White Out

We made it home!!! Thank goodness.

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After we left Fort Collins on Thursday morning we hit a long stretch of pure ice immediately after hopping onto Interstate 25. From there to Cheyenne, WY it was pure hell. My fingers and hands were sweating like crazy. One truck passed me at 40mph, hit the ice wrong and swiftly flew into the ditch in a giant cloud of powdery snow. Luckily from Cheyenne the roads cleared up and we were able to make pretty good time until we hit Kearney, NE. The storm must have just blown through there because it was a war zone. I wish I had taken photos but the sun was down by then. Over thirty five to forty cars & trucks overturned on both sides of I-80. Eleven of those were semi-trailers. Ever seen an overturned semi?? How about 11? Scary. One of them was so badly mangled and twisted that the cab was turned an extra 45 degrees underneath the back trailer. Awful. We had a near fatal accident from a passing semi over a snow-drift filled bridge but luckily it missed us by inches, all Dave kept saying was "We're dead. This is it. I can't get away from him."

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I did get a couple photos of them on the way home. This one was being pulled up by a crane.

Dave's oldest sister and her husband made it in from Missouri an hour or so after we did Thursday night. They had a similar experience on the drive in. The six of us spent the night chatting at my in-law's house, sipping beer and trying to predict the weather for the weekend.

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Christmas day arrived and we woke up to a white out. Blowing snow, 50 mph winds and no way to get out. Sadly, Christmas dinner was supposed to be at their house. No one made it. :( I did however, give Dave his present as soon as everyone woke up. I wish I had thought to take a photo but I didn't. I gave him a brand new, semi-automatic Mossberg shotgun. He loved it!! Then he surprised me with a little black bag.

Earrings!

The rest of Christmas day was spent watching movies, drinking and eating. I did manage to sneak away for a bit and get some pics of the Christmas decorations. Dave and I didn't decorate at all this year so it was fun to see so much holiday cheer in his mom's house. She had two full sized Christmas trees.

Plus a ton of these porcelain Santa figurines. Each one has different features and different props. Her mother (Dave's grandmother) makes them, we have one at home but the poor thing never saw the light of day this year. She even sews all their little clothes!

I had a couple glasses of wine in me by this point...weirdo.Look who is on the family wall now....The view outside:See that little dark rectangle behind the truck?? That's my Jeep. :(

There was about 3-4 inches of snow total but with the winds it created 4-8 foot drifts all over the place. Unfortunately they live out in BFE on a minimum-maintenance road so there were no snow plows at all. After 24 hours inside even I was getting bored.

As well as a bit tipsy and full of sugar.

The next day (Saturday) Dave's step dad decided to take his giant four-wheel drive tractor out to plow the roads for us. He got stuck about two miles down the road. IN. A. TRACTOR. The drift that nabbed him was 6 feet high and 50 feet long. This is my brave husband going out with his brother-in-law to dig out and rescue the $60,000 tractor. It was the most entertainment I had all weekend...Sadly only a few family members made it out on Saturday night, Dave's other sister being one of them. We had a good time, playing darts & card games, eating too much dessert and drinking too much wine. Dave's mom even made prime rib for everyone on Friday. Speaking of food, I bet you're wondering where all my food pics are right? Well, I only have a few. All taken with my iPhone. But all good!

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Saturday Lunch: Salad w/leftover prime rib, sauteed mushrooms and honey mustard dressing.

Saturday Dinner: Homemade potato soup & a multigrain roll with ham. And wine. :)Sunday Detox Lunch: Ruby Tuesday's salad bar. A little bit of everything....

There you have it, my snow-filled, wine-induced, Christmas weekend. It's pretty strange to think that I didn't leave the house once from Thursday night until late Sunday morning! Poor Dave, his step dad & brother-in-law were going insane.

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Which brings me to the best quote from the entire weekend. Chuck (brother-in-law from Missouri) received a phone call late Saturday afternoon from a friend. When asked how he was doing - his response, (in a thick, Southern accent) was "Well, I'm about to go nibble on the end of a gun."

Eggnog Spritz Cookie Recipe

This is a gluten free recipe concocted by one of my talented co-workers. Not only is the recipe original but she made index cards for all who wanted them.It's not a coincidence that the cards match the little tin full of cookies either. She scanned in the logo from the lid and created a design for the cards in Photoshop. Great gift idea isn't it??

PLUS, the cookies are the same shape as the tin. Talk about follow though!

Enjoy!

Currently drinking wine. Snowed in at my mother-in-law's house in Nebraska. Not sure how long I can take it...

Hopefully will get back to Colorado tomorrow....we'll be putting my new big tires to the test!

Sent from my iPhone

Happy Holidays!

It snowed about 4-5 inches last night and has not stopped coming down yet! I love a white Christmas as much as the next person but I'm a little curious as to how long it will take us to travel to Nebraska tomorrow. Hopefully all goes well! (Normally it's a 6 hour trip...)

