What's for Dinner?

Today is going to be a busy day and tonight will be even busier, so I made dinner this morning after breakfast. We're having Taco Soup...except it's probably more of a taco chili. Anyways, here's the recipe.

Taco Soup

Ingredients:
4 cups of beef broth
1 can of tomato paste
1 can of tomato sauce
1 jar of salsa (I usually use about a pint)
1 bag of frozen corn (or you can use a can of corn)
1 can of black beans
1 can of chili beans (I use the medium spicy ones)
1 can of fire roasted tomatoes
1 can of green chilies
1 t. basil
1 t. oregano
1 package of taco seasoning
1 lb of lean ground beef
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped

Directions:
1. While hamburger is browning, I add the rest of the ingredients to the crock pot. I also salt and pepper the hamburger while its cooking and I'll usually add garlic powder and chili powder to the beef as well. When the hamburger is brown, I add it to the pot.
2. Cook on low for 6 or so hours.
3. Serve with tortilla chips, shredded cheese and sour cream.

**This recipe also makes ALOT of soup, so we freeze a couple of containers to eat later. It is definitely tasty. We like it spicy, but you can adjust your seasoning to your taste. Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Weekly Workouts

1/24/2011 ~ 43 minutes of yoga. I was definitely sore in my arms and core after this workout. Yikes!

1/26/2011 ~ Today, I wasn't really feeling like working out, but I decided to just start a workout and see how it went. I did Hi-Def Sculpt and burned 405 calories. Then I decided to play Just Dance 2 for a few minutes which turned into an hour and I burned 520 calories. I'll take it...especially since I felt so crappy yesterday.

What's for Dinner?

Tonight's dinner is one of my favorites. I call it "Asian Noodle Bowls." Here's the recipe if you'd like to try it!

Ingredients:
1 bag frozen stir fry vegetables
1 T. oil
4-5 chicken cutlets
1 med. onion, sliced
1 t. garlic (or more if you like garlic...we do)
3 c. chicken broth and water (I use all chicken broth)
8 oz. whole wheat angel hair pasta
2 T. lite soy sauce and cilantro (I usually don't have cilantro)
1-2 T. Sriracha (hot chili sauce)

Directions:
1. Microwave vegetables as directed.
2. Heat oil in pot over med-high heat. Add chicken to pot and cook 4-6 minutes, turning once, until cooked through. I usually add salt, pepper, and garlic to my chicken. Remove and slice.
3. Add onion to pot. Saute 3 minutes. Add garlic. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add pasta and cook for 7-8 minutes.
4. Add chicken to pot, with vegetables, soy sauce, cilantro, and chili sauce.

**This makes ALOT so we will be eating it tomorrow and maybe even Wednesday. I did add some fresh asparagus to the dish tonight since I had some on hand.

Kona and the Stuffed Dog

While I was watching my new favorite reality tv show, "The Worst Cooks in America," my cute dog decided it was time to "gut" another one of his stuffed animals. This was after he had his bath and vacuuming. There were approximately 167 pieces of "stuffing" on the floor that I was lucky enough to get to pick up. Needless to say, the stuffed dog or less stuffed dog is put away.

Sunday Naptime

We're watching football today. It's very exciting! Can you tell?!

P.S. Did anyone else notice the awkward position of Kona's weiner dog toy?! Apparently he was feeling modest today and covered up the no no place with his toy...

A Not so Great Friday

Today was supposed to be a great day! We all slept in until 8am and then Tim decided we were going shooting, so we headed to Angie's and got some scones to go.

Yes, that is a big piece of fried dough with some delicious honey butter on the side. We proceeded to enjoy them on our way out to the shooting range at Newton Dam.

When we arrived, we had to put the Xterra in 4 wheel drive to get up the icy hill and we started loading clips while Kona ran around and took care of some business. I got to shoot the new Russian SKS that Tim bought last week. It had a little bit of a kick and I realized that next time I shoot it, I'll have to hug it into my shoulder a bit tighter.

After I shot the SKS, the shooting experience proceeded to go downhill. The GSG kept jamming, which was highly frustrating. Tim tried to teach me how to deal with a jammed gun, but I didn't have enough patience to learn. He shot his other new .22 and really enjoyed it.

