Goals for 2011

• Lose the 5 lbs I gained over the holidays...and keep it off.
• Get on a regular work out schedule. I say this every year. The first half of 2010, I did a great job of this! In April I logged 1,000 minutes of exercise. The second half of the year...I worked out like 5 times. Not good.
• Participate in the Brew-to-Brew run (and hopefully some other 5K, 10K, or marathon relay runs).
• Make at least 3 recipes from my "Top Chef" cookbook.
• Continue to cross off items on my 101 in 1,001 list...in particular the "Buy a House" one.

What are your goals for the new year?

Shopping Spree

I'm a girl and I love to shop. I love buying new clothes and shoes and whatever else I find that tickles my fancy. James and I have been saving money to buy a house so I haven't really been able to shop for clothes lately. Sad, I know.

Well, for Christmas this year I made out rather well with gifts from my students. I got a $10 Starbucks gift card, a $15 Target gift card, a $25 Visa gift card, and a $200 Town Center gift card as my class gift from my very generous class. With all these gift cards, I had no choice...I HAD to go shopping today!

And now...my livingroom is covered in bags. My purchases today included:

• K-State Christmas decor
• K-State t-shirt
• pair of jeans
• 2 sweaters
• 3 pairs of shoes
• 2 bras
• a coat
• 2 scarves
• pair of mittens
• 4 games
• wall calendar
• pair of sunglasses

Again, I don't normally go "all out" like this so I have to say...today was lots of fun!

Recently tried recipes

Here are the links to some recipes I have tried this past week.

Oreo Truffles (made with white chocolate, of course!)

Mint Chip Cookies (I used Andes mint chunks instead of mint chips)

Braided Burrito (made with ground turkey)

French Toast Casserole (Next time I think I may do a light layer of cream cheese and strawberries on top)

Sausage and Egg Casserole (I gave the crescent rolls a 7 minute head start before adding the rest of the ingredients)

Panera's Broccoli Cheese Soup (less carrots next time)

And in case you were wondering...

Yes, my apron is the same one Charlotte wears in Sex and the City 2.

Christmas Deliciousness

As it always is, Christmas this year was full of yummy deliciousness. The food festivities started with our Annual Secret Santa Christmas party that I do with my girl friends. Our spread included cheesy death corn casserole, chicken empanadas, stuffed mushrooms, caprese bites, tomato zucchini salad, some yummy dips, cookies, a Kentucky Derby pie, and lots of wine.

The next food extravaganza took place at our friend Nate's house. He had us over the eve of Christmas Eve. I brought over a bunch of the Christmas cookies I had spent all day baking and he had tons of homemade Christmas candy and cookies. It was total sweetness overload!

Christmas Eve James and I headed to McPherson to do Christmas with my family. That night we kept things simple and did chili, cornbread, and cinnamon rolls. I spent that afternoon prepping a couple casseroles which I threw into the oven Christmas morning for breakfast. I took my chances and made two things I'd never made before: a sausage and egg casserole and french toast casserole. They both turned out great if I do say so myself (note my adorable new apron).



Then for Christmas dinner my mom made a Christmas ham, prime rib, cheesy potatoes, green bean casserole, cranberry salad, and strawberry pretzel dessert. And Nicole brought a strawberry rhubarb pie. We definitely weren't short of food AT ALL!

This morning we did Christmas with Rory and Jen. Rory made us biscuits and gravy for brunch.

I feel like this past week I've done nothing but EAT EAT EAT! Everything has been so delicious but I think it's time for me to get my butt in gear and start working out again. Why wait until the new year?

Random Act of Kindness

Last weekend I was making stuffed mushrooms for a Christmas party with friends. I was running late and had just gotten back from the store and realized that I needed an egg. I didn't have time to go back to the store so I did what they did in the olden days...

I went over to my neighbor's and asked if I could borrow an egg. This was kind of a big deal for me. I don't know my neighbor's name and we've never really talked aside from saying "Hello" in the parking lot. Her son plays outside a lot and really likes our dog though...so I wouldn't say we're COMPLETE strangers.

Anyway, she happily let me have an egg and thus saved my stuffed mushrooms.

So today I spent all day in the kitchen baking cookies. I made:

• Chocolate Andes Mint Chip Cookies - made with chocolate cake mix and chunks of Andes mints
• Peanut Butter Caramel Surprises - peanut butter cookie with a hidden Rolo in the middle, topped with roasted marshmallows
• Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Chip Cookies - peanut butter cookie with both chocolate and peanut butter chips
• White Chocolate Covered Oreo Truffles - crushed oreos mixed with cream cheese and covered in white chocolate (one of the tastiest things I've ever eaten in my life)

So my cookies have now cooled and I made a cookie plate with a Christmas card for my neighbor. It's my way of saying "thank you" for the egg.

Little Miss Sunshine

Just now I was finishing the last of my present wrapping and singing "The Drummer Boy" at the top of my lungs. Kahlua starting giving me a funny look so I got in her face and sang to her. She looked at me in the same way Olive looks at the pageant guy who's singing to her in "Little Miss Sunshine". Kind of that "Stop singing and get away from me" look.

It made me smile.