHolS3wZ5K9v0VY5MvhfDorJsxVkSY4G5drAREC4YdwPA72NdwiFd8CgAtEqukYoDQ03ZjixCWvwK23pXby3wk4s62G6-mIH06EChpLeaI8p6bhFUWRpx6QMNgINKA/s1600/20130319_190719.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-zqFMiZrE-zVXdHolS3wZ5K9v0VY5MvhfDorJsxVkSY4G5drAREC4YdwPA72NdwiFd8CgAtEqukYoDQ03ZjixCWvwK23pXby3wk4s62G6-mIH06EChpLeaI8p6bhFUWRpx6QMNgINKA/s640/20130319_190719.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-16104463267638630682013-03-04T14:07:00.001-07:002013-03-04T14:13:12.408-07:00Clean eating challenge (and The Butt Book!)Some people have asked me what this is all about, so here it is:<br />
<br />
I really love working out. I go to Zumba at least 5 times a week, and lift weights at least 4 days a week. I also have the best lifting partner (my husband! Date night at the gym anyone? haha) who knows a lot about weight training and eating right, but between health issues or just not maintaining a great diet, I still have about 10-15 lbs to lose to be totally happy and healthy.<br />
So in a renewed effort to ditch those pounds, I have decided to start a clean eating challenge. (Disclaimer: I have to tailor it a tiny bit to meet my kidney/allergy needs, but overall I can do it as is!)<br />
I'll be honest, I got the idea from my current library book, <u><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Butt-Book-Build-Non-Cellulite-Fat-Free/dp/1552100413">The Butt Book: How to Build a Non-Cellulite & Fat-Free Butt in 9 weeks!</a></u> Laugh at the title, I did ;) But it has some great exercises for the glutes, and the diet info to boot.<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;">Basically, it's a diet plan of unprocessed, </span>whole foods<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 16px;"> like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, lean meats, and void of artificial ingredients, preservatives, "chemically charged foods," sugars, saturated fat, and trans fat.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;">To make it easy, you essentially only shop on the outskirts of the grocery store (that's almost always where the fruits/veggies, dairy and meats are, the processed junk is inside), minus the bakery section ;) </span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span>
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<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 3px; padding: 0px;">
"Foods allowed include a variety of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean <a href="http://www.webmd.com/fitness-exercise/guide/good-protein-sources" style="color: #3789b9; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">proteins</a>, nonfat dairy, and healthy fats -- preferably organic and eaten in proper portions every few hours.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-top: 3px; padding: 0px;">
<i>The Eat-Clean Diet</i> recommends avoiding all saturated fat, trans fats, overprocessed, refined foods -- especially white flour, sugar, sugar-loaded colas, juices, and alcohol.</div>
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The plan's guiding principles:</div>
<ul style="background-color: white; font-family: Arial, Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 16px; margin: 5px 0px 0px; padding: 0px;">
<li style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://css.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/modules/li_bull_black.jpg); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px 0px 6px 15px;">Each meal should be between 200-300 calories.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://css.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/modules/li_bull_black.jpg); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px 0px 6px 15px;">Eat a complex carbohydrate with protein (20-21 grams) at every meal.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://css.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/modules/li_bull_black.jpg); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px 0px 6px 15px;">Drink at least 8 cups of water daily.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://css.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/modules/li_bull_black.jpg); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px 0px 6px 15px;">Never miss a meal, especially <a href="http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/most-important-meal" style="color: #3789b9; outline: none; text-decoration: none;">breakfast</a>.</li>
<li style="background-attachment: scroll; background-color: transparent; background-image: url(http://css.webmd.com/dtmcms/live/webmd/consumer_assets/site_images/modules/li_bull_black.jpg); background-position: 0px 7px; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; list-style-type: none; padding: 0px 0px 6px 15px;">Consume adequate healthy fats each day."</li>
</ul>
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<span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="line-height: 16px;">Some of the clean diet lists say to avoid any type of sweetener all together, but I find that impossible with a few things (oats, bleh!). From what I've read (I've tried to research quite a bit about this way of eating so I can learn what's good, true or just unhealthy), some sweetener<span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">options are honey, pure maple syrup, and sucanat, making sure to account for those calories if you're keeping track.</span></span><br />
<span style="line-height: 16px;">Ideally, you eat every 2-3 hours, never longer than 3. The caloric limit depends on your body of course, so you plan according to that, typically 6 meals a day, for me.</span><br />
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A lot of people have asked for recipes, so I'll post those as I go along too (okay, I'm not promising, but hopefully I'll remember!).<br />
<br />
Some of the things on my food list today:<br />
Oats with berries, cottage cheese on the side<br />
Kirkland nonfat Greek yogurt<br />
Granny smith apples<br />
Veggie Frittata: Turn your oven on to broil. Heat 1 T. olive oil in skillet (olive oil is recommended, but you could use cooking spray for zero calories and cheat, it's not "clean"). Throw in your veggies, I used broccoli and peppers. Cook until tender. Add 3 beaten eggs (most of the diets recommend just whites, but for my kidneys I need the yolks as well and less whites), salt/pepper, and nonfat cheese if you want, and mix those up. Let it sit for about 4 minutes until it's set on the bottom and the top is just starting to set slightly. Throw the whole pan in the oven on Broil for about 3-4 minutes until golden, and you're ready to eat! So easy, delicious, and super filling - I was still full when it was time for my next meal! It's pretty much adaptable to whatever you like, just keep in mind the calories of what you're putting in!<br />