We tried to get the GSG to work, but mostly we just got frustrated. Kona's feet got cold so we had to rearrange the car so he could lie in it. We definitely didn't shoot long enough, but since the day wasn't going great, we decided to head back home to get on with our day...which proceeded to head downwards...

I'm hoping today didn't set the tone for the weekend, but we'll see...

The Growing Dog

Our dog is growing like crazy! He's almost 9 months old and he's still got another 15 months to grow. At dog school on Saturday, I weighed him. He now weighs 106 lbs. The Saturday before Christmas, he weighed 91 lbs. His head is right at my waist so he's also a tall boy. His favorite thing to do lately is to "gut" his stuffed animals. At least 3 times a day I get to walk around the house and pick up stuffing from the stuffed animals he's shredded. At this moment, he's playing with his armadillo that has no stuffing left in it. Oh, and he particularly enjoys removing the "squeakers." He's eating 8 cups of food a day and he gets to eat first thing in the morning, around noon, around 4pm, and then before bed. He is STARVING all of the time. I learned that great danes have super high metabolisms. It's absolutely true.

Kona has been struggling with cabin fever lately. A couple of weeks ago, Tim tied a birthday balloon to Kona's collar and let him out the front door. This was the result!

So yep, we're having a blast with our cute dog! Oh and I'll keep updating everyone on Kona's super fast growth.

Weekly Workouts

1/17/2011 ~ I had a hard time getting motivated to do my workout today. I ended up doing Body Sculpt and lifted super heavy for my legs. I also played Just Dance 2 for an hour.

1/18/2011 ~ I didn't get started on my workout until 7:20pm...long day. I did Hard Core Fusion and burned 540 calories and then I played Just Dance 2 for 20 minutes and burned 198 calories.

1/19/2011 ~ I struggled with motivation again today. I'm not feeling great and am also feeling super tired. I started a workout (Maximum Calorie Burn Bootcamp) and got about 30 min into it and just couldn't work up the strength to do it. So, I thought, hey, I'll do Just Dance and that didn't work either. It didn't help that the dog needed to go out every 15 minutes. Oh well...at least I worked out.

1/20/2011 ~ I don't know what the deal is but I'm super tired which has definitely impacted my motivation this week. Tim and I rode our bikes today...on the trainer and we did some ab work with the medicine ball. I also did some dead lifts and squats. Definitely not a super hard workout, but it was a workout. I'll take it.

1/21/2011 ~ Still no motivation. I'm wondering if I'm fighting off a cold or something. I did 15 minutes of yoga while Tim was on the trainer. I just couldn't really work up the energy.

What's for Dinner?

Tonight for dinner we're having my homemade spaghetti sauce...except for Rylan, who's having spaghetti sauce out of a jar. I've had lots of compliments on my sauce, so I thought I'd share the recipe. I will admit that I don't measure when I'm making this recipe, so feel free to adjust the seasoning to your preference. Oh, and one more thing...this does tend to be a bit on the spicy side, which is how we like it.

Ingredients:
5-6 medium cans of tomato sauce
1 can of olives, sliced (I slice my own, but you can buy the sliced too.)
1 lb of fresh mushrooms sliced, or 2 cans of sliced mushrooms
1 lb of spicy italian ground sausage
3 small zucchini, sliced
2 T. italian seasoning
1 T. onion powder or 1/2 an onion, diced
2 T. garlic powder or 3 cloves, chopped
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Brown the sausage into small chunks. While the sausage is browning, combine the remaining ingredients into a crock pot. You can also use a big pot and let it simmer on low, but I always use the crock pot so I can walk away. After the sausage is done, stir all of the ingredients together. Let it cook on low for 4-6 hours. I always smell the sauce to see if it needs any more spices. When you're ready to eat, serve it over spaghetti. I usually serve this with a green salad and garlic bread.

I didn't add zucchini today because I didn't have any and also because the kids always pick it out. We like our sauce chunky so I used less sauce and more stuff, but that can be adjusted as well.

Feel free to use this recipe and if you do, let me know what you think!

What's for Dinner?

I just finished cooking dinner and since this is one of our favorite meals, I thought I'd share the recipe. The inspiration of this recipe came from a Runners World recipe called Asparagus and Mushroom Rigatoni. I remember cutting out the recipe and wondering when I was going to make it...especially since I was single. When Tim came to visit me in IL sometime, he saw the recipe and asked if we could try it...so we did. However, we both decided that it needed some protein. Then, the experimenting started. I usually just use whatever I have, but here's the recipe.

