Friday, January 27, 2012

I have SO much to update on and it having Internet is FO realz throwing off my blogging groove. I love blogging and I have exercises and recipes to share!

Aaaahhhh!

Quiche puffs with nutritional facts, mini pumpkin loaves, crepes + fillers, white chocolate macadamia nuts cookies and I need to share favorite meals! How I maintain a 1200 calorie intake and my progress with Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. SO much to share!!

Friday, January 13, 2012

New Challenge

While I was home I bought 2 discs of Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred. Today was Day 1 and I am feeling a little sore, but not so much that I won't be able to do it all again tomorrow!

The way the DVD works is there are 3 workouts divided into 3 levels. Once you feel confident with level 1, move onto level 2, and then the same with level 3.

I started with Level 1, and I think about a week of level 1, maybe 10 days, I'll
Move onto the next level!

A fellow blogger, Janae from Hungry Runner Girl, actually suggested the DVD to me because I was in need of some home workouts! The workouts are intense and home user friendly! Only need a mat and some free weights!

I'll keep y'all posted of the progress!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Carrot Cake

Rachel and I were in charge of dessert again the other night and I really wanted to try to make Carrot Cake. It turned out GREAT and everyone was raving about it!

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

For Cake
About 3/4 pound carrots
2C all-purpose flour
2t baking powder
1 1/2t baking soda
1 1/2t salt
2t ground cinnamon
2C granulated sugar
1 1/2C vegetable oil
4 large eggs
1 (8-ounce) can crushed pineapple, drained
1C sweetened flaked coconut
1/2C chopped walnuts
2/3C raisins (optional)
*Measure and weigh things out exactly! And I prefer golden raisins. This cake was super moist because of the pineapple and coconut!



Make the cake: Put a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350F. Butter and flour cake pans (use two 9x2 round cake pans).
Shred enough carrots to measure 2 cups.
Sift together, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a large bowl. Stir in sugar, oil, eggs, carrots, pineapple, coconut, walnuts and raisins (if using).
Divide batter between cake pans and bake until wooden pick inserted in center of cakes comes out clearn, 35-45min. Cool layers in pans on a rack for 5 min, then run a thin knife around edge of each pan and invert layers onto rack to cool completely.

For Frosting
2 (8-ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 stick (8Tb) unsalted butter, softened
1t vanilla extract
2 1/2C confectioners' sugar, sifted


Make the frosting: Beat together cream cheese, butter, and vanilla in a large bowl with an electric mixer at med-high speed until fluffy, about 2min. Reduce speed to med, add confectioners' sugar, and beat until frosting is smooth.



Place 1 cake layer bottom side up on a cake plate and spread with some frosting. Place remaining cake layer right side up on top and spread remaining frosting over top and sides of cake.


I put my cake in the fridge until we wanted to serve it after dinner because I wanted the frosting to set up a little bit more and it turned out GREAT!

ENJOY!



Monday, January 9, 2012

Dance to my Soul

While I've been home I've been working on maintaining my weight while still enjoying some amazing Eugene foodies and home made delectables!

In order to maintain my weight while eating more than I usually do, I have had to increase my caloric output! LOTS of walking and moving around.

My brother-in-law won a Wii at his works' Christmas Party so Rachel and I convinced the family to purchase Just Dance.


Naturally the sisters had to get all 80's'd out for our Just Dance - dance off.

SO much fun, hilarious and a great workout! Rachel and I have been playing it the last few days on the "continuous shuffle" option so that there is only a brief break between songs.

According to my iPhone app "Lose It" Aerobic Dancing burns about 500 calories for 1hr. So Party on!

Funny way to get in a workout while having a lot of fun!

Better Than "what?!" C

My sister and I were put in charge of dessert the other night and we decided to make "Skor" cake.... aka "Better Than Sex" cake. Ha huh ha... "Skor" get the euphemism??

ANYWAY...

It turned out AMAZING. It was a big hit with the family.


SKOR Cake Recipe

1 Chocolate Cake Mix
*Ingredients needed for mix
1 can Sweetened Condensed Milk
1 Jar of favorite Chocolate Fudge
1 Tub Cool Whip
1 Bag crumbled Heath or Skor Candy

Mix chocolate cake mix as directed on the box using the required ingredients.
Bake chocolate cake as directed in a 9x13 pan.
Let cool about 5 min.
Using the end of a wooden spoon to poke holes into cake.
Let cool for a little bit longer.
Slowly pour sweetened condensed milk over the top of the cake, letting it sink into the holes.
Let cool and absorb until cake has cooled completely.
(I covered the cake and placed it in the fridge)
Remove from fridge, and spread warmed up chocolate fudge sauce over the top of the cake.
Cover again and place back in the fridge until the chocolate fudge has cooled completely.
Remove from the fridge and spread cool whip topping over the fudge layer.
Spread crumbled Heath or Skor Bar chunks over the top of the whip topping.
Refrigerate a little longer and serve!

ENJOY!

Thursday, January 5, 2012

Oh how sceneic

I am back in Eugene for a week in between my internships. This morning, I met up with my sister and her adorable son.

This is my nephew, Will!


We went for a walk near the river and it was SO beautiful!


I love going for long walks around Eugene!


I'm attempting to walk EVERYWHERE so that I don't gain weight on this trip. There is SO much good food in the town of Eugene Oregon. While Eugene is a total hippie foodie town, they definitely have their intense eateries that could cause me to obscene amounts of weight, WAY TOO EASILY. So the objective is to at least MAINTAIN my current weight.

Tuesday, January 3, 2012

No original thought

Dinner tonight was random and yummy! I missed lunch because I was doing a spaztic run around of errands and meetings. So dinner came Around and I was ravenous!

Muscle milk, double fiber whole wheat English muffin, giant water bottle and Chobani yogurt!! Protein, fiber and yummness!!! Filling and awesome!