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My breakfast this morning was a "baked" apple with cinnamon over some plain Oikos with half a sliced banana and a scoop of almond butter. The hot apple and cold yogurt made a strange combination, by the end everything was just lukewarm. Eh.

Mid-morning snacks: Some sort of coconut chocolate butterscotch cookie. I had a few bites this size. I'm not a big fan of coconut though, a rarity in the food blogger world.In order to stop the madness I had some raw almonds and a small cheese instead of more sweets.

My packed lunch was another clean-out-the-fridge meal. I was reading Bethenny Frankel's book, Naturally Thin, last night on the treadmill and remembered reading that no matter what is in your kitchen right now, you most likely have the ingredients for a salad. True true. I whipped up a small container with black beans, baby spinach, two chopped carrots and a whole red bell pepper all topped with Annie's honey mustard dressing.

This was SO good. I was actually quite amazed. If you can't tell, I love raw veggies but honestly I'm not a big fan of salads. I love ordering them in restaurants (weird I know) but hate making them at home. I just don't feel like I have "that special touch". Looks like all I need to do is chop up my raw veg (I feel so British saying "veg"), add a sprinkle of spinach or lettuce, some protein and dressing and call it a salad!

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Lunch Dessert: Gluten/Wheat-free Eggnog Spritz Cookie - my co-worker made these and even gave out recipe cards. (If you want the recipe, just ask me and I'll post it.)

Afternoon snack: Cashew Cookie Larabar

Tonight is my manager's birthday party and my husband and I will be going out dinner with him and a ton of other people at a local BBQ restaurant. I don't really know many of them so I decided to take the night off from food blogging.

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Tomorrow we leave for Nebraska, hopefully the roads will clear up nicely. Luckily we don't have to be there by any certain time so we will not rush it. As a newly-initiated family member I'm not quite ready for my in-laws to see my foodie tendencies yet. Therefore I will not be blogging or taking very many photos over Christmas and this weekend. I'm actually looking forward to it, it's nice to escape from the computer for a while. Nameen?

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Anyway, we will be back Sunday night so look for a new post from me sometime Sunday or Monday. MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY HOLIDAYS to all of my dear readers. Can you believe that next Tuesday, December 29th marks my one year blogging anniversary?? Crazy!

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Candy and Cards

Today is my last day of work before we leave for Nebraska. We'll be spending Christmas at my mother-in-law's house this year. I'm loving how the holidays are working out this year, with both Christmas and New Year's falling on Fridays. Three and four day weekends make me happy.

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Yesterday's breakfast was simple and light. One egg and two egg whites scrambled into a whole wheat tortilla w/Frank's hot sauce and fresh ground pepper. Naner on the side. No nut butter?? That's a first!

I made sure to bring a portion of my goodies to work for everyone to enjoy, the Peanut Butter Cup Cookies were a big hit! My boss shunned all of it until I told him the pretzel sandwiches were only 35 calories apiece. Then he dug right in. :) This morning when I got here all the cookies were gone & there are only 7 pretzels left. Score!
Surprisingly, I didn't eat any of it. I still had a bit of a chocolate hangover from all my taste-testing the night before. That and I have a ton more at home to bring with us to Nebraska this weekend.

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Mid-morning snack: Frozen mango & raspberries w/plain Oikos.Lunch: Tuna salad (made w/yogurt this time, not Miracle Whip) with a whole bell pepper for dipping and an apple.

While at work I received a delivery. My parents get a box of this for me every year - Enstrom's toffee. I totally wasn't expecting it since we are doing Christmas with my parents on New Year's. What a great surprise! Thanks again Mom & Dad!Get the reference to my blog?? Accountability, folks!If you like toffee this is the best I've ever had. I'm probably biased since I've eaten it every year since I can remember but wow, so good.I opened it up after work at the husband's shop so he and his buddy could try it. Just one bite and it really made it feel like Christmas.Of course I had a few tastes as well. Because someone has to eat all the crumbs, right?

I had more than that of course! This box is currently sitting in my freezer just waiting to be eaten...

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I also found a few more fun things in our mailbox. A few Christmas cards, some dark chocolate and a thank you from our wedding venue and my personal favorite: this cute photo card from the fittest bloggette in town. Thanks Janetha!What a cute photo. It makes me feel like Dave and I should start mailing out Christmas cards. We are married after all and this is our 6th Christmas together. I feel like such a bum! This card now has a spot on our fridge and I know in about a week Dave will finally see it and say, "who's Penny and Randy?" Lol.

Afternoon snacks included some Dr. Kracker Fire Roasted Crisps, with a few pretzel sandwiches and a mini Reese's.