Ingredients:
Whole wheat pasta
1 lb of shrimp (shelled and deveined) or chicken cut into bite size chunks
1 bunch of asparagus, broken into bite sized pieces
1 lb of sliced mushrooms (any variety)
1 tomato
1 lemon or lime
3 zucchini sliced
3 cloves of garlic or 3 T. garlic powder
3 T. olive oil
1 T. basil or parsley (We prefer fresh basil.)
Salt and pepper
Parmesan cheese

Directions: Boil the pasta. While it's boiling, I prepare the veggies. In an electric skillet, heat the olive oil and add the garlic. Add the mushrooms, zucchini, and asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste. While that is sauteeing, add 1 cup of the pasta water. Let it cook down and then add the drained pasta. If I'm using chicken, I add that before the veggies. When I use shrimp, I add it with the pasta. I let the meat finish cooking, then right before I'm ready to serve it, I add the juice from the lemon or lime, the basil, and the tomato. Then I cover it with parmesan cheese and put the lid on until the cheese melts. Once the cheese is melted, it's ready to serve.

Since the kids won't eat this, I only make it when they're not here. It makes enough for us to have another meal out of. Tim loves it and it's one of my favorites. Let me know if you try it and what you think!

Enjoy!

How We Watch Football

As you all know, last night was the BCS National Championship. Because Tim works until 8pm, I set the game up to DVR and we started to watch it at around 8:15pm. We enjoyed some rice and elk stew during the first quarter. Kona got to pre-wash the dishes and then it was time for some serious football watching. Kona decided to join us on the couch...and yes, he laid there for the rest of the game. He's definitely a snuggly dog.

P.S. Tim had hat hair...he's probably thrilled that this photo is on the blog!

My Life Today

Just in case anyone got the idea that I have a totally cush life...here's what I did today. We did sleep in today. I got up at 7am with Kona and after he ate and pooped, we all went back to sleep. Kona LOVES Tim in the morning, so he snuggled him and laid on top of him and had a great morning nap. I'm not sure how Tim slept... Oh and yep, our dog is that big and we do have a king sized bed. So, after we all got up, I got to work on my list of things to do. Here goes...

1. Dusted the front room and vacuumed and picked up a bunch of stuffing that Kona pulled out of a stuffed moose.
2. Cleaned my bathroom, including sweeping, mopping, and scrubbing the toilet.
3. Dusted and cleaned my bedroom, and vacuumed it too.
4. Cleaned the kitchen, including the stove top.
5. Unloaded and loaded the dishwasher.
6. Washed Kona's bedding and cleaned and deodorized his house.
7. Watched the elk herd through the spotting scope. There are about 50 elk on the hillside.
8. Cleaned up stuffing from Kona's stuffed dog...and found the squeaker he pulled out.
9. Swept and mopped the kitchen floor.
10. Gave Kona a bath (with Tim's help).
11. Vacuumed Kona's fur off of his body. This is an upgrade from the usual lint rolling that we do.
12. Worked out...did two workouts and was covered in sweat.
13. Folded and put away laundry...colors and whites.
14. Washed towels. I'll fold them while we watch football.
15. Saw 10 deer within a block of our house, including 4 bucks.
16. Made tuna melts for lunch.
17. Read my scriptures.
18. Started making the menu and grocery list.
19. Called to schedule the carpets to get cleaned.
20. Sold the cupcake tower from the wedding.

Yep, it's been a busy day... I don't actually just lay around and eat bon bons. Oh and I still absolutely love my life.

Weekly Workouts

1/10/2011 ~ This afternoon after cleaning the house, I did Jiggle Free Buns and Jiggle Free Arms. I burned 663 calories, which felt good. I'm considering doing some serious stretching during the football game tonight.

1/11/2011 ~ I just finished Ultimate Calorie Blaster. I burned 444 calories in 45 minutes. I had planned to add on another 30 minutes of cardio, but I'm dragging today so I'll settle for some stretching and abs while we watch The Biggest Loser tonight.

1/12/2011 ~ All done with Get Ripped to the Core. I only burned 486 calories, so I decided to do a few songs from Just Dance 2 and I burned 142 calories...and I scored over 10000 points on my last song. Oh yeah...who knew I was such a great dancer!