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<span style="line-height: 16px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-52792853803273225762013-02-24T16:46:00.001-07:002013-02-24T16:50:23.346-07:00This is me challenge: marriage <div><p>*How did you meet your spouse?  Was it love at first sight or did it take some time?<br>
When I was 17 I was visiting my sister, Sheryl, in Oregon. Nate was serving his mission and was in my sister's ward. Her family was very close with all the missionaries, and her husband Ben was the ward mission leader. I saw Nate at church and thought he was so cute! After I went home we wrote a few times but that was about it... Until later! <br></p>
<p>*How long did you date before you got engaged?  How long was your engagement?<br>
We both ended up going to Sheryl's for Thanksgiving, 2 years later, (without knowing the other would be there!) and went on our first date that week! We got engaged on Christmas Eve, so only about a month of dating! We had a very short engagement as well, only 2 months!<br></p>
<p>*How did you get engaged?  (The story) <br>
The first time Nate asked me he hadn't been intending to, we were exchanging Christmas presents and he just decided he couldn't live without me ;)  lol<br>
Later on he had made an awesome treasure hunt with roses, and at the last clue I turned around to find him on one knee with the ring. So cute! <br></p>
<p>*Who did most of the wedding plans?  Who helped?<br>
My mom and dad, and Sister Leeann Powell, a lady in our ward who had done my sister's wedding as well. <br></p>
<p>*Who were your bridesmaids/best men? <br>
Katie Manning and Codilyn Kendall were my bridesmaids, and Nate's best men were his older brother Gerrit and my brother-in-law Ben Mildenhall. <br></p>
<p>*Describe the details of your wedding:  the colors, the cake, the decorations, etc.<br>
Colors: Dark green and ivory<br>
The cake: It was white with raspberry filling, with roses trailing all over. Of course we had to have something silly amidst all the serious and pretty, so we decided to put a cow and pig cake topper that we'd found at the cake shop, that were in wedding clothes! The bakery made a cute little fence with hay and mud around them! Probably one of my favorite parts of the wedding :) <br></p>
<p>*Where did you go on your honeymoon?<br>
We couldn't take much time off work so we decided not to go far. We stayed in a cute little B&B called Hines Mansion for the first night, then we went to SLC and stayed up there for a few nights and just played around the city. </p>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-87638154155778344302013-02-13T12:31:00.000-07:002013-02-13T12:31:00.347-07:00This is me: Work<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>Work:</u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><u><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;" /></u></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What jobs have you had? </span></span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">My very first job when I was 16 was at The Wirthlin Group in Orem (one of the many names it's had!). I did telephone surveys. I was pretty good at getting people to answer and keep them long enough to get the survey done!</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">After that I worked at Modus Media in Lindon (again, one of the many names). I worked in the call center for a number of different technology companies (Compaq tech support, customer service/returns, etc.)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Then when I was 19 </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Nate and I both started at Circuit City together, while we were engaged. He worked in the Electronics department.</span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;"> I worked in the Computer department. We transferred to Portland CC and I worked in computers as well as Customer Service Manager training. I worked at Circuit right up until I had Thor.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Then when Thor was about 6 months I went back to Modus Media (I was done with retail!) until about a year after I had Erik.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: medium;">Now I work for myself, I own and manage a residential cleaning company called All Purpose Cleaners.</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What did you like/dislike about each job?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I liked working with people and being able to solve problems for them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What did you learn at each job?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I learned how to deal with angry, upset people, and how to make them feel happy, even if the situation still wasn't how they would have liked.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*Have you used any of that knowledge in later years?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I still do this in my job now and then, if someone isn't happy with a cleaning or if they've had a bad experience in the past with another company. Plus, I think everyone uses this skill when they have a family, almost every day!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*How did you get along with your co-workers?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">My favorite co-workers were at Circuit City. They were a lot of fun and great people. Plus, I got to work with my husband in one department over ;)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*Which was your favorite job?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I really don't think there was a favorite, I learned so much at each job and I don't regret my time spent at any of them.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">My "job" now is probably my favorite because it just seems to be another part of my life, it doesn't always feel like a job. I hire people (and unfortunately fire people), I am the secretary, the accountant (Nate definitely helps me with that, and he's taught me a lot), the customer service agent, the debt collector, I do it all. Sometimes I feel like a failure, but when things are running smoothly it does give a great sense of accomplishment!</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*How many years until you retire?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;">I guess I could retire any time I want to, but in the end we'd like to keep our business running successfully so that it can just run itself or our kids can take over.