foooooooood!

finally! i decided that the easiest way to finally post this was to simply bring my camera to work. i can never tell if i'm going to be busy or not.. but on the nights that i'm not, i have a lot of down time. so here we are! i've been compiling a cookbook for a loooooooong time now with all my favorite recipes.. and attempting to capture them all myself. here's my most recent endeavors...

this one is a favorite. chicken cordon bleu from cooking light. it is soooo ridiculously yummy. just ask lisa! i made it for her and amanda on my last sd visit. yum. this is my most recent 'throw together' dish. on nights when i don't feel like going to the grocery story it's filled with things i always have on-hand. i don't think i put chicken in it this particular time.. but sometimes i will throw in either rotisserie chicken from the grocery store or i'll grill up a chicken breast on the foreman. it's whole-grain or faux whole-grain such as barilla plus or ronzoni smart taste. i toast up pine nuts on the stove while the pasta is cooking. during the last couple minutes i submurge a small strainer with chopped sun-dried tomatoes (not the oil packed kind) in the boiling pasta water. i strain out the pasta and tomato mixture and toss it with the pine nuts and some bottled pesto. yum! kris isn't a sun-dried tomato fan, so i tend to put more in my bowl. i looooooove them.

this is a new addition to our rotation, also from cooking light. chili-glazed tofu . i've been trying to incorporate more vegetarian meals into our diet.. finding good vegetarian recipes has been a challenge for me, especially since i don't like beans and kris doesn't really like the texture of tofu. this one is DEFINITELY a winner! so good, and so easy. just make sure to pat your tofu really dry before pan-frying it or else it won't brown up very well. oh, and i double the sauce and use brown instead of white rice.

i think what i like most about this recipe is it's versitility. i didn't have any of the ingredients on hand (except brown rice of course) so i made a variation. i used broccoli instead of asparagus, and aidell's teriyaki chicken meatballs in place of the tofu. i've talked about the wonder that is these meatballs before.. and i really can't say it enough. they are soooooo good. and they worked quite well in this recipe. seriously though, if you aren't a tofu fan, try this recipe. it will convert you. i think i've made it at least 4 times since we first tried it a month ago. looooooooove.

anywho.. i thought i had taken more pics.. but i guess not. i'll try to stay on it! later gators!

laaaaaaaaaazy.

yes, that pretty much sums me up lately. i mean, i have gotten things done, but not nearly all of the things that i have wanted to. the weird rainy/sunny weather makes me just want to sleep all day until i can wake up when it's dark and know that it's dark no matter what.. not having to guess if i'll need an umbrella and rain boots or sunglasses and flip-flops when i walk outside.

my list of things to do:

-finish wardrobe hack (similar to the center one on that page, but different colors and it's a 2-door wardrobe) mind you, i started this hack LAST YEAR
-sew up the holes in my work pants (because i don't want to waste money on new ones)
-get rid of more clothes/shoes/accessories i don't use
-hang curtains (part 2 of my wardrobe hack.. you'll see... someday)
-post food photos here (you'll also see.. someday)
-upload photos of recent events with friends so they can see them (i'm SO lame!)
-start exercizing. right. that'll happen.

things that were on my list and are now complete:

-try making macarons (done, and done. i tried once.. they were okay.. tried again.. they were better. i'm bringing them to my mom's on easter)
-donate initial mound of clothes/shoes/accessories i don't use (it was quite a haul.. like 3 garbage bags full. plus 2 big boxes and 2 small boxes of christmas decorations and other home supplies)
-take pictures of food (at least i remembered that part)
-give juno a haircut/bath.. oo i should take a picture of her! her hair's so short!
-use my old navy gift card to buy clothes for cabo (they're coming. skirt weather! woohoo!)

so really i need to jump on the photo thing. that would be easiest. and i need to grab the sewing machine from my mom so i can finish my stupid wardrobe hack/drape hanging. and i REALLY need to do SOMETHING so i can at least drop maybe 5 pounds before cabo?! that's not too much to ask. as you can probably tell, i decided against the sf half marathon.. because i realized i need new running shoes for someting of that distance, and i really can't afford them right now... along with the registration fee. anywho. i'll let you know. all i can say is right now.. i'm SUPER fat. like so much so, i need to take that tracker thing off my blog because it's very misleading. yeah. stop being lazy. i'll keep telling myself that.

caffeine!!!!

so anyone who knows me KNOWS i adore caffeine. in all forms. it all started with chocolate. you know.. nutella sandwiches i made for myself to take in my school lunch as a child (that's what my mom gets for leaving me to my own devices in the AM! well, that and me cutting curlers out of my hair... lol). and then in progressed to coffee when i got to college. and then i started working night shift, which meant i was drinking (and still do drink) about 2-3 cups of coffee throughout my shift.

if you're eco-conscious as i try to be.. you're probably thinking.. damn! this girl goes through a ton of coffee cups. but i don't.. because i have a bunch of reusable ones. my two favorites are:

my purple mug.. which kinda looks like this... but it's prettier, because it's purple. and purple is the best color. ^_^

i love it because it keeps my drinks hot, for like, ever. seriously. when i get off at 7am, my drink is still warm.