1/13/2011 ~ I had a change of workout plans this morning. We have the kids for the next few days so we were up at 6am to get them ready and out the door. I was planning on working out after they went to school, but I guess we're going to Idaho to buy a couple of Hudsons...seriously. So, I did a quick workout...Cardio Dance SlimDown and burned 334 calories. Now, it's off to Idaho.

1/14/2011~I haven't been feeling sore, so I decided to lift "heavy" today. I did Get Ripped and I'm kinda feeling like maybe I should have lifted heavier. I burned 316 calories in 55 minutes. I wanted to stretch out my muscles a little bit so I did 3 songs on Just Dance 2 and burned 96 calories. Not sure what workout I'll do tomorrow or when I'll fit it in.


1/15/2011 ~ Today we had family workout time playing Just Dance. I didn't wear my HR monitor but we did play for about 45 minutes and I worked hard. I found a really good ab workout. I do have a yoga mat in my bedroom so I may try to do a 30 min workout tonight after we get everything done today. Off to dog school with Kona.

Happy Birthday Tim!

Today is Tim's 37th birthday. He's been telling me all week that he wanted to skip the day and that he didn't want any gifts and that he didn't want to even acknowledge the day. Yesterday, I asked him if he would be mad if I went all out for his birthday. He said "Yep." Last night I told him that I was going to celebrate his birthday whether he liked it or not and that if he got mad, I would cry.

So, this morning, I woke up and baked his cake. I made him breakfast. Then we spent the morning doing errands. When he started work at noon, I headed out to complete the birthday preparations. I picked up his and picked up the balloons. I learned that our dog is completely and totally opposed to balloons.



We went to pick up the kids and grab lunch at the Italian Place in Logan. We came home, ate lunch, and then it was time for cake and presents. Oh, I should mention that we also sang "Happy Birthday!"





I guess out of all of the pictures I took of opening gifts, this is the only one that turned out okay. Tim got a spotting scope, a flashlight, some Hot Tamales, picture frames, and Call of Duty 4. Of course he had to try out the spotting scope.



I'm pretty sure our neighbors think that a peeping tom lives at our house.

After presents, it was cake time. Tim and I liked the cake. Rylan scraped off all of the frosting and only ate cake. Kyra somehow managed to remove the crushed pineapple chunks from the frosting...I caught her spitting them out. I have no idea how she managed to do that. There is still a ton of cake in the freezer. I guess we have our dessert for the next week.

When Tim finished work, we headed to La Nonne for dinner. We had the bruschetta for an appetizer and then Tim had some sort of beef with gorgonzola sauce, and I had a delicious rare ahi tuna steak with fresh tomatoes, basil, and olive oil. Mine was so good and I can't wait to finish it at lunch tomorrow. It was also fairly light and healthy so that was definitely a bonus. I had all intentions of taking pictures at dinner, but I completely forgot.

When we got home, I remembered to take a picture of Tim and I. Of course, we look completely exhausted, but hey, it was a super busy day.



Hopefully, Tim had a good birthday...

The Birthday Cake

Today is Tim's birthday and all week he's been kinda crabby about it. I have no idea why, but he didn't want any gifts, didn't want to do anything, and told me he would get made at me if I did do anything. I decided to suffer his wrath.

So, when I woke up this morning, I baked his favorite cake. The first time he had this was with my family in the summer of 2009. I'm pretty sure that he ate 1/2 of the cake. We also used this cake recipe for our wedding cupcakes. It's called "Snowflake Cake" and I thought I'd share the recipe with you all...just in case you feel like trying it.

Snowflake Cake

Here are the ingredients, except I forgot to pull the milk out of the fridge for pictures.

Step 1:
Drain and save the pineapple juice from the big can of crushed pineapple.
Step 2:
Make the yellow cake mix, using the drained pineapple juice in place of water in the cake. Bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees in a jelly roll pan. Let cool. Since it's 7 degrees outside today, I put the cake outside to cool.



Step 3: When the cake is cool, blend the following:
8 oz. cream cheese
1 large box of instant vanilla pudding
2 cups of cold milk
Fold in drained pineapple
It should look something like this.

Step 4: Spread the mixture over the cake.

Step 5: Spread cool whip over the top of the pudding mixture and sprinkle with coconut.

