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Is it just me?

September 29, 2011 · by Ari · 2 Comments

Today my mom asked how I was doing and I answered “You know how when you’re really sleep deprived and it makes you overly emotionally responsive? Like, the smallest thing can make me laugh or cry or be overwhelmed by joy/sadness/anything. Except, I’m not really sleep deprived.” I actually *most of the time* don’t mind being super in tune with my emotions because it leads to things like the discovery I made today.

This morning I met Kara for Spin like every Thursday. Our fav teacher was back. We ended up starting almost 10 minutes late, but she promised to make up for it. By the time we reached the top of our big hill and I discovered gear 23 (Hello gear 23. Nice to meet you. This is the first time we’ve been acquainted. To be honest, you kind of suck. But, somehow I think I may see you again sometime anyway), I knew she wasn’t lying. Then it was time for sprints. She mentioned something about the first minute and the second minute, so silly me, I thought they sprint section would only last 2 minutes. Lies. All lies. And to be honest, I kind of thought I was going to die. I felt so certain that I couldn’t keep up and that I had burnt out too quickly again, but something sparked inside of me and I knew that I had two options.

1) Give up.

2) Push harder than I’ve ever pushed and leave everything I had in that room.

When you’re that tired there is no option 3. No middle ground. At least not for me. All or nothing. So I peddled and peddled and pushed harder and faster than I knew I had in me and all of the sudden all of the emotions I haven’t really had time to acknowledge or mentally digest just came up like emotional vomit and I felt like I was going to start crying, but I wasn’t sad. The only thing I could possibly relate it to is when I’ve been on stage and fully released over into what I was doing. I completely let go in that moment and found a lot of reality inside of myself.

Sorry to sound like a nut. The truth is I am a super emotionally driven person and I 100% believe in all this crap. No one can convince me otherwise. I should come with a warning “I’m emotional. Love me anyway.”

I left class, completely beat physically, but feeling amazing mentally.

Not amazing mileage wise, but not bad considering the lost time and killer hills.

After Spin, I finalllllyyy got my hurrrrr did! One of my besties is basically the most fantastic hair dresser on earth. Her name is Kara, but she is not the same Kara from spin. Hair Kara and I have been friends for something ridiculous like 12 or 13 years, and we have had some crazy times together. Ask me one day, and I will tell you all about our shenanigans! While my color sat, I definitely went over to Great Harvest for some lunch lookin like this

Classy, right? I’ll post pictures of the new color once I actually have time to style and make myself pretty.

After my hair appt, I worked and had a super productive/challenging/amazing rehearsal. I am having such a blast working on this show and it is totally challenging my brain to think, focus, and teach in new ways. I’m so happy, and I wouldn’t turn down a single thing I’m doing right now for all the days off in the world! But I have to admit, I miss Steve and I miss these cutie patooties!

This morning, I went to grab something from my car and Winston followed me and jumped in the back seat. I guess he’s sick of me leaving all the time and he wanted to come. So cute.

After rehearsal, I stopped by my mom’s where I was poured wine and treated like a queen for an hour. My family has been super sensitive to my crazy schedule and made me feel like a million bucks the small amount of time I got to spend with them!

Tomorrow I work from 7:30am-8:30pm and it’s midnight and I can’t sleep. Yikes. Buuuutttt, I have the Phoenix blogger meet up on Saturday to look forward to! Sooo excited (and I have to admit, a little nervous)! If you live in Phoenix and you’re not already on the list, you should come tooooo! I can’t wait to meet everyone 🙂

Ok. Must. Try. To. Sleep.

Goodnight friends.

PS: Question of the day: Have you ever had an emotional response during a work out? Does what I expressed make sense, or do you kind of think I’m a freak? 🙂

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: clementine, family, fitness, puppies, spin, winston

Apple & Goat Cheese Sandwich

September 21, 2011 · by Ari · 1 Comment

So yesterday I made the most delicious lunch ever, and ate it so fast that a camera was the last thing from my mind, but sometimes when I create something I absolutely love, I will make it like 11 days in a row until I’m sick of it and never want it ever again. So, obviously, today I recreated yesterday’s sandwich

Apple & Goat Cheese Sandwich

  • 2 slices cinnamon raisin Ezekiel bread
  • 1 oz goat cheese
  • 1 tbs fig butter
  • 1/2 apple, thinly sliced
  • light drizzle balsamic vinegar
  • 1 leaf romaine lettuce

Directions:

1) Place bread on foiled baking sheet and place in the oven on burn broil to crisp.

