New food for us

I've tried two new things that I thought you might want to read/see.

The other night I made tuna "burgers" which are basically a can of tuna, an egg, some garlic salt and bread crumbs mixed up. They turned out super delish!!

When the husband is at night class, I try to cook things I know he won't eat. I bought quinoa a while ago, but have been hesitant to cook it. I decided to finally grow a pair and try it. I made it very plain so I could really taste the flavor of the quinoa itself. I just cooked it and then threw in some roasted broccoli on top. The next day for lunch, I did the same thing but threw a leftover turkey burger in the mix. I liked it both times. It does have a strange flavor that I'm not used to, but it wasn't bad. I can see why the blogosphere loves it's protein-ey goodness.

Week One Complete

Last weekend it was semi-nice outside, so I took advantage of the 32+ degree weather and went for a run/walk outside. I thought it was a good idea to start a couch-to-5k running program. My plan was to run on Monday and Thursday during the week, but a massive snow storm forced me indoors to the boring treadmill. I didn't run on Monday, but did on Tuesday and Saturday. So, I'll call that week one.

I feel like I should register for an actual 5k to have a set deadline, but I don't really care about running a race. I'm really doing it to drop a few lbs and see if I can get myself into a running mode before spring hits. I'm pretty good at being motivated during the warmer months, but the winter makes me want to sit by the fire and read - the opposite of working out. Hopefully, this plan will keep me on track. I'll let you know how it goes.

What's your motivation to work out during winter?

10 years.

I was talking to my dad last night about my blog and how my mom says "nothing on here interests her." I'm sure that's the case because she's always been naturally thin, and eats well. I think she weighed 105 lbs when she got pregnant with me, but unfortunately didn't pass along those thinny genes. During this conversation, though, we realized that mom used to read my blog all the time back when I started blogging - ten years ago. I can't believe it's been that long!!

So, I'll have to do something special on my 10-year-blogiversary. Mark your calendars for Dec. 9, 2011.

Chicken wings at home

The hubs and I love to eat at wing places (like BWW). Really, I only like chicken with BBQ sauce, but the hubs loves wings. Lately, instead of going out to eat wings and fries, we have been steaming/baking chicken wings for big sporting events (for example, the super bowl) at home. The hubs follows an Alton Brown recipe for cooking chicken wings, which is a long process, but definitely worth it. We made some yesterday for dinner (the hubs' favorite team was playing) and I didn't even eat mine with any sauce - they were that good!!

We also had baked sweet potato fries with the wings, so by baking the wings and eating baked sweet potatoes instead of fried, we saved 829 calories and 60 grams of fat for 1lb of wings and 6 oz of fries (we shared both). I also had some broccoli to make sure I ate something green.

New Veggie Quest

The other night, my frequent commenter Katie came over and we made roasted kale chips!! If you haven't tried them, I encourage you to do so tonight! I bought a monster bag of kale because it was all I could find, so I've had kale chips twice now. They were better the first time (with Katie) because I might have burned them a little the second go-round.

I also roasted some mushrooms, which were good, but I love the crunch that roasting gives broccoli and kale and that just doesn't happen to mushrooms. I've also tried asparagus (awesome) and still plan to try green beans (they are waiting patiently in the fridge).

New teeth... NOT

This post has nothing to do with being healthy, so if you are looking for a healthy tip today, look elsewhere.

When I was in the third grade, I was running out of the auditorium from a dance recital (maybe dress rehearsal?) with my tap shoes on. At some point between the door and the car, I tripped and fell on my face - chipping the bottoms of my two front teeth. Since then, I have had them patched with what is probably similar to the gunk they put in a cavity hole. They put the smelly stuff on there, then turn on that light until it beeps - you know the drill. Well, in the past few years, I've noticed a very distinguished line between real tooth and patchwork. Food was getting stuck in the crease often, and it really just bothered me. So, I asked the hubs if I could have my two front teeth for Christmas this year.

Three weeks ago, I had the majority of the prep work done for my new veneers (porcelain teeth caps) and have been walking around with temporary (obviously fake-looking) front teeth while my new ones were made. Yesterday, I went to have my new teeth put on, and they looked so awesome!! They were a little bit smaller than my real teeth, so I have less of a "horse" mouth with two long front teeth. The color perfectly matched my other teeth - they "distress" veneers to look look like your imperfect, natural teeth. The dentist tried them in my mouth and I loved the way they looked. She then passed them to her assistant and went to work to start cleaning my teeth and getting them ready for the final cementing.

Then he dropped one of my new teeth on the floor and it broke in half.

So... I have the temporary teeth back in, and hope to get my Christmas present next Friday.

Need new veggies. STAT.

I need some new roasted veggie ideas. I love the ease and simplicity of throwing a teensy bit of olive oil and garlic salt on them before putting it in the oven and setting a timer. The result is awesomeness in my book because the veggies are tasty, reheat well and are good for you.

I've done broccoli (my fav), carrot (meh), brussell sprouts (close runner-up) and butternut squash (I used cinnamon instead of garlic salt. boring, but edible). I have been eating broccoli a LOT lately and I'ms starting to get burnt out.

So, what do you roast?