Step 6: Cover and refrigerate.

**I used sugar free pudding, fat free cream cheese, skim milk, and lite cool whip.

We plan on enjoying this yummy goodness today after we pick the kids up from school, and probably before going to bed tonight. My dad did request that we save some for him, so I'll have to make sure and remember to do that.

Feel free to try this recipe and let me know what you think!

My Life Today

So, I've had several friends mention to me that I seem super content and fulfilled in my new life. It's absolutely true. Before I got married, when I couldn't find a teaching job, I worried a little or alot (depending on the day) about whether I would be a content or happy housewife. Well, I shouldn't have worried at all. I truly love my life and am completely content and happy!

My day today consisted of something like this...

-Woke up and took the dog out to do his morning business. Saw a 4 point buck and his girlfriend hanging out in the horse pasture.
-Completed a great strength training workout and watched my cute dog lick the weights...maybe he's lacking iron?
-Took a shower and came out to my wonderful husband cooking me a healthy breakfast of egg whites, mushrooms, cheese and onions in a pita, with orange juice and a banana. He even got my vitamins out!
-Took Kona out for more business. Got the garbage ready to go away forever. Went to do errands with my fun husband.
-Helped my mom for awhile and let Kona socialize with Simon and Sassy.
-Played Laura Croft:Tomb Raider and finally beat the blasted T-Rex.
-Walked outside to see the 6 point buck hanging out. Called my brothers and dad to come over and see it. Travis came over and he and Tim tried to get a picture of it.
-Saw the 4 point buck 20 feet away from me.
-Cooked a yummy dinner for my cute husband. We had grilled elk steaks, with homemade mashed potatoes, steamed green beans and sauteed onions and mushrooms. We both decided that we should just eat at home because you can't get a meal like that anywhere in Logan, except for when my dad cooks.



-Changed the sheets on my bed. Vacuumed the floors. Cleaned up the kitchen.

Now, I'm just waiting for Tim to get off of work. Who wouldn't love this life?! Oh and I found out that apparently we have a possessed dog!

Weekly Workouts

1/3/2011 ~ I started the day off with a great workout. I did Jari Love Get Extremely Ripped Body Rock. It was my first time doing that workout and I really enjoyed it. I did all 65 minutes and burned 552 calories. I will admit that I did slack sometimes...Oh the joy of being out of shape. I'm off to eat my oatmeal with blueberries and bananas.

1/4/2011 ~ I got up again this morning for a workout. I did Cardio Party and burned 388 calories and then did 4 songs from Just Dance 2 and burned another 156 calories. Tim and I are planning to get the bikes up on the trainers tonight while we watch the Biggest Loser...or football...


1/5/2011 ~ I got a great strength training workout done this morning. It included upper and lower body as well as abs. I'm actually considering doing a swim this afternoon to see if I can work some of this soreness out of my body.

1/6/2011 ~ Because today is Tim's birthday, I didn't get my workout done until tonight. I did a 22 min Jillian Michaels workout and burned 196 calories and then I decided to play Just Dance 2 on the Wii. I thought, hey, I'll just do a few songs... 59 minutes later and 596 calories burned I was done. Now it's time to get ready for dinner with Tim at La Nonne.

1/7/2011 ~ I had a killer workout this morning. I did Get Extremely Ripped 1000 and burned 559 calories in 58 minutes. I'm sure I'll be paying for this tomorrow.

1/8/2011 ~ Workout is done for the day. I did Complete Body Sculpting and burned 402 calories. I would really like to do some stretching and maybe a short yoga workout this afternoon. Or maybe I'll even hit the pool. Oh and hey...I did 6 workouts this week. I don't remember the last time I did that.

Happy New Year ~ 2011

I live a super exciting life. I spent the evening watching Tim play James Bond on the xbox 360. I was having some stomach issues and wasn't feeling good at all. It was super duper exciting... However, I did have some time to work on my goals for 2011. Here they are!

1. Read the scriptures daily.

2. Attend the temple at least two times per month.

3. Lose 20+ pounds by eating healthy and working out and/or training regularly.

4. Write daily.

5. Develop a new skill or talent.
Oh and here's my big one.

6. PR at the 1/2 Ironman distance. I'm leaning towards the Bear Lake Brawl in August.

The goals are out there...now I just have to start doing them!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!