2) Spread fig butter over one slice.

3) Drizzle second slice with balsamic vinegar, and top with goat cheese.

4) Stick back in the oven until cheese is softened.

4) Top with apple slices and lettuce.

5) Enjoy!

I enjoyed my sandwich with some yogurt which was delicious, but not nearly as exciting. Then, Steve and I got some quality time in with our children!

Winnie always looks so sad in pictures. Cheer up, Win!

Notice Clem’s flipped back ear.

I guess we tired them out? I love when they hang out together just by themselves! It must be like when parents see their siblings love each other. 🙂

Confession: Sometimes if I only take/post pictures of one of the dogs, I start to feel guilty like I’m picking favorites and everyone will think I love one more than the other. I also feel guilty if I pay more attention to one of them, because then the other one gets sad and sulks. Does anyone else have this problem? Or do I worry way too much about the feelings of puppies?

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: clementine, lunch, puppies, recipe, sandwich, winston

Skinnified Sunday: Chicken Tender Salad

September 18, 2011 · by Ari · 1 Comment

Steve and I actually did our Skinnified Sunday dinner a day early because tonight we are going out for our friend Kara’s birthday. So we moved our cooking and our 6 month anniversary celebration up a day! That’s right, we have been married for 6 months today. I know a halfiversary may seem like a silly thing to celebrate, but we like to celebrate, and after almost 8 years together, it’s fun to start the counting over and celebrate months!

First, we went to one of my all time favorite stores–WILLIAM’S SONOMA!!! and used some of our store credit from the wedding to buy some new toys!

Then we exchanged gifts. I got him a book to assist in his new photography obsession (In case you didn’t know, he takes all the good pictures that show up on the blog. You can see more of his amazing photography @ his blog or on his flicker account). And he got my a framed picture of the whole fam from our wedding!

While I got cooking, Steve started to get creative with the camera and got a super sweet picture of our wedding rings 🙂

This dinner was pretty easy, so I was able to enjoy myself a little more (sometimes I get really stressed about everything being perfect) and play with my vegetables.


Meanwhile, Winston and Clementine were cute

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For dinner, I was inspired by the trap of restaurant salads. Have you ever ordered a salad in an attempt to stay healthy at a restaurant, only to look it up later and realize that you could have just had a burger and fries for less calories?! I feel like I’m pretty good at this point in deciphering a menu, but there as a time where I thought salad=healthy. The specific inspiration:

Red Robin’s Crispy Chicken Tender Salad

  • Greens
  • Breaded, friend chicken
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Hard boiled eggs
  • Bacon
  • Cheddar cheese
  • Bread
  • Dressing

My Swaps:

  • More veggies–tomato, cucumber, carrots, red pepper (+vitamins, +flavor, +all sorts of veggie goodness)
  • Faux fried chicken for friend chicken (-fat, -calories)
  • Half whites/half whole eggs for hard boiled eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Center cut or turkey bacon (baked) for bacon (-fat, -calories, -saturated fat)
  • Goat cheddar for cheddar cheese (-fat, -calories, +flavor)
  • Fat free croutons for bread (-fat, -calories, +crunch)
  • Added avocado (+YUM)
  • Home made feta yogurt dressing for full fat restaurant dressing (-fat, -calories)

Skinnified Chicken Tender Salad

yield 6 servings

  • 1 1/2 hearts romaine, chopped
  • 2 1/2 Persian cucumbers, sliced
  • 3/4 cup carrots, chopped
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 3/4 cup fat free croutons
  • 3/4 cup goat cheese, shredded
  • 2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
  • 6 slices center cut or turkey bacon, baked and chopped
  • 2 hard boiled egg whites, sliced
  • 1 avocado, sliced
  • 1 lb chicken breast, sliced
  • 3/4 cup cornflakes, crushed
  • 1/4 cup Fiber One Original, crushed
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat parmesean cheese
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 1 ts garlic pepper
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • dash cayenne
  • 2 egg whites, beaten

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 400.