however, that mug is from starbucks.. and when i'm out getting my coffee at peet's whenever possible.. (oh how i wish peet's were open when i'm on my way to work).. i CANNOT in good conscience walk into peet's and ask them to please fill up my sacrilegious starbucks mug with their delicious coffee. so i got this adorable one:

in finding this picture.. i discovered they have a PURPLE one too! that one was NOT at bed bath and beyond. ugh. well at least in buying this one i donated some money to breast cancer research. that's always a good thing. i also REALLY love my giant sigg bottle... but i don't fill that with caffeine. so it's not really pertinent.

anywho.. i go through phases. i'll stop by starbucks like, every day before work and get my grande quad 2 pump nonfat mocha.. and then i'll realize how much money i'm wasting and go back to brewing my arabian mocha-java at home with trader joe's nonfat vanilla creamer.. then recently i've gotten REALLY lazy and started just bringing tea to work instead. now tea does the trick as far as the caffeine is concerned.. but i'm just getting used to the taste. i tend to drink a cup and then let it get cold. which brings me to my post. i'm just getting through the box of tazo teas i got for christmas from kris' family. i've discovered i love the chai, awake, china green tips, & passion (but that's caffeine free.. bleh). tonight i brewed myself some zen (FAIL) and earl grey (DOUBLE FAIL). i was NOT happy. but then i found a china green tips that i'd stashed in my purse. which is what i'm enjoying now.

omg. this totally brings me back to a post i did a while back of a 'tea wallet' i found that i wanted to make.. and never did. i still want to. it would be sooooooo cute.

so my question is.. any tea recommendations? right now i'd say the tazo chai is at the top of my list..

i thought about posting every day for the past week..

and obviously i haven't. i hate my 'in between weeks' at work where it feels like i barely even get a day off because by the time i get on everyone else's normal sleep schedule.. i have to go back to work. bleh.

last night i watched 'this is it' with my grandma and then we all had dinner at my mom's. it was really nice. i need to spend more time with my grandparents. they're so funny.. even if they do repeat themselves a lot. "that michael jackson.. he is just an angel! it makes me sick to think he's dead. SICK!" -grandma at about 25 different times through the course of the movie.

pause:
whenever i'm at the computer.. this is what i look down to underneath the desk. she wants to say hi:
my important decision (in progress) for the week is deciding whether or not i want to do the san francisco half marathon at the end of july. i really think i can do it. i mean.. it's the beginning of march, which gives me almost 4 months to train. and the second half of the course has a 16-minute mile time.. something i DEFINITELY know i can do, considering the last 2 i did had 14-minute mile times. plus, it's in san francisco!!! i'm leaning towards yes.. but that means i need to organize my training crap and get my head in the game.

yes, i went there.

we'll see. hopefully i'll make my decision by the end of the week. in the meantime, i'm going to be making a white/lemon cake with mango mousse filling for david's birthday on saturday. wish me luck!

hello world!

yes LISA, i know it's been forever since i've updated my blog. but really, i'm not all that interesting. i mean, really, the holidays are insanity right? because on top of it being thanksgiving and christmas and new years and all that, everyone and their MOM in my family (yes, including me) decided to be born during this time of year. so honestly, my life has been full of baking, and wrapping, and baking some more.

so you've probably gathered that there hasn't been a whole lot else productive going on with me (i.e. losing weight). except maybe filling out a few hundred nursing applications and not yet getting accepted anywhere. okay, so it hasn't been a few hundred, but it sure feels like it. and may i take this moment to scream at uc berkeley for charging an arm and a leg for transcripts? $20 a piece? REALLY?!

i have been keeping my photos fairly updated with all my baking creations. my favorite one of late is a martha stewart inspired cookie wedding favor i made for my friend's bridal shower.

look at them all lined up! aren't they cute?! she's having a winter-themed wedding (hence the snowflakes) and the accent ribbon is black with white polka-dots. it took about a gazillion cookies to make them all, but i'm very proud with how they turned out! to see the original version from martha click here.

other than that, i did have the joy of finding a dress to wear to said friend's wedding without even trying all that hard! and i know that many women know what i'm talking about when i say dress shopping can either be really fun or really horrid. mostly horrid when you hate your body. needless to say, i was walking through target (can we take a moment to revel in the fabulousness that is target?!) a few weeks back and saw a merona dress i thought looked cute. it totally fit, and is perfect (at least i think so) for a winter wedding. i don't usually write reviews, but that's how much i love this dress.

i'll have to post a picture when i get all dressed up!

trick-or-.... wow it's been a while.

so here's the deal. for the past couple weeks i've had in my head all these ideas of posts i wanted to share, but never got to the computer to put them all down. lots of yummy recipes and good times. no weight lost.. but i remain the same, which is fine by me..

the first 'fall' thing i made was what i call 'pumpkin patch muffins'.. and they turned out pretty cute! i walked into michael's and saw the brach's fall mix and immediately knew that i had to do something fun with those cute little pumpkins! so here's what i came up with:

pumpkin muffins with cream cheese frosting.. decorated to look like a pumpkin patch!

