Wow, this is just what I’ve been looking for! This blog is so inspirational for someone like me who wants to be fit and eat right :)

Strong Like My Coffee

Since my College Girl’s Grocery Guide became so popular on Pinterest I am continuing with a similar topic: meal plan.

I sincerely believe the best way to maintain a healthy diet is to pre-plan every day’s meal. Lots of times I do this the night before (after I’m full from dinner) on the post-it sticky notes on my laptop. I plan my breakfast, lunch and dinner plus snacks and sometimes dessert. But it only works if you commit to eat what you’ve planned, instead of impulse calorie-bombs like pizza or ice cream.

Now that it’s almost the start of a new year, and a new semester if you are in school, it seems like a good time to clean up some eating habits. And a lot of time, people eat junk food because they want something quick and available. Which is usually nothing super healthy. So here is a basic…

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Turtles and Roses

 

 

Every time I head home to East Texas, my grandmother has a hand full of recipes waiting for us to try when I get there, so I wasn’t surprised last weekend when I stepped into her kitchen and she had all these ingredients laid out on the countertops. You see, Gwenmommy (as we call her) is an excellent cook. She taught me everything I know when it comes to the kitchen, and she’s the reason I’m not afraid to push the limits of a recipe or just flat out make my own.

 

This weekend, the recipes of choice were Homemade Turtles, and Little Pink Roses. They are so simple, yet SO TASTY :)
I just had to share!!

 

I didn’t have my camera with me at the time, so I do not have step by step pictures right now, but I’m sure I’ll make these for the girls the next chance I get. Pictures will be added then. :)

 

Turtles

 

You will need:

• Rolos, at least 4 rolls
• Pretzels, the original pretzel-y shape.
• Pecan halves
• Baking sheets
• Oven set to 400F

1. Lay the pretzels on the cookie sheet. It doesn’t matter if they touch or not, but I spread them all out.
2. Put one Rolo flat on each pretzel.
3. Place in the oven for two minutes. This will melt the Rolos a little, not all the way. They should maintain their shape, so if you notice that they are sliding around or something, TAKE THEM OUT! :)
4. Put a half pecan on top of each melted Rolo, and push it into the chocolate a little bit. If you don’t like pecans, you can just put another pretzel on top. I always do half and half because… I hate pecans.
5. Let cool and enjoy!!

Roses

 

You will need:

 

• Fresh strawberries, washed and dried. (Do not cut off the leaves, but remove the stems if any)
• Vanilla almond bark (I always call this white chocolate)
• Red food coloring
• A large bowl for mixing
• One icing (decorating) bag with a small tip
• Thin wooden skewers
• Flower vase
• green floral foam

1. Cut the floral foam to fit into your flower vase, and place inside. If you do not have foam, you can do without, just make sure the vase is shallow enough for the skewers to stand out of it.
2. Put a skewer into the top of each strawberry (through the center of the leaves) and set aside.
3. Melt the almond bark (following the instructions on the package) in one of the mixing bowls, and add a few drops of red food coloring. When mixed, it should be a light pink. You can make it a darker pink if you wish, but remember not to make it too dark. You will need a darker pink for the decoration later. You may also have to keep adding melted almond bark to the bowl so that there is enough to cover all the strawberries.
4. Dip each strawberry into the light pink almond bark, making sure all the red is covered, but try not to cover the leaves.
5. Stick the other end of the skewer into the floral foam so that you begin to form a bouquet.
6. Repeat until all strawberries are covered and arranged in the vase.
7. With the remaining almond bark, make sure it isn’t too firm, and add additional drops of red food coloring so that the pink is somewhat darker than the original pink (see picture above or below).
8. Spoon the darker pink almond bark into the icing bag.
9. Starting at the tip of each strawberry, draw a spiral with the icing so that it starts tight on the top, then winds down the strawberry towards the leaves. The idea is to make them look like rose buds!
10. If you do not like the look of the green floral foam, you can cover it with any kind of riff-raff. I used a cellophane gift stuffer for mine, but this is optional.

Enjoy :)

 

 

 

 

 

Fry That Chicken, Baby

This weekend I got to travel up to beautiful East Texas to hang out with my family. When I am here, I usually do some of the cooking to give my mom a break, since it can sometimes be quite the chore to cook for 11 people (and that’s with me and my older bro being gone!).

Tonight, I made Lemon-Dill Chicken, using my Mom’s recipe, and it was deeelicious!

I thought that I would share the recipe because it is really simple and easy!

Technically, the chicken is fried, but it is not your typical southern fried chicken. It is very light, and if you set it on a paper towel after you cook it, you can soak up the extra oil.

Lemon – Dill Chicken

• 1/2 cup of dry breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon of dried dillweed
• 6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (halves)
• 1 egg (beaten)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (I used coconut)

Combine the first three ingredients in a shallow dish. Dip the chicken in the egg and then dip each side in the crumb mixture.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chicken, and cook 5 minutes on each side or until golden brown. Cover and cook for 5 more minutes. (Total of 15 minutes).

*Tip: The chicken is much easier to cook if you beat the crap out of it with a meat mallet/tenderizer before you season it :)

The sides I fixed were snow peas (with olive oil and a dash of salt), green beans, and a spring mix salad.