2) Combine cereals,parmesean, oregano, garlic pepper, salt and cayenne.

3) Dip chicken in egg whites, then transfer to cereal mix.

4) Spray a raised baking rack on top of a cookie sheet lined with tinfoil.

5) Place chicken on the rack and back for 20-25 minutes.

6) While chicken is baking, put all other salad ingredients together except goat cheddar and croutons.

7) When chicken is finished, chop into smaller pieces and add on top of salad.

8) Place desired serving in bowl and top with croutons and goat cheddar.

9) Enjoy with feta yogurt dressing!

Feta Yogurt Dressing

yield 8 servings

  • 6 oz non fat plain Greek yogurt
  • 1 tbs light olive oil mayo
  • 1/4 cup reduced fat buttermilk
  • 1 tsp mustard
  • pepper to taste
  • 1 clove garlic, minced (I used a zester with mine)
  • 4 oz reduced fat feta cheese, crumbled (I suggest Trader Joe’s brand)

Directions:

1) Whisk all ingredients together, except feta.

2) Gently fold in crumbled feta.

3) Enjoy!

And as their present to us, the kids were especially cute and lovey with each other. They know it just melts out hearts!

Happy 6 months, babe!!

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: clementine, food, puppies, recipe, salad, skinnified, steve, winston

Pizza and wine

September 17, 2011 · by Ari · 1 Comment

 

Helllllooo, friends! Long time, no blog. I have had the craziest week. Basically, the month of August was pretty dead work wise,which is a big part of what inspired me to really put a lot of energy into the blog. I wasn’t doing much of anything productive and was pleasantly surprised by the feeling of productivity and channeling of my creativity that came from cooking and posting a lot. Then all of then sudden September hit, and I started something like 6 new classes and rehearsals for a show all in one week! It feels great to be busy again, but it does mean I don’t have the time to cook as much as I’d like. Luckily, it isn’t affecting my work out/gym class time!

Thursday, I tried out my new bike seat again in hopes that it wouldn’t fall off this time.

 

Luckily, it stayed on this time and definitely made a difference! I can’t say that sitting on the bike is comfortable or anything now, but it is definitely less painful than before! Unfortunately, while my bike seat stayed on, when I took my left foot out for unilaterals, I apparently placed it in the exact wrong spot, spilling the half unused contents of my venti Starbucks water cup. Embarrassing and hard to clean up. Oy!

Yesterday I got done with work at 4–Hallelujah! It’s my one off night probably for a while, so Steve, Jason and I went over to my mom’s for dinner. Of course, there was wine.

 

Hank picked out one of the most delicious bottles of wine I’ve ever tasted! The guy at Trader Joe’s recommended it. It was a sparkling pinot grigio and tasted like champagne! This girl loves champagne and now I can get the same taste from a >$10  bottle of wine–yes please!

For dinner, we picked out pizzas from the new Papa Murphy’s that opened right down the street. I’ve always loved Papa Murphy’s–I only wish that they had a whole wheat crust. Instead, I settle on the thin crust. If you’ve never had it before, essentially you go, pick out your pizza (they have a million different kinds) and they give it to you put together, but uncooked, then you take it home, pop it in the oven and feel like you’re having a home cooked meal without any of the work! Genius. I got to choose the flavors and I went with the Mediterranean DeLite and the Thai chicken DeLite both on the thin crust.

 

I had a small slice of each and they were both delicious. It was really hard to pick a favorite, but I think if I had to, I would say the Thai chicken! The whole night was exactly what I needed. I’ve been so busy, it was nice to just relax with the fam!

This morning, Steve brought out the new toy he got for Clementine (for some reason Winston almost never plays with toys), and started playing around with the shutter speed on his camera to catch her in full cuteness.

My favorite picture of her ever.

Tonight Steve and I are celebrating (a day early) our 6 month wedding anniversary! The last 6 months have flown by and I am excited to celebrate with him–we look for any and all excused for celebration 😉 Have a good weekend everyone!