I put it in a bowl for presentation purposes but I had about twice what you see there.
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My dinner was a 'clean-out-the-fridge-now' affair. I threw together some leftover cheese ravioli, canned tomatoes, black beans and a bit of Frank's hot sauce.

Good, but not great.

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Dessert: Like I needed more chocolate.

Workout: 2 miles on treadmill followed by a short circuit of random strength moves.

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I just downloaded a new app on my iPhone called "Six Pack App" that has a ton of photos and explanations of strength moves you can do at home & at the gym. I did the Travel workout and it was pretty thorough. Love free fitness apps!

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Question: Do you have a sweet tooth? How do you manage it? I've noticed that whenever I eat sugar I seem to crave it more, but if I lay off it for a bit my cravings disappear completely. Christmas is such a dessert-based holiday in my world, so it makes it that much harder to resist. I know I preach about moderation all the time but I do have issues with chocolate - that's why I rarely keep it in the house. Today I brought in all the leftover Hershey's Kisses, Hugs and mini Reese's to work because I can't "afford" to have them in my house!

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Peanut Butter Cup Cookie Recipe

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar (I used 1/2 cup)
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar (Again, 1/2 cup)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• OPTIONAL: Health bar toffee chips with milk chocolate (my personal touch)

Garnish: Reese's miniature peanut butter cups, unwrapped

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) and place rack in the center of the oven.
• Butter, or spray with a non stick vegetable spray, 48 miniature muffins tins. (I used a regular sized muffin pan instead.)
• In a bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, and salt.
• In the bowl of your electric mixer (or with a hand mixer), cream the butter.
• Add the sugars and beat until light and fluffy (about 2 - 3 minutes).
• Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
• Beat in the vanilla extract.
• Add the flour mixture and beat just until incorporated.
• Stir in about 1/3 cup toffee chips or any type of add-in you prefer. Nuts would be good too.
• Fill each miniature muffin cup about one-third to half-full of batter. (It was really thick, more like dough than batter so I rolled them into little balls.)
• Bake the cookies for about 8 minutes (12 min. for a larger pan/more dough), or until the cookies are lightly browned around the edges but still soft in the center. (Note: While the cookies are baking remove the foil wraps and paper liners from each peanut butter cup.)
• Remove the cookies from the oven, and gently press one miniature peanut butter cup into the center of each cookie.
• The peanut butter cup should be even with the top of the batter.
• Return the cookies to the oven and bake an additional 2 minutes or until cookies are golden brown.
• Remove from oven and cool completely (about two hours) on a wire rack before removing the cookies from the pan. (I have no patience and only one muffin pan so I let them cool for 5 minutes.)
• These can be stored for several days at room temperature or in the refrigerator, or they can be frozen. Makes about 48 cookies. (HA! I got 18 cookies!!)

These are really delicious & sinful but if you want to "healthify" them at all there are a few ways. First you could substitute half whole wheat flour for the all purpose or add some oatmeal. This would add flavor, fiber and texture. Instead of eggs you can use mashed banana or a "flax egg". Also, the butter can be replaced with part applesauce and some Smart Balance or Earth Balance. I really wanted to do this but I had to remind myself that I wasn't baking for me, I was baking for people who aren't afraid of butter and white flour. I think I always try to add/subtract ingredients when baking because I like the guessing game. Will it turn out? What if it doesn't rise? Will Dave eat it or shove it underneath our couch cushions?

I'm happy to say that as-is, this recipe is very good. A little dense and a bit too "white" for my taste but my husband loved them! Perfect for a once a year holiday treat.

Hugs and Kisses

Random: This morning on my way to work at 6:25 I came across a family of raccoons playing in the road. It was dark and I didn't see them until I was a few feet away. I swerved. I hate swerving, it makes my heart stop. But I didn't hit them, thank goodness. I know I shouldn't swerve for a small furry animal but I love small furry animals. Plus if I had hit one, it would have been the mom and then I would have felt obligated to adopt all the babies and take them home with me. But then my cats would be pissed at me and we all know it's a bad idea to piss off a cat.

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Hey, I never claimed to be normal.

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Yesterday's breks was yet another AB & B dilla. Such a great combo, I bet this would be really good made in a panini press or anything that makes the tortilla crispy.

I really wanted my mid-morning apple but we were so slammed at work that I just couldn't get back to the break room to grab it. Gah! Darn people, don't you understand that I'm hungry?? Ship your Christmas gifts after I eat!

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Needless to say, no one got that memo so around 1:00 (SEVEN HOURS AFTER BREAKFAST) I finally sat down for lunch. Veggies, hummus and Oikos with a honey graham Z-bar.

After work I finally grabbed all the goodies/candy I needed to make some Christmas treats. Starting with Abby's pretzel Holiday Hugs. I used Snyder's Pretzel Snaps for the top and bottom and Hershey's Hugs and Caramel Kisses for the inside.Instead of topping them with a red or green M&M I used another pretzel to make little sandwiches. Aren't they cute?