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*Do you have any big plans for your retirement?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I would love to travel with Nate, and go on a mission together.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-9802408266027676012013-02-03T11:08:00.000-07:002013-02-03T11:14:09.780-07:00This is me: College Years<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><u>College years:</u></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><u><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; line-height: 18px;" /></u></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*Did you attend college or a trade school of some sort?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After high school I decided to just take institute classes at the Orem Institute of Religion. I was also in the Latter-day Celebration show choir with Brother Brenchley. I made some amazing friends there.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I finally decided to get back into school, and I had my heart set on going to cosmetology school, so I signed up at Von Curtis (now Paul Mitchell academy or something?). Shortly after I started and had learned all the basics, Nate and I decided to move to Portland. I was planning on transferring to a school there but instead I found out I was pregnant and VERY sick.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What did you think was the hardest thing about your chosen profession at that time? Did it turn out that way?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I didn't think it was hard, but it wasn't exactly what I had thought it would be when I dreamed of doing it all my childhood.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What dumb things did you do during those years?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I wouldn't change anything I did, but I might have waited a little longer to get married so I could grow up first ;)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What good things did you do?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Being in </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Latter-day Celebration was such a huge part of that time in my life. We were able to perform all over and travel to Texas for our tour. There were so many wonderful experiences during that time.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*Did you live on your own? How well prepared were you for that?</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I didn't live on my own until we got married, but I think we made it work. We had no family close by so we had to rely on each other. We worked hard (we worked at the same place so we had plenty of time together!) and had lots of fun on our days off.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; font-size: medium;"><br style="background-color: white;" /></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><span style="font-size: medium;">*What life lessons did you learn?</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">My testimony was definitely strengthened during those years in </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Latter-day Celebration</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; line-height: 18px;">. I learned a lot from cosmetology school that has been useful in helping my own family/friends with hair and makeup, etc. And I have some wonderful memories of my mom even though she wasn't close by. She had an 800 number at her work that I could call her on, so we could chat often and keep up on everything that was going on.</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-23645441308057107282012-12-13T09:35:00.000-07:002012-12-13T12:16:59.870-07:00This is Me: Teenage Years<u style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Growing up, teenage years:</u><br />
<u><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" /></u><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What activities did you participate in? (Sports, dancing, music, arts, etc.) Explain what you did with each activity. </span><br />
I tried dancing, my sisters and my mom were all dancers, but I just didn't have the grace that they did ;) so it didn't ever last long.<br />
I was always in choirs, from BYU Children's Choir to always being in choir in school.<br />
I took piano lessons (8 years and I obviously didn't practice as much as I should have or I'd be a lot better!)<br />
I loved art and often drew on my own when I wasn't in an art class in school. I loved writing poetry as well.<br />
*EDIT* My brother Brian reminded me how much I actually liked sports as a teenager. I was never amazing at them, and didn't play on teams (due to my completely non-competitive nature ha), but I did love to play basketball, tennis, even attempted some street hockey, but basketball was my favorite. It makes me happy to see Thor playing Junior Jazz for his 4th or 5th year in a row now :)<br />
<br style="background-color: white;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*How did you learn how to drive? What kind of car did you have?</span><br />
My parents took me driving, I'm sure that was scary. I drove either our Blue Buick, which had the horn of a full speed train, or our tan Station Wagon. The latter was the favorite of my friends, mostly because (my dad won't like this part lol) it took bumps and dips so awesomely. My friends would take turns sitting in the back and fly every time we hit one! And it fit 3 friends in the front at once, good memories with that car!<br />
<br style="background-color: white;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*Who were your friends? </span><br />
In high school I had a lot of different friends. Many the same as in the last post, as well as Codilyn Kendell and Katie Manning. People called us the Three Muskateers, because we were ALWAYS together (but oh so much drama of course! hahaha)<br />
<br style="background-color: white;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*Did you have a girl/boy friend? Talk about him/her (if your spouse is okay with it!).</span><br />
I was SO shy in high school, I never had boyfriends until afterwards, when I learned to break out of my shell a little more.<br />
<br style="background-color: white;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What did you like/dislike about school?</span><br />
I'll be honest, I hated most everything about high school. I think part of that was because of my shyness, but I really didn't like school in general. My favorite classes depended on the year, but I did like English, and of course choir and art, and really loved my language classes (German and Spanish).<br />