 

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: clementine, family, pizza, puppies, spin, steve, wine

Breakfast Sammies

September 11, 2011 · by Ari · 2 Comments

After working up an appetite during my run this morning, I invited Jason over to join us for breakfast. I was planning on making a skinnified eggs benedict, but I didn’t feel like bothering with making a healthy hollandaise sauce–I don’t know if I even like the stuff (can you believe I’ve never tasted it?!) So the next best idea was egg sandwiches–think McMuffin style.

I got work crisping up some whole wheat English muffins in the oven on burn broil.

That broil button can burn food in a second. Watch out. Luckily, today I kept a good eye on things!

Winston and Clementine made sure to keep their eyes out too. What fun is it to beg for burnt food?

Eventually, all the laying around got to be very strenuous for Clementine, so she got some rest.


I cooked one egg per sammie (I usually do an egg + a white for myself, but that was the last of the eggs). A while ago I bought these egg thingies special for making the perfect muffin size egg. I love kitchen things!

Topped each muffin side with freshly grated goat cheddar, and then cooked lean meat of choosing (turkey, canadian bacon, turkey bacon) and stuck back in the oven on burn broil until the cheese is melty.

I topped 1/2 with fresh tomato and my egg and the other half (that I did not put cheese on) with sunflower butter and fig jam. Half savory, half sweet! 🙂

The boys each had two sammies. They were hungry!

About to start tonight’s skinnified dessert! Hope everyone is having an amazing weekend!

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: breakfast, clementine, egg, english muffin, friends, puppies, winston

Skinnified Sunday: Rachael Ray’s Pesto Presto Chicken

September 5, 2011 · by Ari · 3 Comments

So because I still love recipe modifying and I still think skinnify is a cute term, Steve and I have decided to do Skinnified Sundays. The name is pretty self explanatory–we take a recipe and make it healthier better. To find our Sunday recipes, we pick a cookbook from the pantry, and both open to a bookmarked page (when I get a recipe book I usually go through and mark all the ones I want to try) and whichever recipe looks better, that’s what we go for.

So I picked up my Rachael Ray “Look and Cook” book that my mom got me for my birthday (thanks mom–it has produced lots of deliciousness!) and I opened to Pesto Presto Chicken and announced to Steve that I won before he even got his turn :O) He looked at the recipe and didn’t even open a page himself. It was decided. Actually, I was pretty surprised by how mostly healthy it was (good job Rachael Ray!), but of course saw a few things I could tweak.

To start the night off, we opened a pumpkin beer (I’ve been whining for days about how I want pumpkin beer) and a vanilla porter

I hoped the pumpkin beer would be…well…pumpkinier. The vanilla was dangerously delicious.

Next we made the pesto

Winston wondered when I was going to drop some

Then got the chicken ready to go

When my food comes out looking fantastic, I pose and gloat and say “Taaaadddaaaa!” How do I have friends again?

DINNER! (I also made a salad with no recipe–sorry! Essentially romain, part skim mozz, basil, fat free croutons, tomato, cucumber, fat free balsalmic. It was also yummy.)

Pesto Presto Chicken original recipe:

  • 3 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted
  • 10 fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 5 1/2 ounces boursin cheese, garlic and herb
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated parmesiano-reggiano cheese
  • salt and pepper
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 12 slices tomatoes

My Swaps:

  • Roasted unsalted pistachios for pine nuts (-calories, -$$, +protein)
  • 4 oz herb goat cheese + 3 TBS low fat ricotta cheese for boursin cheese (-calories, -fat, +yummy goat cheese flavor)
  • Asiago cheese for parm (-$$)
  • I only had room for 8 tomato slices–those must have been some big chickens!

The results? Ummm YUM! I would absolutely make this again for guests. It was my first time making pesto, and my first time using one of my fav wedding presents–my red Kitchenaid food processor (thanks Janie!). For those of you who don’t know, before Thanksgiving of 2009, Steve surprised me with the sparkly red Kitchenaid stand mixer I had been drooling over–and not even as an early Christmas present–as a “just because” present. Jealous yet? I totally married the most amazing man in the world :O) Anyway, ever since, I have been mildly obsessed and every other appliance has followed suit in Kitchenaid and in red.