Word of warning: use a separate tray for the pretzels with Hugs and the ones w/Caramel Kisses - the white chocolate melts much faster. I had a few that gooped all over the place but not to worry, I made sure to destroy the evidence. :) The broken and ugly ones have no calories, you know.

Then I thought it was unfair to favor one flavor over the other so. Yeah.I quickly sorted myself out and realized I was actually hungry for real food. THIS was hard to do.

I took a break from the oven when the husband came home and I made us a quick and easy dinner. Cheese ravioli, leftover meat sauce and steamed broccoli. The ravioli was pretty high in calories so I made it my garnish rather than the main event. My bowl started with a cup of baby spinach, wilted, and some steamed broccoli. Topped with about half a cup of sauce, some cheese ravioli with a sprinkle of Parmesan.It was just what I needed after all that sugar and I actually couldn't even finish it all. Good thing, because I had another recipe to try out, Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

I split one with the hubs after they cooled and then went back for another one. Damn dessert demons. I have all the willpower in the world when it comes to french fries, burgers, chips and pizza but put a fresh-baked cookie in front of me?? It's all over.Much-needed Workout: 2.25 miles w/incline on treadmill, I actually did some jogging intervals (5.2 mph) this time. I hated it but felt great and loose afterward.

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Question: Are you a hugger? I hate hugging, always have. The only people I willingly hug are my parents (especially since I only see them a few times a year) and sometimes my husband. But I'm usually drunk when he gets a hug. If I ever have a blogger meet up with you, please, no hugs.

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Cheese and hot sauce

One of the best things about being at home alone on a Sunday is the freedom to watch whatever crap I want on TV and not having to worry about looking presentable. I didn't shower until after my workout last night - it was fabulous. :)

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The husband & his buddies went on the second annual "Wife Shop" all day. They all cram into a vehicle (with one person as the designated driver) and get trashed while doing their last minute Christmas shopping. No girls allowed. This year, since Dave already bought/gave me my gift, I put him in charge of shopping for his mom, step dad and our Secret Santa gift exchange. Hopefully he did ok, I haven't seen what he bought yet. He was a little "out of it" when he came home at 10 pm - and by "out of it" I mean shit faced. He forgot how to work a light switch and then tried to sleep on our bedroom floor...

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After the man of the house left to go get sloshed bravely fight the crowds I managed to put together a satisfying breakfast.

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Layer one - Oikos plain Greek yogurt & cinnamon.Layer two - Kashi Go Lean.Layer three - banana.Layer four - more cinnamon and a big gob of Maranatha almond butter.

With some milky English Breakfast tea.

After a few hours of blog reading/trashy TV watching I suddenly got a craving for something cheesy. I blame the pizza I saw from this post. Unfortunately we didn't have any pizza in the house so I made my own, Mexican style. Whole wheat tortilla broiled with mashed black beans & shredded cheese. Topped with 1/4 of a mashed avocado with garlic powder and plenty of Frank's hot sauce.

Hit the spot.Afternoon snackage:

As I mentioned before, Dave didn't get home until 10 so I was on my own for dinner as well. I knew I needed protein and veggies. After rifling through the fridge door for a bit, I found an unopened squeeze bottle of Miracle Whip with an expiration date of 12/2009. Not one to waste a brand new bottle of anything, (I don't even know why I bought it, I never use mayo) I mixed some up with a can of tuna, honey mustard, garlic powder and Spike. Going with my cheese & hot sauce craving I made a tuna melt on a sandwich thin with mozzarella & Frank's hot sauce. Steamed green beans w/sea salt on the side.Once again - it hit the spot.

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Workout: 6 miles on stationary bike

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Seriousness: I don't get into weight and body issues too much in my posts, mostly because it can be a dangerous area. But I do have a question for all of you regarding weight loss. I've mentioned a couple times that I gained weight in college and when Dave and I first began dating. Since then it's been slow going but I've lost the majority of those 15-20 pounds I gained. However, I still have lumps. Unflattering pockets of fat on my lower stomach and love handles. It's extremely disproportional and I was just wondering if any of you have any tips for working these off?? Cardio versus strength training? Circuit training perhaps?

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At this point in my life, what I weigh is not an issue. But I would like to be able to go out, have a good time and wear a nice dress without worrying about this. My mom recommended buying Spanx but I'm 24!! Nothing against Spanx but I'd rather wait until my 30's or 40's before I go there. I know it's impossible to spot train certain areas and that our bodies are designed to hold onto fat for health reasons. I would post pictures but I'm not that secure. It appears that my body fat ratio is very normal but the placement & distribution of that fat is not. Just thought I would get some of your opinions on this. If you have a similar story please share with the class. :)

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