Mondays...

'Nuff said.

 lol :) Actually I'm having a fabulous day but this graphic made me laugh.

Soup, soup, I love soup!

Soup is perfect on cold days and crockpot soup that's ready when you get home is even better. Mom says it's still freezing back home, so I thought I would share my spin on Grandma Lawson's hamburger soup recipe.

Spicy Cabbage Soup

What you need:

- 1 lb ground beef

- 10 baby carrots

- head of green cabbage

- 1/2 c. chopped onion

- 12 oz can diced tomatoes (not drained)

- 48 oz of chicken broth

- 4 oz can of green chiles

- Salt & Pepper

- Crockpot

Start by seasoning the ground beef and browning it with the onion.

While the meat cooks, chop the carrots and cabbage into chunks. Throw away the center of the cabbage near the stem, it can taste bitter.

Once the meat is done, add the carrots, tomatoes, cabbage and chiles to the crockpot. Cover with the chicken broth.

Set crockpot to low and cook for 5-6 hours or 3-4 hours on high.

Serve with a rustic loaf of bread. Mmmmmmmmm...

 

Spicy but not too hot and very hearty.

Love,

Krissy

Happy Hedgehog Day!

The way I see it since February 2nd is Groundhog Day then March 2nd should be Hedgehog Day, I mean really it's only fair.



 

Seriously taking refuge in a slipper is way better than six more weeks of winter.

Anyways I'm making it official "HAPPY HEDGEHOG DAY" Ha Me!

Check out these sites for more hedgehog shenanigans: buzzfeed & Cute

Homemade Poppity Pop Tarts

Now I feel the need to throw in a little guilty treat just to mix it up. I love trying recipes from Pinterest and I found this interesting idea for homemade pop tarts. The original recipes has you making everything from scratch, which is fine if you have the time, but I wanted to speed things up a bit so I tweaked it.

Strawberries & Cream Pop Tarts

What you need:

- puff pastry dough (in the frozen food section)

- 4 oz cream cheese (softened)

- 8-10 medium strawberries

- 3 Tbs sugar

- 1 tsp vanilla extract

- 1 c. powdered sugar

- 2 Tbs water
- Parchment paper

First set pastry dough out to thaw ( I used the Pepperidge Farm brand) and preheat the oven to 350.

While the dough is thawing, chop up strawberries, place in a bowl and sprinkle with 1 Tbs sugar. Set aside.

Next in a large mixing bow, blend together 2 Tbs sugar, cream cheese and vanilla until smooth.

When the dough is thawed, unfold it and divide each sheet into 6 squares. You should have 12 squares in total.

Spread a dollop of the cream cheese mixture onto 6 of the squares, leaving room around the edges.  Then add a spoonful of the strawberries onto the cream cheese.

Cover with the remaining 6 squares and seal the edges with a fork. Place on a parchment covered baking sheet.

Bake for 18-20 min until golden brown.

Finally prepare the icing by mixing the 1 c. powdered sugar and water in a small bowl.

Drizzle over pop tarts when slightly cooled.

Enjoy!!!!

Love,
Krissy

Love It!

Since I have been absent from blogging lately and you've has been doing all the heavy lifting I'm going to do a two-fer today.  I love your healthy habit's post and am going to piggyback on it.


I totally agree about not drinking enough water, it's really hard to fit it in during the work day. First I tried purchasing cute water bottles to entice me to carry it everywhere and that worked for awhile. Now I'm back in my old rut of coming home parched because I didn't drink anything all day. So I really would like to try the aqua zinger, it's a neat water bottle with a bottom that you fill with fruit/herbs and infuse the water.

It infuses two 20 oz servings and the website even has recipes for all kinds of fruit/ herb combos.

Plus I absolutely second, even third that about tea! I really love it as my warm drink of choice and am completely obsessed with Stash Teas from Portland, OR.  Some of my faves are the Morrocan Mint, Orange Spice and Cinnamon Apple Chamomile just to name a few.

