Tuesday, September 29, 2009

River City Roundup and Blake Shelton Concert

Thursday night, my friend Kristen and her co-worker and meteorologist, Andrea headed to the River City Roundup and Blake Shelton Concert. Before we headed into to the rodeo, we stopped in the livestock area to see all the show animals. Look what little precious face I stumbled across...


I was sporting a large purse (see below pic) and could have fit a cutie in my purse for Brian to love.
Blake put on a great show and sounds exactly like he does on his recordings.


Hope you all had a great weekend. I have more photos coming soon from Saturday and Sunday's festivities.

Friday, September 25, 2009

Easy Jalepeno Poppers

My co-worker grows jalapenos in her backyard for her bird, knowing I'm from the great state of Arizona and love spicy things, she was gracious enough to bring a some for me one day. Not knowing what to do with them (since hubby is a wuss when it comes to spices), jalapeno poppers 'popped' into my head. After a while of searching online for a good recipe, nothing really caught my eye. They all seemed to involved or fatty because they were fried, so I just came up with my own. This obviously isn't very detailed but it's a guide more than a recipe. I hope you all enjoy!
  • Jalapenos
  • 1/3 fat cream cheese
  • shredded cheddar cheese
  • old bay seasoning
  • rice crispies cereal
  • butter or margarine
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375°. Cut each jalapeno in half and remove seeds. (I'd suggest using gloves for this since jalapeno juices can be irritating for your skin and eyes). Mix the cheeses and sprinkle a little Old Bay Seasoning (be conservative, a little goes a long way), salt, and pepper into the bowl. Stuff the jalapenos full of the cream cheese mixture. In a separate bowl, mix the rice crispies with a little melted butter for flavor. Press the cheese filled jalapenos in the rice crispies/butter and place on a baking sheet and bake until bubbly brown. I checked the bottom of the jalapeno to see if they were starting to brown and I removed them soon after and they were perfect.

They really satified my craving for this appetizer without all the needless fat.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Zucchini Bread or Muffins

I constantly search for new recipes online that are quick and easy breakfasts on-the-go while still being healthy and satiating. This recipe looked delicious so I lighted it up a bit and made it more healthy than the original version. Since I'm such a muffin girl, I just had to try them in the loaf as well to "think outside the Risa muffin box".

~adapted from
Our Best Bites

  • 2 C whole wheat pastry flour (or regular if you don't have this)
  • 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
  • 2 t cinnamon
  • 1/8 t ground cloves
  • 1/2 t salt
  • 1 1/2 t baking soda
  • 1/2 C olive oil
  • 1/2 C granulated sugar
  • 1/3 C brown sugar
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 t vanilla (i didn't have quite 2, I ran out :-( )
  • zest from one large orange
  • 1/2 C light sour cream
  • 3 C grated zucchini
  • optional: 2/3 C chopped pecans, toasted (I used almonds, but wasn't that big of a fan how they turned out in there)

*Topping:

  • 1 T white sugar
  • 1 T brown sugar
  • 1/2 t cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour 2 loaf pans and set aside. Combine flour, cinnamon, cloves, salt, and baking soda in a bowl and whisk to combine. Set aside. Beat eggs, oil, sugars, and vanilla for about 30 seconds. Add sour cream and orange zest and beat to combine. Mix in zucchini. Add dry ingredients and mix just until combined. Divide batter between 2 pans. Bake for 50-60 minutes (or around 20-30 min for muffins) or until a knife comes out clean. Make sure to let your loaf rest on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes before you try to remove it from the pan or it will come out in chunks!



I kept a close eye on my muffins, poking them periodically until the toothpick came out clean.
YUUUUUMMMMMYYYY!!

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

Healthy Lunch

Since Fall is here, I really wanted to pick up some canned pumpkin but there wasn't any on the shelves. Apparently there's a nationwide shortage? (You'd think an ex-newsie would be up on that sort of thing), so instead I'll embrace summer a bit longer with beautiful strawberries. They just had to make it into my lunch for my trip tomorrow to our sister dealership where I work half the time.

