If I were to randomly bake you some cookies, which one would you like??

Brown Sugar Blueberry Cookies by howsweeteats

White Chocolate Strawberry Cookies by recipe shoebox

Cookies and Cream Cookies by Recipe Shoebox

Blueberry and Cream Cookies by modern girl

Puffy Peanut Butter Cookies With Chocolate Chips by How Sweet Eats

David Lebovitz’s Chocolate Chip Cookies

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1. The Best Post Exercise Drink & Other Random Tips You’ll never guess what studies have shown to be the...

I started on this because I read about Bon Apetit’s “foodie detox” through notmartha. Detoxes are all the rage right now…all of the movie stars do it! hehe. But after reading the reviews about it, I decided not to do it (the food took too long to make and was actually really bad, I could stand one or the other but not both!). Doing more research led me to Martha Stewart’s 28 Day Challenge! They provide day by day steps for “changing your life” and also recipes to help you detox. Most of the food just cuts out all of the bad stuff and common allergens. I haven’t checked out all of the exercises but week 1 is mostly yoga poses and walking (I can def handle that!). I am interested in trying the recipes…I even found some that boyrobot wouldn’t mind eating.

Another part of the 28 day challenge is to give up “media”. I decided to not go on the internet when I get home from work and instead work on a lot of projects that I have on my to do list. Some for fun and some for the house. And actually I’d like to do some deep cleaning around the house! It will be really interesting to try this because for as long as I remember, I have been an internet addict when I am at home and it’s sucked up a lot of my time. I am just going to try this for the first week and see how it goes. I will miss you internet!

If you’re interested check out their website and sign up for their newsletter.

Anyways, I will check in next week and tell you how week 1 went!

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And then I started reading about all of these veggie smoothies and how detox smoothies are all the rage these days. Then I found the green monster movement!

Basically it’s a page full of recipes of “green smoothies”. Green because it has either kale or spinach which are both super healthy for you.

I remember my parents made me veggie drinks with their Juicer using carrots and apples. Surprisingly the fruits did a very good job of masking the veggie taste! I am expecting the same result with these (I hope). I’ll try it and report back to you guys. I’m hoping to start making these as part of my morning routine.

I am going to try the Blueberry-Banana Green Monster first:

Blueberry-Banana Green Monster
Ingredients:
2-3 cups organic spinach
1-1.25 cups milk (your choice of cow’s milk, soy, hemp, almond, rice, etc)
1 tablespoon flax (optional)
1 banana
1/2 cup blueberries
ice
Directions:
Place the ingredients into the blender and blend like a mad person! Pour into a fancy glass and gulp down the delicious antioxidants. There’s no better way to start your day!

And for the milk, I am going to use Almond milk. After reading up on all of the milk alternatives, it seems like almond milk is the most healthy choice!

Do you guys have any favorite “green” smoothie recipes to share?

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I used this recipe from the Soup Chick because originally I was going to try making the stock in my crockpot, but I ran out of time and did it on the stove top instead. The recipe is super easy. Just take 1 rotisserie chicken carcass, 1 onion (split in half with skin on, it adds more flavor!), 1 stalk of celery and 1 carrot cut in half, and 12 black peppercorns. Put it in a pot with 10 Cups of water and let it boil, then simmer for 1.5 hrs. Strain and voila….chicken stock!

I plan to measure them out into 1-2 Cups per tupperware and store them in my freezer for future use. I have a plethora of recipes bookmarked that use chicken broth.

The best part about making chicken broth from a rotisserie chicken is that I get a few other meals out of it as well. For example, tonight I bought flour tortillas, salad, and made my own garlic sauce (ala Zankous) to eat with the chicken. It was yummy! If you have never had Zankou, it is a lebanese restaurant that specializes in chicken with this uber garlic-y sauce. If you love garlic, you will love this sauce. I found a copycat recipe online here. If you make it, make sure your potatoes are cooked all the way through and that you blend the garlic sauce thoroughly. I was getting anxious to try it so I didn’t do either. It still tasted ok, but wasn’t as smooth as it should have been. Also, I don’t know how big their potatoes were but I totally didn’t need that many potatoes. Just add enough until you get the consistency you like.

I am also going to use the leftover chicken to add to my salads for lunch and other dinners. Next up, I would love to one day try making French Laundry’s veal stock!

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My top resolutions this year are to:

1. prioritize my life better so I have the time to do the things I want to do and start knocking off things on my extremely long list of things to do
2. fix up the things around the house that we have been putting off
3. physically and mentally prepare myself for having kids. I have a lot of physical issues I still need to get fixed before I even think of having kids. And to be honest I am petrified at the thought of having kids so this is a hump I need to get over.
4. eat out once a week at a place on my “to eat” list with boyrobot and/or friends!

I have also had this article bookmarked for awhile called 30 habits that will change your life. I have some of these habits already but I am sorely lacking in the health habits department. If you need any ideas for some new year’s resolutions, this is a great list to get some ideas from. I am going to outline the ones that I want to try with ideas on how I can see them through. Hopefully it will motivate me!