Have you ever seen a food processor in action? It is magical. So was the pesto. Plus, pesto with no oil? Sign me up!

New Recipe

Skinnified Rachael Ray’s Pesto Presto Chicken

yield 4 servings

  • 3 tablespoons pistachios, roasted
  • 10 fresh basil leaves
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
  • 4 oz herb goat cheese
  • 3 TBS low fat ricotta cheese
  • 1/2 cup freshly grated asiago or any hard Italian cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, 6 oz each
  • 8  slices vine ripened tomatoes

Directions:

1) Heat oven to 450 degrees.

2) In small bowl of a food processor, combine pistachios, cheeses, basil and parsley. Process until smooth, scraping down sides of the bowl half way. Set aside.

3) Butterfly the chicken breasts.

4) Divide the cheese mixture equally between the chicken.

5) Fold like a book.

6) Place on a non stick baking sheet (I foiled and sprayed with nonstick spray–less dishes=happier Ari!)

7) Top with tomato slices.

8) Bake for approx 20 minutes, until browned and chicken is cooked throughout.

9) Let meat rest for approx 5 min, and enjoy!

And of course there has to be dessert. I was inspired by the sweet potato sitting on my counter. Sweet potato cupcakes. Yes please.

I love how round the tops turn out!

Original recipe (from bakerella.com):

  • 1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup butter, room temperature
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 2 3/4 cups all purpose flour
  • 1 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 3/4 tsp salt
  • 3/4 cup whole milk
  • 1 cup cooked sweet potatoes
  • 1/3 cup bourbon

My swaps:

  • 1/2 the recipe. I don’t need 24 cupcakes sitting in my house.
  • Splenda brown sugar blend for brown sugar (-calories, -sugar)+unfortunate fakey crap–I’m so on the fence about fake sweeteners!)
  • Non fat vanilla greek yogurt for butter (-fat, -calories, +protein)
  • Egg whites for whole eggs (-fat, -calories, -cholesterol)
  • Whole wheat pastry flour for all purpose flour (+fiber, +protein)
  • Unsweetened vanilla almond milk for whole milk (-fat, -calories)
  • Add cinnamon (+yum)

New recipe

Skinnified Bourbon Sweet Potato Cupcakes

yeild 12 cupcakes

  • 1/3 cup plus 2 TBS firmly packed splenda brown sugar blend
  • 3 TBS non fat vanilla greek yogurt
  • 2 egg whites
  • 1 tsp vanilla (I didn’t half the vanilla–I LOVE vanilla!)
  • 1 1/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1/2 Tbsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • pinch salt
  • 1/3 cup plus 2 TBS unsweetened vanilla milk
  • 1/2 cup cooked sweet potatoes
  •  2 TBS bourbon

Directions:

1) Preheat oven to 350

2) Mix dry ingredients

3) Mix wet ingredients

4) Combine

5) Evenly divide between 12 lines muffin tins

6) Bake for 12-15 min until a toothpick in the center comes out clean

I liked them more the next day. Weird right? They’re good, but I must admit they are probably better with real butter. However, my 14 year old brother ate 3 in a row, so they obviously didn’t taste too healthy :O) Clementine asked for one, but sweets are bad for puppies. When I said no, she made this face.

I didn’t make a “frosting” til the next day and never got a picture–whoops! But here’s what I did

Bourbon Maple Glaze

  • Powdered sugar
  • Tiny drop bourbon
  • 2 tiny drops pure maple syrup
  • Milk of choice until desired consistency

In case you’ve never made a glaze before and think they sound fancy, let me explain. All you do is take a bunch of powdered sugar, add liquid very small amounts at a time, and whisk together until your desired glaze consistency. Generally that liquid is milk. Tada.

Oyyyy! That was a long poooossstttt. I have to work on my wordiness :O) Happy Labor Day friends!

Filed Under: Uncategorized · Tagged: baking, beer, cooking, food, puppies, skinnified

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