This is my take on the Bento lunch bandwagon.
What's your favorite lunch?

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

Donate for a Chance to Win Philosphy Wash!

Since I'm taking part in three different run/walks I thought I'd post a link for all of you to donate to my causes if you're feeling generous. You don't need to donate a lot, I'm grateful for any donations at all.



The payoff is I'll enter you in my drawing for a Philosophy 3-in-1 body wash!


Here are the links for the three activities:
1. Komen's Race For The Cure (Must donate before 10-4-09)

2. American Lung Association's Corporate Cup Race (Must donate before 9-20-09)

3. Nebraska Humane Society's Walk For The Animals. (Must donate before 9-27-09)

** One entry for donating to one of my above causes.

** One entry for posting this giveaway on your blog.

** If you donate to the Walk for Animals, you get two entries. (Yes I'm a little biased, I love animals.) If you play your cards right, you could get a lot of entries ;-)



I'll pick a winner Oct. 5th. Which is the day after my last race.

Each of my causes are important in their own way. Good Luck :-)



Thank you!

What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

Let me preface you with the information that I am not a professional runner and never ran in high school, I'm pretty pathetic actually. In the past few weeks some races have sort of fallen on my lap:

1. Race For The Cure: I'm a member of the Junior League of Omaha and we have a team running in the race. I had always wanted to run in the Race For The Cure but never had the opportunity. While my family doesn't have history of breast cancer, it's scary. One in 8 women will get this scary disease and after losing an aunt (she married my mom's brother) to the disease, it's hit closer to home. I'm doing this race for her.
2. ALA Corporate Cup: Our dealership group is sponsoring this race and I've been involved with the marketing and planning of this event for the past month and a half . While I won't be running in the 10k (I'll die if I run the whole thing), I decided to run a quick 2 mile, non-competitive route. My grandmother had lung cancer (wasn't a smoker for several years) and so this one is for her :-).



3. Walk for the Animals: I also found out about a Nebraska Humane Society event happening in two weeks. This is a super near and dear to my hear issue plus my little angel can come with. I'm a HUGE animal lover. I don't believe in "buying animals", I believe in adopting one from a shelter. They love you just the same and if you are truly looking to love an animal, they don't need to be purebred. My love, Duke, was rescued from a bad situation in Kansas and was taken in by a loving foster mom who taught him everything he needed to know to get adopted. I couldn't ask for a better dog in my life than him. We believe he's a black lab/border collie mix. He's the smartest little angel ever. My husband and I love the crap out of this babe--
If you are looking for a dog or cat, I recommend Petfinder. It's where we found Duke and they have so many animals looking for a forever home with a loving mom and dad!


Monday, September 14, 2009

Batter Blasters Breakfast

I'm one of those people who HAS to have breakfast in the morning but I don't like processed crap either. I like my breakfast to be fast and wholesome in the morning before I rush out the door for work.

While at Super Target yesterday I came across this stuff:



Fearful of it's toxic ingredients, yet the easy spray drew me in. I turned to can over to see "ORGANIC" and all ingredients I could pronouce? Can it be? Yay- in the cart you go.

I tried them this morning and added blueberries and topped with REAL maple syrup...delish. I'll be honest it's a slightly lighter texture than regular batter coming out but the end result is very good.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

Kanye Snubs Taylor Swift at VMA's

Taylor Swift Wins Best Female Video

Check out the video...Kanye is an ass!! What kind of jerk does that to a young artist like her. She's a sweet young girl, totally uncalled for.

Thursday, September 10, 2009

Time Traveling and Shopping

Where have I been lately? Who knows. I was pretty busy with my mom in town over Labor Day weekend. I'm so glad she chose to visit me (no one comes to the Midwest to visit ever.) We did a lot of shopping and eating. It was definitely fun and I scored this beauty!!


We also went to see the Time Traveler's Wife. The movie is a real tear jerker but overall is a great chick flick.


I need to get back into the swing of things and lose some unwanted weight I've picked up over the summer. After checking out Tara's blog, I'm thinking of jumping on the 30 Day Shred bandwagon. Has anyone tried it? Feedback please :-)