1. Exercise 30 minutes every day – I have such a hard time with this but I know if I make this a top priority I can totally do this. It could be as easy as taking a short walk every day (even if it’s a break during work), playing with my wii, continuing my 30 day shred workout program, or taking a bike ride.
2. Eat breakfast every day. – I always complain about not having enough time in the morning to prepare breakfast but just eating a few slices of toast, drinking a glass of oj, or eating a quick bowl of oatmeal doesn’t take much time.
3. Eat five portions of fruits and vegetables every day. – Another tough one for me but perhaps I can incorporate this with #2 like eating a banana in the morning, always including a dessert of some fresh fruit, or keeping a steady supply of cuties around which are my favorite no hassle fruit to eat. For the veggies, I would like to go back to eating more salads for lunch which are one of the easiest lunches to prepare and when i am ordering sides when eating out I’ll try to forgo the french fries for some steamed vegetables instead.
4. Eat fish. – Since boyrobot doesn’t eat fish, I sometimes neglect to do this but I can easily add tuna or sardines to my lunches and every once in awhile I will drag boyrobot to go eat sushi.
5. Drink one glass of water when you wake up. – I will make sure to always have a bottle of water by my bed or fill up our bedside water carafe.

It all seems like a lot but if i can turn them into habits, it will become second nature right?? :)

Anyways, Happy New Year everyone!!!

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Appetizers/Soups
pumpkin soup with toasted walnuts by good life eats
roasted squash and apple soup by one hungry mama

Sides
garlic mashed potatoes by simply recipes
amazing yellow squash casserole by i really like food
green bean casserole by the pioneer woman
apples and cranberries baked in a pumpkin by eat at home
gratin recipe roundup by serious eats
roasted spicy sweet potatoes by i really like food
collard greens with bacon by simply recipes

Sauces/Gravies/Stuffing
best store bought cranberry sauce by serious eats (i know i’m not the only one that LOVES cranberry sauce from a can!)
vegetarian mushroom thyme gravy by food52
sourdough cornbread and sausage stuffing by picky palate
a very comprehensive stuffing recipe roundup sorted by type by curbly
more stuffing recipes by serious eats
cornbread dressing with sausages and apples by the pioneer woman
ciabatta stuffing with chorizo, sweet potato, and mushrooms by food52

THE TURKEY!
roast turkey by alton brown
my favorite turkey brine by the pioneer woman

desserts
pecan pie by the pioneer woman

That is all I have for now!

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This was the very first time boyrobot and I carved pumpkins. We had so much fun doing it that we decided we are definitely going to throw a pumpkin carving party next year!

I chose a simple design for my first pumpkin. Does it make you L O L??

Boyrobot decided to do a SF Giants one since they are in the world series and he is a huge Giants fan…go Giants!!

We were left with a bunch of pumpkin seeds so I made some Spiced Pumpkin Seeds. So easy and very tasty!!

I bought some orange-y flowers for our dinner table vase and some mini pumpkins because they are so cute and only 69 cents from Trader Joe’s!.

When I was younger and went trick or treating, I really hated how pretty much everybody would get the same candy. Do I really want 20 tootsie rolls or 20 of those mini chocolate things? So I decided to raid the japanese and chinese candy aisles at the local asian markets.

Strawberry milk pops, lime chews, milk candy

We got a ton of different weird fruit flavored candy. Things you won’t find at your local supermarket! And at World Market, we bought a bag of gummy brains and vampire teeth because we love all things gummy! The one on the right was pumpkin flavored jelly! It’s seasonal so I had to buy some. :)

We also got a variety pack of regular sized candy bars for the less adventurous kiddies :P

Here is what our front porch looks like (sans spiderwebs since this was taken before we put them up)

And our spiderwebs that we just put up

I will have this playing too. Boyrobot thinks it sounds too scary…but isn’t that the point of Halloween?? ha ha.

We are having a few friends over so I also made some apple cranberry cider for us to drink while we watch our scary movies….

Happy Halloween everyone!!

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Anyways, another cool thing about this video is that it’s available on amazon and you can buy it through their Watch It Now link! Which means I can dl it to my laptop and exercise wherever I have my laptop! You can also dl a mobile version for your phones (and there is a hack to get it on your iphone too). Very convenient and great for travel. The DVD has 3 different levels. I downloaded only the first level since it’s the easiest just to see if I even liked it (I had read a lot of good reviews about this prior) for only $1.99! It’s a good way to test it out before buying the whole thing. I love technology nowadays :)

So join me on my 30 day quest with the 30 day shred….yes, that means exercising every day !! but at least it’s only 20 mins of your day. :P

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- my healthy BLT (use turkey bacon and lowfat mayo….and sometimes I add avocado!)
- regular old standby…tuna sandwich
- egg salad (i want to try this curried version)
- new one i learned: prosciutto, arugula, ricotta cheese, and drizzle of olive oil
- smoked salmon and goat cheese (I usually prefer this on a bagel rather than bread though)

I also LOVE alfalfa sprouts on my sandwiches. In fact, I just bought a kit to grow my own! You are supposed to be able to have sprouts to eat in 5-7 days. I can’t wait to try it when I get home. Then I will always have fresh sprouts to add to my sandwiches!!

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I checked out the list of top safe sunscreens and I realized I had never heard or seen of any of these. Well, I’m a girl of convenience so if I don’t see these sunscreens at the stores i go to, I am probably not going to buy it. So I started looking for the next best option. I immediately thought of Trader Joe’s since they usually carry more “natural” products and also at a reasonable price! And lo and behold, they do carry their own suncreen. Yay! And it’s rated a 4 which although is not the best, it’s still way better than my old sunscreen. I picked it up at my TJ’s today but I haven’t had a chance to try it yet. Reviews online all seem favorable though.

You can check the rating of your own sunscreen here.

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