Little Healthy Habits

Since we are on the topic of healthy diets, I thought I'd share a couple healthy habits I've developed over the years. Some of them are little changes, but I can tell have made a big impact on my health.

• H2O all day long
• I have always been a fan of water, but there would be days I would realize I didn't drink anything other than with my meals and those days I would just feel tired. I decided to invest in a couple water bottles (Camelbaks are the best! The straw makes me just want to drink it more lol) to keep at my desk at all times and when I'm at home I just keep refilling it and keep it by my side. Without much effort, I find myself drinking water more throughout the day and I just feel more energized! I also like to add some lemon from time to time to mix things up. 
  

• No more pop - swap for ice tea
•  I've made this swap a couple years ago and do not miss it much at all. There are times, I must admit, where I may succumb to a Dr. Pepper at Qdoba (they have no ice tea! Just really sweet lemonade, blah) for a little pick me up, but overall it's been a good habit to keep. I LOVE Honest Tea. It's not super sugary which I hate in some ice teas. 

 

• Add a little tea
• About two years ago I discovered hot tea and have grown to love it! I am a big fan of green tea and earl gray (especially in the AM). Black tea actually has more caffeine than coffee too - crazy! It's another way to add liquid to your diet without feeling overwhelmed with just water - and its a good way to warm up on a cold day like today! (note: we got about 12inches of snow today in good ol' Fargo..yay! lol)

• No unhealthy fast-food 
• I generally avoid all fast-food places and limit my restaurant choices to healthier options to avoid any bad temptations. Now, when I say fast-food, I mostly mean places like McDonalds (excluding their coffee...coffee will always be my weakness ha), Burger King, Taco Bell, KFC...places like that. The healthier fast-food places like Subway, Quiznos, and Pancheros I visit frequently. I notice now if I do happen to cave in for a Mickey Dees burger, I do feel like crap afterwards so it makes it less tempting to want one when I know the effect it has on my body. 

• Eat more often (healthy snacks of course)
• You're suppose to eat 5-6 small meals a day, right? Well, I've started to do this more recently and it makes a difference in my energy levels throughout the day. I've been good with starting with breakfast - even if it's just a shake or banana - then having small snacks available at my desk. I love the little FiberOne snack bars, greek yogurt (Fage with honey is amazing!! Love it more than Chobani!), and hummus with bread/crackers. When I would make a contious effort to eat more healthy snacks I wouldn't be starving by the time I would get home which was nice because then that also gave me more energy and motivation to hit the gym - which is another habit I try to keep, but when it's cold out it's a struggle to make the trip. ha 

There you have it. My little healthy habits. I encourage you to give it a try and see what it does for you.

chow, ;)
-hiD

Smart Stuff

Since you brought up healthy choices/food, I had to tell you about these awesome finds! January means kick starting good habits and trashing bad ones. Marc and I found ourselves eating out a lot and feeling gross so we decided to turn it around together and make smart choices. Here are some of our discoveries:

Let's start with almond milk to be honest I was skeptical it was going to taste nasty but it's delicious! The unsweetened with vanilla is the best for you since it doesn't have a bunch of added sugar. Really I'm going to have no problem replacing cow's milk with this.

Next up is Synergy's Kombucha/Chia combo is so good, I have been drinking this for awhile and it really improves how you feel. Chia is a super food loaded with omega 3s and fiber. Kombucha ia a fermented tea that's a probiotic. Some have a problem with the texture of chia but I thinks it tastes like Jello.

Finally coconut oil is AMAZING. You can cook with it and use it as a moisturizer, pretty cool huh?
It's also hearty healthy, lowers the amount of abdominal fat and boosts your immune system. Plus when you cook with it, the house smells all tropical!

Here is a link to show how it can be turned into a moisturizer. All of these things can be found in the health food section at the grocery store or Whole Food stores.

I can't wait for you to try them!

til next time,
-Krissy