<br style="background-color: white;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What was your first paid job? </span><br />
I worked at Wirthlin Worldwide, doing phone surveys. I was pretty good at it, and didn't hate it :)<br />
<br style="background-color: white;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What were your chores at home?</span><br />
About the same as the last post, at this point I was usually the only kid at home so I did whatever I could around the house, between work and school. When I wasn't working I do remember getting an allowance for helping around the house, which I was very grateful for!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-52509682631260804422012-12-10T08:30:00.003-07:002012-12-10T08:41:40.853-07:00This is Me: Early Years<u style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 18px;"><b>Growing up, early years: </b></u><br />
<b><u><br style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; line-height: 18px;" /></u></b><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*Where did you grow up? Describe it.</span><br />
Provo, first across the street from what used to be Maeser Elementary. We lovingly call it "the ghetto". We all remember hearing a few shootings going on, or the time a guy escaped from jail and holed up in an apartment building not far from us, and the police came door-to-door telling people to stay in their homes. Lots of amazing people around us though, some of those I am still friends with today.<br />
When I was 10 we moved to Grandview Hill, where I have a lot more memories than at the other house.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What was your earliest memory?</span><br />
I only have a few memories when I was young. I remember our dogs Cinnamon and Nutmeg, Cinnamon was a big Chow, I remember she once chased me through the house and into the bathtub.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What games did you play as a child?</span><br />
There were a few games our family loved to play. <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Probe-Parker-Brothers-Words-Edition/dp/B000N3LQ7U">Probe</a> and <a href="http://www.webnoir.com/bob/sid/bazaar.htm">Bazaar</a> are the most memorable. I remember loving to jump rope too.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*Where did you go to school?</span><br />
I went to Maeser Elementary until the end of 4th grade, and then we moved and I went to Grandview Elementary.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*Who were your friends?</span><br />
When I was younger, Julia Patch, Lisa Attkinson, Jenny Evens, and Brittany Tueller were some of my good friend.<br />
Once I moved I made new friends pretty quickly with Jessica Child, Angela Harward, Sarah Hansen, Jenne Andersen, Cammie Davis (the best part of this is we all still get together and have dinner and reminisce about those silly times.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*Who were your favorite teachers and why?</span><br />
Mr Rowley was definitely my favorite teacher. The year he taught us in 6th grade was his first year teaching. He now teaches at the elementary that my kids go to, and is just as awesome! He has always kept up with that 6th grade class, remembered all of our birthdays, come to everything important, I mean how awesome is that. He came to my wedding! All around awesome guy.<br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What were your chores?</span><br />
With such a big family, as far as I remember, we just rotated who did what, but all the regular house keeping chores. I even mowed the lawn fairly often when we were in the house on Grandview (since then I was often the only kid at home). We had a sweet electric mower that I had to plug in and make sure not to run over haha!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-37141509079889894292012-12-09T09:11:00.000-07:002012-12-09T09:28:01.786-07:00This is Me ChallengeI've decided to do the "This is Me Challenge".<br />
The first section is:<br />
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<u style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Your birth and family:</u><span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What is your full name and how did you get that name? Do you have any nicknames?</span><br />
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Jeanette Marlene (Smith) Sorensen. My family calls me either Nettie or Birdette (I think that came from my brothers, but I have no idea how, feel free to chime in if you have some insight into this!). In high school some of my friends called me Eddie, Jeanette was just toooo girly at the time, but now it fits me a little better :)</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What are your parent's full names and birth dates and places?</span></div>
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My Dad is Kim LeRoy Smith, 12/22/39 and he was born in Idaho I believe (correct me if I'm wrong on any of these!)</div>
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My Mom is Barbara Charlene (Funk) Smith, she went by Charlene, her mother was Barbara. She was born in Rosemead, CA. I think, on 6/3/39.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What is the date of your birth? Where were you born?</span></div>
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My birthday is 6/26/79. I was born in Provo at UVRMC. I was 10 lbs 6 oz (huuuuge!) and 21 in. at 5somethingAM.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What are your sibling's full names and birth dates? </span></div>
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My mom had 8 kids, with TWO sets of twins!</div>
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Oh gosh, this one is tricky, I'm getting old and forgetting the days! Let's see how I do... please don't hate me if I get any wrong!!! :)</div>
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Julie Ranae Pulsipher 7/31</div>
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Sheryl Lynn Mildenhall Mills 7/31</div>
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Brian Jay Smith 2/19</div>
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Gary LeRoy Smith 8/26</div>
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Denise Diane Pearce 11/18</div>
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Lori Jeanine Harris 3/17</div>
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Mark Damon Smith 3/17</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*How was your relationship with your siblings and parents?.</span></div>