Enjoy!

Strawberry Ice Cream

Okay, so I have been struggling with what to blog about for the past 2 hours now. I guess it’s because this is my first time to write here. I have spent literally every minute of that time on Pinterest looking for inspiration and did not find any till I logged out. Of course. So here I go.

My roommate’s friend brought her 6 pints of ice cream earlier today because she had a bad day at work. Sweetest thing ever! She decided she couldn’t eat all of it by herself and thus proceeded to offer pints to those of us standing around. The pint of ice cream I chose was strawberry. :)

I don’t eat strawberries very often, but I absolutely LOVE strawberry products. Mostly because they are colored PINK, but especially if they involve ice cream and cake. In fact, my Mom recently asked what cake I want for my birthday (which is tomorrow) and I promptly responded with “Strawberry!” I have that every year for my birthday, actually.

So, since my theme for today is strawberries, I figured I would leave some interesting facts about them! Enjoy!*The average strawberry has 200 seeds.

*Their is a museum in Belguim just for strawberries.

*Strawberries are a member of the rose family.

*Strawberries are low fat, low calorie, high in vitamin C, fiber, folic acid, & potassium.

*Eating strawberries, which are rich in nitrate, can increase the flow of blood & oxygen to the muscles by 7%. This prevents muscle fatigue, making exercise easier.

*Strawberries are the only fruit with seeds on the outside.

*”They whiten your teeth!” -Danielle

*The ancient Romans believed that strawberries alleviated symptoms of throat infections, fevers, bad breath, & many other illnesses. (This is good to know since I have been sick all week!)

Hope you enjoyed my silly ramblings! :)

Love,

Sydney

 

Fresh Foods Week (no, you can’t drink soda.)

As you can imagine, Spring Break mean lots of traveling, relaxing around the house, visiting family and friends, and the likes. When I think through everything that might pop up next week over my spring break (and the past couple weeks of exams, projects, and essays) my mind settles on the mass of fast food bags that have accumulated in the garbage can, not to mention the left over styrofoam soft drink cups in the car cup holders.

So yesterday, as Austin and I were on our way back from visiting his parents, I declared this week Fresh Foods Week. We have not been eating so great lately, and you know what happens when you go visit your parents, so we decided to give our systems a grease break in preparation for spring break.

Here’s our “let’s try to be healthy this week but we’re still in college” menu and guidelines.

Breakfast for the week:

Austin chose 2% milk and Raisin Bran to replace the usual Poptarts and whole milk.

I chose plain Cheerios (with my own honey) and peanut butter on toast to last me through the afternoon. I usually don’t get a break for lunch until 2ish.

Lunches for the week:

I recently discovered Mason Jar Salad Recipes on Pinterest, so I have premade salads for both of us using a variety of greens, veggies, and dressings.

Snacks for the week:

I am a huge fan of peanut butter and green apples (I probably eat too much peanut butter), but Austin’s more of a banana and trail mix person. We are going to combine our favorites with some new snacks like the ones I found at Six Sisters Stuff.

 

Now… Here’s my favorite part.

Dinners for Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday:

This week we are both very busy in the evenings, so I’ve chosen some simple, fresh, new recipes that I can’t wait to try out! Austin’s never had any of these meals either, so we’ll let you know how it goes.

Monday I will be making Lemon Pesto Chicken on my George Foreman grill, with Roasted Asparagus and fresh bell peppers.

Tuesday, we’re having Tilapia (cooked with an assortment of fresh veggies), and Cauliflower Rice.

Thursday… get ready for this… we are having Avocado Black Bean Breakfast Tacos (with mozzarella, eggs, and corn tortillas)!!! I’m really excited about this one, if you can’t tell. :)

And, of course, along with all our other fresh things, we will be straining ourselves not to drink our beloved Sprite and Diet Coke. Instead, we will be having green tea, cranberry juice, and crystal light.

Just wanted to share our adventure…may your week be fresh as well!! :)

 

Dear Dani,

There are so many reasons why you are my best friend, but today, the biggest reason is that when you discovered that I’d never had green apples with peanut butter before, you immediately hopped to the kitchen and whipped up a plate of this delectable treat. Since then, I have craved it every time my tummy clock says it’s time to eat. I just wanted to say thank you for this precious gift, and thanks for being my best friend.

Love,

Caitlin

PS. Thanks for the band-aid I stole from your closet because I was in such a hurry to eat apples and peanut butter that I wasn’t actually paying attention to the direction the knife was facing and I was using my left hand to cut so I could lick the peanut butter spoon at the same time and well, you see, the blade went into straight into my thumb, so at least we know it’s sharp enough to cut. :)

Ughh..how true is this! In a house full of 6 girls who “carefully watch” their figure, the constant cooking (which is more often times than not baking) does nothing to assist! Speaking of, just Tuesday Caitlin made…get ready…potato chip cookies! Yes, I am serious. Yes, they were delicious. Yes, it is Thursday and they are all gone. Sometimes I swear this picture fits her motto! However…despite the numerous miles I may run in effort to “be fit” I will always and forever scarf down whatever delicious delicacies my house may come up with. We are a blessed bunch, indeed!

-KaRonna