i thought they turned out pretty cute! hopefully they were tasty.. since i was trying to be good i didn't eat any. =) i had another 'creative moment' just yesterday when i had a bunch of skull cookies that i had cut out but never got a chance to decorate.. so i made them into turkeys! it was just a practice run so they weren't perfect.. but they turned out pretty cute!

then for halloween i decided to try my hand at cake pops for the first time. i have done cake balls before, but never on a stick. well, turns out, these were much easier! other than the drawing the faces on.. the wilton pens SUCK! if you're getting them to write on candy coating, DON'T.. splurge for the ones on amazon... i've heard they're much better. so, since the pen failed, i used miniature chocolate chips for the faces.. and it worked! SEE?!

CUTE! and you can see my 'haunted house' candle-holder in the background. teehee! i love the holidays.

in between baking and all that good stuff, i went to a baby shower for a co-worker of mine.. now, i've made onesies before, but this happens to be the design i tried this time for her boy-to-be.

MONKEYS!!! i love monkeys.. i think they're adorable.

and, of course, since i'm such a baker, i always like to put a baking 'touch' in my gifts.. the first set of onesies i placed the socks in daisy-shaped cupcake cups and included a cupcake recipe that the mom-to-be had been asking for.. this time, i included an 'it's a boy!' cookie mix. it was really just cowboy cookies from bakerella's website.. but i used light blue and green m&m's and got some 'ABC' block fabric for the top! blogger doesn't like me right now so it won't let me put a photo.. but they're on my picasaweb page in the 'other baked goods' section.

i'll be on vacation for a while.. but i plan to stay on track.. even though we'll be eating out A LOT.. wish me luck!! maybe being out will make me MORE consciencious and i'll lose weight!

*here's hoping!*

oh yes.. 1.6 pounds baby!

that's right.. 1.6 pound loss at last thursday's weigh in. i actually wasn't that excited at the time, but i'm pretty stoked about it right now.

although.. since then i've been pretty lazy with the cooking. i made pepperoni pizza soup on thursday, then had happy hour for dinner on friday (LOVE THAT! lol), saturday it was soup again (WW 0 point soup though) with my famous grilled cheese, and sunday i splurged on fish and chips since we were in napa and i REALLY wanted to try taylor's refresher. (yeah.. TRY not to drool at that menu).

well, i tracked everything and although i'm NEGATIVE in points for the week, i'm determined to get some APs in and eat well for the rest of the week. i had a bomb salad at work tonight that i threw together.. and i'll probably make soup again today for dinner (what can i say? i'm in a soup-y mood). i'm LOVING this cold weather though!

i didn't make these together, but here's my 2 recipes so far this week:

pepperoni pizza soup (5-6 points per serving.. the recipe builder didn't have the barilla plus pasta, so i don't know for sure):
2 1/2 cups tomato bisque soup (i used tj's)
handful of chopped fresh basil (i like mine really basil-y)
1 Tbsp dried basil
2 cups water
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 cups elbow macaroni (i used barilla plus)
2 green onions, sliced
2 teaspoons dried oregano, plus more for broiling
1/3 cup diced turkey pepperoni
1/2 cup grated low-fat cheese (i like tj's reduced fat 3 cheese blend)
4 teaspoons grated fresh parmesan

put the tomato soup, basil, water, and garlic into a large pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. When it is boiling, add the macaroni, green onions, oregano, and pepperoni and stir well. when the macaroni is cooked, about 6 to 8 minutes, pour the soup into oven safe bowls. sprinkle each bowl with equal amounts of cheeses. sprinkle on some oregano and put under the broiler until the cheese is bubbling and lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes.
we've also had the soup in bread bowls, but so much of the bread goes to waste i serve it on the side now (although this week i omitted even that to save calories).

jen's famous grilled cheese (okay.. so it's only famous with kris.. but i think it's pretty darned good!)
2 slices sturdy sourdough bread (i.e. the preliced kind, not fresh from the bakery)
2 tsp brummel & brown spread (it's a really low calorie butter substitute)
2 tsp grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup low-fat shredded cheese blend (once again, i used tj's)
non-stick cooking spray

heat a skillet over medium-high heat. spread butter on one side of each slice of bread. sprinkle 1 tsp of the parmesan cheese on each slice, press gently to stick. spray top of cheese with non-stick spray to help it stick. lay one piece of bread, parmesan side down, in heated skillet sprayed with non-stick spray (it should sizzle). top bread with 1/2 cup shredded cheese and the other piece of bread (parmesan-side facing up). after about 3-4 minutes, carefully turn sandwich over. the parmesan cheese should now be a golden-brown crust. grill for another 3-4 minutes and remove from pan. serve immediately, as the crust gets soggy after sitting. enjoy!

i don't know the nutrition info for this one, as i never eat a whole one. i usually cut of an edge and give the rest to kris. it's not super healthy, but it's as healthified as i could make it!

YAY FOR GRILLED CHEESE, SOUP, AND COLD WEATHER!! WOOHOO!