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I was the youngest of 8, with my nearest siblings being 4 years older than me, so I was a little bit spoiled and probably a brat (I'm sure if you ask my siblings, they'd say a LOT spoiled, and a huge brat lol). Most of my older siblings were out of the house by the time I remember much, but I remember when they came to visit I would cry at nights when they had left (I know, so sad huh). I always missed them so much!</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*What are some lessons you learned from you parents?</span></div>
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I think the most important lessons both of my parents taught me, by great example, were to honor the priesthood, and to pray. Anytime I needed comfort or was sick, my dad would always be willing to give me a blessing, even in the middle of the night (which was often), even for small things and my mom would always tell me to say a prayer when I needed help, etc. I've always remembered that and am extremely grateful for it.</div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #666666; font-family: Cantarell; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">*How did you help in your home?</span></div>
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I think the earliest thing I remember as a little kid was helping with laundry. By the time I was a teenager I was mostly the only child at home, so I helped with a lot of the chores. I remember times I tried to cut corners to get done faster, but my mom would always catch me! I think that's why I'm so ocd about cleaning now as a grown up</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-81805138487025403572012-11-12T14:16:00.002-07:002012-11-12T14:16:27.259-07:00Food StorageSince I think everyone's had enough updates about my surgery I won't make a post about it (if you haven't - it all went well, legs hurt a little where they went in, heart is still doing silly tachycardic things, but that should hopefully subside after a few months, as the scar forms).<br />
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So, as I'm still in forced recuperation mode (meaning I feel okay, but am being forced to just sit around and take it easy until Friday), I decided to work on our food storage! - yikes<br />
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We have a good sized shelf full of food, but not enough, if we're being honest here. We're lucky enough to have a giant unfinished basement so we don't lack the space, just the somewhat important food.<br />
I'm all about having a ton of the basics since I like to make things by hand anyway, so we have a lot of that, and then a bunch of awesome stuff from <a href="http://www.shelfreliance.com/">Shelf Reliance</a> (love them). I don't have an inventory of exactly what we have though, so I decided to start there.<br />
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Enter some wonderfully prepared lady whom I found on Pinterest, of course.<br />
<a href="http://preparednotscared.blogspot.com/2010/08/vital-records-food-storage-inventory.html">http://preparednotscared.blogspot.com/2010/08/vital-records-food-storage-inventory.html</a><br />
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She has already created these great inventory lists: <a href="http://www.mediafire.com/view/?nn086b6tbt5cpmo">http://www.mediafire.com/view/?nn086b6tbt5cpmo</a><br />
You simply write down each item you have on hand, then go through with a highlighter and color in the boxes for how many you have of each item (you can also highlight with a second color more boxes indicating how many more you'd like to have on hand) and with a sheet protector over it, you check it off as you use it. Then simply erase the check when you've repurchased it. So easy huh?!<br />
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So I'm breaking mine down into categories (Baking goods, Dairy, Fruit/Veggies, Meats, Misc.) and putting them each in a sheet protector on a clipboard (with a wet erase marker attached) to hang from my shelves.<br />
I think it's even easy enough for my kids, who are often the ones bringing up the items to be used, so all they have to do is simply check it off before they bring it up!<br />
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Do you have any awesome food storage ideas or tried and true ways of organizing it all?<br />
Now I'm off (totally bundled up - coat, gloves, scarf - it's freezing down there!) to start checking off what we've got, wish me luck!Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-8720035190698469712012-11-05T11:13:00.000-07:002012-11-05T11:14:51.991-07:00Freezer Meal Monday!<div>
In case you haven't heard me raving about freezer meals, here you go! ;)</div>
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The backstory:</div>
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My sister Denise lives in another state so we often call each other and chat while we clean the house, do laundry, etc. Our conversations start like this, "Want to clean?" or, "I'm folding laundry, wanna chat?" haha.</div>
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We decided we needed to start "cooking together" as well, so we started planning a whole day to just chat and make freezer meals! We both pick a day that will work with our schedules (We usually try for Monday, mostly because I'm selfish and it's the only day I don't have Zumba in the mornings), plan a big list of meals (usually we have pretty similar menus so we can talk about what we're doing or what worked best, etc.), go shopping beforehand (we've had to reschedule a few times because one of us forgot to go shopping or something!), and plan it all out.</div>
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We've come up with our own pinterest board that we can both post to, this was Denise's brilliant idea, where we pin all our freezer meal "want to try" recipes, or recipes that have worked for us in the past. We've done it enough times now that we have our favs that we cook each time, and we'll throw in some new ones to try and see how our families like it. Sometimes we find recipes specially made for the freezer, and sometimes we just use our regular recipes and freeze it and they work out great (using a regular recipe depends on what it is, some things don't freeze as well as others). We try to make meals that use similar ingredients for at least a few, so we can buy in bulk and just split it up. We'll often double at least a couple of the meals so we have more than just what's on the list. Ziplock bags and aluminum pans are great for storage.</div>
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These have been SO helpful for our family! I am currently the ward compassionate service leader, so when I'm not able to get a volunteer for a meal, I can just grab a meal from my freezer and get it ready for them, without any worry of figuring out what to make someone! They've also been a life saver for random surgeries or ER visits, because the instructions are all on the container/bag, so Thor can just throw it in the oven or on the stove and dinner is taken care of. They're MUCH more economical and definitely healthier than buying a frozen dinner from the store.</div>
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You should try it ;) If you only have a few on hand, that's better than none. And I promise you, some day you will be truly grateful you had one in there! </div>
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If you have any suggestions of things to try or that you love, let me know, we're always looking for more ideas!</div>
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Here is our pinterest board if anyone needs ideas: </div>
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<a href="http://pinterest.com/gerviece/life-simplifying-freezer-meals/">http://pinterest.com/gerviece/life-simplifying-freezer-meals/</a></div>
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And here is MY menu for this round of meals:</div>
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(If you want the recipes, let me know, it's a lot to list here!)</div>
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Chicken Tikka Masala</div>
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Cafe Rio Chicken (The pork is also amazing, but I've made it a lot lately)</div>
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Crock Pot Orange Chicken (this is a new one to my freezer meal list, we'll see how it works out!)</div>
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Breakfast Pockets (also new, but I think Denise has tried it?)</div>
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Borscht</div>
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Lasagna</div>
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Chilean Empanadas</div>
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Taco meat - hamburger and shredded chicken (This usually gets eaten throughout the week for lunches)</div>
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Let me know if you do freezer meals, have any ideas, or try it out, I'd love to hear about it!</div>
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-31325675142017947782012-11-01T08:57:00.002-06:002012-11-01T08:57:45.472-06:00Halloween!<h4>
<b>Halloween was great this year!</b></h4>
Started the day off with Zumba, where of course we all dressed up and had a great time!<br />
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The kids had a school parade and then Nate's work had a big trick-or-treating party. Nate dressed up as a <a href="http://thesorensenslate.blogspot.com/2009/11/halloween.html"><b>"little person"</b></a> and won a prize! The kids probably got all the candy they needed this Halloween just at his work! But no, on to the REAL trick-or-treating!<br />
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGIzOILwiA7NeNkJBUAVPkQIoVNqyYe81AdyV4ozESjffA7g7IRiBff-bFxgm7LRE8Ce7TH2_3zQmQsd8eCo46P90W-BHQ2jvPaRU2f78T8-b7QPdWczn81V3m-TyGSDuSA2DQ4A4Qg/s1600/20121031_184837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmGIzOILwiA7NeNkJBUAVPkQIoVNqyYe81AdyV4ozESjffA7g7IRiBff-bFxgm7LRE8Ce7TH2_3zQmQsd8eCo46P90W-BHQ2jvPaRU2f78T8-b7QPdWczn81V3m-TyGSDuSA2DQ4A4Qg/s320/20121031_184837.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ninja Nate!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-3PFK7cdMSLr_uA72aMRlh7exSgclXe5_7dKIdh9MbMj7nxXkY9_nVyig22ytr424M9IdVNKyoXtE-fzXWijqoxRewQsaYP2UYNexax3JH6-EIP1RnRQBEotPxe-eLX7DaerQhpjBQ/s1600/20121031_190453-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; display: inline !important; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQ-3PFK7cdMSLr_uA72aMRlh7exSgclXe5_7dKIdh9MbMj7nxXkY9_nVyig22ytr424M9IdVNKyoXtE-fzXWijqoxRewQsaYP2UYNexax3JH6-EIP1RnRQBEotPxe-eLX7DaerQhpjBQ/s320/20121031_190453-1.jpg" width="242" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pirate vs Ninja </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgvjdVGrq-X1vmK4GFY43C2kPhIZoqbKrNmFQsw2IccThdEnqFDi6t6aS9tWfNaTf-n50ShO_mrHnQrapQ38KKDDexRFI1-aeFPXZ2kUXLGEmOkC9J_pL8GRK9rg-pM0XUa_kF99MVQA/s320/20121031_190044.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="240" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thor as a ninja</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1DV6eNDD61GTJfmUUfB_Dplf94blSfQT6mCRoE6v6P-AdW4OzNvXmnKk4OC2fG3kdElK97AQGVnm1NKCEHrj0d-EWVaOQbjrV1Vbw0eryoyyr3dyqs0ZWb6gUguCylCJxN6e1o4F0Q/s1600/20121031_185837.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh1DV6eNDD61GTJfmUUfB_Dplf94blSfQT6mCRoE6v6P-AdW4OzNvXmnKk4OC2fG3kdElK97AQGVnm1NKCEHrj0d-EWVaOQbjrV1Vbw0eryoyyr3dyqs0ZWb6gUguCylCJxN6e1o4F0Q/s320/20121031_185837.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erik as a knight (wearing Nate's handcrafted chainmaille)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSaR-o6Jsb2VZWGDiCMp22yvK4zoKhX59eYWA_MzU4l9sS-3BO90xi-3sFnVq3Dp5HGz9QJNIlzU3OBhnpR9GvfuVfZDnX_BrqVyK9C3qb3NLStW0rMj-z6o-HCgily7tuP4g-cWlr5A/s1600/20121031_185304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSaR-o6Jsb2VZWGDiCMp22yvK4zoKhX59eYWA_MzU4l9sS-3BO90xi-3sFnVq3Dp5HGz9QJNIlzU3OBhnpR9GvfuVfZDnX_BrqVyK9C3qb3NLStW0rMj-z6o-HCgily7tuP4g-cWlr5A/s320/20121031_185304.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Annika and Nettie as pirate girls</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGB5zhhGmOUYTwMtjV6bJj4KohMalG6fv-s-fNE5WU075VCK4oQVKXSr2UyS6e8YKMa99WoX_oXWq6JEMoktc1NyWrNQvGxLqWm51rJjiU3NCbujNYBVD7QB6VGJkDWt5ae8WFV3SDA/s1600/20121031_201657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGB5zhhGmOUYTwMtjV6bJj4KohMalG6fv-s-fNE5WU075VCK4oQVKXSr2UyS6e8YKMa99WoX_oXWq6JEMoktc1NyWrNQvGxLqWm51rJjiU3NCbujNYBVD7QB6VGJkDWt5ae8WFV3SDA/s1600/20121031_201657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a>Party time! We had lots of delicious food (most of it was already gone at this point, oops!)</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGB5zhhGmOUYTwMtjV6bJj4KohMalG6fv-s-fNE5WU075VCK4oQVKXSr2UyS6e8YKMa99WoX_oXWq6JEMoktc1NyWrNQvGxLqWm51rJjiU3NCbujNYBVD7QB6VGJkDWt5ae8WFV3SDA/s1600/20121031_201657.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVGB5zhhGmOUYTwMtjV6bJj4KohMalG6fv-s-fNE5WU075VCK4oQVKXSr2UyS6e8YKMa99WoX_oXWq6JEMoktc1NyWrNQvGxLqWm51rJjiU3NCbujNYBVD7QB6VGJkDWt5ae8WFV3SDA/s400/20121031_201657.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Active Zombie Virus, Truth Serum and Spider Venom. Yuck!</td></tr>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZYCrCazWgQft7iL_t3RE2LRyt-mF6dEtk84Zw7RPGfbZbQ08Smgwv_DUHZJ5bM7JbqoStqI8CIYvYrZpvu2RQ4ge6OkOwbYEvnSZAnOFQ2kMTPByXR-XosXC8Zx1V0N8UgGX4f8LnDg/s1600/20121031_211428.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZYCrCazWgQft7iL_t3RE2LRyt-mF6dEtk84Zw7RPGfbZbQ08Smgwv_DUHZJ5bM7JbqoStqI8CIYvYrZpvu2RQ4ge6OkOwbYEvnSZAnOFQ2kMTPByXR-XosXC8Zx1V0N8UgGX4f8LnDg/s320/20121031_211428.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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We had a few rounds of Halloween Scattergories and some other silly games and had a great time!!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEWqWfXn7OA8p24HfYpQBF3OtxfO_T1LhKCnUegaYLgnrgmgbM2BinId_r2kVfj92OvLsu0b4zDzssMtaUegeVYD2-JEvtsRa3yCym8DgbAHAC0ldVUyVctsBOurdSLwMKcl4YN68MQ/s1600/644048_4195389757956_1283275621_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlEWqWfXn7OA8p24HfYpQBF3OtxfO_T1LhKCnUegaYLgnrgmgbM2BinId_r2kVfj92OvLsu0b4zDzssMtaUegeVYD2-JEvtsRa3yCym8DgbAHAC0ldVUyVctsBOurdSLwMKcl4YN68MQ/s320/644048_4195389757956_1283275621_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The good witch and the wicked witch</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCzZOpFlO-PSEf7U91h95mNa2BSMv2kNu0JaCbtuHEyWxnP0eaYWjJwaurKSdpotJYSWX7VEzgEdqS9RQk6gAMHmEa0kcbLVwp7ksg22C1MS9VX5on-N3Q7_PNx4I_l9E_ed7HgLlFA/s1600/22590_4195390117965_2107671261_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtCzZOpFlO-PSEf7U91h95mNa2BSMv2kNu0JaCbtuHEyWxnP0eaYWjJwaurKSdpotJYSWX7VEzgEdqS9RQk6gAMHmEa0kcbLVwp7ksg22C1MS9VX5on-N3Q7_PNx4I_l9E_ed7HgLlFA/s320/22590_4195390117965_2107671261_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Follow the yellow brick road!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpX0M8xEPxUMvWVd2itnXRwHE9mzdqpyyctyEOyxRLRB0N2s-EcUraX_HIFBl-Up7Zvq2qbzxzUoFl7zWlaHlp8Sk5HfVTJr0A5XQ8V9uvd2tFewpCdAFedFN6gYeEBI0SVqtobnkzCA/s1600/404599_4674533942610_971255287_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpX0M8xEPxUMvWVd2itnXRwHE9mzdqpyyctyEOyxRLRB0N2s-EcUraX_HIFBl-Up7Zvq2qbzxzUoFl7zWlaHlp8Sk5HfVTJr0A5XQ8V9uvd2tFewpCdAFedFN6gYeEBI0SVqtobnkzCA/s320/404599_4674533942610_971255287_n.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Erica Morgan and Emily</td></tr>
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-17299552377952933562012-10-30T16:21:00.002-06:002012-10-30T16:21:46.243-06:00Surgery Scheduled (Posted on PKD blog)<br />
I went to see the Cardiologist (Dr. Chun Hwang) today. He wanted to squeeze me in for surgery on November 8th at 430am, so that's great!<br />
I'll be having a <a href="http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/health-topics/topics/ablation/">catheter ablation</a>, to fix my <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001235/">PSVT</a>. Yes, I'm being totally lazy and making you click on links to read about what they are if you want to know ;) Basically, they'll put a wire catheter through my leg up to my heart and burn the part that is causing the arrhythmias. Poor Nate had to sit through all the possible bad outcomes, most of which are totally rare, but the doctor was great at explaining everything in great detail and very informative.<br />
They said plan on staying overnight, but it could be outpatient if everything goes well after the 6 hours of bedrest (to help the incision heal and not bleed out).<br />
As weird as it may sound, I'm pretty excited to get this done. It'll be so nice not to have to worry about it happening anymore!!<br />
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Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-90859193500564916642012-10-30T07:54:00.000-06:002012-10-30T07:54:50.695-06:00Tuesday's 10: 10 reasons I love Halloween!Let me start off by saying: I LOVE HALLOWEEN. It's always been one of my favorite holidays. Here are 10 reasons why!<br />
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10. Seeing all the cute little kids in their costumes and how excited THEY are about my favorite holiday!<br />
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9. All the fun treats you can make (you must know I love baking).<br />
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8. Seeing weird people all month and not knowing if they're wearing a costume or they're actually dressed that way ;)<br />
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7. Scary movies!<br />
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6. Haunted Houses. Although I haven't been to one in years... ahem, hint hint.<br />
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5. Dressing up in fun/silly/scary costumes.<br />
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4. Wearing crazy makeup you wouldn't dare in real life.<br />
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3. Doing other people's crazy makeup they wouldn't dare do on themselves (this might need to be moved to #1).<br />
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2. It's a great excuse for a party!<br />
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1. And number 1 was donated from my kids... <b>CANDY!!!</b> (Erik specified I must put it in all caps and 3 exclamations).<br />
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We're having our annual (we only call it that because people come over to hang out and it turns into a big party each year, so now it's official) Halloween party tomorrow night and I'm getting super excited finishing up some of the fun things we have to do! Nate decided on the theme this year: "Pirates vs Ninjas", so we'll have a contest to see who wins, plus best costume, and lots of fun and games. Now all I have to do is decorate and decide if I want to make my Dad's amazing sugar cookies or make some cute ghost cupcakes, hmmm.<br />
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What do you love or hate about Halloween?<br />
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<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-80349193824154884172012-10-25T09:03:00.000-06:002012-10-30T08:04:14.274-06:00Life is busy (no, I'm not wearing it as a badge of honor!)Life is so busy, but I think I have more time now to get back to our blog!<br />
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I know everyone is so busy in their own life. I feel like some days I am crazy busy, and some days I'm really lucky and I get to just relax and fold laundry while I watch a movie in the silence of my home, while the kids are at school. I have a pretty blessed life, really.<br />
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The kids keep me busy with their different activities, although this semester we have decided to slow down and cut back on extracurriculars.<br />
Thor is loving being in the school Concert Choir, and we've given him the challenge to audition for a solo/duet for his Christmas Concert, he has a great little voice. He will be starting his basketball season in December. He gets better every year. It's neat to see the improvement from the side-lines. I'm sure he doesn't realize it like we do, but for us on the outside it's like a time-lapse video; when he was just little he would just run back and forth between the baskets, the next year he would get the ball but immediately pass it to someone else, next he would actively try to get it and make baskets. This year should be exciting!<br />
Erik is still funny little Erik. Last week he had a well-checkup and the doctor noticed his hip wasn't as flexible as the other. They sent us to x-ray and at first they thought it was severe hip dysplasia, told us he'd need surgery and sent us to Primary Childrens to have it re-examined. Upon arrival there they were extremely worried that it was Perthes disease, but after hearing he'd had surgery on the same hip when he was a baby (when he had the blood infection, it settled in his hip joint and they had to do surgery to drain it), she decided it was caused by that and it had become necrotic over the years, as well as being somewhat misshapen and the growth plate had already closed. She said typically they close around age 13, so his legs shouldn't be too off, but if they are he'll have to have surgery to adjust his other leg. Other than that, it's a wait and see game for now. He'll eventually have arthritis and definitely need a hip replacement, she said best case would be when he's 50, by then I'm sure it'll be like magic. ;)<br />
Annika is your typical first grader, I would guess. She's too smart for her own good, she's too independent for her own good (or mine!), but after the boys, it's much easier to just let her be and watch what becomes of it. We're still working on teaching her not to be so bossy, she's definitely an A personality. She's still got her daddy wrapped around her finger, which is adorable and I hope lasts forever and ever. She's very into dance, and is very good at it. She's got an amazing, natural grace when she dances, which she definitely didn't get from me!<br />
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My health keeps me busy. I really don't feel like I have as many problems as I do, since I can't "see" any of them, sometimes it's hard to do everything I need to to keep things working right, but hopefully someday I'll see the benefit of it all. I've had so many people tell me I'm amazing for having such a positive attitude and dealing with all these issues, but honestly, it's all you CAN do, and I'm sure anyone else would do the same. I'm not amazing, it's just life and I've been dealt some crazy organs and I get to just accept them for who they are! haha. I like to say I must have been last in line when they dished out bodies ;) But I'm definitely grateful for a working one, as much as it does, they truly are amazing, aren't they?<br />
I try to workout at least 5 days a week. I do Zumba almost every Mon-Fri, I'm pretty much addicted to it, but I think it's a good addiction. I've made some of the most wonderful friends I've ever known. I get an amazing workout that happens to be fun at the same time. It's my "me time" when I just get to have fun and focus on myself for an hour or so. I really want to go to the instructor training, it's just a matter of time/money, I'm hoping soon!!<br />
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APC work keeps me pretty busy. I have scheduling to do, which is pretty much a 24/6 kind of thing (I won't answer my phone on Sunday), so I'm kind of "on-call". I have accounting to do, payroll, training, hiring/firing (which luckily we're good with for now, I have amazing girls!), all the usual tasks of running your average business. Nate has been great to help me with the accounting and teach me new things all the time, since we use Quickbooks and he's a pro. It has really been a blessing to have this company, in so many ways. I have learned so much in so all different areas, I feel like I should be able to test into an MBA degree, since I've already done most of it in life-experience at this point! I wish. ;)<br />
Business is going extremely well, and it's a relief to know we have it to fall back on should anything ever happen with Nate or his job, but it's also just a great thing for me to do and have something to feel accomplished about.<br />
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Being married keeps me busy. In a really good way. I have the most wonderful husband, he stands by my side and holds my hand. When I'm having health issues, he bares it so well, even though I know it kills him to watch me go through this stuff sometimes (watching the worry on his face <a href="http://nettiepkd.blogspot.com/">that night at the ER</a> was more painful than all the heart issues I was having, and that heart-stopping drug was not fun!). He is constantly motivating me in all different areas. I definitely wouldn't be who I am without him. After 13 and a half years with him, I'm totally in love and wouldn't trade this life for the world!<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-957884507178571523.post-91760130614867678472010-01-28T08:31:00.001-07:002010-01-28T08:35:37.154-07:00Lullaby in the making<div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">This morning the boys were playing checkers after they ate their breakfast. For some reason they were telling eachother to be quiet, which turned into some sing-song taunting, then it turned into... a lullaby.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">They decided they would sing it to their babies, and Thor said he'd have to have Erik come over and sing it with him, to his baby. Soon it became a fully harmonized song "Be quieeeeet, shush uuuupppp, and go to sleep."<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Very nice. I can see any baby instantly falling asleep under their hypnotic discord.<br />
</div><div style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">They decided they need to record it, so I'll be sure to post that later if they do.<br />
</div><span style="font-family: "Courier New",Courier,monospace;">Sure do love those goofy little bounders!</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09277444655651107187noreply@blogger.com0